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 three goals as the New York Rangers beat Philadelphia 5-2 on Saturday for their seventh straight win over the Flyers.
Jeremy Lin hit a free throw with 4.9 seconds left to overcome a dreadful second half and lift the New York Knicks to their fifth straight victory, 100-98, over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night.
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.
CFT: Jordan Jefferson makes it clear he wasn't happy with LSU's game plan in the Tigers' BCS Championship Game loss to Alabama.
Move over, Hollywood and NFL types, golf's two real A-listers take center stage Sunday at Pebble Beach, both in need of a win.
The United States swept favored Switzerland out of the Davis Cup on Saturday when Mardy Fish and Mike Bryan beat Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.
Luis Suarez's refusal to shake hands with Patrice Evra overshadowed Manchester United's 2-1 win over rival Liverpool that lifted the defending champions to first place in the Premier League on Saturday.
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
ROSEMONT, Ill. - Illinois made a jaw-dropping final push for the Final Four with a rally that was as electrifying as it was improbable.
“Just amazing,” Illinois coach Bruce Weber said.
Trailing by 15 with just four minutes to play Saturday night, the Illini then showed why they have been No. 1 for most of the season.
“We just kept fighting. We never gave up,” Deron Williams said “It looked like the game was over.”
But it wasn’t.
With Williams and Luther Head leading the way, Illinois went on a dazzling 20-5 run, tying it on Williams’ 3-pointer, and then held on in overtime to send Arizona to a crushing 90-89 defeat Saturday night in the Chicago Regional Finals.
“We’ve got to keep going, keep playing. I’m trying to tell my teammates out on the floor ’This game’s not over,” Williams said. “’There’s still some time, we can still get it down, chip away.’ We ended up getting the momentum, the crowd into it and we were able to take the game over.”
The Illini (36-1), who’ve been able to drive to their two tournament sites in Indianapolis and suburban Chicago, so far, can keep on busing to the school’s first Final Four appearance since 1989.
In St. Louis, they will play Louisville (33-4), which rallied from a 20-point deficit Saturday to beat West Virginia 93-85 in overtime and take the Albuquerque Regional.
The last time two regional final games went into overtime in the same year was 1992 when Michigan beat Ohio State, and Duke eliminated Kentucky.
Arizona (30-7) went up 75-60 with four minutes to go after an 18-6 spurt that momentarily silenced a large, orange-clad partisan crowd.
The Illini stoked up their defense, incited the crowd and turned the game around.
“It’s heart man, it’s just heart,” Illinois’ Dee Brown said. “The whole time I was saying ’If it was meant to be, it was meant to be.’ And I guess it was meant to be that we go to the Final Four.”
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.
Beyond the Arc: No. 11 Michigan State ends No. 3 Ohio State's 39-game home winning streak with a 58-48 victory.
 | 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 day10 hr 23 min ago Michigan State sure shook up Big Ten by beating Buckeyes11 hr 8 min ago UNLV’s thrilling win vs. SDSU adds spice to MWC race15 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 |
Jeremy Lin hit a free throw with 4.9 seconds left to overcome a dreadful second half and lift the New York Knicks to their fifth straight victory, 100-98, over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night.
Doron Lamb hit a 3-pointer with 3:18 left to put No. 1 Kentucky ahead to stay, and the Wildcats took a big step toward a Southeastern Conference regular-season title by beating Vanderbilt 69-63 Saturday night for their 17th straight win.
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.