Coach Brad Underwood leads the Illinois to its first Final Four since 2005. (Photo courtesy of Reuters).
The Final Four will tip off Saturday afternoon at 5:09 CT/6:09 ET with the Illinois Fighting Illini squaring off with the somewhat Cinderella UConn Huskies. You could say both teams are Cinderellas, and prolific ones at that. The Fighting Illini had an easy time with Iowa in the South Regional of the Elite Eight Saturday evening, while the Huskies came back from a 19 point first half deficit to shock No.1 seeded Duke in the East Regional Sunday in a dynamic basketball game. More on that below.
That game featuring a pair of overachievers will be followed by, at approximately 7:40 CT/8:40 ET, a pair of Goliaths in college basketball this season, the Michigan Wolverines and the Arizona Wildcats. Michigan easily disposed of Tennessee in the Midwest Regional Final Sunday, while the Wildcats took care of business handily against Purdue in the Western Regional on Saturday Night. There is off the charts NBA talent on these two rosters.
Here are predictions for these two classics on Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indy.
I told Excedrin “Gameological” Bates last Thursday that I was taking the Tom Cruise/RiskyBusiness approach to the Sweet 16 picks: “Sometimes you gotta say, what the…Heck?” So I took some chances with the picks. Didn’t work out like I wanted, but you just gotta get back up when you’re knocked down and try again as Bear Bryant liked to say.
Final Four Games
Saturday
Game 1
No.3 Illinois (29-8) vs. No. 2 UConn (33-5)
Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis (70,000)
5:09 CT/6:09 ET
TBS/truTV/HBO Max, a lot of options Ian (Bird) Eagle, Bill, Grant, Trace, Gene (Rules)
Pregame, Halftime, Postgame: Ernie, Kenny, Charles, Special K, Bruuuce
TV Timeouts: Samual L. Charles, Spike Lee Joint, Earvin, Jenn, Caitlin
Illini by 2 1/2, 139 1/2
What a comeback by the Huskies on Sunday. Freshman Braylon Mullins, from Greenfield,Indiana, connected on a trifecta from downtown French Lick (35 feet) with .4 seconds lefton the clock to send the Huskies to the Final Four. Mullins is going home to try and win a national championship. I like him and these amazing Huskies to do just that. Meanwhile,Duke keeps scratching their head about their young coach, Jon Scheyer (38 years old), and these five-star freshmen that seem to gag in the clutch. But it’s nothing new. They gagged several times under Mike Krzyzewski as well, though he did win 5 national titles. Still think Wooden was better. UConn under Dan Hurley has already won back to back national titles in 2023 and 2024.
UConn 74, Illinois 70
Give me Braylon Mullins and the Huskies Saturday at Lucas Oil. (Photo courtesy of NCAA.com)
Game 2
No.1 Michigan vs. No.1 Arizona
Lucas Oil
7:49 CT/8:49 ET TBS/truTV/HBO Max
Same crew calling game, doing pregame/halftime/postgame and commercials
Michigan by 1 1/2, 157 1/2
I’ll take the great UAB power forward transfer, Yax Lendeborg, UNC transfer point guard Elliot Cadeau, and the Wolverines to play UConn in the National Championship Game.
Michigan 80, Zona 78
Elliot Cadeau and the Wolverines advance to the National Championship Game (Photo courtesy of College Sports Network).
Yaxel Lendborg leads the extravagant spending Michigan Wolverines into Chicago to face the Crimson Tide. (Photo courtesy of USA Today).
Sixteen teams embark on their respective missions to reach Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis for the Final Four Saturday, April 4th, as the teams lock horns in the Sweet 16, which begins on Thursday. A lot of talent in this final 16 group in what has been a highly enjoyable college basketball season. Here are predictions for the 8 games that commence Thursday Night, with 4 games on tap Thursday. And then on Friday Night, there will be 4 more games on the docket.
Record for 2025
Sweet 16 through National Championship Game- along with 2025 SEC Tourney Predictions, though some of the ATS and Over/Under games were not applicable in the SECT due to misses straight up in some games.
Straight up: 19-10; ATS: 14-14; Over/Under: 14-9.
2026 Predictions from the SEC Tournament and 3 Vanderbilt games-SEC Championship Game and two NCAA games
SU: 8-7; ATS: 7-8; O/U: 11-4
Thursday’s games
All teams No.’s are their seeds in region, not their national ranking.
West Region
No.11 Texas (21-14) vs. No.2 Purdue
SAP Center at San Jose, San Jose, CA., 18,543
6:10 PM CT/7:10 ET
CBS Brian Anderson, Jim Jackson, Allie LaForce
Purdue by 7 1/2, 148 1/2
I’ll take the Boilermakers to advance to the Elite 8.
Purdue 78, Texas 70
South Region
No.9 Iowa (23-12) vs. Nebraska (28-6)
Toyota Center, Houston, 18,104
6:30 PM CT/7:30 ET TBS/truTV
Kevin Harlan, Stan Van Gundy, Robbie Hummel, Lauren Shehadi Nebraska by 1 1/2, 131 1/2
Give me those scrappy Cornhuskers over another scrappy team in the Hawkeyes.
