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Ovechkin Nets #891 vs Bruins

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Washington’s Alex Ovechkin scored his 891st career goal to move within four of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time NHL record, helping the Washington Capitals defeat the host Boston Bruins 4-3 on Tuesday night.

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Washington scored twice in both the first and third periods en route to breaking a three-game skid (0-2-1). Goals from Nic Dowd and Ovechkin gave the Capitals a 2-0 lead. Boston came back to tie before Dylan Strome and Tom Wilson scored in the third.

David Pastrnak scored twice, Morgan Geekie had two assists and Vinni Lettieri also found the net for Boston, which has lost nine straight (0-8-1).

With Washington up 1-0, Ovechkin scored on the power play with 4:17 left in the first. John Carlson’s initial shot from the high slot took a deflection off the skate of Strome in front and right to Ovechkin, who settled the puck and scored it into an open side of the net.

 

Devers Gets Red Sox on Track

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BALTIMORE – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Boston Red Sox worked through a few glitches in the opening week of the season, but there should be some good mindsets going into their Thursday afternoon game.

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The Red Sox, after snapping a four-game losing streak, will oppose the host Baltimore Orioles in the decisive contest of a three-game series.

Boston designated hitter Rafael Devers said there was no reason for alarm even after he began the season 0-for-19 through Tuesday. He went 0-for-2 to start the Wednesday game at Baltimore, then hit a run-scoring double in the fifth inning and added a single in the eighth during Boston’s 3-0 win.

“I knew it was going to come,” Devers said. “I also received a lot of texts from people worried about me, but I was OK.”

The breakout excited his teammates.

“It makes me happy seeing that reaction,” Dever said. “Because that makes me see they’re paying attention to my at-bat and they’re supporting me.”

Boston’s Trevor Story homered for the game’s first run, his first RBI of the season. He finished 3-for-4 to raise his average from .133 to .263.

“We know the type of players we have and the type of team we are,” Devers said. “We knew everything was going to change.”

Story said there are signs emerging that Boston possesses “a really deep lineup.”

The Orioles didn’t have an extra-base hit on Wednesday, just four singles and two walks. Red Sox starter Garrett Crochet tossed the first eight innings, and Aroldis Chapman handled the ninth.

“We just had a tough time putting pressure on them,” Baltimore manager Brandon Hyde said.

It’s possible that the Orioles could have a significantly different lineup for the series finale. On Wednesday night, shortstop Gunnar Henderson (right intercostal strain) played his fourth game on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Norfolk, going 0-for-3 at Charlotte to leave him 5-for-19 (.263) with two homers and four RBIs.

There was a possibility he would be on Baltimore’s lineup card Thursday afternoon.

The Orioles should have Jackson Holliday back in the lineup after he had Wednesday night off. Hyde said the 21-year-old infielder might sit out against certain left-handers.

Boston will give the ball to Tanner Houck (0-1, 6.35 ERA) on Thursday. The right-hander worked 5 2/3 innings and allowed four runs — including a pair of homers — in his season debut at Texas on Friday.

Houck’s career record against the Orioles is 4-3 with a 3.50 ERA in nine outings, including five starts.

Baltimore right-hander Charlie Morton (0-1, 10.80 ERA) will try to bounce back from a rough opening outing in Toronto, where he lasted 3 1/3 innings in his Orioles debut on Friday.

Morton is 8-2 with a 4.21 ERA in 15 career starts against the Red Sox. He has struck out 88 Boston batters in 83 1/3 innings. The eight wins against the Red Sox are the second most he has against any team.

Baltimore has alternated wins and losses across its first six games of the season. The Orioles have scored 29 runs in their three victories, so they are capable of a big breakout despite the sluggish offense they displayed on Wednesday.

“Show up (Thursday) and win the series,” said Zach Eflin, who took the loss on Wednesday after yielding three runs in six innings.

The Thursday contest is the last of seven consecutive road games to begin the season for the Red Sox, who play their home opener on Friday against the St. Louis Cardinals.

–Field Level Media

The A’s Head to Sacramento

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SACRAMENTO – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Athletics (formerly of Oakland and Kansas City) formally begin the home portion of their Sacramento era when they host the Chicago Cubs on Monday night in the first-ever Major League Baseball game in the California capital.

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A’s right-hander Joey Estes (7-9, 5.01 ERA), a California native, will get the honor of making the game’s first pitch. He will be opposed by Cubs righty Ben Brown (0-1, 6.75).

All 14,014 tickets have been sold at 10,624-seat Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento. Those who don’t have seats will be finding space on the lawn behind the outfield fence.

Among the other unusual aspects of the home opener will be that all A’s players will be wearing No. 24 in tribute to Baseball Hall of Fame member and franchise great Rickey Henderson. The all-time stolen base leader died in December, just days before his 66th birthday.

The A’s opened with a 2-2 split in Seattle, sandwiching 7-0 and 4-2 wins between 4-2 and 2-1 losses. A’s starting pitchers Luis Severino, Jeffrey Springs, Osvaldo Bido and JP Sears allowed just three earned runs in 23 2/3 innings in the series.

Sears said he was just following the lead of his teammates and hopes Estes can do the same.

“It’s contagious,” he said. “You go out there and you want to do what the guys before you did, or top that. We’ve got a good group of starters that bounce off each other. We’re each different, but we can help each other out.”

Tyler Soderstrom hit three homers in the four Seattle games. Four other A’s went deep against the vaunted Seattle pitching staff, including Brent Rooker, who is excited about what he expects to experience in the team’s new temporary home.

The A’s are expected to spend three seasons in West Sacramento as they await the construction of their permanent home along the Las Vegas Strip. They will share the stadium with the Sacramento River Cats, the Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants.

“I think there will be an energetic atmosphere with a lot of fans who are excited for us to be there,” he said. “We’re hoping we get a combination of local longtime A’s fans and people who are maybe new to the fan base we’re hoping to bring on board. We’re excited about it.”

[Read more…] about The A’s Head to Sacramento

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | March 30

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While We’re Young (Ideas) | On NCAA Madness to Come

By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – There are two (somewhat) hidden gems in the annual NCAA championship calendar. One is underway, and the other is Memorial Day Weekend – this year at nearly Gillette Stadium in Foxboro. Sometimes, they are overlooked with all of the hullabaloo of March Madness, the GranDaddy of them all. The two best?

  1. The NCAA Frozen Four
  2. The NCAA Lacrosse Championship

Here’s the bracket for the on-going men’s ice hockey tournament, noting local favorite Boston College was a 3-1 winner over nearby Bentley on Friday afternoon in a very hard-fought game. BC improved to 27-7-2 overall. UConn, Penn State and Denver advanced as well, all three knocking out New England-area schools. Denver will play Boston College on Sunday night at 7:00pm with the winner advancing to the Frozen Four. Boston University played Saturday afternoon and defeated Cornell, 3-2, in overtime, to advance to the national semifinals in St. Louis … You can see all the results by visiting HERE.

When all is settled to four hockey teams, the Frozen Four will convene in St. Louis, Missouri – the hockey capital of the Mississippi River – although the river that runs through it never freezes.

The Frozen Four usually pits schools from New England (and occasional New York State) against schools from the west (Minneapolis-St. Paul, Michigan, Denver). This year, Penn State is representing the top notch Big Ten schools.

Going into the tournament, the four schools ranked in the Top Four were the same to be assigned No. 1 seeds. They were:

  1. Boston College
  2. Michigan State (was ranked as No. 1, while BC was No. 2)
  3. Maine
  4. Western Michigan

No. 3 Maine was ousted by Penn State, 5-1, on Friday while No. 2 Michigan State was eliminated by Cornell, the lone Ivy League representative.

While the men’s Final Four basketball tournament is April 5 & 7, the Frozen Four is scheduled for April 10 & 12.

LAX: Come Memorial Day Weekend, May 24 & 26, with ancillary (Women’s semis/finals and Division II and III men’s championships all weekend, one of the great American events will be staged in nearby Foxborough, Mass., at the home of the New England Patriots (NFL) and Revolution (MLS). Tickets range between $33 and $100 and are available on Ticketmaster. The top schools currently ranked include:

  1. Cornell
  2. Maryland
  3. Ohio State
  4. Princeton

That’s two Ivy League schools and two Big Ten schools at the top but plenty of others knocking at the door, and there’s two months of action and tournament games to come.

