With the final games of the regular season taking place this weekend, teams on the bubble of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament will soon find out how much more they need to do to ensure a spot in the bracket.

This isn’t the final chance to impress for those on the fringe of March Madness with conference tournaments next week, but how a team finishes the regular season can dictate the tone for the final days before Selection Sunday. End on a high note and not much is needed in a conference tournament, while ending in a slump could mean a deep run − or even the automatic bid − is the only way to making the field.

There are matchups between teams on the bubble in the latest USA TODAY Sports Bracketology where the mood will be drastically different on the winning and losing side in what are now highly-critical contests. If there are such things as must-win games in the regular season, they’ll take place this weekend. Here are the bubble games that will heavily influence the bubble heading into conference tournament week.

Ohio State at Indiana

Time/TV: Saturday, 3:45 p.m. ET, CBS

A meeting between one team projected to make it − Ohio State − and one just on the outside − Indiana − will make for a thrilling environment inside Assembly Hall. The Buckeyes gutted out a double-overtime win over Nebraska on Tuesday to stay in the field, but their spot can easily be snatched by the Hoosiers. Thanks to some poor late-game decision making, Indiana lost to Oregon. Given how the Hoosiers have found momentum, beating Ohio State could give it a case to jump into the field and push Ohio State out. The last time they faced, it was a back-and-forth affair in January that required overtime with Indiana winning by one point. It could be another close one with major implications on the line.

Oklahoma at Texas

Time/TV: Saturday, 8 p.m. ET, SEC Network

The Red River Showdown on the hardware will be a big time bubble game between the last team in − Texas − and the first team out − Oklahoma. Both sides had a great start to the week by picking up Quad 1 victories with the Longhorns surviving at Mississippi State and the Sooners getting a huge home win against Missouri. Both teams have five Quad 1 wins, but Oklahoma can jump ahead of its rival with a road victory. With the teams separated by the cut line, it’s pretty much winner is in the field and loser is kicked out. Texas led for almost the entire first matchup against Oklahoma in January. Now with this game in Austin, Oklahoma hopes it can return the favor with a much-needed win in hostile territory.

Mississippi State at Arkansas

Time/TV: Saturday, 12 p.m. ET, SEC Network

What a roller coaster of week it has been for Arkansas. After suffering a consequential loss to South Carolina last weekend, the Hogs rebounded in a big way with a complete effort on the road against a surging Vanderbilt team. Now Arkansas can lock up a spot in the tournament with a victory over the Bulldogs. A win for the Razorbacks – currently 12th in the SEC – could get them the ninth seed. Mississippi State has split eight games since the start of February and would like to build some momentum entering the postseason.

Duke at North Carolina

Time/TV: Saturday, 6:30 p.m. ET, ESPN

The game of North Carolina’s season will of course come against Duke, as the fate of the Tar Heels rides on the battle of Tobacco Road. North Carolina has improved its record with six consecutive wins but none its biggest concern – a lack of high-end victories. The Tar Heels are 1-10 in Quad 1 games, and that’s the reason why they still aren’t in the field. With Duke coming into town, it’s one last chance to add a marquee win, although it comes against the Blue Devils and Cooper Flagg, who would like nothing more than to damage their hopes. In the first meeting, North Carolina wasn’t close. The same can’t happen here if it wants an at-large spot.

Iowa at Nebraska

Time/TV: Sunday, 12:30 p.m. ET, Fox

Nebraska is on its last breath to prove it should be in the tournament. The Cornhuskers have not only lost four in a row, two of those losses in Penn State and Minnesota were severely damaging to the resume. Sunday’s home contest won’t do much to shoot Nebraska up the bubble since it’s a Quad 2 game and Iowa is at risk of missing the Big Ten tournament, but it can’t overlook the Hawkeyes since it lost to them in January. There’s a lot Nebraska still has to do to make the tournament, but it will all be moot if they don’t end the regular season with a win.

Hollywood is staying in Kansas City.

