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🏀 Good morning to all, but especially to …
COLLEGE BASKETBALL FANS
After three days without NCAA Tournament basketball — and it seemed like a lot longer than that, didn’t it? — the women’s Final Four is tonight in Tampa, Florida, and the men follow tomorrow night in San Antonio, Texas.
Here’s what we’re looking at tonight (ET):
- (1) Texas vs. (1) South Carolina, 7 p.m. on ESPN/ESPN2
- (1) UCLA vs. (2) UConn, approx. 9:30 p.m. on ESPN/ESPN2
You’ll notice UConn is the only No. 2 seed. But the Huskies are no underdogs; Isabel Gonzalez has them No. 1 in her Final Four team rankings.
A big reason for that? Paige Bueckers, who slots in at shooting guard Jack Maloney’s perfect Final Four lineup.
- Maloney: “No player is perfect, but Bueckers is about as close as you can get on the offensive end. You know someone is special when the biggest criticism you can make is that they don’t look for their own shot enough. … Since 1981-82, there have been 113 instances of a player averaging at least 20 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals in a season. Bueckers’ 2024-25 campaign was the most efficient among them with a stunning 64.4 true shooting percentage.”
As for some other stars, Texas teammates Madison Booker and Rori Harmon are paying for some students to make the 1,150-mile bus trip from Austin to Tampa.
Here’s the schedule on the men’s side tomorrow (ET):
(1) Florida vs. (1) Auburn, 6:09 p.m. on CBS
(1) Houston vs. (1) Duke, 8:49 p.m. on CBS
On the men’s side, Cameron Salerno looked at how the four rosters were built. Many coaches talk about getting old and staying old, and Auburn has done just that.
- Salerno: “Johni Broome has started 162 games in his career. Chad Baker-Mazara, a member of San Diego State during the 2021-22 season, has appeared in 101 games. Former Georgia Tech star Miles Kelly has played in 132 games (95 starts) and Denver Jones was a starter at FIU before transferring to Auburn in 2023. The longest-tenured homegrown star on this roster is big man Dylan Cardwell, who has appeared in 165 games in his career, all for Auburn.”
But here’s the thing: In order to have all that experienced talent, you have to monitor the transfer portal all the time. In fact, even while preparing for the Final Four, Auburn’s staff is deep in the portal and NIL negotiations, Isaac Trotter reports.
On the other side of the bracket, CBS Sports Player of the Year Cooper Flagg has gotten plenty of love, but Kon Knueppel has been a perfect sidekick, Matt Norlander writes.
Here’s more:
😃 Honorable mentions
😖 Not so honorable mentions
🏀 NBA roundup: Warriors beat Lakers, Ja Morant caps wild day with game winner
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Don’t look now, but here comes Golden State. The Warriors have won four in a row — all on the road — after a 123-116 win over the Lakers and are now just one game back of Los Angeles for the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference.
We got another classic duel between Stephen Curry (37 points) and LeBron James (33), but more importantly, the Warriors got huge scoring contributions from Brandin Podziemski (28 points) and Jonathan Kuminga (18) and another outstanding defensive effort from Draymond Green.
The Warriors are now 20-4 when Jimmy Butler plays, and their two timelines are melding beautifully, Sam Quinn writes. And Brad Botkin says Butler is pushing all the right buttons by not actually pushing at all. (Oooohhh, just let that one marinate.)
Earlier in the night, Ja Morant concluded a wild day with a wild game-winner against the Heat.
- On Tuesday, Morant used a finger guns gesture towards the Warriors bench, and on Thursday, he received a warning from the NBA but was not fined or suspended. The NBA also warned Buddy Hield.
- Morant has been suspended multiple times for past incidents involving actual guns.
- Then, on Thursday, Morant appeared to make a similar gesture after hitting a 3 early in the game.
- Those were Morant’s only three points of the first half. Then he had 27 points in the second, including a buzzer-beating stepback fadeaway to win it.
It was a much-needed win for Memphis, which had lost seven of eight and fired coach Taylor Jenkins. The Grizzlies’ six-spot slide was the largest in Colin Ward-Henninger’s NBA Power Rankings.
