General Sports 3d Briefing
×College Basketball
The NCAA tournament landscape shifted dramatically espn.com as Florida and Houston cracked the top five in the final AP poll before Selection Sunday, while Duke, Arizona, and Michigan held firm in the top three. Meanwhile, West Virginia avenged espn.com two regular-season losses to TCU with a 62-53 Big 12 tournament championship, securing an automatic NCAA bid. In women's basketball, UCLA surged espn.com past Iowa 96-45 to claim its second straight Big Ten tournament crown, while Texas captured espn.com its first SEC tournament title with a wire-to-wire 14-0 lead against South Carolina. The Huskies' dominance continued as UConn's Paige Bueckers-less squad closed in espn.com on their 13th NCAA title and seventh perfect season, despite falling to Marquette in a game where coach Danny Hurley was ejected in the final seconds.
Winter Paralympics
Brazil's Cristian Westemaier Ribera etched his name bbc.com in history as the nation's first Winter Paralympic medallist, claiming silver in the Para-cross-country skiing men's seated sprint. Great Britain's Neil Simpson and guide Rob Poth delivered bbc.com the country's first medal of the Games with silver in the alpine combined, while Russia's Varvara Voronchikhina claimed bbc.com the nation's first Paralympic gold since 2014 in the standing super G. Ukraine's Maksym Murashkovskyi credited bbc.com Chat GPT for helping secure his biathlon silver, and two-time Olympian Emanuel Perathoner completed bbc.com an incredible journey from Olympic snowboarder to Paralympic champion in his home Games after a devastating knee injury. However, Team GB's wheelchair curlers suffered bbc.com a fourth consecutive defeat, losing 8-6 to hosts Italy, and the mixed doubles pair missed out bbc.com on semi-finals after defeats to China and Canada.
Rugby Union
England's Six Nations campaign unraveled bbc.com with a third straight defeat, prompting head coach Steve Borthwick to consider major changes ahead of the trip to France. The historic loss to Italy sparked bbc.com intense scrutiny of England's leadership and playing style, with World Cup winner Matt Dawson criticizing their "tedious" approach that "doesn't allow players to express themselves." In contrast, Scotland's stunning victory over France propelled bbc.com them into contention for their first title since 1999, with Andy Farrell's Ireland embracing bbc.com the pressure of Saturday's Triple Crown decider against Scotland. Ireland's Nathan Doak marked bbc.com his debut off the bench in Friday's win over Wales, while Scotland overcame bbc.com early Six Nations struggles to edge toward potential glory.
Tennis
At Indian Wells, Britain's Emma Raducanu endured bbc.com a brutal 52-minute defeat to Amanda Anisimova, winning just 11 points in the first set of a 6-1, 6-1 loss. Sonay Kartal battled bbc.com through a match point and medical timeout to defeat Emma Navarro 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (7-2), while Filipina phenom Alex Eala continued espn.com her meteoric rise, drawing enormous crowds en route to a fourth-round matchup against Coco Gauff. Olympic champion Charlotte Bankes claimed bbc.com victory in the women's snowboard cross at a World Cup event in Turkey, and Olympic figure skating gold medalist Alysa Liu withdrew espn.com from the world championships later this month.
Football
The NFL offseason shifted bbc.com as Travis Kelce announced his return to the Kansas City Chiefs, who also reportedly agreed to sign Kenneth Walker. The Bills secured espn.com center Connor McGovern on a four-year, $52 million deal with $32 million guaranteed. In rugby league, defending Super League champions Hull KR got up and running bbc.com with a 32-6 victory over winless Huddersfield Giants, while Wigan Warriors maintained bbc.com their perfect start by overpowering Toulouse Olympique with four tries in 14 minutes. Leicester Tigers set up bbc.com a Premiership Rugby Cup final against Exeter after overpowering defending champions Bath.
Motorsport
Red Bull's Max Verstappen completed espn.com a Team Penske sweep at Phoenix Raceway by winning the Cup Series race Sunday. In Formula, rookie Arvid Lindblad impressed bbc.com with an eighth-place finish on his debut at the Australian Grand Prix, while George Russell earned "imperious" ratings and Ferrari's Oliver Bearman was praised for racing "beautifully." However, F1's new cars failed to deliver espn.com on their debut, with Lando Norris and others raging at the driving experience. Cycling saw four-time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar solo to victory bbc.com at Strade Bianche for a record fourth time.
Combat Sports
The UFC's White House card took shape espn.com with a lightweight title bout between Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje headlining the June 14 event, while Alex Pereira and Ciryl Gane will vie for the interim heavyweight championship. Former UFC and PFL heavyweight champion Francis Ngannon announced espn.com his return on May 16 as part of Jake Paul's Most Valuable Promotions' inaugural MMA card. Jai Opetaia's IBF cruiserweight title faced jeopardy bbc.com after defeating Brandon Glanton to win the inaugural Zuffa World cruiserweight title. In boxing, Anthony Cacace prepared bbc.com for Saturday's WBA super-featherweight title fight against James "Jazza" Dickens, with the Belfast fighter's career serving as a lesson in keeping faith through setbacks.
Golf
Akshay Bhatia claimed bbc.com his first PGA Tour victory by defeating Daniel Berger in a playoff at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, while Thomas Detry shared espn.com the LIV Golf Hong Kong lead with Jon Rahm after the Spanish star arranged flights to get eight players stranded in the Middle East to the event. Gary Woodland opened up espn.com about his PTSD diagnosis following 2023 brain surgery, telling Golf Channel he "can't waste energy" trying to force results. Matt Fitzpatrick prepared bbc.com for the Players Championship, calling victory at Sawgrass "the next best thing" to winning a major. The top 25 contenders for the PGA Tour's flagship event were ranked espn.com, with Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, and Xander Schauffele among the favorites.
Athletics
Uganda's Jacob Kiplimo regained bbc.com the world half-marathon record with victory in Lisbon, while Ireland's Kate O'Connor and Nick Griggs were named bbc.com in the team for the World Athletics Indoor Championships. Scotland's Kirsty Muir insisted bbc.com she has "a lot more to give" after two fourth-place finishes at the Winter Olympics, using the frustration as motivation. Britain's Sky Brown became bbc.com a skateboarding world champion for the second time after winning gold in a rain-disrupted park event in Brazil.
Other Sports
In darts, world number one Luke Littler defended bbc.com his UK Open title by beating James Wade in the final, while Luke Humphries fell bbc.com to Danny Noppert in the quarter-finals. Northern Iowa's Trey Campbell led espn.com the Panthers to their first NCAA tournament berth since 2016 with a 23-point performance in the MVC tournament championship. Queens University's Chris Ashby made espn.com 10 3-pointers in scoring 34 points to lead the Royals to an NCAA berth in their first year of eligibility. Former UConn basketball player Steve Emt shared espn.com his incredible journey from paralysis at 25 to becoming a three-time Paralympic curler.