Alex Palou has won three IndyCar Series titles, and only one included winning the season opener.
IndyCar all-timers Scott Dixon and Josef Newgarden complete the podium.

Alex Palou starts his quest for a third consecutive IndyCar Series Series championship with a win on the downtown street course in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Palou started 8th on the way to his first St. Pete win in six starts. He finished 2nd in 2022. Palou now has 12 IndyCar race wins.

IndyCar heavyweights Scott Dixon and Josef Newgarden complete the podium, and pole-sitter Scott McLaughlin takes 4th.

Key moment of the race: Palou, the three-time series champ, pitted one lap ahead of Dixon — a six-time champ — on his last stop. Palou stormed to a lead of more than 5 seconds. Newgarden charged into Palou’s rear-view mirror before fading in the final couple of laps as his fuel ran dry, allowing Dixon to get by.

It’s Palou’s second season-opening win. He opened the 2021 season by winning at Barber on the way to his first championship.

Want more IndyCar Series coverage? Follow Nathan Brown all season, and sign up for IndyStar’s auto racing newsletter.

IndyCar race at St. Petersburg 2025 finish order: Race results, leaderboard standings

Alex Palou
Scott Dixon
Josef Newgarden
Scott McLaughlin
Kyle Kirkwood
Marcus Ericsson
Felix Rosenqvist
Christian Lundgaard
Rinus VeeKay
Alexander Rossi
Pato O’Ward
Graham Rahal
David Malukas
Santino Ferrucci
Christian Rasmussen
Colton Herta
Conor Daly
Kyffin Simpson
Callum Ilott
Robert Shwartzman
Sting Ray Robb
Devlin DeFrancesco
Jacob Abel
Marcus Armstrong
Nolan Siegel
Will Power
Louis Foster

IndyCar live updates at St. Petersburg

Lap 95: Alex Palou, Josef Newgarden and Scott Dixon get around the lapped car of Sting Ray Robb.

Lap 90: Josef Newgarden has pulled within 1.5 seconds of Alex Palou, who is encountering lapped traffic. Scott Dixon is 3+ behind the leader.

Lap 73-74: Scott Dixon, Josef Newgarden, Alex Palou and Scott McLaughlin take their final pit stops. Coming out of those stops, Palou leads by 5+ seconds, followed by Newgarden, Dixon and McLaughlin.

Current IndyCar leaderboard standings: Lap 70

Scott Dixon
Alex Palou
Scott McLaughlin
Josef Newgarden
Kyle Kirkwood
Felix Rosenqvist
Christian Lundgaard
Alexander Rossi
Santino Ferrucci
Colton Herta

Lap 69: Christian Lundgaard pits to take on the alternate tires. Scott Dixon assumes the lead.

Lap 63: Alexander Rossi pits to take on the alternate tires and falls to 11th place. He will likely have to pit once more to return to primaries.

Lap 60: Christian Lundgaard leads Alexander Rossi by 1+ seconds. Scott Dixon remains in 3rd.

Current IndyCar leaderboard standings: Lap 50

Christian Lundgaard and Alexander Rossi have yet to use the alternate ‘green’ tires, which provide more speed but less durability. Scott McLaughlin used hits set for just 12 laps. Scott Dixon and Josef Newgarden are in strong positions for later in the race.

Christian Lundgaard
Alexander Rossi
Scott Dixon
Josef Newgarden
Alex Palou
Kyle Kirkwood
Scott McLaughlin
Callum Ilott
Pato O’Ward
Rinus VeeKay

Laps 44-45: Marcus Armstrong and Scott McLaughlin pit again under green to return to primary tires. Drivers are required to run on alternate ‘green’ tires for a few laps. Armstong may have hit a wall, affecting his rear suspension.

Current IndyCar leaderboard standings: Lap 40

All the leaders make a pit stop under green. Marcus Armstrong’s is a little slow, and Colton Herta’s crew has trouble changing the right rear tire, costing several seconds. Drivers to lead during the pits include Armstrong, Herta, Josef Newgarden and Scott Dixon. Dixon and Alex Palou pit at the end of Lap 40.

Scott McLaughlin
Scott Dixon
Alex Palou
Marcus Armstrong
Christian Lundgaard
Felix Rosenqvist
Alexander Rossi
David Malukas
Graham Rahal
Santino Ferrucci

Lap 25: The Fox team reports Pato O’Ward had a punctured tire, requiting a pit stop under green. He is in 24th place, last on track.

Current IndyCar leaderboard standings: Lap 20

The field remains steady, with Scott McLaughlin holding a 1-second lead.

Scott McLaughlin
Felix Rosenqvist
Marcus Armstrong
Christian Lundgaard
Alexander Rossi
David Malukas
Santino Ferrucci
Graham Rahal
Colton Herta
Callum Ilott

IndyCar live updates at St. Petersburg

Lap 8 restart: We get through the lap without incident. The top 8 remain the same. Colton Herta passes Callum Ilott for 9th.

Current IndyCar leaderboard standings: Lap 5, after pit stops

Fifteen drivers pit to change to harder tires, 9 remain on track.

Scott McLaughlin
Felix Rosenqvist
Marcus Armstrong
Christian Lundgaard
Alexander Rossi
Davis Malukas
Santino Ferrucci
Graham Rahal
Callum Ilott
Colton Herta

Lap 1: Louis Foster, Nolan Siegel and Will Power crash. Caution. Update: All the drivers are OK.

IndyCar starting grid at St. Petersburg

Row 1

1. Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske

2. Colton Herta, Andretti Global

Row 2

3. Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank

4. Marcus Armstrong, Meyer Shank

Row 3

5. Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren

6. Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi

Row 4

7. Marcus Ericsson, Andretti Global

8. Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi

Row 5

9. Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global

10. Josef Newgarden, Team Penske

Row 6

11. Nolan Siegel, Arrow McLaren

12. Rinus VeeKay, Dale Coyne

Row 7

13. Will Power, Team Penske

14. Devlin DeFrancesco, Rahal Letterman Lanigan

Row 8

15. Kyffin Simpson, Chip Ganassi

16. Louis Foster, Rahal Letterman Lanigan

Row 9

17. David Malukas, A.J. Foyt

18. Robert Shwartzman, Prema

Row 10

19. Santino Ferrucci, A.J. Foyt

20. Alexander Rossi, Ed Carpenter

Row 11

21. Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan

22. Conor Daly, Juncos Hollinger

Row 12

23. Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren

24. Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter

Row 13

25. Jacob Abel, Dale Coyne

26. Sting Ray Robb, Juncos Hollinger

Row 14

27. Callum Ilott, Prema

2024 IndyCar at St. Petersburg results

When the cars left Florida, Josef Newgarden was shown as the winner, followed by Pato O’Ward and Scott McLaughlin.

However, the Team Penske drivers (Newgarden and McLaughlin) were later disqualified for violating rules in their use of push-to-pass, while teammate Will Power was docked 10 points. O’Ward was declared the race winner, with Power second and Colton Herta third.

IndyCar at St. Petersburg expert picks, predictions

From Nathan Brown, IndyStar

Race winner: Scott McLaughlin won this race in 2022, crashed late while battling for the lead in ’23 and finished runner-up on-track in ’24 before being disqualified in the push-to-pass saga. After finishing 3rd in the championship the last two years, the Team Penske driver makes his presence felt early.

Something you might not expect: Callum Ilott took his first on-track test with Prema Racing in late January, but a top-15 finish would be an emphatic message that IndyCar’s newest team is a step or two ahead of other recent newcomers.

IndyCar schedule today at St. Petersburg

(All times ET; all IndyCar sessions are on IndyCar Live, IndyCar Radio and Sirius XM Channel 218)

Sunday, March 2

10:10-11:05 a.m.: Indy NXT race

12:29 p.m.: IndyCar race

What channel is IndyCar race today at St. Petersburg on?

TV: Coverage begins at noon ET, Sunday, March 2, 2025, on Fox. Will Buxton is the play-by-play voice, with analysts James Hinchcliffe and Townsend Bell.

How can I stream IndyCar race at St. Petersburg today?

FoxSports.com, Fox Sports app.

Watch free with a Fubo trial

How can I listen to IndyCar race today at St. Petersburg?

IndyCar Nation is on SiriusXM Channel 218, IndyCar Live and the IndyCar Radio Network (check affiliates for each race)

Who is favored to win IndyCar race at St. Petersburg today?

full odds via BetMGM

2025 IndyCar Series schedule

The 2025 IndyCar Series schedule includes 17 races, all televised on Fox. (Times are ET; %-downtown street course, &-road course, *-oval)

March 2, St. Petersburg, Florida %, noon

March 23, Thermal, California &, 3 p.m.

April 13, Long Beach, California %, 4:20 p.m.

May 4, Birmingham, Alabama &, 1:30 p.m.

May 10, Indianapolis &, 4:30 p.m.

May 25, Indianapolis 500 *, 12:45 p.m.

June 1, Detroit %, 12:30 p.m.

June 15, St. Louis *, 3 p.m.

June 22, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin &, 2:30 p.m.

July 6, Lexington, Ohio &, 2 p.m.

July 12, Newton, Iowa *, 5 p.m.

July 13, Newton, Iowa *, 2 p.m.

July 20, Toronto %, 2 p.m.

July 27, Monterey, California &, 3 p.m.

Aug. 10, Portland &, 3 p.m.

Aug. 24, Milwaukee *, 2 p.m.

Aug. 31, Nashville *, 2:30 p.m.

