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The GIST: Awards season didn’t end with the Oscars — college basketball’s best are racking up some serious hardware, with the ultra-prestigious Naismith and AP Player of the Year (POY) and Coach of the Year (COY) women’s trophies being handed out this week.

• The men’s winners won’t be announced until Sunday, but the MVPs of the women’s season are already celebrating. As for the Final Four games, we’ll leave it to special editions today and tomorrow to break them down for you.

POY: None other than Caitlin Clark, of course. The No. 2 Iowa guard has posted monster numbers all season, earning her the Naismith and AP titles. Her mind-boggling buckets from way downtown and league-leading dimes are must-see TV, and if you didn’t cry watching her find out she won, you’re lying.

• Clark beat out No. 1 South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston, last year’s POY and this year’s Defensive POY, for the awards, making their matchup at 9 p.m. ET tonight the most anticipated game of the season. Chills.

COY: Speaking of South Carolina, their HC, the legendary Dawn Staley, won her second consecutive Naismith COY award for leading her squad to a still-undefeated season and creating a verified Gamecocks dynasty. A fierce advocate for the women’s game, her coaching is even better than her dancing and her ’fits.

• However, Coach Staley is sharing the spotlight with Indiana HC Teri Moren, whose record-setting season won her the AP award. Although her top-seeded Hoosiers were upset in the second round, they did win second-cutest reveal video.

The men: The four men’s POY finalists and the four men’s COY contenders all recorded dazzling campaigns — but you won’t see a single one of them in the Final Four tomorrow. In fact, only POY candidate Drew Timme of No. 3 Gonzaga and COY candidate Jerome Tang of No. 3 Kansas State even made the Elite Eight. Guess MJ was right.

The GIST: Power up your cox box and head to the water — rowing season is back! After a few low-stakes competitions in the fall, the spring drama is finally here. This is the first weekend of the season featuring major multi-team tourney action. Gonna fly these boats to the moon somehow.

The season: While men compete in collegiate rowing, only the women are sponsored by the NCAA. There are 91 Division I crew teams with an average of 47 athletes per team. Those massive rosters help schools satisfy Title IX requirements, which, in turn, led to an explosion in the sport’s popularity over the past 20 years.

• Most spring competitions are 2km dual races between two (or occasionally three) teams. Larger tourneys, aka regattas, are sprinkled in throughout the season — and this weekend’s San Diego Crew Classic is one of the largest.

• After two months of races, 22 squads — 11 conference champs and 11 committee-selected at-large bids — will qualify for the May 26–28 natty and a chance to heave, ho their way to some hardware.

The powerhouses: No. 1 Texas is, without a doubt, the team to beat this year. With three returning 2022 All-Americans, the Longhorns could hook a three-peat national championship — and their student body is hyped.

• No. 2 Stanford isn’t quite at 27 Dresses level yet, but they’d love to finally be the bride after coming in second to Texas two years in a row. No time like the present to prove they can wrangle the Longhorns: Both row in San Diego this weekend.

The GIST: For an NCAA hooper, it doesn’t get much more hype than making the Final Four. South Carolina, Iowa, Virginia Tech and LSU have punched their tickets to Dallas and, fortunately, Buick is making sure you can catch every moment.

The ick: Did you know women’s sports and female athletes receive less than 10% of all sports media coverage? Buick is doing the work to change that stat through their #SeeHerGreatness campaign.

The impact: Not only is Buick supporting women’s sports with their continued sponsorship of equity-driven initiatives, but they’re also supporting women in sports. By partnering with The GIST, Buick is backing a women-founded startup full of female and nonbinary creators. Truly leveling the playing field.

🤸 Women’s gymnastics: Pittsburgh Regional Semifinal — Today at 7 p.m. ET — ESPN+

• While the men begin their conference championships today, the women’s regionals rage on. The not-to-miss meet? The Pittsburgh regional, where No. 2 Florida’s Trinity Thomas will shoot for the NCAA perfect 10 record.

🥎 Softball: No. 4 UCLA Bruins (29-4) vs. No. 6 Stanford Cardinal (28-3) — Today at 10 p.m. ET — Pac-12.com

• While the Bruins have dominated for decades, the Cardinal are relative newcomers to softball’s upper echelons. But Stanford’s momentum — they’ve run-ruled in three of their last five matchups — makes this anyone’s game.

🏐 Beach volleyball: No. 4 Florida State Seminoles (21-2) vs. No. 2 UCLA Bruins (19-1) — Tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. ET — Pac-12.com

• Six top-10 teams will be at this weekend’s East Meets West Invitational, but this matchup is the headliner. The Seminoles are facing a gauntlet — with No. 8 Hawaii and No. 3 USC on tonight’s docket, endurance will be crucial.

🎾 Women’s tennis: No. 2 Texas A&M Aggies (19-1) vs. No. 4 Georgia Bulldogs (14-3) — Sunday at 1 p.m. ET — Live updates here

• This match finishes a trio of top-25 matchups for the Aggies and starts one for the Bulldogs. Time will tell if the tough competition made A&M sharper for this match, or if they’re simply Agg-sausted.

Ready for the weekend? So are these picks.