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Tuesday, March 19, 2024

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Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards Trolled John Collins With Wild Response to Young Fan  

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards had one of the most impressive moments of the 2023-24 NBA season on Monday night. During the third quarter of Minnesota’s 114-104 victory over the Utah Jazz, Edwards caught a pass and drove straight into the lane, elevating to finish a monstrous dunk over forward John Collins.

The clip went viral immediately, and the dunk’s aftermath left both players suffering minor injuries. Edwards said after the game that he dislocated his finger on the play while Collins suffered a head contusion, as The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported.

Anthony Edwards with the dunk of the year pic.twitter.com/4mSVgBn9TB

— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) March 19, 2024

While Edwards’ postgame reaction to seeing his dunk was quite the sight, the T’Wolves star also had a parting jab for Collins on his way off the floor.

In a clip of Edwards signing autographs, one fan asked for his jersey, to which the 22-year-old responded, “I’ve gotta give it to [John] Collins.”

the man of the hour. 🐜 pic.twitter.com/BolKfFVOBX

— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) March 19, 2024

Edwards was stellar in the Timberwolves’ victory over Utah. Minnesota overcame the absence of Karl-Anthony Town and Rudy Gobert, who were both sidelined due to injury. Minnesota also lost Naz Reid, who had stepped into a starting role in the absence of Towns and Gobert after he suffered an injury in the third quarter.

Edwards finished the night with 32 points on 13-of-23 shooting, eight assists, seven rebounds, two blocks, and one steal.

 

Anthony Edwards Was in Awe After Seeing Replay of His Poster Dunk Over John Collins  

Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards helped propel his team to a win on Monday night, and his game kicked into a different gear during the second half after he threw down what was perhaps the dunk of the 2023–24 season over Utah Jazz forward John Collins.

After the win, the 22-year-old was shown the replay of his monstrous jam on the court during his postgame interview with Bally Sports, and even Edwards himself couldn’t help but admire his own work of art.

“Oh my god. That’s my biggest dunk of my career, I’m not gonna lie,” said Edwards. “I couldn’t even react because I dislocated my finger... I couldn’t react to it. I wish I could’ve reacted to it.” 

"Oh my gawd!"

Anthony Edwards' reaction to his poster dunk on John Collins is hilarious 😂

(via @ChristopherHine) pic.twitter.com/U1FhPvHl6a

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) March 19, 2024

Both Edwards and Collins were injured during the dunk. Minnesota’s star guard suffered a dislocated finger, though he was able to play out the remainder of the game. Collins did not return after sustaining a head contusion on the play.

Edwards has not shied away from going for a huge poster dunk every now and then, and he didn’t balk when a prime opportunity presented itself on Monday night against Utah. His postgame reaction said it all, as he could barely believe what he’d pulled off when given the opportunity to get a better look at his dunk.

 

T’Wolves’ Anthony Edwards Had NBA Fans Losing Their Minds After Poster Dunk of the Year  

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards raised the bar in the NBA dunk of the year debate. The 22-year-old guard threw down one of the most vicious poster dunks in recent memory over Utah Jazz forward John Collins during the third quarter of Monday night’s matchup.

Edwards went straight at Collins, taking off from just inside the free-throw line before emphatically finishing a dunk so powerful that he appeared to hurt his finger. The dunk sent the commentators and fanbase into a complete frenzy.

Anthony Edwards with the dunk of the year pic.twitter.com/4mSVgBn9TB

— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) March 19, 2024

The dunk also appeared to injure Collins, who ultimately left the game with a head contusion, as The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported.

Utah's John Collins has suffered a head contusion from play contesting Anthony Edwards' poster dunk tonight, sources say. Head injury but no concussion for Collins.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 19, 2024

If that didn’t do the dunk enough justice, here’s another angle worth watching of Edwards’s incredible finish.

Anthony Edwards is absurd pic.twitter.com/olLw8op5Ld

— Football (@BostonConnr) March 19, 2024

Not surprisingly, the dunk sent social media into a frenzy, as fans couldn’t believe Edwards’ powerful finish.

DUNK OF THE YEAR WTF HE TOOK OFF

— 23 💫👑 (@Br0nToLA23) March 19, 2024

That’s disrespectful pic.twitter.com/Efx1BRg6FG

— Diet💦 (@DietWaterGUY) March 19, 2024

Left a dead body on the court but was worried about his finger 😂

— Adrian Morris (@Futur3_Th1nk3r) March 19, 2024

He threw it down so hard, that the ball bounced off the ground and jammed his left hand. That’s insane 😭

— Viceroy Flair Productions (@ViceroyFlair) March 19, 2024

DUNK OF THE YEAR OMGGGGG

— TheWarriorsHouse (@GSWarriorsHouse) March 19, 2024

Ant is unreal!!! Human highlight real! 🔥

— Stevo - Stocks and Cards - (@Stevo_12) March 19, 2024
 

Report: Cy Young Winner Blake Snell Agrees to Two-Year Deal with Giants  

Former San Diego Padres ace Blake Snell is signing a two-year contract with the San Francisco Giants, according to MLB Network’s Jon Heyman.

The deal is reportedly worth $62 million with an opt-out clause after this season.

The two-time Cy Young Award winner is coming off a superb season in which he recorded a 2.25 ERA and allowed the fewest hits per nine innings (5.8) but also led the majors with 99 walks. 

As the top free agent pitcher who curiously remained unsigned into spring training, Snell drew rumored interest from several teams including the Houston Astros and Los Angeles Angels. His offseason saga now comes to a close as the 31-year-old inks a short-term deal with the NL West rival-Giants, who have been to the postseason just once in the last seven years.

Snell’s signing comes on the heels of a slew of Giants’ acquisitions this offseason with San Francisco proving to be aggressive spenders ahead of the 2024-25 season. Snell’s former Padres manager, Bob Melvin, also joined San Francisco in October.

Snell went 29–25 with a 3.15 ERA in 83 starts over the course of his three-year stint on the Padres. The Padres acquired Snell via trade with the Tampa Bay Rays in December 2020.

 

76ers’ Joel Embiid Returns to Practice for First Time Since Knee Surgery  

Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid returned to practice on Sunday for the first time since sustaining a knee injury in January.

Although the team hopes to have its star center back by the first or second week of April, coach Nick Nurse told reporters after practice that there is no timetable for Embiid’s return to action.

“Joel was here today, yep. He was on the court. He went through a little bit of the practice,” Nurse said, via Ky Carter of Sixers Wire. “All non-contact stuff. He’s lifting weights right now. No timeline for his return.”

Embiid has been sidelined since Jan. 30, when he suffered a meniscus tear in his left knee during a game against the Golden State Warriors. He underwent surgery in early February and has missed the 76ers’ last 22 games.

Philadelphia (38–30) is battling for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. They moved into the No. 6 seed following a crucial win over the Miami Heat on Monday. Of course, any hope of a legitimate run in the playoffs will revolve around the return of their superstar center. 

Embiid’s return would be a major boost for a 76ers team that has won just seven of its first 21 games since his injury. Getting back to action in early April wouldn’t leave him much time to ramp up ahead of the playoffs, though he’d still have a handful of regular-season games to build up his stamina. 

Before his injury, Embiid was enjoying a career year, averaging 35.3 points, 11.3 rebounds, 5.7 assists, and 1.8 blocks per game. 

 

Caitlin Clark, Two Other Stars to Feature in ESPN Basketball Docuseries, ‘Full Court Press’  

Iowa guard Caitlin Clark, South Carolina center Kamilla Cardoso and UCLA guard Kiki Rice are set to feature in a new four-part docuseries, Full Court Press, co-produced by ESPN and Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions.

The docuseries will premiere on May 11 and 12 on ABC and then be available to stream on ESPN+. The trailer was released on Monday.

Unparalleled, behind-the-scenes access with three of college basketball’s biggest stars: Caitlin Clark, Kamilla Cardoso and Kiki Rice 🙌

The four-episode docuseries, “Full Court Press,” premieres on May 11 and 12 on ABC and ESPN+. pic.twitter.com/7VBjlcx3Vl

— ESPN (@espn) March 18, 2024

Full Court Press will give fans a glimpse into the lives of three elite women’s college hoopers at the top of their game. The series will include exclusive interviews and behind-the-scenes footage to document Clark’s, Cardoso’s, and Rice’s 2023-24 seasons, taking audiences from Paris to Iowa City to revisit some of the biggest matchups from the past year.

“As someone who has grown up a devout fan of the women’s game, I am thrilled that we are able to make this show at this pivotal moment in the history of the sport,” Full Court Press director Kristen Lappas said. “To be able to pull back the curtain and document Caitlin Clark’s historic season has been a privilege for our entire team. Each of our three players brings a unique set of storylines to the table, and we hope we’re able to capture both the excitement and the complexities surrounding what it means to be an elite female basketball player in 2024.”

The 22-year-old Clark hardly needs an introduction, but her 2023-24 historic season could certainly use a documentary. The NCAA all-time leading scorer captured a plethora of records in her senior campaign and is still determined to make history this year in March Madness. After finishing as the runner-ups in last season’s NCAA tournament, the No. 1-seeded Hawkeyes (29–4) are eying the all-too-elusive title.

Gamecocks center Kamilla Cardoso also boasted an impressive senior season averaging 14.0 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game while helping South Carolina go undefeated (32–0). Cardoso replaced former national player of the year Aliyah Boston in a starting role this year and is a projected top-5 pick in the 2024 WNBA draft in April.

Bruins sophomore guard Kiki Rice is the youngest athlete to be featured in the docuseries but packed in an efficient season with 12.6 points, 5.8 rebounds and a team-leading 4.6 assists per game. Rice could run into Clark early in the NCAA tournament, as both No. 2 UCLA (25–6) and Iowa landed in the Albany 2 Region.

“I remember what it meant to the University of Tennessee and the entire state when Pat Summitt led the Lady Vols to back-to-back national titles during my time in Knoxville,” said Peyton Manning, founder of Omaha Productions. “We’re excited to share the stories of these three amazing women to a national audience at this incredible moment for women’s basketball.”

 

Tyron Smith Sends Farewell Message to Cowboys After Signing With Jets  

Veteran offensive tackle Tyron Smith parted ways with the Dallas Cowboys this offseason after 13 years with the franchise. Last week, Smith agreed to join the New York Jets, where he’ll serve as a key pass protector for Aaron Rodgers in 2024.

Smith, an eight-time Pro Bowler and two-time First Team All-Pro, has been with the Cowboys since he was drafted in the first round back in 2011, and he expressed his gratitude to the organization in an Instagram post on Monday.

“Thirteen years sure is a long time to sum up in one short letter to thousands of people who have made my time in Dallas so memorable. It’s been a long and wild ride filled with plenty of ups and downs but Cowboy Nation, you have been there through it all,” wrote Smith in part of his address. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Tyron Smith (@tyronsmith77)

While Smith is moving onto the next chapter of his career, he made clear that Dallas and Cowboys Nation will always hold a special place in his heart.

The 33-year-old played in 161 games for Dallas over the past 13 seasons and made seven consecutive Pro Bowls from 2013-19. Injuries have slowed him down over the past few years, however. Since 2020, Smith has played in just 30 games, including two in ‘20 and four in ‘22.

 

Rick Pitino Voices Disappointment Over Lack of Big East Representation in NCAA Tournament  

Only three Big East teams will be among the field of 68 at this year’s NCAA tournament after the surprising omission of Seton Hall, in addition to the absences of other hopefuls such as Providence and St. John’s.

On Monday, Red Storm coach Rick Pitino weighed in on the Big East’s lack of representation at the tournament and specifically mentioned the absence of Seton Hall as being particularly disappointing.

“I believe in getting better not bitter. I totally believe that six teams from the Big East belonged in the field. I know our players along with Providence are totally disappointed with the decisions made. But not having Seton Hall at 13–7 in BE play with wins over the top teams is flat out wrong!” wrote Pitino on X on Monday evening.

The Pirates were among the “first four out” from the tournament, according to the selection committee, yet there were many, including Pitino, who were confused what more the team could’ve done to earn their place. Seton Hall won 13 games in a stacked Big East conference and won 20 games on the year, though they were bounced in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament by St. John’s.

Pitino addressed the Red Storm missing the tournament on Sunday, and he seemed equally fired up about the team’s conference rival also not receiving an invite to the big dance. Unlike St. John’s, however, Seton Hall plans to continue its season in the NIT. Pitino was quick to turn down a potential invite to the tournament, saying that the Red Storm would focus on preparations for next season instead. 

 

Josh Dobbs Agrees to One-Year Deal With 49ers, per Report  

The San Francisco 49ers are adding some depth to the quarterbacks room ahead of the 2024 season. 

Veteran quarterback Josh Dobbs is reportedly in agreement on a one-year deal with the 49ers, according to his agent Mike McCartney.

Dobbs will make a fully-guaranteed $2.25 million, with the chance to earn additional $750,000 in playing time incentives, according to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network.

Dobbs, 29, spent last season with the Arizona Cardinals and Minnesota Vikings, featuring in a total of 13 games and making 12 starts. Dobbs impressed early on during his stint with the Vikings amid Kirk Cousins’s absence, but was eventually benched in place of rookie Jaren Hall.

In all, he threw 13 touchdowns and 10 interceptions while completing 62.8% of his pass attempts. He added six rushing touchdowns and 421 yards on the ground, averaging 5.5 yards per attempt. 

Now, the former fourth round pick will get a chance to serve as the backup to Brock Purdy in San Francisco as the 49ers look to stage another run to the Super Bowl. The team’s previous backup, Sam Darnold, signed a one-year deal with the Vikings this offseason. 

 

49ers Must Forfeit Draft Pick Over Salary Cap Error  

The San Francisco 49ers are being docked a future draft pick after the NFL discovered inaccuracies in the team’s payroll accounting at the close of the 2022 league year, according to Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area. NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero confirmed the Monday afternoon report shortly afterward.

A league investigation uncovered accounting errors indicating the 49ers misreported their cumulative player compensation in 2022. Although the team remained under the salary cap despite the accounting error, the NFL will require San Francisco to forfeit a fifth-round pick in ’25, and their ’24 fourth-round selection will be moved to the end of the round.

The defending NFC-champion San Francisco 49ers must forfeit a 2025 fifth-round draft pick due to an accounting error.

Maria Lysaker/USA TODAY Sports

The league also determined that there was no ill intent behind the team’s accounting mishap.

The 49ers will see their fourth-rounder this year move from pick No. 131 to pick No. 135.

“We take responsibility and accept the imposed discipline from the NFL due to a clerical payroll error. At no time did we mislead or otherwise deceive the League or gain a competitive advantage in connection with the payroll mistake,” the 49ers said in a statement Monday.

 

Chase Young Agrees to One-Year Contract With Saints, per Report  

After a 2023 season split between two teams, defensive end Chase Young reportedly will get another change of scenery in 2024.

Young intends to sign a one-year, $13 million contract with the New Orleans Saints, according to a Monday afternoon report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Should the deal become official, the Saints will become Young’s third team in his five-year pro career.

After a stellar collegiate tenure at Ohio State—including a fourth-place finish in the Heisman voting on the heels of a transcendent 2019—the Washington Commanders took Young with the No. 2 pick of the 2020 NFL draft.

The Upper Marlboro, Md., native was successful at first, winning the AP Defensive Rookie of the Year award in ’20. However, injuries took their toll, and the Commanders dealt Young to the San Francisco 49ers in November 2023.

There, Young helped the 49ers reach Super Bowl LVIII—which they lost 25-22 in overtime to the Kansas City Chiefs.

 

Joe Torre Appeared in Yankees Spring Training Game, and MLB Fans Loved It  

It wasn’t that long ago that Joe Torre was managing the New York Yankees. For instance, Houston Astros pitcher Justin Verlander pitched against his final Yankees teams, Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw played for him from 2008-10, and so on.

However, in some respects, Torre’s reign as New York skipper from 1996-2007 might as well belong to another epoch. When he managed the Yankees, they were the most feared and glamorous franchise in North American professional sports. Austerity and losing were not in their vocabulary; four World Series titles and six pennants were.

On Monday, Torre unexpectedly took the field to make a pitching change for New York during its 4-3 exhibition win over the Philadelphia Phillies at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. Yankees fans were surprised and excited to see their old boss.

Just like old times.@JoeTorre 🫡 pic.twitter.com/q3rIl8CoZ9

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) March 18, 2024

Longtime New York announcer Michael Kay called the moment “pretty darn cool.”

Blast from the past. Pretty darn cool. https://t.co/daaj90n2c7

— Michael Kay (@RealMichaelKay) March 18, 2024

Another Yankees media mainstay, Ryan Ruocco, called it “awesome.”

So awesome https://t.co/nPvrPUntCB

— Ryan Ruocco (@RyanRuocco) March 18, 2024

Even New York fans suspicious of nostalgia approved of the moment.

Our fanbase is so insanely nostalgia-riddled for the “good old days”

And, yeah, count me among them, because this was undeniably cool to see lol https://t.co/gmiZZW40oE

— Srechter (@Srechter7) March 18, 2024

Some Yankees backers suggested the franchise could stand to get more in touch with its storied history.

Yankees need more ritual displays of elitism like this #SteinbrennerWay https://t.co/HlrXEFSpEq

— Brendan McGovern (@nbadrafter) March 18, 2024

After his awkward exit in ’07, it seems safe to say Torre’s political rehabilitation is complete.

I don't think Yankee fans properly appreciated Torre till he was gone. And I mean some of the young players can one day say they shared a mound with a HOF manager with his number retired. Quite a feeling. https://t.co/0lsEz4TRl8

— JB (@JB_III) March 18, 2024
 

Falcons Unveil New Uniform Number for QB Kirk Cousins  

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins is going double-digits this season.

He might record double-digit touchdowns, or perhaps double-digit interceptions, but the one thing for certain that Cousins is getting is a double-digit jersey number.

The Falcons announced Cousins’s new number for the 2024 season, and it’s not No. 8. 

It’s No. 18.

Atlanta Falcons QB
Kirk Cousins
No. 18 pic.twitter.com/LuD2ulR9yF

— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) March 18, 2024

Cousins has worn No. 8 since his early playing days at Holland Christian High School in western Michigan and Michigan State. He was assigned No. 12 by Washington when he was drafted in 2012 and wore that for his first two NFL seasons. He reclaimed No. 8 in his third pro season after veteran quarterback Rex Grossman left the team. When Cousins signed his then-record-setting contract with the Minnesota Vikings in 2018, he continued to sport No. 8, a number that Vikings fans have fondly associated with Cousins over the past six seasons.

Now, the four-time Pro Bowler will be making a fresh start in more ways than one. Heading into Year 13 of his pro career, Cousins makes the switch to No. 18 following speculation that he would acquire No. 8 from Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts.

During an introductory press conference last week, Cousins said he tried to convince Pitts to give up No. 8, even offering to make a charitable donation or pay Pitts for the number switch. Fresh off signing a four-year, $180 million deal with $100 million guaranteed, Cousins likely had money to spare.

In the end, though, Pitts holds onto the number he’s worn for the past three years in Atlanta, and Cousins is set to trot out for his first Falcons game with two digits on his back instead of one.

 

March Madness: 10 Teams That Could Make Cinderella Runs in 2024 Men’s NCAA Tournament  

In every NCAA men’s tournament, one team blows up everyone’s brackets with a run for the ages. Last year, the Florida Atlantic Owls went on a magical four-game run to the Final Four, going from a 31-win mid-major team few knew much about to the stars of March. Meanwhile, the No. 15 seed Princeton Tigers rolled to the Sweet 16. Is there another sleeper that might capture the hearts of men’s college basketball fans this March?

Here’s a look at the 10 most dangerous double-digit seeds that might just be this year’s Cinderella … and could help you win your office pool in the process.

[ March Madness 2024: News & Analysis | Schedule | Bracket ]

1. James Madison Dukes (No. 12 seed, South Region)

The Dukes and the UConn Huskies are the only two teams in the nation with 31 wins, with JMU ripping through the Sun Belt en route to a 31–3 season that included a season-opening win at the Michigan State Spartans. Last season’s lone 31-win team in the regular season? Florida Atlantic, which went to the Final Four. And while it’d be unrealistic to expect the same type of run from Mark Byington’s team, James Madison does have a lot of the makings of a team that can make noise in the tournament. The Dukes take care of the ball at an elite level, run an efficient offense with a number of different weapons and feature a star in Terrence Edwards Jr. capable of playing anywhere in the country.

Edwards is one of the reasons James Madison is a likely Cinderella in the 2024 NCAA men’s tournament.

Chuck Cook/USA TODAY Sports

Wisconsin comes in hot off of a strong run in the Big Ten tournament, but the Badgers are vulnerable, as evidenced by losing eight of 11 down the stretch. And a potential second-round date with the Duke Blue Devils also isn’t unwinnable, especially with how Duke looked vs. the NC State Wolfpack in the ACC tournament. Don’t be shocked to see JMU in the Sweet 16.

Related: South Region Breakdown: Top Two Seeds Houston and Marquette Have Strong Cases

2. New Mexico Lobos (No. 11 seed, West Region)

New Mexico may have finished sixth in the Mountain West regular season, but the Lobos feel like the most likely team from the conference to make a deep run in the Big Dance. Richard Pitino’s team was electrifying in the Mountain West tournament, winning four games in four days thanks to elite guard play and improved defense. Veteran shooting guard Jaelen House is the team’s emotional leader and was dominant all week in Las Vegas, averaging 23 points per game in the team’s four wins capped by 28 in the title game vs. the San Diego State Aztecs. Sophomore point guard Donovan Dent is dynamic, a force to be reckoned with in transition thanks to his speed and finishing ability. Plus, the Lobos have athletic bigs in JT Toppin and Nelly Junior Joseph to match up with bigger opponents.

First-round matchup Clemson might be able to keep the Lobos out of transition, but Toppin and Joseph give New Mexico the bodies to match up with PJ Hall and Ian Schieffelin on the interior. If House and Dent can outplay Joe Girard and Chase Hunter, the Lobos are in business.

Related: West Region Breakdown: North Carolina Earns Last No. 1 Seed But Has Hard Path

3. Grand Canyon Antelopes (No. 12 seed, West Region)

Bryce Drew has the Antelopes dancing for a third time in four years at the helm of this burgeoning mid-major powerhouse, and this may be the program’s best chance to win a game in the tournament. The Lopes dropped just four games all season, all by single digits, and logged impressive wins against San Diego State and the San Francisco Dons in the nonconference.