USA TODAY Sports’ Tyler Dragon has confirmed that wide receiver Marquise ‘Hollywood’ Brown is signing a one-year deal worth up to $11 million to remain with the Chiefs in 2025. It’s the second consecutive one-year deal that the six-year veteran is signing with Kansas City after hitting free agency for the first time last year.

Brown, who turns 28 in June, missed nearly the entire 2024 season after suffering a sternoclavicular injury – essentially a shoulder dislocation – during the preseason. He returned in Week 16 and played for two weeks of the regular season. The former Arizona Cardinal also appeared in all three of Kansas City’s postseason games.

Brown finished the 2024 season with nine catches for 91 yards and zero touchdowns in his two regular season games. He caught five passes for 50 yards and no touchdowns in the postseason.

The Chiefs’ re-signing of the former first-round pick comes on the heels of news that wide receiver Xavier Worthy, the team’s first-round pick last year, was arrested for assault on Friday.

‘We are aware and gathering information”, the Chiefs said in a statement Saturday morning.

Kansas City finished the 2024 season with a 15-2 regular-season record and ended the postseason as the league’s runner-up. The Chiefs fell to the Eagles in Super Bowl 59, 40-22. As a result, Kansas City currently holds the No. 31 overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft.

Cole pitched for 2 2/3 innings in his spring training start against the Minnesota Twins on Thursday and was blitzed for six runs and five hits.

Cole, 34, said that after the start, the elbow started to give him issues and he was concerned about what imaging on the elbow might show.

“We have an initial idea, but we’re going to wait to see exactly what everybody says before we come to our conclusion,” Cole said to MLB.com. “I’ve still got some hope. I’m still just waiting for the experts to weigh in.”

Cole, the 2023 American League Cy Young Award winner,  didn’t make his first start last season until June due to an elbow injury. He ended up going 8-5 with a 3.41 ERA in 17 starts.

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The race for national player of the year has been a topic of intense and persistent conversation for much of the 2024-25 men’s college basketball season, with Duke’s Cooper Flagg and Auburn’s Johni Broome neck-and-neck for the sport’s most prestigious honor.

On Saturday, the rest of the field for that distinction was set.

Flagg and Broome headline the list of 15 men’s players who is on the ballot for the John R. Wooden Award, which is presented annually to the most outstanding men’s and women’s college basketball players.

The award is widely expected to end up in the hands of Flagg or Broome, both of whom have separated themselves from the thousands of other Division I players nationally over the past four months.

Flagg, the projected No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA draft, is piecing together one of the best seasons by a freshman in college basketball history. He’s averaging 19.6 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game while shooting 49.7% from the field and 38.2% from 3-point range. In ACC play, his scoring average has jumped to 21.5 points per game.

Hed would become just the fourth freshman to ever earn the Wooden Award, joining Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis and Zion Williamson.

If he doesn’t join that exclusive club, it would be because of a similarly stellar season from Broome, the best player on what has been the No. 1 team in the country for much of the season. A Morehead State transfer, Broome is averaging 18 points and 10.7 rebounds per game, making him one of 11 Division I players averaging a double-double. 

Broome was the front-runner for national player of the year for much of the season, but missed two games with an ankle injury and hasn’t been as productive of late, with a combined 17 points and 13 rebounds in Auburn’s past two games.

With Flagg and Broome leading the way, here’s a look at the Wooden Award ballot, with the players listed in alphabetical order:

Johni Broome, Auburn
Walter Clayton Jr., Florida
L.J. Cryer, Houston
Hunter Dickinson, Kansas
Eric Dixon, Villanova
Cooper Flagg, Duke
PJ Haggerty, Memphis
Dylan Harper, Rutgers
Kam Jones, Marquette
Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton
Chaz Lanier, Tennessee
Mark Sears, Alabama
Braden Smith, Purdue
John Tonje, Wisconsin
Zakai Zeigler, Tennessee

The Buffalo Bills have continued their early offseason activity with another extension for their home-grown talent.

