Welcome to the first day of Take Madness, The Pitt News Sports Desk’s take on March Madness. Instead of battling on the basketball court, the Sports Desk’s writers are going head to head the only way they know how — with opinions they’ll take to the grave.

19 writers are competing in this year’s Take Madness, with the bracket carefully created to give the people the most exciting matchups.

The first region to take the stage is the Personality Hires, who “add an extra 30 minutes to every sports meeting,” according to the bracket creators but still come prepared with strong opinions they’ll take to the grave.

Readers can vote for their favorite take @PittNewsSports on Instagram and X, where a poll will be posted. The writer with the most votes after 24 hours will move on to the next round.

Personality Hires region: Kaitlyn Griffin vs. Julien Holbrook

Availability vs. Ability: Darryn Peterson is hurting his draft stock // Kaitlyn Griffin, Staff Writer

Even before the beginning of the 2025-26 college basketball season, University of Kansas first-year guard Darryn Peterson was a favorite for the No. 1 NBA Draft pick come June. His outstanding high school career had Jayhawk fans excitedly awaiting the start of the season.

Unfortunately, Peterson’s season hasn’t exactly shaped up to expectations. He has missed 11 of the Jayhawks’ 27 games this season and has played less than 25 minutes in seven of his 16 appearances. The reasons have varied, from hamstring and ankle injuries to flu-like symptoms to cramping. 

There’s no doubt that when Peterson is on the floor for the Jayhawks, he is an invaluable asset. The first-year phenom had an 18-point first half against BYU and rival for the NBA first overall pick, AJ Dybantsa, but then sat out the final 17 minutes of play due to cramps. He was also ruled out of a matchup against No. 1 Arizona after going through warmups with the team, due to flu-like symptoms. 

The constant back and forth with Peterson’s availability led to much public speculation and criticism. Is he trying to save himself for the draft? Stephen A. Smith even discouraged teams from taking the risk of drafting Peterson.

While Peterson’s NIL deals are undoubtedly incredibly lucrative, they are no match for what he will be paid in the NBA. However, will his unreliability end up affecting his draft stock? There’s no doubt that when Peterson plays, he can deliver — but is the promise of a high salary upon being drafted ruining his desire to play college ball? Could trying to avoid injury to protect future NBA earnings be a new trend for these one-and-done players?

Dybantsa’s draft stock has climbed, with some projections now putting him at the No. 1 spot over Peterson. 

After BYU’s win over Iowa State, in which Dybantsa played all 40 minutes, he told reporters, “If they need me to play 40 minutes, I’ll play 40 minutes.” 

If Peterson cannot continue to clock minutes for the Jayhawks come March, it will be interesting to see who ends up going No. 1 overall in June.

Sports have lost their shine // Julien Holbrook, Senior Staff Writer

The intensity with which athletes once did battle has long since dissipated. But where has this sudden loss of love for the game come from? What was once an unbreakable bond between player and organization has now become nothing more than a simple transaction.

For example, with the introduction of NIL, collegiate sports have become nothing short of a profession where athletes move from organization to organization every year in pursuit of the highest pay, not the highest self-potential. I am all for player empowerment regarding decision-making, especially when those decisions involve large sums of money. But in today’s climate of professional sports, it is hard to ignore the lack of integrity staring you in the face.

Another factor in the loss of entertainment within sports is the rise of analytics and algorithms — all mostly to aid sports gambling companies. It is unavoidable, from every other Super Bowl commercial advertising sports betting to the endless stream of pop-up advertisements on your phone. What was once about intense love from a fandom is now about win percentages, overs, unders and parlays. Gambling has brought a lot of viewership and interest to the industry, but at the cost of quality and genuine care for the product as opposed to money. 

This, coupled with the availability of scores and highlights on one’s phone, makes watching a full game obsolete when all the information is at the touch of a button. What can be done to draw a lost audience back in? Organizations should remove the strong monetary incentives from games by lowering ticket prices and reducing commercials so that watching a game doesn’t feel like a chore anymore. And if a player wants to move teams, then that is their prerogative, but teams should find a way to, again, make it not all solely about money.

Personality Hires Region: Patrick Diana vs. Ari Meyer

Keep That Same Energy // Patrick Diana, Staff Writer

The Winter Olympics were characterized by female domination. Superstars like hockey player Hillary Knight, figure skater Alysa Liu and snowboarder Chloe Kim led the way in both medals and media coverage. The impact they had was beyond their athletic abilities — it became a feminist phenomenon of worldwide fans celebrating the Olympians for their attitudes, work ethic and performances. I argue that with this new wave of awareness for female athletics, fans need to keep up this attention. These athletes need support year-round. By engaging with them post-Olympics, the sports media industry will follow suit.

This is especially important for the winter sports that are rarely covered by mainstream media outside the Olympics. These incredible athletes should not have to wait another four years for the celebration they received a month ago. This is compounded by the possibility of any one of them not returning for another Olympics. Neither Kim nor Liu has confirmed if they will return for the 2030 Winter Olympics. This line of questioning reinforces the narrative of a lack of attention. Why put a focus on four years from now when they could be asked what their next competition is?

The change I am arguing for has worked for summer Olympians. Gymnastics and Track and Field have grown in part by investment in the athletes — as seen in the Grand Slam prize money — and media coverage — like in growing collegiate Gymnastics coverage. For athletics to be a less male-dominated field, fans must invest their watch time to create a need for more media coverage. 

Ari Meyer has forfeited his match against Patrick Diana.