UCLA women win first NCAA hoops title; Islanders change coaches; NBA, World Cup power rankings

Plus, we kick off Masters week with our first couple of preview items

Carter Bahns

Apr 6, 2026

8:55 am ET

•

10 min read

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🏆 Five things to know Monday

- UCLA won the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament, and we'll crown a men's champion tonight. The Bruins are national champions for the first time in the NCAA Tournament era. A 28-point win over South Carolina on Sunday gave them the third-largest margin of victory in championship history, and it came as Lauren Betts recorded yet another double-double to close out her remarkable college career. The men's tournament, meanwhile, concludes tonight when Michigan and UConn square off at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Here's how to watch the final game of the year.

- Tommy Lloyd and Dusty May will not take the North Carolina job. The Tar Heels' top two candidates are off the board. Lloyd, prior to Arizona's loss in the Final Four, announced he will sign a new contract with the Wildcats. According to Matt Norlander, it's expected to be a five-year deal that makes Lloyd one of the five highest-paid public school coaches in the nation. Norlander also reported Sunday that May informed everyone involved he will stay with the Wolverines. The expectation now is that UNC will target Billy Donovan.

- Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves will miss the rest of the regular season. The Grade 2 hamstring strain Dončić sustained in the Lakers' Thursday blowout loss to the Thunder will keep him out through at least April 12. There is no word yet on his availability for the playoffs. His absence brings forth another argument against the league's unpopular 65-game rule, as he will miss eligibility for All-NBA honors by the slimmest of margins. That is one of numerous ripple effects of this injury, which has implications for the Lakers and the rest of the Western Conference as the postseason nears. Oh, and Reaves could reportedly miss the entire first round due to his Grade 2 oblique strain.

- The Islanders made a late-season coaching change. With just four games left until the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Islanders fired Patrick Roy and hired former Stars coach Peter DeBoer as his replacement. This is the franchise's second change in leadership in the past two years and comes after a four-game losing streak that put the Islanders' postseason hopes in serious jeopardy. DeBoer was the top coach on the market and may be viewed as a long-term leader even if he fails to keep New York on the right side of the postseason cut line.

- A flurry of MLB stars landed on the injured list. The first full week of the major-league season took its toll on a few of the biggest names in the sport. Most notably, the Astros lost their ace and potential Cy Young candidate, Hunter Brown, for at least 15 days due to a throwing shoulder strain, and the Dodgers saw Mookie Betts go down with an oblique strain. The Cubs will also be without one of their top arms as Cade Horton hit the IL with a right forearm strain. And the hits keep on coming for the Blue Jays as Alejandro Kirk fractured his thumb.

🏀 Do not miss this: Everything to know from the Final Four

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Five of the six contests across the men's and women's Final Fours are complete, leaving us with just 40 minutes of game time to go in the 2026 season. We already have one of our two champions, and the other will cut nets tonight.

Here's how we got here, starting with the women's tournament.

- South Carolina 62, UConn 48: The basketball world should have been celebrating South Carolina's commanding win over the reigning national champion, but instead it was Geno Auriemma who generated the most postgame attention. His heated exchange with Dawn Staley in the handshake line stole the show and, in the eyes of many, tarnished his image. Auriemma apologized for his outburst, but the damage to his reputation was already done.

- UCLA 51, Texas 44: The Bruins extended their winning streak to 30 games behind a double-double from Betts, who put the game on ice when she blocked a Madison Booker shot in the final minute. Booker had the worst shooting performance of her career in Texas' defeat.

- UCLA 79, South Carolina 51: It took less than two minutes for the Bruins to take their first lead in the national championship game, and they were off to the races from there in a game that got out of hand quickly. UCLA cut down the nets for the first time since 1978 -- four years before the first Women's NCAA Tournament began -- while South Carolina was routed in a second consecutive title game. This tournament was not a failure by any means for Staley, though.

And on the men's side …

- UConn 71, Illinois 62: The Huskies watched a 14-point lead evaporate int