IndyCar drivers for 2025

(Team and drivers; *-Indianapolis 500 only)

A.J. Foyt: Santino Ferrucci, David Malukas
Andretti Global: Colton Herta, Kyle Kirkwood, Marcus Ericsson, Marco Andretti*
Arrow McLaren: Pato O’Ward, Nolan Siegel, Christian Lundgaard, Kyle Larson* (with Rick Hendrick)
Chip Ganassi: Kyffin Simpson, Scott Dixon, Alex Palou
Dale Coyne: Jacob Abel, Rinus VeeKay
Dreyer & Reinbold: Ryan Hunter-Reay*, Jack Harvey*
Ed Carpenter: Alexander Rossi, Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter*
Juncos Hollinger: Conor Daly, Sting Ray Robb
Meyer Shank: Felix Rosenqvist, Marcus Armstrong
Prema: Callum Ilott, Robert Shwartzman, Romain Grosjean (reserve)
Rahal Letterman Lanigan: Graham Rahal, Louis Foster, Devlin DeFrancesco
Team Penske: Josef Newgarden, Scott McLaughlin, Will Power

There have been a number of outstanding NFL Scouting Combine performances over the years. This week South Carolina safety Nick Emmanwori had another one. Arguably, the best one ever. That’s not hyperbole.

Johnson set the record for the 40 in 2008 at 4.24. The record stood for almost a decade but all these years later Johnson is still remembered for it. He’s remembered for that almost as much as his excellent career. In 2009 Johnson rushed for 2,006 yards.

The combine is a huge deal. It’s vital to how teams recharge themselves. But also, in many ways, it’s a weird event. Players are treated like meat. Poked and prodded like lab animals. But there are moments when the combine makes me appreciate elements of it. The superhuman-ness of some of the athletes. The knowledge of how hard these young men work to reach this point. The mental discipline it takes to be this powerful.

They know that so much of their future careers and lives depends on this moment. So they work hard to make sure the combine goes right.

NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more.

What Emmanwori did is far from a guarantee of NFL success. We’ve seen combine stars before who became NFL busts. But this seems different for reasons I’ll get into.

Emmanwori ran a 4.38 40, had a staggering 43-inch vertical jump and 11-foot-6 standing broad jump.

Those numbers alone are incredible. But add this fact: Emmanwori is 6-foot-3⅛ and 220 pounds. It cannot be overstated how unusual it is for someone that size (the height in particular) to run and jump that fast. It’s just not something many humans can do. Klingons, yes. Humans, not a lot.

ESPN had two pieces of data that show the uniqueness of the moment. Emmanwori is just one of four players 6-3 or taller who have surpassed 40 inches in the vertical jump and also to run a sub-4.4 time in the 40 since 2003. ESPN says Bryce Ford-Wheaton (2023), Tariq Woolen (2022) and DK Metcalf (2019) are the others.

ESPN also says Emmanwori is the sole safety at the combine since at least 2003 to have a sub-4.4 40, jump at least 40 inches in the vertical and jump at least 11 feet in the broad jump.

At the combine, when speaking to the media on Thursday, he was asked about what he looks for when preparing to cover players. I loved the specific nerdiness of this answer: ‘Speed, for sure, if he’s a faster dude, I think I can run with him. If he’s a slower dude, I can kind of sit on his routes, play underneath a little bit and trust my help inside. See how big his catch radius (is), and how he attacks the ball.’

Catch radius for the win.

When asked how he uses his height and bulk on the field, Emmanwori explained: ‘I’m 6-3, 223. I’m a bigger dude and I can run. I’m not scared to go make tackles. I’m not scared to go cover any slots or cover any tight end. I just use my size to my advantage.

‘I don’t think you’ve ever seen a safety like me. Well, there are a lot of dudes that came through this league, but a safety like me hasn’t come through this league for a long time. My size, my speed, my ability.’

Go ahead. Brag. Say what you want. Not mad at all.

Because it’s all true.

‘I think falling short in the World Series will stay with me until I die.’ – Aaron Judge

Those were some of the New York Yankees captain’s parting words to the media before he stepped into the dead of night late last October. Judge spoke of the ‘battle scars’ he’ll carry after one of the most excruciating losses any team, at any level, could imagine.

Three errors, a dropped fly ball, a major league pitcher failing to cover first base on a seemingly routine play. It was going to be a long, dark winter, right?

Judge’s spring debut Saturday was his first official moment on the field since he and his teammates unraveled before America in World Series Game 5 and were eliminated by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Watching them, going about the familiar rhythms and rituals of spring training, we realize it wasn’t all that bad.

Follow every MLB game: Latest MLB scores, stats, schedules and standings.

Late baseball commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti once wrote in an essay about the national pastime: ‘It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart.’

It’s also structured, like all sports if we play them for the right reasons, to keep us wanting to come back.

Have you ever thought deeper about why we play, or why we throw ourselves into our kids’ games, beyond the aesthetics of trying to win?

Maybe it’s for those first signs of the next season, or even just the next game, that offer us another opportunity to do a little better. Judge felt the pull of them early in the offseason.

‘You flip it pretty quick,’ he said at the outset of spring training. ‘Even during the regular season, bad games, bad moments, you’ve got to move on and go to the next one. So just like anything, you lose out on a World Series, you gotta learn from it, learn what you can and move on to the next thing.’

