{"id":820983,"date":"2026-03-19T10:53:34","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T10:53:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/820983\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T10:53:34","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T10:53:34","slug":"a-beautiful-day-of-basketball-is-upon-us-plus-leinart-pulse-poll-results","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/820983\/","title":{"rendered":"A beautiful day of basketball is upon us, plus Leinart Pulse Poll results"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Pulse Newsletter \ud83d\udce3 | This is The Athletic\u2019s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here<\/a> to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox.<\/p>\n

Good morning! Make a basket \u201con purpose\u201d<\/a>\u00a0today. Coming up:<\/p>\n

Beauty: The actual most wonderful time of the year<\/p>\n

We have talked so, so much about your brackets this week, and rightfully so. Making picks and competing against your friends around a shared event is a beautifully pure form of community.<\/p>\n

But I\u2019d like to look past brackets for a bit this morning, as teams board buses to head to their games today. Arguably the greatest sporting event in our country tips off in mere hours, and the best part doesn\u2019t lie in choosing the right upset or winning your pool. It\u2019s about the stories and the emotions we see on screen, game after game, in both triumph and defeat.<\/p>\n

A few notes on today through that lens:<\/p>\n

We saw it last night in both First Four\u00a0games<\/a>.\u00a0Prairie View A&M beat Lehigh to become the South region\u2019s No. 16 seed. It is the Panthers\u2019 first NCAA Tournament win in program history. That\u2019s something, no matter what happens against No. 1 seed Florida tomorrow. In the nightcap, Miami (OH) got its vindication moment with an impressive win over SMU. Plus, we got the swimmers:<\/p>\n

Andy Enfield doesn’t seem amused \ud83d\ude05 pic.twitter.com\/uwaiph2aqk<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 19, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

We will fall in love with a player or two.\u00a0I am drawn to Arkansas\u2019 Darius Acuff Jr., a prodigiously talented freshman who hasn\u2019t gained the national spotlight he deserved due to a stacked draft class. He can put up 30 any night. Razorbacks coach John Calipari said recently that Acuff is \u201cright there\u201d with elite guards he\u2019s coached like Derrick Rose and John Wall. Acuff also leads our list of\u00a0the 15 most intriguing players<\/a> in the men\u2019s tournament.
\nOthers in that category:\u00a0We also must give an honorable mention to \u201cCream Abdul-Jabbar<\/a>,\u201d Saint Louis\u2019 center who has become a cult hero. Or Gonzaga\u2019s Tyon Grant-Foster, a 26-year-old who\u2019s back in the tourney after an eight-year career that\u2019s\u00a0seen two heart surgeries<\/a>. Maybe even Kansas\u2019 Darryn Peterson, who has the skills to be the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft but has dealt with questions about his motor.\u00a0His story goes deeper than that<\/a>.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll have some more on the women\u2019s tournament tomorrow for its tipoff. And yes, I\u2019m not leaving you without some last-minute bracket advice:<\/p>\n

We have a full guide for procrastinators.\u00a0Get to typing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Pulse men\u2019s tourney picks:<\/p>\n

Arizona as champion
\nOther Final Four teams: Michigan, Houston and \u2026 St. John\u2019s
\nFirst-round upset winners: South Florida, VCU, Santa Clara, Hofstra and High Point<\/p>\n

Enjoy the day. We\u2019ll have everything you need to know tomorrow.<\/p>\n

Feedback Loop: Yowza, folks<\/p>\n

Firstly: Wow. Look at this spread on yesterday\u2019s Matt Leinart poll:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

If you didn\u2019t catch yesterday\u2019s edition, we asked readers if, in light of Leinart\u2019s comments indicating he has refused to un-retire his No. 11 at USC, the Trojan legend was correct to feel the way he did. Nearly all of you supported the 42-year-old Leinart.<\/p>\n

And I agree. It\u2019s a casualty of our new reality:<\/p>\n

Leinart\u2019s diagnosis \u2014 why would he let someone wear his number who might transfer a year later? \u2014 is spot-on, and it\u2019s an unfortunate side effect of this player empowerment era. No longer are we forging three- and four-year bonds with star athletes regularly. How do you assess the case for even Fernando Mendoza, who led Indiana to an unthinkable place atop the sport but was only there for one season? What about Joe Burrow, who became a legend at my alma mater but spent more time in Columbus in college? The latter is an unequivocal yes, in my brain. But otherwise in the last seven years \u2026 who else even qualifies?
\nThis may just be a cost of doing things a better way, no matter how frustrating that is for the layman college football fan right now.\u00a0For every Leinart, there were hundreds of players stuck in bad situations, likely unpaid for their efforts, with little to no power over their own future after signing a Letter of Intent. Maybe we can rebuild these pathways with some sort of collective bargaining agreement, but that seems to be a long way off.<\/p>\n

