college basketball

The Florida Gators downed Houston, denying the Cougars their first-ever title. Florida, one of a record 14 Southeastern Conference teams to make the men's tournament, won its third NCAA championship.

UConn is back on top of women's basketball, winning its 12th NCAA national championship by routing defending champion South Carolina 82-59 on Sunday.

Cooper Flagg and Paige Bueckers, the presumptive top picks in this year's NBA and WNBA drafts, are on deck this weekend with hopes of a national title. But the star power doesn't stop with them.

Florida ends UConn's bid to repeat — again — in Sunday action that saw a memorable buzzer-beater. Meanwhile, South Carolina advances in the women's tournament, which rounds out its Sweet 16 on Monday.

A wider disparity between major conferences and lesser-known conferences has lent itself to fewer close games in the early rounds of both the men's and women's NCAA tournaments.

In an all-time record, 14 of the 68 teams in the men's tournament all come from one conference — the SEC. In the women's, UCLA and South Carolina are top seeds. Games tip off this coming week.

Geno Auriemma has led the women Huskies to 11 championships and nearly two dozen Final Four appearances in his four decades as head coach.

Walton starred for the UCLA Bruins before an influential but injury-derailed NBA career in Portland, San Diego and Boston. Afterward, he became one of the biggest stars in basketball broadcasting.

At its peak, 24 million basketball fans tuned in to watch the women's championship between Iowa and South Carolina, making it the most-watched basketball game since 2019.

The men's Huskies team is the first to win the NCAA basketball tournament back-to-back since the University of Florida in 2006 and 2007.