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.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
Ryan Callahan scored for the fifth time in four days and defenseman Ryan McDonagh snapped a second-period tie to lift the New York Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday.
Kobe Bryant hit a baseline jump shot with 4.2 seconds left and the Los Angeles Lakers wrapped up a six-game road trip by holding on to beat the Raptors 94-92 on Sunday, their eighth victory in nine meetings with Toronto
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.
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.
Golf's dream pairing - Woods and Mickelson - is on the course in the final round at Pebble Beach. Jason Sobel has hole-by-hole reports.
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.
Euro Roundup: First-place Manchester City won 1-0 at Aston Villa on Sunday on Joleon Lescott's goal in the 63rd minute, maintaining its two-point lead over Manchester United in the Premier League.
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.
AP
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Wayne Ellington knows what awaits just about every time he goes to a grocery store, a gas station, even while he's playing pool with his North Carolina teammates.
"Somebody shakes your hand and says, 'It's your guys' year, you guys have to do it this year,''' he said. "Everybody's always putting that little whisper in your ear.''
That whisper's quickly becoming a roar. That's what happens as the unanimous No. 1 preseason pick.
Hall of Fame coach Roy Williams kept his top six scorers, including national player of the year Tyler Hansbrough, from a Final Four team that won a school-record 36 games and has added a touted recruiting class — a rare mix in this era of underclassmen leaving for the NBA.
The Tar Heels enter this season as such a heavy favorite to win a fifth NCAA championship that many will regard anything less as a failure.
"I like having a bull's-eye on our back,'' point guard Ty Lawson said. "We're the team to beat, and I love it.''
The Tar Heels faced their first bumps of the season early when it was discovered Thursday that Hansbrough would miss practice indefinitely because of a stress reaction in his right shin. There was no timetable set for his return. In addition, Marcus Ginyard already is out for likely the first few weeks of the season due to foot surgery, robbing the Tar Heels of their top defender.
Few teams enter a season with these expectations. In 1991, UNLV returned Larry Johnson and Stacey Augmon from a national championship team and went unbeaten through the regular season before losing to Duke in the Final Four. Former UNLV coach Jerry Tarkanian, like Williams today, said the Runnin' Rebels never talked about the pressure for perfection that grew with each game.
"We had a veteran team,'' Tarkanian said. "We didn't have the depth Carolina has, but I've never cared for that much depth. I think it's too many players, and if you start playing too many that hurts your first group.
"Roy's biggest job will be to keep their heads in every game. There's no question they've got the best talent, and Roy's a great coach. The big thing is they've got to bring it every night. It's very easy to lose your concentration and let up and anything can happen.''
Duke's Mike Krzyzewski has had his share of loaded teams, too. After their upset of UNLV and title-game win over Kansas, the Blue Devils returned the next season with Christian Laettner, Bobby Hurley and Grant Hill to win consecutive championships. He's also seen two of his best teams - the two-loss 1999 squad that reached the title game and the 2002 team that was upset by Indiana in its bid for a repeat championship - come up short.
"It's always better to be picked to win and better to have a lot of talent than not have a lot of talent,'' Krzyzewski said. "It's nice to have money in the bank and figure out how to spend it instead of figuring out how to make it. But again, that's what makes it interesting.''
Hansbrough, back for his senior year, is the first returning AP national player of the year since LSU's Shaquille O'Neal in 1991. He is on pace to set the school's career scoring and rebounding records along with the ACC's all-time scoring mark.
Ellington, Lawson and top reserve Danny Green all returned to school after entering their names in the NBA draft, while starters Ginyard and Deon Thompson are back.
In addition, the Tar Heels welcome back valuable reserve Bobby Frasor, who can play either guard position, from a knee injury and add a recruiting class featuring McDonald's All-Americans Ed Davis, Tyler Zeller and Larry Drew II.
So what's their weakness? A defense that improved yet often left Williams wanting more, perhaps - though their transition attack that averaged 89 points a game can cover up a lot of mistakes.
"We were 36-3 last year,'' Williams said. "There's not a heck of a lot of glaring weaknesses out there, I don't think.''
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.
Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 15 points and Evan Smotrycz added 13, helping No. 22 Michigan remain unbeaten at home with a 70-61 win over Illinois on Sunday.
 | Slideshow |
 | College hoops power rankings A look at the top teams in college basketball based on performance and potential. NBCSports.com |
Latest from Beyond the Arc |
Five up, five down from college hoops’ huge day16 hr 45 min ago Michigan State sure shook up Big Ten by beating Buckeyes17 hr 30 min ago UNLV’s thrilling win vs. SDSU adds spice to MWC race21 hr 58 min ago |
 | College basketball videos |
 Getty Images Highlights: No. 14 UNLV 65, No. 13 SDSU 63 Mike Moser scored 19 points, and UNLV forced three turnovers in the final 42 seconds to win. |
| Slideshow |
 | NBCSports.com |
 | Slideshow |
 |
The Week in Sports Pictures The Giants on top of the football world, getting ready for the London Olympics and more. more photos |
 | Special feature |
 | Curry heads our All-America team Davidson star joins Hansbrough, Price, Harden and Harangody as NBCSports.com's first team. NBCSports.com |
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.
Ryan Callahan scored for the fifth time in four days and defenseman Ryan McDonagh snapped a second-period tie to lift the New York Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday.
NBC Sports TV and livestream listings