Monday’s Arizin: Daily links for Feb. 15

The “news”:

College basketball weekend takeaways, bracket facts, big wins, Ayo vs. Luka, Creighton’s statement | CBS Sports
12 of the NCAA’s top 16 — per their early bracket reveal — played over the weekend and four teams took losses.

College hoops winners and losers: Oklahoma flexes Big 12 muscle; Villanova suffers upset in Big East | USA Today
Winners and losers of Saturday’s college basketball games.

Oklahoma, Virginia, Creighton surge upward in new Top 25 and 1 | CBS Sports
The latest edition of CBS Sports’ Top 25 and 1 rankings.

Five major questions in college basketball as March Madness appears | USA Today
Unpredictable outcomes, surges and collapses have been prevalent during a college men’s basketball season in which many teams have been forced to take significant breaks between conference games due to COVID-19 protocols.

Inside the fight at Stanford and beyond to save Olympic Sports | Sports Illustrated
Throughout various NCAA divisions, hundreds of athletic programs and teams were suddenly eliminated for financial and other reasons. Athletes of discontinued programs, some Olympic sports, and some major ones, are looking to fight back and raise money.

With proposed St. Joes-USciences merger, does local small college landscape change? | Philadelphia Inquirer
What could it possibly mean for small schools and the local landscape?

Division I men’s basketball committee unveils top 16 teams on bracket preview show | NCAA.com
The NCAA did its annual top-four seeds bracket preview. It may change though, as four of those teams lost over the weekend. Regardless, here’s where the NCAA deemed the top 16 teams entering Saturday night.

Men’s Swimming: Danus, Nolan tally wins in swimming opener at Delaware | Villanova Athletics
Pair of Villanova freshmen had successful collegiate debuts; WIldcats fell to Blue Hens, 169-87.

Women’s Swimming: Wildcats edge Delaware, 150-149, in season opener | Villanova Athletics
Wildcats won eight events and secured the outcome with win in 400 free relay.

Men’s Soccer: Late goals lift La Salle past Wildcats, 2-1 | Villanova Athletics
Tough loss for the Wildcats over the weekend.

Women’s Soccer: Villanova falls to La Salle in season opener | Villanova Athletics
The Explorers overwhelmed the Wildcats in the 4-0 result.

Women’s Tennis: Wildcats lose to Delaware, 4-3, in season opener | Villanova Athletics
A lot of closely contested matches, but the Blue Hens got the edge over the ‘Cats.

Volleyball: Villanova falls to Pitt in home opener | Villanova Athletics
No. 19-ranked Pitt swept the ‘Cats.

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