This was a chance to extend a hand to the marginalized, and it was squandered.

I’m Catholic, although admittedly not always a very good one. My wife needs to remind me of Holy Days of Obligation so I can hastily seek out a lunchtime mass. Every Lent I still need to be reminded not to eat meat on Fridays. I’m the guy who wipes the black smudge off my forehead in the car on Ash Wednesday because I don’t want to answer questions about it all day long.

My faith is something I traditionally guard. Not out of shame, but personal conviction. I strongly believe I won’t convince anyone to share my faith, and proselytism made perfect sense before the printing press or the internet, but at this point I don’t need to ask anyone “have you heard of Jesus Christ?” If a friend asks me for moral advice I am unwavering and will share what I believe, but I’ll also freely admit how often I’ve struggled in my own faith. By my count I’ve sat down with priests on four different occasions to try and reconcile my personal beliefs on bodily autonomy for women, the treatment of the LGBTQIA+ community, sexual abuse inside the Catholic church, and my dismay at hearing the words of Pope Francis on income inequality be de-emphasized at mass because it doesn’t jive in a capitalistic society.

I think every Christian should ask these questions. Be curious. Find their own path to Christ that isn’t a “pick and choose” proposition like a buffet that ignores the church’s teachings wholesale, but also doesn’t silence what’s in their hearts about right and wrong. On some level I understand why James Reimer decided not to wear a pride-themed warmup jersey for the San Jose Sharks over the weekend, but I also think it was woefully misguided.

Reimer invokes Christ, and this is important. The second paragraph of his statement is all absolutely correct, and in my belief, accurate. The most beautiful thing about Jesus was his unwavering love for everyone. He didn’t surround himself with the wealthy or influential, but the marginalized, the outcasts — he reserved his most helping hand for those who needed it the most. Christ spoke far more about his disdain for the uncharitable wealthy and the greedy than he did prostitutes and tax collectors.

He loved them all anyway.

When Jesus was on the cross, looking down on the very men who put him to death — he begged God to forgive them.

He loved them all anyway.

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” — John 13:34

He commanded us to love them all anyway.

Wearing a pride jersey as part of the “Hockey Is For Everyone” campaign is not tacit support of an LGBTQIA+ lifestyle, even if you choose to take the strictest stance of believing those in same-sex relationships or alternate sexualities are living in an occasion of sin. Very simply it’s a small token that says “you matter, and I love you too.” It doesn’t endorse or glorify the action, but rather reaches a hand out to individuals to say “those who hate you are wrong, and you are welcome here.”

Wearing a pride warmup is, in the very strictest sense, the most Christ-like action a player could take in this scenario. It even offers the opportunity for a dialogue if you’d like, to explain the complicated interplay of being Christian, who is ordered to love all, while also acknowledging that some live a lifestyle which we’re told requires repentance.

It reminds me of the first time I sat down to discuss a crisis of faith with a priest when I was 15-years-old.

“My uncle is the kindest, most charitable and giving person I know. He loves everyone around him. He sings in his church choir and helps feed the needy. He’s also gay. How can someone who is such a good person go to hell?”

My priest sat quietly for a moment, pressing his hands together as if in prayer, index fingers against his lips before replying “It doesn’t seem like it makes sense, does it?” I nodded in affirmation. “I’ll let you in on a secret,” he said softly, “It doesn’t always make sense to me either — but God knows what’s in our hearts and loves us all equally. I think that matters when our time of judgement comes.”

That time of judgement, if you’re Christian, comes at death. Not now. Whether intentional or not, refusing to put on that jersey was an act of judgement, not of sin, but people. This is not a both sides proposition where you can say “I love everyone,” but refuse to participate in one act which is profoundly meaningful to those who needed it — an opportunity to reach out a hand to the marginalized.

So too, in my belief, Reimer doesn’t deserve to be judged. He shouldn’t be released for anything beyond his performance on the ice. However, I hope this allows him to have a moment of clarity. To browse the Twitter threads, to see the stories written about him, to witness the people vocally supporting his choice not to wear the Pride jersey. It’s an opportunity to ask himself “who is living Jesus’ teachings more closely? Those who are asking to be loved, or those who relish pushing people away and marginalizing them more?”

We all squander opportunities to be Christ-like every day, which in my belief makes us all sinners. James Reimer squandered such a chance on a major stage. I hope it leads to him embodying Christ, softening his heart, and not wasting the next opportunity to love.

Jos Verstappen seemed rather muted following the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

Last week, we highlighted for you that Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen might be a robot. In a brilliant piece by our own James Dator, we outlined how over the course of two different race simulations, the F1 driver barely blinked.

Well, as they say the apple might not fall far from the tree.

Verstappen had a tremendous day in Sunday’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Despite starting the race in 15th place, after his RB19 suffered a driveshaft failure during the second qualifying session on Saturday, Verstappen charged through the field to finish in second place, behind his Red Bull teammate Sergio Pérez. It was a remarkable effort from Verstappen, and he leaves Jeddah leading in the Constructors’ Championship by one point over Pérez, thanks to posting the fastest lap of the race.

On the final lap of the race.

However, his father Jos Verstappen seemed, well, rather muted following the Grand Prix. As Pérez came over to celebrate with the rest of the Red Bull team, Jos was caught up in the crowd, and was not exactly elated:

Here is the former F1 driver, looking more like Robert Patrick in Terminator 2: Judgement Day than a father who just watched his son pull off something incredible at the highest level of his sport:

Jos. Buddy. Break a smile. Show some happiness for goodness sake. Your son put together a tremendous drive to fight through the field, salvaging a second-place finish despite starting near the back of the field.

Yes, Red Bull has been the dominant team through the first two weeks of the F1 season, and many prognosticators predicted that Verstappen might even pull off a win despite starting 15th. So a reaction short of elation might be understandable.

Still, break a smile or something.

Or at least blink.

They’re fun. Regardless of trades and endgames.

The current No. 2 seed in the NBA’s Western Conference most certainly is not supposed to be there. Because they’re not even supposed to have a winning record, if you’re going by historical precedent or the preseason betting market.

And yet, less than a month until the NBA Playoffs get underway, the Sacramento Kings find themselves in an uncommon position - among the very best teams in the league.

There are lots of reasons the team has gotten here. Mike Brown, the unquestioned front runner for NBA Coach of the Year, has helped build the best offense in the NBA, and potentially a historically great one at that. The players on the floor, from Domantas Sabonis and De’Aaron Fox to Malik Monk and Matthew Dellavedova (yes - THAT Matthew Dellavedova), are finding ways to contribute at or near career-high levels almost across the board. Veterans like Harrison Barnes, rookies like Keegan Murray ... on and on and around and around you see over-performance and immaculate vibes.

They even have opposing fans chanting for their beautiful beam that celebrates victories back home in Sacramento!

When the “enemy” is cheering for you, you know that the team other than the Philadelphia 76ers with the best record in the NBA over the last 10 games must be doing something right.

That is true of these Kings. They are giving off strong 2021-2022 Memphis Grizzlies vibes as a fun-loving squad that genuinely enjoys playing alongside one another, cultivating a culture of hard-fought wins and happy celebrations. It’s not about the winning, although that is fun to watch unfold. It’s about HOW they are winning. Teams can win in spite of bad circumstances (see the 2022-2023 Memphis Grizzlies over the last several weeks) or in spite of bad or inconsistent chemistry (the Atlanta Hawks, for example).

It reminds us all of why we fell in love with sports when we were younger. Easier times for almost everyone, just hanging out with friends, making memories and learning lessons about both the game and life. It FEELS like the Kings are doing that on the professional level - our eyes match those feelings. And Sacramento, who hasn’t had a winning season since 2005-2006, is more than deserving of such good mojo.

So why is there any distraction from the fact that the Kings are the most fun team in the NBA this season?

Social media post above aside (Matt Moore agrees with me), why even mention the trade that brought Sabonis to the Sacramento Kings? Tyrese Haliburton is having an excellent season for the Indiana Pacers, and surely the growth of Myles Turner doesn’t have Rick Carlisle and company longing for Sabonis. But De’Aaron Fox isn’t doing what he is doing now with a player like Haliburton alongside him - a shooter like Kevin Huerter is in a much better position to compliment Fox’s strengths. And Sabonis is having quite literally a historically great year in his own right.

Any time your name is legitimately in the mix with the legendary Wilt Chamberlain statistically, you’re doing something right.

Not every trade needs a winner or a loser. And if the Kings were to fall in the first round (which...maybe they won’t? Again, historically great offense) the amazing things Sabonis and his teammates would not simply fade in to oblivion.

Teammates like the aforementioned Fox, who leads the NBA in the new Clutch Player of the Year award pacing because of performances like this...

...have re-established themselves in the NBA hierarchy. Fox has been surpassed in the eyes of many by the likes of Ja Morant and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in recent years as comparable guards who either have better numbers (SGA) and/or better team success (Morant) than Fox. But this season that is not the case - and perhaps after the Ja Morant suspension De’Aaron Fox will find himself among the All-NBA team’s elite names.

He’s earned it. As have the rest of the Kings. And the surprising truth of that statement is where the attention should be - not on title aspirations.

There is no more fun time as a fan of a teams than the current state of the Sacramento Kings. Onward and upward - not sure when the ride will end, and not wanting it to. That’s not because Kings fans things this season is now “title or bust”. It’s because they’re love the team so much, and are having such a blast, that the eventual conclusion to that joy will be a disappointment beyond the end of a season.

It’ll be the end of - quite literally, for Kings fans - a generational experience.

How many Sacramento fans don’t remember that 2005-2006 team? How many weren’t ALIVE? The sheer madness of this Kings run and how it is being accomplished outweighs any trade grades or newly-attached expectations. Save championship aspirations for the underachieving Los Angeles Lakers or the top seeds of the Eastern Conference. Even the Memphis Grizzlies, after a strong season in 2021-2022, were expected to be in this mix.

But the Kings, undoubtedly, were not. And simply being in the chat is worth celebration.

In our sports culture, “rings” matter more than anything more often than not. Ask Klay Thompson, who flashed four fingers (for how many titles his Golden State Warriors have won) at Dillon Brooks and his Grizzlies as Memphis was kicking in the collective heads of the Warriors in a Golden State road game - a common occurrence this season. Klay has achieved the ultimate goal multiple times. He’s a made man - and Memphis has a ways to go.

But what Memphis has been recently, and what the Kings are now, is something the Warriors haven’t been at any point this season - happy and comfortable simply being in their own skins. Sacramento has found something organically that is to be cherished, not rushed. This journey may well, a year or two down the road, get loaded down with the weight of expectations and judgments for roster moves to further the final “goal” of every NBA team. The Kings will eventually be no different.

But for now, save the think pieces on Sabonis vs. Haliburton and first round matchups. Shut up and watch an unfortunately rare run of success for the Sacramento Kings, like their fans are. And let them reach whatever their end is in peace, with a smile on their collective face for the joy of the ride they’re on.

Because title or no title, the memory that remains will be more than worth whatever “pain” comes with that likely inevitable conclusion.

It’s one heck of a time to be an OKC fan.

Here is a hot take for you: The NBA season gets better the later it goes. The standings get tighter just as the postseason picture becomes more apparent. Races for the regular season awards become all the more competitive, just as it gets more difficult to decide each frontrunner. Overall, the games get more meaningful — for every team, depending on how you look at them. For some, winning becomes imperative for seeding purposes. For others, losing is almost ideal, given the prospect of improving lottery odds, in hopes that they can find a player that can one day lead them to the promised land.

Some teams have already found that player, or at least hope that they have, and find themselves currently immersed in the thick of the playoff race they long desired. The games involving those teams tend to excite me the most. Which brings us to the ultimate battle between two squads utilizing their almost-fully homegrown talents to their fullest potential.

SGA, OKC rally to top PHX, 124-120

The MVP chants that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander received on Sunday night in Oklahoma City won’t culminate with an actual trophy at the end of the season. But his performance against the Suns warranted any form of praise the crowd wanted to provide. He dropped 40 points — making 12 of his 24 field goals and 16 of his 19 free throws — and assured that the Thunder remained in the game after trailing by 15 in the first half. Luguentz Dort added 20 points for OKC, which has now won four of its last five and is now eighth in the Western Conference.

To make matters even more interesting, eighth is only three games out of fourth, right where the Suns currently find themselves. For Phoenix, which has lost four of its last five, Devin Booker scored 46 points while Chris Paul added 14 points and 13 assists.

Nuggets rebound from mini-skid, drop Nets, 108-102

Two things are true about the Denver Nuggets: they entered Sunday’s game against the Nets 1-5 in their last six, and are also four games clear of all competitors atop the Western Conference. But they looked much more like the latter against the Nets, led by Nikola Jokic’s 22 points, 17 rebounds, and 10 assists, good for his 28th triple-double of the season. Michael Porter Jr. led all scorers with 28, while Jamal Murray scored 25, 20 of which came in the first quarter. The Nets were at full strength, with Mikal Bridges scoring 23 points and Nic Claxton dropping 19 and pulling down eight boards, but dropped their third straight and looked paltry in comparison to the Nuggets.

The Spurs won a game!!! (It was against the Hawks, 126-118)

After trailing by 24!!! And after having blown a 29-point lead against the Memphis Grizzlies a few nights ago!!! What a roller-coaster, one on which both Keldon Johnson and Devin Vassell happened to drop 29 points apiece in between loop-the-loops.

Photo by Brian Sevald/NBAE via Getty Images

Miami won a game by more than 10!!! (It was against the Pistons, 112-100)

It’s stunning how quickly the Heat can put together a run to drop a team on the road. I mean, literally, it happened within a matter of minutes. With 3:20 left in the game, Tyler Herro drained a three to give the Heat a lead they’d keep for good. Herro scored 10 of his 19 points in those final three-ish minutes, five of which came moments after that initial triple that gave Miami the advantage. Butler led the way with 26 points and 10 assists, and Bam Adebayo finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds.

With this 12-point win, the Heat won for the third time in four games, two of which by 10-plus. That makes seven wins by 10 or more on the season.

Pelicans outlast Jalen Green, Rockets, 117-107

Having built a 64-44 lead by halftime, especially over the Rockets, the question wasn't whether or not the Pelicans would win, but by how much. Jalen Green, however, did everything in his power to make that a trying task. He poured in 40 points to lead all scorers and eventually trimmed New Orleans’ lead to nine in the fourth quarter. Both Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum scored 26 points, as the Pelicans snapped a two-game losing streak to close the gap to a half-game behind the Jazz for the final spot in the play-in tournament. 11 games to go; once again, the NBA season gets better the later it goes.

Bucks snap Raptors streak, extend lead atop East with 118-111 win

Toronto had won three in a row entering Sunday’s tilt against the Bucks, who needed a win just as badly in order to stay clear atop the Eastern Conference standings. Having Giannis Antetokounmpo helps. He finished with a 22-point, 13-rebound, 10-assist triple-double to lead the Bucks, while Brook Lopez — on a heater if there ever was one — scored 26 points to lead all scorers. Milwaukee now finds itself with a two-and-a-half game advantage over the Sixers and the Celtics in the East, while the Raptors blew a chance to leapfrog the Hawks into the eighth seed.

Clippers never trail, handle Blazers, 117-102

Winning five of your last six games is a solid way to keep pace with the rest of the non-Denver West, as well as a perfect way to continue to control your own destiny. The Clippers trail the Suns by half a game for homecourt advantage in the playoffs, but given the pace they are on — and the absence of Kevin Durant — it almost seems like a formality that they’ll end up fourth in the West.

On Sunday, Paul George (29 points), Kawhi Leonard (24), and co. led by as many as 16 en route to the 15-point blowout result. Jusuf Nurkic finished with 23 points and 11 rebounds, and Damian Lillard added 21 points and nine assists for the Blazers, who have lost six in a row.

Austin Reaves carries Lakers past Magic, 111-105

Need a late-game surge to inspire a comeback victory? Just call Austin Reaves, who managed to score the Lakers' final 10 points in the final minute-and-a-half of action. Those 10 were part of a career night on which Reaves dropped a career-best 35 points to lead all scorers. Anthony Davis had 15 points and 11 rebounds and shot just six-for-15 from the field; for the Magic, both Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero scored a team-high 21 in defeat.

