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The GIST: After the No. 4 UConn men defeated No. 5 San Diego State 76–59 on Monday to win their fifth national championship, the men’s and women’s college basketball seasons have officially come to an end.

• Let’s roll the game tape and dive into the tournaments’ off-court impacts.

The men: The regular season’s record upsets translated into a wild March Madness, with brackets busted left and right and, most notably, a No. 4 as the highest seed in the Final Four. While the Cinderella stories were fun, the men’s tourney suffered the perils of parity in the later rounds.

• With so many under-the-radar teams advancing to the sport’s biggest stage, the Final Four lacked star power and the hype that it commands. Case in point? Only one Player of the Year finalist, Drew Timme of No. 3 Gonzaga, made the Elite Eight.

The women: Things couldn’t be more different on the gals’ side. Big personalities led to record ratings, including a jaw-dropping 9.9M sets of eyes watching LSU’s Angel Reese and Iowa’s Clark battle for the natty. Even while the men hoisted their trophy, it seems all the internet wanted to discuss was the trash talk heard ’round the world.

• This momentum, sparked by former Oregon star Sedona Prince’s 2021 March Misogyny TikTok illuminating the disparity between the men’s and women’s tournaments, led to well-deserved, hard-earned growth. But there’s still more to do.

What’s next: As outlined in Monday’s Sports Business newsletter, the next big step is unbundling the women’s championship media rights from other sports to garner a fee worthy of the game’s increasing popularity. And they better hop to it — as Iowa’s Monika Czinano said, the sport is “only going to get more exciting and more fun.” To the moon!

The GIST: The NWSL just scored a Golden State hat trick. The league confirmed yesterday that the Bay Area will host the NWSL’s third California team, set to kick off next year. This won’t be the end of the expansion news, either — the league also announced a search for two more new markets.

The details: Four former USWNT players, Brandi Chastain, Leslie Osborne, Danielle Slaton and Aly Wagner, partnered with private equity firm Sixth Street to invest $125M (!!!) into the new Bay Area club, including a fat chunk of change for a brand new training facility. Not too shabby.

• The club will lock in a name and stadium later, though one venue is already in the mix — MLS’ San Jose Earthquakes’ field, PayPal Park.

The next steps: After booking two teams for 2024, the NWSL isn’t calling the expansion race anytime soon. The league is actively scouting two new clubs — one is expected to land in Boston, while the other spot may reignite interest from last year’s many prospective ownership groups.

• That lengthy list includes MLS clubs in Atlanta, Austin, Cincinnati, Nashville, St. Louis and Toronto, while independent groups in Cleveland, Columbus and Oakland also expressed intent. May the odds be ever in your favor.

🏒 NHL: Tampa Bay Lightning vs. NY Rangers — Tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET — TNT

• With the NHL regular season ending next week, gear up for playoff hockey by watching these two postseason contenders take the ice. Puck yeah.

🏀 NBA: LA Lakers vs. LA Clippers — Tonight at 10 p.m. ET — ESPN

• It’s the “Battle of Los Angeles,” featuring an ex-teammate reunion and playoff seeding on the line. Hollywood’s bringing the drama.

🎓🏒 NCAA men’s Frozen Four: No. 1 Minnesota Golden Gophers vs. Boston University Terriers — Tomorrow at 5 p.m. ET — ESPN2

• First up, this matchup of one of college hockey’s most storied rivalries, then the No. 3 Michigan Wolverines and No. 2 Quinnipiac Bobcats skate to it at 8:30 p.m. ET. Winners advance to Saturday’s championship game. Let’s do that hockey.

After nearly a month of pure madness, the dust has settled on The GIST’s bracket challenge, presented by Aflac. And while we celebrate the LSU women's and UConn men's championship wins, we also want to give big kudos to our bracket winners.

• Congrats to entrant ike, who won The GIST’s $2,500 grand prize for the women’s bracket, as well as Rose G and Susan Bunkers who finished second and third, respectively.

• On the men’s side, CTartbabe walked away with the top spot, while Stella Elbaum finished second and Kevex finished third. Until next year!

Aflac is not the sponsor of this promotion and is not responsible for the administration of this promotion in any way.

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