Buffalo and defensive end Greg Rousseau agreed to terms on a four-year, $80 million extension that runs through the 2029 season, the team announced Saturday. The contract extension includes $54 million in guaranteed money, according to reports.

Rousseau is the second of three Bills players to receive a four-year extension from the team in the last two days.

On Friday, Buffalo granted linebacker Terrel Bernard a four-year, $50 million extension ahead of the final year on his rookie deal. And later on Saturday, the Bills signed their longest-tenured player – long snapper Reid Ferguson, who has been with the team since 2016 – to a four-year deal before he became a free agent on Wednesday.

Buffalo also signed wide receiver Khalil Shakir to a four-year, $60.2 million extension last week.

Rousseau has been a key member of the Bills’ defensive front since the team selected him in the first round of the 2021 NFL draft. In the four seasons since, he leads the team with 25.0 sacks, including a team-leading eight sacks in 2024, which tied a career high.

The Miami (Florida) product finished the 2024 season with 53 tackles (including 16 tackles for loss), eight sacks, three pass deflections, three forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. Rousseau’s 24 quarterback hits in 2024 were also a career high.

Greg Rousseau contract

Rousseau signed a four-year, $80 million contract extension to remain with the Bills through 2029, the team announced Saturday. Of the $80 million total value, $54 million is guaranteed, according to reports.

Buffalo had exercised the defensive end’s fifth-year option last offseason, so he’ll make roughly $13.39 million in 2025 before the extension kicks in at the start of the 2026 season.

Rousseau’s new deal is nearly identical to the one that Cowboys defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa signed Tuesday, though it includes $2 million more in guarantees. The $20 million average annual value is tied with Odighizuwa and teammate Von Miller for 21st of all NFL defensive linemen, according to Spotrac.

Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Xavier Worthy was arrested on Friday and booked on assault charges.

According to jail records from Williamson County, Texas, Worthy was arrested and charged with assault against a family or household member by impeding their breathing or circulation.

‘We are aware and gathering information”, the Chiefs said in a statement Saturday morning.

That charge is a third-degree felony in Texas and is defined as ‘intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly impeding the normal breathing or circulation of the blood of the person by applying pressure to the person’s throat or neck or by blocking the person’s nose or mouth.’

It is punishable with a sentence of two to 10 years in jail and/or a fine not to exceed $10,000.

Worthy’s lawyers said in a statement that the allegations against their client were ‘baseless’ and that Worthy and a woman were in a dispute and she was asked to leave Worthy’s house, adding that the woman caused property damage and scratched Worthy’s face. The attorneys said Worthy did not want to press charges.

‘We will continue to cooperate with Williamson County authorities as we have full faith their thorough investigation will support Mr. Worthy’s innocence,’ the attorneys, Chip Lewis and Sam Bennett, said in a statement.

The 21-year-old Worthy, who played college football at the University of Texas, was selected with the No. 28 pick in the 2024 NFL draft by the Chiefs after breaking the 40-yard dash record at the NFL Scouting Combine with a time of 4.21 seconds.

‘We are aware of the matter and have been in contact with the club,’ the NFL said in a statement Saturday.

Worthy caught 59 passes for 638 yards and six touchdowns and rushed for three touchdowns in his rookie season, adding three more touchdown catches in the playoffs.

(This story has been updated to add new information.)

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Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic showed Friday night why he’s a three-time MVP.

Jokic put up an unprecedented triple-double of 31 points, 21 rebounds and 22 assists in the Nuggets’ 149-141 overtime victory over the Phoenix Suns. No NBA player had ever put up a 30-20-20 stat line.

He got the opportunity to make history after Kevin Durant forced overtime with a 3-pointer at the buzzer. The Suns had just 1.1 seconds to tie after Christian Braun hit a 3-pointer to give the Nuggets the lead.

Jokic added five assists and scored six points in the extra session to lead Denver to victory. His 22 assists were a career high, per ESPN’s broadcast.

