Anchor Drop, March 1, 2022: March is here

Good morning.

Optional Musical Accompaniment

It’s March 1, which means that your local friendly sports blogger will be mostly watching basketball for the next month. (Baseball? Talk to Andrew. Which Andrew? That’s a good question.) Sadly, the first day of March does not bring any basketball during the work day — that starts tomorrow — but there are still some conference tournaments starting tonight. My friend Chris Dobbertean at Blogging the Bracket has your daily schedule.

And speaking of Chris, his Florida Gators come to Memorial Gym tonight for a rematch of probably the worst game that Vanderbilt has played this season, a 61-42 loss in Gainesville. Somehow, in spite of that, the wise guys in Vegas have Vanderbilt as a 1-point favorite tonight. Game time is 7:30 PM CT and the game will be on the SEC Network.

(Yes, I know this conflicts with the State of the Union. Just use multiple devices.)

The Hustler recaps bowling’s win in the Stallings Invitational.

Baseball plays Central Arkansas at 4:30 PM CT on the SEC Network+. That will be the only midweek game before this weekend’s four-game series at Hawaii.

Men’s golf is threatening to win another tournament, sitting five shots off the lead after two rounds at the Cabo Collegiate. Women’s golf is tied for eighth after the first day of the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate.

And, we have finally learned what you have to do to get banned by FIFA.

SEC Basketball Schedule and Picks

• Tennessee at Georgia (5:30 PM CT, SEC Network): Tennessee -15.5, Under 145
• Missouri at South Carolina (6:00 PM CT, ESPNU): Missouri +6.5, Under 137.5
• Ole Miss at Kentucky (6:00 PM CT, ESPN): Kentucky -16.5, Over 139.5
• Florida at Vanderbilt (7:30 PM CT, SEC Network): Vanderbilt -1, Under 135.5

Scoreboard

NBA: Timberwolves 127, Cavaliers 122 ... Magic 119, Pacers 103 ... Raptors 133, Nets 97 ... Heat 112, Bulls 99 ... Grizzlies 118, Spurs 105 ... Bucks 130, Hornets 106 ... Kings 131, Thunder 110.

NHL: Devils 7, Canucks 2 ... Maple Leafs 5, Capitals 3 ... Bruins 7, Kings 0.

SEC Baseball Standings (through Sunday)

East

• Georgia (7-0)
• Tennessee (7-0)
• Kentucky (7-0)
• Missouri (6-1)
• South Carolina (6-1)
• Florida (6-2)
• Vanderbilt (5-2)

West

• Ole Miss (6-0)
• LSU (7-1)
• Auburn (5-2)
• Texas A&M (5-2)
• Arkansas (4-2)
• Alabama (5-3)
• Mississippi State (4-3)