The Philadelphia Flyers were reportedly actually close to trading Rasmus Ristolainen ahead of Friday's NHL trade deadline, but the deal never got over the line.
In his post-trade deadline press conference, Flyers GM Danny Briere insisted that other teams did simply not meet his asking price for Ristolainen, and he's right; it takes two to tango.
After several teams acquired right-shot defensemen, Ristolainen's suitors rapidly dwindled, and the Detroit Red Wings and Steve Yzerman eventually ended up as the last, most logical fit with minutes to go before the deadline hit.
Instead, the Red Wings, according to NHL insider Elliotte Friedman, opted for St. Louis Blues defenseman Justin Faulk over Ristolainen.
"I heard Yzerman had a lot of balls in the air. A lot going on. Not that he'll ever tell us what they were. I think he had a lot of things in the air. The one thing I am pretty sure about is, at the end, he had a choice: Ristolainen, or Faulk. And he took Faulk," Friedman said in his trade deadline episode of "32 Thoughts".
"We knew he was trying on Myers, we talked about Ekman-Larsson. But I think it came down to Ristolainen and Faulk. He took Faulk."
As a consequence of their desperation, Yzerman and the Red Wings ultimately paid St. Louis a pretty penny for Faulk's services, parting ways with talented Russian forward prospect Dmitri Buchelnikov, a 2026 first-round pick, a 2026 third-round pick, and veteran defenseman Justin Holl.
Faulk is much different from Ristolainen, too, in that he's only 6-foot, older at age 33, and more expensive with his $6.5 million cap hit for two more seasons, including this one.
He's also a more adept puck mover, having reached the 30-point threshold in each of the last five seasons.
Ristolainen is more of a destroyer at this stage of his career, trading his Buffalo offense for a more consistent use of his 6-foor-4 frame and strength to kill plays and retain possession.
Holl, too, fit that bill, and while Ristolainen is very clearly the better defenseman, it is now obvious that Yzerman and the Red Wings preferred a player with Faulk's profile instead.
If Friedman is right, as he usually is, that has to sting a bit for the Flyers, who failed to move their top trade chip in a market that was white-hot for defensemen this year.
Should the Flyers want to revisit moving on from Ristolainen for picks and prospects, they'll have to wait until June.
After weeks of speculation, and despite Montreal Canadiens’ GM Kent Hughes’ best efforts, the Sainte-Flanelle was unable to make any trades in the run-up to the trade deadline, which means that the Habs were attacking the final stretch of the regular season with the same issues that have plagued them all season: shaky goaltending, a very young second line pivot and a coach who doesn’t trust his sixth defenseman, whoever is filling the role on any given night.
After the 7-5 loss to the San Jose Sharks with Jakub Dobes on Tuesday night, Samuel Montembeault was back in net for the Canadiens against the Anaheim Ducks, while Arber Xhekaj was brought back in to replace Jayden Struble. Martin St-Louis also decided to make some changes up front by remixing his lines, which made his first line happy.
Canadiens’ fans counted their blessings after the Ducks’ first goal, which came 20 seconds in on their first shot, was waived off for offside. It gave Montembeault a chance to start over, which he missed as he was once again beaten on the next shot. However, it’s hard to blame the goaltender when the goal is scored on a three-on-one. Still, it’s the fifth time in 23 starts that he has scored a goal in the first two minutes.
The netminder made a spectacular save on the penalty kill with his paddle to prevent Anaheim from getting a second goal. But not long afterwards, he let in yet another goal on a shot from far out that wasn’t deflected. It’s a headscratcher to see him post Jekyll and Hyde performances time after time. The Bécancour native is capable of the best and the worst at times in the same minute, which unfortunately makes every game an adventure.
Samuel Montembeault has the third-worst save percentage in the league when it comes to unblocked low-danger shots (.948%)
Only Carter Hart (.935%) and Samuel Ersson (.939%) have worse results.
In the second frame, with the score tied at 2-2, Jackson Lacombe took a slapshot from the blueline, and it found the back of the net without a screen or a deflection. Whichever way you look at it, Montembeault really struggles against shots from far out, while he can make big saves on shots from the real danger zones. This is puzzling to say the least, and it’s a trend that started at the end of the last season as well. It’s almost as if he couldn’t see the puck from far out.
Had it not been for the fact that the Canadiens are playing on Saturday night, Montembeault would have deserved to be pulled after that third goal.
Ready For A Leading Role
Since coming back from the Olympics, the line formed by Juraj Slafkovsky, Oliver Kapanen, and Ivan Demidov had struggled, prompting the Slovak’s return to the top line, and it didn’t take long for the move to pay off.
Just a minute in, Slafkovsky went hard on the forecheck and retrieved the puck to pass it to Cole Caufield, who fed Nick Suzuki in front of the net, and just like that, the score was tied. Then, about two and a half minutes later, Slafkovsky was able to complete a pass to Lane Hutson while absorbing some contact, and the blueliner went on to score the Habs’ second goal. Two assists in 3:30 for Slafkovsky, who was ready to play.
One slight criticism, though, is that he needs to make better decisions on the power play. At times, he seems to want to rush the play, and that often translates into a giveaway caused by a predictable pass.
Mr. Saturday Night Worked Overtime
The Ducks took a 4-2 lead 35 seconds into the third frame, and while some believed the Canadiens were toast at that point, the Habs didn’t. Mr. Saturday night, Cole Caufield, took charge, scoring twice in less than five minutes with Alexandre Carrier squeezing a lamplighter in between Caufield’s and just like that, the Canadiens took a 5-4 lead.
The diminutive sniper now has 16 goals in his last 14 games, and with 37 goals, he has tied his career high set last season. With 37 goals in 61 games, Caufield is now on pace for a 50-goal season.
Unfortunately for Caufield, the Canadiens were unable to hold on to the lead, and with less than a minute to go, Chris Kreider deflected a shot from the point to tie the game and send it to overtime with the Ducks playing six-on-five. The Habs failed to score the game-winning goal despite getting a power play in the extra frame, and a shootout was necessary. It took six rounds, but in the end, Alex Killorn gave the Ducks the win.
The Canadiens will be back in action on Saturday night, taking on the Los Angeles Kings at 7 PM ET.
The Florida Panthers picked up a much-needed win on Friday night in Detroit.
Florida’s players also breathed a big sigh of relief, apparently, after the NHL Trade Deadline passed at 3 p.m. without a certain somebody being included in any deals.
That somebody is Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky.
In the days leading up to Friday’s Trade Deadline, rumors were swirling about interest in Bobrovsky, a pending unrestricted free agent, from potential playoff teams looking for help in the goaltending department.
The interest is not surprising in the least.
While yeah, Bobrovsky is 37 years old, he’s also backstopped the Panthers to three straight Stanley Cup Final appearances and back-to-back championships with a trio of spectacular postseasons, cementing his spot among the best netminders of all time.
It’s also reasonable to say that his sub-par 2025-26 season can be attributed, at least in part, to the struggles and injury woes of the team playing in front of him.
"There is no guy that I want to play in front of (more),” Tkachuk said. “We’re so happy he’s still here. All 20 of us are going to be begging him to stay, and begging whoever to have him stay. He’s the reason why we have two Stanley Cup rings."
Tkachuk is one of several Panthers players – a list that includes Sasha Barkov, Sam Reinhart, Sam Bennett, Gus Forsling, Brad Marchand, Aaron Ekblad, Seth Jones, Carter Verhaeghe, Anton Lundell and Niko Mikkola – who are all signed through at least the end of the decade.
Not only that, but with so many players signed to team-friendly deals and a salary cap expected to rise by $18 million between the next two offseasons, Florida’s rock-solid roster will receive more reinforcements that Panthers GM Bill Zito and hist staff can target.
The bottom line is that Florida believes they are far from finished when it comes to competing for and winning Stanley Cups, and as far as Tkachuk is concerned, Bobrovsky is a big part of those future plans.
“He is one of the biggest reasons this organization is where its at,” Tkachuk went on to say of Bob after the game. “We need him, we want him, and not only for his play on the ice, but he’s literally one of the best guys in the world.”
