This year’s NCAA tournament feels different, and it’s not just because it’s the first in a bubble. Rather, for the first time in a long time, it really feels like it’s anyone’s tournament to win.

The last time we watched March Madness in 2019, only No. 1 and No. 2 seeds made the Elite Eight. And in the last 20 years, there hasn’t been a single Final Four without at least two No. 1 seeds.

But this bracket is jam-packed with teams that could stay a few extra weekends, from one seeds (is it a hot take to pick NC State?) to three seeds (don’t forget about Tennessee’s victory over South Carolina) to five seeds (we see you Caitlin Clark and Iowa).

With games starting on Sunday, March 21, here are our first reactions to the 2021 NCAA tournament draw.

No. 1 seed with the toughest path

When it comes to tournament spoilers, Stanford has multiple of their side of the bracket. Second seeded Louisville might have the country’s best player in Dana Evans. Three seeded Georgia has a mean, physical, and experienced defense. Fourth seeded Arkansas has knocked off UConn and Baylor (more on this below). And Five seeded Missouri State came back from 16 to beat Maryland.

The Alamo region! #ncaaW pic.twitter.com/Wz2wNlzse4

— NCAA Women’s Basketball (@ncaawbb) March 15, 2021

Stanford will have some tough games down the road — that is, if they can even make it out of the second round. The Cardinal will have to face off against either Oklahoma State and Natasha Mack, the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, or Wake Forest and their four players averaging double-digit points.

There’s a reason Stanford was ranked as the number one overall seed, but don’t let the headlines deceive you. This will not be an easy journey back to the Final Four for the Cardinal.

The non-top two seed with the best chance to win it all

How about No. 4 Arkansas? The Razorbacks have wins over Baylor and UConn, and lost to Texas A&M twice by a total of three points. They can score in a hurry, averaging 83.1 points per game, fourth-best in the country, despite playing in the SEC. They also have a born scorer in Chelsea Dungee, who lives at the free-throw line and attacks the basket without any regard for the defenders in front of her. Dungee dropped 37 points on UConn, and she can do it again. Just ask Ole Miss, whom she torched for 38 points five games later.

CHELSEA DUNGEE. ALL GAS NO BRAKES 🔥 pic.twitter.com/WfoeragYjk

— espnW (@espnW) January 29, 2021

The problems with Arkansas? They’re on the stacked side of the bracket, are 2-6 against top-25 teams, and, for as much as Arkansas can score, they allow opponents to score just as much. In an early-season match-up against Maryland, they gave up 115 points — the Terrapins’ highest-scoring outing of the year. But if this Arkansas team gets hot or Dungee fights her way to the free-throw line 17 times (as she did against Ole Miss), they can beat anyone in the bracket — as they’ve already shown.

Team with the most Cinderella potential

Who doesn’t like watching a team fly up and down the court chucking threes? That’s what you’ll get with Florida Gulf Coast University. Riding a 25-game win streak, the Eagles’ offense averages an NCAA-best 11.9 three-point field goals per game, while they limit opposing three-point shooters to 25.3% on the other end.

Here's some sights from our travel day to San Antonio! 🌴 pic.twitter.com/svJ4KA1ufv

— FGCU Women's Basketball (@FGCU_WBB) March 17, 2021

Their only two losses came early in the season against Missouri State and Arkansas, games they played without their leading scorer Kierstan Bell, an Ohio State transfer who averaged 24.3 points and 10.8 rebounds this year. When Bell finally did return, Florida Gulf Coast scored 70 points and beat a UCF squad that typically holds teams to 49.9 points per game — the best in the country. The 11th seeded Eagles are a tad undersized, without a true forward or anyone above 6-foot-1 on their roster, but, at full strength, no one in the country has beaten them.

Best conference champion to not make the tournament

That’s right. A team won their conference championship and won’t be making the trip to San Antonio. But it’s not because of COVID or NCAA violations. It’s because they’re still in the process of reclassifying to Division I.

We’re talking about Cal Baptist here, the only team in the country to have an undefeated record after they went 24-0 this season and swept the WAC. Previously a Division II team, Cal Baptist must wait a total of four years before hearing their name called on the Selection Show. In the meantime, they’ll have to settle for a WNIT bid. See you in 2023, Lancers fans.

Top-seeded Montréal suffered a surprising loss in their first 2025 PWHL Playoffs game on Thursday, falling 3-2 to postseason debutant No. 3-seed Ottawa.

Despite a tense back-and-forth battle, Ottawa forward Shiann Darkangelo broke through with a third-period game-winning goal, pushing the Charge to an early lead in the best-of-five semifinal series.

The Victoire, who notably used their No. 1-seed advantage to handpick the Charge as their semis opponent, have yet to log a playoff win, adding Thursday's defeat to last season's first-round sweep by Boston.

Even so, Montréal is already viewing the loss as fuel to even the score this weekend.

"We outshot them, we had a lot of great opportunities. We were right there," said Victoire forward Laura Stacey. "If we can put that game together for a whole 60 minutes, it'll look scary I think."

Toronto takes Game 1 from defending champs Minnesota

In the PWHL's other semifinal matchup, No. 2-seed Toronto claimed a one-win advantage over No. 4-seed Minnesota on Wednesday, halting the defending champion Frost's late-season surge with a 3-2 Sceptres victory.

Captain Blayre Turnbull opened scoring in the first period, giving Toronto a lead that they never relinquished, while rookie Julia Gosling netted a second-period brace to secure the Sceptres' win.

Minnesota, acknowledging the tough road they face to return to the championship ice, has already set their eyes on Game 2.

