NCAA Women's Tournament 2012: Brittney Griner Makes Baylor Unbeatable in Bracket

As long as Brittney Griner continues to play for Baylor, there's no way that this team is losing in the 2012 women's basketball tournament.

In sports, there exists the rare case of a phenomenon playing against talent so far beneath his or her own level that the player transcends influence of the game itself and enters into a separate league. An exclusive club and arguably nonexistent in the world of men’s college basketball, the women’s bracket has its own version of a golden child that continues to dominate game after game.

Now a household name for any sports savvy home, Griner continues to make this season a media topic of her own greatness.

Individuals like Griner, in fact, are the exact reason why individuals like Kobe Bryant and LeBron James once elected to skip college before the rule change that enforces a mandatory “one-year” education rule.

Unlike James, however, Griner has a very different type of issue at this point in her career. When a player like John Wall averages 16.6 points per game and 6.5 assists per game in his freshman year at Kentucky, the NBA offers a prospective first overall pick in the near future.

The WNBA is a significantly less profitable endeavor for college athletes. Where Wall dominated college basketball and now collects a salary upwards of $5.92 million a year, Maya Moore signed for only $45,000 into a bankrupt league.

Moore did, and continues to do, significantly more for her sport than Wall could even dream of. In her senior season, Moore averaged 23.4 points per game, as well as 4.4 assists per game and 7.8 rebounds per contest. At the University of Connecticut, she won two consecutive national championships and set the NCAA record for 90 consecutive victories.

In her first season in the WNBA, Moore averaged 13.2 PPG, was selected to the All-Star team, won Rookie of the Year honors and helped the Minnesota Lynx win the WNBA championship.

Except, no one was watching. To help secure a couple of extra bucks in her purse, Moore signed a contract with the Ros Casares Valencia team in Spain to play in the Euroleague.

One year later, a new player is dominating headlines and basketball courts in the WNBA. Her name is Britney Griner, and unlike Moore, Griner also offers a significant size advantage.

Moore accomplished unthinkable achievements for a 6’0” woman playing a collegiate sport, but the fact of the matter is that Griner’s size makes her one of the most valuable athletes to ever play the sport of women’s basketball. Griner, who stands at 6’8”, is physically big enough to compete at even the most elite men’s level of play.

Feats of sheer impressive glory are not unfamiliar to Griner. In early 2010, Griner became the seventh women’s basketball player to ever dunk in a college basketball game. In a 99-18 rout over Texas State, Griner became the second women’s player to dunk twice in one game.

In her freshman year, Griner averaged 6.37 blocks per game (the most in a single season), which included one 14-block showing against Georgetown.

Perhaps the most impressive stat to Griner is that she wears a men’s shoe size of 17.

Last March, Baylor lost in the Final Four—a disappointing season for those who expected more from the great Britney Griner.

This season, Griner has led Baylor into a No. 1 seed in the tournament. Behind her 23.1 PPG and 9.23 RPG, Baylor is 37-0 this season and continues to look more unbeatable every game.

For Griner, this is probably the biggest and most watched stage that she will perform on in her contemporary career. Thus far, she been nothing but dominating.

After beating No. 16 UCSB by a romping total of 81-40, the Bears also sent the University of Florida home following a 76-57 blowout. Against Florida, Griner scored 25 points and added nine rebounds and six blocks to her point total. In the game, Griner became the second woman to ever dunk in an NCAA tournament game.

Tomorrow night, Baylor plays the University of Tennessee and the legendary Pat Summitt.

The Lady Vols are a No. 2 seed in the tournament, and drew the unlucky fortune of having to play in the same region as the wildly successful Baylor basketball team.

Under the leadership of Griner, there’s very little chance that this team, and especially this player, will be losing any time soon.

For those who have yet to have had the magnificent opportunity of watching Griner play basketball, I highly recommend changing that as soon as possible. It’s a rare treat to see anyone this talented, and it’s been an inspiring season for all to witness.

Click here to Follow @BryanKalbrosky.