We’ll see how things play out in the coming weeks and months.
As of now, Bobrovsky is set to hit the open market on July 1.
Photo caption: Apr 24, 2025; Tampa, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers left wing Matthew Tkachuk (19) congratulates goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) after beating the Tampa Bay Lightning in game two of the first round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Amalie Arena. (Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images)
Mar 3, 2026; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Milwaukee Brewers center fielder Blake Perkins (16) celebrates with teammates after scoring against Great Britain in the third inning at the American Family Fields. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images | Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images
Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Brewers fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.
In this week’s Reacts survey, we asked fans who they think will round out the 13 position players on Milwaukee’s roster come opening day.
As a reminder, here’s a quick run down who should make the roster.
William Contreras (C)
Gary Sánchez (C)
Andrew Vaughn (1B)
Jake Bauers (1B)
Brice Turang (2B)
Joey Ortiz (SS)
Luis Rengifo (3B)
David Hamilton (UTIL)
Jackson Chourio (OF)
Sal Frelick (OF)
Garrett Mitchell (OF)
Christian Yelich (DH/OF)
With those 12 in mind, I left our fans with four options for the survey: Akil Baddoo, Tyler Black, Brandon Lockridge, and Blake Perkins. Here’s what the results showed:
It was a pretty solid four-way race, though Perkins prevailed with 40% of the vote. He was followed by Black (32%), Lockridge (17%), and Baddoo (11%). It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise for a few reasons.
Firstly, Perkins is the most experienced Brewer. While Baddoo has more major league experience, Perkins has been in the fold for Milwaukee for the last three seasons, spanning 242 career games with a .232/.314/.339 lin to go with 13 homers, 82 RBIs, 107 runs, and 35 steals along with plus-plus defense. Lockridge and Black both have less than a full season of experience, and Baddoo has only appeared in 38 MLB games the last two seasons (and just seven in 2025).
Second, Perkins is easily the best defensive player of the group. While Lockridge and Baddoo can hold their own, Black is a below-average defender, and Milwaukee’s preference for solid defense is arguably greater than any other team in baseball. Perkins was an NL Gold Glove finalist in 2024 and probably could have been a finalist in 2023 and 2025 had he played enough games to qualify. All you need to see is him cutting Starling Marte (still one of the fastest players in baseball at 36) down at the plate in the ninth to beat the Mets last season.
The Brewers beat the Mets 3-2 with the final out coming at home plate. Blake Perkins to William Contreas wins it. Sweet sassy molassy.
Mar 6, 2026; Bradenton, Florida, USA; Philadelphia Phillies left fielder Otto Kemp (4) hits a double in the fourth inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates during spring training at LECOM Park. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images | Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images
Did you happen to see the lineup that the Phillies put out yesterday against the Pirates? Sure they won in a 14-10 barnburner, but man did that scorecard contain a lot of names that will be forgotten in a few short weeks. Such is life in the WBC spring training.
The age of the Cardinals position player core could be the team’s secret weapon in 2026. While the roster is young, this isn’t a team built around 20- and 21-year-olds that are expected to contribute immediately. The projected starters on the position player side of things are all either in their prime or about to enter it. JJ Wetherholt is the youngest projected starting position player entering his age 23 season. On the other end of the spectrum, Lars Nootbaar, once healthy, will be the grizzled veteran of the bunch at 28 years old. This tight cluster of ages on the position player side prompted me to ask a couple of questions:
1. How much more likely are we to see a career year from one of these players because of where they are on the aging curve?
2. How does the age distribution of the team’s position players compare to rivals in the NL Central?
One of the criticisms of the Cardinals over the last three seasons has been their overreliance on aging veterans and young players not ready to contribute at the big league level, with very few players in their mid-twenties. We are all familiar with the idea that players improve in their early 20s and decline after 30, as a general rule. As you would expect, players are far more likely to put up a career year in their mid-to-late 20s than any other time. I looked at data, courtesy of FanGraphs, from 1900 to 2025 to see at what age players are most likely to put up a career high in WAR.
Data notes: This is limited to players that have at least one season of 2+ WAR. Any season with 300+ plate appearances was included for players that have completed their age 34 season as of 2025.
This chart simply shows in aggregate at which age players have posted their career high in WAR. You can see a fairly normal distribution peaking around age 27. Overall, 81% of career years occur between the ages of 24 and 31.
Another way to slice the data is to see what a player’s chances are in any given season of posting a career year.
Paul Goldschmidt defied the odds and put up an MVP year in his age 34 season in 2022. This is the exception that proves the rule and the next two seasons were a case study on why relying on older players can backfire. Goldschmidt’s decline also coincided with Jordan Walker debuting at 21, leaving the Cardinals relying on players either too early in their careers or too late in them.
How the NL Central Stacks Up
So, how do the Cardinals compare to their Central Division rivals? To estimate this, I looked at the FanGraphs Depth Charts projections for the 2026 season. This projection allocates a full season of plate appearances (6,240 per team) based on current depth charts for each team. Looking at the projected plate appearances and the age of the players, we can get a sense of the general shape of the rosters.
This table outlines the percent of each team’s plate appearances that are expected from each age group. The Cardinals are projected to get 9% of the team plate appearances from 18- to 23-year-olds, all of which belong to JJ Wetherholt. 86% of the team’s plate appearances are projected to be taken by 24 to 31-year-olds led by Masyn Winn (24), Alec Burleson (27), and Ivan Herrera (26). The 5% in the 32+ category all belong to Ramon Urias. The Cardinals leading the division in projected plate appearances from players in their prime provides a glimmer of hope that this roster could produce a few career years.
The 24-31 age bracket is probably the best way to identify players in their prime for the upcoming season, but there is obviously a huge difference between the 24- and 31-year-olds for a team’s long-term prospects. Breaking things down in a bit more granularity paints an even more descriptive picture.
A couple of things that jump out to me when looking at this breakdown:
The Pirates’ Konnor Griffin is the only player in the division 21 or younger projected to get an at-bat this year. Pittsburgh has a surprisingly old position player group outside of Griffin.
Milwaukee’s projected 69% of team plate appearances from the 26-29 demographic is tops not only in the division, but also in all of baseball. Small market teams will have to dominate this bracket of players because teams like the Brewers are unlikely to get much production from star free agents that are still producing into their 30s.
Chicago has a great roster, but they are going to get old fast with Dansby Swanson (32), Alex Bregman (32), Ian Happ (31), Seiya Suzuki (31), and Carson Kelly providing roughly half the team’s plate appearances and projected value. This is certainly not a problem in the short-term as teams like the Dodgers and Phillies have even older rosters, but if they don’t increase their payroll, they may be gliding into a rebuild over the coming seasons.
A roster full of players in their prime doesn’t guarantee success, the players still have to perform, but it does provide some upside that might not be obvious when scanning the roster. The Central Division will remain open for the taking over the next decade unless the Cubs start spending like a top-tier team. The Cardinals may not have the star power of some National League contenders, but their roster construction places them squarely in the part of the aging curve where players are most likely to produce their best seasons. With 86% of their projected plate appearances coming from players between 24 and 31, St. Louis has more hitters in their statistical prime than any other team in the division. If even a couple of those players reach their peak in the same season, the Cardinals’ offense could look much better than many projections currently expect.
Chad Baker-Mazara has been dismissed from the USC men's basketball team, which was his fifth while playing in college. (Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
Chad Baker-Mazara is the poster child for 2026 college athletics. A 26-year-old basketball mercenary at his fifth school, Baker-Mazara is the average age of an NBA player. Dismissed from USC for disciplinary reasons, Mazara makes the “student athlete” moniker laughable. He is obviously nothing more than a professional basketball player not good enough to play in the NBA.
Mark S. Roth Playa Vista
Chad Baker-Mazara is 26 years old. USC is the fifth school he has played for, with a spotty (at best) record at each. So USC dismisses him for a number of reasons and Gilbert Arenas is quoted as saying "when you the best player on the team, whatever you say, you right." So forgive and forget?