Nebraska 68, Iowa 62
West
No.4 Arkansas (28-8) vs. No.1 Arizona (34-2)
SAP Center, San Jose
8:45 P.M. CT/9:45 ET
CBS
Brian, Jim, Allie
Zona by 7 1/2, 166 1/2
I’m going to take Darius Acuff Jr. and John Calipari to pull off the upset
Arkansas 84, ‘Zona 83
South
No.3 Illinois (26-8) vs. No.2 Houston (30-6)
Toyota Center, Houston
9:05 P.M. CT/10:05 ET
TBS/truTV
Kevin, Stan Van, Robbie, Lauren
Houston by 3 1/2, 140 1/2
I don’t see this Houston team as good as 2025’s National Championship runner-up, but I still like’em a lot. And they’re at home.
Houston 71, Illini 67
Friday‘s games
East Region
No.6 St. John’s (30-6) vs. No.1 Duke (34-2)
Capital One Arena, D.C., 20,356
6:10 P.M. CT/7:10 ET
CBS
Ian, Bill, Grant, Trace Duke by 6 1/2, 141 1/2
This will be a classic, and I’ll take the “maestro,” as Dickie V. calls him. Give me the savvy veteran St. John’s coach, Richard Anthony Pitino. I love St. John’s 6’9″, 245 senior power forward Zuby Ejiofor from Garland, Texas as well.
St. John’s 72, Duke 70
Midwest
No.4 Alabama (25-9) vs. No. Michigan
United Center, Chicago, 20, 917
6:35 P.M. CT/7:35 ET
TBS/truTV
Andrew Catalon, Steve Lappas, Evan Washburn
Michigan by 9 1/2, 174 1/2
Nate Oats isn’t my favorite person right now with all that’s gone on in his program the last three years, but he’s got a very good basketball team. The Crimson Tide sank 19 trifectas against Texas Tech on 30 attempts this past Sunday Night. I really like the way this team is playing right now.
Give me Philon, Philon, Philon, Latrell Wrightsell, Houston Mallette and that excellent shooting offense. I also like the way the Crimson Tide is playing defense right now, and I see Aiden Sherrell holding his own underneath against Yaxel Linderborg and Aday Mara. Aiden is high quality and a class act. I’ll go with the massive upset in Chitown. Bama shoots its way into the Elite 8, locks down just enough on defense and keeps it close on the boards.
Crimson Tide 89, Michigan 86
East
No.3 Michigan State (27-7) vs. No.2 UConn (31-5)
Capital One Arena
8:45 P.M. CT/9:45 ET
CBS
Ian, Bill, Grant, Trace
UConn by 1 1/2, 135 1/2
This should be a classic. Give me the great Tom Izzo and his Spartans to advance.
Michigan State 68, UConn 66
Midwest No.5 Tennessee (24-11) vs. No.2 Iowa State (29-7)
United Center
9:10 PM CT/10:10 ET
TBS/truTV
Andrew, Steve, Evan
Iowa State by 4 1/2, 138 1/2
I’m bullish on this Cyclones team. They advance to face the Crimson Tide in the Elite 8.
T Tanner (left) and Duke with big days in round 1 in OKC to lead us to victory. (Photo courtesy of YouTube).
Tyler Tanner dropped in 26 on 7-of-16 from the field, 3-of-8 from triple, and 9-of-10 from the stripe, and added 7 boards and 5 assists, as our Vanderbilt Commodores Men’s Basketball team advanced through the first round of the NCAA Tournament with a 78-68 victory over a scrappy McNeese team at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City.
We moved to 27-8 on the season, and, most importantly, “matriculated” to the second round of the tournament where we’ll face the fourth-seeded Nebraskas Cornhuskers (27-6, 15-5 Big Ten) at 7:45 P.M. CT/8:45 ET Saturday. TNT will broadcast our game with Nebraska.
The Cornhuskers reached the second round by blasting Troy,76-47 in the game before us at the Paycom Center. We are the fifth seed in the South Region. We are a 1 1/2 point favorite over Nebraska as this time.
Duke Miles added 13, and Tyler Nickel and Devin McGlockton chipped in 12 apiece. AK Okereke finished with only seven points, but led us in rebounding with 9. Devin added 8. We out-rebounded them, 37-34. We were 26-of-51 from the field, 51%, 9-of-24 from trifecta, 38%, and 17 of 20 from the stripe, 85%. We held them to 36 percent from the field, but they sank 9 threes like we did. They were a scrappy team and had our number for a while in the first half. But we picked up our intensity in the last 25 minutes and played solid basketball from that point on.
Coach Mark “By” Byington calls this “a road game” for us Saturday against Nebraska. Hopefully we can have a strong contingency there. If you live in the Oklahoma City area and you’re an alum, please come out and support our stellar team.
Nebraska got 23 points out of their 6’7″, 210 junior forward Pryce Sandfort Thursday vs Troy. He was 7-of-12 from trifecta, and 2 of 2 from the stripe for his 23 points. Jamarques Lawrence and Braden Frager added 13, and 6’10”, 250 center Reink Mast finished with 11 and 6 boards.
Nebraska’s coach is Fred Hoiberg, who had a lot of success at Iowa State from 2010-2015, going 115-56 (67%) with four trips to the NCAA Tournament. The Cyclones went to the Sweet 16 in 2014 under Hoiberg.
