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Good morning! What a beautiful Monday.
Superlatives: Welcome to the best week of the sports year
Hello, friends. We’ve written many words by now on why the first week of the NCAA Tournament is unmatched, and I expect nothing less this year. The women’s bracket is star-laden, and no one has a clue who’s winning the men’s side.
We start with the men today, because their bracket begins a day before the women’s side. We’ll have more on the latter tomorrow.
Now, to the superlatives:
The No. 1s: Auburn, Duke, Houston and Florida
The Tigers are the No. 1 overall seed for the second time in school history, but the real story here is the SEC’s overachievement. The conference — never known for its depth — has 14 teams in the field, a record. While Auburn’s spot is deserved, Florida might be playing the best basketball of anyone. Oh, and the entire tournament runs through Duke and Cooper Flagg. Intrigue!
The upset picks: San Diego State and VCU
Both are No. 11 seeds — though SDSU needs to win a play-in game — and both have the top odds to become Cinderellas, per our metrics. The Rams will face BYU, while the Aztecs would see Ole Miss if they make it past North Carolina. See all 10 upset picks here. Speaking of Carolina …
Everyone’s mad about: The Tar Heels
UNC snuck into the field as its last team despite an extremely mediocre year and a 1-12 record against Quad 1 teams. Picking Carolina — the bluest of bluebloods — draws enough conspiracy talk on name alone, but UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham serving as selection committee chair won’t help, either.
The snubs: West Virginia and Indiana
These are two of the first four teams out, and both must feel brutal today. The Mountaineers had six wins over Quad 1 opponents, while Indiana had four. Not perfect, yes, but deserving over North Carolina? Maybe.
The actual favorites: Duke (+300) and Florida (+350)
If I filled my bracket today, I think I’d pick the Blue Devils. CJ Moore filled his out already and came away with the Gators as champs. All of this is surely going on an Auburn bulletin board somewhere, as the Tigers wonder what else they must do to actually get title hype. (Odds via BetMGM).
I’m in a tizzy over here just thinking about Thursday. Before we get there, two extremely important bracket prep items for you:
And of course we have printable brackets for both the men’s and women’s tournaments. Women’s superlatives come tomorrow, as do the men’s play-in games. Let’s keep going:
News to Know
Dylan Buell / Getty Images
Cincy pays both
They really did it. The Bengals agreed to massive contracts last night with both Ja’Marr Chase (four years, $161 million) and Tee Higgins (four years, $115 million), ensuring quarterback Joe Burrow throws to his preferred top two wide receivers long-term. Chase’s $40.5 million annual salary makes him the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history. Was it the right move? Paul Dehner Jr. says the team had no choice.
The Players’ playoff
Rory McIlroy and J.J. Spaun will play a three-hole playoff this morning for The Players Championship title, after both finished yesterday’s round tied at 12-under after the sun had begun to set. It was largely a brutal day at TPC Sawgrass, as McIlroy played well struggled a bit down the stretch. Spaun finished even in the final round and still made the playoff. Justin Ray, per usual, has a boatload of great stats to prepare us for today.
Youngest player in NWSL history
Mak Whitham made history when she entered Gotham FC’s match against the Seattle Reign in the 93rd minute late Saturday night, as the 14-year-old — 14! — became the youngest player to ever play in an NWSL game. Imagine being 14 and subbing out a World Cup champion. I’m pretty sure I was just figuring out how to burn a CD. Read more on Whitham here.
More news
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Watch and Listen
📺 Golf: The Players Championship (playoff)
9 a.m. ET on Peacock
Rory McIlroy and JJ Spaun for the title. If you can manage to watch, it will be fun.
📺 NBA: Nuggets at Warriors
10 p.m. ET on ESPN
Two of the West’s best teams play in what will be a great heat check as we approach the postseason. There is arguably no team hotter than Golden State right now, though the Dubs still barely cling to the No. 6 seed.
Get tickets to games like these here.
Pulse Picks
It feels wrong that Greg Gumbel, who passed away in December, won’t be here for the NCAA Tournament. He was its voice, its shepherd even. Lindsay Schnell wrote a wonderful tribute to Gumbel you should read this morning.
Tyler Kepner has the first story in a series this week on how baseball has changed since 2020, focused specifically on pitcher usage. As Tyler writes, baseball is “drunk with pitchers.”
The NFL is finally catching its breath, which means we have a free agency winners-and-losers compilation ready to go. Look away, 49ers.
Our NHL staff crunched data and came out with league owner rankings, from worst to first. See the list here.
I enjoyed the “No Dunks” breakdown of the top five closest MVP races in NBA history. Poor Zo.
Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Our story on Dick Vitale’s return to the ESPN airwaves. Dust particles are still in the air.
Most-read on the website yesterday: The men’s Selection Sunday live blog was busy.
(Top photo: Elsa / Getty Images)
