They’re saying this Final Four repeats the history of 2008, and, by seed, they’re right. In many other ways, this Final Four is so much different.
Blue bloods populated 2008 Final Four, won by Memphis. Duke is only blue blood in this Final Four.
The 2008 Final Four reflected teams’ blue-chip recruits flourishing. Now, transfers like Florida’s Walter Clayton Jr. and Auburn’s Johni Broome are big party of college basketball’s story.

They’re saying this Final Four repeats the history of 2008, and, by seed, they’re right.

Kansas, UCLA, North Carolina and Memphis populated the Final Four that season, marking the first time four No. 1 seeds seized all the semifinal spots. Never had that feat been repeated until now. Auburn, Florida, Duke and Houston rumble toward San Antonio, which also hosted the 2008 Final Four.

The similarities mostly end there. In so many ways, this Final Four differs from the 2008. Here’s why:

∎ Only one blue blood this time. John Calipari joked in 2008 that if you combined the national championships won by UCLA and Memphis, they’d have 11. The punchline he left unsaid, of course, was that UCLA owns 11 titles and Memphis has none.

UNC and Kansas joined UCLA to supply three Final Four blue bloods. Back then, that trio owned a combined 17 national championships. Kansas and UNC won more titles since then.

Duke, winner of five national championships, supplies the only blue blood within this quartet.

Florida won back-to-back titles under Billy Donovan. Todd Golden joins Donovan and Lon Kruger as coaches to lift Florida to a Final Four.

Bruce Pearl is the only coach to take Auburn to a Final Four. He’s done it twice. Auburn pursues its first national championship.

Kelvin Sampson lifted Houston to heights unseen since coach Guy Lewis and his Phi Slama Jama crew of the 1980s. This marks Sampson’s second Final Four at Houston. Lewis supplied five. The Cougars have never won a national championship.

∎ Polls predicted the 2008 Final Four. The 2008 Final Four reflected preseason projections. The first four teams in the preseason USA TODAY Coaches Poll went like this: North Carolina, UCLA, Memphis and Kansas. The media picked it the same way. None of the four ever slipped outside of the top 10.

The top four of the coaches’ poll this season started with Kansas, Alabama, UConn and Houston. Kansas fizzled and lost in the first round as a No. 7 seed. Eighth-seeded UConn lost a second-round battle with Florida, and No. 2 Alabama succumbed to Duke in the Elite Eight.

Duke ranked No. 5 in the preseason, Auburn checked in at No. 11 and Florida came in at No. 21. You can’t label this Final Four cast underdogs, but they weren’t runaway preseason favorites, either.

∎ More upsets occurred before 2008 Final Four. The 2008 1-seed party came after upsets filled the tournament’s earlier rounds. In fact, that tournament supplied one of the greatest Cinderellas, Steph Curry and his 10th-seeded Davidson.

Curry, wearing a baggy uniform appropriate for the time, became almost an overnight sensation as Davidson charged into the Elite Eight against Kansas. The Jayhawks prevailed, 59-57, after throwing two defenders at Curry in the closing seconds, forcing him to a pass to teammate Jason Richards, whose 3-pointer missed. Kansas then stomped UNC in the Final Four and survived Memphis in overtime of the national championship.

Western Kentucky and Villanova, a pair of No. 12 seeds, joined Davidson as Sweet 16 Cinderellas. Even as the Final Four approached, some eyes lingered on Davidson in the rearview mirror.

As veteran sports columnist Mike Lopresti wrote before the Final Four, “If we can’t have Davidson, this field will have to do.”

In contrast, No. 10 Arkansas became this season’s only Sweet 16 team seeded higher than No. 6. Calipari coaching an Arkansas team bought from the transfer portal made for an unusual Cinderella.

Cinderella shined in 2008 before heading home before the clock struck midnight. This year, she left much earlier, just after cocktail hour.

∎ High school recruiting ruled in 2008. Transfers didn’t factor into the equation nearly as much in 2008. Brandon Rush and Mario Chalmers, veterans whom Bill Self signed as touted recruits, powered Kansas to the title. Runner-up Memphis’ best players were Chris Douglas-Roberts and Derrick Rose, blue-chippers signed by Calipari.

Kevin Love and Russell Westbrook fueled UCLA. Tyler Hansbrough and Wayne Ellington powered North Carolina’s engine. More examples of ballyhooed recruits flourishing with the program that signed them.

