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At a time where so much is changing in college basketball, a familiar voice has returned to the sport.

After a yearslong battle with several types of cancer, resulting in a long hiatus, Dick Vitale returned to the headset for the 2025-26 season, getting back to a typical frequency of calling games.

There were several times this didn’t seem possible. The 86-year-old had periods where he wasn’t able to talk, unable to share those signature catchphrases that made him a beloved figure in the sport.

That’s what makes his time now, cancer-free, awesome – with a capital A.

“I'm still doing games,” Vitale told USA TODAY Sports. “It's a miracle. It's absolutely a miracle. I get emotional about it sometimes.”

Vitale spoke with USA TODAY Sports as part of his partnership with Planet Fitness to help college basketball fans handle the excitement and intensity of March Madness, promoting its black card to help with recovery since it “is really important in your life.” It’s a thing Vitale knows all about after spending so much time recovering from a lengthy illness.

He had three battles with cancer in a two-year span, which kept him away from the sport he cherishes so much. Vitale was itching to get back as soon as he could.

“I've had to recover quite a bit,” he said. “It's been a tough ride.”

When he had a text conversation with USA TODAY Sports in March 2024, still unable to speak, Vitale made it a goal to call games in the 2024-25 season. He was able to do it, getting back in the booth for a February 2025 meeting between Duke and Clemson that became an incredibly emotional night.

But he didn’t want that to be his swan song. More than 1,000 called games isn't enough. In June, Vitale signed an extension with ESPN through the 2027-28 season, assuring he's far from done as he approaches 50 years with the company.

It wasn’t weekly games called, but Vitale was able to go through the full season. He was there for the opener between Duke and Texas, and called the regular season finale between Kentucky and Florida, returning a sense of normalcy that was missing for so long.

However, that won’t be all. Vitale will be an analyst for the NCAA Tournament First Four, calling the second game on Tuesday, March 17 alongside Brian Anderson and Charles Barkley. Having previously covered the Final Four on radio, it will be the first time Vitale will be a TV analyst for a March Madness game in his illustrious career.

“I always believe in one thing, that if you think positive and have faith, and you got good people,” Vitale said, “a lot of good things are going to happen.”

Dick Vitale previews March Madness

Of course, Vitale is already planning for “a wild time of the year” — the NCAA Tournament. 

While he said it’s too early to predict how the bracket will unfold, since you don’t know the matchups yet, Vitale emphasized playing well going into Selection Sunday can determine how far a team goes.

That’s why he highlighted the likely No. 1 seeds in Duke, Arizona, Michigan and Florida.

“The team's up on top, the heavyweights, they're going to be tough to beat,” Vitale said. “Duke right now is playing incredible. So is Florida, so is Michigan, so is Arizona, Connecticut.”

Another team Vitale has his eye on is one that’s been at the center of debate: Miami (Ohio). 

The RedHawks are the only undefeated team in the country, but questions remain as to whether the mid-major is a tournament lock if it doesn't win the MAC tournament because of the quality of its resume. Conference title or not, Vitale believes Miami (Ohio) should be in, no matter what.

“If they're denied an opportunity to play, it would be criminal, because those kids have earned the right,” Vitale said. “We have a tendency to go for mediocrity out of the elite conferences, teams with 11, 12, 13 losses. But because they play a tougher schedule, they get the edge. All the metrics that are done in picking teams really favor all the elite conference teams.”

Plenty of developments – even some frustrating – but it’s a blessing; it’s March, and Vitale gets to be part of it.

“I really love what I'm doing. I think when you love something and have a passion for it, it's really super,” he said.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dick Vitale college basketball broadcast return feels like 'a miracle'

Each NBA team has fewer than 20 games remaining on its 2025-26 regular season schedule, and playoff races are tightening.

It also means players jostling for positioning in the battle for Most Valuable Player are running out of time to make their cases. And, given the recent performance of the player atop this list, it may already be too late.

This last stretch of season also presents a prime chance for marquee matchups. Nikola Jokić and the Denver Nuggets will face Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs (twice) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder once in their final five games.

This week, Thursday, March 12, OKC will host Jaylen Brown and the Boston Celtics. It should all make for compelling viewing down the stretch.

Here's the latest iteration of the USA TODAY Sports NBA MVP rankings:

Every college basketball team has the goal of reaching March Madness, but some have expectations much higher than that, making for a pressure-packed month.

While there are several Final Four contenders, one has to remember only four teams can get in. Those that don't advance are left unsatisfied, realizing they didn't rise to their potential. That can make for some unfavorable conditions with fans and university officials, testing their patience in whether they have the right person or team to lead them to glory.

