Women's March Madness bracket breakdown, plus MLB is live

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Good morning! Baseball’s quasi-Opening Day is happening right now.

Superlatives, Round 2: One last cram session

How many times have you filled out your brackets already? Don’t lie. This is how we spend our time this week — sorry to all bosses — and it should be a cherished tradition to fret over teams whose games you’ve never watched. Normal behavior. 

Today we preview the women’s bracket, which, again, may be even more compelling than the men’s side. Superlatives incoming: 

The big dogs: UCLA, South Carolina, Texas and USC
What a group. We have a modern blueblood here in the Gamecocks, who are the defending champs, but the Bruins have both been the best team this year and walloped South Carolina along the way. UCLA’s only loss? To USC, which may have the best player in the tournament in JuJu Watkins. One of South Carolina’s three losses also came to Texas, which was simply brilliant this year. If all these teams make the Final Four, we should be thrilled. UCLA probably has the best path, too. 

Lurking giants: TCU, UConn and LSU
Hailey Van Lith found a proper home with the Horned Frogs and was a top-10 player in the sport this year. The Huskies have Paige Bueckers, which forever makes them dangerous. My Tigers have talent and experience throughout the roster — which is finally healthy — but couldn’t finish against top-five teams this year. Also in this conversation: Duke, which poses a serious threat to the Gamecocks.

Upset picks: Norfolk State and whoever plays Michigan
Sorry if that came off crass, Wolverines fans, but our experts think either Iowa State or Princeton (which play each other in a play-in game) could upend No. 6 seed Michigan. If the Cyclones make it, Audi Crooks will be a problem. Norfolk State, meanwhile, plays Maryland and features Diamond Johnson, who has significant Power 5 experience. Two upset links for you: 

Expert says: UCLA wins, but a surprising Final Four
Chantel Jennings knows the sport better than anyone and chose Lauren Betts and the Bruins to win it all. But I took more insight from her full bracket, which includes Notre Dame and UConn making the Final Four. Copy her bracket here. 

Do we feel prepped? I do. Here’s a full trove of info for the women’s bracket, which again operates better as a permanent tab this week rather than a link you have to find over and over again. 

We’ll have more tomorrow, of course. Let’s keep moving:

News to Know

Alex Slitz / Getty Images

Another NFL record
The Texans agreed to a three-year, $90 million extension with cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. yesterday, making the fourth-year player the highest-paid DB in NFL history. Stingley was first-team All-Pro this past season after snatching five interceptions and defending 18 passes, second-most in the league. It comes a day after Ja’Marr Chase signed a deal to become the highest-paid non-QB in NFL history. I wonder where those guys went to school.

In Unrivaled, all roses
Chelsea Gray and the Rose Basketball Club are the first-ever Unrivaled champions after beating Vinyl Basketball Club 62-54 last night. Gray had just three points at halftime but finished with 18 and eight assists. Moreover, it highlighted a wildly successful first season of the new pro women’s basketball league. Ben Pickman has more takeaways here.

George done
Sixers forward Paul George will miss the rest of the season after receiving injections in his knee and adductor muscle, the team said, ending a disastrous first year for Paul in Philly. George, who arrived as a superstar savior this offseason, played just 41 games this season. The 34-year-old also decided to shut down his podcast three weeks ago, with the Sixers 17 games below .500. 🫠

More news

• Colorado coach Deion Sanders wants to practice against other teams then face them in a competitive spring game, rather than hold an intrasquad scrimmage. I think I support this.
  
• Iga Swiatek explained her behavior at Indian Wells this week. Strange year for the former world No. 1.
  
• The Marlins were forced to pull an ad for a “practice squad” after possible legal issues arose. Full details here.

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Watch and Listen

📺 NHL: Utah at Edmonton
9 p.m. ET on ESPN
It’s good to keep an eye on hockey as basketball floods the zone over the next few weeks. The Oilers are once again one of the league’s best teams, and outside of the obvious top-line talent, goalie Stuart Skinner is a big reason why. Utah’s been hot, though, and is very much in contention for a playoff spot. 

📺 NCAAM: No. 11 North Carolina vs. No. 11 San Diego State
9:10 p.m. ET on truTV
Time to find truTV on your digital dial. The action actually starts earlier tonight (6:40 p.m. game between No. 16 seeds St. Francis and Alabama State), but this is the juicier game, as the Tar Heels probably shouldn’t be here and the Aztecs are already a top upset pick if they make it to the first round. ‘Tis the season. 

Get tickets to games like these here.

Pulse Picks

Baseball still approaches, too, no matter the week’s basketball-ness. Here are our first MLB Power Rankings of the year, with an intriguing top five. After the defending champs, of course. 

I was fascinated by every aspect of Ken Rosenthal’s story about Roki Sasaki and the Japanese company that played an unexpectedly huge role — to the dismay of MLB execs — in his recruitment. Read that here. 

We also have a review of MLB The Show 25, which sounds fun. 

Ralph Russo has a pertinent update on NCAA Tournament expansion, which isn’t a slam dunk. 

The Mavericks are really, really tired of hearing the “Fire Nico” chants during games. 

There is joy in Cincinnati this week, but as Paul Dehner Jr. writes, there is also plenty of fallout from signing Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. A good watch: See Dianna Russini and Chase Daniel break this down.

Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Men’s bracket upset picks, of course. 

Most-read on the website yesterday: Austin Mock’s full list of odds for every men’s tournament game.

(Top photo: Brian Rothmuller / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)