Sports
March Madness is here: ‘Can’t miss’ sports on TV this weekend

Every Friday, the staff of The Athletic recommends the most compelling sports on TV to watch this weekend.
This week, in honor of the early days of perennial March Madness, we lead with the most must-see college basketball games of the weekend, plus a few other games to watch.
📝Selection Sunday Shows
Men’s NCAA Tournament Selection Show
Sunday, 6 p.m. ET on CBS
There are sporting events that feel like national holidays. The Super Bowl is the biggest, where 120 million or so gather around TVs across the nation. Opening Day or night for baseball, basketball and college football are others, for some.
For my money, Selection Sunday may be the best of them all. For college basketball diehards, be it the men’s side or the women’s, it is when you find out where your team is going or not going. The jubilation and the depression are what make sports great. And the three weeks that follow may be the most fun of any event on the American sports calendar. It is not as big as the Super Bowl, but with everyone able to put their best guesses in a pool, it creates a nice cross-section of fans to enjoy. On Sunday, we find out who is dancing. — Andrew Marchand
Women’s NCAA Tournament Selection Show
Sunday, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN
Heading into Selection Sunday, questions remain about how the top of the bracket will look. It’s likely that either Big Ten tournament champ UCLA or SEC tournament champ South Carolina will be the No. 1 overall seed, but uncertainty remains about which teams will get the nod. There are also questions about which team will be the fourth No. 1 seed. Texas or UConn will likely get that spot, with the other being the first No. 2 seed. Either way, after a season full of parity, it’s fitting that key seeding questions remain. — Ben Pickman
Conference tournaments
Listed in chronological order
America East Championship Game
Saturday, 11 a.m. ET on ESPN2
The heavy hitters play in prime time, but the morning tipoff in the America East title game is one of my favorite March traditions. Brunch-time, high-stakes basketball in a tiny-but-loud gym somewhere in the thawing Northeast? A great way to start your Selection Sunday Eve. Vermont, which won the last three titles, lost in the semifinals, so this year’s game pits No. 3 seed Maine — going for its first NCAA Tournament bid ever — at top-seeded Bryant, a university in Smithfield, R.I., with a gym that seats just 2,600. Watch this to get ready. — Mark Cooper
SEC Semifinals
Saturday, 1 p.m. ET on ESPN
It isn’t hyperbole that the four teams playing in the SEC Tournament semifinals could be a preview of the Final Four itself; the conference is THAT good. While none of the games will impact any of the teams being in or out of the tournament field, it could have a huge impact on whether a team is a No. 1 or a No. 2 seed and what region it is placed in. — Dan Shanoff
Big 12 Championship Game
Saturday, 6 p.m. ET on ESPN
It seems crazy that Kansas is an afterthought in the Big 12 Tournament, but the reality is that Houston is the team to watch. A likely 1-seed in the Big Dance, if you haven’t seen Houston play yet this season, this is the moment to check out a team that a lot of people in your bracket pool will be picking to go far, led by star LJ Cryer, the typical ferocious Cougars D and, this year, an offense ranked Top 10 in the country by KenPom. — Dan Shanoff
Big West Championship Game
Saturday, 9:40 p.m. ET on ESPN2
