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'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.
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.
ReutersRoy Williams is wrong when he says his worst nightmare is taking North Carolina to the Final Four and facing his old team, Kansas, in the championship game. Even worse than that for him should be not getting to the Final Four at all.
Forget the rankings. Like last year, the team with the best chance to win it all isn’t the team rated No. 1. It’s the team with the most talent, with size up front and a great point guard, the team built for a championship.
Last year, that team was Connecticut, which lost six games during the regular season, but was the pick many analysts to win it all despite being hit with a No. 2 seed for the NCAA Tournament. UConn had Ben Gordon hitting from outside, Taliek Brown running the offense and the NCAA's most dominant center, Emeka Okafor, up front.
The Huskies also had depth, with two freshmen making big impacts, forwards Josh Boone, a starter, and Charlie Villanueva, who came off the bench.
The sentimental choice was St. Joe’s, which, behind Jameer Nelson, nearly ran the table on the season and led college basketball in feel-good feature stories. But in the end, despite a No. 1 seed, St. Joe’s didn’t have enough to win in the tournament.
It’s shaping up that way again, but with different teams.
This year, it’s the second-ranked Tar Heels playing the role of Connecticut while Illinois toyed with the notion of unbeaten regular season. But the Illini have run up their record in a Big Ten that isn’t having its best year, and it relies on a three-guard offense.
The guards — Dee Brown, Deron Williams and Luther Head — are as good as any trio of small men the game has seen on one team for quite some time. But, while good guards are crucial for NCAA success, few small teams have cut down the nets recently. The last that qualifies would be the 1997 Arizona squad that had capable big men.
There’s a good reason for that, and it’s the same reason that if you’re 7-foot-4 and have a pulse you’re a first-round draft choice in the NBA: size matters. Big men control rebounds and get easy points inside. They’re particularly vital in the NCAA tournament — or the NBA tournament, for that matter.
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.
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 | College hoops power rankings A look at the top teams in college basketball based on performance and potential. NBCSports.com |
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 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. |
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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.
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.
The Red Wings have finally started to embrace a record they've been chasing.