Saturday Watchlist: 3-29-25
So much sports and so little time, especially on Saturday.
Welcome to the Saturday Watchlist!
Every Saturday morning, I, Seth Dowdle, the authoritative source for all things Saturday, give you, the wonderful reader, the best games to watch on this wonderful day. It could be baseball, basketball, hockey, or anything in between. Who knows when something extraordinary will pop up on the Saturday Watchlist?
Here’s a little excerpt from last week that explains how the watchlist works:
For each window, I’ll give you one, potentially two contests that I’m interested in watching for the day, followed by a couple of paragraphs on why that’s the case. I think it’s better this way. If you don’t, all complaints can be emailed to my assistant, Toby1.
Today’s going to be a fantastic day. College basketball, both men’s and women’s, alongside baseball, rule the day. So, without further ado, let’s find out what we’re all watching!
Early Window
Notre Dame vs. TCU (12:00 PM CDT - ABC, ESPN+, Disney+)
Milwaukee Brewers @ New York Yankees (12:05 PM CDT - MLB.tv)
The TCU women’s basketball has made it to the Sweet 16 for the first time in team. In fact, it’s the first time that a basketball program at TCU — men’s or women’s — has made it this far in the NCAA Tournament. That is reason enough to put this game on your television.
The Frogs, led by stars Hailey Van Lith and Sedona Prince, will look to beat a formidable Notre Dame squad that TCU already managed to edge out earlier in the season. Beating a team twice in a season is quite difficult, no doubt, but TCU is 6-0 in rematches against teams it’s already played. Van Lith and company are obviously hoping to continue that trend.
I wrote more about TCU’s trip to the Sweet 16 earlier in the week, so make sure to check that out at the link below if you missed it:
Other than some early afternoon women’s basketball action, the pickings are slim in the early window tomorrow, leaving the Yankees’ tilt with the Brewers as one of the only compelling options during the “earlier” hours of Saturday.
Milwaukee and New York both got the day off after opening the season on Thursday, where the Bronx Bombers were able to come away with the 4-2 win. Austin Wells and Anthony Volpe both hit homers over the short porch in right field at Yankee Stadium en route to the victory.
Both these teams expect to be competing in October. While I don’t believe this matchup is a preview of the World Series, it’s certainly a little glimpse at two postseason-worthy teams facing off.
Afternoon Window
Cleveland Guardians @ Kansas City Royals (3:10 PM CDT - MLB.tv)
St. Louis Blues @ Colorado Avalanche (3:30 PM CDT - ESPN+)
Before March Madness tips off in the evening window, you can watch an extremely intriguing early-season baseball game or indulge yourself in an important hockey contest that will impact the playoff picture.
The Guardians and Royals are fierce rivals in the AL Central. Just a year ago, both clubs made the postseason, with the Guardians winning the division and the Royals sneaking in as a wild card. Both sides are seeking to build off the success of last season’s playoff appearances, but in different ways.
Cleveland sold two of its core pieces from the 2024 squad to shed payroll, hoping they can replace that production from within the organization for cheaper. While Kansas City didn’t go out and break the bank, the front office clearly is trying to compete in this window of contention. So, with the two teams playing during the opening weekend of the season, it’s bound to be a fun time.
In the first game on Thursday, the Guardians won 7-4 in extra innings on the back of an amazing performance by Kyle Manzardo, who drove in four runs. But the Royals wore some slick baby blue uniforms, so they’re the real winner in my eyes.
On the hockey side of things, the St. Louis Blues cannot lose at the moment. After being outside of the playoff race just a couple of weeks ago, the Blues have rattled off eight consecutive wins and launched themselves into the second wild card spot in the Western Conference. They’ll look to continue that momentum against a red-hot Avalanche team that’s attempting to overtake the Dallas Stars for second place in the Central Division. There’s a lot of star power on both sides — Colorado with Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Brock Nelson, and Martin Necas, and St. Louis with Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou — so there should be a lot to enjoy. Tune in, I bet you’ll have a good time.
Evening Window
Texas Tech vs. Florida (5:09 PM CDT - TBS, truTV)
Alabama vs. Duke (7:49 PM CDT - TBS, truTV)
Boston Red Sox @ Texas Rangers (6:05 PM CDT - Rangers Sports Network, MLB.tv)
March Madness has flown by. We’re already at the Elite 8, which is crazy because there were 68 teams alive just a little over a week ago. I know that this is how it always works, but the fast-paced nature of this tournament never ceases to shock my senses every year.
Texas Tech is very fortunate to be here. The Red Raiders were down by as many as 16 points to Arkansas on Thursday evening, but they rallied back and beat the Razorbacks in overtime. They’ll face a Florida team that’s cruising at the moment. There’s no doubt that Texas Tech can’t afford a slow start like it had against Arkansas. If it does, the Gators will surely punch their ticket to the Final Four.
Meanwhile, the matchup of the tournament will be played immediately after with Duke and Alabama. Throughout every Duke game, my thoughts have been consistent: this is the best team in the country. Cooper Flagg is so fun to watch, and I can’t wait for him to play on a terrible NBA team for the next five years (I’m joking, obviously, maybe). The question is really this: Can Alabama shoot like it did against BYU versus the Blue Devils? Probably not. But if it manages to get close, Duke may be in trouble. I hesitate to say that because the Blue Devils have just been so dominant throughout this run. But nothing is impossible, especially in March.
Personally, I’ll be watching the Rangers. I know, I know. There are 162 baseball games, Seth, why are you watching one of those when March Madness is on, and it only comes once a year? Well, nothing will stop my love for baseball from rising to the top. If the Rangers are playing, they get priority. No exceptions.
Texas picked up its first win of the 2025 campaign last night, beating the Red Sox 4-1 behind two home runs by Jonah Heim and an excellent pitching performance by Jack Leiter. It was Leiter’s best outing of his young career, which I’m sure is a relief to him and the Rangers (it was definitely a relief to me, if that counts for anything!) given his rocky performances last season. Hopefully, he can continue to build on that success and carry it over throughout the year.
Late Evening Window
Dallas Stars @ Seattle Kraken (9:30 PM CDT - Victory+)
The Stars have not been playing all that well over the past week or so. You wouldn’t know it if you just looked at the wins and losses — Dallas is 6-2-2 in its past 10 games — but it’s been rocky.
The past two games, in particular, have been quite concerning. On Wednesday, the Stars beat the Oilers 4-3, but were up 4-0 at one point and almost gave the game away when they let Edmonton shoot a barrage of shots toward Jake Oettinger in the third period. They were lucky to get away with it, and you’d think they wouldn’t let it happen again. Oh, how wrong you’d have been.
The very next day against the Calgary Flames, the Stars were outshot 48-19 (!) but still won 5-2. How in the world? Well, goalkeeper Casey DeSmith was unconscious (except for the second Calgary goal, which was a bit of a stinker), and Dallas just managed to capitalize on their grade-A chances better than the Flames did. It’s a trend that’s not sustainable. Or maybe it is. I have no idea. No matter what, though, the Stars would like to be playing better hockey when the playoffs start in just a couple of weeks.
Just to remind everybody, he is still a cat, so there will be no time for comments or complaints (shoutout to Professor Haskett, if you know, you know).