MARCH MADNESS NEWS

March Madness is in full swing as the first round of the men’s bracket continues.

12th-seeded McNeese highlighted the action with a 69-67 upset win over 5th-seeded Clemson to earn their first NCAA tournament win in school history. They’ll move on to face 4th-seeded Purdue, who topped High Point earlier this morning.

#1 seeds Auburn and Houston advanced with ease in a pair of blowout victories.

Former Western Washington University star Kai Johnson had his college career come to an end. His 15 points weren’t enough to lead Montana over 3rd-seeded Wisconsin.

You can tune in to the rest of today’s tournament action on KPUG.

Meanwhile, the University of Washington women are battling Columbia in a First Four matchup of 11-seeds. Huskies freshman and former Nooksack Valley standout Devin Coppinger is getting her first taste of the Big Dance as UW tries to advance to face West Virginia on Saturday.

That game is being played on ESPN2 at 4 p.m.

NBA NEWS

A record sale in the NBA could clear the way for expansion talks with the SuperSonics.

ESPN reports that an ownership group has agreed to purchase the Boston Celtics for a valuation of $6.1 billion. That price would be the most paid for any franchise in North American sports history.

It comes after league commissioner Adam Silver seemed to put the brakes on expansion talks last fall.

ESPN insider Brian Windhorst later said he thought the talks were slowed down because Silver was waiting for clarity on the Celtics sale, which will likely reset the ownership market. League sources also told ESPN that the sale could have an impact on the potential timeline for expansion, though the sale won’t be processed until the summer at the earliest. 

MARINERS NEWS

Mariners Opening Day is just one week away, and fans will be seeing a bright new patch on their jerseys.

The team has expanded their decades-long partnership with Nintendo of America to give the M’s their first-ever jersey sleeve sponsorship. The classic Nintendo red “racetrack” logo will now be featured on players’ sleeves during home games. Their away sleeves will feature the logo of the Nintendo Switch 2, a new console which will be released later this year.

Rising star Julio Rodriguez was also announced as a brand ambassador for Nintendo.

The company purchased the Mariners in 1992 and retained a 10% stake when it sold its majority interest to the current ownership group in 2016.

KRAKEN NEWS

The Kraken’s offense took a big step back in the latter half of their back-to-back last night.

Seattle fell to the Minnesota Wild 4-0 after giving up three goals in the first five minutes. It came after the Kraken posted 6 goals the previous night in their win over the Chicago Blackhawks.

Philip Grubauer stopped 24 of the Wild’s shots in his third game back since being relegated to their minor league affiliate. It was the fourth game in six days for the Kraken, who are now 0-11 in the second game of back-to-back contests this season.

They’ll look to bounce back on Saturday night against the Edmonton Oilers.

SEAHAWKS NEWS

The Seahawks have agreed to a restricted contract with outside linebacker Uchenna Nwosu.

ESPN reports the new contract will lower Nwosu’s 2025 cap hit by more than $9 million and keep one of the team’s best edge rushers in Seattle for at least another season. But Nwosu’s contract won’t be the only change he sees this season.

He also switched from No. 10 to No. 7 to accommodate newly-signed receiver Cooper Kupp, who donned No. 10 with the LA Rams. Nwosu joined the Seahawks as a free agent in 2022 after posting a career year with the Chargers.

But he’s played in just 12 games with Seattle over the past two seasons while battling injuries.