He moved on to the Chicago Bulls of the Association after that and went 115-155 before getting fired in 2018-19. It’s hard for any college coach to succeed in the pros either in Football and Basketball.
Just ask Nick Saban, Steve Spurrier, Rick Pitino or John Calipari. Four of the greatest coaches of all time in their respective sports, each of whom could not succeed on the professional level. Those guys like discipline, and in the pros you have to be a player’s coach, and those guys just didn’t want to do that. But they had superior success in college, and Pitino and Calipari are still going strong with teams that can do some major damage in this NCAA Tournament with Pitino at St. John’s and Cal at Arkansas.
Hoiberg probably ran into the same issues.Billy Donovan, who was so successful at Florida winning back to back national championships in 2006 and 2007, is finding the same struggles in the NBA with the Chicago Bulls. His teams either miss the playoffs or barely make it to the Play-In games every year. Right now, Donovan’s team is at 28-42 and in 12th place and looking not too swift to make the NBA Playoffs. He’s a superb coach and would make an excellent coach in college again if he wanted to come back.
Hoiberg looked like he faced the same issues. He’s doing very well after a slow start at Nebraska. He started in 2019-20 and went 7-25, then 7-20 in 20-21, 10-22 in 21-22, but broke through in 23-24 going 23-11 and making the NCAA Tournament where the Huskers lost in the first round. Last year they won the CBC Champions Tournament, a level below the NIT, and this season has been a spectacular one for Nebraska.
So what do we need to do to be successful Saturday? We need to guard them hard on the three, win the boards or stay equal, and we need EVERYBODY to contribute. We’ll need big games from Tyler Tanner, Tyler Nickel and Duke and we’ll need Devin, Jalen Washington, AK and Chandler Bing to give their usual stellar contributions on offense AND defense. As By always says, “we’ll have to guard.”
I like us to bring our lunch pales, hit big shots, defend well and stay equal or a little better on the boards and come out victorious in a tremendously hard fought game. This is a very good Nebraska team.
Vanderbilt 75, Nebraska 73
Our No. 2 seeded Vanderbilt Women’s Basketball team (Fort Worth Regional) tips off at 6 P.M. CT/7 ET vs No. 15 seed High Point at Memorial in Nashville on Saturday. The game will be broadcast by ESPN News.
The amazing Mikayla Blakes was named first team All American by the Associated Press earlier this week. Mikayla leads the country in scoring at 27 points per game. In my opinion, Mikayla should be the National Player of the Year. Will keep you posted Coach Shea Ralph and our women’s progress. Will send out a full briefing on Monday.
A couple of brief things which I want to elaborate more on Monday, our baseball team plays at No.6 Mississippi State today through Sunday. The game today is at 7 CT/8 ET on the SEC Network. Saturday’s game is at 6 P.M. CT/7 ET on SEC Network+, and Sunday’s game commences at 1 P.M. CT/2 ET on SECN+ as well. We are 13-9, far from our standards. We gotta learn how to pitch if we want to have a chance to have any success this season. Got a long way to go there. We’re hitting .308, so usually we’re good at the plate, and we’re fielding well at .979, but our team ERA is 4.89, which is unacceptable for Vanderbilt University Baseball under Tim Corbin. We’ve had some detrimental injuries to our pitching staff, but there are no excuses. Need to figure it out starting tonight or it could be a long, painful season.
Our No. 12 Women’s Tennis team is on a roll after defeating No,37 Ole Miss yesterday, 5-2. No.33 nationally ranked Bridget Stammel, No.25 Valeria Ray, Trinetra Vijayakumar and Sophia Webster all won in singles and we won the doubles point as well. We moved to 16-4 overall and 6-2 in the SEC. We have now won 5 straight SEC matches with one coming over then No.1 Georgia and another over then No.11 South Carolina, both at the Lummis Family Tennis Center at VU. We are @ No.11 LSU Saturday at 11 A.M.Great stuff from Coach Aleke Tsoubanos and our team. Our usual number one player, Celia- Belle Mohr, is not playing at this time. I’m going to do some investigating and “get back to you” on this on Monday. Need Celia-Belle back for sure. But we’re doing well even without her.
Men’s Golf is presently tied for fourth after the first round of the Linger Longer Invitational at the Great Waters Course at Reynolds Plantation Lake Oconee in Eatonton, GA. We are -10. Georgia leads at 21 under. We’re playing solid golf. Michael Riebe, Jon Ed Steed and Ryan Downes all shot 3 under/69, today on the par 72 course. Wells Williams finished at 1 under/71. Need to get back in it on Saturday and win it on Sunday. Two more rounds left. Need a big performance Saturday. Our guys tee off at 8:24 A.M. CT/9:24 ET with Wells leading us off.
The Men’s tennis team is ranked 13th nationally by the ITA Rankings, which also ranks our women. The guys are playing @ No.3 Texas right now. We lost the doubles point, but are highly competitive in the singles right now.
Will keep you apprised on everything on Monday, with a blast on Sunday on our men’s and women’s basketball teams with hopefully successful outcomes.
Tyler Nickel (left) and Jalen Washington lead the Commodores into Oklahoma City Thursday for Round 1 of the NCAA Tournament (Photo courtesy of The Tennesseean).