School number six coming up.
Bert Bergen La Cañada
So Gilbert Arenas says “when you the best player on the team, whatever you say, you right.”
So in other words you can be disruptive, not hustle, ignore your coach, etc., because you’re the “star” of the team.
Alijah Arenas, please do not listen to your father.
Oscar Rosalez Diamond Bar
True blue
Bill Shaikin’s suggestion that Freddie Freeman wear a Dodger cap on his inevitable Hall of Fame plaque will be even more appropriate if Freeman becomes the first player to collect hit number 3,000 while wearing Dodger blue.
With Freeman needing only 569 more hits to get to his stated goal of at least 3,000 — barring a long-term lockout in 2027 or the unthinkable, a failure to extend Freddie’s contract by at least two more years — he should reach that milestone in 2029.
Ken Feldman Tarzana
Helping hand
The Dodgers' efforts in helping former player Andrew Toles and his mental health condition are truly commendable. More major league teams should follow suit similarly should their current and former players need this kind of support.
These types of humanitarian actions are why our Dodgers are looked upon so favorably in the baseball community, and why most players don’t hesitate in joining them should they have the chance.
Marty Zweben Palos Verdes Estates
Kudos to the Dodgers for placing Andrew Toles on its restricted list these past years. Now is the time to really step up to the plate and pay for his health insurance going forward.
Felice Klein Northridge
What the Halo?
I just read Bill Shaikin's column on the Angels and Zach Neto. In it, Angels owner Arte Moreno was quoted as saying that among Angels fans' priorities for the organization “winning is not in their top five.”
I almost dropped my coffee on my lap reading that one. Who did he poll to get that ridiculous response? Dodgers fans at a Dodgers game? If winning was not even in their “top five” what was?
Speaking as a very long-suffering Angels fan, I can tell you what my No. 1 priority is for the organization. Somehow get Arte Moreno to sell the team to a serious owner who does want to make winning the priority and not just an apparent tax writeoff for himself.
Chuck Lucero Thousand Oaks
Bill Shaikin's column on Zach Neto and the Angels says all there is to know about the Angels poorly run organization. The owner says the fans do not care much about winning, and obviously neither does he. The GM refuses to talk, but the failure to sign or even offer a good young infielder speaks volumes. Will the Angels owner and front office ever wake up?
Bill Francis Pasadena
There’s no doubt that the Angels’ Zach Neto is talented and a cornerstone for the team to build around. But in Bill Shaikin’s article, he’s quoted as saying, “I am going to be where my feet are every day, and that is here, with the city of Los Angeles and with the Angels.”
It seems like he has Arte Moreno disease, wanting to be in L.A., but living in the Orange County. Zach, if you don’t know where you are, you won’t know when you get there.
Bob Kargenian Yorba Linda
What're the odds?
When Mirjam Swanson writes about the Lakers, "They're 1-8 against the league's top four teams," and Thuc Nhi Nguyen reports, "Five of the Lakers' next eight games are against the three teams directly ahead of them in the Western Conference," how am I supposed to like the Lakers' chances?
Vaughn Hardenberg Westwood
Reign of pain
The Kings’ future is very dim with ownership (AEG) that doesn’t care about the success of the team and management that is clearly misguided. If only there was a partnership (Guggenheim) out there (Guggenheim) with a proven local team ownership record (Guggenheim) that could step in and begin the top to bottom house cleaning this organization desperately needs!
Nick Rose Newport Coast
The Los Angeles Times welcomes expressions of all views. Letters should be brief and become the property of The Times. They may be edited and republished in any format. Each must include a valid mailing address and telephone number. Pseudonyms will not be used.
Who:Philadelphia Flyers (28-22-11, 7867points, 6th place Metropolitan Division) @ Pittsburgh Penguins (31-17-13, 75 points, 2nd place Metropolitan Division)
When: 5:30 p.m. ET
How to Watch: Local broadcasts on SportsNet Pittsburgh and NBC Sports, streaming on ESPN+
Pens’ Path Ahead: The Pens have less than 24 hours between puck drops this weekend. They’re back in action Sunday afternoon against the Boston Bruins, before their busy March continues with a five-game road swing that involves a trip out West bookended by road games against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Opponent Track: The Flyers had won three straight, including two overtime victories, before dropping a 3-0 shutout loss to the Utah Mammoth on Thursday. Philadelphia then made a few moves ahead of Friday’s trade deadline, most notably sending out Bobby Brink and Nicolas Deslauriers.
Season Series: The Pens are leading this series despite dropping the Oct. 28 opener in a 3-2 shootout loss, thanks to blowout wins in Philadelphia on Dec. 1 and at home on Jan. 15.
Getting to know the Flyers
Projected lines
FORWARDS
Trevor Zegras – Christian Dvorak – Owen Tippett
Matvei Michkov – Noah Cates – Travis Konecny (?)
Denver Barkey – Sean Couturier – Nikita Grebenkin
Luke Glendening – Carl Grunstrom – Garnet Hathaway
DEFENSEMEN
Travis Sanheim / Rasmus Ristolainen
Cam York / Jamie Drysdale
Emil Andrae / Noah Juulsen
Goalies: Dan Vladar, Samuel Ersson
Potential scratches: Travis Konecny, Nick Seeler, Adam Ginning
Injured Reserve: Tyson Foerster, Rodrigo Abols
Second-line winger Travis Konecny, who is day-to-day with an upper-body injury, skated in a no-contact jersey during the Flyers’ Friday practice.
The Flyers made a few moves at the deadline. Here’s a run-down of the notable ones:
The Flyers traded winger Nick Deslauriers to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for a conditional 2027 seventh-rounder. General manager Danny Briere said the trade was made in the hopes of giving Deslauriers, 35, a shot at a playoff run.
Philadelphia traded winger Bobby Brink to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for defenseman David Jiricek, who will report to the AHL.
They also claimed Luke Glendening (formerly a New Jersey Devils center) off waivers Friday. The Flyers have been in search of a fourth-line center since losing Rodrigo Abols to an ankle injury in January. Glendening will be available to play against the Pens.
Rasmus Ristolainen, subject to trade rumors ahead of the deadline, stayed put in Philadelphia. Briere said the Flyers “went through all the teams that were serious” but couldn’t find the value they wanted.
Holding onto Ristolainen could indicate the Flyers are hoping to take a step forward next season with players like Bump and Jiricek making the jump to the NHL in the near future. Philadelphia is currently in danger of landing in a middle ground the Penguins know well by finishing outside of both the playoffs and the draft lottery.
The Flyers could be adding a few names to this list after the trade deadline.
The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz reported Friday that AHL winger Alex Bump could make his NHL debut on Friday as a replacement for Brink. Bump has 26 points (11 goals, 15 assists) in 36 games for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms this season.
The Flyers also signed former Wilkes/Barre and Pittsburgh Penguins forward Garrett Wilson to a two-way contract on Thursday, so he could potentially get a call-up down the stretch.
And now for the Pens
Projected lines
FORWARDS
Egor Chinakhov – Tommy Novak – Evgeni Malkin
Rickard Rakell – Ben Kindel – Bryan Rust
Anthony Mantha – Kevin Hayes – Justin Brazeau
Avery Hayes – Connor Dewar – Noel Acciari
DEFENSEMEN
Parker Wotherspoon / Erik Karlsson
Sam Girard / Kris Letang
Ryan Shea / Connor Clifton
Goalies: Arturs Silovs (Stuart Skinner played last game)
Potential Scratches: Blake Lizotte (day-to-day injury), Ryan Graves, Ilya Solovyov
IR: Sidney Crosby, Filip Hallander, Jack St. Ivany
Evgeni Malkin met virtually with the NHL Department of Player Safety on Friday and was suspended for five games, the maximum allowed in a virtual hearing, for slashing Rasmus Dahlin in Thursday’s loss to the Buffalo Sabres. That means the Pens could be without both Sidney Crosby and Malkin for this weekend’s back-to-back as well as three straight West Coast road games.
