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The Friday 5: April 1st

By April 1, 2022 No Comments

NCAA Basketball Women’s Final Four

It’s a weekend of college basketball greatness, and it all begins on Friday with the Women’s Final Four. Both games will air on ESPN.

South Carolina Gamecocks vs. Louisville Cardinals

Two No. 1 seeds tip off at 7 pm ET/4 pm PT when the South Carolina Gamecocks take on the Louisville Cardinals. The Gamecocks have been the #1 team in the country all season, and their performance in the tournament thus far has shown why. They have depth and star power. Louisville has a solid defense and doesn’t make many mistakes, but this is South Carolina’s game to win, and I think they’ll win it.

Connecticut Huskies vs. Stanford Cardinal

Stanford has been having an excellent tournament and, should both teams advance, could upset South Carolina. In order to beat the Huskies, who are appearing in their 14th straight Final Four, the defending champions will need their stars to continue to play as such. Stanford will also need to contain Paige Bueckers, who looked very much herself in the Elite 8. Tip-off is at 9:30 pm ET/6:30 pm PT.

The Championship will be played on Sunday. 

 

NCAA Basketball Men’s Final Four

Started from the Madness and now we’re here. After upsets, overtimes and everything in between, the NCAA Basketball Men’s Final Four is here. 

Kansas Jayhawks vs. Villanova Wildcats

The No. 1 seed Kansas Jayhawks take on the No. 2 seed Villanova Wildcats on Saturday at 6:09 pm ET/3:09 pm PT on TBS. The only No. 1 seed to make it to the Final Four, the Jayhawks have All-American Ochai Agbaji and David McCormack, but they also have depth and talent all-around. Villanova has been here before, but after losing Justin Moore to a torn Achilles, it won’t be enough to beat Kansas.

Duke Blue Devils vs. North Carolina Tar Heels

For our marquee match-up, Mike Krzyzewski and the Duke Blue Devils will take on their intrastate rival North Carolina Tar Heels at 8:49 pm ET/5:49 pm PT on TBS. Both of these teams are playing red-hot basketball, but Duke just has too many weapons and too much offensive prowess to lose. Plus, it’s Coach K’s final season. He can’t retire without one more shining moment ☺. 

The Championship will be played Monday night. 

 

Jacob DeGrom

The New York Mets will be without one of baseball’s best pitchers for at least a month to start the season, as an imaging test showed a stress reaction in his right scapula. DeGrom won’t throw for four weeks, and then he will be re-evaluated.

DeGrom had a 1.08 ERA in 15 starts last season. He went 7-2, walked 11 batters and struck out 146. Unfortunately, he missed multiple starts due to injury and the second half of the season due to elbow pain. He won back-to-back Cy Young Awards in 2018 and 2019.

The Mets signed Max Scherzer this offseason, giving the Mets two of the best at the top of their rotation.

 

The White Sox and Dodgers Make a Deal

The Chicago White Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers made a one-for-one trade – when’s the last time you heard that?? – as veteran closer Craig Kimbrel comes to LA to fill the void left by Kenley Jansen. Outfielder AJ Pollock heads to Chicago in return. A certain Dodgers Fangirl may or may not be crying.

The move means the Dodgers have flexibility with their bullpen, while Gavin Lux should now be a large part of LA’s (almost) every day. The White Sox have a deep bullpen and a less deep outfield, so everybody wins, hopefully in October. 

 

Steph Curry

After suffering a sprain in his left foot on March 16, Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry will miss the remainder of the regular season. Curry, who has already missed seven games, will be re-evaluated in a week, and per ESPN, the team thinks he will be back for the playoffs.

Curry is averaging 25.5 points, 6.3 assists and 5.2 rebounds a game this season.

Tracy Sandler

Tracy Sandler

I created Fangirl Sports Network as a place for female sports fans to follow their favorite teams with content and coverage that speaks directly to females. It started with one and then eight and now 32 NFL Fangirls and 15 NBA Fangirls.