Nation & World

At the same time Wisconsin was getting clobbered in the NCAA Tournament, another Big Ten team was showing the possibilities Sunday on the Badgers' turf.

If it's spring, the Los Angeles Lakers must be waiting for Andrew Bynum, as they're now resigned to doing for the third season in a row.

SPOKANE, Wash. - Draymond Green dribbled upcourt, with Michigan State down a point, and that pretty much summed up the day. A sure Michigan State win had fallen apart so completely that you almost could see pieces of it on the floor. So of course it came down to a thick forward playing point guard. That's how you dot the "i" and cross the "t" on "disaster."

In Saturday's giddiness after Northern Iowa had busted millions of brackets by breaking Kansas' heart, after college basketball fans across America had picked their jaws off the ground, University of Northern Iowa point guard Johnny Moran couldn't resist.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The end came suddenly and without mercy, like walking into a wall in the dark. Or turning a corner and getting a sharp elbow over the eyelid.

The worst part of professional sports occurs when it's time for an organization to end its relationship with a player who's become one of the faces of the franchise.

Tiger Woods wore a golf cap, golf sweater and golf shirt, and, except for the TV make-up, looked like he'd just come off the golf course.

Cornell in the East, Saint Mary's in the South, Northern Iowa in the Midwest and Butler in the West. Four of the mid-majors are through now, and you can add Xavier in the West, too, if you want. They are through to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. You cannot ignore them, not if you watched the games. You cannot belittle them, not with that cheery, familiar, nice-little-team damnation.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - California coach Mike Montgomery readily admitted that Duke big man Brian Zoubek didn't get much attention in the Bears' pregame defensive planning for Sunday's NCAA South Regional second-round game.

Kentucky chilled in its locker room preparing for Wake Forest as the Northern Iowa-Kansas second half unfolded. Players like keeping up with the madness, but in this case Wildcats coach John Calipari ordered the TV sets - and presumably, cell phones - off "to think about our game."