Greg Cote’s Hot Button Top 10: March Madness, NFL, Heat skid ... & Messi vs. Logan Paul in boxing ring?
[Note: Greg Cote’s Hot Button Top 10 and Poll Dance will be on vacation and off the next two Sundays. Look for the return of both on Sunday, April 6.]
GREG COTE’S HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (MARCH 16): WHAT IN SPORTS HAS GRABBED US THIS WEEK: Our Sunday Hot Button Top 10 notes column brings you what’s on our minds, locally and nationally but from a Miami perspective and accentuating stuff that’s big, weird, damnable, funny or otherwise worth needling, as the sports week just past pivots to the week ahead. Welcome to the 98th edition of your HB10:
1. COLLEGE BASKETBALL: Selection Sunday tips off March Madness. Brackets up!: The 68-team fields for the men’s and women’s NCAA Tournaments are revealed today/Sunday night -- office pools, printed brackets and early bets to follow. ESPN’s Bracketology projects the four No. 1 regional men’s seeds as Auburn, Duke, Houston and Florida (with Alabama in the hunt), and the women’s No. 1s as reigning champ South Carolina, UCLA, USC and Texas (although UConn could sneak in). A shadow over Selection Sunday weighing on the men’s side: Injuries to Duke freshman sensation Cooper Flagg (ankle) and star defender Maliq Brown (arm), with Brown seeming unlikely for the Tournament and Blue Devil fingers crossed for Flagg.
2. DOLPHINS/NFL: Quiet free agency in Miami as NFL awaits Aaron Rodgers move: As NFL free agency awaits the landing spot of Aaron Rodgers (Giants? Steelers?), it’s been quiet in the 3-0-5. Grading on the curve -- allowing that the Dolphins don’t have much spending money under the cap -- I might give Fins’ offseason a C-minus thus far. Notable losses: Safety Jevon Holland to Giants and guard Robert Jones to Cowboys. Positive adds: Decent guard in James Daniels and upside guys in receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine and safety Ifeatu Melifonwu. Head-scratcher: Signing draft-bust Zach Wilson as the new backup QB instead of a more proven veteran.
3. HEAT: Reeling Miami sinks to season low-point with no answers: The deep-skid Heat fell to 29-38 with a season-worst seventh straight loss Saturday, a 34-point blowout at Memphis. Miami had earlier fallen to rival Boston to complete the first winless homestand of at least five games in franchise history. Miami is stuck in play-in purgatory with the second lowest-scoring team of 20 currently in on playoff pace. Heat try to end its skid Monday night at the Knicks.
4. PANTHERS: Champs battling through Ekblad suspension and key injuries: Panthers are absorbing the out-of-the-blue 20-game PEDs suspension of defenseman Aaron Ekblad while waiting for star Matthew Tkachuk and newly acquired Brad Marchand to return from injuries ... but still winning. Florida is 41-26 and on a 7-2 run even with Saturday’s 3-1 loss at Montreal. Florida is back on ice Monday at the Islanders as a six-game road swing continues. Cats hope to have Tkachuk and Marchand back late in regular season although Ekblad likely would miss first round of playoffs.
5. TENNIS: Miami Open underway with star-laden field: The ATP men’s and WTA women’s tours are at Hard Rock Stadium today through the end of March in the Miami Open, including 15 past Grand Slam event champions. Four past Miami Open men’s winners are in the field in Carlos Alacaraz, Daniil Medvedev, Hubert Hurkacz and -- playing Miami for the first time since 2019 -- Novak Djokovic. Three former Miami women’s winners are in the field in defending champ Danielle Collins, Iga Swiatek and Victoria Azarenka. The entire WTA top 10 is playing including No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and No. 2 Coco Gauff.
6. MLB: The odd, unfinished legend of Tommy John: His name never goes away. Came back again this month as Yankees ace Gerrit Cole became the latest pitcher to undergo ‘Tommy John surgery.’ (There also is a Tommy John underwear brand that shamelessly stole his name.) Tommy John, the ex-pitcher, is 81 now. In 1974 he was the first to undergo Dr. Frank Jobe’s pioneering technique of ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) elbow reconstruction, later named for him. It saved his career. But John now thinks the surgery is too routine. “My name is now attached to something that affects more children than pro athletes,” he wrote in AARP magazine. “Today 57 percent of all Tommy John surgeries are done on kids between 15 and 19.” Tommy John should be known for more than surgery and undies. He should be in the Hall of Fame. He won 288 games in a 26-year MLB career from 1963-89. Only Roger Clemens (due to steroids) had as many wins without reaching Cooperstown.
