General Sports 3d Briefing
×College Basketball
Hofstra earned its first NCAA tournament berth espn.com in 25 years after defeating Monmouth 75-69 in the Coastal Athletic Association championship. The Pride, led by Claxton, will make their long-awaited return to March Madness. In the Big 12 tournament, No. 15 West Virginia avenged two regular-season losses espn.com to No. 10 TCU with a 62-53 championship victory, securing their own NCAA bid. Northern Iowa clinched its first NCAA tournament berth espn.com since 2016 by defeating UIC 84-69 in the Missouri Valley Conference final. Queens University earned an NCAA berth espn.com in its first year of eligibility, with Chris Ashby scoring 34 points on 10 three-pointers in a 98-93 Atlantic Sun tournament win over Central Arkansas.
Duke's tournament hopes took a hit when starting guard Caleb Foster suffered a fractured right foot espn.com and was ruled out indefinitely. The Blue Devils will need to adjust their rotation heading into the ACC tournament. Meanwhile, Boston College fired coach Earl Grant espn.com after five seasons, ending his tenure following a last-place finish in the ACC.
The NCAA announced it will monitor tournament officials for betting espn.com using technology called Prohi Bet across basketball, baseball, and softball tournaments. Additionally, one of the alleged fixers in a point-shaving scheme pleaded guilty espn.com in federal court, marking progress in the investigation of rigged NCAA basketball games.
NCAA Tournament Picture
The final AP Top 25 poll before Selection Sunday showed Florida and Houston entering the top five espn.com, while Duke, Arizona, and Michigan maintained their hold on the top three spots. In the women's poll, No. 2 UCLA picked up three first-place votes espn.com from top-ranked UConn, with Texas jumping South Carolina to claim the No. 3 position. UConn and Texas each placed multiple players espn.com on the Wooden Award top 15 list, headlined by Paige Bueckers and Madison Booker.
Texas claimed its first women's SEC tournament title espn.com with a dominant 14-0 start against South Carolina, finishing 82-63. No. 2 UCLA rolled to its second straight Big Ten tournament title espn.com with a 96-45 demolition of Iowa, as Gianna Kneepkens scored 19 points and Kiki Rice added 15 points with eight assists.
Golf
Akshay Bhatia claimed his first PGA Tour victory espn.com by defeating Daniel Berger on the first playoff hole at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. The 22-year-old American birdied the par-5 18th to secure the win at Bay Hill. Matt Fitzpatrick said winning the Players Championship bbc.com "is not the same as winning a major but it's the next best thing" as he prepared for this week's tournament at TPC Sawgrass.
Brooks Koepka hoped for more consistency espn.com in his game during his fourth start since returning to the PGA Tour. Gary Woodland opened up about his PTSD diagnosis espn.com following brain surgery in 2023, telling Golf Channel in an emotional interview that he "can't waste energy" trying to force results.
Rugby Union
Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend faced his most significant selection dilemma bbc.com before Saturday's Six Nations trip to Dublin, with BBC Scotland's chief sports writer calling it the most important team choice of Townsend's long reign. Ireland assistant coach Andrew Goodman said his team was enjoying an "edge" bbc.com in their build-up to Saturday's Triple Crown decider against Scotland.
England head coach Steve Borthwick admitted the pressure of representing England bbc.com had "weighed heavy" on some players during their disappointing Six Nations campaign. After three straight defeats, Borthwick could make major changes bbc.com for the trip to France, potentially overhauling his backline following the loss to Italy. England wing Tom Roebuck insisted the entire squad remained united bbc.com in attempting to reverse their dismal form that had wrecked their title ambitions.
Wales number eight Aaron Wainwright was set to face Italy bbc.com despite an early exit against Ireland, while Louis Rees-Zammit expressed confidence bbc.com that Wales would give fans plenty to cheer in their Six Nations finale at Cardiff. Wales also hoped Tottenham defender Ashley Phillips bbc.com could boost their World Cup qualifying hopes if they could persuade the 20-year-old to switch allegiance from England.
Horse Racing
The Cheltenham Festival kicked off with a dominant victory bbc.com for Lossiemouth in the Champion Hurdle, with the mare being dubbed the "Queen of Cheltenham." Trainer Jeremy Scott believed Golden Ace could defend her Champion Hurdle title bbc.com at the prestigious festival. Leicester Tigers overpowered defending champions Bath bbc.com to set up a Premiership Rugby Cup final meeting with Exeter at Welford Road.
Motorsport
Ryan Blaney completed a Team Penske sweep espn.com at Phoenix Raceway by winning the Cup Series race Sunday. British rookie Arvid Lindblad said he "showed people what I am here to do" bbc.com after finishing eighth on his Formula 1 debut at the Australian Grand Prix. The Australian GP sparked discussions about Max Verstappen potentially quitting F1 espn.com and whether McLaren was on the ropes after a polarising weekend.
Winter Paralympics
Cristian Westemaier Ribera became Brazil's first ever Winter Paralympic medallist bbc.com, finishing second in the Para-cross-country skiing men's seated sprint. Ukraine's Maksym Murashkovskyi credited ChatGPT for helping him win silver bbc.com in the Para-biathlon. Britain's Neil Simpson and guide Rob Poth won Great Britain's first medal bbc.com of the Milan-Cortina Winter Paralympics with silver in the alpine combined.
Russia claimed their first gold medal bbc.com of the Paralympics through Varvara Voronchikhina's victory in the standing super G. Two-time Olympian Emanuel Perathoner won Paralympic gold bbc.com at his home Games in Milan-Cortina, completing an incredible journey after a devastating knee injury forced his move into Para-sport. However, Great Britain's wheelchair curlers suffered their fourth straight loss bbc.com and missed out on the mixed doubles semi-finals in a "joyless" start to the Games.
Combat Sports
Ronda Rousey said she wants to "rewrite her ending" bbc.com in her first MMA bout in ten years against Gina Carano on May 16. Former UFC and PFL heavyweight champion Francis Nganghan will return to action espn.com on May 16 as part of Jake Paul's Most Valuable Promotions' inaugural MMA fight card headlined by Rousey vs. Carano.
Jon Jones asked the UFC to release him espn.com from his contract if the promotion believes "I'm done," reacting to what he called a "lowball" offer for the White House card. UFC president Dana White said Jones was "never ever" in his mind espn.com for the planned White House card, which also left out Conor McGregor.
Anthony Cacace kept the faith through setbacks bbc.com ahead of his WBA super-featherweight title fight against James "Jazza" Dickens in Dublin. Jai Opetaia could be stripped of his IBF cruiserweight belt bbc.com after defeating Brandon Glanton to win the inaugural Zuffa World cruiserweight title.
Other Sports
England's men's hockey team won their World Cup qualification tournament bbc.com with a 4-1 victory over Pakistan in the final in Egypt. Ireland clinched a place in the Hockey World Cup finals bbc.com with a dramatic shootout win over Japan to finish third at the qualification tournament in Santiago.
Britain's Sky Brown became a skateboarding world champion bbc.com for the second time after winning gold in a rain-disrupted park event in Brazil. Luke Littler successfully defended his UK Open title bbc.com, beating James Wade in the final in Minehead. New Zealander Brett Randell became the first bowler bbc.com in the 254-year history of first-class cricket to take five wickets in five balls.
Utah Valley and the Western Athletic Conference cleared up their $1 million dispute espn.com that had threatened to leave the Wolverines out of the league's men's and women's basketball tournaments. Georgia Tech fired men's basketball coach Damon Stoudamire espn.com after three seasons, ending his tenure following a last-place finish in the ACC.