Sports
Oklahoma in desperation mode for SEC tourney clash vs. Texas A&M
Mar 11, 2026; Nashville, TN, USA; Oklahoma Sooners guard Nijel Pack (9) dribbles the ball past South Carolina Gamecocks forward Nordin Kapic (24) during the first half at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images Oklahoma rolled past South Carolina in the first round of the SEC tournament on Wednesday in Nashville to set up a third season meeting with Texas A&M, a match that means much more to the Sooners than denying the Aggies a season three-peat.
Playing for their NCAA Tournament lives, the 11th-seeded Sooners overcame a 13-point first-half deficit to beat the Gamecocks 86-74.
Nijel Pack scored 24 points and Derrion Reid had 20 for the Sooners (18-14), who are projected to be one of the final teams left out of the 68-team NCAA field before conference tournaments began.
“We know this is a survive-and-advance type of time,” Pack said on the SEC Network. “It’s one game at a time. That’s all we’re focused on.”
Sixth-seeded Texas A&M (21-10), which had a first-round tournament bye, beat the Sooners 83-76 and 75-71 in the regular season.
The latter was the Sooners’ 11th loss in 13 games and seemed to doom their NCAA chances, but they have won five straight since. That streak includes wins over Auburn, Missouri and Texas, all considered to be in the tournament field after Wednesday games.
“We had a different route that we had to take,” Pack said. “Sometimes it sucked to go through hard times, but I’m glad it shaped us into the team we are today.”
The Aggies have won two in a row and four of six after a season-worst four-game losing streak in early February that included setbacks to now-No. 15 Alabama, then-No. 17 Florida and then-No. 19 Vanderbilt.
“The way we ended the season, we aren’t going up there with the weight of the world on our shoulders,” Aggies coach Bucky McMillan said. “Our players should be able to go up there and play loose.”
The Aggies come in waves with their full-game, full court press. Forward Rashaun Agee leads five double-figure scorers with 14.7 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. Nine players average at least 15 minutes per game.
Agee had a season-high 26 points and his 12th double-double in a 94-91 triple-overtime victory over LSU in the regular-season finale on Saturday. He has averaged 19.0 points per game in the last six.
The Aggies averaged 29.8 three-point attempts and 10.9 makes entering the SEC tournament, both 14th in Division I.
–Field Level Media
Sports
A Simple Plan to Fix the NBA Schedule Without Cutting Revenue
There’s no way the NBA is going to cut back on its number of games.
Going from 82 to 72 games, as Steve Kerr suggested this week, would create a 12% decrease in game-day revenue.
The billionaire owners – or shall we say, their ticket-buying fans – might be willing to absorb that, but no way the millionaire players go for it.
If only there were a way …
C’mon, you had to know I have a solution.
The key to solving this equation is understanding where the NBA’s money comes from. It’s the various television contracts.
The TV people have to be kept happy in any new arrangement.
They’re proud as peacocks now, so why change the presentation? The goal here is not to shorten the season, but rather to shrink the number of games.
As it stands now, the NBA campaign runs 173 days. Squeezing 82 games in there leaves just 91 days off. That’s 10 weeks with four games per team and 14 weeks with three.
And you thought the LA freeway was congested.
By cutting back to 72 games but keeping the 173-day schedule, you get exactly three games a week, with 10 additional days off, going from 91 to 101.
That sounds more reasonable from a players’ perspective … as long as they still get their money. Understood.
Here’s how that would work:
By keeping the schedule at 24 weeks, the big-money networks would still have the same number of telecast dates. No money lost. No reason to renegotiate any deals.
So, the TV people are happy and the players are happy. That just leaves the owners and those five home dates lost per team.
Alas, that’s not a problem, either.
First off, while nothing can be done about existing deals, owners would have the ability to cut back on future player contracts, right? The question is: How much?
That would depend upon a key transition the league is undergoing as early as next season.
The NBA has been snatching up local TV rights. This will soon become another major revenue source … one with no collective bargaining agreement that will guarantee the players anything.
So, while the owners might take a small hit short-term, they’ll be just fine, too.
But that’s not all. Greater breathing room in the schedule also creates the opportunity for a greater viewing product.
You’ve heard the complaints: We’re not watching because stars aren’t playing. And we don’t even know where to find the games in the first place.
Well, with no four-game weeks, there will be no need for back-to-backs. Take away back-to-backs and you greatly increase the possibility that your old men won’t need a night off.
Equally important is the difficulty in finding games. Spreading out the schedule could help fix that problem as well, as long as the league becomes a little more creative.
The NBA needs a “Basketball Night in America” – one game, marquee matchups, NBC, Shaq and the guys. It appears NBC wants that night to be Tuesday, so let’s keep it on Tuesday.
But let’s give everyone else the night off.
And with maximum potential exposure, let’s make it an attraction to more than just serious basketball fans.
Let’s create a 24-person Celebrity Shootout, to be contested at halftime of the game. Big names. REAL big names. Single-elimination, March Madness-style. One head-to-head per week.
I can already see Charles choreographing a “Gone Fishing” segment at the end of the night, complete with a live interview with the loser.
This could be your viewer-magnet Super Bowl halftime show. Only weekly.
Then let’s take our second-most important network, Peacock, and give them Sunday night. Again, just one game on the schedule. Others can play earlier in the day, but at 8 p.m. Eastern, all eyes are on two teams.
And I’d even give this game a side attraction – a Survivor Pool in which all Peacock subscribers are invited to pick the winner of the game. Afterward, we find out how many got it right, and thus earn the right to advance to pick again next week, and how many were eliminated.
Did I mention $1 million – it might have to be “paid” in Peacock gear to satisfy the various state gambling laws – to the eventual winner?
Just two big-splash showdowns each week would leave more glamorous matchups for the NBA to sell on its new local-television deal, which keeps the revenue streams flowing even while the players are getting more time off.
Everybody wins. Even the fans.
Imagine that.
Sports
Ole Miss a surprising foe for Georgia in SEC tournament
Mar 11, 2026; Nashville, TN, USA; Mississippi Rebels forward James Scott (4) dunks the ball against the Texas Longhorns during the second half at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images Georgia will bring a historic regular season into its Southeastern Conference tournament opener Thursday night against upset winner Ole Miss in a second-round game in Nashville.
Georgia (22-9) set school regular-season records for wins and points scored, and ranked third in Division I with a 90.4 scoring average entering the SEC tournament.
Coach Mike White understands that was then for the Bulldogs, who are seeded seventh in the SEC tournament.
“We’ve got to turn the page quickly,” White said, “because here comes the postseason, and we have a chance to play for a championship. We will certainly play in ‘The Dance’ (NCAA Tournament), and we certainly want to dance as long as possible.”
Most projections have Georgia on the seven-eight seed line for the NCAA Tournament.
The only shock on the SEC tournament’s first day was 15th-seeded Ole Miss’s 76-66 wire-to-wire win over 10th-seeded Texas on Wednesday. The Rebels (13-19) had lost 12 of their past 13 games.
The Rebels opened a 12-point lead midway through the first half. Texas got within three points on Jordan Pope’s 3-pointer with four minutes left but never was closer.
“You’ve got to throw the first punch,” said Rebels forward James Scott, who had 10 points and nine rebounds.
Malik Dia scored 23 points and AJ Storr had 18 for the Rebels, who limited Texas to 35.2% shooting from the field and committed only three turnovers.
Ole Miss beat host Georgia 97-95 in overtime on Patton Pinkins’ put-back with one second remaining in their lone regular-season meeting on Jan. 14, when Storr had 27 points.
“We didn’t come here to Nashville to win one game,” Ole Miss coach Chris Beard said. “We came here to win one game at a time.”
The Bulldogs’ NCAA Tournament standing went from precarious to a lock after a strong finish that included a 98-88 victory over then-No. 16 Alabama on March 3 that broke the Crimson Tide’s eight-game winning streak.
Georgia has won five of its past six games, coinciding with White’s decision to bring leading scorer Jeremiah Wilkinson (17.3 points per game) off the bench and place 5-foot-11 point guard Marcus “Smurf” Millender and 6-8 forward Kareem Stagg in the starting lineup.
Wilkinson had 32 points and six 3-pointers against Ole Miss.
