division Page 16 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

It’s happening to the Maple Leafs again
Even though we Chicagoans don’t get a spring — it’s winter until one day somewhere in May when it’s just suddenly summer and we’re all instantly drunk outside — that doesn’t mean we can’t recognize the signs of spring approaching elsewhere. Sure, we’ve been robbed of one of them in spring training. ...

The best NCAA Women’s Tournament teams at each seed
For the first time this year, the NCAA Women’s Tournament will expand to 68 teams, matching the men’s showcase, which expanded to that number of teams chasing a national championship in 2011. That’s more chances for a longshot to make a run and take down the sport’s elite....

The Avs are really going to trust this to Mr. Darcy?
Once again, the Colorado Avalanche are the Showtime of the NHL. They were last year, though last season being what it was it doesn’t really count for evaluation/analytic purposes. But reverting back to an actual NHL schedule (or something closely resembling one) hasn’t slowed the Avs much. They pick...

March Madness gets a head start as top six teams, seven of top 10 go down
If Saturday was a precursor to March Madness, then all of our brackets are more doomed than usual. Seven of the AP top 10 teams fell in a wild day of upsets, including every top six team. No. 1 Gonzaga, No. 2 Arizona, No. 3 Auburn, No. 4 Purdue, No. 5 Kansas, No. 6 Kentucky, and No. 9 Texas Tech all...

The best NCAA March Madness teams by seed
The NCAA Tournament has become one of the most unpredictable, edge-of-your-seat sporting events of the year due to its knockout nature. It’s a clash of college basketball styles coming together as the calendar turns from winter to spring, pitting teams that usually never see each other on the same c...

How are last year’s Elite Eight teams faring this time around?
With March fast approaching, the NCAA basketball regular season is wrapping up as teams prepare for conference playoffs and, in less than a month, a potential shot at the Big Dance. For many of the athletes competing, it will be their first “normal” tournament, with full fan attendance back for the ...

Can we talk about the most dominant team in sports right now?
There’s an outlier on the South Carolina women’s basketball schedule. It happened nearly two months ago in Columbia, Missouri to begin Southeastern Conference play against Mizzou. The Gamecocks were at full strength while the Tigers were far from it. An Omicron outbreak knocked out six players, leav...

Sedona Prince stays put at Oregon
Sedona Prince, the Oregon forward who last year used the power of social media to highlight the inadequacy of the NCAA’s setup for the women’s basketball tournament, announced on Saturday that she’s going to stay at Oregon next season and begin a masters program....

No one is prepared for the Florida Panthers to be this good
Mason Marchment had his first career hat trick Friday night, leading the Florida Panthers to a 6-2 rout of the Minnesota Wild in a game that could be a Stanley Cup Final preview....

There's no party in Conference USA as three teams leave
I know, I know — college football is far from our collective minds at the moment, what with Super Bowl Sunday this past week and March Madness fast approaching. But the best kind of drama is CFB drama, and the best kind of CFB drama is Group of 5 drama....

Have you ever dreamed of playing DI basketball? Now’s your chance
Are you a college student? Are you bored with constantly dominating your intramural games? Are you willing to transfer to a school in Indiana? If so, I have some interesting news for you....

Are we sure that defense still wins championships?
The saying goes, “Offense sells tickets. Defense wins championships.” Having a flashy offense with a quarterback who can throw the ball 80 yards through the air is great and all, but a defensive unit that can counteract those talents is arguably more valuable, or at least you’d think....

College players sue to be classified as school employees
Out west, the students are taking matters into their own hands, pushing college athletics another step further into its new athlete-empowered era — and they may be making things a lot more complicated for the NCAA....

It sure looks like the Arizona Coyotes are going to play in a warehouse for the next few years
There’s little that can surprise anyone when it comes to the Arizona Coyotes anymore. They’re being kicked out of their building after this season. They were nearly kicked out in the middle of it. It’s apparently an abhorrent place to work. The owner might not have any actual money. And the team has...

Freshman golfer J.R. Smith is seeking an NIL deal
The J.R. Smith undergrad Twitter chronicles have been a delightful highlight of the past few months. The 15-year NBA veteran was drafted straight out of high school in 2004, and after retiring from basketball, decided to get his degree at North Carolina A&T, the largest HBCU in the country. He also ...

Who are the Columbus Blue Jackets?
It was a slow night as far as news goes. So as I was kicking around various sites and headlines, I noticed the Calgary Flames put up a touchdown on the Columbus Blue Jackets, a 6-0 blanking. And then looking under the hood, I saw that the Jackets surrendered 62 shots. 62....

Give some shine to the NHL’s new Iron Man
Keith Yandle isn’t a household name because he’s spent most of his 16-year NHL career with putrid teams, including this season with the woebegone Flyers, who have somehow gotten even worse since their coaching change....

The NCAA is being dragged closer to doing the right thing
After a quarter century under their current bylaws, the NCAA will vote on a new constitution tomorrow at their convention that will peel their grip, knuckle by desperately grasping knuckle, off of the reins of college athletics regulation. Could it be that the NCAA is actually doing the right thing ...

Maybe Draisaitl has a right to be ‘pissy’
Athletes are people. People get upset when they and/or the group they associate themselves with aren’t living up to expectations. Hence, with the Edmonton Oilers having gone 2-10-2 in their last 14 games, 2020 Hart Trophy winner Leon Draisaitl might find it a little patronizing when a reporter asks ...

Here are the Penguins again, hanging around, hanging around, can’t get rid of them…
In a world where the Patriots didn’t exist (and what a world that would be), perhaps the gold (and black) standard for bucking against the tides, refusing to be victims of a salary cap and system specifically designed to prevent sustained success, and just general obstinance would be the Pittsburgh ...