Sports
Why the NCAA Tournament Selection Process Still Doesn’t Make Sense
What we’ve got here, Keith Gill, is failure to communicate.
Or maybe I should direct my ire not at Gill, the Sun Belt Conference commissioner and this year’s NCAA Tournament selection committee chair, but at CBS for bungling the delivery of the biggest news of Selection Sunday.
Somebody help me out, because the committee did the right thing — they put Miami (Ohio) in the tournament — and somehow it still feels like Gill was backpedaling and playing defense on the topic throughout Sunday.
Miami, as in the “other” Miami, had a historic 31-0 regular season, the fourth perfect regular season this millennium, but the RedHawks had neither “beaten anybody” nor won their games all that convincingly. Four wins, including three in the Mid-American Conference, needed overtime and a handful of others came by two points in regulation.
But winning is winning, and prejudiced analysts like ex-Auburn coach Bruce Pearl were saying some wild things about whether Miami deserved an at-large NCAA bid, which only intensified after the RedHawks were promptly upset in the MAC quarterfinals.
When the selection show came around Sunday, college basketball journalist Seth Davis declared on CBS that “Miami (Ohio) was the last at-large team selected. They were one spot away from not being in this tournament.” And the accompanying graphic showed the “Last Four In” to be NC State, Texas, SMU and Miami (Ohio). It’s widely understood through the prevalence of pop bracketology that those lists are in a sequential order, and being last on said list signifies you were the last team into the field.
Cut to Gill’s interview on CBS, as well as further damage control on other networks, as he swore up and down it was not the case.
“Miami (Ohio) was not the last team selected into the field,” Gill said. “They came in before NC State, Texas, and SMU. And when we did our scrubbing process, those teams scrubbed above (Miami) relative to the predictive metrics and also the difference in the quality of the wins.”
So CBS’s “Last Four In” graphic ordered the at-large teams by overall seed — which had Miami (Ohio) last, even if the committee wrote their name down before Texas a few minutes prior, which does feel like splitting hairs. On the NCAA’s overall seed list, Miami is 44th and VCU is 45th; Gill made sure to explain that if VCU hadn’t won its conference tournament, it wouldn’t have been an at-large.
Got all that? I never thought I’d hear the word “scrubbing” so much on a selection show. I’ve watched these all my life, and I’ve never felt less like I understand the process that’s going on behind those doors.
If Seth Davis looks at a list and understands Miami (Ohio) to be the last team in the field, the general populace who only watch college basketball four weeks a year will be inclined to believe the same.
Miami was 31-0, friends. The point is that the RedHawks should have been safely in the field, not teetering on the bubble. I’m sure they don’t terribly mind going to Dayton, an hour away to campus, for a veritable home game against SMU. But it reflects poorly on the committee and CBS alike that
1.) This came so close to being screwed up and 2.) The messaging about how a team ended up where it did is a Gordian knot to be untangled across multiple interviews.
There wasn’t much else to critique this year, as the four No. 1 seeds were fairly obvious, but let me lodge two more complaints:
St. John’s won 19 of its last 20 games, captured the Big East regular-season and tournament titles and is… a five seed.
UConn, with a nearly identical overall record, is a two seed. Purdue had an abysmal end of the regular season, swept the Big Ten tournament and was boosted to a two seed. “But it really it is a full body of work,” Gill later said. “One of the things I would say about St. John’s is their results in the nonconference did not have the same depth and quality as some of the folks that are ahead of them.” OK, then maybe the proper point of comparison is No. 1 Florida. Both teams started sluggishly and took four losses against similar nonconference strengths of schedule, but the Gators sure weren’t held back for that reason.
Just admit you’re doing an eye test thing about the strength of the Big East. I’ll tell you right now, St. John’s will demolish No. 4 seed Kansas if it comes to that in the second round.
I’d be furious this morning if I rooted for Miami. The real Miami this time, Florida, The U. That’s because the Hurricanes are the No. 7 seed in their region but must play No. 10 Missouri in St. Louis of all places. Why should the lower seed get a home-court advantage that blatant?
Sports
Healthy Sonny Gray pitches Red Sox to sweep of Tigers
May 6, 2026; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Boston Red Sox pitcher Sonny Gray (54) delivers in the first inning against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: David Reginek-Imagn Images Sonny Gray pitched five scoreless innings in his return to action and the visiting Boston Red Sox completed a three-game sweep of the Detroit Tigers with a 4-0 victory on Wednesday night.
Gray (3-1) came off the injured list and gave up four hits while recording two strikeouts. Gray strained his right hamstring in a start last month against the Tigers.
Tyler Samaniego struck out three in two innings. Zack Kelly and Greg Weissert each pitched an inning to complete the shutout.
Masataka Yoshida had two hits and scored a run. Caleb Durbin supplied an RBI double.
Detroit starter Jack Flaherty (0-3) gave up four runs, two earned, in five innings while recording a season-high 10 strikeouts. Riley Greene led the offense with two hits.
Flaherty struck out the first five batters he faced. The Tigers threatened in the bottom of the inning as Greene led off with a double and Zach McKinstry and Spencer Torkelson drew two-out walks. Jace Jung, just recalled from Triple-A Toledo on Wednesday, then hit a sinking liner that right fielder Wilyer Abreu snared with a sliding grab.
