Winners Club: Madness Begins With Conference Tournament Week
It’s that time of the year again.
College basketball is on all day, every day. The NFL news cycle is relentless as always. Opening Day is fast approaching. And the NBA is gearing up for its stretch run.
That’s March for you.
In today’s Winners Club you’ll find:
- SEC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Pac-12, ACC tournament previews
- Projected NCAA Tournament Field of 68
- Running list of March Madness auto bid qualifiers
- Derek Carr signs with the Saints
- Jackson, Pollard, Barkley all get tagged
- What MLB’s new shift rule means for fantasy
Breaking Down the Power 6 Conference Tournaments
The ACC Tournament got underway Tuesday and five more conference tourneys tip off today. It’s going to be a busy few days of hoops in the mad dash to Selection Sunday.
Below you can find the bracket for the Power 6 tournaments as well as betting breakdowns for each.
And get a look at SI's latest projected tournament field here.
SEC
“Alabama won the league’s regular-season title and enters the tournament as the betting favorite. Fifth-seeded Tennessee has the next-best odds to win the conference tournament for the second year in a row.”
Game to Watch Today: LSU (-2.5) vs. Georgia | 9 p.m. ET (SEC Network)
Big East
“The action begins Wednesday at Madison Square Garden and fourth-seeded UConn is the favorite to win the tournament, just ahead of Marquette, which enters as the top seed.”
Game to Watch Today: Butler vs. St. John’s (-5.5) | 3 p.m. ET (FS1)
Morry Gash/AP
Big 12
“Expectations are high for Kansas, the defending national champions, who won last year’s conference tournament en route to their national title run. The top-seeded Jayhawks are the betting favorites to win it all once again, and No. 2 Texas, which won the tournament in 2021, has the next-best odds to do so.”
Game to Watch Today: Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma State (-1.5) | 9:30 p.m. ET (ESPNU)
Big Ten
“Purdue powered its way to the No. 1 seed at the United Center and is accordingly the betting favorite to win the tournament, something it’s only accomplished once in program history. Third-seeded Indiana has the best odds to challenge the Boilermakers for the title.”
Game to Watch Today: Ohio State (-1.5) vs. Wisconsin | 6:30 p.m. ET (Big Ten Network)
ACC
“Miami and Virginia shared the regular-season crown, but the Hurricanes earned the No. 1 seed by beating the Cavaliers in their one meeting this year. Fourth-seeded Duke is the betting favorite to win the conference tournament, though, ahead of both UM and UVA.”
Game to Watch Today: Virginia Tech vs. N.C. State (-3.5) | 9:30 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
Jacob Kupferman/AP
Pac-12
“UCLA and Arizona, two of the best teams in the nation, both have short odds to win the title. The top-seeded Bruins are the favorite, just ahead of the No. 2 Wildcats, who won the Pac-12 tournament in 2022.”
Game to Watch Today: Washington (-2.5) vs. Colorado | 3 p.m. ET (Pac-12 Network)
Which Teams are Definitely Going Dancing?
A few teams have already guaranteed a spot in March Madness by winning their conference tournament ahead of Selection Sunday.
Plenty of tournaments are still to be decided, and a few won’t even begin until later today. Below are the 11 teams that have punched their tickets. You can keep up with the running list here.
Atlantic Sun: Kennesaw State
Big South: UNC Asheville
Colonial Athletic Association: College of Charleston
Horizon League: Northern Kentucky
Missouri Valley: Drake
Northeast: Fairleigh Dickinson
Ohio Valley: Southeast Missouri State
Southern: Furman
Summit League: Oral Roberts
Sun Belt: Louisiana
West Coast: Gonzaga
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Joe Puetz/AP
Two more auto bids are up for grabs this evening.
- Montana State is a 6.5-point favorite against Northern Arizona in the Big Sky Championship. The Bobcats made the NCAA Tournament as a No. 14 seed last year.
- Texas A&M Corpus Christi is favored by 3.5 points against Northwestern State in the Southland Tournament Final. The Islanders lost in the First Four last year as a No. 16 seed.
Which Players Inked Deals? And Who Got Tagged?
The official start of free agency is still a week away but one of the top quarterbacks on the market this offseason already agreed to a deal.
Derek Carr, who was eligible to sign with any team after his release from the Raiders on Feb. 14, is headed to the Saints on a four-year, $150 million deal with $100 million in guarantees.
New Orleans was already well over the salary cap before the contract, which is the ninth-highest among quarterbacks based on average annual value. But the front office has been capable of some financial gymnastics in the past.
Gilberto Manzano wrote about whether this change under center makes the Saints a Super Bowl contender. They are currently tied for the 17th-best odds at SI Sportsbook: +4000.
And Jen Piacenti broke down what the signing means for fantasy football. Chris Olave can expect to get a slight bump in production and fans can expect Jameis Winston to move on from the Big Easy soon enough.
Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports
The other quarterback contract news came out of New York, but it wasn’t related to Aaron Rodgers. We’re still in the dark on that situation.
The Giants agreed to a four-year, $160 million extension with Daniel Jones. The fifth-year pro had a career-best campaign in his first season with coach Brian Daboll. And crucially, by signing Jones to an extension, New York was able to use its franchise tag on running back Saquon Barkley, the top weapon in this offense.
To recap, here’s all the players who were tagged before Tuesday’s deadline:
- Saquon Barkley, RB, Giants
- Lamar Jackson, QB, Ravens
- Josh Jacobs, RB, Raiders
- Tony Pollard, RB, Cowboys
- Evan Engram, TE, Jaguars
- Daron Payne, DL, Commanders
That’s quite a few fantasy-relevant names. Jacobs led the league in rushing and he’ll be in Las Vegas for at least one more year, Engram came on late and flashed a rapport with quarterback Trevor Lawrence and Pollard is sticking around in Dallas after his Pro Bowl season.
Mitch Stringer/USA TODAY Sports
And then there’s Jackson.
The former MVP quarterback was tagged by Baltimore, which was expected, but the team notably exercised the non-exclusive franchise tag.
“Jackson will get paid $32.4 million next year and is permitted to sign an offer sheet with another team, which Baltimore could then decide whether it wants to match or let Jackson go for two first-round picks,” Conor Orr explained.
Strangely enough, teams were practically tripping over one another to make it known they were not interested in acquiring Jackson’s services. There’s no resolution to this saga just yet.
In Other News
Knicks on the Rise in NBA Power Rankings: New York’s win streak stopped at nine, but it’s knocking on the door of the top five teams in the league. See who's still ahead of the Knicks and where the Suns moved up to after Kevin Durant made his debut with the team.
What MLB’s New Shift Rule Means for Fantasy: How will the ban on the shift affect fantasy baseball players? Piacenti took a deep dive into players’ spray charts to see who stands to gain the most from the rule change.
One Big Question for All 24 New CFB Coaches: Luke Fickell to Wisconsin and Deion Sanders to Colorado were just two of two dozen coaching changes around the sport. Find out what the most-pressing question is for each new leader.
That’s all for today, folks. Winners Club won’t go out this Friday like usual, so be sure to check back with us next week once the bracket is all set for more March Madness coverage.
Enjoy this loaded week of hoops!
