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A final look at the NCAA Tournament bubble, plus golf’s big squabble (featuring turtles)

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Good morning! Play it safe around not just turtles, but also bees.

Bracket Watch: Let’s cram for Sunday

Basketball is so busy right now — in the best way, mind you.

Conference tournaments across both the men’s and women’s side of college basketball are set for this weekend, though most of the big-name women’s teams competed last weekend. That leaves our focus on the men’s side amid all the bustle. Two teams I want to highlight:

1. St. John’s
Yes, that St. John’s, who’s 6-0 after new coach Rick Pitino lambasted his own players a few weeks ago. Whether it was motivation or an honest slip, he’s gone from ranting to hearing Madison Square Garden chant for the Red Storm yesterday amid a special Big East tournament run. The Johnnies currently sit squarely on the bubble, but a win over top-seeded UConn tonight would push them in. As Dana O’Neil writes, the wins are why you sign up for everything else that comes with Pitino.

2. Pitt
A week ago, the Panthers were out of the NCAA tournament. Tonight, they face top-seeded North Carolina in the ACC tourney semifinal with a magical run at stake. Pitt started this season 1-5 in ACC play but has surged back into the bubble, though as Brendan Marks writes, the numbers actually peg the 22-10 Panthers as a top-25 team. They looked the part in a 81-69 win over Wake Forest yesterday. A victory tonight likely secures a spot in the big dance. Nothing better than a team getting hot come March.

There are so, so many more matchups to watch this weekend. Two resources for you:

Brackets debut Sunday. Can’t wait.

Passive Aggression: A controversial drop and golf’s big rift

A minor tiff between two golfers over a penalty stroke generates little interest, at least for me. And yet yesterday, two of these incidents at The Players Championship took center stage, largely because of the actors involved: Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth.

McIlroy is tied for the lead after shooting 7-under. Spieth is well off the lead after shooting 2-over. But their on-course rift went much deeper than one round or even one tournament, as Brody Miller detailed:

Two McIlroy tee shots into the water — the first on No. 18, the second on No. 7 — drew discussion from playing partners Spieth and Viktor Hovland, plus the pair’s caddies. McIlroy played a favorable drop on both, but was adamant he was correct. The others disagreed. On the second drop, McIlroy and Spieth were seen shouting at each other across the fairway. Drama.
These two have been testy for the past year, truthfully. Spieth recently succeeded McIlroy on the PGA Tour policy board, and McIlroy publicly criticized Spieth after the PGA Tour announced its intention to merge with LIV. McIlroy even left a group chat. Leaving a group chat is extreme.

The full story is worth a read, as Brody got a front-row seat to the extremely long discussion. Somehow, a big part of the debate concerned the whereabouts of nearby turtles.

Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Viktor Hovland discuss McIlroy’s drop on No. 7.

Rory makes double bogey to move from solo leader to T2. pic.twitter.com/dkV6a5Q22W

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 14, 2024

Best part? The trio plays together again today, teeing off at 8:35 a.m. ET.

News to Know

An NFL transaction flurry
Free agency wanes, but the proverbial stove is not off yet. Most interesting yesterday was the Commanders’ trade of former starting quarterback Sam Howell to Seattle, clearing the way for Washington to pick a quarterback in this year’s draft. Also eyebrow-raising: the Chargers traded elite wideout Keenan Allen to the Bears for a fourth-round pick. Elsewhere, Arik Armstead landed in Jacksonville while Devin White picked Philadelphia. Both should be immediate contributors.

Heist!
As if this season could get any worse for the Pittsburgh Penguins. The team announced yesterday it would not proceed with a planned Jaromir Jagr bobblehead giveaway at last night’s game because the entire shipment was stolen en route. Not a typo. I’m imagining the opening scene from the original “Fast and the Furious” movie. Our hockey crew did a whole podcast on this, which is worth a listen.

More news

Feedback Loop: Nick Saban was right?

The results from yesterday’s poll are in: most of you agree something needs to be done about NIL. Hm. Sure, there’s room for improvement, but I generally disagree:

I will grant Nick Saban (and every other coach crowing about this) that we are in a chaotic era. NIL is still so new. Programs are adapting or dying out here, trying to spin up NIL collectives and build out new staff roles to properly adjust.
I just think this all sorts itself out. Teams will adapt and thrive, or complain and fail. And for all of Saban’s worries about college football becoming a caste system … we were already in a caste system, pal, and he was atop it.
Seth Emerson’s point yesterday about the naivete of pretending players weren’t paid before NIL is especially prescient. This is how it’s always been, especially at the top universities. It’s just allowed now.
Another thing I will grant Saban: Schools and conferences should split revenue with players if coaches want a lesser focus on the money aspect. Maybe allow players to — gasp — form a union and negotiate a collective bargaining agreement. Then they can acquire their own NIL packages outside of it.

I suspect the support for Saban’s point comes from a place of nostalgia/uncertainty. This does feel like a different game than even 10 years ago. The greatest coach in the game partly retired because he was exhausted by this.

This is just our new reality. While conferences look different and coaching looks different, the on-field product should still be awesome. Don’t lose faith in college football yet.

Watch This Game

NCAAM: Mississippi State vs. No. 5 Tennessee (get tickets)
1 p.m. ET on ESPN
The conference tournaments are ratcheting up. I want to see how the Volunteers — a harbinger of the SEC’s recent rise to prominence — react to everyone tabbing them a No. 1 seed.

NCAAM: Ohio State vs. No. 13 Illinois (get tickets)
6:30 p.m. ET on Big Ten Network
Same here for the Illini, who currently project as a No. 4 seed. Can that jump with a couple of good wins?

Pulse Picks

Brendan Quinn and Katie Strang have an explosive report out this morning on Juwan Howard’s downfall at Michigan. We’ve touched on this before, but new reporting here sheds light on a program under intense scrutiny. It’s easy to wonder if Howard’s job survives this.

I thought this was super interesting: Fans are cynical when it comes to Golden Knights winger Mark Stone, who’s on long-term injured reserve, a status used by previous teams as a salary cap workaround. This situation is different.

Jason Jones has a touching story about Kings broadcaster Kyle Draper, who’s proudly seven years sober. His openness about his battle with alcoholism has inspired others.

Most-read story on the site yesterday: Jamie Carragher, Kate Abdo and the verbal grenade on CBS that made everyone squirm.

Most-clicked story in the newsletter yesterday: The Yankees will lose Gerrit Cole for at least a month with an elbow injury.