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Welcome to the latest episode of Hot Takedown, FiveThirtyEight’s sports podcast. On this week’s show (Apr. 4, 2017), we say goodbye to March Madness and break down the women’s and men’s NCAA championship games. Next, we investigate why NBA teams are resting their players early and often. Plus, a significant digit on Madison Bumgarner.
- FiveThirtyEight’s Benjamin Morris argues that Mississippi State earned every bit of their upset over UConn.
- Mississippi State ultimately lost the women’s championship game to South Carolina.
- Neil Paine notes that even though the men’s championship was tough to watch, UNC played ugly enough to win.
- That was not a good national title game, writes ESPN’s Myron Medcalf.
- The Ringer’s Rodger Sherman says it wasn’t UNC players who won the night — it was the referees.
- NBA teams are resting players earlier and earlier, Todd Whitehead writes for FiveThirtyEight.
Significant Digit: 16.5, the average number of at-bats that San Francisco Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner takes between hitting home runs, since 2014. Last Sunday, Bumgarner hit two home runs and became the first pitcher to hit more than one on Opening Day.
