The NCAA rowing championships begin today

The GIST: Time to channel the late, great Tina Turner and go rolling rowing on the river. The national championship begins today, and we’re due for more drama than the yacht episode of Succession. Let’s put the “ship” in championship!

How it works: Twenty-two teams — 11 conference champs and 11 at-large bids — will turn up in Pennsauken, NJ this weekend for three races: I Eights, II Eights, and Fours. The squads are seeded into today’s four heats, with semifinals scheduled for tomorrow and the final setting sail on Sunday.

• Teams compete for points, which are awarded based on finishing place in each race, meaning a team doesn’t have to ace all three to take the title — although it wouldn’t hurt.

The defending champs: No. 2 Texas is, without a doubt, the team to beat. The Longhorns recently won their eighth consecutive Big 12 title (!!!), which was just a pit stop on their road to a potential natty three-peat.

The challengers: Two squads might be ready to mess with Texas: the No. 1 Princeton Tigers and the No. 3 Yale Bulldogs, the only teams who have given them a run for their money this season. Follow live results hereto see if they can lasso the Longhorns as they each chase their first program natty.