by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation 3/25/2026 Photo by Fayez Nureldine/ AFP via Getty Images Honorable Mentions: Paul Hughes ( PFL) Lightweight MMA 14-3 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Samet Agdeve (ONE) Heavyweight MMA 18-0 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Thad Jean (PFL) Welterweight MMA 11-0 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Anatoly Malykhin (ONE) Middleweight, Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight MMA 14-1 ________________________________ Top-

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 3/25/2026 Photo by Gerald Herbert/ Associated Press Red Sox Projected Starting Lineup 1. Roman Anthony LF 2. Trevor Story SS 3. Jarren Duran DH 4. Wilson Contreras 1B 5. Wilyer Abreu RF 6. Caleb Durbin 3B 7. Marcelo Mayer 2B 8. Carlos Narvaez C 9. Ceddane Rafaela CF Projected Platoon Masataka Yoshida OF Connor Wong C Isiah Kiner-Falefa SS Andruw Monasterio 2B New Additions The Sox added a few hitters and a few pitchers this offseason,

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 3/25/2026 Photo by Mark J. Terrill/ Associated Press 1 Duke vs 5 St. John's Prediction: Duke Duke has been underwhelming at best this tournament and now come head-to-head with their toughest opponent. St John's struggled against Darryn Peterson and Kansas on Sunday and now will have to contend with an even better offense headlined by Cameron Boozer who's averaging 21 and 12 so far in the tournament. Duke is favored by 6.5 which I'd love to bet

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 3/24/2026 Photo by Lauren Sopourn/ Getty Images 1. Francis Mauigoa 6'6" - 329 lbs Miami Big Board Rank: 12 Pro Comparison: Tailese Fuaga Mauigoa is a Right Tackle in the league and while I don't think he's the best player in this ranking, he is the best player that will stay at Tackle for sure. A strong and consistent pass blocker, Mauigoa was a 3-year starter at Miami and measured and tested very well at the Combine. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 3/24/2026 After the Boston College Hockey season was finally ended by UConn on Friday, most of us knew their star player would be signed soon and on Monday the Bruins made it official. Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/ Getty Images James Hagens was the Bruins top 2025 draft pick at #7 overall. A 19-year old, 5'11" Center who shoots from his left and was a sniper at BC, Hagens will join the great group of young forwards in Providence as one of the Bruin

by Joel Piton Sportz Nation - 3/24/2026 Photo: Craig Mitchelldyer/AP This year's NCAA basketball season was flanked by high scoring guards—and we're seeing a lot these guys dominate in March Madness play. Overflowing with limitless potential, you have to think where these kids could end up as the NBA Draft draws closer. All eyes are on these floor generals who control the tempo, create opportunities, and deliver in the biggest moments. If we had to break down ten particular p

by Elias Meredith 3/23/26 Sportz Nation SATURDAY: 5 VANDERBILT VS 4 NEBRASKA Photo by Nate Billings/AP Photo Saturday evening, the roof almost popped off of the Paycom Center after an exciting finish that came down to the last shot. The Nebraska Cornhuskers and the Vanderbilt Commodores faced off at the home of the Oklahoma City Thunder in downtown Oklahoma City. Big Ten All-Freshman forward Braden Frager’s game-winning layup capped off his 15-point performance from him off

by Zak Drapeau and Matt Hylen Sportz Nation - 3/23/2026 Movsar Evloev vs Alexander Volkanovski Matt Hylen - Regardless of what people think of Movsar Evloev, there is simply no other fight that makes sense other than a title shot against Alexander Volkanovski. Evloev's resume is elite, despite the lack of finishes. He showed on Saturday that he can be a balanced fighter when he wants to, making him the undisputed next fighter in line for a title shot. Both Evloev and Volk wan

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 3/22/2026 Photo by Christine Tannous/ IndyStar 2 Miami vs 7 Purdue Prediction: Purdue Purdue is still my favorite to make it out of the West and after rolling on Queens in the first round and Miami barely making it past Missouri, this one should be in the 90-70 range for the Boilermakers. 2 Iowa State vs 7 Kentucky Prediction: Iowa State The Cyclones had an easy First Round but will have to deal with Otega Oweh and Mouhamed Dioubate this time

by Elias Meredith Sportz Nation - 3/21/26 7 KENTUCKY VS 10 SANTA CLARA Photo by Jeff Roberson/AP Photo Friday afternoon, the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri was the place to be for the best first round game out of the Midwest Region. The Kentucky Wildcats and the Santa Clara Broncos faced off for only the second time in history. The Wildcats would improve their all-time record to 2-0 against the Broncos, defeating them in a thrilling 89-84 overtime victory to advan

