The Sportsletter - Day 1 of The Madness

BY JEFF YODER

MAR. 21, 2025 |  SUBSCRIBE |  OPTIMAL VIEW

Happy Friday 🙌

Day 1, down. Day 2, incoming. Less than 0.1% of brackets nationwide are perfect after the first day of games, so don't feel bad. Today’s weekend preview goes all in on college hoops — yesterday’s highlights (16 games) and today’s schedule (32 games). Plus, a few other top news stories to help hold you over until our return to normal. The madness continues...

Letter Rip!

< TOP STORIES >

The Starters

🏀 NBA: The Boston Celtics agreed to a record-breaking $6.1 billion sale to California tech investor Bill Chisholm. It’s the highest valuation for a sports team in North American history.

⚾️ MLB: Shohei Ohtani hit a home run in Tokyo on Wednesday to give the Dodgers a win in Game 2 against the Cubs (6-3) and electrify the Tokyo Dome. It was Ohtani’s first HR of the season.

🏒 NHL: Alex Ovechkin scored his 888th goal in last night’s Capitals’ win over the Flyers (3-2). He’s now seven away from Wayne Gretzky’s all-time NHL record with 13 games left in the season.

< NCAA >

Day 1 of The Madness

Photo: Emilee Chinn / Getty Images

Men’s NCAA Tournament Rewind: #12 McNeese, #11 Drake & #10 Arkansas Play Spoilers on Day 1

We’re dancing across the country! The slipper fits for a few possible Cinderellas, but there’s more to learn with another 16-game slate today. Here are the game notes and highlights from Day 1.

🚨 Day 1 Upsets: Only four lower-seed upsets appeared on Day 1 — #12 McNeese State, #11 Drake, #10 Arkansas and #9 Creighton. McNeese has quickly become the tournament darlings, and John Calipari’s Razorbacks helped boot Kansas (the preseason No. 1 in the AP Poll) for their first first-round exit since 2006.

💤 Day 1 Drama (Free): A mere five games were decided by single digits on Day 1 (11 by double-digit blowouts). Zero overtimes and no game-winners spared fans from some true chaos and late-game drama. Will that change in Day 2?

Below you’ll find every highlight from yesterday’s games before the full schedule for today’s matchups (men and women — 32 total). Links to the full schedule can be found at the bottom of today's newsletter.

Men's NCAA Tournament (Day 1)

#9 Creighton def. #8 Louisville (89-75)

Jamiya Neal (29 pts, 12 rebs, 6 ast)

#4 Purdue def. #13 High Point (75-63)

Trey Kaufman-Renn (21 pts, 8 rebs)

#3 Wisconsin def. #14 Montana (85-66)

John Blackwell (19 pts, 5 rebs, 3 ast)

#1 Houston def. #16 SIUE (78-40)

L.J. Cryer (15 pts, Four 3s)

#1 Auburn def. #16 Alabama State (83-63)

Miles Kelly (23 pts, Seven 3s)

#12 McNeese State def. #5 Clemson (69-67)

Brandon Murray (21 pts off the bench)

#6 BYU def. #11 VCU (80-71)

Richie Saunders (16 pts)

#8 Gonzaga def. #9 Georgia (89-68)

Khalif Battle (24 pts, 8 rebs)

#2 Tennessee def. #15 Wofford (77-62)

Chaz Lanier (29 pts, Six 3s)

#10 Arkansas def. #7 Kansas (79-72)

Jonas Aidoo (22 pts)

#4 Texas A&M def. #13 Yale (80-71)

Pharrel Payne (25 pts, 10 rebs)

#11 Drake def. #6 Missouri (67-57)

Bennett Stirtz (21 pts)

#7 UCLA def. #10 Utah State (72-47)

Skyy Clark (14 pts, Four 4s)

#2 St. John’s def. #15 Omaha (83-53)

R.J. Luis Jr. (22 pts, Five 3s)

#5 Michigan def. #12 UC San Diego (68-65)

Michigan Staves Off 15-Point Comeback

#3 Texas Tech def. #14 UNCW (82-72)

