Neymar’s World Cup prospects dwindled Monday when Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti excluded him from the squad for a pair of friendlies in the United States.

Brazil faces France in Boston on March 26 and Croatia in Orlando on March 31 in the team’s final matches before World Cup rosters are announced.

“Neymar is not at 100% and therefore he is not on the list,” Ancelotti said. “Neymar is not at 100% of his capability. If he can be at 100% physically, he can be there. Neymar could be at the World Cup. Neymar has to keep working, playing, showcasing his qualities and maintaining good physical condition.”

Neymar, 34, is Brazil’s all-time leader with 79 goals, but the aging marksman has not played internationally since he sustained a major knee injury in October 2023 during a World Cup qualifying loss to Uruguay.

He is playing for Santos, his boyhood club in Brazil’s top division, following decorated spells at Barcelona and PSG and a short stop at Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia.

Ranked No. 5 worldwide, Brazil ultimately qualified comfortably and was placed in Group C of the World Cup with Haiti, Morocco and Scotland. The Selecao open the tournament June 13 against Morocco in East Rutherford, N.J., the site of the July 19 final.

After the roster submission deadline, Brazil is scheduled to play tuneup matches against Panama on May 31 and Egypt on June 6.

Brazil has competed at every World Cup and won five, a tournament record, but exited in the quarterfinals at four of the past five editions.

Neymar, a three-time World Cup participant, was injured and missed the catastrophic 7-1 home loss to Germany in the 2014 semifinals.

The 26-man squad for the U.S. friendlies includes Lyon forward Endrick and Brentford forward Igor Thiago, who are receiving their first call-ups since Ancelotti’s hiring last year.

“We are preparing well for this World Cup. We want to arrive in the best possible condition technically, physically and mentally,” Ancelotti said. “There are players who deserve to be here because they are doing well in their respective leagues.”

–Field Level Media

Tumbling to the finish line and nearly out of the bracket, Texas and North Carolina State are not yet in the NCAA Tournament field of 64.

But the chance for a revival is there for the Longhorns (18-14) and Wolfpack (20-13) when they meet for the second time this season in the First Four on Tuesday night in Dayton, Ohio.

The winner hops a plane as the West Region No. 11 seed, heading to Portland with No. 6 BYU (23-11) awaiting in the first-round matchup on Thursday.

Miller won this game last year as head coach at Xavier when he knocked out Texas. Then he was hired to lead the Longhorns two weeks later.

Texas knocked off NC State 102-97 in the Maui Invitational in November. Neither coach expects to spend much time revisiting that game considering the recent issues on both sides that brought them to the verge of being held out of the field entirely.

“Now it’s our time to see if we can do something with this opportunity, more than we’ve done during the regular season,” NC State coach Will Wade said.

Wade has openly questioned the discipline and effort of his team. NC State lost seven of its last nine games, going from comfortably in the field to playing on the first night of the tournament.

Texas enters the tournament with losses in five of its last six games. The two most recent losses were to teams who didn’t make the field, Oklahoma and Ole Miss.

“We had two full days of being able to take a deep breath, get away from each other, get our legs and mind right,” Miller said. “And then we also had an opportunity to have two really good days of practice and get back in the gym, where you learn where we’re at.”

Texas won the Nov. 26 meeting in the fifth-place game of the Maui Invitational. There were only 13 total turnovers in that game, with Texas’ 28-for-33 shooting on free throws making a difference.

“It was an up-and-down game, and it was a third game in three days for both of us,” Wade said.

Jordan Pope’s 28 points led Texas in the first meeting, with the Longhorns shooting 55.8% from the field — including 16 for 32 on 3-pointers. NC State had three players — Quadir Copeland (28 points), Ven-Allen Lubin (23) and Paul McNeil Jr. (20) — reach the 20-point mark in that game.

“When they play well, they have great firepower, great scoring punch,” Miller said. “They’re familiar with us, and we’re familiar with them. I don’t think that’s any advantage to us or them.”

There should be no lack of motivation from the Wolfpack.

“It’s a team that we lost to earlier in the year, certainly our guys will have their full attention,” Wade said. “It’s an NCAA Tournament game. We should have everybody’s full attention for an NCAA Tournament game.”

Since NC State lost to Virginia in Thursday’s Atlantic Coast Conference tournament quarterfinals, the Wolfpack had two days off without practice. Wade said he chose for a regular type of practice Sunday because he felt there was about a 30% chance the Wolfpack might end up in the First Four.

NC State topped Pitt in Wednesday’s ACC tournament second round.

“We’ve got to clean up the details and the discipline to go with that, and that’s going to be the challenge to do that quickly before Tuesday,” Wade said.

Texas met three ACC teams across the first month of the season, losing to Duke and Virginia and topping NC State. NC State went 0-4 against those opponents, with two of the losses in March.

Junior Dailyn Swain, the SEC Newcomer of the Year, leads Texas in scoring (17.8 points per game), rebounding (7.5 rpg), assists (108), steals (55) and minutes (32.2 per game).

–Field Level Media

DAYTON, Ohio — The field of 68 teams in the 2026 NCAA Tournament begins to get whittled down Tuesday night when a pair of No. 16 seeds from the Midwest Region square off.

UMBC (24-8) and Howard (23-10) will clash in the First Four opener in Dayton. The winner gets No. 1 seed Michigan on Thursday in a first-round game in Buffalo, N.Y.

UMBC, whose 12-game winning streak is a program record, is making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since the historic upset of No. 1 Virginia in 2018. The Retrievers became the first No. 16 seed to triumph since the expansion to 64 teams in 1985.

Under America East Coach of the Year Jim Ferry, UMBC earned an automatic bid this year by handling Vermont 74-59 in the conference final.

“I’ve been to the NCAA Tournament but because these guys are so special, I wanted it so badly for them,” Ferry said. “We’ve been playing some of the best basketball in the country. I’m sure (opponents are) not going to feel very comfortable.”

Howard is returning to the tournament for the third time in four years. After clinching the Mid-Eastern Athletic Championship, the Bison also enter on an impressive streak, having won the last eight.

“I am so proud of our guys, the way they work and the character they have,” coach Kenneth Blakeney said. “To represent Howard University on this stage is an honor we don’t take lightly. We’re coming to Dayton to compete and keep this journey going.”

MEAC Player of the Year Bryce Harris powers Howard’s attack with 17.1 points per game, tied for the team lead with two-way standout Cedric Taylor III. He says he’s ready for the national spotlight.

“We’ve put in the work all season for this exact moment,” Harris said. “We know UMBC is tough, but we believe in our system and each other. It’s survive-and-advance time.”

Both teams rely on highly efficient offenses. Howard averaged 84.2 points over the last 10 games, while UMBC averaged 79.8 in the span.

The game also features a battle of two of the better point guards in mid-major basketball.

Jah’Likai King leads UMBC with 13.9 points per game. The first-team all-America East selection is the primary engine for the Retrievers’ winning streak.

Cam Gillus paces Howard in assists (4.6 per game) and steals (1.8). He is coming off a 25-point, eight-rebound performance in the MEAC semifinals, a 78-61 win over South Carolina State.

–Mike Petraglia, Field Level Media