Boston took the lead in the third. Marcelo Mayer reached on an infield hit and Flaherty hit Carlos Narvaez with a pitch. Durbin then smacked a double to left, scoring Mayer. One out later, Willson Contreras hit a sacrifice fly to bring in Narvaez.
Detroit had a pair of baserunners in the bottom of the inning as Matt Vierling and Greene hit singles. Dillon Dingler flied out to center, ending the threat.
The Red Sox pushed their lead to 4-0 in the fourth. Masataka Yoshida had a one-out single and Ceddanne Rafaela drew a walk. With two out, third baseman Colt Keith made an error on a Narvaez grounder, allowing both runners to score.
In the seventh, Boston loaded the bases on three walks by Drew Anderson.
Brant Hurter retired the next two batters on a strikeout and groundout to leave the runners stranded.
Kelly issued two one-out walks in the eighth, then struck out Greene and Dingler.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Sabres' power play tallies twice to topple Canadiens in Game 1
May 6, 2026; Buffalo, New York, USA; Buffalo Sabres defenseman Bowen Byram (4) celebrates his goal with teammates during the second period against the Montréal Canadiens in game one of the second round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at KeyBank Center. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images Ryan McLeod and defenseman Bowen Byram each converted on the power play to lift the host Buffalo Sabres to a 4-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference second-round series.
Buffalo went 2-for-3 with the man advantage after going 1-for-46 on the power play over its previous 13 games.
By scoring his fourth goal, Byram matched the franchise record for most in a postseason by a defenseman set by Mike Ramsey (1983) and equaled by Jason Woolley (1999) and Alexei Zhitnik (1999).
McLeod and Josh Doan each collected a goal and an assist. Jordan Greenway also tallied and Alex Lyon made 26 saves for the Sabres, who host Game 2 on Friday.
Selke Trophy finalist Nick Suzuki scored a power-play goal, Kirby Dach also tallied and Jakub Dobes turned aside 12 shots for the Canadiens.
Montreal defenseman Lane Hutson hit the post in his bid to open the scoring early in the first period. He then lost his footing and the puck at his own blue line, leading to a 3-on-1 opportunity and Zach Benson feeding Doan on the doorstep for an easy conversion at 4:31 of the period.
McLeod converted from a sharp angle along the goal line to give Buffalo a 2-0 lead with 6:34 remaining in the first period.
Suzuki answered at left post to halve the deficit with 45 seconds to play in the first period, but Greenway regained the two-goal advantage at 3:32 of the second. He unleashed a shot from above the left circle that caromed off Dobes’ glove and into the net. Tyson Kozak drove to the net to provide a bit of a screen on the play.
The Sabres made it 4-1 at 9:01 of the second. McLeod knocked down a Canadiens’ clearing attempt, allowing Byram to collect the puck and use a screen from Doan to wrist a shot past Dobes.
Dach used a second effort to chip the puck from a sharp angle past Lyon to trim Montreal’s deficit to 4-2 with 3:29 remaining in the second period.
The Canadiens outshot the Sabres 11-1 in the third period, but could not get any closer.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Report: Joe Gibbs Racing lawsuit vs. Spire, Chris Gabehart gets trial date
Oct 25, 2025; Martinsville, Virginia, USA; Joe Gibbs Racing competition director Chris Gabehart before NASCAR Cup Series Xfinity 500 Practice and Qualifying at Martinsville Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Greg Atkins-Imagn Images Joe Gibbs Racing desired an earlier trial date for its lawsuit against Spire Motorsports and Chris Gabehart, while the defendants wanted a later trial date.
Neither side got what it wanted on Wednesday, as the judge presiding over the case split the difference and settled on a January start date, according to motorsport.com.
JGR is pursuing more than $8 million in damages due to allegations of misappropriation and tortuous interference by Gabehart, who left JGR to work for Spire.
JGR had been in pursuit of a November trial start, citing concerns about evidence and a desire to begin discovery as soon as possible. The defendants, in contrast, targeted next May, arguing that depositions could interfere with the current NASCAR season.
United States District Court Judge Susan C. Rodriguez of the Western District of North Carolina directed each party to “meet and confer and submit to the Court within 10 days a joint proposal as to pretrial deadlines as discussed,” indicating all parties are required to adhere to an agreed-upon schedule for all activities leading up to the trial date.
With Spire having a better-than-expected season after hiring Gabehart, JGR had filed an amendment to its original lawsuit earlier this week to address damages sustained through the use of “trade secrets.”
Spire driver Carson Hocevar is sitting in sixth after securing his first career NASCAR victory — and Spire’s first NASCAR win since 2019 — on April 26 at Talladega. Daniel Suarez, a new Spire driver this season, is in 14th in the standings. None of Spire’s three drivers last year finished in the top 20 of the standings.
“This sudden improvement in Spire’s Cup Series performance of course comes on the heels of Gabehart misappropriating JGR’s Confidential Information and Trade Secrets and providing Spire the same or similar services he provided JGR in the last year,” the amended filing says.
The judge in the case has also granted partial expediency on the issue of discovery, providing faster access to certain phone records directly related to the nature of Gabehart’s relationships with JGR and Spire, according to the report.
–Field Level Media
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Healthy Sonny Gray pitches Red Sox to sweep of Tigers