How we process losses, the ones that seem like they can’t get any worse, can define our sports experience. Whether we are a young athlete, a sports parent or Aaron Judge, we can always overcome them. Here are four perspectives that can help us do it:

Whether you win or lose, sports are about your relationships

When Judge was 2, his parents brought him to his brother’s Little League opening day in their hometown of Linden, California. In a split second, it seemed, he spotted some friends and disappeared into the crowd.

‘If it wasn’t for Little League parents like you, I would not have found Aaron,’ his mother, Patty Judge recalled last summer, via MLB.com.

We quickly realize when we first register them that we do it not to kick-start a major league career, but for the relationships we build. We spend quality time together, with kids but also with other parents who become some of our best friends. When we start to keep score, what is our first impulses after a loss?

We have a team meal – a family meal, really. A loss becomes an opportunity, not to realize what we all may have done wrong, but to celebrate what is right.

The Yankees, of course, lost Juan Soto to free agency. There is turnover everywhere in sports, even at the youth level, where everyone seems to be looking for the next best opportunity.

But do we undervalue the familiarity – and the healing power – of our teammates? Sometimes after a tough loss, all it takes is a call or text from one to get you out of your funk.

‘We were checking in all offseason on certain guys,’ Judge said. ‘ ‘How you doing? What’s going on?’ They were ready to go a couple weeks after the season was over with. They’re like, ‘Hey, I can’t wait to get back down there and get this thing rolling.’ ‘

COACH STEVE: Retired Yankees broadcaster John Sterling was so much more than just a voice on the radio

Learn from Bill Buckner: Like mistakes, losses last only as long we allow them to linger

During the top of the fifth inning of World Series Game 5, the Dodgers’ Tommy Edman hit a soft line drive to Judge in center field with nobody out and a runner on first. Perhaps taking his eyes away from it momentarily, he tried a one-handed catch. The ball hit off this glove and dropped to the outfield grass, opening the door for the Dodgers to score five runs in the inning.

When it was time to talk about missing the ball after the game, he pursed his lips, gave the slightest of smiles, and said: ‘Just didn’t make the play.’ That was it.

We made such a big deal about it because he is a major leaguer. But what would we have done if he was a kid?

When players make errors, especially ones that lead to losses, the late Bill Buckner once said, we tend to dwell on the ‘ugly part of sports.’ (As we know from youth sports, sometimes our age doesn’t seem to matter.)

Playing first base for Boston, Buckner missed a ground ball that gave the New York Mets a walk-off win in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. His Boston Red Sox went on to lose Game 7 two days later.

Buckner took responsibility and tried to move on from the incident. But constant reminders from fans and the media burned him for years before died in 2019. It got so bad, he moved his family from Boston to Idaho after he retired in 1990.

‘I don’t think that in society in general that’s the way we should operate,’ he said when he returned in 2008, and a two-minute standing ovation from fans at Fenway Park allowed him to finally extinguish the play. ‘What are you teaching kids? Not to try because if you don’t succeed then you’re going to buried, so don’t try?’

Sometimes, it’s a tougher play than we think. The ball is spinning away from your first baseman and you hear the steps of the fastest player on the field churning toward first base. You freeze.

It happened to Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole and first baseman Anthony Rizzo on Mookie Betts’ two-out ground ball them that prolonged the Yankees’ World Series nightmare fifth inning. Rizzo fielded it to his right behind first, started to move toward the bag and Cole wasn’t there. Betts beat both of them there.

‘It wasn’t for a lack of effort, I just misplayed the ball,’ Cole told NJ.com this spring. ‘I didn’t get off in a position to get over to first base. It was just a mistake.’

He got buried, too.

‘Kids who pitch one inning a week, bro, know how to get over (to first),’ Dodgers reliever Joe Kelly said on a Feb. 20 podcast, referring to his son’s travel team. ‘They’re nine. And not one of them forgets to get over.’

Focus on what we ‘do,’ not on what we ‘don’t’

When we win, we have a tendency to celebrate the result more than focus on how we got to it.

When we lose, we attach reasons that churn through our minds. Major leaguers know instantly what they did, and how they can reset.

Despite what Kelly says, kids don’t always know what to do, and we don’t always properly allow them to correct themselves.

‘I think there’s a lot of advice that’s given by coaches, well-intentioned coaches, and there’s no real instruction there. They’re just kind of narrating what’s going on,’ says RobertAnthony Cruz (aka Coach RAC), a Savannah Bananas player who connects with tens of thousands of younger players through instructional social media posts. ‘ ‘Hey, you just swung at that curveball in the dirt, that can’t happen.’ ‘

‘A lot of the content that I make is like, ‘OK, let’s talk about some of those changes you actually can make because every failure in the book in baseball, I’ve done it, and I have little ways that I’ve found that can correct these little things.’

Go to a youth baseball complex, and you’re likely get a constant echo of don’ts from parents and coaches: Don’t pull your head when you swing … don’t swing at balls in the dirt … don’t throw the ball to the cutoff man when there’s a runner on second base trying to score.

