Metrics dominate the March Madness conversation before the NCAA Tournament. That's not the case with the College Football Playoff. Could that change?
France have chance to show rugby’s power axis has shifted emphatically
Penaud and Bielle-Biarrey eye records, but main focus is on backing up stunning win over Ireland with trophy
There could be a blizzard of broken records in Paris on Saturday night. On one wing, Damian Penaud could score his 39th try to overtake Serge Blanco as France’s all-time leading try-scorer, on the other Louis Bielle-Biarrey needs his eighth try to break the record set by Jacob Stockdale for the most in a single tournament, and in between the two, Thomas Ramos needs seven points to go past Frédéric Michalak and become the country’s record scorer. If their team score four tries between them, they will break the mark of 29 in one Six Nations, set by England back in 2001.
None of which will matter a damn if they don’t win.
Continue reading...St. John’s Red Storm and Creighton Bluejays meet in Big East Championship
Creighton Bluejays (23-9, 17-5 Big East) vs. St. John's Red Storm (28-4, 20-2 Big East) New York; Saturday, 6:30 p.m. EDT BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Red Storm -6.5; over/under is 140.5 BOTTOM LINE: No. St. John's and Creighton play for the Big East Championship.
Bryant and Maine play for America East Championship
Maine Black Bears (20-13, 12-6 America East) at Bryant Bulldogs (22-11, 16-2 America East) Smithfield, Rhode Island; Saturday, 11 a.m. EDT BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Bulldogs -7.5; over/under is 144 BOTTOM LINE: Bryant and Maine play for the America East Championship. The Bulldogs are 16-2 against America East opponents and 6-9 in non-conference play.
Houston faces Arizona in Big 12 Championship game
Arizona Wildcats (21-11, 16-7 Big 12) vs. Houston Cougars (28-4, 21-1 Big 12) Kansas City, Missouri; Saturday, 6 p.m. EDT BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Cougars -7.5; over/under is 135 BOTTOM LINE: No. Houston squares off against Arizona in the Big 12 Championship.
Duke takes on Louisville in ACC Championship game
The Blue Devils are 21-1 against ACC opponents and 8-2 in non-conference play. Duke has a 1-1 record in games decided by less than 4 points. The Cardinals are 20-2 in ACC play.
Maryland meets Michigan in Big Ten Tournament
Michigan Wolverines (22-9, 15-6 Big Ten) vs. Maryland Terrapins (24-7, 15-6 Big Ten) Indianapolis; Saturday, 3:30 p.m. EDT BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Terrapins -4; over/under is 150.5 BOTTOM LINE: No. Maryland and No.
Auburn faces Tennessee in SEC Tournament
Auburn takes on No. Tennessee in the SEC Tournament. The Tigers are 16-3 against SEC opponents and 12-1 in non-conference play.
Charleston (SC) plays in CAA Tournament against the Campbell
Campbell Camels (19-11, 13-6 CAA) vs. Charleston (SC) Cougars (23-6, 15-4 CAA) Washington; Saturday, 4:30 p.m. EDT BOTTOM LINE: Charleston (SC) and Campbell meet in the CAA Tournament. The Cougars have gone 15-4 against CAA opponents, with an 8-2 record in non-conference play.
Norfolk State Spartans square off against the Howard Bison in MEAC Championship
Howard ranks third in the MEAC with 12.1 offensive rebounds per game led by Zennia Thomas averaging 3.0. Norfolk State makes 43.9% of its shots from the field this season, which is 8.1 percentage points higher than Howard has allowed to its opponents (35.8%). Howard averages 5.7 made 3-pointers per game this season, 0.5 more makes per game than Norfolk State allows.
Colorado State defeats Utah State in Mountain West semifinals 83-72
Nique Clifford had 26 points in Colorado State's 83-72 victory over Utah State on Friday in the Mountain West Conference Tournament semifinals. The No. 2-seed, Colorado State will play fifth-seeded Boise State in Saturday's championship game. The Broncos upset top-seeded New Mexico in Friday's first semifinal.
UC Irvine beats Cal Poly 96-78 in Big West Conference Tournament semifinals
Bent Leuchten had 21 points in UC Irvine's 96-78 victory against Cal Poly on Friday in the Big West Conference Tournament semifinals. UC Irvine, the tournament's No. seed, will face top-seeded UC San Diego in Saturday's championship game.
Degenhart and Boise State knock off top-seed New Mexico in MWC Tournament semifinals 72-69
Tyson Degenhart led No. 5 seed Boise State with 22 points and Andrew Meadow sealed the victory with a 3-pointer with 46 seconds remaining as the Broncos upset top-seeded New Mexico 72-69 on Friday in the Mountain West Conference Tournament semifinals. Degenhart shot 8 for 14 (2 for 7 from 3-point range) and 4 of 6 from the free-throw line for the Broncos (24-9). Emmanuel Ugbo scored 17 points and added five rebounds and three blocks.
Clemson’s Brownell ‘disappointed’ after team locked out of lockerroom at halftime of ACC semifinal
The 10th-ranked Clemson Tigers trailed No. 13 Louisville 33-28 at halftime of Friday night’s semifinal game at the ACC Tournament and were in need of some in-game adjustments. Clemson players wound up sitting on the cement floor outside of the locker room while coach Brad Brownell addressed his team. Whether it was coincidence or not, Clemson did not play well early in the second half, eventually falling behind by 15 after going more than six minutes without a field goal.
Panthers road trip continues against Montreal squad fighting for playoff spot
The Florida Panthers will be looking to make it a perfect visit to Canada when they visit the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night.
Fresh off Thursday’s 3-2 victory in Toronto, the Panthers will continue their nearly two-week road trip against the Canadiens squad desperate to keep pace in an extremely tight playoff race.
Entering play Saturday, Montreal is a single point behind the Columbus Blue Jackets and New York Rangers, who are tied with 70 points for the final Wild Card spot in the East, though currently Columbus holds the tiebreaker with a game in hand on New York.
Montreal has been playing some solid hockey of late, and it’s been what has prolelled them back into the thick of the Wild Card hunt.
After enduring a stretch between January and February in which the Habs lost eight of nine, things have turned around significantly since the 4 Nations break for Montreal.
They’ve picked up points in eight of nine and are hoping to build on the 6-1-2 run that has, at least for now, saved their season.
The next week will go a long way toward Montreal maintaining their position as a playoff hopeful, as they’ll face Florida, the Ottawa Senators, New York Islanders and Colorado Avalanche.
Ottawa and Colorado are currently holding playoff spots while the Islanders are four points back of the final Wild Card spot and fighting for every point they can get.
Here are the Panthers projected lines and pairings for Saturday’s matchup in Montreal:
Carter Verhaeghe – Sasha Barkov – Sam Reinhart
Mackie Samoskevich – Sam Bennett – Evan Rodrigues
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Jesper Boqvist
A.J. Greer – Nico Sturm – Tomas Nosek
Gus Forsling – Seth Jones
Niko Mikkola – Dmitry Kulikov
Nate Schmidt – Uvis Balinskis
Scratches: Jonah Gadjovich, Brad Marchand
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