After a phenomenal effort in the SEC Tournament, where we came up a little short to Arkansas in the SEC Championship Game at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, our No.5 seeded Vanderbilt Commodores Men’s Basketball team alights in Oklahoma City tomorrow, Thursday, at the Paycom Center to face the McNeese Cowboys at 2:15 P.M. CT/3:15 ET on truTV in the South Region. We are favored by 11 1/2 points.
Tyler Tanner, Tyler Nickel, Devin “Glock” McGlockton, Jalen Washington, AK Okereke, the prolific Duke Miles, they all are for that matter, and superb freshman Chandler Bing will try to lead our team and University to another victory this season and a critical one as we HAVE to win going forward. In one of my ESPN brackets (for free by the way), I have us defeating Arkansas in the National Championship Game, 90-88. I’m going to stick with that bracket here on this forum. We’re going to keep it positive because there is so much to be positive about with this team.
Tyler Tanner has racked up the honors both in the SEC and Nationally, and Coach Mark “By” Byington has too.
But it’s about all these guys. Jalen Washington was tremendous in the SEC Tourney. Duke was a dominant player. T Nick was superb from trifecta on Sunday versus Arkansas and gave us through the roof effort throughout the tourney. AK was awesome. Dev may not have had his best games, but we HAVE to have him step up. Chandler was terrific. And T Tanner always is spectacular.
We are averaging 86.4 points per game and McNeese is at 80. We are holding opponents to 75.2 per game, while McNeese is at 66.45, so they get after it on defense. We rebound at 35 per game, and they’re at 35 as well. We have 277 steals on the season, and they have 348.
They are fast paced and athletic, so we’ll have to match them with our athletic ability and intensity. T Tanner leads us in scoring at 19.1 points per game. Duke is at 16.5, and T Nick is at 13.5.
They are led in scoring by 6’4″ guard Larry Johnson, who averages 17 per game. Six foot one guard Tyshawn Archie averages 14.3, and 6’3″ guard Javohn Garcia adds 12 per game.
Glock leads us in rebounding at 6.7 per, and J Wash is next at 5.7. Their leading rebounder is Johnson at 5.5 per game.
The Cowboys are going to try and run and gun, and we can do that some, but we may want to keep it more deliberate and dominate them on the glass. Would love to see Glock and J Wash have big days on the boards and in blocking shots. T Tanner and Duke will have to contain those lightning quick guards McNeese has, though Tanner and Miles are quick as hiccups as well.
I like our chances, as always. This team is special. If we can defend well, like we have been recently, and dominate down low, get boards and keep them off balance on offense, we will advance.
That’s what I’m predicting. It’ll be tough, but I like our guys to get the job done in OKC Thursday.
Vanderbilt 88, McNeese 84
Our No.2 seeded Women’s Basketball team faces No. 15 seeded High Point Saturday at 6 P.M.CT/7 ET on ESPN News. We are in the Fort Worth Bracket.
We will be playing in Memorial in Nashville. Will have more on our superstar Mikayla Blakes and her teammates as that game approaches.
Labaron Philon, Philon, Philon leads the Crimson Tide into the NCAA Tournament vs. Hofstra Friday in Tampa at 2:15 P.M. CT/3:15 ET on truTV. (Photo courtesy of Alabama)
After months of meditation, acupuncture, white water rafting in Locust Fork with a wet suit, numerous lengthy hikes in Oak Mountain State Park, and overall in-depth thinking in front of my TV and laptop on Saturdays, here is White’s World Sports Confidential’s Bracket for 2026. Good luck with your’s.
I can’t write a lot today, but promise to give you a lot more on our tremendous Men’s Basketball team, our Baseball team, our Women’s bball team and our emerging women’s tennis team on Tuesday. Have to pick my bracket tomorrow, Monday, and post that on my All Sports Blog, but will have a thorough Vandy Insider report on Tuesday.
Our Men’s team is playing superb basketball team as evidenced by our taking down Tennessee on Friday and our shellacking of Florida on Saturday.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a better Vanderbilt Men’s bball defensive team than the one we have right now. With Tyler Tanner, Duke, AK, Jalen Washington, who was awesome the past two days and was a stud yesterday, the prolific Chandler Bing, and, of course, our other regular studs in T Nick and Glock, we’ve just got it cookin right now on both ends of the floor.
After disposing of Tennessee and Florida, we now face another massive challenge in the Arkansas Razorbacks and their great point guard, Darius Acuff Jr. Tip is at 12 P.M. CT/1 ET on E-S-P-N. We are 2 1/2 point favorites.
Arkansas is good, but I would go to battle any day with this Vanderbilt Basketball team and our coach, Mark Byington. I like us to handle business, win the SEC Championship Game, and matriculate to the NCAA Tournament as a three seed with a full head of steam.
Vanderbilt 80, Arkansas 75
Our Vanderbilt Baseball team has taken the first two games in our series versus LSU at the Hawk. Been knocking the cover off the ball and received some much needed, excellent pitching last night.
Game 3 is today at 3 P.M. CT/4 ET on ESPN2. We go for the sweep. Would love to sweep the Bengal Tigers. We are now 13-7.
