Another wave of upsets leaves NCAA field up in air (The Associated Press)
Another round of upsets capped a wild regular season, casting uncertainty over the coveted top seeds for the NCAA tournament and leaving defending champion Kentucky facing the very real chance of being left out of the 68-team field. The selection committee was set to unveil its brackets Sunday evening. A year ago, the process was far less complicated, with the Wildcats, North Carolina and Syracuse all clear No. 1s. Committee chairman Mike Bobinski, the athletic director at Xavier, said a few days ago he considered as many as seven teams to be in the running for the top line of the four regional brackets. Gonzaga, which is No. 1 in The Associated Press rankings for the first time, will be making its 15th straight NCAA appearance after winning the West Coast Conference. The Zags are expected to land the top seed…
Jones eliminates UNC, down to seven
ESPN 60 point guard Tyus Jones (Apple Valley, Minn./Apple Valley) has eliminated North Carolina from his list and will consider seven schools, according to a report from Minnesota’s local CBS affiliate. Jones will now decide between Baylor, Duke, Kentucky, Kansas, Michigan State, Minnesota and Ohio State. The elimination of the Tar Heels does not come as a surprise as North Carolina received a verbal commitment from ESPN 60 point guard Joel Berry (Apopka, Fla.
Two more prospects plan OSU visits
Ohio State will be busy hosts in the next few weeks as recruits file in to Columbus, Ohio, on unofficial visits. Offensive guard Braden Smith (Olathe, Kan./Olathe) isn’t the only one headed to The Horseshoe to check in on the Buckeyes as Ohio State has a big junior day planned for the end of the month. One of the bigger names scheduled to come March 28-30 is Jonathan Hilliman (Jersey City, N.J./St. Peters). The 6-foot-1, 202-pound Hilliman has offers from Arkansas, Boston College, Cincinnati, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Louisiana-Lafayette, Maryland, Miami, Michigan, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Stanford, Tennessee, UCF, Vanderbilt, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
UA Combine notebook: North Carolina
More than 150 of the top underclassmen prospects in the country were in attendance for the Under Armour All-America Combine. There is no shortage of talent set to come out of the Tar Heel State in the 2014 class, and it was well represented on Friday. Coaches line up to see WR Thompson The AFCA coaches convention is in Nashville, Ten. Jan. 6-9, but for ESPN 2014 Watch List wide receiver Trevion Thompson (Durham, N.C./Hillside), it might as well have taken place at his school over the past few months.
Georgia Tech denies Big Ten rumors
The Big Ten expansion buzz hasn’t died down this week, and much of the attention has been on the ACC. North Carolina? Virginia? Georgia Tech? The Georgia Tech rumors flared up Friday on…
No. 22 UNC women hold off No. 15 Ohio State 57-54 (The Associated Press)
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Xylina McDaniel, Waltiea Rolle and Tierra Ruffin-Pratt scored 11 points apiece to lead No. 22 North Carolina to a 57-54 victory against No. 15 Ohio State on Wednesday. Tayler Hill scored 24 points for the Buckeyes (4-2). Hill’s jumper pushed Ohio State ahead 54-51 with 1:26 left, but McDaniel made a jumper and Ruffin-Pratt made two to hand the Tar Heels the victory. North Carolina (7-0) led 29-25 at the break. The Tar Heels opened the second half on an 8-0 run and pushed their advantage to 44-28 on Krista Gross’ jumper with 11:36 remaining. Hill scored 10 points to pull the Buckeyes to 46-38 with 7:58 left and tied the game at 50 on Darryce Moore’s jumper with 2:56 remaining. Ohio State jumped ahead 25-22 on Hill’s jumper with 4:06 left in the first half, but North Carolina ran off seven in a row to lead at the break.
Ohio State, Boston College to play in 2020, 2021
Ohio State will play a home-and-home series with Boston College in 2020 and 2021. Buckeyes athletic director Gene Smith announced the non-conference games Wednesday. Boston College will travel to Columbus on Sept. 19, 2020, and Ohio State will visit the Eagles on Sept. 18, 2021. The Buckeyes have won the three previous meetings between the teams, including the last matchup in 1995. Ohio State also announced that a previously scheduled home game against North Carolina was moved to Sept. 22, 2018, from Sept. 5, 2015.
Batten: North Carolina snags commitment from former Penn State football recruit
North Carolina coach Larry Fedora beat them all to the punch over the weekend by pulling a key recruit away from the Nittany Lions. The Tar Heels not only landed a verbal commitment from former Penn State pledge Greg Webb, but they also added his teammate Dajaun Drennon.
NC State announces home basketball schedule
Visits from ACC champion Florida State, Duke, North Carolina and defending NIT champion Stanford highlight NC State's 2012-13 home schedule.
Bob Hunter commentary: Rumblings … Crew, MLB, Ohio State football and more
When forward Ben Speas signed with the Crew as a “homegrown player” player in January, he said he wouldn’t have left North Carolina early to sign with anyone else. Speas, a Stow, Ohio, native who played at Akron as a freshman before transferring, probably wouldn’t say that now.