One important thing of note, the women’s basketball Finals Four, women’s Frozen Four and the women’s lacrosse championship are tremendous events with outstanding student-athletes, competing at a very high level. I do not want to take one thing away by listing the men’s tournaments without mentioning the women, especially in lacrosse as we’ll see them play in Foxborough this May.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: As long as the topic is tournament time, let’s look at the newest college tournament on the block. The College Basketball Crown is a new 16-team, single-elimination postseason men’s basketball tourney, featuring teams from the Big Ten, Big 12 and Big East conferences, along with additional at-large participants. It’s scheduled from March 31 to April 6, 2025, and will be played at two Las Vegas venues – the MGM Grand Garden Arena and T-Mobile Arena. All games will be broadcast on FOX and FS1.

Look for the likes of Boise State, Georgetown, Oregon State and Villanova competing for NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) money. According to reports, the champion team will receive a $300,000 in NIL money, the runner-up will earn $100,000, and the semifinalists will each take home $50,000 in NIL.

Utah vs. Butler will tip off the event on Monday, March 31, at 3 p.m. EDT.

Club World Cup Prize Pool at $1 Billion

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ZURICH – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The 32 teams competing in the World Cup for Clubs (not National teams) this summer will be vying for as much as a $125 million first-place check from a $1 billion prize pool. FIFA announced the financial incentives on Wednesday of the tournament scheduled to be played in June and July at venues around the United States.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in a statement, “The distribution model of the FIFA Club World Cup reflects the pinnacle of club football and represents the biggest-ever prize money for a football tournament comprising a seven-match group stage and playoff format with a potential payout of USD 125 million foreseen for the winners.

“In addition to the prize money for the participating teams, there is an unprecedented solidarity investment program where we have a target of an additional 250 million dollars being provided to club football across the world. This solidarity will undoubtedly provide a significant boost in our ongoing efforts in making football truly global.

“Not only that, but FIFA will neither retain any funding for this tournament, as all revenues will be distributed to club football, nor will it touch FIFA’s reserves, which are set aside for global football development through the 211 FIFA Member Associations.”

Clubs’ prize money will add up throughout the event, starting at $2 million per win and $1 million per draw in the group stage.

As teams progress through the tournament, they will receive an extra $7.5 million for reaching the round of 16, $13,125,000 for getting to the quarterfinals and $21 million for advancing to the semifinals. Spots in the final are worth another $30 million, and the championship adds an additional $40 million.

Additional participation incentives will be granted to the teams, starting as low as $3.58 million for the Oceania champion, Auckland City, and going as high as $38.19 million for the biggest teams from the European federation, UEFA.

Representing Major League Soccer will be the Seattle Sounders and Inter Miami.

Matches will be played in Miami Gardens, Fla. (site of the opener between Inter Miami and Al Ahly of Egypt on June 14); East Rutherford, N.J. (site of the final on July 13); Pasadena, Calif.; Charlotte; Atlanta; Philadelphia; Seattle; Orlando; Nashville; Cincinnati and Washington.

Notable teams in field include Manchester City and Chelsea from England, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid from Spain, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund from Germany, Paris Saint-Germain, Inter Milan and Juventus from Italy, River Plate and Boca Juniors from Argentina and Flamengo, Palmeiras and Fluminese from Brazil.

–Field Level Media

NBA Makes $154.6m Cap Projection

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NEW YORK – (Staff and Wire Service Report) -The NBA will increase the salary cap by 10 percent for the 2025-26 season, according to multiple reports from the NBA’s annual Board of Governors meeting. The increase — the maximum allowed under the collective bargaining agreement — is reportedly projected to bring the cap number from $140.6 million to $154.6 million. Additionally, the luxury tax threshold is projected to rise from $170.8 million to $187.9 million, per Tuesday’s report.

For teams that exceed the luxury tax, the First Apron level is projected to be $195.9 million and the Second Apron level to be $207.8 million.

It is a move that was anticipated ahead of the league’s new broadcast rights kicking in next season. This increase would mark the third time in the past four years that the salary cap has increased by 10 percent.

–Field Level Media

St. John’s: Pitino to Face Longtime Rival

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PROVIDENCE – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – One of the major storylines entering March Madness was the legendary coaching talent walking the sidelines in Providence.

A second-round matchup between second-seeded St. John’s (31-4) and 10th-seeded Arkansas (21-13) pits two of the best in Rick Pitino and John Calipari.

