The pizza is on its way. The remote has fresh batteries. And you’ve checked to make sure you aren’t using the same excuse for missing work that you used last year.
The NCAA tournaments are upon us, and it is a glorious time. Here’s our annual look at March Madness from A to Z:
A is for Angel Reese, LSU’s double-double machine. Can the Bayou Barbie propel the Tigers to the Final Four?
B is for the Baylor women, who are a No. 7 NCAA seed, the Bears’ lowest since Kim Mulkey’s first season in 2001 (No. 8).
C is for the Alabama Crimson Tide, the top NCAA men’s tournament seed. Also tops in controversy thanks to star player Brandon Miller’s delivering a gun used in a fatal shooting by former teammate Darius Miles.
D is for Gonzaga men’s forward Drew Timme. He’s a great player, and his facial hair has its own NIL deal.
E is for every year it seems a men’s 12 seed beats a 5. It doesn’t really happen every year, but in 31 of the past 36.
F is for Fairleigh Dickinson, which got the Northeast Conference men’s bid because tourney champ Merrimack is in the midst of a four-year NCAA reclassification process. Harsh rule.
G is for Mark Grant. The LSU grad is the new lead director for CBS’ coverage of the NCAA men’s tournament.
H is for Houston, a men’s No. 1 seed for the first time since Phi Slama Jamma lost to N.C. State in 1983.
I is for the injuries roiling this year’s brackets. Among the prominent players on the list: Houston’s Marcus Sasser, Tennessee’s Zakai Ziegler and Notre Dame’s Olivia Miles.
J is for CBS’ Jim Nantz, who is calling his last NCAA tournament. Fittingly Nantz, who has helmed every CBS Final Four telecast since 1991, is finishing in Houston, where he played college golf.
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