Larry Ness

When the 2010 NCAA tournament field is announced on Sunday it will be missing some pretty familiar names. U Conn and North Carolina both played in last year's Final 4 (Tar Heels notched the school's fifth title) but the Huskies bowed out of at-large consideration with an embarrassing 73 » finish reading this post...

North Carolina began last season as the unanimous No. 1 in both preseason polls and the Tar Heels confirmed all the hype with one of the most dominating runs in NCAA tournament history. North Carolina won all six of its tournament games by double figures (average victory margin of 20.2 PPG), including » finish reading this post...

Seven of 30 conference tourneys got underway Tuesday through Thursday (Atlantic Sun, Big South, Horizon League, MVC, Northeast Conference, OVC, and the Patriot League). The only league champ 'safe' for a tourney bid out of this group regardless of the tourney results is No. 12 Butler (26 » finish reading this post...

Rumor has it that Beatles were not too concerned when the 1910 Fruitgum Company released the song "One, Two Three Red Light" in the late 1960s (with good reason). However, as I sat down at my computer Monday night, that song came to mind. I guess because on Saturday both No. 1 Kansas and » finish reading this post...

The first NCAA tournament was played in 1939 and featured just an eight-team field. Oregon beat Ohio State 46-33 in the title game played in Evanston, Illinois. The Ducks have not only never won a second title but they've also failed to even reach another Final 4. However, that's nothing » finish reading this post...

Kansas held its No. 1 ranking this past Monday (Jayhawks were a solid preseason No. 1 and have owned the No. 1 spot in 11 of 14 regular season polls) and that night picked up a hard-earned 59-54 win at College Station over Texas A&M. It was the Aggies' first home loss of the season and moved » finish reading this post...

The NBA resumes play on Tuesday after a four-day break for its three-day All Star Extravaganza plus a day of rest (Monday). The weekend was topped by the kind of spectacle that Commissioner David Stern, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Mavericks owner Mark Cuban had hoped for, a reported crowd » finish reading this post...

What's going on here? North Carolina beat Michigan St 89-72 in the national championship game last season for the school's fifth title, finishing with a 34-4 record. U Conn lost to Michigan St 82-73 in the national semifinals to finish the year at 31-5. Oklahoma lost 72-60 in the Elite 8 » finish reading this post...

While a Brett vs Peyton Super Bowl surely had a certain 'sex appeal,' it's hard to argue that a Colts/Saints matchup isn't a fitting conclusion to the 2009 season. The Colts opened 14-0 and the Saints 13-0. Two teams reaching 13-0 marked the latest in a season the NFL has ever had » finish reading this post...

The Pac 10 was founded as the Athletic Association of Western Universities or AAWU in 1959 and went by the names Big Five, Big Six, and Pacific-8, becoming the Pacific-10 in 1978. Oregon (an original member of the AAWU) won the NCAA's first-ever national championship in 1939 (beat Ohio St) and » finish reading this post...

The NFL hadn't seen both of its No. 1 seeds make it to "Championship Sunday" since 2004 and with wins by both the Colts and Saints, it marks just the third time both No. 1 seeds have advanced to a Super Bowl since the league expanded its playoff field to 12 teams twenty years ago » finish reading this post...

The NFL conducted a season-long celebration of the 50th anniversary of the AFL during the 2009 season, as most know. Using simple math, one didn't have to attend Ohio University to realize that since the AFL began in 1960 and the first year of the merger was the 1970 season, that this weekend's » finish reading this post...

The Texas Longhorns rose to No. 1 back on January 11. Kansas was the nation's preseason No. 1 and stayed atop the rankings until losing 76-68 at Tennessee on January 10, which gave Texas its opportunity to claim the AP's top spot for the first time in school history. The Longhorns would » finish reading this post...

Home teams went 2-2 SU and ATS in the wildcard round with underdogs going 3-1 ATS (huge move on the GB/Ari game saw the Cards go from 2 1/2-point favorites to 2 1/2-point underdogs by game time). All four games went over the total (had been 32 overs, 43 unders and one push since 1990) and of course » finish reading this post...

The Cards, Cowboys, Jets and Ravens advanced last week and all four will play on the road this week against rested teams which were able to have last weekend off after a grueling 17-week (16-game) regular season. As I've mentioned in previous columns, the NFL has featured a 12-team playoff field » finish reading this post...