South Carolina coach Dawn Staley attempted to contact JuJu Watkins after Watkins suffered a season-ending knee injury.
Watkins suffered the injury in the first quarter of USC’s second-round game against Mississippi State.
“JuJu is raising and lifting our game up with how she plays,’ Staley said.
Staley recruited Watkins, who was the top prospect in the class of 2023, when Watkins was in high school.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley tried to reach out to JuJu Watkins when the USC guard went down with a season-ending knee injury on Monday in the second round of March Madness.

“I sent her a text out the night of the injury, but it went green, so that means I don’t have the right number,” Staley said, laughing, at Thursday’s press conference before her team’s Sweet 16 matchup against Maryland.

Staley recruited Watkins, who was the top prospect in the class of 2023. Watkins had South Carolina on her short list.

“JuJu is loved by all of us,” Staley said. “JuJu is raising and lifting our game up with how she plays, with cornering the market when it comes to NIL deals. She’s a business herself, and to see that not be a part of our NCAA Tournament, something’s missing. 

“It’s a big void, and we were fortunate enough to be one of her schools in the end.” 

Staley said she got Watkins’ correct number, and she texted her Wednesday night.

Watkins averaged 23.9 points per game, 6.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists this season and has 1,709 career points through her two seasons at USC. She suffered her knee injury in the first quarter of USC’s second-round game against Mississippi State on Monday.

Ansley Gavlak is a student in the University of Georgia’s Sports Media Certificate program.

Although it still requires approval from the NBA Board of Governors, the recent $6.1 billion sale agreement of the Boston Celtics is paving the way for another potentially lucrative opportunity for the NBA: expansion.

The league, which currently has 30 franchises, continues to study models for expansion, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said Thursday during a news conference at the conclusion of meetings with league owners. Silver acknowledged that there were “no new developments” and no formal timeline to announce, but he did make clear that the league continues to be “very focused” on one particular city, and one that formerly was home to the SuperSonics.

“I would just say the fact that we’re not ready to make any public announcements with a specific timeline doesn’t mean we don’t care a lot about those fans and we aren’t focused on the potential for the NBA to return to Seattle,” Silver said Thursday.

It was 17 years ago that the former SuperSonics team relocated to Oklahoma City and rebranded itself as the Thunder. Originally founded in 1967, the SuperSonics played 40 seasons in Seattle before the relocation.

Yet, that is just one market the NBA is considering, with Silver saying the league was assessing fair value to new and existing owners, as media rights deals would need to be split with any new ownership groups in the league’s revenue sharing model.

Silver said the NBA has been looking at expansion models “over the last year or so” and pointed to the Celtics sale as a potential catalyst toward adding a 31st and 32nd franchise.

“There’s no doubt that a major transaction like that becomes relevant to expansion,” Silver said.

One of the complications to expansion is the uncertainty of regional sports networks that carry local broadcasts of games. Unlike the NFL, which airs most of  its games on national networks like CBS, FOX and NBC and major streaming partners like Amazon and Netflix, the NBA relies on regional sports networks to carry non-national broadcasts. With cord cutting and cable subscriptions on the decline, many of these networks have faced financial difficulties.

“I’d just add the last component, which also is giving me just a bit of pause, is that we’d like to have a better sense of where we’re going with local media,” Silver said. “It’s well known that we’ve seen some significant declines there. Virtually two-thirds of our teams are now dealing with RSNs that recently experienced bankruptcies or have shut down.

“I think while we understand the national media landscape now, to the extent we’re looking at expansion domestically, I think we’d really like to understand what that opportunity for local media is, because it’s a pretty critical component of our teams’ economics.”

NBA commissioner Adam Silver was in meetings with league owners Thursday in New York when he began receiving texts, asking if he is following the acrimonious back and forth between Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James and ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith.

“I saw some of the headlines that came out of it. I mean it is fascinating,” Silver said when asked by a reporter at a news conference.

