In a nod to its four West Coast newcomers, the Big Ten will hold its men’s and women’s basketball tournaments in Las Vegas one time each in the next four years, the league office announced Wednesday.

The news comes eight days after Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti announced that Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium will remain as host of the Big Ten football championship game through 2028.

Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena will host the 2027 women’s and the 2028 men’s basketball tournament. The Pac-12, the former home of new Big Ten members USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington, staged its men’s basketball tournament at T-Mobile Arena from 2017 to 2024; its women’s tournament had been held at other Las Vegas venues since 2019.

Other men’s basketball tournament future sites includes Indianapolis’ Gainbridge Fieldhouse in 2025 and ’27 and Chicago’s United Center in ’26. Gainbridge Fieldhouse also will stage the ’25 and ’26 women’s basketball tournaments, while Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena will host for the first time during the 2028 tournament.

“I’ve been really pleased in the interest from cities across, not just from the football side, but men’s and women’s basketball was just really good,” Petitti told The Athletic last week.

It’s a similar move to the…

Oregon women’s volleyball coach Matt Ulmer admits he was nervous but hopeful when the Big Ten announced the upcoming volleyball schedule.

“I had no idea what it was going to look like for the four West schools,” Ulmer said. “But at least at the end of the day, I think they did a really good job of keeping in mind not missing class.”

With Oregon, Washington, USC and UCLA entering the Big Ten in August, the 18-team Big Ten stretches from the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans and across four time zones. Strategic scheduling and travel were more imperative this year than ever before for the Big Ten staff, especially for Olympic sports like women’s volleyball, of which each school has 20 conference matches.

To ensure the West Coast members avoid hardships beyond on-floor competition, the Big Ten office solicited feedback from its coaches on double-play opponents. In collaboration across the athletic departments, there was a goal to bunch together as many trips as possible and limit missed class time.

2024 #B1G Conference Volleyball Schedule Announced https://t.co/2hgUQ9gdq2

— Big Ten Volleyball (@B1GVolleyball) June 12, 2024

The West Coast schools all face one another home-and-home and split matches with the other 14 schools home or away. Those seven road trips east are…

On Jan. 19, two days after he became the most coveted football player in the NCAA’s transfer portal, and mere hours after he welcomed Ohio State coaches for a recruiting visit, Caleb Downs announced his change-of-address plans. The freshman safety who’d earned second-team All-America honors at Alabama committed to the Buckeyes. Not long after, Downs and his father began relocating to Columbus.

Getting there was simple enough. Getting around was another matter.

Some wheels needed to be put in motion.

“I get a call from someone on the coaching staff and they said, ‘Hey, I’m here with Caleb and his dad now. Are you looking to add somebody else to your team?’” says Rick Ricart, the CEO and owner of Ricart Automotive Group in Columbus. “Would you be willing to do a car deal for him?’”

For decades, these were shifty conversations. Local car dealerships had long been conduits for the whispered inducements coaches or boosters promised talented players. When discovered, scandal erupted. Repercussions were often stark. Then came the seismic summer of 2021, when changes to Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) rules allowed college athletes to earn money without fear of NCAA sanctions.

Car dealers nationwide quickly exchanged leases and keys for players boasting about their new…

RANCHOS VERDES, Calif. — Palm trees, a Pacific Ocean view and courtyard dinners at the Terranea Resort provided the backdrop this week for one of the Big Ten’s most important group of meetings in the league’s 128-year history.

More than 100 administrators, university leaders, faculty representatives and head coaches from the Big Ten’s 18 members and league office gathered at this plush, picturesque location to discuss an upcoming legal settlement that fundamentally will change college athletics. Those officials were sequestered with security for every function, ranging from outdoor meals to friendly mixers.

The topics weren’t limited to what’s known as the House v. NCAA case, which will cost the NCAA and its member schools $2.7 billion should it be approved. The league added a four-school West Coast wing starting this year, and the spring meetings were as much of a networking event as an opportunity to explore a path forward as a league and an industry.

“I think that we have a chance at this moment right now in college athletics to really reshape the model in the most meaningful way in our lifetimes and maybe the most meaningful way that has ever been,” said Illinois athletic director Josh Whitman, the new Division I Council chair. “How can we build this new…

Now that Caitlin Clark is a member of the Indiana Fever, it’s time to turn the page on the 2024 WNBA Draft and look ahead to what could be an even more talented class in 2025. This is the last group of players to be eligible for a pandemic bonus year, so the WNBA will have a true double draft of fourth- and fifth-year seniors, which will simplify the process for general managers who no longer have to wonder who will declare.

The relevant exception to that is the medical redshirt. Players still have an additional year of eligibility if they sit out for a season due to injury, as is the case with the top prospect on the board. However, the number of players who fall into that category is relatively small.

Given that the draft order isn’t set until after the 2024 WNBA season, which has yet to commence, this isn’t a mock draft. Instead, it’s a list of the top players without regard to team fit. This exercise also only considers domestic prospects, though we should expect internationals to factor heavily on draft day in 2025. After all, three non-NCAA players were taken in the first round of Monday’s draft.

GO DEEPER

WNBA Draft grades: Fever earn A for picking Clark, Sky receive C+ even with Angel Reese

Much is expected to change between now and then, but probably not the…

First-round (and even first-weekend) upsets in the women’s NCAA Tournament are rare, but that doesn’t mean we won’t see thrillers from Day 1.