Kerwin Walton (27 pts, Eight 3s)

Men's NCAA Tournament (Day 2)

#8 Mississippi State vs. #9 Baylor

(12:15 pm ET, CBS)

#2 Alabama vs. #15 Robert Morris

(12:40 pm ET, TruTV)

#3 Iowa State vs. #14 Lipscomb

(1:30 pm ET, TNT)

#5 Memphis vs. #12 Colorado State

(2:00 pm ET, TBS)

#1 Duke vs. #16 Mt. St. Mary’s

(2:50 pm ET, CBS)

#7 Saint Mary’s vs. #10 Vanderbilt

(3:15 pm ET, TruTV)

#6 Ole Miss vs. #11 North Carolina

(4:05 pm ET, TNT)

#4 Maryland vs. #13 Grand Canyon

(4:35 pm ET, TBS)

#1 Florida vs. #16 Norfolk State

(6:50 pm ET, TNT)

#3 Kentucky vs. #14 Troy

(7:10 pm ET, CBS)

#7 Marquette vs. #10 New Mexico

(7:25 pm ET, TBS)

#4 Arizona vs. #13 Akron

(7:35 pm ET, TruTV)

#8 UConn vs. #9 Oklahoma

(9:25 pm ET, TNT)

#6 Illinois vs. #11 Xavier

(9:45 pm ET, CBS)

#2 Michigan State vs. #15 Bryant

(10:00 pm ET, TBS)

#5 Oregon vs. #12 Liberty

(10:10 pm ET, TruTV)

Women's NCAA Tournament (Day 1)

#6 Michigan vs. #11 Iowa State

(11:30 am ET, ESPN2)

#4 Kentucky vs. #13 Liberty

(Noon ET, ESPN)

#8 Utah vs. #9 Indiana

(1:30 pm ET, ESPN2)

#3 Notre Dame vs. #14 Stephen F. Austin

(2:00 pm ET, ESPN)

#5 Kansas State vs. #12 Fairfield

(2:30 pm ET, ESPNews)

#4 Baylor vs. #13 Grand Canyon

(3:30 pm ET, ESPNU)

#2 TCU vs. #15 Fairleigh Dickinson

(3:30 pm ET, ESPN2)

#1 South Carolina vs. #16 Tennessee Tech

(4:00 pm ET, ESPN)

#7 Vanderbilt vs. #10 Oregon

(5:30 pm ET, ESPNews)

#4 Ohio State vs. #13 Montana State

(5:30 pm ET, ESPN2)

#5 Ole Miss vs. #12 Ball State

(6:00 pm ET, ESPNU)

#7 Louisville vs. #10 Nebraska

(6:00 pm ET, ESPN)

#8 Richmond vs. #9 Georgia Tech

(7:30 pm ET, ESPNews)

#2 Duke vs. #15 Lehigh

(8:00 pm ET, ESPNU)

#5 Tennessee vs. #12 South Florida

(8:00 pm ET, ESPN)

#1 UCLA vs. #16 Southern U.

(10:00 pm ET, ESPN)

< NEWS >

The Headlines 📰

⛳️ Golfer Drop-Kicks Putter Before Withdrawing from Valspar Championship (Yahoo! Sports)

🏈 Former Michigan Assistant Football Coach Indicted on 24 Federal Charges for Computer Hacking (SI)

⚾️ One-of-a-Kind Paul Skenes Rookie Card Sells for $1.11 Million at Auction (CBS News)

⚽️ USMNT Beaten by Panama (1-0) in Concacaf Nations League Stunner (FOX Sports)

🏅 Kristy Coventry Elected First Female President of International Olympic Committee (NBC Sports)

< SCHEDULE >

The Watch Party 🍿

🏆 March Madness

🗓️ Men’s NCAA Tournament

🗓️ Women’s NCAA Tournament

Professional Leagues

🏀 NBA Schedule

🏒 NHL Schedule

⚽️ MLS Schedule

⚽️ NWSL Schedule

< COMING UP >

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