UConn beat Baylor, 69-67, behind freshman superstar Paige Bueckers (28 points) to advance to a record 13th consecutive Final Four.

• Controversial call: The refs swallowed their whistles on DiJonai Carrington's final drive. Sure looks like she was fouled.
• Controversial quote: Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said the NCAA should get rid of COVID testing for the Final Four.

"There's four teams left ... Wouldn't it be a shame to keep COVID testing and then you got kids that end up positive tests and they don't get to play in the Final Four. You need to just forget the COVID tests."

Nightcap: Aari McDonald (33 points) and Arizona beat Indiana, 66-53, to advance to the program's first-ever Final Four.

Houston beat Oregon State, 67-61, knocking off a fourth straight double-digit seed en route to its first Final Four since 1984.

• Fun fact: The Cougars are 6-0 all-time in the Elite Eight, the most wins without a loss by any program since the round began in 1951.
• Good read: Hero or villain? Houston's Kelvin Sampson has survived and advanced (Yahoo Sports)

Nightcap: Baylor held off Arkansas, 81-72, to advance to its first Final Four since 1950. Only Oregon has ever gone more seasons (77) between Final Four appearances.

📆 Tonight:

• Women: No. 6 Texas vs. No. 1 South Carolina, 7pm ET; No. 2 Louisville vs. No. 1 Stanford, 9pm
• Men: No. 6 USC vs. No. 1 Gonzaga, 7:15pm; No. 11 UCLA vs. No. 1 Michigan, 10pm

🏀 Dapper Labs, the non-fungible token (NFT) company behind NBA Top Shot, has raised $305 million led by Coatue at a $2.6 billion valuation. It's the largest funding round raised by an NFT-focused company.

🎙 Spotify is acquiring Betty Labs and its sports-centric social audio app, Locker Room. Spotify says it will "evolve and expand" Locker Room into a "live audio experience for a wider range of creators and fans."

💵 DraftKings has acquired Vegas Stats & Information Network (VSiN), the sports betting media company co-founded by Brent Musburger.

✍️ Substack is raising $65 million in new funding that would value the company at $650 million, Axios has learned. Existing investor Andreessen Horowitz is leading the round.

The NBA's Basketball Africa League will make its long-awaited debut with a 12-team tournament beginning May 16 in Kigali, Rwanda.

Why it matters: The NBA's attempt at operating a league outside of North America is part of a long-term plan to make the league synonymous with competitive basketball around the world.

The teams:

1. Algeria
2. Angola
3. Cameroon
4. Egypt
5. Madagascar
6. Mali
7. Morocco
8. Mozambique
9. Nigeria
10. Rwanda
11. Senegal
12. Tunisia

The big picture: The BAL will strengthen the NBA's talent pipeline in Africa, which has already produced over 80 current and former players, including 2021 MVP candidate Joel Embiid (Cameroon).

• It will also help foster a more robust basketball landscape in Africa itself, with players not just dreaming of going abroad, but also of making a name for themselves in Africa.
• The NBA has hosted Basketball Without Borders camps throughout Africa since 2003, opened an official league office in South Africa in 2010 and built a training academy in Senegal in 2017.

The bottom line: The NBA has spent the last 25 years importing a surge of international talent — now it hopes to benefit by exporting the brand those global stars have helped build.

Xi Jinping hoped to make China a global leader in soccer, his favorite sport. After years of massive government support, that dream has so far fallen short, Axios' Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian, Jeff Tracy, and I write.

The backdrop: In 2015, Xi said, "My biggest hope for Chinese soccer is that its teams become among the world's best."

• His announcement spurred a raft of new government initiatives to boost Chinese soccer, and the Chinese Super League (CSL) got a massive influx of funding.
• China also began naturalizing foreign soccer players whose talent might help strengthen the men's national team.
• The Chinese Football Association in 2016 outlined several long-term goals: host the World Cup, win the World Cup, and become a "first-class soccer superpower," all by 2050.

The state of play: There are now more than 70,000 soccer fields across the country, per Sports Pro — an increase from 0.08 fields for every 10,000 people to 0.5.

• Aside from those 70,000 fields, which they hope to double by 2030, China has also begun building more substantial infrastructure.
• The new $1.7 billion "lotus" stadium would be the centerpiece of the 2030 World Cup should China be chosen to host the event.

The results: Soccer is hugely popular in China. But the national teams haven't improved much since Xi's announcement, and the once-promising CSL now faces an uncertain future.

The bottom line: China's soccer dream isn't ending, but the initial investment frenzy seems to have slowed.

This story is part of a deep dive into China's soccer ambitions, which will be published today. Sign up for our weekly Axios China newsletter to receive it.

The Chinese Super League was on the rise last decade and threatening to tilt the balance of global soccer. Now, it's in complete disarray.

