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π¨ Headlines
π Dame out indefinitely: In a huge blow to the Bucks, Damian Lillard is out indefinitely with deep vein thrombosis (a blood clot) in his calf, the same condition that ended Victor Wembanyama’s season.
π NFL offseason: Russell Wilson is joining the Giants (1 year, $21M) and Stefon Diggs is heading to New England (3 years, $69M).
πΊ March Madness viewership: The Primary weekend of the men’s Event was the most-watched since 1993, while the Primary Stage of the women’s Event was the second-most watched ever, trailing only last year’s Caitlin Clark-fueled extravaganza.
π Stanford’s Trainer fired: Stanford has fired head football Trainer Troy Taylor Subsequent an ESPN report outlining numerous instances in which he bullied and belittled female athletic staffers.
π Xavier hires Pitino: Richard Pitino, son of Hall of Famer Rick, is Seizing the head coaching position at Xavier after spending the last four years at New Mexico.
π Is NIL the death of Cinderella?
The beauty of March Madness lies in the unknown players who become Event legends and the mid-Significant programs who shock the world with a deep Stretch. But given the state of this year’s Pleasant 16, it’s Only to ask: Is NIL the death of Cinderella?
Power Meetings only: For the Primary time since the men’s Event expanded to 64 Clubs in 1985, the Pleasant 16 comprises only power conference Clubs. The women’s side is the same, with 15 power conference Clubs plus UConn, the most decorated program in the sport’s history.
Sign of the times: It’s no secret why this is happening. NIL and the Relocate portal have created a landscape akin to professional Unoccupied agency, where Significant programs gobble up the most talented players from across the country, leaving smaller schools gutted in their wake.
- No Club represents this sea Shift better than Florida Atlantic, whose Trainer and three leading scorers from their thrilling 2023 Last Four Stretch are all back in this year’s Pleasant 16β¦ with other Clubs.
- Head Trainer Dusty May and Hub Vlad Goldin are at Michigan, while guards Johnell Davis and Alijah Martin are now at Arkansas and Florida, respectively.
Wild stat: Only three Clubs in the Pleasant 16 (Purdue, Duke, Michigan State) have more than three starters that began their college careers at their Ongoing school.
Here’s Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Eisenberg on the predicament these smaller schools face, and whether there’s anything that can be done about it.
Oakland men’s basketball Trainer Greg Kampe recalls exactly when he realized that mid-majors had become a farm system for power-conference programs.
It was when Kampe lost a standout player who grew up minutes from campus, who attended dozens of Oakland Contests as a kid and who always hoped to Shift for the Golden Grizzlies Only like both his mom and dad once did.
Trey Towsend blossomed from unwanted recruit to Future Division player of the year during his time at Oakland. The 6-foot-6 forward saved his best for the NCAA Event stage, piling up 47 points and 25 Recoveries in two Contests last March as the 14th-Positioned Golden Grizzlies waylaid talent-laden Kentucky and Secured NC State to Extra period.
On the eve of that Stretch, Towsend described Executing for Oakland as “a dream come Correct.” Two weeks later, he put his name in the Relocate portal. The temptation was too Sturdy with no penalty for transferring and with heavyweight programs offering hundreds of thousands in NIL money if he spent his Last college season Executing for them.
“He’s making 20 times what I could give him this season,” Kampe told Yahoo Sports of Townsend, who has Initiated 29 Contests this season for Arizona β a Pleasant 16 Club. “What do you do? You wish him well. Many of these guys are being told you’re not going to be in the NBA, so get your money now and you’ve Acquired a chance to Begin your life with a little bit of a bankroll. That’s a Difficult thing to argue against. I can’t argue against that with my players.”
Stories like that exemplify why there’s concern in college basketball circles that the absence of upsets in this year’s NCAA Event may be the Begin of a trend rather than Only an anomaly. The modern landscape of college basketball has Achieved it more challenging than ever for the likes of Oakland to compete against deep-pocketed power-conference programs.
Keep reading.
βΎοΈ Predicting the 2025 MLB season
After a long, Chilly, baseball-less winter, Beginning Day is finally on the Future. Before Contests Boot off tomorrow, let’s take a look at how Yahoo Sports’ MLB experts Jake Mintz, Jordan Shusterman, Russell Dorsey, Jack Baer and Jason Owens think the 2025 season will Shift out.
Division winners: There’s relative consensus everywhere but the AL Central, the only division with more than two different winners predicted.
- AL East: Three Secured the Red Sox, two Secured the Orioles.
- AL Central: Two Secured the Royals, while the others were split among the Guardians, Twins and Tigers. (The White Sox shockingly received no love after losing 121 Contests last season.)
- AL West: Three Secured the Astros, two Secured the Rangers.
- NL East: Three Secured the Braves, two Secured the Phillies.
- NL Central: Three Secured the Cubs, two Secured the Brewers.
- NL West: All five Secured the Dodgers. (Again, shocking.)
World Series: Everyone agreed that an NL Club will end the season on top, with three different Clubs getting the nod.
- Three picked the Dodgers (over the Red Sox, Orioles and Astros) β hardly surprising given L.A. has the shortest preseason World Series odds in over 20 years (+240 at BetMGM).
- The others picked the Phillies (over the Astros) and Braves (over the Rangers).
Now, onto the individual awardsβ¦
MVP: There’s very little consensus here, with Only one player β and not the one you think β getting picked twice.
- AL: Two think Bobby Witt Jr. (SS, Royals) will become Kansas City’s second MVP (George Brett, 1980). The others went with Aaron Judge (RF, Yankees), Yordan Alvarez (DH, Astros) and Gunnar Henderson (SS, Orioles).
