The Madness has arrived. Tuesday night the 2025 men’s NCAA tournament kicks into gear, with two of the First Four games coming from Dayton, Ohio. In the first game No. 16 St. Francis (PA) will square off with No. 16 Alabama State, with a trip to Kentucky to take on the top overall seed Auburn on the line. In the second game, No. 11 North Carolina — a surprising inclusion in the tournament — takes on No. 11 San Diego State with the winner facing No. 6 Mississippi. Wednesday night brings the First Four to a close. In the first game No. 16 American tangles with No. 16 Mount St. Mary’s, with the winners taking on Duke. The second game Wednesday night features No. 11 Xavier against No. 11 Texas
Tag Archives: Basketball
The Louisville Cardinals were the saddest team in men’s college basketball only one year ago. Kenny Payne’s disastrous head coaching tenure reached rock bottom with consecutive seasons of some of the worst basketball in history for a program with as much tradition as the Cards. In 2022-23, Louisville started 0-9 with losses Bellarmine, Wright St., and Appalachian St. to open the season. They went 2-18 in the ACC, and finished 4-27 overall. Last season wasn’t much better: Louisville went 3-17 in the ACC and finished 8-24. Payne was fired after the season, and eventually replaced by College of Charleston coach Pat Kelsey. Kelsey wasn’t the Cards’ first choice, but his infectious energy, up-tempo offense, and consecutive NCAA tournament appearances gave Cardinals fans hope for the future. If nothing else, it
Mar 13, 2025; Kansas City, MO, USA; Brigham Young Cougars forward Richie Saunders (15) drives to the basket around Iowa State Cyclones forward Joshua Jefferson (2) during the first half at T-Mobile Center. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images Richie Saunders recorded 23 points and five assists and Fousseyni Traore added 15 points to help No. 17 BYU produce a 96-92 victory over No. 12 Iowa State on Thursday to reach the semifinals of the Big 12 championship in Kansas City, Mo. Trevin Knell made all four of his 3-point attempts while scoring 14 points as fourth-seeded BYU (24-8) won its ninth straight game. Mihailo Boskovic added 10 points for the Cougars, who will face either top-seeded Houston or 16th-seeded Colorado in Friday’s semis. Curtis Jones sank a career-best seven treys
Unrivaled announced the league’s All-Unrivaled First and Second Teams on Thursday — and the results were largely unsurprising. Napheesa Collier, who has been the league’s most dominant player on both ends, was named to the first team, along with Kayla McBride (Laces Club) and Chelsea Gray (Rose Club). The All-Unrivaled Second Team was comprised of Skylar Diggins-Smith (Lunar Owls), Rhyne Howard (Vinyl), and Angel Reese (Rose Club). All three had standout seasons; Diggins-Smith averaged 17.9 points and 4.8 assists, while clinching 5 games with game-winners. Howard averaged 20.5 points and 1.3 steals per game, while Reese averaged 13.1 points and 12.1 rebounds per game. Each of the league’s top two teams was honored with two All-Unrivaled selections; the Lunar Owls were represented by Collier (First Team) and Diggins-Smith (Second Team)
March is when stars are born. It’s when players are asked to step up in crucial moments, when they attempt the improbable and pull off the seemingly impossible. In basketball, the stage doesn’t get any bigger than March Madness. It feels like we see a few freshmen really break out during the NCAA Tournament every season. Last year was no exception. We watched JuJu Watkins scored 30 points in a Sweet 16 win over Baylor, we saw Hannah Hidalgo stuff the stat sheet in a second round victory over Ole Miss, and we were astonished by Audi Crooks’ record-setting performance – 40 points on 18-of-20 shooting to go along with 12 rebounds – in an unlikely triumph over Maryland. This March, we have more stellar rookies to pay attention to.
