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🏀 Good morning to all, but especially to …
COLLEGE BASKETBALL FANS
Three words: March college basketball. It doesn’t get any better than that. The final weekend before Selection Sunday is upon us, and there are excellent games, crucial bubble battles and NCAA Tournament bids on the schedule.
Three ranked-vs.-ranked matchups await tomorrow, headlined by No. 7 Alabama at No. 1 Auburn. Both, strangely enough, are coming off losses and would like to get back on track ahead of what will surely be a grueling, thrilling SEC Tournament.
Auburn’s loss was Duke’s gain, as the Blue Devils — currently ranked No. 2 in the AP Top 25 — took over the top spot in Kyle Boone’s Power Rankings.
- Boone: “Auburn still has far and away the best overall résumé in college basketball and appears to be a near-lock to be the No. 1 overall seed come Selection Sunday. But it has been tripped up twice in the last month, while Duke has rallied from a Feb. 8 loss at Clemson to win seven straight by an average margin of 31.6 points (!!!) leading into the regular-season finale Saturday.”
Duke’s opponent in the regular-season finale is none other than its arch rival: North Carolina. The Tar Heels are currently in Jerry Palm’s “First Four Out,” but as David Cobb notes, they’re trending in the right direction.
- Cobb: “North Carolina had no choice after falling to 14-11 (7-6 ACC) with an 85-65 loss at Clemson on Feb. 10; the Tar Heels needed to win their next six games to recover any realistic at-large hopes … Mission accomplished. … The Tar Heels have rated as college basketball’s fourth-most efficient offense since the Clemson loss. The defense remains iffy, and the Tar Heels still have work to do. But if nothing else, they are playing with confidence again.”
Five automatic bids will be handed out this weekend, and you can keep up with our conference tournament tracker.
👍 Honorable mentions
🏈 And not such a good morning for …
TREY HENDRICKSON AND THE CINCINNATI BENGALS
The Bengals‘ March of discontent continued Thursday, with Cincinnati giving Trey Hendrickson permission to seek a trade entering the final year of his deal. The Bengals are trying to extend both Tee Higgins (they franchise tagged him, but teams are calling about his availability) and Ja’Marr Chase (the two sides remain far apart).
In January, Bengals GM Duke Tobin said it’d be hard to extend both wide receivers, let alone those two and Hendrickson, and now it seems like Hendrickson is the odd man out.
- Hendrickson, 30, is coming off an NFL-high 17.5 sacks. He was a first-team All Pro and finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting.
- In 2023, Hendrickson got a one-year, $21 million extension to cover 2025. That would rank 11th in average annual value among EDGE players.
- Micah Parsons and Myles Garrett could get big extensions this offseason, and Maxx Crosby just got a three-year, $106.5 million extension, making him the highest-paid non-quarterback annually in NFL history.
This is frustrating … but not surprising. In early February, after Tobin’s comments, Joe Burrow said he wanted everyone back and correctly noted the Bengals had the cap room for it. Joel Corry noted the steep price Cincinnati could pay if it didn’t accede, and in mid-February, the Bengals were reportedly trying to extend Chase, Higgins and Hendrickson.
But now we’re here, an all-too-familiar story: The Bengals just won’t spend their money like other teams. They basically never give out guaranteed money in the second year of veteran contracts. Their methods are conservative and, frankly, damaging to their chances to win big.
Consider this: Cincinnati has three players slated to make $20 million or more in 2025. That includes Higgins and Hendrickson. The Eagles, who have an extremely aggressive front office, have six.
Bengals owner Mike Brown ranked 29th in commitment to building a competitive team in the NFLPA team report cards.
Making it even more frustrating is that Cincinnati should be aggressive considering it has a superstar quarterback. Hendrickson is a premier player at a premier position: The last sack leader to play for a different team the following year is Jared Allen, who went from the Chiefs to the Vikings in 2008.
Should it happen again, Cody Benjamin ranked top landing spots for Hendrickson.
👎 Not so honorable mentions
🏀 Lakers beat Knicks in overtime thriller; Jalen Brunson (ankle) exits
Make it eight wins in a row for the Lakers after they outlasted the Knicks, 113-109, in overtime. Los Angeles spent six days in 10th place in December, and they’ve been in second place for all of one day in March. It’s time to say it: These Lakers are contenders.
- Luka Dončić had 32 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds. I still can’t believe he’s on the Lakers. It’s hilarious. LeBron James had 31 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists.
- The eight-game winning streak is the team’s longest since their championship season of 2019-20.
- One month after the trade deadline, the Lakers are proving to be the biggest winner from the deadline, writes Sam Quinn: “Every player on the Lakers roster is benefitting from Dončić’s presence.” Isn’t it nice to get a top-five player just like that?
