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Each week our staff of film and TV experts surveys the entertainment landscape to select the ten best new/newish shows available for you to stream at home. We put a lot of thought into our selections, and our debates on what to include and what not to include can sometimes get a little heated and feelings may get hurt, but so be it, this is an important service for you, our readers. With that said, here are our selections for this week.

10. (tie) Shrinking (Apple TV Plus)

The mental health and comedy crossover of Ted Lasso was apparent in the show’s second season as Ted’s coping mechanisms started to falter, pushing him to get some help. Shrinking, which comes from the minds of Lasso producer Bill Lawrence and Lasso writer/co-star Brett Goldstein (as well as series star Jason Segel) begins in a similar place with its main character, played by Segel, realizing that his strategies aren’t working when it comes to managing grief, having a relationship with his daughter, and helping the patients who come to him for help as their therapist. What follows is an odyssey of personal rediscovery with plenty of awkward moments, incremental improvements, and a whole lot of charming grouchiness from Harrison Ford as a begrudging mentor type.

Watch it on Apple TV Plus

10. (tie) History of the World, Part II (Hulu)

There’s a good chance one of your favorite funny people is in History of the World, Part II, Hulu’s follow-up to the 1981 comedy film History of the World, Part I. We’re talking Nick Kroll, Wanda Sykes, Ike Barinholtz, Quinta Brunson, Andy Daly, Danny DeVito, Ayo Edebiri, Jake Johnson, Richard Kind, Johnny Knoxville, Jason Mantzoukas, Ken Marino, Kumail Nanjiani, Sam Richardson, Seth Rogen, Sarah Silverman, Carl Tart, Drew Tarver, Taika Waititi, and, of course, Mel Brooks. Pretty good cast! Hopefully, it doesn’t take another 40 years before History of the World, Part III comes out.

Watch it on Hulu

9. Party Down (Starz)

Reboots and long-delayed restarts scratch a nostalgia itch while usually falling short of equalling their past greatness, but somehow Party Down returns with its bite largely intact. The cast (anchored by Adam Scott) still plays well together, but it’s the story that sets this one apart with all the subtle ways these characters have and have not changed, marking the passage of time but not necessarily the rise of maturity.

Watch it on Starz

8. Perry Mason (HBO Max)

Matthew Rhys returns as Perry Mason a little more than two and a half years after the character went from avenging private eye to avenging cub lawyer. Where’s he at now? Haunted and stuck on the fringes of the justice system again, working in civil litigation instead of criminal law, though that figures to change at some point as the season’s B story about a rich kid with big dreams and loose morals threatens to intercede with Mason’s life. As always, Rhys navigates this impeccably created world of 1930s LA, playing angles while striving to fight the good fight even if he gets pushed into a ditch or two in the process.

Watch it on HBO Max

7. Abbott Elementary (Hulu)

The first season of Abbott Elementary was a feel-good network sitcom that caught a massive wave of popularity and won a bunch of Emmys in a time when feel-good network sitcoms are kind of not supposed to do that. Credit for this goes to creator and star Quinta Brunson, who realized that an underfunded inner-city public school was exactly the right place to show us people with good hearts working inside a system that can be cold. Kind of like Parks and Recreation but in Philadelphia. The second season is underway and does not appear to be missing a beat. This is basically a miracle, all around.

Watch it on Hulu

6. Extrapolations (Apple TV Plus)

Really just a lot going on here. We’ve got a climate-based series set in the future when the effects of centuries of pollution have ravaged the Earth a little bit. We’ve got eight interconnected stories about it all, strung together in an anthology. And we’ve got just a killer cast. Seriously, look at this collection of firepower: Meryl Streep, Tobey Maguire, Edward Norton, Kit Harrington, Sienna Miller, Eiza Gonzalez, etc. etc. etc. It’s crazy that we live in a world where this show isn’t the only thing we talk about, just based on everything in this paragraph. The future remains kind of wild.

Watch it on Apple TV Plus

5. Lucky Hank (AMC Plus)

An impressively bearded Bob Odenkirk is back with Lucky Hank, his follow-up to Better Call Saul.

An English professor at a middling university, Hank is sleepwalking through life, trying to dodge the consequences of being uncareful with his words with a student and aspiring writer. He’s also mildly participating in an outwardly happy marriage that needs to revolve around his career and nursing a 15-years-long estrangement with a father whose career achievements loom large.

Hank’s redeeming qualities are, at this point, well hidden as he frustrates, causing you to want to stab him, but it’s Bob Odenkirk, so you know at some point we’re going to see why people put up with a character that’s like a canker sore in loafers. That or he’s just going to be so good at being a prick that we can’t turn away, enshrining Hank besides such other beloved assholes as Greg House. Either way, this slow burn is well worth the watch.

Watch it on AMC Plus

4. You (Netflix)

To this show’s credit, they’re trying to switch up their formula by transforming Stalker Joe into Stalkee Joe. Sadly, that’s caused the series to lose a lot of bite because part of the fun was roasting Penn Badgley’s horrific character as he fumbled his way through violent crimes, often barely escaping by the seat of his pants. This season wraps up with his new persona, Professor Jonathan Moore, headed towards a possible reckoning, so will Joe truly get what he deserves? Viewers will know soon enough.

Watch it on Netflix

3. Swarm (Amazon Prime)

What’s the best way to get you to watch Swarm, the unsettling, nightmarish new thriller from Donald Glover and Janine Nabers, premiering on Amazon Prime Video this week? Would teasing that it’s a dark, seriously disturbed portrait of pop culture obsession that features a Beyonce stand-in work? How about if we said Dominique Fishback is deliciously deranged as Dre, a young woman willing to kill to get closer to her celebrity crush? Maybe the eerie use of Twitter’s bird-chirping notification in the show’s trailer, which feels like a Safdie brothers Gen-Z fever dream, will do the trick? No, really. What’s it going to take to convince you to watch this thing? Because we’ll do it.

Watch it on Amazon Prime

2. Ted Lasso (Apple TV Plus)

Break out your biscuits and put on your custom-bedazzled Diamond Dogs silk bomber jackets because the best mustache on TV is back, baby. This might be the last season of Ted Lasso which is a bittersweet pill to swallow but it’s best not to dwell on all of the loose ends still in need of tying. Ted wouldn’t. Instead, let’s just enjoy these characters as long as we have them. And hope something awful (but not irreversible) and humiliating (but appropriately so) and devastating (but ultimately life-changing in a positive way) happens to Nate “not so great” Shelley.

Watch it on Apple TV Plus

1. The Mandalorian (Disney Plus)

The nice thing about The Mandalorian is that it delivers exactly what the people need and expect. Want to see — or at least, like, hear — Pedro Pascal do various space cowboy things with his lasers and ships? Done, no problem. Want to see little Baby Yoda — apologies, Grogu — make cute little faces and occasionally use the Force to defeat an enemy? Yup, that’s there, too. Want to see a slew of recognizable faces from season to season — Timothy Olyphant, Giancarlo Esposito, Carl Weathers, etc. — as well as a bunch of fun little callbacks to the Star Wars universe? Buddy, this show has you covered. There’s very little to complain about here on any major level. Sometimes that’s all you can ask for out of a big show like this. An adorable little green guy helps.

Watch it on Disney+

There’s wearing your heart on your sleeve, and then there’s what Chlöe is doing with In Pieces, her highly anticipated debut solo album due out March 31. We’ve already gotten a taste of what it will sound like with singles “Pray It Away” and “How Does It Feel” (controversially) featuring Chris Brown.

Today, March 16, Chlöe showed us what her In Pieces album cover looks like, and she’s holding her heart in her hand.

In a separate tweet, she explained the meaning behind the image:

“I saw a photo of a porcelain doll 3 years ago, holding her heart just like this and from then, I said this will be my album cover. That same day I also wrote ‘Heart On My Sleeve.’ The beginning of a scary and exciting journey for me. This cover represents so much for me, down to the color of my hair.. When I had the red hair 1.5 years ago, it was one of the darkest times in my life.. That’s why I never wore it again. It reminded me too much of the pain that I was going through in that moment and I didn’t want any reminders.

But now after healing, doing self work and shedding this skin of false perfection, I find the beauty in my pain. I find the beauty in my flaws and how in actuality, that’s what makes me perfect. I find beauty in all of the cracks that show people I’ve been broken down before, because I’ve gotten up every time. I wear my heart as my armor.

