It is neither entirely true nor entirely false that the UConn women have an undeserved advantage playing the regionals this weekend in nearby Bridgeport.

We start here: Playing in Bridgeport hardly guarantees victory for the Huskies, who have succeeded there many times, but failed in 2006, falling to Duke in the regional finals. The more likely barometer to determine UConn's fate rests on whether Paige Bueckers can muster more offense than she did Monday night — this weekend against two significantly better opponents. Paige is the gauge on the biggest stage.

And yet it's reasonable to wonder why North Carolina State, with its far better resume this season, might be forced to play a de facto road game against UConn in Bridgeport with a Final Four berth impending.

Consider that N.C. State won the regular season and tournament championships from the most accomplished league in the country this season. The Atlantic Coast Conference, after earning eight berths to the NCAA tournament, is tied with the Big Ten for most Sweet 16 teams remaining (four) and has half of the remaining No. 1 seeds (N.C. State and Louisville).

Put it this way: If the Big East had such credentials this season and champion UConn was faced with a potential road game in the Elite Eight, the moral outrage from Connecticut would be louder than Gus Johnson.

In fairness, regional sites are determined before seasons begin, thus allowing for simple happenstance as a factor. The Wolfpack understand the other side, too, having been a No. 3 seed in 2019 and playing a "home" game in Greensboro against No. 2 Iowa in the regional semifinals.

This is about to change. Beginning next season, there will be two — not four — regional sites in the Sweet 16 with eight teams apiece. The teams will advance  from the first and second rounds on campus to Greenville, S.C. and Seattle. In 2024, the sites move to Albany and Portland, Ore.

This is progress. Sort of.

"(Regionals) are supposed to be at neutral sites," former Notre Dame coach and current ACC Network analyst Muffet McGraw tweeted Tuesday. "I know the attendance hasn't been great so let's try something new. But holding a regional in someone's backyard every year??? That has to change."

McGraw, despite another infantile attempt to tweak UConn, has the correct premise: Removing the regional from Connecticut offers a more evenhanded appearance. I don't think it's unreasonable, given that UConn's perennial contention is hardly a stunning development, to look outside Connecticut for regional sites.

But I'd also make the same argument for smarter scheduling away from other programs who excel in the women's game. This is not merely a UConn thing. But UConn is the most glaring example because it has achieved the most success.

And so while next year the NCAA's attempt at more equity is noteworthy, its choice of Greenville, S.C. is an unnecessary advantage for South Carolina. Surely, other cities without virtually direct ties to power programs exist. The hierarchy of women's basketball and the game's other advocates bear every right to covet more equality for their game from external sources. But not at the expense of overlooking more equity internally.

I'll eagerly wait McGraw's tweet at this time next year bemoaning South Carolina's advantage.

Proximity issues exist in every sport. It happens in men's basketball. Heck, it happened in the NFL the last two years with the Bucs and Rams playing home in the Super Bowl.

My guess is that L'Affaire de Bridgeport will be cheapened through any number of idiotic rationalizations, not limited to "UConn deserves it because of all it has done for the game" and "N.C. State is getting the shaft because of ESPN's clandestine pursuit for higher ratings with UConn in the Final Four."

As previously stated: Happenstance. Unfortunate for N.C. State, sure. But it was unfortunate for Iowa in 2019, too. And the Hawkeyes won the game in N.C. State's backyard.

The issue here is about the future. UConn has been too good for too long for any more regionals to be played in Connecticut. The same applies to South Carolina.

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro