The NCAA has signed a new 8-year, $920 million dollar media rights deal with ESPN for 40 of its NCAA championships, Front Office Sports reported on Thursday.

The deal includes the women’s March Madness tournament, which through the deal is valued at $65 million. The average payout of the deal per year sits at $115 million. That triples the price of the current package, which averages $34 million a year for 29 championships. It also rectifies the undervaluation of the women’s NCAA tournament, which was at the heart of a gender inequity report.

Working with the NCAA on the deal was Endeavor’s IMG and WME Sports.

While the number is under the estimated $81-$112 million valuation floated around about the women’s basketball tournament, it reportedly reflects the status of the market when it came time for negotiations. Karen Brodkin, EVP and Co-Head of WME Sports, noted that the market “is not like we’ve ever seen before.”

The valuation wound up being three times the previous deal, whereas other leagues have recently only gotten 1.2 or 1.3 times their valuation in recent deals. And opting to have the women’s basketball tournament remain bundled with other championships was in part to help out other, less popular championships.

“I wanted the best deal for everybody,” NCAA president Charlie Baker said.

While other networks were involved, the NCAA only spoke to ESPN during its exclusive negotiating window. Baker said that while Endeavor spoke with other networks, those conversations were “kind of all over the place.”

The deal will begin on Sept. 1 and end in 2032, corresponding with the end of the men’s tournament deal with CBS and Warner Bros. Discovery.

“We didn’t do a renewal,” EVP and Head of the Americas for Media at IMG, Hillary Mandel, told FOS. “This is a reset.”

In addition to adding 11 championships, ESPN has also committed to more investment in storytelling in the style of long-form, documentary-esque content.

Haley Cavinder’s NCAA career is not over.

Cavinder had previously announced that she and her twin sister Hanna would retire from college basketball after spending last season with Miami. But on Friday, Cavinder entered the transfer portal, with the intent to return to the court for the 2024-25 season, her agent Jeff Hoffman told ESPN.

“See you next season,” Cavinder wrote on Instagram.

Cavinder, a guard, averaged 12.2 points and 4.9 rebounds per game last season, earning second-team All-ACC honors and leading the Hurricanes to their first appearance in the Elite Eight.

The Cavinder twins have a massive social media following, and together, they became stars of the first NIL wave in college athletics. In 2021, they signed NIL deals with WWE, and in April they announced they would forgo their final seasons of college eligibility to pursue opportunities with the sports entertainment company.

“I started with her, so at the end of the day, I want to end basketball and start our new lives together, but it was definitely difficult for me,” Cavinder said at the time.

Cavinder will spend the next year training with her sister for WWE, according to ESPN, and then work toward one final season of college basketball.

The Cavinder twins transferred to Miami for last season after playing together at Fresno State for three seasons. On their joint TikTok account they have 4.5 million followers.

The best college softball teams in the country competed at the 2023 NCAA Women’s College World Series at the USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, and for the third straight year, the Oklahoma Sooners came out on top.

No. 1 Oklahoma won its third consecutive NCAA title — and ended the season on a historic winning streak. Competition began on June 1 and continued through June 8.

Just Women’s Sports kept tabs on the action as it unfolds. See below for the full game schedule, and an explainer on how the Women’s College World Series bracket works.

Which teams are competing at the 2023 Women’s College World Series?

Sixty-four teams competed in the NCAA softball championship this spring, with eight ultimately qualifying for this week’s Women’s College World Series (WCWS).

In order to qualify for the WCWS, each team had to first make it through a four-team regional competition (featuring a double-elimination bracket), followed by a two-team super regional championship (featuring a best-of-three format).

These are the eight teams that qualified for the 2023 WCWS:

  • No. 1 Oklahoma
  • No. 3 Florida State
  • No. 4 Tennessee
  • No. 5 Alabama
  • No. 6 Oklahoma State
  • No. 7 Washington
  • No. 9 Stanford
  • No. 15 Utah

How does the bracket work at the Women’s College World Series?

