We already have upsets, plus MLB’s questionable gambling push

Good morning! There’s a first time for everything. Coming up:

🏀 Major upsets already

⛹️‍♀️ Can anyone beat UConn?

🎰 MLB pulls Polymarket lever

Madness, Indeed: That’s the good stuff

I woke up yesterday slightly worried. Spending an entire week crowing about the coming greatness of the NCAA Tournament left me exposed a bit, if the first day of men’s tourney action was a dud. There goes Branch writing some meaningless fluff.

Instead, the sport — nay, the basketball gods — delivered. Let’s start with the upsets.

No. 12 seed High Point’s win over No. 5 seed Wisconsin was, excuse the pun, a high point of the day. The Panthers hit 15 3-pointers and played incredible defense in the final minute of their 83-82 win, but the story is best told via two GIFs:

That’s Panthers guard Chase Johnston pulling up from the logo for what is frankly a bad shot with less than five minutes left in the game. Swished anyway.

And that simple layup was the go-ahead bucket. Incredibly, it was Johnston’s first 2-point basket of the season. His totals: 64 made 3-pointers, one made 2-pointer. The latter helped High Point win the first NCAA Tournament game in program history. 👨‍🍳

It was only part of a splendid day. Quickly:

No. 11 VCU’s incredible upset of No. 6 North Carolina came after a 19-point second-half comeback to force overtime. This is where I point out that we called both High Point and VCU wins yesterday morning. Please don’t investigate other picks.

No. 11 Texas also upset No. 6 BYU and star freshman AJ Dybantsa, while rival No. 10 Texas A&M also ousted No. 7 St. Mary’s. Upset state, I guess, and we thank you for contributing to the day.

No. 1 Duke escaped what I would’ve considered the biggest upset in tournament history against No. 16 Siena, which led by 11 at the half. We also have to congratulate No. 4 Nebraska on its blowout win, the first men’s NCAA tourney win in school history. It was the final major-conference team to win one.

We didn’t even get to cover the entire slate. See Day 1 takeaways here. Now, to the other bracket:

The women get in on the madness today, which makes this Friday a true blitz of college hoops. A few points to make:

Before the games begin, the biggest drama of this tournament comes down to one question: Can anyone beat UConn? It may sound boring, but we love both possible outcomes here — a giant falling, or greatness in action. The Huskies are -5000 to win the title right now, per BetMGM. If anyone beats them, it’s one of these teams.

Just because we have a massive favorite does not mean there are no stars to love. I’m keying in on Vanderbilt sophomore guard Mikayla Blakes, who has been an elite scorer since her first college game. But never has she had this chance to make a deep run in the tournament, where the Commodores are a No. 2 seed. See more possible stars here.

We’ll have more on the day’s slate in a bit.

Bad Looks: MLB leans further into gambling

Sometimes simple correlations are the most useful. It’s why I was struck by the news yesterday that Major League Baseball will partner with Polymarket, a prediction market that essentially allows users to bet on, well, anything.

A shot and chaser:

The partnership will reportedly pay MLB $300 million over four years, yet the league framed this yesterday as a way to proactively engage with these growing platforms to protect the integrity of the game. Hm.

This is the same league currently mired in a betting scandal in which Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz allegedly fixed pitches in games. Not overall results — pitches. Catch up on that saga here if you missed it.

I find it hard to believe making betting options wider helps this cause. Read Evan Drellich’s full report for more details. Moving on:

News to Know

Cunningham has collapsed lung

Pistons star and MVP candidate Cade Cunningham was diagnosed with a collapsed lung, the team announced yesterday, meaning the 24-year-old will likely miss the rest of the regular season. It’s a seismic blow for the East’s best team, at 50-19, especially with the Celtics charging forth for the No. 1 seed. Read our full synopsis here.

More news:

Lakers star Luka Dončić scored 60 (!) against Bam Adebayo and the Heat last night. He’s been on a ridiculous run.

LeBron James tied Robert Parish for most games played in NBA history, and the dude is still averaging 21.4 points a game at 41. The best NBA career ever, bar none.

Italy’s espresso machine is among the World Baseball Classic items up for auction. See the list.

Howie Rose, the beloved radio voice of the Mets, said he will retire at the end of the season.

The WBC championship game drew 10.8 million viewers, which obliterated the previous record.

FIFA has ruled that all women’s soccer teams must have one woman as either head or assistant coach at its competitions. Read more.

NFL owners will vote at the end of the month on Raiders owner Mark Davis’ succession plan. Interesting.

📰 Find more news here 24/7.

Watch Guide

📺 NCAAW: First round

11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. ET

ESPN networks

The women get this electric day started with Charleston-Duke. What we think will be closer games — and after yesterday, we need the disclaimer — start closer to 2 p.m. Anywhere with the ESPN suite will do.

📺 NCAAM: First round

12:15 p.m.-10:10 p.m. ET

CBS, TNT, TBS and truTV

Our first (Santa Clara-Kentucky) and last (Missouri-Miami) games of the day could be upsets, with 13 other chances in between. Glory, glory hallelujah.

Get tickets to games like these here.

Pulse Picks

The Aces Project is back this year, as MLB insiders ranked starting pitchers. I love these.

Victor Wembanya is the NBA MVP, Sam Amick writes, even if he doesn’t win the award. Wemby also hit a game winner last night.

We have a new NFL beat writer mock draft up this week. A faller: Jeremiyah Love. See the picks.

An interesting point from Will Leitch as we enjoy a perfect college basketball weekend: The sport, for both men and women, is better than ever, thanks to NIL.

We are still sorting through the WNBA’s new collective bargaining agreement. Chantel Jennings writes that the pact should be toasted … for now.

Alex Kirilloff was once a top-10 MLB prospect. Then he retired at 26. He has no regrets.

Jack Hughes wants the puck from his golden goal at the Olympics. Right now, it resides at the Hockey Hall of Fame. Larry Holder explained who actually owns it.

Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Aryna Sabalenka’s tiff with the Dubai Tennis Championships.

Most-read on the website yesterday: NCAA men’s first-round live blog. Are we shocked?

📫 That’s all for now! Say hello at thepulse@theathletic.com, and check out our other newsletters.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

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We already have upsets, plus MLB’s questionable gambling push

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