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Morning Edition

March 31, 2025

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The men’s Final Four is made up exclusively of No. 1 seeds. The women’s may soon follow. Is the age of Cinderella over?

Also: A very warm welcome to two new names at FOS: women’s sports reporter Annie Costabile [[link removed]] and deals reporter Ben Horney [[link removed]]. Annie joins us after seven years at the Chicago Sun-Times. Ben spent 12 years at Law360, most recently as assistant managing editor. Make sure you follow their work to stay on the bleeding edge of the big business of women’s sports and the new capital flooding into sports ownership.

— Colin Salao [[link removed]], Eric Fisher [[link removed]], Or Moyal [[link removed]], and Dan Roberts [[link removed]]

Missing Madness: All No. 1 Seeds in Men’s Final Four, First Time Since 2008 [[link removed]]

The Indianapolis Star

The men’s March Madness tournament trend continues: the top seeds win.

The Final Four, which tips off Saturday in San Antonio, will feature all four No. 1 seeds (Auburn, Duke, Florida, Houston) for the second time in NCAA history [[link removed]]. The first was in 2008, though Memphis, the eventual runner-ups, were stripped of their Final Four appearance due to a violation of eligibility rules [[link removed]]. That year’s Final Four also took place in San Antonio.

The success of the No. 1 seeds follows a Sweet 16 that only featured power conference programs. Last year, two No. 1 seeds made the national title game (Purdue, UConn), though just two years ago, every single top seed was eliminated by the Sweet 16.

The results are another indication of how both the transfer portal and NIL (name, imagine, and likeness) have made an on-court impact. The system allows players to move to different schools whenever they want. Players often go to the highest bidder, which has made the transfer recruitment process mirror the free agency period of professional leagues.

FOS reporter Amanda Cristovich previously reported that [[link removed]] SEC programs must spend about $3 million to $4 million on NIL in order to be competitive. The conference is assured of at least one team in the national title game as Auburn faces Florida in the Final Four.

However, coaches are not yet convinced [[link removed]] that this year’s results are a clear-cut indication of the impact of NIL and the transfer portal.

“I don’t know if there’s enough sample size yet to say this is NIL-driven, or just how it broke this year,” Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd told reporters Wednesday alongside BYU head coach Kevin Young.

Young said doesn’t believe “Cinderella” teams are dead. “People are going to learn how to play them to their advantage, and I’m sure the mid-majors will figure out how to work around the way things currently are,” Young said.

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UConn-USC Dream Matchup Diminished by JuJu Watkins Injury [[link removed]]

David Butler II-Imagn Images

When the NCAA women’s tournament bracket was revealed two weeks ago [[link removed]], perhaps the most noteworthy announcement was that USC and UConn were on the same side of the bracket. Before the start of March Madness, the two schools were top-four betting favorites to win it all [[link removed]] and were the biggest viewership draws in the regular season on the backs of their respective stars: JuJu Watkins and Paige Bueckers.

As expected, USC and UConn will face off in the Elite Eight on Monday night, but the game will not involve Watkins, who was ruled out for the rest of the tournament after tearing her ACL in the Trojans’ second-round game against Mississippi State [[link removed]].

Her absence is a blow to rightsholder ESPN, as a duel between the two, even as early into the tournament as the Elite Eight, was the closest replica to last year’s Caitlin Clark Effect that the network could hope for. The December regular-season game between USC and UConn—a two-point win for the Trojans—drew 2.2 million viewers on Fox, the most-watched regular-season matchup.

Last year’s regular-season viewership high was 3.4 million when Clark set the all-time NCAA Division I scoring record [[link removed]]. The Elite Eight game between the Clark-led Iowa and Angel Reese and LSU drew 12.3 million viewers, which, at the time, was the most-watched college basketball game on record.

Keeping it Competitive

A close game tends to drive up viewership, but with Watkins out, betting markets don’t think this one will be tight, as the Huskies are 13.5-point favorites [[link removed]].

The line isn’t exactly a slight against the Trojans, who showed Saturday in a win against Kansas State that they are still a formidable squad despite just seven points from Kiki Iriafen, a projected top-five pick in the 2025 WNBA draft who has become the team’s new no. 1 option. UConn has just been the most impressive team of the tournament so far.

The Huskies have won their first three games by an average of 41 points and are coming off a 23-point win over No. 3 Oklahoma. Bueckers dropped 40 points in that Sweet 16 game, her first since ESPN’s Rebecca Lobo reported that she will enter the 2025 WNBA draft [[link removed]], where she’s expected to be picked first overall.

Fortunately for ESPN, the blowouts haven’t stopped Bueckers and UConn from drawing eyeballs. The Huskies were involved in the most-watched games in each of the first two rounds [[link removed]].

NFL Owners Face Big Decisions on 18th Game, Streaming, Rules [[link removed]]

Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

PALM BEACH, Fla. — The 2024 NFL season ended with a historic flourish. Now, the league is trying to figure out how to build on that late-season surge and pushing in several unprecedented directions.

Team owners and league personnel will hold their 2025 annual meeting here this week, relishing several milestones that includes the largest U.S. television audience ever [[link removed]] for Super Bowl LIX last month, a record-setting streaming audience [[link removed]] for a Christmas Day doubleheader on Netflix, and a tie for the most games in NFL history decided by seven points or fewer.

Those markers meaningfully reversed more tepid signs seen elsewhere last season, such as a 2% decline in regular-season viewership [[link removed]] and audience retreats during initial playoff rounds [[link removed]].