Plus, the draw is a favorable one. The Saint Mary’s Gaels are an excellent team, but certainly won’t overwhelm the Antelopes athletically. A potential second-round date with the Alabama Crimson Tide isn’t that scary either with how the Tide played down the stretch.

If GCU can make a run, a big reason why will likely be wing Tyon Grant-Foster, who has one of the best stories of any player in college hoops. Grant-Foster starred in junior college, spent a year as a bench player with the Kansas Jayhawks, then missed nearly two years after collapsing due to cardiac arrest during his first game with the DePaul Blue Demons in November 2021. He returned to action this season and has blossomed into a superstar, averaging nearly 20 points per game this season.

Related: March Madness: Forty Things to Watch in the 2024 NCAA Men’s Tournament

4. Drake Bulldogs (No. 10 seed, East Region)

Few teams were left with a more bitter taste in their mouths last March than Drake, which led a Miami Hurricanes team that went on to the Final Four 55–47 with five minutes to go in the first round before surrendering a 16–1 game-closing run to get sent home early. But the Bulldogs are back in March Madness and might be poised for a run this time. Tucker DeVries will be the best player on the floor in a lot of matchups this March, and the Bulldogs should have a friendly atmosphere playing in Omaha against the Washington State Cougars in the first round. Get through that one, and Drake gets a crack at in-state rival Iowa State Cyclones. One thing Drake is elite at is taking care of the ball, a must against the Cyclones.

Related: ‘We Have an Angel’: The Emotion of Drake’s Win for the DeVries Family

5. Samford Bulldogs (No. 13 seed, Midwest Region)

Picking against Bill Self and Kansas in the first round has traditionally been a bracket no-no. Kansas hasn’t lost in the first round since 2006, winning two national championships and reaching four Final Fours since. But this season’s Kansas team at least feels vulnerable, entering the Big Dance on a low after losing four of five to close the season and dealing with a rash of injuries to star players Kevin McCullar Jr. and Hunter Dickinson.

While it seems likely the Jayhawks’ top players will give it a go, they may not be 100% healthy, and that’s a scary thought against a Samford team that is deep, athletic and presses all 40 minutes of the game. Maybe Bucky McMillan’s team can simply wear out a Kansas group that barely uses its bench and doesn’t have a ton of capable ballhandlers.

Related: Midwest Region Breakdown: Can Purdue Finally Break Through?

6. UAB Blazers (No. 12 seed, East Region)

UAB needed the American’s automatic bid to go dancing but could make some noise now that it’s in the field. The Blazers boast terrific size and athleticism across the point, starting with dynamic point guard Eric Gaines and flowing through Andy Kennedy’s entire roster. Most importantly, the Blazers have the size and depth in the frontcourt to try to slow down San Diego State star big man Jaedon LeDee, one of the most imposing post presences in the country. Manage LeDee, and you have a chance to beat the Aztecs.

Plus, we already know UAB can hang with big, physical teams. The Blazers beat the Maryland Terrapins and lost a heartbreaker to the Clemson Tigers in November, knocked off a very good Drake team in December and beat the Memphis Tigers and FAU in AAC play. Consistency hasn’t always been there, but in a one-off situation, the Blazers could be dangerous.

Related: East Region Breakdown: Auburn Could Stand in UConn’s Way

7. McNeese State Cowboys (No. 12 seed, Midwest Region)

Former LSU Tigers coach Will Wade has quickly built McNeese State into a powerhouse, winning 30 games in his first year on the job to send the Cowboys to the Big Dance for the first time since 2002. Simply put, McNeese’s talent level far exceeds that of most low- and mid-major teams. Star guard Shahada Wells was previously a rotation piece at TCU, big man Christian Shumate is a high-major athlete and other key cogs like DJ Richards Jr., Mike Saunders Jr. and Javohn Garcia all could easily play at a higher level. They won’t be overwhelmed athletically against the Gonzaga Bulldogs, and Wells can easily get hot and beat a team.

Plus, having Wade on the sideline gives the Cowboys an edge. He won an NCAA tournament game with the VCU Rams and had multiple high-level teams in the SEC. He’d be on a high-major sideline still if not for the sanctions he was hit with for recruiting violations in Baton Rouge. Is he outcoaching Mark Few? Probably not, but Wade certainly won’t be intimidated by coaching against one of the sport’s greats.

8. Morehead State Eagles (No. 14 seed, East Region)

Morehead may come from the Ohio Valley Conference, but the Eagles have high-major size to match up with the Illinois Fighting Illini. Preston Spradlin’s club is an elite two-point defense thanks to having bigger, physical guards who stop drives and athletic bigs in Dieonte Miles and Riley Minix who can protect the rim. That should scare Illinois some given how much the Illini rely on Brad Underwood’s “booty ball”—using its bigger guards like Marcus Domask to back down defenders and create mismatches as a result. Morehead’s guards are big enough to play one-on-one in those situations. The big matchup question is how effectively Illinois can pull Miles away from the rim with Coleman Hawkins as a stretch five, but otherwise, Morehead has a decent matchup here. Plus, the Eagles take and make a lot of threes, a good recipe for a high-variance single elimination setting.

9. Duquesne Dukes (No. 11 seed, East Region)

The draw for Duquesne isn’t ideal, with an underseeded BYU Cougars team first and then a potential date with Illinois in the second round to get out of the first weekend. But Duquesne is a great example of a team playing its best basketball at the right time. The Dukes started 9–8 and 0–5 in the Atlantic 10, but have since surged to 15 wins in their final 18 games, including four victories in the A-10 tournament to punch a ticket to March Madness for the first time in nearly five decades. Duquesne is deep (eight players played 15-plus minutes in the A-10 title game), old (four of five starters are fifth-years or older) and features two dynamic guards in Dae Dae Grant and Jimmy Clark III who can really fill it up. That’s a good March recipe.

10. Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (No. 15 seed, South Region)

There’s always one Cinderella no one sees coming. Each of the past three seasons, a No. 15 seed has taken down a No. 2, and if there’s one that can do it this year, it might just be Western Kentucky. Coach Steve Lutz has the Hilltoppers dancing in his first year on the job, and his team has the type of offensive firepower that makes them a scary matchup for No. 2 seed Marquette. Plus, the Golden Eagles might be a bit more vulnerable than usual with star point guard Tyler Kolek coming off an oblique injury.

Teams that play as fast as the Hilltoppers have traditionally not been the best long shot bet, but WKU might be an exception. Guard Don McHenry is elite at creating his own shot and is capable of taking over a game with his scoring ability. Plus, WKU has high-major size and athleticism in Rodney Howard (Georgia Tech), Dontaie Allen (Kentucky) and Brandon Newman (Purdue), and the Hilltoppers have defended well for a team that plays fast. If WKU can take care of the ball against Marquette’s disruptive defense, it might have a shot. 

 

Devin Haney Is Ready to Seize His Moment in Boxing’s Spotlight  

Inside the Top Rank gym in Las Vegas last week, where Devin Haney is holding his training camp for April’s scheduled fight with Ryan Garcia, it was business as usual. Haney, the reigning 140-lbs. champion, was in the ring, snapping off punches as three sparring partners rotated in.

“Haney time!” shouted someone from the ring apron.

“Best in the world!” exclaimed another.

Only it isn’t business as usual. Garcia’s erratic behavior, which has been broadcast to his millions of followers on social media, has cast doubt on the fight moving forward. While Garcia’s promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, has attempted to downplay suggestions the fight could be canceled—De La Hoya says he was “1,000% sure” the fight would happen—skepticism remains. On Instagram, where Garcia has more than 10 million followers, Garcia claimed the New York State Athletic Commission was asking for a mental evaluation. In response, Garcia threatened to sue.

Haney was named Sports Illustrated’s 2023 Fighter of the Year.

IMAGO/ZUMA Wire

From afar, Haney has been monitoring all of it. Over the last two years Haney, 25, has emerged as one of boxing’s top fighters, winning titles in two weight divisions—including the undisputed championship at 135 lbs.—and climbing pound-for-pound lists. In 2023, Haney successfully defended his lightweight titles against Vasyl Lomachenko before moving up to 140 lbs., where he scored a lopsided defeat of longtime titleholder Regis Prograis. Those accomplishments earned Haney accolades, including Sports Illustrated’s Fighter of the Year.

The Garcia fight represents Haney’s most lucrative opportunity to date. Garcia, 25, is one of boxing’s most bankable young stars. His fight against Gervonta Davis last April generated a reported 1.3 million pay per view buys. His exciting style—20 of Garcia’s 24 wins have come by knockout—sells tickets. And there is history between the two, with Garcia and Haney splitting six fights in the amateur ranks.

In an interview with SI, Haney said he was optimistic the fight would move forward.

“In the beginning I was worried [about the fight being canceled] to be honest,” says Haney. “I called Oscar and I was asking Oscar, ‘Hey, what’s up man? Is this fight going to go through? What’s going on? Is he going to pull out? Is he having mental health issues?’ Oscar said, no, the fight’s going to happen. This guy says he’s trolling. He knows what he’s doing. So it is what it is.”

Haney admits Garcia’s behavior has been puzzling. In recent weeks Garcia has said he was raped as a child, that he has witnessed rapes, that he knows who killed Tupac Shakur, that the sports drink PRIME, co-founded by YouTube influencers KSI and Logan Paul, contains cyanide and that anyone who drinks PRIME is “working for Satan.” Last week, Garcia posted a video of him jogging down the streets of Dallas asking random people if they supported pedophiles. Haney has accused Garcia’s behavior as being fueled by cocaine, a charge Garcia has denied.

“According to him, it’s fake,” says Haney. “It is trolling. So I don’t know. I can’t focus on his team and what they’re doing. It might just be all a plan, like he said, to sell the fight. But if it is, it is a very odd way to do it. I can’t say. I don't know until fight night to see if it actually is working as in selling the fight or if it’s getting people drawn away from the fight.

“What can we do? My only focus is to remain focused and focus on the fight. Do my job as the true professional that I am. This is what I love to do, this is what I do, and I thank Allah for everything, for the opportunity, the platform, and whether [Garcia] is in the ring or not this whole situation has made Devin Haney even bigger and my brand even bigger.”

Indeed, Haney has benefitted from Garcia’s social media activity. Days after Garcia went after PRIME, Haney announced a sponsorship agreement with the company. The timing was coincidental, says Haney, but he was happy to be involved. And if Garcia is forced out of the fight, Haney says he is prepared to face Arnold Barboza, an undefeated 140-lbs. contender currently scheduled to appear on the undercard.

“It is crazy that we even have to have a backup opponent,” says Haney. “I don’t know if we ever had this happen in boxing. But it is what it is. This is what we’re dealing with. This is what I signed up for. Fighting a guy like Ryan Garcia, a guy who’s mostly an influencer these days and doesn’t really take boxing serious like boxers. This is the risk that you run when you fight a guy like Ryan.”

Still, Haney is hopeful Garcia stays in. Haney-Garcia “is a big event for boxing,” says Haney. The fight, which will be streamed on DAZN PPV in the U.S., could generate north of 500,000 PPV buys. It’s a chance to win, collect a sizable paycheck and showcase his talent in front of a large audience.

“I believe that I am the best and no matter who gets in the ring on April 20, the outcome will be the same,” says Haney. “Ryan can come in however he’s going to come in. It doesn’t matter to me. It really doesn’t. Whatever he brings to the table, I’m going to be ready for a 100% because I do feel like I’m the best fighter in the world.”

 

Ranking Every Mascot in the 2024 NCAA Tournament Field  

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey made a crucial mistake over the last week when he suggested, implicitly, that the NCAA men’s basketball tournament should at some point become the domain only of teams from power conferences.

It was a flagrantly incorrect reading of history that was rightly crushed. The NCAA men’s tournament is not solely the domain of blue bloods, or of mid- or low-major teams for that matter.

The NCAA men’s tournament is the domain of mascots.

That’s right. At no point in American sports do so many mascots get so much airtime in such a short window. If you enjoy anthropomorphic hijinks, this is your month.

With this in mind, let’s rank this March’s constituent critters on a scale of off-putting to awesome—with scattered commentary where appropriate.

Teams without mascots

Illinois and San Diego State do not have school-sanctioned mascots, for fairly intuitive reasons. That leaves us with 66 mascots to rank in this year’s men’s NCAA tournament field.

66. The Tiger (Clemson)

So much of this article boils down to “look at his eyes.” So I beg you, Clemson fans, haters and non-perceivers alike: look at his eyes.

65. Purdue Pete (Purdue)

Strong candidate for the position of “last thing you see before you die.”

64. Cy the Cardinal (Iowa State)

Iowa State is hamstrung a bit by its meteorological nickname. A cyclone walking around might get mistaken for a cinnamon roll. Instead, we get TEETH.

63. Buster Bronco (Boise State)

Almost charmingly lo-fi. Almost. Still beats Western Michigan’s Buster Bronco, who appears on the verge of falling asleep at any moment.

62. Grambling Tiger (Grambling)

A Hall of Famer, as this link reveals. Again, however: look at his eyes.

61. Raider (Colgate)

Nice to see Lord Farquaad is doing well these days.

60. The Lobo (New Mexico)

Mascots are supposed to be agents of hype, correct? The lopsided tongue makes him look oddly tranquilized.

59. Butch T. Cougar (Washington State)

58. Gael (Saint Mary’s)

This is supposed to represent an Irish caricature, I think. Instead, it looks as if he will star in a $200 million Phase Five Marvel movie that earns $5.

57. Charlie and Kitty Catamount (Vermont)

56. Rudy Flyer (Dayton)

“Behold, the Underminer!”

Rudy Flyer fires up the home crowd before Dayton’s 91-86 win over VCU on March 8.

Matt Lunsford-USA TODAY Sports

55. Raider Red (Texas Tech)

54. The Wildcat (Kentucky)

Proof positive that when you’re in the whole “winning championships” business, mascot-related efforts kind of fall by the wayside (see also: Michigan).

53. Thunder the Antelope (Grand Canyon)

52. John B. Hatter (Stetson)

51. Beaker (Morehead State)

50. Lil’ Red (Nebraska)

Inflatable mascots are cheating. You should not, under any circumstances, be (theoretically) able to carry your mascot in a bag. When you talk about carrying around a mascot suit, the verb you use should be “lug.”

49. Rowdy (McNeese State)

48. Bruiser and Marigold (Baylor)

They toe the line between fierce and cute, which is so critical for any mascot. However, it’s difficult to shake the idea that they look like horror-movie Muppets.

47. Cav Man (Virginia)

46. Clyde the Cougar (Charleston)

45. Champ T. Bobcat (Montana State)

Mr. Wuf stayed busy last week as North Carolina State won five games in five days to capture the ACC tournament title.

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

44. Mr. and Mrs. Wuf (NC State)

In the “good but not great” tier, Mr. and Mrs. Wuf jump out for their highly formal names. Then again, after the Wolfpack’s ACC tournament run of five wins in five days, they deserve it.

43. Sam the Bulldog (Samford)

42. Spike the Bulldog (Gonzaga)

These two similarly named mascots need to fight.

41. Wilbur Wildcat (Arizona)

40. The Duke (Duquesne)

The unintentionally vaudevillian cane gives him the upper hand against other humanoid mascots. 

39. Seahawk (Wagner)

38. Elbee (Long Beach State)

Bonus points for actually being shaped like a shark, unlike S.J. Sharkie of the NHL’s San Jose Sharks.

37. Willie the Wildcat (Northwestern)

The near-median, average mascot, almost charmingly so. Contrast him, however, with his Kansas State counterpart’s downright freaky vibe.

36. Grizz (Oakland)

35. Bison (Howard)

34. Billy Bluejay (Creighton)

Billy Bluejay carries the Creighton school flag at a home game against Holy Cross in 2022.

Dylan Widger-USA TODAY Sports

33. Iggy (Marquette)

One of the better new college mascots of recent years.

32. Blaze (UAB)

If you’ll allow an obscure Gen Z reference here: many a child from the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s was raised on a series of puppet TV programs called Baby Einstein. A lot of mascots evoke that show, but this one really evokes it.

31. Shasta (Houston)

Two mascots for the price of one—a live cougar and an anthropomorphic cougar. Somehow, the duality works.

30. Big Al (Alabama)

29. Aflie, Wolfie Jr. and Luna (Nevada)

Give Nevada credit for living up to its moniker: the Wolf Pack.

28. Big Blue (Utah State)

27. Elwood (Longwood)

This is the rare mascot that tries to do something completely different and sticks the landing. You’ll never see a horse rendered quite like Elwood.

26. SuperFrog (TCU)

Contrary to popular belief, TCU’s mascot is not Hypnotoad from Futurama.

25. Blue Devil (Duke)

Substitute with your least favorite Duke star as needed.

24. Owlsley (Florida Atlantic)

23. Big Jay (Kansas)

Pants are optional for a number of college mascots, including South Carolina’s Cocky. 

Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

22. Cocky (South Carolina)

Aside from Nebraska’s Lil Red, Cocky might have the strangest body architecture of any mascot on this list. Impossible to say whether or not he is wearing pants. Ungovernable. 

21. Duke Dog (James Madison)

20. Jack the Jackrabbit (South Dakota State)

How much more entertaining would Space Jam have been if Michael Jordan were the cartoon and Bugs Bunny were live-action? This mascot dares to answer that question.

19. Rameses (North Carolina)

Another double play a la Houston, elevated by his regal name ...

18. Cam the Ram (Colorado State)

... but Cam the Ram gets the incremental edge. Green and gold is a slightly better look for a sheep than powder blue.

17. Bevo and Hook ’Em (Texas)

Bevo is assuredly the only mascot on this list to attempt a murder on live television. Hook ’Em presumably exists to keep Bevo from wreaking havoc in smaller venues.

16. Aubie (Auburn)

15. Bucky Badger (Wisconsin)

We’re heading for the all-timer tier. Gets points for looking nearly identical to his illustrated rendering in real life, which is not the case for all mascots (see Beaker, No. 51).

14. Jonathan (UConn)

13. Handsome Dan (Yale)

12. Griff (Drake)

The Good Pooches Department! Griff takes the title (at least in this tier) due to the little varsity jacket he dons during games.

Griff and the Drake Bulldogs are making their third NCAA tournament appearance in four years after winning the Missouri Valley Conference tournament.

Courtney Crowder/The Register / USA TODAY NETWORK

11. Pete the Peacock (Saint Peter’s)

Maybe this is a residual 2022 overreaction. So be it. How many fowls do you know with mohawks?

10. The Oregon Duck (Oregon)

His name and his precise relationship to Disney are subject to much debate. His sense of chaos is not.

9. Smokey (Tennessee)

8. Bully (Mississippi State)

7. Reveille (Texas A&M)

This is the “Good Pooches Who Also Function as Regional Cultural Symbols” section.

6. Sparty (Michigan State)

Possibly the most famous mascot in the country. Does more commercials than Travis Kelce. Was even on a video game cover in 2008 (NCAA Football 09, for Wii).

5. Albert and Alberta Gator (Florida)

Two more of our most telegenic mascots. Albert in particular starred in one of the most memorable This is SportsCenter ads of all time alongside naturalist Steve Irwin.

4. Cosmo the Cougar (BYU)

This YouTube video title tells no lies. Wherever BYU is playing, Cosmo defying death is sure to follow.

3. Ralphie and Chip (Colorado)

Ralphie is the reason Deion Sanders never has to worry about being the most difficult personality in Boulder to rein in. Chip, Ralphie’s anthropomorphic counterpart, is (like Hook ’Em) presumably more docile.

2. Big Red (Western Kentucky)

If you click on a good amount of the links in this article, you’ll notice a throughline: a lot of mascots claim to be world famous. And then there is Big Red, who has been involved in a $250 million copyright infringement lawsuit in Italy.

1. Zippy (Akron)

In the wise words of Wendy Williams: she’s an icon, she’s a legend, and she is the moment. Just don’t ask her about her Kent State counterpart.

Note: A previous version of this article misstated Samford’s mascot as Spike, which was changed to Sam in 2017.

 

LSU’s Kim Mulkey ‘Ejected’ at Savannah Bananas Game in Baton Rouge  

The Savannah Bananas baseball team is known for their extravagant and fun bits during games, and LSU women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey joined in on the fun by throwing out the first pitch at a recent game.

The Bananas played a three-game series in Baton Rouge at LSU’s Alex Box Stadium last week, and Mulkey threw out the first pitch Saturday evening.

The home plate umpire called Mulkey’s toss a ball, but the outspoken coach engaged the ump to argue that the throw was a strike. The argument turned into a yelling match, and Mulkey kicked dirt at the ump to emphasize her point. The “Dancing Umpire,” as he’s known, then ejected Mulkey from the game.

The crowd subsequently booed her ejection as she walked off the field. But the crowd’s energy quickly changed as to applause when Mulkey and the ump joined hands and revealed the gag.

Coach Kim Mulkey throws out the first pitch before the last Savannah Bananas game in Baton Rouge pic.twitter.com/te6tKxL1Rj

— WBRZ News (@WBRZ) March 17, 2024

It was a fun way for Mulkey to poke fun at her spirited reputation.

Mulkey and the No. 3-seeded Tigers (28–5) begin look to defend their national championship when they tip off at the 2024 NCAA tournament on Friday at 4 p.m. ET against 14th-seeded Rice (19–14) in Baton Rouge.

 

Vikings Show Interest in Michigan QB J.J. McCarthy  

The Minnesota Vikings are showing apparent interest in Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy with the 2024 NFL draft, which begins on April 25, approaching. 

Minnesota is slated to have quarterbacks coaches Josh McCown and Grant Udinski in Ann Arbor for McCarthy’s pro day on Friday, and the team also has arranged for a private workout with the Wolverines signal-caller next week. That workout will be attended by Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, according to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer reported Monday. 

The Vikings are entering a new era at the QB position this offseason. 

The franchise saw Kirk Cousins depart for the Atlanta Falcons via free agency after six seasons in Minnesota, then agreed to terms with veteran Sam Darnold on a one-year deal this past week. 

Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy threw for 2,991 yards with 22 touchdown passes and just four interceptions last seaso

Thomas Shea-USA TODAY Sports

In a move that heightened speculation that the club could potentially be angling toward selecting a QB in the upcoming draft, Minnesota dealt ’24 second- and fifth-round picks and a ’25 second-rounder to the Houston Texans in exchange for ’24 first- and seventh-rounders on Friday. 

McCarthy is seemingly one such QB the franchise is considering. 

The La Grange Park, Ill., native completed 67.6% of his passes for 6,226 yards with 49 touchdown passes and 11 interceptions while compiling a 27—1 record as a starter in three seasons in Ann Arbor. He helped lead the Wolverines to a national title in January. 