Driving the news: Defending league champion Jiangsu FC shocked fans last month when it announced it would cease operations, joining a growing list of CSL clubs that have shuttered or faced financial turmoil.

• Shandong Luneng, the Chinese FA Cup winner, were kicked out of the Asian Champions League last month for failing to pay employees.
• Tianjin Tigers are at risk of collapse after the club's parent company, state-owned conglomerate Tianjin Teda, pulled funding.
• Tianjin Tianhai, which once had World Cup winner Fabio Cannavaro as manager, declared bankruptcy last May and folded.
• Liaoning FC, the first Chinese club to ever win the Asian Champions League, folded in 2020 after being unable to pay debts.

Catch up quick: The gold rush in Chinese soccer began in earnest in 2012. By the middle of the decade, the CSL had become a major player in the global transfer market.

• In 2012, a handful of global stars headlined by former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba joined the CSL, hinting at its growing power.
• By 2016, China had begun raiding the world's top clubs and making offers few players could refuse. "We cannot fight this, as it's economics, not football," said one Brazilian club's sporting director.
• Those players have now left, and the "golden era of cash that marked the peak of the Chinese Super League" appears to be over, notes ESPN's Joey Lynch.

The state of play: New government regulations have made Chinese teams less appealing for high-caliber talent, with new rules lowering salaries and restricting the number of foreign players per team.

• Of note: While this has hurt the league's profile, it will encourage clubs to focus more on developing homegrown players, which could ultimately improve the national team pipeline. Possible silver lining.

The bottom line: In 2016, the Chinese transfer record was broken three times in 10 days. Five years later, all three of those players have left China — and the club that paid hefty sums for two of them no longer exists.

This story is part of a deep dive into China's soccer ambitions, which will be published today. Sign up for our weekly Axios China newsletter to receive it.

Joey Logano won Monday's mud-caked, dust-cloaked race at Bristol Motor Speedway, NASCAR's first dirt-track race since 1970.

The state of play: Torrential rain delayed the race from Sunday to Monday and made racing conditions difficult, producing some hilarious exchanges between drivers and their crew chiefs.

• Kurt Busch, after getting caught in a nine-car wreck on Lap 153: "Dude, you can't see anything! You can't see even the car in front of you!"
• Daniel Suárez, who finished fourth: "I don't even know what I'm doing! My first time on dirt was five days ago!"

What's next: The race generated lots of buzz and was a resounding success. Before it was even over, NASCAR announced that Bristol would run on dirt again next season.

🏒 1,757 games: Patrick Marleau, 41, passed Mark Messier for second on the NHL's all-time games played list. He's now just 10 games behind first-place Gordie Howie.

⚾️ 12,911 fans: The Rangers raised eyebrows by opening 40,300 seats at Globe Life Field for Monday's exhibition. Only 12,911 fans showed up.

🏀 20 0f 30: With the Celtics welcoming fans Monday night, just 10 NBA teams remain without crowds: Bulls, Clippers, Kings, Lakers, Nuggets, Thunder, Timberwolves, Trail Blazers, Warriors, Wizards.

35 years ago today, Texas beat USC, 97-81, to win the NCAA women's basketball national championship.

Why it matters: The Longhorns (34-0) completed the first undefeated season in women's college basketball history.

The matchup: This was just the fifth iteration of the women's NCAA tournament, and for as good as Texas had been those first few years — with two Elite Eights and a Sweet 16 — USC was a force unto itself.

• Led by Cheryl Miller, arguably the greatest player in the sport's history, the Trojans had won back-to-back titles in 1983 and 1984.
• But in 1986, Texas freshman Clarissa Davis outdueled Miller in the title game, putting up 24 points and 14 rebounds en route to being named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

The undefeateds: Texas was the first of nine women's teams to complete a perfect season, while just seven men's teams have done it.

• Women's: Texas (1986); UConn (1995); Tennessee (1998); UConn (2002, 2009, 2010); Baylor (2012); UConn (2014, 2016).
• Men's: San Francisco (1956); UNC (1957); UCLA (1964, 1967, 1972, 1973); and Indiana (1976).

🎥 Watch: Full game (YouTube)

Will Texas take a step closer to another title with a win over No. 1 South Carolina tonight?

Russell Westbrook (35-14-21) had a historic Monday night, becoming just the third member of the 30-point, 20-assist triple-double club.

• Question: Who are the other two members?
• Hint: Both played in the Final Four in college.

Answer at the bottom.

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This Friday, we're hosting a live conversation on Locker Room for Axios Sports readers — and you're all invited!

How it works: We'll be discussing the Final Four and other stories from the week. If you've been reading the newsletter, you'll be well-versed in the topics and ready to contribute.

• Jeff and I will host the room, but anybody can speak. You'll simply "raise your hand" to chime in, and we'll call you up on stage.
• If things go well, I could see this becoming a weekly show of sorts — kind of like an audio-based comment section for this newsletter.

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