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 3/21/2026 Photo by Brynn Anderson/ Associated Press 1 Duke vs 9 TCU Prediction: Duke Duke may have came out flat against Siena but they came out in the 2nd half and looked like they have all year. Watch for them to come out against TCU on fire. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 6 Louisville vs 3 Michigan St Prediction: Michigan St Michigan State has been one of my favorite teams for this tournament and I see no reason to change cour

by Zak Drapeau and Matt Hylen Sportz Nation - 3/20/26 Graphic by UFC via UFC London Official Poster In our Fight Night Vallejos v Emmett Predictions where you can find here , Zak went 5-1 in picks with 2 correct methods for a total of 7 points. Matt also went 5-1 in picks with 2 correct methods for a total of 7 points. Points to Date: Zak: 48 (32-12) Matt: 44 (29-15) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ *All odds are courtesy of Caesar's Sportsbook as of 3/19 Leron

by Joel Piton Sportz Nation - 3/20/2026 Photo: Vincent Carchietta/ImagnImages March Madness has never been kind to assumptions. Programs like Duke, Arizona, and Michigan State may dominate the headlines every year, but what makes the tournament hype is the reliance on unpredictability. Just last season, Florida reminded the college basketball world that a hot streak at the right time can outweigh months of expectations. In a single-elimination format, reputations won't win ga

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 3/19/2026 Photo by Brian Murphy/ Icon Sportswire via Getty Images 1. Kenyon Sadiq 6'3" - 245 lbs Oregon Big Board Rank: 6 Pro Comparison: Trey McBride The last two years have seen Tyler Warren, Brock Bowers and Colston Loveland go in the first round and I'm not too sure Kenyon Sadiq isn't the best of the bunch. Certainly the best athlete, Sadiq put up one of the bets Combines of any Tight End in history and has shown to be a good enough athlete

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 3/19/26 We're FINALLY here! Before the first round starts today at 12:15 between Ohio State and TCU lets dive into the bracket as a whole and even some of the more exciting matchups! The tightest matchups are of course between the closest seeds, with 8 Utah State - 9 Villanova and 7 Miami - 10 Missouri having the closest spreads with Utah State -1.5. In total, 3 of the 8-9 matchups, 3 of the 7-10 matchups and 2 of the 6-11 matchups have a sprea

Photo graphic by Sporting News Selection Sunday consistently follows the same pattern for fans: the bracket is revealed, analysts begin highlighting potential upsets, and fans quickly start discussing which teams might make it all the way. However, for the players, March is about more than just the bracket; it's about the people alongside you in the locker room, teammates who motivated you during early morning workouts, coaches who supported you when the season became challen

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 3/18/26 Photo by Jeff Bottari/ Zuffa LLC 1. Islam Makhachev Lightweight Record: 16-1 Championship Record: 5-0 Best "Prime": 16-0 [2016-Pres.] The big debate will be between Islam and Khabib for the #1 spot of the division and while Khabib was the bigger star because of McGregor, I have Islam by a hair. Now that he's Welterweight Champion It's likely we've seen the last of Islam at Lightweight where his final records include a 15-fight win strea

by Zak Drapeau, Matt Hylen, Joel Piton and Elias Meredith Sportz Nation - 3/18/2026 Graphic by NCAA.com Zak Drapeau - Winner: Duke Final Four: Duke , Purdue , Houston , Virginia It should be noted that I'm not an expert in college basketball and more or less hadn't paid attention to the sport besides some NBA Draft prospects until late February. Duke is the clear favorite to win it all but will have to contend with the strongest quarter of the bracket in the East to even make

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 3/18/26 All odds courtesy of Caesar's Sportsbook as of 3/17 Photo by Ethan Hymen/ Yahoo Sports To Win NCAA Championship : 1. Duke +300 2. Arizona +350 3. Michigan +370 4. Florida +700 5. Houston +1100 6. Iowa State +1600 7. Purdue +2000 8. Illinois +2200 9. UConn +2200 I have Duke winning this year and by a comfortable margin. I really like Houston, Purdue and Arizona as well after their runs in their respective confer

Photo credit to IMAGO The 2026 Formula One Chinese Grand Prix is offically wrapped and it did not disappoint. Wheel-to-wheel racing was the story of the weekend, but position battles happening everywhere you looked. Though one team did reign surpreme this weekend, a lot of positives can be taken from the other competitng teams. With that said, some teams flopped dramatically this weekend, ending their time in China in shambles. There were definitely a bunch of winners this we