And, as Until Saturday writer Jason Kirk posed to me:\u00a0Should we stop retiring numbers, anyway?\u00a0My heart says no, as seeing another LSU player wear No. 9 would end me. But there may be a cold truth there, too. This is laundry we\u2019re talking about, anyway, and what happens when a school has 45 numbers left in a couple of decades?<\/p>\n

Thank you for voting. Moving on:<\/p>\n

News to Know\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Erica Denhoff \/ Icon Sportswire via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Impact of the WNBA\u2019s new CBA
Finally, the WNBA can move. For all the bluster about the league\u2019s incredible financial come-up in the last few years, the lingering and often bitter negotiation about a new collective bargaining agreement finally ended late Tuesday night. Now the league and its players can focus on other important things: an expansion draft, a college draft and, most of all, free agency, where WNBA stars are set to see salaries skyrocket. Sabreena Merchant has\u00a0more details on the road ahead<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0\u201cNo Offseason\u201d podcast\u00a0crew, including brand new co-host Layshia Clarendon (a former WNBPA VP), reacted to the deal in a special emergency episode last night, which is\u00a0worth a listen today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Giannis, Bucks again at odds
The Milwaukee Bucks and franchise centerpiece Giannis Antetokounmpo are once again in disagreement over his future, as the team prefers Antetokounmpo \u2014 who has missed 32 games this year due to injury \u2014 sit out the remaining 14 games on the schedule to fully heal for the offseason \u2026 in which he could be traded. Antetokounmpo, meanwhile, is steadfast in his desire to finish the year on the floor. Can these two break up already? Sorry.\u00a0See the full context here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

More news:<\/p>\n

Maxx Crosby\u00a0spoke for the first time following the botched\u00a0Ravens\u00a0trade, saying he was \u201cterrified\u201d after the decision.\u00a0His full comments are worth a read<\/a>.
\nPenguins star Sidney Crosby\u00a0was\u00a0back in the lineup<\/a> last night after his Olympic injury, and promptly scored.
\nWorld No. 1 tennis player\u00a0Aryna Sabalenka\u00a0said she may skip a top WTA event after withering criticism from its director.\u00a0More on the drama here<\/a>.
\nDeandre Ayton\u00a0said he is \u201c110 percent\u201d bought in with the\u00a0Lakers\u00a0after reflecting on comments from earlier this season.\u00a0Interesting<\/a>.
\nFormer reality TV star\u00a0Jessie Holmes\u00a0won his second straight\u00a0Iditarod\u00a0title.\u00a0Read our full story<\/a>.
\nU.S. World Cup host cities\u00a0finally got the\u00a0$625 million\u00a0in security funding that was held up.\u00a0More here<\/a>.
\nA former Amtrak rail yard in Chicago\u2019s South Loop could be home to\u00a0a\u00a0new White Sox stadium<\/a>.
\nLate Colts owner Jim Irsay\u2019s\u00a0memorabilia collection sold for a total of\u00a0$94 million\u00a0at auction.\u00a0It set 28 records<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcf0\u00a0Find more news here 24\/7<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Watch Guide<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcfa NCAAM: All tournament games
12:15 p.m.-10:10 p.m. ET on CBS, TNT, TBS and truTV
Just find a screen somewhere, whether that\u2019s furtively on your work laptop, a sports bar, your couch, whatever. This is a day of dreams. Embrace it.<\/p>\n

Get tickets to games like these here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Pulse Picks\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Alex Slitz \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

The World Baseball Classic is gone, and Opening Day nears. Keith Law has\u00a0breakout player candidates\u00a0for the coming\u00a0MLB\u00a0season.\u00a0See the list<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Just as valuable: this year\u2019s\u00a0MLB Hope-O-Meter, which measures how each fan base is feeling heading into 2026.\u00a0Vote here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

NBA expansion?\u00a0Jay King says the league has\u00a0issues to fix first<\/a>. Also: Can\u00a0Las Vegas\u00a0even support a team<\/a>?<\/p>\n

Speaking of Maxx Crosby: What goes into an\u00a0NFL physical\u00a0anyway? Jayna Bardahl wrote about the entire process, and\u00a0how it can go wrong<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: The Leinart poll.<\/p>\n

Most-read on the website yesterday: Men\u2019s NCAA Tournament\u00a0consensus picks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udceb That\u2019s all for now! Say hello at thepulse@theathletic.com<\/a>, and check out our other newsletters<\/a>.<\/p>\n