Paul McCoy, the sophomore guard expected to propel the SMU men’s basketball team to their first winning season in Conference USA, is listed as at 5 feet 11 inches and 175 pounds. Senior guard Brittany Gilliam, last season’s leading scorer on the women’s basketball team is listed at 5 feet 11 inches. Sure, both athletes have their hometown and high school listed as well as their experience level, but after a conversation with several members of the SMU athletic department, it occurred to me that while men list their weight on team roster, women do not.

Now, several may point to the fact that a woman’s weight is personal information. After all, I’m the first to shed a few pounds of the real answer when confronted with the question of how much I weigh, but in sports is this number necessary? Well, yes and no.

In basketball, there’s a huge amount of difference in a 6-foot-1-inch player weighing in at 170 pounds to go up against a 6-foot-1-inch and 200 pound guard at the same position. With men, the match ups are easily determined, as all this information is listed on the team’s roster. But when browsing the women’s roster, coaches can be left guessing as to whether a 5-foot-11-inch post player comes in at 140 or 180 pounds. Maybe coaches have access to this information, but you’ll be hard-pressed to find any college Web site listing a women’s weight, regardless of the sport.

Maybe it’s part of an intimidation factor in the realm of college basketball, but not divulging certain numbers can be extremely misleading. Can you imagine failing to post the heights of bench players? Call it a self-esteem issue, but if you’re not going to list the weight of your players why bother listing height and even game statistics. Why not just stick to the element of surprise? If men are expected to post their weight, and trust me, several males have issues regarding their physique, why are women not held to the same standard?

If any female college athletes have aspirations of playing in the WNBA, they are going to have to step on the scale and reveal their weight for all to see. What’s the difference between posting this information in college compared to the pros? Notice NFL linebackers have no qualms about posting their weight (and diet, and failure to work out and disgusting accomplishments in eating contests).

While basketball, football, wrestling, boxing and maybe even equestrian require athletes to maintain a certain weight, why do some sports such as golf, swimming and tennis require male athletes to list their weight? Last time I checked, Tiger Woods, while he may be a better golfer and in better shape than say, someone like John Daly, is proof that weight is not a determining factor in winning a golf tournament. Sure, you may not be able to find Daly or Woods’ weight immediately, but with a little bit of time and effort you can see while Woods weighs in at 185 pounds, Daly comes in at 200. Yes, Woods has more tournament wins than Daly, but 15 pounds is not that much of a difference.

Maybe it’s a matter of revealing too much information, but if men are to be responsible for posting their weight, women, especially within the same sport, should be expected to follow suit.