No need for March Madness: 2026 Final Four has already been decided

Whether its extended droughts or coaches feeling their seats getting warmer, here are the five teams that are facing the most pressure heading into the 2026 NCAA Tournament.

Arizona

It has been a record setting year for Arizona en route to the Big 12 regular season title. Tommy Lloyd has excelled with 141 wins in five seasons. But for how much of a regular season monster the Wildcats are, they disappear in the NCAA tournament.

Lloyd is still in search of his first Elite Eight appearance, as his teams have continuously fallen short in March, with a 6-4 record in the big dance. Three of those defeats came vs. seeds worse than his team's. It almost feels like some sort of curse since Arizona is still searching for its first Final Four appearance since 2001 — just unable to replicate its talent when the lights get bright.

Of all the teams Lloyd has had so far, this is by far his deepest and most talented. It's poised for a No. 1 seed and to be a national championship favorite. The expectation is this is the team that finally breaks through. If it doesn't happen now, then when will it?

REQUIRED READING: Why March Madness expansion would punish Cinderellas: 'It's not broken' — yet

Purdue

The preseason No. 1 team in the country looked like it for the first half of the season, but the second half has Boilermaker fans believing another disappointing postseason is on the horizon.

Purdue is 6-7 in its last 13 games, not resembling a team that had all the ingredients for a championship roster. While the offense hasn't been the problem, the defense hasn't been able to stop any shooters. The Boilermakers were positioned to be a No. 2 seed just a few weeks ago but are falling toward a No. 4 spot, closer to facing those dangerous mid-major teams.

The March failures are well documented, and everything spells another one incoming. Even if it avoids a first-round upset, Purdue still faces an uphill battle to advancing. To go from starting the season as the favorite to win it all to not making it out of the first weekend would be another disastrous ending.

Kentucky

In case you haven't heard, Big Blue Nation isn't exactly happy with their second-year coach. It's not hard to understand when you see how much money was poured into this team.

Mark Pope's roster reportedly cost $22 million, and it resulted in a middling regular season that doesn't scream "optimism" for Kentucky. It had a bad start to the season and found a rhythm halfway through, but the sour thoughts returned with a 2-5 finish in the last seven games of the regular season. If a team costs that much, one expects it to be in the top portion of the sport — not trying to figure out if it's going to wear its home or road uniforms in the first round.

The hot seat is going to be turned up a notch as Pope will have to somehow pull off an upset in the first weekend of the tournament or deal with the fact the season was a total bust. His standing will only get more uncomfortable if it doesn't pan out, and the clock can start to tick on how much time he'll have left in Lexington.

REQUIRED READING: March Madness bubble winners, losers: Auburn not out of the woods yet

Kansas

The expectations on Kansas this season weren't as high as previous years, but this is still Kansas: The Jayhawks should be contending, not faltering.

It has been a weird season surrounded by Darryn Peterson, but Kansas has done quite well en route to a third-place finish in the Big 12. Now it needs to carry the momentum into March and get the mojo it has been lacking recently. Ever since winning it all in 2022, Kansas hasn't advanced to the Sweet 16, which was almost a given in every bracket.

Questions about Bill Self will only persist if the Jayhawks have another early exit. There's plenty of speculation surrounding his future and whether Kansas should start trying to think of what to do when it's time. Self will only leave on his terms, but there will hope he does it soon if it can't recapture March magic.

Ohio State

While all the aforementioned teams are trying to win big, Ohio State is just trying to get in: Jake Diebler is still trying to get the Buckeyes in the NCAA tournament.

Ohio State had an up-and-down year, yet it looks like it will be enough to get into the bracket — barely. The Buckeyes are likely to end up a double-digit seed, and the first four is not entirely out of the conversation. While it counts toward breaking the four-year drought, that's not exactly what was envisioned when the Buckeyes decided to stick with Diebler. They still hasn't gotten to the Sweet 16 since 2013.

There haven't been many reasons to follow basketball in Columbus, and just a mere tournament appearance could make it fade further away from the spotlight, with more questions on whether it's going in the right direction.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: March Madness pressure: These 5 teams are facing the most

Selection Sunday for the 2026 men's NCAA Tournament is just a couple of days away.

On Sunday, March 15, the NCAA Tournament selection committee will announce the 68-team field for the men's and women's tournaments. That comes at the conclusion of a long regular season and conference tournaments.

