Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article, using information from a wire service, used a photo that was not Brendan Paul. We have updated the story and apologize for the error.

Former Syracuse guard Brendan Paul was arrested Monday and issued two drug-related charges, according to Miami-Dade (Fla.) County police records.

Paul was described in a federal lawsuit filed in February as a “mule” for rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs. The lawsuit, filed by Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones, accuses Combs of sexually abusing men and women, and mentions Paul as an assistant and confidant to Combs.

Paul allegedly “works as Mr. Combs mule. He acquires and distributes Mr. Combs drugs and guns” according to the lawsuit.

The arrest came while federal agents were raiding Combs’ properties in Los Angeles and Miami amid a reported sex trafficking probe, law enforcement officials told The Associated Press.

Paul’s attorney Brian Bieber told The Athletic, “We do not plan on trying this case in the media — all issues will be dealt with in Court.”

Combs denied the sexual assault allegations in a December statement, saying “I did not do any of the awful things being alleged.”

According to the Miami Herald, Paul’s arrest Monday came at Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport and was not…

Dyaisha Fair wasn’t even a top-100 recruit when she got to Buffalo in 2019. Now, she’s one of the top three scorers in Divison I women’s college basketball history.

With her 20th point Monday against UConn, coming at the foul line, Fair passed Kelsey Mitchell for the third-most points on the all-time scoring list with 3,403. Fair entered the day in fifth place but passed Jackie Stiles earlier in the game on an and-one in the third quarter.

The top of the scoring charts have been in flux all season with Caitlin Clark’s ascent to the top spot. Fair’s climb has been overshadowed by the Iowa star, but there’s no denying the significance of her accomplishment, especially for a player who began her collegiate career in the Mid-American Conference at Buffalo. The fifth-year guard who stands 5-foot-5 could not have been more under the radar.

One of the greatest scorers in college basketball.@DyaishaFair is now third in the NCAA record books passing both Jackie Stiles and Kelsey Mitchell. pic.twitter.com/1mkAgV7XUJ

— Syracuse Women’s Basketball (@CuseWBB) March 26, 2024

All she did was outperform her recruiting profile, averaging 23.1 points per game in three seasons with the Bulls. Fair then carried over that production to Syracuse when she transferred along with Coach…

The first two days of the 2024 women’s NCAA Tournament have brought a number of close finishes. UNC, Nebraska and Oklahoma won games by 3 points or fewer. Kansas topped Michigan in overtime, fighting off the Wolverines’ fourth-quarter rally. Thus far, however, the tournament has been light on madness. There’s been only one seed-line upset (No. 11 seed Middle Tennessee over No. 6 seed Louisville), and the closest game involving a No. 1 or No. 2 seed was Ohio State’s 23-point win over Maine.

The lack of opening-round wonkiness doesn’t mean we’re missing notable results or performances. Instead, Saturday featured a star scorer taking over late in a game to stave off defeat, a different star scorer struggling but still almost ending up with a triple-double and an unusual situation involving the referees.

Subs are important … even in officiating

The madness is expected in March … but not this kind.

Astute observers noticed that an officiating change was made at halftime of the NC State-Chattanooga game. The NCAA released a statement explaining there was “a background conflict that, if known, would prevent (the official) from working that assigned game.”

The official in question — Tommi Paris — holds a master’s degree from Chattanooga University, according to…

Dyaisha Fair walked into Syracuse’s practice gym looking to squeeze in an extra workout a few nights before Selection Sunday. The Orange had played only once since the start of March, and Fair, a 22-point per game scorer, sought to maintain her feel around the rim and begin adjusting to the NCAA Tournament’s Wilson-brand basketball. Fair flipped the lights on at the Carmelo Anthony Basketball Center. Then, in an empty gym, she got to work.

Unknown to Fair, coach Felisha Legette-Jack was in her office that evening. She had gone out to dinner with her husband then returned to the facility to think about recruiting. From her office overlooking the gym’s floor, she saw the court lights turn on. She heard a ball bouncing. She noticed the player who she says is “like my daughter.”

“Just to see that warmed my heart,” Legette-Jack said. “It kind of made me emotional because we only have a few games left.”

Legette-Jack and Fair have been connected for five years. Legette-Jack first recruited Fair to Buffalo, where Legette-Jack coached from 2012-2022 and where they spent three seasons together. They won double-digit games each season, and they made the 2022 NCAA Tournament. Fair was a three-time All-MAC guard, making first-team twice. Their bond forged an unwavering…

Today, we will finish our first-round NCAA Tournament previews with a look at the second day of matchups and potential upsets in women’s March Madness.

