DAYTON, Ohio — College basketball’s biggest storybook tale this season seizes the national spotlight as Miami (Ohio) takes on SMU in a clash of No. 11 seeds in the final First Four game Wednesday night.

The RedHawks (31-1) will have a decided home-court advantage from the sellout crowd as they try to put their stunning 87-83 loss to UMass in the first round of the Mid-American Conference tournament behind them.

University of Dayton Arena is only one hour from Miami’s campus in Oxford, Ohio. Xavier enjoyed a similar geographical benefit in last year’s First Four and rode the crowd’s energy to rally past Texas.

For SMU (20-13), the First Four is a chance to prove they deserved their ticket to the tournament thanks to their ambitious nonconference schedule. The Mustangs went only 8-10 in the powerful Atlantic Coast Conference — and 3-8 on the road overall. But in four straight games in December against SEC opposition away from home, they defeated Mississippi State and Texas A&M while falling to Vanderbilt and LSU.

While the Mustangs earned a tournament spot because of their demanding schedule — the Mustangs went 4-9 against Quad 1 opponents and 5-4 versus Quad 2 — the RedHawks earned theirs despite a soft nonconference slate that featured no games against power conference foes.

Nonetheless, Miami — No. 37 in NET rankings — became the first team since Gonzaga in 2021 to post an unbeaten regular season. Despite their historic run, the MAC tournament quarterfinal exit relegated the RedHawks to an at-large bid and the trip to Dayton.

“In this world, everybody gets caught up in results. That’s all the world wants,” Miami coach Travis Steele said, addressing critics of his team’s schedule. “But then when we are at 31-0, then everybody’s talking about, oh, everything else matters. People contradict themselves all the time.”

SMU head coach Andy Enfield has leaned on his experienced backcourt, which includes standout guards B.J. Edwards, Jaron Pierre Jr. and Kevin “Boopie” Miller. Edwards, who missed the conference tournament with an ankle injury, is expected to return for Wednesday’s game.

Miller, a second-team all-ACC pick, led SMU at 19.2 points per game while Pierre averaged 17.6 points.

“We feel very strongly that we deserve to be in,” Enfield said. “I think as far as our schedule strength … that our resume is probably better than some of the other teams in that area. The advantage of having experienced players (is that) our team has been very good in close games this year. Every game is close in this league.”

The RedHawks counter the Mustangs’ strong backcourt with the nation’s second-highest scoring offense (90.7 ppg) and the best effective field goal percentage (61.2%). MAC Player of the Year Peter Suder (14.6 ppg) leads a balanced offense that boasts six active double-figure scorers.

The RedHawks will have to find a way to handle the physicality of an SMU team that ranks much higher in defensive metrics. Their loss to UMass exposed a weakness on the glass, as they were outrebounded 41-24 and outscored 54-30 in the paint. Miami, which has only one post player in its rotation in 6-foot-9, 245-pound Antwone Woolfolk, will need to gang-rebound against SMU 7-foot-2, 270-pound center Samet Yigitoglu.

Oddsmakers have established SMU as a 7.5-point favorite. The winner of Wednesday’s final First Four game advances to take on No. 6 seed Tennessee in a Midwest Region first-round game Friday in Philadelphia.

–Mike Petraglia, Field Level Media

The PGA Tour concludes its Florida Swing at Innisbrook, the LPGA Tour returns to the United States and LIV Golf makes is South Africa debut among a busy slate of golf events around the globe this week.

PGA TOUR

THIS WEEK: Valspar Championship, Palm Harbor, Fla. (March 19-22)

Course: Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club, Copperhead Course (Par 71, 7,352 Yards)

Purse: $9.2M (Winner: $1.638M)

Defending Champion: Viktor Hovland

FedEx Cup Leader: Jacob Bridgeman

HOW TO FOLLOW

TV: Thursday-Friday: 2-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday: 1-3 p.m. (GC), 3-6 p.m. (NBC/Peacock)

Streaming (ESPN+): Thursday-Friday: 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m. ET; Saturday-Sunday: 7:45 a.m.-6 p.m.

X: @ValsparChamp

NOTES: The field includes seven of the top 20 players in the Official World Golf Ranking, led by No. 7 Xander Schauffele. … Hovland seeks to become the third player to successfully defend at the Valspar. … With Brooks Koepka playing via the Returning Member Program, the field was expanded to 135 players to round out threesomes with the additions of Seamus Power and Matt Kuchar. … Keith Mitchell, Robert MacIntyre, Sudarshan Yellamaraju and William Mouw withdrew this week. They were replaced by Doug Ghim, Andrew Putnam, Kris Ventura and Justin Lower. … Vijay Singh holds the tournament scoring record of 266 set in 2004. … Blades Brown, 18, is in the field courtesy of his third-place finish at the Puerto Rico Open. Luke Clanton is also playing this week after his T5 in Puerto Rico. … Sponsor exemptions include 2017 champion Adam Hadwin, who lost his full-time PGA Tour card last season.

