Yahoo Sports AM: Final Four weekend has arrived

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🚨 Headlines

🏀 Filling up the box score: Giannis Antetokounmpo had a historic stat line in the Bucks’ win over the 76ers, putting up 35 points, 17 rebounds and 20 assists.

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🏈 NFL offseason: The Cardinals made Trey McBride the highest-paid tight end in NFL history (4 years, $76M), the Raiders extended QB Geno Smith (2 years, $75M) and the Cowboys traded for Patriots QB Joe Milton III.

⚽️ USA 2031: The United States is all but certain to host the 2031 Women’s World Cup, as U.S. Soccer will bid unopposed. Other CONCACAF members may also join the bid.

🏀 NIT champs: Chattanooga beat UC Irvine in a wild NIT title game, forcing overtime before holding on to win, 85-84, when the Anteaters’ last-second layup just missed.

⚾️ Cincy can’t score: The Reds have lost three consecutive games by a score of 1-0, becoming just the second team since 1917 to accomplish that particular feat of futility. No team has ever lost four such games in a row.

🏀 Women’s Final Four: Meet the semifinalists

A quartet of juggernauts take the floor tonight in Tampa for the women’s Final Four, where No. 1 UCLA, No. 1 South Carolina, No. 1 Texas and No. 2 UConn enter the national semifinals with a combined record of 138-11.

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UCLA vs. UConn: The Huskies are in their record 24th Final Four, while the Bruins are in their first and are trying to become the first Big Ten team to win it all since Purdue in 1999.

• Coaches: No coach in men’s or women’s hoops has more wins than UConn’s Geno Auriemma (1,248), but this year it was UCLA’s Cori Close that was named both the Naismith and AP Coach of the Year in her 14th season leading the Bruins.

• Stars: UConn’s Paige Bueckers, a unanimous first-team All-American, has scored 105 points in her last three games, the most ever by a Husky in any three-game span. UCLA’s Lauren Betts, also a unanimous first-team All-American, was named the Naismith DPOY.

South Carolina vs. Texas: This SEC rematch pits the Longhorns, seeking their first title since 1986, against the Gamecocks, who are trying to join UConn, Tennessee and USC as the only programs to win back-to-back women’s national championships.

• Coaches: South Carolina’s Dawn Staley, a four-time Coach of the Year, seeks her fourth title since 2017 — but Texas’ Vic Schaefer knows something about taking down giants: His Mississippi State team snapped UConn’s 111-game win streak in the 2017 Final Four.

• Stars: First-team All-American Madison Booker is a force for the Longhorns, while the Gamecocks are built on depth rather than star power: Five different players lead the team in the five major stats.

Title odds: UConn is the favorite (-165 at BetMGM), followed by South Carolina (+275), UCLA (+800) and Texas (+900).

Further reading: What we learned about the Final Four teams from their Elite Eight wins (Maggie Hendricks, Yahoo Sports)

🏀 Men’s Final Four: Meet the semifinalists

All four No. 1 seeds reached the men’s Final Four for the first time since 2008, and they’ll take the floor tomorrow in San Antonio as perhaps the strongest crop of semifinalists since the field expanded in 1985.

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Auburn vs. Florida: The two teams that finished atop the historically great SEC meet for the first time since early February, when the Gators bested the Tigers.

• Coaches: Bruce Pearl — who’s led the Tigers to their only two Final Fours — coached Florida’s Todd Golden in the 2009 Maccabiah Games, then hired him as Auburn’s director of basketball operations when he took over as head coach in 2014.

• Stars: First-team All-Americans Johni Broome (coming off two monster double-doubles for Auburn) and Walter Clayton Jr. (who dropped 30 in Florida’s comeback Elite Eight victory) headline this matchup.

Duke vs. Houston: What happens when the immovable object meets the unstoppable force? We’ll find out soon as the Blue Devils’ No. 1 offense takes on the Cougars’ No. 1 defense.

• Coaches: Jon Scheyer won a championship with Duke as a player in 2010 and an assistant in 2015; can he add one as a head coach? Kelvin Sampson has won 30 tournament games in 32 seasons, but he’s still seeking that elusive first title.

• Stars: Cooper Flagg is authoring one of the greatest freshman seasons ever, leading Duke in points, rebounds, assists and steals. Houston’s LJ Cryer, a Wooden All-American, has been here before, winning the 2021 title with Baylor as a freshman.

Title odds: Duke is the favorite (-110 at BetMGM), followed by Florida (+300), Houston (+450) and Auburn (+575).

Further reading: 10 biggest draft movers of March Madness (Kevin O’Connor, Yahoo Sports)

⚾️ In photos: Major league teams, minor league parks

28 of 30 MLB teams will play this season in familiar big league ballparks, but the Rays and Athletics will be spending the next six months (or more) back in the minors.

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Tampa: The Rays are at Steinbrenner Field — which is both the Yankees’ spring training facility and home of the Tampa Tarpons (Yankees Single-A) — while Tropicana Field is repaired after sustaining damage during Hurricane Milton.

Beat the heat: Playing outdoors during a Florida summer is no one’s idea of a good time. To minimize the effects of extreme heat, MLB has front-loaded their home schedule (it’s cooler in the spring) and pushed start times back 30 minutes beginning in June.