The Penguins recalled Ville Koivunen from the AHL. Koivunen was recently named the AHL’s Player of the month after scoring 16 points (six goals, 10 assists) in 11 games during an 8-1-2 stretch for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. The Pens will need a breakout NHL stretch from him in order to help make up for the absence of their two top players.
Sidney Crosby rejoined practice Friday. He was non-contact, and Muse told reporters nothing has in his return timeline. (The Pens said on Feb. 25 their captain would be out at least four weeks. If dating back to his injury, which he suffered on Feb. 18, that would put his reevaluation date around the back end of the team’s upcoming road trip).
The Penguins made a deadline-day move of their own by sending out a 2026 third-rounder in exchange for 6-foot-8 forward Elmer Soderblom.
The Penguins have acquired forward Elmer Soderblom from the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for a 2026 third-round draft pick (originally belonging to San Jose).
In the top of both the fourth and sixth innings, Maryland baseball loaded the bases — just one hit away from gaining the lead or catching up. Both times, the batter failed to outduel the pitcher, sending everyone back to the dugout.
An inability to follow through ultimately cost Maryland its fifth loss of the season, a 5-2 defeat against the Trojans.
The last time Maryland baseball saw six scoreless innings was against University of Louisiana-Lafayette on Feb. 21. Louisiana dominated, with a 9-1 thrashing curbing any chance of winning the series for the Terps.
Against Troy University on Friday, a similar fate took shape.
Troy pitcher Tommy Egan posed a serious threat for Maryland’s batters. In his five-inning scoreless tenure on the mound, Egan struck out two-thirds of Maryland’s lineup, and he got Jordan Crosland twice.
Lance Williams bounced back from his eight-run, four-inning outing a week ago against Wagner. The sophomore recorded 10 strikeouts in six innings — five more than his performance against Wagner.
“For the most part, Lance was dominating,” Swope said.
Troy’s Aaron Piasecki pushed the Trojans into the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning. The center fielder knocked a bomb 345 feet from home over the right-field fence.
His home run, which brought home Blake Cavill and Jimmy Janicki, put the Terps in a three-run hole they could not dig out of.
Maryland’s chance at taking the lead slid further away just one inning later, after Troy’s Zaid Diaz hit a line drive toward first base. First baseman Paul Jones II went diving for it, but the ball flew over his head as he hit the ground, opening the door for a runner to score from second base.
Cristofer Cespedes relieved Lance Williams after six innings, marking his sixth mound appearance so far this season.
The sophomore almost made things worse for the Terps in his one inning. Cespedes walked two batters and hit one with a pitch, but he escaped the bases-loaded jam.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, with runners on first and second, Troy’s Nolan Book singled up the middle on a 1-0 count. Second baseman David Mendez attempted to make the acrobatic snag, but also hit the ground without the ball in his glove.
Again, a missed dive on a grounder up the middle allowed the Trojan on second base to run home on a single.
Maryland struggled on offense as well. The Terps only connected with the ball seven times in 32 total at-bats.
Mendez’s fifth at-bat deep in the ninth inning spared some blushes, though. Staring down Troy relief pitcher Cooper Ellingworth with a 1-0 count, the second baseman swung, hitting a rocket that bounced on the track in deep left field.
Both Jordan Crosland and Brayden Martin were able to round the bases, cutting Troy’s impending shutout short. But with two outs already on the board, a simple ground out against Ryan Costello cost the Terps the game.
Three things to know
1. Bright spot in a dark lineup. Shortstop Ty Kaunas continued to be a bright spot in Maryland’s lineup. The freshman was the only Terp to log more than one hit, going 2-for-4 in the batter’s box.
“[Kaunas]’s a special talent,” Swope said. “I couldn’t be happier that he’s here.”
2. Aggression takes a backseat. The Terps’ game against Troy marks the first Friday that no Terps stole any bases, only the third game where no base-stealing attempts were made.
3. Continued struggles away. Friday marks Maryland’s fourth consecutive weekend away loss. The Terps have two more games in Alabama to cut that streak.
FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Someone in the Colorado State athletic department knew what they were doing.
After Ali Farokhmanesh held up a green-and-gold jersey with his name on the back of it, officially marking the start of his tenure as the Rams’ men’s basketball coach last March, he bent over and reached under the dais where he was set to speak to the crowd gathered inside Moby Arena, the school’s 60-year-old gym.
The self-professed crier emerged holding a box of Puffs tissues, drawing a laugh from the audience. His voice briefly cracked as he began to speak, but as the realization of a life-long goal swept over him, the tissues weren’t necessary.
“This is surreal,” Farokhmanesh said. “This is a dream I’ve had since I was a little kid.”
He’s likely not the only person who feels a certain way seeing him roam a college sideline.
With the start of the NCAA tournament looming, Farokhmanesh once again enters the national consciousness, with clips of his iconic game-sealing 3-pointer from Northern Iowa’s stunning upset of Kansas in 2010 airing on highlight reels that television networks play throughout March Madness. With a single, unforgettable shot, Farokhmanesh embodied the frantic magic of the NCAA tournament and became a college basketball folk hero, a six-foot-nothing white guy from a mid-major who took down one of the sport’s powerhouses.
Now, nearly two full decades removed from his one shining moment, Farokhmanesh is in his first season leading a Division I program, having been promoted to head coach at Colorado State shortly after Niko Medved left for Minnesota. The early results have been encouraging, with the Rams at 20-10 and riding an eight-game win streak heading into their regular-season finale on Saturday, March 7 against Boise State.
In the role, he’s trying to carve out a legacy in the game beyond a play that still allows his lengthy Iranian last name to roll effortlessly off the tongue of any college basketball fan all these years later. The glory he once earned as a player is now something he’s working to get achieve as a coach.
“I’m proud of what happened. It obviously meant a lot to me,” Farokhmanesh said to USA TODAY Sports. “But it’s a completely different, new journey.”
Ali Farokhmanesh's March Madness game winner
As unlikely as Northern Iowa’s win over Kansas in the 2010 NCAA Tournament was, the path there for the game’s most consequential player was even more improbable.
Despite being a first-team all-state honoree in Iowa, Farokhmanesh came out of high school without a single scholarship offer from an NCAA or NAIA school, even after sending out letters and highlight tapes to nearly 150 Division I programs. Even Iowa, where his mother was the school’s volleyball coach at the time, didn’t show interest.
He ended up at the junior-college level, going from Indian Hills Community College to Kirkwood Community College, both in Iowa. At Kirkwood, his scoring (16.3 points per game) and shooting (47.3% from 3) grabbed the attention of many of the same programs that overlooked him two years earlier, including Northern Iowa, where he committed for his final two seasons of eligibility.
In his season at Kirkwood, he displayed a tireless drive to improve, forcing himself to make 400 shots a night. His routine was so intense that the screws in the shooting gun he used during his workouts wore out. Those habits carried over to Northern Iowa, where he started every game for a Panthers team that made the NCAA tournament in 2009.
“There wasn’t a day in the two years we had Ali with us as a player that he wasn’t in the gym before practice or after practice or in between classes or coming back at night,” Northern Iowa coach Ben Jacobson said to USA TODAY Sports. “It was one of those things that everybody knew. His teammates knew it. His coaches knew it. Our fans knew it.”
As a senior in 2009-10, the Panthers won a then-program-record 30 games and won the Missouri Valley Conference championship for the second-consecutive season. Farokhmanesh was one of the team’s most valuable contributors, averaging 9.7 points per game and making a team-high 77 3s (if his 152 career made 3s over two seasons were doubled to reflect a full, four-year college career, it would comfortably be a program record).
After a 69-66 win against UNLV in the first round — a game in which Farokhmanesh made the game-winning 3 with 4.9 seconds remaining to deliver the program its second-ever NCAA tournament victory — No. 9 seed Northern Iowa arrived at what many thought would be the end of the team’s road.
Two years removed from a national championship, Kansas once again looked like the country’s best team, with a 33-2 record, the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed and a roster that featured five future NBA Draft lottery picks and five players who would earn consensus All-American honors at some point during their college careers.
