Good Morning! Today is Monday, March 3rd. Here’s what happened over the weekend in the world of sports.

Thanks again for bearing with me during these two weeks of travel… I have some Power Rankings planned, but trying out this new, shorter format for today. Leave a note and tell me what you think!

WHO’S HOT?

The Los Angeles Lakers! Two weekend wins over the Clippers have suddenly moved the purple and gold into second place in the western conference. Plus, LeBron James currently has 49,999 career points in the regular season and playoffs. Ten years after they first met in the NBA finals, LeBron James and Steph Curry remain two of the best basketball players in the world. (If you haven’t watched Court of Gold on Netflix, I highly recommend it. Fantastic six-part documentary series)

ROSTER MOVES

Joel Embiid has been ruled out for the rest of the regular season due to his injured knee. A rough season for the former MVP and the 76ers.

Yankees DH Giancarlo Stanton will miss the beginning of the season because of injuries to both elbows.

The San Francisco 49ers have traded wide receiver Deebo Samuel to the Washington Commanders for a fifth round pick. The once-dominate Samuel was too costly and too often injured for San Francisco, who are looking at a big contract extension for QB Brock Purdy and needed to shake things up after a disappointing 2024. Meanwhile, Jayden Daniels gets a versatile, veteran weapon for his second season.

The Chicago Blackhawks have traded defenseman Seth Jones to the Florida Panthers for goalie Spencer Knight and a first round pick. A classic deadline trade, where the rebuilding team sends an unhappy veteran to a contender.

BRACKETOLOGY NOTES

First, on the women’s side– congratulations to JuJu Watkins and the USC Trojans on winning the Big 10. Not only did USC go into Pauley Pavilion and sweep the battle of Los Angeles against UCLA on Saturday night, they looked really, really good. I may have been wrong on this Trojan team, who have started to unlock their exceptional talent and play true complimentary basketball. Also, South Carolina won the SEC over Texas thanks to a coin toss. I’m not kidding, click the link.

On the men’s side, Illinois is back after a rough few weeks, trouncing (15) Michigan yesterday. (1) Auburn won big at (17) Kentucky, and (5) Tennessee escaped (6) Alabama at the buzzer. The bubble is weak and the teams at the top are hard to separate… I still don’t really have a handle on this field. Luckily, we’ve still got two weeks to figure it all out.

KEEP AN EYE ON…

Hard Knocks goes to school! While not 100% confirmed, the classic NFL behind-the-scenes show will reportedly be covering Bill Belichick and the North Carolina Tar Heels this fall. I’m actually kind of excited to see it.

TODAY’S BIG GAMES (all times Eastern)

COLLEGE BASKETBALL:

• Wake Forest @ (2) Duke, 7 PM on ESPN

• Kansas @ (4) Houston, 9 PM on ESPN

That’s all for today! Have a wonderful Monday