Tar Heels Top Sooners to Make Final Four

(NEWSER) - Louisville, UNC, Oklahoma, and Michigan are all headed to the Elite Eight after an occasionally ugly night of basketball. Here’s how it went down:

• In a night of lopsided victories, no one dominated more than Louisville. The Cardinals demolished Arizona 103-64, one of the most crushing blowouts the Sweet 16’s ever seen.
• UNC didn’t have much more trouble dispatching Gonzaga. A 17-point first half from Ty Lawson helped lead the Tar Heels over the Zags, 98-77.

Popularity has sucked all the charm out of the tournament

(NEWSER) - In the '60s and '70s, the NCAA tournament was boring because UCLA seemingly always won. These days, "instead of UCLA winning it every year, there are now between five and nine UCLAs that can win it every year," Charles Pierce writes for Slate. "It's just as sterile and dynastic as it used to be." It’s oligarchy rather than monarchy, but it feels just as stale. More»

(NEWSER) - It was a disappointingly sane opening to March Madness yesterday, writes ESPN’s Mark Schlabach. Only four out of the 16 games were won by the lower seeds, and only one of those—12-seed Western Kentucky over 5-seed Illinois—approached headline status. Top seeds UNC and UConn rolled, with UConn scoring the third-largest rout ever, despite the last-minute hospitalization of coach Jim Calhoun, who was being treated for dehydration. More»

Site launches broadcasts with little fanfare

(NEWSER) - YouTube started streaming NCAA tournament games yesterday from CBS, joining several other sites, including ESPN, AOL, and Yahoo, CNET reports. But it seems strange, writes Greg Sandoval, that neither CBS nor YouTube has done much to promote the broadcasts there, given an audience recently estimated at more than 100 million. CBS has long supported YouTube, but it now has its own competing site, TV.com. More»

KU knocks off Chattanooga, Okla. survive Illinois State

(NEWSER) - North Carolina barely broke a sweat today in the women's NCAA first round, the AP reports. The Tar Heels dominated from the opening minutes, racking up an initial 21-2 run before finishing 16th-seeded Bucknell off, 85-50. The victory marks the 14th straight for top-seeded UNC, which was led by LaToya Pringle's 19 points. Lauren Schober led the Bison with 13. Elsewhere in women's tourney action: More»