Despite those odds, Northern Iowa got off to a hot start, leading by eight at halftime thanks to 11 points from Farokhmanesh. The Jayhawks stormed back in the second half, getting within a point, 63-62, with 42.8 seconds remaining after a Sherron Collins jumper. On the ensuing inbounds pass, Northern Iowa broke Kansas’ press, with Kwadzo Ahelegbe firing a pass up to Farokhmanesh, who caught the ball behind the 3-point line with only one Jayhawks player standing between him and the basket.
With a one-point lead and a seven-second difference between the shot and game clocks, Farokhmanesh could have easily held on to the ball, waited for some teammates to join him on that end of the court and bled precious seconds away as the Panthers continued their upset bid.
For a split-second, he appeared content to do just that, holding the ball and getting ready to take a step to his right. His movement sent the lone Kansas defender retreating to the basket, leaving the career 37.5% 3-point shooter with an enormous cushion to fire. He squared his feet to the basket and did what would have been unimaginable for most players: pulling up for a shot that, if it went awry, would have given the Jayhawks the ball with a chance to win the game.
The big gamble came with an even bigger reward. The shot swished through the net to give the Panthers a four-point lead with 35 seconds left, icing a stunning 69-67 victory, sending Northern Iowa to the Sweet 16 and instantly turning Farokhmanesh into a March icon.
A shot of a triumphant Farokhmanesh leaning back and screaming to the rafters appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated the following week, with the headline “Divine Madness.” Media requests from across the country flooded in. The Panthers’ practices, which had been open throughout that season, had to be closed because so many people had showed up to watch them.
Through it all, Jacobson was impressed with how his team and its overnight celebrity of a shooting guard approached their newfound fame.
“There was a moment or two when we kind of looked around at each other like ‘Whoa, this is a big deal,’” Jacobson said. “But outside of those, for the three or four days between the Kansas win and the game against Michigan State, it was kind of business as usual.”
A 59-52 loss to Michigan State six days after the Kansas win marked the end of Farokhmanesh’s college playing career. His time in college basketball, though, was only just beginning.
Coaching can be something of a happy accident or a fallback plan for some in the basketball world, a way to stay connected to the game after their playing days come to a dreaded end.
For Farokhmanesh, it was always a life he envisioned for himself.
His parents, Cindy Fredrick and Mashallah Farokhmanesh, were college volleyball coaches, with Frederick serving as the head coach and Farokhmanesh as her assistant at stops at Weber State, Washington State, Iowa and UNLV. Though Ali Farokhmanesh eventually gravitated to basketball, he grew up around practice facilities and locker rooms. His heroes weren’t just global basketball superstars, but volleyball players. While his parents were at Washington State, Jason Gesser, the Cougars’ all-conference quarterback, was his babysitter. Ryan Leaf, who went on to be the No. 2 overall pick in the 1998 NFL Draft, came to his birthday party.
At Northern Iowa, he majored in finance and briefly thought of a career in that field, but those plans only bounced around in his head for so long.
“That lasted maybe like a month,” Farokhmanesh said. “Then it was basketball.”
He embarked on a professional career overseas, playing in Switzerland, Austria and the Netherlands. By the end of his fourth season, priorities started to change. He got married and had his first child. Even though he had a lucrative offer to keep playing, he knew he wanted to start his coaching career sooner rather than later.
He sent out his resume and mined his connections in the basketball world, looking for an all-important foot in the door. He found one at Nebraska, whose coach at the time, Tim Miles, was close with Jacobson. Farokhmanesh texted and called Miles about an open graduate assistant role. He eventually got a response while the Cornhuskers’ coach was on vacation.
“What happens is when you have too many Mai Tais in Cabo, you hire Ali Farokhmanesh by accident and it works out great for everybody involved,” Miles said, with a laugh, to USA TODAY Sports.
Two weeks after the conversation in 2014, Miles had Farokhmanesh come in to work out six players as he watched. He was hired on the spot.
“You’re always wondering about some former players that weren’t your former players, right?” Miles said. “Ali’s a hero at Northern Iowa. What’s he going to be like? Is he going to rest on his laurels, like, hey, I was a player, I’m going to come in and work with these guys and they should listen to me? What I noticed about Ali immediately was he invested in people. He wanted to get guys better. Even in his interview, he walked in and approached himself like a young coach who was eager to get in the gym, work with guys, pour into guys and help make them better. Anybody who ever meets Ali likes Ali. Maybe not Kansas fans, but everybody else. I immediately knew I wanted him on my staff.”
As much as Farokhmanesh embraced the role, it was an adjustment.
“That was probably the hardest thing about being a GA — it was hard to get past not looking at yourself as a player,” he said.
After three seasons at Nebraska, Farokhmanesh got his first opportunity as an assistant when Medved, a former assistant for Miles at Colorado State, hired the former Northern Iowa star to join his staff at Drake.
“He’d never been the point person on signing a player and this and that, but I’ve always just trusted my gut,” Medved said to USA TODAY Sports. “You could just tell. He had a great personality. He knows how to connect with people. If you can really connect with people, if you can teach people, if you love it…when you combine those three things, you’ve got a guy that’s really talented and is going to be successful. For me, it was a no-brainer.”
Medved orchestrated a 10-win improvement in his first and ultimately only season at Drake, after which he was hired at Colorado State and brought Farokhmanesh with him.
There, he turned the Rams into one of the most consistent winners in the Mountain West Conference, winning at least 20 games in five of his final six seasons and leading Colorado State, which had just three NCAA tournament appearances in the 28 seasons before he was hired, to March Madness in three of his final four seasons. Along the way, the Rams were able to recruit, develop and retain future NBA players like David Roddy, Nique Clifford and Isaiah Stevens, even in the age of the transfer portal.
When Medved, a Minneapolis native, left for his alma mater the day after the Rams’ buzzer-beater loss to Maryland in the second round of the NCAA tournament last March, there wasn’t much of a question about who would succeed him. Within four days of Medved’s departure, Farokhmanesh was being introduced as Colorado State’s new coach.
Inside the same arena where he held up a box of tissues 10 months earlier, Farokhmanesh’s dream is now a reality.
With a whistle around his neck during an early February practice, the 37 year old is active, firing off passes to his players, crouching down in a defensive stance, providing one-on-one instruction and doing what he can to help reverse the fortunes of a team that had lost eight of its previous 11 games.
For as much as Farokhmanesh had envisioned getting to this point in his career, and for the 11 years of work he put in as an assistant, there’s something slightly unnerving seeing him like this, as a fully-formed adult with well-coiffed hair who drives his four kids around in his Toyota Sienna minivan rather than the triumphant 21 year old with onions the size of beach balls that he’s been immortalized as for nearly half his life. In some ways, he’s less a coach than a symbol of how much time has passed since that fateful shot and a reminder that, yes, you really are that old.
It’s a peculiar type of fame Farokhmanesh has navigated from the moment the ball passed through the net.
In some ways, it’s inescapable, the kind of thing he’ll receive calls about every March from reporters asking him to relive one of the NCAA tournament’s most storied plays. While at Nebraska and, especially, in his lone season at Drake, Farokhmanesh was recognized most places where he went and was more famous than the men for whom he worked. He’s been able to have fun with it, too, like when the Omaha World Herald had him interview Kansas fans at the 2015 NCAA Tournament in Omaha about their worst March Madness memories, unaware of who they were speaking with.
While the shot’s rarely something he’ll bring up unprompted, it’s still understandably a source of pride for him.
“We always joke with him…he didn’t talk about it, but if you walked into his office, the first picture you saw was the Sports Illustrated cover,” Medved said, with a laugh.
Over the past three or four years, as the shot fades further in the distance, Farokhmanesh said he started to be recognized more as a coach rather than a player. Around Fort Collins, particularly now, he’s much more likely to be asked about the Rams than his dagger against Kansas.
