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🚨 Headlines
🏀 30-0: Miami (Ohio) escaped with a 74-72 win over Toledo to keep its perfect season alive, becoming the 15th team in men’s D1 history, and just the fourth this century, to start 30-0. The RedHawks also clinched the regular-season MAC championship for the first time in 21 years.
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⚾️ USA 15, San Francisco 1: Team USA dominated the Giants in their first pre-World Baseball Classic tuneup, one of 15 on Tuesday between MLB and WBC teams. They’ll play another one today (against the Rockies) before heading to Houston for Friday’s opener against Brazil.
🏈 Who wants Kyler? The Cardinals are set to release Kyler Murray, ending the former No. 1 pick’s tenure in Arizona after seven seasons and just one trip to the playoffs. The talented but inconsistent QB, who is still owed $36.8 million, will get a fresh start somewhere this fall.
⚾️ PEDs suspensions: Braves OF Jurickson Profar has been suspended 162 games after his second positive PED test in the past year; Phillies CF Johan Rohas is facing an 80-game PED suspension, which he’s appealing.
💵 The owner’s box: Chinese billionaire Lin Bin is buying a 1% stake in the Dolphins’ parent company at a shocking $12.5 billion valuation, per Sportico, which also reported that Broncos owner Rob Walton quietly bought 10% of the Diamondbacks at a $2 billion valuation in 2024.
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⚾️ The World Baseball Classic is here
(Taylor Wilhelm/Yahoo Sports)
The sixth edition of the World Baseball Classic kicks off today, as 20 teams begin their quest to be the last nation standing when the final pitch is thrown in Miami later this month. Let’s break down the field, group-by-group.
Pool A: Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Panama and Puerto Rico will play their round-robin at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in baseball-crazed San Juan, though the host nation — yes, Puerto Rico competes internationally under its own flag — will be without its two best players as Francisco Lindor and Carlos Correa were denied insurance due to recent injuries.
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Canada’s best chance? Canada, by far the most accomplished baseball nation to never reach the WBC knockouts, has a golden opportunity to end that drought given their relatively weak group and the fact that they have arguably the best hitter (Mariners 1B Josh Naylor) and starting pitcher (Cubs righty Jameson Taillon) in Pool A.
(Taylor Wilhelm/Yahoo Sports)
Pool B: Tournament-favorite USA (-110 at BetMGM) will be joined by Mexico, Italy, Great Britain and Brazil at Houston’s Daikin Park. There’s star power aplenty here with the likes of Aaron Nola and Vinnie Pasquantino (Italy), Randy Arozarena and Alejandro Kirk (Mexico), Jazz Chisholm Jr. (Great Britain)… and a handful of decent players wearing red, white and blue.
American muscle: Seriously, this roster is ridiculous. You’ve got both reigning Cy Youngs in Paul Skenes and Tarik Skubal, three-time MVP Aaron Judge, two-time MVP Bryce Harper, reigning AL and NL HR champs Cal Raleigh and Kyle Schwarber, young superstars Bobby Witt Jr. and Gunnar Henderson and 14 other All-Stars we don’t even have space to mention here.
(Taylor Wilhelm/Yahoo Sports)
Pool C: Samurai Japan, the defending and three-time WBC champions, get to play at home in the Tokyo Dome against South Korea, Australia, Chinese Taipei and Czechia. Expect the Czechs, as they did in 2023, to again become tournament darlings thanks to a roster filled with average Joes who hold day jobs when they aren’t striking out the most talented player of all-time.
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Who (else) to watch: All eyes will rightfully be on Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, but you’d be wise not to overlook Australia’s Travis Bazzana (No. 1 overall pick by the Guardians in 2024), Korea’s Do-yeong Kim (2024 KBO MVP) or Chinese Taipei’s abundance of young talent, with a tournament-best six players currently on organizational Top-30 Prospect lists.
(Taylor Wilhelm/Yahoo Sports)
Pool D: This group, playing at Miami’s LoanDepot Park, is the deepest of the four, with loads of MLB talent across the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Netherlands (mostly via the Dutch Caribbean island of Curaçao). Israel and Nicaragua are the underdogs here, though both are led by former MLB managers in Brad Ausmus (Israel) and, somewhat curiously, Dusty Baker (Nicaragua).
Star power: The DR’s lineup can just about match the USA’s, with Juan Soto, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado, Julio Rodríguez, Ketel Marte and Junior Caminero among its ranks. Venezuela has Ronald Acuña Jr., Jackson Chourio, Eugenio Suárez, Luis Arráez and the Contreras brothers, while the Netherlands boasts Xander Bogaerts and Ozzie Albies.
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⚽️ Can the World Cup escape the world around it?
