The subzero weather hardly predicts short wait for Spring, as the groundhog did last week. There is a lot of sports to heat up your February, so there's that. March Madness is very closer, so the NCAA top 10 rankings for men's basketball become much more interesting. Saturday's first unveiling of the top 16 seeds by the NCAA tournament selection committee provided a glimpse into the future. But the day's game slate also served as a reminder that there's still plenty of basketball to be played in the next five weeks up until Selection Sunday. So, thanks NCAA, for March's ratings today. In a battle between two forecasted No. 1 seeds, Duke once again out-dueled Virginia. The Blue Devils started the day as the top overall seed, per the committee's assessment, and ended the day with an even stronger profile. The Cavaliers, meanwhile, only suffered their second loss of the season, but this one was a much more convincing loss and on their home court. Villanova was perhaps the most notable snub on the selection committee's list of top four seeds in each NCAA tourney region, and the Wildcats had an opportunity to beat a No. 3-seeded Marquette team on the road. Instead, they lost their first game in Big East play and the Golden Eagles got a statement win to bolster their already impressive résumé behind Markus Howard's 38 points. More than that, it was a statement win that punctuated the progress of the Steve Wojciechowski era in Milwaukee. In the Coaches' Poll, the top ten teams are currently: 1. Tennessee 20-1 2. DukeDuke 19-2 3. Virginia 20-1 4. Gonzaga 21-2 5. Kentucky 18-3 6. Nevada 21-1 7. Michigan 20-2 8. North Carolina 17-4 9. Marquette 19-3 10. Virginia Tech 18-3 Meanwhile, in Daytona Beach, all is gearing up for the weeklong festival of racing preceeding the Daytona 500. More on that next week. This is weekend two of five in the Rugby Six Nations Tournament. Today England takes on France at the Twickenham Stadium. Saturday, Wales already bested Italy at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, as the Etruscans lost 26-15. Meanwhile, Ireland beat Scotland at Murrayfield, 22-13. Wales currently sits, undefeated, atop the rankings. In worldwide cricket, England continues their tour of the West Indies, and so far has lost all of their test matches. The 'Sky is the limit' as the Caribbean hosts seek to complete Test series sweep, and snatch all three Test match victories. West Indies assistant coach Vasbert Drakes said on Friday that "the sky's the limit" for his young team as they look to complete a 3-0 sweep of the Test series against England. The Caribbean side leads the three-match series 2-0 following victories by 381 runs in Barbados and by 10 wickets in Antigua. The third and final Test got underway at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground in St Lucia on Saturday. Coach Dasbert said that "The guys understand the legacy of West Indies cricket and they want to continue to inspire the next generation of cricketers to play the game." He said "We are all really looking forward to playing in St Lucia. It reminds me of the wickets that were prepared for us, the West Indians, in the 1970s and '80s," he said. Although the England side has not been as powerful in recent years, a total defeat would be complete embarrassment to England. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "omnisport" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/omnisport. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