I will have much more on Tuesday. Have a pleasant Sunday and lets’ get this done in Nashvegas at noon CT/1 ET and at 3 CT/4 ET.
Scottie Scheffler goes for his third Players Championship after going back to back in 2023 and 2024, the first time it had ever been done, and would join the only other player, Jack Nicklaus (1974, ’76, ’78), to accomplish the feat of three time winner at TPC Sawgrass. (Photo courtesy ofGolf Monthly).
The classic “Fifth Major” kicks off Thursday at TPC Sawgrass as the 52nd Players Championship, a tournament every player wants to win with first place prize money of $4.5 million, a $25 million purse, the largest in golf, and the status of being a champion of a tournament that is the closest to a major in golf. It’s the fifth most important tournament on tour every year (except for when the Ryder Cup is played, then it’s the sixth), and there is “major” prestige that comes with winning this historic tournament on this iconic course in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL. where the PGA Tour is headquartered.
The field consists of 123 players as the PGA is shooting for smaller fields to speed up play. The field is usually 144 players. The cut after the second round Friday will consist of the top 65 players and ties. The rough will be at 3 1/2 inches. The greens will be overseeded Poa trivialis over Bermuda, which grows better in cooler months. They’ll top out at 13 on the stimpmeter. Poa trivialis is different from Poa Annua, which is found on the California courses. The Poa trivialis gives a lot smoother roll than the Poa Annua. TPC Sawgrass is a stock par 72 and tips out at 7,352 yards. The winner of this classic also qualifies for the next five editions of the Players and all four majors this season. So, a lot to play for. Pete Dye was the architect. Dye worked on TPC Sawgrass from 1978-80 and it was opened in 1980. Dye passed away in 2020 at the age of 94.
Key holes include the 137 yard iconic, and, many times, treacherous 17th, with the island green leaving no margin for error. The green is 26 yards wide, and if you miss it, you are in the water and looking at bogey or worse. Classic, intense pressure on Sunday with the tournament on the line. To me, and I’ve said this before, No.18 is the most underrated and challenging hole on the tour. It’s a par 4, 468 yards and is a dogleg right to left. Water runs down the entire left side, and if you miss right you’re behind the trees. Tiger Woods made his “stinger” shot famous on this hole in winning in 2013. It’s the hardest hole on the course with the players getting zero relief after 17.
Tiger also won in 2001, with his “better than most” 40 foot birdie putt on 17 on Sunday, the highlight of that tournament and historically great in golf lore.
No. 12 is a high risk/high reward 369 yard par 4, with water running down the left side and pot bunkers on the right side. No. 16 is the famous 523 yard, par 5 that always has fireworks on Sunday as the leaders aim to enhance their chances of winning. A lot of players bail out to the left on their second shots to try and get up and down for birdie. It takes a lot of bravery to go for the green in two on 16 with water guarding the right side. All in all, this course is just a tremendous test of golf.
Rory is the defending champion. He won last year and then went on to complete the career Grand Slam at the 89th Masters in 2025, with high tension in both. He defeated J.J. Spaun in a Monday finish at the Players in a three hole aggregate playoff on 16, 17 and 18. He also defeated Justin Rose in a playoff at Augusta National to win his first Green Jacket and complete the career Grand Salome. Spaun went on to win the 125th U.S. Open with a 64 foot birdie putt of his own on Oakmont’s 18th hole. I’ve talked about how clutch that was.I was superbly clutch. Justin Rose is still playing at a high level at 45 years old, winning the Farmers in late January, early February.
A lot of drama will ensue this week/weekend at the Players. Here is the weather forecast, the TV times, some key tee times along with those players’ odds of winning..
Weather
Thursday, Scattered t-storms developing in the afternoon. 59% chance. Wind WSW 10-20.
Friday, 76, Partly cloudy/sunny, 14% chance. Wind ENE 11.
Saturday, 79, Partly cloudy/sunny, 12% chance. Wind ENE 12.
Sunday, 80, rain showers in the morning with t storms in the afternoon, 67%. Wind SE 11.
So weather will be a major factor Thursday and Sunday if the forecast holds up, and the wind will make 17 a bear all four days, especially Sunday for somebody trying to win the fifth major.
7:28 A.M. CT/8:28 ET. No.1 -Akshay Bhatta, 40/1, was iron at the Arnie in winning; Brooks Koepka, 65/1; Tony Finau, 100/1.
7:40 A.M. CT/8:40 ET. No.10, Collin Morikawa, 16/1. AT&T Pebble Beach winner, and certainly one of the favorites at TPC Sawgrass; Ludvig Aberg, 22/1. Another threat; Si Woo Kim, 20/1. Same for him. 2017 champion
7:52 A.M. CT/8;52 ET. No.10 Scottie Scheffler, 4/1. The favorite and back to back winner in 2023 and 2024. Tries to join Jack Nicklaus as the only three time winner ever at the Players; Tommy Fleetwood, 25/1. 2025 Fed Ex Cup champion. Has a shot; Justin Thomas, 33/1. 2021 winner at TPC Sawgrass, and starting to figure it out. Had back surgery in November, 2025.