BEST BETS: Schauffele (+1050 at DraftKings) is the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 7. He was in contention at The Players despite a 72 on Saturday caused largely by his struggles off the tee. … Matt Fitzpatrick (+1450) is coming off a runner-up at TPC Sawgrass, where he was tied for the lead before a bogey on the 72nd hole. … Hovland (+1900) claimed his seventh career victory here and enters with consecutive T13s the past two weeks. … Akshay Bhatia followed up his win at Bay Hill with a T13 at TPC Sawgrass. … Justin Thomas (+2250) structured his schedule to make sure that his return from back surgery allowed him to play at Innisbrook, where he said he feels like he has a chance to win every year. Thomas finished second last year … Bridgeman (+2250) continue to build on his breakout year with a T5 last week.

Last Tournament: The Players Championship (Cameron Young)

Next Tournament: Texas Children’s Houston Open, March 26-29

LPGA TOUR

THIS WEEK: Fortinet Founders Cup, Menlo Park, Calif., March 19-22

Course: Sharon Heights Golf & Country Club (Par 72, 6,542 Yards)

Purse: $3M (Winner: $300,000)

Defending Champion: Yealimi Noh

HOW TO FOLLOW:

TV: Thursday-Sunday: 6-9 p.m. ET (Golf Channel)

X: @LPGA

NOTES: The tour returns to the United States following a three-event Asia Swing. … The event began in 2011, with the most recent iteration seeing Noh beat former World No. 1 Jin Young Ko by four strokes at Bradenton Country Club last year for her first career LPGA Tour victory. … This week marks the 25th anniversary of the first 59 shot in LPGA Tour history by 72-time winner Annika Sorenstam at Moon Valley Country Club.

Race to CME Globe Leader: Jeeno Thitikul

Last Tournament: Blue Bay LPGA (Mi Hyang Lee)

Next Tournament: Ford Championship, Phoenix, March 26-29

LIV GOLF LEAGUE

THIS WEEK: LIV Golf South Africa, Steyn City, March 19-22

Course: The Club at Steyn City (Par 71, 7,557 Yards)

Purses: Individual: $30M (Winner: $4M); Team: $10M (Winners: $3M)

Defending Champions: Inaugural Event

2026 Season Leaders: Individual: Jon Rahm; Team: Ripper GC

HOW TO WATCH

TV: Wednesday-Thursday: 6-8 a.m. ET (FS1), 8-11 a.m. (FS2); Friday: 6-11 a.m. (FOX); Sunday: 6-11 a.m. (FS1)

NOTES: This marks LIV Golf’s first event in South Africa and is the fifth of 14 events this season. … Phil Mickelson will make his 2026 debut after missing the first four events due to an undisclosed personal reason. … The daily shotgun start includes 13 teams and 57 total players, including five wild cards. … Bryson DeChambeau climbed eight spots to No. 33 in the Official World Golf Ranking with his victory in Singapore. This is the final event for Thomas Detry (No. 63) and Elvis Smylie (No. 74) have one LIV Golf event remaining to climb into the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking and earn a spot in the Masters. … The field includes the all-South African team of Southern Guards GC comprised of captain Louis Oosthuizen, Dean Burmester, Branden Grace and Charl Schwartzel.

Last Event: LIV Golf Singapore (Individual: DeChambeau; Team: 4Aces GC)

Next Event: LIV Golf Mexico City, April 16-19

DP WORLD TOUR

THIS WEEK: Hainan Classic, Hainan Island, China, March 19-22

Course: Mission Hills Resort Haikou (Par 72, 7,637 Yards)

Purse: $2.25M

Defending Champion: Marco Penge

Race to Dubai Leader: Patrick Reed

HOW TO FOLLOW

TV: TBA

X: @DPWorldTour

NOTES: The is the start of the four-event Asia Swing, with DP World Tour members competing for a total prize fund of $10.6 million. … The first 36 holes will be staged across both the Blackstone and Vintage courses, with professionals playing alongside an amateur in each team. The final two rounds will be contested on the Blackstone course. … The player who finishes first in the Asia Swing will earn a place in all events in Phase Two of the DP World Tour season, the Back 9 and a $200,000 bonus. Japan’s Keita Nakajima won last year’s Asia Swing. … The three leading DP World Tour members will qualify for the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club from May 14-17.

