PARIS — The game was a rout, seemingly over not long after it began. The final score was the United States 85, Australia 64, but the margin seemed bigger.

The U.S. women’s basketball team, the most dominant team in any sport in the world, men’s or women’s, has now advanced to its eighth consecutive Olympic gold medal game. The Americans have won the previous seven, and there’s no reason to think they won’t win the eighth on Sunday.

So why were only 18 journalists hanging around the massive mixed zone in the bowels of Bercy Arena Friday evening to speak with U.S. head coach Cheryl Reeve after the game when the night before, for the U.S. men’s comeback over Serbia, the same area was packed?

Why were there so many empty Olympic family seats, the best seats in the house, left untaken for the entire semifinal game?

Why, when this team is just so majestic, is there so little buzz about them at these Games? Why do heads turn for the track stars and the gymnasts and the swimmers and the U.S. women’s soccer team, but not for them?