Single Post

The Pulse Newsletter 📣 | This is The Athletic’s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox.

Good morning! How’s your bracket?

Hello, Cinderella: Two teams stand above the chalk

There is a line in the Meek Mill song “Dreams and Nightmares Intro” — which you might remember from the Eagles’ 2018 Super Bowl run — in which Mill raps: “Hold up, wait a minute — y’all thought I was finished?” It happens as the beat switches, from a slow, victorious sonata to a fast, energetic thrum. 

Yesterday was our graceful, sweet-sounding welcome party to the men’s NCAA Tournament. Sixteen games and three legit upsets. Seven of those games decided by 10 points or fewer. Today, the beat switches: 

• A total of 32 games are on the slate, 16 apiece in the men’s and women’s bracket. Both schedules stretch from morning to evening in most of the country. It is the beginning of a gloriously busy weekend. 

Back to yesterday, where two darlings were born: 

• The talk around your proverbial water cooler will be about McNeese State, which is an early candidate for the story of the tournament. The Cowboys, a No. 12 seed, upended No. 5 seed Clemson after a masterful first half. They are coached by Will Wade, who is reportedly leaving for NC State after McNeese’s season ends. The Cowboys also employ a student manager, Amir Khan, who has multiple NIL deals. The kids call this aura. Let’s go to the Clemson Tiger mascot for his thoughts:

The Clemson tiger is disappointed

[image or embed]

— CJ Fogler (@cjzero.bsky.social) March 20, 2025 at 4:09 PM

• Am I bitter that Wade, one of the country’s most charismatic coaches (and best recruiters), is back in the limelight four years after LSU was forced to fire him for misdeeds that are now permissible in the modern game? No comment. Wade has made two NCAA Tournaments since LSU jettisoned him in 2022; LSU has made zero. Sigh. I recommend reading Brendan Quinn’s wonderful piece on Wade from a year ago.
  
• Drake was the day’s other Cinderella after dispatching No. 6 seed Missouri with relative ease. The Bulldogs are the real deal, as CJ Moore told us many moons ago. Don’t ask me if I picked Drake in my bracket, though. 

We have full Day 1 takeaways here. What I’m most excited about: watching John Calipari and Rick Pitino face off this weekend after both Arkansas and St. John’s won last night. And watch No Offseason dive in on the women’s bracket.

News to Know

A record sale
The Boston Celtics sold for $6.1 billion, the current ownership group announced yesterday, a record number in the history of North American sports. The buyer: Bill Chisholm, the managing partner of Symphony Technology Group, who grew up in Boston and has been “a die-hard Celtics fan (his) entire life.” The sale price topped the Commanders’ deal two years ago ($6.05 billion) and raced past the Suns’ sale ($4 billion) last year. Read our full report.

USMNT crumbles
Panama stunned the USMNT in the Nations League semifinals last night, a 1-0 loss that will go down as the worst of Mauricio Pochettino’s young tenure as manager. The last time the Americans lost to Panama like this, former manager Gregg Berhalter got fired. It ends a U.S. streak of three straight Nations League titles. The best part of the night? Panamanian forward Cecilio Waterman sprinting straight for Thierry Henry after scoring the game’s lone goal, in stoppage time no less.

Fever on the big stage
Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever will have 41 of their 44 games broadcast/streamed nationally next season, a stunning number for the franchise. It is the most of any WNBA franchise and surpasses last season’s total of 36 nationally broadcast games. Clark and the Fever helped multiple TV partners set viewership records last year. Expect more this season. More numbers here.

More news

📫 Love The Pulse? Check out our other newsletters.

Watch and Listen

📺 NCAAW: No. 11 Iowa State vs. No. 6 Michigan
11:30 a.m. ET on ESPN2
This is a mere placeholder to tell you when the day’s games start. This should be a good game, too. Women’s brackets should lock just before the game. Here’s a quick guide if you need it. 

📺 NCAAM: No. 9 Baylor vs. No. 8 Mississippi State
12:15 p.m. ET on CBS
Again, here’s the start of the day’s slate. I hope all of you took off work today. I will be parked at a sports bar. Let’s hang out. 

Get tickets to games like these here.

Pulse Picks

Florida is a trendy national title pick in the men’s bracket. Two of its coaches — including head coach Todd Golden — have been accused of misconduct in the last year. It’s a black cloud over an excellent season. 

Relevant right now: Sam Vecenie’s latest NBA mock draft, focused on the college stars who could boost their stock with a good NCAA Tournament showing. 

I’ll read any story that starts with “two thick, beefy strong boys.” Brody Miller penned those words while writing on Rory McIlroy and his hecklers, who are growing in number by the tournament. 

The Phillies paid an analytics company millions. Now, as Matt Gelb details, they’re suing for “loss of competitive advantage.” Read the backstory. 

There is a new plan to “fix” tennis, as Charlie Eccleshare and Matthew Futterman write. It is … dramatic and complex. There are even Uno reverse card references. 

Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Our latest story on the brewing battle between the city of Cleveland and the Browns. Yuck. 

Most-read on the website yesterday: The story on the Celtics’ sale. I would like to sell a team one day.

(Top photo: Eric Canha / Imagn Images)