The Women’s College World Series uses a double elimination bracket for the first stage, followed by a best-of-3 championship series.

Competition begins with the eight teams competing in a bracket. When a team loses its first game, it will be sent to the elimination bracket with a chance to play its way back into the main bracket. But when a team loses its second game, it is eliminated from contention.

The winner from each side of the bracket meets in the best-of-three championship series.

2023 Women’s College World Series — Schedule and Results

The Women’s College World Series began June 1 and continued through June 8. See below for a full schedule. All games were available on ESPN, ESPN2 or ABC — in addition to streaming on ESPN+.

In the semifinals, Stanford faced off against Oklahoma and nearly pulled off a Game 1 upset. Stanford freshman sensation NiJaree Canady was lights out against the Sooner batters in their WCWS opener and pushed them to the brink again Monday, but Oklahoma won 4-2 in nine innings to advance to their fourth straight championship series.

Florida State also had entered the championship series undefeated, defeating Tennessee 5-1 in Monday’s other semifinal game. But FSU lost its only regular season meeting with Oklahoma, falling 5-4 on March 14.

In the opening game of the WCWS finals, Oklahoma claimed a dominant 5-0 win against FSU, led by pitcher Jordy Bahl’s complete game shutout. The Sooners closed out their third straight title with a 3-1 win, in which Bahl recorded a three-inning save.

June 1:

  • Game 1: Tennessee 10, Alabama 5
  • Game 2: Oklahoma 2, Stanford 0
  • Game 3: Florida State 8, Oklahoma State 0

June 2:

  • Game 4: Washington 4, Utah 1
    • Note: Originally scheduled for June 1, but postponed due to weather
  • Game 5: Stanford 2, Alabama 0
  • Game 6: Oklahoma State 8, Utah 0

June 3:

  • Game 7: Oklahoma 9, Tennessee 0
  • Game 8: Florida State 3, Washington 1

June 4:

  • Game 9: Stanford 1, Washington 0
  • Game 10: Tennessee 3, Oklahoma State 1

June 5:

  • Game 11: Oklahoma 4, Stanford 2 (9 innings)
    • Game 12 not needed after Stanford elimination
  • Game 13: Florida State 5, Tennessee 1
    • Game 14 not needed after Tennessee elimination

Championship Finals (Best of 3)
No. 1 Oklahoma vs. No. 3 Florida State

Emory women’s golf coach Katie Futcher is still in shock at what unfolded last week at the NCAA Division III women’s golf championship at Mission Inn and Resort’s El Campeon Course in Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida.

“I’ve been around golf my entire life. I played amateur golf, played collegiate golf, played professional golf for nine years on the tour. And I have never heard of or seen a round being canceled because of a poor pin location,” Futcher, who just announced her retirement, told Just Women’s Sports.

A viral video of the third round of competition shows multiple competitors attempting to putt the ball into the sixth hole — only to have it roll back to their feet. After play was paused during the afternoon session due to lightning, the NCAA Division III women’s golf committee decided to scrap all scores from round three, citing the “unplayable” pin at hole six.

“Throughout Round 3 on Thursday, and despite efforts to improve conditions, it became apparent that the pin placement on hole No. 6 … was unplayable,” the committee said in statement provided to GolfChannel.com. “After play was suspended due to lightning late Thursday afternoon, the committee analyzed numerous different options on how to complete the tournament in the time allotted.”

George Fox University went on to win the NCAA team title, while Annie Mascot of Washington University-St. Louis won the individual championship.

Still, the NCAA committee’s decision to cancel the third round — coupled with the pin placement itself — has resulted in social media outrage, questions of sexism and scrutiny over how the championship was organized.

