Posted on March 3, 2025

Weekly Update March 3, 2025

Coming up this Month: March

Basketball – NBA: Some good games this week. Steph top scorer with 56. Standings update.

Basketball – NCAAM: A lot of games but not a ton of upsets in the final full week of games. NCAAW regular season is over and now its conference championship week.

Football: NCAAF news.

Golf: Highsmith gets first title.

Olympic Sports: Skiing – BRA denied. T&F – New WR in PV and college conference championships.

Quick Highlights: Taurasi retires. Kelce does not.

Coming up this month:

March: IBSF (Bobsled and Skeleton) World Championships Mar 6-16, F1 season starts Mar 15, Speed Skating World Championships Mar 18-19, March Madness Mar 18-April 7, NCAA Wrestling Mar 20-22, CONCACAF Nations League Finals Mar 20-23, World Indoor T&F Championships Mar 21-23, TGL Finals Mar 24-25, World Figure Skating Championships Mar 25-30

Basketball-NBA:

This week’s games:
- Jokic hit a career high of 19 assists during the Nuggets win over the pacers 125-116. The Bulls crushed the 76ers with a big 142 point game. 6 CHI players were in double digits and they would win by 32! The Kings would one up the Bulls by beating the Hornets by 42. LaVine put up 42 of those points so without him, they would’ve still gone to OT. The Timberwolves overcame a 24 point deficit in the 4Q to comeback on the Thunder. They would take OKC to OT and continue the momentum to win and upset the Thunder! That was all on Monday.

- Tuesday, the Grizzlies and Suns game was back and forth with each Q being only 3-4 points apart at most. They would go to OT before Memphis would take the W 151-148. The Pelicans started slow only scoring 16 points in the 1Q but would comeback to upset the Spurs by 6. But a huge headline from that day was Luka facing off against his old team, the Mavs in LA. Kyrie Irving would put up the most points of the game with 35 but the Mavs would still lose 107-99. Luka managed a triple-double but still chatted with his old teammates.

- The Pistons got a nice upset of the Celtics on wed by 20. Steph Curry was the highest scorer of the week. In their game on Thurs, he put up 56 points against the Magic but they would only win by 6 with all that. The Bucks beat the Nuggets at home in a close one but strong 2H. The Suns lost their 3^rd game in a row with a 124-116 loss to the Pelicans. They would play them in back to back games and PHX would get the 2^{nd win.}

- The Cavs and Celtics both had players score 40+ points but the Cavs would get the better of BOS in a close one. 123-116 was the final score there between two teams at the top of the league. The Bulls would get an OT win over the Raptors by 10. The Jazz would get a one-point upset over the Timberwolves. The Lakers would win the battle of LA over the Clippers on Luka’s bday and again on Sunday.

- Over the weekend, the Wizards got their 11^th win over the Hornets. Both teams are fighting to not be the worst team in the league with less than 20 wins. There were quite a number of upsets on Sat. The Kings beat the Rockets by 10, the Spurs upset the Grizzlies in a close one by 2; the 76ers got the better of the Warriors with Grimes recording his career high 44 points. The Celtics had lost 2 games this week but they would break it on Sunday beating the Nuggets. The Cavs needed OT to beat the Trail Blazers and at one point were down 18 points in the 3Q. They had to come back in a big way in the 2H but manage to keep momentum and keep Portland at bay. The Knicks also needed OT to beat the Heat.

Standings: In the East, the Cavs sit in the top spot with 50 wins. The Celtics and Knicks are both over 40 wins in 2^nd and 3^rd. The Wizards are in last place with 11 wins. In the West, the Thunder are #1 with 49 wins. The Lakers, Nuggets, Grizzlies and Rockets are all super close with 37-39 wins. The Jazz and Pelicans have the bottom on lock both under 20 wins. The Jazz at 15 and Pelicans at 17.

Basketball – NCAA:

NCAAM:

Only 3 ranked teams in action on Monday. The Big 12 had a big one of top 10 matchups. #4 Houston managed to hold off the hot #10 Texas Tech. #24 Michigan did not get upset by Nebraska but its still worth mentioning. Their 49-46 win was their lowest point total win in 17 years!
#3 Florida has been on a roll lately but Georgia outscored the Gators 51-35 in the 1H and even though they tried to come back, they would fall 5 points short. #6 Alabama put up 50+ in both halves to easily beat #24 Mississippi St by 38. A 6-11 OSU got a hugely shocking upset over #9 Iowa St and their fans stormed the court.

The Big Ten had a great matchup on Wed. #8 Michigan St and #16 Maryland was a close game although not high scoring. The winning team only needed 58 points to take it. With a miracle bucket at the buzzer, the Spartans would get the win here. Yall gotta watch this video. #12 Texas A&M and Vandy would put put up 52 in the 2H but the Commodors won the 1H and would take the W.

Thurs and Fri were quiet as far as upsets go. Sat we had a lot of games but not a crazy amount of upsets! #1 Auburn crushed #17 Kentucky 94-78. #12 Texas A&M would take their 2^nd loss of the week to #3 Florida by 19 – yikes. #5 Tennessee and #6 Alabama had a great game going back and forth. Bama had the lead at half but Tennessee played to comeback and had (another) miracle 3-pointer at the buzzer to win! #9 Iowa State was not going to have another loss on their resume, they would beat #22 Arizona 84-67. Vandy got their 2^nd ranked win of the week beating #14 Mizzou in OT.
On Sunday, #8 Michigan St got another ranked win this time over #11 Wisconsin by 9. #15 Michigan got creamed by unranked Illinois by 20 points.

NCAAW:

There were 5 ranked matchups on Thursday. #24 Florida State beat #3 Notre Dame in a close one 81-86. #7 LSU lost to #20 Bama in OT. LSU would lose again on Sunday to unranked Ole Miss. They will def be falling in the rankings. #15 Kentucky destroyed #11 Tennessee 82-58. TN would also lose to UGA. #16 Duke beat rivals #8 UNC (who then lost again to unranked UVA on Sunday).
#4 USC beat #2 UCLA again this season, mostley thanks to JuJu Watkins scoring 30 by herself. They beat the Bruins for the second time this season this time by 13.
Duke, TN and LSU all lost again on Sunday. #19 Maryland beat #12 Ohio St in OT in a high scoring game 93-90.
It is conference tournament week which means we have crowned the regular season champs:
- ACC: NC State
- Big Ten: USC
- Big 12: TCU
- SEC: Texas – beat every single SEC team and South Carolina share the title

Football:

NCAAF: Texas increased their football ticket prices by $13/game.
NCAAF: Auburn HC Hugh Freeze has been diagnosed with prostate cancer.
NCAAF: there is a proposed rule for NCAAF that if medical personnel enter the field after the ball has been placed for the next play, the team will be charged a timeout. If a team did not have a TO, then they would be assessed a delay of game 5 yard penalty. This is not final approval which will take place in April. Other ones in the proposal: limiting TOs after 3OT and letting offenses reset the game clock when a defense commits a penalty for too many men on the field (Oregon), changing ‘confirmed’ and ‘stands’ to ‘upheld’ and ‘overturned’.

Golf:

Jake Knapp opened up the Cognizant Classic in dream fashion, with the 15^th round ever of 59. That is 12 birdies to tally up. The next day would not go as well with a 70 2^nd But you would think he would be the winner of the weekend. He would not be after the 11^th hole on Sunday. He hit the ball into the water and it would take him 2 shots to get it out. Joe Highsmith had the opposite start, needing par to make the cut on Friday afternoon. He would make it and then had 2 rounds of 64s to end up at the top of the leaderboard. This is the 24 year old’s first PGA Tour title.

Olympic Sports:

Skiing: ITA Federica Brignone barely snuck past Lara Gut-Behrami by 0.06 seconds in the Super G this weekend. She raced 3xs this weekend as well so it was eventful. Brignone continues to extend her overall lead in WC events. GER Emma Eicher won her first WC title in the downhill, the day after she got her first podium. She beat USA Lauren Macuga by .03 seconds which also would’ve been Macuga’s first title. Henrik Kristoffersen got his first WC title in 3 years in the GS, beating the BRA Lucas Pinheiro Braathen which would’ve been Brazil’s first WC title for the country.
T&F: SWE Armand Duplantis raised the men’s PV WR to 6.27m in a World Indoor Tour meet in Poland. He did it on his first attempt and raised it a centimeter. He has broken 11 WRs in the event.

T&F: It was conference championship week in T&F. Texas Tech swept Big 12s taking the men’s and women’s titles handily. Oregon won both men and women titles for their first year in the Big Ten although the USC men made it a close race on that side. Clemson won the women’s ACC title with ease as well. But the Vtech men took the title in a narrow race over this in-state rival, UVA (by 2 points). The Texas A&M men ruined a 6 year streak for Arkansas to take the first SEC title in their new stadium. But the Razorback women secured the 11th straight indoor title for themselves. NCAAs will be in 2 weeks.

Some quick highlights:

Diana Taurasi is retiring after 6 Olympic gold medals and 20 years in the WNBA. She ended her career this week on the PHX Mercury. She was a 3x WNBA Champion, NCAA Champion, #1 draft pick in 2004 and the league all-time leading scorer.
You know who’s not? Travis Kelce who announced his return to the Chiefs.

