Happy Monday, friends. And welcome to the best time of the year.
March Madness (now with extra Bulldog!) is ready to wash over us. Baseball’s warming up. The Masters is right around the corner. After that? The NBA playoffs and the NFL draft.
The fall is fantastic. But I’ll take this little stretch of spring all day long.
As long as I remember my Zyrtec.
Quick links: UGA-Gonzaga | Tech women L.A.-bound | United loses late | Nets down Hawks
READY TO DANCE
Credit: Brynn Anderson/AP
Credit: Brynn Anderson/AP
Check it out, y’all: Georgia men’s basketball. In an actual, real live NCAA tournament bracket.
No -ology required.
After an up-and-down regular season in the rough-and-tumble SEC, the Bulldogs landed the No. 9 seed in the Midwest Region.
Let’s talk about it! (And other tournament stuff, too.)
🐶 Bulldog basics: Georgia’s tournament bid is its first since 2015. The Bulldogs’ opening game against eighth-seeded Gonzaga tips off 4:35 p.m. Eastern from Wichita, Kansas. You can watch on TBS.
A win would be the Bulldogs’ first in the tourney since 1996 — and likely set them up for a second-round date with top-seeded Houston.
“We have an opportunity as a team to make some noise, we do,” Georgia coach Mike White said. “We all took a leap of faith, we all came to Georgia to do this — to get Georgia the NCAA Tournament.”
🤔 The opponent: Gonzaga (that’s in Spokane, Washington) went 25-8 this season and won the West Coast Conference tournament. Forward Graham Ike paces the country’s second-ranked scoring offense.
The Zags have made it at least as far as the Sweet 16 nine years in a row — and opened as 5½-point favorites over Georgia.
⏪ In case you missed it: Georgia finished its regular season 20-12, including 8-10 in the extremely tough SEC (more on that momentarily). The big wins included beating St. John’s, Kentucky and Florida. The Achilles’ heel: Turnovers.
Forward Asa Newell is the star freshman leading the way in scoring, but sophomore guard Silas Demary Jr. ain’t far behind. Blue Cain is a fan favorite in Athens, where folks bring, well … plastic blue canes to games.
👋 Welcome to Atlanta: The bracket’s South Region will send teams to State Farm Arena for Sweet 16 and Elite 8 action starting March 28. Read more here, but a few notes on the contenders to make the trip:
- Auburn is the No. 1 overall seed, and two more SEC schools (Ole Miss and Texas A&M) join the Tigers in the region. Sixth-seeded Ole Miss may meet North Carolina, if the latter survives its “First Four” game with San Diego State on Tuesday.
- Big Ten tournament champ Michigan drew the fifth seed and an interesting matchup with UC San Diego, which has the nation’s longest winning streak (15 games).
💪 SEC dominance: The SEC sent a record 14 teams to the tournament. No other conference has ever sent more than 11. The once-proud ACC sent just four teams, its lowest total in more than a decade.
🐝 Reppin’ Tech: The Georgia Tech men fell short of the Big Dance this year and have to settle for hosting an NIT game on Tuesday. But the Yellow Jacket women are in!
- They landed a No. 9 seed and a date with Richmond at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Los Angeles. Watch on ESPNews.
- The squad led by All-ACC star Kara Dunn started its season 15-0 before struggling down the stretch. A first-round win would likely set up a showdown with top-seeded UCLA.
TRIVIA TIME
The pandemic nixed Atlanta’s 2020 Final Four hosting gig, meaning our fair city hasn’t hosted the men’s event since 2013. Who won the title that year?
Answer at bottom of newsletter.
NOT ENOUGH
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez/AJC
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez/AJC
Atlanta United hosted Miami and the legendary Lionel Messi on Sunday night.
👍 The good news: Striker Emmanuel Latte Lath played after clearing concussion protocol and scored in the 11th minute.
👎 The bad news: It was the team’s only goal — and a defensive lapse gave Miami a quirky late score and the 2-1 win.
“They have three, four guys in the box, and I think they are satisfied with that draw, and then they get something out of nothing,” United manager Ronny Deila. “That’s hard to swallow.”
The Five Stripes, who now have just one win in their offensively challenged start to the season, visit FC Cincinnati on Saturday.
HAPPY STRIDER DAY
St. Patrick’s Day? Meh. Spencer Strider Day? Now you’re talking.
Atlanta’s favorite combination of quadriceps and facial hair makes its official Grapefruit League debut in today’s contest against Boston (1:05 p.m. on FanDuel Sports Southeast). Strider may not even pitch two innings — but it’ll be nice to see him on the mound for the first time since his elbow injury last April.
🧠 No brainer: The team, meanwhile, announced reigning NL Cy Young winner Chris Sale as its opening day starter.
HE’S STILL HERE
Quarterback Kirk Cousins is $10 million richer today.
The Falcons knew they’d have to pay him a roster bonus if they didn’t cut him over the weekend — and they stuck to their guns, maintaining that they’re happy to keep him as a backup.
🪙 Tyler’s two cents: At this point, I’m all in on forcing Cousins to hang around however long makes sense. Why pay him and another backup? Let the man squirm.
ALSO INTERESTING
⛳ Rory McIlroy just finished dominating J.J. Spaun in a three-hole playoff to win The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass.
🍌 The Savannah Bananas sold out Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium over the weekend. That’s roughly 65,000 folks watching the same offbeat baseball antics due to visit Truist Park later this month.
🤢 The Dodgers and Cubs kick off the Major League Baseball season Tuesday in Tokyo (6 a.m. Eastern on Fox). L.A. star Mookie Betts is out after losing 15 pounds(!) due to a lingering illness.
PHOTO OF THE DAY
Credit: Jason Getz/AJC
Credit: Jason Getz/AJC
The Hawks lost to the Nets last night. They also lost Friday night to the Clippers — but at least that one involved a reunion with longtime Atlanta star Bogdan Bogdanovic, who got traded at the deadline.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
It's amazing. Sometimes, you know, you have to leave to see how true the love was.
Thanks for reading to the very bottom of Sports Daily. Questions, comments, ideas? Contact me at tyler.estep@ajc.com.
Oh, and the trivia answer is Rick Pitino and Louisville.
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