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 ImagesLouisville pulled within arm’s distance many times in the second half, but on every occasion, Johannes Herber or Kevin Pittsnogle (six 3-pointers, 25 points) made 3s to keep the Mountaineers ahead.
Not until O’Bannon, the region’s most valuable player, slithered through the defense and made a layup with 38 seconds left did Louisville tie it at 77 — the first tie since 3-all. And not until overtime began did West Virginia finally start missing.
“I wouldn’t say we were worn out,” Pittsnogle said. “We still had a lot of gas left. We just couldn’t make the key plays when we had to make them.”
Led by Dean’s seventh 3-pointer and four free throws by O’Bannon, the Cardinals opened it up in overtime.
When the buzzer sounded, Pitino started hugging players, and O’Bannon chucked the ball toward the ceiling at The Pit, which hosted a game almost as exciting as the 1983 final when Jim Valvano and North Carolina State won their improbable championship.
“Just to come out and accomplish something ... of this magnitude just makes it that much sweeter,” O’Bannon said.
Louisville made its eighth Final Four despite playing the final 4:02 of regulation and overtime without arguably its best player, Francisco Garcia, who couldn’t avoid the fouls as the Cardinals started trapping, pressing, doing whatever they could to disrupt the torrid Mountaineers.
Both teams had chances to win in regulation. J.D. Collins had his 10-foot jumper swatted by Brandon Jenkins, then in transition, Dean got a good look just before the buzzer, but the shot rimmed off.
Once Louisville’s domination of overtime was complete, the stats didn’t seem so lopsided. Sure, the Mountaineers made more 3s — 18-to-11 to combine for an NCAA tournament record — but the overall field-goal shooting was 55.3 percent for West Virginia to 55.2 to Louisville. Percentages like that almost always guarantee victory in modern-day hoops.
Only one team could win, though, and the Mountaineers were sent home, coming oh, so close to their first trip to the Final Four since Jerry West donned the gold and blue.
“The scoreboard is the only place we lost today,” Beilein said.
Louisville, meanwhile, is moving on. The Cardinals made it back to the Final Four for the first time since 1986, when Denny Crum and Pervis Ellison led them to their second national title.
Now, it’s Pitino trying to bring his second national championship back to the Bluegrass — but this time to Louisville, not Kentucky.
“My pride level for this basketball team is as high as it has ever been,” he said.
Notes: The 33 wins match Louisville’s high for a season. The Cardinals won 33 en route to the national title in 1980. ... The last No. 4 seed to advance to the Final Four was Ohio State in 1999. ... West Virginia was trying to become the highest-seeded team to make the Final Four since LSU (11th) in 1986.
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 |
Here’s a shot you just can’t defend2 hr 20 min ago Five up, five down from college hoops’ huge day18 hr 50 min ago Michigan State sure shook up Big Ten by beating Buckeyes19 hr 35 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 |
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.