Winners Club: Upsets Abound as Selection Sunday Inches Closer

Plus, baseball is back!

Good morning! What a week of basketball it’s been—and it’s only Friday.

The games to be played later today and this weekend will decide the remaining auto bids and allow the teams with at-large opportunities to make their case. Since Wednesday, only one additional team—Colgate—has punched its ticket.

Plenty of teams have solidified their resumes or taken themselves out of contention for the field of 68. You could say it’s been a crazy few days, with top-25 teams being toppled left and right, but really, that’s just March.

Where Do the Top 6 Conferences Stand?

ACC

Four teams remain in the ACC Tournament and the possibility of a second Duke-UNC game in a one-week span is very much alive. Miami plays Duke tonight at 7 ET on ESPN in the semifinals. The Blue Devils are 9-point favorites over the Hurricanes. Both teams survived close calls in the quarterfinals to get here. UM held off Boston College in overtime and won 71-69 on a buzzer beater and Duke held off a threat from Syracuse for an 88-79 victory.

John Minchillo/AP

Virginia Tech and North Carolina face off in the other ACC semifinal game at 9:30. The Tar Heels are 2-point favorites over the Hokies, who have stayed afloat with a pair of tournament wins while they remain on the bubble.

Big 12

The Big 12 is down to the semifinals as well. TCU and Kansas tip off at 7 on ESPN2. The Jayhawks are favored by 8 points over the Horned Frogs, who upset Texas in the quarterfinals on Thursday to get to this point.

Oklahoma and Texas Tech are also playing for a spot in the championship game at 9:30. The Red Raiders are 7-point favorites over the Sooners. OU upset Baylor on Thursday night, scoring a huge win for its tournament case while it sits on the bubble.

Big East

The top four seeds remain at Madison Square Garden. Creighton takes on Providence at 6:30 on FS1. The Friars are 3-point favorites over the Blue Jays, who they beat by 21 in the regular season. UConn and Villanova meet for the third time this season in a top-25 matchup at 9. The Wildcats are 2-point favorites over the Huskies—these teams split the regular season series.

Frank Franklin II/AP

Big Ten

The Big Ten still has a lot to be sorted out. Eight teams remain and all four top seeds have yet to fall. Indiana, still teetering on the bubble, faces Illinois at 11:30 a.m. on the Big Ten Network. The Fighting Illini are 5.5-point favorites over the Hoosiers. Later on, Iowa and Rutgers meet for the second time this year. The Scarlet Knights beat the Hawkeyes in the regular season, but they’re 6.5-point underdogs in this meeting.

Michigan State and Wisconsin have a rubber match in the quarterfinal game. The Badgers are narrow 2.5-point favorites against the Spartans. And in an unexpected development, Penn State and Purdue meet in the late spot. The Nittany Lions upset Ohio State on Thursday to advance to play the Boilermakers, who are favored by 9 points.

Pac-12

It’s all chalk out west. The top four seeds are all that’s left, setting up two pairs of great matchups. Colorado and Arizona meet for the third time this season at 9 on the Pac-12 Network after splitting the first two meetings. The Wildcats, favored by 9.5 over the Buffaloes, narrowly survived Stanford’s upset bid in the quarterfinals on Thursday. And the crosstown rivalry lives on when USC and UCLA face off in Las Vegas. The Bruins are 6-point favorites.

SEC

There’s still much to be sorted out down in Tampa as the top four teams in the conference take the court for the first time. Texas A&M meets Auburn at noon on ESPN. The Tigers are 9.5-point favorites against the Aggies, who beat Florida in overtime on Thursday to advance. LSU and Arkansas face off at 2 in what’s one of the best games of the day. The Razorbacks are 3-point favorites and swept the season series with the Tigers.

Mississippi State draws Tennessee at 6 on the SEC Network. The Volunteers are favored by 9 points, which is how many they beat the Bulldogs by in the regular season. The final game was expected to be Alabama-Kentucky, but Vanderbilt upset the Crimson Tide to set up a meeting with the Wildcats at 8. UK is a 10.5-point favorite over the Commodores.

Underdogs On Top

Thursday was a huge day for underdogs keeping their seasons alive. Let’s check in on some of the surprise winners around the college basketball world:

• Texas A&M upset Florida, 83-80, in overtime in the second round of the SEC Tournament. The Aggies were 2.5-point underdogs.
• Indiana took down Michigan, 74-69, behind a huge second-half performance. The Hoosiers entered as 3-point underdogs.
• TCU lost to Texas twice during the regular season but got its revenge in the Big 12 quarterfinals. The Longhorns were 5.5-point favorites and the Horned Frogs won outright, 65-60.
• Elsewhere in the Big 12, Baylor was knocked off by Oklahoma. The defending national champions were 7.5-point favorites against the Sooners, who walked away with a 72-67 victory.
• Creighton advanced to the Big East semifinals with an upset win over Marquette. The Blue Jays entered as 3-point underdogs and came out with a 74-63 win.
• Vanderbilt has now won three games in a row after it upset Alabama, 82-76, to advance to the SEC quarterfinals. The Commodores were 5.5-point underdogs against the Crimson Tide, who have shown they can beat anyone and lose to anyone.
• Penn State scored a huge win over Ohio State to keep its season alive. The Nittany Lions were 5.5-point underdogs and defeated the Buckeyes 71-68 to advance.

MLB Lockout Ends

You might have heard, baseball is back!

The lockout lasted 99 days but the owners and players association agreed on a new CBA, and the full 162-game schedule will be played.

Below are some of the changes adopted for this season:

• Postseason expanded to 12 teams
• Universal designated hitter
• A draft lottery

Nick Selbe has the rest of the reported alterations to Major League Baseball.

Bebeto Matthews/AP

And Tom Verducci wrote on how baseball avoided disaster without a moment to spare.

“Is this a new start?” he asks. “The game feels as if it is coming out of an inert era. It will look different next season.”

Speaking of next season... Matt Ehalt took a look ahead to World Series futures odds. The Dodgers lead the way, see who else rounds out the top teams.

Other Odds and Ends

Nets Blowout Sixers in Simmons’ Return: Brooklyn blew out Philadelphia on Thursday night in front of a national TV audience and thousands of fans who were booing their former player. The Nets didn’t even need Simmons to suit up to hand the 76ers a 129-100 beatdown in a game that was all about the hype.

NFL Mock Draft 2.0: The dust has settled on a busy week of trades around the NFL and the combine is in the rearview. How does that affect how we think teams will draft? Consult SI’s latest mock draft to find out. (And later today, Michael Fabiano will have his fantasy reaction to the mock.)

2023 Super Bowl Odds Update: The Broncos are big risers and the Seahawks fell off. How did the Packers and Commanders’ odds change after they locked up their quarterbacks for next season?

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Thanks for reading. I’ll be back in your inbox Monday morning with a special March Madness edition of Winners Club. Enjoy your weekend!