Silver then explained he is sometimes jealous of the kind of coverage other sports and leagues get.

“It seems to be more celebratory often than it is in the NBA, and I accept it,” Silver said. “We’re often the beneficiary, too. There’s seemingly as much social media interest in this league at times in all the other leagues combined. So, it’s a two-edged sword. Sometimes, it’s measured in column inches, and it’s wonderful to see so much interest in our sport. At the other time, I cringe at a lot of the coverage.

“I would just say in terms of that back and forth again, I haven’t had an opportunity to watch or read precisely what went on today, but of course we’d like the focus to be on the play on the floor. And I particularly feel protective of our players of course. But I recognize that there’s a cottage industry out there of media that we are often the beneficiary of that talk about our sport around the clock. But I sure wish it would never become personal.”

The feud between Smith and James began earlier this season when Smith questioned whether James’ son Bronny deserved to be on an NBA roster to start the season and said in January, “I am pleading with LeBron James as a father: Stop this,’ ” Smith said on ‘First Take.’ “Stop this. We all know that Bronny James is in the NBA because of his dad.”

James and those close to James were not happy, and James confronted Smith at a Lakers game in Los Angeles on March 6.

The verbal spat saga continued this week with James taking digs at Smith on ESPN’s ‘The Pat McAfee Show’ on Wednesday, and Smith responding on ESPN’s First Take Thursday.

What an elite sports day March 27, 2025, is. Opening Day. Four games of the men’s March Madness Sweet 16. Mikaela Shiffrin competing at the skiing World Cup finals. Playoff pictures in the NHL and NBA coming into focus.

ESPN’s “First Take” had plenty of topics to lead the show on Thursday morning, today of all days. But like everything else in our society, the vision barely went anywhere, and if it did at all, it was directed at a mirror. Because Stephen A. Smith – the $100 million man himself – instead spent the first 15 minutes or so of the program once again rehashing his ongoing feud between himself and Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James.

That came on the heels of James’ appearance Wednesday on another ESPN program, “The Pat McAfee Show.” Over the hour-plus interview on the “progrum,” James discussed the war of words – which devolved into trendy gossip over the past month after James approached Smith courtside during the Lakers’ overtime victory over Smith’s beloved New York Knicks on March 6 – for about two minutes.

That’s all Smith needed. James mentioning Smith was the match. And Smith poured gasoline on the fire for the ensuing news cycle.

Smith ranted about it Wednesday afternoon on his YouTube show, saying he’d “immediately” swing at “King James” had LeBron put his hands on him during that confrontation. At least he prefaced it with “I would have gotten my (expletive) kicked.”

James responded by posting old clips of Smith boxing on Instagram with a caption consisting of 14 tilted-head, laugh-crying emojis followed by “WHOMP WHOMP WHOMPPPPPPPP (sic).” That’s immature, too. If James really wants to disengage from all of this, he shouldn’t have posted that.

“He’s like on a Taylor Swift tour run right now,” James said of Smith’s prolific recounting of the beef.

Smith contends that all of his comments about LeBron’s son Bronny James have only been about his play. But Smith’s style always escalates things; it’s not hard to see how James could take it the wrong way.

Smith has taken to calling James a “liar” for the latter’s point that he is simply defending his son.

“He completely missed the whole point,” James said on McAfee’s show. “Never would I ever not allow people to talk about the sport, criticize players about what they do on the court. That is your job, to criticize.

“But when you take it and when you get personal with it, it’s my job to not only protect my damn household, but protect the players.”

James added: “He’s going to be happy as hell, he’s going to be smiling ear-to-ear when he hears me talking about him.”   

Smith called James “a liar” Thursday again on “First Take.” The opening of the show should go down as one of the lowlights in ESPN’s history, honestly. And we won’t even get into the GOAT debate aspect of it all or that Smith accused James’ appearance with McAfee as being “negotiated.”

