Champ Week tips off | NCAA awards roll out | Tigres golazo goes viral

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Champ Week tips off

NCAA postseason starts today, as top teams battle it out during Champ Week’s conference tournaments in the lead-up to the NCAA tournament’s Big Dance.

• Fresh off an upset loss to end their regular season, No. 18 Tennessee opened the SEC tournament today with a 77-37 bounce-back win over Texas A&M.

Big picture: While higher-ranked seeds have an edge on conference titles, this week also provides statistical underdogs one last chance to shore up their NCAA tournament bids.

• After two straight Final Four appearances, unranked Iowa begins their Big Ten tournament campaign against also-unranked Wisconsin tonight at 8:30 PM ET, live on Peacock.

The road ahead: Tournament schedules are always grueling for lower conference seeds, as a first-rounder’s winning run sets up a series of back-to-back single-elimination games — with the grand prize being a ticket to even more stiff competition the national stage.

• No. 10 Oklahoma, No. 14 North Carolina, No. 20 Kansas State, and other ranked squads are waiting in the wings ahead of Thursday’s second-round slate, while AP Poll heavy-hitters No. 1 Texas, No. 2 USC, No. 4 UCLA, and No. 5 South Carolina won’t see the court until Friday.

Bottom line: NCAA tournament vets often see Champ Week as just another stepping stone, but there’s much more at stake for the bottom of the table, where conference tournaments can make or break a major season turnaround.

NCAA award season heats up

In the relative moment of calm between regular-season NCAA play and March Madness, DI conferences have begun doling out individual awards to top performers — raising the temperature of the National Player of the Year debate.

• The ACC named Notre Dame sophomore Hannah Hidalgo both Player of the Year (POY) and Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) on Tuesday.

• Texas’s Madison Booker took SEC POY honors, rising to the top of a stacked conference that includes LSU’s Aneesah Morrow and South Carolina’s Joyce Edwards.

• USC star JuJu Watkins won Big Ten POY after leading the conference debutants to a regular-season title, while UCLA standout Lauren Betts took DPOY.

Big picture: A season defined by shifting momentum denied the emergence of any clear-cut National Player of the Year favorite, but three headliners have managed to separate themselves from the pack late in the game.

• Thanks to her late-season heroics, JuJu Watkins sits second in NCAA DI scoring with 24.4 PPG, behind Florida State’s Ta'Niya Latson’s 25.4 PPG but slightly ahead of Hidalgo’s 24.2 PPG.

• Fellow NPOY frontrunner Aneesah Morrow is just the second player in NCAA DI history to record 100 career double-doubles, though LSU’s recent skid could impact her standing in comparison to the rest of the SEC.

• UConn’s Paige Bueckers’s 53.3% field goal percentage this season also puts the senior guard firmly in contention.

Bottom line: After Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark’s no-brainer victory last season, award-worthy performances across the NCAA have leveled the playing field for end-of-year honors — with growing parity among the teams only adding to the uncertainty.

Bay FC reveals new facility

Bay FC released renderings for the 2024 NWSL expansion team’s first-ever dedicated training facility today, with Seattle design firm Olson Kundig overseeing the complex’s development.

• “Tom Kundig and the Olson Kundig team understand our priority of player-centricity and also designed an inspirational and stunning space which reflects a sense of home for our players and staff,” said Bay FC CEO Brady Stewart in Wednesday’s statement.

What’s inside: Bay FC’s design — expected to debut in 2027 — prioritizes a seamless experience for athletes, balancing private and communal spaces with an emphasis on wholistic player care.

• Located on Treasure Island, an island off the Bay Bridge built in 1939, the center will also house resources to support long-term success, including career development, education, and business training.

• “Players commit to training together, building relationships, and working as a team every day,” said Kundig. “The design acknowledges the complexity of that commitment — to the sport, the team, and the place that supports them both.”

Big picture: As rising professionalization continues to shape women’s sports, top-of-the-line training centers have become a key way for clubs to stand out — even in the West Coast’s crowded real estate market.

• LA NWSL club Angel City and 2025 WNBA entrant Golden State have also embraced the dedicated facilities trend, while Portland’s 2026 WNBA expansion team announced it will share a new 150 million sports performance complex with the NWSL’s Portland Thorns.

Barbie spotlights women’s sports stars

Toy titan Mattel Inc. is getting in on women’s sports, celebrating International Women’s Day with a new Barbie line focused on famous athlete friendship duos.

• 2024 Olympic gold medal-winning gymnasts Jordan Chiles and Jade Carey share the spotlight with Grand Slam winners Evonne Goolagong Cawley and Ash Barty, a pair who’s long represented First Nations Australians in the sport of tennis.

• This isn’t Barbie’s first foray into women’s sports, with past collections highlighting stars like Sue Bird, Venus Williams, and Christine Sinclair.

Takeaway: “There’s no power or peace quite like knowing you have a support system of women behind you,” said Chiles. “I hope that partnering with Barbie to celebrate the power of female friendship reminds the next generation of champions that we are stronger together.”

Viral Liga MX goal defies physics

Tigres midfielder Lizbeth Jacqueline Ovalle scored the possible goal of the year on Monday, finishing a cross in from Jenni Hermoso with a gravity-defying scorpion kick that almost instantly went viral.

• The volleyed back-heel goal broke a 0-0 deadlock in the 75th minute of a tight contest between Tigres and Chivas, leading to the stalwart Monterrey club’s 2-0 win.

• Footage of the goal then flooded the internet, with sports writers and soccer fans around the world spotlighting the Liga MX Feminil star’s head-turning golazo.

Quote of the day

Retired NWSL star Merritt Mathias
discussing how the new-look USWNT can carry the torch of past generations on this week’s Sports Are Fun!