{"id":555457,"date":"2026-03-23T14:39:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T14:39:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/555457\/"},"modified":"2026-03-23T14:39:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T14:39:10","slug":"electric-march-madness-opening-weekend-phillies-extend-ace-cristopher-sanchez-new-cba-for-wnba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/555457\/","title":{"rendered":"Electric March Madness opening weekend; Phillies extend ace Cristopher S\u00e1nchez; new CBA for WNBA"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is an article version of the CBS Sports HQ AM Newsletter, the ultimate guide to every day in sports. You can sign up to get it in your inbox every weekday morning here<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfc0 Five things to know Monday The men’s and women’s Sweet 16 fields are almost set. Today’s slate of second-round games in the women’s NCAA Tournament will put a bow on the first weekend of March Madness. From the downfall of No. 1 seed Florida to numerous buzzer-beaters in the men’s bracket, and from the dominance of the top seeds in the women’s field to the potential end of the Audi Crooks era, March has been plenty mad. We have all of the scores and upcoming tip times<\/a> in one place on the men’s side, and here’s the rundown on every women’s game<\/a>.The Phillies extended Cristopher S\u00e1nchez through 2032. A new six-year contract<\/a> will keep the ace in Philadelphia, where he posted a 3.00 ERA across the past three seasons and developed into one of the best lefties in baseball. S\u00e1nchez will make $107 million over the life of the deal, which also includes a club option for 2033. The 29-year-old has the third-best odds to win the NL Cy Young Award this season, per Caesars.Team USA made a statement in the Fanatics Flag Football Classic. While numerous NFL players including Joe Burrow have made it clear that they want to chase a gold medal<\/a> when flag football makes its Olympic debut in 2028, Saturday’s event suggested the current United States National Team is equipped to dominate without them. Led by Velton Brown Jr. and Housh Doucette, Team USA made light work of its opposition with three blowout victories en route to the championship<\/a>. Burrow, Tom Brady, Odell Beckham Jr., Stefon Diggs and other current and former NFL stars were among those on the two losing rosters.We have the details of the WNBA’s new collective bargaining agreement. The league and players union announced the terms of their historic CBA<\/a>, which delivers unprecedented benefits to players beginning this season. Among the highlights are significant pay raises (thanks to a salary cap that will grow by nearly 200% by 2032), the continuation of league-provided housing, chartered flights, new facility standards and more.Manchester City are EFL Cup champions.\u00a0Behind a brace from Nico O’Reilly, Manchester City defeated Arsenal 2-0 to claim their ninth cup<\/a>. Only Liverpool (10) have more wins in the 65-year history of the tournament. This is City’s first cup win since 2021 when they rattled off four straight, and it is the product of an aggressive second half<\/a> that saw O’Reilly, a defender, net two goals in five minutes. \ud83c\udfa0 Do not miss this: College basketball coaching carousel moves, rumors
\n Getty Images<\/p>\n

The first big wave of high-major college basketball coach hirings<\/a> hit over the weekend. Three power conference jobs are filled, including one of the biggest in the sport. Here are the latest hires: <\/p>\n

Gerry McNamara, SyracuseBryan Hodgson, ProvidenceScott Cross, Georgia Tech<\/p>\n

Georgia Tech made the Cross hiring official on Friday after Troy’s season came to an end in the NCAA Tournament. Once South Florida fell out of the bracket, Providence announced that Hodgson will make the jump to the Big East on a five-year contract<\/a>. The highest-profile move of the bunch is nearly official. McNamara, a program great at Syracuse, is set to take his alma mater’s job<\/a> on the heels of a terrific run at Siena (which nearly included a first-round upset of Duke on Thursday). <\/p>\n

With these three positions off the board, all eyes are on North Carolina and whether one of the biggest brands in all of college athletics will make a move. Hubert Davis’ future with the Tar Heels is in doubt, according to Matt Norlander<\/a>, following a first-round loss to VCU in which UNC squandered a 19-point lead and fell in overtime. If the Tar Heels do, in fact, part ways with Davis, it would come with a hefty price tag in the form of a $5.3 million buyout<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfc0 Men’s NCAA Tournament delivers all the drama
\n Getty Images<\/p>\n

Even though the first two rounds of the men’s NCAA Tournament were fairly light on upsets and Cinderellas<\/a>, the pageantry was absolutely off the charts. It’s been three days since our last morning newsletter, so let’s cover everything that unfolded from Friday through Sunday. <\/p>\n

Friday (first round)<\/a>: A loss to No. 6 Tennessee ended No. 11 Miami (Ohio)’s remarkable season, Iowa State lost Joshua Jefferson to an ankle injury, No. 7 UCLA fended off No. 10 UCF even without Tyler Bilodeau and double-digit seeds went 0-14.<\/p>\n

