🏆 Y! Sports AM: Hail to the Victors
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🚨 HEADLINES
🏀 UNC hires Malone: North Carolina has found its replacement for Hubert Davis, reportedly hiring former Nuggets head coach Michael Malone to lead the program in Chapel Hill. Malone, 54, has experience as a college assistant, but has never been a head coach at a university.
🏀 Wemby injured: Victor Wembanyama left Monday's win early with a rib contusion, grimacing while his left arm hung down at his side as he checked out out of the game. He still must play at least 20 minutes in one of the Spurs' final three games to become eligible for end-of-season awards.
🏒 Kuch nets 400th: Lightning star Nikita Kucherov scored his 400th career goal on Monday, becoming the eighth Russian-born player to reach the milestone. It also tied him with Connor McDavid for the league lead in points (126) with five games left.
🏀 Reese traded to Atlanta: The Chicago Sky traded two-time All-Star Angel Reese to the Atlanta Dream for two first-round picks. Reese confirmed the news, calling it an "Angel's dream" to play for Atlanta.
⚾️ Soto lands on IL: Juan Soto will miss 2-3 weeks with a calf strain after landing on the IL for the first time since 2021. The Mets' $765 million man has been remarkably durable in his career, playing 150+ games in every non-COVID season except for his rookie year in 2018.
See what else is trending on Yahoo Sports.
🏆 HAIL TO THE VICTORS
(Jamie Schwaberow/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)Michigan put an exclamation point on a historic season in Monday's national title game, defeating UConn 69-63 to win the program's first championship since 1989.
Between the lines: The Huskies had the perfect gameplan to beat the Wolverines — slow pace, long possessions, muddy things up. But there's only so much scheming can do against superior talent and depth.
- Elliot Cadeau scored a game-high 19 points en route to being named Most Outstanding Player. Morez Johnson added 12 points and 10 boards.
- And Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan's best player, battled through injury and scored nine of his 13 points in the second half to help lift his team to victory.
Big Ten supremacy: Michigan's title snaps a 25-year men's basketball championship drought for the Big Ten, which becomes the first conference in Division I history to have three different schools win titles in football (Indiana), men's hoops and women's hoops (UCLA) in the same academic year.
(Tyler Schank/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)Two-year turnaround: Much like Curt Cignetti, who turned Indiana's football program into a national champion in the same two-year window, Dusty May has shown that long rebuilds are for suckers in this era of college athletics.
Just over 750 days ago, Michigan basketball finished a miserable, degrading eight-win season and did the only thing it could have done. Five years into a tenure that finally healed the university's sometimes complicated relationship with the Fab Five, it had no choice but to fire Juwan Howard.
The energy around the program was gone. The roster was threadbare. The impending coaching search was uncertain, as most of them are. Michigan has been a good program for a long time, with a lone national championship banner nearly four decades old, but it was nobody's idea of a blue blood. There was no guarantee Michigan could land a slam-dunk coaching star.
Down in Florida, Dusty May was the most desired coaching prospect on the market. Though the journey had been winding, six years at Florida Atlantic — and the stunning Final Four appearance in 2023 — had put May in a position for the first time in his career to pick the next move.
Louisville wanted him badly. Vanderbilt was pitching a big investment into basketball. And then there was Michigan, a school more associated with the championships it lost in 1992 and 1993 with one of the most famous teams in the history of the sport than the title it won in 1989.
"At the end of the day, we left it up to him," said his son, senior walk-on Charlie May. "I remember him saying, 'I feel like I can win a national championship at University of Michigan.'"
At 11:19 p.m. on Monday, it happened. With a 69-63 victory over UConn, May completed one of the great two-year turnarounds in college basketball history and fulfilled a destiny the Fab Five could never quite reach.
For some corners of college sports fandom, Michigan's roster has become the avatar for what's wrong with the current system. Rather than going out and recruiting a new Fab Five and cultivating it from the ground up, May got four of Michigan's five starters out of the transfer portal.
But you could also look at it the other way: If you have an opportunity to improve your team quickly, why would you choose to go through the growing pains that come with a traditional rebuild?
Bottom line: For decades, fixing a college sports program required patience and luck. Now, it's a game of investment and competence. But even Michigan didn't realize when it won the sweepstakes for May how big of a jackpot it had hit.
