General Sports 3d Briefing – Mar 22, 2026

142 articles summarized · Last updated: March 22, 2026 at 12:30 AM ET v589

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Last updated: March 22, 2026, 12:30 AM ET

NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament

The Texas Longhorns completed an improbable run espn.com from the First Four to the Sweet 16 after upsetting the No. 3 seed Gonzaga Bulldogs 74-68 on Saturday, marking the first time in five years a team achieved that bracket trajectory Texas upsets Zags, caps improbable Sweet 16 run espn.com. Despite the Cinderella story, coach Sean Miller insisted his squad does not fit the Cinderella description espn.com following the monumental victory. Meanwhile, the Midwest Region's top seed, Michigan, powered past Saint Louis espn.com with a 25-point performance from Yaxel Lendeborg to also punch its ticket to the regional semifinals, setting up a matchup with the Texas coach Dusty May, Josh Schertz friendship adds intrigue to Michigan-Saint Louis matchup espn.com. Elsewhere in the bracket, Purdue's Braden Smith etched his name into the record books by breaking Bobby Hurley's all-time NCAA assists record espn.com with his 1,077th career assist during a first-round victory over Queens University.

Several other high seeds navigated tricky first-round matchups to advance, including No. 2 seed UConn, where Tarris Reed Jr. delivered a historic 31-point, 27-rebound performance to help the Huskies narrowly escape Furman espn.com. The No. 1 overall seed, Duke, also needed a second-half rally espn.com to overcome a 13-point deficit against 16th-seeded Siena, while No. 11 seed VCU stunned sixth-seeded North Carolina in overtime, erasing a 19-point second-half deficit VCU rallies from 19 down, knocks out UNC in OT espn.com; following the loss, UNC officials entered discussions regarding coach Hubert Davis's future espn.com. In other early-round action, No. 11 seed Texas knocked off No. 6 seed BYU, overcoming 35 points from BYU's highly touted freshman AJ Dybantsa Texas overcomes Dybantsa's 35 points, tops BYU espn.com.

The women's NCAA tournament saw significant upsets early on, with No. 10 seed Virginia authoring the first major upset of the weekend espn.com by defeating No. 7 seed Georgia 82-73 on Saturday. USC survived a scare when a controversial review nullified a Clemson buzzer-beater in regulation, allowing the Trojans to ultimately triumph in overtime 71-67 espn.com. South Carolina, positioned as a heavy favorite, began their title defense with an overwhelming 103-34 demolition of Southern, led by Joyce Edwards's 27 points and eight rebounds Edwards' 27 lead S. Carolina rout of Southern espn.com. Meanwhile, UConn remains the overwhelming odds-on favorite espn.com to win the championship heading into the second round action, following a Day 1 where all 16 higher-seeded teams won Chalk reigns as better seeds go 16-0 espn.com.

The administrative side of college sports saw a major coaching change in the SEC, as Paul Mainieri departed as South Carolina's baseball coach espn.com midway through his second season, unable to replicate the success he achieved previously at LSU. In basketball hiring news, Georgia Tech formally named former Troy coach Scott Cross as its new men's head coach espn.com on Friday. The NCAA also took legal action, filing a lawsuit against Draft Kings for alleged trademark infringement related to the use of terms such as "March Madness" NCAA sues DraftKings for trademark infringement espn.com. Separately, at the Division III level, NYU's remarkable 91-game winning streak ended espn.com when the two-time defending champions fell to Scranton in the Final Four on Thursday night.

At UFC London, Movsar Evloev dealt a severe blow to Lerone Murphy's featherweight title aspirations, securing a narrow majority decision victory Evloev's gritty win crushes Murphy's title hopes bbc.com; Murphy's path to contention has been a long one, prompting questions about how contenders are matched Is matchmaking fair? Murphy's long road to UFC title contender bbc.com. In PFL news, Costello van Steenis successfully retained his middleweight title bbc.com by stopping British contender Fabian Edwards in the third round. In boxing, Lin Yu-ting, the Olympic champion, has been cleared to return to competition by World Boxing after completing the organization's new sex testing protocol Lin cleared for boxing return after sex test bbc.com, while Michael Conlan confirmed the "end of the road" for his professional career following a split decision loss to Kevin Walsh Conlan an amateur legend who fell short of his pro dream bbc.com.

British athlete Josh Kerr achieved a major comeback, reclaiming the world indoor 3,000m title bbc.com after completing his recovery from injury. In sprinting, Great Britain's Jeremiah Azu finished fourth in what was described as "one of the best 60m races of all time" at the World Athletics Indoor Championships GB's Azu fourth at World Indoors bbc.com. On the cycling front, Tadej Pogacar secured his first Milan-San Remo victory bbc.com after a dramatic final-stage battle with Tom Pidcock, though the women's race was marred by a serious crash that hospitalized Italian rider Debora Silvestri Silvestri taken to hospital after Milan-San Remo crash bbc.com. Further success for Great Britain came in freestyle skiing, where Mia Brookes claimed her fifth World Cup gold bbc.com in slopestyle, putting her atop the season's standings.

European rugby saw mixed results across the leagues. In the English Premiership, Exeter defeated Sale 26-14 bbc.com to move into the play-off positions, while in the United Rugby Championship, Connacht delivered a powerful second-half display to earn a statement bonus-point win against Ulster Connacht secure bonus-point win over Ulster bbc.com. In Super League, Warrington Wolves moved into second place after Kelepi Tanginoa contributed four tries in a comprehensive victory over Castleford Tigers Tanginoa scores four as Wire hammer sorry Castleford bbc.com. Meanwhile, in Northern Irish football, Larne stretched their Premiership lead to five points bbc.com following a 3-0 win over Glenavon.

In swimming, Australian Cameron McEvoy shattered a long-standing world record, breaking Cesar Cielo's 50m freestyle mark bbc.com set during the 'supersuit' era. Darts star Luke Littler staged an astonishing comeback from 5-0 down bbc.com to defeat Gerwyn Price 6-5 in the Premier League Darts final in Dublin. In North American professional sports, the Colorado Avalanche became the first NHL team to clinch a playoff berth espn.com after dispatching the Blackhawks 4-1. Meanwhile, in the WNBA, sources indicate that a new provision in the pending Collective Bargaining Agreement will expedite the timeline for rookie-scale players to reach maximum salaries espn.com.