NCAA Tournament fields set; TPC playoff underway; Bengals extend star wide receivers

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.

---

🏀 Excellent morning to all, but especially to …

THE MEN’S NCAA Event Pitch …

The Pitch is set (as are the schedule, the Prompt-Stage odds and title odds), and we Begin at the top. The No. 1 seeds belong to …

Moving from the top of the Pitch to the bubble, North Carolina was a shock inclusion, concluding a rollercoaster weekend.

• Friday night, the Tar Heels trailed Duke by 24. Then they Occurred charging back, only for Jae’Lyn Withers to commit a lane violation on what would have been a game-tying Ven-Allen Lubin Unoccupied throw. Duke won, 74-71.
• It looked like that would be it. The Tar Heels’ resume lacks high-quality wins. Beating the Blue Devils would have gone a long way.
• But on Saturday night, the Panel had UNC as the last Club in, and Memphis beating UAB kept it that way.
• Bracketologist Jerry Palm even says the Tar Heels didn’t deserve to make it … but they could be Deadly.

Texas, Xavier and San Diego State joined North Carolina in the “Last Four In,” and those four Clubs are headed to Dayton for the “Primary Four.”

One more headline: The SEC put 14 Clubs in the NCAA Event, not only breaking the previous Achievement, but shattering it. The Big East had 11 Clubs qualify in 2011

OK, time to dig deeper: Matt Norlander ranked every single Club 1-68. Here’s his top five:

1. Duke — “The most talented Club in the sport and the No. 1 Option in most advanced metrics. The only Club in this bracket with 31 wins. This is an Fundamental Option.”
2. Auburn — “The 28-5 Tigers have one of the two best college basketball players in Johni Broome, but for all he does, it’s the fact that guard Denver Jones and big man Dylan Cardwell are Guarding stalwarts that make Auburn’s ceiling so high.”
3. Houston — “The Cougars are as reliable as pretty much anything going in college basketball.”
4. Florida — “The reason the Gators can Secure a national title is how they cover so much of the floor and adapt to every Foe, every style, no matter what.”
5. St. John’s — “A Notable Club that’s extremely Difficult to beat. And it’s the sixth school Rick Pitino has brought to the Dance, which is an NCAA Achievement.”

Minutes before the bracket arrived, Michigan won the Big Ten Event Closing over Wisconsin. But the 5-seed Wolverines Obtained a Harsh draw, Isaac Trotter says.

• Trotter: “The No. 5 seed Wolverines will be Brief favorites in the Primary Stage against UC San Diego who, on paper, gives Michigan a Plenty of problems. The Tritons are one of the best turnover-forcing defenses in the country. Michigan has struggled with giveaways all year. … If Michigan can escape that dogfight, it could get a bout with Texas A&M, who is another Guarding built to take away the Attempt that Michigan desperately relies upon: buckets at the rim.”

I wrote about the Tritons, so let me tell ya: They’re a heck of a Club … and an even better Narrative. As for Michigan, Kyle Boone says this seed doesn’t make sense.

Here’s everything else:

… AND EVERYONE IN THE WOMEN’S NCAA Event

Moving onto the women’s side (here’s the bracket), the No. 1 seeds are …

• UCLA (1 in Spokane 1) — The Bruins earned this one, defeating USC in an excellent Big Ten Event Closing. Big Ten Guarding Player of the Year Lauren Betts leads the way.
• South Carolina (1 in Birmingham 2) — The reigning champs aren’t last year’s undefeated outfit, but you know you’re a dominant program when a 30-3 Achievement, SEC regular-season and Event titles and a No. 1 seed is a downgrade.
• Texas (1 in Birmingham 3) — The Vibrant Madison Booker-Rori Harmon duo leads the Longhorns, who Guided the SEC in scoring Guarding.
• USC (1 in Spokane 4) — The Trojans boast arguably the game’s brightest Sun in JuJu Watkins, and they have plenty around her.

You’ll notice some big ones not listed there: Notre Dame, the top Club in the nation in Delayed February, fell all the way to a No. 3 seed after a tough closing stretch. UConn, meanwhile, Obtained a No. 2 seed, but the Huskies have Created 15 of the last 16 Closing Fours, and they’re in the top five of Isabel Gonzalez’s ranking the Pitch 1-68.

