Alabama is the top seed in the men's NCAA tournament for the first time in its history, but even as March Madness begins, a larger story, one with much more significant consequences, is impossible to ignore. Former Crimson Tide player Darius Miles and his friend Michael Davis were officially indicted by a grand jury last week on capital murder charges for the shooting of 23-year-old Jamea Harris in January. Those indictments come just days before freshman star Brandon Miller, who was at the scene of the killing, leads Alabama in its first tournament game. And while prosecutors have been clear that Miller faces no criminal charges, controversy continues to swirl around what he did on the night in question. Reporter Michael Rothstein was part of a team of journalists at ESPN who have poured over the evidence in an attempt to paint the fullest picture possible about what exactly happened the night Jamea Harris was killed.

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As the calendar flips to March, there’s one sporting event that goes straight to the top of our priority list: the NCAA Basketball Tournament. And we can’t remember the last time the Big Dance seemed this unpredictable. There’s Alabama with their first No. 1 seed in program history, and then we have the traditional blue bloods like Duke, Kentucky, and Michigan State…but their seeding is a lot lower than we’re accustomed to. So today, we enlisted our friend Myron Medcalf — fresh off writing 12,000 words on Selection Sunday for ESPN.com — to prepare us for the Madness.

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Last October, four teammates from the Northwest College wrestling team set out for a hike just outside Yellowstone National Park. For two of them, Brady Lowry and Kendell Cummings, the trip would bond them together for the rest of their lives, courtesy of a grizzly bear. Today, ESPN’s Ryan Hockensmith navigates this tale of survival, loyalty, friendship and redemption while we hear all the harrowing details straight from the mouths of these two brave men.

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You probably saw the video back in 2015. Then-56-year-old Scott Park, standing at half court, fires a shot to potentially win a million dollars at the ACC Tournament…only for it to barely reach the free throw line. It immediately went viral after a reporter posted the footage on Vine (remember Vine?). In true internet fashion, the negative comments piled on. But as our friend Ryan McGee found out and shares with us today, there was so much more to this story than the social media response…it’s about the limits of science, and storytelling…and ourselves.

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Going into the 2023 NFL Combine, the top two quarterbacks in this year’s draft class were presumed to be Bryce Young and C.J. Stroud, but that was before Anthony Richardson arrived. The Florida QB impressed: raising eyebrows with his 40-yard dash time, and setting QB records with his vertical jump and broad jump. It’s Richardson’s stellar marks that highlight how NFL scouting is a guessing game at best. ESPN NFL reporter Stephen Holder was embedded with Richardson’s team in Indianapolis over the weekend, and he takes us behind the scenes of one of the most impressive pre-draft performances in NFL history…as the league tries to make sense of it all.

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Mikaela Shiffrin is only 27 years old, and she’s already the GOAT. Her dominance of alpine skiing is in the same category as Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, and Serena Williams…and she has an opportunity to further build on her legacy this weekend by surpassing the 34-year-old record for wins currently held by Swedish legend Ingemar Stenmark in his home country. It’s a far cry from where Shifrrin was a year ago, when she crashed out of the Beijing Olympics three times while still mourning her father’s death. So today, as Shiffrin chases history, Alyssa Roenigk brings us up to speed on Mikaela’s quest for greatness…and gives us a crash course in a snowy sport that’s picking up speed.

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Brad Marchand contains multitudes. Sure, the Boston Bruins winger could be called the most hated man in hockey…he’s served eight suspensions in his career, and he was recently fined the max amount for a “dangerous trip” on an opponent. But Marchand is also one of the top scorers in the NHL, integral to the Bruins’ league-leading offense. He’s known for cheap shots, punching opposing players, licking faces, and was once given the nickname “Little Ball of Hate” from former President Barack Obama. With the Bruins in the midst of a historic season, Greg Wyshynski tells us what Marchand can do to help his team, and explains his complicated legacy.

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March Madness is set to tip off just over a week from now, and among all the players who will be competing — both men and women — there is no one who loves the spotlight more than Caitlin Clark. The junior guard, sometimes referred to as the female Steph Curry, will be leading Iowa in hopes of securing pretty much the only thing missing from her legendary collegiate resume: a national title. So today, we ask one Basketball Hall of Famer – Holly Rowe – to tell us the story of this player who might just be headed in that same direction.

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When Liberty Media took control of Formula 1 racing in 2017, they made a bet on being able to grow the sport in the United States. F1 has always attracted an audience of hundreds of millions overseas – but now, with millions tuning into races on ESPN domestically, and millions more binging Formula 1: Drive to Survive on Netflix, all signs point to a bet that has paid off. 

So today, ESPN F1 editor Laurence Edmondson joins us ahead of the 2023 season to tell us who is leading the pack, who is chasing them, and how, in the end, this sport of inches ultimately comes down to the fateful decisions of a bunch of nerdy engineers.

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The Rocky franchise is one of the most quintessential sports series of all time. It spawned six sequels, and Philadelphia has embraced its fictional leading man as part of the cultural identity embedded in the city itself. And as Creed III -– the third sequel in a franchise that, itself, is a sequel — gears up for its release this weekend, its director/star Michael B. Jordan and co-star Jonathan Majors are stepping into the Hollywood spotlight. So today, Chris Connelly takes us inside the making of a sports movie that’s more personal for them than you might think.

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