Since the women’s tournament expanded to 64 games in 1994, only one No. 16 seed has brought down a No. 1 seed: Harvard over Stanford in 1998. A No. 15 seed or No. 14 seed has never won a tournament game. But the 12-5 matchup remains spicy with 26 upsets through the years. Some teams (Florida Gulf Coast and Belmont) have become particularly adept at these.

The first weekend will also bring us interesting style and personnel matchups. Who will move on? Who’s March Madness dreams will end quickly?

Our experts pick the most fascinating first-round games to watch:

(All times listed are Eastern)

11:30 a.m. Friday, ESPN2

Grace Raynor:  The Spartans’ 22 wins are their most since the 2015-16 season, and they’ve hung right in with some of the best teams in the Big Ten this year, losing on the road to Iowa by just 3 points and Ohio State by 5. North Carolina, meanwhile, gave South Carolina one of its tougher games earlier in the season when the Gamecocks won by just 7 points in Chapel…

March is here, and the biggest stars in the game will headline the madness. You’ll see plenty about Caitlin Clark, JuJu Watkins, Kamilla Cardoso and Hannah Hidalgo. Those players are the foundations of their teams.

But it takes more than a star to take a team to the Final Four. The players around that star — whether they’re other starters, role players or super subs — have a part to play. Some might find they can put even more on their shoulders at this time of year. Those difference-makers on the roster? We’re calling these players the “ceiling changers” because when they’re at their best, their teams’ potential goes way up.

For these nine teams to make deep runs (or pick up an upset or two), these ceiling changers need to be at their best.

(Players arranged alphabetically by last name.)

NC State senior forward

Region: Portland 4 | Seed: 3 | First-round details: vs. No. 14 Chattanooga, 2:30 p.m. ET Saturday, ESPNU; Raleigh, N.C.

Collins is typically the fourth-best option for the Wolfpack, but when she scores in double figures, NC State is 18-2. When she makes more than 50 percent of her shots, the Wolfpack are undefeated (12-0). It’s too much to ask opposing defenses to contain Saniya Rivers and Aziaha James on the perimeter, River Baldwin in the middle and NC…

Selection Sunday has come and gone, and if your favorite team landed in the Albany 2 Region, my sincerest apologies.

At The Athletic, we have you covered with all the big-picture details of the bracket, including the paths to the Final Four for last year’s national finalists as well as South Carolina, who enters as this year’s favorite. But the fun of filling out a bracket (you can print ours here) isn’t just figuring out the Final Four teams; it’s knowing which 11th-seeded team will upset a power conference program and which underdog can silence a hosting team’s home crowd.

You can’t have the Big Dance without Cinderella, and thankfully, there are several candidates in this year’s field waiting to try on that glass slipper to see if it fits. Here’s a look at some double-digit seeds who are threats to spring early-round upsets.

No. 11 Texas A&M

I just can’t quit Texas A&M. The Aggies featured in my preseason top 25 — a prediction that did not age well as they lost five of their final six SEC games and failed to enter the rankings for the entirety of the regular season. However, when Texas A&M is at its peak, it can contend with talented opposition. The Aggies boast double-digit wins over Kansas, Ole Miss and Tennessee, and they stayed within 11 points of South…

MINNEAPOLIS — The message was clear, and she wasn’t wrong.

With the clock ticking down, junior Shyanne Sellers turned to the sideline and found the camera, yelling directly into it, “Peaking at the right time! Peaking at the right time!”

The unranked Terrapins took down No. 4 Ohio State, the Big Ten Tournament’s top seed, 82-61.

Even after a season in which Maryland saw plenty of struggles — an 0-8 record against ranked opponents, a four-game losing streak in January, a season-ending injury to one of its key players just weeks ago — perhaps we all should’ve expected to see this team, as Sellers said, peaking at the right time.

After all, this is Brenda Frese’s Maryland. The Terps have been to the Sweet 16 eight times since 2012, including each of the last three seasons, and they made an Elite Eight trip last year. So finishing eighth in the Big Ten this season — its lowest finish since Maryland joined the conference in 2014 — shouldn’t have been as much of a worry consider this is March, and this is Maryland.

The Terrapins used their half-court defensive pressure to stymie the Buckeyes early and found consistency with a balanced offensive attack, putting together their most complete performance of the season. Led by Seller’s 25 points, eight rebounds and…

The Big Ten’s record-breaking women’s basketball television ratings have translated to a new attendance record for next month’s Big Ten tournament.

Two weeks before the league’s top teams compete at Minneapolis’ Target Center, every session has sold out for the first time, the conference announced Friday. Big Ten officials estimate more than 109,000 fans will attend the seven sessions and shatter the league’s total attendance record of 47,923, which was set last year in Minneapolis.

The #B1G Conference is excited to announce the 2024 TIAA @B1Gwbball Tournament is sold out for the first time in its history! pic.twitter.com/i4mA78d9Tx

— Big Ten Conference (@bigten) February 23, 2024

Call it the Caitlin Clark Effect. The Iowa senior guard, who broke the women’s NCAA career scoring mark last week, has helped the Hawkeyes sell out and/or set attendance records at 30 of 32 arenas this year. Iowa became the first Big Ten women’s program to sell out its entire season and played before only two crowds at an exempt tournament in Florida that were not at full capacity.

With the Hawkeyes’ proximity to Minneapolis, fans flocked north last year to see Iowa win the league championship. That seems to be the case this year, too, only with tickets sold well in advance. Plus,