Looking ahead: Florida is the early favorite to win the 2026-27 national championship (10-1 odds at BetMGM), followed by Duke (11-1), Michigan (12-1), Michigan State (14-1) and Arizona (15-1). Expect those odds to change dramatically in the coming weeks as players hit the transfer portal (which opens today) and rosters begin to take shape.
🎶 Watch:"One Shining Moment"
🏀 REPORT: MARCH MADNESS EXPANSION 'WILL HAPPEN'
(Dillon Minshall/Yahoo Sports)Well folks, I hope you enjoyed the latest edition of March Madness, because the format is about to change. Barring something unforeseen, the NCAA is expected to finalize an expansion of the men's and women's tournaments to 76 teams, which could take effect as soon as next year.
What we're hearing: Barring something unforeseen, "it will happen," one high-placed source tells Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger.
The new format: According to a proposal socialized with members last year, both tournaments would add eight at-large selections, most of which are certain to provide the Big Ten, ACC, SEC, Big 12 and Big East with more participants.
- Eight games would be added to the current "First Four," creating a new "Opening Round" that would feature 24 teams playing 12 games over two days at two different sites (Dayton and another).
- Six of those games would likely feature lower-seeded automatic qualifiers, while the other six would pit at-large teams against each other. The 12 winners of the opening-round games would advance to an awaiting 52 teams in the original bracket.
- Under this concept, eight teams are extracted from the main bracket, plus the eight new at-large selections from expansion. But plenty of this could change through the course of continuing talks with TV partners Warner Bros. Discovery and CBS.
What they're saying: Leaders at the Big 12 and ACC, perhaps more than others, have aggressively pushed for the expansion of the tournament. But so has NCAA president Charlie Baker, who views it as a way for deserving bubble teams to extend their seasons.
"There are every year some really good teams that don't get to the tournament for a bunch of reasons," Baker said last fall. "One of the reasons is we have 32 automatic qualifiers [for conference champions]. I love that and think it's great and never want that to change, but that means there's only 36 slots left for everybody else."
There is also an unsaid reason for expansion… Paving the way for more access for power league programs that likely control the future of the event. Over the last five years, 15 of the 20 teams that the selection committee deemed as the "last four out" of the tournament have been from the power conferences.
🇺🇸 PHOTOS ACROSS AMERICA
(MLB)Cleveland, Ohio — José Ramírez, the heart and soul of the Guardians since his debut in 2013, played his 1,620th game on Monday, passing Terry Turner (1904-18) for the most in franchise history. The seven-time All-Star is now the only active player to lead a franchise in games played.
Is anyone else close? Mike Trout has played the fourth-most games in Angels history (1,658), a little over two full seasons behind franchise leader Garret Anderson (2,013); Jose Altuve has played the third-most among Astros (1,987), though he still has a ways to go before catching Craig Biggio (2,850).
José María Olazábal warms up in the practice area. (Andrew Redington/Getty Images)Augusta, Georgia — Masters week got underway on Monday at Augusta National. Practice rounds began, the mowing report was released, the range got a workout and the six amateurs in this year's field were honored with their annual dinner.
Perfect forecast: After two straight years of less than ideal weather, the 90th edition of the tournament is set to be graced with beautiful conditions: 73 and sunny, 79 and sunny, 83 and sunny, 85 and sunny.
(Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images)Denver, Colorado — Nikola Jokić had another sensational performance on Monday (35 points, 14 rebounds, 13 assists, 5 steals, 2 blocks) in the Nuggets' comeback win over the Trail Blazers, as Denver won its ninth straight game and leapfrogged the Lakers for third in the West.
Another stratosphere: We can save the MVP debate for another day, but this is your friendly reminder that Jokić is averaging a triple-double for the second straight season, leading the league in both rebounds (12.9) and assists per game (10.9) while averaging 28.0 points.
⚽️ BIG NUMBERS: CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
(Davis Long/Yahoo Sports)With the quarterfinals kicking off today, here’s a Champions League-focused edition of “Big Numbers.”
🏆 41st appearance
Real Madrid — who have won a record 15 Champions League titles — are making their record 41st appearance in the quarterfinals, including six in a row and 14 of the last 16.
