By Associated Press | PUBLISHED: April 8, 2019 at 5:38 am | UPDATED: April 8, 2019 at 5:44 am By JOHN MARSHALL MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The NCAA Tournament will take an ugly turn in its final or, depending on your perspective, be a masterpiece in defensive basketball. The national title game Monday night pits Virginia (34-3), the standard-bearer in lockdown basketball, against the new kids on the defensive block, the Texas Tech Red Raiders (31-6). The over/under for points is 118. The over/under on bruises may be higher. “People have been all over how bad the Final Four is going to be, the final game, the low scoring, whatever,” Sacramento State coach Brian Katz said. “I love it. It’s great defense. Fun to watch. If you’re the casual fan and you’ve got one hand in the popcorn and beer, you’re waiting around looking for the big dunk or whatever, you’re probably bored. If you’re really into the game, you get it.” Here are … [Read more...] about Virginia vs. Texas Tech: Things to know for the NCAA championship game
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NCAA women’s championship game: Baylor beats Notre Dame
Doug Feinberg Associated Press Published 9:58 PM EDT Apr 7, 2019 Tampa, Fla. — Baylor recovered after blowing a 17-point lead and losing a star player, beating Notre Dame 82-81 for the NCAA women’s basketball championship Sunday night when 2018 tournament hero Arike Ogunbowale missed a foul shot in the final seconds. Chloe Jackson made a layup to put Baylor ahead with 3.9 seconds left. Notre Dame called timeout and inbounded to Ogunbowale, whose buzzer-beating jumper in the championship game lifted Notre Dame to last year’s title. Ogunbowale was fouled trying for a layup, then missed the first of two free throws with 1.9 seconds remaining. She made the second, but the Irish never got the ball back. “They just kept doing what we’ve been taught to do, and that’s guard people,” Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said. “We just beat the defending national champions. That team is so good, so talented. You’re going to see those guys play at … [Read more...] about NCAA women’s championship game: Baylor beats Notre Dame
Jarrett Culver’s late flourish sends Texas Tech to national title game
Held without a field goal for the first three-quarters of Texas Tech’s first Final Four game in program history, Jarrett Culver found his shooting stroke just in time.The future lottery pick stifled Michigan State’s late comeback bid with a huge 3-pointer, helping Texas Tech emerge with a 61-51 victory over Michigan State.That Texas Tech is one victory away from a national championship is unfathomable given the program’s thoroughly unremarkable history.Before Chris Beard arrived in 2016, Texas Tech had won only eight games in the NCAA tournament in program history and had never advanced past the Sweet 16. The Red Raiders have won eight in the past two years alone under Beard, toppling the likes of Florida, Purdue, Gonzaga, Michigan and Michigan State during that run.What makes that two-year stretch all the more impressive is that Beard has won with two very different rosters. Six of Texas Tech’s top eight players from last year either exhausted their … [Read more...] about Jarrett Culver’s late flourish sends Texas Tech to national title game
Michigan State’s Tom Izzo wants a 2nd national championship
Chris Solari Detroit Free Press Published 1:29 PM EDT Apr 4, 2019 EAST LANSING — Tom Izzo has never made a secret that he wants a second national championship. It has driven, at times consumed, him since winning in 2000. Michigan State’s 64-year-old coach knows how getting multiple titles can take a coach from great to legendary, a program from exceptional to blueblood. But as far as fans who think Izzo needs it for validation of his Hall of Fame career? “I'd say they're right,” Izzo said Tuesday, “because I need to validate it for me. I don't need to validate it for them. I have my own goals. And I have my own aspirations of what I want to do. … “I don't want to say it to get them off my back. I want to say it because if that's your goal for me, I promise you my goals are bigger than your goals for me, just like, I'm sure, your goals for yourself are bigger than the ones I have (for you).” The Spartans (32-6) need two more wins to … [Read more...] about Michigan State’s Tom Izzo wants a 2nd national championship
Five factors that may be driving down interest, ticket prices in advance of NCAA football title game
By Gary Peterson | [email protected] | Bay Area News Group PUBLISHED: January 3, 2019 at 2:17 pm | UPDATED: January 4, 2019 at 4:37 am When SeatGeek.com talks, people listen. Or at least they ought to. “Prices are trending lower than we have ever seen before,” said SeatGeek.com’s Chris Leyden, painting for Yahoo Sports a supply-and-demand dystopia where ticket prices for Monday’s College Football Playoff National Championship Game at Levi’s Stadium are tanking. StubHub, also talking to Yahoo, expects tickets to go for as little as $150. The last time championship game tickets were that cheap, there wasn’t a championship game. Last year, peak tickets went for $1,700. It appears somebody is going to take a bath. But something even bigger might be afoot: Are the sluggish ticket sales a referendum on the college football industry — at least at the top of the pyramid? We’ll leave that an open question as we plumb a short list … [Read more...] about Five factors that may be driving down interest, ticket prices in advance of NCAA football title game