GREG COTE’S HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (MARCH 22): WHAT IN SPORTS HAS GRABBED US THIS WEEK: Miami men face No. 2 Purdue in NCAAs, Marlins Opening Week, Sweet 16s near in March Madness, Dolphins trade Waddle, Panthers on thin ice, Messi out of Champions Cup, slumping Heat and more. After our three-week absence (the last two on vacation), welcome back to the 141st edition of HB10, bringing you what’s on our minds from a Miami lens and accentuating stuff that’s big, weird, damnable, funny or worth needling as sports week past pivots to the week ahead:
1. CANES HOOPS: Miami vs. Purdue today for Sweet 16; women alive in WBIT: Miami opens spring football this week, but, sorry Mario, it’s hoops time for now! The No. 7-seed Hurricanes men handled 10-Missouri and a hostile crowd in St. Louis Regional Friday night, 80-66, in UM’s first NCAA appearance since the 2023 Final Four. Malik Reneau’s 24 points led the win. Canes face 2-Purdue today -- and likely another unfriendly crowd back in St. Lou -- in a Sunday matinee for a spot in Sweet 16. Miami’s women’s team settled for a bid to WBIT but won their opener at home and host Wisconsin today back in Coral Gables.
2. MARLINS: It’s Opening Week for Miami’s 34th MLB season: Marlins launch their 34th big-league season with a rare Opening Night this coming Friday vs. Colorado. Fish open with six-game homestand vs. Rockies and White Sox before playing three at Yankee Stadium. The outlook is modest (Miami is 25th of 30 teams in World Series odds), with hopes pinned on Eury Perez, 22, blossoming to lead a pitch-strong roster still light on offense. Marlins are 10-13-3 with one game left in Grapefruit League: Today’s spring finale vs. Mets.
3. COLLEGE BASKETBALL-MEN: No. 3 Gonzaga out of NCAA Tournament as Sweet 16 gets set: Overall No. 1 Duke survived a first-round scare from Siena. No. 11-Texas stunned No. 3 Gonzaga. No. 5 Wisconsin and a trio of 6’s also are gone already. High Point enjoyed its moment in the Cinderella spotlight. So how’s your bracket doing as Sunday brings us into the Sweet 16? No. 1 reigning champ Florida doing just fine after a 59-point opening win over Prairie View A&M; now Gators face 9-Iowa State today for a spot in the 16. Two other state schools, South Florida and UCF, were early outs.
4. COLLEGE BASKETBALL-WOMEN: A chalky NCAA tourney so far. Can I get an upeset?: Thirty-two games have been played in the women’s NCAAs entering Sunday and the only two seed-upsets were negligible surprises with a pair of 9s beating 8s. If your bracket isn’t looking pretty pristine right now, you probably had a lousy bracket. Reigning champ UConn remains a big betting favorite to repeat. Ho-hum. Can we get a few surprises, women? (By the way, the only state of Florida school in it, Jacksonville, was out in the first round.)
5. DOLPHINS: Waddle joins Tua on gone list, Willis QB1 as rebuild digs in: Miami spent to sign the top available free-agent quarterback in Malik Willis to replace departed Tua Tagovailoa ... and soon after traded away Willis’ top weapon in sending Jaylen Waddle to Denver. Not ideal, obviously, but made necessary (they thought) by the albatross of the near-$100 million remaining financial obligation to Tua. The good news: Fins declared star RB De’Von Achane off-limits to a trade. (But check back in a year when his rookie deal has expired and they‘ll need to spend big to keep him.)
6. PANTHERS: 2-time Stanley Cup champs (all but) eliminated from playoffs: At 34-35 and 14 points off playoff pace with 13 games left, injury-wracked Florida is on the thinnest possible ice when it comes to even making the playoffs. Cats are not yet mathematically eliminated but have a 0.4 percent shot at a miracle. Panthers, back home Tuesday vs. Seattle, wold be only the fifth team in 47 years (since the current playoff format in 1979-80) to miss postseason after winning the Cup. The last was the L.A. Kings in 2014-15.
7. BASEBALL: Emotional Venezuela surprises U.S. to win WBC title in Miami: Twenty nations were down to two in the sport’s top international tournament: the World Baseball Classic. The powerful Dominican Republic and Japan were out. The favored U.S. reached the final as expected -- but lost 3-2 to Venezuela, whose players were inspired to win for their country, whose people wring hands over their future after a recent American military invasion forced a regime change. With 10.8 million viewers on average it was the most-watched game in WBC history.
