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March is filled with drama, but for a pair of blue-blood brands, it might come down to the longest wait in sports: Selection Sunday. The Texas Longhorns and Indiana Hoosiers both find themselves squarely on the bubble heading into Selection Sunday. According to FOX Sports bracket forecaster Mike DeCourcy, Texas remains among his “Last Four In” following a loss to Ole Miss in the opening round of the SEC Tournament. Sean Miller’s team owns six Quad 1 wins — more than several SEC contenders — but five losses in its last six games have left the Longhorns sweating. Meanwhile, Indiana’s late slide might have pushed the Hoosiers to the wrong side of the bubble. A double-digit loss to Northwestern in the Big Ten Tournament was their sixth loss in seven games, dropping them into DeCourcy’s “First Four Out.” With that, DeCourcy shares his latest NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament projections: EAST REGION SOUTH REGION MIDWEST REGION WEST REGION And it’s never too early to check in on the bubble. According to DeCourcy’s projections, VCU, SMU, Texas and New Mexico are the last four teams in the tournament, while Auburn, Seton Hall, San Diego State and Indiana are the first four out. As for conference representation, the SEC leads the way with 10 teams, while the Big Ten has nine teams. The ACC and the Big 12 each have eight teams in DeCourcy’s latest tournament projections. The Big East and the West Coast have three teams represented, while the Mountain West and A-10 have two teams. Selection Sunday is three days away, and these projections will inevitably evolve. For now, DeCourcy’s latest bracket forecast offers a clear snapshot of who’s rising, who’s falling and which programs are already building the résumés they’ll need when March Madness arrives.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

George M. Steinbrenner Field (Tampa) – Brian Cashman walked into his office at the spring training facility for the New York Yankees and pulled up a TikTok video on his iPad. He had already seen this video but thought it was funny enough to watch it again. The team’s general manager laughed as the clip showed two men arguing with each other, before one of them threw his Big Gulp cup at a car. The liquid from the cup smothered the car windows, the men continued yelling, and the video ended. Watching inherently silly TikTok videos is “a nice diversion from the noise,” Cashman told me when we sat down in his office to discuss what it’s like being the longest-tenured GM in Major League Baseball. When he’s not scrolling, he’s busy building a championship-caliber roster, modernizing the organization with wide-ranging changes, and fine-tuning his baseball operations department. The noise, in this case, is a relentless stream of criticism and title expectations. Cashman, too, said he has a ticking clock in his head, reminding him that the Yankees haven’t won a championship since 2009. Due to that drought, criticism of Cashman has become as predictable as October in the Bronx. Every roster decision by the Yankees GM is dissected. Every postseason exit is used as evidence that the architect of baseball’s most successful and scrutinized franchise has lost his touch. Debate around Cashman has played out forcefully in New York. He’s anatomized on talk radio, across social media, and in the stands at Yankee Stadium. The argument is familiar: the Yankees should win more and spend more, and they should think differently. Cashman hears it all, even when he’s no longer trying to, even if he barely responds anymore. What the public sees, though, is only part of the story. “I’m pretty simple,” Cashman said. “The reason we’re able to adjust and change is because I am very open-minded, and I challenge our staff to be the same way. If someone’s doing something better than we are, we have to figure that out as fast as we possibly can, and then adapt and adjust and grow because of it.” Inside the organization’s walls and across major-league front offices, Cashman is revered as a brilliant executive who has survived multiple baseball eras and worked under two different ownership styles with aplomb. “It is next to impossible to have the longevity he’s had for any team,” Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said. “To do it in New York makes it kind of unthinkable in this day and age. I think it speaks to his talent. I think it speaks to his leadership capabilities. It has to speak to his ability to compartmentalize and focus on what is important to do his job, and he’s done it incredibly successfully. Whenever he decides he’s had enough, we’ll all be celebrating in Cooperstown shortly thereafter.” Cashman started as a Yankees intern in 1986 in the minor-league scouting department. After he graduated from college, the team offered him a full-time job as a baseball operations assistant. Back then, analytics departments were tiny, sports science barely existed, and the game’s most famous franchise operated largely on instinct and tradition. Cashman took over as general manager in 1998 and has overseen four World Series titles and 23 postseason appearances. Since then, the Yankees have produced a winning record for 33 consecutive seasons, second longest in MLB history behind the team’s 39-season streak from 1926-1964. Cashman believes everything from the aesthetics of the Yankees clubhouse to the recent renovations inside the spring training facilities to the tireless work of his staff has played a significant part in making the organization a well-oiled winning machine. Plus, he’s constantly drawing inspiration from other marquee sport franchises. ​”It’s not like I can intimately get behind the scenes of the Cincinnati Reds and see what they’re doing,” Cashman said. “But I can do that with the University of Kentucky. I can do that with the New York Giants or the Brooklyn Nets or Alabama football or, the New Zealand All Blacks or Manchester City or Arsenal or what have you. We can do that with a lot of different other environments or even businesses that aren’t sports related, and we try to engage and find out what drives their culture. “How do they manage their processes and why? And if they’re successful, why? Is it just because they have great leadership? Is it because they got lucky? Is it because they rely on certain core principles?” Key To Success: Constant Change Twenty or thirty years ago, Cashman struck up a conversation with a bartender at a Ritz-Carlton during a Yankees road trip and learned about their official Code of Conduct, a sheet of paper that every employee had to carry in their pocket at all times. It outlined ethical and behavioral guidelines for all employees of the luxury hotel brand, including management. Cashman doesn’t remember if he took a picture of the sheet or the bartender gave him a copy of one, but he took it home to study it. He found ways to embody those guidelines as a part of his own leadership styles. Through the years, Cashman has developed relationships with various sports executives, everyone from the Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Julien Brisebois to the Philadelphia Eagles GM Howie Roseman. They send each other articles on leadership and exchange ideas on how to improve. Cashman is still curious about outside ideas and finds ways to incorporate them into his baseball operations. Sometimes, that inspiration arrives in unusual ways. Recently, he went down an escalator at the newly renovated LaGuardia Airport and snapped photos of a design he liked. He shared it with his staff and Yankee Stadium operations, and they worked to incorporate the design into the ballpark. “Brian has tried to keep the Yankees more relevant and more current and modern,” former Yankees manager Buck Showalter told me. “And, all the while, he doesn’t take himself too seriously. I got a lot of respect for him, he started on the ground level and worked his way up.” Cashman learned from Showalter that altering the atmosphere in little and big ways prevents the environment from becoming stale. He believes part of the reason the Yankees went to the World Series in 2024 is because of the renovations he helped initiate at their Tampa facility that year. Cashman said that those multimillion-dollar upgrades, including a health and wellness center, extended batting cages, and a player lounge, compelled players to spend more time at the ballpark. His incessant hunt for fresh changes and ideas are all designed to help the on-field product produce more wins and have fun doing it. Netflix recently shared its company values with the public, and Cashman absorbed it like a sponge. “Constantly trying to change and remake yourself is important,” Cashman said. “I just want to find out what’s underneath the hood and what makes somebody or some company or some sports entity tick. And if they’re having success, there are reasons behind it.” Micro-Manager? ‘I’m The Opposite’ The public perception is that Cashman is stubborn. The fanbase’s disapproval of him reached an all-time intensity after the 2023 season, when the Yankees missed the playoffs and came under fire for their analytical approach. Cashman was on way to the annual GM Meetings that offseason when Yankees media relations tried to warn him about the brutal line of questioning headed his way. The heat was going to be turned all the way up, but Cashman wasn’t interested in mincing his words. In a lengthy scrum with the media, Cashman defended his front office in a curse-laden rebuttal of the perception that the Yankees should clean house because their baseball ops had become ineffective. The GM, criticized for protecting manager Aaron Boone and the rest of his coaches, analytics and player development staff, believes the negative public perception and the internal success of his baseball ops is worlds apart. The following season, the Yankees went to the World Series. He doesn’t regret a single word he said in that infamous scrum. “I’m definitely not a micro-manager,” Cashman told me. “I’m the opposite. I am someone that will hire people I consider smarter than me and that have expertise in that area. And then I empower you to do your job. I will support you every step of the way, including in that scrum, defending you to the hilt, because you still might not be on top. But if you’ve done everything you possibly could do, and you’re really good at what you do, then I’m gonna have your back no matter what.” Part of the reason that eruption from Cashman went viral was because he doesn’t say much these days. He also doesn’t read or listen to what people are saying about him. He doesn’t have social media on his phone anymore, besides TikTok. It’s a complete reversal of how he used to start his days, by returning calls from reporters and appearing on the field pregame to answer any questions and divulge his processes. In recent years, the GM has learned that explaining decisions rarely quiets criticism. It only fuels it. “The media coverage is completely different,” Cashman said. “To the point where now, I’m very reclusive.” While the debate about the Yankees’ direction continues outside, Cashman has increasingly stepped back from the conversation, focusing instead on the work inside the organization he has spent nearly three decades shaping. That’s not to say he’s at peace with the fan base’s perception of him. He knows a large segment of Yankees fans are frustrated that Cashman is running back the same roster this year as the one they ended with last season. “Stuff like that bothers me,” he said. After all, last year’s team tied the Toronto Blue Jays for the best record in the American League East before it lost to the Blue Jays in the AL Division Series. Plus, ace Gerrit Cole will return from injury this year. So