If the seeding holds, this will be an incredible matchup of would-be NCAA Cinderellas — No. 1 seed UC San Diego vs. No. 2 seed UC Irvine. (Click those links for incredible reads on each team.) Both deserve a place in the NCAA Tournament field based on their respective resumes, but a win here lets one of them breathe a lot easier on Selection Sunday. — Dan Shanoff
SEC Championship Game
Sunday, 1 p.m. ET on ESPN
The culmination of one of the best conference campaigns in college basketball history happens on Sunday afternoon. A quartet of potential No. 1 seeds — Auburn, Florida, Alabama and Tennessee — will all be in contention for the crown, but the league’s incredible depth (likely 11+ Tournament teams) could make for a surprise matchup. Winning this event will be nearly as difficult as winning the NCAA Tournament itself. — Jim Root
Big Ten Championship Game
Sunday, 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS
Regardless of who from the conference makes it to the title game, this last game of Championship Week is the best way to whittle away those final few hours waiting for the brackets to be revealed at 6 p.m. ET. Michigan State is the favorite, but watch out for No. 6 seed Purdue, which is doing just fine without two-time player of the year Zach Edey. — Dan Shanoff
Beyond college basketball
⚽NWSL
Portland Thorns at KC Current
Saturday, 12:45 p.m. ET on ABC
Few teams saw as much change as the Portland Thorns — icons Christine Sinclair and Becky Sauerbrunn retired, star striker Sophia Wilson (née Smith) having recently announced her pregnancy and several starters injured in preseason. They’ll have a stern test against the Kansas City Current, whose high-octane attack is led by reigning MVP Temwa Chawinga. Portland’s defense struggled throughout the start of 2024, and could be up against it on Saturday. — Jeff Reuter
🏃Track
NCAA Indoor Track Championships
Saturday, 7 p.m. ET on ESPN+
Want to be the fan in 2028 who can say you’ve been following all the Olympic runners for years? Then watch the NCAA Indoor Track Championships this weekend. Remember the name Ethan Strand: He’s the NCAA mile record holder and will be racing the 3,000m Saturday night, less than 24 hours after anchoring UNC’s distance medley relay on Friday. — Mark Puleo
🏎️F1
Australian Grand Prix
Sunday, Midnight ET on ESPN
I mean, I don’t know what to tell you. I get it, it’s on at midnight for the East Coast. That’s tough. I feel for you. But it’s the first race of what should be the most exciting Formula One season in years. It’s Lewis Hamilton’s debut race with Ferrari. Five rookies will make their full-season debuts. It’s supposed to rain, which should cause delicious fun. In 2023, the Australian GP ended with wrecks and drama. In 2024, it was won by a guy who just had an appendectomy. Have I convinced you to take a long Saturday afternoon nap yet? — Patrick Iversen
🎾Tennis
2025 BNP Paribas Open Tennis
WTA Singles Final
Sunday, 2 p.m. ET on Tennis Channel
ATP Singles Finals
Sunday, 5 p.m. ET on Tennis Channel
Indian Wells has always drawn great fields and who can blame the players, given the gorgeous climate and big crowds? We’ve already seen some upsets on both sides, but as of this writing, a delectable women’s final between Aryna Sabalenka versus Iga Swiatek is still on course. — Richard Deitsch
⚽MLS
Inter Miami at Atlanta United
Sunday, 7 p.m. ET on Apple TV (MLS Season Pass)
Atlanta United has followed an expensive offseason overhaul with a middling start to the MLS season. They’ll hope to notch a statement win against Inter Miami after eliminating Lionel Messi’s club last postseason. We’ll see if Messi plays, though, as Miami has been managing his minutes. — Jeff Reuter
(Illustration: Will Tullos / The Athletic; Photos: George Hitchens, Joe Buglewicz, Alex Slitz / Getty Images)