8. INTER MIAMI: Messi nets 900th goal but Herons out of Champions Cup: Lionel Messi became only the second men’s player ever (after rival Cristiano Ronaldo) to bag 900 goals in official matches with his score in Inter Miami‘s 1-1 second-leg draw vs. fellow MLS club Nashville in the Concacaf Champions Cup -- but the tie was not enough to advance IM in the tournament. Miami is 2-1-1 in early league play. Herons open with five straight on road (next today/Sunday at New York City) before the grand opening of new Miami Freedom Park on April 4.
9. HEAT: Fourth straight loss has Miami facing play-in again: Heat is 38-33 after a fourth straight loss with Saturday’s 123-122 fall in Houston on a buzzer-beating tip-in. Miami had won seven straight before the current skid. Kevin Durant’s 27 moved him past Michael Jordan into fifth in all-time scoring. Hear back on the wood Monday at home vs. Victory Wembanyama and the Spurs. With 12 games left Miami might need a couple more 83s from Bam Adebayo to escape another postseason play-in purgatory. The good news? They’re finally cutting ties with albatross Terry Rozier.
10. TENNIS: Swiatek early out the shock at midpoint of Miami Open: Women’s world No. 3–ranked Iga Swiatek lost in three sets in the second round of the Miami Open (after a first-round bye) to No. 50 Magda Linette -- a shocker at the event’s midpoint. The loss ended Świątek’s 73-match opening-match victory streak on the WTA Tour dating to 2021. American 4-seed Coco Gauff is still alive but U.S. men’s No. 8 Ben Shelton was gone by the third. Favorites Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka roll on.
THE LIST: MOST MEN’S, WOMEN’S NCAA BASKETBALL TITLES: Schools with most NCAA Tournament national championships entering the current tourney, with asterisk (*) denoting qualified in ‘26:
Men (since 1939)
No. School Last won
11 UCLA 1995 (*)
8 Kentucky 2012 (*)
6 North Carolina 2017 (*)
6 UConn 2024 (*)
5 Duke 2015 (*)
5 Indiana 1987
Note: North Carolina was eliminated in first round.
Women (since 1982)
12 UConn 2025 (*)
8 Tennessee 2008 (*)
3 Baylor 2019 (*)
3 South Carolina 2024 (*)
3 Stanford 2021
Note: Tennessee was eliminated in first round.
Other select most recent stuff from me: Baseball, politics, emotion lift Venezuela past U.S. to WBC championship / Dolphins got good haul, but blame Curse of Tua for trading Waddle at all / Latest podcast: Join us on our Caribbean cruise / Dolphins’ epic failure at drafting Hurricanes is poised to end / WBC, sports’ unifying power are needed right now / Previous HB10 / Poll Dance: Who should be Fins’ ‘26 starting QB? / L.A. gave him a statue, but Heat’s Pat Riley has meant as much to Miami // 46 years later and on top of world, USA hockey owns Canada’s sport // 4 reasons why Dolphins and Malik Willis a perfect fit // Dolphins’ major rebuild is on -- and it’s about damned time // NBA All-Star Weekend got needed bounce with U.S. vs. World // No Giannis (yet), but for Heat it’s a dream deferred, not dead // Belichick’s stunning Hall snub is a shame on sanctimonious voters // Dolphins’ new coach, GM take on 25 years of franchise torpor and a QB mess // Canes title-game loss does not erase success of watershed season // Flailing, failing Dolphins in latest reboot with McDaniel firing // Rams’ Stafford wins 1st season title in Herald’s 28th NFL QB rankings // Canes’ ‘violent, relentless’ defeat of Ohio State is Miami’s biggest win in 23 years // Step aside, other cities: Why 2026 in sports belongs to Miami // Stugotz signs major iHeart Media deal, but says not done with LeBatard Show // Messi, Inter Miami win MLS Cup, crown 50 years of SoFla soccer // How Browns fan’s tragedy gave Bernie Kosar new life // Miami project -- and forgiveness -- helped Marc Buoniconti turn tragedy to triumph // Barkov lost for season a mortal blow to Panthers’ 3-peat bid // 15 years later, Dolphins Cancer Challenge is life-saving legacy of Jim Mandich // And my latest podcast: