Providence is going to Buffalo, Bryant is going to Dayton, and Tom Brady is going back to Tampa.
What a sports Sunday!
Leave it to TB12 to elbow his way into the headlines on Selection Sunday for March Madness, formally known as the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament. Before we had a chance to fully digest the brackets and the chances for the locals to advance, Brady tweeted that he is returning to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for his 23rd NFLseason.
His place “is still on the field and not in the stands. That time will come. But it’s not now,” he posted.
So much for spending more time with Gisele and the three kids Remember, Brady never used the word retire when he announced last month he was stepping away from pro football. He has said for years that he wanted to play when he was 45, and he turns 45 in August. So, barring a serious injury in training camp, he will achieve that goal in Tampa’s first game. Also, he will become the first 45-year-old to start an NFL game.
Why return? Brady has played in 10 Super Bowls and won 7. His place in the Hall of Fame in Canton is secure. He has a supportive family, his words, not mine.
But, Brady passed for 5,316 yards and 43 touchdowns in 2021, tops in the NFL. He, not Aaron Rodgers, should have been the league’s most valuable player. The guy can still play.
Brady has a year remaining on his Bucs contract with a base salary of $8.925 million, according to published reports. Rogers and the Green Bay Packers last week agreed to a report four-year, $200-million deal with $143 million guaranteed. Brady must have winced at that.
We New Englanders should wish Brady the best. After all, he won six of those Super Bowls with the Patriots.
PROVIDENCE COLLEGE
So the Friars (25-5) are going to the NCAA Tournament as the No. 4 seed in the Midwest Region. They will play No. 13 South Dakota State (30-4) Thursday at Buffalo.
Oh, what might have been, though, had they not melted in the Big East semifinals and suffered an 85-58 embarrassment to Creighton last Friday. They would have played Villanova for the championship, and with a victory might have received the No. 2 seed in the South Regional.
Nevertheless, they are back after a sour 13-13 finish in 2020-2021, after tying the program record for victories in a season, after winning the Big East regular-season championship, and after spending most of the season ranked in both national polls. Judging from their reaction upon being selected, the Friars appear to have put the Creighton debacle in the trash bin.
South Dakota State is the Summit League champion and is riding a 21-game winning streak. The Jackrabbits lead the nation in three-point percentage (44.2).
The winner will face either No. 5 Iowa or No. 12 Richmond.
This is PC’s sixth trip to the tournament in coach Ed Cooley’s 11 seasons. His record is 1-5.
BRYANT
The Bulldogs (22-9) are heading to Dayton, Ohio, for a First Four matchup Wednesday against Horizon League champion Wright State (21-13). The winner will continue west to San Diego as the No. 16 seed to play Arizona, the No. 1 seed in the South Region.
This first NCAA experience as a Division I program is icing on the basketball cake for Bryant. The Bulldogs crushed Wagner for their first Northeast Conference tournament championship after beating the Seahawks for the regular-season title. Peter Kiss leads the nation in scoring (25.1), and he and Charles Pride (18.0) are the top-scoring duo in Division I.
Let March Madness begin!
