The stat was making the rounds after Auburn didn’t make the championship game of the SEC tournament: No team has lost three of its past four games before the NCAA tournament and won a national championship.
And yet, Auburn still was a somewhat surprising pick as the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament.
Auburn stumbled late in a very tough league, which might open things up for the other teams in the South region. Auburn will open the tournament against Alabama State, which took down St. Francis 70-68 on a thrilling final-second layup off a tipped full-court pass in the First Four at Dayton on Tuesday. (We’re also waiting to see if San Diego State or North Carolina play Ole Miss on Friday, as well), but here are the rest of the picks for the first round in the South, with all the odds from BetMGM:
Midwest region picks | East region picks | West region picks
The first game of the first round Thursday is a good one. Louisville seems very under-seeded, but that’s part of playing in a bad ACC. Still, since Dec. 14 the Cardinals are 21-2 and one of the losses came to Duke in the ACC tournament. Creighton has been a very good team too, and 7-foot-1 Ryan Kalkbrenner will be a problem for the Cardinals. But I won’t hold it against Louisville that the ACC was down. The Cards advance.
Alabama State thrilled us with a great NCAA tournament opener, with a last-second shot to win it. But this isn’t the type of 16 seed that can scare a 1 seed. Alabama State doesn’t have any strength that will keep it in a game against an Auburn team looking to quiet critics who wondered how it got the No. 1 overall seed after losing three of their last four.
Yale has become the Ivy’s best program, and this season it dominated the league. Yale was 16-1 after Dec. 22. Texas A&M is a good team, but it lives off offensive rebounding (the best offensive rebounding percentage in the nation), and yet Yale is pretty good on the defensive boards. The Ivy League has been pretty good in the first round of the NCAA tournament, going 10-4 against the spread in the first round since 2009 (per Matt Eisenberg’s Tournament Guide). Texas A&M could make a run into the second weekend, but this one isn’t going to be easy.
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Vladislav Goldin helped lead the Michigan Wolverines to a Big Ten tournament championship. (Photo by Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images)
No. 5 Michigan (-2.5) over No. 12 UC San Diego, 10 p.m. Thursday
Ah, the 5 vs. 12 game. We all know by now this is where upsets come from, and UC San Diego is a dangerous 12 seed. KenPom.com had San Diego as the 36th best team in the sport, which is rarified air for a Big West school. That’s just one spot below UConn, the reigning champs. San Diego does everything well, and it shoots (and hits) a lot of 3s. The problem is UCSD’s size. It doesn’t have a regular who is taller than 6-8. Michigan is the rare team with two 7-footers, Vladislav Goldin and Danny Wolf. If UCSD hits a ton of 3s this could be a fun upset, but this was a really unfortunate matchup for a strong mid-major.
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Iowa State looked like it could be a Final Four contender, but the last month was a little rough. Injuries affected the Cyclones. It appears Tamin Lipsey (10.8 ppg) will return from injury, but Keshon Gilbert (13.4 ppg) is out for the season via the Des Moines Register. That lowers the Cyclones’ ceiling. Lipscomb has a lot of shooters, which is what you want from a big underdog. If Lipscomb can knock down some of the many 3s it’s going to take, this one could be interesting late.
No. 11 North Carolina (-1.5) over No. 6 Ole Miss, 4:05 p.m. Friday
Most years, a team that wins in the First Four also wins a first-round game. This isn’t just an overreaction to UNC’s dominant win over San Diego State; the Tar Heels match up pretty well with Ole Miss. UNC didn’t deserve an at-large spot but that never meant it couldn’t get hot and win multiple games.
No. 7 Marquette (-3.5) over No. 10 New Mexico, 7:25 p.m. Friday
If you like guard play, this will be a fun matchup. Marquette’s Kam Jones is one of the best players in the country, a Bob Cousy Award finalist for the trophy that goes to the nation’s best point guard. New Mexico’s Donovan Dent and his 20.6 points per game should get more respect for postseason honors. Marquette won just five of its last 12 games, but there weren’t any bad losses. This isn’t an easy pick between two similar but flawed teams. Marquette might be happy to not see a Big East foe.
Michigan State had a tremendous season. The Spartans were good to bettors too, posting a 22-10-1 mark against the spread via Action Network, one of the best marks in the sport. MSU won’t shoot many 3s, won’t shoot them well, but can score inside and rebound it well. Bryant is one of the few 15 seeds that actually has some decent size. It has the sixth-tallest team in college basketball, according to KenPom.com. The Bulldogs didn’t play a tough schedule and against the two best teams they played, St. John’s and Grand Canyon, they lost by 22 and 46, respectively. There’s no upset concern here, but Bryant might not be a total pushover.
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A European theater chain, Kinepolis Group, is acquiring the Troy-based Emagine Entertainment.
The deal is valued at $105 million and is expected to be finalized by the end of the year.
A European theater chain is buying Troy-based Emagine Entertainment.
Kinepolis Group, a Belgian company, announced on Tuesday, Nov. 4, that it plans to acquire 14 Emagine theaters in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin and finalize the $105 million deal by the end of the year.
