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Things You Need to See: Top seed comes down to a coin toss

South Carolina women’s basketball will have the No. 1 overall seed in the SEC Tournament thanks to a coin toss victory over No. 6 Texas after the teams ended the regular season in a tie.

The coin toss was only third on the list of tiebreaker criteria. Thus, we were treated to a riveting 27 seconds of television during halftime of yesterday’s LSU-Ole Miss game.

Gamecocks win the coin toss!@GamecockWBB will be the No. 1 seed in the SEC women's tournament 🤙 pic.twitter.com/ouJD6hkmVP

— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) March 2, 2025

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey’s custom coin was a nice touch.

Other sports use a coin toss to determine seeding, but it’s further down the list of criteria. In the NFL, for example, it’s the 12th option in the procedure for divisional ties ahead of the playoffs, while the NBA and WNBA also have several other criteria. So this brings us to our next Pulse Poll: Should sports be quicker to put seeding to a coin toss?

Make your thoughts known.

Trending Up: Five players whose stock rose in Indy

Jacob Robinson was on the ground at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis all of last week gathering insights for Scoop City. In his newsletter later this morning, he’ll have an extensive look at risers and fallers after testing — and whether they really matter — but The Pulse got a sneak preview:

QB Brady Cook. No quarterback improved their prospects more than Cook, a projected Day 3 pick/UDFA from Mizzou who struggled with accuracy in college but impressed at the combine. His lower-body explosiveness was on display with a broad jump mark (128 inches) that rivaled Anthony Richardson’s record (129 inches) in one of the most predictive metrics for future NFL production.

QB Tyler Shough. While Cook’s ceiling is limited, Shough showed well and could be an early-round pick. He’s the prospect who might fall due to narratives like “too old” (turns 26 in the fall) and “injury history” (three major injuries in seven college seasons). Given the recent success of older quarterbacks like Bo Nix, Shough’s strong broad jump score and impressive touch could make him the first quarterback taken after Shedeur Sanders.

WR Matthew Golden. After Xavier Worthy’s record-setting 2024, a Texas Longhorn again led receivers in the 40-yard dash. Golden’s 4.29-second time suggests the current No. 30 prospect on The Athletic’s Big Board will go earlier in the first round.

OL Armand Membou, a 6-foot-3, 332-pound Goliath of an offensive lineman hit a top speed of 20.28 miles per hour during his 40-yard dash, where he set the best mark among all tackles (4.91 seconds) while letting out a primal scream. The speed (and maybe the passion?) vaulted yet another Mizzou kid into the conversation for first offensive lineman drafted.

S Nick Emmanwori. An unparalleled combine performance saw the 6-foot-3, 220-pound product of South Carolina (pictured above) post the best-ever Relative Athletic Score for a safety, ranking first among every safety to test since 1987. He went to the Bills at No. 30 in our pre-combine mock, but after leading the combine in broad jump (11 feet, 6 inches) and vertical (43 inches) while running a 4.38 40-yard dash, he should go higher in the first round.

Subscribe to Scoop City for plenty more. Onward:

News to Know

• Turner’s perfect troll New Blue Jays starter Max Scherzer is very vocally not a fan of the ABS (robo-ump) system that’s being tested in MLB spring training, and Phillies shortstop Trea Turner — Scherzer’s former teammate — took note. Leading off their game yesterday, Turner challenged the first pitch he saw from Scherzer, a clear strike, just “to see his eyes roll.” Even the coaching staff and plate umpire were in on the bit. Five Pulse stars for Trea.

• Messi hopefuls get ticket credit The Houston Dynamo are offering ticket holders who planned to attend yesterday’s matchup against Inter Miami a complimentary ticket to a future game, as Lionel Messi did not make the trip with his team. As of Friday, the “get-in” price for the contest was more than $200 on the resale market. It’s not the