7. INTER MIAMI: Messi returns, team reaches CCC quarterfinals: Lionel Messi returned from a three-game absence with a goal off the bench in Miami’s 2-nil win over Jamaica’s Cavalier FC in Kingston -- leading the Herons into the CONCACAF Champions Cup quarterfinals vs. MLS-rival Los Angeles FC. Leg 1 will be in L.A. between April 1-3 and Leg 2 in Fort Lauderdale April 8-10. Inter Miami is an unbeaten 2-0-1 in MLS and returns to league play Sunday/tonight at Atlanta.
8. HURRICANES: Wait for QB Beck still on as UM resumes spring work: Miami Hurricanes resume spring football practice Tuesday with the fourth of 15 workdays following an 11-day break. Spring work to begin coach Mario Cristobal’s fourth season concludes with a Spring Game April 12. Big question remains how soon transfer QB Carson Beck will begin throwing following right-elbow surgery in December while at Georgia. “Soon” is the answer, although caution and patience is Cristobal’s wiser path as the Aug. 31 season-opener vs. Notre Dame looms distant still.
9. WNBA: Lunar Owls hooting to Unrivaled title as playoffs begin: Unrivaled, the offseason 3-on-3 Miami-based hoops league consisting of the biggest women’s stars (other than Caitlin Clark), enters the playoffs to decide its inaugural champion -- and it seems nobody can stop the Lunar Owls. They are 13-1 and led by league scoring leader Napheesa Collier, who co-founded Unrivaled along with Breanna Stewart. Owls face 5-9 Vinyl and 8-6 Rose plays 7-7 Laces in Sunday night semifinals, with the winners meeting Monday for the championship.
10. SILLINESS: Lionel Messi vs. Logan Paul in boxing ring?: YouTuber-turned-athlete Logan Paul has an energy drink called Prime. Soccer legend Lionel Messi of Inter Miami started his own energy drink called Mas+. Paul sued alleging the branding was too similar. Countersuits have followed. Now Paul is challenging Messi to a fight to settle the dispute -- the absurdity magnified because Paul is 29, 6-2 and 205 pounds and Messi is 37, 5-7 and 148. Paul traffics in attention; would wither and disappear without it. For him, this controversy is gold. For Messi it’s an inconsequential gnat for his lawyers to wave away. I wish the fight would happen, just to imagine Paul supine and dazed as the referee counted him out.
THE LIST: COLLEGE HOOPS NATIONAL TITLES: On Selection Sunday for the 2025 tournaments, the schools with the most men’s and women’s NCAA Division 1 national championships in college basketball:
MEN: No. School Most recent
11 UCLA 1995
8 Kentucky 2012
6 UConn 2024
6 North Carolina 2017
5 Duke 2015
5 Indiana 1987
WOMEN: No. School Most Recent
11 UConn 2016
8 Tennessee 2008
3 Baylor 2019
3 South Carolina 2024
3 Stanford 2021
Note: Most national championships by a head coach: Men--John Wooden (10), Mike Krzyzewski (5), Adolph Rupp (4). Women--Geno Auriemma (11), Pat Summitt (8), Kim Mulkey (4).
Other most recent stuff from me: Unraveling NFL free agency mysteries: Aaron Rodgers’ next team ... and Zach Wilson to Dolphins!? // New Hurricanes coach Jai Lucas’ job: Make Miami college hoops matter like never before // Previous HB10 // Poll Dance: Ovechkin-Gretzky // Bravo Trump for sparking momentum to lift ban on late Pete Rose and get him in Hall // A tribute to Miami sports legend Jimmy Johnson as he retires from Fox TV // Spoiled Miami Heat fans should embrace struggle of rare down season and cheer the fight // Heat is on McDaniel, Grier as Miami Dolphins enter what could be year of massive change // Must-win MLS season for Messi, Inter Miami a tough climb, as opening 2-2 home draw shows // 15 years later, Dolphins Cancer Challenge is the life-saving legacy of Jim Mandich // Rivalry! Politics! Power shift? NHL is ice on fire with U.S.-Canada in 4 Nations final // Young, low-budget Marlins open spring as biggest underdogs in Miami sports history // What Eagles win tells teams like Dolphins, plus Super Bowl winners & losers // Unprofessional Jimmy Butler quit on Heat, ruined his legacy in Miami // Our Top 10 biggest Miami/South Florida sports stories of 2024 // And my latest podcast:
This story was originally published March 16, 2025 at 8:55 AM.
