While the NCAA Division 1 men’s basketball postseason tournament known as March Madness commences over the next few weeks, the Division 1 women’s basketball teams will compete in their own tournament. As the men compete against other men, women will compete against other women.

Although there have not been any prominent instances of transgender NCAA women’s basketball players, the women’s version of the March Madness tournament is a perfect example of why men do not belong in women’s sports.

Division 1 women’s basketball players compete against men — at practice. Many programs, including powerhouses such as the University of Connecticut Huskies and the University of South Carolina Gamecocks , have men practice with the women’s basketball team.

These guys were not good enough to play Division 1 college basketball. They are former high school basketball players who attend the same practices as the women’s players and help the women become better players.

During the 2015-2016 season, the University of Connecticut had a perfect 38-0 record. The team won a record-setting fourth consecutive NCAA national championship. Yet players on the team that season admitted they regularly lost games in practice to their male practice squad players. University of Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma explained that when he started bringing male players to practice in the 1990s, his players could not advance the ball past midcourt against them.

At one time, the University of Connecticut was the preeminent women’s college basketball program. No one could beat the team except for a group of former boys high school basketball players. Imagine how much more dominant the team would have been if those former boys high school basketball players had been the ones competing in those regular season and tournament games.

That is a ridiculous point, and most would acknowledge that reality. However, some fail to acknowledge that same reality when a man identifies as a gender that he is not. The NCAA allows men who say they are women to compete in college sports. Plus, most states let boys who say they are girls compete in girls high school sports.

In recent years, we have seen the results of it. For example, a transgender track runner won a state championship in Connecticut in 2019, a transgender swimmer won an NCAA Division 1 women’s national championship last year, and last month, a transgender track runner helped Brookline High School win a Division 1 team state championship in Massachusetts.

If males continue to compete in women’s sports, the country will see more of this in the coming years. Eventually, the standout male players in women’s basketball might not just be competing in practice.

Tom Joyce ( @TomJoyceSports ) is a political reporter for the New Boston Post in Massachusetts.