General Sports 3d Briefing
×Last updated: March 23, 2026, 12:30 AM ET
NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament: Sweet 16 Clinched
The second round of the men's NCAA tournament delivered several dramatic finishes, sending several unexpected teams into the regional semifinals. Iowa eliminated espn.com defending national champion Florida in a thriller after Alvaro Folgueiras connected on a go-ahead three-pointer with only 4.5 seconds left on the clock, while Kentucky suffered its worst tournament loss since 1972, falling by 19 points to Iowa State, 82-63 Kentucky exit espn.com. Elsewhere, St. John's punched espn.com their ticket to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1999 after Dylan Darling hit a buzzer-beating layup to defeat Kansas 67-65, compounding the woes for the Jayhawks whose coach, Bill Self, stated he had made no decision yet espn.com on his future following the season-ending defeat. Furthermore, Texas, which began its journey in the First Four, managed to upset No. 3 seed Gonzaga 74-68, becoming the first First Four team in five years to reach the Sweet, though coach Sean Miller insisted his squad is not a Cinderella team espn.com.
NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament: Upsets & Milestones
Several major programs advanced, though not without significant effort, as Purdue coach Matt Painter secured his 500th win at his alma mater by defeating Miami 79-69 to move on Painter advances espn.com. Top-seeded Michigan also powered past Saint Louis behind Yaxel Lendeborg’s 25-point performance, setting up a matchup between coaches Dusty May and Josh Schertz, who have a history of exchanging scouting notes coaches meet espn.com. In contrast to the upsets, No. 2 seed UConn barely survived an early scare when Tarris Reed Jr. delivered a dominant 31-point, 27-rebound performance to help the Huskies overcome Furman 82-71 Reed posts double-double espn.com. Meanwhile, the NCAA demonstrated its continuing legal posture by filing suit sues DraftKings espn.com against Draft Kings for alleged trademark infringement related to the use of terms like "March Madness."
NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament: Second Round Action
The women’s bracket also saw its share of intense contests as teams battled for Elite Eight positioning. Iowa survived espn.com a scare against defending champion Florida in a second-round thriller, while Minnesota advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time in 21 years when Amaya Battle hit a tiebreaking jump shot Battle lifts Gophers espn.com with 0.7 seconds remaining against Mississippi, 65-63. In a matchup featuring an earlier upset, No. 10 seed Virginia authored the tournament's first significant shockwave with an 82-73 victory over No. 7 seed Georgia in the first round Virginia upsets UGA espn.com. On Saturday, No. 1 Texas rolled past No. 8 Oregon 100-58, fueled by Madison Booker’s career-high 40 points Booker scores 40 espn.com, and No. 2 seed UConn remained the title favorite despite other teams like UCLA seeing their odds improve UConn remains favorite espn.com.
College Coaching Carousel & Player News
The conclusion of early tournament action spurred immediate movement in college basketball coaching searches. Sources confirmed that Syracuse is working toward hiring Cuse turns to McNamara espn.com Siena's Gerry McNamara as their next head coach, while Georgia Tech announced the hiring of former Troy coach Scott Cross Georgia Tech names Cross espn.com. In contrast to hiring news, UNC officials are in discussions UNC, Davis discussing future espn.com with coach Hubert Davis regarding his contract status following another first-round exit. On the player front, Wisconsin defender Caroline Harvey was voted the winner of the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award as the top player Harvey wins award espn.com in college women's hockey, and BYU freshman AJ Dybantsa indicated he will mull his future Dybantsa to mull future espn.com over the coming weeks.
Global Motorsports & Golf
The international racing circuits saw high-stakes victories complicated by environmental factors. In Moto GP, Marco Bezzecchi secured victory Bezzecchi wins Brazil bbc.com in Brazil, though the race was shortened to 31 laps due to extreme heat conditions, a factor that also permeated other sports. In NASCAR, Tyler Reddick entered an elite club Reddick in elite club espn.com by claiming his fourth victory of the season at Darlington Raceway, successfully navigating the notoriously demanding track. Meanwhile, on the links, Hyo Joo Kim successfully held off Nelly Korda Kim edges Korda espn.com for a wire-to-wire win at the Fortinet Founders Cup on the LPGA Tour, while Hannah Green captured her third consecutive tournament title by claiming victory Green lifts WPGA bbc.com at the Australian WPGA Championship.
Athletics & Combat Sports Headlines
Athletics saw a historic medal haul for Great Britain at the World Indoor Championships in Poland, where the team claimed three golds in 28 minutes GB make history bbc.com to achieve their best-ever haul at the event. Keely Hodgkinson commanded the 800m field to capture gold Hodgkinson claims gold bbc.com with a championship record, and Josh Kerr completed a remarkable comeback by reclaiming his world indoor 3,000m title after recovering from injury Kerr takes 3000m gold bbc.com. In combat sports, the UFC London card saw Movsar Evloev dent Evloev crushes hopes bbc.com Lerone Murphy's featherweight title ambitions via a majority decision, leading to renewed debate over fighter compensation fighter pay debate bbc.com. Tragically, the boxing world faced a serious incident as 19-year-old women's junior flyweight boxer Isis Sio was placed in a medically induced coma boxer in coma espn.com following a knockout during a Pro Box TV event.
Rugby & Football/Soccer Developments
The United Rugby Championship saw several key results impacting playoff positioning. Exeter moved into Exeter beat Sale bbc.com the final playoff spots following a 26-14 win over Sale, and the Stormers secured a four-try bonus-point victory against Dragons to climb back Stormers overcome Dragons bbc.com to second place in the standings. In contrast, Edinburgh suffered a heavy 40-point loss away at the Lions, who ran in eight tries Edinburgh suffer loss bbc.com. On the international stage, Wales received a boost with the return of key players like Taulupe Faletau, while the debate over England's tactical approach continues following their Ashes review, signaling the final chapter McCullum comes full circle bbc.com of the Bazball era.
Other Global Sports Notes
In snooker, Thepchaiya Un-Nooh shocked Ronnie O'Sullivan Un-Nooh wins World Open bbc.com 10-7 in the World Open final, achieving a maximum 147 break during the contest. Cycling saw Tadej Pogacar win his first Pogacar denies Pidcock bbc.com Milan-San Remo title after a tight battle with Tom Pidcock, though Debora Silvestri suffered a serious crash in the women's race, breaking five ribs Silvestri broke ribs bbc.com. Meanwhile, the Netball Super League saw London Pulse keep their cool Pulse end unbeaten run bbc.com to secure an extra-time victory over Nottingham Forest, which Coach Sam Bird believes will benefit them for the remainder of the season. In cricket, Rwanda’s Fanny Utagushimaninde achieved a major milestone by becoming the youngest Rwanda batter youngest bbc.com woman to score a T20 international century at just 15 years and 223 days old.