Last Tournament: Joburg Open (David Puig)

Next Tournament: Hero Indian Open, New Delhi, March 26-29

PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS

THIS WEEK: Cologuard Classic, Tucson, Ariz., March 20-22

Course: La Paloma Country Club (Par 71, 6,856 Yards)

Purse: $2.2M (Winner: $330,000)

Defending Champion: Steven Alker

Charles Schwab Cup leader: Stewart Cink

HOW TO FOLLOW

TV: Friday: 4-7 p.m. ET; Saturday-Sunday: 3-6 p.m. (Golf Channel)

X: @ChampionsTour

NOTES: This is the fourth of 28 events on the 2026 schedule and will be held at La Paloma for the third time. The tournament uses a composite route that includes holes from all three of the property’s courses. … The 78-player field will compete over three days, with the forecast calling for temperatures to exceed 100 degrees in Tucson. … Zach Johnson is coming off a victory in his Champions Tour debut and aims to join Phil Mickelson as the only players to win each of their first two Champions events. … Alker is seeking to become the first player to successfully defend his title at the Cologuard Classic.

Last Tournament: James Hardie Pro Football Hall of Fame Invitational (Johnson)

Next Tournament: Hoag Classic, Newport Beach, Calif., March 27-29

–Field Level Media

A lost season for superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks continues Tuesday, when they host the stumbling Cleveland Cavaliers.

Antetokounmpo is a game-time decision for the Central Division matchup after injuring his left knee while landing on a spinning dunk in the third quarter of a 134-123 home win over the Indiana Pacers on Sunday.

The two-time MVP walked gingerly to the locker room with a left ankle sprain, and the team listed him as questionable against the Cavaliers.

“I saw something live that didn’t look good, honestly,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers said. “I can’t remember what I saw in the video, but yeah. We have no idea.”

Antetokounmpo had 31 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists as Milwaukee) snapped a four-game skid — its second win in the last 10 games — and crawled within 5 1/2 games of the Charlotte Hornets for the final play-in tournament spot in the Eastern Conference.

“I’m just going to go back home, sleep, see how I feel tomorrow, try to lift some weights,” Antetokounmpo said. “As of now, I’m not really bothered.”

The 10-time All-Star is averaging 27.6 points, 9.8 rebounds and 5.4 assists in a career-low 36 games, missing time with right calf and left ankle issues. His 31 missed contests make him ineligible for all postseason awards and most statistical leaderboards.

As a result, the Bucks have been forced to learn to live without Antetokounmpo, a situation that could become permanent if he pursues a trade over the summer.

Bobby Portis took the baton against Indiana, finishing with 29 points, six 3-pointers and 10 rebounds off the bench, and point guard Ryan Rollins continued his solid season with 20 points and seven assists.

“I just thought the ball moved and everybody got involved with that,” Rivers said. “Giannis was aggressive when he needed and passed when he needed to pass. And as a team, we took care of the ball and we made more threes.”

Cleveland sits fourth in the Eastern Conference and is on its way to the postseason, but has dropped six of its last 11. The positive momentum it built after acquiring James Harden from the Los Angeles Clippers has been blunted.

The Cavaliers’ latest loss was one of their worst of the season, a 130-120 home defeat to the Dallas Mavericks, in which Harden and Donovan Mitchell made just 14 of 36 field-goal attempts.

Just two nights earlier, Cleveland hammered the Mavericks on the road 138-105.

“This was a bad loss, no doubt about it,” said Mitchell, who had 26 points and 11 assists. “… It was all sunshine and rainbows (after the Harden trade), but you have to kind of go through these moments and figure that out. We don’t have time to delay this, but I think this is good for us. We’ll figure these things out.”

Harden had 13 points, seven assists and six turnovers, but couldn’t compete with the speed of Mavericks guards Ryan Nembhard and Max Christie.

The second half of the home-and-home series featured Max Strus’ season debut, where he scored 24 points in 23 minutes off the bench. The aggressive shooting guard hadn’t played since the 2025 East semifinals against Indiana, as he required left foot surgery.

Strus drained 6 of 7 3-point attempts and grabbed eight rebounds as the second substitute for coach Kenny Atkinson.

“It meant a lot; there was a lot of people who played a part in getting me back to this point,” Strus said. “Everybody has been telling me I need to be more positive, so I’m still going to try to be myself but understand and be grateful for a lot of things.”

–Field Level Media