Buckets on buckets
From The GIST College Sports (hi@thegistsports.com)
Welcome back!
From champions crowned to records smashed, a lot has gone down since we last talked — and that’s not even including the departure and prompt return of TikTok. Hitting the renegade as we catch up on all the latest.
— No. 2 South Carolina women’s basketball head coach Dawn Staley, confirming that she’s staying in Columbia after signing a five-year, $25M contract extension last week that makes her the highest-paid NCAA women’s basketball coach…ever. Legendary.
College Football Playoff
🎓🏈 Big ’ships and small ’ships
The GIST: Confetti rained down on No. 8 Ohio State after Monday’s 34–23 College Football Playoff (CFP) National Championship win over No. 7 Notre Dame, marking the Buckeyes’ first natty since Taylor Swift shook it off in 2014.
- Gatorade showers hit hard, but these numbers reflecting on a historic CFP hit harder:
56 yards: The distance of the game-clinching play, a third-down dime thrown by title game offensive MVP, OSU senior quarterback (QB) Will Howard, to freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith.
12: The number of teams who competed in the expanded CFP that debuted this season, ultimately setting up a national championship showdown between two teams who wouldn’t have made the CFP in its previous four-team format. More is more.
Nine: The total number of championship banners the Buckeyes have raised, good enough for sixth on the all-time list.
$20M: The amount of NIL (aka name, image, and likeness) cash Ohio State dished out to its football players, the most in the NCAA this season. It’s literally the best roster money could buy.
1: Golf cart incident The Buckeyes’ spot in the final AP Poll of the season, a five spot climb after a dominant CFP run that saw them win every playoff game by double digits.
First: Notre Dame head coach (HC) Marcus Freeman became both the first Black and first Asian HC in college football history to lead their squad to the title game.
Who’s got next?: It’s never too early to look ahead to next year’s 12-team CFP, where QB Arch Manning and his Texas Longhorns (who were eliminated in this year’s semis) are among the favorites to win it all. Can’t wait.
Women’s basketball
🏀 A clash of the titans
The GIST: Clear your schedule, cancel your plans — undefeated No. 5 LSU women’s basketball meets reigning champs No. 2 South Carolina tomorrow at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN.
- College GameDay is ready for this potential March Madness heavyweight preview — now let’s bring you up to speed before this 2024 SEC championship rematch.
🐯 Flau’Jae Johnson and Aneesah Morrow are bringing the growl for unbeaten Tigers: Junior Johnson and senior Morrow lead the way for LSU, averaging 19.9 and 18.7 points per game, respectively. And that’s just the beginning for the high-scoring Tigers, who are putting up 90.6 points per game on average, the third-highest mark in the nation. Buckets on buckets.
🐓 Gamecocks rolling through conference play: South Carolina’s been on a tear ever since seeing their 43-game win streak snapped back in November, outscoring SEC opponents by nearly 30 points on average. And it’s a full team effort, with five players posting at or just below double-digit points each game.
- But the real difference-maker for the aforementioned Staley’s squad is their defense — the Gamecocks are holding opponents to a mere 55.1 points per game. Locking it down.
⏪ The history: LSU vs. South Carolina is among the spiciest SEC rivalries, with the Tigers holding a narrow 22-20 all-time series edge. That said, the Gamecocks have won the last 16 meetings dating back to 2012 and Staley’s 5-2 against LSU’s head coach, Kim Mulkey, in their career battles. TL;DR? This is going to be absolutely epic.
🏒 No. 15 Northeastern women’s hockey three-peats as Beanpot champs
The Huskies are your 2025 Dunkin women’s Beanpot champions, topping BU 4–0 in last night’s 2024 rematch in front of a record-setting TD Garden crowd. Northeastern dominated the championship game of the annual tournament between the four Boston schools from puck drop, scoring halfway through the first period before pulling away with two goals in the second.
- But defense wins championships, and Northeastern’s was led by freshman goalie and women’s Beanpot MVP Lisa Jönsson, who made 30 saves in the trophy-clinching shutout victory. Un-bean-lievable.
🐾 UConn’s Paige Bueckers reaches 2,000 career points
The No. 6 Huskies redshirt senior star and presumed No. 1 2025 WNBA draft pick reached a major milestone over the weekend, dropping 18 points in a Sunday rout of Seton Hall to reach the 2,000-career points mark.
- Bueckers needed just 102 games to achieve the feat, making her the fastest to get there since a little someone named Maya Moore did it in 108 games back in 2010. They don’t call her Paige “Buckets” for nothing.
🏀 Massive shakeups in the men’s basketball AP Top 25 poll
An upset-heavy week gave way to a poll full of movement on Monday, but No. 1 Auburn remains unanimously at the top after notching two big conference victories. Other notable climbs? No. 11 Purdue and No. 18 Wisconsin, who both jumped six spots thanks to their respective Big Ten dubs.
- As for the plummeters, two-time reigning champs No. 19 UConn tumbled five spots after seeing their 28-game home win streak snapped by a stunning loss to Big East foe Creighton on Saturday. The Madness has already arrived.
Recs from our roster!
💊 How to support your gut health
Incorporate Alaya Naturals’ Advanced Synbiotic supplement into your morning routine. It powers up your system with three-in-one gut support that includes both probiotics and prebiotics. Bloat, be gone.*
🎮 How to tap into your inner child
By getting a Nintendo x LEGO Game Boy. Nostalgia, loading.
💪 How to get fit
With the 7-minute workout. Fast, efficient, and no gear needed, this scientifically backed workout boosts endurance, strength, and confidence in less time than a Taylor Swift song.
*P.S. This is a sponsored post. Take care of yourself.Today’s email was brought to you by Lauren Tuiskula, Lisa Minutillo, and Briana Ekanem. Fact checking by Mikaela Perez. Ops by Marga Sison and Elisha Gunaratnam. Ads by Katie Kehoe Foster, Alessandra Puccio, and Lisa Minutillo. Managing edits by Alessandra Puccio. Head of content Ellen Hyslop.