ON TODAY'S SCORECARD
Men’s Basketball Bracket Watch
Arizona dropped its first game of the season on Monday, but remains the No. 1 overall seed because of its body of work, while North Carolina and Kentucky are rising.
Fresh off perhaps the most exciting weekend of the season in men’s college basketball, where does the projected NCAA tournament field stand? Sports Illustrated shared its newest Bracket Watch update.
North Carolina and Kentucky rise after their big wins Saturday, but how much do top seeds Arizona, Duke and UConn fall because of their losses? The latest projections, notes and storylines to watch as the bracket moves closer to completion on Selection Sunday...
On the Bubble
Last Four Byes
· USC
· Saint Mary’s
· UCLA
· Texas
Last Four In
· Santa Clara
· San Diego State
· Missouri
· Miami
First Four Out
· Ohio State
· New Mexico
· VCU
· Oklahoma State
Next Four Out
· Seton Hall
· Virginia Tech
· Cal
· West Virginia
Three new teams join the projected field this week: Santa Clara, Missouri and Miami. Santa Clara is walking a tightrope because of its ugly December Quad 4 loss to Loyola Chicago, but every other metric suggests this is an NCAA tournament team. Missouri’s top-end wins help for now, but the Tigers’ overall profile is fairly underwhelming. Their next five games are against projected NCAA tournament teams, which should make or break Dennis Gates’s team’s season. Meanwhile, Miami has two Quad 1 wins, but both are fairly underwhelming at Wake Forest and Syracuse. Wins against the projected field are a must in February.
It’s never good to be the outlier on the bubble, and right now Ohio State is as the only team with zero Quad 1 wins we were considering right at the cut line. That 0–7 mark in Quad 1 and overall being just 9–8 against the top three quads is relatively underwhelming. The good news for the Buckeyes is they get a monster nonconference opportunity this weekend against Virginia in Nashville. Win that one, and Buckeye fans can feel a lot better about their NCAA tournament chances.
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GRINDING OUT THE PROFITS
Bundle It Up
YouTube TV is introducing lower-priced bundles to allow subscribers to better tailor their plans to their interests. The Sports Plan will begin rolling out this week at $65 per month, which is $18 cheaper than the main YouTube TV plan.
What you get: The Sports Plan includes "all the major broadcast networks," including ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC, as well as TBS, TNT, FS1, USA, NBCSN, CBSSN, NBA TV, NFL Network, all of the ESPN networks. Premium channels like NFL RedZone will continue to be sold as add-ons.
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STAT OF THE DAY
60-0 |
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Kansas head coach Bill Self’s record on Mondays
at home prior to the Jayhawks win over previously
unbeaten Arizona. Make
that 61-0 now. Miami Ohio (23-0). |
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TRENDING TODAY
Winners and Losers |
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Surprisingly, his 79.1 QB Rating was better than winning QB Sam Darnold’s 74.7.
Check out the QB Ratings in past 12 Super Bowls...
SB XLIX (2015) — Patriots 28, Seahawks 24 | Line: SEA -1
QB (higher RTG): Russell Wilson (SEA) 110.6 — SUATS L
SB 50 (2016) — Broncos 24, Panthers 10 | Line: CAR -4.5
QB (higher RTG): Peyton Manning (DEN) 56.6 — SUATS W
SB LI (2017) — Patriots 34, Falcons 28 (OT) | Line: NE -3
QB (higher RTG): Matt Ryan (ATL) 144.1 — SUATS L
SB LII (2018) — Eagles 41, Patriots 33 | Line: NE -4.5
QB (higher RTG): Tom Brady (NE) 115.4 — SUATS L
SB LIII (2019) — Patriots 13, Rams 3 | Line: NE -2.5
QB (higher RTG): Tom Brady (NE) 71.4 — SUATS W
SB LIV (2020) — Chiefs 31, 49ers 20 | Line: KC -1.5
QB (higher RTG): Patrick Mahomes (KC) 78.1 — SUATS W
SB LV (2021) — Buccaneers 31, Chiefs 9 | Line: KC -3
QB (higher RTG): Tom Brady (TB) 125.8 — SUATS W
SB LVI (2022) — Rams 23, Bengals 20 | Line: LAR -4
QB (higher RTG): Joe Burrow (CIN) 100.9 — SU L / ATS W
SB LVII (2023) — Chiefs 38, Eagles 35 | Line: PHI -1.5
QB (higher RTG): Patrick Mahomes (KC) 131.8 — SUATS W
SB LVIII (2024) — Chiefs 25, 49ers 22 (OT) | Line: SF -2
QB (higher RTG): Patrick Mahomes (KC) 99.3 — SUATS W
SB LIX (2025) — Eagles 40, Chiefs 22 | Line: KC -1.5
QB (higher RTG): Jalen Hurts (PHI) 119.7 — SUATS W
SB LX (2026) — Seahawks 29, Patriots 13 | Line: SEA -4.5
QB (higher RTG): Drake Maye (NE) 79.1 — SUATS L
Final Tally: Team with higher QB Rating: 9-4 SUATS W, or a rare win and cover for Darnold and the Seahawks in SB 60. |
BETCHA DIDN’T KNOW
More Bunny
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Point:
Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show averaged 128.2 million viewers, peaking event audience.
Counterpoint:
Kid Rock’s alternative All-American Halftime Show reached 6.1 million viewers on YouTube.
“Bad Bunny is, and I think that was demonstrated last night, one of the great artists in the world and that’s one of the reasons we chose him,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said prior to the Grammy Award winner’s performance.
“But the other reason is he understood the platform he was on and this platform is used to unite people and to be able to bring people together with their creativity, with their talents |
QUOTE OF THE DAY |
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"Maybe by learning to appreciate
the time that
we’re given we will someday realize what it
means
to have the time of our lives."
- Ketjani Brown Jackson, member of
the Supreme Court |
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