Sports
Three College Basketball Teams To Avoid in This Year’s Elite Eight
The Elite Eight has arrived and the one thing we know is that seven of these teams are going to end their season with a loss.
Part of being the last team standing has to do with avoiding the one matchup that can sink you.
We’ve already seen one No. 1 seed (Florida) go down in the second round and two No. 2 seeds (Houston and Iowa State) get ousted in the Sweet 16.
The Gators went down because No. 9 seed Iowa controlled the pace and kept Florida frustrated by holding them without a field goal for 9:23 of the first half. That helped the Hawkeyes assure it would a close game and they ended up receiving the clutch 3-point shot by Alvaro Folgueiras with 4.5 seconds left.
Houston drew its exit interview because its offense was in seclusion and Illinois took advantage. The Cougars shot 34.4% from the field and scored a season-low 55 points and it’s starting to look like Kelvin Sampson can get you to the Sweet 16 but will end up retiring without a championship ring.
Iowa State lost partly because All-American Joshua Jefferson (ankle) was out with an injury. Just as significant was that Tennessee steamrolled the Cyclones 43-22 on the boards.
That leaves us with these Elite Eight matchups: Iowa vs. Illinois, Purdue vs. Arizona, Tennessee vs. Michigan and UConn vs. Duke.
The three teams you want to avoid facing the rest of the way are Michigan, UConn and Purdue.
–Michigan and Arizona have been the best two teams all season and the Wolverines have the look of a champion.
Top-seeded Michigan (34-3) is well-coached by Dusty May, who has all of the answers most nights. The Wolverines plucked him away from Florida Atlantic, a mid-major program May took to the Final Four.
All-American forward Yaxel Lendeborg is the difference-maker for Michigan and his 14.7 scoring average would be higher if he wasn’t surrounded by so much talent. The Wolverines scooped him up from UAB – OK, wait, why was an NBA talent like this at UAB for two seasons?
Michigan has superb depth with eight players averaging more than 7.0 points per game. Four of them average double digits, including Aday Mara (12.0 on 67.4% from the field), stellar improvement from a player known for his defense.
You can sense the headaches Tennessee coach Rick Barnes is having as he tries to figure out how his No. 6 seed Vols are going to notch another upset.
–UConn won back-to-back titles in 2023-24 and the second-seeded Huskies are still a significant threat even though top-seeded Duke is next on the slate.
Of course, the Huskies (32-5) feature star center Alex Karaban, a four-year starter who was a key cog on those championship teams. There is no situation that is going to intimidate Karaban, who has knocked down 236 3-pointers during his career.
UConn has four other players scoring in double digits with the key one being center Tarris Reed Jr. He has averages of 14.2 points, 8.9 rebounds and 2.0 blocks and the Huskies will be hard to beat if he goes on a roll.
Reed had 31 points and 27 rebounds in the first-round victory over Furman, the first time the NCAA Tournament saw a player with 30-plus points and 25-plus rebounds in a game since Houston legend Elvin Hayes did it twice in the 1968 tourney (and he fell one rebound shy of doing it a third time). Anytime your name is mentioned alongside the “Big E,” you’ve done yourself proud.
–Purdue (30-8) seems to have three 10-year veterans in career assists leader Braden Smith and sidekicks Trey Kaufman-Renn and Fletcher Loyer. OK, so it’s only been four seasons, but these guys have won 117 games together after Kaufman-Renn’s game-winning tip-in with 1.4 seconds left against Texas on Thursday.
The trio reached the title game as sophomores when the Boilermakers lost to UConn. Purdue also had two-time National Player of the Year Zach Edey on that team but fell short and that provides extra fuel for Smith, Kaufman-Renn and Loyer.
The biggest hurdle for Purdue is that Arizona is up next. The other obstacle is … well, the Boilermakers. These guys lost to four unranked teams. Are they really going to knock off the Wildcats and TWO OTHER top teams?
But right now, Purdue is a hot veteran team with seven straight victories. That’s not the kind of team you relish facing in the Elite Eight.
Sports
Padres stymie Tigers for first win of season
Mar 28, 2026; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres starting pitcher Randy Vasquez (98) throws a pitch during the first inning against the Detroit Tigers at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: David Frerker-Imagn Images Randy Vasquez fired six shutout innings Saturday night as the San Diego Padres avoided a season-opening, three-game sweep at the visiting Detroit Tigers’ hands with a 3-0 victory.
Vasquez allowed just two hits, both to third baseman Cole Keith, while walking three and striking out eight, one shy of his career high. Kyle Hart followed with two perfect innings and Mason Miller worked the ninth to earn the save. It was the first win for Craig Stammen, San Diego’s first-year manager.
Jack Flaherty absorbed the loss, allowing four hits and three runs (two earned) over 4 1/3 innings. Flaherty walked four and whiffed two.
The Padres got the only runs they needed in the bottom of the third. Flaherty mowed down the first eight guys he faced before allowing three straight two-out hits to Freddy Fermin, Jake Cronenworth and Fernando Tatis Jr., with Tatis’ hit scoring Fermin.
The second run scored when second baseman Gleyber Torres’ fielding error on Tatis’ steal of second enabled Cronenworth to score.
That was enough for Vasquez, who was only threatened twice. Detroit got men to second and third in the first after Torres walked and Keith doubled but Riley Greene’s grounder to Cronenworth at second forced Torres at the plate. Spencer Torkelson looked at a third strike to end the inning.
In the sixth, Keith singled with two outs and Greene drew a walk. But with Hart warming up in the bullpen, Vasquez escaped when Torkelson’s hard shot to third became a forceout on Manny Machado’s terrific play.
