Good Morning, Stumpers!

March, Conference Tournaments, The Players Tournament, Primetime NBA, and AC/DC all packed into one newsletter.  I mean c’mon now! We’ve got all that and more in today’s Stump! Join our Bracket Challenge today! ⬇️ 

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Today’s Rundown

What’s in today’s edition?

• 🏀 Why is nobody talking about Pat Kelsey and Louisville?  

• 📆 Pre-Tournament MADNESS! Only in MARCH!

• ⛳️ 18 Holes down at TPC Sawgrass! Packed Leaderboard!

• 🥁 Song OTD is a double espresso to start your day!

On This Day

On This Day…

🏌️‍♀️ Muirfield Comes of Age in Scotland

Growing up in the generation that I did, it’s often hard for me to fathom the idea that women at one point were not seen as equals to me. This one really blew my mind too, because it was so recent.

On this day in 2017, the historic Muirfield Golf Club voted to admit women as members for the 1st time in 273 year history. Muirfield is the oldest golf club in the world, and surely was a little bit behind the times. I’m glad to see women gold there now, but it blows my mind that something like this was still happening in 2017!

Today’s Trivia

🧠 Test your sports knowledge…

Yesterday’s Trivia Answer: B. Scottie Scheffler! Who else? The 2024 players champion had a strong start yesterday as he’s right in the mix!

Before We Dive In…

👀 Here’s Yesterday’s MUST-See’s

• 🔥 CHUCKY HEPBURN GAME WINNER FOR UofL

• 👏 Luka already in the Lakers record books with Kobe

• 🤯 LINUS ULLMARK with the save of the season for Ottawa

• 😍 D Wade LOVES the effort from Marquette

🔍️ Stump Spotlight

Program Builder

🐦️ Back to the Louisville Way

There weren’t many programs that were as dominant in the early 2010s as the Louisville Cardinals. But following the brutal end to Rick Pitino’s tenure and the NCAA sanctions, the program fell off pretty hard. They reached record lows in wins the last two years, but the Cardinal may just finally be back.

When Louisville named Kenny Payne the head coach prior to the 2022 season, the move was celebrated. Payne, a 1985 NCAA Champion with Louisville, was part of the glory days teams that many fans reminisce on often. It wasn’t until a few months later that the fans would turn on him.

Louisville managed to put together only FOUR wins in 2022, the lowest win total for the program since 1940, and the first time the program didn’t manage to win 10 games since 1942. Woof. In Payne’s second season, UofL only put together an 8-win season, 3 of which came in conference play. After two seasons, Payne was fired.

The program saw its highest highs under Rick Pitino between 2010-13, including winning a National Championship. Pitino was fired in 2017 due to NCAA sanctions. Trust me, I know that what Pitino did was wrong, it was shady, it was gross. I’m not ignorant to that. But Louisville, with or without that ugly asterisk, is and was an extremely successful and proud program. What happened under Kenny Payne was something that almost any living Louisville fan had ever seen.

In steps Pat Kelsey. The Xavier alum managed to turn Winthrop into one of the most dominant mid-major programs in the country, and was rewarded with a job as the head coach of College of Charleston. In his second year, the program won 31 games, followed by 27 the next season. Then UofL came calling.

Kelsey came in and completely changed the roster. The beauty of the transfer portal. 13 players out, 13 players in. A whole new roster, a whole new coaching staff, a whole new Louisville. Pat Kelsey and his staff must be some pretty darn good recruiters and evaluators of talent, because they have turned the program around in an instant.

25 wins, 6 losses. They came in at 13 in the latest AP Poll, their highest rank since 2019. The team is led by their dynamic backcourt duo: Terrance Edwards and Chucky Hepburn. But yet, I feel like nobody outside the ACC is talking about Kelsey?

He has completely changed this program. Louisville was down SO bad the last few years, pissed off fans, ugly basketball, arguably the laughing stock of power 4 basketball. Now, they are a team that you are going to have to worry about this March. They’re full of experienced players, who are hungry to win. I’m not sure if Louisville is back, but they’re a lot closer than they were this time last year. This March will tell us a lot about this team, but either way, what Pat Kelsey is doing for the Cardinal is extraordinary.

The Hot Stove

🤯 March is Gonna March.

