NCAA

After six games in the Midwest Region on Thursday, the NCAA Tournament features only two contests Friday.

March Madness went for broke Thursday, with 16 NCAA Tournament games taking place. The East Region featured four double-digit seeds looking to start Cinderella runs.

After a few days of opening round games, the NCAA Tournament tipped off for real Thursday, including four games in the West Region.

Today's top sports stories:

St. Louis University is seeded fourth in this year's NCAA Tournament, and they're a sentimental favorite for a lot of hoops fans this year. In December, their coach, Rick Majerus, died of heart failure at the age of 64. The team dedicated their season to the memory of their coach. But an additional reason to root for St. Louis is their mascot: the Billiken. What exactly is a Billiken anyway? Read

March Madness is in full-on, face-painted, trash-talking, ankle-snapping, buzzer-beating, swing. Unless you're 6'9" and play for Louisville, the only way you're going to the Final Four is to buy a ticket and make the pilgrimage to Atlanta or watch it on the big screen from your couch...

A blizzard of NCAA basketball dominates the upcoming sports calendar. Here's what to watch this weekend:

The annual NCAA Tournament rewards teams high and low for proving themselves to be among the best in the country. Once the games begin, everyone is focused on which of the Davids will slay their Goliaths in the early rounds of the tournament, writing their stories into the pantheons of college basketball history...

On Thursday at 12:15 p.m., the 2013 men's NCAA basketball tournament—aka March Madness—kicks off with No. 3 seed Michigan State vs. 14th-seeded Valparaiso. It's a wide-open tournament this year, and lots of teams have a good chance at the title.

Tyrone Garland scored 22 points and Ramon Galloway added 21, as La Salle beat Boise State, 80-71, in a First Four game of the 2013 NCAA tournament in Dayton, Ohio on Wednesday night. As a result of the win, the 13th-seeded Explorers (22-9) will play fourth-seeded Kansas State in the West Regional in Kansas City on Friday afternoon...

A.J. Davis scored 20 points, and James Madison beat LIU-Brooklyn, 68-55, in a First Four game of the 2013 NCAA tournament in Dayton, Ohio on Wednesday night. As a result of the win, the 16th-seeded Dukes (21-14) will play top-seeded Indiana in the East Regional in Dayton on Friday afternoon...

By now, most people know that Barack Obama is a basketball guy. So it's no surprise that come Tournament time, ESPN asks him to fill out a bracket. Do you agree with his picks?

Matthew Dellavedova scored 22 points, and Saint Mary's beat Middle Tennessee State, 67-54, in a First Four game of the 2013 NCAA tournament in Dayton, Ohio on Tuesday night. After leading by nine points at the half, St. Mary's increased its lead behind the shooting of Dellavedova, who was 7-for-14 from the field for the game, including hitting 5 of 7 three-point attempts...

Sports fans always assume they've seen it all... until something crazy happens that we've never seen before. College basketball is usually where the oddest stuff happens with players, coaches, and fans responsible for all kinds of mayhem and mischief ...

Returning national champion Baylor was named a top seed in the 2013 NCAA women's tournament field of 64 announced on Monday night. Dominating senior center Brittney Griner helped lead the Lady Bears (32-1) to a unanimous No. 1 ranking in the latest Associated Press poll released earlier Monday...

The 2013 NCAA Tournament is upon us, and sure, the games are fun but we're more interested in the battle raging on in the bleachers. Student body against student body. Alumni against alumni. Fans against fans. Bands against bands in battles of brass...