The rest: Bayern Munich (36 appearances) and Barcelona (25) have the next-most quarterfinal appearances among the remaining teams, followed by Liverpool (18), Atlético Madrid (13), Arsenal (10), PSG (10) and Sporting CP (2).
💵 +275 odds
Arsenal are the current title favorites (+275 at BetMGM) ahead of Bayern (+300), Barcelona (+450), PSG (+500), Real Madrid (+800), Liverpool (+1000), Atlético Madrid (+2000) and Sporting CP (+5000).
The long shot: Sporting CP are clearly the minnow here as they seek to become the first Portuguese club to reach the semis since Porto in 2004. Since then, Portuguese sides are 0-9 in the quarterfinals.
Mbappé celebrates a goal in January's league phase match against Benfica. (Filipe Amorim/AFP via Getty Images)⚽️ 13 goals
Madrid's Kylian Mbappé leads all scorers in this year's competition, with 13 goals in nine games. Only three other players still alive in the tournament are even within six of Mbappé: Bayern's Harry Kane (10), Atlético's Julián Alvarez (8) and PSG's Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (7).
Chasing Ronaldo: Mbappé already broke Cristiano Ronaldo's record of 11 goals in a single group stage or league phase, though the Frenchman had the benefit of two additional games. Now he'll try to catch Ronaldo's record of 17 goals in a single Champions League season (2013-14).
🤝 29th meeting
No two clubs have squared off more often in UEFA competition than Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, whose 29th match is coming later today in Spain. Madrid holds a narrow 13-11 edge (plus four draws).
The other matchups: PSG and Liverpool are 3-3 in their previous six UEFA matches; Arsenal holds a 2-0 edge over Sporting CP (plus three draws); Atlético holds a 2-1 edge over Barcelona (plus one draw).
📺 WATCHLIST: TUESDAY, APRIL 7
The Dodgers' offense put on a clinic on Monday. (Mark Blinch/Getty Images)⚾️ Dodgers at Blue Jays
The World Series rematch continues tonight in Toronto (7:07pm ET, TBS) after the Dodgers trounced the Blue Jays, 14-2, on Monday.
Studs on the bump: World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto will start for the Dodgers, while Kevin Gausman — who has a pristine 0.75 ERA with 21 strikeouts against no walks through his first two starts this season — takes the mound for the Blue Jays.
🏀 NBA on NBC
The second-place Celtics host the eighth-place Hornets in the first leg of tonight's doubleheader (8pm), followed by the fifth-place Rockets at the seventh-place Suns in the nightcap (11pm).
Ending the drought: Charlotte's nine-year playoff drought, the longest in the league, may finally be coming to an end. The Hornets (43-36) have won four straight and sit just a half-game out of sixth place. Either they'll catch the 76ers and Raptors for an automatic playoff spot or they'll have a chance to win their way in via the play-in.
More to watch:
- ⚽️ Champions League: Real Madrid vs. Bayern Munich (3pm, Paramount+); Sporting CP vs. Arsenal (3pm, Paramount+) … Quarterfinals, first leg.
- 🏒 NHL: Flyers at Devils (7pm, ESPN); Oilers at Mammoth (9:30pm, ESPN) … The first-place Oilers (39-29-9) are in position to win their division for the first time since 1987.
- 🎾 Tennis: Monte-Carlo Masters (7:30am, Tennis) … Round of 32 action for Carlos Alcaraz, Alex de Minaur and more.
Got plans tonight? Gametime is the best place to score last-minute tickets to the events in your city. Get tickets now!
⚾ MLB TRIVIA
(Lauren Leigh Bacho/MLB Photos via Getty Images)Cleveland legend José Ramírez has six career top-five MVP finishes, tied for the most in MLB history among players who've never won the award.
Question: Who is he tied with?
Hint: Orioles.
Answer at the bottom.
⛳️ EXPLORING AUGUSTA NATIONAL
Golden Bell, the par-3 12th, is the heart of Amen Corner. Pure majesty. (Masters)The 90th Masters tees off in two days, and the fine folks over at Fried Egg Golf have created an excellent interactive course map to help bring the iconic grounds at Augusta National to life.
Hole-by-hole: From Tea Olive (No. 1) to Holly (No. 18) and everything in between, each hole features analysis, strategy and memorable shots from over the years.
Trivia answer: Eddie Murray
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