They don’t call it March Madness for nothing

The GIST: More than 86.2% of brackets were already busted just two games into the men’s first round yesterday. Must be March.

No. 14 Oakland’s Jack Gohlke shoots to stardom: The grad student guard drained a jaw-dropping 10 three-pointers — tied for second-most in a men’s March Madness game — to down blueblood No. 3 Kentucky 80–76 in the tournament’s biggest upset so far.

• Up next for the Golden Grizzlies and their newly minted Madness legend? No. 11 NC State, who also stormed to an 80–67 upset win over No. 6 Texas Tech last night.

No. 11 Duquesne upsets No. 6 BYU: The Dukes held off a furious BYU comeback to secure their program’s first March Madness win since 1969. All nine players on Duquesne’s roster contributed on the 71–67 scoresheet, signaling that they might have the depth to make a true Cinderella run — if they can pull off another huge dub over No. 3 Illinois tomorrow.

No. 11 Oregon’s momentum carries them over No. 6 South Carolina: A monster 40-point performance from senior guard Jermaine Couisnard lifted the Ducks to the decisive 87–73 win over South Carolina, proving that the hype is very, very real. They’ll try to keep the vibes high against a decidedly tougher No. 3 Creighton squad tomorrow.

No. 7 Dayton survives No. 10 Nevada: With less than eight minutes on the clock, the Flyers roared back from a 17-point deficit — holding Nevada to a measly four more points — to avoid the upset and nab the 63–60 win. They’ll need a much hotter start to have a chance against No. 2 Arizona tomorrow.

• Also barely squeaking by? No. 4 Kansas, who fought off a never-say-die No. 13 Samford squad to seal the 93–89 dub in a wire-to-wire thriller that ended with a controversial, game-changing foul call. Still sweating.

No. 10 Colorado State tastes their own medicine: The Rams humiliated Virginia by holding them to just 14 first-half points in their 67–42 First Four dub on Tuesday… only to struggle even worse with just 11 first-half points in their 56–44 first-round loss to No. 7 Texas last night. March comes at you fast.

The GIST: MLB’s season-opening Seoul Series quickly became overshadowed by scandal after news broke Wednesday that LA Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani’s longtime interpreter and friend Ippei Mizuhara had been fired amid allegations he stole millions from Ohtani to pay off his gambling debts. Jaw-dropping doesn’t even begin to cover it.

The details: The scandal surrounds at least $4.5M in wire transfers that were sent from Ohtani’s bank account to an illegal bookmaking operation that’s under federal investigation. Mizuhara — who’s been by the three-time MVP’s side since 2013 — reportedly incurred the debts.

The twist: Tuesday, the day before Ohtani’s highly anticipated Dodgers debut, Mizuhara sat down with ESPN to discuss the allegations. In the 90-minute interview, he said that Ohtani transferred the funds to cover Mizuhara’s gambling debt and that the two-way star “had zero involvement in betting.”

• Then came the pivot. The next day, Ohtani’s attorneys disavowed Mizuhara’s account, releasing a statement saying, “Shohei has been the victim of a massive theft,” before calling for an investigation into the matter.

• Mizuhara himself recanted his original story before being fired on Wednesday. Hmm.

Zooming out: The change in story has unsurprisingly led to rampant speculation and conspiracy theories, but the whole saga has also thrust the impact of sports betting back under the microscope. This week alone has brought this latest Ohtani news, sports betting–NBA fans crossing the line, and insight into how the recent proliferation of sports betting is impacting player mental health.

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🎓🏒 NCAA women’s hockey: Frozen Four — Today at 4 p.m. ET and 7:30 p.m. ET — ESPN+

• Four teams will battle in today’s semis for a spot in Sunday’s 4 p.m. ET national championship game. First, the 2023 runners-up No. 1 Ohio State take on No. 4 Clarkson, followed by defending champs No. 2 Wisconsin against No. 3 Colgate. Puck yeah.

⛸️ ISU World Figure Skating Championships — Today through Sunday — YouTube

• American Ilia “Quadgod” Malinin is off to a great start as the Team USA medal chasing continues into the weekend. The cold never bothered them anyway.

🏒 PWHL: Toronto vs. Ottawa — Tomorrow at 1 p.m. ET — YouTube

League-leading Toronto just passed the Maple Leafs for the longest winning streak in city history and though Ottawa sits in the middle of the standings, they could be Toronto’s kryptonite, having already beaten them twice this season. Icy and spicy.