it won’t be the same team as last season, he said. People are getting that wrong. Why, then, doesn’t he speak up more? “I’ve learned over the course of time, it doesn’t matter what you say,” Cashman said. “What do you do? I can try to fight like Don Quixote with the windmills out there and all those battles all the time. But is that a really efficient use of my time? “Like at the end of the day, I know all that’s going to matter is if we’re winning games. And even when we are winning games, it still won’t matter. Because there’s a lot of narratives out there that just aren’t the case. Like, to this day, I’m definitely frustrated with the one narrative that the manager is the puppet and we’re dictating his moves. None of it’s true.” Cashman has tried to refute a long-believed narrative that Boone doesn’t make any decisions, including lineup construction and in-game bullpen management, and that the GM maps out a game plan for the manager ahead of time. For years, he’s seen his comments get pulled apart, misinterpreted and weaponized. Cashman realized it was unhealthy for him to spend time fighting battles against false narratives. So he stopped, for the most part. “I’d rather people be right,” he said. “But I’ve gotten to a level, too, where it’s almost like I accept it. I can’t change people’s minds. They want to believe what they want to believe no matter what. It’s like politics and conspiracy theories. You can try to prove it scientifically, prove it with people testifying under oath or like, I can roll out former managers, you can ask those guys. It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t mean anything. People still say it. So it’s like, well, then what am I going to do?” Cashman’s Legacy? It’s Complicated Boone, sitting in his desk chair in his office at George M. Steinbrenner Field, leaned back and smiled as he recounted day-to-day instances of Cashman being a “practical joker.” One time, Boone was upset about something, and Cashman called the manager’s office phone and disguised his voice. Other times, he’s carried in his pocket some paper snappers, which produce a loud exploding pop when thrown, to mess with people. “​​He takes something that happens in our day-to-day, something serious, and he’ll lean into it and make it humorous,” Boone said. “But what I really admire about him is his consistency. He’s funny, but ​​he’s willing to have any difficult conversation and hold people to the fire. To do it with the excellence he’s done, for as long as he’s done it, it’s remarkable. It takes a very special talent, evaluator, and vision to have that sustained excellence. Even though we haven’t won, he’s putting together a championship-caliber program all the time. I think he’s a Hall of Famer.” There is no job in baseball where success is defined so narrowly as the one Cashman holds with the Yankees. In most cities, consistent playoff appearances would be celebrated. In the Bronx, trips to October are treated as disappointments without, at the very least, a World Series appearance. That dynamic has made Cashman one of the most criticized executives in the sport — and one of the longest tenured. Cashman’s tenure is defined by a remarkable absence of losing seasons, a high level of sustained success, a lengthy championship drought and a heavy dose of frustration. It’s complicated. He finds it excruciatingly difficult to reflect on his career, particularly because he’s not done. He wants to change the narrative, and he knows the only way to do that is by winning. “Reggie Jackson was one of the most prolific home run hitters of all time,” Cashman said. “But he was also one of the most prolific strikeout leaders of all time. As the game is playing out, he might’ve had three strikeouts his first three at-bats. But he could always change the narrative with one swing. “So, I’m still swinging.”​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

Just like many of us, executives, agents and scouts around the NFL were amazed by some of the moves made across the league in the opening days of free agency. We surveyed insiders around the NFL on who they think the winners and losers of free agency are to this point, along with which contracts they thought were the best and worst. One NFL executive lauded a team’s all-in approach, while an agent didn’t like one of the $100 million contracts handed out this week. So, which teams improved the most in the first week of free agency? Which contract was the biggest overpay? Here’s what we learned in our conversations with executives, agents and scouts around the NFL. [2026 NFL Free Agency Grades] *** Jets, Raiders get their rebuilds off to good starts: ‘They didn’t do anything stupid’ Ralph Vacchiano: The teams that spend the most in free agency aren’t always the ones that do the best. In fact, some years the biggest spenders turn into the biggest flops. But two teams that had money to burn this week got positive reviews from several NFL scouts and executives. So maybe there is finally some hope for the Las Vegas Raiders and the New York Jets. “I’m not saying either one of them will be good,” an assistant general manager told me. “But I liked their approach (to free agency). They didn’t do anything stupid.” The Jets, in particular, “completely rebuilt their defense,” as one scout told me, “but they did it without taking an unnecessary big swing. Every guy they signed is a solid veteran player. And none of them broke anyone’s bank.” Their signings included linebacker Demario Davis (two years, $22 million), edge rusher Joseph Ossai (three years, $36 million), and a trade for safety Minkah Fitzpatrick (three years, $40 million). They also took an inexpensive, one-year, $5.5 million shot at cornerback Nahshon Wright, who went to the Pro Bowl last year. “Aaron Glenn is a defensive guy, and he could see that after the trades last year [of defensive tackle Quinnen Williams and cornerback Sauce Gardner], he had nothing to build around,” an AFC executive told me. “He still needs to find stars, but now he has a foundation, at least in the short term. He can start to build a program, even if most of these guys won’t be around when the Jets are finally good.” The Jets didn’t get a lot of praise for their decision to trade for Geno Smith and make him their quarterback, but the executive told me, “It’s not like they had good options. At least he didn’t cost them much.” As for the Raiders, their situation was complicated by the collapse of the Maxx Crosby trade — a deal the assistant GM told me “would’ve made their offseason a grand slam.” He said their spending “was a little crazier [than the Jets’], but they had cap room to burn, so who cares? And if they had gotten two first-round picks on top of that for a player who didn’t want to be there? Wow.” Even without those picks, the Raiders still got the No. 1 center on the market (Tyler Linderbaum, three years, $81 million), a sleeper at receiver (Jalen Nailor, three years, $35 million) and a trio of solid defensive players (edge rusher Kwitty Paye for three years, $48 million; linbebacker Quay Walker for three years, $40.5 million and linebacker Nakobe Dean for three years, $36 million). “They’re all about the quarterback,” the scout told me of the Raiders, who are expected to draft Fernando Mendoza with the first pick of the draft. “But you can’t say ‘nothing else matters’. They needed to fix the defense so they could keep him in games. They needed to protect him. They had to get him a receiver. “Forget the prices. They did all that. It wasn’t a franchise-changing [spending] spree, but it was a really solid start.” *** Rams make it clear they’re going for it again Vacchiano: The Los Angeles Rams know they are loaded for a Super Bowl run, and they knew their biggest problem was their secondary. Consider that hole plugged. The Rams made a huge, pre-market trade for cornerback Trent McDuffie that cost them a first-round pick and more (not to mention the four-year, $124 million contract they gave him). Then they signed cornerback Jaylen Watson to a three-year, $51 million. The moves were expensive, but as one NFL executive told me, “How can you not admire them for going for it? They know that with a 38-year-old quarterback, this is their last shot, maybe for a couple of years. So screw the future. Go for it now. If they win the Super Bowl, no one will care if they have to suffer for a couple of years.” *** More winners and losers from free agency Vacchiano: Several other teams came up in conversations with league personnel about winners and losers in free agency: *** Agent: Thumbs up on Malik Willis’ deal to Dolphins Eric D. Williams: In a quarterback market where Kyler Murray and Tua Tagovailoa will make significantly more money from their former teams while playing for their new teams and Daniel Jones signed a deal worth up to $100 million to stay in Indianapolis, an NFL agent pointed to a player with only six starts as one of the best negotiated contracts in free agency. Yes, the Miami Dolphins’ signing of Malik Willis to a three-year, $67.5 million contract that includes $45 million in guaranteed money was one of the best signings in free agency. “All of these deals are exercises in risk management,” the agent told me. And the Dolphins mitigated some of that risk because of their familiarity with Willis. Head coach Jeff Hafley served as the defensive coordinator for the Green Bay Packers while Willis backed up Jordan Love at quarterback. And Dolphins general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan worked as vice president of player personnel for the Packers before being hired by the Dolphins. “The most pragmatic deal would be Miami’s Malik Willis deal,” the agent told me. “They will deal with the ramifications of a – in hindsight — bad QB deal [Tua] this year. They did a good job of being pragmatic in their new starting QB deal for Willis. “Given how expensive and risky the QB market is, this Willis deal is spot on in terms of proper value while mitigating the downside risk.” *** Commanders’ deal with edge rusher Odafe Oweh not as popular, though Williams: On the other end of the spectrum, the agent pointed to former Los Angeles Chargers edge rusher Odafe Oweh signing a four-year, $100 million deal with the Washington Commanders that includes $68 million in guaranteed money. Oweh, 27, finished with 7.5 sacks in 12 games with the Chargers are going without a sack in the first five games of the 2025 season with Baltimore, playing 513 snaps between stints with the Ravens and Chargers last season after a midseason trade to L.A. Washington appears to be betting on the potential of a breakout campaign for Oweh, but the agent I spoke with has reservations. “There’s a reason Baltimore traded him to the Chargers last season,” the agent told me. “Moreover, I’m not sure that his one year of production in Los Angeles [relative to his lack of production in Baltimore] equates to $25 million a year to me.”​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

