ON TODAY'S SCORECARD
Gimme Five

It was Arizona’s largest loss in the Final Four in school history.

Meanwhile, Michigan will be aiming to win its first title since 1989, while UConn seeks to claim its third title in the last four years.

With it, the Wolverines become only the second team in NCAA Tournament history to score 95 or more points in each of its five games before the championship game.

Five Positive Trends in Michigan’s favor:

• The last five teams in the March Madness title game to score over 90 points in their Final Four game are 5-0 SU/ATS.

• Only the third title game since 1990 where both teams won their previous Final Four game outright as underdogs. FYI: The favorite has gone 2-0 SU/ATS in these games.

• Teams arriving in championship games after back-to-back underdog wins are 2-8 ATS/3-7 ATS.

• No. 1 seeds are 4-1 SU/ATS versus No. 2 seeds since 1995.

Five Positive Trends in UConn’s favor:

• The Huskies are 6-0 SU/ATS in their last six NCAA tournament championship games.

• UConn has gone 70-18 SU/55-32-1 ATS in this event since 1991 title games.

• Connecticut is 18-1 SU/ATS in this tournament over the past four seasons, including 15-0 SU/ATS from the Round of 32 onward.

• Head coach Danny Hurley is 7-0 SU/ATS in his last seven games against Big Ten opponents.

Five Negative Trends against Michigan:

• Michigan is 1-6 all-time in NCAA national championship games (their only win came in 1989). They’ve lost their last four straight title games.

• No Big Ten team has won the national title since 2000 (Michigan State), adding more conference-level historical pressure.

• Big Ten teams are 0-9 SU/ATS in NCAA championship games versus No. 3 or higher seeds.

• Big Ten teams are 7-17 SU/6-18 ATS versus other Big Ten foes in this tournament since 2008.

• This is the best defense Michigan will face in the tournament this season.

Five Negative Trends against UConn:

• This is the highest-scoring team UConn will face in the tournament this season.

• Danny Hurley’s teams are 20-41 SU/19-69 ATS in games when they give up more than 77 points—including 0-9 SU/ATS in the last two seasons, including 0-14 SU/ATS over the past 14 games, or 2-8 ATS when they allow 90 or more points.

• Teams facing a third straight opponent from the same conference are 8-14 SU/7-15 ATS in this tournament since 1985.

• The Huskies have scored 106 fewer points in this tournament than Michigan—an average of 20.1 points fewer per game.

• Hurley is just 8-55 outright in games as a dog of more than 4 points.

On the injury front: Both teams face the risk of losing a key player to a serious injury: UM’s Yaxel Lendeborg, star senior forward/center, with a sprained MCL, and UConn’s guard Solo Ball, who is in a walking boot.

Danny Hurley summed it up well when he warned, “We are a group of fighters. We are incredibly tough. We’ve got incredible will. We go into these games, we’re ready for battle.”

Closing note: If the closing game line is Michigan -7.5 or more, it will be only the third time since 1990 that the championship game favored a team by more than 7 points. FYI: the other two times, each team lost the betting and split outright at 1-1.

It’s game time!

Portland @ DENVER – ‘Over’ the Total

Portland: 5-0 Over Mondays vs conf / 4-0 Over w/ 3 days rest TY / 8-1 Over L9 vs Nuggets (242.5) // Denver: 4-0 Over vs 3 days rest L2Y / 11-2 Over Mondays / 4-1 Over L5 div Home Games.

From Victor King’s NBA Day To Day Trends in the final issue of the PLAYBOOK NBA Only Hoops Newsletter

Click here to Download your Copy

It is true, and it is beautiful. Under head coach Todd Monken, the Cleveland Browns will have a dedicated fullback on their roster in 2026.

Over the past 10 to 15 years, the fullback position has all but disappeared from the modern game of football. However, there has been a trend back to the run game over the past two to three years, and leading that trend has been Todd Monken's offenses.

In an NFL that has become such a passing league and people have fallen in love with scoring points with big touchdowns, some offenses have gone back to what used to be the bread and butter of the NFL, and that is running the football.

Since 2023, when Monken took over the play calling in Baltimore, the Ravens have been either first or second in the league in "Rush Play Percentage," per TeamRankings.com.

in Monken's time in Baltimore, his teams ran the ball on average, 51.84 percent of the time. In 2024, the Ravens were actually second in the league behind the Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles with a 53.3 percent run rate.

To have a great run game, having Derrick Henry helps, but also having a fullback to lead the way helps as well.

Monken said that a good fullback could present a lot of matchup problems for opposing defenses. The first place to look that isn't Baltimore is San Francisco. Kyle Juszczyk is a legitimate game-changer for the 49ers and creates major matchup issues in both the run and pass game.

Six fullbacks have already been signed this offseason, and there are two still left on the free agent market: Michael Burton from Dallas and Ben VanSumeren from Philadelphia.

If the Browns decide against these two options, they could also convert a tight end to the fullback position.

To be continued...

The Wolverines will become only the eighth team since 1991 to take the floor in a postseason game having scored 90-plus in their previous five games.

They went 6-1 ATS in those contests, including 1-1 ATS in an NCAA tournament.

Get this. Erin Andrews’ NFL sideline reporter salary is actually higher than plenty of the players that she covers.

The 47-year-old reporter, who has worked for Fox Sports since 2012, is the network’s No. 1 sideline reporter. She’s part of the broadcasting team with Kevin Burkhardt, Tom Brady and Tom Rinaldi.

Andrews, who previously worked for ESPN, is arguably the most recognized sideline reporter in recent NFL history.

Andrews brings in about $2 million per year in salary as a sideline reporter. That’s higher than several notable NFL players:

• Browns QB Shedeur Sanders makes $1.1 million per year

• Giants RB Cam Skattebo makes $840,000 per year

• Rams WR Puka Nacua makes $1 million per year

• Vikings QB Kyler Murray makes $1.3 million per year
  

Andrews, who launched her own fashion brand, WEAR By EA, has also done broadcasting work for MLB and ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars.”

Her net worth is estimated at $30 million.

Andrews famously received $55 million in a settlement with a hotel, after a peephole video was recorded by another guest.