It’s official: the Madness is upon us.

You can join our men’s bracket challenge and women’s bracket challenge by clicking the respective links, or by searching “Enjoy Basketball” on fantasy.espn.com. The password to play is enjoymadness—let the games begin!

Today’s Lineup

🎉 Happy birthday to Dyson Daniels, Terry Rozier, Kyle Korver, and Enjoyers Joe, Logan, Sam, and Noah! 🎉

Game Recaps

Ant goes for 41 as Wolves push past Jazz 128-102

In the most recent episode of Numbers on the Board, our boy Kenny said Anthony Edwards “might be a basketball superhero.” Well, consider that statement verified.

Ant-Man led the T-Wolves to a pair of weekend wins, first dropping 28 PTS in a 118-111 win over Orlando on Friday and then racking up 41 PTS on 16/27 shooting in a Sunday win over Utah. That included the Ant exploits we’re used to, like this one-handed hammer, but it’s also involved him making smart plays out of double-teams after studying film of how Luka Doncic handles similar situations.

After losing to Luka and the Mavs in last year’s WCF, Ant’s willingness to learn from his opponents shows he’s a true Enjoyer of the game. And now, after an up-and-down start to the season in the absence of Karl-Anthony Towns, Ant has Minnesota squarely in the playoff picture with a chance to do damage in the postseason. If he’s a superhero after all, we want him in our city. 🦸

Magic snap Cavaliers’ 16-game win streak with 108-103 win

They say all good things must come to an end. Unfortunately, for the Cleveland Cavaliers, that also includes win streaks.

On Sunday night, the Cavs’ franchise-record 16-game screamer came to an end at the hands of the Magic, who marched into Rocket Arena and held the league’s leading offense to their fewest points since January 12. Orlando was led by Paolo Banchero, who followed up his 43-point performance against Minnesota with 24 PTS against the Cavs, and Franz Wagner, who added 22 PTS.

Cleveland was without star big man Evan Mobley, who sat out with a foot injury. But what really slowed the Cavs down was an off-night from beyond the arc—Cleveland shot just 25% from three and still had the lead late before a Magic run put them away. It’s tough to see the win streak end, but Cavs fans can take solace in their team’s ability to compete even when shots aren’t falling.

Elsewhere around the NBA…

• There’s been a lot of discussion about the Lakers’ ability to win games with LeBron sidelined, but Luka Doncic has played this role before. After taking a few games to readjust to the floor general mentality, Luka dropped a near-triple-double with 33 PTS, 11 REB, and 8 AST in a 107-96 L.A. win over Phoenix. Austin Reaves also added 28 PTS, and the LakeShow snapped a four-game losing streak in the process.

• Speaking of former Dallas Mavericks, Quentin Grimes has been absolutely balling as of late. In a forgettable season for the Sixers, the young guard has given the Philly faithful something to cheer for, most recently notching 28 PTS and 6 AST against his former team in a 130-125 win. That’s Grimes’ fourth-straight 25+ point game!

• How many rookies have you seen go toe-to-toe with a three-time MVP… and win? That’s exactly what Alex Sarr did on Friday night, dropping a career-high 34 PTS, 6 REB, and 5 AST to out-duel Nikola Jokic’s 40-bomb and lead Washington to a 126-123 dub over Denver. Oh, and don’t forget Jordan Poole pulling up from the parking lot on the game-winner… every night is a movie in the NBA.

Stock Market

The madness is finally here. As you fill out your brackets this week, be sure to keep these squads in mind as we check in with a super-sized college edition of the Enjoy Stock Market.

📈 The Top Dawgs

While March may be considered the month of the Cinderella, it’s important to know the favorites heading into the big dance. On the men’s side, Auburn claimed the #1 overall seed behind their 16 Quad 1 wins and the stellar play of Johni Broome, followed by Duke, Houston, and Florida. Duke, led by likely #1 pick Cooper Flagg, is the betting favorite to cut down the nets, but the other 1-seeds (as well as other top squads like St. John’s and Michigan State) will all have something to say about that.

On the women’s side, 30-2 UCLA owns the top seed with South Carolina, Texas, and USC rounding out the 1-seeds. Those four teams are all familiar with one another— South Carolina won two out of three against Texas this season including a clash in the SEC tournament finale, while UCLA’s only two losses came at the hands of USC and star guard JuJu Watkins (in the end, the Bruins got their revenge by beating the Trojans in the Big 10 Championship Game). The women’s tournament usually features more chalk than the men’s, so don’t be surprised if you see these teams meeting for a fourth time later on. But other contenders like UConn and Notre Dame will also be eyeing title runs…

 📈 Conference Craziness

The tournament is a clean slate for every team, but it would be a disservice not to shoutout the incredible accomplishment of making the tournament at all. This season, the men’s SEC sent 14 teams to the big dance, meaning that 87.5% of the conference qualified. That included a pair of 1-seeds in Auburn and Florida as well as other top contenders like Alabama, Tennessee, and Kentucky. If you see multiple SEC teams making deep runs, just know that the odds were in their favor.

The achievements didn’t end with the Power Four, either. In the women’s bracket, the Ivy League sent three teams to the tournament for the first time in the conference’s history. Harvard won the conference tournament behind an unreal run from Harmoni Turner, while Columbia and Princeton earned at-large bids after consistently ranking in the top 50 of the NET. Watch our for the Ivies! 👀

📈 Cinderella Stories

The story of the tournament every year is the team no one expects, and that’s only become more true in recent years. As the transfer portal and NIL have helped re-distribute top talent throughout the ranks of college basketball, there are more mid-majors to watch out for than ever. Here are a few rapid-fire teams to watch:

• Drake (men’s 11-seed): The Bulldogs, led by first-year coach Ben McCollum, rank first in the country in scoring defense and top 30 in defensive efficiency. If they take care of the ball and manufacture a low-possession game, look out for a deep run.

• Grand Canyon (women’s 13-seed): You could make the argument that both the men’s and women’s Lopes teams deserve to be here, but we’re spotlighting the latter. GCU has won 30 straight games after starting the season 2-2. Guard Tierra Brown is a problem on defense (2.7 SPG, 1.3 BPG) and will pose a tough matchup for any opposing scorer.

• Yale (men’s 13-seed): After the improbable win over Auburn in last season’s NCAA tournament, the Bulldogs are back with a vengeance. Yale tore through the Ivy League with a 15-1 conference record, heading into the tournament on a hot streak led by Ivy POY and DPOY Bez Mbeng. Add in a tough shot-maker like John Poulakidas and a strong big like Nick Townsend, and the Bulldogs are a bracket-buster waiting to happen.

• Iowa State (women’s 11-seed): Two words: Audi Crooks. The Cyclones’ center leads the Big 12’s best offense with 23.2 PPG on 60% shooting along with 7.6 RPG. Last tournament, it took a matchup with NCAA DPOY Cameron Brink to slow Crooks down in the tournament, with Stanford ultimately sending the Cyclones home. This season, with Iowa State seeded a bit lower, a Cinderella run could be brewing.

Three in the Key

Signing Off

And we out! This week, as the weather starts to warm up in many parts of the U.S., try to block off some time to relax and enjoy nature. It’s amazing what a few minutes of fresh air can do for your physical and mental health. See you soon!

-Walker Carnathan