Good Morning! Today is Monday, March 24. Here’s what happened over the weekend in the world of sports.

MARCH MADNESS

It feels foolish trying to recap all the games from this weekend– so many standout performances, comebacks that fell just short, and impressive victories. Brackets may be busted but the show goes on, as an impressive group of final 16 teams advanced to the second weekend.

The biggest takeaway– this was not the year for Cinderella. For just the sixth time ever and first time since 2017, no team seeded 13 or lower made it to the round of 32. Only one team seeded higher than six made it to the second weekend– that would be (10) Arkansas, coached by John Calipari. Also of note, we’ll have a new champion this season, as UConn fell in a close battle against (1) Florida.

• THE SOUTH is now the Big 10-SEC challenge. (1) Auburn cruised through their games and takes on (5) Michigan, who won a great battle against (4) Texas A&M. (6) Ole Miss crushed (3) Iowa State, and now they play (2) Michigan State.

• THE WEST also has two SEC teams still standing… (1) Florida takes on (4) Maryland, while (10) Arkansas– fresh off their upset of (2) St. John’s– goes up against (3) Texas Tech.

• THE EAST is led by the last remaining ACC squad. (1) Duke continues to dominate, and they’ll face off against (4) Arizona. (6) BYU squeaked out an upset over (3) Wisconsin, and now they match up against (2) Alabama in a game that may set a new points record.

• Finally, THE MIDWEST is the only region with each of the top four seeds remaining. (1) Houston will play (4) Purdue, and (3) Kentucky takes on rival (2) Tennessee.

Let’s take a look at the standings in our Remix Bracket Challenge. My big gamble was picking (8) Gonzaga over (1) Houston… unfortunately, the Zags came up just short, and now The Official Remix Picks sits tied for sixth. Our leader from day one, Ellie S. remains in first place after an impressive weekend. Even so, ESPN’s Bracket Forecaster gives the following teams the best chance at taking home the top prize:

1. Pup Pup’s Picks (20.7%): DUKE, Florida, Tennessee, Auburn

2. Marshalj18 (20.7%): HOUSTON, St. John’s, Michigan State, Duke

3. Sremis7 (19.7%): AUBURN, Tennessee, Florida, Duke

Sorry to Long Shots, who is the only bracket eliminated… but for any of you at the top (or bottom) of our Bracket Challenge, please send in a reply! We want to hear about your methods for picking teams and gauge your confidence levels about the remaining 16…

No matter where you fall on the leaderboard, however, freshman Derek Queen and (4) Maryland provided all of us with an all-time tournament moment last night. The “Crab Five” lives to see another day!

Programming note: we’ll tackle the women’s tournament tomorrow, once their opening weekend is complete!

ON THE GRIDIRON

Two notable free agent moves from this past weekend:

• Veteran wide receiver Brandin Cooks signed a two-year deal with the New Orleans Saints, the team he was drafted by in 2014 and traded away from a few years later.

• Jameis Winston reached an agreement with the New York Giants. Jameis is a good fit for New York, who may add another QB to their team with the third overall pick but need a veteran to lead the roster.

ON THE DIAMOND

Finally, winter is over. Opening Day is this week– here’s the schedule, complete with starting pitchers:

WRAPPING UP

Heavyweight boxing champion George Foreman passed away this weekend at the age of 76. The subtitle of his obituary in The New York Times tells you how incredible Foreman’s life was: “He claimed a world title in his 20s and, improbably, again in his 40s. He then made millions selling the George Foreman Grill.” You can read more about Foreman at that link.

What a remarkable few days its been for Filipino tennis player Alex Eala! Just 19 years old, Eala became the first Filipino to beat a top-30 tennis player when she took down Jelena Ostapenko on Friday at the Miami Open. She followed that up with a huge upset over Australian Open champ and Florida native Madison Keys last night, moving into the round of 16. There’s the Cinderella story we’ve been looking for! Eala’s next match is against Paula Badosa this evening.

TODAY’S BIG GAMES (all times Eastern)

WOMEN’S MARCH MADNESS: Round Two

• (7) Michigan State @ (2) NC State, Noon on ESPN

• (8) Illinois @ (1) Texas, 2 PM on ESPN

• (6) Iowa @ (3) Oklahoma, 4 PM on ESPN

• (5) Alabama @ (4) Maryland, 5 PM on ESPN2

• (6) Florida State @ (3) LSU, 6 PM on ESPN

• (6) West Virginia @ (3) North Carolina, 7 PM on ESPN2

• (10) South Dakota State @ (2) UConn, 8 PM on ESPN

• (9) Mississippi State @ (1) USC, 10 PM on ESPN

“Anytime you can accomplish something with your team and your coaches that some of the most respected guys in college basketball have achieved, I guess it’s a privilege and an honor, but I just never see any kind of banners hanging for those kinds of things, and I’m kind of a banner guy. So until that happens, I’ll enjoy it, but I won’t do cartwheels over it,” –Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo, upon making his 16th Sweet 16, tied for fourth all-time