The duo last faced off in an NCAA Tournament in 2014 when Pitino was at Louisville and Pitino at Kentucky. They’ve combined to win three national championships and 113 total tournament games and are the only two coaches to advance to Final Fours at three schools.

The storyline is irresistible but Pitino, the active leader in wins, tried to keep the focus on the players suiting up, not the men in suits on the bench.

“I don’t go against coaches, we go against teams,” Pitino said. “He doesn’t have to worry about me. My jump shot is long gone. We’re preparing for his players. He’s preparing for our players. John and I don’t play one-on-one anymore.”

Pitino led the Big East champion Red Storm to their first NCAA win since 2000, beating Omaha 83-53 on Thursday. It was the largest margin of victory in a tournament game in program history.

A 12-2 run out of halftime broke open a 33-28 game and squashed any doubt of an upset.

Leading the Red Storm to their 10th straight win, RJ Luis Jr. made five of the team’s 14 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 22 points (8-of-14 shooting) and eight rebounds.

“I think it’s keep on playing, make adjustments and be relentless in the pursuit of excellence defensively and I think we did that, we accomplished that,” Pitino said.

St. John’s looks to keep the momentum going against Arkansas, which overcame a 0-5 start to SEC play to make the tournament and beat Kansas 79-72 in its Thursday opener behind a season-high 22 points from Jonas Aidoo.

“Gutted it out,” Calipari said.

Aidoo entered the tournament as the team’s eighth-leading scorer (6.4 points per game), but the Tennessee transfer has heated up averaging 15 points and nine rebounds over the last five contests.

“We all know we have something to prove. We went through a lot of adversity, injuries, missing players, let a couple games go,” Aidoo said.

Arkansas used just eight players against Kansas, including New York native freshman Boogie Fland who played in his first game since Jan. 18.

“Boogie for not playing what? How many months? … We can’t have contact because if someone gets hurt I’m down to five,” Calipari said. “So he practiced but there was no contact and he went in and did what he did (Thursday),” logging six points, three assists and three steals.

The Thursday win was Calipari’s 58th all-time in the NCAA Tournament, breaking a tie with Kansas’ Bill Self for the most among active coaches.

Calipari made it clear. He is enjoying this team’s March march.

“Every one of us, including me, had doubts and we all had to convince ourselves we’re going to do this,” Calipari said. “I had a card I read every morning and every night before I went to bed, and it was, I’ve been blessed throughout my life. Forget basketball. I have been blessed.

“I’m going to enjoy this journey and grow as a coach from it. I am going to make sure I keep an eye on my players, and let’s write our own story, and in the end it says, ‘Have Faith.’”

The winner of Saturday’s second-round game is headed to San Francisco for the West Region semifinal next week and a Sweet 16 date with winner of 11th-seeded Drake and third-seeded Texas Tech.

– Field Level Media

March Madness: Coach Cal Awaits

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PROVIDENCE – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – RJ Luis Jr. made a career-high five 3-pointers and second-seeded St. John’s found its shooting stroke en route to an 83-53 victory over No. 15 seed Omaha in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday night in Rhode Island.

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St. John’s (31-4) earned its first tournament win since 2000. Coach Rick Pitino and the Big East champs will face John Calipari and No. 10 seed Arkansas in the second round Saturday.

Luis led all scorers with 22 points and added eight rebounds. He made 5 of 8 attempts from deep as St. John’s — a 30.4 percent 3-point shooting team entering the night — matched a season high with 14 3-pointers to counter Omaha clogging the lanes.

Simeon Wilcher scored 13 points for the Red Storm. Kadary Richmond had 10 points, eight rebounds and six assists, while Zuby Ejiofor added 10 points, seven boards, four assists and three blocks.

JJ White posted 15 points and five assists to lead Omaha (22-13), which was playing in its first Division I NCAA Tournament after claiming the Summit League championship.

Marquel Sutton scored 11 for the Mavericks, and Isaac Ondekane pulled down 10 of his 11 rebounds in the first half.

St. John’s missed its first five shots and let Omaha stake out a 7-0 lead, prompting an early timeout from Pitino. After Richmond got the Red Storm on the board, Luis scored eight St. John’s points in a row, bookended by a pair of 3-pointers.