Finally, Giannis Antetokounmpo had 35 points, 20 assists and 17 rebounds in a win over the 76ers. It’s the first such stat line in NBA history. I know the Bucks aren’t true championship contenders and haven’t lived up to expectations, but Antetokounmpo is exceptional.
🏈 Trey McBride now highest-paid tight end; NFL mock drafts, best fits
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There’s a new highest-paid tight end in NFL history. Trey McBride agreed to a four-year, $76 million extension with the Cardinals that includes $43 million guaranteed.
- At $19 million per year, McBride’s contract surpasses Travis Kelce ($17.125M) for highest per-year value. The $43 million guaranteed is also most at the position.
- McBride, 25, reeled in 111 receptions last year, fourth-most by a tight end in a season in NFL history.
So McBride isn’t going anywhere. As for a player who just changed locations, Geno Smith also got paid, receiving a two-year, $75 million extension from the Raiders, who acquired him from the Seahawks last month. The deal includes $66.5 million guaranteed.
We’re quietly inside three weeks away from the NFL Draft, too, and our experts have been pumping out mock drafts basically every day. I also enjoyed Doug Clawson and Ryan McGrady’s top first-round fits.
⚾ Should torpedo bats be banned?
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While we sit and wait for the fate of torpedo bats — and watch the Yankees blast a bunch of home runs with them — our MLB experts debated whether or not they should be banned. I think Mike Axisa’s response makes sense.
- Axisa: “The ‘correct’ answer is it’s too soon to say. We’ve known about these things for less than a week and we really have no idea how much they increase offense, if at all. I think that, unless nine-homer games become commonplace, MLB should allow torpedo bats and even go out their way to make it clear they are legal. The league has been looking for ways to reduce strikeouts and increase offense the last few years, right? … This is a dream scenario for MLB.”
The bats could wind up being just the latest piece of sports equipment to join sticky stuff, belly putters, the spaghetti racket and Jeff Gordon’s T-Rex.
📺 What we’re watching this weekend
Friday
⚾ Dodgers at Phillies, 6:45 p.m. on Apple TV+
🏀 (1) Texas vs. (1) South Carolina (W), 7 p.m. on ESPN/ESPN2
🏒 Blackhawks at Capitals, 7 p.m. on ESPN+/Hulu/Disney+
🏀 Suns at Celtics, 7:30 p.m. on NBA TV
⚾ Rays at Rangers, 8:05 p.m. on Apple TV+
🏀 (1) UCLA vs. (2) UConn (W), approx. 9:30 p.m. on ESPN/ESPN2
🏀 Nuggets at Warriors, 10 p.m. on NBA TV
Saturday
⚽ Internazionale at Parma, 12 p.m. on CBS/Paramount+
🏒 Rangers at Devils, 12:30 p.m. on ABC
🏒 Penguins at Stars, 3 p.m. on ABC
⚾ Dodgers at Phillies, 4:05 p.m. on FS1
⚽ USWNT vs. Brazil, 5 p.m. on TNT
🏀 (1) Florida vs. (1) Auburn (M), 6:09 p.m. on CBS
🏀 Grizzlies at Pistons, 7 p.m. on NBA TV
🏀 (1) Houston vs. (1) Duke (M), 8:49 p.m. on CBS
Sunday
🏒 Capitals at Islanders, 12:30 p.m. on TNT/truTV
🏀 Bulls at Hornets, 1 p.m. on NBA TV
🏀 NCAA Tournament championship (W), 3 p.m. on ABC/ESPN
🏒 Stars at Wild, 3 p.m. on TNT/truTV
🏀 Lakers at Thunder, 3:30 p.m. on NBA TV
🏒 Panthers at Red Wings, 5:30 p.m. on TNT/truTV
🏀 Kings at Cavaliers, 6 p.m. on NBA TV
⚾ Cardinals at Red Sox, 7 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 Rockets at Warriors, 8:30 p.m. on NBA TV
🏒 Golden Knights at Canucks, 10 p.m. on ESPN