With the win, L.A. snaps a two-game losing streak and jumps back into ninth in the Western Conference, tied with Minnesota. And with the news that LeBron James is expected to return at some point this season, it should only be up from here for the Lakers.

Dan Snyder doing Dan Snyder things.

The Washington Commanders saga is drawing closer to the finish line. Reports emerged over the weekend that owner Dan Snyder had cleared out much of his personal office at the team facility, foreshadowing a sale of the team might be imminent. Now new details have surfaced about just how colossally cheap Snyder is being on his way out the door.

Daron Payne, who was given a 4 year, $90M contract to stay with the team, as well as free agent signings Jacoby Brissett and Andrew Wylie had very curious clauses built into their contracts: That they wouldn’t receive the first payment of their signing bonuses until May 12, 2023. This is exceptionally bizarre, with the majority of players receiving first payments within a month, and a source who spoke to The Athletic believes it was designed to ensure a new team owner would be on the hook, not Snyder.

“Relative to their prior contract precedents, it would seem that they have intentionally delayed the first installment of their signing bonuses,” the former front-office employee said. “Very plausible that it’s related to the expected timeline of a sale. … I think the payout dates are fairly telling.”

This is significant for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it presumably gives us a timetable of when Snyder believes the team will be under ownership — early May — and secondly, it’s absolutely hilarious that a man on the verge of a multi-billion payday would nickel-and-dime this much over a few million dollars.

Snyder is known for questionable business dealings, so forcing players to wait for their money is par for the course. Snyder is currently under investigation by federal prosecutors, while the IRS are reportedly interested in a $55 million loan Snyder took out on the team without the knowledge of his former business partners. These partners were later bought out by Snyder for far under market value with the NFL’s help.

So, it’s absolutely within the realm of possibility that Snyder would hold out on players getting paid to keep his pocket full for a little longer, sticking a new owner with the bill.

Those waiting for Snyder to finally be out of the NFL might get their wish as soon as next week. The yearly NFL owners meetings begin on March 26, with this being seen as the most likely time a sale could be finalized and voted on. At this point it’s unclear who might be in the running to buy the Commanders, but presumably Snyder could present the sale proposal at the meetings and have new owners voted on immediately, which would assuredly be approved due to the league’s general dislike of Snyder.

Then all that needs to happen is for the keys to be turned over, new owners introduced, and those free agents to finally get paid.

The entire event felt like a fever dream

I don’t envy the group of people in charge of marketing the NCAA Wrestling Championships. You’re already responsible for trying to get people to care about a sport that, on a good day, ranks in popularity somewhere between badminton and lacrosse. And to make matters worse, they schedule the biggest weekend of your season the same weekend the NCAA Basketball Tournament tips off! How can anyone be expected to grab the nation’s attention under these circumstances? The answer, it turns out, is by making it a complete fever dream and overdosing on controversy.

Let’s start with the fun stuff first! On Friday night Iowa’s Spencer Lee took to the mat one win away from advancing to the finals, where he would very likely claim his fourth championship. Iowa’s wrestling program is the pinnacle of the sport, and Spencer Lee is arguably the greatest athlete the program has ever seen. But he was stunned by Purdue sophomore Matt Ramos in one of the biggest upsets ever in college wrestling. Our Iowa site called it “one of the biggest gut punches in program history.” A clip of Lee’s mother reacting to his defeat went viral for her completely valid uncontainable rage.

Passion! Pain! An underdog story! This is March!

Hold on, I’m getting word we’ve got a surprise guest arriving to Tulsa.

Sure, why not. Let me go on record that I despise political figures of any party attending a sporting event where they have no connection to the teams competing. I can let Kamala Harris’ cringy locker room speech slide since she actually went to Howard.

Former president Trump arrived in Tulsa to totter around and give a pained thumbs-up to the corn-fed masses, mere hours after he posted a haywire all-caps message on his Truth Social platform that he would be arrested on Tuesday. All in a weekend’s work.

Again, you do what you have to do to promote your event. I would personally simply post some highlights of the incredible amateur athletes at the peak of their careers, but almost at the same time the above tweet was sent Arkansas’ head basketball coach was tearing his shirt off and leading the crowd in a “woo pig sooie” chant. Hard to compete with that.

Surprisingly our big boy’s cameo wasn’t the worst or most offensive part of the weekend. Here’s Penn State’s Aaron Brooks, immediately after claiming a third national title:

I’m not always a cynical crank. I’m being completely honest when I say really find it powerful the different ways we find inspiration and strength to achieve incredible feats. Whether it’s playing for your parents, your kids, your favorite Twitch streamer, or God. It’s all valid.

What I don’t get down with is disparaging other groups of people, and Brooks’ bizarre statement here of “no false prophets, no Muhammad or anyone else” was so out of pocket and unnecessary. It was a jarring and nasty thing to say in what should have been a happy moment for him and his team.

So for the official NCAA Wrestling account to share and effectively endorse that message on Twitter shows either a real lack of awareness, or a real desperation for views. I’m not sure what’s worse for the sport.

7 winners and 3 losers from the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

The second race of the 2023 Formula 1 season is in the books.

And it felt a lot like the first race.

Once again Red Bull locked out the front row, with Sergio Pérez starting on pole and taking the victory, followed by his teammate Max Verstappen. Verstappen finishing in second seemed in doubt on Saturday, after a driveshaft failure saw his qualifying session end in Q2. But the defending world champion charged his way through the field, finishing behind Pérez to give Red Bull their second one-two of the season.

Verstappen’s hard charge — along with the dominant performance from the Bulls — is among our winners and losers of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Winners: Red Bull

It might not have been the order many expected, and it took some twists and turns for it to happen, but Red Bull secured their second-straight one-two finish in Saudi Arabia, with Pérez finishing in first, followed by Verstappen.

Verstappen managed to fight his way through the field, after starting 15th due to the driveshaft failure in the second qualifying session on Saturday. Verstappen managed to pick up four places through the first few laps, and was into the points by Lap 10. When the safety car came out after Lance Stroll’s failure on Lap 17, Verstappen came into the pits and came out in fourth place, on the soft tyres. The defending world champion was able to power past both George Russell and Alonso to get into second, and from there it was a matter of whether he could chase down his teammate at the front of the pack.

However, Pérez was able to hold off Verstappen. Despite a slow start that saw Alonso charge into the early lead, Pérez was able to get into a solid rhythm, and led the bulk of the Grand Prix.

There was a rather humorous exchange late in the race between Verstappen and his team, as he asked on Lap 46 what the fastest lap of the day was. It was in Pérez’s hands at the moment, and the team told Verstappen that Red Bull was “not worried” about that extra point at the moment.

“But I am,” radioed Verstappen back to the team.

He certainly seemed worried about it, because his hard-charging effort was not done. On the final lap of the race Verstappen posted the fastest lap of the day, which gave him the bonus point.

And the difference in the Drivers’ standings as the grid leaves Saudi Arabia.

Winners: The hard C2 tyre compound

Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images

One of the shock winners of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix? The hard C2 compound. While Lewis Hamilton struggled on the hard tyre early in the race, the rest of the field seemed to make that compound work, and when the safety car came out on Lap 17 after Stroll’s incident, many of the teams made the switch to that compound, including nine of the teams in the top ten.

Only Hamilton made the switch to the medium compound, the C3. If you thought the slightly softer compound would give Hamilton an edge, that did not materialize. Instead, the drivers on the hard compound were able to maintain position. That included Alonso, who radioed into his pit on Lap 23 that the “tyres feel very good, I like this tyre.”

Tyre management is always critical during an F1 grand prix, and on this day, it was the hard compound that perhaps made the difference.

Winner: Kevin Magnussen

Following Friday’s first two practice session, Haas Team Principal Guenther Steiner noted that he and the team were “happy” with how they looked over the first two sessions. Steiner, however, noted that they needed to “to find a little bit on Kevin [Magnussen’s] car” because the driver was not quite comfortable with the setup.

Whatever the team did over the past few days must have worked.

Following a late battle with Yuki Tsunoda of AlphaTauri, Magnussen worked his way into P10, giving the team their first points of the 2023 F1 season.

Loser: Alex Albon

It was a tough day for Alex Albon and Williams. Both Albon and Logan Sargeant seemed to have some pace early in the Grand Prix, and shortly after the safety car, the Williams duo was riding in P13 and P14, with Albon just ahead of his rookie teammate on Lap 25. That put the duo in position to perhaps work together, and fight their way into the points.

However, that was not to be.

On Lap 27 Albon radioed into his team that he was experiencing “brake failure,” and eventually, he was forced to retire the car.

That left his rookie teammate alone on the track, and Sargent shortly found himself locked in a battle for position with the McLaren duo of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris. The American fought hard, but eventually his fellow rookie passed him, and Sargeant was forced to settle for P16.

With his DNF, Albon finished the day in P19.

It was a difficult turn for Albon, who felt the FW45 — Williams’s challenger for the 2023 season — was as strong as ever. “It’s the best the car’s felt since my time driving at Williams so that’s very positive,” he said after the race. “More just frustrating because we had a lot of potential in the car this weekend and we couldn’t use it.”

Winners: Mercedes

Photo by Peter Fox/Getty Images

It has been a rather up-and-down start to the season for Mercedes, but perhaps the Mercedes comeback is upon us.

Team Principal Toto Wolff promised that the team would have some “small developments” in store for the W14 this week, and those developments were enough to see both Russell and Hamilton start inside the top ten.

Now? Mercedes leaves Saudi Arabia with both their drivers having finished inside the top five.

Hamilton did struggle early in the race as one of the few drivers on the hard compound, and after the safety car came out for Stroll’s incident, he switched to the medium tyres. However, he was unable to take advantage as the rest of the field around him was on the harder compound. So there is still some work to be done to get him in a comfortable place with the W14.

George Russell came across the line in P4, and while there was some confusion over whether Fernando Alonso would be hit with a ten-second penalty — which would push Russell into a podium position — ultimately that penalty was overturned, leaving Alonso in P3 and Russell in P4.

Still, Mercedes not only sees their pair finish inside the top five, they also leave Saudi Arabia having shown more race pace over the Grand Prix than Ferrari, and tied for second with Aston Martin in the Constructors’ Championship. With even more improvements to the W14 planned, this could be the start of the big turnaround for the Silver Arrows.

Winner: Fernando Alonso

It took a while to get there, but we can finally declare Alonso one of the winners from Sunday.

Of course, this declaration is not without some controversy.

Alonso came across the line in third, more than five seconds ahead of Russell. But following the race the stewards enforced a ten-second penalty on Alonso. Earlier in the race, Alonso was given a five-second penalty for an improper start. Alonso served that penalty, under the safety car, but late in the race word worked its way through the paddock that the race stewards were looking into whether Alonso served the penalty properly.

In fact, Mercedes engineers radioed to Russell on Lap 48 that a potential five-second penalty was possible for Alonso. Moments later, the Aston Martin engineers told Alonso that he needed to maintain a five-second advantage over Russell, even though they believed the team was “in the clear.”

Alonso indeed came across third, believing he had secured his 100th career podium. But then came the word — after the podium celebration — that he was given a ten-second penalty, dropping him to fourth, and pushing Russell into third.

For reference, the wording of the FIA sporting regulations at issue:

That is for someone much smarter than me to decide, but it looks rather close.

Well, let’s hear from someone smarter:

So there you go.

But the bigger issue is how long it took for the stewards to let the team know of the possibility. What makes this penalty frustrating from both Aston Martin’s perspective — as well as the perspective of the fans watching in Saudi Arabia or at home — is that the incident took place on Lap 17, but word did not make its way to the teams until much later in the race. Had Alonso been informed of the potential penalty earlier, he could have changed his strategy. In addition, the teams were contemplating only a five-second penalty, not the ten-second penalty eventually handed out.

Following the race, FIA tried to add clarity to the situation:

Alonso appealed the penalty, and after review, word broke that his third-place finish was reinstated:

That marked the 100th podium of Alonso’s illustrious career, making him just the sixth driver in F1 history to reach that mark.

So, it took longer than he would have liked, but Alonso is officially among the winners of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Winners: Alpine

Photo by Bryn Lennon - Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images

After both Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly pushed their way into the third qualifying session, Gasly stated that double points were possible for Alpine.

Double points is what they delivered.

The Alpine duo finished P8 and P9 in Jeddah, with Ocon coming across just in front of his teammate. That gives the team three points-winning results from the first two weeks of the season. Two weeks ago it was Gasly who finished in the points, fighting his way through the field after starting in 20th position.

Earlier this week, we wondered if Alpine would have something for the field thanks to their performance on Friday, and if Gasly in particular would be a driver to watch given his push up the field in Bahrain.

It seems like the team was able to deliver.

Loser: Lance Stroll

Alonso’s shock penalty, dropping him off the podium, was not the only bad break for Aston Martin on Sunday.

Teammate Lance Stroll, who began the day from fifth position, had worked up intp P4 early in the race. He was one of the first leaders to come into the pits, boxing on Lap 14.

A few laps later, his day would be over. Stroll was told to stop his car on Lap 17, which brought out a safety car. The early retirement saw Stroll finish in P20, well behind what the team, and the driver, were hoping to accomplish on Sunday at Jeddah.

Winners: Alfa Romeo’s social media team

It might not have been the weekend Alfa Romeo was hoping for — Zhou Guanyu finished in P13 and Valtteri Bottas in P18 — but there was a bright spot for the team.

Their social media department.

F1 social media teams do tremendous work all year long, but Alfa Romeo’s team was rather impressive this weekend, particularly on Saturday during qualifying.

Whether it was interacting with other teams:

Interacting with their fans:

Or even just putting a tough day in perspective:

A special hat tip for the fine folks behind the Alfa Romeo social accounts on a job well done.

Losers: McLaren

Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images

When the 2023 F1 season began, McLaren and their fans hoped to see what we saw at the end of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, with both Piastri and Norris locked in a hard battle to pick up places on the track.

However, they likely hoped it was for something other than P15.

The rookie barged into his first Q3 on Saturday, and began the day in ninth after qualifying, but his fortunes — and those of his teammate — quickly changed. Both Piastri and Norris endured some front wing damage early in the race, which forced both McLaren drivers to pit early and give up position on the track.

Piastri’s front wing damage came on the opening lap, when he came into contact with the Alpine of Gasly. Commentators on F1TV opined that Piastri might have been “too cautious” on the opening lap, but the damage forced him to box almost immediately.

Norris suffered some front end damage of his own, forcing him to pit on Lap 4. Both drivers were at the back fo the field just five laps into the Grand Prix. They were able to make up a few spots — Piastri finished in P15 while Norris finished in P17 — but this is not the start the team envisioned at the beginning of the season.

After the race, Team Principal Andrea Stella tried to find the silver lining.

“After beginning the race with hopes of scoring points, we had both cars at the back of the pack after the first lap and we come away from Jeddah empty-handed. Oscar had contact at the first corner, which required him to pit with a broken front wing, while Lando hit the debris coming off Oscar’s car and also suffered a broken front wing that required him to pit to change the front wing,” said Stella.

“We’re racers and we take these unfortunate circumstances on the chin. We will be even more motivated and determined to work on improving the car and to prepare for the next race in Australia,” he added. “Before we go to Melbourne, we know we have work to do to improve our car, and that will be our immediate focus.”

Earlier this week, Norris brushed aside the notion that it was time to panic at McLaren. But you can bet those feelings of worry will only linger around the team leading into the Australian Grand Prix in two weeks.

Arkansas showed what the catharsis of a tight March Madness win looks like in all its shirtless glory.

DES MOINES — It’s easy enough for a cynic to believe the celebration was premeditated, and maybe it was. When the final buzzer sounded and No. 8 seed Arkansas had done the unthinkable — knocking off the No. 1 seed Kansas Jayhawks in the round of 32 of the 2023 men’s NCAA tournament — Razorbacks head coach Eric Musselman knew exactly where he was going.