In golf, weather delays are common. But when a round is paused and can’t be finished the same day, it is typically completed early the next morning. That very thing happened during the second round of the D3 women’s golf championship. When play was halted during the second round on Wednesday afternoon, players who hadn’t finished resumed play first thing Thursday morning — before beginning Round 3. Futcher says the NCAA committee’s decision to cancel Round 3 after more than 60 percent of competitors had finished in order to prioritize the start of Round 4 is “unheard of.”

While last week’s NCAA women’s golf championship was held at Mission Inn and Resort’s El Campeon Course, it was NCAA rules officials — not the club — who were responsible for setting the course.

“The pin location was absolutely terrible. It should have never happened,” Futcher said. Still, she was shocked when the round was cancelled midway through.

“The thing about golf is, everybody is playing the same pin locations the entire day. Everybody is playing the same golf course,” she explained. “There is an advantage to be playing in the morning, because the green is maybe a little bit more moist. … But the players that teed off in the morning earned the right to have those better conditions because they played better the first few days.”

Jodie Burton, the head coach of the Claremont Mudd Scripps team that finished third, agrees that the pin placement was bad and that teams should have played through it, but appreciated that the head rules official apologized for the mistake.

“He owned the mistake. But it was just a mistake,” Burton said.

Futcher hopes the controversy leads to more accountability and oversight. “I’m sure the rules officials are all terrific, wonderful people. But they are hosting a national championship under the banner of the NCAA, and we have pins, not just on (hole six), that were placed in asinine positions. And I just don’t understand how that could happen.”

The NCAA’s treatment of women’s championships has been under a microscope since 2021, when massive inequities were exposed at that year’s men’s and women’s Division I basketball championships.

Burton doesn’t think sexism played a role here, though. “I don’t what this men’s committee would have come up with, but I don’t think it has anything to do with (sexism) at all. This is the women’s golf championship, and it’s usually wonderful and it still was a wonderful experience,” she said.

Futcher, however, has a hard time imagining that the men’s D3 championship would have featured such terrible pin locations or that the third round would have been handled in the same way. “I find it hard to believe the men would cancel the round or not try to find other solutions,” she said.

For Christel Boeljon, Futcher’s wife and assistant coach, what happened at this year’s national championship is indicative of a larger attitude problem in D3 women’s golf.

“I think that the mentality of Division III women’s golf is almost dumbed down,” Boeljon said. “And I think that’s a shame because all of these girls can seriously play and they work very hard at it.”

Boeljon pointed to the fact that while it is common for athletes in D1 and D2 men’s and women’s golf — and D3 men’s golf — to walk 36 holes in one day, that is a much harder pitch to make for a D3 women’s competition.

While Emory, the defending champion, played a great third round and was arguably put at a disadvantage by the decision to cancel, Futcher believes she would feel just as strongly even if her team hadn’t performed as well in the cancelled round. Emory went on to finish fifth overall.

“I want to state that I could not be more pleased for Mary Jo at George Fox,” she said. “Her team played phenomenal for the three rounds that counted. And she and her team deserve everything that they won and earned this week. … But (the drama) takes away from the team that won.”

She added: “I think the rules officials should be held accountable for the mistake. I think the NCAA committee should be held accountable for their mistake in not overseeing the rules official in terms of the pin placement. I think when you cancel the round, no one gets held accountable.”

Oklahoma won the 2023 NCAA gymnastics team title on Saturday, the Sooners’ second straight national championship — and sixth title in nine years.

Oklahoma’s dynasty has become so strong that some fans at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, were sporting “anyone but Oklahoma” t-shirts — something the Sooners took in stride. They led after each rotation and topped the team standings with 198.3875 points, finishing 0.150 points ahead of second-place Florida. Utah (-0.450) and LSU (-0.862) finished third and fourth, respectively.

Oklahoma was steered by sophomore all-arounder Jordan Bowers and 2023 NCAA vault champ Olivia Trautman.

Also during Saturday’s NCAA team championship, Florida gymnast Trinity Thomas tied the NCAA record for career perfect 10s.