- The Lakers were sixth in Colin Ward-Henninger’s Power Rankings … and that was before Thursday night.
It’s not such good news for the Knicks: Jalen Brunson (39 points, 10 assists) left after an unsightly ankle injury in overtime. He headed to the locker room with a pronounced limp after hitting a pair of free throws.
With the playoffs just over a month away, New York is certainly hoping for the best.
🏈 NFL mock draft, top 100 draft prospects, news roundup
I wouldn’t say the last few days in the NFL have been quiet, but compared to what’s coming, this is calm. The free agent negotiating period begins Monday, meaning after this weekend, the draft will fall into the background for a bit.
So before that happens, let’s give it some love with Josh Edwards’ latest mock draft. The Titans reportedly want to trade down, so in this mock draft, here’s the top five picks:
- Giants (via Titans): Cam Ward, QB, Miami
- Browns: Abdul Carter, EDGE, Penn State
- Titans (via Giants): Travis Hunter, ATH, Colorado
- Patriots: Armand Membou, OT, Missouri
- Jaguars: Mason Graham, DL, Michigan
But my favorite pick in this mock is …
- Edwards: “21. Rams (via Steelers): Tyler Warren, TE, Penn State — Los Angeles was interested in trading up last year for Brock Bowers, but was unable to make that a reality. A year later, the Rams are now tasked with replacing Cooper Kupp. Tight end Tyler Warren is dropped into the offense.”
Warren is tough, talented and super versatile. Sean McVay would find creative ways to use him.
You can dive deeper with Mike Renner’s top 100 big board.
Here’s more:
- Aaron Rodgers to the Raiders? It could happen … under this condition.
- Where could Joey Bosa land?
- After planning to release him, the Jaguars traded Christian Kirk to the Texans.
- The Commanders re-signed Bobby Wagner. Also, Deebo Samuel sounds very excited to play for them.
- The Browns restructured Deshaun Watson‘s deal (again).
- The 49ers are releasing Javon Hargrave.
📺 What we’re watching this weekend
Friday
🏀 No. 14 North Carolina vs. No. 22 Florida State (W), 11 a.m. on ESPN2
🏀 Indiana vs. No. 2 USC (W), noon on BTN
🏀 Vanderbilt vs. No. 5 South Carolina (W), noon on ESPN
🏀 No. 20 Kansas State vs. No. 16 West Virginia (W), noon on ESPNU
🏀 No. 10 Oklahoma vs. No. 12 Kentucky (W), 2:30 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 Ole Miss vs. No. 1 Texas (W), 6 p.m. on SEC Network
🏀 Unrivaled, 7:15 p.m. on TNT
🏀 Grizzlies at Mavericks, 7:30 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 No. 18 Purdue at Illinois (M), 8 p.m. on Fox
🏀 Suns at Nuggets, 10 p.m. on ESPN
Saturday
🏀 No. 6 St. John’s at No. 20 Marquette (M), noon on Fox
🏀 No. 19 Kentucky at No. 15 Missouri (M), noon on ESPN
🏀 No. 25 Mississippi State at Arkansas (M), noon on SEC Network
🏒 Kraken at Flyers, 12:30 p.m. on ABC
🏀 No. 7 Alabama at No. 1 Auburn (M), 2:30 p.m. on ESPN
🏒 Bruins at Lightning, 3 p.m. on ABC
🏀 Ole Miss at No. 5 Florida (M), 6 p.m. on SEC Network
🏀 Unrivaled, 6 p.m. on truTV
🏀 No. 2 Duke at North Carolina (M), 6:30 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 Lakers at Celtics, 8:30 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 No. 3 Houston at Baylor (M), 10 p.m. on ESPN
Sunday
🏀 No. 17 Michigan at No. 8 Michigan State (M), noon on CBS
🏀 Nuggets at Thunder, 1 p.m. on ABC
🏀 ACC Tournament Final (W), 1 p.m. on ESPN
🏒 Devils at Flyers, 1 p.m. on TNT/truTV
🏀 MVC Tournament Final (M), 2:10 p.m. on CBS
🏀 SEC Tournament Final (W), 3 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 Suns at Mavericks, 3:30 p.m. on ABC
🏒 Penguins at Wild, 3:30 p.m. on TNT/truTV
🏀 Big Ten Tournament Final (W), 4:30 p.m. on CBS/Paramount+
🏀 Big 12 Championship Final (W), 5 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 Cavaliers at Bucks, 8 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 Summit League Championship Final (M), 9 p.m. on CBS Sports Network
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Author: Zachary Pereles
March 7, 2025 | 10:10 am