“My issue is with LeBron James,” he said. “I just want to say for the record, LeBron James is full of it.

“LeBron James went on national television (Wednesday) and lied.”

Smith went on to claim James “is in his feelings.” The level of debate in this country has been pruned down to a nub, yes, but this is really how one of the most highly paid employees at ESPN talks now?

And somehow, all of this has to do with James being Smith’s No. 2 player all-time behind Michael Jordan, Smith believes.

“He doesn’t want any pushback. He just wants to say what he wants like he did courtside and then depart … the man orchestrates stuff,” Smith said. “The man will smile in your face and he’s got something behind his back, ready to stab you.

“It’s who he has been. It’s who I’ve known him to be. It’s why he doesn’t like me. It’s why I certainly don’t like him.”

You won’t find me racing to defend the genuineness of LeBron James. But let’s extend some grace.  This is a human who grew up unprivileged, became a billionaire and has been in the spotlight since he was a teenager. That’s not normal.   

But James is the one who confronted Smith in the view of the public. Again, not defending James here, but it’s not like Smith is walking around with a credential and heading into locker rooms after games or showing up at shootarounds in the morning to make himself available for these conversations. But yelling at him in a public setting made this a thing. For that, he bears responsibility.

This beef isn’t even the zesty-fun type anymore. It’s become uncomfortable. The whole point of sports debate is to mimic the conversation around office watercoolers (or in this day and age, in the group Slack channel). Caring this much about two individuals, no matter how public their personas are, is unhealthy.

The airing of personal grievances – Festivus was four months ago, somebody should tell these guys – is now an expected, daily occurrence in all corners of our culture. It might even be the foundation of it at this point.

What does it say about me that I let the childishness of James and Smith become bothersome? That I’m giving it more air by writing about it now? That my bosses thought my pitch to publish this was a good idea? It’s because we know the sports ecosystem care about two grown men – extremely popular and divisive in their own rights – who can’t stop talking about each other.

Tuning it out, sadly, isn’t much of an option. I have tried to opt out of this, until the next (metaphorical) jabs are exchanged and another cycle of this all kicks off. It won’t end until Smith and James drop their swords.

That would require them to grow up and – to loosely quote Will Smith – keep each other’s names out of their mouths. But their feud is a microcosm of how we conduct discourse now. As a sports media. As a country. As a people. And we’re so much worse because of it.

BOSTON — The booming applause for Ilia Malinin started nearly 15 seconds before the end of his short program Thursday at the 2025 world figure skating championships.

Not since he first landed a quadruple axel in competition had he heard that sort of roar during his performance, as opposed to after.

‘I was not expecting them to cheer me on halfway through my step sequence,’ Malinin said. ‘But it was definitely an uplifting experience.’

And it was, without question, deserved. Despite the unspoken weight of being the headliner at a home world championships, the 20-year-old defending world champion turned in one of the best short programs of his senior career Thursday at TD Garden in Boston. His jumps − including two quads − were clean, his choreography energetic and crisp. And an incredible personal best score of 110.41 followed.

Malinin, unsurprisingly, will enter Saturday night’s free skate atop the leaderboard. Yuma Kagiyama of Japan is sitting in second place, about three points behind Malinin.

‘It’s not just his jumps but I feel like his skating and his artistry, his expression is getting better year by year,’ Kagiyama said in a news conference. ‘So I’m starting to think he’s invincible.’

Malinin’s performance preceded the second half of pairs competition later Thursday night. Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara of Japan won the first world title of the week with a beautiful free skate, followed by Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin of Germany in second and Italy’s Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii in third.

The American teams of Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov and Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea finished sixth and seventh, respectively.

Friday will bring the start of ice dance and the finale in women’s singles, where the U.S. has two skaters in podium contention. Alysa Liu is sitting in first place and Isabeau Levito is in third.

