March Madness Sweet 16 scores and live updates: Schedule, predictions, best bets and picks, bracket of NCAA Men’s Tournament

March Madness Sweet 16 scores and live updates: Schedule, predictions, best bets and picks, bracket of NCAA Men’s Tournament
March Madness Sweet 16 scores and live updates: Schedule, predictions, best bets and picks, bracket of NCAA Men’s Tournament
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LOS ANGELES — Because he is a walk-on, and because the NCAA Tournament is not always a busy time for walk-ons, Will Kuykendall naturally had some time last weekend to scroll through TikTok. When he did, a familiar but long-lost sound greeted him.

The theme song to the Disney Channel classic “Liv and Maddie.”

The Arizona freshman turned the volume up. His teammates started singing along. Thus Kuykendall decided it: It was time to make a video. The Wildcats, lip synching to the tune. Ash or Wednesday afternoon? The video had more than 300,000 likes. For Arizona, this is no longer merely a trip to the West Region semifinals.

It is, in fact, a Sweet 16-a-Rooney.

“It’s crazy,” Kuykendall said, shortly after arriving at Crypto.com Arena with the rest of the Wildcats. “I don’t know if I watched ‘Liv and Maddie,’ but I know my sisters did. But then when (the team) started signing, I was like, I didn’t know everybody knows ‘Liv and Maddie.’ Especially some of the foreign guys. It’s funny, right?”

It is. It’s very much.

For the uninitiated, “Liv and Maddie” ran from 2013-17 and starred Dove Cameron as both titular twins: Liv and Maddie Rooney, the former an actress returning home to life in Stevens Point, Wisc., and the latter a tomboy who stayed home and became — spoiler alert! — a basketball star. Hence the opening lyrics to “Better in Stereo,” the song that opens every episode:

I’m up with the sunshine/

I lace up my high tops/

Slam dunk, ready or not/

Yeah, show me what you got

Arizona mainstays Keshad Johnson, Kylan Boswell and Jaden Bradley are among those who participated in Kuykendall’s project, although as the author notes, pretty much everyone in the locker room is at least somewhat familiar with the show. “I’ve seen a couple of episodes, but that was all Will’s idea,” Bradley said Wednesday. “He just told us what to say. My part probably took like two or three takes. I wasn’t great at it. But I’m working on it.”

And now thanks to the numbers — “It’s going viral right now,” Bradley said. “Got people texting me with laughing emojis, everything” — the Wildcats have an emboldened would-be influencer and content creator at the end of the bench.

“It’s hilarious to us,” Boswell said. “He’s getting a little clue now. He thinks he’s trying to become like Jared (McCain) or something.”


The article is in Dutch

Tags: March Madness Sweet scores live updates Schedule predictions bets picks bracket NCAA Mens Tournament

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