‘What I needed to hear when I was a kid was, ‘When I was your age (and) I was chasing everything in the dirt, I would set my eyes up and I’d search for something up in the zone, and I lot of times that would help me avoid swinging at that ball in the dirt,’ ‘ Cruz says.

We can also encourage them when they try to do it and they fail, especially in the heat of a championship game with their friends and families watching.

‘They thought I was a success before I even showed up,’ Cruz says of his own parents, Ron and Cynthia Cruz. ‘So there was no pressure on me to perform and earn anything. I didn’t have to earn anything. I wanted to win because I wanted to win.’

COACH STEVE: How do we get the most out of youth sports? Listen to Coach RAC

We can always look forward to another season

In January, Judge, 32, and his wife, Samantha, welcomed a daughter, Nora.

‘It’s more motivation,’ he says. ‘I don’t want her to think her dad’s … I’m getting older, I don’t want to be the old man here in a couple years. So I gotta stay on top of my game. So she’s definitely gonna to motivate me, definitely keep me on my toes.’

He has kept tabs on the Yankees’ active offseason after moving on from Soto and on what Kelly and his teammates said.

‘They won,’ he says, widening his mouth into a smile. ‘They can say whatever they want. If you don’t like it, you got to play better.

‘Guys are ready to get back to work, get us back in that spot and rewrite the script.’

It’s one none of us completely controls when we play sports. Greg Olsen, a former Pro Bowl tight end who hosts parenting podcasts on Youth Inc., tells his kids the work they put into sports doesn’t guarantee a great tournament, a spot on the team or a winning season.

‘When you focus on the outcomes of it,’ he says, ‘now you’re only stuck with the result. The result went your way, awesome; the result was not your way, it was a failure.

‘It’s only a failure if you didn’t do everything in your power along the way to have success.’

What we can count on when we’re young, and when we’re Aaron Judge, is that familiar pull we get at the beginning of each season.

‘You count on it, rely on it to buffer the passage of time, to keep the memory of sunshine and high skies alive,’ Giamatti, the late commissioner, continued in his essay about baseball, ‘and then just when the days are all twilight, when you need it most, it stops.’

But no matter what happens at the end of the year, as much as it crushes you, the cycle always starts up again.

Steve Borelli, aka Coach Steve, has been an editor and writer with USA TODAY since 1999. He spent 10 years coaching his two sons’ baseball and basketball teams. He and his wife, Colleen, are now sports parents for two high schoolers. His column is posted weekly. For his past columns, click here.

March has arrived, which means one thing: It’s time for madness in women’s college basketball.

Hours later, No. 4 Notre Dame and No. 7 LSU lost to No. 24 Florida State and No. 20 Alabama, respectively. Those two losses potentially shook up the brackets, with the Fighting Irish likely in a losing battle for a No. 1 seed and LSU potentially slipping from a No. 2 seed.

The biggest game of the weekend for the women’s side happened on Saturday, when No. 3 USC defeated No. 1 UCLA 80-67. The win likely cements the Trohans as the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament. Both teams entered Saturday as No. 1 seeds in Thursday’s top-16 bracket reveal. The Trojans finished the season series sweep after defeating the Bruins 71-60 on Feb. 13.

With only two weeks remaining until the final brackets are revealed, here are the experts’ predictions on how the Big Dance will look this season:

Predictions for 2025 women’s March Madness

Predictions as of Saturday, March 1:

Charlie Creme, ESPN: Major shakeup following top 16-reveal

Creme writes, ‘Thursday was the second and final top-16 reveal from the NCAA tournament selection committee. Just like with the first reveal, this one’s relevance didn’t last long. Every seed line was impacted, and 12 hours later the top 16 looks quite different. The most noteworthy news from Thursday evening was South Carolina’s dip to a No. 2 seed. After Notre Dame’s shocking home loss to Florida State, the Gamecocks are back on the 1-line as the Irish fell to a No. 2.’

Mark Schindler, The Athletic: Should South Carolina be ahead of UConn?

In his latest bracketology, Schindler had UCLA, Texas, USC and South Carolina as the No. 1 seeds. The Gamecocks are ahead of UConn despite the Huskies earning the head-to-head win on Feb. 16. Notre Dame’s loss to Florida State on Thursday played a role in Schindler’s moving the Gamecocks to a No. 1 seed:

‘With Notre Dame’s loss to Florida State and South Carolina’s win over Ole Miss, I swapped Notre Dame and South Carolina. Based on how the committee has continued to reflect its values in its top 16 seedings, I presumed this is how they would handle it.’

When does the women’s March Madness tournament begin?

The brackets for the tournament are revealed on Sunday, March 16. Three days later, the tournament begins with the First Four on Wednesday, March 19 and Thursday March 20. The first round officially starts two days later, on Friday March 21 and Saturday March 22.

The Final Four is set to be played at the University of South Florida at Amalie Arena in Tampa, with the championship game scheduled for April 6.

