While it is debatable as to whether men's college basketball is more popular than the NBA, I don't think many can argue against women's college basketball receiving more notoriety than the WNBA.
The average sports fan can name more female college basketball players than WNBA players. Most of the WNBA players that are popular, gained more attention while they were in college than they do now. The reason for this is a debatable issue, but it leads to an interesting side effect.
Female college basketball players are more prepared for the real world than male basketball players when they leave school. While male college basketball players dream of entering the NBA draft and signing a multi million-dollar contract, there is no such incentive for female basketball players to enter the WNBA draft.
I am not saying that WNBA players don't make a good living nor am I saying NBA players shouldnt leave college early for large contracts. However, male college players that leave school early and don't make it in the NBA are left without a college degree, the big money they were expecting and an interest in something else. More female basketball players are forced to stay at school all four years and earn their degree.
With this in mind, female basketball players are more focused on their studies and learn to juggle a schedule full of academics and athletics, while male athletes are more inclined to lean solely on their athletic abilities.
Rarely do you see female athletes in trouble with the law or being suspended for academic reasons. Even though one could argue that this example is just a product of boys being boys, it can't go unnoticed.
With the WNBA lacking the same allure as the NBA, more female college basketball players come out of school with a degree, a better understanding of the value of money, knowledge of efficient time management, more options in the work force and a feel for the important things in life.