‘Nikola Jokic is one of one,’ Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. ‘… I can’t describe him, so don’t ask me to. The guy is just an incredible player.

‘When you are one of one in this league — and the tremendous history of this league — that says a lot. There’s a lot of good players in this league but Nikola, in my opinion, is just in a class all by himself.’

Nikola Jokic stats tonight

Points: 31
FG: 13-for-22
3PT: 3-for-7
FT: 2-for-3
Rebounds: 21
Assists: 22
Steals: 3
Blocks: 0
Turnovers: 4
Fouls: 3
Minutes played: 45

Nikola Jokic highlights vs. Suns

This story has been updated with new information.

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Draft experts think 10 to 11 defensive linemen could be taken in Round 1, with ‘superstars’ at skill positions largely lacking.
This group of defensive linemen could rival the lauded group from the 2019 draft class, which included Nick Bosa, Dexter Lawrence, Jeffrey Simmons and Rashan Gary.
Eight of the top 20 players in USA TODAY Sports’ top 50 prospect rankings were defensive linemen.

INDIANAPOLIS – According to NFL Media draft guru extraordinaire Daniel Jeremiah, most positions in the 2025 draft class lack a superstar. The star power, period, is lacking compared to most years – two-way Heisman Trophy Travis Hunter providing a slight exception. But there won’t be six quarterbacks selected in the first 12 picks like last year, for example. 

“But we do have a boatload of starters,” Jeremiah said on a conference call with reporters last month, “particularly the defensive line. A bunch of really, really good players.” 

It doesn’t take a draft expert to realize that the strength of the 2025 class is upfront along the defensive line, from guys who play on the interior to defensive end to players who rush off the edge. 

And on the heels of the Philadelphia Eagles defensive front’s dominant performance that paved the way for a blowout victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 59 a month ago, teams will gladly take the opportunity to bolster their own forces. 

“You can’t have enough good ones,” Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles said of pass rushers at the combine last month. “I think we all watched that last game of the season.”

In USA TODAY Sports’ top 50 prospect rankings ahead of the combine, eight of the top 20 players were defensive linemen (as were 16 of the top 50). Eleven of the first-round picks in the USA TODAY Sports pre-combine mock draft were defensive linemen. 

“It’s a great edge-rusher draft,” said ESPN draft analyst Jordan Reid, who could see six or seven pure pass rushers taken in Round 1 and 10 or 11 defensive linemen total. 

“Defensive line definitely is loaded,” Reid added.

The other potential first-round talent along the d-line includes, but is not limited to: 

Shemar Stewart, Texas A&M 
Jalon Walker, Georgia
Mykel Williams, Georgia 
Mike Green, Marshall 
James Pearce Jr., Tennessee
Donovan Ezeiruaku, Boston College 
Walter Nolen, Mississippi 
Derrick Harmon, Oregon 
Mason Graham, Michigan 
Kenneth Grant, Michigan  

There’s also plenty of depth beyond the big games. 

“I think defensive line is far and away, outside of running back, the deepest position in this year’s draft,” Reid said. 

Outside of the top-tier edge rushers in this year’s class, Ohio State’s Jack Sawyer and Arkansas’ Landon Jackson fill out the group.

Among teams picking inside the top 10, the Jacksonville Jaguars (fifth) and Carolina Panthers (eighth) have obvious needs along the defensive line. And in what’s become a recurring theme over the years, Georgia Bulldogs are part of the crew of defensive linemen teams can’t wait to bring in. Jeremiah said the New Orleans Saints, picking ninth, shouldn’t hesitate to turn in a draft card with either Walker’s or Williams’ name on it should either (or both) still be available. 

“I just think (Walker) makes all the sense in the world for them,” Jeremiah said. “He’s just so dynamic. Not only just with the talent that he brings, I think in year one with Kellen Moore, having someone like that who is going to take your message and spread it around. He’s that type of dude. That one to me would be a home run.