Florida gymnast Trinity Thomas recorded her 28th ‘perfect 10’ on Saturday to tie the NCAA record for most career perfect 10s. Thomas accomplished the feat during the NCAA team final at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, with this truly stellar vault (video below).

During her five-year career at Florida, Thomas earned at least five perfect 10s on each apparatus: 12 on floor, six on beam, five on bars and five on vault. She joins UCLA’s Jamie Dantzscher (2001-04) and Kentucky’s Jenny Hansen (1993-96), who also received 28 perfect 10s during their careers. (It should be noted that Thomas achieved the feat during her fifth year of NCAA competition — the result of an extra “COVID” year — while Dantzscher and Hansen both reached the mark in four years.)

Thomas’s status was uncertain in the lead-up to this weekend’s NCAA gymnastics championships after the 2022 NCAA all-around champion suffered a lower leg injury at Florida’s regional competition last month.

“I was not focused on that at all,” Thomas told ESPN of her record-tying accomplishment. “I was just focused on being out one last time with my team.”

A few minutes after tying the perfect 10 record on vault, Thomas fell just short of breaking that tie. The 22-year-old scored a 9.9125 on uneven bars, bobbling slightly on her landing.

Oklahoma won the 2023 NCAA team title, the Sooners’ sixth national title in nine seasons.

Multiple streaks came to an end on Saturday when No. 2 UConn lost to No. 3 Ohio State in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament. For the first time since 2007, the Huskies won’t compete in the Final Four. It also marks the first time since 2005 that UConn failed to advance to the Elite Eight.

“The problem with streaks is, the longer they go, you’re closer to it ending than you are to the beginning of it,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said after his team’s 73-61 loss at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle.

Auriemma, who has been at the helm of the Huskies program since 1985, said the streak also provided a false impression of what it means win NCAA tournament games in March.

“We made it look so routine and so easy, we gave the impression that it’s very easy to do. It’s a reminder that, no, it’s not. It’s very difficult to do. So you appreciate what we had, what we did, and, you know, you have to start another one next year.”

By snapping UConn’s streak, Ohio State also ended its own drought. When the Buckeyes step onto the court for Monday’s Elite Eight matchup against Virginia Tech, it will be the program’s first appearance in a regional final since 1993.

Ole Miss women’s basketball head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin — better known as “Coach Yo” — is determined to see her team return to the NCAA Tournament after the No. 8 Rebels lost to No. 5 Louisville, 72-62, on Friday.

“The new standard for us is Sweet 16, and I think that that’s fair,” McPhee-McCuin said after the loss. “I’ve got five star-studded freshmen coming in and I’m about to do damage in the portal. So we’ll be back.”

McPhee-McCuin — who got her job coaching at Ole Miss after cold-calling the school to pitch herself — has gained a reputation as a coach adept at navigating the transfer portal. Of the nine Ole Miss players who averaged at least 10 minutes a game during March Madness, six were transfers.

The Rebels were playing in the Sweet 16 after upsetting No. 1 Stanford in the second round, holding the Cardinal to their second-lowest points total of the season.

“She’s the queen of the transfer portal,” said Myah Taylor, who concluded her NCAA eligibility as a graduate student at Ole Miss after playing four seasons at Mississippi State. “This team has just been a breath of fresh air for me. Coach Yo has really pushed me to embrace my journey and to write my own story, and I really feel like I did that here at Ole Miss.”

“Anybody who is whining about (the transfer portal) is going to be out of the business in two years. Remember I said that. You better evolve or you’re gone, all right? And the portal is a part of life, baby. So I just embrace it,” McPhee-McCuin said.

In addition to being a helpful recruiting tool, McPhee-McCuin appreciates that the transfer portal gives players more freedom. Prior to an NCAA rule change in 2021, Division 1 athletes who transferred between schools were required to sit out a year.

“These are young people. Give them a chance to correct their wrongs, you know? Freedom of choice,” she said.

