Sports
One team from each seed line with best chance of advancing in tournament
Mar 26, 2025; Newark, NJ, USA; General view of a NCAA March Madness logo during a practice sessions in preparation for an East Regional semifinal games at Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images There’s nothing wrong with all four No. 1 seeds barging their way into the Final Four. When it happened last March for the first time since 2008, it led to a terrific Final Four in San Antonio that didn’t determine the champion until the title game’s final possession.
So, if Duke, Arizona, Michigan and Florida reign supreme over the next two weekends and earn their way to Indianapolis, college basketball fans everywhere will relish the chance to watch them bash it out for the right to bask in One Shining Moment.
But let’s be honest: As amazing as each No. 1 seed’s talent happens to be — not to mention their metrics — none of these teams are unbeatable. The Blue Devils and Wolverines are dealing with injuries that test their depth at point guard. The Gators’ 3-point prowess (or lack thereof) sank them in the SEC tournament semifinals.
And, well, the Wildcats looked pretty phenomenal while blasting their way to the Big 12 tournament championship, but studs Jaden Bradley and Koa Peat have been dealing with injuries, including a wrist injury suffered by Bradley in the Big 12 title game.
So which teams might knock off a No. 1 seed and take their place in Indy? Here’s the team from each seed line with the best chance of advancing:
No. 2: Last year, Houston essentially had to be the road team in the Midwest Region in Indianapolis. The Cougars edged Purdue in the Sweet 16 before taking down Tennessee and the Big Orange Nation in the Elite Eight. For their troubles, the Cougars have the chance to play in Houston in the South Region this time. You think Florida is happy about this?
No. 3: Michigan State isn’t the most talented 3 seed, but it boasts the toughest point guard in likely All-American Jeremy Fears Jr. and he sets the tone for his squad. If it comes down the Spartans and second-seeded UConn in the East Region semifinals, the Huskies have indicated in recent weeks they’re lacking a killer instinct.
No. 4: Somehow the West Region features the Big 12 (Arizona), Big Ten (Purdue), West Coast (Gonzaga) and Southeastern Conference (Arkansas) tournament champions, with the Razorbacks the fourth seed. So everyone’s coming in hot, but nobody’s hotter than Arkansas freshman PG Darius Acuff Jr. In his last eight games, he has averaged 28.4 points and 7.4 assists while shooting 48.1% from 3-point range.
No. 5: Wisconsin and Vanderbilt have been rolling and feature great guard combos that can make a difference in March, but St. John’s gets stuck with a 5 seed after smacking UConn by 20 in the Big East title game? Nothing against Northern Iowa and Cal Baptist, but can’t wait to watch St. John’s and Kansas in Round 2.
No. 6: If you have the likely No. 1 pick in the upcoming NBA Draft, then you’ve got a chance to make something happen in March. AJ Dybantsa leads the nation with 25.3 points per game and he seems to be getting more comfortable from 3-point range. He gives BYU a chance to reach the Sweet 16 for the second year in a row.
No. 7: Saint Mary’s doesn’t have an easy draw. If the ultra-patient Gaels harness the Texas A&M whirlwind in the first round, then the Houston Cougars await in Round 2. But Saint Mary’s boasts terrific shooters (38.6% from 3) and a rock-ribbed defense. That’s the combo that can pay big in March.
No. 8: The last few years, Ohio State showed an alarming talent for fading down the stretch. Not this year. With all-time leading scorer Bruce Thornton leading the way, the Buckeyes are 4-1 this March with a narrow loss to Michigan the only demerit.
No. 9: As soon as the brackets were announced, the talking heads couldn’t wait to gush over Utah State. And with good reason. Led by Mountain West player of the year Mason Falslev, the Aggies are in the NCAAs for the fifth time in six seasons. No high-major would play them in nonconference.
No. 10: We have a compelling group of 10 seeds, but Santa Clara sticks out in the school’s first NCAA Tournament since 1996 — when Steve Nash ran the show. Herb Sendek’s Broncos play fast, yet they found a way to defeat Saint Mary’s two out of three.
No. 11: It has been 15 years since Shaka Smart led VCU to the Final Four from the 11 seed. That’s reason enough to single out VCU, but its band also delivers the tuffest song: “You don’t want to go to war with the Rams; Don’t start no stuff, won’t be no stuff.” Look it up on YouTube, people.
No. 12: Basically, this is where we predict the annual 5-12 upset. Akron retained five key players from last year’s NCAA Tournament crew, then coach John Groce added the Mahaffey Bros. (Eric and Evan) for even more energy and defense. The Zips won’t be favored against Texas Tech, but they won’t be scared, either.