With the 2026 league year underway, the flurry of NFL free-agent deals and trades we’ve seen over the past several days are now official. One huge trade, of course, didn’t quite make it to the new league year. We’ll get into that in detail. So who are the big winners to this point? And which teams are worse off? In descending order, here are my top four winners and losers through the early wave of free agency: Winners 4. Carolina Panthers The Panthers surprised the NFL world by reaching the playoffs last season, and now they’ve added big-time help to what was an average defense. Former Jaguars All-Pro Devin Lloyd (three years, $45 million) was one of the top off-ball linebackers available in free agency, and ex-Eagles edge Jaelan Phillips (four years, $120 million) was one of the top pass rushers on the market. Carolina also added Kenny Pickett as a backup behind fourth-year quarterback Bryce Young. The Panthers are positioned to take another leap forward in 2026. 3. Tennessee Titans The Titans took full advantage of their more than $90 million in cap space at the start of the offseason, investing heavily in starters such as wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson (four years, $78 million), defensive lineman John Franklin-Myers (three years, $63 million) and cornerbacks Alontae Taylor (three years, $60 million) and Cor’Dale Flott (three years, $45 million). Spending big in free agency doesn’t guarantee success, but if done the right way with a quarterback on a rookie contract, it can thrust a team into contention quickly. Just look at QB Drake Maye and the Patriots, who made the Super Bowl last season after winning four games in 2024. And the Titans were intentional in adding players that coach Robert Saleh and offensive coordinator Brian Daboll know well from past stops. On paper, Saleh now has a competent defense to work with in his first year as Titans head coach. 2. Baltimore Ravens The perception of the Ravens took a hit for backing out of their proposed trade for Raiders edge Maxx Crosby, as evident by what league executives told our Eric D. Williams and Ralph Vacchiano. But Baltimore is undoubtedly a better team moving forward. General manager Eric DeCosta said Wednesday that he was interested in pairing Crosby with Trey Hendrickson. In the end, the Ravens came away with the former Bengals edge (four years, $112 million) — a four-time Pro Bowler — and retained the first-round picks in 2026 and ‘27 they would’ve lost in the Crosby deal. 1. New England Patriots The reigning AFC-champion Patriots added long-term upside at wide receiver with Romeo Doubs (four years, $80 million), who’s seven years younger than Stefon Diggs (released last week). Worst case scenario, Doubs is a No. 2 option for third-year QB Drake Maye. The Pats got much-needed offensive line help in Alijah Vera-Tucker (three years, $42 million), too. They’re taking on some risk in Vera-Tucker — the former first-round pick missed all of last season with a torn triceps — but he was a Pro Bowl-caliber guard for the Jets when healthy, so he could wind up as a major steal. New England also shored up its starting defense with former Bears safety Kevin Byard (one year, $8 million), the NFL’s interception leader last season, and veteran pass-rusher Dre’Mont Jones (three years, $39.5 million), who had seven sacks in 2025. Losers 4. Buffalo Bills By trading for DJ Moore, the Bills nabbed a much-needed No. 1 option for star QB Josh Allen. But the cost to acquire the veteran wide receiver was steep: Buffalo gave Chicago a 2026 second-round pick, and guaranteed $15.5 million of Moore’s 2028 salary as part of the trade. That means the Bills are on the hook for $62.5 million in guarantees for the 28-year-old Moore over the next three seasons, including $47 million fully guaranteed through 2027. 3. Kansas City Chiefs Adding Super Bowl LX MVP Kenneth Walker III (three years, $53.05 million) gives the Chiefs a dynamic option at running back, but their defense faces major questions after losing three cornerbacks, including All-Pro Trent McDuffie (trade) and fellow starter Jaylen Watson (free agency) to the Rams. The Chiefs have a dwindling window of opportunity with 36-year-old tight end Travis Kelce returning for a 14th season and 31-year-old left tackle Chris Jones. So a team that missed the playoffs last season looks worse off at the moment, though that outlook could change with the draft next month. 2. Indianapolis Colts The Colts needed to retain both quarterback Daniel Jones and wide receiver Alec Pierce, but it looks like they’ve overpaid in order to do so. Indianapolis got just 10 games of elite play from Jones, who’s recovering from a torn Achilles, and are now giving him the largest two-year deal in NFL history, including $50 million fully guaranteed at signing. Sam Darnold got just $37.5 million fully guaranteed at signing a year ago from the Seahawks after a 14-win, Pro Bowl season with the Vikings. Indy gave Pierce a deal worth $28.5 million in average annual value. He would’ve been significantly cheaper had the team extended him after the 2024 season, when he had just over 800 receiving yards. The former second-round pick would’ve been cheaper if a contract had been hammered out earlier this offseason, too, before it became clear that he’d be the top free-agent wide receiver. 1. Las Vegas Raiders We don’t yet know the full ramifications of the Ravens’ decision to pull out of the Maxx Crosby trade. Even if Crosby’s contract (four years and $115.8 million remaining) doesn’t impact the Raiders’ ability to absorb all their free-agent deals, which total more than a quarter-billion dollars in total value, their financial flexibility is still impacted. The franchise had also been operating on the assumption that it would have Baltimore’s first-round picks in 2026 and ‘27, including No. 14 overall this year. That could have massive ramifications on the Raiders’ roster-building approach.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

As the 2026 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament approaches, four teams seem to have separated themselves from the rest of college basketball: Duke, Michigan, Arizona and Florida. All of them are projected to earn No. 1 seeds in FOX Sports’ Mike DeCourcy’s latest projections. Their collective dominance has been so thorough and so complete that analysts around the sport are beginning to wonder if we’ll see the four top seeds reach the Final Four again, just as we did last season. Between now and then, however, college basketball’s leading quartet will navigate four separate conference tournaments this week. Predictably, they’re overwhelming favorites to win their respective leagues, even with injuries to multiple Duke starters. Here are my picks for conference tournament winners from the sport’s top five leagues: Big East Winner: St. John’s There were plenty of reasons to be concerned with how the Red Storm might — or might not — bounce back from a shocking 72-40 road loss at No. 6 UConn on Feb. 25, which momentarily cast some doubt over who would win the Big East regular season title. But head coach Rick Pitino deserves immense credit for the way his team responded down the stretch, winning three consecutive games over Villanova, Georgetown and Seton Hall to win the league outright for a second consecutive year. A moment that could have legitimately derailed the Red Storm’s upward trajectory now seems like nothing more than a blip amid this stretch of 16 wins in 17 games entering the conference tournament. The Big East Tournament is played at Madison Square Garden, which has become something of a fortress during Pitino’s tenure thanks to ever-increasing fan interest. The potential semifinal matchup with fourth-seeded Seton Hall is a rematch of a game St. John’s won just last week. Even the possibility of a high-profile rubber match with second-seeded UConn in the championship game shouldn’t be nearly as intimidating given the home-court advantage. When the Red Storm and Huskies played at the Garden in early February, the crowd resembled a 90-10 split in favor of St. John’s. That’s why Pitino’s team should expect to cut down the nets again this weekend. Big Ten Winner: Michigan At this point, who is picking against the Wolverines in any capacity, let alone the conference tournament for a league they just won by four full games? The combination of a relatively soft non-conference schedule and an easy opening salvo in Big Ten play meant that Michigan was largely untested through mid-February, when head coach Dusty May and Co. embarked on a brutal finishing kick. By then, the analytics and predictive metrics for May’s team were already extraordinary, but a string of wins over then-No. 7 Purdue (away), then No. 10 Illinois (away), Iowa (away) and then-No. 8 Michigan State (home) cemented just how special these Wolverines really are. An interesting twist to this year’s Big Ten Tournament bracket includes a potential semifinal matchup with fifth-seeded Wisconsin, the only conference foe to beat Michigan this year. That would require the Badgers to win their opening game and then upset fourth-seeded Illinois in the quarterfinals. There’s also the possibility of a championship matchup with third-seeded Michigan State, the Wolverines’ archrival, which would present an opportunity for May to earn a third consecutive victory over the Spartans — something that hasn’t happened since the 2017-18 campaign. If Michigan can cut down the nets in Chicago this weekend, the selection committee will have to think long and hard about giving May’s team the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. Big 12 Winner: Arizona Whichever team emerges from this slobber knocker of a tournament should feel thoroughly accomplished, regardless of what happens in the NCAA Tournament. The Big 12 field includes five teams ranked among the top 16 in the latest AP Poll in No. 2 Arizona, No. 5 Houston, No. 7 Iowa State, No. 14 Kansas and No. 16 Texas Tech, plus two more that checked in at Nos. 27 and 28, respectively, in TCU and BYU. That’s as loaded of a conference tournament field as you’ll find in college basketball, especially considering how many future lottery picks will be involved: from AJ Dybantsa (BYU) and Darryn Peterson (Kansas), to Kingston Flemings (Houston), Brayden Burries (Arizona), Koa Peat (Arizona) and, potentially, Christian Anderson Jr. (Texas Tech). NBA scouts will be drooling. Such incredible depth across the Big 12 resulted in a bit of cannibalism during the latter stages of the regular season. Houston dropped three straight games in late February before rebounding with three consecutive wins. Iowa State will enter the conference tournament having lost three of its last five. Kansas hasn’t won back-to-back games in more than a month. Texas Tech seemed no worse for wear following the torn ACL suffered by consensus second-team All-American JT Toppin before losing to TCU and BYU last week. The only team still relatively unscathed is Arizona, which lost back-to-back games against then-No. 9 Kansas (away) and then-No. 16 Texas Tech (home) in mid-February before reeling off six straight wins to claim the tournament’s top seed. There’s no reason to think the Wildcats will stumble this week. ACC Winner: Virginia Injuries to key players will be among the prevailing storylines this week, dampening what could have been a much more exciting ACC Tournament. North Carolina announced that star freshman Caleb Wilson (19.8 points, 9.4 rebounds per game) is going to miss the remainder of the season after breaking his right thumb while dunking during practice. Wilson, who is now expected to declare for the NBA Draft, had already missed the prior six games due to an injury on his opposite hand. Without him, the Tar Heels’ ceiling is significantly lower for both the conference tournament and the NCAA Tournament. Duke remains the odd-son favorite to cut down the nets this week, but the Blue Devils are not without a significant injury of their own. Head coach Jon Scheyer announced that starting point guard Caleb Foster (8.5 points, 3.6 assists) suffered a broken foot against North Carolina over the weekend and underwent surgery Sunday morning. Foster is now sidelined indefinitely without a clear timetable for his return. The Blue Devils are also missing starting center Patrick Ngongba II (10.7 points, 6 rebounds) due to a foot injury, with Scheyer deciding to rest him ahead of the NCAA Tournament. With two of the ACC’s top four seeds hamstrung by injuries, there’s an opportunity for second-seeded Virginia to make a run toward the tournament title. The Cavaliers’ only two losses since Dec. 31 came against North Carolina and Duke when all of the aforementioned players were healthy. SEC Winner: Florida Is there any team in the country hotter than Florida right now? Following a 76-67 loss to unranked Auburn on Jan. 24, the Gators sunk to 14-6 overall and 5-2 in the SEC — a far cry from last year’s national championship-winning squad that only suffered four defeats all season. Since then, head coach Todd Golden and his team have strung together 11 consecutive wins in spectacular fashion. They’ve scored at least 84 points 10 times during that span, including three games with 100 points or more. All but one of those wins came by double-digit margins. From Jan. 28 through the present, Florida ranks fifth nationally in offensive efficiency and third nationally in defensive efficiency, unquestionably a national title contender once again. The SEC Tournament bracket sets up for a potential semifinal matchup with fourth-seeded Vanderbilt, a team that only lost to Florida by four during the lone regular season tilt in mid-January. The Commodores, who rank 15th nationally in offensive efficiency, have enough firepower to keep pace with the Gators but may not be able to stop them on the other end. From there, Golden and Co. might see either second-seeded Alabama or third-seeded Arkansas in the title game. Those teams both lost to Florida during the regular season by a stunning combined margin of 57 points. That’s why it’s best to back the Gators this week.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

A year from now we will be getting down to the wire for the 2027 World Cup in Brazil. So what better time to make our initial roster predictions for the group Emma Hayes will call up? The U.S. women’s national team won its eighth SheBelieves Cup title over the weekend, and didn’t even have some of its most recognizable players available for various reasons. For example, Sophia Wilson and Mallory Swanson are coming back from maternity leave while Tierna Davidson and Catarina Macario are recovering from injuries. Those four players – if healthy – figure to play large roles at the tournament next summer. One thing we’ve learned from Hayes’ time as manager so far is that she’s committed to developing and growing this player pool. Not just for the 2027 World Cup, but the 2028 Olympics and the 2031 World Cup as well. And we’re seeing her do the things she’s set out to do in real time. Hayes has given 32 players caps in 32 games. She’s further established the youth programs and the U23 squad as the premier pipeline to the senior team. We’ve seen players – Michelle Cooper, Claire Hutton, Lilly Reale, Jameese Joseph, Gisele Thompson and more – who were called into the Futures Camp in January 2025 and have since worked their way to getting regular call-ups. They are competing for spots on the roster for World Cup qualifying later this year and for the big show next summer. This past training camp was a peak inside who Hayes has identified as part of a “core group.” These are players who Hayes believes are ready – or nearly ready – to make a difference ahead of the 2027 World Cup. Using that as a guide, as well as noting players who haven’t been available but will be soon, here is our first edition of who we think Hayes is seriously looking at for the 2027 World Cup roster: Goalkeepers (3): Phallon Tullis-Joyce (Manchester United), Claudia Dickey (Seattle Reign), Mandy McGlynn (Utah Royals) It’s clear at this point that Tullis-Joyce is Hayes’ No. 1 option in goal. She started two of the three SheBelieves Cup matches – wins over Canada and Colombia – and kept clean sheets. She’s a budding star for her Women’s Super League club, where she won a share of the Golden Glove award last season and was named Manchester United’s Player of the Year. It’s a tall order to replace Alyssa Naeher, but Tullis-Joyce is getting more and more comfortable in each USWNT appearance. Defenders (7): Naomi Girma (Chelsea), Emily Fox (Arsenal), Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC), Tierna Davidson (Gotham FC), Lilly Reale (Gotham FC), Tara Rudd (Washington Spirit), Avery Patterson (Houston Dash) The back line is pretty much set. Fox at right back, Girma at center back – alongside Davidson or Sonnett, depending on health and opponent – and then most likely Reale on the left. Davidson hasn’t been with the team since tearing her ACL in March 2025, but she’s back with her club ahead of this NWSL season, which means a return to the USWNT in April seems probable. Reale left the SheBelieves camp with a foot injury, but Hayes is high on U.S. Soccer’s 2025 Young Female Player of the Year. Rudd, Patterson and Gisele Thompson (who is not listed here) have all seen their respective stocks rise over the past year and would be strong options to showcase the squad’s depth at a major tournament. Midfielders (7): Lindsey Heaps (OL Lyonnes), Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC), Sam Coffey (Manchester City), Claire Hutton (Bay FC), Lily Yohannes (OL Lyonnes), Jaedyn Shaw (Gotham FC), Olivia Moultrie (Portland Thorns) Hayes has so many options tactically in the midfield. There’s always the Heaps-Lavelle-Coffey formation, which relies on experience and familiarity. But off that there’s a web of different combinations Hayes can play. Coffey could be a single holding midfielder, or play in a double pivot. Shaw can come in effectively at the No. 10 position, and Hutton and Yohannes are young stars in the making who will be part of this team for a long time. This is an incredibly tight-knit unit and one that Hayes will be able to adjust when needed. Forwards (6): Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit), Mallory Swanson (Chicago Stars), Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns), Catarina Macario (Chelsea), Alyssa Thompson (Chelsea), Ally Sentnor (Kansas City Current) This is where things get the most interesting. The world saw how dynamic and dangerous a full-strength Triple Espresso can be when it led the team to gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Since then, Swanson and Wilson have had babies and been out on maternity leave. In their absences, opportunities have come to Thompson, Sentnor and Macario, who could and should all be starters. This might be the most fun position group for Hayes because if you start the Triple Espresso, for example, and need to switch things up in the second half, a tired opponent isn’t going to want to see Thompson or Macario coming off the bench.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

This year’s NFL Scouting Combine featured the best showing in the history of the event, according to FOX Sports lead college football analyst Joel Klatt. In fact, Klatt was so impressed by the prospects at this year’s combine that he didn’t even mention Ohio State edge rusher Arvell Reese as one of the top risers following the event. Reese ran a 4.46 40-yard dash, which was the best mark among edge rushers at the combine, as he looks to prove he can play the position at the next level. Reese had already been featured as a top-10 pick in many mock drafts ahead of the combine, which led to Klatt excluding him from his top five risers list. But one of his teammates made the cut, as did one of college football’s top defensive players last season. Here are Klatt’s five biggest risers following this year’s combine. 5. Caleb Banks, DT, Florida After playing just three games in 2025 due to a foot injury, Banks needed to have a strong showing in Indianapolis. He did, showing an impressive combination of burst and size. “Banks wasn’t really on anyone’s radar coming into the combine,” Klatt said. “Maybe he is, but he didn’t really play [in 2025]. He lost most of the season due to an injury. So, now you’ve got to go perform. And perform he did. He’s 6-foot-6 and 327 pounds with an 85-inch wingspan and he jumped 32 inches. What are they feeding these kids?” Banks, who had 4.5 sacks in 2024, also ran a 5.04 in the 40-yard dash. He had the fifth-best athletic score of all defensive tackles at the combine, per Next Gen Stats. He also climbed up to No. 14 in FOX Sports NFL Draft analyst Rob Rang’s most recent big board. 4. Omar Cooper Jr., WR, Indiana Klatt admitted that he carries some bias for Cooper, thanks to his game-winning touchdown grab in Indiana’s win over Penn State this past season. “Omar Cooper had an outstanding combine,” Klatt said. “Bear with me for everything I’m about to say here: I thought he was the best wide receiver in the Big Ten after he had the ball in his hands. I know that’s a big preface, but when you watch Omar Cooper, man, those RPO games — you should go back and watch the Illinois tape. But that catch against Penn State … that was the greatest play I’ve ever seen live and I’m always going to remember Omar Cooper because of that.” Cooper didn’t necessarily put up amazing numbers during the athletic testing at the combine, but Klatt thought his 4.42 in the 40 was strong enough. He also thought Cooper performed well enough in the on-field drills, holding the third-best production score among all wide receivers at the combine, per Next Gen Stats. “I think his tape is incredible. I think his body control is incredible. His hands are incredible. Then, he runs a 4.42. Boom! Let’s go, Omar Cooper. Now, I think he’s a first-round wide receiver. Daniel Jeremiah, he’s the guy I most respect, has him inside of that first-round ranking.” 3. Jacob Rodriguez, LB, Texas Tech Some might see Rodriguez as the quintessential linebacker who peaked in college. He’ll turn 24 before he makes his NFL debut, and he isn’t the most physically imposing linebacker, standing at 6-foot-1. Klatt hears those concerns, but thinks Rodriguez’s combine might have disproved the narrative that he’s just a college linebacker. “Wrongly, there were some people around the sport that thought, ‘You know what, he might have just been a good college linebacker,'” Klatt said. “There have been guys like that. Manti Te’o comes to mind. There’s nothing wrong with that. People say it like it’s a knock. It’s really not. I think there was a thought that Jacob Rodriguez was going to be just a really good, intuitive college player. Then he puts a season like he had together and a combine like he just put together — top times for the linebackers in the three-cone and shuttle drills. He ran a super solid 4.57 in the 40.” Rodriguez’s athletic score was the fourth-best among linebackers at the combine, according to Next Gen Stats. That pairs well with the productive 2025 season he had, in which he recorded 128 total tackles, seven forced fumbles and four interceptions. Klatt thinks we could hear the Butkus Award winner’s name get called earlier than initially expected. “I think he was trying to get himself into the second round,” Klatt said. “Now, I think there’s a conversation for him to get into the backend of the first round, certainly at the top of the second round. So, he created value for himself.” 2. Kenyon Sadiq, TE, Oregon Sadiq showed out in Indianapolis and made history at the combine when he ran a 4.39 in the 40. That time was the fastest ever for a tight end in the event. While Klatt was impressed by that, he also believes that it doesn’t define Sadiq as a route-runner, and he meant that in a good way. “This guy’s not just a straight line, track speed tight end,” Klatt said. “Remember Kyle Pitts? He was a flex tight end and he was fast, athletic and going to take the NFL by storm. Sadiq is not just that. He’s not just a track star that’s going to run a fast 40, which was a 4.39.” That speed helped Sadiq record eight receiving touchdowns this past season, which was the best among all FBS tight ends. But Klatt doesn’t think Sadiq’s receiving skills are the best part of his game. “Here’s what’s going to make him so valuable: He was better as a blocker than he was a wide receiver, and he runs a 4.39,” Klatt said. “He’s an insanely good wide receiver; he can flex and be an athlete. This guy’s a phenomenal player, but it’s all the work he puts in at the point of attack. He’s a terrific blocker. He’s humble. He works hard. “When I talked to [Oregon head coach] Dan Lanning and [former Oregon offensive coordinator] Will Stein for preparation ahead of the Northwestern game this past season, Dan Lanning was like, ‘Joel, you can’t watch just a pass-catching cut up of Sadiq. You have to watch him block.’ So, I did. I reset the filters and just watched run plays. I watched this guy work in the run game, block, work his tail off and get after it. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, he’s one of the best blocking tight ends in all of America.'” Following the combine, Klatt believes that Sadiq “could be approaching the top 10.” 1. Sonny Styles, LB, Ohio State Klatt has Styles at No. 1 after a showing that he thinks might be the best ever in the history of the combine. What Klatt really liked about Styles’ combine performance, though, was that he participated. “That was bonkers. Was that the best on-field workout in combine history? You’re not going to get an argument from this guy. I think it might have been the best on-field workout in the combine ever,” Klatt said. “Here’s what I love, at least for Sonny Styles, is that this guy was already a first-round guy. He pops off the tape. He’s a great leader. He wore No. 0 because that’s the most important number in that program, and he was voted to that position by his teammates. He had the audio in the helmet and he was the leader of that defense. The best defense in America was led by Sonny Styles. “He’s got all the intangibles and he’s got a first-round grade. It’s so easy for a guy like that to be like, ‘Oh, I don’t want to compete.’ But he knew, ‘I can go to the combine and absolutely blow it out of the water.’ Now, here’s where he finds himself.” Styles ran a 4.46 in the 40, which was the best among all linebackers at this year’s event. But it was his vertical jump that was even more impressive, leaping 43.5 inches for the best vertical by an off-ball linebacker since 2003. When you consider that Styles’ on-field production earned him a first-team All-American spot this past season, Klatt thinks that the Ohio State product might be as sure a prospect as it gets in this year’s NFL Draft. “He goes from a mid-first-round guy to clearly in the conversation to be in the top 10 and maybe in the top five,” Klatt said. “Here’s the best part about it: All those intangibles are now backed up by freak athleticism. So, if you’re an NFL organization, there are zero concerns about Sonny Styles. “I think he’s going to have a phenomenal career in the NFL. Like I said, some organization is going to look up and say, ‘We have to take Sonny Styles. Obviously, he’s going to be our captain and play in our organization for 12, 13 years and be the face of our organization and our city.'”​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

Several years ago, Louisville men’s basketball coach Pat Kelsey embarked on an offseason study of Michigan State. He wanted to better understand how the Spartans, led by Hall-of-Fame coach Tom Izzo, always seemed to be among the best teams in the country despite an apparent reluctance to embrace some of the sport’s new-wave, offensive ideology trickling in from Europe and the NBA. Kelsey was fascinated by the way Izzo reached eight Final Fours and won 11 Big Ten regular-season titles while embracing wildly different principles. He considers Izzo to be “one of the greatest coaches in the history of college basketball,” in part because of the sustained success. The Spartans were not, as far as Kelsey could tell, adopters of the “free throws, rim-shot 3s” approach that seems to be infiltrating the game at a remarkable pace. But night after night, month after month, season after season, Michigan State always won. How? “What they emphasize, they’re great at,” Kelsey told me last month. “One of those is offensive rebounding, you know? Coach Izzo became one of the great offensive rebounding gurus.” Kelsey was one of numerous coaches who told me that a drastic rewiring of how offensive rebounding is viewed, valued and taught across the country has helped fuel college basketball’s current offensive explosion. This season, nearly three times as many teams are averaging at least 120 points per 100 possessions than any of the last 30 seasons, according to KenPom. As the NCAA Tournament approaches, 71 teams are securing offensive rebounds on at least 34% of their field goal attempts, a number that was only at 27 teams five years ago. There are 315 players averaging at least two offensive rebounds per game this season, up from 251 five years ago. All shapes and sizes are now crashing the glass. When coupled with what we explored in Part 2 of this series — the evolution of shot selection as teams lean more heavily into analytics and 3-pointers — it becomes easier to understand why offenses are operating so efficiently this season. More offensive rebounding creates more possessions, and more possessions are now ending with made 3s than ever before. Second-chance points, perimeter shooting and offensive efficiency all go hand in hand. “Part of the secret sauce is the rebounding,” Texas head coach Sean Miller told me. “When teams used to heave up all those 3s, what they were sacrificing is they would miss and they couldn’t get a rebound. Now, you’re rebounding on 3-point shots like never before.” In Part 3 of this series, we launch ourselves into the world of offensive rebounding, as college basketball’s keenest minds explain how crashing the glass is contributing to what might be the greatest scoring season in the sport’s history. [THE BLUEPRINT: Offense-First Player Acquisition | Shot Selection] *** *** *** Miller: If you track it and start to look at Final Fours, one common theme that most, if not all, of those teams had was they’re prolific on the offensive glass. There’s always exceptions, but the teams who rebound the best, the second-shot opportunities, to me, went the furthest in the tournament. Obviously, that has a lot to do with offensive efficiency. The game changed in Europe, and then it changed in the NBA, copying Europe. Now it’s worked its way to college where teams are crashing the glass on 3-point shots, and they’re crashing the glass more with perimeter players than ever before. Kelvin Sampson, Houston: Not everybody tries to score off an offensive rebound anymore. They grab it, they throw it back out and shoot a 3. I’m convinced we’re going to have some games where if a team takes 50 shots, 40 of them are going to be 3s. And then that triggers or mandates how you’re going to recruit. Grant McCasland, Texas Tech: I think what everyone has always done is taught what they’ve been taught, which is take [the ball] right back up when you [get an offensive] rebound. And I would have been in that camp when I first started 20 years ago. Why wouldn’t you do that? Then you learn about the dagger 3, and then you see the numbers behind it, and I think people are starting to lean into that more often, obviously some more than others. T.J. Otzelberger, Iowa State: If you catch [an offensive rebound] on balance in the paint, go right back up and score. If you catch it off-balance or out of the paint, spray it for a 3. That’s something we work on every single day. Having Milan Momcilovic on our team, a deadly 3-point shooter, that’s usually the pathway to getting him the best 3s that we can get him. Miller: It’s called corner crashing, 3-point crashing. There’s another term, tagging up, which basically everybody goes [for the rebound]. I’ve been doing it for 21 years as a head coach. That term and that philosophy didn’t exist just a few short years ago. Jon Scheyer, Duke: When you think about the math game, there’s been a shift. Teams are way more aggressive crashing offensive glass, which creates more opportunities there. I think that’s kind of the possession battle. McCasland: Those are numbers games [and] how you win the game is creating more opportunities and getting more shots than your opponent. And then, obviously, that’s a high-percentage shot, at least statistically, the kick-out 3. Why wouldn’t you try to utilize something that’s got a higher percentage of success and gets you more possessions? Kelsey: You look at our offensive rebounding numbers for a lot of years, we very much value offensive rebounding. There was a guy on my staff several years ago, Dave Davis, who was a famous Division II coach. He had a bunch of 6-foot dudes, and they led the country in offensive rebounding several years at the D-II level. … He wrote a document called the “Rebounding Manifesto,” and he was our rebounding coordinator and coached it and brought that philosophy to us. You look at his teams and the way they shot a million 3s, they played incredibly fast, they crushed the offensive rebounds, and he just owned that. Our big thing is if you get an offensive rebound and you’ve got a clean finish, a clean look at the rim, you better make it or get fouled. If not, obviously look for that kick-out 3. It’s something that we celebrate. Miller: There are extra possessions now that didn’t exist years ago because teams — and Illinois would be Exhibit A — they shoot a ton of 3s, almost 51% or more of their shots are from 3. But if you look at how they rebound the ball, it’s different than it ever was. And there’s all these extra possessions that I think make them more efficient and give them more points per possession than teams five, six years ago who didn’t do that. Matt Painter, Purdue: It starts with possessions. If you turn the ball over a lot and you don’t get rebounds, you’re probably not going to be efficient because you don’t have as many possessions. So the No. 1 thing is, if you want to be efficient, don’t turn the ball over. … If you can play without turning the ball over and you’re a really good offensive rebounding team, you automatically have an advantage. If you’re just a one-trick pony and you’re really a perimeter-oriented team, you better learn to be able to drive the basketball. You’ve got to be able to get to the free-throw line in some capacity, whether that’s off the glass, whether that’s in the post or whether that’s driving the ball. Ben McCollum, Iowa: It seems like teams are focusing a little bit more on offensive rebounding, but I think that goes back to the same theory of there’s not as much toughness and grit to box out. A guy that’s been to three different schools or is getting paid a lot of money, his last interest is to make sure that he consistently boxes out, right? And so, then you get O-boards, and then, naturally, with offensive rebounds, they either kick out or go back up. Kelsey: Rebounding is a mentality as much as it is a technique. It’s grit, it’s hustle, it’s nastiness, it’s toughness, it’s all things that we want to be known as. But we put such a value on offensive rebounding. Every day we measure certain things, and one of them is offensive rebounding. We grade our guys on every single opportunity: Did you do your job, or did you not? And as you can imagine, that takes hours to grade and to evaluate. But since we invest so much time on it and the players know that’s important to me, we’re usually good at it. Come back on Thursday for Part 4 in this series, which explores how on-court processing and individual decision-making has expanded from point guards to all five positions, which is rendering college basketball smarter than it’s ever been before. In The Blueprint, our in-depth, long-form series takes you inside some of the most amazing stories in sports.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