This Duke squad offers 2008 vibes. Freshman studs Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel lead the charge, alongside Duke mainstay Tyrese Proctor. Houston, too, features impactful veterans who played their full careers with Sampson, but transfers L.J. Cryer and Milos Uzan also help form the Houston nucleus.

In a transfer’s world, a Duke title would mark a throwback.

∎ No Division I champions coaching in this Final Four. Golden, 39, had never won an NCAA Tournament game before Florida’s Final Four run. This also marks the first Final Four for Jon Scheyer, 37, Duke’s third-year coach.

Pearl, 65, and Sampson, 69, chase their white whale, an elusive Division I national championship, to highlight winning careers. They have five Final Four appearances between them. Neither has reached a national championship game. Pearl is the only member of this coaching quartet to win a national championship. His title came at Division II Southern Indiana in 1995.

In that 2008 Final Four, Roy Williams already had won his first national championship at North Carolina, in 2005. Self won the first of his two national championships in 2008. Calipari’s national title came in 2012 at Kentucky. From that 2008 group, only UCLA’s Ben Howland never won a national championship.

Epic finish? Kansas-Memphis thrilled in the 2008 national championship game. Chalmers etched his name into Kansas lore with his 3-pointer to force overtime. That championship followed decisive semifinal results, though, despite projections that four No. 1 seeds would result in epic clashes.

Seventeen years later, they’re saying this Final Four will be epic. Based on the talent level in San Antonio, it should be.

Three good games would be another way in which this Final Four differs from 2008.

Blake Toppmeyer is a columnist for the USA TODAY Network. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer. Subscribe to read all of his columns.

SPOKANE, Washington — No one is beating UConn.

Not USC on Monday night in the Elite Eight. Not UCLA, South Carolina or Texas in the Final Four, either. There are still three games left in the season, but you can be certain of this: When the buzzer sounds Sunday night, it’ll be Paige Bueckers and UConn cutting down the nets on the Huskies’ 12th national title, and first since 2016.

UConn is simply too good, too deep — two days after Bueckers went off for 40, she had 31 points while freshman Sarah Strong dropped a casual 22 and 17 double-double — and too determined.

‘We’ve got a whole lot of heart and a whole lot of toughness about us,’ Bueckers said after UConn’s 78-64 win over JuJu Watkins-less USC.

‘And we play together as a team. We’re super well connected,’ she added. ‘I feel like every team that I’veplayed on we’ve been super well connected, but just the way — we’ve been through so much adversity asindividuals, as a team, and how much it’s brought us together, how much it’s made us stronger.’

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UConn is the only non-No. 1 seed to advance to the Final Four. But there is little question the No. 2 seed Huskies are playing better than anyone right now, and it’s not even close. Overall No. 1 seed UCLA had its hands full with LSU. Defending champion South Carolina had to squeak by Duke. Texas got tested by Tennessee.

UConn, meanwhile, rolls into the Final Four with a 14-game winning streak that is best in the country. It has won its four tournament games by an average of 35 points, the ‘closest’ the 14-point win over USC. And if voting for National Player of the Year was done now, it’d be Bueckers. In a landslide.

She’s scored 105 points in her last three games, the most prolific three-game span in UConn history. Given the Who’s Who of players who’ve worn the Huskies uniform, that is a staggering statistic.

‘Without that ‘It’ thing, where one player, in this case Paige and Sarah, without those two players playing to the level that they’re playing at, you wouldn’t get to the Final Four,’ UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. ‘If you don’t have those players, you’re not going anywhere.’

But Bueckers isn’t simply a scoring machine. She finished with six assists, four steals, three rebounds and two blocks against USC. And when USC pared what had been a 19-point lead to five at the end of the third quarter, Bueckers called game.

After Azzi Fudd opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer, snapping an 0-for-9 streak, Bueckers scored on a pull-up jumper. Aubrey Griffin then stole the ball and fed Bueckers, who drained a 3. Then it was Bueckers’ turn to pick USC’s pocket, stripping a Kennedy Smith pass and hitting Fudd, who made another 3 to put UConn up 62-48.

There were still almost seven minutes left, but the game was effectively over. Bueckers finished the fourth quarter with 11 points, on 3-of-5 shooting, as well as three assists, a block and a steal.

‘I think the confidence that we have in Paige and Sarah, specifically, makes everybody on our team feel really, really, really assured that I just have to do my part and it will be good enough,’ Auriemma said.