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The deal is for 100% of Emagine’s business, according to a news release, and the theaters will continue to operated under the Emagine brand name.
Crain’s Detroit reported that Glantz and his family own about 36% of Emagine.
Not all of the 28 theater locations listed on Emagine’s website are included in the deal, as about half are operated by third parties.
The Kinepolis Group previously acquired the MJR Digital Cinemas chain in 2019 and continued to operate those theaters under the MJR brand.
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“Kinepolis has a reputation for operating exceptionally well-run cinemas both in Europe and in North America,” Glantz said in the news release. “Their commitment to providing guests with an unforgettable movie experience makes them the ideal suitor to continue the stewardship of Emagine into the future.”
Glantz was not available for additional comment Tuesday morning.
“With the acquisition of Emagine Entertainment, we are back on track with the execution of our expansion strategy since the pandemic,” Eddy Duquenne, CEO of Kinepolis Group, said in a statement. “We do this with a high-quality asset in a market where we have had positive experiences with our Kinepolis concepts. The location and size of the cinemas make them a valuable addition to the Group’s portfolio, allowing us to expand our presence in the US market and strengthen our national structure.”
The news release says Emagine’s theaters have about 6 million visitors a year and do nearly $129 million in revenue.
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Michigan theaters not included in the deal are The Riviera Cinema in Farmington Hills and Emagine Woodhaven, which operate under the Emagine brand but are managed by third parties through a brand licensing agreement, the news release says.
The theaters that are in the deal are:
Michigan
Emagine Canton
Emagine Royal Oak
Emagine Hartland
Emagine Birch Run
Emagine Saline
Emagine Novi
Emagine Macomb
Emagine Rochester Hills
Quality 10 Powered by Emagine (Saginaw)
Illinois:
Emagine Frankfort
Emagine Batavia
Indiana:
Emagine Noblesville
Emagine Portage
Wisconsin:
Check back to Freep.com for more on this developing story.
Michigan hockey freshman defenseman Henry Mews suffered a season-ending injury, the team announced Monday.
“University of Michigan defenseman Henry Mews has suffered a season-ending injury, prematurely ending his freshman season with the Wolverines,” a team spokesperson wrote in an email.
Early in the first period Saturday against Notre Dame, Mews took a knee-on-knee hit from Fighting Irish forward Sutter Muzzatti behind Michigan’s net. Mews laid on the ice for several seconds before he was able to get to the bench under his own power, unable to put much weight on his left leg. Mews immediately went down the tunnel and did not return to the game.
“Obviously you don’t want to lose a guy like that,” junior forward Nick Moldenhauer said Saturday postgame. “He’s an unbelievable player. But I think it just made us want to win that game even more for him. They injure one of your better D-men and power-play guys, you want to go out there and win it for him. That was just a little bit of extra fire for us to move forward.”
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Mews’ loss is enormous for the Wolverines. The Calgary Flames draft pick was central to Michigan’s early success this year. A dynamic offensive defenseman, Mews was a key puck-mover for the Wolverines and played the point on Michigan’s first-ranked power play. Through 10 games, he had nine points. The Wolverines’ depth will be tested to replace him and his production.
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If Michigan football is going to stay within striking distance of Ohio State going into its regular-season finale, it will have to do so without star running back Justice Haynes, it appears.
The junior is set to undergo surgery on his right foot this week, two sources familiar with the situation but granted anonymity since they’re not permitted to speak on the situation publicly, confirmed to the Free Press on Sunday, Nov. 2.
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The expectation around the program is that Haynes will use U-M’s bye week to rest, and sit against both Northwestern and Maryland, but he could be back in action against the Buckeyes on Nov. 29.
Haynes, who joined the program as an offseason transfer from Alabama, injured his foot late in the Wolverines’ 31-20 victory over Michigan State in East Lansing on Oct. 25. Against the Spartans, he ran for 152 yards and two touchdowns. Haynes was sidelined for U-M’s 21-16 victory over Purdue on Nov. 1 and was seen on the field wearing a boot on his right foot while riding a scooter.
Haynes has been a star for U-M in his first season in Ann Arbor, setting new career marks in carries (121), rushing yards (857), yards per carry (7.1) and touchdowns (10). In the six games he has finished, he has amassed at least 100 yards rushing and a touchdown.
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Haynes’ only other appearance for Michigan, against USC in October, featured 10 rushes for 51 yards before he left in the second quarter with an injury to his midsection. That kept him out of the following week’s win over Washington.
Without Haynes, the Wolverines will turn to Jordan Marshall, the redshirt freshman who has shined in Haynes’s absence.
Marshall has run 124 times for 729 yards (5.9 yards per carry) and eight touchdowns. That includes three straight games with more than 100 yards – vs. Washington (133), Michigan State (110) and a career-high against Purdue (185) when he also scored all three touchdowns for the Wolverines.
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Michigan is off this week before hitting the road to face Northwestern on Nov. 15 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
Tony Garcia is the Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
