UConn’s Double Run

Morning Edition

March 30, 2026

UConn is sending both its men’s and women’s teams to the Final Four again, a rare feat that shows the school’s continued dominance in college basketball. It’s happening even as new financial rules are reshaping how programs compete.

—Amanda Christovich

First Up

The NFL’s streaming push is drawing scrutiny as FCC chair Brendan Carr warns paywalled games could threaten its antitrust exemption. Read the story.
The 49ers looked into whether a nearby substation was tied to injuries, and GM John Lynch called the concerns a “nothing burger.” Read the story.
The NFL kicks off its annual meeting in Phoenix with a sweeping agenda that includes rule changes, officiating uncertainty, and media-rights talks. Read the story.
Denver’s NWSL expansion team smashed the league’s attendance record with 63,004 fans at its home opener. Read the story.

UConn Men, Women Reach Final Four Despite Financial Pressures

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WASHINGTON — With just one second left in Sunday’s Elite Eight showdown against Duke, UConn freshman Braylon Mullins hit a game-winning three-point shot to top the Blue Devils, 73-72, and punch a ticket to the Final Four.

It was a shot that would make history for the entire school—not just the men’s program.

Earlier in the day in Fort Worth, Texas, UConn’s women’s team also took care of business, dominating Notre Dame, 70-52, to secure their own spot in the women’s Final Four.

Thanks to the UConn women’s decisive win and the UConn men’s nail-biting last-second victory, both the men’s and women’s programs will appear in their respective Final Fours for the sixth time in UConn’s history. No other school has come close to achieving this feat six times.

It’s an even more impressive feat in the current “revenue-sharing” era, which puts UConn, the only Big East school with FBS football expenses, in a particularly difficult position from a financial standpoint.

“We just find a way,” UConn AD David Benedict told Front Office Sports from the court at Capital One Arena. “You put up hurdles, we find a way to get over ’em. You put up walls, we break ’em down. So look, it’s never gonna be easy, being in the situation we’re in, but we find a way.”

UConn has dynasties on both its men’s and women’s sides, led most recently by coaches Dan Hurley and Geno Auriemma. The school has spent millions on their contracts: Auriemma is one of the highest-paid on the women’s side, with a five-year, $18.7 million contract; Hurley is one of the highest-paid on the men’s side, with a six-year, $50 million contract.

“Geno’s helped me a lot,” Hurley told FOS. “Geno’s helped me learn how to get here.”

But Hurley had also said earlier in the weekend that history, tradition, and “blue-blood” status didn’t really matter much anymore from a recruiting standpoint. It was all about the money—and that was about to get even more difficult for UConn.

This past year, UConn found itself in a rare situation straddling two worlds in the new era of college sports. The new House v. NCAA settlement allowed schools to share up to $20.5 million with their entire athletic department; at the same time, it implemented restrictions on NIL deals to ensure they would no longer be used as “pay-for-play” in disguise. The idea: there would be a salary cap of sorts for each athletic department.

UConn, however, faced several dilemmas.

First, like all non-Power 4 schools, it didn’t have access to the Power 4 media rights deals that help programs fund the full $20.5 million.

Second, it didn’t have what some predicted would be an advantage for other Big East programs: a lack of football costs. In the FBS, most schools that were hitting the revenue-sharing max were offering about 75% of their rev-share pot—about $15 million—to football, leaving about $4 million for men’s basketball and $1.5 million for women’s basketball.

So the rev-share era could be a boon for schools that didn’t have FBS football at all, because it could offer more money to their hoops programs. But UConn, with its independent FBS football program, didn’t have that positive either.

This past June, UConn said in a letter to fans that it would spend $18 million on revenue-sharing across sports and was working on beefing up revenue streams, from ticket sales to potential naming rights. But the school also asked for private donations.

Donors came through so much so that Benedict declined to give a list of names, telling FOS he feared he would leave someone out. But he did say: “We like to say that there’s a return on people’s investment in getting both of these teams in the Final Four.”

Hurley, for his part, told FOS he didn’t think the revenue-sharing era made things particularly difficult. “I don’t think so. I mean, the University of Connecticut commits in all sports. … We’re an everything school, and the university’s behind us.”

In reality, across all sports from a roster standpoint, the Huskies probably spent more than $18 million. After all, everyone had to–the basketball-only advantage never materialized; power conference programs and others in the FBS were able to supplement the rev-share cap with outside NIL deals. It became more of a floor, rather than a ceiling, for roster compensation.

“The Huskies proved today hands down why they belong in the all-time top echelon of men’s and women’s college basketball programs,” Big East commissioner Val Ackerman told FOS via text, as she was in Texas with the UConn women on Sunday after being with the two Big East men’s programs in D.C. on Friday. “Talent, leadership, grit—they have it all. Score two for the basketball schools.”

Now, the UConn men will face Illinois in Indianapolis. The UConn women will face the South Carolina–TCU winner in Phoenix. Ackerman, as she has often had to do, will do her best to fly back and forth.

“It’s the basketball capital of the world,” Hurley told FOS. “I don’t think anyone could debate that at all.”

Chris Greeley on Expanding the Esports Ecosystem

In our latest Future of Sports episode presented by ADP, Chris Greeley, global head of League of Legends Esports at Riot Games, discusses how one of the world’s largest esports continues to evolve.

He explains how Riot manages a global competitive structure spanning multiple regions and more than 100 countries while balancing league sustainability, team economics, and fan engagement. Greeley also shares his perspective on the maturation of esports as a business, the importance of long-term league stability, and how publishers are shaping the next era of competitive gaming.

It is a wide-ranging conversation on the global growth of esports, the challenges of building lasting competitive ecosystems, and where the industry is headed next.

Watch the full episode here.

ONE BIG FIG

Calls Flipped

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54%

That’s the share of MLB’s early automated ball-strike (ABS) challenges that have been overturned—meaning more than half the time, the system is correcting the call. It’s a striking early sign of just how much ABS is reshaping the strike zone, and how often umpires are being second-guessed in real time. Read the story.

LOUD AND CLEAR

Mulling Retirement

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“Is it worth it? Or do I enjoy being more at home with my family?”

—Max Verstappen told BBC Sport about potentially retiring from Formula One after the 2026 season. Over the last few months, the four-time World Champion has talked about losing his love for the sport. He’s also struggled on the track amid new F1 regulations, and currently sits at ninth in the championship. Read the story.

Two Up, Two Down

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Bruce Cassidy ⬇ The Golden Knights’ head coach was let go Sunday and replaced by John Tortorella. While Las Vegas (32–26–16) has had a relatively down year, the decision comes as a slight surprise, since the team is still on track to make the postseason and Cassidy led them to the Stanley Cup in 2023.

Toronto Tempo ⬆ The WNBA franchise won a coin toss Friday and chose to select No. 6 in the WNBA draft, one pick ahead of the Portland Fire, the other expansion team for the 2026 season. As a result of the Tempo’s decision, the Fire will get the first pick in the expansion draft between the two new franchises, which will take place this coming Friday.

Luka Dončić ⬇ The Lakers star has been suspended for Monday’s game against the Wizards after picking up his 16th technical foul. The suspension will cost Dončić about $264,000, which is around 1/174 of his annual salary.

Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka ⬆ The two tennis stars won the Miami Open men’s and women’s singles titles, respectively, two weeks after they both triumphed at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells. Sinner is the eighth man to conquer both U.S. tournaments—referred to as the Sunshine Double—in the same year. Sabalenka is the fifth woman. Each of them won about $2.3 million between the two tournaments.