Here’s everything you might have missed from Day 2 of the world figure skating championships:

Ilia Malinin near perfect in short program to take lead

Before every program at worlds, a message from the skater(s) flashes on the jumbotron at TD Garden. Malinin’s message: ‘Let’s get this party started.’ And get it started he did.

Malinin turned in a nearly flawless short program, nailing all of his jumping elements en route to a massive score of 110.41. He leads by a little more than three points after the short program, with Yuma Kagiyama of Japan the only skater in the same ballpark. His short program score was 107.09. Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan is a distant third at 94.77.

‘Actually stepping on the ice, I felt more nervous than usual. And I didn’t understand why. I was like, ‘OK, this is interesting,’ ‘ Malinin said. ‘But once the music started playing and I got into a starting position, I almost fell into that flow state. And it really just took me from there.’

World figure skating championships standings, results

Here are the standings in each discipline, as of Thursday evening.

Women’s singles (after short program)

Alysa Liu, USA: 74.58
Mone Chiba, Japan: 73.44
Isabeau Levito, USA: 73.33
Wakaba Higuchi, Japan: 72.10
Kaori Sakamoto, Japan: 71.03

Men’s singles (after short program)

Ilia Malinin, USA: 110.41
Yuma Kagiyama, Japan: 107.09
Mikhail Shaidorov, Kazakhstan: 94.77
Kevin Aymoz, France: 93.63
Shun Sato, Japan: 91.26

Pairs (after short program)

Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara, Japan: 76.57
Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii, Italy: 74.61
Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin, Germany: 73.59
Anastasiia Metelkina, Luke Berulava, Georgia: 71.68
Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea, USA: 68.61

Ice dance

Begins Friday

ISU issues apology after flag mistake involving Taiwan, Chinese Taipei

The International Skating Union apologized Thursday for displaying the flag of Taiwan, rather than the emblem of Chinese Taipei.

The Taiwanese flag, which features a white sun against the blue corner of a red backdrop, flashed on the video screen behind skater Yu-Hsiang Li when he was introduced ahead of his short program Thursday afternoon. Read more about the flags and the apology from the ISU.

Efimova, Mitrofanov dazzle in free skate on home ice

While all of the American athletes at this week’s world championships are competing on home ice, that is especially true for Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov, who train at the nearby Skating Club of Boston.

That no doubt contributed to their reaction Thursday night after a superb free skate, when they pumped their fists and screamed in excitement. As Efimova buried her head in her hands with emotion, Mitrofanov turned her toward the crowd, as a reminder to take it all in.

‘I forgot about the crowd, totally,’ Efimova said. ‘This happened also at nationals, and afterwards I told Misha how I didn’t really see it. I did not understand what was going on. This time, he turned me around as if to say ‘watch!’ And I was like, ‘oh right, there’s a crowd, wow.’ ‘

In a touching moment, Efimova and Mitrofanov also held up photos of Spencer Lane and Jinna Han, the two Boston-based teenage skaters who died in the Jan. 29 plane crash near Washington, in the kiss-and-cry while awaiting their score.

Their free skate score of 135.59 vaulted them into sixth. They finished narrowly ahead of Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea, who finished seventh. Their combined scores assured that Team USA will have two pairs teams at the 2026 Olympics, with a chance to add a third at a qualifying event in Beijing this fall.

What do the world championships mean for Olympic qualifying?

To put it briefly: It’s significant. 

Without going into all of the nuances of the International Skating Union’s quota allocation system, how it basically works is that skaters here will earn Olympic spots for their countries. And those countries will then decide who gets to fill those spots at the end of this year or early in 2026. A total of 83 quota spots are at stake across the four disciplines.

Andrew Torgashev in the mix after strong showing

The first American to take the ice in the men’s short program was also the first to temporarily move atop the leaderboard.

Andrew Torgashev, who finished second to Ilia Malinin at the most recent U.S. championships, barely hung on to his quadruple toe loop on his first jumping pass but then turned in a terrific, energetic performance to move briefly into the lead with a score of 87.27. His intricate, fast-paced step sequence prompted roars from the crowd.