Feb 15, 2025; Blacksburg, Virginia, USA; Virginia Tech Hokies forward Tobi Lawal (1) works against Virginia Cavaliers forward Blake Buchanan (0) during the second half at Cassell Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Brian Bishop-Imagn Images Cal and Virginia Tech have struggled down the stretch, yet one of them will claim at least a second game in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. The teams meet in the first round Tuesday afternoon in Charlotte, N.C. No. 10 seed Virginia Tech (13-18) has lost two in a row and three of its last four, including Saturday’s 65-47 setback at then-No. 11 Clemson. Tuesday’s winner meets No. 7 seed Stanford on Wednesday night. “Let’s go play well,” Virginia Tech coach Mike Young said. “Won at Cal earlier in the year.” No. 15 seed Cal (13-18) has
READ MORE: WNBA star Angel Reese blasts Delta over Toronto crash offer By JAKE NISSE Published: 23:54 EST, 7 March 2025 | Updated: 01:17 EST, 8 March 2025 Angel Reese has threatened to boycott WNBA games if the league does not meet players’ demands for the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, as the Chicago Sky forward continued to complain about her salary. Reese signed a four-year, $324,383 rookie scale contract ahead of her first pro season, and is set to make just under $75,000 in 2025, according to Spotrac. And while WNBA players are set to negotiate a new CBA after the players’ union opted out of the current one in October (it still runs through October 31, 2025), Reese said on her ‘Unapologetically Angel’ podcast that players could skip games if
On the road, in a rival’s sold-out arena, with the conference title and NCAA Tournament seeding implications on the line, the USC Trojans oozed confidence. Even as they endured several players dealing with foul trouble, even as the UCLA Bruins cut the deficit to two possessions in the third quarter, Lindsay Gottlieb’s team never flinched. The reason why, it seemed to be, was because they had JuJu Watkins and their opponent did not. On national television Saturday night and in front of a crowd that included basketball royalty and celebrities – from Trojans’ legend Cheryl Miller to singer John Legend – USC captured the Big Ten regular season title in its first season in the league, defeating UCLA for the second time this year, 80-67. Powered by Watkins’ eye-popping stat
When this women’s college basketball season began, most folks figured that the race for the national player of the year would come down to three returning guards: UConn’s Paige Bueckers, USC’s JuJu Watkins and Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo. And indeed, all three players have been mightily impressive this season and likely secured spots on the All-American First Team. A fourth player quickly rose to the top to join them in that debate and conversation in UCLA center Lauren Betts, who is averaging about 20 points and 10 rebounds per game and is the nucleus of a Bruins’ squad that started the year 23-0 and looks like a legit contender for the national title. But it feels like there’s a fifth player we should be talking about for a spot on
The Auburn Tigers have been arguably the best team in college basketball this season, holding the No. 1 spot in the AP Top 25 for the last seven weeks as they’ve gone 25-2 in the loaded SEC. Auburn’s year started off with a marquee 74-69 victory over the Houston Cougars back in game No. 2 of the season and they haven’t looked back since, going an impressive 13-1 in conference play with the lone loss being a single-digit game against the No. 3 Florida Gators. Looking at the Tigers roster, they have an All-American-caliber player in forward Johni Broome, who has averaged 18.6 points, 11.1 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.6 blocks per game, making a strong case for the Wooden Award this season. But, Auburn’s entire rotation is loaded, as
Feb 8, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Bulls forward Patrick Williams (44) defends Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler (10) during the first half at United Center. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images Eleven years ago, Andre Iguodala did the seemingly impossible: He made Mark Jackson look like a good basketball coach. Turns out, it didn’t help Jackson, who had already burned enough bridges with the Warriors that they fired him despite back-to-back playoff appearances. Jackson has never been hired as a head coach again—maybe because he could never convince Iguodala to come with him. The veteran swingman remained with Golden State, where his mere presence helped Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes and Draymond Green post better numbers in 2014—his first year with the Warriors—than they had the season before.
Considered a fan favorite, one of the events leading up to the NBA All-Star game is the All-Star Celebrity basketball game. With stars coming from every walk of life such as the WWE and the NFL, it’s truly a who’s who event. But, who are the stars of the celebrity game? Let’s break down the roster. Team Bonds Coaches: Barry Bonds: Arguably the greatest baseball player to play the game, Bonds played for the San Francisco Giants and Pittsburgh Pirates in his career, and still holds the single season home run record. 2 Chainz: “HORSEPOWER, HORSEPOWER, ALL THIS POLO ON I GOT HORSEPOWER”. 2 Chainz actually played basketball before becoming a rapper, playing for Alabama State in 1996 and 1997. However, I think the pivot to rapping was one of

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The Dallas Mavericks are urging their star player, Luka Dončić, to stop complaining about every unfavorable call and treat referees with respect during games. Brian Windhorst revealed on SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt, following Game 3 of the NBA Finals, that the Mavericks’ coaches have repeatedly “begged” and “pleaded” with Dončić to stop confronting officials […]