REQUIRED READING: March Madness bubble winners, losers: Auburn not out of the woods yet

Now the stage has been set for a team to go win it all. Entering Thursday, March 12, No. 3 Michigan is the favorite to win the 2026 men's NCAA Tournament, with fellow projected 1-seeds Duke, Arizona and Florida not far behind in odds.

Both the Blue Devils and Wildcats are in action for the first time in their respective conference tournaments on March 12, while the Wolverines and Gators get going on Friday in the quarterfinals of their respective tournaments.

Here's a look at the top 20 teams with the best odds of winning the national championship:

March Madness favorites: Ranking Top 20 college basketball teams based on odds

Odds courtesy of BetMGM as of 8:50 p.m. ET Wednesday, March 11

• 1. Michigan: +325
• 2. Duke, +333
• 3. Arizona, +475
• 4. Florida, +600
• 5. Houston, +1000
• 6. Connecticut, +1600
• 7. Illinois, +1800
• 8. Iowa State, +2200
• 9. Kansas, +3500
• 10. Michigan State, +4000
• 11. Purdue, +5000
• 12. Gonzaga, +5500
• T-13. Arkansas, +6600
• T-13. Virginia, +6600
• T-15. Alabama, +8000
• T-15. St. John's, +8000
• T-15. Nebraska, +8000
• 18. Louisville, +9000
• T-19. Tennessee, +10000
• T-19. Vanderbilt, +10000

When does March Madness start?

The NCAA men's tournament First Four on the begins on Tuesday, March 17 and continues on Wednesday, March 18. 

The four men’s games, which are held in Dayton, Ohio, feature the final four at-large selections to the field, as well as the four lowest-rated No. 16 seeds. The winner of each matchup advances to the first round. First-round games will take place on March 19 and March 20.

When is March Madness Selection Sunday?

• Date: Sunday, March 15

Both the men's and women's NCAA tournament brackets are set to be revealed for the 2025-26 college basketball season on Selection Sunday on Sunday, March 15.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: March Madness power rankings: Duke, Michigan with best odds to win national title

The Cleveland Cavaliers fell to the Orlando Magic 128-122 in what could be a playoff preview.

James Harden described his time in Cleveland as a whirlwind when asked about it after the game.

“I’m still not settled. I’m still in a hotel. Just trying to hopefully get adapted.”

In many ways, the Cavs as a team find themselves in a similar situation.

“Nights like this are very tough,” Harden said. “It’s a game we should’ve won.”

Harden is right. The Cavs did enough offensively to do so, but at the same time, the attention to detail wasn’t there. That’s going to cost when going up against a Magic team that is playing its best basketball of the season.

This would be a chippy first-round series if this game was any indication of things. Orlando is a physical team, and one that isn’t afraid to stir the pot when needed. Mo Wagner and Desmond Bane were the primary instigators on Wednesday.

The Cavaliers responded well to the challenge. They were physical on the glass and never seemed intimidated. That wasn’t why they lost the game. Their poor defense is to blame for that.

The Cavs miss Jarrett Allen defensively.

Orlando doesn’t have a good or imaginative offense. They do, however, have big, physical players at basically every position that were able to take advantage of Cleveland’s lack of size.

The Cavs don’t have good starting guard defenders, but a frontcourt of Dean Wade, Evan Mobley, and Allen can alleviate some of those issues. When all three are in there — particularly the two centers — the Cavs can just funnel players to their bigs in the paint and recover out to shooters on the perimeter. That formula falls apart if Allen isn’t in there.

The Magic, led by Bane and Paolo Banchero, were able to attack Cleveland’s smaller defenders inside. Mobley tried to provide help defense, but because there were so many open lanes inside, he was often getting there too late, resulting in shooting fouls.

“This team did a really good job…of forcing the ball in the paint, and we just didn’t have any resistance,” Harden said. “They shot an unbelievable percentage by the basket and got to the line too many times.”

That they did.

The Magic finished in the 92nd percentile for both finishing at the rim (84%) and free-throw rate (32.9). It’s difficult to win games when you’re being beaten this decisively defensively.

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While the Cavs’ lack of size hurt them on defense, it helped their offense.

Orlando has been playing great defense since the beginning of February. They’ve posted the fourth-best defensive rating during that stretch (109). This performance won’t help those numbers.

Cleveland did a great job of spreading the floor and attacking in space. This led to them converting 20-24 (83.3%, 91st percentile) of their shots at the rim and posting a 128.4 offensive rating (86th percentile).

There are things to nitpick with the offense, but that wasn’t close to why they lost. This is an elite attack, and they proved that again against a formidable defensive opponent.

