Click on the images below to go directly to coverage of each event, or scroll along.

NCAA Final Four
& Championship

PGA Masters
April 9-12

Grand National
April 11

NHL Playoffs
Begin April 18

NBA Playoffs
Begin April 18

Boston Marathon
April 20

NFL Draft
April 23-25

Kentucky Derby
Preview

NCAA Basketball: One Last Dance

The Final Four takes place April 4 in Indianapolis at Lucas Oil Stadium, with the national championship following on April 6. As this issue goes to press, the semifinal matchups pit Illinois/UConn against Michigan/Arizona. By the time you read this, two of those programs will be packing their bags and two will be forty minutes from a national title. The full bracket and results are at NCAA.com.

What this tournament has delivered already is the annual reminder that college basketball in March and April is simply the most compelling team sport in America. Nothing else produces gut-punch upsets, buzzer-beaters, overnight heroes, and heartbreak on quite the same scale. Tennessee got creamed by Michigan, in case you were wondering. Your assistant publisher declines to comment further on this development.

The Masters: Augusta Calls

The 90th Masters Tournament runs April 9-12 at Augusta National Golf Club, and the storylines are exceptional even by Masters standards. Defending champion Rory McIlroy arrives having completed his career Grand Slam in dramatic fashion last year — a playoff victory over Justin Rose that ended the longest and most celebrated near-miss narrative in modern golf. Now he tries to do something almost nobody does: win back-to-back Masters titles. McIlroy enters at +1100 odds, behind only Scottie Scheffler at +550 and LIV Golf contenders Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm, both at +1000.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is the betting favorite to win the event for a third time in four years. Scheffler has been the dominant force in world golf for two years running, though he enters Augusta in an uncharacteristic five-tournament slump — which, given that he still ranks among the favorites, tells you something about the depth of his talent. Tiger Woods will not play this year after stepping away to seek treatment following a car crash in Florida.

One detail worth mentioning for the food-minded: as defending champion, McIlroy chose the menu for the Masters Club Dinner on April 7 — bacon-wrapped dates with goat cheese, elk sliders, rock shrimp tempura, wagyu filet mignon or salmon, with sticky toffee pudding for dessert. The green jacket and the dinner menu. Not a bad week's work if you can get it.

Grand National: Aintree, April 11

Across the Atlantic on April 11, the most chaotic and beloved horse race in the world takes place at Aintree Racecourse in Merseyside, England. The 178th Grand National runs at 4 p.m. BST over 4 miles, 2½ furlongs with 30 jumps across two circuits — one of the longest races on the calendar. More than 150,000 spectators attend the three-day Aintree Festival, with around 70,000 watching the National itself.

I Am Maximus, the 2024 winner and last year's runner-up, is the bookmakers' favourite once again, trained by the formidable Willie Mullins. Also prominent are last year's winner Nick Rockett — who returns to defend his crown — along with Haiti Couleurs, Grangeclare West, and Iroko. Mullins is chasing a remarkable third consecutive Grand National victory. The complete runners and odds are at GrandNational.org.uk.

NHL Playoffs: April 18

The NHL and NBA regular seasons wrap up and playoff races heat up around April 18, when postseason play begins in earnest for both leagues. Sixteen teams in each sport begin the long march toward their respective championships. For hockey fans, this is the best time of year — the regular season is prologue, and the playoffs are where careers are defined. For basketball fans, it is when the regular season's best teams discover whether they are, in fact, the regular season's best teams, which is not always the same thing. Check back with IdleGuy.com for updates as both playoffs develop.

NBA Playoffs: April 18

The NHL and NBA regular seasons wrap up and playoff races heat up around April 18, when postseason play begins in earnest for both leagues. Sixteen teams in each sport begin the long march toward their respective championships. For hockey fans, this is the best time of year — the regular season is prologue, and the playoffs are where careers are defined. For basketball fans, it is when the regular season's best teams discover whether they are, in fact, the regular season's best teams, which is not always the same thing. Check back with IdleGuy.com for updates as both playoffs develop.

Boston Marathon: April 20

The 130th running of the Boston Marathon takes place April 20, covering the 26.2 miles from Hopkinton to Boylston Street that have been run every Patriots' Day since 1897. Roughly 30,000 runners will compete, watched by an estimated 500,000 spectators along the course. The hills of Newton, particularly the infamous Heartbreak Hill at mile 20, have broken more confident runners than any other stretch of pavement in the world.

NFL Draft: April 23-25

The NFL Draft runs April 23-25, when 32 franchises spend three days either setting themselves up for future success or making decisions they will spend the next five years explaining. The first round on April 23 is the main event — seven rounds follow over the next two days. For NFL fans, the draft is its own sport, complete with analysts, mock drafts, and the annual discovery that the player everyone agreed was a certain top-five pick somehow falls to the 15th spot while everyone on television pretends to be surprised.

Looking Ahead: Kentucky Derby and Triple Crown

The Kentucky Derby runs May 2 at Churchill Downs in Louisville — the first leg of horse racing's Triple Crown, to be followed by the Preakness Stakes in Baltimore and the Belmont Stakes in New York. The field for the 152nd Run for the Roses is still taking shape, but the Derby is always worth a preview — 20 three-year-olds running 1¼ miles in front of 150,000 people in hats. It is the most theatrical two minutes in American sports, and we will have full coverage in the May issue.

April, in short, does not waste your time. Neither do we. See you on the other side of it.

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