Sports
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has become the Glazers’ fireguard – and that suits them just fine

There are certain figures who hover into view at key moments of history, defining eras despite having little control over events.
You might remember Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, who was dubbed by the UK media as ‘Comical Ali’ and became famous towards the end of the 2003 invasion of Iraq in his role as the country’s minister for information.
Al-Sahhaf offered bulletins throughout the conflict and as the Ba’ath Party’s position became worse, his messages became more optimistic. With rockets flying into Baghdad, according to Al-Sahhaf, the situation was well under control.
Saddam Hussein was nowhere to be seen. Everybody knew that everything happening was because of him and Al-Sahhaf’s front and centre presence instead gave an insight into just how useless the whole regime had become.
In fairness to Sir Jim Ratcliffe, at least he did not use one of his several media appearances this week to convince anyone that his football empire was not in danger of crumbling. Quite the opposite — the criticisms were meted out in liberal quantities, to a wide range of targets: a selection of unnamed senior players (“overpaid” and “not good enough”), former executives Richard Arnold and Ed Woodward (“Richard was a rugby man, he didn’t even understand football. Ed didn’t have the credentials to manage the club. He was a merchant banker, an accountant”), and even Ligue 1, with Ratcliffe saying he cannot bring himself to watch his other club, Nice, because “the level of football is not high enough for me to get excited”.
In fact, the only people Ratcliffe did not train his sights on were those most United fans deem culpable for the club’s decline — the Glazers, the U.S. family who, despite appearances, are the actual owners of the club courtesy of their 67.9 per cent controlling stake (the stake belonging to INEOS and its founder, Ratcliffe, is worth 28.94 per cent).
It was the Glazers who hired Arnold and Woodward, and the football executives who signed those apparently useless players. It was also on the Glazers’ watch that United’s financial position had, according to Ratcliffe on Monday, deteriorated to such an extent that the club was at risk of “going bust by Christmas”. Yet the main cause of that malaise — the crippling interest payments due on the £700million ($905.5m at current rates) worth of debt the Glazers’ leveraged buyout forced on United — also went curiously unmentioned.
Fans protest at the Glazers’ ownership (Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Then again, maybe it isn’t quite so curious. Ratcliffe is not allowed to publicly attack the Glazers due to the non-criticism clauses he agreed to when his minority investment was sanctioned in December 2023.
In legal terms, as revealed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing made at the time, this meant neither Ratcliffe or the Glazers “shall in any manner, directly or indirectly, make, or cause to be made any public statement or announcement that relates to or constitutes an ad hominem attack on, criticises, or otherwise disparage” the other party.
Ratcliffe knows that, as the owner with the lower share, he has to find a way to work with his partners, hence why he is so disinclined to talk about them in public. They were barely mentioned in the round of interviews Ratcliffe did on Monday with some British newspapers, the BBC and Gary Neville’s Overlap podcast (The Athletic were not offered the chance to speak to him); the Sunday Times had more joy in prising some thoughts out of Ratcliffe in an article which appeared online on Saturday but, for the most part, he toed the corporate line.
He suggested there wasn’t a “bad bone” in Joel Glazer’s body and that the family were “old East Coast” Americans — “they’re very polite, they’re very civilised, they’re the nicest people on the planet”. The subtext was that the family are too nice to do what Ratcliffe thinks needs to be done — namely, take a chainsaw to a bloated workforce.
Yet there were hints that the relationship between Ratcliffe and the Glazers is hardly close, given his remark to the Sunday Times that “we bought in and haven’t seen them since” and that they have largely retreated “into the shadows”.
The Glazers’ reputation is so bad that no amount of PR will change how they are viewed by most United fans, and maybe Ratcliffe was trying to subtly create a bit of distance from himself and his ownership partners. But the net effect of his publicity drive this week is that it is Ratcliffe who is in the line of fire.

An artist’s impression of United’s new stadium plan (Manchester United/Foster + Partners)
If you knew absolutely nothing about United, and nothing about football, you would look at all the coverage and assume that Ratcliffe is operating as a somewhat frazzled lone wolf given the way he lurched from warnings about bankruptcy to laying out plans for one of the most ambitious stadium projects the game has ever seen inside 24 hours.
The Glazers — whose opinion on all this stuff matters most given their controlling stake — have not uttered a word. We don’t know what they think about moving into a new 100,000-seater stadium that, if Ratcliffe has his way, will take just five years to build and cost around £2bn. It is the most significant decision the club has made since the Glazers’ takeover nearly 20 years ago, but their names have not appeared at the bottom of any of the bubbly press releases, and they certainly have not put themselves forward for interviews.
Not that this is new. The 20th anniversary of their takeover falls in June and, across the last two decades, the Glazers have probably said less about the club and revealed less about themselves than Ratcliffe has in the last seven days alone.
It must be stressed, especially from a journalist’s perspective, that being available is much better than being absent. Yet for the time being, Ratcliffe is doing little more than acting as a useful fireguard for the Glazers
United supporters know who has most of the power and this explains why the focus of their protests has remained consistent. Yet the more a filterless Ratcliffe runs around, attempting to explain the world away, the more he risks receiving an equal share of the blame when things go wrong.
(Top photo: Avram Glazer with Sir Jim Ratcliffe; Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
Sports
Rory McIlroy leads at The Players Championship as inclement weather suspends play