For his players, many of whom were toddlers when he graced that Sports Illustrated cover, it’s something their parents are much more likely to know about Farokhmanesh. If they seem a little too astonished to learn about their coach’s past, he won’t hesitate to challenge them to a shooting competition.
“Sometimes, they’ll bring it up later and they’re really surprised,” Farokhmanesh said. “I don’t know if I give off a vibe like I couldn’t play back in the day or something.”
Lest anyone forget Farokhmanesh could ball back in the day, his first Colorado State team is a pretty fitting reflection of its coach. Through their first 30 games, the Rams are making 39.6% of their 3s, the fifth-best mark among 365 Division I teams. They haven’t been shy about firing from deep, either, with 48.8% of their shot attempts this season coming from beyond the arc.
“I’ve always enjoyed teams that share the ball, that cut and move and play with pace,” Farokhmanesh said. “It’s what I grew up watching and loving to watch and playing in those types of systems. I’ve always been attracted to or lean toward skill over mostly anything else.”
Lately, it’s been a fruitful strategy. After its midseason lull, Colorado State has won eight games in a row, tying it for the sixth-longest active win streak in Division I. Its most recent victory, a road win against a New Mexico team on the NCAA tournament bubble, gave it at least 20 wins in a season for the sixth time in the past seven years. Though the Rams would almost certainly need to win the Mountain West tournament to earn a spot in the NCAA tournament, it has been an unquestionably successful debut season for Farokhmanesh, especially after Colorado State lost six of its top seven scorers from last season.
If that early promise translates to sustained success as the Rams move on to the newly reconfigured Pac-12 next season, fans across the country will have a different reason to think about Farokhmanesh whenever the calendar turns to March.
“The story of him and the shot and all the stuff like that, that’s a big story,” Medved said. “That was a moment in time. But that’s only a small part of the story. At the end of the day, nobody makes it unless they can actually do the job and they’re caring and they work. His reputation now has nothing to do with that. His reputation now is because he’s a terrific coach.”
Only one Saturday remains until all of men's college basketball moves onto conference tournament week.
NCAA tournament bubble teams are running out of chances to boost their resumes before Selection Sunday, with a few final spots potentially coming down to who performs the best in their conference tournament. Regardless, a number of teams will be sweating as the 68-team bracket is revealed on Sunday, March 15.
There's still plenty left to learn among NCAA tournament bubble teams, especially with a few bid stealers likely to appear throughout conference tournament week.
Here's a look at the latest winners and losers among NCAA Tournament bubble teams:
UCLA moved out of the "Last Four in" category in USA TODAY Sports' latest bracketology update after its impressive 72-52 win over projected No. 3 seed Nebraska on March 3. The Bruins now have a pair of top-10 wins in their past four games, also taking down Illinois in overtime on Feb. 21.
UCLA is 10-10 in Quad 1 and Quad 2 games but now has 20 wins on the season and a trio of impressive wins over Purdue, Illinois and now Nebraska. It also ranks No. 34 in KenPom and No. 36 in the NCAA's Net Rankings, which should be high enough to avoid being one of the final at-large teams in the field, for now.
UCLA is projected as a No. 10 seed in the latest update.
TCU
TCU has won seven of its last eight games, none of which is better than its upset over projected No. 3 seed Texas Tech. The Horned Frogs defeated the Red Raiders 73-65 on the road on March 3, earning their 20th win of the season.
TCU is projected as a No. 8 seed in USA TODAY Sports' latest update, and has some cushion heading into its regular season finale with massive stakes against Cincinnati, another bubble team. The Horned Frogs are in a good spot heading into the Big 12 tournament, where they'll look to cement their case with another win or two.
TCU is projected as a No. 8 seed, firmly in the field as of now.
Cincinnati
Cincinnati is still on the outside looking in, per USA TODAY Sports' projections, but it's among the hottest teams on the bubble right now, winning seven of its last eight games. The Bearcats also defeated Kansas during their streak and also won games against projected NCAA Tournament teams UCF and BYU.
Cincinnati could get another resume-booster in its regular season finale when it travels to face TCU, another bubble team amid a hot streak. A win could go a long way for its chances, especially if it can win a game or two at the Big 12 tournament.
Ohio State
Ohio State is coming off back-to-back wins, including its best win of the season over projected No. 3 seed Purdue. The Buckeyes are now 19-11 this season with two Quad 1 wins, good enough to put them at No. 32 in the NCAA Net's Rankings.
Ohio State seems pretty safe for an NCAA tournament right now and could defeat another bubble team in its regular season finale against Indiana.
Auburn has an interesting NCAA Tournament case, as it's 16-14 on the year but has four Quad 1 wins. The Tigers haven't helped their case as of late, with losses in seven of their last eight games, three of which came against Mississippi State, Oklahoma and Ole Miss, all of which are projected to miss the big dance.
The Tigers end the regular season with a road game against Alabama, and a win could be a huge boost to their resume. A loss, and Auburn might have to win a game or two in the SEC tournament to earn a bid.
Auburn is currently projected as a Last Four In team, per USA TODAY Sports.
Indiana
While Indiana took care of business in its 77-47 win over Minnesota in its last outing, the Hoosiers are still clinging on to the bubble, most recently projected as a First Four Out team in USA TODAY Sports' latest projections.
Indiana has three wins over projected NCAA tournament teams this season in UCLA, Purdue and Wisconsin, but has otherwise struggled against higher-end teams. A road win over Ohio State in its regular season finale could be enough to vault Indiana into the NCAA Tournament, though.
New Mexico
The Mountain West might not put two teams in the NCAA tournament like previously projected, if New Mexico's latest struggles keep it out of an at-large bid.
The Lobos have lost two of their last three games to Nevada and Colorado State, two teams off the NCAA tournament radar. New Mexico is still No. 2 in the Mountain West standings behind Utah State, and the conference's best shot at putting two teams in the big dance would likely be if New Mexico wins the conference tournament and Utah State gets in as an at-large team.
Otherwise, New Mexico could be sweating on Selection Sunday, as it's currently projected as a Last Four In team.
SMU
SMU has lost three consecutive games to California, Stanford and Miami, putting itself in a tough situation heading into its regular season final against Florida State.
The Mustangs are 19-11 this season with four Quad 1 wins, also ranking No. 38 in the NCAA's Net Rankings. Those metrics still favor SMU, although it needs to stop the bleeding before needing some help at the ACC tournament.
SMU is still listed as a Last Four In team in USA TODAY Sports' latest projections, but it almost has to win against Florida State on March 7 to avoid chaos.
The first three No. 1 seeds for the 2026 NCAA Tournament have all but been locked in.
The intrigue in the final weekend of the regular season heading into the conference tournaments is the competition between No. 4 Connecticut and No. 5 Florida for the final No. 1 seed. The Huskies do own the head-to-head win over the Gators, but perhaps no team is hotter than Florida, which is coming off back-to-back 30-point SEC wins.
And then of course there are the bubble teams, where the majority of the intrigue sits at this time of the year. Several other Power 4 conference teams — ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC — enter the final weekend of the regular season with something to prove to get into the Big Dance.
Auburn and Southern California have fallen to the wrong end of the bubble near the end of the regular season. Meanwhile, Miami (Ohio) has kept its perfect season alive, yet is still very much on the bubble ― according to some analysts ― if it cannot pull off an Mid-American Conference tournament championship.
Here’s a look at the latest NCAA tournament bracket projection, which emcompasses games played through Wednesday, March 4:
March Madness bracket predictions
Last Four In
Santa Clara**
SMU**
Indiana**
New Mexico**
First Four Out
Auburn
San Diego State
VCU
California
No. 1 Seeds
Duke (AQ — ACC)
Arizona (AQ — Big 12)
Michigan (AQ — Big Ten)
UConn (AQ — Big East)
While the first three No. 1 seeds are all but locked in, Florida is pushing UConn for the final No. 1 seed, but the Huskies get the edge due to the head-to-head win on Dec. 9, 2025. However, the Gators winning the SEC might change the equation there.