Keon Ellis continues to show he deserves playoff minutes. He poured in 20 points on 5-8 shooting and had his second consecutive strong shooting game.

Ellis can change a game with his disruptive defense. He once again had a block and a steal while being Cleveland’s best defender for long stretches. However, those skills can only come through if he’s also a positive contributor offensively, like he has been the last two games.

Dennis Schroder is going through a rough patch. He provided no points while going 0-5 from the field and committing four fouls in less than 18 minutes. This is also the third game in a row he’s struggled to have a positive impact.

Head coach Kenny Atkinson has talked about the role players needing to step up to secure playoff minutes. Schroder is no different.

He will likely get some playing time in the postseason unless things really nosedive from here. They need a point guard they can pair with Donovan Mitchell when Harden sits. That said, there’s no guarantee he gets minutes other than when Harden is on the bench if he’s playing like this in the playoffs.

The Cavs can find creative ways to use Mobley as a roller. We know that Mobley isn’t the best pick-and-roll big because he’s not a physical screener. There are some band-aid solutions around that issue. This play is a good example of one.

Here, the Cavs run a Spain pick-and-roll with Dean Wade screening for Mobley’s defender. Wade’s pick creates, which allows Mobley to roll hard to the rim.

This isn’t a set you can spam like you can a regular pick-and-roll, but it is proof that there are some ways around Mobley’s screening if you’re creative.

Harden played his best offensive game as a Cavalier. This was the first time he’s reached 30 points in a Cavalier uniform. He was able to do so by continually getting by his defender and attacking inside. And doing that opened up room for his patented step-back three, which he was able to get to seemingly at will.

Harden had his most success targeting Orlando’s weakest defender, Paolo Banchero. He worked to create this mismatch and attacked every time he got it.

Harden is a great advantage manipulator. This is seen most in how he can operate in the pick-and-roll with a physical screener, but he’s also one of the best in league history at exploiting a mismatch when he finds one, as he did here.

For as good a scorer Harden was, he wasn’t the one taking shots down the stretch. Mitchell went 2-8 from the field in the fourth quarter on a night he struggled to find his rhythm. Meanwhile, Harden had only two attempts in the final frame.

The offense wasn’t why the Cavs lost the game. And it’s worth pointing out that they scored 32 points in the fourth quarter and continually created clean looks in the closing minutes. Still, you would’ve ideally liked to see a better balance in a game like this. This was the first time it felt like the shot distribution was off with the backcourt.

Nights like this are a reminder that the Cavs are a work-in-progress. Atkinson is trying to figure out the rotation with three new pieces, an injury to the starting center, and will need to find a way to fit Max Strus back into the rotation. That’s a difficult task, and there’s only a month until the playoffs.

The Cavs have a higher ceiling now than they did before the deadline. But there’s no guarantee they can consistently come close to reaching it in the biggest games. Especially when they’re going against teams who’ve had their core in place for multiple seasons, and aren’t just trying to put it together in the final two months of the season.

Harden said that he was still living in a hotel. In many ways, it feels like this team still is as well. They’re also trying to unpack their bags and figure out who and what they actually have in the suitcase. And they’re running out of time to do so.

LILLE, France (AP) — Aston Villa travelled to Lille to kick off the Europa League round of 16 on Thursday boosted by the return from injury of captain John McGinn.

McGinn was absent for seven weeks since a knee injury in a Premier League loss to Everton in January.

“It’s massive to have him back,” teammate Morgan Rogers said. “He puts a smile on people’s faces, he plays with that smile, wears the badge on his sleeve and he brings a lot to our team.”

Villa and Lille also met in the Conference League quarterfinals two years ago, when Unai Emery’s men advanced on penalties.

Another English side, Nottingham Forest, needs to put relegation worries aside when it hosts Danish club Midtjylland.

In an all-Italia derby, Bologna hosts Roma.

The Europa League format launched last season — 36 teams in a single-standings league format then a tennis-style knockout bracket — lets teams from the same country meet at any point in the knockout phase. Previously, national derbies were possible only from the quarterfinals.

Celta Vigo hosts the first leg against Lyon, the league phase winner.

Real Betis travels to Panathinaikos while Stuttgart meets Porto at home. Another Bundesliga club, Freiburg, is away to Genk.

In the Conference League, Crystal Palace faces AEK Larnaca in London.

___

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Let me take you back a quarter century or so, when Wally Szczerbiak was the baddest man in the NCAA Tournament. 

When Miami (Ohio) in 1999 became one of the original underdogs of what has annually become the greatest weekend in sports.