What to watch this week

Baseball/Softball – NCAA:

Mon 3/3
- Baseball: 24. Coastal Carolina vs 4. UNC @ 3pm on ACCX
- Baseball: 13. Oklahoma vs 21. Dallas Baptist 2 6:05pm on ESPN+
Tues 3/4
- Baseball: 19. Troy vs 23. Alabama @ 4pm on SEC+
Fri 3/7
- Softball: 25. UVA vs 17. Vtech @ 5pm on ACCX
- Softball: 7. Tennessee at 11. Georgia @ 5pm on SEC+
- Softball: 15. OSU vs 13. Texas Tech @ 6pm on ESPN+
- Softball: 3. Florida vs 5. Texas A&M @ 6pm on SEC+
Sat 3/8
- Softball: 7. Tennessee at 11. Georgia @ 1pm on SEC+
- Softball: 25. UVA vs 17. Vtech @ 1pm on ACCX
- Softball: 21. South Carolina vs 1. Oklahoma @ 2pm on SEC+
- Softball: 15. OSU vs 13. Texas Tech @ 2pm on ESPN+
- Softball: 3. Florida vs 5. Texas A&M @ 4pm on SEC+
- Softball: 19. Auburn vs 20. Mississippi ST @ 5pm on SEC+
Sun 3/9
- Softball: 25. UVA vs 17. Vtech @ 11am on ACCX
- Softball: 3. Florida vs 5. Texas A&M @ 12pm on SEC+
- Softball: 15. OSU vs 13. Texas Tech @ 12pm on ESPN+
- Softball: 7. Tennessee at 11. Georgia @ 1pm on SEC+
- Softball: 21. South Carolina vs 1. Oklahoma @ 1:30pm on SEC
- Softball: 19. Auburn vs 20. Mississippi ST @ 5:30pm on SEC

Basketball – NBA:

Tues 3/4
- Warriors at Knicks @ 6:30pm on TNT
- Clippers at Suns @ 9pm on TNT
Wed 3/5
- Heats at Cavaliers @ 6pm on ESPN
- Thunder at Grizzlies @ 8:30pm on ESPN
Thurs 3/6
- 76ers at Celtics @ 6:30pm on TNT
- Knicks at Lakers @ 9pm on TNT
Fri 3/7
- Grizzlies at Mavericks @ 6:30pm on ESPN
- Suns at Nuggets @ 9pm on ESPN
Sat 3/8
- Lakers at Celtics @ 7:30pm on ABC
Sun 3/9
- Nuggets at Thunder @ 12pm on ABC
- Suns at Mavericks @ 2:30pm on ABC
- Cavaliers at Bucks @ 7pm on ESPN

NCAAM: (only ranked teams and on normal TV)

Mon 3/3
- Wake Forest at 2. Duke @ 6pm on ESPN
- Kansas at 4. Houston @ 8pm on ESPN
Tues 3/4
- LSU at 17. Kentucky @ 6pm on ESPN2
- Rutgers at 20. Purdue @ 6pm on Peacock
- Texas at 24. Mississippi St @ 7pm on SEC
- 1. Auburn at 12. Texas A&M @ 8pm on ESPN
- 25. BYU at 9. Iowa St @ 8pm on ESPN2
- Arizona St at 22. Arizona @ 10pm on ESPN
Wed 3/5
- 16. Maryland at 15. Michigan @ 5:30pm on BTN
- 3. Florida at 6. Alabama @ 6pm on ESPN2
- 13. Clemson at Boston College @ 6pm on ESPNU
- 11. Wisconsin at Minnesota @ 7:30pm on BTN
- 21. Marquette at UConn @ 7:30pm on FS1
- 5. Tennessee at Ole Miss @ 8pm on ESPN2
- Cal at 19. Louisville @ 8pm on ACC
Thurs 3/6
- 8. Michigan St at Iowa @ 7pm on FS1
Fri 3/7
- 20. Purdue at Illinois @ 7pm on FOX
- South Florida at 18. Memphis @ 8pm on ESPN2
Sat 3/8
- 7. St. John’s at 21. Marquette @ 11am on FOX
- 17. Kentucky at 14. Mizzou @ 11am on ESPN
- Penn St at 11. Wisconsin @ 12pm on Peacock
- 9. Iowa St at K ST @ 12:30pm on CBS
- South Carolina at 5. Tennessee @ 1pm on SEC
- Stanford at 19. Louisville @ 1pm on ESPNU
- MVC Final @ 1:15pm on CBS
- 6. Alabama at 1. Auburn @ 1:30pm on ESPN
- Northwestern at 16. Maryland @ 2pm on Peacock
- 12. Texas A&M at LSU @ 3pm on SEC
- 22. Arizona at Kansas @ 3:30pm on ESPN
- Ole Miss at 3. Florida @ 5pm on SEC
- Vtech at 13. Clemson @ 5pm on ESPNU
- 2. Duke at UNC @ 5:30pm on ESPN
- 10. Texas Tech at Arizona St @ 7pm on ESPNU
- 4. Houston at Baylor @ 9pm on ESPN
Sun 3/9
- 15. Michigan at 8. Michigan ST @ 11am on CBS