Musselman found his family seated in the front row of the arena, jumped on the media table, and ripped off his red polo shirt. The coach led the Razorback faithful on a delirious rendition of the school’s “Woo Pig Sooie” chant, but he couldn’t make it through without breaking character. Musselman locked eyes with his wife Danyelle and his daughter Mariah midway through the tradition, and started laughing — seemingly acknowledging how ridiculous it was for a 58-year-old man to be standing on a table shirtless hooting and hollering in the middle of Iowa.

The defending national champions were out of the tournament in the first weekend, and Arkansas was going to Las Vegas to continue the dance.

A Sweet 16 run wasn’t supposed to be so surprising for this particular Arkansas team. Musselman had led the Razorbacks to the Elite Eight each of the last two years, and had the most talented team of his college coaching career this season. Arkansas started the year in the top-10 of the preseason polls, buoyed by the country’s No. 2 recruiting class. There’s at least four NBA players on this roster, and maybe more than that. But just because a team can recruit multiple five-stars and land high-impact transfers in the portal doesn’t mean the season is going to be easy. This Razorbacks’ campaign has been anything but, and the game against Kansas was a good distillation of that.

It did not feel like Arkansas was the better team on Saturday. The Hogs shot 3-of-15 from three-point range on the night. They had three players foul out. They had to climb out of a 12-point second half deficit. Kansas led or was tied for all but 1:47 of game time.

If Kansas makes a few more free throws, if Kansas grabs one or two more loose balls, if the referees make or don’t make one or two more calls either way, it’s a different game. Of course, just getting the game to coin flip status against a program like Kansas is an accomplishment in itself.

“This is a team that is still growing,” Musselman said after a tight first round win against Illinois. “There has been other teams that have plateaued. Maybe a couple of our teams at Nevada we were old, veteran guys, and maybe at some point we were just trying to save legs. But this is a team that’s of continuous improvement.”

Two days after Arkansas lost to Coach K’s last ever Duke team in the Elite Eight last season, Musselman tweeted a photo of himself in front of three McDonald’s hamburgers with the hashtag “let’s eat.” One of the 10 highest paid coaches in the country was not hungry for fast food — instead, he just landed his third McDonald’s All-American in the class of 2022.

Arkansas already had commitments from five-star recruits Nick Smith Jr. and Jordan Walsh. The third ‘burger boy’ to join on was Anthony Black, a 6’7 guard out of Dallas with immense defensive versatility, a strong feel for the game, and a winning pedigree coming out of Duncanville High in Dallas. The Razorbacks would need to replace almost their entire rotation from the previous year, but grabbing three McDonald’s All-Americans is a good way to start. Adding two terrific transfers with Missouri’s Trevon Brazile and Wichita State’s Ricky Council IV helped, too.

Unfortunately for Arkansas, the adversity hit almost immediately. Smith — considered the top NBA prospect in college basketball coming into the year — suffered a right knee injury in preseason and was sidelined indefinitely at one point. Brazile tore his ACL in December, taking away the team’s most talented big man for the season. Arkansas lost five of six to open SEC play, and never really recovered. They finished conference play with a losing record at 8-10, and placed No. 10 in the 14-team league at the end of the year.

Still, the SEC was good enough, and Arkansas’ non-conference slate was impressive enough, to get the Razorbacks into the tournament with a No. 8 seed.

A team with as much talent on-paper as Arkansas should profile as an offensive powerhouse. Instead, the only reason Arkansas is still dancing — the only reason it made the tournament in the first place — is because of its defense. It’s rare for five-star freshmen to bring more on the defensive end than the offensive end, but that’s certainly the case for Black and Walsh. While their box score numbers were modest in the win over the Jayhawks, their contributions were immense.

Walsh took on one of the toughest assignments in the country in First-Team All-American Jalen Wilson. Wilson carried the Jayhawks offense early on Saturday, at least until Walsh checked in. The freshmen’s defense was so impressive that Wilson could only muster field goal attempts for the first 15 minutes of the second half. Walsh blanketed one of the best scorers in the country with his length (7’2 wingspan), his quickness, and his discipline — even if he still fouled out by the end.

Black, meanwhile, took on a fellow McDonald’s All-American freshman and future lottery pick in Gradey Dick. Dick is one of the best three-point marksmen in the country at 6’8, and his ability to bend the defense with his shooting gravity by running around screens makes him an extremely tough cover. Black mostly shut him down, at one point in the second half fighting over the top of a screen and getting a clean block on a Dick three-point attempt. How many other players in the country could have swatted that shot?

“It means so much just to get one stop on him,” Walsh said after the game on guarding Wilson. “To the team it’s more than just a stop. If you’re sacrificing yourself to stop him from scoring, even if you’re not scoring on the other end, it shows you’re sacrificing for your team and affecting winning.”

While the freshmen fueled so many of the headlines for this Arkansas team, it was a couple veterans who carried the scoring load. Davonte Davis, the lone holdover from last year’s rotation, scored 25 points on 9-of-15 shooting with slippery drives into the paint. Council had 21 points despite making just 5-of-18 shots from the field. He’s such a powerful driver that Kansas had to play off him to avoid letting him waltz to the rim. When they dropped, Council popped jumpers from mid-range, including a couple big ones in crunch time. His offensive rebound off his own missed free throw with under 30 seconds left was the biggest play of the game.

“We’re celebrating back there because we have such incredible respect for Kansas, defending champions, MVP of their league in No. 10, Jalen Wilson,” Musselman said after the game. “They are a hard, hard, hard team to prepare for.”

The catharsis Musselman showed standing on the media table only comes through surviving the razor thin margins of March Madness. On Saturday, he was lucky enough to be on the right side of fate. The least he could do was let America see his bare chest.

Week one is in the books, and it’s final day was stellar.

After four days on non-stop madness on par with some of the most mad opening weekends we’ve ever seen before, it’s finally time to take a breath.

Before we do that, let’s relive all the magic and madness of the final day of the 2023 NCAA tournament’s opening weekend.

March Madness’ 3 best games of Day 4

1. (3) Gonzaga 84, (6) TCU 81 (West)

With a three-day void staring all of us directly in the face, it was nice of the basketball gods to make the final game of the first week of the Big Dance one of its more entertaining and competitive contests. Unless you were hoping for a blowout so you could catch up on a little sleep, but if that’s the case, you probably aren’t built for this weekend anyway.

TCU led by three at halftime and controlled the early part of the first half, but a 13-1 Gonzaga run that featured Drew Timme’s first made three-pointer since December wound up proving to be the difference. Timme dominated after the break, and finished with a game-high 28 points and eight rebounds. He became just the seventh player in NCAA tournament history to have nine games with 20 points or more, joining a list that also features Bill Bradley, Richard Hamilton, Elvin Hayes, Glen Rice, Corliss Williamson and Danny Manning.

With the win, Gonzaga heads to the Sweet 16 for the eighth straight tournament. That’s the longest active streak in the country, and the third longest of all-time. Only Duke (1998-2006) and North Carolina (1981-1993) have longer streaks of consecutive trips to the second weekend.

It also means that we’re getting Gonzaga-UCLA in a regional semifinal 17 years TO THE DAY that they met in the famous Adam Morrison Sweet 16 game.

Greatest sporting event in the world.

2. (3) Kansas State 75, (6) Kentucky 69 (East)

This was the third NCAA tournament meeting between this pair of Wildcats since 2014. Kentucky took out Kansas State in the first round of the 2014 tournament, and then K-State upset UK in the 2018 Sweet 16.

The rubber match was competitive throughout, although it wasn’t always aesthetically pleasing.

Kansas State went 0-for-12 from three in the first half and got every point it scored before halftime either on a layup or dunk or from the free-throw line. Kentucky also struggled with its shot, racking up most of its baskets off second-chance opportunities created by Oscar Tshiebwe’s nine offensive rebounds, which were more than twice as many as Kansas State corralled as a team. Meanwhile, UK teammate Antonio Reeves — likely Kentucky’s most consistent contributor for the season — was shooting a woeful 1-for-15 from the field and 1-for-10 from three. His lone make was a meaningless shot in the game’s closing moments.

Together, the two teams combined to go 4-for-31 from three over the game’s first 33 minutes, and finished a combined 9-for-41 from beyond the arc.

And yet, this was still a compelling contest.

Tshiebe was once again a man amongst boys, finishing with 25 points and 18 rebounds in what was almost certainly his final college game. K-State star Markques Nowell was spectacular (more on that below), dazzling the crowd with his brilliant passing and unlimited range.

Ultimately, this was anyone’s game in the final minutes.

With Kentucky leading by 1 just before the two minute mark, the game eventually came down to the fact that Kansas State got back-to-back three-point makes from Ismael Massoud and Keyontae Johnson, while UK countered with misses from deep by Chris Livingston and Reeves. There’s your game, and if you’re Kentucky, there’s your season.

Strange fact: The only other time in tournament history that a 16 has beaten a 1 (2018), it also happened in a region featuring both Kentucky and Kansas State, the two teams also ended up playing each other, and Kansas State also ended up winning. In the 11 games all-time between these teams, those are the only two wins for K-State.

Props to both teams for making at least one of the four standalone games on Saturday/Sunday competitive.

3. (9) Florida Atlantic 78, (16) Fairleigh Dickinson 70 (East)

A lot of times when the tournament presents us with a funky second round game like this one, it can be a brutal viewing experience. The magic from Thursday or Friday wears off, the preparation and focus for game two isn’t the same, and we end up with either a blowout or a clank-fest.

That wasn’t the case here.

Playing at a frenetic pace for almost the entire 40 minutes, Florida Atlantic and Fairleigh Dickinson put on a show that was fun for all ages.

After trailing by seven at halftime, FDU started the second half on a 12-1 run that had the entire country thinking they might witness a 16-seed win a second March Madness game for the first time ever.

The two teams then traded blows for the next 10 minutes before Fairleigh Dickinson finally went cold.

Florida Atlantic took the lead for good with 8:37 to play, but the Knights kept hanging around until a missed layup in the closing minute with the score at 76-70 finally put to bed any hope they had of pulling off a second stunner in three days.

The lesson from this game is a clear one: The NCAA tournament needs more 16 vs. 9 matchups.

3 teams that won it the best

1. Miami

No team was more impressive on Sunday than the Hurricanes, who roasted fourth-seeded Indiana, 85-69, in a game that many thought would be the most competitive of the day.

Miami got 27 points from ACC Player of the Year Isaiah Wong, and scored a whopping 29 second chance points. The Hurricanes, who rebounded better than 50 percent of their missed shots in the second half, finished with more offensive rebounds (20) than Indiana had defensive rebounds (19). A big part of that was the play of sophomore forward Norchad Omier, who certainly looked fully healthy as he was pulling down 17 rebounds, nine of those on the offensive end.

Miami’s win also means that the ACC’s streak of having at least one Sweet 16 team in every tournament since 1980 (the year the tournament stopped capping its limit of teams from the same conference at two) will continue. The 43-year streak is the longest of any conference in the sport.

Coming off its first regional final appearance last season, Miami is now headed to back-to-back Sweet 16s for the first time in program history. The Hurricanes have advanced to the tournament’s second weekend just five times in school history, and now four of those have come under the watch of head coach Jim Larranaga, who still feels critically undervalued nationally.

2. UConn

The Huskies came out a little bit sluggish against Saint Mary’s, which is why they sit behind Miami in this section. Once they woke up, though, Danny Hurley’s team looked every bit the part of the top-tier national title contender that they are.

Adama Sanogo scored 24 points and Jordan Hawkins went nuts from beyond the arc in the second half, as UConn rolled to a 70-55 win over a Saint Mary’s team that had looked very impressive against VCU just two days earlier.

Connecticut now returns to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2014, which is also when they won the most recent of their four national championships. Regardless of what happens from here on out, there’s no question that the Huskies are back as a major player on the national scene.

3. Creighton

Michigan State and Xavier both have very valid cases to be in this spot, but we’ll go with Creighton, which went on a 13-2 run early in the first half and then maintained control for the rest of the way in an 85-76 upset of third-seeded Baylor.

When they’re firing on all cylinders, Creighton is as dangerous as any team still standing. They’ll head into the Sweet 16 after two very impressive performances in week one.

It should also be noted that the Bluejays went 22-for-22 from the foul line on Sunday. That ties the record — set by Fordham in the 1971 NCAA tournament — for the most free-throw attempts without a miss in tournament history.

The 3 Biggest Disappointments

1. Marquette

Losing to Tom Izzo as a 2-seed is nothing to be ashamed of (more on that below), but the real kicker for Marquette here is that they lost on a day where the other three Big East teams playing all prevailed. Being the team from the conference that won both the regular season and tournament championship and then watching everyone but you have success on the larger stage has to add to the gut punch of seeing your season come to a close.

2. Indiana

The Hoosiers got another stellar effort from Trayce Jackson-Davis (23 points, 8 rebounds, 5 blocks), but its backcourt was absolutely no match for Miami’s. And then there was, you know, the whole giving up 20 offensive rebounds to a team that primarily plays four guards thing. That’s gonna get you on this list.

3. Pittsburgh

An 11-seed getting smoked by a 3-seed isn’t particularly disappointing, but let me defend myself here.

First off, this happened in the lid-lifter game, which is a standalone. Pitt making it clear in the first half that this wasn’t going to be a contest gave me no excuse but to run some errands I would have just as soon put off until next weekend.

Second, they ruined one of my favorite crazy March Madness facts.

Before this year, a power conference team seeded 9th or worse had reached the Sweet 16 in every NCAA tournament since 2008. Pitt was the last team with a chance to keep that streak going, and they blew it (although we do have 8th-seeded Arkansas and a non-power conference 9-seed in FAU moving on).

The only saving grace for the Panthers is that they did add on to another one of my favorite tournament trends, which is a First Four team winning a main draw in every year but one since the First Four became a thing in 2011.

Great season. Still not thrilled with you though.

5 Day 4 Cheers

1. The Dayton band becoming the Fairleigh Dickinson band

Fairleigh Dickinson does not have a pep band, so when the Knights were sent to Dayton for the First Four, the UD band agreed to assume the role. Despite the school being on spring break, about half the members of the pep band made it back to campus to help out the Knights.

After Fairleigh Dickinson took down Texas Southern, the UD band made the trip with the Knights to Columbus. Had FDU beaten Florida Atlantic on Sunday, they would have kept the journey going together in New York City.

Another one of those awesome stories that makes this month about so much more than the spectacular basketball.

2. Sweet 16 conference parity

While we’re used to seeing more than one second weekend team from conferences like the ACC and the Big Ten ... well, the ACC at least ... some of the big guys only sending one or two teams through means that 11 different conferences will be represented in the regional semifinals next weekend. That ties the record for the most different conferences represented in a Sweet 16. It also happened in 1991 and 2010.

Shoutouts to the ACC, Big 10, Pac-12, Big 12, SEC, Big East, American Athletic Conference, Mountain West, Ivy League, West Coast Conference and Conference USA.

The SEC (3), Big East (3) and Big 12 (2) are the only leagues with multiple teams still standing.

3. Markquis Nowell

There are likely a number of people out there who didn’t watch a ton of Big 12 basketball this season and have gotten their first look at Markquis Nowell this weekend.

Welcome to the show.

Two days after becoming just the ninth player since 1984 to hand out at least 14 assists in an NCAA tournament game, Nowell’s star shined brighter than any other player on the floor’s did during Kansas State’s 75-69 win over Kentucky.

The Third Team AP All-American dished out nine assists on Sunday afternoon, many of them in spectacular fashion.

Nowell was also there to knock down a huge outside shot or a floater in the lane every time it seemed like Kentucky might be on the verge of seizing complete momentum of the contest.

When the dust settled, Nowell had finished with 27 points, nine assists and three seals, and was easily the biggest reason why Kansas State is headed to its first Sweet 16 since 2018.

Through two NCAA tournament games, Nowell has scored or assisted on 93 of Kansas State’s 152 points. That’s good for 62 percent. The only two other players since 2010 to score or assist on 60 percent of their team’s points through the first two rounds are Ja Morant (62 percent in 2019) and Jimmer Fredette (60 percent in 2011).

The Ja Morant comparisons don’t stop there.

Not bad for “the little kid,” as John Calipari called him on Sunday.

4. Izzo in March

“Tom Izzo in March” has been a frequently-utilized phrase in college basketball circles for what feels like forever at this point. There’s a reason.

No. 7 seed Michigan State’s 69-60 upset of second-seeded Marquette marked the 16th time in his coaching career that Izzo has won an NCAA tournament game with a worse-seeded team. No coach in college basketball history has won more.

Want another NCAA record set on Sunday: Izzo has now taken six teams seeded fifth or worse to the Sweet 16. No coach in college hoops history has taken more.

One more? Sure.

Michigan State’s win over Marquette also marked the ninth time that an Izzo-coached team has pulled an upset of a 2-seed in the NCAA tournament. That ties him with the late Lute Olson for the most such wins in tournament history.

The last two times that Michigan State has made the Sweet 16 as a 7-seed, they’ve ended up advancing to the Final Four.

5. The Johnell Davis/Drew Timme postgame interviews

As great as the Davis slip-up and reaction is, it’s Jamie Erdahl’s response that makes this an all-time clip.

Don’t feel bad, Johnell. Drew Timme did it like three times last year and didn’t even flinch ... and then he went and did it again Sunday night.

The man struggled badly to find television appropriate words one time and then just completely gave up on making any sort of effort whatsoever to censor himself.

BONUS CHEER: Kansas State’s “Mahomes” play

Wanting to get the ball into the hands of Markquis Nowell, their best free-throw shooter, Kansas State ran an interesting in-bounds play late in their win over Kentucky. Four different Wildcats started out of bounds, and K-State essentially ran what looked like a bubble screen to get the ball to Nowell.

K-State head coach Jerome Tang explained after the game that they call that play “Mahomes,” after Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

The Super Bowl winner approves.

5 Day 4 Jeers

1. Major conference tournament winners

So much for March momentum.

The first weekend of the NCAA tournament saw the conference tournament champions from the Big East (Marquette), Big Ten (Purdue), Pac-12 (Arizona) and ACC (Duke) all bounced before the Sweet 16.

SEC tournament champion Alabama and Big 12 tournament champion Texas remain standing.

2. Saying goodbye to Fairleigh Dickinson

The most special, cruel and beautiful thing about this month is just how dramatically EVERYTHING can change for players, coaches and entire programs in a matter of days.

On Wednesday night, Fairleigh Dickinson was a 3-point underdog in Dayton against a 20-loss Texas Southern team. If you knew anything about them, it was likely that they got into the NCAA tournament despite not even winning the Northeast Conference tournament because of a technicality (or that I’ve loved making shitty jokes about them on Twitter for years).

Four nights later they were already March immortals flirting with becoming the first 16-seed in history to play their way into the tournament’s second weekend. We knew what they did to Purdue, we knew where the school is located, we knew a little about the head coach, and we weren’t going to forget any of it.

We never will, at least the important parts.

The passage of five days can often be so uneventful that it can happen without you ever being aware of what day it is. In March, the passage of five days can contain a lifetime’s worth of memories and alter everything forever.

Fairleigh Dickinson forever. March forever.

3. The Big Ten

This has been a problem for a while now. It continues to be a problem.

It’s not just that the conference hasn’t produced a national champion since 2000 or that it has just one team remaining (7th-seeded Michigan State) this season. It’s that it’s being humiliated year after year on the sport’s biggest stage.

Maybe it’s the style of play, maybe it’s just a law of averages-defying run of bad luck. Whatever the case, the Big Ten desperately needs to start producing in the Big Dance.

And no, you don’t get to claim whatever UCLA does from here on out as your own.

4. Anyone who had Gonzaga -4.5 or -5.

I don’t gamble on anything other than horse racing. This is why.

In Damion Baugh’s defense, 84-81 looks wayyyy better than 84-78. I don’t blame him at all.

5. Whoever towed Tyson Walker’s car

Campus towers remain the most unflinchingly ruthless people this country can claim.

Guarantee that getting that car back ended up being a three-hour process. You could have scored 50. These people simply do not give a shit.

All Day-4 Team

Johnell Davis, Florida Atlantic

Davis became the first player in the history of the NCAA tournament to score 25 points, grab 10 rebounds, hand out out five assists and record five steals. That effort resulted in Florida Atlantic punching a ticket to the Sweet 16 for the first time in program history.

Markquis Nowell, Kansas State

We discussed it at length earlier, but Nowell’s 27-point, nine assist performance against Kentucky was a work of art.

Drew Timme, Gonzaga

The two-time All-American saved the day for the Zags, scoring 28 points and grabbing eight rebounds. He became the seventh-player in college basketball history to have nine NCAA tournament games with 20 points or more.

Ryan Nembhard, Creighton

After missing last year’s NCAA tournament with a wrist injury, Nembhard is getting his fill this go-round. The sophomore point guard hit 8-of-13 from the field and all 10 of his attempts at the free-throw line on his way to a 30-point effort. He’s the second Creighton player in as many games to score 30 points or more, joining teammate Ryan Kalkbrenner, who scored 31 against NC State on Friday.

Oscar Tshiebwe, Kentucky

The reigning national Player of the Year did all he could to keep Kentucky’s season alive, scoring 25 points and pulling down 18 rebounds. He averaged 21 points and 20 rebounds in his three tournament games at UK, and the Cats won one of them.

3 Best Day 4 Dunks

After a stellar performance from this group on Friday, the sequel effort landed with a bit of a thud.

1. Olivier-Maxence Prosper, Marquette

2. Oscar Tshiebwe, Kentucky

3. Tyson Walker, Michigan State

This one gets a spot on the list only because Walker said afterwards that it was the first time he’d ever dunked in a game.

3 Best Day 4 Images

1. A unit in sync

UConn is a machine at the moment.

Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images

2. The scramble for Cinderella

We clearly need more 9 vs. 16 games in this tournament

Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images

3. Fiery Cal

Kentucky is once again headed home before the tournament’s second weekend.

Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images

4. Baylor beats Baylor

Scheierman and Creighton kissed the Bears goodbye.

Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images

5. Timme time

A huge second half effort has Drew and the Zags into the Sweet 16 for an 8th straight year.

Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images

5 Notable Quotes From Day 4

1. “Well you know, we have a program that’s rich in tradition also. All those old dudes that played for Kentucky, they ain’t coming back. Right? Tradition does not help you if you don’t get out there on the floor and play with some dudes. We had more dudes than they did today. And that’s what that was.” —Kansas State head coach Jerome Tang

2. “What a historical run. We didn’t back down. We didn’t go away. We were not just happy to be here. The hardest part is not being able to go to practice the next day.” —Fairleigh Dickinson head coach Tobin Anderson

3. “We’re going to study Australian rugby rules and get ready for the Vols.” —Florida Atlantic head coach Dusty May

4. “Before they announce our starting lineup at home they’re always like ‘and seven straight Sweet 16s.’ I’m like ‘we cannot be the team that fucks this one up.’ So, just to get it done and not fall under that Hypnotoad’s genjutsu or whatever it is, feels good man.” —Gonzaga senior forward Drew Timme

5. “I mean, can we get a little bit of credit?. We have the No. 3 offense in the country. They say Coach Hurley can’t coach offense. We have the No. 14 defense in the country, too. I mean, you know, maybe it’s something.” —UConn assistant coach Luke Murray

Full Sweet 16 schedule for 2023 men’s NCAA tournament

Everyone take a deep breath, get a few nights of solid sleep, and we’ll meet back here on Thursday.

Fernando Alonso finished third, then he didn’t, and then he did again

It took a lot longer than expected, and an appeal of a penalty to boot, but Fernando Alonso can now say with certainty that he finished in third place at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

And that he has earned 100 podiums over his illustrious Formula 1 career.

Despite finishing in P3 in Sunday’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at Jeddah Corniche Circuit — and partaking in the podium celebration along with Sergio Pérez and Max Verstappen — Alonso then received word that he was being given a ten-second penalty. That penalty would drop him down into P4, behind George Russell of Mercedes.

Early in the Grand Prix, Alonso was given a five-second penalty for an improper start, as he was not properly aligned in his starting position at the start of the race. When a safety car came out after his teammate Lance Stroll suffered a failure, Alonso served that five-second penalty during his pit stop.

The race went on, and Alonso maintained his spot in third place behind the Red Bull duo. However, in the closing laps of the race Russell heard from his pit box that race stewards were contemplating an additional five-second penalty for Alonso.

Alonso heard something similar from his team, and was instructed to maintain a more than five-second lead over Russell. “Would be nice to have five seconds to Russell,” Alonso was warned. While the team believed they were “in the clear,” they wanted to be as safe as possible.

Alonso extended his gap to over five seconds to Russell, leading him to believe that he indeed was in the clear, and with the century mark in podiums in hand.

However, following the podium session, word came from FIA that he was indeed being given a penalty, and a ten-second one at that.

FIA tried to clarify the situation following the race:

However, Alonso and Aston Martin appealed the penalty.

You can see for yourself what happened:

At issue was whether the rear jack carrier made contact with the AMR23. Under current regulations, that apparently counts for “working on the car,” which is not permitted during the duration of the penalty.

During the appeal, Aston Martin provided video evidence of seven different instances of cars being touched by the jack when serving a penalty. In those seven instances, no additional penalty was handed down by race stewards.

Eventually the verdict came down. No penalty, and Alonso’s P3 was reinstated.

“Having reviewed the new evidence, we concluded that there was no clear agreement, as was suggested to the Stewards previously, that could be relied upon to determine that parties had agreed that a jack touching a car would amount to working on the car, without more,” said the decision from FIA. “In the circumstances, we considered that our original decision to impose a penalty on Car 14 needed to be reversed and we did so accordingly.”

You can read their full decision here:

This was likely the correct result, but the bigger question might be this: Why did it take so long for Alonso and Aston Martin to be told this was even a possibility? As noted in the first of the two FIA documents, the potential for a second penalty did not come to light until the final lap of the race. And as Alonso himself stated after the Grand Prix, “[w]hen you have 35 laps to apply the penalty and you wait until after the podium, there is something wrong in the system.”

Had Alonso and Aston Martin been told earlier in the race that this was a possibility — or even been given the additional penalty earlier in the race — they could have altered their strategy to push even further ahead of Russell.

Instead, they were forced to bring the receipts to an appeal well after the finish.

So, while the right result was reached, perhaps FIA could be quicker with these determinations in the future.

A P5 for Lewis Hamilton and a P4 for George Russell has Mercedes feeling optimistic

It took a penalty for Aston Martin and Fernando Alonso, but Mercedes notched their first podium of the 2023 Formula 1 season in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, and the team now sits tied with Aston Martin in the Constructors’ Championship.

That success has certainly changed the mood around the Silver Arrows, who now look ahead to the Australian Grand Prix wondering if they can not just separate from Ferrari and Aston Martin, but push even closer to Red Bull. The day ended with Lewis Hamilton in fifth place, and George Russell in fourth.

“Today was positive and we’d rather take a small trophy home than none. I think we saw some performance gains to Bahrain which is encouraging,” said Team Principal Toto Wolff in a statement to the media, including SBNation. “It shows us that the development trajectory is going in the right direction.”

The team opted for a split-tyre strategy, with Hamilton beginning the day on the hard compound while Russell rolled off at the start on the mediums. However, unlike other drivers who found success on the hards, particularly later in the race, Hamilton struggled on the compound. On Lap 9 Hamilton radioed into the pit that the grip “sucks” on the hard compound, and by Lap 12 he had slid back into P9, having been passed by Max Verstappen, who started in 15th position.

“If I had qualified better then maybe I could have got a better result, but we still got some points,” said Hamilton after the Grand Prix. “My setup this weekend has been the biggest issue I’ve faced. I got it wrong for qualifying and it wasn’t good in the race either, so I struggled today.”

When Lance Stroll’s AMR23 failed on Lap 17, that gave both drivers the chance to pit, and change strategy a bit. Hamilton switched to the medium compound, while Russell opted for the hards. When the green flag waved, Hamilton was the only driver in the top ten on the mediums, with everyone else on the hards. Russell was in P3, with Hamilton in P6.

Shortly after the green flag waved, Mercedes got perhaps their best news of the season. On the mediums Hamilton worked quickly past Carlos Sainz Jr., pushing into P5. “We were a lot closer to some of those ahead and it’s great to be in the top five, ahead of the Ferraris,” noted Hamilton after the race.

That pace from the Mercedes duo was noted by the commentators on F1TV, who declared “[t]onight, Mercedes seems to have a much better race pace than the Ferraris.”

While Russell would eventually see Max Verstappen push by him, he remained in striking distance of Fernando Alonso, sitting in fourth place late into the race. That is when some controversy unfolded. On Lap 48 Russell heard from his team that Alonso was being investigated for potentially failing to properly serve a penalty during the safety car. With Alonso facing a potential five-second penalty, Russell tried desperately to close the gap to Alonso.

Russell failed to get within five seconds, and came across the line in P4. However, word came shortly after the podium ceremony that Alonso was indeed being given a penalty, and a ten-second penalty at that, pushing Russell into third place for a time. More on that later.

The driver conceded that Alonso deserved the position, but declined to look the gift horse in the mouth. “Fernando deserved to be on the podium today and I was pleased with P4,” said Russell. “I’m not complaining too much about taking home a trophy though, and we will take the extra points!”

Russell also outlined that the results reflect the hard work from the entire team.

“When you put the hard work in and it pays dividends, you come away feeling satisfied. We finished ahead of both Ferraris on merit today and we know we’ve got a lot of performance to come soon,” said Russell. “The gap to the Red Bulls is still considerable, but we’ll take the positives from the weekend, keep fighting as hard as we can and focusing on ourselves.”

As for what lies ahead, Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin notes that the improvements to the W14 are working, and more podiums could be in their future. “We’ve been busy at the factory searching for performance and the initial findings are encouraging which gives us the motivation to keep working hard to improve. Today, we did exactly what we needed to do, which is to maximise the potential in what we have,” said Shovlin. “We’re looking forward to the next race in Melbourne; it’s closer in characteristics to Saudi than Bahrain, so hopefully we’ll have a car that we can fight for a podium. If there is any more performance that we can bring we’ll make sure we get it to the track.”

Note: Following publication, Alonso was granted his appeal, and reinstated in third place, sliding Russell back to P4.

Kevin Magnussen’s tenth-place finish scores Haas their first points of the 2023 F1 season

It did not happen until the closing moments, but Kevin Magnussen eventually fought his way past the AlphaTauri of Yuki Tsunoda late in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, pushing the Haas into tenth place.

Giving the team their first points of the 2023 Formula 1 season.

“First point this season. We had the speed but didn’t luck into it as some people were in a better position after the safety car, but the drivers fought hard, and we got a point,” said Team Principal Guenther Steiner after the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. “The whole team performed flawlessly all weekend, they kept their heads up and everyone just kept on pushing. That’s what we’re going to be doing all season long and I’m really looking forward to going to Australia now.”

Shortly after Lance Stroll’s on-track failure brought out the safety car, the Haas duo of Magnussen and teammate Nico Hülkenberg were able to pit, and put themselves in position to charge for points. By Lap 25, the duo were running in P11 and P12, with Magnussen just in front of his teammate.

Hülkenberg would eventually fade a bit, settling to remain in P12 by the checkered flag, but Magnussen then engaged in a lengthy battle with Tsunoda for tenth place. At one point Magnussen tried to get around the AlphaTauri on the outside, but was forced to lock-up his right front, and slid back from Tsunoda.

However, Magnussen kept charging, and finally worked his way around Tsunoda on Lap 46.

“We were able to have a good race, get a good start, manage the tires well – especially on the hard compound when I was on older tires than Tsunoda and actually had less degradation,” said Magnussen after the race. “I was then able to get past him at the end, and we managed to get a point.”

Even though Hülkenberg finished out of the points, he came away from the Grand Prix confident in the team moving ahead. “It was eventful. It’s always a massive challenge here on this track and it was tight. On one hand I’m disappointed I missed out on a point, but on the other hand I’m very pleased that I completed the race and we’ve learned a lot,” outlined Hülkenberg after the Grand Prix. “The underlying positive news is that we’re competitive. It was difficult to judge in Bahrain with damage, but here today we’re definitely competitive in the midfield and that makes me happy.”

The team now turns their attention to the Australian Grand Prix at the start of April, and Steiner is hopeful. As I said after Bahrain, I didn’t really know where we were with the car, but we now know where we think we are,” said the Haas Team Principal. “We’re in the mix, we’re actually pretty good I think – it’s all coming together. We didn’t panic after Bahrain – now we’re cautiously optimistic.”

AlphaTauri leaves Jeddah empty-handed as Yuki Tsunoda and Nyck de Vries finish out of the points

It was a frustrating day at the office for AlphaTauri in Jeddah, as the team found themselves out of the points in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Rookie driver Nyck de Vries finished in 14th position, while his teammate Yuki Tsunoda came across the line in 11th position, just seconds behind the Haas of Kevin Magnussen.

“It’s frustrating to miss out on a point, but there were positives to take from the drivers and team’s performance tonight,” said Jody Egginton, the team’s Technical Director. “We’re now looking forward to the planned aero developments and we trust they will improve our performance in the upcoming events.”

For the rookie de Vries, there might have been some solace in the fact that he turned in his performance despite losing the entire third practice session, as the team was forced to change out his power unit. Missing every bit of track time at a circuit like Jeddah, where the sight lines and 27 turns push drivers to the limit, can be a problem.

But the driver did not see it that way.

“I didn’t do a good enough job today. I lost most of my momentum at the start and restart, so I got stuck in traffic. It’s difficult to regain that rhythm and make up the positions, especially when you’re caught in a DRS train,” said de Vries after the Grand Prix. “I didn’t attack enough and struggled to find the balance between managing the tyres well and pushing, so I was unable to get them to the right temperature. In the end, when I was in clean air chasing Zhou, my pace was very strong and consistent. Generally, it was a step up from Bahrain, so that’s a positive. We definitely need to keep going and continue to push.”

Tsunoda threatened to put AlphaTauri in the points, thanks to the position he picked up on the track during the early safety car brought out when Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin failed on the track. When the green flag flew to restart the race, Tsunoda was in the points, sitting in P8.

“The strategy was good, and the double stack pitstop under the Safety Car worked well as we gained track position. We achieved this as both drivers managed the medium tyre very well, meaning we could extend the first stint and not lose time to our midfield competitors, who stopped for the hard compound earlier,” said Egginton after the Grand Prix. “This strategy, together with the Safety Car, put Yuki into the fight for the final points positions tonight.”

However, Tsunoda slowly slid back to P10, finding himself locked in a battle with Magnussen for the points. Eventually, the Haas found its way past Tsunoda with just a few laps remaining, leaving the AlphaTauri driver with nothing to do but let out an exclamation over the radio that needed to be caught by the censors.

“I ended the race in P11, it’s frustrating to lose the position with only four laps to go. The team did a really great job, everything went perfectly. The pace on the medium tyre was very strong and it improved compared to qualifying,” said Tsunoda. “I’m happy with what the team and I achieved together, but at the same time, I’m disappointed we didn’t reach the points in the end.”

Now the challenge is to turn promise into points.

“We’ll come back stronger with updates in Melbourne, so we are already fully focused on the next race, where we will do our best to maximise our performance,” said Tsunoda. We’ll continue to work hard to be able to fight at the top of the midfield and start scoring points consistently.”

The second race of the 2023 F1 season is here, and here is the starting order, and what to expect

The second race of the 2023 Formula 1 season is here, with the circuit in Saudi Arabia for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The 20 drivers will navigate the twists and turns of the fastest street circuit in the world, with drivers reaching average speeds around 155 miles per hour. Beyond the speeds, are the twists and turns, with the Jeddah Corniche Circuit placing 27 demanding turns in front of the drivers, including the difficult Turns 22 and 23.

Speaking of twists and turns, this week has delivered its share. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, despite posting the second-fastest qualifying time on Saturday, will start 12th on Sunday, thanks to the team turning to the third set of control electronics in just the second race of the season.

Joining Leclerc in the middle of the field? Max Verstappen. The defending world champion was strong throughout the three practices and the first qualifying session, but a driveshaft failure during Q2 saw him retire the RB19 during the second session, and he will start Sunday in 15th.

Here is the full qualifying order, and what to watch for during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. You can bet on the race at DraftKings Sportsbook.

What to watch for in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

Can Aston Martin remain strong?

Perhaps the biggest storyline coming out of the Bahrain Grand Prix was the performance from Aston Martin. Lance Stroll, battling back from a training accident that left him with fractures in both wrists, finished in P6, while teammate Fernando Alonso secured his first podium since 2021, to finish in P3.

After Saturday’s qualifying sessions, the two Aston Martin drivers are in position to build on that success. Stroll will roll off the line fifth, while Alonso will start second thanks to Leclerc’s grid penalty, putting him on the front row for the first time since 2012. The 41-year-old driver is also the oldest driver to secure a starting spot in the front row since Michael Schumacher started second in the 2012 Chinese Grand Prix.

After qualifying, Alonso addressed his chances of grabbing a victory at Jeddah. The veteran driver downplayed his odds of a win, but pointed to how Aston Martin was in line for a very good day. “I don’t want to sound pessimistic but if we see the pace the whole weekend in free practice, we see the Bahrain race, we have to be honest with ourselves and know that Red Bull is a little bit ahead of everyone,” said Alonso after qualifying. “So that’s not, let’s say, the target tomorrow, you know, to fight for the win with Checo. But as I said before, Formula 1 is not exact mathematics, you know, anything can happen and today no one of us will put Verstappen P15, you know, but these things happen sometimes. So, for us, the most important thing is to score points. We are starting both cars in the top five. We try to finish both cars in the top five and keep accumulating points for the Constructors’ Championship. That’s the main goal for Aston Martin this year.”

The potential is there for Aston Martin to have a huge day, now we have to see if they deliver.

Can Sergio Pérez break through at Jeddah?

For the second-straight year, Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez qualified in pole position.

Is this the year he breaks through at Jeddah?

Pérez qualified in fifth position for the inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in 2021, but a collision on Lap 14 forced an early retirement. Pérez qualified on pole for last season’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, but an unfortunately-timed safety car — coming after Pérez had just made a pit stop — opened the door for Verstappen, Leclerc, and Carlos Sainz Jr. to restart in front of him.

Pérez would eventually finish fourth.

Saturday after qualifying, Pérez talked trackside about his success in qualifying at Jeddah, and his chances for Sunday. “It was tricky. It was tricky that Q3, especially [after] not getting that second lap,” said Pérez in an interview right after qualifying. “That [first lap] was quite good, you know, it was quite clean, really clean. Nailing that lap, you know, you really feel the Formula 1 cars coming alive in this place and yeah just maximising that lap was very important, you know, because with the issue we had into the final run it was really important as the track was improving.”

Pérez has shown the ability to put down some fast laps at Jeddah. Sunday we will see if he can string enough together to finish at the front.

Is Sunday the day Alpine makes some noise of their own?

During practices on Friday, Alpine seemed to have something up their sleeves for the field.

They showed that on Saturday.

Both Alpine drivers will start inside the top ten, with Esteban Ocon rolling off in sixth, and Pierre Gasly starting in P9. The team was confident in the wake of that performance, and Gasly indicated that double points for the team are on the table. “Our race pace has been good, we showed that in Bahrain, and in Practice yesterday, and I’m feeling confident that double points are achievable.”

Can Verstappen, Leclerc, or both work some magic from the middle?

Up until the second qualifying session, Verstappen was the strongest driver in the field. But the driveshaft issue his RB19 suffered will see the defending world champion come off the line in P15 Sunday.

Leclerc posted the second-fastest time in Q3, but because of his grid penalty, the Ferrari driver will come off the line 12th.

Can either driver — or both — work some magic from the midfield at Jeddah? There is some precedent for this. Last season, Lewis Hamilton started 15th, but finished 10th, making up five spots during the race. Nico Hülkenberg, driving for Aston Martin, made up five spots as well, finishing 12th after starting 17th.

There was even more movement in the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Both Stroll and Sainz Jr. picked up seven spots during the race. Stroll started 18th but finished 11th, and Sainz finished eighth after starting in 15th position.

So there is hope for both drivers that they can make something happen on Sunday. Leclerc addressed in his post-qualifying comments the possibility that he could make up some position in the Grand Prix. “I think our race pace is stronger this weekend. So this is a good thing. Then, I don’t know how easy it is going to be to overtake on this track because the midfield seems to be all extremely close in terms of race pace,” said Leclerc. “And if you have a DRS train, then it makes things very difficult. But I’ll give my best, try to come back to the front as quickly as possible. And we’ll see what happens.”

Is the Mercedes comeback upon us?

Earlier this week Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff noted that that the team was bringing some “small developments” to Jeddah. While Wolff cautioned that “they won’t be game changers,” Sunday will see both Mercedes drivers starting inside the top ten, with Lewis Hamilton in P7, and George Russell in P3.

When Russell came across the line at the end of the third qualifying session, he seemed fairly pleased with how the W14 performed:

Is this a sign of better days ahead for the Silver Arrows?

In a few hours, we will know for sure.

The reigning national champions are out, but 15-seed Princeton is still rolling. Plus, Eric Musselman took his shirt off again.

A one seed, and the reigning national champion, went down. Another one seed was pushed to the brink for about 30 minutes. Duke lost and set a dubious record in the process. And a 15-seed cashed a ticket to the Sweet 16 for a third straight year.

Let’s get into all of it.

March Madness’ 3 best games of Day 3

1. (8) Arkansas 72, (1) Kansas 71 (West)

For my money, this was the best game of the tournament to date.

Playing without head coach Bill Self once again, Kansas appeared poised for most of the afternoon to advance into the tournament’s second weekend and continue its title defense. The Jayhawks raced out to an 11-2 lead, then led by eight at halftime and by as many as 12 early in the second half. Adding to KU’s confidence was the fact that several key Arkansas players were dealing with foul trouble from the middle part of the first half on.

Just as they did in last year’s Sweet 16 triumph over No. 1 overall seed Gonzaga, the Razorbacks just kept coming.

Davonte “Devo” Davis took over for the Hogs after the break, scoring 21 of his game-high 25 points in the second half. He jumpstarted an 11-0 run that communicated to the whole hoops universe that Kansas was in trouble.

Ricky Council IV, who added 21 points, then seized control late. He knocked down a pair of key jumpers in the game’s closing minutes, and hit five free-throws in the closing seconds to help put the Jayhawks away.

Arkansas’ defensive prowess and superior physicality was also on full display in the second half.

After letting him get going early on, the Razorbacks put the clamps on Kansas All-American Jalen Wilson, allowing him to attempt only two shots over a 15-minute stretch after halftime. The Hogs also seemed to come up with the ball during every key scramble situation, and finished the game outscoring KU 15-2 on second chance opportunities.

Not only had Kansas been 26-0 this season when leading at halftime, but the Jayhawks had been 47-0 all-time in the NCAA tournament when leading by at least eight at the break. They led or were tied with Arkansas for all but one minute and 43 seconds of Saturday’s game.

Arkansas, which became the first team to have three players foul out and still beat a No. 1 seed, is now a win over Saint Mary’s or UConn away from its third straight regional final appearance, and two wins away from its first Final Four since 1995. Not bad for a program that went from 1997-2020 without a single trip to the Sweet 16.

2. (2) Texas 71, (10) Penn State 66 (Midwest)

Texas is headed to its first Sweet 16 since 2008 thanks to the type of response in a fight or flight moment that can win you a national championship.

The Longhorns led by eight points at halftime and had been able to keep Penn State at arm’s length for virtually the entirety of the game. Then, the Nittany Lions reeled off a late, lightning quick 10-0 run that put them in front by three with just 4:48 to play. It was their first lead since a 4-3 advantage two minutes into the game.

Texas did not miss a shot the rest of the game.

Dylan Disu — who played the game of his life — made shots on five of UT’s next six offensive possessions. The Longhorns made their final six field goal attempts of the game, and got points on eight of their last 10 trips.

Boom. Rodney Terry’s team advances, Micah Shrewsberry’s team starts its offseason.

Perhaps the most surprising stat of the game was that Texas won despite going just 1-for-13 from beyond the arc. A Longhorn team known for its guard play had to ride its senior forward and some stellar defense to victory.

3. (2) UCLA 68, (7) Northwestern 63 (West)

Only three of the eight games on Saturday were decided by fewer than 13 points, but all three of those were stellar.

Just like previously mentioned Arkansas, UCLA is headed to the Sweet 16 for a third straight year. Just like previously mentioned Texas, the Bruins got there thanks to some clutch late play after a furious rally from their underdog opponent.

Northwestern never led in the second half, but a 17-4 run helped them get to within one with under eight minutes to play. The teams traded blows for the next few minutes before a key sequence where Adem Bona blocked a layup attempt by Northwestern star Chase Audige and David Singleton buried a three on the other end to all but deliver the knockout blow for UCLA.

With 20 seconds to play, Singleton suffered what appeared to be a fairly serious foot or ankle injury. He told reporters after the game that he had simply rolled the ankle, which was refreshing news for a Bruin team already dealing with the loss of Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year Jaylen Clark and with a banged up Bona.

UCLA was carried by its usual leading men. Pac-12 Player of the Year Jaime Jacquez scored 24 points, grabbed eight rebounds and handed out four assists. Point guard Tyger Cambell did not make a field goal, but knocked down all 12 of his free-throw attempts and had seven assists against no turnovers. Freshman Amari Bailey, whose role has taken on a heightened importance since the loss of Clark, added 14 points and six assists.

The victory marked UCLA’s 16th straight NCAA tournament win in a game played in the state of California. That streak ties Duke — from 1999-2011 — as the second-longest NCAA tournament win streak in a team’s home state.

3 teams that won it the best

1. Princeton

There’s little doubt that the sporting world thought Princeton had a shot to get the better of seventh-seeded Missouri on Saturday. After all, the Tigers had already fried a bigger fish in Arizona two days earlier, AND we had already seen a 15-seed dance their way to the second weekend in each of the last two tournaments.

I don’t think anyone expected this.

For 40 straight minutes, Princeton looked vastly superior in the battle of SEC Tigers versus Ivy League Tigers. Mitch Henderson’s team built a 14-point point lead in the first half, a 21-point lead in the second, and finished with a 15-point margin of victory that was the largest ever for a 15-seed in the NCAA tournament.

Princeton now heads to Louisville for its first regional semifinal appearance in 56 years. The Tigers are the second Ivy League school to make the Sweet 16 in the past 43 tournaments, joining the 2009-10 Cornell Big Red.

“I’ve always dreamed of playing deep into the tournament,” said Henderson, who won first round games as a player at Princeton in 1996 and 1998. “As a player, got to the second round a couple times. Never got beyond it. I feel like these guys, it’s unbelievable.”

The Tigers have certainly looked every bit as strong, if not stronger, than Saint Peter’s did a year ago. They might not be done here.

2. Houston

Since the NCAA tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, there has never been a year where fewer than two No. 1 seeds advanced to at least the Sweet 16. With Purdue getting stunned on Friday and Kansas falling to Arkansas earlier in the day, Houston appeared to be flirting with history for much of early Saturday evening.

Playing in front of an Auburn-friendly crowd in Birmingham and with two of its stars — Marcus Sasser and Jamal Shead — dealing with injuries, the top-seeded Cougars seemed for a bit to be the wobbly prize fighter just waiting to be knocked out. They trailed by 10 at halftime, and their second half started with head coach Kelvin Sampson telling the viewing public that Sasser was playing at “probably 60 percent.”

The cause for concern was high.

Then, Houston displayed the same combination of skill and fearlessness that has carried it to 33 wins, and counting, this season.

Sasser came out on fire, burying a trio of outside jumpers to lead a 15-4 charge that put UH back on top. The Cougars also put the clamps on Auburn at the other end of the floor, shutting down the lane and taking away the wide open looks the Tigers had feasted on in the first half. Auburn would misfire on 20 of its 24 field goal attempts after halftime.

The game was still very much in doubt when both Shead and Sasser were forced to the bench with four fouls and plenty of time left on the clock. That’s when junior Tramon Clark took over, thriving in isolation and ultimately scoring a game-high (and game-deciding) 26 points. Clark’s play allowed the Cougars to actually increase their lead by 10 points with their two stars on the sidelines.

Houston finished the game outscoring Auburn by a staggering 50-23 count in the second half. It was a gutsy as hell performance by a championship caliber team that is headed to its fourth Sweet 16 in five years.

3. Tennessee

Unlike a year ago, Tennessee wasn’t exactly a fashionable Final Four pick when the brackets were unveiled last Sunday. The Volunteers had lost PF Zakai Zeigler for the season to an ACL tear, they were woefully inept on offense for extended stretches, and they had lost seven times since Feb. 1.

The common thought was that UT wouldn’t be long for this tournament. And yet, while last year’s trendy Final Four pick got knocked off in the second round by Michigan, this year’s Vols are rolling into the Sweet 16 off of one of Saturday’s most impressive performances.

Tennessee dominated red-hot Duke, holding the favored (but worse-seeded) Blue Devils to just 52 points. That total matched the lowest ever for a Duke team in the NCAA tournament.

After the game, the Volunteer players and their head coach were not shy about addressing their “doubters and haters.”

“Everybody thought we were dead,” Barnes said. “We’re alive and kicking, baby.”

HONORABLE MENTION: San Diego State

It would feel wrong not to at least mention the team that won by the largest margin on Saturday. That would be San Diego State, which ended Furman’s Cinderella run with a 75-52 thrashing that never really felt in doubt.

The Aztecs’ 23-point win matched the largest margin of victory for a 5-seed against a 13-seed in tournament history. It also marked the 41st game in a row that SDSU has won when shooting 50.0 percent or better from the field.

They’ll be the first Mountain West team to crash the second weekend since Nevada in 2018.

The 3 Biggest Disappointments

1. Missouri

The season was still an overwhelming success, and the future is still bright under Dennis Gates, but man ...

There was a never a moment on Saturday where Missouri didn’t look wildly inferior to its Ivy League foe. Princeton hit just four of its first 16 three-point attempts, and was still always in total control of the contest.

When the 15-seed finally did start catching fire from beyond the arc in the second half, the game went from well-in-hand to all-out blowout. On the rare occasion that it missed, Princeton was there to out-scrap their opponent for the rebound. They out-rebounded Missouri by 14 and had 11 offensive rebounds in the second half alone, resulting in 16 second chance points.

Again, the future is still bright for Missouri, but losing by more points to a 15-seed than any team had ever lost to a 15-seed before is still a rough way to go out.

2. Duke

Purdue’s historic loss to Fairleigh Dickinson meant that the East Region — widely considered to be easily the weakest of the four heading into the tournament — was even more wide open than before. The common thought by many was that 5-seed Duke, winners of 10 straight including an impressive 23-point throttling of Oral Roberts in the first round, was now actually the favorite to win the region and make it to a second straight Final Four.

In a word, nope.

Playing without PF Mark Mithcell, who was a late scratch because of a knee injury, was a blow, but it doesn’t excuse scoring the fewest points in an NCAA tournament game in program history. The Blue Devils never really threatened Tennessee after the game’s opening 10 minutes.

3. Kansas

Part of me wanted to give this to Maryland for not being able to keep things competitive with Alabama while they had the last half an hour of the night alone to themselves, but that wouldn’t be fair.

Kansas is the clear choice, as the Jayhawks lost an NCAA tournament game that they led by 8 or more at halftime for the first time in program history. They had previously been 47-0 in said situation.

Bill Self’s situation was certainly a March curveball no one could have prepared for, but the reigning champs not even making it to the tournament’s second weekend is still a disappointment.

5 Day 3 Cheers

1. The 15-seed revolution

From 1979 to 2020, only one 15-seed reached the second weekend of the NCAA tournament. Now, after Princeton’s triumph over Missouri, we have our third straight year of a 15-seed playing its way into the Sweet 16.

That’s ... insanity.

Even more hard to believe is the fact that of the four 15-seeds in history that have crashed the Sweet 16, none of them were even the top seed in their own conference tournament.

The only thing left is for a 15-seed to do the unthinkable and break through to the Final Four. With Princeton looking the way it did on Saturday, it’s absolutely within the realm of possibility.

2. Devo Davis’ emotional day

Arkansas has two players likely to hear their names called during the lottery of this summer’s NBA Draft. They have another one or two who could be selected later in the draft.

None of these players are Davonte “Devo” Davis. What Davis is is the heart and soul of a Razorback team that would be lost without him. They’d also be home for the offseason right now.

With his more naturally gifted teammates saddled with foul trouble, Davis was spectacular on Saturday. The three-year veteran of the program poured in a season-high 25 points and willed his team to its third straight trip to the Sweet 16.

After the game, his emotions flowed.

He also shared a special moment with his head coach.

This is the best of March.

3. Shirtless Muss

Simply put: It had been too long.

Our guy Ricky O’Donnell had a front row seat for the hottest show in Des Moines, and he might disagree.

Eric Musselman is now 8-2 in the NCAA tournament at Arkansas.

From 1997-2020, Arkansas was 5-10.

4. Tournament viewership

We just experienced the most-watched first round in the history of the NCAA tournament, and my hunch is that the numbers for the second round are going to be stellar as well.

Laugh at anyone who tries to tell you that college basketball is a “dying sport” or “isn’t what it used to be.” The numbers from both the regular season and now the first part of postseason show that the sport is in a very good place at the moment.

5. New Jersey

Not since the Jersey Shore/Real Housewives phenomenon of 2009/2010 has New Jersey been this hot.

A year ago, Saint Peter’s became the first 15-seed to play in a regional final. This year, we’ve got Fairleigh Dickinson not even winning the NEC but taking out No. 1 seed Purdue in the first round, and Princeton stunning Arizona and then blowing out Missouri as a 15-seed.

“I guess there’s something in the water,” Princeton senior Ryan Langborg (a San Diego native) said about the trend on Saturday.

Even Jersey natives who moved out of the state to play their college ball are getting in on the fever.

It’s evident these days that if you’re a top seed facing a small Jersey school in the Big Dance, you’re a grenade that’s ready for a GTL session. GTL of course meaning “Game to Lose.”

I’m not even sorry about what just happened. You couldn’t pay me a thousand dollars to delete it.

BONUS CHEER: This Brandon Miller end-to-end sequence

Safe to say the Alabama freshman star was feeling a bit better on Saturday than he was on Thursday.

5 Day 3 Jeers

1. The early standalone games

I’ll never understand the layout of the tournament’s first Saturday and Sunday. I mean I’m sure the explanation is rooted in something related to ratings and money, but it still defies basic logic from a fan perspective.

After being flooded with games at all hours for the previous 48 hours, we get just two games back-to-back for the first five hours of the day. No games going on at the same time. Even the first half of the third game is alone on an island. And then BAM, we’ve got six games hurled at us during the evening session.

There’s no reason to have second round games wrapping up after midnight on the East Coast. It’s an easy fix, and it blows my mind that it hasn’t happened yet.

It’s especially brutal when the first two games of the day are San Diego State demolishing Furman, and Duke struggling to get to the 50-point mark against Tennessee.

Giving us all these options for 48 hours straight and then yanking them away without a proper adjustment period is cruel and unusual punishment.

2. Mike Bothwell having to say farewell

This is such a mature and touching parting message, but there’s one part in particular that’s difficult to watch.

When Bothwell says “it’s gonna be tough to never play for Furman again,” you can almost feel the instinctive jolt that just saying those words outloud for the first time has on his soul.

The complete finality that’s always present during this month is part of what makes it so great, but it’s also unfailingly brutal.

One moment you’re a standout basketball player at a program where you’ve put in years of work, and you’re fully focused on the task at hand of taking said program as far as it can go. A moment later, you used to be those things.

Like any death, it’s a moment that’s impossible to prepare for. Credit to Bothwell for handling it so well.

3. The Big Ten

While the Big Ten’s opening weekend hasn’t been quite as disastrous as it was, say, two years ago, it still hasn’t been stellar.

The league went 0-3 on Saturday, is 5-6 in the tournament, and has only Indiana and Michigan State still standing.

It seems unlikely that the conference’s 23-year title drought is going to be snapped in a couple of weeks.

4. This Missouri fan

The only thing worse than watching your team getting its ass kicked by a 15-seed with the same “Tigers” nickname, is doing it in a Tiger-themed blazer that has the losing school’s colors dominating the pattern.

Is that George Hamilton? Did George Hamilton go to Missouri?

I’m not looking it up.

It’s George Hamilton.

5. The quest for a repeat national champion dying

Kansas’ upset loss to Arkansas means that Florida in 2006 and 2007 will remain college basketball’s most recent repeat national champion. Not only that, but we still haven’t had a reigning national champ play past the Elite Eight since the Gators cut down the nets for a second time in ‘07.

All Day-3 Team

Olivier Nkahmhoua, Tennessee

Duke simply had no answer for the senior forward from Finland, who torched the Blue Devils to the tune of 27 points on 10-of-13 shooting from the field.

Dylan Disu, Texas

Texas is known primarily for its guards, but the senior forward is the biggest reason why the Longhorns are dancing into the tournament’s second weekend. Disu dominated inside against undersized Penn State, finishing with 28 points and 10 rebounds.

He even got some love from Kevin Durant after the game.

Disu, whose 28 points matched his career-high, tied Durant’s Texas NCAA tournament record for made field goals in a game with 14.

Tramon Mark, Houston

With both Marcus Sasser and Jamal Shead playing through injuries, Mark stepped up in a massive way to help keep Houston’s season alive. The junior guard scored a game-high 26 points to go along with nine rebounds in the Cougars’ come-from-behind win over Auburn.

Davonte Davis, Arkansas

The heart and soul of this Razorback squad, Devo Davis took center stage when his team needed him the most. Davis scored 25 points and grabbed eight rebounds as Arkansas bounced reigning national champion Kansas from the tournament.

Ryan Langborg, Princeton

Langborh buried four triples and scored a game-high 22 points to go along with six rebounds and four assists in Princeton’s convincing upset over Missouri.

3 Best Day 3 Dunks

The dunks from this group were bad on Thursday. They were way worse on Saturday.

I promise you that this was the best of the best.

1. Olivier Nkahmhoua, Tennessee

2. Julian Phillips, Tennessee

3. Keshad Johnson, San Diego State

3 Best Day 3 Images

1. Locker room euphoria

Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/NCAA Photos via Getty Images

2. Above the rim in Sacramento

Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

3. Houston huddles

Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

5 Notable Quotes From Day 3

1. “We come to play for 40 minutes, and we knew we were going to bring them down to the mud with us for 40 minutes. It’s tough, and some guys can hang and some guys can’t.” —Tennessee senior forward Olivier Nkamhoua

2. “Well I’ve been coaching a long time, and that’s as great a win as I’ve ever been a part of.” —Arkansas head coach Eric Musselman

3. “It seems the more he goes, the looser it got. He didn’t have the same pop. He was 3 of 11 on 2s. A lot of those were at the rim. His finishing has been really good. He definitely wasn’t 100%. He’s a tough kid. He’s playing through some stuff. He doesn’t let people know he’s hurt.” —Alabama head coach Nate Oats on star freshman Brandon Miller

4. “We’ve never played against a big man with that type of touch. I don’t remember him missing, not one floater. He would do it from 10 feet, 15 feet, 5 feet.” —Penn State’s Seth Lundy on Texas PF Dylan Disu

5. “It’s something no one can take away from this team. Greatest team in the school’s history. No one has won more games than us, and we enjoyed it. That’s the best part about it.” —Furman senior G Mike Bothwell

Full Sunday schedule for 2023 men’s NCAA tournament

Last day of the first weekend. Let’s leave it all out there.

Despite not having their point guard, the Vols still remain a strong team, due to their identity

When you play Tennessee basketball, you gotta grit your teeth a little bit more.

Elbows get scraped more often, bumps and bruises start to hurt a little bit more, you get fatigued earlier. If you’re Duke’s Kyle Filipowski, you might get a cut under your eye less than 10 minutes into the game.

And the worst part for you?

That’s just how Tennessee likes it.

They see physicality as a challenge, rather than a hindrance. You wanna get position in the post? You better earn it, or the Volunteers will wear your ass out for 40 minutes, just like they did the Duke Blue Devils in their 65-52 victory in the Round of 32 on Saturday.

“The way you keep up with us is if you can just taking those hits and keep playing that tough game for 40 minutes,” said senior forward Olivier Nkamhoua postgame. “Because we come to play for 40 minutes, and we’re going to bring them down to the mud for 40 minutes. It’s tough, and some guys can hang and some guys can’t.”

You get a little dirty when you play Tennessee, and that benefits the Vols. The senior-laden team came into their game with a very young Duke team wanting to force Duke into playing their style, and it worked to perfection. Duke shot 27% from deep and turned the ball over 15 times for 18 Tennessee points, a plan perfectly crafted because of the physicality of Tennessee.

“We’re a tough, hard-nosed team. That’s how we play everybody,” said senior forward Olivier Nkamhoua. “We knew that if we come in and apply more pressure and be tough and physical, then they would have to deal with it. What we were saying before the game the whole time is we were going to bring them into the mud with us and make them play a tough, hard-nosed game and see if they were ready for it.”

More from Nkamhoua: Nkamhoua said. “You want to get people playing at your pace. It just guarantees us that we’re going to be in our element. We play through defense and then we figure it out on the offensive end.”

Figuring it out was exactly what the Volunteers did, with Nkamhoua leading the charge. The Finnish forward was the star of the game, scoring 27 points, 23 of which came in the second half and going 10-13 from the field, giving the Volunteer offense life when they needed it to pair with their defense. Nkamhoua put a sluggish first half behind him in order to spark the Volunteers and lead them to a win. “I was a little bit antsy because I didn’t get to play in the first half, so I just came in ready to play,” Nkamhoua said. “I had fresh legs. I feel like that gave me a little bit of extra edge.”

The Volunteers normally aren’t that great of a shooting team; their 33% shooting from deep places them 219th in the country headed into March. Against Duke? The Volunteers shot almost 43% from three point range. Finding a way to win has been the Volunteers mantra for the last month, since starting point guard Zakai Zeigler was lost for the season with a torn ACL. However, one of the benefits of having such an upperclassman-heavy squad is for moments like losing Zeigler.

The experience on the roster helps lead the team. We discussed Nkamhoua, but guard Santiago Vescovi was massive with 14 points, five assists and two steals. Backup big man Jonas Aidoo played critical minutes while starting center Uros Plavsic got into foul trouble early. These waves of upperclassmen are built for March, and it comes from the belief they have in each other. “I think these guys, they certainly believe in each other,” Volunteers head coach Rick Barnes said. “We’ve got different guys and they’ve all done it at different points in time. I do believe these guys have a terrific belief in each other, and they respect each other at the highest level.”

The Volunteers will be heading to Madison Square Garden for the Sweet 16, a place Barnes hasn’t been since the 2018-2019 season. They’ll face the winner of Farleigh Dickinson and Florida Atlantic, but whoever wins will need to be ready for a battle.

Because you better believe these Vols will be ready.

Both Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon qualify in the top ten at Jeddah

It was a tale of two drivers at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix for Alpine. Esteban Ocon retired late in the race after a series of penalties pushed him further and further down the grid, while Pierre Gasly charged into the top ten after starting in 20th position.

However, Sunday’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix could be a much different story for the drivers, and for Alpine.

Both Gasly and Ocon barreled their way into the third qualifying session on Sunday, and when the dust settled — including the ten-place grid penalty for Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who posted the second-fastest time — both drivers locked out spots in the top ten. Gasly will begin the race ninth, with Ocon starting in the third row, from the sixth spot.