The race for the NCAA Tournament’s No. 1 seeds is nearly settled — with one spot still very much in play. In his latest bracket projections, FOX Sports bracket forecaster Mike DeCourcy projects Michigan, Duke, Arizona and Florida on the top line as conference tournaments are underway across the country. Michigan, Duke and Arizona have separated themselves from the field over the course of the season and appear firmly positioned to hold their places as No. 1 seeds heading into Selection Sunday. Florida is the newest addition to that group. The Gators surged onto the top line after closing the regular season in dominant fashion, while UConn slipped following its surprising loss to Marquette in the Big East regular-season finale. That combination allowed Florida to jump the Huskies as the fourth and final 1-seed. The result of the SEC and Big East Tournaments could determine how secure that spot really is. If Florida wins the SEC Tournament, the Gators would almost certainly lock up the final No. 1 seed. But if they stumble and UConn goes on to win the Big East Tournament, the debate for the last place on the top line could quickly heat up again. With that, DeCourcy shares his latest NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament projections: EAST REGION SOUTH REGION MIDWEST REGION WEST REGION And it’s never too early to check in on the bubble. According to DeCourcy’s projections, Texas, SMU, VCU and New Mexico are the last four teams in the tournament, while Indiana, Auburn, Cal and Cincinnati are the first four out. As for conference representation, the SEC leads the way with 10 teams, while the Big Ten has nine teams. The ACCand the Big 12 each have eight teams in DeCourcy’s latest tournament projections. The Big East and the West Coasthave three teams represented, while the Mountain West and Atlantic 10 have two teams. Selection Sunday is four days away, and these projections will inevitably evolve. For now, DeCourcy’s latest bracket forecast offers a clear snapshot of who’s rising, who’s falling and which programs are already building the résumés they’ll need when March Madness arrives.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

The top-end talent available in the 2026 NFL Draft falls short in comparison to prior years, but I like the depth of this class throughout the first 100 picks — at least at certain positions. The offensive line, defensive line, defensive backfield and wide receiver are the four strongest position groups, with each featuring enough starter-caliber prospects to last until deep into Day 2. With the Scouting Combine in the rearview and Pro Days now in session, here is how I currently rank the best 100 prospects of the 2026 NFL Draft. 100. Jimmy Rolder, ILB, Michigan Showing Jedi-like instincts and picture-perfect tackling technique, Rolder jumped from 26 tackles as a reserve in 2024 to leading the team in stops in 2025. Run-stuffers like Rolder aren’t as valued in today’s pass-happy NFL so it’s possible he slips into Day 3, but I see a future starter who will ultimately outplay his draft slot. 99. Romello Height, Edge, Texas Tech At 6-foot-3, 239 pounds, Height lacks ideal size for the edge, but he’s sudden and slippery, winning with a variety of dips and spins to efficiently get past would-be blockers and quickly close on the quarterback. 98. Sam Roush, TE, Stanford In a class full of pass-catching specialists at tight end, Roush is a legitimate “Y” with the size (6-6, 267), strength, smarts and athletic bloodlines to project as a quick contributor. 97. Wesley Williams, Edge, Duke Stubby arms (31 7/8″), average speed (4.89) and meager sack production in 2025 (two sacks) could cause some to overlook Williams, but he plays with the anticipation, intensity and violence that will keep him in the NFL for a long time. 96. Carson Beck, QB, Miami In some circles, Beck might be better known for his mistakes than his successes, but he’s battle-tested, a gifted natural passer and offers prototypical size. He is one of the few quarterbacks in this draft class with realistic starting potential, justifying a Day 2 investment. 95. Jude Bowry, OL, Boston College Bowry struggled with injuries throughout much of his four years at BC, but he was voted a team captain in 2025 and he offers an NFL-caliber combination of size and athleticism. He is my favorite of the so-called second-tier OTs in this class and may very well prove better in the NFL than he was in college. 94. VJ Payne, S, Kansas State Scouts can check a lot of boxes with Payne, a team captain and 42-game starter who boasts an exceptional size/speed combination and proven track record for generating turnovers. 93. Tacario Davis, CB, Washington An injury-plagued 2025 campaign may have kept Davis off the media radar, but he’s well-known by NFL scouts. The uniquely-built 6-foot-4 corner offers the 4.41 speed and hand-eye coordination to corral receivers off the line and at the catch-point. 92. Kage Casey, OG, Boise State Stopwatches at the Combine suggest that Casey is sluggish, but his tape shows good initial quickness and serious pop on contact — traits that I think will suit the college left tackle best inside at guard. 91. Malik Muhammad, CB, Texas The 6-0, 182-pound Muhammad might have a slight frame, but his long arms (32 3/8″), light feet and route anticipation make up for it — as does his experience playing against top competition. 90. Mason Reiger, Edge, Wisconsin Long and lean for the position but highly physical and a more nuanced rusher than his 13 career sacks might suggest, I think Reiger’s best football is still ahead of him. 89. Adam Randall, RB, Clemson The 6-foot-3, 232-pounder spent his first three years at Clemson as a receiver, but flourished in 2025 at tailback, showing impressive vision and toughness between the tackles, as well as power and surprising slipperiness to create yards after contact. 88. Germie Bernard, WR, Alabama Bernard isn’t the biggest or fastest receiver in this class, but he shifts gears well to create separation and possesses soft, strong hands to pluck outside of his frame, offering a nuanced skill set that projects nicely to the NFL. 87. Domonique Orange, DT, Iowa State Appropriately nicknamed “Big Citrus,” Orange uses his round frame and long (33 3/8″) arms to stack and shed opponents at the line of scrimmage. Unfortunately, he provides little “juice” as a rusher, recording just one sack in 50 college games. 86. Zakee Wheatley, S, Penn State He boasts prototypical size (6-2, 200) and excellent ball skills (six INTs among 12 career PBUs), but Wheatley must improve his open-field tackling. 85. Deion Burks, WR, Oklahoma Topping out at 629 receiving yards (and that was at Purdue in 2023), Burks never dominated in college like his timed speed (4.30 in the 40-yard dash) and strength (his 26 reps tied for the most among receivers) would suggest. But it is hard to imagine some NFL team not gambling a Day 2 pick on his upside. 84. Jake Golday, ILB, Cincinnati A moveable chess piece at nearly 6-foot-5, 239 pounds, Golday is a former edge rusher whose agility and speed have allowed him to excel at off-ball linebacker. He’s raw yet fast and physical. 83. Sam Hecht, C, Kansas State Quick as a hiccup with the low center of gravity well-suiting to his position, Hecht isn’t overpowering. But his agility and play-through-the-whistle mentality suggest a long NFL career. 82. Jaishawn Barham, Edge, Michigan Barham spent much of his career at Michigan (and previously at Maryland) as an off-ball linebacker, but he possesses projectable twitch and core flexibility to attack off the edge. 81. Logan Jones, C, Iowa An athletic technician who overcomes middling size and strength, Jones pounces out of his stance to stalemate DTs, projecting as a longtime NFL starter in a zone scheme. 80. Josh Cameron, WR, Baylor While Cameron is a couple inches taller, it is easy to see some shades of Deebo Samuel in the Baylor product’s game, as both are essentially running backs in a receiver’s body, bullying opponents with their long arms, strong hands and ultra physical style. 79. Joshua Josephs, Edge, Tennessee Josephs is currently a one-trick pony speed rusher, but he’s so sudden off the snap and has some of the longest arms (34 ¼”) in this class, which have helped him generate nearly as many pass breakups (nine) and forced fumbles (six) as sacks (9.5). 78. Michael Trigg, TE, Baylor A loose and fluid athlete with long arms, Trigg boasts intoxicating upside, but he’s sushi-raw as a route-runner and blocker with a lot of concentration drops on tape. 77. Antonio Williams, WR, Clemson With 25 combined touchdowns (21 as a pass-catcher, two as a runner, two as a passer) in 43 career games at Clemson, Williams has a proven big-play knack, showing impressive spatial awareness, body control and soft hands to make difficult plays look routine. 76. Keylan Rutledge, OG, Georgia Tech Teams prioritizing finishers up front will love Rutledge, a three-year All-ACC selection and bar-room brawler of a right guard with good athleticism and cinder blocks for hands. 75. Zxavian Harris, DT, Mississippi The massive 6-foot-8, 330-pound Harris is a polarizing prospect among scouts, as he loses leverage at the snap with too much of his production coming downfield. But his ability to play up and down the line of scrimmage and block kicks (six over his career) will have some team gambling on him with a Day 2 pick. 74. Garrett Nussmeier, QB, LSU A propensity for risky throws and an injury-marred senior campaign are clear red flags, but Nussmeier has the grit, smarts and arm talent required for NFL success. He may never prove to be a frontline starter in the NFL, but he should carve out a long career, justifying a Day 2 selection. 73. Bud Clark, S, TCU Teams will have to weigh the pros (elite ball skills) versus the cons (spindly 6-foot-1, 188-pound frame) with Clark. His awareness, agility and soft hands he showcased at the Senior Bowl suggest he’ll soon be starting in the NFL. 72. Trey Zuhn III, C, Texas A&M Zuhn started four years at left tackle for the Aggies, but his square-ish frame will push him inside in the NFL, where his short area quickness and the pop he generates on contact project him as a longtime starter at this level, as well. 71. Gennings Dunker, OL, Iowa With his long red hair, Dunker enjoyed more airtime during the Combine than some quarterbacks, but his game is built more on power and nastiness than athleticism, which is why the career right tackle might be pinched inside in the NFL. 70. Davison Igbinosun, CB, Ohio State A four-year starter at Ohio State (and Mississippi), the 6-foot-2, 189-pounder has a high-cut frame that leaves him vulnerable to shifty route-runners. Still, he closes quickly and confidently against both the pass and run, projecting best as a press corner in the NFL. 69. Jalon Kilgore, S, South Carolina The team that invests a Day 2 selection on Kilgore is banking on upside — and he offers plenty of that given his prototypical size and athleticism — but there are more lapses in coverage and missed tackles than his flashy highlight reels would suggest. 68. Brian Parker II, OL/C, Duke My favorite of this year’s projected position switchers, Parker is a three-year starting right tackle whose burly frame, core strength and underrated athleticism project best inside at the next level. 67. Chris Brazzell II, WR, Tennessee In size and style, Brazzell reminds me a lot of Bengals star Tee Higgins, towering over cornerbacks with an imposing 6-foot-4 frame. But it his rare burst off the snap that separates him from most taller vertical threats. 