McCarthy is viewed as a potential top-10 pick in many NFL mock drafts

 

Cowboys LB Leighton Vander Esch Announces Retirement  

Dallas Cowboys linebacker Leighton Vander Esch announced he’s retiring from football Monday, three days after the team released him due to a failed physical designation

“I realize that I am no longer able to adhere to the unwavering standard of excellence that professional football demands,” Vander Esch wrote on Instagram. “I say this with a heavy heart: I am medically retiring from the NFL. I love the game of football so much, and my body won’t cooperate any longer. I cherished every moment of my NFL career, and it has been blessing to play the game for as long as I have played.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Leighton Vander Esch (@vander_esch38)

Vander Esch suffered a neck injury on Oct. 8, 2023, in a game against the San Francisco 49ers that ended his season. The neck injury ultimately would be career ending

Over his six seasons in the NFL, the Boise State product tallied a total of 469 tackles, 3 1/2 sacks, three interceptions and three forced fumbles in 71 games. His best season came in 2018 when he was named second-team All-Pro as a rookie while notching 140 combined tackles in 16 games. 

 

Scottie Scheffler Had Perfect Two-Word Reaction to Wyndham Clark’s Missed Putt at Players Championship  

Scottie Scheffler showed everyone on Sunday why he’s the No. 1 player in the world when he stormed back at TPC Sawgrass to win his second straight Players Championship

Scheffler fired a final round 8-under 64 and then had to wait to watch three players attempt birdie putts on the 18th hole that would have forced a playoff. 

The last miss came from Wyndham Clark, and it was a heartbreaker, as the the ball circled the cup and somehow didn’t fall in the hole. Scheffler didn’t see that putt until he was on the Golf Channel’s postgame show, and he had a perfect reaction to it: 

"I'm sure this won't be the last time this year that we're both on top of the leaderboard battling it out."

Scottie Scheffler reacts to seeing Wyndham Clark's putt on 18 for the first time. pic.twitter.com/4O4dDQ9vN0

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 18, 2024

“That’s tough,” Scheffler said.  

Yes, yes it was. 

 

For Masters Qualifiers, It's Time to Take a Scouting Trip to Augusta National  

More Weekly Read: Finally Talking to the PIF | Scottie's Putting Fix

With the PGA Tour in Florida, it’s the time of year when players who are in the Masters field work out details to get to Augusta National for practice rounds.

One of the perks of an invite is the ability to line up tee times at the famed course any time it is open and not holding a special event. Recently, two players who have yet to play in the tournament got their first look.

Wyndham Clark, the reigning U.S. Open champion who first qualified last May by winning the Wells Fargo Championship, visited the Tuesday of Arnold Palmer Invitational week. He had been at a Wells Fargo media day at Quail Hollow on Monday and accompanied course owner and Augusta member Johnny Harris to the home of the year’s first major.

With the Masters less than a month away, players are taking trips to see the course.

Andrew Redington/Getty Images

“It was amazing,” Clark said. “That’s a place I always dreamed of playing at and then to do it with my dad and brother was awesome. We were talking the first couple of holes and we were just looking at each other and saying this is cool.”

Nick Dunlap also visited recently. As the reigning U.S. Amateur champion, he earned a spot in the Masters field by winning at Cherry Hills. His also won the American Express Championship in January and has since turned pro.

“In my opinion, it’s the most special place in the world as far as golf courses go,” Dunlap said. “There’s a different feeling about it and it took me a day and a half to where I would just stop looking around and be like, man, I’ve got to play golf here. There’s such an awe factor. I mean, just driving down Magnolia Lane and then the golf course is just perfect. It’s the most nervous I’ve been for a shot that means nothing. It’s just different.”

Rory McIlroy, who has a chance to to complete the career Grand Slam with a Masters victory but hasn’t won a major in 10 years, is undecided whether he will go pre-Masters week as he often has in the past.

McIlroy is not playing the Valero Texas Open the week prior to the Masters and said he might go that week. He’s also had visits to the course to play with his dad, Gerry.

“I've done that a lot and it's really nice and I can certainly do that after the Masters, but when I do it before, I don't feel like I get a ton out of it,” he said. “Like in terms of like preparation for the week and actually getting into the mindset I need to get into. So maybe a quick pit stop on the way to San Antonio to play a practice round and spend some time. But as I said, nothing planned as of yet.”

The Valspar field … and other notes

Much has been made about the possible impact on regular PGA Tour events with the addition of the big-money, small-field signature events. And following a signature event as well as the Players Championship does not exactly do this week’s Valspar Championship any favors.

But the final event of the Florida Swing has attracted a strong field with two of the top 10 in the Official World Golf Ranking, including Xander Schauffele and Brian Harman—runners-up at last week's Players Championship. Patrick Cantlay was entered but withdrew.

The tournament also has Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, two-time winner Sam Burns, Tony Finau and former champion Gary Woodland this week at the Innisbrook Resort’s Copperhead course. For now it has 10 of the top 30 in the OWGR.

And a few more things ...

American John Catlin won the International Series event in Macau, China, on Sunday in a playoff over Spain’s David Puig, the LIV Golf player who was attempting to win for the third time on the Asian Tour. The playoff defeat cost Puig a spot among the top 100 in the Official World Golf Ranking, which would likely get him an invite to the PGA Championship in May. He is currently 105th. Catlin, a four-time winner on the DP World Tour, lost his card last season and earned an Asian Tour card by needed an invite to play the tournament, where he shot a third-round 59 with an 18th-hole eagle. It was the first 59 in Asian Tour history. ... Scottie Scheffler became the first player to win multiple events on the PGA Tour in 2024. ... He’s also the first multiple winner of the Players since Tiger Woods won his second in 2013. ... He is the first to win after trailing by five strokes entering the final round since Henrik Stenson in 2009. ... Scheffler’s worst score so far in 2024? A 71—which was 2 under par—at Kapalua during the third round. ...  Sam Ryder set a Players record with 27 birdies, breaking the mark of 26 set by Fuzzy Zoeller in 1994. Ryder tied for 16th. ... The first round of the Masters is in 24 days.

 

March Madness 2024: Betting Breakdown for Tuesday’s First Four Games  

The men’s NCAA Tournament officially begins Tuesday night in Dayton, Ohio, when the first two games of the First Four get underway. Wagner and Howard are playing for the No. 16 seed in the West Region in the early slot and later on, Colorado State takes on Virginia for the No. 10 seed in the Midwest.

In the 2023 tournament, two First Four teams pulled off opening-round upsets after having to play their way into the Round of 64: No. 11 Pittsburgh beat No. 6 Iowa State and No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson took down No. 1 Purdue..

(Odds via FanDuel.)

No. 16 Wagner Seahawks vs. No. 16 Howard Bisons

Game Info: 6:40 p.m. ET | truTV
Spread: Wagner +2.5 (-102) | Howard -2.5 (-120)
Moneyline: WAG (+128) | HOW (-154)
Total: 128.5 — Over (-115) | Under (-105)

As often stated…TICKET PUNCHED for the Bison of @HUMensBB 🚨

Howard will face Wagner in the #FirstFour on Tuesday. The winner will advance to play No. 1 seed North Carolina in the West Region. #MarchMadness | #MEACHoops pic.twitter.com/1TJac6VFQR

— Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (@MEACSports) March 18, 2024

Wagner and Howard both had losing records heading into their conference tournaments. The Seahawks rattled off three straight wins — all on the road, no less — to clinch the Northeast tournament title and their second NCAA Tournament appearance in program history. Similarly, the Bison, with their backs against the wall, won three straight in the Mid-Eastern Athletic tournament to punch their ticket to the Big Dance for the second straight year.

Wagner (16–15) is the lowest-ranked team in the field of 68 by KenPom (293) and NET rankings (290) and Howard (18–16) isn’t much better in KenPom (276) or NET (273). The winner of Tuesday’s game in Dayton will advance to the Round of 64 to play No. 1 North Carolina on Thursday.

The Seahawks have one of the lowest-scoring averages in DI at 63.5 points per game. They shoot just 39.2% from the field as a team and 32.2% from beyond the arc. The guard trio of Melvin Council Jr. (14.6 ppg), Tahron Allen (10.8 ppg) and Julian Brown (9.6 pgg) account for the bulk of Wagner’s offense. Allen stepped up in the NEC title game to score a game-high 22 points in the 54–47 win over Merrimack. The Seahawks boast the No. 6 scoring defense in the country (62.1 ppg), which can partially be attributed to their tempo, which is second-to-last nationally. As a result, the under is 19–10 in Wagner games this year.

The Bison have a very different team profile than their First Four foe. They average 75.1 points per game and get up and down the floor much quicker than the Seahawks. However, Howard is no tough out on defense, allowing 74.4 points per game. Accordingly, the over is 19–12–1 for the Bison this season. Their leading scorer is Bryce Harris (16.6 ppg), but they have other options that defenses need to respect, such as Seth Towns (14.2 ppg) and Marcus Dockery (13.7 ppg, 41.2% from three).

Though this is a low total for Howard, it’s in line with expectations for Wagner, which has seen the under hit in six straight games. The Seahawks don’t seem capable of taking advantage of a suspect Bison defense and they’re strong enough on defense to keep Howard’s offense in check. Notably, Wagner has a top-10 three-point defense (29.5%), which will come into play against a team like the Bison.

Bet: Under 128.5 (-105)


No. 10 Colorado State Rams vs. No. 10 Virginia Cavaliers

Game Info: 9:10 p.m. ET | truTV
Spread: Colorado State -2.5 (-110) | Virginia +2.5 (-110)
Moneyline: CSU (-140) | UVA (+116)
Total: 120.5 — Over (-110) | Under (-110)

Isaiah Stevens leads Colorado State in scoring and assists.

Isaiah J. Downing/USA TODAY Sports

Colorado State earned a spot in Dayton after its run in the Mountain West tournament ended against eventual champion New Mexico. Virginia, somewhat controversially, earned an at-large spot as well after falling to N.C. State, the winner of the ACC Tournament.

The Rams (24–10) enter the Big Dance with a much stronger resume than the Cavaliers (23–10). Niko Medved’s team is 38th in KenPom and 36th in NET rankings with a 6–7 record in Quad 1 games. Tony Bennett’s team ranks 69th in KenPom, 54th in NET and went just 2–7 against Quad 1 opponents. Still, UVA is making its second consecutive tournament appearance as it matches its lowest seed under Bennett. The winner will face No. 7 Texas on Thursday in the Round of 64.

Simply put, Colorado State is adept at putting the ball in the basket. The team shoots 48.8% from the field, 18th best in the country, and 75.4% from the stripe, a top-50 mark. The Rams don’t light it up from beyond the arc (34.1%), but they take good care of the ball (10.1 turnovers per game) and have one of the best distributors in the country in Isaiah Stevens, who averages seven assists per game and also leads the team in scoring (16.5 ppg). Joel Scott (12.9 ppg), Nique Clifford (12.2 ppg) and Patrick Cartier (10.5 ppg) all average double digits as well and they get it done on both ends as Colorado State allows just 68.4 points per game, a top-75 mark.

The Cavaliers make every game a grind. Their 64.6 points per game average is a bottom-10 mark in DI but they make up for it with a stifling defense that surrenders just 59.5 points per game, the third-fewest in the nation. Only two UVA players — Reece Beekman (14.3 ppg) and Isaac McKneely (12.5 ppg) — average double digits and the team only shoots 63.7% from the free throw line. The Cavaliers take even better care of the ball than the Rams as they average just 8.2 giveaways per game and have one of the best assist-to-turnover ratios in the country.

Even with the loss to New Mexico, Colorado State has been playing better basketball over the last few weeks than Virginia. The Rams upset Nevada, 85–78, in the quarterfinals of the MWC tournament while the Cavaliers needed overtime to get past Boston College, 66–60, in the ACC quarters. UVA, which has been held under 50 six times this season, just doesn’t have the offensive firepower to get past CSU.

Bet: Colorado State -2.5 (-110)


Related: 2024 March Madness: Odds and Spread for Every Round 1 Game

Related: March Madness 2024: Updated NCAA Men’s Basketball National Title Odds


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LeBron James’s H.S. Coach Keith Dambrot to Retire From Duquesne After NCAA Tournament  

Duquesne men’s basketball coach Keith Dambrot announced he will retiring after the 2024 NCAA tournament.

The school called the March Madness tournament his “last dance.” Duquesne earned a tournament bid for the first time in 47 years after the team won the A-10 Championship game on Sunday.

Dambrot is in his seventh season at Duquesne. He previously coached 13 seasons at Akron, and he famously coached NBA great LeBron James in high school.

James posted a congratulatory tweet after the Dukes won the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament title on Sunday afternoon. The Los Angeles Lakers star played for Dambrot at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron, Ohio, before famously skipping college basketball and heading straight to the NBA.

James tweeted again on Monday around the time the retirement news broke, stating that Dambrot is “the best.”

THE BEST!!!!!! 🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾 https://t.co/KFRubsuOfL

— LeBron James (@KingJames) March 18, 2024

The 65-year-old Dambrot also served as the head coach at Central Michigan for two seasons in the early 1990s. His career college record as a head coach is 440–268.

The Last Dance.

After 26 years as a head coach, Keith Dambrot will retire at the end of the season. pic.twitter.com/PE3AsJfDoP

— Duquesne Basketball (@DuqMBB) March 18, 2024

Dambrot’s last dance will begin Thursday at 12:40 p.m. ET in Omaha, where the No. 11-seed Dukes (24–11) take on sixth-seeded BYU (23–10) in a first-round game in the East Region.

It’s Duquesne’s first appearance in the men’s NCAA basketball tournament since 1977.

 

Here's Quite the Conspiracy Regarding the Patriots Documentary and Nick Foles  

1. Conspiracies are all the rage these days. It doesn’t even matter what the topic is anymore; everything is a conspiracy.

So since everybody seems to love a good conspiracy, I thought I’d kick off this edition of Traina Thoughts with quite a doozy regarding the New England Patriots' series that is currently airing on Apple TV+.

The Twitter user below somehow figured out (unless he’s pulling a fast one on us) that in The Dynasty: New England Patriots, former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Nick Foles’s name was edited out of Al Michaels’s call of the “Philly Special” touchdown in Super Bowl LII. 

Michaels’s call went like this: “They’re gonna snap it. And it’s Trey Burton who throws. Caught. Foles. Touchdown.”

On the Apple series, it sounded like this: “They’re gonna snap it. And it’s Trey Burton who throws. Caught. Touchdown.”

I have uncovered an anti-Nick Foles conspiracy in this Apple TV show about the Patriots. pic.twitter.com/RRgrs4hvHK

— Todd Orodenker (@ToddO243) March 18, 2024

It appears that just "Foles" was edited out of the call. Why? Who ordered the code red? 

It couldn’t have possibly been anyone associated with the Patriots who asked that Foles’s name be cut out because the team is still so bitter about losing that Super Bowl, could it? And if not, why would any of the producers of the series decide to edit out “Foles?”

So many questions, as with any good conspiracy.

2. As we told you last week, CBS’s Greg Gumbel missed Sunday’s NCAA tournament selection show because he was dealing with a family illness. Adam Zucker filled in and did a very solid job. 

Here's how the show opened, with Gumbel's colleagues discussing his absence.

CBS begins the NCAA Tournament Selection Show with the crew sending their best wishes to Greg Gumbel.

Gumbel is absent from this year's NCAA Tournament due to family health matters (https://t.co/npWk1KCsN7). pic.twitter.com/26QvgjzofM

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 17, 2024

3. ABC/ESPN's Ryan Ruocco had a great call on Kyrie Irving‘s unreal game-winning shot for the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday.

KYRIE IRVING GAME WINNER MY GOODNESS. 🔥🔥🔥🔥

pic.twitter.com/FfczbtMEmU

— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) March 17, 2024

4. What a whirlwind for Joey Votto. Two weeks ago, he was on social media begging for a job.

missing ball pic.twitter.com/r8ZG9gfU2i

— Joey Votto (@JoeyVotto) March 6, 2024

Last week, Votto, who was born in Toronto, signed with the Blue Jays.

Minor league contract signed. 😃
It’s official, I’m a little Blue Jay now. pic.twitter.com/DOPH7XWNrc

— Joey Votto (@JoeyVotto) March 10, 2024

Sunday, in his first at-bat as a Blue Jay, Votto went deep.

First pitch swinging 😮

It's @JoeyVotto's FIRST homer in a #BlueJays uniform! pic.twitter.com/1cVrONpJ0N

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) March 17, 2024

Then he stepped on a bat and hurt his ankle, while also showing us that we don't use the word "dickens" nearly enough on a day-to-day basis.

Joey Votto had originally planned to play five innings today, not one.

“I accidentally stepped on a bat in the dugout, rolled my ankle and it hurt like the dickens.”

He expects that tomorrow’s off day will be enough, then he’ll be back at it. #BlueJays

— Keegan Matheson (@KeeganMatheson) March 17, 2024

5. On March 4, I sent the following tweet:

According to his latest Instagram post, @TheRock is going to be on the next two episodes of Friday Night SmackDown. That means we have two more opportunities for a "Rock Concert." We don't want the "Rock Concert." We NEED the "Rock Concert.” pic.twitter.com/9oy32CqbH9

— Jimmy Traina (@JimmyTraina) March 4, 2024

On Friday, The Rock graced us with a “Rock Concert” from SmackDown in Memphis. The show even included a dig at Memphis Grizzlies star, Ja Morant.

“Just like Ja Morant, when he’s waving a gun.”

— The Rock#SmackDown

pic.twitter.com/3vGU853Cag

— Wrestle Ops (@WrestleOps) March 16, 2024

6. A brand new episode of SI Media with Jimmy Traina dropped this morning and it features a conversation with ESPN NFL analyst, Dan Orlovsky.

Orlovsky gives a breakdown of his unbelievably busy schedule, talks about how the NFL owns most of the sports calendar and shares his thoughts about the wild free-agency spree that took place this week.

Orlovsky also reveals that his ultimate goal is to call top games each week and whether he feels like networks have a bias against putting him in that role since he wasn’t a superstar player. He also weighs in on his relationship with Chris “Mad Dog” Russo, Mike Greenberg and Dan “Big Cat” Katz.

Orlovsky also shares some of his famous food takes, talks about what it's like to have triplets and much more.

Following Orlovsky, Sal Licata from WFAN and SNY joins me for the weekly "Traina Thoughts" segment. This week's topics include Aaron Rodgers as Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s running mate, the NFL Network moving Good Morning Football from New York to Los Angeles, Tiki Barber vs. Saquon Barkley, Love Is Blind and more.

You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Google.

You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on Sports Illustrated’s YouTube channel.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Spoilers ahead: Last night's Curb Your Enthusiasm was the funniest of the season mainly because of Larry trying to deal with being on a group text chain. People thinking they are too good for a text chain is absolutely a thing, so it’s no surprise Larry would nail it.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out SI Media With Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.

 

Cowboys, Dak Prescott Restructure Contract to Create Salary Cap Space  

The Dallas Cowboys have restructured quarterback Dak Prescott’s contract to create space under the salary cap, according to the Dallas Morning News. The news was confirmed by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram

The team is converting Prescott’s $5 million roster bonus into a signing bonus, creating $4 million in 2024 salary cap space. The Cowboys also added two more voidable years onto the end of Prescott’s contract.

The signal-caller still will earn $29 million in 2024, and his salary cap number is $55.455 million, second to only Deshaun Watson of the Cleveland Browns at $63.9 million. 

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott led the NFL with 36 touchdown passes and 410 completions last season. Both figures also were career highs.

Tim Heitman/USA TODAY Sports

Dallas has maintained that it wants to sign Prescott to a contract extension and has continued to work toward one behind the scenes, per ESPN’s Ed Werder. Prescott, 30, threw for 4,516 yards and career highs in touchdown passes (36) and completions (410) in 2023. Dallas went 12–5 to win the NFC East but lost to the Green Bay Packers in the wild-card round of the playoffs. 

 

Inside Kirk Cousins’s Departure from Minnesota and His Arrival in Atlanta  

At 3:40 p.m. local time Wednesday in Flowery Branch, Ga., an hour North of Buckhead, Kirk Cousins’s agent, Mike McCartney, was dropped off in front of the Atlanta Falcons’ facility. Twenty minutes later, the quarterback himself pulled in, timing his entrance for 4:01, and carrying a garment bag with a silver suit, white dress shirt, and shiny, solid red tie inside it.

Falcons coach Raheem Morris, flashing his trademark, 10,000-watt smile, was waiting, as was GM Terry Fontenot, and much of the Atlanta staff, to welcome their new franchise quarterback.

An hour later, after introducing him to folks around the building, Cousins was reunited with his wife, Julie, who arrived at Falcons headquarters on her own, from her parents’ place in Alpharetta, Ga. She had the couple’s sons, Cooper and Turner, with her in a conference room near Morris’s office—and, as little kids tend to do, they were busy generating general chaos.

Cousins is ready for the next chapter of his playing career with the Falcons.

Matt Krohn/USA TODAY Sports

Approaching the scene, McCartney smiled and assured Morris, “It’s not like this every day.”

“Mike,” Morris shot back, “Yes, it is, because I’m here. I’m the same way as these kids.”

It was a joke, of course. Viscerally, though, two points were illustrated.

One, the excitement in the Falcons’ building over landing their quarterback, just two months after Morris and his staff arrived, was palpable. And, two, the fit for Cousins and his family, at least as first days go, was promising to be every bit as good as he’d hoped it would be two days earlier, when he gave McCartney the go-ahead to push a four-year, $180 million contract with the Falcons over the goal line.

But just as it was a beginning for Cousins, it was also an ending to his six-year run in Minnesota, and a protracted, two-year negotiation with the Vikings. This was, for the quarterback and those around him, different than the last time, when he became a Viking after things disintegrated in the years leading up to his 2018 departure from Washington. He loved Minnesota. He was close with Kevin O’Connell. He had a really good situation football-wise, too.

There was no personal animus in his decision to leave. Simply, it was business.

And as much as Cousins’s arrival in Atlanta felt great—the same way landing in Minneapolis did six years ago—the good feelings Cousins had for the Vikings made it a tad bittersweet.

That said, he was ready for the next step, another chapter with years, plural, left in it.

In the end, that the Falcons were willing to go there with Cousins was his personal deciding factor.

So he’s ready to leave the past behind, and lead them. And we have the story of how he got to that point.


With a week of NFL free agency in the books, we have a ton to dig through. So over in the takeaways, you’ll find …

• A full appreciation for Aaron Donald’s career from his two head coaches.

• Why the Pittsburgh Steelers’ quarterback upheaval will put Mike Tomlin on the spot.

• How the Chicago Bears’ return for Justin Fields fell through.

And a whole lot more. But we’re starting with the inside story of Kirk Cousins’s departure from Minnesota, and his arrival in Atlanta.


O'Connell and Adofo-Mensah met with Cousins's agent at the NFL combine to try and work out a deal for their quarterback to stay in Minnesota.

Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports

It was on the third floor of the JW Marriott in downtown Indianapolis, 25 months ago, that the first Cousins-related meeting between the Vikings’ new regime and the quarterback’s camp took place. O’Connell and McCartney picked a high-top table, out in the open, and in front of everyone, to talk shop.

A Band-Aid, one-year, $35 million extension was coming, but the coach and agent weren’t there to talk about that. Instead, O’Connell laid out his plan for maximizing Cousins, who he had coached in Washington under Jay Gruden in 2017. The quarterback was still playing well, but in cycling through offensive coordinators under Mike Zimmer, O’Connell thought stability could bring out another level in Cousins’ game.

The overarching idea was simple: make Cousins the best version of himself. And in 2022, Cousins threw for 4,547 yards and 29 touchdowns in his first season back with O’Connell, posting the best win-loss record of his career by a wide margin at 13–4.

That led to O’Connell and McCartney meeting again, in that same hotel, a year later, with Cousins again headed for a contract year. This time, the coach and agent were joined by Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and EVP of football operations Rob Brzezinski in an open room that they’d found to negotiate in.

McCartney carried Cousins’s history into the meeting with him. He and Cousins had hatched a plan in Washington to weaponize fully guaranteed franchise tags. Absent a suitable, market offer from the team that drafted him, Cousins would play on consecutive tags, betting that Washington wouldn’t tag him a third time in 2018 at 144% of his ’17 number. Cousins and McCartney won the bet, which is where the Vikings came into the picture.

With a team coming off an NFC title game appearance, the Vikings won the bidding war by giving Cousins, contractually, what he wanted—a fully guaranteed deal that would effectively assure that he was the guy for the team. He signed a three-year, $84 million contract, affording him the leverage to negotiate fully guaranteed extensions: two years, $66 million for 2020 to ’21, and one-year, $35 million for ’23.

Add it up, and Cousins played eight consecutive seasons on fully guaranteed contracts.

At the 2023 combine, McCartney wasn’t pressing for a fully guaranteed deal, but he was transparent with the Vikings contingent that structure and guarantees would be even more important to Cousins than just raw total money. So where often a team will increase overall money in an offer to get a player to back off guarantees—and essentially build itself a contractual escape hatch—Minnesota had a player who was willing to take less to close those escape hatches.

The conversation was cordial, but the signs of a philosophical divide were there.

The Vikings didn’t want to offer much in the way of guarantees past 2024, and hinted that, in the couple of years to follow, the search for Cousins’s successor would be on. So putting the pieces together, the concern for Cousins’s camp was the very real sense that the Vikings would draft a quarterback, maybe in the first round in ’24, which would almost certainly lead to Cousins’s exodus in ’25, with the potential that the starting job could go away before that.

So knowing Cousins would be the team’s starter in 2023, McCartney saw the proposal as assuring the quarterback one extra year, and nothing beyond that, which wouldn’t be nearly enough for him to pass on the potential of hitting the market in March of ’24. The sides knew there was a healthy difference in outlook, so they resolved to keep talking, and McCartney and Brzezinski did.

At the end of the first wave of free agency, in mid-March of 2023, after McCartney sent one last counteroffer, Brzezinski said the team would pull back and let things play out a little. McCartney agreed, “Hey, let’s just get through the draft.”

For all intents and purposes, negotiations were tabled for 2023.


Cousins played his last game as a Viking against the Packers, throwing for 274 yards and two touchdowns before sustaining an Achilles injury.

Benny Sieu/USA TODAY Sports

McCartney watches games on Sundays in the basement of his suburban Chicago home. He has a 70" TV with 55" TVs on each side of it. This year, given the circumstances, the Vikings had a permanent spot on the big screen, and it was on that screen that the agent watched as Cousins dropped back, planted his foot awkwardly in the Lambeau Field grass and quickly crumbled to the ground.

It was Oct. 29, and Chris Hutchinson, a Detroit-area emergency room doctor and the father of McCartney client Aidan Hutchinson, texted the agent almost immediately.

“I think it’s his Achilles,” Hutchinson wrote.

He was right. Cousins’s season was over. McCartney scrambled to call Cousins’s father, Don, and assure him that, given his experience with clients’ Achilles ruptures, he had a list of specialists that’d give Kirk the best chance at a speedy recovery.

Cousins texted McCartney with confirmation that it was a torn Achilles shortly thereafter, and by the time he called back, McCartney had a choice of four surgeons lined up: Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles, Robert Anderson in Green Bay, David Porter in Indianapolis, and Vikings team doctor Chris Coetzee. The two jumped on a call with Cousins’s personal trainer, Chad Cook, to map out a Minneapolis-based rehab plan.

The next day, from the Admirals Club lounge at Chicago O’Hare Airport—with McCartney booked to fly to Detroit for that evening’s Lions–Raiders Monday nighter—the group reconvened over conference calls to talk with doctors and set up surgery. Hours later, Cousins called McCartney—who was now on the turf during pregame at Ford Field—to tell him he was leaning toward Coetzee. On Tuesday, McCartney was navigating another of his clients, Joshua Dobbs, being traded to the Vikings to take Cousins’s spot on the depth chart. On Wednesday, Coetzee operated on Cousins.

Two weeks later, on Nov. 16, McCartney had an Excel spreadsheet ready, with the quarterbacking landscape for 2024 sketched out. He had the Las Vegas Raiders, New England Patriots, New York Jets and Tampa Bay Buccaneers listed in the “strong needs” category at the position. He had Atlanta, Chicago, the Arizona Cardinals, Denver Broncos, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota and the Los Angeles Rams listed as “concerning,” and the New Orleans Saints, New York Giants, Seattle Seahawks and Washington Commanders as “teams to watch.”

In early December, he’d moved the Vikings into the “strong needs” category. Later that month, the Falcons were also in that category. And by the time January rolled around, the revised research McCartney had done showed Atlanta, Denver, Vegas, Minnesota, New England, Tampa, Washington and the Jets as the eight in the “strong need” category, with the Buccaneers and Vikings in with quarterbacks as free agents, and the Jets at the off chance that Aaron Rodgers would wind up retiring.

Meanwhile, as the coaching carousel spun, fortune shined on the Falcons. Morris spent three years with Cousins in Washington as a defensive backs coach and (as coaches from the Shanahan tree do) cross-trained some on the other side of the ball, putting him in the quarterbacks room with Cousins regularly, where the two built a bond. Then, there was Morris’s new OC, Zac Robinson, who’d worked under O’Connell with the Los Angeles Rams, and actually faced Tom McCartney, Mike’s brother and a Colorado high school coach, as a prep quarterback near Denver.

As it turned out, it wasn’t long before the Falcons were doing some research of their own.


Morris spent three years with Cousins in Washington as a defensive backs coach.

Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports

Morris, a defensive coach by trade, was purposeful in stacking his first Atlanta staff with quarterback-adjacent coaches. The hire of Robinson was just the start. Quarterbacks coach T.J. Yates played seven seasons as an NFL quarterback. Assistant quarterbacks coach D.J. Williams (Doug Williams’s son) and offensive assistant K.J. Black were quarterbacks, too, with experience coaching the position. And senior offensive assistant Ken Zampese has coached quarterbacks in the NFL for decades.

So once the dust settled, Morris and Fontenot directed all those coaches, plus assistant GM Kyle Smith and director of player personnel Ryan Pace, to aggressively grind through both the college and pro quarterbacks. They wanted to come up with a coherent plan to, once and for all, plug the hole that their predecessor, Arthur Smith, hadn’t over the previous three years.

To run the offense they’d collectively envisioned—behind Robinson’s leadership—they needed a quarterback who could be an effective distributor, throw with accuracy and anticipation, and be a multiplier for the young skill-position guys already assembled.

So the ideal fit was a quarterback like Drew Brees, who Fontenot and Pace had grown up with as young Saints personnel men. Interestingly enough, those in the Shanahan tree who were with Cousins in Washington, long felt Cousins, under the right circumstances, could be a quarterback who’d mirror Brees in a lot of ways.

So at the end of the deep dive, the Falcons had Cousins as their top veteran target, Tampa’s Baker Mayfield after him, and a comfort level with the top quarterbacks in the draft as well, which brought Atlanta to the 2024 combine in position to investigate a trade up.

While the likelihood was Cousins would remain the top target, the Falcons resolved to look into moving within the top five. Inquiries with the Bears, Commanders and Patriots at the combine didn’t go very far—none of the three were willing to move, at least not at that early juncture. And waiting for that to change would mean missing the market for veterans, a risk the Falcons were never going to take.

To prepare for the game of musical chairs, though, the possibility of having a rookie helped to inform alternate plans. One would include an expensive quarterback such as Cousins or Mayfield. The other would have a more economical player at the position, be it a rookie or a vet such as Justin Fields, and more spending on defense, with the potential pursuit of stars such as Danielle Hunter and Christian Wilkins.

Meanwhile, the Vikings were still looking to see if they could take Cousins off the table for the Falcons, and everyone else.


Cousins and O'Connell had a good bond in Washington in 2017, and that bond became stronger during their two years together in Minnesota.

Mark Konezny/USA TODAY Sports

Two years removed from McCartney and O’Connell being able to meet unbothered in that open area of the JW Marriott, the Vikings rented a conference room to get those two, Adofo-Mensah and Brzezinski away from the hysteria that seemed to be enveloping their unstable quarterback situation at the 2024 combine.

Everyone was looking for information.

Would it be $25 million per year? $35 million? Were the Falcons taking the lead?

Very few knew outside of the four in that room.

And as the negotiations resumed, the first purpose, clearly, was for Minnesota to show it genuinely wanted Cousins back—a sentiment the agent felt strongly from O’Connell, who’d been in touch with his team captain since the season ended. McCartney didn’t doubt the Vikings’ intentions on that. Conversely, he couldn’t shake his feeling that the team was going to draft a quarterback two months later, and that Cousins was being offered a bridge contract that would guide the Vikings through the transition.

Minnesota was coming up in its proposal. The overall money was really good, and, after only nominal guarantees had been built into 2025 in previous offers, the Vikings offered to guarantee more cash.

Still, the numbers allowed for Minnesota, given how offsets work, to bail out of the deal after a single year without much monetary damage—if it drafted a quarterback in April and wanted to fully hand him the keys after the 2024 season. And that was why the structure of guarantees took precedence over total cash for Cousins—because it tells the quarterback how long a team will be committed to him as starter before it gains the flexibility to pass the torch.

After about 40 minutes in the room, and trading potential creative fixes, the differences remained in how guarantees would be structured. McCartney said to Brzezinski, “Rob, listen, I owe it to Kirk to go to the market.” Brzezinski agreed.

At that point, the Vikings had given Cousins an offer that, if the market wasn’t as strong as it had been six years prior, he might wind up taking. But Minnesota also had to prepare for the possibility that the market would be strong—just like Atlanta, the Vikings were working on alternate plans.

Minnesota viewed Mayfield as a viable second option, too, but, at the same time, doubted he would leave Tampa Bay. After that, there was the idea that the Vikings could sign an affordable vet with upside, and pursue quarterbacks in the draft. Minnesota, by then, had become intrigued with San Francisco 49ers backup Sam Darnold, the 26-year-old who’d washed out after going third to the Jets in the 2018 draft.

As O’Connell and Adofo-Mensah studied Darnold’s 2022 tape, they saw a guy who went 4–2 at the end of a lost season with a Carolina Panthers team that wasn’t much different than this year’s 2–15 version. The traits that made him a top pick were there, and he flashed an element of “overcoming” with the plays he was creating off-schedule. The year-over-year growth was there, too, in how he’d cleaned up his feet and was playing faster with the offense in the little time he had as a 49er (and in the end of a blowout loss to the Ravens, in particular).

So Darnold would be a target, and the team would start looking at positioning itself to have the flexibility to move up for a quarterback, too—which would have to start with acquiring extra capital. Meanwhile, like the Falcons had, there was a second element of the plan to use some of the money saved (in not spending on the quarterback) on defense.

But all these things were still hypotheticals as McCartney and Vikings people left that conference room in Indy.

They resolved to talk daily from there on out.


Adofo-Mensah told McCartney early in the negotiation that he wanted to be solution-oriented in his approach. And going into the final week before free agency opened, the Vikings and Cousins hadn’t given up on finding one.

On March 6, the Wednesday before free agency, Brzezinski had a final, longer phone call with McCartney. Both sides had pushed and moved their limits to try and find common ground but just couldn’t seem to get there. The Vikings’ three-year offer allowed too much wiggle room in 2025 for McCartney’s liking. That was when the time had come for the two to start mapping out the following week.

One key agreement was that, for everyone involved, a fast, efficient decision would be best, allowing for Cousins to move on, and for the Vikings, Falcons and anyone else involved to enact their Plan B before the market at quarterback and other positions passed them by. McCartney’s experience as a personnel director in Philadelphia two decades ago gave him perspective and empathy for the others’ situation, making that as much a priority for him as it was for the teams.

O’Connell and Cousins had an hour-long conversation on March 7 so both could have some clarity on where things stood. The coach and quarterback had a good bond in Washington in 2017, and that bond had become exponentially stronger over their two years together in Minnesota. Their wives and kids knew each other, so the looming split would go beyond football. The two talked again on March 10, the day before the legal tampering period would begin.

Later that evening, Cousins and McCartney huddled, with McCartney asking for Cousins’s permission to move on an offer if it had a second year fully guaranteed and guarantees into a third year. Atlanta, at that point, seemed like the most obvious suitor and, as luck would have it, the most natural landing spot for the quarterback’s family. Julie grew up in suburban Alpharetta, went to the University of Georgia, and she, Kirk and the kids had even planned a family road trip for that week to go see her folks in Atlanta.

Cousins, not lacking the financial wherewithal to fly his family (private, if need be), loves road tripping. He told McCartney he’d get to Alpharetta, leave Julie and the kids with her family, and be ready to go anywhere—be it just down the interstate or through Hartsfield back to Minnesota—for a press conference on Wednesday. And that, yes, the agent could move forward if the right offer came along.

By Monday, the Cousins’s family journey was well underway; the Falcons and Vikings GMs and coaches were at their respective team headquarters; and McCartney was back in his home office.


Fontenot’s first call just after noon local time on Monday (11:01 a.m. where McCartney and the Vikings were) was to Cousins’s agent, and it was direct and straightforward. They’d be willing to guarantee the first two years of a contract, and get well into the $40-million-plus range on average per year. They were open to talking about a third-year guarantee. They wanted Cousins and were ready to show it.

The conversation lasted 20 minutes, and McCartney knew he was in good shape.

Meanwhile, the Falcons’ GM then had to set up failsafes. Mayfield had agreed to terms with the Buccaneers the day before, and that meant, for both Atlanta and Minnesota, their respective plans would change significantly if Cousins wasn’t coming. So Fontenot took a call from David Mulugheta, the agent for Wilkins, and a text from Zeke Sandhu, the agent for Hunter, both of whom told him they expected the bidding on their free agents to get to, and probably past, $25 million per year.

McCartney called Cousins to give him the update, then his partner at VaynerSports, Kyle Dolan, to connect him with Falcons negotiator Chris Olsen, so those two could touch base on some more finite details. The Broncos and GM George Paton had also touched base with McCartney, letting him know that, while the team was a little hamstrung cap-wise, he and Sean Payton liked Cousins a lot, and would be interested if the market changed a bit.

Then, the agent called the Vikings.

McCartney said to O’Connell, Brzezinski and Adofo-Mensah, “It’s not over, but I’m getting hopeful.” Brzezinski asked McCartney if he got guarantees into a third year. McCartney responded that he didn’t, and that’s why it wasn’t over yet, but he was fighting for it, and thought he was going to get to $45 million per year.

At that point, Minnesota had a pretty good idea that the ship was sailing, and the change in tone of the conversation was a good indication of it, so McCartney dove in with the Falcons.

The agent landed a $10 million guarantee for 2026, the third year of the deal. It wouldn’t, of course, assure that Cousins was on the team that fall, but it would make it even harder for the Falcons to exit the deal after ’24. And it would give Cousins the assurance that he’d be Atlanta’s starting quarterback in ’25.

Meanwhile, Dolan and Olsen worked through terms, including a $2 million incentive for a Super Bowl title built into each year, with Atlanta willing to drop the threshold that Cousins had to be MVP to get it (which he had in Minnesota). A no-trade clause was built in, along with the timing of Year 3 and Year 4 roster bonuses, and the payout of the signing bonus was negotiated, too.

As negotiations continued, McCartney called Cousins, who was driving with his family somewhere in Tennessee.

“Hey, we’re done with Atlanta,” the agent told Cousins. “We feel great about it.”

McCartney then took Cousins through the key points of the agreement, and Cousins then said, “O.K., so when are you going to release this?” McCartney told him he planned to reach out to Brzezinski, and then post the news to X, the former Twitter. “Your phone’s about to blow up, buddy,” McCartney said, with a laugh.

The agent touched base with both Brzezinski and Adofo-Mensah. At 2:24 p.m. ET, Cousins texted O’Connell to let him know it was done, and he’d be a Falcon.

At 2:36 p.m. ET, 1:36 p.m. in his home office in Illinois, McCartney hit send: “Excited for @KirkCousins8 agreeing to a 4 year deal with the @AtlantaFalcons.”

Within five minutes, McCartney had some 80 texts, including some from friends in the business and others from reporters hungry for details.


The Falcons added another weapon for Cousins, signing speedster Darnell Mooney from the Bears.

Mike Dinovo/USA TODAY Sports

There wasn’t much time for anyone to sulk or celebrate less than three hours into free agency.

The Falcons pivoted off Hunter and Wilkins, and over to more economical options to add speed to their young core of skill-position players—choosing receivers Darnell Mooney as a free agent and Rondale Moore by trade, to add to former top-10 picks Kyle Pitts, Drake London and Bijan Robinson. The Vikings, meanwhile were purposeful in stocking the defense with rising young talent, adding Jonathan Greenard, Andrew Van Ginkel and Blake Cashman while letting Hunter go, and swooping in to add Aaron Jones after Green Bay cut the tailback.

Minnesota also moved forward at quarterback, first on a one-year, $10 million deal with Darnold, then on a trade with the Houston Texans (talks on it started before free agency) that’d give the Vikings a second first-round pick, arming them for a potential trade up. They also had plans in motion for quarterbacks coaches Josh McCown and Grant Udinski to be in Ann Arbor for Michigan QB J.J. McCarthy’s pro day this Friday. Minnesota also arranged a private workout on campus with McCarthy for next week, with O’Connell and Adofo-Mensah set to make that trip.

And as for McCartney, he did give himself a tick to enjoy it before diving back into work.

Because of the trust he and Cousins had, the two didn’t even have to talk much throughout the negotiation. After all they’d been through—from the unique approach they’d jointly taken nearly a decade earlier to his Vikings contracts—Cousins knew he and McCartney were on the same page, and their vision was shared. On the other end of the partnership, having a client with the stomach to do what Cousins has was never lost on McCartney.

“He is extremely comfortable in his own skin,” McCartney said during the week. “He’s a very confident guy. When I laid out the vision all those years ago, he was quickly in favor of it. It’s not easy to completely bet on yourself, but he’s willing to bet on himself. He’s got a strong faith—extremely strong faith. Dad’s a pastor, and I know he prayed a lot about it. He was comfortable enough to bet on himself. So it’s his faith, his confidence, his willingness to bet on himself …”

Then, now with time to reflect, McCartney recalled recruiting Cousins out of Michigan State in 2011. Through that football season, he’d only talked to Cousins’s father, who then asked McCartney to meet him at the Hudsonville Ice Cream creamery in the quarterback’s hometown of Holland, Mich., a two-hour drive from Chicago. As McCartney met with Don and his wife, Maryann, the owner of Hudsonville came over and said he wanted to give the agent some ice cream to take home to his kids.

McCartney didn’t quite understand what he was accepting at the time. Before he knew it, workers were loading a dozen cartons on dry ice into his back seat. The agent will never forget it, because his kids were never so happy to see him come home from a work trip.

He’d also remember it, because at that point he hadn’t even met the quarterback yet, and, in time, he’d come to learn the story was so perfectly, and authentically, Cousins. The same way it was very Cousins to be on a cross country roadtrip with his family when he found out he’d landed $100 million guaranteed with a new team, or to have kids going crazy around that conference table as his new head coach entered the room Wednesday.

The fit, Morris and Cousins knew pretty quickly, was the right one. And they can only hope the rest of their new story plays out as perfectly as the start did.

 

Deion Sanders Applauds NCAA Tournament Coach for Inspiring Postgame Speech  

Wisconsin upset Purdue in the Big Ten tournament semifinals game in Minneapolis on Saturday afternoon, and Badgers coach Greg Gard was hyped up after the win.

Gard wanted the Badgers to keep their energy level high heading into the title game on Sunday, and the words he chose for his postgame speech in the locker room were sharp.

“I’ve been part of a lot of, almost 25 years, amazing battles, in this league, in this tournament, in the NCAA tournament. That may be one of the best I’ve ever seen,” Gard said. “It’s you guys sticking together, coming together, picking each other up. I mean, raise your hand if you fouled out.”

“We aren’t done yet,” Gard reminded the Badgers.

Gard and the team then broke out into a celebration dance as House of Pain’s Jump Around played in the background.

A video of the coach giving this postgame locker room speech went viral on Sunday as Gard’s positive message made the rounds online, and it caught the eye of Colorado football coach Deion Sanders.

Sanders, who’s had his fair share of inspirational locker room speeches, praised Gard for his words.

“I absolutely Love it. God bless you Coach & your Team!!!!” Sanders tweeted.

I absolutely Love it. God bless you Coach & your Team!!!! https://t.co/5UCFQq0VZg

— COACH PRIME (@DeionSanders) March 17, 2024

The Badgers (22–13) lost Sunday’s Big Ten tournament championship game to Illinois but later earned a No. 5 seed in the South Region of this year’s NCAA tournament. Wisconsin will play 12th-seeded James Madison (31–3) on Friday at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

 

Scottie Scheffler Expounds on How His Putting Has Turned Around  

More Weekly Read: Finally Talking to the PIF | Augusta Scouting Trips

Much has been made of Scottie Scheffler’s putting. To put it simply, it has undoubtedly cost him some tournaments over the past year, when he’s been the most consistent player in the world by far. Scheffler retained the No. 1 ranking through the end of last year and now despite going a year between victories.

The subject has become uncomfortable at times as Scheffler both anecdotally and statistically was missing too many putts. He experimented with technique. He tested different putters, including the model he went to prior to winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

The TaylorMade Spider putter is a mallet and it was interesting to hear Scheffler explain why it helped him.

Scottie Scheffler and his TaylorMade Spider putter have been a winning match the last two weeks. 

Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

“At times last year I struggled lining the ball up in the middle of the face, so I lined the ball up on the toe sometimes, and I struggled with a tiny bit of a heel strike, and that ... just became kind of my miss. Like if I was fighting a duck hook off the tee, I was fighting a little bit of a heel miss with the putter.

“This Spider putter is really easy for me to line up. I don't have to use the line on the ball. I line the putter up really well, and I line up in the middle of the face, and pretty much as simple as that. Kind of gives me just a really good visual.”

And ... 

“It's good for me visually, and I like the way kind of the ball comes off the face, and so it's helping me just be more kind of outward with my putting than focusing on what’s going on right here, just focusing on the picture of the putt,” he said.

Scheffler went on to explain that he took off the line he had on his golf ball because it bothered him if he felt it wasn’t rolling correctly when watching.

“At times last year I think I definitely tried too hard on my putting, and the idea of not going to the line is to become more free over the ball,” he said. “I've found a putter now where when I line up very well, and the line on the ball I was using to help myself line up. I wasn't using it as trying to hit it perfect each time or using it in anything else other than to try and help myself line up.

“At times I think it got to the point where a ball would go in, but if that ball didn't roll end over end, at the back of your head, you're like, wait, did I hit that putt really good? I think sometimes I expected perfection out of myself, and I'm like that in a lot of different things, so when it comes to the putting, now not using the line just to be more free to not try as hard, which is a heck of a lot easier said than done. . . It’s about sticking to my process and controlling what I can control, and that’s having a good attitude and hitting a good putt, and not using the line has helped a lot in that.”

Scheffler was not as solid on the greens at TPC Sawgrass as he was in winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational, but he still had a strong putting week at the Players Championship, doing plenty good enough given how well he, again, hit the ball off the tee and into the greens. And he needed just 51 putts on the weekend, 26 on Saturday and 25 Sunday.

 

Padres Pitcher’s Beautiful Knuckleball Leaves Hitter Completely Bamboozled  

San Diego Padres pitcher Matt Waldron is part of a dying breed. When he made his big league debut last season, he was the MLB first pitcher since 2019 to have a knuckleball as part of his arsenal. 

Because Waldron’s knuckleball is such a rarity, hitters often find themselves totally flummoxed by it. He had a chance on Sunday to torture some new victims when the Padres faced the LG Twins of the Korea Baseball Organization in an exhibition game. In the fourth inning, Waldron struck out Austin Dean with a knuckleball that left the batter in knots. 

Matt Waldron, Knuckleball. pic.twitter.com/dYFaYQMQXJ

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) March 18, 2024

It’s tough enough to face an unfamiliar pitcher in an exhibition game between teams from different countries. It’s even harder when you have to face an unfamiliar pitcher who throws such an unfamiliar pitch. 

Dean is no scrub, either. He played 126 games in the majors across five seasons before making the jump to Korea. He batted .314 with 23 homers last season. But he never stood a chance against Waldron’s fluttering knuckleball. 

 

Juan Soto Is Ready for the Unique Challenges of Being a Yankee  

Kevin Long remembers the concern he heard on the telephone in the voice of New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman. The Yankees were close to pulling off a December deal with the San Diego Padres to acquire outfielder Juan Soto. Long says Cashman called him as part of due diligence. He knew Long, a former Yankees hitting coach, was Soto’s hitting coach with the Washington Nationals from 2018–21, before Long joined the Philadelphia Phillies.

“He said, ‘We can’t be wrong about this one!’ ” Long says. “We’ve got to be right about this!’”

The Yankees were coming off an 82–80 season, their worst season in 31 years while missing the playoffs for the fourth time in 11 years. Recent big-name acquisitions Giancarlo Stanton, Carlos Rodón, Josh Donaldson and Frankie Montas returned a combined WAR of –1.6 while earning $84 million. The pressure was on to get this blockbuster right.

“I told him not to worry,” Long says. “Juan Soto is about as reliable as it gets in this game. He’s going to hit, he’s going to take his walks, he’s going to produce. Period.”

On Dec. 6, Cashman pulled the trigger on the deal, sending five players to San Diego to get one year of Soto—after that, the line forms to sign Soto to a free-agent contract that could challenge Shohei Ohtani’s record $46.06 million present day average annual value. The Yankees also obtained centerfielder Trent Grisham in the deal.

As trades go, it was a no-brainer. The Yankees have been desperate for left-handed power ever since they didn’t want Bryce Harper as a free agent—especially one who can help Aaron Judge see more pitches to hit. The last time a lefty posted an OPS+ of 142 for the Yankees was 11 years ago, when Long was working with Robinson Canó.

Why 142? That’s what Soto has produced in the worst of his six seasons. That’s his floor. That’s another reason why the deal was a no-brainer. Nobody in baseball history has been this reliably prolific through age 24. Check out this list:

Most Seasons OPS+ 142 or Greater Through Age 24

1. Juan Soto

2018–23

6

2. Ty Cobb

1907–11

5

Jimmie Foxx

1925–32

5

Josh Gibson

1930–36

5

Mickey Mantle

1952–56

5

Mike Trout

2012–16

5

There is one reason why this deal could go sideways—and it’s the exact reason people erroneously are pointing to as the reason why Soto will have a “monster” season: Yankee Stadium.

Yankee Stadium and its short porch do not help Soto. His power comes naturally toward left-centerfield because he allows the ball to get deeper than most hitters. If he starts trying to catch the ball farther out from the plate to pull the ball, the Yankees and Soto are in trouble.

“You tell Juan,” Long says, “that if I see him trying to jack the ball out to right field, he’s going to hear from me. But no way do I expect that to happen.”

Says Soto: “No, that’s not me. I’ll be all over left field, low line drives that way. That’s what I’m going to try to do. I think this stroke is what I chose when I was a little kid. Because even when I was a kid, I was able to hit the ball the other way. I never tried to pull any balls when I was a kid. Every hard-hit ball that I hit was like left-center and center. That was the way I hit my whole life.”

Pat Roessler, assistant Yankees hitting coach, says Soto has the best “barrel awareness” he has ever seen.

“Nobody I’ve seen squares the ball up like him,” Roessler says. “He doesn’t miss. You hear hitting coaches sometimes go, ‘Good swing! Good swing!’ when a guy fouls it back. A good swing is hitting the ball on the barrel of the bat. That’s what he does constantly. He works at his routine every day. The other day he had about eight people watching him, including [shortstop Anthony] Volpe. People are amazed.”

Soto arrives in the Bronx with big expectations after three consecutive All-Star appearances.

Kim Klement Neitzel/USA TODAY Sports

Yankee Stadium—old and new versions—has been known to get inside hitters’ heads because of that short porch. When the Yankees signed Jason Giambi after the ’01 season, they thought they were getting Soto-like reliability from one of the best pure hitters in baseball. With Oakland, Giambi was a .308 hitter who slugged .545 and pulled the ball 27% of the time—even better rates than Soto (.284/.524/30%). But as a Yankee, Giambi became more of a pull hitter and a worse hitter: .260 average, .521 slugging percentage and 33% pull rate.

Besides, the short porch is generally overrated for lefties. It does favor right-handed hitters who don’t have to square up a pitch for an opposite-field home run. Of the 21 homers Volpe hit last season, for instance, six were off fastballs he carved slightly over the wall in right field.

For left-handed hitters, pull-side power often means no-doubter type home runs. According to Statcast, Soto’s 35 home runs last year equate to only 27 at Yankee Stadium. Only PNC Park in Pittsburgh, with another deep left-center, would have been less favorable to Soto (26 homers) than Yankee Stadium.

“What makes Juan special is that he sees the ball longer,” Long says. “He has two more clicks than the average hitter when it comes to swing decisions.”

If Soto starts chasing pull power, which requires hitting the ball out front, he forfeits his biggest advantage.

“No, I don’t think the stadium is an issue for me,” Soto says. “I think it’s going to be better. Why? Because sometimes you get out front with an off-speed pitch and maybe those go out.

“We also have some guys in the league that pound you in. And against those guys I’m probably going to be like, ‘Okay, I’ve got to get my barrel a little bit out front.’ But nothing like I’m trying to pull the ball. I’m trying to hit the gaps, maybe the right-center gap. If I happen to pull it, that’s fine. But I never think that way, like ‘I’ve got to pull this guy.’

“Even against guys other guys think you really have to pull, I don’t like that at all. I remember this guy [Tyler] Rogers, from San Francisco. A lot of guys think like they have to pull the ball against him. I still think, I ain’t pulling. And I have had a couple of nights pulling off my front side against him, but I never think, Oh, I’ve got to pull the ball against this guy.”

Soto is one of the best young hitters the game has ever seen. Allowing a home ballpark to upset his craft would be foolish. He is at his best when he uses the entire field, with his opposite field power ranking as much more special than his pull side power:

Soto Career Hitting by Direction

 * Among 89 players to see 10,000 pitches, 2018–23

Avg.SLGMLB SLG Rank*

Opposite

.369

.720

5th

Middle

.355

.593

20th

Pull

.363

.721

54th

Soto’s hitting by direction is driven more by the location of the pitch than by velocity. This is an extraordinary breakdown when it comes to home runs off fastballs:

Soto Career Home Runs by Direction

HRFBPct. Off Fastball

Opposite

48

32

66.7

Middle

50

33

66

Pull

62

41

66.1

Speaking of extraordinary, this is a home run Soto hit last year off a 3-and-2 fastball from Charlie Morton. Why is that extraordinary? Soto has seen 13,907 fastballs on the outer third of the strike zone in his career. That was the first and only one he pulled for a home run. (And one of only four such hits.)

There is one other test Soto will face as a Yankee: the daily accountability that comes with playing in New York. When the Yankees or New York Mets acquire a player, it’s another element the team must investigate, and no other market is quite like it. How will the player respond to the scrutiny? Will he get buried by a bad start?

I will never forget the day the Yankees completed the trade for Soto. I was on the MLB Network set when Johnny DiPuglia, the scout who helped the Nationals sign Soto, happened to be walking by.

“One thing about Juan,” DiPuglia told me, “is he always wanted to play in New York. He loves it.”

I ask Soto about it.

“I don’t know. I mean, I always wanted to play in D.C.,” Soto says, smiling. “That was the first thing, but definitely it was fun to play in New York. No doubt about it. Like, it was always fun to come play against the Mets. Face those guys, face the Yankees ... There’s a different vibe. There’s a different energy. You have a crowd full of people booing you and I get a lot of guys cheering you.

“They even boo you and then they go, ‘Oh, okay, you’re the man. You’re the best.’ Like, ‘I hate you, but I love you at the same time.’ You know? It’s a different kind of feeling. It’s great. It’s cool. It’s going to be fun. I think it’s going to be great.

“I don’t care about the pressure of the fans or whatever they say. I think it’s going to be more fun than pressure.”

Last season Soto was part of a San Diego team that wilted under the pressure of expectations. The Padres underachieved without clubhouse cohesiveness. “Sometimes you have one of the best teams,” Soto says, “but it never clicks. It’s just baseball.”

Expectations always are heavy for any Yankees team, particularly one that is trying to get Judge, who turns 32 next month, to his first World Series.

“He’s unbelievable,” Soto says. “The way he just handles himself and how he treats everybody. That’s insane. It’s pretty cool to be right next to him and working with him in the outfield and everything.

“This is an unbelievable group of guys. The Yankees, with the way they treat players, are the best organization in the league. That’s the only thing I hear about. And now I’m seeing it. Now I’m feeling it. They just treat players a little different than anybody else. Everybody you ask, they just talk about the Yankees and the Dodgers. And it’s a great feeling to be here.”

Soto presents little risk for the Yankees. For the trade to work for New York, it needs only a typical season from Soto, who has made greatness typical. His career OPS is .946. No Yankee left-handed hitter has reached that mark in a season since Giambi did 18 years ago. What they don’t need is Soto swinging for the short porch in Yankee Stadium.

 

March Madness 2024: Updated NCAA Men’s Basketball National Title Odds  

The men’s March Madness bracket is set and the No. 1 overall seed and defending national champion UConn Huskies (+400) stand atop the field as the favorites to cut down the nets in April.

Fellow No. 1 seeds Houston (+600) and Purdue (+700) are close behind UConn in the betting market, while North Carolina (+1600), the top team in the West Region, is tied for the fifth-best odds to win its seventh national title. No. 2 Arizona (+1500) has better odds than the Tar Heels and No. 2 Tennessee (+1600) is tied with UNC. Seven of the last 10 teams to win it all have been No. 1s. The lone exceptions are 2016 Villanova, a No. 2 seed; the 2014 Huskies, a No. 7 seed; and 2023 UConn, a No. 4 seed.

No. 4 Auburn (+2000) could be headed for a Sweet 16 clash with UConn in the East if both teams survive the first weekend of the tournament. Elsewhere in the region is, No. 2 Iowa State (+2300), No. 3 Illinois (+3000) and No. 5 San Diego State (+8000). The Aztecs were a Final Four team a season ago and the Cyclones and Illini both won their conference tournaments to punctuate their resumes.

Clockwise from top left: UConn guard Cam Spencer, Purdue center Zach Edey, Houston forward Ja’Vier Francis and Arizona guard Caleb Love

In the South, No. 2 Marquette (+2100) seemingly poses the biggest threat to the top-seeded Cougars, but blue bloods No. 3 Kentucky (+3000) and No. 4 Duke (+4000) are also looming large. The Blue Devils were in the Final Four in 2022 while the Golden Eagles and Wildcats have both been bounced early in recent years. Marquette hasn’t advanced to the second weekend since 2013 and, believe it or not, UK’s last Sweet 16 trip was in 2019.

Out West, Arizona and No. 3 Baylor (+3500) could stand in North Carolina’s way of getting back to the national championship, not to mention No. 4 Alabama (+3500) or No. 5 Saint Mary’s (+5500). No. 9 Michigan State (+6000) also stands out. The Spartans hardly ever have an early exit and they’re tied for the 18th-best odds despite their seeding.

In the Midwest Region with Purdue are some March Madness regulars. The Volunteers haven’t missed the tournament since 2017 and No. 3 Creighton (+2000) has been in the Big Dance each of the last three years. No. 4 Kansas (+3500), which won it all in 2022, is in the tournament seemingly every year as is No. 5 Gonzaga (+5500).

Of course, upsets tend to happen in March. Just ask the Boilermakers, who fell to No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson last season and No. 15 Saint Peter’s the year before. The Peacocks are back in the Big Dance this season as a No. 15 seed and Tennessee is looking to avoid the same fate Kentucky suffered in the 2022 tournament as a No. 2 seed that drew Saint Peter’s in the Round of 64.

You’ll see below all the double-digit seeds have long odds at making any kind of run in March. No. 11 New Mexico (+8000) has by far the best odds of any double-digit seed, followed by No. 10 Nevada (+10000) and the No. 14, 15 and 16 seeds are all tied at +100000.

2024 Men’s College Basketball National Championship Odds

(via FanDuel)

No. 1 Connecticut +400
No. 1 Houston +600
No. 1 Purdue +700
No. 2 Arizona +1500
No.1 North Carolina +1600
No. 2 Tennessee +1600
No. 3 Creighton +2000
No. 4 Auburn +2000
No. 2 Marquette +2100
No. 2 Iowa State +2300
No. 3 Kentucky +3000
No. 3 Illinois +3000
No. 4 Alabama +3500
No. 4 Kansas +3500
No. 3 Baylor +3500
No. 4 Duke +4000
No. 6 BYU +5000
No. 5 Wisconsin +6000
No. 9 Michigan State +6000
No. 5 Gonzaga +5500
No. 5 Saint Mary's +6000
No. 7 Florida +8000
No. 11 New Mexico +8000
No. 5 San Diego State +8000
No. 7 Texas +10000
No. 6 Texas Tech +10000
No. 8 Nebraska +10000
No. 10 Nevada +12000
No. 7 Washington State +13000
No. 6 Clemson +13000
No. 8 Mississippi State +13000
No. 10 Colorado +15000
No. 9 Texas A&M +15000
No. 9 TCU +15000
No. 10 Drake +15000
No. 6 South Carolina +17000
No. 11 Oregon +20000
No. 10 Boise State +20000
No. 8 Utah State +20000
No. 8 Florida Atlantic +20000
No. 7 Dayton +20000
No. 10 Colorado State +20000
No. 9 Northwestern +25000
No. 12 Grand Canyon +25000
No. 12 James Madison +25000
No. 11 NC State +35000
No. 10 Virginia +50000
No. 12 McNeese +50000
No. 13 Yale +50000
No. 13 Samford +50000
No. 13 Vermont +50000
No. 11 Duquesne +50000
No. 12 UAB +100000
No. 13 Charleston +100000
No. 14 Morehead State +100000
No. 16 Longwood +100000
No. 16 Stetson +100000
No. 14 Oakland +100000
No. 16 Wagner +100000
No. 15 South Dakota State +100000
No. 14 Colgate +100000
No. 16 Montana State +100000
No. 16 Howard +100000
No. 14 Akron +100000
No. 15 Western Kentucky +100000
No. 15 Long Beach State +100000
No. 16 Grambling +100000

Related: 2024 March Madness: Odds and Spread for Every Round 1 Game

Related: March Madness 2024: Complete Schedule, Bracket, How to Watch, Game Times, Odds for Men's NCAA Tournament


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Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama Humbly Issues Bold but True Warning to NBA  

There is a fine line between cocky and confident, and San Antonio Spurs rookie phenom Victor Wembanyama knows how to walk it like a seasoned veteran.

The No. 1 pick in the 2023 NBA draft has remained humble with a team-first focus throughout his rookie season. Still, his personal growth and dominance of late are impossible for observers—and even Wembanyama himself—to ignore.

Wembanyama averaged over one assist and one rebound more per game in February than in January. He also improved his three-point shooting, jumping from 32.4% to 41.3% over that span. In February, Wembanyama averaged a personal best in assists (4.5), blocks (3.9) and steals (2.0) per game while posting his highest three-point shooting percentage in any one full month.

When asked Sunday night about the impressive progression and growth throughout his rookie season and whether he thinks about how big the jump could be after a full offseason, Wembanyama was candid in his response.

“It’s a day-by-day thing, but what’s for sure is that I’m not even close to being at my best,” Wembanyama told reporters after Sunday’s overtime win against the Brooklyn Nets in Austin. “I don’t see my progression stopping anytime soon, so it’s good for confidence, and there’s a lot to correct.”

Wembanyama’s belief that he’s not close to reaching his potential is scary for the rest of the NBA. It’s also proving to be true on nearly a nightly basis as the 2023-24 NBA regular season winds down.

In each of the past three months, the 7’4” rookie has averaged at least 21.3 points, 9.6 rebounds and 3.3 blocks per game. Wembanyama’s shooting has improved throughout the season, as he has knocked down 47.1% of his field goal attempts over those three months.

 

Rick Pitino Claps Back at Criticism of Viral Tweet About UConn’s Dan Hurley  

UConn’s win over St. John’s in the Big East tournament semifinals Friday produced some intense moments on the court between coaches Dan Hurley and Rick Pitino, which observers later assumed transferred over to social media.

At one point in the game, the coaches received technical fouls in the same minute. Hurley’s technical stemmed from his wanting a loud St. John’s fan kicked out of Madison Square Garden. In that moment, his dad, legendary high school coach Bob Hurley, was standing by his son’s side.

The tension was palpable.

So when Pitino tweeted about a “special” moment between father and son, many fans assumed the Red Storm coach was trolling his Huskies counterpart.

“Love that Danny Hurley has his Dad next to him - so special,” Pitino wrote on X, formerly Twitter, Saturday evening.

Love that Danny Hurley has his Dad next to him - so special

— Rick Pitino (@RealPitino) March 16, 2024

A couple hours later, Pitino clarified his intent and said he meant no offense in the tweet.

“What is wrong with people, I meant that Bob Hurley Sr. being there with his son is so so special,” Pitino wrote. “Absurd society.”

What is wrong with people, I meant that Bob Hurley Sr. being there with his son is so so special. Absurd society 🤦🏼‍♂️

— Rick Pitino (@RealPitino) March 17, 2024

Pitino later focused his energy on St. John’s missing out on an NCAA tournament bid. The Red Storm coach also pre-emptively declined a potential invitation to the NIT.

 

Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes Had Three Words for Mavs’ Kyrie Irving After Buzzer Beater  

Even Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was impressed by Dallas Mavericks star Kyrie Irving‘s incredible buzzer beater, which propelled Dallas to a 107—105 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Sunday afternoon.

A joyous Irving, who hit a left-handed running shot from about 20 feet away from the basket to clinch the victory, was practically bouncing around the arena after the game, carrying one of his children in one arm. 

The Mavs guard linked up with Mahomes, who had just three words to say after witnessing the game-winning shot. Here’s the interaction, courtesy of the Mavs’ account on X, formerly Twitter. 

Kai was lost for words 🥹@KyrieIrving // #MFFL pic.twitter.com/QqxiNEu8ts

— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) March 17, 2024

“Greatness, dawg. Greatness,” Mahomes said with a smile as he embraced Irving moments after the game.

Mahomes, who just won his second straight Super Bowl title and Super Bowl MVP award, certainly would recognize greatness.

In addition to congratulating Irving for the winning shot, Mahomes gifted Mavs guard Luka Dončić a signed Chiefs jersey in the locker room. Mahomes, a native of Tyler, Texas, watched the game courtside with his wife, Brittany.

Life is good for the three-time Super Bowl champion QB—and for Irving after his sensational play on Sunday.

The champ is always welcome in our locker room 🤞@luka7doncic x @PatrickMahomes pic.twitter.com/FMQNz3xZZm

— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) March 18, 2024
 

SI:AM | Analyzing the NCAA Tournament Brackets  

Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I’m genuinely impressed by the greatness of Connecticut’s college basketball teams. One of the smallest states in the nation has five teams going dancing this year: UConn men and women, Yale men, Sacred Heart women and Fairfield women.

In today’s SI:AM:

Expert March Madness picks

💔 Heartbreak on the PGA Tour

🏈 NFL free agency winners and losers

If you’re reading this on SI.com, click here to subscribe to receive SI:AM in your inbox every weekday.

The brackets are finally here

After a wild weekend of conference tournament action, the men’s and women’s NCAA tournament brackets are set. Let’s break them both down.

Men’s bubble teams got unlucky

Plenty of men’s teams are steaming this morning after being left out of the bracket. That includes Oklahoma, St. John’s, Seton Hall, Providence and Indiana State. Part of the reason those teams got excluded was because there were several so-called “bid thieves” this year. Duquesne, NC State and Oregon all unexpectedly won their conference tournaments to earn spots in the field, effectively reducing the number of at-large bids by three.

But it wasn’t just that there were fewer available spots for bubble teams. The committee also made some puzzling decisions in filling those spots. The inclusion of Virginia is the biggest head scratcher. The Cavaliers are 54th in the NCAA’s NET rankings and 69th in KenPom. They have a 2–7 record against Quad 1 opponents. St. John’s, by comparison, is ranked 32nd in NET and 25th in KenPom. Indiana State, ranked 28th in NET, became the highest-ranked team in that metric to ever be left out of the tournament.

Questionable men’s seeds

The controversy doesn’t end there. The committee is also drawing plenty of criticism for the way it seeded the men’s bracket. Was Duquesne, which went 10–8 in a not-so-good A-10 really deserving of an 11-seed? Why was Iowa State, considered by many to be a contender for a No. 1 seed, placed as a No. 2 seed in the same region as No. 1 overall seed UConn? Did Michigan State, with a 19–14 overall record, deserve to be solidly in the field as a No. 9 seed?

The most intriguing trend with the seeding, though, was how the committee treated the Mountain West Conference. The league got six teams into the tournament, tied for the third most of any conference, but only San Diego State (No. 5 seed) was seeded higher than eighth. Two MWC teams—Colorado State and Boise State—were among the last four teams into the field. Nevada, ranked 34th in NET and 36th in KenPom with a 6–6 record in Quad 1 games, got a No. 10 seed. How can the committee decide that the MWC is good enough to get more teams into the field of 68 than the ACC (five), Pac-12 (four) and Big East (three), and not reward its teams with seedings more reflective of the league’s strength?

Caitlin Clark’s tough road to a title

Here’s the good news for Caitlin Clark and Iowa: The Hawkeyes are on the opposite side of the bracket from South Carolina, meaning a showdown against the undefeated juggernaut wouldn’t occur until the national title game. But here’s the bad news: Iowa’s region is totally stacked.

The No. 2 seed in the region is UCLA, which is ranked No. 6 in NET. The No. 3 seed is defending champion LSU. The No. 4 seed is Kansas State, which beat the Hawkeyes in Iowa City in November. The No. 5 seed is Colorado, which burst on the scene with a season-opening win over LSU on a neutral court. At the risk of looking too far down the road, if Iowa can emerge out of that region, a potential matchup with USC looms in the Final Four. (That would be a great torch-passing moment between Clark and the incredible Trojans freshman JuJu Watkins.) Winning a national title is never easy, but it might be especially difficult for Iowa this year.

Two Ivy League teams in the women’s bracket

For the first time since 2016, the Ivy League is sending two teams to the women’s tournament. Princeton won the conference tournament in convincing fashion with a 75–58 win over Columbia (on the Lions’ home court), but Columbia is still going dancing. The Lions were the only Ivy League team to beat Princeton this season and played a difficult out-of-conference schedule that included three games against Big East teams and two against the SEC. They went 9–4 in non-conference games and were rewarded for challenging themselves by earning their first NCAA tournament bid in school history.

The best of Sports Illustrated

Bob Self/Florida Times-Union

The top five...

… things I saw yesterday:

5. The premature confetti drop at the A-10 championship game.

4. Matt Knowling’s layup at the buzzer to give Yale the Ivy League men’s championship.

3. Bam Adebayo’s deep three at the buzzer to beat the Pistons.

2. Wyndham Clark’s putt on the 18th hole that swirled around the cup before popping out, giving Scottie Scheffler the win at the Players Championship.

1. Kyrie Irving’s outrageous 21-foot, left-handed floater/hook shot over Nikola Jokić to beat the Nuggets.

SIQ

Though it didn’t officially count because it came in a spring training game, which notable career first did MLB pitcher Jim Abbott (best known for having one hand) achieve on this day in 1991?

Friday’s SIQ: On March 15, 1974, San Francisco Giants pitcher Ron Bryant, who had led the majors with 24 wins the year before, was injured while at spring training in Arizona. He went on to post a 3–15 record that season. How did he get hurt?

Answer: Swimming accident.

“Bryant received 25 stitches along the right side of his body when he tumbled off a pool slide last night and hit the side of a hotel swimming pool before going into the water,” United Press International reported at the time.

Bryant was the Giants’ best starter in 1973, posting a 24–12 record and 3.54 ERA, and he was initially penciled in to be the Opening Day starter in ’74. The injury, though, kept him sidelined for the first three weeks of the regular season. In his first start back, he didn’t get out of the third inning, walking four of the 16 batters he faced and allowing five runs (two earned).

Bryant went on to have a terrible season, bouncing between the rotation and the bullpen as he posted a 5.61 ERA. He was traded to the Cardinals early in the next season and pitched 10 games before being released, his MLB career over at the age of 27.

 

Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani Could Play in Outfield This Season Despite Elbow Injury  

Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani won’t be pitching this season as he recovers from offseason elbow surgery, but that doesn’t mean he won’t play defense. Manager Dave Roberts told media members Monday that there’s a possibility Ohtani could play in the field at some point during the regular season. 

“Shohei this year is primarily going to be the designated hitter,” Roberts said in Seoul, South Korea, per the Associated Press. “Once we get back to the States, he is going to start his throwing program, which he hasn’t started yet. We’ll see how that progression goes. If his arm is healthy enough, we’ll have that conversation in the field. I do know he’s not going to pitch this year.”

Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani is 11 for 22 at the plate with two home runs during spring training this year.

Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports

Ohtani, who signed a 10-year deal worth $700 million this offseason, has batted .500 in eight spring training appearances this year and tallied two home runs. Although his dominance on the mound and at the plate are apparent, playing in the field would be an entirely different animal for the reigning AL MVP. Ohtani made just seven appearances in the outfield over six seasons with the Los Angeles Angels—all of which came in 2021. 

The Dodgers will open the regular season Wednesday and Thursday in Seoul against the San Diego Padres in a two-game Korean series. Both games begin at 6:05 a.m. ET. 

 

Former Final Four Coach Blasts Big-Name Schools for Opting Out of NIT  

Former men’s college basketball head coach Tom Crean went on an passionate rant on ESPN Sunday night to express why he thinks big-name schools that didn’t make the NCAA tournament field should accept bids to the NIT.

Some of the notable teams that spurned this year’s NIT are St. John’s, Pittsburgh, Memphis, Ole Miss, Indiana and Oklahoma. 

Crean, who coached Marquette, Indiana and Georgia, took his teams to four NITs, so he can see firsthand the benefits of playing in the second-tier tournament. 

Crean, who took the Golden Eagles to the Final Four in 2003, opened his argument by explaining how there’s “plenty of time” for the transfer portal and recruiting, but there’s no substitute for the experience of game action.

“There’s not plenty of time to play. There’s not plenty of time to get your players on the floor and give them a chance to get better. There’s not plenty of time for guys to continue to play that may never get to play again, and that to me is absolutely ridiculous,” Crean said. “It’s each coach’s choice. I get it. But if you take away a chance to play the games, to put your team on the floor, let them opt out. The bowl season has it all the time. Let it happen. Who cares?”

Tom Crean goes off about college basketball teams declining invitations to the NIT. 🏀🔥

(h/t: @Matt_Fortuna) pic.twitter.com/0O9SpdO1GT

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 18, 2024
 

Gregg Popovich, Victor Wembanyama Say Spurs Will Play in France Next Season  

After the San Antonio Spurs’ win over the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday night, coach Gregg Popovich and star rookie Victor Wembanyama both said their team will play in France next season.

The NBA has played three regular-season games in France since 2020 but hasn’t announced which teams will play there next season. Despite nothing being official, it’s expected that the Spurs will be one of those teams given the fact that Wembanyama was born in Le Chesnay, France, a suburb of Paris.

Sunday’s game was played in Austin, Texas, approximately 80 miles up the road from San Antonio, and when discussing where the team could possibly play next season, one reporter quipped, “How about Paris?”

“Well, we’re going there,” Popovich responded. 

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich talks about his team's win over the Nets, playing in front of the Austin crowd and lessons learned from playing a close game.#PorVida | @Spurs | @BallySports 📺 pic.twitter.com/XQAyP5iTgJ

— Bally Sports San Antonio (@BallySportsSA) March 18, 2024

When it was Wembanyama’s turn to face the media after the 122–115 win, he was asked about his coach’s comment. 

“I’m looking forward to it very much,” Wembanyama said. “Obviously it’s going to be probably the game or the games that are going to be very important for me, because of course it’s me coming back from where I come from, especially might be in my city or around the city. So it’s going to be very special. Also, it is going to allow me to see maybe my family in the middle of the season, which doesn’t happen often. So it’s great.”

Wemby on Pop saying Spurs will play in Paris next season: pic.twitter.com/iJXP0t43Fe

— Tom Orsborn (@tom_orsborn) March 18, 2024
 

March Madness 2024: Using Sportsbooks to Build Winning NCAA Brackets  

Looking to get in on the fun with NCAA March Madness?

Try a bracket challenge!

Here is a quick primer on how a March Madness bracket works, and how you can use the sportsbooks as the ultimate cheat sheet. By the end of this primer, you’ll be ready to jump in and shoot your best shot, even if you don’t know the name of a single player in the tournament.

Brackets are a popular way to bet, and anyone at all can win a bracket challenge. Remember, this is March MADNESS! You can expect the unexpected. Let’s break down how a bracket works.

A March Madness bracket starts with 64 teams (68 teams, really, but you don’t have to worry about the first four games Tuesday and Wednesday). Bettors will pick a winner from each of 63 games and get points for each correct pick along the way.

But, wait! You don’t know anything about college basketball? That’s O.K. There are plenty of hints to help you make smart decisions along the way.

Next to each matchup, you will see each team’s seeding. A seed is quite simply a team’s ranking. The 64 teams in the bracket are split into four regions of 16 teams. Each region is ranked 1 through 16; the 1 seed is the most favored, through to the 16 seed, which is the least favored. In addition, to reward the top teams, first-round matchups pair the No. 1 seed with the No. 16 seed, the No. 2 seed with the No. 15 seed, and so on. So, as you can see, the number one seed is always at an advantage. A number one seed has only lost in the first round twice in the tournament’s history: first when UMBC upset Virginia in 2018 and then again in 2023 when Fairleigh Dickinson upset Purdue.

Cam Spencer and the defending champ UConn Huskies are one of four No. 1 seeds in the NCAA tournament.

Sam Greene/USA TODAY Network

As each round progresses, you will get more points for picking the teams that advance. Games in the second round are worth twice as much as games in the first round, and so on. There are a total of seven rounds, with the penultimate round being the Final Four, and the final round being the national championship game.

Using sportsbooks as a cheat sheet

Here’s another hint: you can also use sportsbook futures odds as a cheat sheet to help you fill out your bracket!

At a sportsbook when you look at the odds for a game, a (-) sign indicates the favorite, while a (+) indicates the underdog. This plus the seeding can help you choose winners. For example, Las Vegas currently has Auburn (-750) favored vs. Yale (+525) in the first round. The sportsbook is telling us the odds are great that the Auburn Tigers will advance to the next round.

Another way to use the sportsbooks as a cheat sheet for your bracket involves point spread bets. If you see a spread of more than five points between competing teams in a given matchup, history tells us to bet on the favorite. If there is less than a five-point spread, and the favored team hasn’t won much in their last 10 games or is very closely matched with the opponent, it could be a good time to bet on the underdog. In the above example of Auburn vs. Yale, the point spread is -12.5. Again, this is a major indicator that the Tigers will advance in the first round. However, in the game between the Colorado State Rams (-125) and the Virginia Cavaliers (+105), the point spread is a mere -1.5 points. This could be an opportunity to pick an upset with the Cavaliers. This can help you make some decisions when filling out the first round of your bracket.

You can also look at futures odds and work backwards! You can check in now on odds for the Sweet 16, Final Four and national championship. If a team has a (-) sign in front of their odds, the sportsbooks think they are more likely to advance (and therefore they are going to pay out less money for that bet). If a sportsbook has a (+) in front of a team’s odds, that team is considered less likely to advance and the sportsbook is willing to pay more than your initial investment for that wager.

For example: if the sportsbook has UConn at -110 to make the Final Four while Gonzaga is at +1400, you can assume it’s pretty likely UConn will make it to the Final Four, while Gonzaga is more of a long shot. What Vegas thinks can give you an edge if you don’t know where to start.


The most important thing to remember in betting March Madness is that it’s called madness for a reason. No one will fill out a perfect bracket; in fact, the odds to fill out a perfect bracket are about 1 in 9,223,372,036,854,775,808 – that’s 9.22 quintillion. So, don’t think about being perfect! Just have some fun, root for some underdogs and enjoy the madness! 

Related: 2024 March Madness: Odds and Spread for Every Round 1 Game


If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call the National Council for Problem Gambling 1-800-522-4700. The Arena Media Brands, LLC and its partners may receive compensation for links to products and services on this website.

 

Odell Beckham Jr. Pens Classy Farewell to Ravens Amid Free Agency Bid  

The Baltimore Ravens all but signaled the end of Odell Beckham Jr.’s tenure with the club when they released the veteran wide receiver with a post-June 1 designation last Wednesday. 

But Beckham confirmed he won’t be returning to the Ravens next season, penning a goodbye message to teammates and fans on Instagram. 

"Swea on everything I appreciate the Flock more than yall could EVER imagine. Did everything I could wit the opportunities I had. Wish I got to do it big for yall 💍. Thank you for the Vibez! To the City of Baltimore I fxck wit yall forever FRRRR. And most importantly to my brothers over there this shxt a lifetime sentence, I love yall! BiggestTruzzz," Beckham wrote.

View the original article to see embedded media.

Beckham, who signed a one-year contract with Baltimore last April, expressed regret in his farewell that he couldn’t deliver a championship to Ravens fans. 

The New Orleans native appeared in 14 games for the Ravens in 2023, tallying 35 receptions for 565 yards and three touchdowns. 

Most importantly, Beckham, who missed just two games with the Ravens in '23 due to an ankle injury, largely proved to teams that he was healthy after missing the entire '22 season rehabbing a torn ACL he suffered during Super Bowl LVI when he was a member of the Los Angeles Rams

As many as 12 teams expressed interest in Beckham when he was a free agent last offseason, although there has been little reported interest in the three-time Pro Bowl selection thus far in free agency. 

 

PGA Tour Players and Saudi Arabia PIF Boss Yasir Al-Rumayyan to Meet in the Bahamas, Tiger Woods Likely Attending  

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — As a player director and member of the PGA Tour Policy Board, Tiger Woods “absolutely needs to be involved” in a meeting scheduled for Monday with the head of the Private Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia, Rory McIlroy said.

It appears that is going to be the case.

If not, Yasir Al-Ramayyan, the governor of the PIF, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, who is also the CEO of new PGA Tour Enterprises, and several other player directors are going to a lot of trouble to be in the Bahamas.

A source told Sports Illustrated that the meeting which board member Patrick Cantlay confirmed Sunday would be taking place is going to happen in Nassau, Bahamas. Or, more specifically, the Albany Resort where Woods often parks his yacht and hosts his annual fundraising golf tournament.

PGA Tour Policy Board member Tiger Woods appears to be meeting Monday with his fellow board members and Yasir Al-Rumayyan.

Jason Parkhurst/USA TODAY Sports

Golfweek reported on Friday that a meeting would take place soon between the backer of LIV Golf and that the six player directors on the PGA Tour board were “strongly encouraged” to attend.

McIlroy said Sunday that such a meeting should have taken place “months ago.”

Some members of the Strategic Sports Group, which recently committed some $1.5 billion to PGA Tour Enterprises in the form of private equity, are also expected to end.

Cantlay, who withdrew from this week’s Valspar Championship, described the meeting as more of a meet and greet. Webb Simpson has said previously that he felt it was time to meet the people behind LIV Golf and get an idea of what they are looking to do.

“Well, I’ve gotta hear out what they have to say, and I will always do my best to represent the entire membership whenever I am in a meeting in that capacity,” Cantlay said after his final round at the Players Championship. “I think more information is always better.”

Cantlay indicated he was in more of a listen mode. Simpson, at the Arnold Palmer Invitational recently, said he felt at this point it was “very dangerous” to not make a deal with the PIF.

“I think we’re in a position where we want to do the right deal,” he said. “We don’t want to just do a deal because we’re afraid that the LIV tour might recruit more players. That’s certainly a fear. But I think it’s obvious. The writing is on the wall. We’re not in a position where we need to do a deal for money. We need to do a deal for the good of the game. And for the health of the PGA Tour long term. That’s my hope.”

Simpson added: “I don’t know what they (LIV and the PIF) want. I don’t know what the players playing for LIV want. I think they’re very happy where they are. I think they’re very happy with the decisions they’ve made. But I’ve heard from enough people who have grown a little distasteful with the current state of golf. Not pointing blame at LIV or PGA Tour or anyone.

“When you come to big tournaments like the Arnold Palmer Invitational, you want to know the guy who won beat most or all of the best players. Right now the PGA Tour still has more great players, but LIV has great players as well. I just think for the health of the game and longevity and for what fans are used to seeing ...”

 

This Angle of Wyndham Clark’s Missed Putt on 18 at the Players Championship Makes It Even More Heartbreaking  

The 2024 Players Championship had an ending that nobody will ever forget Sunday at TPC Sawgrass, with Scottie Scheffler getting the win after three players missed birdie putts on the final hole that would have forced a playoff. 

Wyndham Clark was the last of those players to miss his putt, and his was the most brutal of the three. His ball looked as if it was going to fall into the hole, but then it rolled around it and stayed out. 

This angle of his miss makes it even more heartbreaking, as you can see that Clark starts to celebrate while thinking he was going to make it: 

Unreal. pic.twitter.com/HU5GEd7o6g

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 17, 2024

Ouch. 

 

Scottie Scheffler Had a Sweet Answer About His Wife After Winning Players Championship  

Scottie Scheffler made history Sunday when he stormed back to win his second straight Players Championship with a final round at TPC Sawgrass that never will be forgotten. 

The No. 1 player in the world fired an 8-under 64 and then held on to win after three players, including Wyndham Clark, missed birdie putts on the final hole that would have forced a playoff.

Scottie Scheffler and his wife, Meredith, share a sweet moment after the Players Championship. 

Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union

Scheffler became the first golfer to ever win back-to-back Players Championships, and he also picked up his second straight win in as many weeks after winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando. 

Scheffler talked Sunday night about what keeps him grounded and how his wife, Meredith, is key to that: 

Scottie Scheffler after winning 2024 Players Championship: "I have a great wife, and if I started taking my trophies and putting them all over the house and walking in all big-time, I think she would smack me on the side of the head and tell me to get over myself pretty quickly." pic.twitter.com/WJMGeYP09W

— Golfweek (@golfweek) March 17, 2024

Golf fans loved it: 

How can you not love this guy.

A great role model and a genuinely good man. At the top of his profession. https://t.co/vqd2jOghOl

— EMQBets (@EMQBets) March 18, 2024

How can ya not love Scottie and Meredith Scheffler?? 😂 https://t.co/oIrBC4P54O

— Adam Awes (@AdamAwes10K) March 18, 2024

Huge win for the Tour that the best player on the planet since Prime Tiger also happens to be one of the most down to earth, normal dudes you’ll find https://t.co/m20kt1Bzk5

— Hot Karl (@karl_mamba) March 18, 2024

Best player we’ve seen since Tiger and this is his attitude. Be prepared for many more wins https://t.co/5YO8ScWEae

— Alec (@AShortess) March 18, 2024

Congratulations Scottie! Glad you are grounded & that your wife keeps you that way. So happy I have someone to root for that is humble, likeable, & great for the game. Cant wait to watch you at Augusta! https://t.co/jRFDUt8lo5

— Carol Marsh (@philsno154) March 18, 2024

This https://t.co/XtLkOVk6zd

— Rea Schuessler, PGA (@SchuesslerRea) March 18, 2024
 

NFL Free Agency 2024: Texans Are Winners, Panthers Are Losers After Week 1  

With the first week of NFL free agency in the books, let’s assess which teams got better or worse by declaring winners and losers.

Yes, the Carolina Panthers will again be on the losing side. That’s not a spoiler. (You know the franchise is in bad shape when local celebrities are questioning the direction of the organization.)

But, hey, at least the Panthers got something in return for trading Brian Burns to the New York Giants. The Minnesota Vikings lost Kirk Cousins for nothing in free agency and were left scrambling for a starting quarterback. The Vikings, however, prepared for the outcome of losing their star player (take notes, Panthers) and quickly landed Sam Darnold and an extra first-round pick for the 2024 draft.

Unlike the Dallas Cowboys, the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders have had a busy free agency. But only one of the two NFC East teams were mentioned in the winner’s category.

Let’s not waste more time because plenty occurred last week. Here are the winners and losers from the first wave of free agency.

Winners

Texans take advantage of C.J. Stroud’s rookie contract

Danielle Hunter got $48 million guaranteed from the Texans.

Matt Krohn/USA Today network

The edge rusher swap that wasn’t a trade between the Houston Texans and Vikings defined the difference in situations each team has this offseason.

Some Texans fans might have been upset to see Jonathan Greenard leave for the Vikings—he got four years, $76 million. But a day later, the Texans upgraded, signing Danielle Hunter to a two-year, $49 million deal, including $48 million guaranteed. I say upgrade because he’s a proven player who’s ready to help a team win a Super Bowl now, which is a realistic goal in Houston because of DeMeco Ryans and C.J. Stroud. The Texans quickly realized they needed to be aggressive because of the window they have with Stroud’s rookie contract. Ask the Buffalo Bills, San Diego Chargers and Cincinnati Bengals how important it is to maximize these rookie contract years before the bill comes due on the star quarterback.

If the Texans paid Greenard, who’s three years younger than Hunter, they would have needed to commit beyond two years, even though Greenard has had only one dominant season since being drafted in 2020. The Texans know what they have with Hunter and it could do wonders for Will Anderson Jr.’s second season in Houston. Ryans’s defense also gained Azeez Al-Shaair and Denico Autry last week.

