March Madness 2025: The Dos and Don’ts for filling out your NCAA Tournament bracket
March Madness is finally here and Mackenzie Salmon has tips to help you fill out your NCAA Tournament bracket.
Sports Pulse
Now, March Madness can officially begin.
We’ve soldiered through another First Four, in preparation for the NCAA Tournament’s first round on Thursday, the date that many observers still consider to be the real start of the tournament.
First, though, we had a trimming of the fat on Tuesday and Wednesday to whittle the bracket to 64 teams.
Here are the winners and losers from the First Four games in Dayton, Ohio:
First Four victors make for good sleeper-team candidates.
In 12 of the past 13 years featuring these First Four games, at least one team that played its way into the 64-team field advanced to at least the second round.
VCU (2011) and UCLA (2021) went from First Four to Final Four.
That history bodes well for North Carolina and Xavier. Those two No. 11 seeds that won their play-in games now will face No. 6 seeds Ole Miss and Illinois, respectively.
Upset alert, anyone?
If you enjoy points in the paint, then you loved Mount St. Mary’s 83-72 win against American that featured a handful of rim-rattling jams.
Mount St. Mary’s offense functioned beautifully. Big men Jedy Cordilia and Dola Adebayo each supplied 22 points with unstoppable dominance at the rim, and some inside-out kick-outs resulted in nine 3-pointers for the Mountaineers, who looked better than your garden variety 16-seed.
North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham served as the chairman of the tournament selection committee that just so happened to choose the Tar Heels for the final at-large bid. Cunningham will be due a bonus in excess of $75,000 for the team’s NCAA selection, per the terms of his contract.
Rules dictate that Cunningham not be in the room while the rest of the committee members discussed North Carolina’s tournament candidacy, but his presence as committee chairman nonetheless created at least the illusion of bias.
North Carolina’s 8-0 record against “Quad 2” opponents highlighted its credentials, along with a sturdy NET ranking. It won two ACC Tournament games, while other bubble teams lost their conference tournament openers.
Still, the Tar Heels carried a squishy résumé into Selection Sunday, anchored by a 1-12 record against “Quad 1” opponents. Cunningham being the committee chair added fuel to the fire of the debate.
By smashing San Diego State 95-68, the Tar Heels quieted critics who objected to their selection. Oh, and if the Tar Heels reach the Sweet 16, Cunningham will be owed another bonus. Sweet deal.
The television broadcast Tuesday showed Stacie Madlock, wife of Alabama State coach Tony Madlock and mother to Hornets forward TJ Madlock, with her head in her hands during the game against St. Francis.
Prayers answered.
Alabama State beat St. Francis with a wild bucket in the final second.
Texas coach Rodney Terry sits on a hot seat, and Texas blowing an eight-point halftime lead in its loss to Xavier didn’t help his case for job retention.
The SEC qualified a record 14 teams for this tournament. Now, it’s down to 13 strong, as Terry awaits his fate.
The First Four continues to be a rough deal for the No. 16 seeds that are cast into play-in games despite winning their conference tournaments.
Back when the NCAA Tournament featured only 64 teams, winning your conference tournament triggered guaranteed entry into the 64-team bracket. Tournament expansion changed this. Now, the four lowest-seeded automatic bids on the 16-seed line must win a play-in game to earn the right to play a No. 1 seed.
Alabama State and Mount St. Mary’s won and advanced to the first round.
St. Francis and American bid adieu.
Alabama State’s last-second basket brought a swift end to St. Francis’ second NCAA Tournament appearance in program history.
After all that howling about North Carolina not deserving the final at-large bid, San Diego State shouted, “Hold my beer!”
The Aztecs’ putrid performance against the Tar Heels suggested that San Diego State was the real dud of Selection Sunday, hiding in plain sight.
The Tar Heels’ torrid shooting ripped to shreds the Aztecs’ typically stout defense.
Would you want to play the Tar Heels in Round 1 after the way they tormented San Diego State?
North Carolina guard RJ Davis, an NCAA Tournament veteran, will enter the first-round game against Ole Miss blistering hot after making all six of his 3-point attempts against the Aztecs.
If Davis stays hot, look out, Rebels.
What an awful stretch of days it’s been for West Virginia. First, the selection committee omitted the Mountaineers, who beat six “Quad 1” opponents en route to a 19-13 record. Then, West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey embarrassed himself in a pathetic excuse for a news conference during which he threatened legal action in response to the committee choosing UNC over the Mountaineers.