66. Tyler Onyedim, DT, Texas A&M Don’t let the fact that Onyedim generated just 5.5 sacks in 53 games at Texas A&M (and Iowa State) fool you, his first-step quickness, core flexibility and long arms make him one of this year’s most disruptive defensive tackles. 65. Emmanuel Pregnon, OG, Oregon A classic mauler whose square-ish 6-foot-4, 314 pound frame is seemingly all shoulders and thighs, Pregnon is one of the few true guards who projects as a Day 1 NFL starter. 64. Keyron Crawford, Edge, Auburn A late comer to the game who only switched from basketball to football as a senior in high school, Crawford needs to locate the ball quicker and learn to use his hands better to fend off blockers. But few in this class offer his zip and efficient change of direction off the edge. 63. Keionte Scott, DB, Miami If he weren’t such an instinctive, passionate football player, Scott could make it as a travel guide, starring at Snow Junior College, Auburn and Miami, where’s he’s played safety, linebacker, nickel, cornerback and punt returner. I like him best at big nickel, where his instincts and physicality should shine brightest. 62. A.J. Haulcy, S, LSU Feast or famine personified, Haulcy promises to be one of the more polarizing defenders of this class as he’s decisive and a heavy hitter but also hyper aggressive and prone to missed tackles. 61. Malachi Fields, WR, Notre Dame Clocking at a sluggish 4.61 seconds in the 40-yard dash and corralling just 36 catches for 630 yards and five touchdowns last year for Notre Dame, Fields won’t be for everyone. But the imposing 6-foot-4, 219-pounder offers the physicality, sure hands and surprisingly sharp route-running that project well as a traditional X receiver. 60. Emmett Johnson, RB, Nebraska Johnson may lack the top-end speed to consistently beat NFL defenders to the edge, but he earns high marks in some of the traits I think are even more important for success at the next level: lateral agility to make defenders miss in tight spaces, as well as both the vision and burst to attack cutback lanes. 59. R Mason Thomas, Edge, Oklahoma Reminiscent of another former Sooner — Broncos star Nik Bonitto — Thomas personifies the often-used scouting expression of “converting speed to power,” routinely forcing would-be blockers onto their heels and off-balance with an explosive burst and then bull-rushing them through the chest on a direct route to the ballcarrier. 58. Lee Hunter, NG, Texas Disappointing workout results might have highlighted some of Hunter’s athletic limitations, but the big man dominated in the trenches during Texas Tech’s playoff run, as well as at the Senior Bowl, winning with a stunning combination of explosive first step quickness and overwhelming brute strength. 57. Connor Lew, C, Auburn A baby-faced 20-year-old who opted for the 2026 NFL Draft despite tearing his ACL in October, Lew nevertheless looks the part of a decade-long NFL starting center, offering an ideal blend of size, balance, agility and already grown-man strength. 56. Derrick Moore, Edge, Michigan In a class full of Swiss Army knife rushers, the 6-foot-4, 255-pound Moore is the hammer, utilizing a pro-caliber bull rush to bully would-be blockers on his way to the quarterback, generating 10 sacks in 12 games for Michigan in 2025. 55. Eli Stowers, TE, Vanderbilt A former quarterback who is built more like a receiver than a traditional tight end, Stowers’ tape is full of highlight reel plays and his Combine workout was one of this year’s best. He needs to get stronger, but Stowers projects as a matchup monster out of the slot and wing in the NFL, warranting top-50 consideration. 54. Omar Cooper, Jr., WR, Indiana A talented pass-catcher in a running back’s body, Cooper is at his best out of the slot, where he can bully undersized nickel cornerbacks, generating consistent yardage after the catch. 53. Keith Abney II, CB, Arizona State Everything about the 5-foot-10, 187-pound Abney looks average except his tape — he’s among the most tenacious and competitive players in this class. 52. Josiah Trotter, ILB, Missouri A downhill thumper with a unique frame, closing speed and NFL bloodlines, Trotter — who won’t turn 21 until April — has the look and energy of a longtime starting middle linebacker. 51. Malachi Lewis, Edge, UCF With five-plus sacks each of the past three seasons, Lewis pairs production with exciting traits, including an explosive get-off, long arms and rare closing burst. 50. Dani Dennis-Sutton, Edge, Penn State He is among the handful of prospects to surge on my latest board, proving at the Combine that his stellar production in college was due not only to refined technique but underrated athleticism. Consider Dennis-Sutton one of this year’s biggest winners at Lucas Oil Stadium. 49. Zachariah Branch, WR, Georgia Branch is likely going to generate some Tyreek Hill comparisons during the pre-draft process, powered by the 4.35 speed he demonstrated at the Combine. Like Hill, Branch is at his best as a vertical threat or in the quick game, offering the kind of instant spark to a passing attack that only elite speed can provide. 48. Mike Washington Jr., RB, Arkansas Few boosted their stock at the Combine more than the burly Washington, whose 4.33-second 40-yard dash time not only was the fastest among all running backs, it was the fastest among any player weighing over 220 pounds. In a relatively weak year for running backs, Washington’s elite size-speed combination warrants top-50 consideration. 47. Christen Miller, DT, Georgia Miller elected not to participate in the timed drills at the Combine, but he’s just too good of a player to not include on this list. I don’t see a flashy athlete, but he has prototypical size (6-foot-4, 321 pounds) for blue collar run-stuffing duties. Miller’s length, strength and grit suggest that he’ll stick around in the NFL for a decade or more. 46. D’Angelo Ponds, CB, Indiana I’m less confident that undersized defenders such as Ponds will be among the first 50 players drafted than I am about him ultimately proving he should’ve been. At just 5-foot-9, 173 pounds, Ponds has obvious limitations, but he’s pound-for-pound the most physical and instinctive DB in this class with 33 pass breakups — including seven interceptions — in three standout seasons at the collegiate level. 45. Kyle Louis, OLB, Pittsburgh At just 5-foot-11, 224 pounds, Louis won’t be a fit for everyone. But, frankly, I think that’s a mistake. Louis is highly instinctive with lightning-quick closing speed. He is a proven big-play magnet with 24 tackles for loss, 10 sacks and six interceptions over the past two seasons. 44. Chase Bisontis, OG, Texas A&M An athletic 6-foot-5, 315-pounder, Bisontis looks and moves like a tackle — he even earned freshman All-American honors at right tackle back in 2023. He played even better inside at left guard the past two years, showing the initial quickness and agility to fit best in a zone-blocking scheme. 43. Jacob Rodriguez, ILB, Texas Tech More decorated than a wedding cake after winning the Bronko Nagurski, Chuck Bednarik and Butkus Awards, Rodriguez arguably should’ve been on this list even before a terrific showing at the Combine. But I certainly won’t make the mistake of excluding him after he erased any doubts about his pure athleticism in Indy. 42. Jadarian Price, RB, Notre Dame As demonstrated with his 4.49 time in the 40-yard dash, Price isn’t the athletic phenom that will earn fellow Notre Dame product Jeremiyah Love a top 10 pick. But he’s actually the more fundamentally sound running back, showing a future NFL bell cow’s blend of vision, burst and contact balance. He’s also one of this year’s most dynamic returners, taking back three kickoffs for touchdowns in just 22 opportunities. 41. Blake Miller, OT, Clemson Miller isn’t as agile or powerful as some of the top-rated tackles higher on my board, but as a rare four-year starter who faced elite competition every day in practice, he’s as safe as a Subaru. Miller has a somewhat gangly frame and upright stance that isn’t always the most aesthetically pleasing, but he’s quick, smart and has excellent hands to steer and sustain. 40. T.J., Parker, Edge, Clemson Like several of his former Clemson teammates, Parker was the victim of his own success, struggling to live up to expectations in 2025 after a dominant 2024 campaign that included 19.5 tackles for loss, 11 sacks and an FBS-leading six forced fumbles. He’s a functional, rugged edge defender whose game is built more on torque than twitch. 39. Caleb Lomu, OT, Utah Quick and coordinated, it was Lomu — and not his more celebrated teammate Spencer Fano — who started the past two seasons at the critical left tackle position for the Utes. Just a redshirt sophomore still growing into his frame, Lomu is currently a better pass protector than run blocker, but he has a bright future if he commits to the weight room. 38. Akheem Mesidor, Edge, Miami As a sixth-year collegiate athlete, Mesidor (24) was literally a man amongst boys for Miami a year ago, leading the ACC with 10.5 sacks and forcing four fumbles. He wins in more ways than perhaps any rusher in this class, pairing impressive physical traits such as burst, bend and power with refined hand play and nuanced counter moves. 37. Zion Young, Edge, Missouri Young capped a terrific week of Senior Bowl practice by being named the National team’s Player of the Game. At a rocked-up 6-foot-5 and 262 pounds, Young isn’t as explosive off the ball as some of the undersized pass-rush specialists listed earlier, but he is a passionate and physical tone-setter at the line of scrimmage. 36. Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, S, Toledo The ability to create turnovers is like catnip to football scouts, and few in this class offer a more tantalizing track record of that than the lanky, hard-hitting McNeil-Warren, who enters the NFL with nine forced fumbles and five interceptions in his career. 35. Brandon Cisse, CB, South Carolina Cisse has all the traits to become a quality NFL starter — including a prototypical blend of size, speed and physicality in run support. His occasional mistakes on tape seemed coachable, and with Cisse not turning 21 until July, the expectation is that he’s just scratching the surface. 34. Max Iheanachor, OT, Arizona State A native Nigerian who grew up playing soccer and basketball, Iheanachor is a 6-foot-5, 325-pound investment for the future who seemingly just needs time to master the nuances of the position. His easy movement skills and natural power turned heads at both the Senior Bowl and the Combine. 33. Kayden McDonald, NG, Ohio State At 6-foot-3, 326 pounds, McDonald is every bit the run-plugger his frame suggests, complementing his dense, powerful frame with excellent balance and spatial awareness. He isn’t going to ever lead the NFL in sacks, but he’s no slug against the pass, either, showing effort, power and surprisingly quick feet to play all three downs. 32. Ty Simpson, QB, Alabama Simpson, a former 5-star recruit, torched the SEC for 28 touchdowns and a conference-leading 3,567 yards in his lone season as a starter in Tuscaloosa, showing the pro-caliber accuracy to project as a future NFL starter. The traits were obvious during the throwing session at the Combine, all but cementing his position as the No. 2 quarterback in this class. Simpson has a quick release, plenty of zip and excellent touch to make every NFL throw — but there were some “deer in the headlights” moments on his tape. Moreover, the track record of quarterbacks selected in the first round with 20 or fewer starts (Simpson has 15) is a bright red flag. 31. Chris Johnson, CB, San Diego State Johnson was named the Mountain West Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2025, taking two of his four interceptions back for scores. A technician with excellent route awareness, he erased any doubts about his pure athleticism in precisely 4.40 seconds at the Combine. 30. Gabe Jacas, Edge, Illinois Using a blend of physicality and instincts that translates well to the pro game, Jacas led the Big Ten with 11 sacks and three forced fumbles in 2025 before delivering a stellar performance at the Senior Bowl. Jacas may lack the twitch of some of this year’s top pass-rushers, but I see shades of a young DeMarcus Lawrence in Jacas’ game. 29. CJ Allen, ILB, Georgia Many of the top off-ball linebackers in this class are hybrid-types with limited experience taking on and shedding blockers in the hole. Allen isn’t flashy, but he’s as close to a Day 1 starting middle linebacker as this class has to offer. He’s smart, stout and just scratching the surface of his potential at just 20 years old. 28. Denzel Boston, WR, Washington The whole point of playing receiver is to catch touchdowns, and with 20 TDs over the past two seasons, Boston is the most prolific scorer of this year’s top wideouts. He should be able to continue this red zone mastery in the NFL, using his 6-foot-4, 209-pound frame, timing, body control and strong hands to win above the rim. 27. Cassius Howell, Edge, Texas A&M Stubby (30 1/4-inch arms) and less explosive (32.5-inch vertical jump) than expected, Howell slips down my board a bit after a disappointing Combine. But he remains one of my favorite prospects in this class because of his slipperiness off the edge and ability to drop into coverage. If Howell falls to the latter portion of the first round, some playoff contending club is going get a steal. 26. Avieon Terrell, CB, Clemson Nickel cornerbacks have never been more in demand, and Terrell is my favorite among them in this class. The NFL legacy plays significantly above his weight class (180 pounds), averaging 50 tackles over the past two seasons and generating eight forced fumbles during that span, including an ACC-best five this past year. 25. Dillon Thieneman, S, Oregon Typecast as a highly instinctive player who played fast, Thieneman proved at the Combine that he possesses elite athleticism to go with his diagnostic skills and soft hands, running the 40-yard dash in 4.35 seconds (with a 1.52 10-yard split) and generating an explosive 41-inch vertical jump. Thieneman has the look of an “easy” first-round pick at this point and a decade-long NFL starter. 24. Anthony Hill Jr., ILB, Texas Hill was asked to play many roles during his three years at Texas, spanning from edge rusher to inside linebacker to even nickel cornerback. That fact speaks to Hill’s football IQ. The tape shows uncommon agility for a 6-foot-3, 240-pound linebacker, as well reliable open-field tackling skills. 23. Colton Hood, CB, Tennessee Hood travels as well in the hip pocket of receivers as he does in the transfer portal, bouncing from Auburn to Colorado to Tennessee over the past three years before entering the draft at just 20 years old. He is an easy mover with impressive awareness of the ball and in run support, as well as a legitimate playmaker with touchdowns scored via interception and fumble recoveries. 22. Peter Woods, DT, Clemson Similar in some ways to Auburn’s Keldric Faulk, Woods is young (he’ll turn 21 in March), powerful and athletic, with his best football still ahead of him. He pairs his hands and feet well for such a young player, offering more to affect the quarterback than his five sacks in 35 college games might suggest. 21. KC Concepcion, WR, Texas A&M With 28 combined rushing and receiving scores in 38 career games at Texas A&M and North Carolina State, Concepcion is easily the top point producer of this year’s standout receiver class. Concepcion’s given name is Kevin, but KC is his preferred nickname and it better describes the silky-smooth athleticism he uses to consistently create space. 20. Kadyn Proctor, OL, Alabama It isn’t often that a man listed at 366 pounds can be described as muscular, but Proctor boasts as power-packed of a frame as you’ll see. What you see is what you get with Proctor, a bar-room brawler whose girth and power could ultimately push him inside to guard. 19. Jordyn Tyson, WR, Arizona State Simply put, Tyson has the best tape of this year’s receiver crop. It isn’t often that receivers of his size, twitch and tracking skills come around. Tyson is a case of “buyer beware,” however, as he has missed multiple games because of injuries in each of the past three seasons. 18. Kenyon Sadiq, TE, Oregon As demonstrated with one of the greatest workouts from a tight end in Combine history, Sadiq is cut from a different cloth than most players at his position, possessing a squatty 6-foot-3, 240-pound frame and a rare combination of explosive athleticism and physicality. There are bright flashes on his tape as a pass-catcher, but he’s already an NFL-caliber blocker, showing excellent leg drive and grip strength to control opponents. 17. Olaivavega Ioane, OG, Penn State At a dense 6-foot-4, 328 pounds, Ioane is perfectly built for the battles in the trenches, absorbing would-be rushers with his broad frame and heavy hands. While possible tackle converts could ultimately be drafted earlier, Ioane is the consensus top-rated “pure” interior offensive lineman of this class. 16. Jermod McCoy, CB, Tennessee McCoy’s first two college seasons (at Oregon State and Tennessee, respectively) were so impressive that he maintained a first-round grade on my board even after missing the entire 2025 season with an ACL injury. When healthy, McCoy is a smooth cover corner with terrific ball skills, breaking up 16 passes (with six interceptions) over that span. 15. Makai Lemon, WR, USC Lemon reminds me a lot of Golden Tate, a dynamic run-after-the-catch weapon who played 11 years in the NFL. Like the 5-foot-11, 197-pound Tate, Lemon is a difficult matchup for cornerbacks because of a compact, almost RB-like frame to go with dynamic speed and top-notch ball skills. 14. Caleb Banks, DT, Florida Pardon the pun, but Banks has made a lot of money in the past two months, dominating at the Senior Bowl after missing seven games this year due to a fractured foot that required surgery. Standing a massive 6-foot-6, 335 pounds, with 35-inch arms and 10 3/4-inch hands, Banks is simply bigger than most trying to block him, and he can simply rag-doll blockers at times. 13. Monroe Freeling, OT, Georgia With a steady stream of NFL blockers ahead of him on Georgia’s depth chart, Freeling had to wait his turn before seeing the field in Athens, starting just 16 games before heading early to the NFL. But there isn’t a blocker in this class who looks the part of an NFL left tackle more than the loose and long 6-foot-7, 315-pound Freeling. 12. Keldric Faulk, DL, Auburn If scouts were asked to draw up the ideal defensive lineman for today’s NFL, it might look a lot like the long-armed 6-foot-6, 285-pound ball of clay that is Faulk, whose size, strength and smooth athleticism offer great positional and schematic flexibility. As one of the youngest players in this class (he won’t turn 21 until September), Faulk is still growing into his frame and will need to get stronger to fulfill his potential, but he possesses the physical traits and intangibles to become one of the best players in this draft. 11. Carnell Tate, WR, Ohio State Receiver is one of the better positional groups of this year’s draft class, and Tate tops it because of his ability to win in multiple ways. The 6-foot-3, 195-pounder has excellent body control, hand-eye coordination and grit to pull in contested passes, and he’s surprisingly slippery as a route-runner with excellent tracking skills. 10. Mansoor Delane, CB, LSU Cornerback may just be the strongest positional group of this draft, and Delane tops it by a wide margin for me. He is a terrific man-to-man cover corner, showing easy change of direction and smooth acceleration to shadow receivers all over the field. He didn’t allow a single touchdown pass in 2025. 9. Spencer Fano, OT, Utah A dancing bear at 6-foot-6, 310 pounds, Fano looks and moves more like a tight end than a traditional offensive lineman, excelling in pass protection because of his initial quickness, lateral agility and balance. I thought his positional workout at the Combine was one of the best of any player, regardless of position. 8. Sonny Styles, OLB, Ohio State A former safety-turned-linebacker who might evolve into an edge rusher, Styles is the ultimate ball of clay from this draft class. He was arguably the biggest star of the Combine, posting a remarkable 43.5-inch vertical jump and 4.46-second time in the 40-yard dash at 6-foot-5, 246 pounds. His rare size and agility could allow his future defensive coordinator to move Styles around similarly to how the Seattle Seahawks employed star rookie Nick Emmanwori in their Super Bowl run. 7. Rueben Bain Jr., Edge, Miami It is appropriate that Bain rhymes with pain, as there isn’t a prospect in this class who plays with more violence than the three-year Miami standout. He enters the NFL with 33.5 tackles for loss generated in 38 collegiate games. Bain’s relatively stubby 6-foot-3, 270-pound frame will be a talking point in every NFL war room, but teams shouldn’t make the mistake of overthinking his fit. 6. Francis Mauigoa, OT, Miami Arguably the most powerful and pro-ready prospect in this draft class, Mauigoa simply engulfs opponents with his sheer size and iron grip, reminding me of another Mario Cristobal pupil, Detroit Lions All-Pro Penei Sewell. Facing a vaunted Miami pass rush every day in practice, Mauigoa has the look of a decade-long anchor at right tackle. 5. David Bailey, Edge, Texas Tech Simply put, Bailey is the best pass-rusher in this class, boasting a terrific blend of burst, lateral agility and core flexibility to force whiffs from would-be pass protectors. The concern some will have is that at 6-foot-3, 250 pounds, Bailey lacks the size and power to be as effective in the running game, but that shouldn’t keep one of the few true matchup nightmares in this class from earning a top-10 selection. 4. Fernando Mendoza, QB, Indiana Mendoza doesn’t possess the strongest arm of this class, nor is he the most dynamic running threat. He is, however, the consensus top quarterback, offering an exceptional blend of anticipation, accuracy and poise to project as a longtime, high-level NFL starter. 3. Jeremiyah Love, RB, Notre Dame With all due respect to Heisman Trophy winner and likely No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza, Love is the best offensive prospect in this class — and frankly, I don’t think it’s particularly close. Love isn’t just the best back in this class; he’s among a select handful of the elite runners to enter the NFL since I began scouting a quarter-century ago, offering a blend of size, quick feet and breakaway speed reminiscent of recent blue-chip backs Saquon Barkley and Bijan Robinson. 2. Arvell Reese, OLB, Ohio State A blue-chip talent who starred mostly as an off-ball linebacker at Ohio State but possesses the twitch to attack off the edge, Reese is arguably the best prospect in this class. In terms of sheer athleticism, versatility and career trajectory, I see an awful lot of similarities between Reese and another former Big Ten star you might have heard of: Micah Parsons. 1. Caleb Downs, S, Ohio State Sometimes scouting is easy. Whether at Alabama or Ohio State, Downs’ instincts, closing speed and reliable open-field tackling consistently shined, forecasting for years that his pathway to the NFL would come as a first-round pick. Downs won’t be the first player selected this year — safeties just aren’t valuable enough. But make no mistake, Downs comes with the highest floor, projecting as an immediate starter and foundational piece for one fortunate franchise.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports