The $1 million March Madness wager between a pro gambler and an artificial-intelligence site will be decided by the winner of the Duke-Houston game in the Final Four.

The women’s Final Four is full of star players, top seeds and historic programs.

Fittingly for an NCAA Tournament in which big schools from big conferences took record numbers of spots in the first week, then hogged them all for the second week, the Final Four will bring four teams seeded No. 1 to the sport’s biggest stage to play for the title.

Houston’s relentless defense confused and harassed Tennessee and carried the Cougars into their seventh Final Four and first since 2021, with L.

Mark Sears was held to six points and Alabama followed an NCAA Tournament-record 25 3-pointers with only eight, dooming its shot at a second straight Final Four in an 85-65 loss to Duke in the East Region final.

Duke’s stream of NBA-ready standouts used smothering defense and other options on offense to paper over Cooper Flagg’s rough shooting night and lift the Blue Devils to the program’s 18th Final Four with an 85-65 victory over Alabama.

Walter Clayton Jr. rescued top-seeded Florida with two late 3-pointers, and the Gators rallied from nine points down late to reach the Final Four with an 84-79 victory over Texas Tech in the NCAA Tournament’s West Region final.

A long rivalry between Auburn's Tahaad Pettiford and Michigan State's Jase Richardson will continue when the freshman guards lead their teams in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday.

The last perfect women’s NCAA Tournament has been busted.

Milos Uzan soared for an uncontested layup on a beautifully executed inbound play with 0.9 seconds left, and No. 1 seed Houston survived a late collapse to beat fourth-seeded Purdue 62-60 in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

Three No. 1 seeds will be in the Final Four of the women’s NCAA Tournament.

And then there were 1s.

Hailey Van Lith is focused on making the USA Basketball 3x3 Olympic team this summer and not worried about where she’ll end up at college next year.

In elementary school, Caitlin Clark wrote down her dreams and goals that included playing in the WNBA one day.

Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese have both decided to forgo their final year of college eligibility and enter the WNBA Draft.

Dawn Staley did a masterful job guiding a young South Carolina team back to the Final Four undefeated for the second straight season.

The average price paid for a ticket on the resale market this week was twice as high for the NCAA women’s Final Four compared with that for the men’s semifinals.

Caitlin Clark can claim another record — the most-watched women’s college basketball game in history.

After being a spectator a year ago, Paige Bueckers is headed back to the Final Four after scoring 28 points and lifting UConn to a 80-73 win over Southern California in the women’s NCAA Tournament.

After the Boston Celtics beat the Charlotte Hornets on Monday night, the focus of the NBA’s best team quickly turned to something else: watching Caitlin Clark and the final minutes of Iowa’s victory over LSU in the Elite Eight of the women’s NCAA Tournament.

Iowa’s Caitlin Clark tied a women’s NCAA Tournament record hitting by nine 3-pointers, many from well beyond the arc, in Iowa’s Elite Eight win over LSU.

Aziaha James made a career-high seven 3-pointers and scored 27 points, and third-seeded North Carolina State earned its first trip to the Final Four of the women’s NCAA Tournament since 1998, beating top-seeded Texas 76-66.

Mark Sears hit seven 3-pointers and Alabama recovered from its early long-distance shooting woes to beat Clemson 89-82 and reach the Final Four for the first time.

Aziaha James had 29 points and third-seeded North Carolina State earned its third trip to the women's Elite Eight with a 77-67 victory over second-seeded Stanford.

Texas reserve guard Arterio Morris has entered the transfer portal.

For Haley and Hanna Cavinder, the Elite Eight apparently was enough and their time at Miami is over.

Louisville’s Hailey Van Lith has entered the transfer portal.

The advanced stats can tell us a lot about the teams in this year's Final Four.

South Carolina is two wins away from completing the 10th undefeated season in women's college basketball history.

A person with knowledge of the deal says Texas has reached an agreement with Rodney Terry to be the Longhorns’ full-time head basketball coach.

Jordan Miller scored 27 points and made a series of crucial foul shots down the stretch as Miami rallied to an 88-81 victory over Texas for a spot in the Final Four.

Everyone’s heard of UConn.

Florida Atlantic has defied expectation and description all season.

Jordan Hawkins scored 20 points and UConn overwhelmed its fourth straight NCAA Tournament opponent, earning its first trip to the Final Four in nine years with an 82-54 blowout of Gonzaga.

Jasmyne Roberts scored a career-high 26 points to help Miami overcome blowing a 21-point lead and beat Villanova 70-65 on Friday for the program’s first trip to the Elite Eight of the women's NCAA Tournament.

After a remarkable season that resulted in a second straight Elite 8 appearance Houston Cougars’ seniors Fabian White Jr. and Taze Moore sat down with KPRC2′s Chancellor Johnson for an exclusive interview.

There was a time, not that many years ago, when predicting who would win the women’s NCAA Tournament was not that difficult.

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski's final chapter will have a distinctly blue tint.

Saint Peter's saw its fantastic run in the NCAA Tournament end with a 69-49 loss to North Carolina in the East Region final.

Villanova guard and second-leading scorer Justin Moore will undergo surgery this week for a torn Achilles tendon.

KPRC 2 Sports Director Randy McIlvoy has final thoughts and observations from the Elite Eight.

Houston is out of the NCAA Tournament, yet the Cougars look built to stay around as a power program for a long time.

It was another deep postseason run for the University of Houston’s men’s basketball team, but this time, the Cougars fell just short of the Final Four.

There were 17.3 million brackets filled out in ESPN's Tournament Challenge this year, and the quest for a perfect one was done before the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament.

(AP Photo/Darron Cummings)It’s not easy to bury a team as good as USC, let alone in a half, no matter how easy Gonzaga made it look. He asked Few the day before their game against the high-flying Trojans whether his defense was getting lost in the shuffle. “Obviously, I think he’s the best defender in the country,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said. Then Baylor’s bout with the virus came late in the season, requiring a pause of three weeks plus. After everything else fans weathered throughout this wacky season, a few more days might finally deliver a national championship game worth the wait.

Lexie Hull had 21 points, Ashten Prechtel scored each of her 16 in the second half and Stanford reached the Final Four by rallying for a 78-63 victory over Louisville on Tuesday night. “To play a second half and beat them by 27 really says a lot about how hard people were playing,” VanDerveer said. Stanford dropped that one 62-53, ending its previous appearance in the Final Four. Stanford (29-2) trailed by 12 midway through the third quarter before scoring 13 consecutive points to take its first lead since early in the game. We weren’t aggressive enough.”AdThe Cardinal got going in the second half and made six of their final eight 3-point attempts.

Gonzaga (30-0) has been an offensive juggernaut rarely seen in college basketball. Ad“Everyone wants us to keep moving forward, but that’s not how we roll,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. That doesn’t lessen our desire to win this game, the next game or win two more games.”The next one won't be easy. The Bears were embroiled in one of the darkest scandals in college basketball history, when Patrick Dennehy was murdered by teammate Carlton Dotson in 2003. They played in the Final Four.”___More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/College-basketball and http://www.twitter.com/AP_Top25

On Saturday in the national semifinals, the Zags will face 11th-seeded UCLA, which beat Michigan 51-49 in a later Elite Eight game. All-American Corey Kispert had 18 points and eight boards on an “off” night — only 6 for 19 from the floor. “We just tried to stay moving,” Suggs said about attacking the USC zone, which had been shutting down teams all month in Indy. “It was a little surprising," USC coach Andy Enfield said, “because we'd been playing great basketball.”The Zags have a way about doing that to people. ALL-WEST TEAMThe All-region team included both Mobley brothers, Suggs, Kispert and Timme, who was named the West's most outstanding player.

(AP Photo/Eric Gay)SAN ANTONIO – One by one, South Carolina players walked through the confetti and climbed the ladder to cut down the net in the Alamodome. Zia Cooke scored 16 points and South Carolina used its stifling defense to advance to the Final Four for the third time, shutting down Texas for a 62-34 victory Tuesday night. Top-seeded South Carolina blocked 14 shots, nine by Laeticia Amihere, and held No. “It says they're locked in,” South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said. South Carolina answered with a 3-pointer from Henderson to start the Gamecocks on the run that would put the game away.

(AP Photo/Michael Conroy)INDIANAPOLIS – Official Bert Smith collapsed on the floor early in the Elite Eight game between Gonzaga and Southern California and had to be taken off the court on a stretcher. He stayed down for about five minutes, and then was able to stand up and move to a nearby stretcher. Additionally, Tony Chiazza — the standby official for the UCLA-Michigan game later Tuesday — would also serve as the standby official for the remainder of the USC-Gonzaga game, Worlock said. The matchup was the 70th game Smith has worked this season, according to kenpom.com. ___This story has been corrected to show the replacement official is Tony Henderson, not Williams.

(Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)Here are things to know for Tuesday, March 30:1. The head of the CDC said she had a feeling of “impending doom” if people keep easing off. “This is deadly serious,” Biden said, urging governors to reinstate mask mandates and other restrictions that some states have been easing. After the activity, parents said they were told the children were rewarded with a few minutes of playtime. Houston tops Oregon State, reaches 1st Final Four since ’84Houston overcame a blown 17-point lead to hold off Oregon State 67-61 on Monday night in the NCAA Tournament, reaching the Final Four for the first time in 37 years.

(AP Photo/Michael Conroy)INDIANAPOLIS – Baylor had been on the cusp of the Final Four twice before under coach Scott Drew, falling to the eventual champion both times. Baylor is headed there for the first time in 71 years, getting 22 points from MaCio Teague and a dominating defensive performance from Davion Mitchell to beat Arkansas 81-72 on Monday night. The top-seeded Bears (26-2) appeared to be barreling toward ending their Final Four drought with a dominating start. That left the Bears short of the Final Four dating back to when the bracket was only eight teams. He gave Arkansas all kinds of trouble on the pick-and-roll in the second half, finishing with 12 points and six assists.

INDIANAPOLIS – Houston overcame a blown 17-point lead to hold off Oregon State 67-61 on Monday night in the NCAA Tournament, reaching the Final Four for the first time in 37 years. Grimes’ 3 from near the top of the arc finally steadied the Cougars, and Houston knocked down enough free throws down the stretch while holding Oregon State without a basket during a critical 3 1/2 minutes. AdMarcus Sasser scored 20 points to lead Houston while Grimes added 18. Fittingly, it was DeJon Jarreau -- the American Athletic Conference’s defensive player of the year who led the effort that stymied Oregon State star Ethan Thompson -- who was named the most outstanding player of the Midwest Region. They held the Beavers to 35% shooting in the first half before Oregon State found some openings.

Bueckers scored 28 points and top seed UConn used a huge run spanning the final two quarters to beat No. 2 Baylor 69-67 on Monday night and reach a 13th consecutive Final Four in the women’s NCAA Tournament. After a timeout, Baylor fouled Christyn Williams, who missed both free throws to give the Lady Bears one last chance. The Lady Bears (28-3) had won the previous two, including a 74-58 win at Connecticut in January of 2020. The Lady Bears closed the action-packed first quarter with a 20-10 run and trailed 26-24 after one.

The Houston Cougars are into the Elite 8, making history Saturday with a 62-46 thrashing of 11th-seed Syracuse. The Cougars are favorites to advance, but this Oregon State team won’t be easy to knock off. Keys for the CougarsDefense is the name of the game for the University of Houston and they’ll need another stellar effort Monday night. UH has the best defensive field-goal percentage in the nation and has held opponents to just under 60 points per game. Ethan Thompson (15 ppg) has dominated on both ends and his physical play will be tested when he faces UH.

Davonte Davis hit a short jumper with 2.9 seconds left, and Arkansas advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time in 26 years with a 72-70 win over Oral Roberts in the South Region semifinals Saturday night. 15 seed to reach the Elite Eight, Oral Roberts stumbled with a series of turnovers and missed shots. “We gave him a pass option, we gave him a dribble option,” Oral Roberts coach Paul Mills said. Oral Roberts knew it had a chance to top it against the Razorbacks after playing them earlier in the season. Oral Roberts led by 10 at halftime in Fayetteville on Dec. 20 before Arkansas bullied the Golden Eagles in the second half for an 87-76 win.