ESPN

Best- and worst-case scenarios for all tournament teams

While some teams view anything short of the Final Four as failure, others will be happy just to try on Cinderella's slipper.

Answering odd tournament questions

The top 25 players in the NCAA tournament

Top Headlines

Griffin misses shot, Clippers fall to Bucks.

In the final seconds, Blake Griffin throws up a shot over two Bucks, but the ball doesn’t cooperate at the buzzer in a loss to Milwaukee

Rockets

NBA

Lou Williams breaks out of slump against former team

Lou Williams had been in a shooting slump. But a visit by his old team, the Lakers, set him and his shooting eye straight, as he directed a Rockets win.

Wednesday's Top Plays

NBA

Leonard not immune to being coached by Pop.

Kawhi Leonard shows he can handle the wrath of coach Gregg Popovich by turning the criticism into a get-out-of-your-seat slam during the Spurs' 110-106 loss to the Trail Blazers.

NBA

Rubio's perfect alley-oop to Wiggins from all the angles.

Check out the distance on Ricky Rubio's half-court pass to Andrew Wiggins, who was left wide open to throw down a dunk on the alley-oop. Boston, however, got the better of the Timberwolves 117-104.

WBBC

MLB

U.S. strikes late to stun Venezuela in WBC.

Trailing heading into the bottom of the eighth, Team USA tallies three runs, including the go-ahead two-run homer from Eric Hosmer to knock off Venezuela.

World Baseball Classic

Team USA flashes more than just power in WBC win

Late slugging wasn't the only thing the U.S. ramped up in a 4-2 comeback win over Venezuela. As the stakes get higher in the second round, it proved just as pumped up as other countries' clubs.

Hosmer adds another memorable homer to his collection

NCAA Men's tournament

NCAA MEN's TOURNAMENT

2017 NCAA tournament bracket cheat sheet

ESPN Insider's cheat sheet gives you the consolidated knowledge from all of our experts that you need to ace your bracket.

Men's college hoops

Scouting the entire NCAA tournament field

Want the skinny on the 68 teams in the NCAA tournament? Bracketologist Joe Lunardi's video previews break them all down.

How to bet every NCAA tourney first-round game

NCAAM

USC storms back from 17 down to stun Providence.

Trailing by 17 early in the second half, USC claws all the way back to knock off Providence in the First Four and move on to face 6-seed SMU.

NCAAM

NC Central's last gasp chances won't fall.

Trailing by three in the final seconds, Patrick Cole's 3-point shot doesn't go. However, North Carolina Central gets the rebound and kicks it out to Dajuan Graf -- but his shot doesn't fall, either, dooming the Eagles.

NFL draft

NFL

McShay stuns with TE in latest top 4.

Todd McShay reveals who he has going with his first four picks in his Mock Draft 3.0.

NFL

McShay's 2017 NFL Mock Draft 3.0: How high will McCaffrey go?

Myles Garrett has all but cemented his status as the No. 1 pick in the 2017 NFL draft. Where will Christian McCaffrey and O.J. Howard go? Todd McShay predicts the picks.

NFL Draft

Kiper's 2017 Big Board: A post-combine shake-up

Speedster John Ross lit up the combine with a 4.22 40-yard dash, but was it enough to return to Mel Kiper's ranking of the top 25 prospects for the 2017 NFL draft? Here's who made it.

Wednesday's NIT games

New England Patriots

NFL

Patriots

NFL

Hightower returns to Patriots on $43.5M deal

Dont'a Hightower has agreed to a four-year, $43.5 million deal to return to the Patriots, according to the star linebacker's agents.

Patriots

NFL

Hightower set up to become one of all-time Patriots greats

In arguably their most important signing of the offseason, the Patriots brought back one of the NFL's most physical linebackers.

Who's left among NFL free agents?

Champions League

UEFA Champions League

Guardiola to blame for Man City's exit

Pep Guardiola must face the critics following Man City's defeat at Monaco. While he is backed to begin a bold new era for the club, he's also responsible for the naive manner in which they exited the Champions League.

Champions League

Atletico move on to UCL quarterfinals

This hasn't been a great season domestically for Atletico Madrid, but all eyes are now on Champions League glory following their 4-2 aggregate win over Bayer Leverkusen.

ESPNW

Ice Hockey

U.S. women's hockey threatens worlds boycott

The U.S. women's hockey team announced it will not participate in the IIHF World Championship if USA Hockey can’t provide what team members consider fair wages and support.

Olympic Sports

U.S. women's hockey team willing to risk everything for respect

The U.S. women's hockey team is fed up with years of unfair treatment from USA Hockey and will do whatever necessary until significant change is made.

Olympic Sports

Alex Morgan backs the U.S. women's hockey team

The U.S. women's hockey team announced it would not be playing in the upcoming world championship on Wednesday, and it has received support from fans and peers alike ever since.

Women's College Basketball

NCAA Tournament

NCAAW

Women's NCAA tournament: Breaking down Bridgeport Regional

Maryland and Syracuse hope to get back to the Final Four, but in Bridgeport, everything runs through UConn. Can a region full of premier point guards prevent the Huskies from advancing?

NCAAW

Women's NCAA tournament: Breaking down Oklahoma City Regional

The region is loaded with talent, potential (Louisville vs. Baylor?) and plotlines (Kelsey Plum eyes another record). Oklahoma City is as unpredictable as 5-seed Tennessee has been this season.

