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.
Eleven shots separated Phil and Tiger Sunday at Pebble Beach as Lefty secured his 40th Tour win. Jason Sobel had 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.
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.
Getty ImagesI’m tempted to pencil in Louisville for the Final Four. Rick Pitino’s team got jobbed with a four seed by the tournament committee despite playing better than just about any team in the country since Christmas. But can you really write off Washington that easily? More and more, the Huskies are reminding me of the ’97 Minnesota squad that won the Big Ten title, featured NBA star Bobby Jackson, and made a Final Four run. That team was the same way in that it won a lot of games, but you never knew just how good it was.
Then again, Washington could be like another Pac-10 softy of recent years such as Stanford. I’m going with Louisville.
After that, Chicago has to be considered the toughest region, with the Nos. 1, 2 and 3 seeds in the Sweet 16. The Oklahoma State-Arizona game should be a classic, while the Illini figure to end UW-Milwaukee’s run. The Wildcats or the Cowboys could beat the Illini, but, despite thinking Oklahoma State would come out of this region before the tournament began, I’ll stick with the Illini.
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Syracuse seems to be a lock for UNC, provided Villanova doesn’t shoot lights out on Friday. N.C. State will out-slow Wisconsin, giving the ACC a lock for at least one team in the Final Four. Stick with the Heels.
Austin, meanwhile, is the other trouble spot for the top seed.
The Blue Devils have looked vulnerable in both of their tournament games. J.J. Redick hasn’t been his usual hot-shooting self and they don’t have their usual swagger this time of the year.
Still, if there’s one coach that can out-do Tom Izzo — who has the second best tournament win percentage of any active coach — it’s Mike Krzyzewski, who just passed Dean Smith for the tournament wins record. That active coach with a better win percentage? Coach K. Plus, Duke already beat Michigan State once this year.
That sets up the Devils against the Kentucky-Utah winner. And the Utes, despite Andrew Bogut’s presence, never beat the Wildcats in March.
A Duke-Kentucky showdown for a Final Four berth, which has happened twice in the last 13 years, both of which produced classic games, makes me smile. Kentucky won the last one in ’98, which makes me think this year is Duke’s turn. Plus, doesn’t it seem like the Devils have had just about everything go their way this year?
There you go: Three No. 1 seeds in the Final Four, along with a No. 4, just like ’99. And, just like ’99, we’ll get the nation’s two best teams going for the title. Yeah, it’s a coincidence I want to happen, but so what?
It’ll be every bit as entertaining as the first two rounds and be a lot easier on your bracket. It’s a win-win.
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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Here’s a shot you just can’t defend2 hr 27 min ago Five up, five down from college hoops’ huge day18 hr 58 min ago Michigan State sure shook up Big Ten by beating Buckeyes19 hr 43 min ago |
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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.
After leading by 18 points in the first half, the Los Angeles Lakers were staring at a four-point deficit with less than two minutes to play.