San Diego got its final run in the fifth via Flaherty’s loss of control. He issued one-out walks to Cronenworth, Tatis and Machado, forcing manager A.J. Hinch to bring in Brant Hurter out of the bullpen. Jackson Merrill’s fielder’s choice grounder scored Cronenworth.
Ramon Laureano collected three of the Padres’ seven hits, while Cronenworth went 1 for 3 with two runs in his first game as the team’s leadoff hitter since 2023.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Joe Pyfer stops former champ Israel Adesanya in 2nd round of UFC Seattle
Mar 28, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; Israel Adesanya (red gloves) fights Joe Pyfer (blue gloves) during UFC Fight Night at Climate Pledge Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images Joe Pyfer (16-3 MMA) sent former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya (24-6 MMA) back to the drawing board in Saturday night’s UFC Fight Night headliner in Seattle, stopping Adesanya at 4:18 of the second round to cap the night.
Before the TKO finish, both fighters exchanged their best punches in a stand-up battle until a Pyfer takedown signaled the beginning of the end.
“I just have this mentality where I don’t care, I’m going to search and destroy,” Pyfer said following the stoppage, securing the finish in top control.
Adesanya, fighting out of New Zealand, hasn’t won a bout since regaining middleweight gold in April 2023 at UFC 287, and confirmed he has no plans to retire.
“I’m just going to keep going and going and going,” Adesanya said.
A rematch five years in the making commenced at flyweight as former champion Alexa Grasso made short work of Maycee Barber with a TKO stoppage at 2:42 of the opening round. The Mexican used a left hook to down Barber before jumping on top of her immediately as the referee stepped in.
The two first met in Feb. 2021, with Grasso earning a decision. Grasso (17-5-1 MMA) snapped a two-fight losing skid, whereas Barber (15-3 MMA) had not lost since the first meeting with Grasso, having won her previous seven fights.
In his final MMA fight, welterweight Michael Chiesa (20-7 MMA) had a hometown send-off as he submitted Niko Price (16-11 MMA) with a first-round rear-naked choke. Chiesa needed just 63 seconds to put a bow on his UFC career, one that spanned a decade-plus and included winning the 15th season of The Ultimate Fighter in June 2012.
Chiesa ended his UFC career at 15-7, while Price, who has been in the promotion for over a decade himself, now sits at 8-11, with two no contests in the Octagon and has dropped four straight fights.
The finishes were a theme on the night, as featherweight Lerryan Douglas (14-5 MMA) of Brazil needed 3:33 of the opening round to deliver a devastating TKO against Julian Erosa (31-13 MMA). Douglas has now won his last six in a row while Erosa continues to struggle at 9-9 in the UFC.
At middleweight, Yousri Belgaroui of the Netherlands scored a third-round TKO stoppage against Mansur Abdul-Malik by landing a perfectly timed knee to end the fight in a back-and-forth battle. Belgaroui (10-3 MMA) has won five straight and remains undefeated in the UFC. Conversely, it was Abdul-Malik’s (9-1-1 MMA) first professional loss, as he had won seven of his 11 outings by KO/TKO.
The main card got underway in emphatic fashion in the opener, with lightweight Terrance McKinney needing just 24 seconds to dispatch Canadian Kyle Nelson with a series of punches following a head kick. McKinney (18-8 MMA) has won three of his last four, while Nelson (17-7-1 MMA) has lost two of his last three.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Alexander Kerfoot, Logan Cooley score twice as Mammoth rout Kings
Mar 28, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Utah Mammoth center Logan Cooley (92) and Los Angeles Kings right wing Mathieu Joseph (17) battle for the puck during the first period at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Griffin Hooper-Imagn Images
Alexander Kerfoot and Logan Cooley each scored twice as the visiting Utah Mammoth thumped the Los Angeles Kings 6-2 on Saturday night.
With the win, Utah (38-30-6, 82 points), currently in the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference, holds a five-point lead over the Nashville Predators, owners of the second wild-card position.
Los Angeles (29-25-18, 76 points) remains on the outside looking in, a point back of Nashville in the wild-card race.
Nick Schmaltz and Jack McBain also scored for Utah, while Mikhail Sergachev had four assists and Clayton Keller chipped in a pair of helpers for the Mammoth, who won for just the second time in five games (2-3-0).
Karel Vejmelka made 29 saves for Utah.
Adrian Kempe had a goal and an assist, and Anze Kopitar also scored for the Kings, who have dropped five of six (1-2-3).
Darcy Kuemper stopped 11 shots through two periods and was replaced by Anton Forsberg to start the third. Forsberg made 11 saves.
The Mammoth outshot the Kings 12-9 in the first period and led 3-1 after 20 minutes.
Utah opened the scoring 2:31 into the period as Kerfoot redirected a John Marino cross-ice feed past Kuemper.
Cooley doubled the Mammoth lead at 16:33, beating out the icing call and snapping a shot five-hole past Kuemper.
Los Angeles cut the lead in half 1:18 later as Kopitar tipped a Kempe shot from the point past Vejmelka.
Utah restored the two-goal lead on the power play at 19:51 as Cooley dangled around Mikey Anderson and snapped a shot high blocker-side past Kuemper.
The Mammoth took a 4-1 lead at 12:37 of the middle frame as Kerfoot showed patience, outwaited Kuemper, and put a shot over the shoulder of the Kings’ goaltender. Kerfoot has points in four straight games (three goals, two assists).
Schmaltz made it 5-1 at 16:17 of the second on a power play, taking a Keller pass, skate-to-stick and snapping a shot past Kuemper.
Kempe pulled the Kings to 5-2, putting a shot past a screened Vejmelka at 4:34 of the third.
McBain added an empty-netter at 13:53.
–Field Level Media
Padres stymie Tigers for first win of season
Joe Pyfer stops former champ Israel Adesanya in 2nd round of UFC Seattle