The Mavericks moved ahead 20-14 before St. John’s turned the tables. Wilcher cut the lead in half with a 3-pointer, prompting a 16-2 run that featured triples by Deivon Smith, Ruben Prey and another from Wilcher.

Omaha scored six in a row to cut it to 30-28, but Vince Iwuchukwu got inside for a bucket that turned into a three-point play with two seconds left, giving St. John’s a 33-28 halftime edge.

Luis kept the Red Storm 3-point party going by making one 14 seconds into the second half. Teammate Aaron Scott splashed a trey, then Luis and Wilcher went on a two-on-one that ended in an alley-oop dunk by Luis, giving St. John’s firm control at 43-30.

Luis knocked down another two triples to hand St. John’s its first 20-point lead with 13:14 to go. Critically, the Red Storm had assists on their first eight made field goals of the half with no turnovers.

St. John’s held the Mavericks to 7-of-34 field-goal shooting (20.6 percent) and outrebounded them 31-19 in the second half.

–Field Level Media

March Madness Tip-Off

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While We’re Young (Ideas) – Special NCAA Edition

By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

PROVIDENCE – Highly respected sports industry guru Tony Ponturo, he of multi-time nominee and winner for both the Most Powerful Man in Sports and in the theatre industry, wrote a thought-leadership book entitled, “Revenge of the C+ Student.” Ponturo, a two time TONY Award winner for his efforts on Broadway, reviving “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” and producing 2010 Best Musical “Memphis,” helped make the brands “Bud” and “Bud Light” household names on a worldwide basis. Just ask The Budweiser Clydesdales.

Ponturo spent 26 years selling Bud, the exact same amount of time this columnist spent working for David Stern at the National Basketball Association. Looking at those two parallel lines, and enlightened by Ponturo’s book and his transcript, I’d love to author a similar sports business practice book and I’d call it, “At Least I Was Good at Geography.”

To wit, I give you this year’s brackets for NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball.

In the East, we have:

  • No. 2 Alabama
  • No. 3 Wisconsin
  • No. 4 Arizona
  • No. 5 Oregon
  • No. 6 BYU (Utah)
  • No. 7 St. Mary’s Moraga (California)
  • No. 14 Montana

In the West, we have:

No. 1 Florida

No. 2 St. John’s (New York)

No. 3 Texas Tech (Lubbock, Texas)

No. 4 Maryland

No. 5 Memphis (Tennessee)

No. 6 Missouri

No. 8 UConn (Hartford, Connecticut area)

No. 9 Oklahoma

No. 14 UNC Wilmington (North Carolina)

No. 16 Norfolk State (Norfolk, Virginia)

There’s a few more.

In the South, there’s Michigan State (Lansing), Marquette (Wisconsin), Yale (New Haven, Connecticut), and Michigan (Ann Arbor) – four schools where you can’t get much further North, unless Canada does become the 51st State and UConn is south of Yukon.

In the Midwest, the bracket claims, UCLA (Los Angeles), Gonzaga (Spokane, Washington), Utah State (Logan, Utah), and then a slew of Southeastern or Southern schools like Wofford (Spartanburg, South Carolina), High Point (North Carolina), Clemson (South Carolina), Kentucky, McNeese (Lake Charles, Louisiana), Tennessee and Georgia.

There are other examples, but you surely get the point.

In recent years, the NCAA made adjustments to the brackets so an Eastern team such as St. John’s (full disclosure as my alma mater) can play in the West Regional but remain in Providence, Rhode Island to do so. But, success in Providence sends teams in that pod to San Francisco while a successful weekend in Seattle for Arizona or Oregon sends a team to Newark New Jersey.

The tournament itself increased from 64 to 68 teams in 2001, so we’ve been bickering about this stuff for decades. Still, there is no resolve and it’s pretty bad when there’s no Big East team in the East.

Admittedly, this is nothing new being reported. The days of a truly East vs West NCAA Tournament went out with the 16 team set-up which gave the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) in New York the golden opportunity of securing a very deep field in the late ‘60s and early ‘70’s. As the times changed and the Big Dance played to a bigger ballroom of dancers, the money kicked in and TV programmers maxed-out the billions being spent.

Suffice it to say, the names of the regionals should no longer be East, West, South and Midwest, and maybe the NCAA should take a page out of the NHL’s book and rename the basketball regionals something like:

  • Lester Patrick
  • Conn Smythe
  • James Norris
  • Charles Francis Adams

Joking aside, it’s time to rid the tournament of its D- grade in Geography, as the Men’s and Women’s basketball committees divvy-up the schools with goals other than to stack them to represent a region of the USA.