When there was controversy then, too, about MAC regular-season champion Miami receiving an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament after losing in the MAC tournament championship.

The same potential argument unfolding with this year’s Miami team — with one caveat. 

This team is 31-0.   

Bracket busters: Who is making NCAA Tournament case?

March Madness bracketology: NCAA tournament bubble predictions, new No. 1 seed

The RedHawks of yesteryear hopped on Szczerbiak’s back and beat No. 7 seed Washington and No. 2 seed Utah in the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, before eventually losing a week later in the Sweet 16.

But here’s the key, and the connection to 2026: that Miami team beat No.7-ranked (and eventual No. 4 seed) Tennessee in the regular season. Also won at Notre Dame.

This Miami team has beaten no one of significance, leaving the tournament selection committee with a difficult question to answer should Miami lose in the MAC tournament. 

Is Miami one of the 68 best teams in college basketball?

While you stare at Miami’s spotless record, and the rare air it produces, let me offer a few more numbers to digest. 

• Miami’s nonconference schedule rank by the KenPom rating service is 361. And I don’t want to burst any bubbles here, but there are 365 Division I teams. 
• Miami played 15 Quad 4 games, the lowest level of the quad games formula. The RedHawks didn’t play a single Quad 1 game.
• Miami played — I swear I’m not making this up — three teams called Trinity Christian, Indiana East and Milligan. No to be confused with, you know, mulligan.

All three are NAIA schools, and because no one wanted to play Miami and its upperclass-laden team — that’s the excuse, for what it’s worth — the RedHawks decided to troll the Appalachian Athletic Conference for leftovers.

Let’s be honest, the Top 25 high school teams would roll the Appalachian Athletic Conference. 

Miami, which plays UMass on Thursday morning in the MAC quarterfinals, has won seven one-possession conference games. The MAC, according to the NET rating, is the 17th-ranked Division I conference.

Once you get past the first seven conferences, you’ve reached the one-bid leagues. The MAC currently is looking up at the Big Sky, Big West and Coastal Athletic, to name a few. 

So this comes down to perfection vs. the path to perfection. 

How many of the 365 Division I teams could pull off the same 31 straight wins if they played Miami’s schedule? More than you think. Don’t get pulled into the argument that an unbeaten season has to mean something. 

It doesn’t. 

Especially if it was built by feasting on the worst of the worst of college basketball. Miami’s overall schedule rank according to KenPom is 231.

Two hundred thirty one. 

This isn’t necessarily an argument for Auburn or Indiana or Stanford or Cincinnati or any other Power conference team getting hosed. It’s more about the New Mexico, San Diego State and Santa Claras of the world teetering on the edge of the bubble.

They’re potentially out if they don't win their conference tournaments, and Miami is in because it was lallygagging through a ridiculously soft schedule designed for success. But because the RedHawks have managed to keep the core of a solid team on campus, a team full of game experience, we should genuflect and never question a team with an unbeaten record. 

Why, you ask? Well, do you know how hard it is to go unbeaten?

Not that difficult when you’re playing the 231st-ranked schedule. 

Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.     

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Just because Miami Ohio is unbeaten doesn't mean it's NCAA lock

Manufactured outrage will have to serve as the theme for what had been the most hotly anticipated game of the season.

For those who may have missed it: last month the Atlanta Hawks announced plans for a 16 March promotional event called Magic City Night. The name wasn’t just a nod to that evening’s opponent, the Orlando Magic; it was meant to honor the civic institution in the shadow of the Hawks’ arena – Magic City, America’s most famous strip club.

The program for Magic City Night was straightforward: a live podcast featuring Magic City founder Michael Barney and Hawks owner Jami Gertz (who co-produced a recent Starz docuseries on the club), a halftime performance from homegrown Grammy-winning rapper TI, Magic City-themed hoodies at the merch stands and unfettered access to the club’s signature dish: lemon pepper wings. What it would notably not contain was any actual exotic dancers or adult entertainment.

Related: Bam Adebayo just scored 83 points in a game. Was it down to brilliance or stat padding?

The Hawks, near the bottom in NBA attendance again this year, reportedly sold 2,000 tickets in the first 24 hours of the announcement. Magic City Monday promised to be a good time, a real happening, a scene approaching the standard fare at NBA games in New York and Los Angeles. “Somebody said Atlanta teams don’t care about winning or losing as long as it feels like you were at the club,” one fan quipped on social media, capturing the mix of pride and ironic detachment that defines the local fanbase. But then, inevitably, the outsiders started rolling in to spoil the party.

A week after the reveal, San Antonio Spurs center Luke Kornet published a 300-word letter urging the Hawks to scrap the promotion, citing concern over the league’s complicity in “the potential objectification and mistreatment of women in our society”. He was swiftly swiftly backed by five-time All-Star Al Horford, who spent the first nine of his 19 pro seasons with the Hawks. Kornet’s treatise touched off a raging debate in a sports media ecosystem that has little experience wrestling with the ethics of sex work or confronting the league’s long-overlooked culture of sexualized spectacle – and that was all the backlash Adam Silver needed to hear.

On Monday, Silver said he was canceling Magic City Night in response to “significant concerns from fans, partners and employees.” In a follow-up statement, the Hawks said they reluctantly respected the decision, canceling everything except the wings and TI’s halftime set. (Fret not: the wings are still on.) In the end, Silver’s decision showed a willful misunderstanding of the Black culture that his league mined for lucre and clout. And for local fans who had marked the date since the team announced Magic City Monday, it’s more than a massive upset. It’s yet another reminder of Martin Luther King’s “Two Americas”, with Atlanta still residing in the one that seems inconceivable from the outside.

Of course, there are very real issues around how women are sexualized in US society. And, in another town, a strip club is the blight on the landscape where supposed men of virtue go to indulge deeply suppressed appetites for vice. In Atlanta, however, it’s the town square, a place for work powwows, first dates, an on-ramp to Black entrepreneurship. Magic City is the bellwether name-checked from Jermaine Dupri to the Migos, a full-service cultural pit stop.

A former telecom professional, Barney set out to create a classier, more professional environment that would appeal to customers – male and female – and the dancers to boot. Relatively quickly, Magic City grew from a one-dancer venue launched in a defunct print shop to the hotspot where Atlanta’s business and entertainment heavyweights rubbed shoulders with hustlers and drug dealers – everyone meeting as equals. Stacey Abrams pulled up (on video, but nevertheless) during her 2022 gubernatorial campaign, reflecting the club’s role as a community nexus where even politics intersects.

TI, Lil Jon and Future are just a few of the local artists who got their start at Magic City – which is why the Hawks can so easily book acts to provide entertainment that would headline world tours at other NBA arenas. Early visits from Atlanta sports legends like Deion Sanders and Dominique Wilkins helped cement Magic City’s reputation as a must-visit destination for professional athletes. Famously, in 2020, Los Angeles Clippers guard Lou Williams lobbied for a brief exemption from the NBA’s Covid bubble in Orlando to attend a funeral in Atlanta – but stopped at Magic City on the way, resulting in a 10-day quarantine that cost him two games. Williams said it was his love for the club’s lemon pepper wings that led him to violate NBA rules. Ever since, he’s been known by a single handle: Lemon Pepper Lou.

Magic City elevated adult entertainment, turning it into something the masses could consume without shame or even blinking. Pole dancing never becomes staples of suburban momcore without Magic City’s Black dancers turning strip teases into feats of athleticism and acrobatic wonder with bodies that defied traditional beauty standards. That there were actually people who feared the prospect of the nation’s children seeing strippers rappel from the State Farm rafters, or otherwise “perform” during Magic City Night – which, again, was never on the cards – is laughable. Clearly, these haters have never watched an NBA game.

And we should remember that the NBA already revels in sex nearly as much as it does basketball. Over the past five decades, cheerleading has graduated from Laker Girls to play stoppages filled with twerking and other moves cribbed from the strip club. The All-Star Game has long been a major driver of the local sex economy, not least the corners where exploitation and trafficking risks loom, even as the spectacle rakes in millions. Those persistent rumors about players “flying out” Instagram models for casual hookups? Fans giggle and shrug, then move on to the highlights. Jokes about Zion Williamson’s alleged dalliances with adult-film stars and OnlyFans creators are a staple of NBA fans’ social media. If Kornet and his puritanical lot were truly serious about the league’s “risks” of perverting young minds, they could start with this list.

Never mind the league cozying up to the gambling industry even as the feds arrest high-profile players and coaches over allegations of manipulating games, or glossing over the Clippers’ reported attempts to subvert the salary cap. The NBA can’t even get its players to show up to work every night. Stars like Steph Curry and Kevin Durant have gone from leading the league’s progressive activism to quietly cashing in on military-linked companies while staying silent on conflicts in the Middle East. Karl Malone, who impregnated a 13-year-old while he was in college, remains a venerated figure. But bring a G-rated version of the strip club to a Hawks game? No, the league can’t have that. Imagine how that would look.