“That was an intense qualifying session and a strong performance all around, so a good job by the entire team. Overall, I’m happy with seventh today,” said Ocon in a statement to the media, including SBNation, after qualifying. “We’re starting in sixth with Charles’ [Leclerc] penalty and it’s all to play for from the third row tomorrow. During qualifying, the car was the strongest it’s felt all weekend and it’s good to see that we’ve improved day by day, session by session, so credit to the team for that.”

Alan Permane, the team’s Sporting Director, called the qualifying session an improvement over the first week of the season. “Today’s qualifying is a significant improvement from the first race of the season and it’s certainly satisfying to have both cars reach Q3 and starting in a competitive place on the grid for tomorrow’s race,” said Permane. “Esteban did a great job with a well-executed session, which he built up lap by lap, and delivered when he needed to in an extremely tight field, split by small margins. It was important for Pierre to have a smooth session, especially after Bahrain qualifying. He’s now put himself in contention for strong points tomorrow and we’re certainly feeling good with how our long run pace has looked so far this season.”

Gasly admitted to having mixed feelings about the session, as he thought there was even more to get out of the A523. Still, the team is in good shape for Sunday. “I have mixed feelings after today’s Qualifying. While I’m pleased to reach Q3, I still feel we came up a little bit short on our expectations today and there’s some finer details we need to work on to make sure we extract the maximum from our package,” said Gasly. “It’s great that we have both cars inside the top ten – credit to Esteban on a good job – and it means we’re in a strong position for the race where the aim is to score solid points.“

All three believe a solid result for Alpine is possible when the lights go out Sunday night in Jeddah. “Tomorrow we’ll aim to have a clean race and bring both cars home in the points,” said Ocon. “It’s a long race where strategy will be important and we’re all fully focused on a strong result.”

“A decent job today, some small details to fix, and we’re looking forward to seeing what we can achieve tomorrow with both cars,” added Permane.

Despite his mixed feelings regarding qualifying, Gasly seemed the most optimistic when discussing Sunday. “Our race pace has been good, we showed that in Bahrain, and in practice yesterday, and I’m feeling confident that double points are achievable,” said Gasly on Saturday night.

Russell is set to start third, and Hamilton seventh, in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

Could the Mercedes comeback be upon us?

There is at least some renewed optimism around the Silver Arrows ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, after George Russell and Lewis Hamilton both qualified in the top ten for Sunday’s Grand Prix. With Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc facing a ten-place grid penalty, Russell will roll off the line in third, with Hamilton in seventh.

While not the drastic improvement many Mercedes fans were hoping for, after a tough season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, there seems to be more optimism around the team following Saturday’s qualifying session at Jeddah Corniche Circuit.

“We have exceeded the potential and our own expectations to be ahead of an Aston Martin and a Ferrari. It is a solid job; we put in a lot of work overnight,” exclaimed Russell in a statement to the media, including SBNation, after qualifying. “The team back at Brackley were working hard in the simulator and we did a lot of work trackside this morning to try and get more out of the package. We know we are not in the fight for pole just yet, but you have to maximise what you’ve got, and we certainly did that today.”

Certainly, Leclerc’s penalty — coupled with a retirement from Max Verstappen, who was primed for a start at the top of the grid — aided Mercedes this day. Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin was quick to point that out following the qualifying runs. However the drivers, in particular Russell, made the most of the session. “It’s been a difficult weekend to get the car in the right place and I don’t think George could have got any more out of it with his laps in the final session,” noted Shovlin. “We’ve benefited from Max’s issues and Charles’ penalty to end up third on the grid, but George still had to get ahead of a number of key cars that were all pretty quick.”

For his part, Hamilton was more muted, as he admitted that he struggled with the W14 during qualifying. Still, there are signs that the improvements are coming together for the team. “I struggled a little bit today, but we just need to keep trying. No matter what changes we’ve been making, we’ve been struggling to extract the speed, and I just don’t feel properly connected to the car at the moment,” said Hamilton on Saturday night. “That is something we will work on to improve the confidence in the next races. George did a great job today though and he wasn’t that far off some of the cars at the front, so we just need to keep pushing. It wasn’t the greatest of days but there are improvements for the team.”

Looking ahead to Sunday, the team concedes that a lot can change once all 20 cars are on the track. With the high speeds drivers reach at Jeddah Corniche Circuit, coupled with how drivers are still adjusting to the changes on the track — in particular the tightening at Turns 22 and 23 — anything can happen.

“The race here normally has a few incidents so how well you do is often a function of whether they fall at the right times. Only a few places separate our cars so it gives us an opportunity to split them on strategies so we can cover the bases,” said Shovlin, looking ahead to the Grand Prix. “Hopefully we’ll be a bit kinder on the tyres than we were in Bahrain; we’ve tried to work on the setup to achieve that and we’ll find out tomorrow if we’ve made progress.”

“I think pace-wise tomorrow we are with the Aston Martins and the Ferraris; at least that is per the long runs yesterday, so we should be able to play around in the race,” added Team Principal Toto Wolff.

Of the group, Russell seemed the most optimistic.

“We have a fight on our hands tomorrow, most likely with the Aston Martins and the Ferraris. We will be pushing hard to get on the podium and seeing what we can do,” said the Mercedes driver. “This team has higher standards and expectations for themselves than just finishing in the top three, but we will be giving everything we’ve got to be standing there on Sunday.”

Some thrilling finishes and a heavy jolt of history headlined the NCAA tournament’s second day.

We’ve got too much to get to for any sort of big intro here, so let’s just get right to it.

If you want to get to the Fairleigh Dickinson stuff, then you can go ahead and skip on down to the second section. While the Knights’ upset of Purdue was certainly the most notable result of the day, it was not one of the day’s three best games. Blame the Boilermakers for that.

The 3 Best March Madness Games Of Day 2

1. (6) TCU 72, (11) Arizona State 70 (West)

Unlike Thursday, the late, late window of games was sensational on Friday. Spearheading that charge was sixth-seeded TCU’s come-from-behind win over Bobby Hurley and Arizona State in the West Region.

It may not have featured the history of Fairleigh Dickinson-Purdue or the closing chaos of FAU-Memphis, but it did have its own phenomenal finish, was incredibly entertaining throughout, and to me was the most complete game of day two.

For most of the night, Arizona State — which hung 98 points on Nevada in a First Four trouncing on Wednesday — appeared poised to steamroll its way into the second round. The Sun Devils led by 11 early in the second half and had all the momentum in the world thanks to a slew of highlight reel dunks.

Jamie Dixon’s team kept hanging around and chipping away. Eventually, they found themselves leading by three with just 24 seconds to play.

That’s when Arizona State’s DJ Horne decided he wasn’t ready to go home yet.

Unfortunately for the Sun Devils, there were still 15 seconds left for TCU to counter.

JaKobe Coles, a reserve who averaged just under 17 minutes of court time per game this season but saw his playing time increase recently after big man Eddie Lampkin left the team, grabbed hold of his March moment and didn’t let go.

TCU, which nearly upset No. 1 seed Arizona in the second round of the tournament a year ago, is now a Sunday win over Gonzaga away from its first trip to the Sweet 16 since 1968.

2. (3) Xavier 72, (14) Kennesaw State 67 (Midwest)

For most of the afternoon on Friday, it looked like Kennesaw State — which was playing in its first NCAA tournament game and which won just 12 total games in three seasons from 2018-2021 — was going to establish itself as the story of the tournament’s opening round.

The Owls led by 13 with 9:56 to play against a Xavier team displaying all the confidence of a communications major tackling a geometry proof. Then, suddenly, KSU went cold. Kennesaw went scoreless over the game’s next six minutes and 11 seconds, allowing the third-seeded Musketeers to rediscover their footing and rip off a 15-0 run to seize control.

Despite scoring just six points over the game’s final 10 minutes, Kennesaw State still found itself in a position to pull off the upset in the game’s closing seconds.

With his team trailing 68-67 and under 10 seconds to play, KSU’s Terrell Burden appeared to have a clear path to the basket for a layup that would put his team in front. Xavier big man Jack Nunge had other ideas.

The Musketeers would then salt away the game at the free-throw line to secure the first NCAA tournament win of the second Sean Miller era.

Kennesaw State’s loss extended the streak of losses for first-time NCAA tournament participants to 11. The last two teams to win in their first Big Dance appearance were Northwestern and UC Davis, who both tasted victory in 2017.

3. (9) Florida Atlantic 66, (8) Memphis 65 (East)

This one wasn’t exactly a work of art, with both teams going scoreless for long stretches, and the game’s final flurry including some sloppy play and a controversial call. But it was still extremely competitive, extremely eventful, and it delivered in the moments that mattered the most.

Neither team ever led by more than single digits, partly because neither could get any outside shots to fall with any degree of consistency. Florida Atlantic finished 8-for-28 from three and Memphis was 6-of-22. No player in the game connected on more than two shots from the outside.

After a bizarre flurry of late-game events that included some Memphis in-fighting (more on that below) and a controversial jump ball call, Florida Atlantic found itself with the ball, down one, and just 5.5 seconds to play.

“In the timeout, I said, ‘Coach, I got it,’” FAU guard Nick Boyd said after the game. “I don’t know why I was feeling that way, but I just said, ‘Coach, let me get the ball.’ I caught it in the corner. I was going to shoot the 3. He jumped for the shot fake. And Vlad (Goldin) had a great seal, allowed me to get to the rim. I just thought about finishing no matter what.”

The win was the first NCAA tournament triumph for Florida Atlantic, whose only other appearance in the Big Dance came back in 2002. It also improved the record of the best team in school history to a sparkling 32-3.

“It’s good — but we’re not done yet,” said FAU leading scorer Giancarlo Rosado said. “We didn’t come here to win one game. We didn’t come here to win two games. We came to win it because that’s what we do. We’ve proved that we’re a Top 25 program. Half of the season we were Top 25. We’ve proved we’re supposed to be here. We’re not doing nothing we’re not supposed to be doing.”

The 5 Teams That Won It The Best

1. Fairleigh Dickinson

All right, let’s get into it.

Purdue wasn’t the No. 1 overall seed in this NCAA tournament, and they weren’t one of the two or three top betting favorites to cut down the nets. While the Boilermakers were certainly a deserving top seed, what sets this upset apart from most stunners not just in this event, but in the history of sports, is the profile of the little guy who did the shocking.

Here’s a quick guide to everything that made Friday night’s upset one of the more unbelievable things any of us have ever witnessed.

—Fairleigh Dickinson is a 16-seed that didn’t even win its own conference regular season or tournament title. Oh, and that conference just so happens to be the lowest-rated conference in all of Division-I.

The Knights lost to Merrimack in the Northeast Conference tournament championship game, but still got to advance to March Madness because of an NCAA rule that prohibits teams transitioning to Division-I from playing in the NCAA tournament for their first four years. Merrimack, which has won two regular season titles and one tournament title in its first four years in the NEC, is finally eligible for the NCAA tournament next season.

—Out of 363 Division-I basketball teams, this was a matchup of the tallest in the sport versus the shortest in the sport.

Fairleigh Dickinson isn’t just the shortest team in college basketball this season, they’re the second shortest since Ken Pomeroy began keeping track of the collective height of teams in 2001-02. The only team shorter than the 2022-23 Knights was a 2009-10 Grambling State team that finished 7-21.

“David vs. Goliath” March references were officially worn out like 75 years ago, but they’ve never been more appropriate than they are in this moment.

—Fairleigh Dickinson won FOUR games last season.

The Knights finished last season at 4-22 overall and didn’t win a single game out of conference. That gave FDU AD Bradford Hurlbut more than enough reason to fire head coach Greg Herenda and bring in Tobin Anderson, who had zero previous experience as a Division-I head coach.

A lack of experience didn’t stop Anderson, who spent the previous nine seasons at Division-II Thomas Aquinas, from calling his shot against Purdue earlier this week.

Maybe it helped that he had been theoretically preparing for a game against the Boilermakers since January.

—Fairleigh Dickinson was 68th out of 68 teams on the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee’s official seed list last Sunday.

That’s right, quite literally the worst team in the March Madness field according to the people who set the bracket.

—Unlike UMBC five years ago, Fairleigh Dickinson had to win a First Four game in Dayton just to make it into the main draw of the tournament.

On Wednesday night, the Knights faced a Texas Southern team that entered the evening with 20 losses and a losing overall record ... and FDU was a 3-point underdog in the game.

—The Knights entered Friday as, easily, the lowest-ranked NCAA tournament team on Ken Pom, all the way down at No. 298.

They SKYROCKETED all the way up to No. 275 following the win. The next lowest-ranked team out of the 32 squads still standing? Princeton at No. 98.

—Fairleigh Dickinson’s season started with an insane loss to Loyola-Chicago on opening night.

Remember this? Probably not, but it happened.

The Knights would start the season with six losses in their first nine games, and were just 6-8 overall when conference play started on Dec. 29.

—We have to end by noting that Fairleigh Dickinson, again one of the smallest teams in modern college basketball history, did this against a team championed by a 7’4 superstar who is about to be named everyone’s national Player of the Year.

Anderson knew that Zach Edey was going to get his to an extent, but he also knew that he couldn’t let the monster in the middle go nuts to the tune of 45 and 20 or something. So he sunk the entire FDU defense in on Edey and dared anyone else in white and gold to beat them. No one could.

Edey finished with 21 and 15, but was not allowed to attempt a shot in the game’s final 9 minutes and 24 seconds. His teammates could not capitalize at all, going 5-of-26 from three and often looking like they wanted no part in taking the big shot down the stretch.

An unbelievable story, an unbelievable sequence of events, and an unbelievable upset that I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to fully wrap my mind around.

I also need to revisit this tweet from 2019.

Turns out just Fairleigh is good enough.

2. UConn

For 20 minutes on Friday afternoon, UConn took every blow Rick Pitino’s Iona Gaels could rain down on them. The 13-seed did not appear intimidated whatsoever, made its first five field goal attempts of the game, and was shooting 60 percent from beyond the arc going into the break. The Huskies still trailed by only two.

Pitino called it the best half of basketball his team had played all season. Hurley thought it was too, and suspected that it couldn’t last.

Sure enough, Connecticut’s level of play didn’t dwindle out of the locker room, and when Iona’s first half magic began to fade, the Huskies pulled away. They also better utilized their superior size, with big man Adama Sanogo taking over during the game’s defining stretch. The 245-pound junior had a dunk, a baby hook int he lane, a couple of layups and two free-throws, to score 10 points in three minutes to help UConn build a 54-43 lead. Iona would never really threaten again.

While Connecticut may be a 4-seed on paper, most of the advanced metrics that track college basketball have the Huskies ranked somewhere in the top five, and identify them as a top-tier contender to win the national championship. Count Pitino among those who believe the Huskies have what it takes to cut down the nets in Houston.

They certainly looked the part in round one.

3. Michigan State

Save for a stretch of about five minutes late in the first half, Michigan State always appeared to be the superior and more in control team during its lid-lifting afternoon win over USC. The Spartans always seemed to get what they wanted on offense far more easily than the Trojans. If not for some less than stellar free-throw shooting by MSU and some desperation three-point makes by USC, this one would have gotten way more out of hand.

Next up is Marquette on Sunday, and there’s plenty of reason to believe that Michigan State’s season won’t end there.

Eight times in his career, Tom Izzo has pulled off an NCAA tournament upset of a 2-seed. If the Spartans beat the Golden Eagles on Sunday, he’ll tie Lute Olsen for the most such wins in the history of March Madness.

4. Saint Mary’s

VCU over Saint Mary’s was one of the trendiest upset picks coming into this tournament, but credit the Gaels for not allowing it to come close to happening.

Neither team shot the ball well in this game, but Saint Mary’s controlled the pace, did not allow VCU’s havoc defense to speed them up or turn them over, and accentuated their advantage inside.

It was a workmanlike 12-point victory for a team that’s likely going to need to find a little bit more offense if it wants to get past Connecticut in a couple of days.