“Then I think Mykel Williams is the next one that would be a worthy candidate for where that slot is. I think he’s another one, maybe (be) a little patient with him, but it’s all in there, and the upside is tremendous. I think all those guys – or both those guys would be legit options and would provide some serious juice to a pass rush.”

The Eagles, with Nolan Smith on the edge and Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis in the middle, are the team that’s taken most advantage of the Bulldog invasion at the next level. Howie Roseman, the team’s general manager, drafted Georgia products at the other two levels of the defense in linebacker Nakobe Dean and cornerback Kelee Ringo.

 “We’ve seen how these Georgia guys have been able to produce, whether it’s in Philadelphia or other teams, that if I was the GM, I would be running the card in, really trying to draft these guys, just because they’ve translated so well over the past few years,” Reid said.

Walker’s size (6-2, 245 pounds) means he likely won’t be a true edge rusher at the next level, but teams he spoke to in the pre-draft process liked his multiplicity, he said at the combine. 

“I feel like I’m better at being that chess piece … that increases my value, increases the team’s value as well, just because you never know where I’ll be at in the game plan for that week,” Walker said. 

Stewart, part of another d-line contingent in Texas A&M, tested rather well at the combine and weighed in at 267 pounds, demonstrating his potential to be an outside guy rather than a down lineman. He registered 1.5 sacks in each of his three seasons with the Aggies but downplayed the lack of production. 

 “I wasn’t a sack-chasing warrior,” Stewart said. “I just wanted to become the best player for my team. And sometimes the stats don’t show that.” 

That being said, Stewart admitted his efforts to become more comfortable in pursuing the quarterback. 

“We had a stacked d-line,” Stewart said. “Everybody knew better than just to sit and pass the ball against us.” 

What should Titans do with No. 1 pick in 2025 NFL draft? Ranking 5 options, worst to best

Part of that “stacked” unit was Nic Scourton, a 6-4, 280-pounder who trained for the combine alongside other defensive linemen in Plano, Texas. Louisiana State’s Sai’vion Jones, Ahmed Hassanein of Boise State and Oluwafemi Oladejo (UCLA) also trained there and are members of the ‘depth’ group Jeremiah praised. Louisville edge rusher Ashton Gillote gained first-hand experience of the competition he was up against in that category.

“We just have a lot of good depth this year,” Gillote said. “It’s definitely more of a defensive draft, I feel like.”

Reid said the current class rivals the 2019 crop, which featured first-round picks Josh Hines-Allen (Jaguars), Nick Bosa (San Francisco 49ers), Quinnen Williams (New York Jets), Dexter Lawrence (New York Giants), Jeffrey Simmons (Tennessee Titans), Brian Burns (Carolina Panthers, now with the Giants), Rashan Gary (Green Bay Packers), Montez Sweat (Washington Commanders and Chicago Bears) and Ed Oliver (Buffalo Bills). Clelin Ferrell was taken by the Raiders fourth overall but turned out to be the least productive defensive linemen drafted in that first round.

But it wasn’t just the first round that produced future stars. The Denver Broncos’ Zach Allen (third), newly-paid Raiders star Maxx Crosby (fourth) and 2024 second-team All-Pro with the Minnesota Vikings Andrew Van Ginkel (fifth) were all mid-round picks. 

For Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn, who could certainly be seeking a pass rusher at the end of the first round (29th overall), the versatility of the 2025 class is what stands out to him. 

“The creativity part – I think that’s what I see most in this group,” Quinn said.

Big ends who usually have their hand in the ground can rush from the outside. Edge rushers are capable of playing on the inside. 

“Those, to me, are the things you want in a league of matchups … that adds a lot of value,” he said.

All that matters is they get it done at the point of attack, Jeremiah said. Jeremiah came up with an acronym to describe those types of players: VET – violent, explosive and twitchy.  

“Those are the guys that I think you want,” Jeremiah said, “because that’s what we just saw win the Super Bowl.”