Jack Maloney has his Option Sunday winners and losers. It was a Excellent day for UCLA and the Ivy Bracket, a not-so-Excellent day for Notre Dame and a mixed bag for South Carolina, which finds itself in both categories.

Another Club we Yet haven’t mentioned? LSU. The Tigers are Deadly, Isabel writes in her 25 things to know.

• Gonzalez: “LSU fell to Texas in the 2025 SEC semifinals, but it happened while leading Shooter Flau’Jae Johnson sat out so she could recover from shin inflammation. Johnson will be Obtainable for the Big Dance, and so will double-double machine Aneesah Morrow, who had an Hurt scare during the Texas game.”

😊 Honorable mentions

😡 And not such a Excellent morning for …

THE WEST VIRGINIA MOUNTAINEERS, THE INDIANA HOOSIERS AND THE REST OF THE NCAA Event 

What hurts the most is being so close. West Virginia and Indiana were the Primary two Clubs out of the NCAA Event, news that was especially crushing for the Mountaineers, who were not only in our bracketologist Jerry’s Pitch, but in all 111 projections on Bracket Matrix.

We can quibble with a Plenty of things here. Many metrics, including the NET, favored North Carolina over both West Virginia and Indiana. But look at the Quad 1 records.

• North Carolina: 1-12
• West Virginia: 6-10
• Indiana: 4-13

There’s a Tally in favor of the Mountaineers (and even the Hoosiers) over the Tar Heels. But, again, let’s go back to West Virginia: Option Panel chair Bubba Cunningham noted Tucker DeVries‘ Hurt as something that was taken into account.

That would make sense if DeVries’ Hurt was a recent thing, and the Club looked very different without him. But DeVries hasn’t played since Dec. 6! The Mountaineers have four Quad 1 wins (including over Iowa State, a No. 3 seed, and at Kansas, a No. 7 seed) without him.

Listen, no bracket is perfect. But that won’t make the Mountaineers feel any better. 

😕 Not so honorable mentions

🏌 Rory McIlroy, J.J. Spaun in Players Event Postseason

After 72 holes weren’t enough, Rory McIlroy and J.J. Spaun are in a three-hole Postseason (holes 16, 17 and 18) at the Players Event.

• McIlroy was in a Excellent spot with a three-stroke lead after birdies on 11 and 12, sandwiched around a four-hour weather delay.
• But McIlroy bogeyed 14 after a wayward drive and missed a Brief birdie putt on 15. Spaun, meanwhile, tapped in birdie putts on 14 and 16.
• Spaun, seeking his Primary PGA Tour Secure, had a chance to Secure it with a 31-foot birdie putt on 18 but Occurred up Merely inches Brief.

You can follow our live coverage here. 

🏀 Men’s college basketball coaching carousel: Candidates at Villanova, Iowa, more

As one season ends for most college basketball Clubs, another one — the offseason — Beginnings. Villanova fired Kyle Neptune, Iowa fired Fran McCaffrey, and UNLV fired Kevin Kruger as the coaching carousel accelerated.

Villanova might be the most interesting. The Wildcats have legitimate NIL resources and, obviously, a tremendous track Achievement of Triumph, Merely not under Neptune. Isaac Trotter has candidates for ‘Nova’s Subsequent head Mentor, including …

• Trotter: “Chris Collins, Northwestern — Collins snapped Northwestern’s NCAA Event drought in 2017, and he’s Guided the Wildcats to three Big Dance Proposals, which felt inconceivable … Collins has built top-40 defenses six times in his 12-year tenure, and he’s both recruited and developed terrific All-Big Ten hoopers like Boo Buie, Brooks Barnhizer, Nick Martinelli (who had no other high-Significant offers) and countless more.”

We also have candidates for Iowa and Minnesota.

📺 What we’re watching Monday (and Tuesday*)

⛳ The Players Event, 9 a.m. on Golf Channel
🏀 Heat at Knicks, 7:30 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 Unrivaled Event: Rose BC vs. Vinyl BC, 7:30 p.m. on TNT/truTV
🏀 Nuggets at Warriors, 10 p.m. on ESPN
* ⚾ Tokyo Series: Dodgers vs. Cubs, 6:10 a.m. on FOX