A reminder: Our statistical model Slingshot, developed with help from the Furman University Mathematics Department, begins by estimating the strength of all Division I teams according to their scoring margin per 100 possessions and their strength of schedule. We then adjust those basic power ratings for how strongly teams carry traits associated with successful tournament teams of the past. For underdogs, these characteristics generally include tactics that widen the variability of a team’s play, such as shooting lots of 3-pointers and working to force turnovers. For favorites, it’s just the opposite: Higher seeds cruise to wins when they cut risks and avoid chaos. Then we estimate matchup results. We still don’t have the same depth of historical data for women’s basketball as we do for the men’s side, but we’re getting there.

Now, on to Saturday’s games!

More Bracket Breakers: Upset projections for Friday games

Odds are from BetMGM. For more Underdogs, listen to Peter and Jordan’s podcast. For all our March Madness coverage, check out our content hub. 

No. 6 Syracuse Orange vs. No. 11 Arizona Wildcats

Upset…

(Editor’s note: This is part of the Bracket Central Series, an inside look at the run-up to the men’s and women’s NCAA Tournaments, along with analysis and picks during the tournaments.)

During the season in this space, we often like to begin with a bit of pop culture or history or some other random bit of nonsense unrelated to college basketball. So, uh, is it OK if we just do that for the entirety of this final installment?

Because we’re going to be totally transparent here. For the first time in six years of making mock brackets for The Athletic, we go into Selection Sunday with no earthly idea of what the selection committee is going to do. Oh, sure, there are always small surprises, but for the most part, the field is obvious except for maybe one slot.

Not this year. After one of the wildest Championship Week Saturdays we can remember, which included two power-conference bid thieves and a still-hard-to-believe outcome in the American, we find ourselves utterly confused by the bubble. And whether North Carolina will hold on to that final No. 1 seed or if surging Iowa State will take it. At least we’re not alone:

Been doing this since 2006. It’s never been this hard for the committee, not only because of how close so many of these teams are, but because of the…

We all remember what happened in the women’s NCAA Tournament last year. But the women’s side of March Madness was so packed with thrilling moments that most of us probably don’t remember all of what happened: Amid Iowa’s unthinkable defeat of South Carolina and LSU’s dramatic title run, does anyone really recall wins by No. 12 seed Florida Gulf Coast, No. 12 seed Toledo or No. 11 seed Mississippi State?

Well, we analyze upsets, so we do. And we are here to put them all in context and tell you there’s a statistical reason the women’s game is breaking out into enormous popularity: its tournament has achieved a perfectly entertaining mix of dominance and chaos.

South Carolina will sit atop the women’s bracket, and there’s no way to argue that the Gamecocks aren’t the best team in the country without violating the laws of physics and math. Dawn Staley’s crew excels at every phase of the game and are even better at some areas than last year. (Example: They are shooting 39.7 percent on 3s, the third-best rate in the NCAA, up from 171st in 2023.) We estimate South Carolina has a 37 percent chance of winning the tournament, which is a remarkable number — double the odds for Houston, the team our model says is the best team in the men’s tournament this season….

Conference tournament week is essentially a welcomed opening act to March Madness. It’s college basketball’s groundhog on Feb. 2, forecasting what kind of NCAA Tournament we might be in for.

The collective storylines and potential battles we’ll see in the conference tournaments this season are full of promise. The end of the Pac-12. The Caitlin Clark Show. South Carolina’s superhero mode. No. 1 seeds up for grabs and tournament bidding on the line. Surely, we’ll be treated to a few surprises along the way too.

Selection Sunday looms on March 17, but until then, let the conference games begin. We’ve got you covered about who to watch, how to watch and what to know.

Power conference tournaments

ACC

Dates: March 6-10

TV: ESPN, ACCN

Location: Greensboro, N.C.

Top seed: Virginia Tech (23-6, 14-4)

The skinny: Hokies center Elizabeth Kitley’s knee will be a focal point of the tournament. Whether she plays could determine Virginia Tech’s feasibility to reach the Final Four again. The Hokies are in position to gain a No. 2 seed for the NCAA Tournament as long as they don’t stumble in Greensboro.

North Carolina State’s curious losses to Duke and North Carolina could be history if the Wolfpack peak in conference play and return to form. They’re working to hold on to a No. 3…