Yahoo Sports AM is our daily newsletter that keeps you up to date on all things sports. Sign up here to get it every weekday morning.
🚨 Headlines
🏀 Dame out indefinitely: In a huge blow to the Bucks, Damian Lillard is out indefinitely with deep vein thrombosis (a blood clot) in his calf, the same condition that ended Victor Wembanyama’s season.
🏈 NFL offseason: Russell Wilson is joining the Giants (1 year, $21M) and Stefon Diggs is heading to New England (3 years, $69M).
📺 March Madness viewership: The first weekend of the men’s tournament was the most-watched since 1993, while the first round of the women’s tournament was the second-most watched ever, trailing only last year’s Caitlin Clark-fueled extravaganza.
🏈 Stanford’s coach fired: Stanford has fired head football coach Troy Taylor following an ESPN report outlining numerous instances in which he bullied and belittled female athletic staffers.
🏀 Xavier hires Pitino: Richard Pitino, son of Hall of Famer Rick, is taking the head coaching position at Xavier after spending the last four years at New Mexico.
🏀 Is NIL the death of Cinderella?
The beauty of March Madness lies in the unknown players who become tournament legends and the mid-major programs who shock the world with a deep run. But given the state of this year’s Sweet 16, it’s fair to ask: Is NIL the death of Cinderella?
Power conferences only: For the first time since the men’s tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, the Sweet 16 comprises only power conference teams. The women’s side is the same, with 15 power conference teams plus UConn, the most decorated program in the sport’s history.
Sign of the times: It’s no secret why this is happening. NIL and the transfer portal have created a landscape akin to professional free agency, where major programs gobble up the most talented players from across the country, leaving smaller schools gutted in their wake.
-
No team represents this sea change better than Florida Atlantic, whose coach and three leading scorers from their thrilling 2023 Final Four run are all back in this year’s Sweet 16… with other teams.
-
Head coach Dusty May and center Vlad Goldin are at Michigan, while guards Johnell Davis and Alijah Martin are now at Arkansas and Florida, respectively.
Wild stat: Only three teams in the Sweet 16 (Purdue, Duke, Michigan State) have more than three starters that began their college careers at their current school.
Here’s Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Eisenberg on the predicament these smaller schools face, and whether there’s anything that can be done about it.
Oakland men’s basketball coach Greg Kampe recalls exactly when he realized that mid-majors had become a farm system for power-conference programs.
It was when Kampe lost a standout player who grew up minutes from campus, who attended dozens of Oakland games as a kid and who always hoped to play for the Golden Grizzlies just like both his mom and dad once did.
Trey Towsend blossomed from unwanted recruit to Horizon League player of the year during his time at Oakland. The 6-foot-6 forward saved his best for the NCAA tournament stage, piling up 47 points and 25 rebounds in two games last March as the 14th-seeded Golden Grizzlies waylaid talent-laden Kentucky and took NC State to overtime.
On the eve of that run, Towsend described playing for Oakland as “a dream come true.” Two weeks later, he put his name in the transfer portal. The temptation was too strong with no penalty for transferring and with heavyweight programs offering hundreds of thousands in NIL money if he spent his final college season playing for them.
“He’s making 20 times what I could give him this season,” Kampe told Yahoo Sports of Townsend, who has started 29 games this season for Arizona — a Sweet 16 team. “What do you do? You wish him well. Many of these guys are being told you’re not going to be in the NBA, so get your money now and you’ve got a chance to start your life with a little bit of a bankroll. That’s a hard thing to argue against. I can’t argue against that with my players.”
Stories like that exemplify why there’s concern in college basketball circles that the absence of upsets in this year’s NCAA tournament may be the start of a trend rather than just an anomaly. The modern landscape of college basketball has made it more challenging than ever for the likes of Oakland to compete against deep-pocketed power-conference programs.
⚾️ Predicting the 2025 MLB season
After a long, cold, baseball-less winter, Opening Day is finally on the horizon. Before games kick off tomorrow, let’s take a look at how Yahoo Sports’ MLB experts Jake Mintz, Jordan Shusterman, Russell Dorsey, Jack Baer and Jason Owens think the 2025 season will play out.
Division winners: There’s relative consensus everywhere but the AL Central, the only division with more than two different winners predicted.
-
AL East: Three took the Red Sox, two took the Orioles.
-
AL Central: Two took the Royals, while the others were split among the Guardians, Twins and Tigers. (The White Sox shockingly received no love after losing 121 games last season.)
-
AL West: Three took the Astros, two took the Rangers.
-
NL East: Three took the Braves, two took the Phillies.
-
NL Central: Three took the Cubs, two took the Brewers.
-
NL West: All five took the Dodgers. (Again, shocking.)
World Series: Everyone agreed that an NL team will end the season on top, with three different teams getting the nod.
-
Three picked the Dodgers (over the Red Sox, Orioles and Astros) — hardly surprising given L.A. has the shortest preseason World Series odds in over 20 years (+240 at BetMGM).
-
The others picked the Phillies (over the Astros) and Braves (over the Rangers).
Now, onto the individual awards…
MVP: There’s very little consensus here, with just one player — and not the one you think — getting picked twice.
-
AL: Two think Bobby Witt Jr. (SS, Royals) will become Kansas City’s second MVP (George Brett, 1980). The others went with Aaron Judge (RF, Yankees), Yordan Alvarez (DH, Astros) and Gunnar Henderson (SS, Orioles).