‘My entire goal for this competition, and for any competition, is just to feel fulfilled after it − to make all of those runthroughs, all that soreness and sweat and tears all worth it,’ he said afterwards. ‘This short today was worth it.’

Torgashev, 23, previously represented Team USA at the 2023 world championships, where he finished 21st. He said he felt much more confident and comfortable when he took the ice Thursday.

Jason Brown puts boot issue behind him

Two-time Olympian Jason Brown raised a few eyebrows when he withdrew from nationals in January citing ‘a series of challenges adjusting to an equipment change.’ He has since revealed that the problem stemmed from his skates − the old ones that started giving him pain, and his search in vain to find new ones that would work.

‘Unfortunately, or fortunately, we figured out the boot issue. But it took all season to do so,’ Brown said. ‘So I really struggled throughout the season with that.’

With the boot issue behind him, Brown is back in Boston, where his 2014 Riverdance-themed program helped put him on the skating map. And despite a few minor hiccups in his short program Thursday, he turned in a solid score of 84.72. He was second behind Torgashev at the end of their group.

‘I’m proud of the fight that I’ve had this season,’ he said. ‘Every single time I felt like I got knocked down, me and my coaches and (my) sports psych and my family rallied and we were like ‘no, we’re going to keep pushing, we’re going to figure this out.”

How to watch world figure skating championships

Here is the complete schedule for the 2025 world figure skating championships, with channel and television coverage start times in parentheses. The entirety of all sessions will be available on Peacock.

Friday, 11:15 a.m. to 4:54 p.m. ET: Rhythm dance (USA Network, 3 p.m.)

Friday, 6 p.m. to 9:52 p.m. ET: Women’s free skate (NBC, 8 p.m.)

Saturday, 1:30 p.m. to 4:50 p.m. ET: Free dance (USA Network, 3 p.m.)

Saturday, 6 p.m. to 9:52 p.m. ET: Men’s free skate (NBC, 8 p.m.)

Who are the favorites in men’s singles?

Ilia Malinin appears to be in a class of his own. At last year’s world championships, he won by a commanding 24 points. And this year, he became the first skater to land six quadruple jumps in the same program − and the first to attempt seven. 

Given the scoring dynamics of figure skating, Malinin’s maximum score − what he’s capable of doing − will give him a built-in cushion. And it’d be surprising, bordering on stunning, to see him not repeat as world champ.

The man who has been closest to Malinin is Yuma Kagiyama of Japan, who finished second both at last year’s worlds and the more recent Grand Prix final. France’s Adam Siao Him Fa and Japan’s Shun Sato are among the other top contenders for podium spots.

Who’s on the call for world figure skating championships?

The portions of the world figure skating championships that are televised on NBC or USA Network will have many of the usual broadcasting voices.

Terry Gannon will once again handle play-by-play duties, with Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir offering color commentary. The telecasts will also feature Gabriella Papadakis, a 2022 Olympic gold medalist, as an ice dance analyst, with Andrea Joyce and Adam Rippon as reporters.

The No. 1 Duke Blue Devils and No. 4 Arizona Wildcats both have aspirations of playing in San Antonio next weekend, but one of those dreams will die Thursday.

Cooper Flagg and Duke have been the juggernaut they were advertised to be, winning their first two March Madness games by a combined 67 points against Mount St. Mary’s and Baylor. Arizona, meanwhile, got a scare from familiar foe Oregon in the second round after handling Akron handily, ultimately defeating the Ducks 87-83 behind 29 points from Love.

Watch Duke vs Arizona in March Madness on Fubo (free trial)

The last time these two teams faced in the Sweet 16, No. 5 Arizona upset No. 1 Duke in Anaheim in 2011. This iteration of the Blue Devils will try to avoid a similar fate at the hands of the Wildcats with Jon Scheyer at the helm.

Follow Duke vs Arizona live, as two teams with strong basketball pedigrees vie for a trip to the Elite Eight. USA TODAY Sports is bringing you live updates, scores, highlights and analysis throughout the game.

Duke vs Arizona score

Duke vs Arizona Sweet 16 live updates

This section will be updated.

Cooper Flagg points today

This section will be updated once the game tips off.

Caleb Love points today

This section will be updated once the game tips off.

Caleb Love stats

Duke will be facing a familiar foe Thursday night. Caleb Love has been a frequent villain for the Blue Devils, whose big performances for North Carolina against Duke in 2022 defeated the Blue Devils in their final home game under Mike Krzyzewski and knocked them out of the NCAA Tournament in Coach K’s final career game.

Now at Arizona, he’ll look to deliver one final blow to Duke in what could be his final college game.

This season, Love is averaging 16.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.2 steals per game while shooting 39.3% from the field and 33.6% from 3-point range.

Duke vs Arizona men’s basketball betting odds

Odds courtesy of BetMGM as of March 26

Spread: Duke (-9.5)
Over/under: 153.5
Moneyline: Duke -500 | Arizona +375

Men’s March Madness championship odds

March Madness odds, according to BetMGM, as of Wednesday, March 26

Here’s a full look at the odds of each remaining team to win the men’s NCAA Tournament.

Duke (+210)
Florida (+340)
Houston (+475)
Auburn (+475)
Tennessee (+1600)
Alabama (+1900)
Michigan State (+1900)
Texas Tech (+2200)
Maryland (+3500)
Arizona (+5000)
Kentucky (+6600)
Purdue (+8000)
BYU (+8000)
Michigan (+8000)
Ole Miss (+9000)
Arkansas (+10000)

Duke vs Arizona picks and predictions

USA TODAY Network’s experts have Duke defeating Arizona across the board, with the Blue Devils’ firepower ultimately proving to be too much for the Wildcats.

Jeremy Cluff: Duke 79, Arizona 73
Craig Meyer: Duke 87, Arizona 79
Rodd Baxley: Duke 82, Arizona 70
Ryan Haley: Duke 83, Arizona 74

What time is Duke vs Arizona today?

Tipoff: 9:39 p.m. ET

Where to watch Duke vs Arizona?

TV Channel: CBS
Live Stream:Fubo (free trial)

Duke vs Arizona will be broadcast on CBS. Cord-cutters can find the game on Fubo, which offers a free trial, or Paramount+, CBS’ dedicated streaming service.

The men’s NCAA Tournament continues in the Sweet 16 with a Cinderella of dubious origin. Can a John Calipari-coached team truly be considered a Cinderella?

Regardless of the answer, the 10-seed Arkansas Razorbacks are the lone seed lower than a six to make it past the first weekend of March Madness, with Calipari’s squad dispatching Rick Pitino’s St. John’s Red Storm with aplomb. Now, they turn their attention to No. 3 Texas Tech, which dispatched would-be bracket-buster Drake behind 53 combined points from JT Toppin and Darrion Williams.

Watch Texas Tech vs Arkansas on Sling TV

The Red Raiders seek the third Elite Eight appearance in program history, joining two other appearances in 2018 and 2019. Grant McCasland has already improved upon the result from his first season in Lubbock. But he undoubtedly is not going to rest on his laurels and be satisfied with a showing in the Sweet 16.

Follow Texas Tech vs Arkansas live, with a trip to the Elite Eight on the line. USA TODAY Sports is bringing you live updates, scores, highlights and analysis throughout the game.

Texas Tech vs Arkansas score

Texas Tech vs Arkansas Sweet 16 live updates

This section will be updated.

John Calipari Sweet 16 record

Calipari joined Lon Kruger as the lone coaches ever to lead four different programs to the Sweet 16 when Arkansas reached the second weekend this season.

This season also marks Calipari’s 16th time reaching the Sweet 16, as he has accomplished the feat at each school he has coached at, from UMass to Memphis to Kentucky and now Arkansas.