May it be suggested:

  • Dave Gavitt Division (East)
  • John Wooden Division (West)
  • Ray Meyer Division (Midwest)
  • Guy Lewis Division (South-Texas-Southwest representation)

Those names, in tribute of Dave Gavitt (founder of the BIG EAST), John Wooden (the great UCLA coach), Ray Meyer (coached Chicago’s DePaul University from 1942 to 1984) and Guy Lewis (coach of University of Houston from 1956 to 1986). To pay proper respect to college basketball in the United States, the Most Outstanding Player from each division would be recognized and awarded with:

  • Gavitt MOP received the Patrick Ewing Trophy
  • Wooden MOP honored with the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Trophy
  • Meyer MOP receives the Oscar Robertson Trophy
  • Lewis MOP honored with the Junior Bridgeman Trophy

Should the tournament choose to expand, we could very easily add:

  • Gonzaga Division (Northwest) – MOP award John Stockton Trophy
  • Coach K Division (Southeast) – MOP gets the Michael Jordan Trophy (apologies to Grant Hill, Ralph Sampson, Artis Gilmore and Len Bias).

Those two divisional mentioned do not need further explanation, I hope.

The bottom line as the 2025 NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament begins, is that the famed, crack committee did a pretty good job of selecting the right teams and fairly distributing them across the four existing regional pods, sans the Group of Death they sent out West.

The West is so stacked, a hot team like Florida, after its No. 1 vs No. 16 tilt against Norfolk State, will have a rough road to the Final 4, including:

  • Winner of UConn v.Oklahoma
  • Winner of Memphis v. Colo State/or/Maryland v. Grand Canyon
  • A Regional Final against No. 2 St. John’s or others (Kansas/Texas Tech) etc

There’s gotta be a better way.
They were partying at West End Johnnies at an NCAA Regional in Boston

PICKS: Here are a few picks that are going into a combination of my two or three bracket submission with friends and family. (Note: I always bang out one bracket on Selection Sunday night and set it aside). Then with more thought and research I do another bracket for use in pools.

TEAMS CONSIDERED HOT: These teams were playing the best over the past few weeks and into their conference tournaments:

  1. Florida
  2. Duke
  3. Houston
  4. Auburn
  5. Tennessee
  6. Michigan State
  7. St John’s
  8. Alabama
  9. Texas Tech
  10. Iowa State

FACTS: In the Round of 64, the higher seed wins 71.5% and that includes No. 8 v. No. 9 which are really equal … In the Second Round, the better seeds win at a 73.1% clip. After that, the advantage for the higher seeds declines gradually:

  • Sweet 16 – 63.8% victory pace for higher seed
  • Elite 8 – 55%

In terms of vulnerable seeds since 2009, the No. 6 seeds are (29-31) against the No. 11s. In just the last 10 years, No. 11 seeds are 22-18 vs. No. 6

Applying the 6 vs 11 raw data to this particular year’s bracket set-up surfaces a few interesting upset possibilities:

  • In the East bracket, can No. 11 VCU upset No. 6 BYU in Denver where you have to figure in the travel and altitude?
  • In the South, No. 6 Ole Miss has to play the hot play-in winner of North Carolina.
  • In the West, No. 6 Missouri (22-11) has a tough draw vs. No. 11 Drake (30-3).
  • And, in the Midwest bracket, No. 6 Illinois will face play-in winner Xavier, a team that finished the Big East regular season quite strong with seven straight victories to close out the season before meeting and losing to Marquette at the Garden.

The teams entering the tournament that have executed the best in terms of both Offensive and Defensive efficiency:

  • Auburn
  • Duke
  • Florida
  • Houston
  • Arizona
  • Tennessee
  • Louisville

Not to bore anyone with a full Round-by-Round, Pick-by-Pick selection show, (see Jay Bilas’ column on ESPN.com as he does a much better job than everyone else put together), I’ll simply list my Regional Finalist predictions. Yes, they are rather high seeds.

