Weekly Update March 18, 2024

Basketball – NBA: Triple Doubles. Brunson’s 40 point games. Sunday close games. Eliminated and playoff bound teams.

Basketball – NCAAM: Conference Championship results. March Madness.

Football: All the trades. Dak in Suits episode. Rodgers on a political ticket?

Golf: Scheffler becomes the first repeat PLAYERS champion.

Olympic Sports: Skiing WC finals. Swim Title IX Case. Kenny retires.

Quick headlines: Baseball. Football & Olympics. NCAAF.

Basketball – NBA:

• This week in the NBA: The Pistons won their 11^th game Monday night against a bad Hornets team. It’s a fight for the bottom between those two. The Suns upset the Cavaliers 117-111 mainly thanks to KD putting up 37 points. The Mavs destroyed the Bulls after Doncic recorded his 7^th straight triple-double. He only scored 27 points though so that stops his record of 30+ or 35+ points. But speaking of 35-point triple-doubles, the Nuggets were down 17 points at half but had a killer comeback in 2H thanks to Jokic’s triple-double. The Nuggets were on a 5-game win streak. That would end on Sunday. The Celtics killed the Trail Blazers on Monday and are now on a 5-game win streak as well.

• On Tuesday, the Timberwolves beat the Clippers by 18, thanks to Edwards scoring 37 points. But the big news was the Kings annihilated the Bucks in a huge upset. Like 35 points over the 2^nd place team in the East. The Kings continue to win, including Wednesday against the Lakers. The Pistons beat the Raptors but that’s where the winning stopped. The Bulls and Pacers game went into OT after a very back and forth game. Literally every Q bounced between the teams. But the Bulls managed to finish the upset winning by 3. The Trail Blazers upset the Hawks by 4 to win their 19^th game of the season. Not a ton of craziness on Thursday but Brunson on the Knicks put up 45 points in their win against the Trail Blazers. The Pelicans beat the Clippers by 8 on Friday with Zion Williamson putting up 34 points.

• This weekend, the Rockets upset the Cavaliers 117-103 to start Saturday. The Warriors got the better of the Lakers. It was really in the 3Q when GS separated themselves. But LeBron was the highest scorer with 40 points compared to Curry’s 31. In the Knicks/Kings game NY PG Jalen Brunson had back-to-back 40-point games to lead his team to victory by 7.

• There were close games on Sunday including two buzzer beaters on Sunday. The Nets/Spurs game went into OT but Wemby’s performance of 33 points, 15 rebounds, 7 assists brought his team the W by 7. The Heat should’ve easily handled the Pistons but it was a closer game that came down to the wire. Heat Adebayo put up their 3-pointer to win the game rather than go into OT. Then in the Nuggets/Mavs game, the Colorado team was up by 3 at half. Then they had a bad 3Q to give up the lead. But they had it in the final seconds when Kyrie Irving had a left handed odd shot over Jokic to win at the buzzer.

• Bulls SF DeRozen scored the most points of any player this week with 46 points in their game on Wed against the Pacers.
• The Celtics have clinched their playoff birth already. Only 4 teams are eliminated so far: Pistons, Wizards, Trail Blazers and Spurs.

Basketball – NCAAM:

• NCAAM: #21 Saint Mary’s beat #17 Gonzaga in the WCC tournament final on Tuesday by 9. In the Big 12, #16 Kansas got upset in the 2^nd round by Cincinnati and the Bearcats won by 20 in add insult to injury. Thursday was a busy day. In the Big East, Providence upset the #8 Creighton Blue jays by 5. They beat them in both halves too. Villanova took #10 Marquette into OT but ultimately the Golden Eagles got it done and advance to the Semis. In the ACC Quarterfinals, #11 Duke got upset by NC State by 5. The Big 12 had a ranked match up in their Quarterfinal of #20 BYU and #25 Texas Tech. The Red Raiders came out hot, scoring 42 in the 1H. But the Cougars came back putting up 44 but it wasn’t enough. TT advances. #23 Nevada lost their MW Quarterfinal to Colorado State after the Rams put up 40+ on both halves. In the Atlantic 10, Duquesne beat #24 Dayton by 8.

• Friday things heated up as we had Quarterfinals and Semifinals all day. In the Big 12, #23 Texas Tech may have had an upset to get there but #1 Houston took care of business, putting the game away by 23. #7 Iowa State beat #14 Baylor in both halves by 8 and 6 points in each. In the SEC, everything went crazy and upsets were everywhere! Mississippi State had a HUGE upset of #5 Tennessee who has been on a roll lately. The Bulldogs won by 17. Unranked Texas A&M beat #9 Kentucky by 10 with a big 97 point game. Florida came out hot, going up by 15 over #19 Alabama at halftime. Gators won 102-88. #12 Auburn was the only team that did not get upset as they handled their business, putting away #15 South Carolina by 31.

