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 March Madness TV 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

Jaylen Brown has put together the best all-around season of his career. That’s less opinion than fact at this point.

The Boston Celtics forward is averaging 28.3 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 5.1 assists while carrying the team through most of the season without Jayson Tatum. Boston has held a firm grasp on second place in the Eastern Conference despite major roster turnover and months of uncertainty, keeping just enough distance between themselves and the Knicks and Cavaliers.

And yet, Brown still isn’t widely considered a serious MVP contender. He finished sixth in ESPN’s latest straw poll, receiving zero first (or second) place votes.

Speaking on the Cousins podcast with Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady (am I the only one who assumed this meant DeMarcus Cousins’ podcast?), Brown acknowledged that winning the award would be meaningful, but also suggested the standards for earning it can feel like a moving target.

“I feel like I fit the criteria for it,” Brown said. “Especially with what people were saying about me before the season… I’ve been able to shoulder that and help lead my team to where we are now.”

“But people constantly just move the bar. Now we fast forward, and now I don’t have enough to fit the criteria. So, I probably never will, no matter what.”

It’s a sentiment that probably resonates with many Celtics fans who have watched Brown’s season unfold.

Boston entered the year surrounded by questions. The Celtics moved on from several key pieces of their 2024 championship roster, and Tatum has missed a large portion of the season recovering from his Achilles injury. Analysts and fans alike expected the team to slide down the standings.

Instead, the former Finals MVP raised his game to another level. Brown became the Celtics’ primary offensive engine, took on a larger playmaking role, and helped guide a younger roster through one of the most unpredictable seasons the franchise has faced in years.

The MVP race, however, remains stacked. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokić, Luka Dončić, and Victor Wembanyama have all produced seasons that are difficult to argue against.

Brown probably isn’t the MVP this year, and even he seems to recognize that reality.

But his frustration speaks to something broader about how the award is discussed. The MVP conversation rarely follows a consistent standard. Some seasons reward overwhelming individual numbers (see Russell Westbrook in 2017). Others lean toward the best player on the best team (see Giannis in the 2019 and 2020 seasons). Sometimes voters prioritize narrative, like a player dragging an injury-ravaged roster into contention.

Brown’s season checks several of those boxes. He carried Boston all year without Jayson Tatum and kept the Celtics near the top of the Eastern Conference when many predicted them to possible fall out of playoff contention. In other seasons, that kind of story would have pushed a player firmly into the MVP conversation.

This season, however, the race has been defined by historically dominant campaigns from several other stars. The bar didn’t necessarily move. It just rose.

For Brown, though, the award still isn’t the ultimate goal.

He told Carter and McGrady that winning another championship would mean far more than an MVP trophy. And with Tatum now back in the lineup and the Celtics beginning to look whole again, that objective remains very much in play.

Whether Brown ever wins the award or not, Celtics fans will remember how he carried the team through its most uncertain stretch of this unexpectedly delightful season — and delivered like a superstar when Boston needed one most.

Let’s all take a deep breath. Breathe in, breathe out, and AAAAAAAAAAAA.

In case you missed the Rockets’ game against the Denver Nuggets, I think the fact that I am starting the article off with breathing exercises shows how it went. Now before anyone tries to make excuses for the loss since it was the second night of a back-to-back and Denver is in high altitude, just save your excuses as a team that entered the season with contention aspirations should not be getting embarrassed like this for the second time in less than seven days.

The game was close heading into halftime, with both teams making mistakes, as both Denver and Houston were turning the ball over. The difference, however, was the shooting. Amen Thompson started the game by missing his first four shots, and going into the second quarter, nobody on the Rockets had scored more than nine points. However, in the second, it appeared that Amen had something going as he then made all four of his next shots. Thompson finished the game with 16 points, four assists, five rebounds, and a steal while shooting 8/14 from the field and 0/1 from the free-throw line. Jabari Smith Jr. only scored two more points after scoring nine in the first quarter, but shot relatively well, going 5/10 overall and 1/2 from three. Both Sengun and KD had mediocre to bad games, and honestly, the only reason I am saying their games weren’t outright bad was that their efficiency shooting not at the free throw line was decent (I will get to the free throw shooting), with both going 5/8 from the floor. However, both Durant and Sengun turned the ball over at least twice.

Perhaps the worst aspect of this game was the poor free-throw shooting. Now, correct me if I am wrong, but free throws are called what they are because the points are supposed to be FREE. With that in mind, how on earth do you go 5/14 for 35.7%? I legitimately believe I could have made more free throws than that, and I quit basketball in the sixth grade when I couldn’t make a layup.

If the free-throw shooting was the worst aspect, then the three-point shooting would definitely be the second worst. Up until the second part of the fourth quarter, the Rockets were in contention to break the record for the fewest threes made as they had made just two threes in over 36 minutes of basketball. I honestly believe the kids I teach after school could have made more threes, and most of them are under the age of ten. Honestly the best part about this game is that it is over.

Houston will look to turn things around on Friday versus the Pelicans at home, and for everyone’s sake, but especially my therapist, they will hopefully look much better back on their home court after a bit of rest.

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.