8:04 A.M. CT/9:04 ET. No 10. Vik Hovland, 35/1. Possible; Russell Henley, 25/1. Very accurate off the tee and an excellent putter when the flat stick is clickin’; Bob McIntyre, 50/1. He hasn’t done much lately.
12:18 P.M. CT/ 1:18 ET. No.10 Keegan Bradley, 125/1. Don’t see it. Failed captaincy at the Ryder Cup still looms large; Ryan Fox, 150/1; Chris Kirk 300/1.
12:18 P.M. CT/1:18 ET. No.1. J.J. Spaun, 80/1. Good value from the U.S. Open champion and second place finisher in last year’s Players in a playoff; Sepp Straka, 40/1. Good player with a shot; Shane Lowry, 55/1. Not buying him after his implosion at West Palm Beach in the Cognizant Classic two weeks ago where he had a three shot lead with three to play and went double, double on 16 and 17 to lose to Nico Echavarria?
12:30 P.M. CT/1:30 ET. No.1,. Sahith Theegala, 70/1. He’s getting closer and closer to winning a big tournament, Signature or major; Rickie Fowler, 55/1. Possible, but not really seeing it even though he’s playing a lot better; Jordan Spieth, 70/1. Do NOT see this happening.
12:42 P.M. CT/1:42 ET. No.1. Xander Schauffele, 27/1. Possible ;Rory, 16/1. Sore back. Not seeing it this week, though possible; Hideki Matsuyama, 33/1. Has to putt A LOT better to win.
12:54 P.M. CT/1:54 ET. No.1 Chris Gotterup, 45/1. This guy has won the Sony Open and the Waste Management already this year. He’s a factor; Justin Rose, 80/1. Still a prolific player. Not out of the question, and he Can win going forward and not out of the major conversation this season by any means; Min Woo Lee, 35/1. Definite shot.
12:54 P.M. CT/ 1:54 ET. No.10. Cam Young, 33/1. Certainly has a shot; Davis Thompson, 115/1. Fifth on the tour in Strokes Gained: Putting. Always helps your chances; Sam Burns, 80/1. Not seeing it. Can’t seem to close very well.
Winner
My choices were between Min Woo Lee, Chris Gotterup and this now veteran. Lee has great stats off the tee leading the tour in total driving, which measures distance and accuracy, which is critical at TPC Sawgrass with all the water. He’s also seventh in strokes gained total. Gotterup is a total winner. Bigger fella.
But this 30 year old from Seoul, South Korea has some seriously strong stats on tour this year. He’s tied for fourth in driving accuracy percentage. He’s second in strokes gained: approach to the green. He leads the tour in proximity to the hole, a huge stat on any course. And he also leads the tour in strokes gained: approaches from 100 yards or more. Some people, who I don’t trust, say statistics are for losers. I like what two time Super Bowl winning coach Bill Parcells (1986, 1990, Super Bowls 21 and 25, respectively) said about stats: “The numbers don’t lie.”
So, I’ll take these stats of a four time winner on tour. He won the 2016 Wyndham Championship, the 2021 American Express, the 2023 Sony Open, AND, is the 2017 winner at the Players.
This season he’s finished T-11 at the Sony, T-6 at the AMEX, T-2 at the Farmers, T-3 at the WM Phoenix, T-45 at Pebble, T-34 at the Genesis, and finished in a tie for 13th at the Arnie last week. He has 7 top 15’s in his last nine starts. He’s 151st in Strokes Gained: Putting, but he putts well on these Poa trivialis greens. Besides his 2017 victory at the Players, he has two top 10’s at Sawgrass. Give me:
Si Woo Kim
I’ll take Si Woo at the 52nd Players. (Photo courtesy of Golfmagic).
Darius Acuff Jr. has been injured recently, but his expected availability for the SEC Tournament will greatly enhance Arkansas’ chances of capturing the SEC Championship. (Photo courtesy of Facebook).
Bridgestone Arena in Nashville will once again host the SEC Basketball Tournament for the 19th consecutive year, and this 66th edition is expected to be a spectacle in college basketball as 16 teams compete for the coveted Southeastern Conference Championship Trophy and procure major momentum for the NCAA Tournament, which starts a week from tomorrow, Tuesday, 3/17, with the First Four games in Dayton. There will be two games next Tuesday, 3/17 and two games next Wednesday, 3/18 in the First Four. Then the rest of the field of 68 will start their NCAA Tournament journey on Thursday and Friday, 3/19 and 3/20, respectively. Joe Lunardi of ESPN has 11 SEC teams in the field for the NCAA’s in his Bracketology. No.4 Florida (nationally), No,15 Alabama, No. 17 Arkansas, No. 22 Vanderbilt, No.25 Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, Missouri, Texas A&M, Texas and Auburn, though the Tigers metrics aren’t that swift in the Net Rankings and Ken Pom Rankings, good predictions of getting into the NCAA Tournament. Auburn has work to do in Nashville. A team like Oklahoma is playing pretty good ball right now, so they could make a possible run. That’s four straight days of winning, which is not unprecedented, but quite mentally and physically demanding.
Here are my predictions for the S-E-C Tournament. Teams’ seeds are listed in front of each team’s name.
Wednesday, 3/11, First Round
Bridgestone Arena holds 19,395 at capacity.