• In the Pac 12, the final is going to be between unranked teams. Oregon had a huge upset of #6 Arizona after a strong 44 point 2H. Ducks are moving to the finals. Colorado then upset #22 Wazzu in a low scoring game 58-52. One final upset, #18 Utah St fell to San Diego St and the Aztecs move onto the final.

• The weekend was awesome!
  • The Big 12 championship was not a good game but it was a crazy outcome. #1 Houston only scored 41 points the entire game to lose to #7 Iowa State. The total point in the game was only 110.
  • #2 UConn beat #10 Marquette in the Big East tournament to win their first Big East tournament since 2011.
  • #4 UNC was upset by NC State for the ACC tournament title thanks to a strong 2H by the wolfpack.
  • #3 Purdue got upset by unranked Wisconsin in OT to make the final of the Big Ten tournament. They went on to play #13 Illinois for the title. The Fighting Illini would show up big in a great game but ultimately put the Badgers in their place and became Big Ten champions.

• • #12 Auburn was the only ranked team to make it to the Semifinal of the SEC tournament. They took care of business in a close game that was tied at half against Mississippi St. They ultimately beat the Gators to win the whole thing.

•  NCAAW:
  • #10 UConn won the Big East tournament on Monday over Georgetown by 36. Yikes!
  • #5 Texas took the Big 12 tournament championship over Iowa State. That wraps up all Power 5 conference champions.

Football – NFL:

• So many deals have gone down this week. Here are a couple headline ones:
  • RB Saquon Barkley is moving to Phili! Talk about a traitor. He signed a deal with the Eagles for $37.75MM for 3 years. RB Derrick Henry will be on the Ravens for 2 years for a $16MM deal, $9MM guaranteed for the first year. RB Joe Mixon was released from the Bengals on March 11^th and has been picked up by the Texans.

• • WR Calvin Ridley signed with the Titans for 4 years for $92MM, $50MM guaranteed.
  • QB Jameis Winston is going to the Browns to be Deshaun Watson’s backup. Kirk Cousins is moving to Atlanta for 4-years with the Falcons.
  • Bills kept their nickel corner Taron Johnson after signing him to a 3-year deal for $31MM. That makes Johnson the highest paid at that position ever.

• Dak Prescott has been accused of sexual assault which allegedly happened in an SUV in the parking lot of a strip club back in 2017. However this is beginning to sound like an episode of Suits, as the woman and her attorney allegedly wrote a letter to Prescott asking for $100MM or she would go public and pursue criminal charges. Prescott and his lawyers filed a countersuit accusing her of extortion for $1MM in damages.

• Jets QB Aaron Rodgers is on the short list to be the running mate for Robert Kennedy’s independent ticket.

Golf:

• Oh the PLAYERS is always special but this one is just a little bit more. It was the 50^th anniversary of the Players and in it’s entire history, no one had ever successfully defended their title until Sunday. Scottie Scheffler has been on fire on the PGA Tour lately (remember he won literally last week). This week he was playing well not lights out but well until a blistering final round of 64, tying the lowest final round ever by a winner. He was 5 shots off the lead set by Xander Schauffle and Wyndham Clark has been great all week as well. Clark was on a birdie hot streak in the final 3 holes, he birdied iconic 17 and then putted for birdie on 18. And the ball does him dirty! That missed putt was to send us into extra holes but instead gives the title to Scheffler. Scottie is now an 8-time winner on the PGA Tour with his first only coming in Feb 2022 (that’s a good 25 months). Before this week, T-5 was the best finish by a defending champ, average is T-28^th. And the Scheffler’s are expecting their first child. What a year so far and we haven’t even reached major season yet.

Olympic Sports:

• Mikaela Shiffrin won her 60^th slalom and 97^th WC title Saturday at WC Finals and has announced that will be her final race of the season. It is only a couple races early but she won 9 of the 21 races she competed in. She did give up her overall title after missing too many races with the knee injury. Lara Gut-Behrami is be the overall champion after getting 10^th in the GS on Sunday. ITA Federica Brignone was the only one who could catch her and even though the ITA won the race, she needed Gut to finish outside the top 15. SUI Marco Odermatt skied out of in his 2^nd run at the finals on Saturday. That breaks his streak and ends the dream of a perfect Giant Slalom season. That would’ve matched SWE Ingemar Stenmark’s mark of 10 giant slaloms in 1978-79 season. Odermatt won the first run and was leading the 2^nd before he failed to make a gate after losing his balance.
• More than 12 athletes have filed a lawsuit against the NCAA for violating Title IX rights by allowing Lia Thomas to compete at national championships in 2022. One of those swimmers was Kentucky’s Riley Gaines who tied with Lia for 5^th in the 200 free but Lia was handed the trophy not Gaines. If you’re like ‘remind me who Lia Thomas is again’ Thomas is the first openly trans athlete to compete in D1 title in any sport. Thomas finished ahead of 3 Olympic medalists in the 500 free, when he was a man, Thomas was ranked 65^th. In the 200 free, Thomas went from 554^th to 5^th.

• GBR Laura Kenny is retiring from cycling. This is a huge deal for the British Olympic team as she is a 5x Olympian and the most decorated female Olympian for the country. She won titles in London (2012), Rio and Tokyo along with 7 World Championships. Her husband is the most decorated Olympian for Britain with 7 golds in track cycling. Good luck to their two kids!

Some quick highlights:

• Baseball: Dodgers fans are getting happier after seeing that Shohei Ohtani is allowed to start throwing again. I don’t mean from the mound but this means he could play in the field and opens him up to other positions other than DH. He will not be pitching this year due to his 2^nd elbow surgery according to the LA manager. The Dodgers open up the season in KOR on Wednesday.

• Football and Olympic news: Peyton Manning and singer Kelly Clarkson are joining NBC’s coverage of the Olympics this summer in Paris.
• NCAAF: we are getting closer and closer to a 14 team CFP with the 5 highest ranked conference champions getting an auto bid.

What to watch this week

Baseball – MLB:

• Wed 3/20
  • Dodgers at Padres @ 5:05am on ESPN
    • Glasnow vs Darvish
• Thurs 3/21
  • Dodgers at Padres @ 5:05am on ESPN
    • Musgrove vs Yamamoto

Baseball/Softball-NCAA:

• Mon 3/18
  • Softball: Ole Miss vs 2. LSU @ 6pm on SEC
• Tues 3/19
  • Baseball: Towson vs 6. Duke @ 6pm on ACC
• Wed 3/20
  • Softball: 22. South Carolina vs 14. Clemson @ 5pm on ACC
  • Softball: 3. Texas vs 18. Florida St @ 7pm on ACC
• Thurs 3/21
  • Baseball: 1. Arkansas vs 18. Auburn @ 6pm on SEC
  • Baseball: Louisville vs 7. Wake Forest @ 6pm on ACC
  • Baseball: Mississippi St vs 4. Texas A&M @ 6:30pm on ESPNU
• Fri 3/22
  • Baseball: 1. Arkansas vs 18. Auburn @ 11am on SEC
  • Baseball: Louisville vs 7. Wake Forest @ 12pm on ACC
  • Softball: 23. Kentucky vs 10. Florida @ 5pm on SEC
  • Softball: 14. Clemson vs UVA @ 5pm on ACC
  • Baseball: West Virginia vs 17. Oklahoma @ 7pm on FS1
  • Baseball: 8. Florida vs 2. LSU @ 7pm on SEC
  • Baseball: Florida St vs 10. Clemson @ 7pm on ACC
• Sat 3/23
  • Baseball: 14. Alabama vs Georgia @ 11am on SEC
  • Softball: 14. Clemson vs UVA @ 12pm on ACC
  • Baseball: 6. Duke vs 13. NC St @ 2pm on ACC
  • Softball: Auburn vs 17. Texas A&M @ 4:30pm on SEC
• Sun 3/24
  • Softball: 23. Kentucky vs 10. Florida @ 11am on ESPN2
  • Baseball: GT vs 15. UNC @ 11am on ACC
  • Baseball: 8. Florida vs 2. LSU @ 2pm on SEC
  • Softball: 18. Florida St vs Pitt @ 4pm on ACC
  • Softball: 9. Tennessee vs 22. South Carolina @ 5pm on SEC

Basketball – NBA:

• Mon 3/18
  • Heat at 76ers @ 6:30pm on ESPN
  • Knicks at Warriors @ 9pm on ESPN
• Wed 3/20
  • Bucks at Celtics @ 6:30pm on ESPN
  • Grizzlies at Warriors @ 9pm on ESPN

Basketball – NCAAM:

• Tues 3/19
  • First Four: 16. Wagner at 16. Howard @ 5:40pm on truTV
  • First Four: 10. Colorado St at 10. UVA @ 8:10pm on truTV
• Wed 3/20
  • First Four: 16. Grambling at 16. Montana St @ 5:40pm on truTV
  • First Four: 10. Colorado at 10. Boise St @ 8:10pm on truTV
• Thurs 3/21
  • 9. Michigan St at 8. Mississippi St @ 11:15am on CBS
  • 11. Duquesne at 6. BYU @ 11:40am on truTV
  • 14. Akron at 3. Creighton @ 12:30pm on TNT
  • 15. Long Beach St at 2. Arizona @ 1pm on TBS
  • TBD at 1. UNC @ 1:45pm on CBS
  • 14. Morehead St at 3. Illinois @ 2:10pm on truTV
  • 11. Oregon at 6. South Carolina @ 3pm on TNT
  • 10. Nevada at 7. Dayton @ 3:30pm on TBS
  • TBD at 7. Texas @ 5:50pm on TNT
  • 14. Oakland at 3. Kentucky @ 6:10pm on CBS
  • 12. McNeese at 5. Gonzaga @ 6:25pm on TBS
  • 15. South Dakota St at 2. Iowa St @ 6:35pm on truTV
  • 15. Saint Peters at 2. Tennessee @ 8:20pm on TNT
  • 11. NC St at 6. Texas Tech @ 8:40pm on CBS
  • 13. Samford at 4. Kansas @ 8:55pm on TBS
  • 10. Drake at 7. Wazzu @ 9:05pm on truTV
• Fri 3/22
  • 9. Northwestern at 8. FAU @ 11:15am on CBS
  • 14. Colgate at 3. Baylor @ 11:40am on truTV
  • 12. UAB at 5. SDSt @ 12:45pm on TNT
  • 15. Western Kentucky at 2. Marquette @ 1pm on TBS
  • 16. Stetson at 1. UConn @ 1:45pm on CBS
  • 11. New Mexico at 6. Clemson @ 2:10pm on truTV
  • 13. Yale at 4. Auburn @ 3:15pm on TNT
  • TBD at 7. Florida @ 3:30pm on TBS
  • 9. Texas A&M at 8. Nebraska @ 5:50pm on TNT
  • 13. Vermont at 4. Duke @ 6:10pm on CBS
  • TBD at 1. Purdue @ 6:25pm on TBS
  • 13. Charleston at 4. Alabama @ 6:35pm on truTV
  • 16. Longwood at 1. Houston @ 8:20pm on TNT
  • 12. JMU at 5. Wisconsin @ 8:40pm on CBS
  • 9. TCU at 8. Utah St @ 8:55pm on TBS
  • 12. Grand Canyon at 5. Saint Mary’s @ 9:05pm on truTV
• Sat 3/23 – 2^nd round
  • 8 games TBD at TBD on TBD
    • 2 West, 1 South, 3 Midwest and 2 East
• Sun 3/24 – 2^nd round
  • 8 games TBD at TBD on TBD
    • 2 West, 3 South, 1 Midwest and 2 East

Basketball – NCAAW: (only reporting ranked vs ranked)

• Wed 3/20
  • First Four: 16. Presbyterian at 16. Sacred Heart @ 6pm on ESPNU
  • First Four: 12. Columbia at 12. Vanderbilt @ 8pm on ESPNU
• Thurs 3/21
  • First Four: 11. Arizona at 11. Auburn @ 6pm on ESPN2
  • First Four: 16. UT Martin vs 16. Holy Cross @ 8pm on ESPN2
• Fri 3/22
  • 9. Michigan St at 8. UNC @ 10:30am on ESPN2
  • 15. Maine at 2. Ohio St @ 11am on ESPN
  • 11. Middle TN at 6. Louisville @ 12:30pm on ESPN2
  • TBD at 1. South Carolina @ 1pm on ESPN
  • 10. Richmond at 7. Duke @ 1:30pm on ESPNEWS
  • 16. Drexel at 1. Texas @ 2pm on ESPNU
  • 13. Marshall at 4. Vtech @ 2:30pm on ESPN2
  • 14. Rice at 3. LSU @ 3pm on ESPN
  • 13. Portland at 4. Kansas St @ 3:30pm on ESPNEWS
  • 9. Florida St at 8. Alabama @ 4:30pm on ESPN2
  • TBD at 5. Baylor @ 5pm on ESPNU
  • 12. Drake at 5. Colorado @ 6pm on ESPNEWS
  • 10. Maryland at 7. Iowa St @ 6:30pm on ESPN2
  • 14. E Washington at 3. Oregon St @ 7pm on ESPNU
  • 15. Norfolk St at 2. Stanford @ 9pm on ESPN2
  • 11. Texas A&M at 6. Nebraska @ 9:30pm on ESPNU
• Sat 3/23
  • 11. Green Bay at 6. Tennessee @ 11am on ESPN
  • 14. Jackson St at 3. UConn @ 12pm on ABC
  • 13. Fairfield at 4. Indiana @ 12:30pm on ESPN2
  • 9. Michigan at 8. Kansas @ 1pm on ESPNEWS
  • 15. Kent St at 2. Notre Dame @ 1:15pm n ESPN
  • 14. Chattanooga at 3. NC ST @ 1:30pm on ESPNU
  • TBD at 1. Iowa @ 2pm on ABC
  • TBD at 6. Syracuse @ 2:30pm on ESPN2
  • 12. Florida Gulf Coast at 5. Oklahoma @ 3pm on ESPNEWS
  • 16. Texas A&M CC at 1. USC @ 3:30pm on ESPN
  • 10. Marquette at 7. Ole Miss @ 3:45pm on ESPNU
  • 9. Princeton at 8. WV @ 4:30pm on ESPN2
  • 10. UNLV at 7. Creighton @ 6pm on ESPNEWS
  • 13. UC Irvine at 4. Gonzaga @ 6:30pm on ESPN2
  • 15. California Baptist at 2. UCLA @ 8:30pm on ESPN2
  • 12. SDSt at 5. Utah @ 9pm on ESPNU
• Sun 3/24 – 2^nd round
  • 8 games @ TBD on TBD
• Mon 3/25 – 2^nd round
  • 8 games @ TBD on TBD

Golf:

• Thurs 3/21
  • The Valspar Championship – Round 1 @ 1pm on Golf Channel
• Fri 3/22
  • The Valspar Championship – Round 2 @ 1pm on Golf Channel
• Sat 3/23
  • The Valspar Championship – Round 3
    • @ 12pm on Golf Channel
    • @ 2pm on NBC
• Sun 3/24
  • The Valspar Championship – Final Round
    • @ 12pm on Golf Channel
    • @ 2pm on NBC

Hockey:

• Tues 3/19
  • Hurricanes at Islanders @ 6:30pm on hulu
  • Wild at Ducks @ 9pm on hulu
• Wed 3/20
  • Maple Leafs at Capitals @ 6:30pm on TNT
  • Wild at Kings @ 9pm on TNT
• Thurs 3/21
  • Predators at Panthers @ 6:30pm on hulu
  • Kraken at Golden Knights @ 9:30pm on ESPN
• Sat 3/23
  • Panthers at Rangers @ 7pm on ABC
• Sun 3/24
  • Penguins at Avalanche @ 1pm on TNT
  • Maple Leafs at Hurricanes @ 5pm on hulu

Motorsports:

• Sat 3/23
  • F1: Rolex AUS GP @ 11pm on ESPN2

Olympic Sports:

• Thurs 3/21
  • Figure Skating: World Championship – Women’s Short @ 12pm on NBC
  • Figure Skating: World Championship – Men’s Short @ 2pm on USA
  • Figure Skating: World Championship – Pairs Free Skate @ 7pm on USA
• Fri 3/22
  • Figure Skating: World Championship – Women’s Free Skate @ 7pm on USA
• Sat 3/23
  • Figure Skating: World Championship – Free Dance @ 2pm on USA
  • Gymnastics: NCAAW – SEC Championship: Auburn, Arkansas, Mizzou and Georgia @ 2:30pm on SEC
  • Gymnastics: NCAAW – ACC Championship: NC St, UNC, Clemson and Pitt @ 6pm on ACC
  • Gymnastics: NCAAW – Big 12 Championship: BYU, WV, Iowa St, Denver and Oklahoma @ 6:15pm on ESPNU
  • Gymnastics: NCAAW – SEC Championship: LSU, Florida, Alabama and Kentucky @ 7pm on SEC
  • Figure Skating: World Championship @ 7pm on NBC

Soccer:

• Thurs 3/21
  • UEFA Euro Qualifying: Wales vs ENG @ 8pm on FS1
  • International Friendly: SWE vs POR @ 10pm on FS1
• Sat 3/23
  • International Friendly: NED vs SCO @ 1am on FS1
  • International Friendly: ENG vs BRA @ 10pm on FS1
• Sun 3/24
  • International Friendly: DEN vs SUI @ 10pm on FS1