Here are the AP’s top sports stories that have moved or are planned to move today. All times U.S. Eastern. For up-to-the minute information on AP’s coverage, visit AP Newsroom’s Coverage Plan. Sports content can be found at http://newsroom.ap.org/page/APSports.
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UPCOMING
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BKW--MARCH MADNESS
DESCRIPTION: Text coverage of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.
BKW--NCAA Championship
Dawn Staley and South Carolina are looking for a fourth national championship in the last nine years when they face UCLA in the NCAA women’s basketball title game. The Gamecocks have made the championship game in four of the past five seasons while the Bruins are playing in their first NCAA title contest. By Basketball Writer Doug Feinberg. Game starts at 3:30 p.m. EDT.
UPCOMING: By 04/05/2026 6:30 p.m. EDT, DigitalPlans, Photo, Text
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BKC--MARCH MADNESS
DESCRIPTION: Text coverage of the men’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.
BKC--NCAA-Championship Preview: UConn goes for its third title in four seasons. To win it, the Huskies will have to beat Michigan, which is on a roll but not sure about the health of its best player, Yaxel Lendeborg. By Eddie Pells.
BKC--NCAA-Lendeborg: Update on Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg, who sprained his knee in the Wolverines' semifinal win over Arizona.
BKC--NCAA-UConn-Karaban: Alex Karaban’s first two college seasons ended with cutting down the nets to cap March Madness. His senior year could be the same, with the UConn forward having a shot at joining a short list of players to win three titles in a college career. By Aaron Beard. 800 words, photos.
BKC--Duke-Boozer: Duke freshman forward Cameron Boozer is presented with the AP national player of the year award. By Aaron Beard. 400 words, photos.
UPCOMING: By 04/05/2026 7:00 p.m. EDT, DigitalPlans, Photo, Text
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GLF--MASTERS
DESCRIPTION: Scottie Scheffler arrived at the Masters with his 9-day-old son Remy, and then head out to play with his longtime agent. The Sunday leading into the Masters is a day unlike any other, with kids from the Drive, Chip and Putt mingling with Masters champions. “You’ve got touch, man!” 90-year-old Gary Player said to one young boy. By Golf Writer Doug Ferguson. 700 words, photos.
UPCOMING: By 04/05/2026 4:00 p.m. EDT, Photo, Text
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SOC--FRENCH ROUNDUP
DESCRIPTION: Fourth-placed Marseille travels to in-form Monaco in the French league.
UPCOMING: By 04/05/2026 5:00 p.m. EDT, Photo, Text
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GLF--TEXAS OPEN
DESCRIPTION: SAN ANTONIO -- Robert MacIntyre has the lead in the storm-delayed Texas Open, where he was facing 30 holes on Sunday. 500 words, photos.
UPCOMING: By 04/05/2026 9:30 p.m. EDT, Photo, Text
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NEW AND DEVELOPING
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HKN--ISLANDERS-ROY FIRED
Islanders fire coach Patrick Roy after losing 4 in a row, name Peter DeBoer his replacement
SUMMARY: Patrick Roy has been fired as coach of the New York Islanders. First-year general manager Mathieu Darche announced the abrupt decision Sunday after the team lost four in a row and seven of its past 10 games. The Islanders were comfortably in a playoff spot until this late-season tailspin put their chances in danger with four games left to play. Peter DeBoer was named as Roy’s replacement and not just on an interim basis. He has taken two teams to the Stanley Cup Final and most recently coached the Dallas Stars to three consecutive trips to the Western Conference final before being fired last spring following their latest exit.
WORDS: 743 - MOVED: 04/05/2026 1:32 p.m. EDT
https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:de14ae881aed393d46261df239b58d42&mediaType=text
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BBO--PITCH CLOCK-LONGEST GAME
Yankees-Marlins game takes 3 hours, 49 minutes for 9 innings, longest in pitch clock era
SUMMARY: Major League Baseball’s pitch clock was no match for the New York Yankees and Miami Marlins. New York’s 9-7 win Saturday night lasted 3 hours, 49 minutes, the longest nine-inning game since the pitch clock was instituted for the 2023 season, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. MLB had not had a nine-inning game that long since Boston’s 13-9 with over Baltimore went 3:57 on Sept. 27, 2022, according to Elias. The previous high for a nine-inning game since the pitch clock started was 3:45 for the Oakland Athletics’ 7-6 win at the New York Mets on Aug. 15, 2024.
