Read and React: March Madness is here and we have some thoughts

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Good morning! Most Monday mornings suck. But not this one. Not when there are brackets to dissect and pools to enter.

Welcome back, March Madness. We sure did miss you.

The selection committee loves Duke (and the ACC)

The NCAA tournament field was unveiled on Sunday evening and you can fill out a bracket here. Duke was awarded the top overall seed after Zion Williamson bulldozed the competition at last weekend’s ACC championship. It’s the 14th time the school has been a No. 1 seed and the first time since 2015, which is also the last year Duke won a national title. The Blue Devils with a healthy Zion are opening the tournament as heavy favorites.

The other three No. 1 seeds? Fellow ACC schools Virginia and North Carolina plus a 30-3 Gonzaga team from the West Coast conference. It’s the second time in history the same conference has produced three top seeds with the Big East first achieving the feat in 2009. (Only one of those three schools — UConn — reached the Final Four.)

What are some other things to know about the field?

We know this might be the first time you’ve paid attention to college hoops since last March, so here are a few things that will help you hang in any college basketball talk around the office today.

• Michigan State was robbed! The Spartans won both the Big Ten regular season and tournament title. Yet despite doing that in a league that landed eight tournament teams, Tom Izzo’s crew was passed over for a No. 1 AND was paired in the same regional as Duke. Brutal.

• Sister Jean is staying home this year. So is history’s greatest Cinderella. Both Loyola and UMBC fell in their conference tournaments one year after shocking the world and did not receive a bid to this year’s dance.

• You will, however, get to root for 15th-seeded Colgate and make as many toothpaste jokes as you can before Tennessee eliminates it. The small New York liberal arts school of 2,900 won the Patriot League and is making its first tournament appearance since 1996.

• There are some fun first-round matchups. Richard Pitino’s Minnesota team is facing Louisville, a squad that used to be coached by his old man before some, uh, things happened. There’s also Bobby Hurley’s Arizona State facing Chris Mullin’s St. John’s in a matchup every fan of the ’90s can love. If Arizona State wins, Hurley will face Buffalo, a school where he tutored current coach Nate Oats before leaving in 2015.

So that’s it for now. We’ve got plenty of articles and videos at this one-stop NCAA tournament shop to help get you up to speed before Minnesota and Louisvile kick things off at 12:15 ET on Thursday. The clock’s ticking and the guy in the next cubicle over needs your picks.

HENRY BUSHNELL: Winners and losers from the NCAA tournament selection show

BRAD EVANS: Tourney Bracket 101 — Tips and tricks for winning your pool

PAT FORDE: Five ways that Duke can lose + seven other teams that can win title

JEFF EISENBERG: What the selection committee got right and wrong

NC State is a bit salty about missing the tournament

Montana State fires coach one month after a tragedy in his family

NFL: Ryan Fitzpatrick signs two-year deal with Dolphins

Well, here’s one way to make sure you’ve got a shot at Tua Tagovailoa in next year’s draft. Fitzmagic’s deal is for two years and $11 million and it does seem like he’s the ultimate caretaker QB. Then again, all Miami has known for the past two decades is caretaker QBs. The next quarterback to start a game will be the 20th for Miami since Dan Marino retired.

GOLF: Rory McIlroy wins The Players Championship

Rory’s played well in 2019, finishing in the top six of every tournament he’s entered. But he finally hoisted a trophy on Sunday, winning the “fifth major” by recording birdies on five of the 10 final holes at TPC Sawgrass. With the way he’s playing, he’ll be a favorite heading into the Masters.

NBA: LeBron and Lakers hit rock bottom against Knicks

It can’t get much worse than this, can it? The “highlight” of LeBron driving the lane for a game-winner against Mario Hezonja only to get stuffed is a perfect metaphor for the Lakers’ 2018-19 season.

What? These old things?

The subtext: Cal is so busy producing NBA stars, he can’t even be bothered to unwrap the jerseys before putting them on ESPN.

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