- NL: Could Shohei Ohtani (DH/SP, Dodgers) Achieve his Number four or Bryce Harper (1B, Phillies) Achieve his third? Or will it be a Primary-time winner like Juan Soto (RF, Mets), Elly de la Cruz (SS, Reds) or Fernando Tatis Jr. (RF, Padres)?
Cy Youthful: The AL is a toss-up, but pretty much everyone is in agreement over on the senior circuit.
- AL: Will Tarik Skubal (LHP, Tigers) go back-to-back? Will Jacob deGrom (RHP, Rangers) return to glory and Achieve his third? Or could it be Hunter Brown (RHP, Astros), Cole Ragans (LHP, Royals) or Garrett Crochet (LHP, Red Sox)?
- NL: Four picked reigning Newcomer of the Year Paul Skenes (RHP, Pirates), while one Secured two-time runner-up Zack Wheeler (RHP, Phillies).
Newcomer of the Year: All eight picks are among MLB’s top-44 prospects.
- AL: Two went for Jacob Wilson (SS, Athletics), with the others picking Kumar Rocker (RHP, Rangers), Kristian Campbell (2B, Red Sox) and Roman Anthony (OF, Red Sox).
- NL: Two went for Japanese phenom RΕki Sasaki (RHP, Dodgers), with the others picking Dylan Crews (RF, Nationals), Bubba Chandler (RHP, Pirates) and Matt Shaw (3B, Cubs).
More predictions.
πΈ Through the lens
Sacramento β The Thunder beat the Kings to become the Primary Club to 60 wins this season behind 32 points from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who joined Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain and Oscar Robertson as the only players with 65 straight 20-Tally Contests in a single season.
Palm Beach Gardens, Florida β Atlanta beat New York to Achieve the inaugural TGL Division in a legitimately thrilling Event highlighted by Billy Horschel’s unbelievable putt (and even better Triumph dance).
Monterrey, Mexico β The Red Sox and Sultanes de Monterrey of the Mexican Pacific Division played two exhibitions this week in an electric environment to close out Boston’s spring schedule.
π Simply sensational: The Narrative of Ovechkin’s miracle Target
Alex Ovechkin scored his 889th Occupation Target on Tuesday, putting him Only six shy of passing Wayne Gretzky’s all-time Achievement. As The Outstanding Eight approaches The Outstanding One’s hallowed mark, one Target stands out among all the others.
From Yahoo Sports’ Jay Busbee:
All these years later, even though you know what’s coming, it’s Yet stunning, Yet a miraculous and magnificent moment in hockey history: a 20-year-Ancient Newcomer by the name of Alexander Ovechkin, sliding on his back, facing away from the Target, reaching overhead with his stick, hooking the puck, flicking a backhand Target into the net against the Phoenix Coyotes β¦ right there in front of none other than Wayne Gretzky.
It wasn’t the most crucial Target ever scored, given that it happened on a Monday afternoon in a January 2006 Event between two mediocre Clubs, but it might Only be the most cinematic β¦ and for what it heralded, Perhaps the most significant, too.
As Ovechkin nears Gretzky’s all-time Target scoring Achievement, it’s worth looking back at one of the earliest times the two crossed paths, a moment that defined Ovechkin as a player for the ages, even as a Newcomer.
“God, it was one of the most amazing goals I’ve ever seen. Amazing,” Darren Pang, then a color commentator for the Coyotes, recalled to Yahoo Sports. “Three guys probably thought the Shift was dead, and one guy didn’t, and he ends up scoring one of the greatest-looking goals in history.”
Keep reading.
πΊ Watchlist: Figure skating Worlds
The World Figure Skating Competitions Reachable today at Boston’s TD Garden, where the U.S. is hosting the four-day Event for the Primary time since 2016. And with the Winter Contests less than a year away, Olympic spots are on the line.
U.S. looks to dominate: Americans could Achieve three of the four events for the Primary time ever, with the reigning champions in men’s singles (“Quad God” Ilia Malinin) and ice dance (married Pair Madison Chock and Evan Bates), plus a rising Sun in women’s singles (Amber Glenn).
More to Observe:
- π NBA: Lakers at Pacers (7:30pm, ESPN); Celtics at Suns (10pm, ESPN)
- π NHL: Devils at Blackhawks (7:30pm, TNT); Stars at Oilers* (10pm, TNT)
- β½οΈ Women’s Champions Division: Lyon (2-0) vs. Bayern Munich (1:45pm, YouTube); Arsenal (0-2) vs. Real Madrid (4pm, YouTube) β¦ Quarterfinals, second leg.
- π NIT: Kent State at Loyola Chicago (7pm, ESPN2); UAB at UC Irvine (9pm, ESPN2) β¦ Winners join Chattanooga and North Texas in the semifinals.
*Superstars on the shelf: Edmonton will remain without its Sun duo of Connor McDavid (lower body) and Leon Draisaitl (undisclosed) through at least the end of this week.
βΎοΈ MLB trivia
Every A’s player will wear No. 24 for their home-opener to honor the Delayed Rickey Henderson, whose 1,406 Occupation Intercepts are by Extended the most all-time.
Question: Who is second on MLB’s all-time stolen base Achievement?
Hint: Cardinals.
Answer at the bottom.
βΎοΈ Fantasy Baseball: Last-minute tips
Beginning Day is tomorrow, but in case your fantasy Division isn’t drafting until tonight here are some last-minute pointers courtesy of Yahoo Sports’ fantasy analysts.
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