Georgia’s Kanon Catchings, a 6-9 sophomore forward, enters as the SEC co-player of the week after getting a combined 55 points and 12 rebounds in victories over Alabama and Mississippi State. He scored a career-high 32 points against Alabama.
The Bulldogs are averaging 6.2 blocked shots per game, tied with Virginia for the best in Division I. Georgia’s Somto Cyril, a 6-11 center, is tied for 10th in the nation at 2.4 per game.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Coach Dan Hurley implores No. 6 UConn to limit turnovers vs. Xavier
Dec 31, 2025; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; UConn Huskies guard Silas Demary Jr. (2) controls the ball against Xavier Musketeers guard Malik Messina-Moore (1) in the second half at the Cintas Center. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-Imagn Images NEW YORK — After dominating the 2024 NCAA Tournament en route to its sixth national title and second straight, UConn took a slight step back last season.
This season, the Huskies were back to their normal lofty status, staying in the top 10 of the Associated Press poll through the entire regular season and enter the Big East tournament as the sixth-ranked team in the nation.
Still, UConn showed some inconsistencies, and it cost them a chance at getting the top seed in the Big East tournament. The second-seeded Huskies will face Xavier, the 10th seed, on Thursday night in one quarterfinal.
The winner will oppose the winner of the game between Villanova, the third seed, and 11th-seeded Georgetown in the second semifinal on Friday night.
The Huskies (27-4) finished one game behind top seed St. John’s, and turnovers cost them in two of their three conference losses. UConn is making its return to Madison Square Garden after committing 15 turnovers in an 81-72 loss to the Red Storm on Feb. 6.
The loss to St. John’s was among eight instances where the Huskies tallied at least 15 turnovers. The Huskies went 6-2 in those games, but the second loss was Saturday’s 68-62 setback at Marquette.
UConn’s offense could not overcome 16 turnovers, as it shot 35.6% and a season-worst 12.5% (3-of-24) from 3-point range. Both were their lowest number of the season.
“They’ve been a nightmare for this team,” UConn coach Dan Hurley told reporters after practice Tuesday. “It will potentially be this team’s undoing.”
“It’s tough when you get like four turnovers from one guy, three from another, two from this guy, two from him, sprinkle in some ones and now you’ve got 14, 15, 16 turnovers. And we can’t overcome that,” Hurley said. “The players have got to be more disciplined, they can’t just take the ball and turn it over… We should be past that.”
Silas Demary Jr. committed four turnovers at Marquette while leading the team with 17 points and Tarris Reed Jr. added 16 points.
While UConn is hoping to improve its ball handling, the Huskies are hoping to see better showings from Alex Karaban, Solo Ball and Braylon Mullins after the trio shot a combined 6-of-31 from the floor and misfired on 19 of 22 tries from 3-point range.
Ball’s 13.9 points led the Huskies, but the guard shot 34.1% (15-of-44) over his past five games since scoring 20 against Georgetown on Feb. 14. He shot 40.5% on the regular season.
Karaban’s two-point showing at Marquette followed a 23-point outing in a win against Seton Hall, and Mullins was 7-of-27 shooting from behind the arc in his final four games after hitting six 3s and scoring 25 in a 91-84 loss to Creighton on Feb. 18.
UConn won the two meetings with Xavier by a combined 55 points. The Huskies shot 53.2% and hit 13 3-pointers in a 90-67 win at Xavier on Dec. 31 and 56.7% in a 92-60 rout at home on Feb. 3.
The Musketeers (15-17) will get a third chance at the Huskies after opening the tournament on Wednesday with an 89-87 win over Marquette.
Xavier is 3-6 since the February meeting with the Huskies with three of the losses coming by five points or fewer. Against Marquette, the Musketeers shot 63.3% in the second half and 51.6% overall.
On Wednesday, Jovan Milicevic scored 21 points including the tie-breaking basket with 1:14 left. Tre Carroll added 14 of his 18 in the second half.
“I think we’ve gotten better, I really do,” Xavier coach Richard Pitino said of his team, adding about UConn: “We understand they run a very unique offense. They shoot the basketball extremely well. They’re very, very physical.
–Larry Fleisher, Field Level Media
A Simple Plan to Fix the NBA Schedule Without Cutting Revenue
Ole Miss a surprising foe for Georgia in SEC tournament