No one likes to lose, but in the SEC it’s not that harmful to take a loss given how tough the conference is. But there are still a few games where a loss is not only bad, but catastrophic — especially when you’re living on the edge.

Arkansas proved how devastating it can be when you don’t take care of business.

The Razorbacks had really been picking up steam recently, with quality victories against teams like Kentucky and Missouri. It had gone from a team teetering in First Four territory to moving into a No. 10 seed in the latest edition of USA TODAY Sports’ Bracketology. But now, John Calipari’s squad looks headed back into ‘last four teams in’ territory thanks to an inexcusable loss to SEC-worst South Carolina.

Losing to the Gamecocks, who entered the day with only one conference win, wasn’t going to look good. But it’s how Arkansas lost that makes it even worse.

It was almost like there was a lid on the basket for Arkansas. It couldn’t score at all. It took more than 17 minutes to score 10 points and trailed 32-14 at halftime. By the time Arkansas scored 20 points, there was 12 minutes left and it was down by 27 points. It trailed by 35 points at one point. The Razorbacks were able to score 33 more points the rest of the way to make it seem like it wasn’t a total disaster, but it still was a 19-point loss to the Gamecocks.

Thanks to a day where it shot 28.8% from the field and 13.6% from 3-point land, Arkansas now makes a return to the bubble. Saturday was a big resume hit; the Razorbacks have a losing record in both Quad 1 and Quad 2 games − a 6-12 combined mark.

In a time where every game is under a magnifying glass, the ‘gimme’ games need to be handled. If they end in losses, it could be the reason why a team doesn’t hear its name called on Selection Sunday − something the Hogs didn’t expect with Calipari at the helm. Arkansas caps the penultimate week of the regular season in bad fashion and leads the winners and losers of teams on the NCAA Tournament bubble.

Winners

Georgia

In the bubble game of the week, the Bulldogs not only came out victorious — they looked good doing so. Georgia controlled the host Longhorns for nearly the entire contest thanks to a few runs in the first half that made the deficit too big for Texas to overcome. The second half the Bulldogs were practically on cruise control with a lead that ballooned to 27 points at one point.

The win capped off what was arguably the best week for any team in the country. Georgia was really fading in the tournament picture but turned it around with a wild victory over Florida on Tuesday for a much-needed Quad 1 victory. That win catapulted it from out of the projected field entirely to the ‘first four out.’ The Bulldogs then picked up a second Quad 1 win with the defeat of the Longhorns, continuing their move up the seed line. They made the most of their final two Quad 1 opportunities in the regular season and are winning the shoving match with their fellow SEC bubble teams.

North Carolina

While teams like Arkansas have clouds over their neighborhoods, the Tar Heels are enjoying their stroll around town with the skies shining Carolina blue. North Carolina didn’t have much trouble against ACC-worst Miami, beating the Hurricanes by 19 points for its fifth straight win.

Beating the Hurricanes is not impressive. In fact, none of the past five wins were against anybody good and none helped improve the lowly 1-10 Quad 1 record North Carolina owns. But the Tar Heels are doing the only thing they can do with an easy stretch of opponents: win and watch the chaos around them commence. Bubble teams are suffering some bad losses, but none are happening in Chapel Hill. That’s helping North Carolina inch closer toward the projected field. The game against Duke next week is one that can really determine North Carolina’s fate, but kudos to the Tar Heels for steadying the ship late in the season.

Xavier

When opportunity arises, it’s best to make the most of it. And, oh, did Xavier make a big-time statement on Saturday. The Cintas Center was rocking as the Musketeers pulled off a dominant run late in the second half against the Big East’s second-place team, Creighton, winning their first straight, 83-59. Playing against one of the most effective offenses in the country, it was Xavier that was really scoring at will.

Like North Carolina, Xavier has stayed in the tournament picture thanks to wins against inferior opponents. But Saturday was the first against a tournament contender since it first lost to the Bluejays more than a month ago. The Musketeers needed to prove they could beat quality team. Did they ever, scoring a 22-point victory. Unfortunately it wasn’t a Quad 1 game, something Xavier needs with just a 1-8 record in such instances, but it was certainly the most impressive outcome it could have hoped for. The selection committee won’t be able to ignore this win. Sean Miller’s team inches closer toward cracking the projected field.

Indiana

The climb of the Hoosiers continues. Indiana won its third straight game Saturday, beating Washington on the road with relative ease. An Oumar Ballo layup three minutes into the game gave Indiana a lead it never surrendered. It made nearly half of its shot attempts in the victory.

It’s been an impressive rise for Indiana, which didn’t look like a tournament team two weeks ago but has built the momentum off the win over in-state rival Purdue since then. The win over the Huskies was a Quad 2 victory and not all that impressive given they’re at the bottom of the Big Ten standings, but thanks to some blunders from teams in the projected field, Indiana is inching closer toward getting a spot in the First Four, something that sounded ludicrous weeks ago.

