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This is an article version of the CBS Sports HQ AM Newsletter, the ultimate guide to every day in sports. You can sign up to get it in your inbox every weekday morning here.

Happy Tuesday, everyone! Let’s get right to it.

🏀 It’s not such a good a horrible morning for …

JUJU WATKINS AND THE (1) USC TROJANS

(1) USC superstar JuJu Watkins had to be carried off the court after sustaining a torn ACL in her right knee early in the Trojans’ eventual 96-59 triumph over (9) Mississippi State. Watkins will miss the remainder of the NCAA Tournament and her injury will require surgery.

Watkins was leading a fastbreak with USC leading 13-2 just over five minutes into the game before getting bumped and collapsing to the court. She writhed in pain for several minutes as the building fell silent before she was helped up. It did not appear that she was able to put any weight on her right leg, and she was eventually wheeled out of the building for further testing.

This is, plainly, devastating. For her. For USC. For women’s basketball. For basketball, period. Watkins is a face of the sport, an All-American who truly does it all. Last month, she willed USC over No. 1 UCLA with 38 points (including six 3s), 11 rebounds, five assists and eight blocks.

No one else has had those stats in men’s or women’s college basketball game in the last 20 years. No one has had it in the NBA or WNBA … ever.

Of course, the silver lining is the Trojans won, and in emphatic fashion. Kiki Iriafen scored a USC tournament-record 36 points, and Avery Howell and Kayleigh Heckel combined for 31 points off the bench.

Cameron Salerno describes a how the energy inside Los Angeles’ Galen Center eventually picked up as the partisan fans rallied behind the USC players, who seized the moment to lift one another in the face of adversity.

• Salerno: “The sounds of The White Stripes’ ‘Seven Nation Army’ could be heard echoing throughout the arena as USC ran into the tunnel after that shot — a stark contrast to the mood everyone in the arena felt less than an hour before. When Marshall and Iriafen exited the game for good in the fourth quarter, fans cheered their name. The audible sounds of “Kiki, Kiki, Kiki!” were deafening as she checked out with just over six minutes remaining in regulation.”

👎 Not so honorable mentions

🏀 Good morning to all, but especially to …

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THE (4) MARYLAND TERRAPINS AND THE REST OF THE WOMEN’S SWEET 16

Watkins’ injury sadly put a significant damper on what was otherwise an excellent day of women’s college hoops. They all paled in comparison, however, to an all-time classic: (4) Maryland 111, (5) Alabama 108 in double overtime. And somehow, that crazy score — the second-highest combined score in tournament history — still doesn’t do it justice.

Let’s go chronologically, with Jack Maloney’s five craziest moments as a guide. To be honest, this list could have been twice as long.

• Alabama led by 17 late in the third quarter, but Maryland closed the quarter strong to get it to nine and drew even with 1:01 left in regulation. Sarah Ashlee Barker nailed a 3 to give the Crimson Tide the lead, but Sarah Te-Biasu bailed out an awful possession with a 3 of her own to force overtime.
• In overtime, it looked like the Terrapins had things under control leading by three with six seconds left. But Saylor Puffenberger fouled Barker on a 3 as time expired, and Barker sank all three free throws.
• In double overtime, Barker kept the visitors in it, but Alabama finally ran out of answers when Diana Collins missed a 3 with under two seconds left. Te-Biasu stole the inbounds pass moments later to seal it.

Barker’s 45 points were tied for fourth-most in women’s NCAA Tournament history. She was magnificent. But so, too, were Te-Biasu (26 points, 5 for 7 on 3s), Shyanne Sellers (28 points) and Kaylene Smikle (24 points).

“I think we put on a show for women’s basketball tonight, and I’m very thankful for that,” Barker said postgame.

We, the fans, should be the thankful ones.

We should also be thankful for Paige Bueckers. The (2) UConn crowd certainly was. In her final collegiate home game, Bueckers tied a career high with 34 points as the Huskies cruised by (10) South Dakota State, 91-57. Here’s our full recap from Monday’s action.

Here’s what the Sweet 16 looks like:

Friday, March 28

• 2:30 p.m. — (2) Duke vs. (3) North Carolina
• 5 p.m. — (1) South Carolina vs. (4) Maryland
• 7:30 p.m. — (2) NC State vs. (3) LSU 
• 10 p.m. — (1) UCLA vs. (5) Ole Miss 

Saturday, March 29

• 1 p.m. — (2) TCU vs. (3) Notre Dame
• 3:30 p.m. — (1) Texas vs. (5) Tennessee 
• 5:30 p.m. — (2) UConn vs. (3) Oklahoma
• 8 p.m. — (1) USC vs. (5) Kansas State

👍 Honorable mentions

🏀 Men’s NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 preview, best of first weekend

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It’s 52 games down, 15 to go in the men’s NCAA Tournament, and despite all the exhilarating moments there’s been plenty of discussion about what hasn’t happened: a Cinderella run. For the first time since 2007, there’s not a No. 11 seed or worse in the Sweet 16. The only double-digit seed left is (10) Arkansas, an SEC team coached by John Calipari and loaded with blue-chip talent … not exactly Cinderella.

But fear not: The glass slippers aren’t gone forever, David Cobb writes.

• Cobb: “It is factually correct that this is the first Sweet 16 made up exclusively of high-major programs. But that’s largely the byproduct of conference consolidation as opposed to some larger indictment on the viability of underdogs in the age of unlimited transferring and player compensation. … No, Cinderella isn’t dead. She just had an off year by her standards, which remain incredibly impressive, even in this new era of college basketball. FAU, FDU, Princeton and Saint Peter’s provide plenty of recent evidence.”

Yes, everyone (except your bracket) loves a Cinderella. On the other hand, the clock almost always strikes midnight by the second weekend for those teams, sometimes in blowout fashion. This year’s Sweet 16 matchups are absolute dandies. The top seeds are getting huge tests. (1) Duke has been the most impressive team of the tournament, but the Blue Devils now face old nemesis Caleb Love and (4) Arizona, who made a big leap in Chip Patterson’s reseeding the Sweet 16.

• Patterson: “10. Arizona — The Wildcats beat Akron by 28 points then endured the many wild swings of a late-night thriller against former Pac-12 foe Oregon. Arizona has the best tournament 3-point percentage (48.9%) of any team in the Sweet 16, and it flexed some big-time defensive muscles in the first round win against the Zips. NCAA committee ranking: No. 16″

Still, Isaac Trotter and Cameron Salerno agree that Duke is the favorite to win it all.

Love was part of David’s All-First Weekend Team, as was a Blue Devil … but maybe not the one you thought of first.

⚾ MLB Power Rankings, big questions: Dodgers No. 1, but can they repeat?

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“Three-peat” was the phrase du jour in the NFL this year before the Chiefs came up short. The same went for UConn men’s basketball. In fact, the NFL, NBA, NHL, WNBA, college football and men’s and women’s college basketball have had back-to-back champions in the past decade.

But MLB? Can we just get the word “repeat” back into our lexicon? It hasn’t happened since 1998-2000, when the Yankees won three straight championships.

Can the Dodgers change that? In a surprise to absolutely nobody, they top Matt Snyder’s Power Rankings. Here’s the top five:

1. Dodgers
2. Phillies
3. Braves
4. Rangers
5. Diamondbacks

While these rankings are nice, of course (great job Matt!), all that matters is who’s on top come November. So in his 10 big questions, R.J. Anderson asks the big one: Can the Dodgers repeat?

• Anderson: “The winter saw them add two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell and international sensation Roki Sasaki to their rotation, as well as veteran outfielder Michael Conforto to their lineup and both Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates to their bullpen. … It would be only wise to take the field over Los Angeles winning another World Series; at the same time, though, it is fair to conclude that no team has better individual championship odds entering the season than these Dodgers.”

📺 What we’re watching Tuesday

🏀 Warriors at Heat, 7:30 p.m. on TNT

🏀 Thunder at Kings, 10 p.m. on TNT/truTV