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The most wonderful time of year
Tennessee delivered an incredible win over Alabama, which was just the start of another awesome weekend. We highlight the best moments, note the bubble winners and losers, newly crowned conference champions, and much more.
Mike Miller
March 03, 2025
Good morning! If Saturday was a hint of what’s to come this March, it’s going to be an amazing month. To ensure you don’t miss anything, we have a March Madness sale on the Daily — just $35 a year. That’s 30% off!
Let's get to the weekend’s news.
1. Welcome to Championship Week (Week 1)
After four months of college basketball, we’ve reached the sweet spot. The point where teams are trying to extend their seasons with one more win or, with a little luck, a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
It’s Championship Week(s).
The Atlantic Sun kicked things off yesterday, while 14 more conferences start their tournaments between now and Sunday. Hope you carved out time to watch it all with friends and family. It’s gonna be a busy two weeks. Here’s a guide to plan your days.
We’ll have primers on each tournament, including favorites, must-see games, and predictions. In the meantime, here’s a primer for the Atlantic Sun, and links to brackets for upcoming tourneys.
Atlantic Sun
Dates: March 2-March 9
Site: Campus sites
Bracket: Click here
The skinny: The ASUN held its opening round yesterday — insert winners — and its quarterfinals start today at 6 pm ET. Lipscomb (22-9) and North Florida (22-9) tied for the regular-season title at 14-4, while FCGU (18-13), Eastern Kentucky (18-13) and Jacksonville (18-12) were all right behind. Lipscomb is the top seed and the clear favorite. It boasted the league’s most efficient offense (1.21 points per possession during league play) and its second-best defense (1.02 ppp). And it did all that without forward Dylan Faulker, who hasn’t played since Jan. 16 due to a broken foot.
Still, this tournament hasn’t sent its best team to the NCAA tourney the last three seasons. We’ll see upsets. Question will be if it’s at the top.
Predicted champ: Lipscomb. Chalk? Sure. But the Bisons are due. They were the best team last season and haven’t been dancing since 2018. I think the survive the usual ASUN craziness.
Again, we’ll have more previews every day this week. In the meantime, here are the available brackets to tide you over. And three minutes of Bill Raftery saying “ONIONS!”
2. Vols kick off March with a bang + more moments
Is Jahmai Mashack the Tennessee player you’d ideally want taking a deep 3-pointer to win a game? Probably not. But this is March. We should expect the unexpected.