NCAAW

Women's NCAA tournament: Breaking down Stockton Regional

Stockton looks primed for big upsets more than any of the other three corners of the bracket as question marks surround the region's top seeds. Can South Carolina overcome Alaina Coates' absence?

Play Women's Tournament Challenge

View full bracket, schedule

NFL

Ranking NFL teams that regressed in free agency

The Bengals lost two linemen to free agency, and their offense looks considerably worse than last season. Where does Cincinnati rank in our list of teams hit the hardest?

Texans

NFL

If not Tony Romo, then who starts at QB for Texans?

Jay Cutler? Robert Griffin III? A return for Ryan Fitzpatrick? Here's a look at Houston's options if Romo doesn't join the team.

Marlins

MLB

To grieve Jose Fernandez's death, Giancarlo Stanton took life-changing journey

With the eyes of baseball on them, the Marlins barely had a chance to mourn. So when the season ended, their biggest star traveled three continents and came home with a renewed sense of purpose.

Yankees

MLB

Jobs in jeopardy as Baby Bombers challenge Yankees veterans

The young talent at Yankees camp this spring is so good that skipper Joe Girardi has put his veterans on notice. Here are the prospects making waves.

The Undefeated

John Wall on his relationship with Bradley Beal and taking the Washington Wizards all the way

The star guard hopes to stay in "Chocolate City" and bring the franchise a long-awaited victory.

The Undefeated

Austin Carr's NCAA tournament scoring records at Notre Dame likely will never be broken

The former Cavalier and Notre Dame All-American averaged 41.3 points a game and had the all-time best game at 61 points.

Tennis

The stroke that turned Federer's fortunes around against Nadal

Remember when Roger Federer's backhand led to frustration and ultimately failure against Rafael Nadal? Things couldn't be more different today.

NBA

LaVar vs Charles: The smack talk supercut.

Charles Barkley and LaVar Ball engaged in some epic smack talk, with neither the bombastic father nor the broadcaster backing down from a one-on-one challenge.

FiveThirtyEight

The NL East’s Mets-Nats battle might come down to injuries

Can the Mets and their pitchers stay off the DL this season?

FiveThirtyEight

What the NFL can teach Congress about hiring more diverse staffs

How lessons from the Rooney Rule can be applied in Congress and beyond.

Redef + ESPN

What now for Nova, Brent Musburger's move and wrestling identity

The Wildcats as Goliath and a broadcaster pivots: Read that and more in your daily mix of must-reads from the world of sports in the REDEF newsletter.

More on the Big Dance

United States

Soccer

Who will play at outside-back in Arena's squad?

Bruce Arena named his first squad since taking over the U.S. for a second time. As with every new roster, there are questions over selection.

espnW

Trans swimmer G Ryan has goals beyond NCAAs

How do non-binary athletes fit into a sports structure that divides competitors based on gender? G Ryan, a genderqueer swimmer at Michigan, hopes to help make athletics more inclusive.

NCAA Men's Tournament

Students to get $1 million in steak dinners if NKU upsets Kentucky

A Cincinnati restaurateur has promised 15,000 students free steak dinners if No. 15 seed Northern Kentucky upsets No. 2 seed Kentucky on Friday.

VIVID SEATS

The bracket is set; get your tickets

Lock up your tickets today to follow your team's postseason run.

Free Agency

NFL

Best, worst signings and more

Best -- and worst -- big-money signing. Team that moved up a tier. Departure that will be felt the most. Bargain signing that will pay off. Our panel of five NFL Insiders weighs in.

Latest signings, reaction

Barnwell grades the big deals

NFL

Ravens

NFL

Ravens failing to help Joe Flacco at receiver a huge head-scratcher

While the Ravens have bolstered their defense this offseason, the team has yet to give quarterback Joe Flacco the outside weapons that he needs.

Steelers

NFL

Steelers still seeking help after Dont'a Hightower drives away

The Steelers, who have yet to replace the three key players they've lost in free agency, came up empty in trying to sign Dont'a Hightower on Tuesday.

Dolphins

NFL

Two years later, Dolphins haven't built defense around Ndamukong Suh

When he was signed, Ndamukong Suh was supposed to be the difference-maker for the Dolphins on defense. But as a unit, they've actually been worse.

NFL draft

Gruden grills Brad Kaaya on music selection.

Jon Gruden asks the former Miami QB about his music preference, and suggests he makes a note about classics like AC/DC, Aerosmith and Stevie Ray Vaughan.

NHL

Hardest, easiest paths to the playoffs

By looking at the remaining schedule, we forecast which teams have the easiest and hardest paths to the Stanley Cup playoffs.

NHL

How to end the Olympic stalemate

The standoff between the NHL and the IOC threatens the league's participation in the 2018 Olympics. Our roundtable has ideas on how to solve this 'childish dispute.'

Major League Soccer

Chicago Fire

Soccer

De Leeuw's rise from Coke bottler to Fire star

Michael de Leeuw refused to give up on his professional dream, as he has evolved from Coca-Cola bottler in the Netherlands to Chicago Fire standout.

Major League Soccer

Portland marches into first in MLS Power Rankings

The Portland Timbers move to the top of ESPN FC's MLS Power Rankings after a nabbing their first road win since 2015 on Sunday.

Fantasy

2017 Fantasy Baseball Draft Kit

Get our updated rankings, projections, cheat sheets, closer chart, strategies, and more, all in one place. Dominate your draft!

Complete 2017 projections

Fantasy MLB