The trade for Joe Mixon and the re-signing of Dalton Schultz will benefit Stroud and make the Texans a strong contender in the AFC. But I’m not ready to say they’ll dethrone the Kansas City Chiefs in the conference. Let’s wait for the NFL draft before forming the list of teams that could surpass K.C.

Falcons add weapons after Cousins signing

The more signings the Atlanta Falcons make, the more I like the Kirk Cousins move to Atlanta.

After signing Cousins (four years, $180 million), the Falcons quickly added depth and speed to a receiving corps that desperately needed those two attributes. The issues weren’t as noticeable last year because the Falcons had a dreadful passing attack with Desmond Ridder and Taylor Heinicke—they often failed to get the ball to an open Drake London.

Cousins will hit his receivers and now has more weapons beyond London, Kyle Pitts and Bijan Robinson out of the backfield. The Falcons flipped Ridder to the Cardinals in exchange for wide receiver Rondale Moore and added former 49er Ray-Ray McCloud III, who could also help on special teams.

New coach Raheem Morris has already addressed two needs that ultimately doomed Arthur Smith during three seasons in Atlanta. The Falcons now have a franchise quarterback and plenty of depth at wide receiver.

Jacksonville Jaguars … for not paying Calvin Ridley

The Jaguars didn't overspend on Ridley, who received a four-year, $92 million deal from the Titans.

Steve Roberts/USA TODAY Sports

The Jacksonville Jaguars made a few questionable decisions in free agency such as paying wide receiver Gabe Davis $39 million over three years. But at least they didn’t overspend on Calvin Ridley, who signed a massive four-year, $92 million deal with $50 million guaranteed to join the Tennessee Titans.

The loss of Ridley stings, but at least the Jaguars won’t be asking themselves in a year or two why they committed so much money to a player on the wrong side of 30 and with only two 1,000-yard seasons in his career.

Perhaps Ridley is worth the money and does well with Will Levis in Tennessee, but often the team that doesn’t overspend ends up being the true winner in the long run. The Jaguars can fill Ridley’s void by drafting a wide receiver to go with Davis and Christian Kirk.

As for the Titans, you won’t find them in the losers’ section of this story. They have had a strong free agency with the acquisitions of running back Tony Pollard, center Lloyd Cushenberry and cornerback Chidobe Awuzie.

Commanders’ smart, underrated signings

The Commanders appear to be the bad team that spends an absurd amount of money in free agency because the roster is filled with holes.

But they’re not spending just to spend. These are savvy bargain moves on players with upside. Edge rusher Dorance Armstrong (three years, worth up to $45 million) isn’t a household name, but he often made the most of his opportunities playing behind Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence in Dallas. It wouldn’t be surprising if Armstrong, 26, is as good as Greenard and Bryce Huff, two ascending edge rushers who got paid more last week.

The other Washington signings were cheaper than Armstrong, moves that could benefit the incoming rookie quarterback and a defense that needs plenty of help.

Here are the notable signings: Running back Austin Ekeler (two years, $11.43 million), guard Nick Allegretti (three years, $16 million), center Tyler Biadasz (three years, $30 million), edge rusher Clelin Ferrell (one year, $3.75 million), linebacker Bobby Wagner (one year, $6 million in guarantees), linebacker Frankie Luvu (three years, $36 million) and safety Jeremy Chinn (one year, $4.1 million).

It’s a new era in the nation’s capital.

Lions address defensive issues

The Lions added more help in the secondary with the addition of Carlton Davis III.

Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports

Speaking of new eras, the Detroit Lions are Super Bowl contenders and they’re acting like it.

The Lions haven’t gotten complacent after their run to the NFC title game, addressing holes on their defense. They didn’t get much return from last year’s notable signings of defensive backs Cameron Sutton, Emmanuel Moseley and C.J. Gardner-Johnson, who left to re-join the Philadelphia Eagles.

Sutton and Moseley, who re-signed on a one-year extension, will be competing for snaps with the arrival of Carlton Davis III, who was traded to Detroit by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Lions also added a versatile defensive back in Amik Robertson, a slot cornerback for the Las Vegas Raiders last season.

But the improvements weren’t just in the back end of the defense. Defensive tackle D.J. Reader and edge rusher Marcus Davenport joined a front featuring Aidan Hutchinson and Alim McNeill. With an improved defense, the Lions might have a strong case for having one of the best rosters in the NFL.

Vikings begin post-Cousins plan, land extra first-round pick

The Vikings had a concerning quarterback dilemma after they lost Cousins to the Falcons in free agency. It seemed the Vikings were going to roll into the 2024 season with Darnold as the starting quarterback. That’s why many tweets and columns were published about the possibility of Justin Jefferson asking for a trade.

The Vikings weren’t going to trade Jefferson, regardless of the post-Cousins plan this season. But now it appears the Vikings might know what they’re doing at quarterback, a plan that could make the soon-to-be highest-paid wide receiver happy. Minnesota acquired an extra first-round pick in next month’s draft after sending Houston second-round picks this year and next along with a sixth-rounder (No. 188) in 2024.

Now the Vikings are armed with the Nos. 11 and 23 picks to possibly move into the top five of the draft. Not sure if that would be enough to crack the top three because the Bears, Commanders and Patriots seem set on selecting a quarterback. But that could be enough to take the Chargers’ No. 5 pick and possibly select Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy.

An intriguing first-round quarterback paired with a bridge quarterback in Darnold would put the Vikings on a fast track to moving on from Cousins. The team could also have a dominant defense in 2024, putting less pressure on Darnold and the to-be-determined rookie signal-caller.

The Vikings added Greenard, Andrew Van Ginkel and Blake Cashman to Brian Flores’s defense. The offense will welcome former Packers running back Aaron Jones to play with Jefferson, Jordan Addison and tight end T.J. Hockenson. 

Losers

Panthers with more head-scratching decisions

The Panthers received only second- and fifth-round picks for Burns.

Morgan Tencza/USA TODAY Sports

Country music star Luke Combs should start his own Panthers blog because he had solid analysis of the team’s decision to trade Burns to the Giants.

What are we doing?” Combs wrote with several question marks and exclamation points. “No first-round pick for (Christian) McCaffrey a few years back and now none for Burns?”

Fair questions, especially when the Panthers were offered two first-round picks from the Rams for Burns back in October 2022. The team also passed on trading Burns at the ’23 trade deadline before sending him to the Giants for second- and fifth-round picks.

That’s just poor planning all around and indecisiveness from the organization. It’s understandable that the Panthers didn’t want to commit $150 million to Burns, but that’s a scenario that should have been discussed in October when his value was much higher. 

Eagles’ risky splash moves

I’m a bit hesitant to criticize the Eagles’ free agency moves because they found a way to retain edge rusher Josh Sweat and now won’t have as many question marks on defense. But the Eagles took too many risks and overpaid for players that don’t play linebacker or cornerback.

I get the thinking, though. Younger players from the draft are often the best way to repair a position of need. So the Eagles, coming off a second-half collapse to a season that started 10–1, could end up finding draft gems to improve the defense and might get a few picks if they trade edge rusher Haason Reddick.

But if the Eagles had thoughts of bringing back Sweat on a restructured deal, there was no need to splurge on the signing of Bryce Huff, who agreed to a three-year, $51.1 million contract. The Eagles already spent a 2023 first-round pick on Nolan Smith. And, yes, maybe Smith isn’t ready to be a full-time starter after a quiet rookie season, but the Eagles got bold betting on Huff, a rotational player for the Jets last season.

Perhaps the Eagles would have been better off paying linebacker Patrick Queen and sticking with the edge rushers they already had. Instead, the Eagles took another gamble on linebacker Devin White, who lost his starting job last season in Tampa. White hasn’t played at a Pro Bowl level since ’21 and ended up getting a one-year, $7.5 million deal from the Eagles.

As for the Saquon Barkley signing of three years, $37.75 million, the team invested too much in a running back who has struggled with injuries and hasn’t made a dominant impact on the field the past few seasons. But, then again, he was playing with the Giants, who had shaky quarterback play from Daniel Jones and a lackluster group of pass catchers.

Barkley could shine in the Eagles’ offense, but similar to the Huff signing, that money could have been spent on linebackers and defensive backs. There’s also risk with the Eagles trading for quarterback Kenny Pickett, but at least he’s not being counted on to be a starter. Somehow the Pickett addition makes the most sense from the many signings the Eagles have had the past seven days.

Bears mishandle Justin Fields’s development, trade

The Bears received a sixth-rounder from the Steelers, which could become a fourth, for Fields.

Jeff Hanisch/USA TODAY Sports

The Justin Fields era will be remembered for unfilled potential, partly because of the Chicago Bears’ poor mismanagement with building a productive surrounding.

Fields didn’t develop into a star quarterback and is now a backup for Russell Wilson in Pittsburgh. All the Bears got in return was a 2025 sixth-round pick, which becomes a fourth-rounder if Fields plays 51% of the snaps in ’24.

Fields deserves some blame for not making it work in Chicago because of inconsistent performances as a passer. But the dynamic athlete carried the team many times, despite poor surroundings. The Bears couldn’t even net a Day-2 pick for a player who has so much untapped potential and helped the team win four out of its final six games in 2023.

Chicago made the right decision to draft a quarterback with the No. 1 pick in next month’s draft, which will likely be USC’s Caleb Williams. They have also had a productive free agency with the trade for Keenan Allen, re-signing of Jaylon Johnson and the additions of D’Andre Swift and Gerald Everett.

But the Bears botched the Fields trade, waiting until the last minute of free agency to send him to the Steelers, a low-risk, high-reward acquisition for them. Chicago could have waited until training camp to wait for a QB-needy team to make a better offer for Fields. Instead, they took what they could get and didn’t make Fields wait—one of the rare times they did right by him.

Dolphins’ all-in approach backfires

The Miami Dolphins lost plenty of talent in free agency with the departures of Christian Wilkins, Robert Hunt and Van Ginkel.

They couldn’t afford to keep their top in-house free agents because of how aggressive they have been the past few seasons, including trading for Tyreek Hill, Jalen Ramsey and Bradley Chubb. All they have to show for this all-in approach are two wild-card losses the past two seasons and limited cap space.

Now the Dolphins’ roster is weaker and they no longer have the luxury of leaning on Tua Tagovailoa’s rookie contract—he’s due for a massive pay day this spring or summer.

The Dolphins took a few steps back, but they did make notable signings with cornerback Kendall Fuller, Jordyn Brooks and a few other players who might be on the back end of their careers. That’s probably not enough to beat the Bills in the AFC East.

 

Takeaways: How Aaron Donald Knew His Unparalleled NFL Career Was Complete  

Aaron Donald knew his career was complete on the night of Jan. 14. Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay got that message loud and clear the next day when the all-planet all-timer came into his office as the team was shaking off its playoff ouster in Detroit the night before.

“I’m full,” Donald simply told McVay.

Nothing was official yet. But the coach had all the information he needed.

“I’m just like, And you should be. You have every right to feel that way,” McVay said over the phone Sunday afternoon. “What an amazing thing. The words won’t do justice to the way that he so eloquently articulated it to me and just put it in a way that, as a human being, all you’re really looking for is to be at peace and to be happy. He was full. And, man, did you feel that. You’re just so happy because he earned it too.”

Donald earned absolutely everything that’s been said about him over the last few days.

The 32-year-old was the 2014 Defensive Rookie of the Year after being drafted 13th that April. He was first-team All-Pro in eight of nine years after that, with the only exception coming in his injury-marred season of ’22. He missed six games that season, and only three in the other nine years of his career. He was a Pro Bowler in all 10 of his NFL seasons, and won Defensive Player of the Year in ’17, ’18 and ’20.

Donald announced his retirement Friday.

Yannick Peterhans/USA TODAY Sports

He is quite simply, to this era, what Lawrence Taylor was in the 1980s, or what Deion Sanders was in the ’90s: a defensive player so great that, at his peak, there was no parallel for him. And, thanks to a relentless passion for both football and competition, Donald’s peak really encased his entire career, right from the start. Jeff Fisher, who coached Donald from 2014–16, will tell you the start goes back to before Donald even put on pads for a full-contact practice.

“You get into camp and you’re trying to teach guys how to practice without pads, and he’s just wrecking practice—so you know when the pads go on he’s going to wreck practice,” Fisher says. “You know this guy’s going to live in the backfield. You knew that. And the one thing that’s interesting is the countless offensive linemen that got better that were on the Rams roster during that period of time because they had to practice against him.”

And therein lies the interesting thing about Donald’s greatness—it seems like half the stories Fisher and McVay, the two head coaches he played for, tell aren’t from the game field.

Similar to Fisher, McVay will never forget the first practices he had with Donald. This was as a coach who had worked against Donald as Washington’s offensive coordinator, which gave McVay a good idea of what a terror Donald was on the field. And yet, even given that experience, McVay wasn’t fully ready for what he was about to see in a non-padded practice.

“The only exposure I had to him in preseason activities, because of some of the contract stuff, was when he came to one of the first voluntary mini camps that you are allotted for new coaching staffs,” McVay says. “I have never seen somebody single-handedly destroy practice the way that he did in that two-day practice session. It’s hard enough to block him as it is. But then when you don’t have any pads or anything to really be able to get fits, his quickness, his get off, his accuracy with his hands, it was a human highlight reel.”

Because of all that, McVay says with a laugh, he actually felt fortunate that Donald held out through the coach’s first two offseasons in Los Angeles: “He steals souls. Here’s the thing, it gives false tells for everybody else on defense, and then you just totally ruin the confidence of any player that you’re going against.”

And did it ever translate onto the game field.

Coming out, Donald was seen by many, because of height, weight and length deficiencies, as a player who would need to be in a certain scheme, and need to be paced, to be his best. But he proved himself to be a monster in, well, just about every system—from Fisher and Gregg Williams’s aggressive 4–3 to Wade Phillips’s attacking 3–4 to the more conservative Vic Fangio–inspired looks Brandon Staley and Raheem Morris ran. And Donald proved to be a player with unbelievable endurance: He played 90.41%, 83.57%, 84.47% and 89.1% of the Rams’ defensive snaps in 2018, ’19, ’20 and ’21, respectively, which are absurdly high numbers for a defensive tackle.

Part of it was because physically, he was so strong, so quick, so low-to-the-ground and so good with his hands that trying to block him was like trying to catch a greased salmon. It was also, though, because his work didn’t stop with the physical stuff.

“He’s looking around and he’s the last one to put his hand in the ground,” Fisher says. “He knows protection. He knows which way the center’s turning. He knows where the help’s coming from. … He knows where the receivers are. He may not admit to it, but he knows formations. He knows exactly what to expect from a protection standpoint.

“The interesting thing was over the years, just talking to people, the offensive coordinator sitting up in the box calling the plays would have the mandate all week prior to playing the Rams, O.K., you guys got one job and that’s to tell me when he’s not in, when he’s taking a breath. They’d have like a separate call sheet for that. But when he’s in, I gotta stay with these calls.

It all added up to, simply, one of the greatest careers a defensive player has ever had. Maybe the greatest.

“They asked me personally, where does he rank [of guys I coached]? He’s there with Reggie White, as far as the career,” Fisher says. “Different positions. Reggie was either, (a), a left end or (b), we put him on the nose. Reggie just couldn’t play any of the other positions, because it was awkward for him. The dominating player that he was, that’s where he kind of fit in. …

“Aaron was different. Just watch him. I’m so excited for him. I’m honored that I got to be somebody that got to be around him and the career that he had. When the great ones come, everybody wants to be part of those careers. It was just delightful to coach, he’s a great young man.”

Through our conversation, that’s what McVay kept coming back to, as well—how the person, the dad he is, the worker he is, the teammate he is, helps to complete the picture of just how impactful Donald has been on everyone around him.

Now, McVay is charged with charting life without him for the Rams.

The coach said he had a feeling, really, all year this might happen. Donald would take an extra moment during a game, or an additional few minutes with a young player after practice, or time to laugh with a buddy of his. He even went a little further with Christmas gifts this year, and those, to McVay, were all tells on where the veteran’s head was at. And maybe his way of leaving behind a little something extra for those he played with.

“I’m hopeful that he’ll be around a lot,” McVay says. “He’s welcome. I think the way that he lives on is you continue to honor his legacy and use him with the stories that you can tell to these guys. Fortunately, a lot of these guys have seen it, so when you reference it, they’ve seen it and you can use that as an example. His legend will never go away. There are stories upon stories. There’s evidence on the film. I think the things that resonate the most are usually storytelling when you’re really trying to paint a picture or teach a lesson.

“And he’ll be someone that I reference for the rest of my life as long as I’m fortunate enough to be coaching.”


How the Pittsburgh Steelers’ quarterback situation in 2024 plays out, for better or worse, rests on the shoulders of Mike Tomlin. This, of course, relates to how the last 10 days played out in Pittsburgh. It also relates to how the last 10 years played out.

Regardless of how you feel about how Kenny Pickett handled the Russell Wilson signing, it’s fair to say that the 2022 No. 20 pick was in a less-than-ideal environment to develop the last two years.

Pittsburgh’s offensive issues trace back to the team moving on from Todd Haley, who, for all the friction he may have caused, fielded units that finished second, third, seventh and third in total offense over his last four years with the Steelers (2014–17), and finished top 10 in scoring in each of those seasons. Tomlin turned to quarterbacks coach Randy Fichtner after firing Haley, in large part because Fichtner was close with Ben Roethlisberger. Then, when that didn’t work, the coach promoted Fitchtner’s quarterbacks coach, Matt Canada.

The results have been ugly. The Steelers have been 23rd or lower in total offense the last five years running, and out of the top 20 in scoring in four of those five years.

Pickett threw seven and six touchdowns, respectively, in his first two NFL seasons.

Philip G. Pavely/USA TODAY Sports

That’s what Pickett walked into when he was drafted in 2022. He also was pushed out onto the field in Week 5 as a rookie after spending all spring and summer taking third-team reps behind Mitch Trubisky and Mason Rudolph. Year 2, as it turned out, would be worse. In early December, word leaked that the team had considered benching Pickett before the midseason firing of Canada, and before the season finale, rumors surfaced that the 25-year-old, recovering from tightrope surgery, was refusing to dress as Rudolph’s backup.

Pittsburgh had a quarterback who had his first two seasons thrown in a blender, finished that stretch hurt and then got raked over the coals based on those end-of-season whispers. And all of that’s without touching on how a mercurial receiver room affected the offense as a whole.

Regardless of how you see Pickett, that’s a lot for any player to work through in his first two years; it contextualizes what happened over the weekend leading into free agency.

On Saturday night before the legal tampering period kicked off, Tomlin told Pickett that he wasn’t sure if the team would land Wilson, but if it happened, there’d be an open competition for the job. Pickett said he was fine with that. Wilson agreed to terms Sunday. On Monday, Tomlin told Pickett that Wilson would work from pole position to start, and get the first reps at the beginning of OTAs, with Pickett competing from there.

Wilson hadn’t been given any assurance to be the starter (or really much of anything else). But you can see how Pickett’s first two years as a pro affected how he saw what Tomlin was telling him. His guard was up. He felt misled, based on conversations less than 48 hours apart from each other. Which is why he ended up asking for a trade. You can assign blame on that to whoever you want.

The bottom line coming out of all this is that where the Steelers are, now two full seasons separated from Roethlisberger’s last snap, is a function of how Tomlin has handled his quarterback room. Now, he’s gotten a ton right over his 17 years in Pittsburgh. He’s earned the benefit of the doubt.

Still, this one’s messy. And while the Steelers did come out of it with a good solution, pivoting to a very affordable trade for Justin Fields (we’ll get to that in a minute) and ending up with both Fields and Wilson for $4.44 million and a conditional 2025 Day 3 pick, their future at the most important position in the sport is now completely up in the air, with neither quarterback under contract for ’25.

Bottom line, if Pittsburgh doesn’t get good quarterback play in 2024 (with Pickett now off to the Philadelphia Eagles, Rudolph with the Tennessee Titans, and Trubisky back with the Buffalo Bills), there’ll be some tough questions for one of the NFL’s best coaches of the last 25 years to answer.


The Chicago Bears got stuck in between on Fields. In the end, I’m not sure what Chicago could’ve done to get more for its 2021 first-round pick.

As we detailed two weeks ago, Bears GM Ryan Poles accelerated just about everything on the evaluation of USC quarterback Caleb Williams, in order to give the team flexibility to trade Fields early in the offseason if the right opportunity came along. And after the combine, it was clearly uncertain whether that opportunity would come at all.

The two teams they’d circled as potential suitors for Fields—the Atlanta Falcons and Pittsburgh—were fishing around other players at the position. How the top of the market, stocked with Kirk Cousins, Baker Mayfield and Wilson, shook out would affect the Bears’ ability to find the right trade. Then, the top of the market did shake out, and not in Chicago’s favor.

The Falcons landed Cousins. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers kept Mayfield. The Steelers signed Wilson. And as all that was happening, action on the second tier of the market materialized. The Minnesota Vikings replaced Cousins with Sam Darnold; the Las Vegas Raiders landed Gardner Minshew as a bridge; and the New England Patriots did the same with Jacoby Brissett. Those three players cost a grand total of zero draft picks, illustrating something else pretty vividly: Teams might’ve seen Fields as a better option than Darnold, Minshew and Brissett, but not enough so where they’d give up draft picks for the difference, particularly given the spots the Vikings (positioning themselves to trade up for a quarterback), Patriots and Raiders (retooling, and doing so without a surplus of picks) were operating from.

So that left Chicago with a couple options. One was to keep Fields, which could make things awkward for the No. 1 pick coming in. Another was to squat on his rights and hope someone else would get desperate, be it because of an injury or some plan laid out not coming to fruition. In the end, though, Poles kept his word and did right by Fields (and probably Williams, too), in moving forward with the trade with the Steelers.

That deal materialized Friday night and into Saturday after Pittsburgh moved Pickett, giving Chicago an extra sixth-rounder in 2025 that can become a fourth-rounder if Fields plays 51% of the team’s offensive snaps next season. That might be unlikely—Tomlin was clear with Fields that he’s coming in as the backup and will work from there behind Wilson—but it does protect the Bears if Fields finds his way on the field and stays there.

Is it ideal? No. The Bears were hoping for a return like the one the New York Jets got for Sam Darnold three years ago, or the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs once pried for Alex Smith. But in the end, if Williams fulfills his potential, this will be a simple sunk cost along the way. And Chicago did, again, do right by a young quarterback who did all the right things for them as a worker and a person over the last three years.