"It's going to be a hard-fought series," said Frost head coach Ken Klee after the Frost's Game 1 loss. "We didn't get one tonight…[so now] we're looking forward to Friday."

How to watch the 2025 PWHL Playoffs this weekend

Toronto and Minnesota are back in action for Game 2 of their series at 7 PM ET on Friday, before traveling to St. Paul for Game 3 at 6 PM ET on Sunday.

Sunday will also see Montréal’s attempt to even their series with Ottawa, with the puck dropping on their Game 2 matchup at 2 PM ET.

All games will stream live on the PWHL YouTube channel.

The 2024/25 Women's Super League (WSL) season officially wraps on Saturday, with Chelsea preparing to claim even more history on the heels of their sixth-straight league title.

The still-undefeated Blues will face sixth-place Liverpool in their final outing, with Chelsea on the cusp of becoming the fourth-ever team to finish a WSL season unbeaten.

Should they do so, Chelsea will join 2012's Arsenal, 2016's Manchester City, and their own 2018 squad in achieving perfection — those this year's Blues would be the first to accomplish the feat in the expanded 22-match campaign.

While the team only needs a draw to remain undefeated, a win would secure Chelsea another record, becoming the first club to tally 60 points in a single campaign — two more than the current mark the Blues claimed in 2022/23.

Despite their astounding WSL record, the Blues have fought hard for their dominance this season, with first-year head coach Sonia Bompastor strategically using her entire roster to maintain the winning legacy left by now-USWNT boss Emma Hayes.

"Don't think it's easy. It's never easy," said Bompastor after Chelsea's 2024/25 title win. "It's a great achievement and a lot of work every day — I don't let my players breathe."

Battle for second-place continues on final WSL matchday

While Chelsea chases records, other top WSL clubs are still jockeying for positions on the league's final 2024/25 table.

Along with the Blues, Arsenal and Manchester United are locked into Champions League qualifying positions for next season — but United could leapfrog Arsenal for a second-place WSL finish on Saturday.

Separated by just one point, the Red Devils and the Gunners will face off against each other in the season's final blockbuster matchup.

Arsenal has extra incentive for a good showing, as the Gunners try to snap their two-game WSL losing streak and gain momentum before battling Barcelona in the May 24th Champions League final.

Chelsea also has a shot at another trophy looming, with the Blues chasing a second domestic treble — winning the league, FA Cup, and League Cup.

However, a tough Manchester United stands in the way of Chelsea's third and final treble title, with the pair facing off in the FA Cup's May 18th championship match.

How to watch WSL matches this weekend

All 12 WSL teams will kick off their season's last matches at 7:30 AM ET on Saturday.

Both Chelsea's game against Liverpool and Manchester United's visit to Arsenal will stream live on ESPN+.

As tune-up tournaments like this week's 2025 Italian Open dominate tennis ahead of the 2025 French Open, one familiar name is back in the headlines, with world No. 48 Naomi Osaka making significant strides on the clay court.

Coming off her first tournament win since 2021 at L'Open 35 de Saint-Malo — a WTA 125 event — last weekend, Osaka immediately advanced to the Italian Open's third round this week.

The four-time Grand Slam winner has shown glimpses of brilliance after returning from her 2023 pregnancy, with Osaka now aiming to keep up momentum on her historically weakest surface.

"Kinda ironic to win my first trophy back on the surface that I thought was my worst," Osaka posted after her May 4th victory. "That's one of my favorite things about life though, there's always room to grow and evolve."

Osaka isn't the only tennis star cooking in Europe, as heavy-hitters like world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, No. 2 Iga Świątek, and No. 3 Coco Gauff also moved ahead in Rome as they look to hone their Roland-Garros form.

Not usually a clay court specialist, Sabalenka has looked particularly formidable, defeating Gauff to take the 2025 Madrid Open title just last week.

How to watch the 2025 Italian Open

The 2025 Italian Open's Round of 32 kicks off early Saturday morning, with continuing coverage on The Tennis Channel.

Fresh off winning their first-ever WNBA title, the New York Liberty will kick off their 2025 preseason slate with in a Friday night clash against the Connecticut Sun — despite the reigning champs looking a little worse for wear.

Two-time WNBA MVP Breanna Stewart has been slowly recovering from offseason knee surgery, with the 30-year-old watching from the bench on Friday in an effort to return to full fitness for next week's season opener.

Similarly, star guard Betnijah Laney-Hamilton is likely out for the entirety of the 2025 WNBA season with a knee injury of her own, exiting the offseason 3×3 league Unrivaled with a meniscus injury in early March.

Meanwhile, starting sharpshooter Leonie Fiebich has yet to join the Liberty in training camp as the European standout finishes her overseas season with Spain's Valencia Basket.

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Liberty additions to make New York debut on Friday

That said, New York did manage to make a few savvy pick-ups ahead of the 2025 campaign, with the newly configured team eyeing a strong Friday showing to avoid rumors of a slow season start.

The Liberty traded for point guard Natasha Cloud and signed forward Izzy Harrison over the offseason, while also welcoming back guards Marine Johannes and Rebekah Gardner.

Given New York's lengthy availability report, Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello noted that the team's markedly late preseason start was not strategic, but merely a scheduling solution.

"Sometimes it's just out of our hands," Brondello told reporters. "This is the first home game that we've had because we've never been able to get the arena availability, so that's it. Ideally, we would have liked to play the game by now, but it is what it is."

How to watch the New York Liberty in the 2025 WNBA preseason

New York will tip off against Connecticut at 7 PM ET on Friday, with live coverage on WNBA League Pass.