Losers

Oklahoma

Back and forth the Sooners go, as Oklahoma now likely finds itself out of the projected field once again after another defeat. In a very winnable game against Mississippi, the Sooners were down by nine points with eight minutes left when freshman guard Dayton Forsythe shot his team back into the game. With one minute left, Oklahoma had a two-point lead. But the defense couldn’t keep the lead, allowing Mississippi’s Sean Pedulla to make a go-ahead 3-pointer with 19 seconds left that wound up being the game-winning shot.

The win fell right through Oklahoma’s hands and not only is it a second straight loss, it’s now seven defeats in the last eight outings, effectively cancelling out the win over Mississippi State. The Sooners are now 4-12 in the SEC − third worst − and have a 5-10 Quad 1 record. They will likely be outside of the projected field next week. Wins in the last two regular-season games may be a necessity.

Texas

The SEC is proving to be a challenge for the newcomers. Texas saw its tournament chances fade with another loss. The Longhorns had home-court advantage against Georgia but didn’t show much fight in what turned out to be a crushing 16-point loss.

Texas’ slide down the bracket will continue with its third straight loss. It’s been a nightmare in Austin. Texas was headed into a very winnable stretch with South Carolina, Arkansas and Georgia in consecutive matchups. But it dropped all of the games and has six losses in the last seven contests. The Longhorns entered the stretch with a 3-1 Quad 2 record; they’re now 3-4 in those contests, which in no way helps with a 4-9 Quad 1 mark. Things need to start clicking fast if Texas wants to remain in the field.

Nebraska

The struggles in Lincoln continue with Nebraska suffering its third consecutive loss, another defeat at the hands of a team nowhere close to playing in the NCAA Tournament. Against a sneaky Minnesota team, the Cornhuskers trailed by as much as 19 points in the second half before storming back to make it a ballgame in the final minutes. They took a one-point lead with nine seconds left and looked like they’d avoid disaster. Until Minnesota’s Brennan Rigsby drilled a 3-point bucket with four seconds to go to stun the home crowd.

Minnesota isn’t a horrible team, but when a Quad 3 opponent comes into your building and you’re on the fringe of the NCAA Tournament, you better win. Nebraska ended up suffering its first Quad 3 loss that, from a resume standpoint, might be the worst loss a bubble team suffered on Saturday. Something like this can’t happen for a team with a NET ranking of No. 54. It’s been a free fall for a team that looked like it was trending toward being a single-digit seed in the bracket less than two weeks ago. One of those ‘first four out’ teams may be in place to take the Cornhuskers’ spot.

The most highly-anticipated NFL combine on-field workouts took place Saturday Lucas Oil Stadium when running backs, wide receivers and quarterbacks took the field to showcase their skills.

Cam Ward, Shedeur Sanders, Ashton Jeanty and Tetairoa McMillan didn’t work out in Indianapolis but there were other notable QBs, RBs and WRs who participated in Saturday’s combine drills.

There was plenty of attention on the field as NFL teams attempt to make assessments on some of the top skill position prospects in the 2025 NFL draft. Which players helped or their hurt draft stock?

Here are USA TODAY Sports’ winners and losers from Day 3 of the 2025 NFL Combine:

NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more.

NFL combine winners and losers

Winner: Virginia Tech running back Bhayshul Tuten

Tuten’s 40-yard dash time is the fourth fastest 40 by a running back since 2003.

Winner: North Carolina running back Omarion Hampton

The downhill runner ran a 4.46 40-yard dash. His production score was an 84, fourth among qualifying running backs, per Next Gen Stats.

Winner: Texas wide receiver Matthew Golden

The Texans product produced a total score of 82, the sixth best among wide receivers at the combine, per Next Gen Stats.

Winner: Missouri quarterback Brady Cook

Cook was cooking in the passing drills. The 6-2, 214-lb. QB was accurate during intermediate and deep passing drills. The Missouri product outperformed Jaxson Dart and Will Howard, who are both projected to be drafted ahead of him.

Loser: Arizona State running back Cam Skattebo

The bulldozing running back skipped most of the drills at the NFL combine. His most notable absence was in the 40-yard dash. NFL Network’s Stacy Dales reported on the broadcast that Skattebo is dealing with a left hamstring injury that is considered to be a ‘low-grade’ issue.  

Skattebo is considered a mid-round pick in many mock drafts, but scouts have concerns about his speed.

Loser: Texas wide receiver Isaiah Bond

Bond raised eyebrows when he told reporters he planned to break the NFL combine 40-yard dash record. The wideout claimed that he planned to run a 4.20 or a 4.1.

Unfortunately for the wide receiver, he didn’t back up his big talk.

Bond’s fastest time of the day was 4.39, and he posted the mark on his second 40 attempt. Bond’s bold prediction made his 4.39 somewhat underwhelming. The time was well behind former Texans WR and current Chiefs wideout Xavier Worthy’s combine all-time record of 4.21 seconds.

A 4.39 is a great time for a wide receiver, but Bond’s confident proclamation came back to bite him. His time won’t hurt his draft stock but Golden, his Texas teammate, had a better overall performance.