11:30 A.M. CT/12:30 ET, SEC Network
No.9 Kentucky 82, No.16 LSU 68
Kentucky by 6 1/2, Over/Under: 151 1/2
2 P.M. CT/3 ET, SEC Network
No.12 Auburn 78, No. 13 Mississippi State 70
Auburn by 7 1/2, 158 1/2
Stephen Pearl and his Tigers get off to a good start.
6 P.M. CT/7 ET, SEC Network
No. 10 Texas 76, No.15 Ole Miss 70
Texas by 5 1/2, 149 1/2
8:30 P.M. CT/9:30 ET, SEC Network
No. 11 Oklahoma 80, South Carolina 73
OU by 6 1/2, 150 1/2
Kentucky, Auburn, Texas and Oklahoma advance to Thursday.
Thursday, 3/12, Second Round
***These lines will be published when posted, as will the forthcoming games after that.***
11:30 A.M. CT/12:30 ET, SEC Network
Kentucky 78, No.8 Missouri 77
KY by 3 1/2, 148 1/2
Wildcats pull off what should be an upset and advance to quarters on Friday.
2 P.M. CT/3 ET, SEC Network
No.5 Tennessee 74, Auburn 70
Tennessee by 5 1/2, 149 1/2
Tennessee survives and advances and the Tigers will sweat it out on Selection Sunday.
6 P.M. CT/7 ET, SEC Network
No.7 Georgia 84, Texas 81
Dawgs are solid. Texas is too. Should be an excellent game.
8:30 P.M. CT/9:30 East, SEC Network
Oklahoma 78, No. 6 Texas A&M 76
A&M by 2 1/2, 161 1/2
The Sooners advance and A&M will have some anxiety on Selection Sunday as well.
Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia and Oklahoma advance to Friday’s quarterfinals.
Friday, 3/13, Quarterfinals
12 P.M. CT/ 1 ET, ESPN
No.1 Florida 81, Kentucky 78
Gators by 11 1/2, 160 1/2
Hard to defeat a team three times in one season, but I’ll take the Gators to just “get by,” as Jerry sang.
2:30 P.M. CT/3:30 ET, ESPN
No.4 Vanderbilt 69, Tennessee 67
Tennessee by 1 1/2, 146 1/2
This will be more of a slugfest with the Dores just prevailing.
6 P.M. CT/7 ET, SEC Network
No.2 Alabama 82, Georgia 80
Crimson Tide by 11 1/2, 163 1/2
Georgia handled the Tide in Athens last Tuesday, but the Crimson Tide edges them out in Bridgestone.
8:30 P.M. CT/ 9:30 ET, SEC Network
No.3 Arkansas 84, Oklahoma 68
Hogs by 7 1/2, 168 1/2
Hogs advance with superb point guard Darius Acuff Jr. most likely in the lineup.
Florida, Vanderbilt, Alabama and Arkansas advance to the Semis.
Saturday, 3/14, Semifinals
12 P.M. CT/ 1 ET, ESPN
Florida 85, Vanderbilt 83
Gators by 8 1/2, 160 1/2
Gators just prevail in a hard fought NCAA Tournament-like contest.
2:30 P.M. CT/3:30 ET, ESPN
Arkansas 94, Alabama 92
Arkansas over Ole Miss by 8 /12, 158 1/2
The Hogs get by in a blockbuster.
Championship Sunday, 3/15
Arkansas vs. Florida
I picked the Gators to win the SEC and NCAA Tournaments respectively last season, and Walter Clayton Jr. as my MVP in both the SEC Tournament and Final Four, and both Florida and Clayton Jr. delivered. Clayton Jr. is now with the Memphis Grizzlies of the Association as he was the 18th pick in the first round by the Washington Wizards in the 2025 NBA Draft, then was traded to Utah, and, ultimately, traded to Memphis. It’s a serious business in the pros, though college has become more like that model. Hoping that commission that met at the White House last week can make some positive changes in that regard.
Clayton Jr. is averaging 7 points per game and 3 assists for the Grizzlies. Pretty decent first season. He was a machine in the SEC and NCAA Tournaments in 2025 carrying his team on his shoulders to both the SEC and National Championships.
But I actually think Florida is better this year. They’ve got skyscrapers all over the post and their guards are terrific. Give me 6’9″, 215 pound power forward Thomas Haugh ( 17.5 ppg, 6.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists) and the Gators, but in a tight contest. Florida has 5 or 6 NBA prospective NBA players in their rotation, but Arkansas has their share too. I expect the Hogs to give the Gators everything they want.
Florida 95, Arkansas 94
MVP: Haugh
Give me Thomas Haugh and the Gators to capture the 66th Edition of the S-E-C Championship Tournament. (Photo courtesy of GatorCountry.com).
I’ll take the 26 year old from Inman, South Carolina by way of Clemson University. He won the Genesis and has finished well in other tournaments this year.
Jacob Bridgeman
I’ll take Jacob Bridgeman to capture the Arnie. (Photo courtesy of Instagram).
Our superb graduate senior, AK Okereke gave us another terrific performance Tuesday Night in a thrilling victory for the Commodores. (Photo courtesy of x.com).