-
NL: Could Shohei Ohtani (DH/SP, Dodgers) win his fourth or Bryce Harper (1B, Phillies) win his third? Or will it be a first-time winner like Juan Soto (RF, Mets), Elly de la Cruz (SS, Reds) or Fernando Tatis Jr. (RF, Padres)?
Cy Young: The AL is a toss-up, but pretty much everyone is in agreement over on the senior circuit.
-
AL: Will Tarik Skubal (LHP, Tigers) go back-to-back? Will Jacob deGrom (RHP, Rangers) return to glory and win his third? Or could it be Hunter Brown (RHP, Astros), Cole Ragans (LHP, Royals) or Garrett Crochet (LHP, Red Sox)?
-
NL: Four picked reigning Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes (RHP, Pirates), while one took two-time runner-up Zack Wheeler (RHP, Phillies).
Rookie of the Year: All eight picks are among MLB’s top-44 prospects.
-
AL: Two went for Jacob Wilson (SS, Athletics), with the others picking Kumar Rocker (RHP, Rangers), Kristian Campbell (2B, Red Sox) and Roman Anthony (OF, Red Sox).
-
NL: Two went for Japanese phenom Rōki Sasaki (RHP, Dodgers), with the others picking Dylan Crews (RF, Nationals), Bubba Chandler (RHP, Pirates) and Matt Shaw (3B, Cubs).
📸 Through the lens
Sacramento — The Thunder beat the Kings to become the first team to 60 wins this season behind 32 points from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who joined Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain and Oscar Robertson as the only players with 65 straight 20-point games in a single season.
Palm Beach Gardens, Florida — Atlanta beat New York to win the inaugural TGL championship in a legitimately thrilling match highlighted by Billy Horschel’s unbelievable putt (and even better celebration).
Monterrey, Mexico — The Red Sox and Sultanes de Monterrey of the Mexican Pacific League played two exhibitions this week in an electric environment to close out Boston’s spring schedule.
🏒 Simply sensational: The story of Ovechkin’s miracle goal
Alex Ovechkin scored his 889th career goal on Tuesday, putting him just six shy of passing Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record. As The Great Eight approaches The Great One’s hallowed mark, one goal stands out among all the others.
From Yahoo Sports’ Jay Busbee:
All these years later, even though you know what’s coming, it’s still stunning, still a miraculous and magnificent moment in hockey history: a 20-year-old rookie by the name of Alexander Ovechkin, sliding on his back, facing away from the goal, reaching overhead with his stick, hooking the puck, flicking a backhand goal into the net against the Phoenix Coyotes … right there in front of none other than Wayne Gretzky.
It wasn’t the most crucial goal ever scored, given that it happened on a Monday afternoon in a January 2006 match between two mediocre teams, but it might just be the most cinematic … and for what it heralded, maybe the most significant, too.
As Ovechkin nears Gretzky’s all-time goal scoring record, it’s worth looking back at one of the earliest times the two crossed paths, a moment that defined Ovechkin as a player for the ages, even as a rookie.
“God, it was one of the most amazing goals I’ve ever seen. Amazing,” Darren Pang, then a color commentator for the Coyotes, recalled to Yahoo Sports. “Three guys probably thought the play was dead, and one guy didn’t, and he ends up scoring one of the greatest-looking goals in history.”
📺 Watchlist: Figure skating Worlds
The World Figure Skating Championships open today at Boston’s TD Garden, where the U.S. is hosting the four-day competition for the first time since 2016. And with the Winter Games less than a year away, Olympic spots are on the line.
U.S. looks to dominate: Americans could win three of the four events for the first time ever, with the reigning champions in men’s singles (“Quad God” Ilia Malinin) and ice dance (married couple Madison Chock and Evan Bates), plus a rising star in women’s singles (Amber Glenn).
More to watch:
-
🏀 NBA: Lakers at Pacers (7:30pm, ESPN); Celtics at Suns (10pm, ESPN)
-
🏒 NHL: Devils at Blackhawks (7:30pm, TNT); Stars at Oilers* (10pm, TNT)
-
⚽️ Women’s Champions League: Lyon (2-0) vs. Bayern Munich (1:45pm, YouTube); Arsenal (0-2) vs. Real Madrid (4pm, YouTube) … Quarterfinals, second leg.
-
🏀 NIT: Kent State at Loyola Chicago (7pm, ESPN2); UAB at UC Irvine (9pm, ESPN2) … Winners join Chattanooga and North Texas in the semifinals.
*Superstars on the shelf: Edmonton will remain without its star duo of Connor McDavid (lower body) and Leon Draisaitl (undisclosed) through at least the end of this week.
⚾️ MLB trivia
Every A’s player will wear No. 24 for their home-opener to honor the late Rickey Henderson, whose 1,406 career steals are by far the most all-time.
Question: Who is second on MLB’s all-time stolen base list?
Hint: Cardinals.
Answer at the bottom.
⚾️ Fantasy Baseball: Last-minute tips
Opening Day is tomorrow, but in case your fantasy league isn’t drafting until tonight here are some last-minute pointers courtesy of Yahoo Sports’ fantasy analysts.
More Yahoo Fantasy: Full draft kit | Join a league now
Trivia answer: Lou Brock (938 steals)
We hope you enjoyed this edition of Yahoo Sports AM, our daily newsletter that keeps you up to date on all things sports. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox every weekday morning.
