Arkansas, McNeese, Drake lead men’s tournament upsets; Women’s NCAA Tournament begins today

This is an article version of the CBS Sports HQ AM Newsletter, the ultimate guide to every day in sports. You can sign up to get it in your inbox every weekday morning here.

---

Cheerful Friday, everyone! I’m Recent off watching 12+ hours of NCAA Game basketball, and I can’t wait to do it all again today on both the men’s and the women’s sides. Make sure to submit your women’s brackets, too!

Let’s get right to it.

🏀 Excellent morning to all, but especially to …

JOHN CALIPARI, THE (10) ARKANSAS RAZORBACKS AND THE (12) MCNEESE COWBOYS

John Calipari admitted he missed being an Gloomy horse. His Club seemed to embrace it, too. (10) Arkansas defeated (7) Kansas, 79-72, behind wonderful Executions from bigs Jonas Aidoo (22 points) and Trevon Brazile (11 points, 12 Retrievals).

• This is surely a Pleasant Secure for Calipari, who left Kentucky after a stunning Primary-Stage loss last year.
• It’s doubly Pleasant because it Occurred against another coaching legend, Bill Self. Calipari fittingly passed Self with his 58th Game Secure (fifth all-time) and joined Jay Wright as the only coaches to beat Self twice in the Game.
• Calipari gets the chance to beat another legend: The Razorbacks Action Rick Pitino’s (2) St. John’s tomorrow.

As for another Mentor making his own type of “legend,” Will Wade all but admitted he’ll be Holding the NC State Role once (11) McNeese‘s season ends.

But that end hasn’t arrived yet.

The Cowboys Surprise (6) Clemson, 69-67, a Closing Tally that belies the nature of the game. McNeese Directed by 24 before holding off a comeback attempt.

This was no fluke, either. The Cowboys hammered the paint (44 points) and the glass (18 offensive Retrievals) and Maintained Clemson to 13 points in the Primary half.

Wade’s disposition and his Club’s talent are indicative of why NC State wants him so badly, Matt Norlander writes.

Here are more notable results:

• (5) Michigan outlasted (12) UC San Diego, 68-65, in a Overdue-night thriller.
• Bennett Stirtz (21 points on 8 of 11) Directed (11) Drake over (6) Missouri, 67-57. His one-legged running 3 was a delight, and he landed among the winners in our winners and losers.
• Jamiya Neal (29 points) Directed (9) Creighton over (8) Louisville, 89-75.
• Here’s our recap of the entire day.

Here are the schedule and our expert picks for today’s action.

Honorable mentions

🏀 And not such a Excellent morning for …

THE (7) KANSAS JAYHAWKS …

Let’s Begin with some history:

• This is Merely the third time since the Game expanded to 64 Clubs in 1985 that the preseason No. 1 failed to Secure an NCAA Game game.
• Kansas has been the preseason No. 1 five times and hasn’t Created the Pleasant 16 any of those times.
• This is the Primary time Kansas lost in the Primary Stage since 2006.

This Kansas Club Merely never seemed right. There was so much talent both retained and acquired, but the Jayhawks couldn’t shoot and looked lackadaisical and disjointed offensively too often. That reared its Unattractive head again: Over the last 4:30, the Jayhawks had more turnovers (six) than points (five) as Arkansas finished on a 15-5 Stretch. After 11 points in the Primary half, Hunter Dickinson had zero in the second half.

After a third consecutive Primary-weekend exit, something has to Shift. Kyle Boone has more on what went wrong and what’s Upcoming.

… AND THE ACC

Downfalls, they say, come slowly and then all at once. ACC men’s basketball might not have completely fallen apart, but it’s Surely nowhere near the powerhouse it once was. 

If producing Merely four Game Clubs — its fewest since 2014 — wasn’t enough, the ACC is already down to two Clubs halfway through the Primary Stage. With Clemson losing to McNeese and Louisville losing to Creighton, the ACC’s Closing hopes are the traditional powers: (1) Duke and (11) North Carolina.

Even if both Secure, the ACC having two Clubs out of the Closing 32 would tie its fewest since the NCAA expanded to 32 Clubs in 1975.