WORDS: 250 - MOVED: 04/05/2026 1:12 p.m. EDT
https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:9f8c035683d9983e8ba52bc9243fbc33&mediaType=text
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BKC--NCAA-INJURIES
UConn’s Solo Ball, Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg both dealing with injuries heading into title game
SUMMARY: UConn starting guard Solo Ball was set to miss practice because of a sprained foot but said he expects to play when the Huskies face Michigan in the NCAA championship game Monday night. Ball said he hurt his left foot when he got tangled with teammate Tarris Reed Jr. in the first half of UConn’s semifinal win over Illinois. The junior called the injury a bump in the road but said he was still going to play. He was wearing a boot on his left foot less than 24 hours after playing 28 minutes and scoring 13 points in the 71-62 victory over the Illini. The Huskies advanced to their third national championship game in four years.
WORDS: 357 - MOVED: 04/05/2026 12:49 p.m. EDT
https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:2572c9555f697fafe4d3128c3bc184b4&mediaType=text
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BKW--NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP
South Carolina meets UCLA in NCAA women’s title game seeking a 4th title as Bruins chase their 1st
SUMMARY: Dawn Staley and South Carolina are seeking a fourth national championship in the last nine years when they meet UCLA in the NCAA women’s basketball title game. The Gamecocks have reached the championship game in four of the past five seasons while the Bruins are playing in their first NCAA title contest. Both teams played stifling defense in the semifinals of March Madness with South Carolina knocking off UConn 62-48 to end the Huskies’ 54-game winning streak on Friday night. UCLA was even more stingy on the defensive end in its 51-44 win over Texas.
WORDS: 259 - MOVED: 04/05/2026 10:49 a.m. EDT. Will be updated from gaming starting at 3:30 p.m.
https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:1b7d7aa969d6bded7ad857fa1d760e32&mediaType=text
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GLF--MASTERS-PAMPAS
MASTERS ’26: Augusta’s ‘beautiful little hole’ at No. 7 has turned much nastier
SUMMARY: Players in the Masters will have a hard time believing Byron Nelson once drove onto the green at the par-4 seventh hole at Augusta National. But it’s not the same hole. It was Nelson’s shot in 1937 that first led the club to move back the green some 20 yards and elevate it. Then it added some trees down the left. And then 100 or so yards were added during some lengthening 20 years ago. Now it’s a hole where Scottie Scheffler says the fairway has to be hit. It plays slightly over par instead of once being a good birdie chance.
WORDS: 977 - MOVED: 04/05/2026 10:09 a.m. EDT
https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:f2a165a558980ea3391e7a5c09393e94&mediaType=text
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BBO--RAYS-TROPICANA FIELD
Rays are eager to return to Tropicana Field for the first game since hurricane damaged the roof
SUMMARY: A sellout crowd will welcome the Tampa Bay Rays back to renovated Tropicana Field on Monday for the first time in 18 1/2 months. The quirky stadium with the tilted roof and unique catwalks underwent major repairs after Hurricane Milton swept through St. Petersburg on Oct. 9, 2024, and caused extensive damage. High wind ripped sections of the original roof, allowing rain to fall into the stadium bowl for months. Water caused mold and damage to electrical, sound and broadcast systems. There was thought initially the Rays would never play another game at the only ballpark they had called home since the franchise’s debut in 1998. Instead, nearly $60 million was spent to replace the roof and rebuild the Trop.
WORDS: 585 - MOVED: 04/05/2026 9:36 a.m. EDT
https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:234f8116b28f392f616a720c5a94ecc1&mediaType=text
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BBO--ANGELS-ADELL ROBS 3 HRS
Jo Adell robs 3 homers in what Torii Hunter calls the `greatest defensive game I’ve ever seen’
SUMMARY: You’ve done something special when Torii Hunter, a nine-time Gold Glove Award winner known for his acrobatic catches, calls what you just did “probably the greatest defensive game I’ve ever seen.” That was the praise Hunter heaped on the Los Angeles Angels’ Jo Adell after the right fielder made three homer-robbing catches, the last a spectacular leaping grab against J.P. Crawford while crashing into the seats near the right-field foul pole in the ninth inning, in a 1-0 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Saturday night. Adell leaped high above the yellow line on the wall in straightaway right to deny Cal Raleigh in the first inning, and made a nearly identical catch to against Josh Naylor in the eighth.
WORDS: 620 - MOVED: 04/05/2026 2:06 a.m. EDT
https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:3ce86fbeea0b38ae0f197e42376bf93f&mediaType=text
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MOVING TOMORROW
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BKC--NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP — UConn faces Arizona for the national championship in the finale of the NCAA Tournament. Game starts at 8:50 pm. EDT.
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BKW--T25-WOMENS POLL — The Associated Press releases the final AP Top 25 women’s basketball poll of the season around noon EDT.