No. 13: Hofstra traveled to Pittsburgh on Dec. 7 and Syracuse on Dec. 13 (bookending a classic trap game against Old Westbury on Dec. 10) and took care of those Atlantic Coast Conference squads. Speedy Claxton’s crew shoots the lights out (36.8% from 3) and protects the rim defensively.
No. 14: Did you see the end of the Ivy League championship game? Then you know why Penn gets the nod here. TJ Power, a four-star prospect who began his career at Duke, hit two ridiculous 3-pointers to force OT and highlight his 44-point, 14-rebound performance. Fran McCaffery wasted no time refurbishing his alma mater.
No. 15: Idaho finished seventh in the Big Sky, then promptly reeled off four tournament wins in five days to collect the school’s first NCAA bid since 1990. The Vandals don’t have any high-major transfers, but they have a balanced offense, they shoot the 3 well and they don’t turn it over much — but we imagine Houston will try to force a few miscues.
No. 16: Anyone remember the last time UMBC made the NCAA field? Anyone? Tony Bennett? Wahoo Nation? The Retrievers are back for the first time since 2018, when they slayed No. 1 Virginia in the first round. UMBC isn’t even favored to win in Tuesday’s First Four game against Howard, but it enters riding a 12-game winning streak during which only two games were decided by single digits.
–Lindsey Willhite, Field Level Media
Sports
Andy Pages remains hot in Dodgers’ win over Nationals
Apr 4, 2026; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman (5) hits a two RBI double against the Washington Nationals during the first inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-Imagn Images Andy Pages slugged a three-run homer among his three hits, Freddie Freeman doubled twice and drove in four runs, and the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Washington Nationals 10-5 on Saturday.
Will Smith also had three hits and Shohei Ohtani, Kyle Tucker and Alex Call each had two of the Dodgers’ 16 hits. Pages leads the majors in hits while batting .500 (15-for-30).
Los Angeles star shortstop Mookie Betts exited in the middle of the first inning of the game due to right lower back pain and was replaced by Miguel Rojas.
Tyler Glasnow (1-0) threw 101 pitches over six innings, giving up two runs on four hits with nine strikeouts and two walks.
CJ Abrams hit a two-run homer and Luis Garcia Jr. went 3-for-4 with an RBI for Washington, which lost its fourth straight and has been outscored 23-11 in the first two games of the weekend series.
The Dodgers put two runs on the board in the first inning. With two on and one out, Freeman delivered a two-run double against Jake Irvin (1-1).
Irvin ran into trouble again in the second inning, allowing three runs on three hits. Los Angeles loaded the bases with one out before Alex Freeland scored on Rojas’ sacrifice fly. Freeman followed with a two-run double to right field.
The Dodgers extended their lead to 6-0 in the third when Pages singled, stole second and scored on Call’s two-out single.
Washington pushed a run across with two outs in the third on Garcia’s RBI triple into the right-field corner.
Irvin was replaced by Brad Lord after giving up six runs on eight hits over four innings. He walked two and struck out four.
Will Smith and Max Muncy greeted Lord with back-to-back singles to begin the fifth inning, and Pages drove them home with a three-run homer. The 387-foot shot was Pages’ second in as many games and third of the season.
After Los Angeles tacked on another run in the seventh on Tucker’s two-out single, Abrams hit a two-run homer off Ben Casparius in the eighth. Washington added a run in the ninth on Jose Tena’s pinch-hit RBI single.
–Field Level Media
Sports
William Sawalich gets breakthrough victory at Rockingham
Mar 28, 2026; Martinsville, Virginia, USA; Joe Gibbs Racing driver William Sawalich (18) pit crew try to get their car back into the final laps of the race at Martinsville Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images ROCKINGHAM, N.C. — Grabbing the lead and control of the race after a restart on Lap 172, William Sawalich pulled away over the final 79 laps to win Saturday’s North Carolina Education Lottery 250 Presented by Black’s Tire at Rockingham Speedway.
The victory was the first in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series for the 19-year-old Sawalich, the youngest driver to win at the 0.94-mile track in any of NASCAR’s top three series.
Sawalich, who led 80 laps, crossed the finish line 0.863 seconds ahead of Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Brandon Jones to end the five-race winning streak of JR Motorsports and preserve the series record of six straight victories for JGR.
“It means everything,” said Sawalich, who gained three positions to 11th in the series standings. “Honestly, it was a tough year last year and a tough start to the year this year. Gosh, it feels good to get it done here at Rockingham in front of an awesome crowd.
“Our Supra was on rails today, obviously. Good in Stage 1 (fifth), Stage 2 (second) and obviously amazing in clean air. Lapped traffic took me out last year (in a 25th-place finish), so that was running through my head a little bit, but, man, I just studied the race last year, calmed down–and everything’s fine.”
With the win, Sawalich earned eligibility for the first Dash 4 Cash race next Saturday at Bristol Motor Speedway. The top four finishers at Rockingham–Sawalich, Jones and third- and fourth-place finishers Justin Allgaier and Rajah Caruth–will compete for a $100,000 bonus in that event, with the top finisher among them claiming the prize.
Caruth, in fact, made a spectacular three-wide pass of both Sheldon Creed and Carson Kvapil with nine laps left to grab the last Dash 4 Cash position. Kvapil finished fifth and Creed sixth, followed by Taylor Gray, Parker Retzlaff, Ryan Sieg and pole winner Corey Day.
For the first half of the race, Day appeared to have the dominant car. The 20-year-old led a race-high 118 of the 250 laps and swept the first two stages–the first stage wins of his career.
But Day lost five positions on a slow pit stop during the second stage break and never recovered. On Lap 174, he pitted out of sequence for a loose lug nut and charged from 24th over the final 70 laps to post his seventh straight top 10.
“We had a couple of bad pit stops,” Day said. “We got behind there, and it was hard to dig ourselves out of the hole.”
Jones was pleased with the progress his runner-up finish represents.
“I left Martinsville a little frustrated at myself last week (after finishing 18th),” Jones said. “We weren’t quite aggressive enough at times, so today, I was super adamant on being super aggressive. I am going to take all of the runs I can get. I’m going to put people in bad situations, if I can, and just move forward.
“I think we did a really good job of it. We kept fighting both sides of it with balance today. Sam (McAuley, crew chief) did a great job taking all of my feedback and making a car, I think, capable of winning. It was just a matter of trying to get some track position, and he (Sawalich) got such a big restart on that last restart (after the seventh caution on Lap 206) that it was hard to catch him.”
Allgaier had the consolation of leaving Rockingham with a lead of 126 points over second-place Jesse Love in the O’Reilly Auto Parts standings. Love hit the outside wall after a shove from Caruth, lost track position on a subsequent unscheduled pit stop on Lap 153 and finished 27th, two laps down.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Ramon Laureano leads Padres over Red Sox with 9th inning single
Apr 4, 2026; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; San Diego Padres right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. (23) scores a run against Boston Red Sox catcher Carlos Narvaez (75) during the ninth inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images Ramon Laureano’s two-out RBI single in the top of the ninth inning propelled the visiting San Diego Padres to a 3-2 win over the Boston Red Sox in the second of a three-game series on Saturday.
The Padres found two-out magic against Boston closer Aroldis Chapman (0-1) to take the lead for good, as Fernando Tatis Jr. ripped a double over Ceddanne Rafaela’s head in center field to set the stage for Laureano’s heroic knock into left.
Miguel Andujar also had a big day for San Diego, going 3-for-5 with a double and a run scored.
San Diego had recorded just two hits between the fourth and seventh innings, allowing the Boston offense to scratch a tying run. Adrian Morejon (1-0) earned the win despite blowing a potential save, which Mason Miller wound up earning after striking out the side in the ninth.
Rafaela and Roman Anthony each had two hits for the Red Sox; Anthony hit a triple in the fifth.
In the eighth, Rafaela and Anthony started the Red Sox with back-to-back singles before pinch hitter Andruw Monasterio put together a nine-pitch at-bat and earned an RBI fielder’s choice. The Padres looked to turn an inning-ending 1-4-3 double play, but Jake Cronenworth fumbled Morejon’s throw to second.
After Boston starter Connelly Early worked out of a two-on, two-out jam to start the game, San Diego took a 1-0 lead on Bryce Johnson’s RBI grounder in the second. Freddy Fermin scored after drawing a leadoff walk and moved first-to-third on Ty France’s wall-ball single.
The bottom of the inning saw the hosts respond with a game-tying run, as Willson Contreras knocked a leadoff single to left and scored on Marcelo Mayer’s sacrifice fly.
A pair of doubles in the third helped the Padres take a 2-1 lead. Andujar knocked one into the left-field corner with one out to spark the inning, and Manny Machado kept the line moving with a walk. Two batters later, Fermin flipped the score again with a two-out liner past the dive of Boston third baseman Caleb Durbin.
Both teams’ bats were quieted for several innings thereafter, though the Red Sox had opportunities to re-tie the game with four hits across the fourth and fifth.
San Diego starter Randy Vasquez worked around three singles in the first of those frames, striking out Mayer with two on to end the threat. An inning later, Anthony’s two-out triple to deep right went by the board.
Vasquez completed six innings of one-run ball with three strikeouts.
Early threw 88 pitches in just four innings, allowing two runs on three hits and four walks while fanning four.
–Field Level Media
