NCAA Tournament fields set; TPC playoff underway; Bengals extend star wide receivers

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🏀 Good morning to all, but especially to …

THE MEN’S NCAA TOURNAMENT FIELD …

The field is set (as are the schedule, the early-round odds and title odds), and we start at the top. The No. 1 seeds belong to …

Moving from the top of the field to the bubble, North Carolina was a shock inclusion, concluding a rollercoaster weekend.

• Friday night, the Tar Heels trailed Duke by 24. Then they came charging back, only for Jae’Lyn Withers to commit a lane violation on what would have been a game-tying Ven-Allen Lubin free throw. Duke won, 74-71.
• It looked like that would be it. The Tar Heels’ resume lacks high-quality wins. Beating the Blue Devils would have gone a long way.
• But on Saturday night, the committee had UNC as the last team in, and Memphis beating UAB kept it that way.
• Bracketologist Jerry Palm even says the Tar Heels didn’t deserve to make it … but they could be dangerous.

Texas, Xavier and San Diego State joined North Carolina in the “Last Four In,” and those four teams are headed to Dayton for the “First Four.”

One more headline: The SEC put 14 teams in the NCAA Tournament, not only breaking the previous record, but shattering it. The Big East had 11 teams qualify in 2011

OK, time to dig deeper: Matt Norlander ranked every single team 1-68. Here’s his top five:

1. Duke — “The most talented team in the sport and the No. 1 choice in most advanced metrics. The only team in this bracket with 31 wins. This is an easy pick.”
2. Auburn — “The 28-5 Tigers have one of the two best college basketball players in Johni Broome, but for all he does, it’s the fact that guard Denver Jones and big man Dylan Cardwell are defensive stalwarts that make Auburn’s ceiling so high.”
3. Houston — “The Cougars are as reliable as pretty much anything going in college basketball.”
4. Florida — “The reason the Gators can win a national title is how they cover so much of the floor and adapt to every opponent, every style, no matter what.”
5. St. John’s — “A remarkable team that’s extremely hard to beat. And it’s the sixth school Rick Pitino has brought to the Dance, which is an NCAA record.”

Minutes before the bracket arrived, Michigan won the Big Ten Tournament final over Wisconsin. But the 5-seed Wolverines got a rough draw, Isaac Trotter says.

• Trotter: “The No. 5 seed Wolverines will be short favorites in the first round against UC San Diego who, on paper, gives Michigan a lot of problems. The Tritons are one of the best turnover-forcing defenses in the country. Michigan has struggled with giveaways all year. … If Michigan can escape that dogfight, it could get a bout with Texas A&M, who is another defense built to take away the shot that Michigan desperately relies upon: buckets at the rim.”

I wrote about the Tritons, so let me tell ya: They’re a heck of a team … and an even better story. As for Michigan, Kyle Boone says this seed doesn’t make sense.

Here’s everything else:

… AND EVERYONE IN THE WOMEN’S NCAA TOURNAMENT

Moving onto the women’s side (here’s the bracket), the No. 1 seeds are …

• UCLA (1 in Spokane 1) — The Bruins earned this one, defeating USC in an excellent Big Ten Tournament final. Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Lauren Betts leads the way.
• South Carolina (1 in Birmingham 2) — The reigning champs aren’t last year’s undefeated outfit, but you know you’re a dominant program when a 30-3 record, SEC regular-season and tournament titles and a No. 1 seed is a downgrade.
• Texas (1 in Birmingham 3) — The dynamic Madison Booker-Rori Harmon duo leads the Longhorns, who led the SEC in scoring defense.
• USC (1 in Spokane 4) — The Trojans boast arguably the game’s brightest star in JuJu Watkins, and they have plenty around her.

You’ll notice some big ones not listed there: Notre Dame, the top team in the nation in late February, fell all the way to a No. 3 seed after a tough closing stretch. UConn, meanwhile, got a No. 2 seed, but the Huskies have made 15 of the last 16 Final Fours, and they’re in the top five of Isabel Gonzalez’s ranking the field 1-68.

