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Good morning! What a lovely day.

Lock In, Pt. 1: Mmmm, chalk

The air is crisp this morning. At least I hope it is where you are, because the weather should be glorious for a day as wondrous as this. The NCAA Tournament begins in just a few hours, which means two things: 

• We have made it to the best part of the sports calendar, and 
• Brackets lock soon. 

For our final preview, I figured we should just pick a bracket in both the men’s and women’s tourneys. I’m starting with the men since they play today. We’ll hit four pillars of picks, plus explanations: 

Final Four picks: Auburn, St. John’s, Duke and Houston

Chalky, I know. I just think the sport is top-heavy right now, which assuredly means none of these teams make it this far. I veered with the St. John’s pick because the Red Storm are simply a great story, and they have the coach in Rick Pitino to guide them here. Also, somehow, Auburn — the No. 1 overall seed — is not a sexy pick right now. Overthinkers, all of you. 

First-round upset winners: North Carolina, Yale, Arkansas, Utah State, Xavier and Akron

Take these with skepticism, because actually trying to pinpoint an upset in this round is pure folly. These picks more reflect my hesitance to trust the favorite in these matchups. I suggest you pick accordingly. 

Hottest take: No double-digit seeds make the Sweet 16

Is it Valentine’s Day? Am I gorging on those candies made of sugary chalk? Maybe, but this is more of a safe bet situation for my bracket. We can all mew about picking Cinderellas correctly, but picking Cinderellas correctly won’t win you a bracket pool. Correctly picking your final four/eight/12 teams will. Focus. More smart tips on actually winning your bracket here. 

The Pulse national champion: Duke. Having a now-seasoned Cooper Flagg makes the Blue Devils the best team in this tourney, by my dollar, and some of my smarter colleagues agree. Even if you hate Duke, they’re one of 11 teams who can actually win this thing. 

And yet, for most of us, our brackets will break at some point. I loved this story filled with bad bracket beats from readers and Athletic personalities alike. And if you want to be zany, we also staged an imaginary fight between all the mascots of the tournament. 

Oh, and here’s a printable bracket. We have a live blog up and running, too. 

More on the women in a bit. News break:

News to Know

NFL rule changes?

The NFL announced proposed rule changes to be discussed later this month at the annual league meetings, and headliners include a ban on the “tush push” along with playoff seeding changes. We’ve talked plenty about the Eagles’ preferred fourth-down method, but the seeding issue is interesting: If adopted, playoff seeds would be determined by overall wins, not a division title, which would’ve had big ramifications last season. Jacob Robinson will have more in Scoop City later this week.

More news

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Lock In, Pt. 2: Go Bruins?

There is beauty in this time, mostly because we get so much good basketball. And at the top of the sport, Pulse readers know I think the women’s game is more compelling. No matter your preference, the women’s tourney does present something on which we can all agree: It’s another chance to win a bracket competition. 

Same drill as above with the men, with picks below — and be warned, it’s just as chalky: 

Final Four picks: UCLA, UConn, Texas, South Carolina

Three No. 1 seeds? Snooze, Branch. But I’m looking more into the players there. Give me Lauren Betts, Paige Bueckers and Madison Booker all day. Oh and the deepest team, Carolina, is the defending champ. This feels right. 

First-round upset winners: Iowa State and Montana State

Told you it was chalky. I’m rolling with Audi Crooks and the Cyclones over a young Michigan team, while Ohio State’s bad stretch late in the season makes the Buckeyes prime targets against the No. 13 seed Bobcats. 

Hottest take: The best game of this tournament will be in the Elite 8

USC and UConn are once again on course to face each other in this round after last year’s banger. I’m leaning toward Bueckers and the Huskies again, but that’s simply a gut feeling. Both of these teams are fantastic, and it’s hard to pick against JuJu Watkins. 

The Pulse national champion: UCLA. A title game against the Gamecocks will be feisty, but the Bruins are just too good this year. This is too easy of a pick. 

Shockingly, Austin Mock’s data indicates UCLA is actually not the favorite; UConn is, for now. See those full odds here. 

Our women’s basketball staff also made picks, which you can copy here. Everyone loves the Huskies. 

The women’s tourney starts tomorrow. Let’s finish this off:

Watch and Listen

NCAAM: No. 9 Creighton vs. No. 8 Louisville

12:15 p.m. ET on CBS

This is purely symbolic as the first men’s game of the day. Find yourself a screen and plop. Don’t move for a while. If you need to hone your list, browse these must-see games. 

NCAAW: No. 11 Washington vs. No. 11 Columbia

7 p.m. ET on ESPN2

The final women’s play-in game features the regular-season Ivy League champs, who fell in the tournament final to Harvard. The Lions are still here after star Abbey Hsu moved on to WNBA pastures. Washington was fine this year but finished hot. Good game. 

Get tickets to games like these here.

Pulse Picks

I was so impressed with this conversation between Joe Vardon and Bronny James, which is probably the most levelheaded thing you’ll read on Bronny all year. Make time for this today. 

Last tourney tidbit: Lindsay Schnell has a great story on Wofford center Kyler Filewich, who shoots his free throws granny style. She even got Rick Barry on the line. Fun. 

Our women’s basketball podcast just relaunched with a new name: “No Offseason,” which pops back up at a perfect time. Check out their YouTube and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. 

USMNT manager Mauricio Pochettino thinks his team could someday be No. 1 in the world. No, really. 

If you love random connections, you’ll enjoy the fact that Max Scherzer and Jake Burger — whose mother taught Scherzer in school — are both MLB players. Full lore here. 

Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Austin Mock’s full projections for the men’s bracket. Extremely valuable. 

Most-read on the website yesterday: Our consensus staff picks for the men’s bracket. ‘Tis the season.

(Top photo: Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)