Episode 20: March Madness 2025
It's the most wonderful time of the year - NCAA women's basketball tournament season!
What I’m Thinking About
TL;DR:
I created a new March Madness Bracket for the women’s tournament called “You Can’t Win, So Win” (word to Nike) and you can sign up to play by clicking here. Feel free to share the link with others (You’ll need an CBS Sports account).
You have to create your bracket before the first game begins on Friday, March 21st!
This year, you can only create one bracket, so choose wisely!
If you want to participate and have no clue what a bracket is, read last years Bonus Track for all the details - just remember to come back here for this years link.
March is chaotic already!
My Wolfpack ladies fell short to the dOoK Blue Devils in the ACC tourney in an unfortunate upset. The University of South Carolina earned their third consecutive SEC championship (their second time with the 3-peat). Harvard won their first Ivy League championship under their first Black coach, Carrie Moore, which gives them a ticket to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2006-2007 (and if you’re not hip to Ivy Player of the year, Harmoni Turner, you should be).
After playing for three schools and setting records in three different conferences, Haily Van Lith finally got a conference championship, TCU’s first, and will be heading back to the NCAA tournament. I’m excited to see how far TCU will go in the big dance. USC lost to UCLA in the Big Ten Championship, after beating them twice during the regular season.
Whew!!
March Madness Bracket Challenge
My friend Janel and I are headed back to the Sweet 16/Elite 8 regional games, this year in Birmingham, AL. I’m personally grateful that we only have to drive 2 hours to get there instead of getting on another plane. After watching Selection Sunday last night, I am hype that we could possibly see South Carolina again to get another pic with Dawn and crew, Maryland, UNC, Vanderbilt, Oregon, Notre Dame, and TCU play in Birmingham depending on how far teams get.
I’m excited to host my second annual women’s basketball bracket challenge. Last year, my friend/reader Nicole won, and I am excited to see if she will survive and advance to the number one spot, or get an upset!
I decided to use the CBS Sports app this year instead and I hope you join me for the “You Can’t Win, So Win” bracket challenge!
If you’re new here and missed my post last year about falling back in love with Basketball, check that out here:
Pics I never shared from A’ja Wilson’s jersey retirement weekend!
What I’m Reading
Y’all I have not been reading. Like at all. I’ve finished 2 books in 2025, which is 3 books shy of my 5 book/quarter goal. I have watched A LOT of TV and I’m not sure what it will take to get me back to a place where I can balance both.
Anyway, one of the books I’ve read this year is “A Legend in the Baking” and while it is not on the basketball theme, it does fit the sports narrative lol!
A Legend in the Baking - Jamie Wesley
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
This book is number two in the Sugar Blitz trilogy that follows three football players who invested in a cupcake shop and are unexpectedly finding love. This book is a second chance at love story with a very slow burn. It follows August Hodge who “went viral after a feminist rant about how women bakers are the backbone of the industry and baking cupcakes isn’t a threat to masculinity, making him the hottest bachelor in town”.
Sloane Dell is the sister to August’s teammate and co-founder, who will help manage their viral moment. However, Sloane and August have a history that haunts them both as they try to work together all these years later. I gave the book a 3.5 because while I enjoyed the story, the burn between August and Sloane was just way too slow for me.
I’m a sucker for a book series, so I anticipate reading the third book of the series!
What I’m Watching
You have to watch the recent karaoke episode of Abbott Elementary. You will laugh from start to finish. Thank me later!
This scene had me weak because its such a millennial song, and to see Barb so disturbed by the lyrics really cracked me up!
What I’m Vibin’ to
Doechii, Doechii, and more Doechii!
Doechii is the moment and we love to see it! She’s the voice of the Nike “You can’t win, so win” women’s athlete campaign and her song, ExtraL, is the current March Madness Women’s Basketball theme song.
Not only that, my girl went from winning a Grammy for the best hip hop album, to being carried through the crowded streets of Paris during fashion week, to gracing the stage with THEE Lauryn Hill, to dancing to her song “Anxiety” with Will Smith and Ashley Banks (Tatyana Ali)?! How can you not stan? I love her glow up right now because she deserves every moment of it.
What I love and appreciate about Doechii is that not only is she great at her craft as an emcee, she has literally made music in every genre from hip-hop to R&B to pop.
Check out her Tiny Desk episode and get hip!
Bonus Track: Apple Sports App
I deleted ESPN sometime last year for reasons I won’t explain here. Right now I am using the Apple Sports App to track my favorite teams and while it doesn’t have all of the features I’d like, it’s great to keep up with real-time scores and stats during a game. Sometimes the app is a few seconds/plays ahead of my tv and I hate that when it’s a game that goes down to the wire because it spoils it. What I love is that you can keep up with games right on your Lock Screen (as seen below)!
If you’re like me and will pull up YouTube TV to catch a game when you’re out with friends and family, this app is a nice way to stay engaged with both the game and your friends #BallisLife. You can customize your scoreboards on Apple Sports by following your favorite teams, tournaments, and leagues. You can easily navigate between scores and upcoming games; explore play-by-play information, team stats, lineup details, and live betting odds.