In Pieces is for the ones who behind closed doors are breaking and don’t know how much more they can take. In Pieces is for the ones who hold the people up around them while barely holding up themselves. In Pieces is for the people who continue to get stabbed in the back, heartbroken by the ones they thought they could trust, but STILL that doesn’t change their heart and how they love. In Pieces is for the ones like me, who wear their outer shell so well that you’d have no idea what they’re doing through. I hope this project brings healing to those who listen, as it’s been completely therapeutic for me and I can’t wait to share my heart with you, literally.”

Chlöe will spread this message across North America with her In Pieces Tour, beginning April 11 in Chicago. But first, fans can see her on Amazon Prime Video’s original series Swarm from Donald Glover and Janine Nabers, which premieres tomorrow, March 17.

In Pieces is out 3/31 via Parkwood/Columbia. Find more information here.

Hollywood’s tallest silly little guy Alexander Skarsgård is prominently featured in the trailer for Succession season four. The actor, who plays tech mogul Lukas Matsson, will feel right at home: part of the final season takes place in Norway, near where he (and other various Skarsgårds) was born in Sweden.

“We shot up in the fjords, up in the mountains. It was spectacularly beautiful. It’s a company retreat, basically, an opportunity for relaxation but also hard negotiations about how to move forward,” Skarsgård told Entertainment Weekly, adding, “It was quite fun to get out of New York and shoot something on kind of Matsson’s turf.”

The Infinity Pool actor also discussed working with Kieran Culkin, his frequent scene partner. “Kieran’s extraordinarily fun to work with,” says the actor. “He’s a very lovely, sweet guy, and he plays that role phenomenally. He’s like a little terrier. He comes at you with a lot of energy in those scenes, and it makes it very easy, because there’s so much to play off of when you’re working with Kieran.” As for the line that Skarsgård thinks best sums up Lukas, he said it’s during his first episode on the show.

“I remember the first day, one of my first lines was, Jeremy asks if I want anything and I say ‘Privacy, p*ssy, pasta,’” says Skarsgård of [season three’s “Too Much Birthday”]. “I think that’s a terrific line, and that kind of sets the tone, and gives you so much information on who Matsson is.”

Succession returns to HBO on March 26.

(Via Entertainment Weekly)

Quality Control was sold to HYBE America. Variety reported the deal in early February, relaying its value to be “$320 million in stock and cash” and identifying Scooter Braun as the driving force behind the merger.

Braun lauded Quality Control co-founders Kevin “Coach K” Lee and Pierre “P” Thomas in a statement provided to Variety.

“I am so proud and honored to have Coach and P join Bang and me as our partners. QC is one of the most significant independent labels in the world, working with incredible artists who are, and remain to be, the voices of culture,” Braun said. “I’ll never forget riding around Atlanta over 20 years ago with Coach discussing our dreams and ambitions and how we said, ‘If they let us in the game, we are never going to give it back.’ Now, all these years later, we are joining forces to make these dreams a reality.”

While $320 million is a significant indication of how influential Quality Control has become, its true value can’t be quantified.

George State Representative Park Cannon hosted a ceremony at the Georgia State Capitol Building yesterday, March 15, to formally recognize QC, Coach K, and P as “the modern-day blueprint for success in the industry.” Cannon further cemented their legacy by making March 15 “QC Day” in Atlanta.

“You have been chosen to be honored on QC Day because you have worked diligently at your craft and brought millions of dollars in revenue along with notoriety to the City of Atlanta,” Cannon wrote, in part.

The official Quality Control Instagram account posted the full letter:

P posted photos from the ceremony, showing Lil Baby was in attendance:

Quality Control rocketed to success with Migos, and its roster has expanded to include such hitmakers as Baby, City Girls, and Lil Yachty.

David Byrne kicked off 2023 strong. The Talking Heads frontman closed last year with a performance at Miley Cyrus’ New Year’s Eve Party, and last month he joined Maggie Rogers onstage at New York’s Radio City Music Hall for “Strange Overtones.” Now, he’s got more in store.

Deadline reported that the rights to the Talking Heads concert film Stop Making Sense, released in 1984, have been acquired by A24. It will be restored in 4K following his Oscar nomination for Everything Everywhere All At Once for the song “This Is A Life.” With this announcement comes a promotional video in which Byrne picks up his dry cleaning to pick up his iconic oversized suit. He dances in the mirror, looking as energized as ever.

In October of last year, Byrne shared a Latin Pop Explosion playlist and praised Rosalía for her extravagant live performance. “[Rosalía’s] show had very innovative staging consisting of 8 dancers and a video cameraperson on stage,” he wrote in a blog post. “They mostly perform on a giant seamless which acts as a stage for the video screens. Making the video become part of the show. She seemed to be wearing no makeup- other than a little lipstick. Possibly because with all the sweating it might have become a mess? Her presence was very sincere and heartfelt – unusual for a pop show like this.”

Watch the Stop Making Sense promo video above.

Music fans these days are well known for being Incredibly loyal to their favorite recording artists but they are also known for being incredibly petty on their behalf. Just look at the audience from this Mod Sun concert in New York City; they gleefully chant “f*ck Tyga” at the behest of Travis McCoy, all because the Compton rapper has allegedly gotten cozy with Mod Sun’s ex, Avril Lavigne. TMZ also has another angle in which Mod Sun’s reaction can be seen.

Rumors that Lavigne and Tyga had linked up first circulated in late February after they were seen leaving a trendy Los Angeles restaurant together. Of course, some fans were baffled at the connection given the fact that just last year, Lavigne was engaged to Mod Sun, who confirmed that the couple had broken up shortly after the Tyga rumors surfaced. The musician was reportedly devastated by the breakup but fortunately — for him, at least — he’s got friends like Travie McCoy to cheer him up by razzing his ex’s new man.

Avril and Tyga, meanwhile, seemingly confirmed their relationship when they were seen sharing a kiss at a Paris Fashion Week show. So, don’t be too surprised if more “f*ck Tyga” chants break out at Mod Sun shows for the foreseeable future.

As James Gunn began his tenure as the new chief of DC Studios and began making clear that he’d be rebooting franchises following the past decade of the Snyderverse, he mentioned having a conversation with Ben Affleck about possibly directing a film for the now-burgeoning DC Universe.

“Met with Ben yesterday precisely because he wants to direct & we want him to direct,” Gunn tweeted in December. “We just have to find the right project.”

That situation remained relatively quiet until early March when rumors started spreading that Affleck was in talks to direct The Brave and The Bold, which would introduce a brand new Batman for Gunn’s DCU. As the unconfirmed rumor spread, fans accused Gunn of being a “professional liar” because he mentioned in an interview that if Affleck did direct a movie, it would not be a new Batman film.

Turns out, Gunn was telling the truth because Affleck is not interested in directing The Brave and The Bold, or any DC movie for that matter.

“I would not direct something for the [James] Gunn DC. Absolutely not,” Affleck bluntly told The Hollywood Reporter in an interview to promote his new movie Air. “I have nothing against James Gunn. Nice guy, sure he’s going to do a great job. I just wouldn’t want to go in and direct in the way they’re doing that. I’m not interested in that.”

As for Affleck’s reluctance to step back into the world of superhero films, the actor is still haunted by his experience on the Justice League movie, which made him walk away from his Batman role. Via THR:

That was hard. And I started to drink too much. I was back at the hotel in London, it was either that or jump out the window. And I just thought, “This isn’t the life I want. My kids aren’t here. I’m miserable.” You want to go to work and find something interesting to hang onto, rather than just wearing a rubber suit, and most of it you’re just standing against the computer screen going, “If this nuclear waste gets loose, we’ll …” That’s fine. I don’t condescend to that or put it down, but I got to a point where I found it creatively not satisfying. Also just, you’re sweaty and exhausted.

“I don’t want to participate in this in any way,” Affleck ultimately decided about the DC Films. “And I don’t want to squander any more of my life, of which I have a limited amount.”

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)

Vladimir Putin’s multiple massive drafts within a year already clued the world in to the enormous loss of life over in Ukraine, where soldiers are said to be walking into a meat grinder of grim circumstances. At this point, voluntarily signing up is tantamount to co-signing one’s death sentence, and things also aren’t going so great for Putin’s privately hired mercenaries, the Wagner Group, which recently complained that the Russian president stopped taking their calls and cut off their ammo supply.

Russia also recently moved on from simply recruiting from male prisons to drag in female counterparts, and let’s just say that a new clue has arrived to point out how desperate times are in this conflict (even more so than news of the so-called “Russian Walter White” being made to take the plunge. As Page Six relates, the Wagner Group is on Pornhub with ads that ask men to stop with the “whack off” routine and go get whacked. Or something like that:

In the commercial, a blonde woman wearing red lipstick is seen twirling an oversized lollipop in her mouth, while a husky female voice purrs in the background: “we are the f-king coolest private army in the world.”

“We are recruiting fighters from all regions of Russia… Don’t whack off, go work for PMC Wagner.”

Then a phone number appears on the screen, which is said to be associated with Wagner Group recruiters.

Well, they’re gonna win this thing now. Here’s a look at the purported ad:

In all seriousness, however, Russia recently suffered deadliest day since the Ukraine invasion began with over 1,000 of Putin’s guys losing their lives. And it seems that every political analyst agrees that Kremlin is now embracing their sunk-cost fallacy and won’t ever be able to cut their losses and retreat. It seems unlikely that anyone will see this ad and decide that signing up for Wagner Group is a smart idea or that women will be waiting in the wings, but that reality clear isn’t stopping them from trying.

(Via Page Six)

Ice Spice broke through last summer with “Munch (Feelin’ U).” She didn’t want to be a one-hit wonder (as she noted to Genius’ “Verified“), so she followed “Munch” up with “Bikini Bottom” last October.

Right now, the Bronx rapper is metaphorically on top of the world — and literally at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 — alongside PinkPantheress with “Boy’s A Liar Pt. 2,” which she performed for the first time at Rolling Loud California earlier this month. But Ice Spice inadvertently rerouted us back to “Bikini Bottom.”

“The only animated character I ever had a crush on was, like, SpongeBob,” Ice Spice said with a giggle in a TikTok posted by MTV last week. “You know, he’s very integrated in my life.”

Back with Genius last December, Ice Spice clarified that she “just wanted to make a lit song,” so she “asked [producer RIOTUSA] to make me a SpongeBob-type beat, and I wasn’t actually sampling SpongeBob, but it just gives that vibe.”

Ice Spice’s official “Bikini Bottom” lyric video from last November used the popular font associated with SpongeBob SquarePants. The iconic Nickelodeon franchise has been going strong since 1999, premiering roughly six months before Ice Spice was born, and Ice Spice is primed to enjoy the same longevity. Even Nicki Minaj joined the bandwagon.

Refresh your memory by watching the “Bikini Bottom” lyric video below.

Thursday afternoon marks the start of the best four-day stretch of the year. The 2023 NCAA Tournament will begin its opening round at 12:15 p.m. EST, when the West Virginia Mountaineers and the Maryland Terrapins will tip off their game and be the only show in town for a whole 25 minutes. Games will come and go quickly over this weekend, and before things begin, we wanted to highlight some of the players who could end up stealing the show.

Whether they’re going home after one game or cutting down the nets in Houston, all of these players have the potential to captivate fans over the next weeks. Some are going to have long NBA careers, some are going to [that one NCAA commercial that no longer is on TV voice] go pro in something other than sports. But all of these players — and many, many more — are about have an opportunity to become an unforgettable name in the world of college basketball.

East Region

Zach Edey (Purdue)

What’s left to be said about the guy who very well might end up being the consensus National Player of the Year? Edey is the single biggest matchup problem in the sport at 7’4, an almost automatic two points any time Purdue gets him the ball, the best offensive rebounder in the country, and a deterrent on defense for anyone who tries to score around the rim. He’s carried the champions of the Big Ten all season, averaging 22.3 points, 12.8 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks in 31.6 minutes per game. The Boilermakers have a real shot to get to the Final Four this season, and Edey is the main reason why.

Tyler Kolek (Marquette)

The Golden Eagles have been unbelievable in Shaka Smart’s second season, and Kolek turning into an All-American and the Big East Player of the Year is at the heart of it all. The former George Mason guard struggled mightily for Marquette last season, and this year, he’s taken a gigantic step forward as both a scorer and one of the best players in the country at setting up his teammates. Kolek’s 7.7 assists per game are second in the nation, and he’s averaging 13.3 points on 48.3 percent shooting a night. If not for his play, there’s a very good chance the Golden Eagles would not have won the Big East regular season and tournament titles.

Keyontae Johnson and Markquis Nowell (Kansas State)

Despite not making the NCAA Tournament since 2019 and having a first-time head coach, the Wildcats are dancing as a 3-seed. They’re heading into the Big Dance with one of the best 1-2 punches in the nation, both of whom made their way to Manhattan from other programs. Johnson, the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, has returned to basketball after collapsing on the court and going into a medically induced coma at Florida to average 17.7 points and seven rebounds a game while connecting on nearly 42 percent of his threes. Nowell, an undersized (5’8) point guard who started his career at Little Rock, can fill it up or set up his teammates, as he is averaging 16.8 points and 7.6 assists a night.

Jeremy Roach (Duke)

Duke has turned into one of the most dangerous teams in the country over the final month of the season, as they won the ACC Tournament and haven’t lost in their last nine. While freshman big man Kyle Filipowski has been their top scorer, junior guard Jeremy Roach —13.3 points, 3.1 assists in 33.1 minutes a game — is the straw that stirs the drink and the guy that the Blue Devils rely on when the going gets tough. For a team like Duke that relies so heavily on freshmen, a guy with Roach’s experience and level-headedness in tough situations is invaluable. It’s very possible Jon Scheyer’s first year as a coach involves the Blue Devils going on a run, and if so, Roach is going to be the heart and soul of the whole thing.

Johnell Davis (FAU)

Florida Atlantic is tied with Houston and Charleston for the most wins in the nation (31) and enters the tournament ranked 22nd in KenPom. Their superpower is in their bench, where Davis has been one of the nation’s most dangerous players for most of the season. While Davis started the team’s final seven games of the year, including the Owls’ run through the Conference USA Tournament, the CUSA Sixth Player of the Year and a first-team all-conference selection has largely been a reserve this season. His numbers: 13.5 points, 5.2 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.5 steals in 25.2 minutes per game while shooting 50 percent from the field and 39.3 percent from three. When he and fellow first-team All-CUSA selection Alijah Martin — who likewise spent time coming off the bench but has been a starter recently — are out there, the Owls are a nightmare to play against.

Max Abmas (Oral Roberts)

Had to cheat and include a sixth (well, seventh) player because noted guy who busted your bracket in 2021 Max Abmas is back in the tournament. In case you forgot (which, that mostly means you are not an Ohio State or Florida fan), Abmas scored 80 points in three games that year as Oral Roberts made it to the Sweet 16, where they lost by two to Arkansas.

The Golden Eagles missed out last year, but in 2023, they’re back and extremely dangerous. They went 30-4, enter the tournament on the nation’s longest win streak (17 games), and Abmas is averaging 22.2 points per game on nearly 38 percent shooting from three. Oral Roberts got Duke in the opening round, and it’s not hard to imagine Blue Devils fans having C.J. McCollum flashbacks while watching Abmas cook.

South Region

Brandon Miller (Alabama)

Any list of the most interesting players to watch in the South Region has to start with Miller, which means any list of the most interesting players to watch in the South Region has to begin with the obvious: Miller’s continued role for Alabama basketball has led to plenty of controversy and criticism following an incident earlier this year where he allegedly brought a gun to now-former teammate Darius Miles, who was arrested and charged with capital murder of a 23-year-old woman named Jamea Jonae Harris in Tuscaloosa.

Miller was not charged with a crime and has continued to play for the Crimson Tide, which won the SEC regular season and tournament crowns. The former 5-star recruit has been a major reason for this success, as he is one of the best scorers in the country and the primary option in Alabama’s uptempo, three-point heavy system, averaging 19.6 points on 45.1/40.1/85.6 splits. And on the defensive end of the floor, Miller’s length and peskiness have been an important piece to the puzzle as the Crimson Tide possess one of the nation’s most difficult defenses.

Azuolas Tubelis (Arizona)

Tubelis had been a good, productive player in each of his first two years in Tucson, as he made his way into the starting lineup under Sean Miller as a freshman and remained there when Tommy Lloyd took over last year. This season, he’s taken things to another level en route to earning first-team All-Pac-12 honors for the Wildcats. Despite being the center on a team that plays ultra fast, Tubelis has been wildly productive, averaging 19.8 points and 9.3 rebounds a night, including absolutely cooking Oregon for 40 points in 37 minutes of work earlier this season.

Tubelis is quite light on his feet and has unbelievable scoring instincts around the rim, while his chemistry with starting point guard Kerr Kriisa is top notch. He’s also comfortable putting the ball on the floor and attacking opposing big men. Arizona is going to score a whole lot of points — they’re the No. 4 scoring offense in America — and Tubelis is going to do a ton of it.

D’Moi Hodge (Missouri)

One of the best turnarounds in college basketball this season happened at Mizzou, where the Tigers were absolutely wretched last year — 12-21, 5-13 mark in conference play, fired Cuonzo Martin — and are now a 7-seed under first-year coach Dennis Gates. They are a straight up nightmare to play against, and Hodge is a huge reason why. On offense, he has one of the greenest lights to let it fly in the country, as he’s shooting 7.2 threes a game and hitting on 40.1 percent of them. He doesn’t turn the ball over (he’s ninth in the country in turnover rate), and he’s one of the most efficient scorers in the game, as evidenced by his effective field goal percentage of 62.1 percent. And on defense, he is a steals machine, as his steal percentage is the sixth-highest mark in the country.

Steven Ashworth (Utah State)

Looking for a potential Cinderella? The Aggies have you covered. They’re a 10-seed despite coming into the tournament ranked 18th in both KenPom and the NET rankings, and are led by head coach Ryan Odom, who was in charge of the UMBC team that remains the only 16-seed to ever beat a 1-seed.

They have five players who average double figures, with Ashworth leading the way at 16.3 points per game on 44.3 percent shooting from behind the three-point line. Beyond his ability to score — he’s scored in double-figures in all but five games this season — Ashworth is the team’s best facilitator, as he’s averaging 4.5 assists and 1.7 turnovers in 33 minutes a game. A second round matchup against Arizona would be difficult, Ashworth and backcourt mate Max Shulga can go to war with anyone in America.

Jalen Slawson (Furman)

Would you be surprised to learn that the best two-point shooting team in the nation is the mighty Furman Paladins? The team comes into the tournament having won six in a row and 14 of its last 15, and while star guard Mike Bothwell is the leading scorer, Slawson does a little bit of everything and does it all well. He leads the team in rebounds (7.1), steals (1.6), and blocks (1.6) per game. He’s their top three-point shooter, hitting 39.4 percent of his attempts. His 15.7 points and 3.2 assists per game are both second on the team. The Paladins get Virginia in the 4-13 game and have a real shot at knocking them off. If they do, our hunch is Slawson will have a monster game.

Midwest Region

Marcus Sasser (Houston)

The Cougars are my pick to win a national title, and their experienced, tough as nails point guard is the main reason. Sasser is an unbelievable college basketball player who sets the tone on both ends of the court for KenPom’s best team in the country. After playing a major role in Houston making it to the Final Four in 2021, an injury ended Sasser’s season in 2022 after 12 games. This year, he’s been excellent, leading the team to a 31-3 record, although he suffered a groin injury in the AAC Tournament semifinals that might hold him out. If he does play, though, the Cougars very well could be a Final Four team — he’s averaging 17.1 points, 3.2 assists, and 1.7 steals in 31.1 minutes per game while hitting his threes at a 38.3 percent clip.

Marcus Carr (Texas)

Carr’s had quite the career, as he started at Pitt in 2017, transferred back when you had to redshirt, spent three years at Minnesota, and then transferred to Texas, where he’s been for the last two seasons. A first-team All-Big 12 selection this year, Carr is saving the best basketball of his collegiate career for last — he’s put up team-best marks in scoring (15.9 points a game), assists (4.1 a night), steals (1.8 per game), and threes made a game (2.1) — as he’s been a steadying force amid all the turmoil that has gone on at Texas this season. If the Longhorns go on a run, he’ll be the one leading the way.

