The most anticipated women’s Final Four ever, plus hockey fight poll results

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Good morning! Get to a TV tonight.

Big Nights: The long game of tonight’s Final Four

Maybe the most anticipated Final Four in the history of women’s college basketball tips tonight. Caitlin Clark against Paige Bueckers. Undefeated juggernaut South Carolina against a dangerous underdog in NC State. 

Are you excited? You should be. 

This is a huge moment after two years of other huge moments. Viewership records have been broken and could be broken again tonight. It all feels so … expansive. To help drill down on what’s important — tonight’s games and the future of the sport, no biggie — I conducted a roundtable: 

Not a single one of our writers picked against Clark and Iowa, though most picked a tight game. Is there any path through for UConn here?
Ben Pickman, staff writer: Absolutely! A UConn upset victory will require a masterclass performance from Bueckers, but it will also mean that the Huskies’ role players have avoided foul trouble. UConn has had five players suffer season-ending injuries this year, and it regularly has at least two players play 40 minutes in a game. Still, Bueckers is that good and it will also be worth watching how much she ends up guarding Clark. Bueckers spent some time in the fourth quarter of UConn’s Elite Eight victory guarding USC’s JuJu Watkins and did quite well. We’ll see if she can replicate that result on Friday night.

Oddsmakers have NC State-South Carolina as an SC blowout, but you actually picked an upset here. Why?
Sabreena Merchant, staff writer: NC State’s biggest advantage is the athleticism of its backcourt. Saniya Rivers, Aziaha James, and Zoe Brooks are all capable of blowing by their defender off the dribble, which gets the defense in rotation and creates open catch-and-shoot 3-pointers. If the Wolfpack can increase the tempo, they can cause some trouble for South Carolina.

I sense this staggering momentum for women’s college hoops is not going away, even after Clark leaves. What’s your elevator pitch for real staying power?
Richard Deitsch, senior writer: The inflection point for the sport, at least as a viewership play, was last year’s title game between LSU and Iowa. I think 10 years from now we will look at that game as where the sport leaped from one level of consumer interest to the next. Next year’s viewership won’t match this week’s, but there will be a specific number of people who sampled the product because of Clark and end up staying with it. 

The most important part — the actual play on the court — is only going to improve. We’re still at the beginning of this story in many ways but the arrow is pointing in only one direction. I’d get on the ride now.

Clark is heading to the WNBA despite having another year of eligibility. Same goes for Angel Reese and Cameron Brink. Do you foresee a significant popularity/ratings boost for the WNBA coming?
Andrew Marchand, senior writer: I definitely do. I think it starts with Clark. If there was one player in the world that I could watch tonight in any sport, it would be Clark, and I don’t think I’m alone. If there is a way the WNBA gets lucky and Clark and Reese are rivals on the floor, in the same way that Magic Johnson and Larry Bird were when the NBA had its renaissance, that will be an added bonus. However it exactly plays — especially because of Clark — I think you will see growth in the league on TV and in arenas. I find it hard to believe that the WNBA will not be much bigger over the next five to 10 years than ever.

Make sure to bookmark our live blogs for both Iowa-UConn and South Carolina-NC State before tonight’s tips. And a reminder: the men tip off on Saturday with a big question — can anyone beat UConn? 

We’ll let you know Sunday.

News to Know

Dodgers face accusations over HR ball
Shohei Ohtani hit his first dinger as a Dodger on Wednesday, a 430-foot blast that brought relief to the superstar who’s already endured a lot this season. And yet the milestone was not without controversy: the woman who caught the ball, Ambar Roman, left what should’ve been a joyous moment feeling jilted by Dodgers security, who she says pressured and low-balled her in exchange for the ball. Sam Blum has a full report from a tough scene.

The Sacramento* A’s
The Athletics are moving to Sacramento for three years beginning next season, the team announced yesterday, before the franchise permanently relocates to Las Vegas in 2028. The A’s will share a stadium with the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats but will not include “Sacramento” (or “Oakland”) anywhere on team branding materials. Maybe this all works out, but for now, it just sounds like a bummer. Marcus Thompson says maybe the A’s should really leave Oakland now — and let’s see who’s better off. Scathing.

Knicks lose star for season
Julius Randle will undergo season-ending shoulder surgery, the team announced, deflating hopes of a deep playoff run for the 45-31, yet injury-laden Knicks. Randle will be re-evaluated in five months, which could put his status for next season’s opener in doubt, too. As Fred Katz noted, his absence means the Knicks will go the entire season without employing its best lineup. Brutal.

More news

Feedback Loop: We are largely over hockey fights

Hockey fights are so passé, according to Pulse readers. At least a large majority of you. We asked about it yesterday after the Rangers and Devils dropped gloves in a coordinated brawl.

I find this entire conversation fascinating: 

• I went back and re-read Sean McIndoe’s feature last year on the topic, which was thorough and thoughtful. His basic question was: What are we losing as fighting gradually leaves the game? And, ahem, is fight-less hockey more boring? The answer is different for many, but there is too much hockey talent on the ice to say the sport is boring without rampant brawls.
  
• Nostalgia is a force, too. I have a slightly more detached experience with all this, because I didn’t grow up idolizing the NHL like most of the country. My local team, an ECHL affiliate in Baton Rouge, La., thrived briefly before losing favor. I didn’t attend a live NHL game until I was 22, and I was in awe of the pace and skating talent on the ice, not any brawls. But I can understand that if you fell in love with the sport when fighting was a main feature, it’s tough to see the game move away from that.
  

Also: Isn’t hockey violent enough? This is a high-contact sport already. The brawls just feel so unnecessary to me, though fighting will always be part of the sport’s legacy. 

Thanks as always for voting.

Watch This Game

NCAAW: No. 3 NC State vs. No. 1 South Carolina (get tickets)
7 p.m. ET on ESPN
Duh. 

NCAAW: No. 3 UConn vs. No. 1 Iowa (get tickets)
9 p.m. ET on ESPN
Duh again.

Pulse Picks

Everyone’s favorite announcer, Ian Eagle, is the new voice of the Final Four. But his story started in the Borscht Belt, which sounds delicious. Brian Hamilton wrote a lovely profile of Eagle before his Final Four debut this weekend, which is worth your time today. 

Always a fun and different NFL mock draft: Bruce Feldman makes his picks, with insight from both college football coaches and NFL sources. QBs everywhere in this one. 

Brody Miller was on hand for Anthony Kim’s press conference yesterday and came away with a great story about golf’s most elusive character. Genuinely rooting for that guy. 

Chantel Jennings writes about Ole Miss’ controversial hire of women’s basketball assistant Quentin Hillsman, which Chantel writes sends a “sickening” message. 

Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Brendan Quinn’s exclusive interview with former Michigan head coach Juwan Howard. 

Most-read on the website yesterday: The new MLB jerseys are still a problem. Nike and Fanatics are searching for solutions. Sweat stains for everyone.

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