Calipari has been quite successful in Sweet 16 games in his career. Here’s his career Sweet 16 record:

Calipari Sweet 16 record: 12-3

Arkansas basketball stats

Note: Adou Thiero and Boogie Fland are averaging 15.6 and 14.2 points per game this season, respectively, but have missed extended time due to injury. Thiero is expected to contribute on Thursday with Fland already returned for the tournament.

Here are Arkansas’ stats leaders on a per-game basis for the 2024-25 season:

Points: Johnell Davis (11.4)
Rebounds: Trevon Brazile (5.4)
Assists: D.J. Wagner (3.6)
Steals: Johnell Davis (1.5)
Blocks: Zvonimir Ivisic (1.)

Texas Tech vs Arkansas men’s basketball betting odds

Spread: Texas Tech (-5.5)
Over/under: 148.5
Moneyline: Texas Tech -250 | Arkansas +200

Men’s March Madness championship odds

March Madness odds, according to BetMGM, as of Wednesday, March 26

Here’s a full look at the odds of each remaining team to win the men’s NCAA Tournament.

Duke (+210)
Florida (+340)
Houston (+475)
Auburn (+475)
Tennessee (+1600)
Alabama (+1900)
Michigan State (+1900)
Texas Tech (+2200)
Maryland (+3500)
Arizona (+5000)
Kentucky (+6600)
Purdue (+8000)
BYU (+8000)
Michigan (+8000)
Ole Miss (+9000)
Arkansas (+10000)

Texas Tech vs Arkansas picks and predictions

USA TODAY Network’s experts are split down the middle on this game. While USA TODAY’s Craig Meyer and SW Times’ Jackson Fuller like Arkansas to keep on dancing into the Elite Eight, AZ Central’s Jeremy Cluff and the Lubbock Avalanche Journal’s Nathan Giese believe the Red Raiders will stonewall Calipari’s Razorbacks. The only consensus? It will be close.

Jeremy Cluff: Texas Tech 70, Arkansas 67
Craig Meyer: Arkansas 78, Texas Tech 74
Jackson Fuller: Arkansas 81, Texas Tech 78
Nathan Giese: Texas Tech 79, Arkansas 72

What time is Texas Tech vs Arkansas today?

Tipoff: 10:09 p.m. ET

Where to watch Texas Tech vs Arkansas?

TV Channel: TBS/truTV
Live Stream: Sling TV

Texas Tech vs Arkansas will be broadcast on TBS and truTV. The game can be streamed on Sling TV, which has the Warner Bros. Discovery family of networks. An alternative option is to watch on Max, which is airing any games not broadcast on CBS.

Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin have been linked together since both No. 1 overall picks entered the league in 2005-06.

So while Washington Capitals star Ovechkin is chasing down Wayne Gretzky’s career goal record, Pittsburgh Penguins star Crosby passed The Great One in another category on Thursday night.

Crosby guaranteed that he will record his 20th season of averaging at least one point a game, breaking the record of 19 he had shared with Gretzky. Crosby, who’s missed two games this season, needed to reach 80 points and he accomplished that by scoring a first-period goal against the Buffalo Sabres.

Crosby’s accomplishment is impressive because he missed significant time early in his career with concussion issues. He had 66 points in 41 games, including a 25-game point streak, in 2010-11 before a season-ending injury in January. He was limited to 22 games the following season but scored 37 points.

Gretzky, the NHL’s all-time leading scorer, averaged 1.92 points a game to Crosby’s 1.25, but Gretzky had 62 points in 70 games in his 20th and final season in 1998-99. Crosby recently passed Gretzky for fourth place in most points with a single franchise.

Crosby, who signed a two-year extension in September, has won three Stanley Cup titles, two playoff MVPs, two Hart Trophies (MVP to his team) and two goal-scoring and two points titles during his 20-season career.