In that context of renewed growth, the NFL has an aggressive agenda for the next three days. Among the items on deck:

Votes on a series of proposed rule changes [[link removed]], including a ban on the much-debated Tush Push, a new postseason seeding format, reworked kickoff and overtime rules, and an expansion on when teams can attempt an onside kick. Visits from Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos and Verizon chair and CEO Hans Vestberg to detail the fast-changing media landscape. Netflix is in the midst of a three-year rights deal with the NFL for Christmas Day games, while Verizon is a long-time wireless sponsor of the league. Owners will also be voting on a potential extension of flex scheduling rules for Thursday Night Football games to help allow Amazon, with at least 28 days notice, to have better matchups in weeks 13-17 of the regular season. Further discussion on a potential 18-game regular season. While it’s a long-desired schedule expansion among team owners, it would still require approval from the NFL Players Association, and could be the subject of tense labor negotiations. Last month, union executive director Lloyd Howell said, “When I have talked to players over the last two seasons, no one wants to play an 18th game.” Additional consideration of the NFL’s role in promoting flag football—a key league priority across multiple facets of youth participation and league marketing. The NFL is actively considering the formation of a new professional flag entity [[link removed]] for both men and women. To help advance that notion, the league on Sunday brought in WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark, women’s tennis icon and Dolphins co-owner Serena Williams, and former Giants quarterback Eli Manning to participate in a panel discussion [[link removed]] for team owners and NFL personnel. More planning for a larger-than-ever slate of seven international games in 2025 that includes first-time regular-season trips to Spain and Ireland, and a return to Brazil [[link removed]] after last season’s NFL debut in South America. A review of the recent flurry of free-agent signing activity [[link removed]] that as of last week led total player compensation to approach $8 billion—with ever-rising levels of guaranteed money.

“We’re going to talk a lot about the strength of the game, which has been on full display throughout these last few weeks as clubs have made an unprecedented commitment to player compensation,” said NFL EVP Jeff Miller. “I think this is a sign of the health of the league, and the [collective bargaining agreement]. The players are doing well, and the league is doing well, which is what the point of the CBA is in the first place.”

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TCU’s Hailey Van Lith [[link removed]] is undoubtedly one of the biggest success stories in the new era of unrestricted transfers. In her first year at TCU, Van Lith has led the Horned Frogs to their first-ever Elite Eight berth [[link removed]]. TCU took down Notre Dame Saturday afternoon in the Sweet 16, with a final score 71–62. Van Lith herself notched 26 points and nine rebounds.

Van Lith’s teams have made it to the Elite Eight every year she’s played in the NCAA, and she’s the first player to reach that round of the tournament with three different teams (Louisville in 2021, 2022, and 2023; and LSU in 2024). “The ‘ Miss March [[link removed]]’ [nickname] is deserved and earned,” TCU coach Mark Campbell told reporters after the game.

Check out [[link removed]] the Business of College Sports content hub to read the full article [[link removed]], and stay up to date on all things college sports.

MLB OK With New Yankees ‘Torpedo’ Bats Used in 9-HR Game [[link removed]]

Brad Penner-Imagn Images

On Saturday, the Yankees became the third team in MLB history to hit nine home runs in a game. And some of them did so with new bats that fans are buzzing over.

Paul Goldschmidt, Cody Bellinger, and Aaron Judge hit consecutive home runs on the first three pitches of the game—a first since pitch counts have been recorded. Judge added two more homers, including a grand slam, in the 20–9 win.

This offensive explosion has been partially attributed to some players’ adoption of new bats. Per former Yankees infielder Kevin Smith [[link removed]], who called them “torpedo” bats, they were designed by former MIT and Michigan physicist Aaron Leanhardt. The bats feature a reconfigured barrel that shifts the sweet spot to align with players’ typical contact points, aiming to enhance hitting efficiency.

Chisholm and Volpe are two of the players using “torpedo” bats, according to Yankees broadcaster Michael Kay [[link removed]]. Judge did not appear to be using the new bat.

An MLB spokesperson told FOS the bat shape does not violate the league’s Official Baseball Rules or the Bat Supplier Regulations.

Brewers closer Tylor Megill had strong opinions on the bats [[link removed]]: “I’ve never seen anything like it before. … But it’s the Yankees, so they’ll let it slide.”

The Yankees hit two home runs on Opening Day Thursday, a 4-2 win over the Brewers. They hit four more in a 12–2 Sunday win, bringing their three-game total to 15.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone credited the team’s staff for finding advantages where they could, but emphasized that the bats were compliant [[link removed]].

“The reality is, it’s all within Major League standards. It’s 2025, so we can account for things a lot better. When I played, I probably used six, seven, eight different model bats throughout my career. … Those things aren’t new. There’s just more people pouring into trying to optimize guys as best we can,” Boone said after Sunday’s game.

Conversation Starters Due to MLB.TV outages on opening day, the league is offering subscribers $10 off a purchase of $25 or more at MLBshop.com. Check it out [[link removed]]. The Los Angeles Sparks announced they will retire the No. 3 jersey of Candace Parker [[link removed]] in June. Parker led the team to the 2016 title and won two regular-season MVPs in Los Angeles. WWE president Nick Khan confirmed the wrestling promotion will consider India as a host country for premium live events [[link removed]] in 2026 and 2027. Question of the Day

Have you been surprised by the predictability of this year’s men’s tournament?

Yes [[link removed]] No [[link removed]]

Friday’s result: 39% of respondents said Paige Bueckers was their favorite player to watch in the first two rounds of the women’s NCAA tournament. 30% picked JuJu Watkins. 31% picked the third option—a player besides those two.

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