March Madness begins with First Four and Team USA vs. Venezuela in WBC final

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⚾ Five issues to know Tuesday

1. Venezuela beat Italy to earn a visit to WBC final. Venezuela stormed back to defeat Italy 4-2establishing a final sport with the United States for the WBC title. The Cinderella run for Italy got here to shut in the semifinals, and Venezuela has earned its first journey to the championship matchup, which can be held Tuesday night.
2. Jets traded Justin Fields to the Chiefs. Kansas City has a brand new backup quarterback after acquiring Fields from the Jets in a Monday commerce. The Chiefs received a “B” in our trade grades as they locked up a brand new signal-caller to sit down behind Patrick Mahomes for the upcoming season.
3. It’s Champions League day once more. It’s time for a quartet of matches in one of many largest sporting occasions of the 12 months because the UEFA Champions League summarizes motion. We have you ever coated with every part it’s essential to know, from answers to Champions League burning questions to expert predictions for all the upcoming matches.
4. Cameron Young met the second at The Players Championship. Young went winless for 3 years, however now, he has two wins in his 11 most up-to-date tournaments after profitable at TPC Sawgrass. After a roaring begin to his professional profession in 2022, Young is now meeting the big moments that defines a legacy. Meanwhile, Ludvig Åberg’s collapse on Sunday was all too predictable.
5. Which NFL free agent strikes altered the playoff image essentially the most? There have been loads of massive signings and trades through the NFL free company interval, however we believe none have been bigger in shifting the playoff picture than Kyler Murray’s transfer to the Vikings.

🏀 Don’t miss this: March Madness ideas off!

While your men’s NCAA Tournament brackets are usually not due till Thursday — sign up here — there is no time like the current to get began. And in case you’re not tuned in tonight for the First Four (check out experts’ picks), properly, you may be behind the eight ball.

One of essentially the most fantastic occasions of the 12 months for sports activities followers is upon us. March Madness ideas off on Tuesday with a pair of play-in video games, because the 68-team area is trimmed to 66. All roads on my brackets finish with Michigan slicing down the web, however I’m a Michigan boy, born and raised — even when I’m a Notre Dame fan.

CBS Sports has you coated with each angle you possibly can think about because the event is about to kick off. For starters, take a look at our 4 Regional Previews: East | Midwest | West | South.

But we’ve much more so that you can dig into earlier than one of the vital thrilling stretches of sports activities motion of the 12 months.

⚾ Who are the highest 100 gamers in MLB?

With the World Baseball Classic nearing its conclusion and the beginning of the MLB season drawing close to, it is time to begin getting severe in regards to the upcoming season.

Dayn Perry put collectively a massive look at the top 100 players in MLB. There’s no shock in Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge holding the No. 1 and 2 spots, respectively, however let’s choose a quantity at random to see what Perry has to say about one other of the 100 finest gamers in MLB.

• Perry: “4. Paul Skenes, Pirates — The 2025 NL Cy Young winner in 2026 will be the best pitcher in baseball — a seat he’ll occupy for years to come. Skenes has elite velocity, a full repertoire, and one of the nastiest wipeout pitchers around (his “slinker”). Over the first 55 starts of his MLB career, he has an ERA of 1.96 (!) and a FIP of 2.40.”

👍👎 The finest (and not-so-best) of the remainder

📺 What we’re watching Tuesday

⚽ UEFA Champions League: Bodo/Glimt at Sporting CP1:45 pm on Paramount+
⚽ UEFA Champions League: Bayer Leverkusen at Arsenal4 p.m. on Paramount+
⚽ UEFA Champions League: Real Madrid at Manchester City4 p.m. on Paramount+
⚽ UEFA Champions League: Paris Saint-Germain at Chelsea4 p.m. on Paramount+
🏀 Men’s NCAA Tournament First Four: Prairie View A&M vs. lehigh7 pm on truTV
🏒 Wild at Blackhawks7:30 pm on TNT
⚾ World Baseball Classic Final: USA vs. Venezuela 8pm on Fox
🏀 Cavaliers at Bucks8 p.m. on NBC
🏀 Men’s NCAA Tournament First Four: Miami (OH) vs. SMU9:15 pm on truTV
🏒 Lightning at Kraken10 pm on TNT
🏀 76ers at Nuggets10 p.m. on NBC