Ncaa | featured news

The NCAA men's basketball tournament and the entirety of March Madness are considered by many to be the pinnacle of the playoff experience in sports. And by "many" we mean "those who are too daft to understand that the Stanley Cup Playoffs are superior in nearly every way."

The play-in games begin on Tuesday, March 15. The first round starts on Thursday and runs through March 17-18. The second round runs through March 19-20. The Sweet 16 games will be played on March 24 and 25, while and Elite Eight games start on March 26 and conclude on March 27. The Final Four games will be played on April 2 and the national champions will cut down the nets on April 4.

Late in the second half of Connecticut’s victory in the Big East tournament final against Louisville, Kemba Walker came to the sideline and told his coach, Jim Calhoun, that he couldn’t feel his legs.

Isaiah Thomas hit a fadeaway jumper at the buzzer, lifting Washington past No. 16 Arizona 77-75 Saturday for the Pac-10 tournament championship in the first overtime title game in league history.

The Arc: Notre Dame grabs the final No. 1 seed and is slotted out West. Ohio State is a lock for the top line.

The Huskies matched the N.C.A.A. Division I basketball winning streak set by the U.C.L.A. men from 1971 to 1974.

Authorities say two men have been stabbed and two police officers injured in a brawl involving dozens of fans before the USC-UCLA football game.

The first jolt came in the early semifinal, when unranked Connecticut knocked off No. 2 Michigan State. Then came the real one - a magnitude-4.7 earthquake off the coast that rattled chairs, tables and the rims for about five seconds in the late game between No. 8 Kentucky and No. 13 Washington.

Oregon managed just fine without offensive stars Jeremiah Masoli and LaMichael James in its season opener Saturday. Kenjon Barner scored five touchdowns in place of the suspended James, and Darron Thomas threw two touchdowns in place of the dismissed Masoli as the Ducks blew out New Mexico, 72-0, in Eugene, Ore. Barner ran for four touchdowns and caught a TD pass in the Ducks 59-point first half. He compiled 225 yards of total offense.

Southern California has received a two-year bowl ban and a sharp loss of football scholarships in a report on the NCAA's four-year investigation of the school.