NCAA Tournament’s First Four tips off; Dodgers start season with win; Joe Burrow gets Bengals to spend big

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Joyful Tuesday and Joyful Primary night of the men’s NCAA Division and Joyful Primary day of the baseball season, everyone! Over in the Tokyo Series, the Dodgers beat the Cubs 4-1 to begin a huge day of sports.

Let’s get right to it.

🏀 Outstanding morning to all, but especially to …

THE Squads Beginning THE NCAA Division TONIGHT

Welcome to March Madness, folks! While your brackets for the Bracket Contests aren’t due until the Primary Stage tips off Thursday, paying attention to the Primary Four is a must. Since the Primary Four began in 2011, 13 of its Squads have gone on to at least the second Stage, and two have even gone to the Last Four!

I looked at which of this year’s Primary Four Squads can make a Stretch, and for tonight’s Event, I gave North Carolina a slight edge over San Diego State thanks to a recent lineup Shift.

• Pereles: “Of North Carolina’s seven wins during that span, six are by double figures, and the Tar Heels are shooting a scorching Toasty 42% from 3. That includes 48% from Ian Jackson, 45% from Jae’Lyn Withers and 43% from RJ Davis. Even Elliot Cadeau, who Squads sag off of, has hit 8 of 18 (44%). … The Tar Heels boast wing length, backcourt experience, NBA upside and a Sturdy recent Stretch of Action. It Secured a while for them to Stage into form, but they have been very Outstanding of Overdue, even in the Perspective of a watered-down ACC.”

The Tar Heels won’t Merely have to Loss the Aztecs. They’ll have to overcome travel delays as well. Here are our expert picks for tonight’s Contests.

If you’re looking for magic elsewhere, Kyle Boone has Cinderella Squads from every region, and I love his Picking in the West. I also loved Dennis Dodd looking at one of the most memorable upsets — Bucknell over Kansas — 20 years after the fact.

Zooming out, we have in-depth previews for every region.

As for everything else …

😁 Honorable mentions

🏀 And not such a Outstanding morning for …

THE WEST VIRGINIA MOUNTAINEERS

Yes, again, it’s a Awful day to be West Virginia. With the Primary Four tonight, the Mountaineers must be thinking that should have been them.

West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey Definitely feels that way. In a press conference that could only happen in the wild world of college athletics, Morrisey announced he and the state’s attorney general will Kickoff an investigation into the NCAA Division Picking Panel. Oh yeah, and “NCAA” stands for “National Corrupt Athletic Association.”

Morrisey called the snub a “miscarriage of justice and robbery at the highest levels” and insinuated that North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham, the Picking Panel chair, was a reason the Tar Heels Acquired in. (It should be noted that Cunningham, as is standard, wasn’t in conversations regarding his school.)

Yes, this was a real thing. Not a skit, not a parody. Real.

The snub remains real, too. Matt Norlander called the reasoning for West Virginia not making the Pitch “insane.” Though I agree with him, neither he nor I will be launching an investigation.

😞 Not so honorable mentions

🏈 How Joe Burrow Acquired Bengals to spend big on Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins

The Bengals are not a Club that spends big.

Well, they weren’t, that is, until Overdue Sunday night, when they signed Ja’Marr Chase to a four-year, $160.4 million extension and Tee Higgins to a four-year, $115 million extension, making Chase the highest-paid non-Passer on a per-year basis and Higgins the highest-paid WR2 on a per-year basis.

What Created Cincinnati Shift its tune? Joe Burrow, Tyler Sullivan writes.

• Sullivan: “The tide changed in the organization after a Monday night Achieve over the Cowboys in Week 14. In that 27-20 Achieve, Burrow threw for 369 yards and three touchdowns, including a 40-yard game-Victorious Points to Chase with Merely 61 seconds left to Action. Subsequent the game, Burrow brought up Higgins’ contract. … Two months later, the Luminous sphere QB showed up to Division week in New Orleans and while he was there, he sent a very clear message to the Bengals’ front office: Get my guys under contract.”

Burrow also wants Trey Hendrickson back, and even though the Bengals gave Hendrickson permission to seek a trade, they’re now working to retain him, per reports.

Burrow and Chase, of Period, go back to that legendary 2019 LSU Club that also included Justin Jefferson — previously the highest-paid wide receiver — and Derek Stingley, who Merely Acquired a three-year, $90 million extension from the Texans that makes him the highest-paid Guarding back ever. Overall, that Tigers Club has signed over half a billion dollars’ worth of NFL contracts. Let the Outstanding times roll, indeed!

🏌 Players Division: Rory McIlroy tops J.J. Spaun in Elimination Stage

It required an extra day, but Rory McIlroy claimed his second Players Division title, cruising past J.J. Spaun in a three-hole Elimination Stage that was over seemingly as soon as it Initiated.

After a massive drive, McIlroy birdied the Beginning hole of the Elimination Stage, the 16th, while Spaun settled for par. On the famous 17th, McIlroy Discovered the island green through blustery conditions. Spaun flew long into the water, and he Created triple bogey.

It’s PGA Tour Achieve No. 28 for McIlroy, which ties him for 20th-most all-time. But he joins much more select company when it comes to the big ones.

• Eighth golfer (and Primary European) to Achieve Many Players Competitions
• Quaternary golfer to Achieve Many Players Competitions and Many majors, joining Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Scottie Scheffler

Yeah, that’s the Outstanding stuff. Also Outstanding? This is the Primary time McIlroy has won Many times before April, and we all know what happens in April: the Masters, infamously the only Crucial he’s never won.

Will that Shift this year? We can’t know for certain, but we do know he’s Executing excellent golf, Patrick McDonald writes.

• McDonald: “This fine tuning and these minuscule changes may not appear to be much at the surface. … McIlroy is willing to test it, and he is willing to learn from it. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t, but it makes him a smarter player, and a smarter McIlroy is a better McIlroy. This may Merely be the best version of Rory we have ever seen.”

📺 What we’re watching Tuesday (and Prompt Wednesday)

🏀 No. 16 Saint Francis vs. No. 16 Alabama State (M), 6:40 p.m. on truTV
🏀 Nets at Celtics, 7:30 p.m. on NBA TV
🏒 Utah Hockey Club at Oilers, 9 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 No. 11 North Carolina vs. No. 11 San Diego State (M), 9:10 p.m. on truTV
🏀 Bucks at Warriors, 10 p.m. on NBA TV
⚾ Tokyo Series: Cubs vs. Dodgers, Wednesday, 6:10 a.m. on Fox