  • East: Duke vs. Wisconsin
  • Midwest: Houston vs. Tennessee
  • South: Auburn vs. Michigan State
  • West: Florida vs St. John’s

No matter what – whether your bracket is torn up tomorrow or your favorite team survives and advances – it’s time for March Madness. Enjoy the ride. Enjoy the spectacle of the best of College Basketball (Men’s and Women’s) with a love of the game and not the X and O marks on a piece of paper, otherwise known in American culture as “your bracket.”

TL

PGA Tour: Valspar Championship

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PALM HARBOR – (Staff and Wire Service) – The PGA Tour’s Florida Swing rolls on with the Valspar Championship, which tees off Thursday at Innesbrook Resort.

While it lacks the event status of Bay Hill or TPC Sawgrass the past two weeks, Innesbrook’s Copperhead course is among the favorite tour stops for several players. With a field highlighted by Xander Schauffele and Justin Thomas, our golf experts break down the tournament and share their favorite prop picks along with best bets to win this week.

VALSPAR CHAMPIONSHIP
Location: Palm Harbor, Fla., March 20-23
Course: Innisbrook Resort, Copperhead Course (Par 71, 7,352 Yards)
Purse: $8.7M (Winner: $1.566M)
Defending Champion: Peter Malnati
FedExCup leader: McIlroy

HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Friday: 2-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel/NBC Sports App); Saturday-Sunday: 1-3 p.m. (Golf Channel/NBC Sports App), 3-6 p.m. (NBC/Peacock)
Streaming (ESPN+): Thursday-Friday: 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m. ET; Saturday-Sunday: 7:45 a.m.-6 p.m.
X: @ValsparChamp

PROP PICKS
–Sam Burns to Beat Xander Schauffele (+110 at DraftKings): Neither player enters in particularly good form, but at least two-time winner Burns is playing a track that he has had tremendous success on in the past — despite missing the cut here last year.

–Corey Conners Top 20 Finish (+120 at BetRivers): This is a strong potential payout for a player who has a pair of top-10s in a signature event and at The Players the past two weeks.

2025 Prop Pick Record: 11-17-1

BEST BETS
–Tommy Fleetwood (+1100 DraftKings) has finished T22 or better in 14 consecutive worldwide starts as he still seeks his first stroke-play victory in the United States.
–Xander Schauffele (+1200) called the state of his game “gross” as he has scuffled to a T40 and a 70th in his first two starts back from a rib injury, but did shoot a final-round 65 here in 2024 and is the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 3.
–Sepp Straka (+1600) has been as consistently competitive as anyone to begin 2025, with last week’s T14 adding to a win at the AmEx and a T5 at Bay Hill.
–Justin Thomas (+2000) has three top-10s in his past six event starts, and he has said Copperhead is among his favorite courses on tour. He hasn’t won since the 2022 PGA Championship. He is third at the book with five percent of the money backing Thomas to break his winless drought this week.
–Sam Burns (+2200) has one top-20 result in seven starts this year and missed the cut at The Players, but he has won this event twice.
–Michael Kim (+3000) is already making his 10th start of the season. Fatigue is a concern, with a missed cut last week following five consecutive top-13s.
–Corey Conners (+3500) is a two-time winner on tour who has quietly finished solo third and T6 in marquee events the past two weeks. He leads the field with 16 percent of the money and five percent of all bets at DraftKings backing Conners to claim his third tour win this week.
–Lucas Glover (+6000) is coming off a T3 at The Players as he makes his 20th start in this event.

NOTES
–The field includes 18 of the top 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking, including eight of the top 25.
–The ninth hole will play from the No. 11 tee this year to add length to the hole and to bring bunkers into play.
–Malnati seeks to join Paul Casey (2018-19) and Sam Burns (2021-22) as the third player to successfully defend a Valspar title in the past seven editions of the event.
–Neal Shipley, the low amateur at last year’s Masters, is in the field on a sponsors exemption. He is joined by Luke Clanton, who earned an exemption by winning the 2024 Valspar Collegiate Invitational before earning his PGA Tour membership through University Accelerated. He is eligible to accept membership upon turning professional at the conclusion of his junior season at Florida State. Blades Brown, 17, will make his fourth start of the season. He tied for 34th at the Mexico Open in his lone made cut this year.
–Vijay Singh set the tournament scoring record of 266 in 2004, while Padraig Harrington set the 18-hole record of 61 in the first round in 2012.

–Field Level Media