No. 5 St. John’s was among the biggest winners of the day<\/a> as the underseeded Big East champion fended off a tough draw and dispatched No. 12 Northern Iowa\u00a079-53. College basketball fans at large came away victorious from the thrilling No. 7 Kentucky vs. No. 10 Santa Clara battle when Otega Oweh delivered the most electric shot of the tournament<\/a>. His buzzer-beater to send the game to overtime helped the Wildcats avoid disaster<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Saturday (second round)<\/a>: No. 11 Texas pulled off a sizable upset over No. 3 Gonzaga, No. 1 Duke looked much more impressive when it pulled away from No. 9 TCU, Mikel Brown Jr. missed another game as No. 6 Louisville fell out of the bracket and No. 4 Nebraska reigned supreme in an unforgettable showdown against No. 5 Vanderbilt.<\/p>\n

You have to feel for the Commodores, who came away on the losing end<\/a> of that instant classic. Tyler Tanner watched as a last-second heave from well beyond midcourt hit the backboard and danced around the rim in a moment where time stood still. The narrow miss made the loss even tougher to stomach<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Sunday (second round)<\/a>: No. 9 Iowa delivered the upset of the tournament with a go-ahead 3 in the closing seconds against No. 1 Florida, the second year of the Mark Pope era ended in a 19-point loss for No. 7 Kentucky and No. 5 St. John’s shut the door on a late surge from No. 4 Kansas with a buzzer-beater.<\/p>\n

The last-second layup from Dylan Darling will give the Red Storm a high-profile spot in “One Shining Moment” as one of the biggest shots of the tournament. The funny thing? Rick Pitino said Darling called his own number<\/a> despite being scoreless over the game’s first 39 minutes. Sadly, the dramatic finish all but certainly means the college basketball world has seen the last of<\/a> Kansas star Darryn Peterson, who is NBA-bound as the projected No. 1 overall pick. <\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfc0 Favorites reign supreme in Women’s NCAA Tournament
\n Getty Images<\/p>\n

The women’s bracket was even chalkier than the men’s through the first round. Here’s a day-by-day breakdown of the action. <\/p>\n

Friday (first round)<\/a>: There was not a single upset across the first 16 games, which is not entirely uncommon. No. 4 Minnesota had to erase a fourth-quarter deficit against No. 13 Green Bay, though, and No. 12 Colorado State gave No. 5 Michigan State a scare down to the final shot.<\/p>\n

The absence of upsets means No. 10 Tennessee is one-and-done in the dance. An eight-game losing streak brought an end to what Kim Caldwell called the “worst year of my professional career.”<\/a> Caldwell said her players deserve better than what she gave them in the 76-61 loss to No. 7 NC State. <\/p>\n

Saturday (first round)<\/a>: No. 10 Virginia became the only double-digit seed to advance, while No. 1 seeds UConn, South Carolina and UCLA won by a combined 164 points.<\/p>\n

Officials overturned what appeared to be a game-winner at the buzzer for No. 8 Clemson, which precipitated a heartbreaking overtime loss for a “sleeping giant” of a Tigers program<\/a> that looks very much awake. Meanwhile, four teams battled 80-degree indoor temperatures<\/a> at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City. And Audi Crooks was noncommittal about her future<\/a> at Iowa State following the Cyclones’ first-round exit. <\/p>\n

Sunday (second round)<\/a>: The same teams that avoided upsets on Day 1 delivered another dose of chalk in the second round. Two teams even hit 100 points with No. 1 Texas obliterating No. 8 Oregon and No. 2 LSU pulverizing No. 7 Texas Tech.<\/p>\n

Some of the biggest drama of the day occurred on the Maryland sideline, where coach Brenda Frese had an intense moment with Terrapins star Oluchi Okananwa. It was all in the spirit of competition<\/a>, though, according to Okananwa. <\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc4d\ud83d\udc4e The best (and not-so-best) of the rest
\n Getty Images
\n \ud83d\udcfa What we’re watching Monday <\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfc0 March Madness continues today with the women’s second round. Here’s how to watch<\/a> all eight games. <\/p>\n

\u26be Spring training: Orioles at Nationals, 1:05 p.m. on MLB Network <\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfc0 Spurs at Heat, 7 p.m. on NBC Sports Network <\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfd2 Senators at Rangers, 7:30 p.m. on NHL Network <\/p>\n

\u26be Spring training: Royals at Rangers, 8:05 p.m. on MLB Network <\/p>\n

\u26f3 TGL finals, Game 1: Jupiter Links Golf Club vs. Los Angeles Golf Club, 9 p.m. on ESPN2 <\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfc0 Warriors at Mavericks,\u00a09:30 p.m. on NBC Sports Network <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This is an article version of the CBS Sports HQ AM Newsletter, the ultimate guide to every day…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":555458,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[629],"tags":[49,48,547,195462,462,135340,514,215332,82,630,215333],"class_list":{"0":"post-555457","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wnba","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-college-basketball","11":"tag-march-madness","12":"tag-mlb","13":"tag-ncaa-tournament","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-phillies-sign-sanchez","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-wnba","18":"tag-wnba-cba-agreement"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=555457"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555457\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/555458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=555457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=555457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=555457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}