The Rundown: When One Door Closes Another Opens

Tonight marks the culmination of the college basketball season - the national championship game. We’ll also find out who will win a year of bragging rights as the winner of our bracket challenge.

The cure for your case of the Mondays,

The Last Night’s Game Team

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Men’s NCAA March Madness Tournament

• No fairytale ending. Cinderella made it to the ball in the movies but not in March Madness. Number one ranked Gonzaga and North Carolina beat their lower seeded opponents of South Carolina and Oregon. Tonight, we will see two of the nation’s number one teams battle it out for the national championship. Here's how you can watch.

Women’s NCAA March Madness Tournament

• It had to happen at some point. Friday night we witnessed one of the biggest upsets in March Madness history. Mississippi State upset a previously unbeatable UConn (Connecticut) team in overtime of the semifinals. The UConn women’s team hasn’t lost since November 2014.
• Close but no cigar. Mississippi State was unable to carry that momentum into Sunday where they were defeated by the South Carolina Gamecocks, who won their first ever national championship.

NFL (National Football League)

• That’s going to leave a mark. The New England Patriots’ Super Bowl Trophy made an appearance in Maine and was being transported home when the vehicle transporting it hit a deer. The driver and the trophy were unharmed. No word on if the deer was an Atlanta Falcons fan. (Falcons lost to the Patriots in the Super Bowl).

Overtime

• The “Super Bowl of wrestling,” WrestleMania, was last night and WWE (and substitute Today Show co-host) John Cena proposed to his girlfriend of five years and star of Total Divas, Nikki Bella, after they won a tag team match in the ring. That’s how every girl dreams it will happen. (PS – WWE stands for World Wresting Entertainment and she said yes).

Sideline stat

• Pitchers aren’t known for their batting skills (they spend too much time practicing pitching) but San Francisco Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner didn’t receive that memo. Yesterday during his team’s first game of the season, he became the first ever pitcher to hit two home runs on opening day. (FYI - today is opening day for teams that didn't play yesterday).

Coaches’ corner

• Golfer Lexi Thompson was on her way to her first major win of the year, but then she was given a penalty from the previous day’s play. A TV viewer emailed the LPGA (Ladies Professional Golf Association) about her improper ball placement. The LPGA reviewed it and assessed the delayed penalty. She ended up losing in a playoff. Golfers everywhere, including Tiger Woods, united on social media to defend her.

The Rundown: Out On A Limb

This weekend the men and women of college basketball hit the hardwood to determine which teams will play for the national championship. Not to be outdone, the boys of summer will pick up the hardwood and start their season swinging for the fences.

It’s a bad weekend to be a tree,

The Last Night’s Game Team

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NCAA Men’s March Madness Tournament 

• Light at the end of the tunnel. The final four teams in left in the bracket play Saturday in Phoenix to determine who will play in Monday’s national championship game. We’ll see South Carolina vs Gonzaga and Oregon vs North Carolina.
• Westsiiide. Gonzaga is the first team west of the central time zone to make it to the Final Four in nine years.
• Taking a stance. The NBA (National Basketball Association) and the NCAA (the governing body behind college sports) took a stand against North Carolina’s “bathroom bill.” The NBA moved their All-Star Game from Charlotte last season and the NCAA relocated part of this year’s March Madness tournament, citing their values “of inclusion and gender equity.” The NCAA gave North Carolina a deadline to repeal the bill in order to have a chance at hosting future tournaments. The bill was repealed yesterday.  

NCAA Women’s March Madness Tournament  

• Ladies first. The women's Final Four is today in Dallas with Stanford taking on South Carolina and Mississippi State battling it out with Connecticut.
• We’re in this together. Both the South Carolina men’s and women’s teams are in their respective Final Four. UConn (Connecticut) was the last school to win both the men’s and women’s titles in same year (2014).

Overtime

• By now you’ve probably heard about the "artistic" bust created of soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo that will now sit at his hometown airport, which has been renamed in his honor. Words cannot describe the injustice done to a man who isn’t too hard on the eyes (but his statue is). Here’s the photo.  

Sideline stat

• Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James passed Shaquille O'Neal for seventh on the NBA all-time scoring list. (Shaq took it well). At the ripe old age of 32 he sits roughly 10,000 points below the all-time leader, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Seems like a lofty goal but James is on pace to break that record in five years.

Coaches’ Corner

• In honor of baseball season starting on Sunday, what does it mean to be “on deck?” At a MLB (Major League Baseball) game, there's a circle next to the team’s dugout. That is referred to as the on-deck circle and that’s where the batter who is up next goes to warm up before his at bat.

For more mind-boggling baseball questions, visit our MLB Frequently Asked Questions. We promise you’ll learn something new.

The Rundown: Caffeine-Fueled

We know it was hard to get out of bed this Monday morning but the world of sports is your oyster. Now go wow that cute stranger in line for coffee by telling them you know what happened in Last Night’s Game.

Caffeine-fueled and ready to take on the world,

The Last Night’s Game Team

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NCAA March Madness Basketball Tournament

• Carried away. Last night we learned which teams are the final four teams in the tournament. The nation saw North Carolina beat Kentucky on a last second shot. Although in Cleveland, OH the local CBS affiliate cut away from the game right before the game winning shot for a tornado warning. This means life or death, of someone’s bracket. Tornados can wait.
• The odd squad. It’s an unlikely Final Four to say the least. Why?
  • Gonzaga Bulldogs and South Carolina Gamecocks - the two teams have never played in the Final Four.
  • Oregon Ducks - they haven’t played in the Final Four since 1939.
  • North Carolina Tarheels - they're making their 20th Final Four appearance.
• How you doin’? Kudos to “bjarv” who is in the lead in the Last Night’s Game Bracket Challenge. Although “Clueless Newbie” and “Not a Jock” are hot on their tail. It all comes down to next weekend and the championship game a week from today.  

F1 Racing (Formula One)

• Crikey. Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel emerged victorious down under in Melbourne to start the F1 season. This is the first time Team Ferrari has won the opening race since 2012.

Overtime

• Good guys alert in the NBA (National Basketball Association). Earlier this month, Golden State Warriors fan, Isaiah and his mom had tickets to the Warriors game but were victims of ticket fraud and weren’t able to attend. The Warriors heard about the disappointment and flew the 6-year-old and his mom to Memphis, TN to sit courtside at the Warriors-Grizzlies game. They also arranged a meet and greet with players including Isiah's hero Stephen Curry.

Sideline stat

• While the college players had the spotlight, a second-year player for the Phoenix Suns had a night for the record books. Devin Booker, 20, scored 70 points on Friday night, becoming just the sixth player in NBA history to do so. Sadly, his team still lost despite his valiant effort.

Coaches’ Corner

• Basketball isn’t the only sport to produce a Final Four. College hockey also has a March Madness-style tournament and they’re down to the “Frozen Four,” the four teams remaining in the quest for the national championship. Notre Dame, Denver, Harvard and Minnesota Duluth will compete next week in Chicago for the freezing-cold title. The other teams will have to “let it go.”