The final round of The Players Championship was delayed due to weather and lightning on Sunday afternoon, as Rory McIlroy held the sole lead by a narrow margin more than halfway through his round.
The delay followed Saturday’s announcement that tee times would be moved up to avoid extending the final round into Monday.
Fans leave the course during a weather delay in the final round of The Players Championship, Sunday, March 16, 2025, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
“We’ve been reviewing this weather for three or four days and, unfortunately, it’s held its pattern, and it looks like this line of storms are going to be quite intense,” , Stephen Cox, vice president of rules and tournament administration, said, via the PGA Tour’s website.
“Obviously, our preferred desire is to have one tee in two(somes) and this is the awkward balance that we face,” he continued. “If we do roll the dice, as they say, and try and play off one tee in two(somes) we could easily find ourselves in a Monday finish.”

Fans leave the course during a weather delay in the final round of The Players Championship, Sunday, March 16, 2025, in Florida. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Players on Sunday played in groups of three to try and avoid delaying the final round further, but lightning and rain in the area began rolling in at TPC Sawgrass around 1 p.m. local time.
RORY MCILROY TOOK COLLEGE GOLFER’S PHONE AFTER HECKLING MOMENT AT THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP
The weather forecast for Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, included strong winds and the high chance of Thunderstorms beginning around 3 p.m. The weather was expected to last through the afternoon and early evening.
According to the PGA Tour, the last Monday finish at The Players was three years ago.
The latest update just before 3 p.m. ET said play was expected to resume Sunday afternoon.
“PGA TOUR officials are closely monitoring the weather and play is expected to resume later this afternoon,” the update read.

Rory McIlroy holds an umbrella on the 11th green during the final round of The Players Championship, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)
McIlroy was atop the leaderboard when the delay was announced.
He was -4 under in the final round through the first 11 holes and is just one stroke ahead of J.J. Spaun who is +1 through the first 10.
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Sports
Rams re-sign running back Ronnie Rivers. Is Kyren Williams next?

The Rams’ running back corps will have a familiar look going into offseason workouts next month.
Starter Kyren Williams is entering the final year of his rookie contract, backup Blake Corum will try to build off his rookie performance, and the Rams announced Sunday that they agreed to a one-year deal with reserve Ronnie Rivers, a restricted free agent who has also been a key special teams player.
Cody Schrader, who played in one game last season, also is on the roster.
Rivers, 26, joined the Rams as an undrafted free agent in 2022. Last season, he rushed for 99 yards in 22 carries.
Keeping Rivers in the fold gives coach Sean McVay another experienced player for a team that finished with a 10-7 record last season and advanced the divisional round of the NFC playoffs.
In the last few weeks, the Rams agreed to adjust the contract of quarterback Matthew Stafford, re-signed left tackle Alaric Jackson and receiver Tutu Atwell and signed receiver Davante Adams and offensive lineman Coleman Shelton.
Last season, the Rams averaged 103.8 yards rushing per game, which ranked 24th in the NFL.
Williams, who will turn 25 in August, rushed for a career-best 1,299 yards and 14 touchdowns. It was the second consecutive 1,000-yard season for the 2022 fifth-round draft pick.
Rams running back Kyren Williams celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the Buffalo Bills at SoFi Stadium in December.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
McVay and general manager Les Snead have said a contract extension for Williams would be among offseason topics of discussion.
“I’m really proud of the body of work that Kyren has put together, what he represents, and all the different things that we really want to be about as a football team,” McVay said. “He’s checking a lot of those boxes.”
Williams said in February that he did not want to play for any team other than the Rams.
“I hope that we can get that done,” he said.
Corum, a third-round pick last year out of Michigan, rushed for 207 yards in 57 carries. He suffered a broken forearm in the season finale against the Seattle Seahawks.
Schrader, an undrafted free agent claimed off waivers from the San Francisco 49ers, had one carry for three yards and caught one pass for six yards in the finale against the Seahawks.
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