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Good morning! Hit a game winner today.
While You Were Sleeping: A blowout and a buzzer-beater
The NCAA men’s tournament technically started last night, and though we didn’t have the pandemonium tomorrow will bring, we still got two incredible results, for opposite reasons:
- The night’s biggest surprise came in the second game, with No. 11 seed North Carolina — which most thought shouldn’t have even been in the tournament — shellacking fellow No. 11 seed San Diego State, a team prematurely circled as an upset favorite. Final score: UNC 95, SDSU 68. That sound you hear is people redoing their bracket to include the Tar Heels as a possible winner. Maybe an overreaction, but I get it.
- And yet the most exciting part of the evening came in the first game, between No. 16 seeds Alabama State and Saint Francis, which was actually great. And it gave us our first buzzer-beater of the tournament, before the first round even begins:
ALABAMA STATE TAKES A LEAD IN THE FINAL SECOND 😱#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/TktQHBcwo9
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 19, 2025
If anything, these play-in games are fun because they give a team like Alabama State a great tournament memory before playing No. 1 overall seed Auburn on Friday.
One more day until the glory begins. Two things before we blow out the bracket picks tomorrow:
- Richard Deitsch has full TV guides for both the men’s and women’s tournaments. For the record, I think the women’s tournament viewership will be fine without Caitlin Clark.
- If you need one piece of last-minute prep for the men’s bracket, bookmark Austin Mock’s data-driven projections. Brackets lock in about 24 hours.
Let’s keep going:
News to Know
Hooray, pro-rel
Last night, United Soccer League owners voted to become the first American pro soccer organization to adopt promotion and relegation, sources told The Athletic. USL currently runs two soccer leagues, one in the second division and another in the third. But just last month owners announced plans to launch a first-division league, which would compete directly with MLS, and promotion and relegation would be standardized throughout the three-league pyramid. I could not be more excited for this, and any American soccer fan possessing a passing familiarity with European soccer should agree.
A big week in Dodgerland
The Dodgers won their Opening Day game over the Cubs in Tokyo, 4-1, in what became a momentous day for the franchise. A team anchored by Japanese stars shone in front of over 40,000 fans, which made the famously cool Shohei Ohtani nervous. The country is “baseball-mad,” as Fabian Ardaya explains, and the Dodgers are at the center of its adoration right now. MLB is betting big on Japan, too — and the prize could be worth billions. More: Watch Rates & Barrels break it all down. Dodgers and Cubs fans will want to tune in.
Indiana snags WVU coach
Darian DeVries will be the new head men’s basketball coach at Indiana, the school announced yesterday, ending a brutal week for West Virginia’s basketball program. The Mountaineers were robbed of an NCAA Tournament spot Sunday, and two days later their coach leaves for a traditional powerhouse. Adding to it all: DeVries’ son Tucker, a talented guard, will probably follow his father to Indiana. See our full report here.
More news
- A Michigan baseball player apologized for celebrating a stolen base by mimicking snorting a line of cocaine. Hm.
- The Browns and the city of Cleveland are fighting.
- EA Sports will raise its payments to players from $600 to $1,500 for College Football 26, the company said in an email.
- Antonee Robinson is among a set of USMNT players who withdrew from the roster ahead of the upcoming Concacaf Nations League tourney. More details here.
- Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin discussed future U.S.-Russia hockey games. Read our report.
- The Braves are bringing back a familiar face: Craig Kimbrel.
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Watch and Listen
📺 NCAAW: No. 11 Princeton vs. No. 11 Iowa State
7 p.m. ET on ESPNU
The women’s tourney starts here with its best play-in game of the night. The Cyclones’ Audi Crooks is the one to watch.
📺 NCAAM: No. 11 Xavier vs. No. 11 Texas
9:10 p.m. ET on truTV
And here’s the last of the men’s play-in games, between two good teams. Most of our experts have Xavier winning.
Get tickets to games like these here.
Pulse Picks
Sure, Travis Hunter is football’s most famous two-way star right now. But did you know he’s obsessed with fishing? Jayna Bardahl went fishing with him. Just read the story.
Luke Smith has an important story on rookie F1 driver Isack Hadjar’s disastrous debut and the hug from Anthony Hamilton that showcased the true emotion of a bad day. Make time for this.
Speaking of the Hamilton family, living legend Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari honeymoon isn’t over yet, but the growing pains are assuredly starting.
Full disclosure: I’m drinking a coffee as I read this story from Sarah Shephard on how soccer players are becoming caffeine heads. Even down to the gum. Startling details inside.
Don’t miss Jayson Stark’s trek to Tropicana Field, where baseball’s haunted house still has a busted roof and plenty of questions along with it.
Did you know that ghost runners in baseball actually favor the visiting team? Grant Brisbee explains.
The leading QB guru thinks Kyle McCord — yes, Kyle McCord — may be the best QB prospect in this year’s NFL Draft, and he has high-tech receipts to prove it.
Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Our story on the Unrivaled championship game, including takeaways from the organization’s first season.
Most-read on the website yesterday: The newser on Tracy Morgan’s scary courtside episode at the Knicks game Monday night. He says he’s doing OK now.
(Top photo: Rick Osentoski / Imagn Images)