The awesome Tyler Tanner finished with 34 points, 5 boards, 7 assists and 5 steals as T Tanner and the Dores outlasted Ole Miss last night, 89-86, in overtime before 7,300 fans at The Sandy and John Black Pavilion in Oxford.
With the victory, a spectacular one on the road against an athletic, pretty talented team, our Dores moved to 23-7 overall and 10-7 in the SEC, and still in contention for a double bye in the SEC Tournament, which commences next Wednesday, 3/11, and runs through Sunday, 3/15, at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.
Will get more into that in a second.
First, on last night’s game. Tyler Tanner connected on big shot after big shot and helped propel us to a critical SEC road victory as we now gear up for a trip to Knoxville to face the Tennessee Volunteers to close out the season this Saturday at 1 P.M. CT/ 2 ET on ESPN. Should be an epic game with a hopefully favorable outcome.
Duke Miles sank a pair of clutch buckets at the end of regulation, and finished with 16, while another great, graduate senior AK Okereke, from? Cornell University, added 16, 5 boards and 5 assists. Dev McGlockton only finished with 4 points, but pulled down 16 rebounds, eight of them on the offensive glass. Wow. We out-boarded them, 44-40, and outboarded them on the offensive end, 22-12. We also wreaked some havoc on their offense as they turned it over 17 times to our 9.
We shot only 39% from the field, we were 9-of-32 from triple, 28%, and we were 22-of-30 from the line, 73%. It was our work on the glass and the turnovers along with some critical buckets late in the game that won the contest for us. Tyler Nickel finished with 9 points, but sank a critical trifecta late in the game, and pulled down a critical carom right after that.
Dev was brilliant on the boards. He kept two shots alive with consecutive rebounds, the first one he pulled down, and the second he tapped out to T Tanner who then laid the ball in off the glass for a 65-64 lead with 5:11 left. Seemed big at the time. It was our first lead in a long time.
T Tanner was so good last night. Tyler is a phenom. He was driving, dishing, scoring, and played defense like Gary Payton, “The Glove.” Payton played for the Seattle Supersonics back in the day (1990-2003), and was an electric, historically tenacious defensive player.
And T Tanner drained a three that looked like it came from Big Bad Breakfast on the north side of town. What a player.
So, here we are heading into a critical Saturday season finale @ the Vols with a lot at stake. Right now we are tied for fifth with Missouri, A&M and Kentucky at 10-7. Texas is 9-7, and could join us, but they have to play @ Arkansas tonight at 6 CT/7 ET on ESPN2. That’ll be tough for them and a Razorbacks’ win would help us as Texas holds the head to head over us with a victory over us in Austin on January 14th.
Florida has won 10 in a row and is at 15-2 and leading the conference standings. Alabama, which lost on the road last night to a very solid Georgia team, is second at 12-5. Arkansas is third at 11-5, and would tie the Tide for second with a victory, but Alabama holds that head to head tiebreaker over the Hogs by virtue of a victory over them a couple of weeks ago in Tuscaloosa.
Tennessee is in fourth at 11-6. If we defeat the Vols Saturday, we would be tied with them in the standings, and not sure about the tiebreaker in that scenario, yet, because they defeated us in Nashville a week and a half ago. I’ll work on that and, “get back to you,” as my high school U.S. History Teacher/Football Coach would say when we asked him questions like who was the explorer who founded Florida (Ponce de Leon-FYI, I wonder if he ever found that out. He never “got back to us.”). I will though.
Other key games for our purposes this Saturday are: Arkansas @ Missouri (need Missouri to lose, 11 A.M. CT/12 East, ESPN), Florida @Kentucky, (3 P.M. CT/4 ET, E-S-P-N. Need a Florida W), Texas A&M @ LSU (5 P.M. CT/6 ET, SEC Network-we do hold the tiebreaker with the Aggies), and Oklahoma @ Texas (7:30 P.M. CT/8:30 ET. Need a Texas loss tonight or Saturday).
But we need to hold up our end of the bargain first and pull off what would be considered a slight upset in Knoxville as they will be favored in all likelihood. The point spread will be decided closer to game time, tomorrow or Friday, but I’d imagine anywhere from 2 1/2- 5 1/2, Vols.
The Vanderbilt Women’s Basketball team will play Friday at 5 P.M. CT/6 ET on the SEC Network in the quarterfinals of the SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament. We play the winner of Thursday’s No.7 seed Ole Miss and the winner of tonight’s Auburn/A&M matchup (Thursday, 5 P.M. CT/6 ET, SEC Network). We are ranked fifth in the country and can really make a statement for a number one seed in the NCAA Tournament with tremendous success this weekend at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, S.C.
Baseball has several injuries right now, and it’s’ a struggle. We’re 7-6 now after losing to Central Arkansas Tuesday, 5-4. We’re playing Troy right now. Troy is always scrappy and usually pretty darn strong in football, basketball and baseball. Those Alabama country boys are terrific athletes and fierce competitors.
The Trojans are 5-6, but have already knocked off No. 8 Georgia, 6-5, in Athens on Wednesday, February 25th, two weeks ago. Georgia is currently ranked 11th nationally by D1Baseball.com. It’s 0-0 going into the bottom of the fourth.
Have a terrific rest of your week. I’ll “get back to you” in the near future. I promise I will.