For those of you who missed the crazy action all across college basketball yesterday, this is your saving grace. Here is all of the wildest moments, stats, and upsets from yesterday’s action:

• Xavier’s Ryan Conwell scored a Big East Tournament record for Xavier with 38 points, but it wasn’t enough as Marquette escaped with a win, 89-87. Highlights found here…

• Texas and Texas A&M were in an absolute thriller on the ugliest court in college basketball. A 2OT bloodbath was highlighted by a Texas dunk to tie the game in regulation, and a massive Longhorn run in 2OT to seal the deal. Texas needed that game to try and secure their spot in the NCAA Tournament, they currently sit as a bubble team. Highlights here…

• Louisville escaped a big time upset by the way of Stanford yesterday when UofL put up the last shot and an offensive rebound went all over the place until it landed in Chucky Hepburn’s hands and he hit the game winner. Louisville advances, here’s the game winning shot…

• Two BIG12 powerhouses went toe-to-toe in the Quarterfinals as (12) Iowa State took on (17) BYU. ISU was without their second leading scorer Keshon Gilbert, and their starting PG in Tamin Lipsey, but still held strong. The game went wire to wire, and it was the Cougars who won in the first season for head coach Kevin Young. Highlights here…

• DePaul took the second-seeded Creighton to the brink of elimination, multiple times. DePaul was up almost the whole game, but a late second half push from the Blue Jays from Omaha took the game into OT. A last second shot from DePaul sent the game into a second OT, but that’s when Creighton dug their heels in and ran away with it. Yes, the highlights can be found here…

• We didn’t forget, here’s the Cooper Flagg injury…

⛳️ Day 1 At The Players Championship

Talk about jam-packed at the top of the leaderboard after Day 1. As we all expected, it’s Camilo Villegas, J.J. Spaun, and Lucas Glover all tied for the lead at 6-under. Rory, Akshay, Min-Woo, Horschel, and McGreevy all sit right behind at 5-under. Falls off after that right? The opposite, we’ve got 12 guys at 4-under. JAM-PACKED at the top and we’re in for a great great tournament! Here’s a look at your FULL LEADERBOARD!

🏀 Primetime Hoops! Bucks-Lakers!

At full strength, if you look at these two squads on paper, you could assemble one of the greatest teams of all time. Even in Year 22, the Lakers are a completely different team with LeBron James off the floor. They have now lost 3 straight, the last of them being without LeBron. Luka dropped 45 and Reaves 28 but it wasn’t enough to take down the Bucks. They lost handily 126-106 and will await their King to return. Watch the highlights to this showdown HERE!

🐺 HUSKIES.

It is March. Everyone beware.`

Quick Links

• ⚽️ Messi scores in return for Inter Miami, advance in CCC!

• 🏀 Cooper Flagg a longshot to return to ACC Tournament

• 😡 An online BACK-N-FORTH between former Dallas Cowboy Teammates

What We’re Watching

🏀 NBA TV Double Header:

• NBATV: Celtics @ Heat (7:00 PM), Lakers @ Nuggets (9:30 PM)

• More to watch: Pacers @ Sixers (7:00 PM), Clippers @ Hawks (7:30 PM), Mavs @ Rockets (8:00 PM), Cavs @ Grizzlies (8:00 PM), Magic @ Timberwolves (8:00 PM), Kings @ Suns (10:00 PM)

🏒 NHL on ESPN+:

• ESPN+: Red Wings @ Carolina (7:00 PM), Oilers @ Islanders (7:30 PM), Avs vs Flames (9:00 PM), Preds @ Ducks (10:00 PM), Utah vs Seattle (10:00 PM)

• NHL Network: Stars @ Jets (8:00 PM)

⚾️ Spring Training: Full schedule

🏀 College Basketball action:

• Men’s: ACC, BIG East, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC, MAC, A10, AAC, SWAC, Mountain West, MEAC, MAAC, WAC, CUSA, Big West, ALLLLLLLL GOING live y’all full schedule here

• Women’s: Nothing like some non-power conference WOMEN’S BALL, full schedule here

⚽️ International Soccer:

• NWSL: Houston vs Washington (8:00 PM), Orlando vs Chicago (8:00 PM on Prime)

⛳️ The Players Championship

• Day TWO from The Players Championship at the beautiful TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL. Here’s your leaderboard and tee times

The Moment You’ve Been Waiting For

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