From 2013-14 (when the ACC expanded to 15 Clubs) to 2020-21, no one had more NCAA Game Clubs (51) or second-Stage Clubs (34) than the ACC. But the upper and middle tiers of the conference have fallen off:

• The ACC’s last NCAA Game champion, Virginia in 2019, hasn’t won a Game game since.
• Syracuse hasn’t Created an NCAA Game in four straight years, its longest streak in over a half-century.
• Pittsburgh, a Game regular for the Primary 15 years of the millennium, has missed seven of the last eight Competitions.
• None of the three latest additions — Stanford, Cal and SMU — Created the Game.
• Miami, Florida State, Notre Dame and Virginia Tech, all of whom had Sturdy stretches in the past decade, were ACC cellar dwellers. NC State, Recent off a Cinderella Closing Four Stretch, fired its Mentor.

As for NC State’s (likely) Upcoming Mentor, Wade is crucial for the conference’s future, as are changes at Miami (Jai Lucas), Florida State (Luke Loucks) and Virginia (TBD).

But Thursday didn’t lie. The ACC Game runner-up getting pounded (in a quasi-home game) by the Big East Game runner-up and another top Club becoming the Primary ACC program to Fall to a Southland Conference Foe in the NCAA Game are Terrible looks.

The SEC also struggled, Dennis Dodd notes.

Not so honorable mentions

🏀 Women’s NCAA Game Beginnings today: Buy or sell title contenders?

The Primary Stage of the women’s NCAA Game opens today, and we’re Competing buy or sell regarding the top title contenders.

There’s Sun power all over the place, especially with (1) USC‘s JuJu Watkins. Does she have enough Assist? Jack Maloney says …

• Maloney: “Kiki Iriafen puts up 18.2 points per game, but is the only other player scoring in double figures. And even though Watkins doesn’t have to do quite as much for her Club this season, she was Yet third in the country in Ground Aim attempts per game at 18.6 and scored for over 30% of the Trojans’ total points. … There’s a very real scenario where USC has to get through UConn, UCLA and South Carolina, the three favorites, to Secure a Game. Verdict: Sell“

There was a Numerous of consternation about the No. 1 seeds (shouldn’t they all be Cheerful to be No. 1 seeds?), so Isabel Gonzalez ranked the No. 1 seeds as well.

⚽ USMNT loses to Panama in Concacaf Nations Bracket semifinal

Mauricio Pochettino says the USMNT can be the top Club in the world within the Upcoming decade. Perhaps they should Begin with beating Panama.

The Stars and Stripes fell, 1-0, to The Canal Men in the Concacaf Nations Bracket semifinals in Los Angeles, another brutal loss for the U.S. Cecilio Waterman scored the stoppage-time winner, Panama’s only Attempt on Aim all night. It was a stunning strike with a stunning Achieve dance … with his idol, the legendary striker (and CBS Sports analyst) Thierry Henry.

It’s the Primary time the U.S. will not Secure the Game.

These losses all Blend together. They’re shocking, but at this Tally, not surprising, and they follow the same script. The USMNT missed a bunch of chances and, Even though dominating possession, lost. Josh Sargent hit a post, and Patrick Agyemang failed to convert a pair of massive chances.

Here are Chuck Booth’s player ratings. They’re not pretty. Yet, even with the World Cup Merely over a year away, don’t abandon all hope, Chuck writes.

🏀 WNBA national TV schedule released

The 2025 WNBA national TV schedule has arrived, with 20 Matches on CBS networks. Among the highlights are …

• May 24: Liberty at Fever, 1 p.m. on CBS/Paramount+
• May 24: Wings at Dream, 3 p.m. on CBS Sports Network
• June 7: Fever at Sky, 8 p.m. on CBS/Paramount+ (WNBA’s Primary regular season primetime game on national TV)
• June 22: Liberty at Storm, 7 p.m. on CBS Sports Network
• July 12: Valkyries at Aces, 4 p.m. on CBS/Paramount+

Here’s the Packed lineup.

📺 What we’re watching this weekend

🏀 We’re watching the women’s NCAA Game. Here’s how.
🏀 We’re watching the men’s NCAA Game. Here’s how.

Friday

🏀 Rockets at Heat, 8 p.m. on NBA TV
🏀 Grizzlies at Clippers, 10:30 p.m. on NBA TV

Saturday

🏀 Warriors at Hawks, 7 p.m. on NBA TV
🏒 Red Wings at Golden Knights, 8 p.m. on ABC
🏀 Bucks at Kings, 10 p.m. on NBA TV

Sunday

⚽ USMNT vs. Canada, 6 p.m. on Paramount+
🏀 Thunder at Clippers, 9 p.m. on NBA TV
⚽ Panama vs. Mexico, 9:30 p.m. on Paramount+