“I make wrong decisions all the time. I bought a Lexus. I was ready to take that thing back after two weeks because I should have gotten a hybrid. As soon as I filled that tank up, I knew I made a mistake. I can’t go in the portal. I’m still stuck with the damn RX, okay?”

Kim Mulkey is trying to temper expectations for No. 3 LSU while simultaneously elevating her fashion game during the 2023 NCAA Women’s Tournament.

Mulkey, who is in her second year at LSU after spending 21 seasons at Baylor, has worn a flashy and conversation-sparking outfit for each round of this year’s NCAA Tournament.

img
Fans on social media argued whether Mulkey's sweater during LSU's first-round game said "queen" or "gueen." (Stephen Lew/USA TODAY Sports)

Asked about her glittering and feathery outfits after LSU defeated No. 2 Utah, 66-63, in the Sweet 16 on Friday, Mulkey credited her stylist, who has been shipping out a new outfit after each win.

“I do not go pick these things out,” said Mulkey, adding that the outfits speak to the personality of her home state.

“Look, we’re from Louisiana, we like sparkles, we like diamonds, we like Mardi Gras, we like to eat and we like to party.”

img
Mulkey wore a black and white polka-dot outfit for LSU's second-round game. (Stephen Lew/USA TODAY Sports)

Mulkey’s players are keeping score in the locker room.

“We already told her this is probably her best ‘fit,” LSU graduate forward Ladazhia Williams said of Mulkey’s pink-feather outfit on Friday night.

“The whole staff be coming trim. They all be fly. Nobody be liking. They all try to outdo each other,” added All-American forward Angel Reese.

Mulkey isn’t the only head coach to start conversation with her sideline fashion. Last week, South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley paid tribute to HBCU basketball history by wearing a vintage Cheyney State jersey for the Gamecocks’ 76-45 win over South Florida.

LSU will meet No. 9 Miami in the Elite Eight on Sunday at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN. The Hurricanes are just the second No. 9 seed to reach the Elite Eight of the NCAA Women’s Tournament.

After leading No. 9 Miami (Fla.) to a historic upset in the 2023 NCAA women’s basketball tournament, head coach Katie Meier opened her press conference by recounting an apology to Villanova head coach Denise Dillon.

“I apologized to Denise in the hallway because I was so excited I forgot to shake their hands, and that’s just not my style. That’s the first thing I wanted to say,” said Meier.

Miami upset No. 4 Villanova, 70-65, to advance to the Elite Eight for the first time in program history and continue its NCAA Tournament Cinderella run after toppling No. 1 Indiana in the Round of 32. Miami is just the second No. 9 seed to reach the Elite Eight of the NCAA Women’s Tournament. The first program to accomplish the feat was Arkansas, which made it all the way to the Final Four in 1998.

“It feels great because now we’re the only eight teams in the country playing right now. And we’re going to continue to stay humble and blessed and take advantage of this opportunity, stay together and just enjoy these moments,” said Destiny Harden, who had 15 points and a team-high nine rebounds.

The Hurricanes were led in scoring by Jasmyne Roberts, who recorded 26 points nine rebounds.

“Her efficiency numbers are incredible,” Meier said of Roberts’ performance. “She’s beasting, she’s bullying. The whole team was on the Jas train.”

Miami also had to contend with the nation’s leading scorer in Villanova’s Maddy Siegrist.

“Maddy is everything she’s been advertised. And we really pride ourselves on our defense, and only thing I can kind of brag about is it took 29 shots for her to get 31 points,” said Meier.

With those 31 points, Siegrist extended her NCAA record of 20-point games to 36 straight.

“You’ve got to kind of respect her game,” added Harden. “We always said if she scores and we win, then it don’t matter how much she scored. But you do have to respect a player like that.”

Next up for the Hurricanes in the 2023 NCAA Tournament is an Elite Eight matchup against No. 3 LSU on Sunday (7 p.m. ET on ESPN).