Loser: Hand measurements

Someone’s got some explaining to do.

Jalen Milroe’s hands were measured at 8 3/4 inches at the Senior Bowl just a few weeks ago. At the NFL combine, Milroe’s hands measured in at 9 3/8 inches, half an inch bigger than they were in Mobile, Alabama.

Barring an epic hand growth spurt, somebody doesn’t know how to accurately measure hands in Mobile or Indianapolis. Milroe will definitely prefer the latter of the two measurements.

LOS ANGELES — As Southern California closed in on a victory over rival UCLA, JuJu Watkins swatted a shot from Gabriela Jaquez and stared down the broadcast camera on the baseline.

It officially cemented what seemed inevitable: Los Angeles belongs to Watkins. Now, she and the Trojans are coming to overtake the rest of the country. 

The stakes were high on Saturday, and everyone inside a star-studded Pauley Pavilion knew it. The Big Ten regular-season championship was on the line, but so was the claim of being the top dog in the City of Angels. Implications so massive, siblings and Basketball Hall of Famers Cheryl and Reggie Miller were sitting courtside together, each representing their alma mater. 

There was so much buildup. Could the Bruins make adjustments and get revenge on the team across town en route to winning the conference title? Massive lines formed outside Pauley Pavilion as fans came to see the team the NCAA Tournament selection committee had tabbed as No. 1 in the top 16 reveal two days ago.

But Watkins took her first shot – a 3-pointer – and just like in their first meeting, it perfectly swished through the net. It was a sight that happened often, and the Trojans led from start to finish in an 80-67 victory.

Clinching the conference title in your rival’s arena? Four straight wins against them? With three massive billboards of you gracing the city?

Put the crown on Watkins’ head – and don’t mess with the signature bun.

“I would be remiss to say playing UCLA doesn’t motivate me extra,” she said.

UCLA is probably getting tired of seeing Watkins dissect it. She put up 30 points – 23 in the first half – with five assists, three rebounds and three blocks. In the past four meetings against the Bruins, she’s averaged 33.3 points, 8.5 rebounds. 4 blocks and 3.5 assists per game. 

Watkins’ performance was enough to claim the city. It was her teammates who showed the Trojans are capable of taking more.

The rest of the women’s college basketball world groaned when former Stanford forward Kiki Iriafen came back home to play for the Trojans in her final season. A dominant big to go along with a star guard in Watkins? Almost impossible to go against.

It took some time, but Iriafen has really come to play up to her firepower. After she sat out most of the first half due to foul trouble, she took the load off Watkins’ shoulders out of halftime with 15 points and six rebounds in the last 30 minutes. She commanded the post offensively and was knocking down jumpers, providing a lethal 1-2 punch. When she arrived at USC, she said a major priority was to provide relief for Watkins, helping Watkins in those moments where it felt like she was doing it all. But it’s more than just relief; it’s a two-headed monster. 

“I’m a very lucky coach to have these two. They’re the best duo in the country,” USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said of her stars. “These two are unguardable. I think they’re both playing their best basketball now, which is scary.’

Watkins and Iriafen draw all the headlines, but you can’t forget about the supporting cast. Rayah Marshall, a vocal leading senior, played magnificent with her assignment on UCLA star center Lauren Betts, who finished with just 11 points. Freshman Kennedy Smith continued to play tough defense, and fellow first-year player Avery Howell hit back-to-back 3-point shots in the fourth quarter that were essentially the daggers. 

It was a complete effort that left Bruins head coach Cori Close hitting her fists on the press conference table, aware of how much the Trojans dominated. 

“Just really pissed off we didn’t show up and do our jobs,” she said. “Credit to USC. They were tougher.’

Many head coaches feel like Close after playing the Trojans. For as talented as it’s proven to be, USC hasn’t gotten the national respect it should have. Maybe it was the early loss to Notre Dame, or the tough defeat to Iowa a month ago. 

But that loss to the Hawkeyes awoke something in the Trojans. They all hated the taste of that defeat and didn’t want to experience it again. 

Since losing to Iowa, USC has won seven straight, including two wins against the Bruins and dominance over a highly-ranked team in Ohio State. 

The Trojans are hot at the right time and they’ll head into the Big Ten tournament as the No. 1 seed. With a successful trip to Indianapolis, they’ll be a No. 1 seed again when the NCAA Tournament bracket is revealed on March 16. From that point, it’s tough to argue anyone looks capable of taking them down.

Look around the country. UCLA just lost to them again, Notre Dame is in a little slump, South Carolina had a few slips and Connecticut already lost to USC. Besides Texas, everyone is taking some big punches and the Trojans just keep on landing them.

What’s made this season so intriguing in women’s college basketball is that the race for the national championship is wide open. A case for making it to Tampa for the Final Four could be made for several teams. But at this point, USC is making it known it’s ready to book its trip. 

“We’re not done. There’s a lot more,” Gottlieb said.