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Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. The NCAA men’s basketball national championship game is finally here, capping off an action-packed March Madness season. No.

It was perfection topped with sweet revenge for the South Carolina Gamecocks, who capped a perfect season Sunday by beating Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes, 87-75.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor The University of South Carolina overwhelmed the Iowa Hawkeyes Sunday in a rollicking NCAA Women’s College Basketball Championship game that capped an unprecedented run for women’s sports. The game that ended 87-75 saw University of Iowa megastar Caitlin Clark wrap her collegiate career and the birth of not one but two WNBA stars, as Clark and South Carolina’s Kamilla Cardoso head off to next week’s WNBA draft. The Iowa-South Carolina game was a seesaw from the start.

can't be considered one of the greatest woman's college basketball player of all time without having won a championship, despite her .A controversial foul call put a bit of a damper on the victory for many viewers.By “If Caitlin wins the championship, she's pretty damn good, yeah, she's a GOAT," Staley said, per . "I mean, she’s really damn good regardless.

Rudie Obias editor If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. The matchups are finally in place. Purdue faces off against UConn to conclude March Madness, in what’s shaping up to be a basketball game for the books.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Caitlin Clark and Co. delivered big-time for ESPN on Friday with a record audience tuning in to the Final Four game that sent the University of Iowa to Sunday’s national championship. ESPN’s nighttime telecast of UConn-Iowa faceoff delivered an audience of 14.2 million viewers, a new high mark for a women’s college basketball game, per ESPN citing Nielsen data.

Thee women’s NCAA Semifinals on ESPN shattered viewership records, as all-time NCAA basketball scoring leader Caitlin Clark led her Iowa Hawkeyes to a thrilling win over the UConn Huskies, 71-69, in a game that wasn’t decided until the final seconds.

—and the pressure is mounting.The led the Iowa Hawkeyes to victory against UConn on April 5, sending the college team to the women’s NCAA championship game against the undefeated South Carolina Gamecocks.Just last week, Iowa's win against Louisiana State University became the in women’s college history, with 12.3 million viewers tuning in to see the epic rematch between Clark and fellow generational talent . While Clark has yet to win a national title, the superstar recently became the the all-time , male or female.

Rudie Obias editor If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. Caitlin Clark takes to the college basketball court for the last time, as the Iowa Hawkeyes chases NCAA Women’s National Championship title against Kamilla Cardoso and the South Carolina Gamecocks. The game takes place at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio with tip-off at 3 p.m.

A battle for the ages is shaping up on Sunday to decide the NCAA Women’s National Basketball championship.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor The University of Iowa and superstar Caitlin Clark are set for consecutive trips to the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship Game as the team prevailed in a nail-biter Final Four faceoff against University of Connecticut. The final matchup finishes out a dream March Madness tournament for NCAA Women’s Basketball, as star players such as Clark and LSU’s Angel Reese and others have grabbed the spotlight.

Everyone is going to be talking about THAT kiss from the latest episode of 9-1-1, which happened to be the show’s milestone 100th episode.

The first episode of the new CBS series Elsbeth aired back in late February and now the network is finally airing the second episode!

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor The outsized audience for this week’s highly-watched women’s NCAA basketball match between Iowa and LSU may also have noticed that many of the commercials seen during the game belonged to AT&T, State Farm, Home Depot and Gatorade. There was good reason. Optimum Sports, a media agency that specializes in sports properties and is part of ad giant Omnicom Group, had quietly snatched up 35% of advertising time during the game, a record setter in terms of viewership for women’s sports and the latest example of how interest in female players and the leagues in which they play is booming.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Does the sports world have room for April Action after weeks of March Madness? Fox aims to answer the question in 2025 when it launched a new post-season college-basketball tournament in tandem with large sports and music promote AEG Worldwide. The College Basketball Crown will rely on 16 teams drawn largely from the Big Ten, Big 12 and Big East conferences, with the possibility of other participants.

Once again, the Iowa Hawkeyes are leading ESPN to record audiences for women’s basketball.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor No matter who prevails next Sunday at the NCAA’s championship game, 2024’s March Madness will go down in history as a milestone moment for women’s sports. Not just in the college basketball realm — but for female athletes overall. In a perfect storm, the annual bracket-bonkers frenzy around the NCAA college basketball tournament has conferred a level of respect to the women’s game that is rarely been seen across sports media, but for the quadrennial exception of the Women’s World Cup.

UPDATED with statement: Los Angeles Times columnist Ben Bolch, who came under widespread fire for a column about the LSU–UCLA Women’s NCAA tournament matchup in which he called the Lady Tigers “dirty debutantes” and called them “villains,” while calling the Bruins “milk and cookies,” has apologized.

A Los Angeles Times column criticized as “sexist” by LSU women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey was changed online by the newspaper early this morning because it “did not meet Times editorial standards.”

ESPN’s list of top 25 players to watch in the NCAA Women’s Tournament are two outstanding Latinas that are aiding in the successful post seasons during 2024 March Madness.With Caitlin Clark (Iowa) and Paige “Buckets” Bueckers (UCONN) and topping the charts on the #1 and #2 players to watch in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament, the list hosts two Latinas as well, freshman Hannah Hidalgo (Notre Dame) and senior Kamilla Cardoso (South Carolina). Bueckers has suffered multiple injuries throughout her college career, but as Dawn Staley recently said, “Paige is great.

March Madness tournament continues this week. As we enter the second round of the tournament, we continue to see universities battle it out in order to get to the Sweet 16.

Wait… did Kylie Jenner break up with Timothée Chalamet — and move on with a college basketball star?!

's latest accessory.Every season has its jewelry trends, and for spring/summer 2024, “belt jewelry”—basically, pretty jewels with a buckle—seems to be at the top of the list.Many practical accessories have become style essentials. The watch necklace (like the one Taylor Swift ) comes to mind, as does Cartier's famous carabiner timepiece. Or the Louis Vuitton key ring: The everyday object was given a fashionable twist by Pharrell Williams in his fall/winter 2024 men's fashion show.Another object to emancipate itself from its primary function: the belt.

Kim Kardashian is stepping out to cheer on her son Saint!

Remember that Tristan Thompson has a 2-year-old son named Theo with ex-fling Maralee Nichols??

Ben Affleck is back at work!

Emily Ratajkowski is repurposing her engagement ring. The model and author shared a look at her “divorce rings” on Instagram, fashioned out of the ring gifted to her by ex-husband Sebastian Bear-McClard. Emily Ratajkowski gives the Christmas sweater a sexy twistEmily Ratajkowski and Irina Shayk had a blast at a basketball game in New YorkA post shared by Emily Ratajkowski (@emrata)Ratajkowski shared a look of the rings on Instagram, sharing various photos of herself wearing in bed with the rings on.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events Former ID-PR brands boss Michael Smith has launched a new communications firm, Midnight Dawn. Smith departed ID-PR in January. “Midnight Dawn has been 25 years in the making and I’m honored to have the privilege of representing a world class group of talent and brands,” Smith said in an exclusive statement to Variety on Tuesday.

Caitlyn Jenner and Lamar Odom are teaming up for a new podcast.

The brackets for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament — aka “March Madness” — were revealed today, bringing joy and tears in equal amounts to teams selected and shunned.