Syracuse Rockin’ Both Tournaments

The men’s college basketball tournament got pared down to its Final Four over the weekend and only one No. 1 seed, North Carolina, survived.

The Tar Heels beat ACC mate Notre Dame 88-74 on Sunday night, while the another ACC contender, Virginia, squandered its No. 1 seed and a big lead in falling 68-62 to (guess who?) another ACC competitor – Syracuse. Syracuse becomes the first No. 10 seed to reach the Final Four. The argument that Syracuse shouldn’t have even been in the NCAA Tournament needs to stop right now.

Villanova, which eliminated overall top seed Kansas, plays Oklahoma, which lit up No. 1 seed Oregon in the Elite Eight. Buddy Hield scored 37 points for the Sooners. North Carolina takes on Syracuse – both games are Saturday in Houston.

In the women’s tournament, Connecticut, 35-0 and seeking its fourth straight title, plays Texas on Monday night in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and Baylor takes on Oregon State in the Dallas region final. The winners go to Indianapolis for the Final Four – already in (and both are first-time Final Four qualifiers) are Syracuse, which beat Tennessee, and Washington, which knocked off Stanford. UConn beat Texas by 51 points a year ago in the Sweet 16.

Golf

Jason Day won the WGC Dell Match Play title in Austin, Texas on Sunday. Despite a painful back that hampered him from the opening round on, Day reached the finals with a 1-up victory over Rory McIlroy in the morning, then defeated Louis Oosthuizen 5 & 4 for the title. Day has won six times in his last 13 starts worldwide. He has reclaimed the world’s No. 1 ranking from Jordan Spieth.

Elsewhere
NASCAR took the weekend off but returns to action in Martinsville, Va., with the STP 500 on Sunday. … In the NHL, the Chicago Blackhawks clinched a playoff berth by beating the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 Sunday night on the road. … In the NBA, the Los Angeles Clippers topped the Denver Nuggets 105-90 and became the fourth Western Conference team to nail down a spot in the playoffs.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman