Rotoworld: Oregon RB LaMichael James and Oklahoma State WR Justin Blackmon among top 10 players who are being overhyped for the 2012 draft.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
The Detroit Red Wings equaled an NHL record with their 20th straight win at home, beating the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 Sunday night on the strength of Johan Franzen's tiebreaking goal early in the third period.
PBT: Boston's Rajon Rondo continues to be named in trade talks, which is madness. The Celtics guard creates offense and makes everyone around him better, which was evident in Sunday's win over the Bulls.
Arc: Syracuse is among a solid group of No. 1 seeds in our latest tournament projections, but the middle of the pack is much more murky.
Miami coach Al Golden says the worst is behind him, but his headaches figure to continue now that former booster Nevin Shapiro, now in jail, says his involvement with the Hurricanes program will result in stiff penalties.
Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods greeted their Sunday pairing at Pebble Beach with optimism. But the day would end happily only for one.
The United States completed a 5-0 rout of Switzerland in the Davis Cup on Sunday, with 19-year-old Ryan Harrison and John Isner winning closing singles matches.
Zambia has won the African Cup of Nations, beating pre-tournament favorite Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties in a dramatic final at Stade de l'Amitie.
Tessa Worley of France fought off gusting winds to win a second consecutive World Cup giant slalom Sunday in the Andorran Pyrenees. Overall leader Lindsey Vonn was more than a second behind and finished eighth.
Robins: It’s the Year of the Dragon on the Lunar calendar, and this Chinese influence could extend to it also being the year of the Pekingese on the green carpet at the 136th Westminster Dog Show on Tuesday.
APThe Volunteers, who were outrebounded 43-28, dropped to 0-5 in regional semifinals and finished with a school record for victories in a season.
“This doesn’t take much away from the finest season in the history of Tennessee basketball,” Pearl said. “No team has accomplished the things these guys accomplished this year, and I’m awfully proud of them.”
Things couldn’t have started much worse for the Volunteers. Chism picked up two fouls in the first 2 minutes and Louisville’s extended 2-3 zone bottled up Lofton, their leading scorer.
When the Cardinals weren’t turning it over, they were scoring off easy baskets in transition. Pearl had called two timeouts by the time Louisville took a 24-8 with 8:58 left.
Tennessee got within seven at halftime, then cut the deficit to one early in the second half, despite getting little from Lofton.
Lofton, who came in third in NCAA history with 429 3-pointers, saw a defender in his face every time he got the ball. He missed his first seven 3-point attempts.
Lofton was 2-for-11 from 3-point range, and could only watch Louisville celebrate in the final minute from the bench.
“They wouldn’t leave me,” Lofton said. “It was tough to get my shot off. They’re a great defensive team.”
It left the Cardinals looking ahead to Saturday’s game against North Carolina, the toughest test yet for their vaunted defense. The Tar Heels will also be playing a virtual home game just over two hours from its Chapel Hill campus.
The teams were set to meet in an early season tournament in Las Vegas, but the Cardinals were upset by Brigham Young.
This time Pitino and the Cardinals, who have won 12 of 14, are a confident bunch thanks to their defense.
“It’s improved a lot over the course of the season,” McGee said. “Coach has talked deny pressure, and trying to force steals and turnovers. Today, as far as offense, we did a terrible job in the first half — we had a lot of turnovers — but we handled their pressure pretty good. We stepped it up in the second half.”
Arc: Syracuse is among a solid group of No. 1 seeds in our latest tournament projections, but the middle of the pack is much more murky.
Arc's five up, five down: After No. 11 Michigan State's 58-48 upset of No. 3 Ohio State, you'd be a fool to discount the Spartans' national title chances now.
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Zambia has won the African Cup of Nations, beating pre-tournament favorite Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties in a dramatic final at Stade de l'Amitie.
Silva: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for NFC teams.
Wesseling: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for AFC teams.