Isaiah Wong (Miami)

As you can see, the guards in this region absolutely rock, and Wong is no exception. The ACC Player of the Year has long been one of the conference’s best scorers, and this year, he’s putting up the best efficiency numbers of his career. Wong’s effective field goal percentage of 52.6 and True Shooting percentage of 58.3 are both high-water marks, and while the Hurricanes have a rather egalitarian attack (four players score in double-digits), his 16.2 points per game are the best on the team.

Wade Taylor (Texas A&M)

Despite standing only 6-feet tall, few guards live at the free throw line more than the Aggies’ floor general. Taylor is a warrior, as he has attempted the most free throws (192) for the team that has attempted the most in all of college basketball (860). And when he gets there, he is money, converting at an 87.5 percent clip. It’s quite the break in case of emergency option for A&M, which can struggle from the field (254th nationally in effective field goal percentage), especially if their ability to grab offensive rebounds (the sixth-best ORB% in America) is limited. His 16.5 points, four assists, and 1.8 steals per game all lead the Aggies.

Jalen Pickett (Penn State)

The case can be made that the best guard in college basketball goes to Penn State, which is playing in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 2011. Pickett, a transfer from Siena, has been sensational for the Nittany Lions this year, as his ability to slow down the tempo of a game and either bully opposing guards or set up Penn State’s bevy of three-point shooters (no team in the Tournament is more dependent on hitting threes) was unaffectionately nicknamed “booty ball” by Illinois coach Brad Underwood. The fact that no more than one of himself, Carr, or Taylor will make it out of the first weekend is a shame, because all three are big time college basketball players.

West Region

Jalen Wilson (Kansas)

If the Jayhawks become the first team to go back-to-back since the 2006-07 Florida Gators, it’s because Wilson led them there. The consensus first-team All-American and Big 12 Player of the Year was by no means a bad player on last year’s team — he started and tied for the team lead in points in the national title game against North Carolina — but he’s stepped into a more prominent role in 2022-23. He’s the first Jayhawk to average at least 20 points a game since Frank Mason in 2016-17, while his 8.4 rebounds a game are a career-high, too.

Jaime Jaquez (UCLA)

The 2-seed in the West is six spots higher in KenPom than the 1-seed. A member of the UCLA team that made it to the Final Four in 2021, Jaquez is the Pac-12 Player of the Year and the kind of player who gets after it on both ends of the floor, averaging 17.3 points, 8.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.4 steals per game. While he is not an especially killer athlete, Jaquez knows how to play, has turned into the No. 1 option in Westwood this year, and finds ways to impact games even if his shot isn’t falling.

Drew Timme (Gonzaga)

It sure seems like Timme has been in college forever. Gonzaga’s veteran big man has unsurprisingly played a major role for the best offense in all of college basketball, as his 20.9 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game are all career-highs. His game is well-documented at this point: Timme is ultra-skilled and has a seemingly endless bag of tricks when he gets down low, and his feel for the game is as good as anyone in the country. The Bulldogs are going to score, and he’s going to spearhead their attack as they look to look to return to the Final Four.

Boo Buie (Northwestern)

To the surprise of everyone outside of Evanston (and honestly, plenty of folks inside of Evanstan), the Wildcats are dancing for the second time in program history on the heels of a 21-11 season and a 12-8 mark in Big Ten play that had them finish tied for second. Their defense is superb (the 13th-most efficient in the country, per KenPom), while their offense is suspect. Well, lemme rephrase: Their offense outside of Buie is suspect. The senior guard is one of the most fun players to watch in the country when he’s on, as it seems like he is capable of single-handedly willing Northwestern to wins, either by getting to his spots and hitting shots or setting up his teammates.

Walter Clayton Jr. (Iona)

Everything about Clayton screams “mid-major guard who puts the fear of god into a higher seed.” He’s an undersized 2-guard who was named the MAAC Player of the Year, can absolutely fill it up, and is among the most efficient scorers in all of college basketball. He scores just under 17 points a game, hits 42.9 percent of his 5.2 threes a game, and he’s as good as it gets at icing games from the free throw line, as he’s gone 98-for-103 (95.1 percent) from the charity stripe this season. So much of the focus on the Gaels right now is on whatever the future holds for Rick Pitino, but thanks to Clayton and the rest of their talented roster, they have a real shot at making some noise in March.