No. 2 Seeds
Florida (AQ — SEC)
Illinois
Houston
Michigan State
Entering the weekend, Florida has won back-to-back SEC games be 30 points, albeit one of them was the lowly Mississippi State. Michigan State could have a chance to lock into a No. 2 seed with a regular season finale win over rival Michigan.
No. 3 Seeds
Purdue
Nebraska
Iowa State
Gonzaga (AQ — West Coast Conference)
Purdue still has a crack at a No. 2 seed, depending on its finish to the season, along with Michigan State's. The Boilermakers are just 6-6 in their last 12 games, but have enough talent to make trouble in the NCAA Tournament regardless of seeding.
Meanwhile, the Cyclones have lost ground in the chase for not only the No. 1 seed, but the No. 2 seed over the last couple of weeks of the season.
No. 4 Seeds
Texas Tech
Kansas
Virginia
Alabama
Alabama's recent loss to Georgia does hurt them a tad, but it helps that they'd still be ahead of a few 6 seeds that are SEC teams they have beaten. Texas Tech is a team that could make a move up the seedings with a good conference tournament, despite losing JT Toppin for the season.
No. 5 Seeds
Vanderbilt
Tennessee
Arkansas
St. John's
Vanderbilt's win over Ole Miss kept them in a good spot entering the final weekend. The Commodores end the season on Saturday against rival Tennessee. St. John's has a chance to help itself in seeding by winning the Big East Conference Tournament over UConn.
No. 6 Seeds
North Carolina
Louisville
Wisconsin
Kentucky
Kentucky's matchup against Florida to end the season could boost the Wildcats, or leave them on the bubble for some. However, they are likely in regardless of that game, but it is hard to gauge how the Wildcats will do in the postseason.
A 15-point win for Louisville over Syracuse stops its recent fall in the seedings.
No. 7 Seeds
Miami
Saint Mary's
Utah State (AQ — Mountain West)
Saint Louis (AQ — Atlantic 10)
Winners of three in a row and nine of their last 11 games, the Miami Hurricanes are a dangerous team getting hot at the right time.
No. 8 Seeds
Brigham Young
Georgia
Villanova
Clemson
BYU is in the tournament due to its 16-1 start to the season, but the Cougars are free falling in the seeding with nine losses in their last 13 games, including a three-game losing streak. Do not sleep on the Villanova Wildcats, who have lost more than half their games this season to UConn and St. John's.
No. 9 Seeds
UCLA
Iowa
North Carolina State
Missouri
The Bruins have picked up steam at the perfect time of the season. UCLA has wins over Nebraska and Illinois over the last couple of weeks and Mick Cronin's team has a resume that ranks inside the top 40. The Bruins went from a bubble team to securing a single-digit seed.
No. 10 Seeds
Texas
Texas A&M
Central Florida
Ohio State
No. 11 Seeds
Miami (Ohio) (AQ — Mid-American)
Cincinatti
Santa Clara**
Southern Methodist**
Indiana**
New Mexico**
The Lobos are still very much on the bubble following a loss to Colorado State on Wednesday, but currently still have an inside track to one of the final spots.
Indiana on the other hand picked up a much-needed blowout win over Minnesota to keep its chances alive for the NCAA Tournament.
Cincinnati has a Quad-1 win over BYU on it recent resume, as well as wins over Iowa State and Kansas. The Bearcats bypass the "last four in" and into the tournament in these projections. SMU is another team that has been on a free fall despite a strong start to the season.
The World Baseball Classic has been the premier opportunity for nations to claim bragging rights as to who produces the best baseball players.
The professional baseball tournament that began in 2006 is back in its sixth rendition featuring 20 national baseball teams to compete in games around the world from March 5 to March 17.
Pool play will be played in in San Juan, Puerto Rico; Houston, Texas; Tokyo, Japan, and Miami, Florida. The quarterfinals will be held in Houston and Miami, while the semifinals and final are in Miami.
In the last WBC tournament, Japan defeated the defending champions United States, 3-2, in the 2023 WBC championship game to claim their record-extending third title.
It was one of the most watched games in baseball history, attracting 5.2 million viewers in the United States and 62 million from Japan.
The game ended with an epic showdown between then-Los Angeles Angels teammates Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani. Ohtani, a dual threat as a pitcher and hitter, pitched against Trout, a home-run maestro himself. Ohtani was named MVP.
This year, the U.S. includes the likes of Aaron Judge, pitchers Logan Webb and Paul Skenes, and sluggers Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber and Bobby Witt Jr.
Here's what you need to know about the World Baseball Classic:
When is the World Baseball Classic?
The World Baseball Classic will run from March 5 to March 17. Here is the full schedule.
How to watch the World Baseball Classic?
Viewing options for the World Baseball Classic differ based on the country region. For example, the WBC will be livestreamed on Netflix in Japan, while in Oceania it will be on ESPN.
FOX Sports has the broadcast of the WBC in the United States. Broadcasts will also be aired on FOX, FS1, FS2 and Tubi.
Which countries are participating?
There are 20 national teams participating in the 2026 World Baseball Classic. The tournament will consist of four pools with five teams each.
Here are the following pools, nations and where they will play during the pool play:
Pool A: San Juan
Canada
Colombia
Cuba
Panama
Puerto Rico
Pool B: Houston
Brazil
Great Britain
Italy
Mexico
United States
Pool C: Tokyo
Australia
Chinese Taipei
Czechia
Japan
Korea
Pool D: Miami
Dominican Republic
Israel
Netherlands
Nicaragua
Venezuela
Who plays for Team USA?
Here's the World Baseball Classic roster for Team USA:
MIAMI, FLORIDA - MARCH 06: Junior Caminero #13 of Team Dominican Republic rounds the bases after hitting a home run against Team Nicaragua during the sixth inning of a 2026 World Baseball Classic Pool D game at loanDepot park on March 06, 2026 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Rich Storry/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Good morning, all! We’re still basking in the glow of the eight glorious World Baseball Classic games yesterday, and guess what? We get eight more today, and then seven more tomorrow and Monday, respectively, before the fire hose of baseball is turned down a bit. But for now, here’s how it feels:
Anyway, we’re keeping it simple for our prompt today. The eight winning teams outscored their opponents yesterday by a combined margin of 76-13, and there were subsequently a whole bunch of awesome dingers! Which one would you describe as the most explosive?
You’ll notice that we used a word that should be almost entirely objective. It’s just a question of which was most aesthetically impressive to you and made your jaw drop the most. One of those “you know it when you see it” kind of deals. Now, how about some contenders?
These were all fun homers to watch for their own unique reasons, and I will say that Sanoja’s makes me laugh the most. But with all due respect to the Captain’s blast in Houston and Cruz’s absolute moonshot, there’s something about Caminero’s that just really blows me away. It might just be because it kind of broke the ballgame with bang, as it went from a tense 3-3 matchup to a Dominican lead, and they just kept their feet on the gas pedal until it was over (enabling Cruz’s howitzer).
Oh, and I just have to say: Congrats to José Contreras and Manny Ramirez’s kids on showing out against Team USA for Brazil at ages 17 and 20, respectively. Eye-opening stuff against a loaded ballclub like that! Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to take some Advil and steadfastly refusing to consider where I was in my own life when those kiddos were born.
Jeremy already ran through the first four WBC games from yesterday early last night, but Peter will have you covered for the other four. Madison will run through our Reacts results from this week’s Yankees survey about which pitching prospect is garnering the most excitement and CC Sabathia’s number retirement. Jonathan will celebrate the birthday of Mike Armstrong (a Forrest Gump-esque figure for the Yankees during a four-year stretch or so in the ’80s), Sam will preview the 2026 Arizona Diamondbacks, and between the Yankees’ exhibition game tonight and eight more WBC games, we’ll have baseball. Oh so much baseball.