Sacramento: The Athletics will play at least the next three seasons at Sutter Health Park, home of the Sacramento River Cats (Giants Triple-A), while they await the completion of their Las Vegas ballpark. The venue got numerous upgrades to become major-league ready, including expanded clubhouses and a new scoreboard.

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Stay off the grass: While the Tarpons are playing elsewhere to accommodate the Rays, the A’s and River Cats will be co-tenants. To combat the wear and tear of 150 games on the same grass, they’ll take a one-week break from home games in June to re-sod the field.

Hitter-friendly ballparks: Steinbrenner Field’s dimensions are identical to Yankee Stadium, meaning the Rays are going from the 18th-most homer-friendly park to the third (to say nothing of the Florida heat, which could really make the balls fly in the summertime).

Offensive explosion: The ball travels pretty well at Sutter Health Park, too: The Cubs and A’s combined for 44 runs and 12 homers during Chicago’s three-game sweep this week. That included one blast that would not have cleared the fence in the other 29 ballparks.

Major league clubs, minor league vibes: The capacities at Sutter Health Park (14,000) and Steinbrenner Field (10,000) are by far the smallest in the majors. Add that to features like the outfield berms in Sacramento, and these games will feel charmingly minor league.

🏀 Chasing 70 wins

Oklahoma City’s chase for 70 wins is still alive with six games to go.

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Where it stands: The Thunder (64-12) have won 11 straight games and lost just twice since the All-Star break, putting them in position to join the 1995-96 Bulls and 2015-16 Warriors as the only 70-win teams in NBA history.

Remaining schedule:

• Tonight: at Rockets

• Sunday: vs. Lakers

• April 8: vs. Lakers

• April 9: at Suns

• April 11: at Jazz

• April 13: at Pelicans

Wild stat: 50 of OKC’s 64 victories have come by 10+ points, tied with the 1971-72 Lakers for the most double-digit wins in league history.

📺 Watchlist: 136 teams entered, eight remain

Here’s your Final Four slate:

• Women (Friday): No. 1 Texas vs. No. 1 South Carolina (7pm ET, ESPN); No. 1 UCLA vs. No. 2 UConn (9pm, ESPN) … Championship on Sunday (3pm, ABC).

• Men (Saturday): No. 1 Florida vs. No. 1 Auburn (6:09pm, CBS); No. 1 Duke vs. No. 1 Houston (8:49pm, CBS) … Championship on Monday (8:50pm, CBS).

More to watch:

• 🏀 NBA: Suns at Celtics (Fri. 7:30pm, NBA); Nuggets at Warriors (Fri. 10pm, NBA); Grizzlies at Pistons (Sat. 7pm, NBA); Lakers at Thunder (Sun. 3:30pm, NBA); Kings at Cavs (Sun. 6pm, NBA); Rockets at Warriors (Sun. 8:30pm, NBA)

• 🏒 NHL: Rangers at Devils (Sat. 12:30pm, ABC); Penguins at Stars (Sat. 3pm, ABC); Capitals at Islanders (Sun. 12:30pm, TNT); Stars at Wild (Sun. 3pm, TNT); Panthers at Red Wings (Sun. 5:30pm, TNT); Golden Knights at Canucks (Sun. 10pm, ESPN)

• ⚾️ MLB: Dodgers at Phillies (Fri. 6:45pm, Apple; Sat. 4pm, FS1); Rays at Rangers (Fri. 8pm, Apple); Cardinals at Red Sox (Sun. 7pm, ESPN)

• 👟 Grand Slam Track: Jamaica (Fri-Sun, Peacock) … 96 men and women compete in the inaugural event.

• ⚽️ Premier League: Manchester United vs. Manchester City (Sun. 11:30am, NBC) … Both sides are having down years, but it’s still the Manchester Derby.

• 🇺🇸 Friendly: USWNT vs. Brazil (Sat. 5pm, TNT) … At SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.

• 🏁 F1: Japanese GP (Sun. 1am, ESPN) … At Suzuka Circuit, 50 miles east of Kyoto.

• ⛳️ Golf: Texas Open (Fri-Sun, ESPN+/Golf/NBC); Augusta National Women’s Amateur (Sat. 12pm, NBC); LIV Miami (Fri-Sun, Fox/FS1)

• 🏀 Women’s NIT: Troy at Buffalo (Sat. 5pm, CBSSN) … Championship.

Plus… 15 MLS games (Sat-Sun, Apple); NASCAR at Darlington Raceway (Sun. 3pm, FS1); UFL Week 2 (Fri-Sun, Fox/ABC/ESPN); Boys and Girls Chipotle Nationals (Fri-Sat, ESPN2/ESPNU); College Basketball Crown (Sat-Sun, FS1/Fox).

🏀 Final Four trivia

The 2008 Men’s Final Four, the last with four No. 1 seeds, featured Kansas, UNC, UCLA and Memphis.

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Question: Who beat who in the title game?

Answer at the bottom.

📸 Photo finish

The beautiful game.

Trivia answer: Kansas 75, Memphis 68 (OT)

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