5. Marquette

If you had told the sports public before the start of the tournament that there would be one 15 over 2 upset in the first round, Vermont toppling Marquette would have been the result I think most people would have pointed to. The Big East regular season and tournament champion wasn’t having it, pulling away from the Catamounts in the game’s final 10 minutes to secure a comfortable 17-point victory.

The win was Marquette’s first in the NCAA tournament since 2013, and it also snapped a six-game March Madness losing streak for second-year head coach Shaka Smart. Ironically, Smart’s most recent tournament win had also been all the way back in 2013.

HONORABLE MENTION: Kansas State

The Wildcats avoided becoming the latest Big 12 team to lose a 3/14 game, and never really let Big Sky champion Montana State threaten them.

Perhaps more importantly, the current team vibes for Jerome Tang and company are off the charts.

Kentucky’s up next on Sunday.

The 5 Biggest Disappointments

1. Purdue

I could list all of the stuff from the Fairleigh Dickinson section again, but I think you all have gotten the point. Any 1-seed losing to any 16-seed is clearly bad. This 1-seed losing to this 16-seed is almost unthinkably bad.

The other thing that has to be mentioned here is that, just like with Virginia, losing to a 16-seed is now the example of all examples of an issue that had already been plaguing the Purdue program for a while now.

Last year, of course, it was another crazy Cinderella from New Jersey — No. 15 seed Saint Peter’s — that stunned Purdue in the Sweet 16 and kept them from capitalizing on what appeared to be a clear path to their first regional championship since 1980.

The Boilermakers didn’t just become the second No. 1 seed to lose to a 16-seed on Friday, they became the first program in the history of the NCAA tournament to lose to a double-digit seed in three consecutive years.

Matt Painter has won a lot of games over a lot of years at Purdue, but the early exits and the lack of a Final Four trip were already clouding that sunshine before Friday. Now, it has to feel like there’s barely a speck of blue at all in the figurative skies above West Lafayette.

2. Iowa State

During its pregame warm-up on Friday, Iowa State asked NCAA tournament officials to inspect the goal they were shooting on and make sure that the rim was level.

An NCAA statement shortly thereafter read: “Iowa State asked us during pregame warmups to check if the rim was level. Building personnel checked it and made a minor adjustment prior to the game beginning. We offered them additional warmup time but they declined.”

Perhaps they should have just left it alone.

The Cyclones didn’t end up having the worst shooting performance in the history of the NCAA tournament, but they came dangerously close.

Iowa State missed its first 11 shots of the game and 17 of its first 19. Any concern that this might have had something to do with the controversial rim was put to bed when the Cyclones missed 23 of their first 25 shots after halftime on the other end of the floor.

A late flurry of meaningless makes allowed ISU to shoot 23.3 percent (14-of-60) from the field, narrowly avoiding the modern record low of 18.8 percent, which was set by Butler in the 2011 national championship game.

They lost, by the way — 59-41 to a Pitt team that just 34.0 percent from the field itself. The Panthers will face alum Sean Miller and Xavier in the second round on Sunday.

3. Memphis

Losing in the final seconds to Florida Atlantic in what was essentially a coin flip game isn’t enough on its own to land you on this last. It’s the dysfunctional manner in which the Tigers gave the game away that was so disappointing.

Yes, there was a questionable officiating decision in the game’s final seconds, but Memphis wouldn’t have even been in that position had it not started self-destructing several minutes earlier.

With 5:55 to play and Memphis leading by two, Tigers star Kendric Davis appeared to injure his ankle when he came down on the foot of an FAU player. Davis was furious after the play, but it appeared his ire was directed at teammate Malcolm Dandridge for some reason. Dandridge shoved Davis in response as the team was headed to the sidelines during a timeout, and the two had to be separated as they continued to shout at one another.

According to the broadcast, Penny Hardaway sat in silence for nearly a minute as his players continued to argue amongst each other.

Whatever happened, Davis never appeared to be the same. He continued to look upset on the bench, and then remained moody after checking back into the game. His atrocious turnover in the game’s final seconds led to the controversial held ball call that resulted in FAU’s game-winner.

As the final horn sounded to end a game that Memphis had seemed to have locked up about 12 different times, Hardaway’s frustrations were on full display.

Memphis is now 1-2 in NCAA tournament games under Hardaway, who just wrapped up his fifth season at the head of the program.

4. Providence

The Friars dropped their fourth consecutive game to end a season that had been so promising just a few weeks earlier, and did so in especially gross fashion.

Providence shot just 5-of-24 from three and just 36.2 percent from the field overall. Their offensive woes kept them from being able to take advantage of the fact that sixth-seeded Kentucky connected on just 25.0 percent of its shots in the second half. PC also allowed UK big man Oscar Tshiebwe to pull down an absurd 25 rebounds, the most in a tournament game since Michigan’s Phil Hubbard had 26 against Detroit Mercy in 1977.

Friar star Bryce Hopkins had a rough night facing the program that he transferred from after last season. Hopkins made just 2-of-9 shots and fought back tears as he went through the handshake line following his team’s 61-53 defeat.

5. Drake

Like Memphis, this is more about what happened during the game than it is about an overall disappointing performance. That might not seem fair to you, but whatever, write your own mega-recap and I’ll be sure to check it out.

Drake completely controlled the first 32 minutes of the game, but let a 12/5 upset slip through their hands because of some abysmal decision making and awful shooting in the game’s final minutes. The Bulldogs missed their last seven shots from the field and were scoreless the final 3:24, allowing Miami to end the game on a 16-1 run and keep their season alive.

Norchad Omier was playing hurt, Isaiah Wong shot 1-of-10 from the field, and Miami made just six threes and shot just 30.4 percent from the field as a team. All of those things scream upset, and yet, here we are.

5 Day 2 Cheers

1. The Kennesaw State story

It got largely lost in the shuffle because of Xavier’s comeback and Fairleigh Dickinson’s historic upset hours later, but Kennesaw State’s rise to mid-major prominence deserves some shine.

The Owls made the move to Division-I in 2005, and had not had a season above .500 since then until this one. The year before head coach Amir Abdur-Rahim arrived at Kennesaw in 2019-20, KSU had gone 6-26. In Abdur-Rahim’s first season, they went 1-28. Four seasons later they won 26 games, made the NCAA tournament for the first time, and damn near won a game in the thing.

The head coach was understandably emotional as he reflected on the four-year journey after Friday’s game.

That right there is why March is the absolute best.

2. Brothers

For the first time in NCAA tournament history, Friday saw two different sets of head coaching brothers lead four different teams all on the same day.

Danny Hurley led UConn to a win over Iona. Hours later, his brother Bobby saw his Arizona State team let a late lead slip away against TCU. Meanwhile, Scott Drew and Baylor took down UC Santa Barbara with ease, while Bryce Drew’s Grand Canyon team came up short against Gonzaga.

By the rules of brotherdom, each winning brother is allowed to stuff their losing brother in a closet for 15 minutes and then lie to their mom when confronted hours later about what happened.

3. A Greensboro Ledgie

On Thursday we saw four wedgies on one court in Des Moines.

Friday countered with the even more rare “ledgie,” and it came off of a free-throw.

Everything that has happened over these first two days points towards this tournament ending with a bizarro national champion, and I’m here for it.

4. 3-Seeds

The seed line with the best first round record over the last six NCAA tournaments? It’s not the top line, it’s not the second line, it’s the third line, which has gone 23-1 over that time span, with Texas’ upset lost to Abilene Christian serving as the only blemish.

The four No. 3 seeds all took care of business on Friday, with only Xavier prevailing by fewer than 12 points. The last four 3-seeds to fall in the first round have all been members of the Big 12, so a special tip of the cap to both Baylor and Kansas State for taking care of business.

5. Nick Boyd and Dusty May’s moment

Moments after his game-winning shot propelled Florida Atlantic to its first NCAA tournament win in program history, third-year FAU guard Nick Boyd was asked about his relationship with head coach Dusty May. He couldn’t even really get into his answer before getting choked up.

Boyd also spoke glowingly about his head coach’s “player friendly” demeanor in a piece from The Athletic earlier this month.

“Coach is one of the nicest coaches in the country,” Boyd said. “He obviously wants us to learn, and we make those mistakes in practice so we don’t make them in a game.”

Boyd, May and company are now just a win over Fairleigh Dickinson away from the Sweet 16.

BONUS CHEER: Tobin Anderson’s son meeting him in the tunnel

“Jeez,” indeed.

BONUS CHEER: The First Four streak of success continuing

Pitt’s disgusting win over Iowa State continued the trend of at-large teams who start their tournaments in the First Four going on to have success in the main draw.

The First Four became a thing in 2011. In every year but one (2019) since then, at least one team has gone from Dayton to win at least one game in the tournament’s main draw. Overall, First Four teams have now produced a total of 21 wins in the main draw. Pitt is a win away from becoming the sixth team to go from Dayton to the Sweet 16. I guess the same could be said for Fairleigh Dickinson.

5 Day 2 Jeers

1. Matt Painter’s last gasp strategizing

I get that “coach/play until the final whistle” is a popular saying, but what in the world could Painter actually be drawing up here with his team trailing by five and less than a second to play?

My only guess is that this was some sort of computer overload deal, and Painter was just spouting random sets or coaching phrases from his past that made no sense as his brain struggled to come to terms with what was happening in the moment.

2. The 12-seeds

For just the sixth time in the last 37 years, no 12-seeds are advancing to the second round of the tournament.

This would be unusual in any year at this point, but it was especially surprising considering how strong the 12 line appeared to be coming into the event. Top mid and low major squads holding serve in their conference tournaments was supposed to result in a handful of 12, 13 and 14 seeds winning at least one game this weekend.

That didn’t really happen. Instead, we got both the least sexy 15-seed and the No. 68 overall seed in the tournament both winning games.

Be embarrassed, Charleston, VCU, Drake and Oral Roberts.

3. The Providence Friar

The Friar mascot has always been unnecessarily disturbing, but this shit? This shit is taking it too far.

I don’t care if this is just some kid trying to catch his breath or hype himself up for the second half, you can’t go full Blair Witch in front of other humans while wearing that outfit and not expect everyone around you to have their mental health blown to hell for at least a couple of months.

There is nothing about this that is ok.

4. The Hypnotoad

This one’s on me.

I enjoy the Hypnotoad. I like that it keeps popping up. I find it aesthetically pleasing.

I just don’t understand it. At all.

Part of being a washed dad inching closer to 40 is instinctively giving your best open-mouth dopey dad smile when presented with something you want to like but don’t fully grasp. That’s me here. I’m the dad being shown a TikTok video by his teenage son with comedic elements that became impossible for me to comprehend the moment I learned how to fix a garbage disposal.

Maybe it’ll click more on Sunday.

5. Charles Barkley’s former shower habits

We all agree this is a bit, right? This has to be a bit.

Please be a bit.

All Day-2 Team

Trayce Jackson-Davis, Indiana

The Hoosier superstar became the first player since 1986 to score at least 20 points, dish out at least five assists, and block at least five shots in an NCAA tournament game. He finished with 24, 5 and 5 (and also 11 rebounds) in IU’s impressive 71-60 win over Kent State.

Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton

The junior center did it all in Creighton’s 72-63 triumph over NC State, finishing with 31 points on 11-of-14 from the field, snagging seven rebounds, blocking three shots, and dishing out a pair of assists.

Adama Sanogo, UConn

Sanogo took over in the second half against the smaller Gaels of Iona, finishing with 28 points on 13-of-17 shooting and 13 rebounds. The Huskies improved to 18-0 on the season in games where Sanogo scores 20 points or more.

Julian Strawther, Gonzaga

Scored 28 points and snagged 10 rebounds to help Gonzaga pull away from Grand Canyon and advance to the second round with an 82-70 win.

Markquis Nowell, Kansas State

Nowell became just the ninth player since 1984 to hand out at least 14 assists in an NCAA tournament game, and the first since Ja Morant dished out 16 in 2019. In addition to the 14 assists, Nowell added 17 points and three steals in K-State’s 77-65 triumph over Montana State.

5 Best Day 2 Dunks

Day two was slightly better than day one in most respects, in my opinion, but there’s no debate that it was light years ahead when it comes to its collection of dunks.

These five were the best of the best.

1. Trayce Jackson-Davis, Indiana

2. Frankie Collins, Arizona State

3. Corey Floyd, Providence

4. Desi Sills, Kansas State

5. Jaden Akins, Michigan State

HONORABLE MENTION: Demond Robinson, Kennesaw State

5 Best Day 2 Images

1. What. Just. Happened?

USA Today

2. The celebration pours into the stands

Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images

3. Ledgie forever

Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

4. Last dance as a Gael?

It certainly seems more likely than not that UConn is going to be seeing a lot more of Rick Pitino in the very near future.

Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images

5. March joy and March sorrow

Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images

5 Notable Quotes From Day 2

1. “I gotta go do some laundry, but we’ll get prepared for Sunday. I mean, listen: I had belief, but I’m not sure I had that much belief. I gotta do some laundry.” —Fairleigh Dickinson head coach Tobin Anderson

2. “It’s hard, it’s a really hard thing. We worked very hard and done things the right way in our program. And I think six straight years we’ve been a top-five seed. And that’s all you try to do. You just try to fight to get in the best position possible. And now we get in the best position possible and this happens. And obviously, it hurts. It hurts bad.” —Purdue head coach Matt Painter

3. “I didn’t really realize I was in Albany until after the game.” —UConn guard, and Albany native, Andre Jackson about playing in his hometown

4. “Coach is always talking about: These games are what we’re going to remember for the rest of our lives. We just want to make the most of it, for sure.” —Xavier center Jack Nunge

5. “You don’t buy houses without looking upstairs, looking at the kitchen.” —Rick Pitino when asked about potentially taking the St. John’s job

Full Saturday schedule for 2023 men’s NCAA tournament

We’re still just getting started.

Memphis called a timeout that the refs didn’t give them, and it helped Florida Atlantic win a March Madness thriller.

The No. 8 vs. No. 9 matchup between the Memphis Tigers and Florida Atlantic Owls always profiled as one of the best games of the opening round of the 2023 men’s NCAA tournament. Memphis was coming off an improbable run to the American Athletic Conference tournament championship and had a couple of very good players, while FAU entered at 31-3 and had been the best mid-major in the country all season.

The game was a dramatic back-and-fourth slugfest with so many tense moments defining the action. Florida Atlantic beat Memphis, 66-65, on a basket by Nicholas Boyd with two seconds left. It was a moment that happened just before the game-winner though that fully swung the outcome.

Memphis took a one-point lead with 34 seconds left when senior big man Deandre Williams got a tip-in. Florida Atlantic’s Johnell Davis then missed a layup, Memphis got the rebound, and the Owls were suddenly at a point where they needed to foul to extend the game. At least it seemed that way until a wild Memphis turnover triggered a frantic sequence capped by a controversial decision from the refs. Watch the whole thing play out here:

Florida Atlantic got the steal, but Davis was stripped when he tried to drive the ball to the basket. Memphis recovered the loose ball on the ground, but Florida Atlantic tied them up and had the possession arrow. FAU got the ball, and Boyd won the game with a driving basket.

However, it sure looked like Memphis called timeout before FAU tied them up. Practically the entire Memphis team was calling timeout, but the refs didn’t award it. Here’s another angle.

It’s close, but it looks like Memphis got the timeout off before an FAU defender arrived.

Reaction on Twitter was heated, and not just from Memphis fans.

It was a tough night for Memphis all-around. Tigers star guard Kendric Davis hurt his ankle in the second half, but returned to the game at less than 100 percent. Teammate DeAndre Williams was in foul trouble the whole night, and played the last 12 minutes with four fouls. Meanwhile, FAU kept chipping away at the Tigers lead despite cold shooting nights from some of their best players.

Here’s the game-winner from Boyd:

Florida Atlantic has its first men’s NCAA tournament win ever. FAU now has a second round matchup with ... Fairleigh Dickinson, who earlier in the day became the second No. 16 seed ever to beat a No. 1 seed when they knocked off Purdue.

March Madness can be so cruel at times. Memphis learned that the hard way.