Every Friday, the staff of The Athletic recommends the most compelling sports on TV to watch this weekend.
This week, in honor of the early days of March Madness, we lead with the most must-see college basketball games of the weekend, plus a few other games to watch.
There are sporting events that feel like national holidays. The Super Bowl is the biggest, where 120 million or so gather around TVs across the nation. Opening Day or night for baseball, basketball and college football are others, for some.
For my money, Selection Sunday may be the best of them all. For college basketball diehards, be it the men’s side or the women’s, it is when you find out where your team is going or not going. The jubilation and the depression are what make sports great. And the three weeks that follow may be the most fun of any event on the American sports calendar. It is not as big as the Super Bowl, but with everyone able to put their best guesses in a pool, it creates a nice cross-section of fans to enjoy. On Sunday, we find out who is dancing. — Andrew Marchand
Heading into Selection Sunday, questions remain about how the top of the bracket will look. It’s likely that either Big Ten tournament champ UCLA or SEC tournament champ South Carolina will be the No. 1 overall seed, but uncertainty remains about which teams will get the nod. There are also questions about which team will be the fourth No. 1 seed. Texas or UConn will likely get that spot, with the other being the first No. 2 seed. Either way, after a season full of parity, it’s fitting that key seeding questions remain. — Ben Pickman
The heavy hitters play in prime time, but the morning tipoff in the America East title game is one of my favorite March traditions. Brunch-time, high-stakes basketball in a tiny-but-loud gym somewhere in the thawing Northeast? A great way to start your Selection Sunday Eve. Vermont, which won the last three titles, lost in the semifinals, so this year’s game pits No. 3 seed Maine — going for its first NCAA Tournament bid ever — at top-seeded Bryant, a university in Smithfield, R.I., with a gym that seats just 2,600. — Mark Cooper
It isn’t hyperbole that the four teams playing in the SEC Tournament semifinals could be a preview of the Final Four itself; the conference is THAT good. While none of the games will impact any of the teams being in or out of the tournament field, it could have a huge impact on whether a team is a No. 1 or a No. 2 seed and what region it is placed in. — Dan Shanoff
If the seeding holds, this will be an incredible matchup of would-be NCAA Cinderellas — No. 1 seed UC San Diego vs. No. 2 seed UC Irvine. Both deserve a place in the NCAA Tournament field based on their respective resumes, but a win here lets one of them breathe a lot easier on Selection Sunday. — Dan Shanoff
The culmination of one of the best conference campaigns in college basketball history happens on Sunday afternoon. A quartet of potential No. 1 seeds — Auburn, Florida, Alabama and Tennessee — will all be in contention for the crown, but the league’s incredible depth (likely 11+ Tournament teams) could make for a surprise matchup. Winning this event will be nearly as difficult as winning the NCAA Tournament itself. — Jim Root
Regardless of who from the conference makes it to the title game, this last game of Championship Week is the best way to whittle away those final few hours waiting for the brackets to be revealed at 6 p.m. ET. Michigan State is the favorite, but watch out for No. 6 seed Purdue, which is doing just fine without two-time player of the year Zach Edey. — Dan Shanoff
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