Jack Maloney has his Selection Sunday winners and losers. It was a good day for UCLA and the Ivy League, a not-so-great day for Notre Dame and a mixed bag for South Carolina, which finds itself in both categories.

Another team we still haven’t mentioned? LSU. The Tigers are dangerous, Isabel writes in her 25 things to know.

• Gonzalez: “LSU fell to Texas in the 2025 SEC semifinals, but it happened while leading scorer Flau’Jae Johnson sat out so she could recover from shin inflammation. Johnson will be available for the Big Dance, and so will double-double machine Aneesah Morrow, who had an injury scare during the Texas game.”

😊 Honorable mentions

😡 And not such a good morning for …

THE WEST VIRGINIA MOUNTAINEERS, THE INDIANA HOOSIERS AND THE REST OF THE NCAA TOURNAMENT 

What hurts the most is being so close. West Virginia and Indiana were the first two teams out of the NCAA Tournament, news that was especially crushing for the Mountaineers, who were not only in our bracketologist Jerry’s field, but in all 111 projections on Bracket Matrix.

We can quibble with a lot of things here. Several metrics, including the NET, favored North Carolina over both West Virginia and Indiana. But look at the Quad 1 records.

• North Carolina: 1-12
• West Virginia: 6-10
• Indiana: 4-13

There’s a point in favor of the Mountaineers (and even the Hoosiers) over the Tar Heels. But, again, let’s go back to West Virginia: Selection committee chair Bubba Cunningham noted Tucker DeVries‘ injury as something that was taken into account.

That would make sense if DeVries’ injury was a recent thing, and the team looked very different without him. But DeVries hasn’t played since Dec. 6! The Mountaineers have four Quad 1 wins (including over Iowa State, a No. 3 seed, and at Kansas, a No. 7 seed) without him.

Listen, no bracket is perfect. But that won’t make the Mountaineers feel any better. 

😕 Not so honorable mentions

🏌 Rory McIlroy, J.J. Spaun in Players Championship playoff

After 72 holes weren’t enough, Rory McIlroy and J.J. Spaun are in a three-hole playoff (holes 16, 17 and 18) at the Players Championship.

• McIlroy was in a good spot with a three-stroke lead after birdies on 11 and 12, sandwiched around a four-hour weather delay.
• But McIlroy bogeyed 14 after a wayward drive and missed a short birdie putt on 15. Spaun, meanwhile, tapped in birdie putts on 14 and 16.
• Spaun, seeking his first PGA Tour win, had a chance to win it with a 31-foot birdie putt on 18 but came up just inches short.

You can follow our live coverage here. 

🏀 Men’s college basketball coaching carousel: Candidates at Villanova, Iowa, more

As one season ends for most college basketball teams, another one — the offseason — begins. Villanova fired Kyle Neptune, Iowa fired Fran McCaffrey, and UNLV fired Kevin Kruger as the coaching carousel accelerated.

Villanova might be the most interesting. The Wildcats have legitimate NIL resources and, obviously, a tremendous track record of success, just not under Neptune. Isaac Trotter has candidates for ‘Nova’s next head coach, including …

• Trotter: “Chris Collins, Northwestern — Collins snapped Northwestern’s NCAA Tournament drought in 2017, and he’s led the Wildcats to three Big Dance bids, which felt inconceivable … Collins has built top-40 defenses six times in his 12-year tenure, and he’s both recruited and developed terrific All-Big Ten hoopers like Boo Buie, Brooks Barnhizer, Nick Martinelli (who had no other high-major offers) and countless more.”

We also have candidates for Iowa and Minnesota.

📺 What we’re watching Monday (and Tuesday*)

⛳ The Players Championship, 9 a.m. on Golf Channel
🏀 Heat at Knicks, 7:30 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 Unrivaled championship: Rose BC vs. Vinyl BC, 7:30 p.m. on TNT/truTV
🏀 Nuggets at Warriors, 10 p.m. on ESPN
* ⚾ Tokyo Series: Dodgers vs. Cubs, 6:10 a.m. on FOX