“We need to get to the bottom of it,” Morrisey bloviated.
West Virginia lost its first game in the Big 12 Tournament, 67-60, to Colorado, a team with 20 losses. There’s the bottom of it. The defense rests.
To top it off, West Virginia needs a new coach.
Darian DeVries won’t stick around to witness any more of Morrisey’s charade. DeVries vamoosed for Indiana on Tuesday after one season coaching West Virginia.
The final tally for West Virginia: No bid, one gasbag governor, no coach.
Blake Toppmeyer is a columnist for the USA TODAY Network. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer. Subscribe to read all of his columns.
A West Virginia woman is facing murder charges nearly two years after she allegedly killed her 81-year-old mother by injecting her with insulin.
Kelly Moore, now 61, had been living with her mother Ethel Moore in Grafton in May 2023 after she had been elected to care for her because she was not married and there “wasn’t anybody else” to do it, according to the Grafton Police Department.
Just before midnight on May 25, 2023, police responded to a report of cardiac arrest at the home and found Ethel Moore dead at the scene.
Moore told police that her mother’s blood sugar had spiked to 250 so she gave her 20 units of her own insulin. She added that her mother, who recently had a full hip replacement, had not been feeling well for a couple of days.
As she described her mother’s health ailments to police, officers noticed she “seemed very annoyed,” according to court documents obtained by Law&Crime.
Moore explained that her mother had heart problems, arthritis, dementia and “all kinds of s*** wrong with her” and told police “that’s why I’m here with her,” police said.
It was later claimed that on the day of her death, Ethel Moore had called her other daughter who lived in Florida and claimed Kelly Moore “wasn’t doing nothing for her,” according to the affidavit. So the sister called from Florida “freaking out” about her not helping.
Moore reportedly checked her mother’s blood sugar twice and found that it was high both times, which led to her injecting her mother with 20 units of insulin in the shoulder.
Although Moore, who weighs about 275 pounds, is diabetic and says she is prescribed insulin, her mother, who was just 130 pounds, is not, police said. The insulin Moore injected had not been prescribed to her mother.
An autopsy determined Ethel Moore died of insulin shock and the manner of death was homicide, police said.
Kelly Moore’s sister said she was never told that her mother was injected with insulin, leading her to believe she died of complications of the hip surgery, according to court documents.
Moore is charged with murder and is currently in custody at the Tygart Valley Regional Jail.
According to Ethel Moore’s obituary, she “liked taking trips to Walmart and McDonalds where she always found someone to talk to. She also enjoyed relaxing while reading a good book, loved spending time with her family and cherished the time she spent with each of them.”
1 of 2 | West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey (L) surveys the damage last month after storms flooded much of the state. On Tuesday, the Department of Housing and Urban Development announced additional federal disaster assistance as residents impacted by the storms begin to rebuild. File Photo courtesy of WV Office of the Governor
March 26 (UPI) — West Virginia will receive federal disaster assistance as residents rebuild following last month’s severe storms, flooding and landslides, the Department of Housing and Urban Development announced Tuesday.
“As West Virginians rebuild their homes, neighborhoods and businesses following the severe storms, HUD continues to provide financial flexibility and disaster recovery resources,” said HUD Secretary Scott Turner.
“Supporting disaster response is a core and important part of our mission-minded approach to serving communities at HUD,” Turner added.
West Virginia suffered severe flooding across much of the state on Feb. 15. The storms killed several people, took out roads and power lines and flooded homes and businesses. Gov. Patrick Morrisey declared a State of Emergency in 10 counties as President Donald Trump announced a Major Disaster Declaration to unlock federal resources.
Tuesday’s federal disaster aid from HUD means residents can expect a 90-day moratorium on mortgage foreclosures and a 90-day extension for Home Equity Conversion Mortgages.
HUD will also provide FHA insurance to disaster victims, which gives borrowers 100% financing including closing costs. The insurance makes financing available for both mortgage and home restoration. And HUD said it will put residents in touch with housing counseling agencies to determine the needs of those impacted by the natural disaster and the resources available to them.
“Ensuring our communities have the resources they need to recover from disasters is a top priority,” said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va. “I am grateful to HUD for delivering additional resources to West Virginians impacted by these storms, which will help in the rebuilding and strengthening of our communities for the future.”
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