The Eagles had an interesting week. It happened, of course, with a couple of moves that were right up GM Howie Roseman’s alley: a contract extension for a lineman (guard Landon Dickerson scored a four-year, $84 million deal), and the acquisition of a distressed asset at quarterback (grabbing Pickett). And, then, there was the needle-mover that was uncharacteristic.

A year ago, Roseman and the Eagles were lauded for their backed-off approach at running back, with Miles Sanders allowed to leave for just $6 million per year with the Carolina Panthers, and D’Andre Swift coming in for a 2025 fourth-rounder and a seventh-round pick swap. The reality that just 12 months later the Eagles would move on Saquon Barkley at more than $12 million per year in base pay seems to fly in the face of that.

Barkley goes from one NFC East team to the next.

Kyle Ross/USA TODAY Sports

But there’s more to this than meets the eye. After digging around a bunch, here are some factors I can outline that played into the Eagles’ decision to go big on Barkley …

  1. Last year, the Eagles’ run game ranked first in the NFL in yards before contact and dead last in yards after contact. So where Swift brought a ton to the table, Philly saw a little more meat on the bone there, if they could bring a bigger back to the table. The 230-pound Barkley fits the bill. He’s one of six players in the league to have over 1,000 yards after contact over the last two years.
  2. What’s different about Barkley, from there, is his ability to combine that with real pass-game value, which Philadelphia felt was underutilized a bit in his time with the Giants, particularly amid the quarterback tumult there after Daniel Jones’s injury last year. So where some might pigeonhole Barkley as a back, the Eagles saw a difference-maker.
  3. The 49ers’ success after trading for the league’s biggest running back contract, belonging to Christian McCaffrey, didn’t hurt from a precedent standpoint. It allowed San Francisco to move the needle on offense past the stacked deck it was already playing with at receiver, tight end and even fullback. McCaffrey, in that environment, found a way to become the 49ers’ most important offensive player.
  4. Part of the reason for that is the amount of touches a premier back gets, more than any receiver or tight end could. So the value was there, if you saw Barkley in the very elite category at the position, from a per-touches standpoint.
  5. The dollars make sense too. Barkley, even if he hits every incentive, will be on a contract with an APY lower than Courtland Sutton’s with the Denver Broncos, or where Hunter Renfrow was at on his last deal with Vegas.
  6. The caveat, of course, is that Philadelphia has to keep Barkley healthy to get the sort of return they’re hoping for. But there’s some precedent there, too. The Detroit Lions made Swift available last year because it had gotten to the point where they felt like they couldn’t trust his health. The running back only missed one game with the Eagles, who have a lot of faith in what their medical and training staffs (revamped a couple years ago) do to keep players on the field.

And then, there’s this: Smart teams don’t work from absolutes. So just because the Eagles did one thing one year doesn’t mean they’re going to operate the same way the next. In this case, the Eagles were open-minded and diligent, and that all led them to Barkley.


The Arizona Cardinals love Kyler Murray. I didn’t think I’d be writing that a year ago—when everyone thought Arizona would be the worst team in the league, preparing to draft Williams and offload Murray in 2024—but that’s where we are. And the team has now backed up the feelings it expressed on social media in a very big way.

By carrying Murray on the roster through the weekend, they locked in a $29.9 million guarantee for him for 2025. Now, it’s not like they could’ve just cut him without penalty (not that they’d considered it) over the last couple of weeks, since his $35.3 million for this coming season is already locked in. But if GM Monti Ossenfort and coach Jonathan Gannon had any intention on bailing, doing it sooner would’ve been better than later.

Instead, those two are now building around Murray, which, again, isn’t the result many people expected a year ago.

How’d Murray win over his new bosses? I collected some anecdotes …

• Quickly, through his rehab from ACL surgery, Murray started blowing up what perception held. In the early parts of 2023, right after Gannon and Ossenfort were hired, some might’ve expected Murray to retreat to Texas or California. Instead, he was in Arizona and at the facility daily, working with Cardinals senior reconditioning coordinator, Buddy Morris, going above and beyond to work his knee back to health.

• Oftentimes with players going through such a rehab, you’d see a reluctance to get too in the weeds on football stuff, but the opposite happened in April as the classroom-heavy beginning of the offseason program got going. At that point, there was no certainty that Murray would play at all in 2023, but he was engaged and inquisitive in working with OC Drew Petzing and staff, even as they built an offense that would look very different from the air raid schemes that Murray ran in high school, college and his first four years in the pros.

• Murray actually stayed in Arizona to keep working through parts of late June and July—after the offseason program concludes, but before training camp starts—which is very unusual for veterans, who normally use that time to get away.

• When he first got back out there (and after he’d established he was more coachable and relatable to teammates than previously advertised), he looked like Kyler. In his first game of 2023, Murray engineered a game-winning drive. He rode out a bumpy effort against the Rams. And at the very end, he was playing his best ball, in a win over Philadelphia, and a tight loss against the Seattle Seahawks.

• That Eagles game was where Murray’s steps in the offense turned a corner. As Gannon, Petzing and the staff called out things on the headset (throw the slant), they saw a quarterback who was running the offense as they saw it, with his actions closely matching those little missives between the coaches. And as for Murray’s one mistake, a pick, he quickly told them after: “I f---ed up.”

Murray has essentially been designated as Arizona’s franchise quarterback.

Joe Camporeale/USA TODAY Sports

And in that game, there was also a single play that showed Murray’s poise. In the fourth quarter, on fourth-and-4 from Philadelphia’s 5-yard line, Gannon decided to go for it. The Eagles threw a zero blitz at the quarterback. Murray quickly digested it and threw the ball to a spot where Michael Wilson would corral it for a touchdown to tie the game at 28.

On the play, Murray was coachable, he was gutsy and he was clutch. By then, the Cardinals knew they had a quarterback they could build around.


I’ll give the Jets a hat tip for their creativity in fixing their offensive line. No one thought, going into last week, that Morgan Moses would’ve been a critical piece for a New York team that clearly needed help up front. But he was, in part because his acquisition, which was hardly simple on its own, would also enable a few other pieces to fit into the puzzle.

First and foremost, it doesn’t happen without GM Joe Douglas being willing to admit that letting Moses walk two years ago was a mistake. It also might not happen if Douglas doesn’t have a close relationship with Ravens GM Eric DeCosta (the two worked together for a decade-and-a-half in Baltimore). It might not have happened had those two elements not opened the lines of communication, and had the financials not really worked for New York.

All of it came together with the two GMs discussing the deal as the Ravens worked out a restructure with left tackle Ronnie Stanley. Once that was done, they could move forward.

From there, they negotiated a deal that had the teams swapping fourth-round picks (the Ravens moved theirs up from 135th to 113th in the process), and the Jets sending Baltimore a sixth-rounder. After that, with Moses locked in at that affordable number as the team’s presumed starter at right tackle, Douglas moved forward aggressively.

First he went and poached guard John Simpson from the Ravens—a player the Jets saw as an explosive run blocker, particularly in how he’d maul defenders as a puller—at $12 million over two years. Then, he landed eight-time Pro Bowler Tyron Smith on a deal that carries a base value of $6.5 million, with incentives that can lead him to a place where he’s paid like a top-five tackle. The Jets saw Smith as perhaps the greatest pass protector of all-time in his prime, and still one of the best in that area when healthy.

So at a base cost of $18 million, the Jets surrounded center Joe Tippmann and guard Alijah Vera-Tucker (whose ability to play tackle gave a little flexibility in who the Jets pursued) with three proven commodities, and put a fleet of young players the team wants to keep working with into backup roles where they can develop properly.

And so what’s next?

Well, Smith and Moses are only under contract for this coming year, so this does not, to be very clear, take the idea of the Jets drafting a tackle at No. 10 off the board. But it does give them the flexibility to look somewhere else with that pick—and it all happened at a pretty affordable rate, thanks to the team going a little outside the box with the position group.


Things worked out fine for the Los Angeles Chargers last week, in freeing themselves from the cap logjam created by last year’s contract restructures. The end result was Mike Williams being cut, Khalil Mack and Joey Bosa accepting pay cuts, and Keenan Allen turning one down and getting dealt to Bears. That shapes up to create an equation that Jim Harbaugh’s very familiar with.

In San Francisco, and at Michigan, Harbaugh’s team were often loaded with defensive stars and had rugged offenses without a ton of flash at receiver. So having to make it work with Quentin Johnston and Joshua Palmer at receiver, rather than Williams and Allen, is probably more palatable to the new program than going without Bosa and/or Mack would’ve been.

Also, the Chargers still have the fifth pick in a receiver-rich draft. If the Cardinals trade out of No. 4, Harbaugh could land his old No. 1 receiver’s son, Marvin Harrison Jr., or Washington's Rome Odunze or LSU’s Malik Nabers. Even with a short trade down, they could get one of those players, or Georgia’s Brock Bowers, to restock Justin Herbert’s weaponry.

Meanwhile, the Chargers got Gus Edwards, and there’ll be another tailback they can grab somewhere in the draft (maybe even Harbaugh’s guy Blake Corum).

So overall? This was a pretty good turnout from a tough situation for the new Chargers regime—one that, good as Allen and Williams are, shouldn’t compromise the team’s ability to contend in Harbaugh’s first year back in California.


There will be smart signings this week—and some of them will be guys who are available now because of their age. Which is seen as a drawback by a lot of folks, but it doesn’t have to be.

The last iteration of the Patriots dynasty feasted on third-contract guys like that, and the Ravens have done something similar, both with the same logic. The thinking goes that when you sign someone who lasted that long in the league, you’re not guessing on how they’ll handle money, you have a longer track record to go on, and in a lot of cases (not all) you’ll get a player who’ll bring leadership ability to the table.

Among those who fit into that category this year for Baltimore: Odell Beckham Jr., Kevin Zeitler, Michael Pierce, Jadeveon Clowney and Ronald Darby.

So that’s my way of saying that free agency isn’t over, and some smart, enterprising team could wind up getting a lot out of someone from this 30-something bucket of players: CB Xavien Howard, OT Trent Brown, S Justin Simmons, CB Stephon Gilmore, CB Steven Nelson, DE Calais Campbell, WR Michael Thomas, QB Ryan Tannehill or even a couple of those Ravens names (Beckham, Zeitler and Clowney) we already mentioned.


That Vikings trade gives us all a window into where J.J. McCarthy now stands in the eyes of NFL teams. And that’s not to say that they all love him. It is to say that, assuming the Bears, Commanders and Patriots stay put and draft quarterbacks—zero of the three have shown an appetite for trading one of those picks—McCarthy is not just worthy of being, at worst, the fourth QB off the board, but maybe someone worth moving up for.

For now, what we know is Williams will almost certainly be a Bear. We also know that North Carolina’s Drake Maye and LSU’s Jayden Daniels are likely to go at No. 2 and 3, in some order.

Maybe Washington or New England pulls a shocker and takes McCarthy over one or both, but, for now, any team investigating a trade up to No. 4 or 5 with the Cardinals or Chargers has to be comfortable with McCarthy, as well as the other two, since there’s no guarantee of anything past the likelihood Williams won’t be there.

McCarthy is projected to go at No. 5 in Sports Illustrated’s most recent mock draft

Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports

So if Minnesota’s loading up for a trade up from No. 11, it’s a pretty good signal that McCarthy has worked his way into a spot within the first 10 picks.


And that leaves us with this week’s quick-hitting takeaways. Let’s get rolling with those …

• With Calvin Ridley, Tony Pollard and Lloyd Cushenberry aboard, the new Titans regime should be able to get a clear answer coming out of 2024 on whether or not Will Levis is the guy. And if he is, there’s a nice core on offense to work with, presuming the tackle need there is addressed in this tackle-rich draft (the Ridley signing could be a sign they’re leaning tackle at No. 7 already).

• While we’re there, Allen, Swift, DJ Moore, Cole Kmet, Braxton Jones and Darnell Wright should give Williams a good group to work with as a rookie. And the Bears can still add to that with the ninth pick.

• The Rams have been a logical landing spot for Jets QB Zach Wilson. I’d say maybe even more so now with Jimmy Garoppolo signed in Los Angeles. Wilson could use a reset, and to sit for a year, so going somewhere he’d be third string, would afford him such much-needed time. I’ve also heard his old OC from the Jets, Rams OC Mike LaFleur, would be very open to a reunion.

• Good move by the Cleveland Browns bringing in Mike Vrabel as a consultant. He’s got a connection through Jim Schwartz, who Vrabel had in Tennessee for two years, and a growing friendship with Kevin Stefanski. Vrabel’s value should be in the vision he has for game management and building a program. With a lot of turnover on staff the last two offseasons, adding such a voice with the experience he has should be valuable for Stefanski and the Browns.

• That it slipped that Drew Lock will compete for the Giants’ job with Daniel Jones only re-opens the discussion on New York taking a quarterback in the first round. Like a few teams, they have investigated the price of going up. And teams below them, whether right or wrong, view the Giants at No. 6 as a team you may need to leapfrog to get one of the top four quarterbacks.

• The Chiefs’ signing of Marquise “Hollywood” Brown to a one-year, $7 million deal (with upside to $11 million) is one that we could be talking about a lot in the fall. At his best, Brown was a home-run hitter who had to be accounted for from the minute he left the huddle. And Kansas City has a pretty good idea on how to use big-play threats.

• Nine years after drafting him, the Jacksonville Jaguars went out and landed Arik Armstead. And the championship pedigree that Armstead, a captain the last four years running in San Francisco, can bring should be really valuable for a Jacksonville group that struggled to take the next step last year.

• De’Vondre Campbell’s signing in San Francisco was a reminder of how unfortunate Dre Greenlaw’s injury was in Super Bowl LVIII. Campbell is there largely as insurance for the possibility Greenlaw’s absence carries into the season.

• How did Sam Howell fetch a nice little haul for the Commanders, with Washington moving up the 102nd pick to 78th, and the 179th pick to 152nd, for moving the quarterback to Seattle? A key factor was that he has two years left on his rookie contract, giving the Seahawks runway to develop him and see what he’s got.

• Lots of rules talk coming this week, with the league meeting kicking off in just six days.

 

Iowa, Caitlin Clark Get Bulletin Board Material From Potential Second-Round Opponent  

West Virginia head women’s basketball coach Mark Kellogg decided to poke the bear.

The Mountaineers enter the NCAA women’s tournament as the No. 8 seed in the Albany 2 bracket. This means they’re one victory away from a matchup with No. 1 seed Iowa and star Caitlin Clark, but before that, will need to defeat Princeton in the round of 64. 

Kellogg addressed both games with a one-liner that quickly went viral, calling his shot for West Virginia to send Clark and the Hawkeyes home early.

“Let’s win one, and let’s send Caitlin Clark packing early,” Kellogg said after the selection show.

WVU HC Mark Kellogg with some strong words

“Let’s win one and send Caitlin Clark packing”

pic.twitter.com/7VKBbSFXi9

— Wesley Shoemaker (@wesleyshoe) March 18, 2024

Iowa is currently ranked No. 2 in the country with a 29–4 record behind another stellar season from Clark. The senior guard was the 2023 AP Player of the Year and is the NCAA Division I all-time leading scorer.

Clark has averaged 31.9 points, 8.9 assists and 7.3 rebounds per game this season while shooting 46% from the field and 38.1% from beyond the arc. She’s propelled Iowa into the elites of college basketball and is a key reason they’re one of the favorites to win the national title.

West Virginia finished the 2023-24 season with a 24–7 mark, tied with Baylor for fourth in the Big 12. They’re led by guard JJ Quinerly, who averages 19.6 points per game this season.

 

Juwan Howard Issues Statement After Michigan Firing  

The University of Michigan opted to make a change to its men’s basketball program on Friday, parting ways with head coach Juwan Howard after five seasons.

Athletic director Warde Manual called Howard “among the greatest Wolverines to ever be associated with our basketball program” in a parting statement. However, the statement also said that the program was not living up to expectations and “not trending in the right direction.”

Following the news, Howard issued a statement on Sunday thanking the school and numerous people involved, including Manual. He cited the program’s success over his five seasons at the helm while showing appreciation for his family, Wolverines players and the staff amid health challenges throughout the 2023-24 season.

Thank you, Coach Howard 💙💛 pic.twitter.com/POingwtrJD

— Michigan Men's Basketball (@umichbball) March 17, 2024

Howard, who also played three seasons at Michigan from 1991-92 through 1993-94, is unquestionably a “Michigan man forever,” as he said.

He took over as the program’s head coach ahead of the 2019-20 season and led them to a 1912 record. Howard’s best year came in 2020-21, as the team went 23–5 and was ranked as high as No. 2 in the country.

That year, Michigan was the regular season champion and advanced to the NCAA tournament, losing to UCLA in the Elite Eight.

Michigan made the tournament twice under Howard’s watch, also going dancing in 2022 before bowing out in the Sweet 16 with a 63–55 loss to Villanova. Howard coached 159 games at Michigan, finishing with an 87–72 record.

 

Hailey Van Lith Had Perfect Reaction to Potential LSU-Louisville NCAA Tournament Matchup  

Hailey Van Lith made the move from Louisville to LSU ahead of her senior season and enjoyed a solid year with the Tigers in 2023-24. 

LSU earned a No. 3 seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament, pitting them up for a matchup against No. 14 Rice in the opening round. Should they take care of business in the first round, they’ll potentially be greeted by none other than the Cardinals during the round of 32.

Louisville was also drawn into the “Albany 2” section of the women’s bracket as a No. 6 seed, and it is due to meet No. 11 Middle Tennessee in their opening-round tilt.

Upon the announcement of the potential matchup with her former squad, Van Lith looked totally taken aback before breaking into laughter. At the same time, Tigers coach Kim Mulkey and star forward Angel Reese began excitedly pointing in Van Lith’s direction. 

Priceless!

Check out @LSUwbkb , @KimMulkey @haileyvanlith and @Reese10Angel reaction to @LouisvilleWBB being sent to Baton Rouge for the NCAA Tournament. #LSU pic.twitter.com/mnuamNbquR

— Jacques Doucet (@JacquesDoucet) March 18, 2024

Van Lith played three seasons for Louisville from 2020-23, featuring in 101 games for the program. During her junior season, she averaged 19.7 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists before entering the transfer portal.

Although it’s no guarantee that both the Cardinals and Tigers win their first-round matchups, the potential for a collision between the two teams in the second round of the tournament did not go unnoticed by Van Lith and company. It also could make for an intriguing matchup and one of the most enticing storylines early in the tournament.

 

Expect the Women’s Tournament to Have Plenty of Drama  

There was no question about the No. 1 overall seed for the women’s tournament. (Who else but the undefeated South Carolina Gamecocks?) But plenty of bracket drama was in store beyond that on Selection Sunday.

Let’s start with the second regional in Albany. There at the top, you have the one-seed Iowa Hawkeyes, two-seed UCLA Bruins and three-seed LSU Tigers. That’s both teams from last year’s national championship game—each has since graduated some of its talent, yes, but they’ve both shown a clear ability to move beyond those key losses—bookending a program that had its own case for a top seed for most of the year in UCLA. Then you have the four-seed Kansas State Wildcats, who delivered the first loss of the season to Iowa, and the five-seed Colorado Buffaloes, who delivered the first loss of the season to LSU. All in one region! That’s an awfully dense concentration of talent. If you were expecting Caitlin Clark & Co. to return to the Final Four or Angel Reese to run it back with LSU or Lauren Betts to make a deep run with UCLA? You can only pick one. It’s going to be a tough road out of this regional.

Clark & Co. earned a No. 1 seed after winning the Big Ten tournament, but the Hawkeyes’ region won’t be an easy one with defending champ LSU and two-seed UCLA in the mix. 

Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen/USA TODAY NETWORK

“It just ended up working out that way based on where you can put teams,” said committee chair Lisa Peterson. “If you look at the overall balance of the different regions, there wasn't a drastic difference. But I can completely see where those first four [seeds in Albany 2], it looks that way.”

Then look at the fourth regional in Portland. Three of the four No. 1 seeds in the bracket were more or less obvious: South Carolina had been unquestionable for weeks in Albany 1, Iowa sealed its spot by winning the Big Ten tournament for Albany 2, and the USC Trojans did the same with the Pac-12 tournament for Portland 3. But that fourth one in Portland? It had once seemed likely it would belong to the Stanford Cardinal. But that was thrown into doubt with a conference tournament loss to USC. There was a case to be made that the Pac-12 was strong enough this year to merit two No. 1 seeds. But there was stiff competition here from the Texas Longhorns, who’d made a remarkable run through the Big 12, even without their injured point guard Rori Harmon.

The committee ultimately gave Texas that last No. 1 seed and Stanford the corresponding No. 2.

“This was one of the most highly debated things we did,” Peterson said. “You definitely want to make sure you get that one-line right.”

It mostly came down to recent play, including their respective conference tournaments, she said. Texas is 9–1 in its last 10 games; Stanford is 8–2. Texas won the Big 12 tournament by beating three NCAA tournament teams; Stanford fell in the Pac-12 tournament finals and beat only one NCAA tournament team. But the conversation was so close that it was like “trying to slip a piece of paper between teams,” Peterson said.

Dawn Staley finds herself in a familiar position as the Gamecocks enter the women’s tournament as an undefeated one-seed. 

Jim Dedmon/USA TODAY Sports

Here are some more takeaways from Selection Sunday:

 

March Madness Brackets: Expert Predictions for the 2024 Men’s NCAA Tournament  

March Madness is upon us after a chaotic championship week and plethora of bid stealers. Predicting how the 2024 NCAA men’s tournament will unfold on the court can be tricky—which is why we’re here to help.

Related: March Madness: Forty Things to Watch in the 2024 NCAA Men’s Tournament

Now that the field of 68 is set, Sports Illustrated’s Kevin Sweeney and Pat Forde make their picks for each round of the tourney, all the way to the Final Four in Phoenix.

[ March Madness 2024: News & Analysis | Schedule | Bracket ]

Below are our expert brackets.

Kevin Sweeney

Click here for a full-sized version of Sweeney’s picks.

Sweeney’s Final Four: Auburn TigersBaylor BearsHouston Cougars and Purdue Boilermakers.

Sweeney’s 2024 champion: Purdue.

Pat Forde

Click here for a full-sized version of Forde’s picks.

Forde’s Final Four: UConn HuskiesBaylor BearsHouston Cougars and Creighton Bluejays.

Forde’s 2024 champion: UConn.

2024 NCAA men's tournament regional breakdowns

Related: March Madness: Eight Best Men’s NCAA Tournament Games of First Weekend

 

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