For decades, the NBA prided itself on the consistency of its principles; the league would no more tolerate a referee who fixed games than a player who forgot to tuck in his shirt. But those days are gone. Now the record shows it: on the one hand, the NBA is happy to sell fans sex and Black culture. On the other, when the Hawks dared to celebrate the mutually transformative relationship between strip club culture and Atlanta, Silver put his foot down – and promptly tripped over it, proving once again that the league’s priorities are utterly and spectacularly upside down. In its own way, his gaffe is a fitting tribute to a pole dance that never would’ve happened, yet came to represent what the league clearly dreads most: fun.

The men's 2026 NCAA Tournamentbracket for March Madness will be unveiled this Sunday.

The top four seeds seem to be locked up, but the bubble is as unstable as ever. It seems like no one wants to grab a spot in both hands. It should make for a nervy few days.

March Madness bubble winners, losers: Auburn not out of the woods yet

Get ready for the madness with our printable bracket to follow the fun on Selection Sunday.

Print your bracket below. You can also join USA TODAY’s Bracket Challenge and Survivor Pool.

2026 March Madness printable bracket

• Click for your 2026 NCAA Tournament printable bracket

SURVIVOR POOL: Free to enter. $2,500 to win. Can you survive the madness?

SHANGHAI (AP) — Max Verstappen's blunt assessment: “It's a jungle” in Formula 1.

The four-time F1 world champion isn't a fan of the new 2026 technical regulations, despite working his way up from No. 20 on the grid to place sixth at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix last weekend.

Verstappen predicted his Red Bull probably couldn’t go any higher than fifth place this weekend in the Chinese Grand Prix — even if he starts much closer to the front in Sunday's race in Shanghai — because of the big gap between Mercedes and Ferrari and all the other teams.

“Honestly, it’s such a jungle out there at the moment," Verstappen said Thursday at the driver news conferences in Shanghai. “I mean, I would hope that it gets a bit closer ... but it’s clear that at the moment we cannot fight with those cars.”

It's not the first time Verstappen has taken a swipe at the sport's new regulations, which he thinks are anti-fun, anti-racing and could potentially be dangerous.

F1’s new cars are complex, with unprecedented changes across the chassis and power unit, which now feature an almost 50:50 output split between the turbo 1.6-liter V6 engine and electrical energy harvested from the brakes — one that requires a new, often counterintuitive driving style.

One of Verstappen's concerns is starting the race with empty batteries in the hybrid cars. Franco Colapinto only very narrowly avoided Liam Lawson at the start of the Australian Grand Prix, with the Racing Bulls car was slow off the line with minimal battery power — many drivers started with depleted batteries among the teething issues with the new rules.

“There are a few simple solutions, but they need to be allowed by the FIA, with the battery related stuff, because, yeah, starting with the 0% battery — not a lot of fun and also quite dangerous,” Verstappen said. "You can see, I mean, we almost had a massive shunt in Melbourne in the start.

“This is something that I think can be easily fixed.”

As for speculation he may quit if reforms aren't made quickly, Verstappen said: “I don’t want to leave, but I also hope, of course, that it gets better.

“I’ve had discussions with F1 and FIA and, I think, we are working toward something, hopefully, and, hopefully that will improve everything," he said, without elaborating on what the changes might be. “I hope already for next year we can already make a decent improvement.”

A 24-hour switch

In the meantime, in the search of more “fun,” he has confirmed this week he'll be driving his first 24-hour sportscar race at the historic Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit in May. F1 hasn’t used it since 1976, when then-reigning champion Niki Lauda suffered severe burns in a crash.

“It’s one of the best races in the world, it’s one of the best tracks. I mean, honestly, in a GT car for me that’s like the perfect speed round there," Verstappen said. "I think if you go anything faster it can be a bit dangerous in places."

“I mean, I’ve been watching it, of course, for a long time. I know a lot of my friends, of course, that have been racing in it already. They say it’s one of the best things ever, and I like racing other cars as well.”

The 28-year Verstappen says he still has career ambitions.

“I don’t need to be only a Formula 1 driver, I can also do other things," he said. "I’ve done this for a while and I’ve achieved everything that I wanted to achieve, so that’s why I want to explore other things, and I don’t want to do them when I’m 40 years old. So now I think this is the perfect age to do it.”

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

The win streak lives on for the San Antonio Spurs, as they find themselves halfway to another double-digit tally. They’ve only lost one game between the months of February and March, as they’ve worked their way into a hot pursuit of the NBA-leading Oklahoma City Thunder, and the #1 seed in the Western Conference.

