Bengals Wait and Reds in Limbo
The key for the week of March 5, 2025
Tag, you’re it, Tee
Not a big surprise, but Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins once again received the Franchise Tag from the team. In a market where Higgins and Chiefs guard Trey Smith were the only two in the entire league tagged this year, this year it’s looked at more as a placeholder than a final deal. Now, let’s face it, most of us wouldn’t complain about receiving such a designation—it paid Tee $21.8 million last year, and $26.2 million this year. This off-season, though, Joe Burrow has made it clear he wants to help find a way to keep both Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase with the team. And Joe Burrow is a little like E.F. Hutton—when he talks, people listen. The Bengals already have said they want to make Chase the highest-paid non-quarterback in the league—signing Tee to a long-term will help clear their schedule to work on the new Chase deal.
Less than a month until Opening Day…
And we’re still waiting to see what the Reds pitching rotation will look like. We’re still waiting to see if Nick Lodolo can shake off the injury bug and get back in the rotation, and Andrew Abbott is slowly working his way back after missing the last six weeks of the season last year with a shoulder strain. A bright spot: This week Chase Petty made his case to be part of the big league staff with a strong showing against the Dodgers. One area for concern in the infield is utility man Spencer Steer, who continues to have pain in his shoulder. Right now he is only DH’ing because he’s not able to throw. But it’s something to watch as we head into the home stretch in Arizona.
An NCAA Tournament without North Carolina?
It could happen in this topsy-turvy college basketball season. In a week when Number 1 Auburn loses big on the road to Texas A&M, North Carolina is listed on ESPN as one of the first four out of the tournament. All it takes is an upset win in a tournament title game to make that happen (Xavier also is listed as one of the first four out). And talk about a bizarro alternate world: Blue blood Kansas is barely .500 in the conference (10-9), not at the 20-win mark for the season yet (19-11) and was knocked out of the AP Top 25 last month for the first time since 2021. For the preseason Number 1, it’s been a hard and fast fall this season.
Ben’s Best Bet
In a week where Lebron James became the first in the NBA to hit the 50,000 points mark in both regular season and playoffs and Kyrie Irving is out for the season with a knee injury, the post season is becoming murkier every day. The Lakers have been revived with the trade for Luka Doncic and now are one of the favorites for the NBA title. Right now, the Celtics are the betting favorite according to BetMGM, but the Cavaliers and Lakers and third and fourth, respectively, on the betting line. Wouldn’t it be interesting to have Lebron’s former team and his present team meet in the Finals? Ben says, it could happen.