Maybe this Elite Eight game with USC, a rematch of last year, would have been different if Watkins hadn’t suffered a season-ending knee injury in a second-round game a week earlier. Watkins is, like Bueckers, a generational talent, and she had USC’s last three points, as well as the assist on the Trojans’ final field goal, when they outlasted UConn in December.

‘I think at some point the emotions of the last seven days will kick in more. It was only tonight a week ago that one of the best players in college basketball and someone just so meaningful to everything weare went down,’ USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said, fighting tears. ‘And I’m just so proud of the way thateveryone rallied.’

Even with Watkins, though, it would have been an uphill climb to beat this UConn team.

This is UConn’s 24th Final Four, and the fourth in as many years for Bueckers. (She missed her junior season with a torn ACL. Not coincidentally, UConn didn’t make the Final Four that year, the Huskies’ first absence since 2007.)

But UConn has not won a national title since 2016. It is the only accolade missing in Bueckers’ illustrious career, having lost in the title game in 2022 and in the Final Four in 2021 and 2024, and her determination to fill that hole practically oozes off her.

‘I really believe that, as Paige said, having gone through all those things, and our team having to overcome all those issues — How do we get there with only five or six players? How do we get there when everybody’s got to play 40 minutes? How do we get there in spite of everything? — it has toughened us up a little bit and it has made us a little stronger individually and collectively. Believe in each other a little bit more, maybe,’ Auriemma said.

There have been many times in the UConn dynasty when the NCAA title felt inevitable, when the Huskies were simply better than everyone else. That no matter who the opponents were, they were bound to be satellites to UConn’s star. The Huskies simply would not be denied.

This feels very much like one of those times.

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.

And then there were four in the 2025 women’s NCAA Tournament.

Three No. 1 seeds — UCLA, South Carolina and Texas — punched their tickets to Tampa Bay, Florida to the Final Four, which tips off on Friday. UConn is the lone No. 2 seed to advance after knocking out No. 1 USC, which was not at full strength following the season-ending ACL injury of JuJu Watkins. UConn advanced to its 24th Final Four in program history, which marks the most all-time in men’s or women’s college basketball.

On the other side of the spectrum, UCLA is making its first Final Four appearance. ‘It feels great. Everyone came to UCLA for this reason, to do something we haven’t done in a really long time or in the NCAA era, and so just really proud, proud of my teammates, the staff, the coaches of just continuing to get better every day and grow from each season prior,’ guard Gabriela Jacquez said after the Bruins’ Elite Eight win over No. 3 LSU.

Texas is set to make its fourth Final Four appearance, while South Carolina is through to the semifinals for the fifth consecutive season and the seventh overall. Here’s everything you need to know about the 2025 women’s NCAA Tournament, including a breakdown of each Final Four matchup and the best players to watch:

No. 1 South Carolina vs. No. 1 Texas

Time, TV: 7 p.m. ET on Friday (ESPN)

South Carolina did just enough to keep their title defense alive. The Gamecocks have struggled to find their offensive rhythm in the tournament so far. South Carolina scored a season-low 54 points in its Elite Eight win over No. 2 Duke on Sunday. They only made a season-low 19 field goals on a season-low 44 attempts from the field and South Carolina’s bench — which leads the nation in points per game (41.5) — was held to only nine points. Their top-notch defense even faltered, giving up 41 rebounds (19 offensive) to an undersized Duke lineup. South Carolina has been able to grind out ugly wins, but the Gamecocks must clean up their shot selection and rebounding if they want to win back-to-back national championships. That won’t be easy against a high-scoring Texas offense led by SEC Player of the Year Madison Booker. The Longhorns defense shouldn’t be overlooked either. Texas held TCU to a season-low 47 points and Hailey van Lith to just 3-of-15 shooting in the Longhorns’ Elite Eight win over the Horned Frogs. With the win, Texas advanced to the Final Four for the first time since 2003.

There’s history between SEC foes Texas and South Carolina. The Longhorns and Gamecocks ended the regular season as co-champions with matching 15-1 records in SEC play. Because the SEC foes split the season series — South Carolina took the first matchup 67-50 at home in January, while Texas won the second matchup 66-62 in February, ending South Carolina’s 57-game SEC win streak. The No. 1 seed in the SEC tournament was decided by way of a coin flip. South Carolina won the coin flip and conference tournament’s No. 1 seed, but proved their place at the top was no fluke with a blowout 64-45 win over Texas in the SEC championship early March.

Texas and South Carolina will face off for the fourth time this season in the Final Four. The Gamecocks are vying for their third national championship appearance in four seasons. The Longhorns are in pursuit of their first title game appearance since 1986, when the program won its first and only title.

TEXAS LONGHORNS: Women’s basketball roster breakdown: Madison Booker, Rori Harmon stats

No. 1 UCLA vs. No. 2 UConn

Time, TV: 9:30 p.m. ET on Friday (ESPN)

UCLA women’s basketball has finally broken through. Prior to this season, the Bruins had only advanced as far as the Elite Eight and never played in the final weekend. Until now. UCLA advanced to its first Final Four appearance following a 72-65 Elite Eight win over No. 3 LSU. The Bruins showcased their depth in the win. Gabriela Jaquez led the way with a career-high four 3-pointers, including a crucial 3 with 1:29 remaining to give the Bruins a 62-53 advantage that the Tigers couldn’t overcome. Lauren Betts was limited to 17 points, seven rebounds and six blocks after picking up two fouls in the first quarter. UCLA will be tasked with slowing down Paige Bueckers and the Huskies, who are in pursuit of their fist national championship since 2016. UConn has the highest field goal percentage in the nation (51.05%), while simultaneously holding opponents to the lowest point total (51.7). Bueckers is red-hot and has scored 30+ points in three consecutive games, the most by a UConn player in that span. She’s complemented by Big East Freshman of the Year Sarah Strong, who has looked far from a rookie during the tournament. Strong joins Maya Moore as the only freshmen in UConn history to record 600-plus points.

This marks the first matchup of the season between UConn and UCLA. UConn is making its 24th Final Four appearance and the 16th in the last 17th tournaments. Meanwhile, UCLA is in uncharted territory. Will experience

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All-Star first baseman Freddie Freeman was not in the lineup for the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 6-1 win Monday night against his former team, the Atlanta Braves, after aggravating his surgically repaired right ankle in what the team called a shower ‘mishap.’

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters before Monday night’s game that Freeman’s ‘mishap’ happened as he entered the shower at his home on Saturday, and he experienced swelling in the ankle afterward. Roberts said that Freeman will be day-to-day as he recovers from the accident.

Freeman had suffered a right ankle injury in late September of last season. He missed two of the last three games of the National League Championship Series against the New York Mets due to the ankle injury. However, he played through the discomfort in the World Series, hitting a dramatic walk-off grand slam in Game 1 of the World Series against the New York Yankees. Freeman was named World Series MVP after helping the Dodgers win their first championship since 2020 (and first in a full season since 1988).

Freeman had surgery on his right ankle in December and was limited in spring training.

Freeman did not play in the Dodgers’ two games in Japan against the Chicago Cubs on March 18-19 with an unrelated injury. But, he played in all three games — hitting two home runs in 12 at bats — as the Dodgers swept the Detroit Tigers over the weekend.

With Freeman out of the lineup Monday night, utility player Kiké Hernández played first base. Hernández went 1 for 4 with a home run, his second of the 2025 season.

JuJu Watkins posted a statement on social media shortly after midnight Tuesday, her first words shared publicly since exiting USC’s second-round game with a season-ending ACL injury.

‘Thank you for all the incredible love and support,’ Watkins posted to her Instagram story. ‘Seeing all your messages and kind words has meant the world to me — ya’ll have given me so much hope.

‘Right now, my heart is with my teammates — I wish I could have been out there battling, but I couldn’t be prouder of the fight we’ve fought together. Thank you all.’

Her words came just hours after No. 2 seed UConn defeated No. 1 USC, 78-64, in the Elite Eight, ending the Trojans’ powerful run in the 2025 women’s NCAA tournament.

The Huskies play No. 1 overall seed UCLA in the Final Four at 9:30 p.m. ET on Friday in Tampa, Florida. Two other No. 1 seeds, South Carolina and Texas, play each other in the other Final Four game at 7 p.m. that day.

Watkins injured her knee in the first quarter of USC’s March Madness win over Mississippi State. She will require surgery, according to the school. But the team rallied without Watkins on the court, and kept her close by wearing Nike shirts with her face on them and traveling with a 3.7-inch Funko Pop version of the star.

The Trojans defeated Mississippi State handily, 96-59, and then scraped by Kansas State, 67-61, in the Sweet 16. But Paige Bueckers-led UConn was too much to handle in the Elite Eight.

USC kept the game close by narrowing a 19-point UConn lead to five points in the third quarter before falling to the Huskies, who have a legitimate shot at winning it all if Bueckers continues her record-breaking scoring streak.