However, in order to achieve that goal (and further extend the streak), they’ll likely have to win their way through one of the toughest stretches of the season.

Starting with the Nuggets, the Spurs will then face the rapidly rising Charlotte Hornets, a Clippers team that was one quarter away from running them off of the court, and (after a breather against the Kings) match-ups against the Phoenix Suns (tanking Pacers) and Miami Heat.

The Suns and Heat have both given the Spurs fits in the recent past, and apparently Bam Adebayo has been possessed by the ghost of Wilt Chamberlain, so who even knows what to predict there?

Let’s get back to Denver, though, who just got finished laying waste to the #4 seed that is the badly-listing Houston Rockets, to the tune of 129-93.

How did they manage that, you might ask? Oh, by having 8 different Nuggets score 15+ points, that’s all.

With all the injuries they’ve endured to key players this season, it’s been easy to forget that the Nuggets are also an incredibly deep squad.

That the Nuggets were without Nikola Jokic and Aaron Gordon for weeks, and are still just a game out of the 3# seed is a testament to that depth, and how (not unlike the Spurs) they have been tested to the point of improvement and cohesion.

No longer does Jokic have to soak up all possible minutes at center after the addition of the still-reliable Jonas Valanciunas. No longer does the bench collapse in the absence of the Joker’s offensive impetus, ranking 7th in True Shooting Percentage and 5th in Field-Goal Percentage.

Denver’s front office has surrounded their big man with long-distance demons, to the tune of ranking 1st in the NBA in three-point percentage, at just shy of 40%.

The point being that when healthy the way they were Wednesday night, this Nuggets team might actually be the biggest roadblock for the Spurs come the postseason.

Pick an offensive stat. Just about any offensive stat, and I can guarantee the Nuggets are in the top 5 or top 10 of that category.

They’re great passers (9th in assists, 1st in assist%), great shooters (2nd in FG%, 5th in FT%), great at limiting mistakes (1st in assist-to-turnover ratio and 3rd best in limiting turnovers), and consequently, are great scorers (2nd in scoring).

Outside of injury, they do have two weaknesses, though.

One is rebounding, where they rank near the bottom third of the league (19th), and especially offensive rebounding (26th). Part of that is due to how many shots they sink, but in the event of a miss, the Spurs must keep the Nuggets from getting a second shot.

The other flaw is the defensive end. And by that, I mean, basically all of it.

The Nuggets are dead last in steals, 2nd to last in blocks, and rank 22nd in Defensive Rating. They’re about as bad as a team can be on defense and still be really good, and they do not create offensive opportunities on that end. And oddly, they’ve actually somehow been worse on that end (29th) over the last 5 games.

That could be very unfortunate timing for the Nuggets, just as the Spurs are on an offensive tear, ranking 1st in Offensive Rating, 1st in True Shooting, 1st in Effective Field Goal Percentage, 1st in three-point shooting (42%), and 3rd in scoring over that same five-game stretch.

There is, of course, a bit of a wrinkle, as it seems there must be.

Victor Wembanyama has found his way onto the injury report in questionable status, after a couple of games in which he flirted with 40 minutes and took more than a couple of shots to the face and body.

Speaking as someone who has thoroughly enjoyed and also assigned Wemby-Jokic match-ups a household priority since Wembanyama entered the league, that would be a bummer from the viewer/fan/basketball lover’s perspective. (Though, yes, I can certainly see the ‘long-term benefit’ *teenaged eye roll*)

However, I’m starting to find myself brimming with an almost idiotic degree of optimism, a dangerous thing for anyone who has to write about any team. You don’t have to write about humiliating losses. I almost certainly will.

But gosh-darn it, these kids have really been filling up my cup of joy! I think they can win this thing, with or without their fearless leader. They’re that good. They’re that tough. They’re that freaking cocky.

Here’s hoping Wemby’s healthy enough to play, and here’s hoping the Nuggets underestimate the kiddos if he’s not.

Go! Spurs! Go! (and please don’t make me regret this)

Denver Nuggets (40-26) vs San Antonio Spurs (48-17)

March 12th, 2026 | 8:00 PM CT

Watch: FanDuel Southwest| Listen: WOAI (1200 AM)

Spurs Injuries: Lindy Waters III – Questionable (Illness), Harrison Barnes – Questionable (Sleep Paralysis), Victor Wembanyama – Questionable (Gathering Spirit Bomb)

Nuggets Injuries: Peyton Watson – Out (Hamstring)