Today’s Matchup
New York Yankees vs. Washington Nationals
Time: 6:35 p.m. EST
Video: N/A (Audio available via MLB.tv/106.7 FM Nats radio)
Venue: CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches, West Palm Beach, FL
BOSTON, MA - MARCH 6: Jayson Tatum #0 and Head Coach Joe Mazzulla of the Boston Celtics hug during the game against the Dallas Mavericks on March 6, 2026 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
1. Jayson Tatum is Back
After 298 Days, Jayson Tatum is back playing with the Boston Celtics. TD Garden was buzzing hours before the game and once we heard his name in the starting lineup again, it felt like an ethereal experience. In his first game back Tatum played 27 minutes and finished with 15 points, 12 rebounds, 7 assists on 6-16 shooting from the field and 3-8 shooting from three.
Jayson Tatum gets a huge ovation front the TD Garden crowd in his introduction pic.twitter.com/U8z9TjwNrt
Tatum started the game shooting 0-6 before scoring his first points of the season with a put-back dunk. The following possession, Tatum was able to fake, slide, and hit his patented side-step three to make the TD Garden go into a frenzy. He ended the first half with 5 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists.
The second half saw Tatum trying to be more aggressive hunting his shot. He was able to cut through the defense to find his shots and make two tough catch-and-shoot threes over good contests from the Mavericks.
The most impressive part about Tatum’s return for me was his 7 assists. Even if the shot wasn’t falling, Tatum still looked to make the right play and his gravity alone allowed the Celtics to have a ton of wide open shots.
Postgame Tatum talked about being a step slow or a little too fast a few plays but that is expected coming off the injury. He described his return as “surreal” and said “This is a huge step. I’ve still got a long ways to go.” Tonight was a very special night but when Joe Mazzulla hugged him as he checked out for the final time, you knew that it was official: Jayson Tatum is back.
Jayson Tatum gets a huge standing ovation and a hug from Joe Mazzulla as his night is over:
Leading up to this game, people were rehashing the age old debate between Jaylen Brown vs Jayson Tatum. They would ask “who’s team it was” or “who is the better player.” To quote the great Derrick White on his podcast: “As long as we win, I don’t care who 1A and 1B is” and guess what, the Celtics won.
This brings us to Jaylen Brown’s performance that looked pretty great alongside Jayson Tatum if you could believe it, finishing with 24 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, and 2 steals on 9-17 shooting from the field and 2-5 from three. Brown looked absolutely fired up coming off a rough game against the Hornets and it looked like he fed off of the energy of the sold out TD Garden crowd.
This game gave me flashbacks to the 2024 NBA Finals, partly because they were playing the Mavericks, but really because of the aggression that Brown had when he drove to the basket. Whether he ended in a normal layup, a euro, or a dunk, Brown made it look effortless and it was a treat to watch.
Coming off a good game in the loss to the Hornets on Wednesday, Derrick White continued his hot shooting stretch as of late, finishing with 20 points on 8-16 shooting from the field. White did shoot 2-7 on threes but that wasn’t the part of his game that stood out. To me, it was the fact that he had Jaylen Brown like performance when it came to driving to the paint.
White had to be feeling the energy from the crowd because we saw him throw down two dunks in this game. On these dunks he did a great job when it came to driving hard to the basket and cutting. White has done a great job in the pick-and-roll this season but normally it ends with a pass to the roller. Instead, he decided to take the shots coming off the screen and was able to finish with a lot of easy baskets.
Neemias Queta looked to have gotten injured in his last game against the Hornets, only playing 16 minutes and finishing with 2 points and 2 rebounds. Queta looked fine in this matchup against the Mavericks, finishing with a double-double of 16 points and 15 rebounds on 6-8 shooting.
We saw a glimpse of what the pick-and-roll looked like with Queta and Tatum where it looked like they have the potential to build some great chemistry. Neemias Queta is one of the best screeners in the game and when you pair that with an elite passer of Jayson Tatum’s caliber, it is going to make some beautiful basketball. He also did a great job when it came to finishing tough looks but Boston did a great job overall of finding open shots for Queta and it paid off big time.
Midway through the first quarter, Nikola Vucevic hurt his hand after caught this pass. He looked to have hit his hand on the Mavericks defender and that is what caused the injury.
Later on during the game, Shams reported that Vucevic is expected to miss approximately one month with a fractured his right ring finger is expected to undergo a procedure on Saturday. This is a big loss to the Celtics in a few ways. One is the fact that they just won’t have his production available but the biggest thing is now he will have even less time to develop chemistry with Jayson Tatum. Vucevic is a veteran so I am sure he will be able to adapt but this is just a tough blow.
6. Luka Garza Stepped Up
To replace the production of Vucevic, Luka Garza stepped up in a big way. In 18 minutes off the bench, Garza finished with 10 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 blocks. On offense Garza did a great job of being open and ready to shoot. This resulted in many plays where Boston found him open and he was able to make something happen. On defense, he was great at protecting the rim and contesting shots.
I have faith that Garza will be able to do a great job filling in for Nikola Vucevic over the next month. He was playing some great basketball before the Celtics made the move for Vucevic and has continued to impress in his time since.
The Celtics loss to the Hornets on Wednesday felt like a complete anomaly to the brand of basketball that we are used to seeing. Boston not only lost the turnover battle but they also just looked sluggish which is uncharacteristic of this group. However, they bounced back in a big way against the Mavericks, going back to their brand of basketball.
Boston only turned the ball over 8 times and were able to force 10 against Dallas. The Celtics defense was also locked in, blocking 10 shots and forcing 6 steals. They also shot 47-99 (48%) from the field, showcasing an offense that was clicking on all cylinders. Jaylen Brown said post game against Charlotte to “flush” the loss and I would say they did a pretty good job of that in this win over Dallas.
8. Dominated the Paint
A huge part of the Celtics success in this game was their dominance in the paint. On the boards, they out-rebounded the Mavericks 58-45, with 14 of those coming as offensive rebounds.
Boston did a great job on the offensive side as well, winning the points in the paint battle 52-30. Underneath the basket, the Celtics shot 21-27 (77.8%), doing a great job of finishing after that was a point of emphasis in their loss against Charlotte. Overall, the Celtics just outmuscled the Mavericks tonight on both sides of the ball, leading to their victory.
9. Cooper Flagg Homecoming
Cooper Flagg born in Newport, Maine and was a huge Celtics fan. He said in an interview, “I’m excited. I know there’s going to be a lot of people showing up from Maine & showing support. I’m really excited just to be up there for the first time & play in that arena. It’s the only arena I went to as a little kid. I’m really excited to get an opportunity & I’m just blessed.” You could tell there were a lot of people from Maine in the building because he got a standing ovation from the TD Garden crowd, as a member of the road team.
Cooper Flagg was just introduced in the starting lineups. Not only was he the only Mavs player to not receive boos, he received a tremendous ovation from the fans here at TD Garden. pic.twitter.com/7gFfEnmz9Y
This his first chance to play against his childhood team and he struggled, finishing with 16 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists on 7-23 shooting from the field and 0-4 from three. Flagg had a scary fall early in the game but was able to play through it. Boston did a great job of slowing him down and forcing him to take tough shots after he dropped 36 points in their first matchup of the season on February 3rd.
Although it probably wasn’t his ideal first game in TD Garden, Flagg said post game that it was a “cool experience” to be back in the place that he grew up going to games and thinks it will be “incredibly fun” to come back to Boston for the rest of his career.
Cooper Flagg was asked if the experience of playing at TD Garden met his expectations and if he’d like to experience it “with the home crowd” as opposed to with the #Mavs:
The hype for this game was at an all time high and the Celtics fans in the building brought the energy. From the first time Tatum ran out of the tunnel, the crowd went nuts. When they announced Tatum in the starting lineup the crowd went into a frenzy. Finally, any time Tatum touched the ball the crowd wanted to blow the roof off of the place.
This had the atmosphere of an NBA Finals game and being in the building to experience this historic night in Boston Celtics history was incredible. You could see the players feed off the energy and use it to go on some insurmountable runs like their 36-12 run from the 4:16 mark of the third quarter to the 5:12 mark of the fourth quarter.
Boston knows when a moment is a special and can get loud to a level that not many other cities around the NBA can. This is why Celtics fans are the best fans in the world.
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