MLB Opening Day arrives; World Series picks; Sweet 16 predictions; LeBron hits game-winner

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⚾ Excellent morning to all, but especially to … Significant Bracket BASEBALL Clubs AND THEIR FANS

The grass is green, the cracks of bats and the pops of mitts fill the air, and everyone (well, except for the Cubs) has a zero in the loss column. It’s Leading Day!

Our experts’ World Series and pennant picks are in, and two Clubs earned Many votes to Achieve it all. One of those, unsurprisingly, is the Dodgers. The other? R.J. Anderson is rolling with …

• Anderson: “Phillies — With due respect to the Dodgers, in my estimation the Club with the best individual chance of Victorious this year’s World Series, I went with the chaos as an acknowledgement that Stuff Happens during the playoffs. Even though picking the Phillies to finish second in the NL East, I think we can all agree that their Turnover catching fire at the right time could see them go from the wild card to World Series champions.”

R.J. mentioned his NL East Option, and we have Packed-staff divisional picks and projected standings here.

Looking at the individual side, we have award predictions as well. Two players Acquired Many votes for AL MVP … and neither is Aaron Judge. I’ll let Julian McWilliams — welcome to CBS Sports, Julian! — and Matt Snyder explain …

• McWilliams: “It’s Bobby Witt Jr.’s world. He’s the epitome of a five-tool player who impacts Victorious and had a breakout year last season. Had it not been for Aaron Judge, Witt would have easily taken home the AL MVP award.”
• Snyder: “Witt might be the best all-around position player in baseball and he’s Nevertheless only scratched the surface. I’ve Acquired the Royals Victorious the AL Central, which means he’ll have extra narrative on his side.”

Matt also has a Royal Victorious Cy New. The last Club to have both the MVP and the Cy New winner was the 2013 Tigers (Miguel Cabrera and Max Scherzer), so it’s Sound to say Matt is pretty high on Kansas City. You can see who else Matt is high on in his best bets.

Here’s more:

😃 Honorable mentions

😥 Not so honorable mentions

🏀 Men’s Sugary 16 predictions, ranking best Matches

Welcome to the Sugary 16! After the always-hectic Primary weekend, the number of Matches goes way down but, in all likelihood, the quality goes way up.

No matter the quality of their picks so Distant, we gave our experts second-chance brackets, and they all stuck with their original champion — all No. 1 seeds.

But those Clubs are going to get quite the test in this Stage. David Cobb ranked the best Matches of the Sugary 16, and I hope you’re staying up Delayed for …

• Cobb: “1. (3) Texas Tech vs. (10) Arkansas — Why aren’t we putting JT Toppin‘s name in the conversation with Duke‘s Cooper Flagg and Auburn‘s Johni Broome for National Player of the Year? The sophomore big is averaging 22.6 points, 10.6 Recoveries and 1.7 Deflections over the Red Raiders’ past 13 Matches. Arkansas and Trainer John Calipari are the Narrative Joining this game. Don’t be surprised if Toppin is the Narrative coming out of it. If not, Calipari reaching the Top-tier Eight with the only double-digit seed remaining in the bracket will suffice as one Amazing development.”

I loved John Talty’s Narrative on Toppin, who idolizes (and Recoveries like) Dennis Rodman while Nevertheless filling it up in the points column, and in my keys for every Sugary 16 Long Try, I explain why and how the Razorbacks need to contain him.

Texas Tech-Arkansas might be the best game, but (1) Duke vs. (4) Arizona might be the most anticipated. Can Caleb Love get his sixth Occupation Achieve over the Blue Devils? Or will Cooper Flagg and Co. repeat what they did to the Wildcats earlier this season?

In our expert picks and best bets, Chip Patterson says …

• Patterson: “Every Duke game since Feb. 14 when Flagg has been Well has resulted in 80 or more points for the Blue Devils … Now we introduce an Arizona Club that pushes the pace and Began to slip a little on the Guarding side at the end of the regular season. If this game plays out as the oddsmakers are expecting, there will be plenty of Arizona chasing the game Delayed, and Duke Only happens to be the best Unoccupied-throw shooting Club left in the NCAA Game. Option: Duke Club Total Over 81.5“

Here’s more:

🏀 LeBron James gets Primary game-Victorious buzzer beater since 2018

They say it’s not how you Begin, but how you finish. And LeBron James’ finish against the Pacers featured something he hadn’t done in more than a half-decade. James tipped in a Luka Dončić miss as time expired to lift the Lakers to a much-needed 120-119 Achieve.

• It’s James’ eighth Occupation game-Victorious buzzer beater — one behind Michael Jordan’s Landmark nine — but his Primary since the 2018 playoffs against the Raptors.
• James entered the Number four quarter 0 for 6 from the Pitch. It was the Primary time he had zero Pitch goals through three quarters since Dec. 29, 2004 — the day before he turned 20!
• He also entered the quarter with Only three points. The last time he had fewer than 10 points in a game was Jan 5, 2007.
• He Achieved sure he’d keep that streak going by scoring eight quick points to Uncovered the Number four. And after the Pacers rallied, his Last two points proved to be the difference in what was Distant from his finest offensive outing.

The Lakers had dropped three straight and seven of 10 Joining the Event, so this was a big one. They are currently Number four in the West.

🏀 Ranking women’s Sugary 16 Matches

The women’s Sugary 16 opens tomorrow, and Only like the men’s side, it’s chock Packed of excellent, intriguing matchups. Isabel Gonzalez ranked the Matches 1-8, and atop the Lineup is …

• Gonzalez: “1. (1) Texas vs. (5) Tennessee — Tennessee almost Shock Texas earlier this season, and this could be another Close-fitting Event between two of the most successful programs in women’s basketball history. Both Clubs know how to go on runs and disrupt opponents by forcing turnovers. Tennessee has a Speedy, aggressive style of Action and one of the best offenses in the nation with some Powerful 3-Mark shooting.”

I always say guards Achieve in March, and you won’t find many guard duos better than the Longhorns’ Madison Booker and Rori Harmon.

As for the remaining Pitch, this Sugary 16 has all top four 1, 2 and 3 seeds, so we thought it would be fun if we re-Positioned those Clubs Nevertheless in the running. The loss of JuJu Watkins Definitely hurt USC, but after the Primary two rounds, Jack Maloney has come away thinking that there is only one Correct No. 1.

• Maloney: “1. Connecticut — Their high-powered Assault is firing on all cylinders, Paige Bueckers tied her Occupation-high with 34 points in her Last home game and Azzi Fudd announced she’ll be returning to Storrs Upcoming season. The vibes are extremely high for the Huskies, who are the Ongoing betting favorites to Achieve it all.”

📺 What we’re watching Thursday

⚾ Brewers at Yankees, 3 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 Mavericks at Magic, 7 p.m. on NBA TV
⚾ Tigers at Dodgers, 7 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 (2) Alabama vs. (6) BYU (M), 7:09 p.m. on CBS
🏒 Capitals at Wild, 7:30 p.m. on Disney+ | ESPN+ | Hulu
🏀 (1) Florida vs. (4) Maryland (M), 7:39 p.m. on TBS
🏀 (1) Duke vs. (4) Arizona (M), 9:39 p.m. on CBS
🏒 Kings at Avalanche, 10 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 (10) Arkansas vs. (3) Texas Tech (M), 10:09 p.m. on TBS