(Henry Russell/Yahoo Sports)
FIFA President Gianni Infantino loves saying “football unites the world” — an aspiration that has become a campaign slogan for the sport’s global authority. With 100 days until the World Cup curtain rises in North America, Infantino and FIFA have their work cut out for them.
From Yahoo Sports’ Steven Goff:
While FIFA and its partners celebrate the countdown to the largest World Cup in history, featuring a record 48 teams playing a record 104 matches spread across a record three countries, concerns beyond the pitch itself threaten to overshadow the first men’s spectacle held in this part of the planet since 1994.
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In the wake of the U.S. and Israel bombing its country, Iran is questioning whether to participate. Cartel violence has rattled Mexico, which is scheduled to stage 13 matches during the five-week tournament co-hosted with the U.S. and Canada.
From metropolitan Los Angeles to quaint Foxborough, Massachusetts, municipalities are pleading with the federal government for funds earmarked to provide security and logistics for tens of thousands of visitors.
Fans are justifiably grousing about ticket prices, while cash-strapped cities are scaling back fan festivals. A world united? Hardly.
Keep reading.
🏀 The madness before the madness
(Davis Long/Yahoo Sports)
March Madness is rightly lauded as the crown jewel of the college basketball season, but there’s an argument to be made that the two-week conference championship sprint — which began Monday — is just as exciting. 31 leagues. 361 teams. All chasing coveted automatic bids to the NCAA tournament.
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Men’s preview: Your guide to this week’s conference tournaments
(Davis Long/Yahoo Sports)
The main difference between men’s and women’s Champ Week? The power conferences are up first for the women, with the SEC, Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC tournaments all tipping off today. One similarity? Both include some seriously wonky formats, like the Sun Belt and WCC’s laddered brackets (the top seeds get so many byes!) and whatever the heck the Horizon League is doing.
Women’s preview: Can anyone upset South Carolina or UCLA? Will Duke repeat?
📺 Watchlist: Wednesday, March 4
Lindsey Heaps celebrates her goal on Sunday against Argentina. (George Walker IV/AP Photo)
⚽️ SheBelieves Cup
Two weeks after the U.S. swept Canada to win a pair of Olympic hockey gold medals, the rivalry comes to the soccer pitch, with the USWNT facing Canada tonight in Columbus (6:45pm ET, TNT) in the SheBelieves Cup. Argentina and Colombia play earlier in the day (3:30pm, truTV).
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Where it stands: The Americans (2-0 over Argentina) and Canadians (4-1 over Colombia) both notched wins on Sunday in Nashville, and Canada holds a slight edge in goal differential, should it come to a tiebreaker. The third and final matchday is on Saturday in Harrison, N.J.
🏀 Unrivaled Championship
The second season of the upstart women’s 3-on-3 basketball league concludes tonight in Miami (9:30pm, TNT), where top-seeded Phantom and second-seeded Mist will play for not only the championship, but a prize of $100,000 per player.
Names to know: Mist are led by league co-founder and two-time WNBA MVP Breanna Stewart, who will line up alongside former WNBA scoring champion Arike Ogunbowale and three-time All-Star Allisha Gray. Phantom are led by two-time WNBA champion Kelsey Plum and 2025 first-rounder Kiki Iriafen, but will be without Unrivaled DPOY Aliyah Boston, who was injured on Friday.
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More to watch:
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🏀 NBA: Thunder at Knicks (7pm, ESPN) … Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has scored 20+ points in 123 consecutive games, just three shy of matching Wilt Chamberlain’s record.
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⚾️ World Baseball Classic: Chinese Taipei vs. Australia (10pm, FS1) … The sixth iteration of the WBC gets underway at the Tokyo Dome.
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⚽️ Premier League: Aston Villa vs. Chelsea (2:30pm, USA); Brighton vs. Arsenal (2:30pm, Peacock); Man City vs. Nottingham Forest (2:30pm, Peacock); Man United vs. Newcastle (3:15pm, Peacock) … Five of the top six teams are in action.
Got plans this weekend? Gametime is the best place to score last-minute tickets to the events happening in your city. Get tickets now!
🌎 Marathon trivia
Runners set off at the starting line. (Franck Robichon/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
The Tokyo Marathon, held Sunday, is one of the seven World Marathon Majors.
Question: Can you name the other six majors?
Hint: Three in the U.S., two in Europe, one in Australia.
Answer at the bottom.
⛳️ Photo finish
Ace! (Rich Storry/TGL Golf via Getty Images)
Jupiter Links Golf Club clinched the final TGL playoff spot on Tuesday night after beating The Bay Golf Club thanks to an electric hole-in-one from Tom Kim.
What’s next: Jupiter Links Will join No. 1 seed Boston, No. 2 seed Los Angeles and No. 3 seed Atlanta in the semifinals later this month.
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Trivia answer: Boston, Chicago, New York, Berlin, London and Sydney (elevated to major status in 2025)
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