Tiger Woods says he’s virtually pain-free six weeks after knee surgery and “on schedule” to play in the U.S. Open in two weeks.
Woods, in the Washington, D.C. area to promote his AT&T National tournament in July, has ruled out playing in next week’s PGA Tour event in Memphis to focus on the second major of the year.
While the world No. 1 said he’s enjoyed time with his family, he’s anxious for competition.
“I miss mixing it up with the boys,” Woods said at Congressional CC in Bethesda, Md. “I miss the heat of being in contention with everything on the line and trying to pull off the shot. That’s fun to me. That’s why I prepare and what I love to do. It gets really old riding that bike but everything is on schedule for the Open.”
Woods said the toughest part has been resisting a hasty return.
“It’s hard to be patient,” he said. “I’m not really a patient kind of guy.”
Woods, 32, underwent knee surgery April 15, a day after finishing second to Trevor Immelman at the Masters.
Woods had targeted this week’s Memorial Tournament in Ohio. However, he decided to skip it to give his knee more time.
“I started practising just recently,” he said. “Going to Memorial that rusty wouldn’t have made any sense. I wasn’t sharp enough.”
The U.S. Open goes June 12-15 at Torrey Pines, near San Diego. Woods won the Buick Invitational for the sixth time on the same course earlier this year.
Did he consider himself the favourite to win his 14th major?
“If I’m playing,” he said, smiling.
In 2002, when Woods underwent similar surgery on his left knee, he returned to win the Buick Invitational in his first event.
“It’s not like I haven’t been down this road before,” he said. “I know what it takes.”

canada.com

The NCAA Men’s basketball tournament is just days away as the selection committee has made their picks and for the first time in many years there are few gripes. Only Arizona State University can really grumble and for them it is just a bit, they should have won more games. But now it is time for the NCAA Men’s Tournament Bracket and all of those bracket contests.
Who doesn’t love march Madness? So now everyone is looking forward to a few weeks in march where very little gets done in the workplace, especially during week one. People that have barely even looked at college basketball all year long are pulling out their pens and studying the brackets by using all kinds of cheat sheets like Bracketology 101.
For those that are looking for a decent printable bracket, one is here . I never win theses contests and it is usually some secretary that picks them out of a hat or on team names, the best colors of the uniforms or the guys with the cutest butts that brings home the first place money. But I will give you may Final Four, at least this is the main one I will use in my many bracket contests.
I like Kansas out of the Midwest, they are deep and a very strong team that can perform under pressure. Out west, it is all about the UCLA Bruins. I’m going to take Tennessee in the East and Memphis in the south. It’s Memphis versus Kansas in my finals match up and the eventual winner - the Kansas Jayhawks!For my track record, last year I entered seven bracket contests and the highest I finished was third, but that did get me a little money.

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After leaving the Orlando Magic and returning to Gainesville, one might wonder if the National Invitational Tournament was on UF coach Billy Donovan’s mind.
Take a guess.
But after back-to-back national titles and nine consecutive trips to the Big Dance, that’s exactly where he’s headed.
“That may be the path we need to go,” Donovan said. “These guys may need to be totally humbled in a way.”
When the Gators (21-11) ducked out 80-69 to Alabama in the first round of this year’s Southeastern Conference Tournament, the team showed its lack of humility and maturity in the opening minutes.
UF came out barely breathing and fell behind 14-0 to an Alabama squad just two games above .500.
Similar to the loss against Kentucky less than a week before, the Gators didn’t play desperate until they truly were, and as in all walks of life, desperation is just steps away from failure.
“They manhandled us,” center Marreese Speights said. “We came out playing soft and we paid for it.”
The Gators failed to bring the proper disposition and fell behind 30-5 at one point, and 46-23 heading into intermission.
UF was a pathetic 9 of 31 from the field in the half and allowed Alabama players Richard Hendrix and Mykal Riley to combine for 29 points, six more than UF.

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(03-15) 17:57 PST — Another day to wait until Selection Monday, also known as Second-Class Citizen Day. Enough already.
Your No. 1 seeds are: Connecticut, Tennessee, North Carolina and Stanford. No. 2s to LSU, Maryland, Baylor and Rutgers.
Stanford’s best case for the No. 1: Only Connecticut has a better overall record against Top 25 teams, 12-1, compared with Stanford’s 8-1.
Geography: Stanford’s placement in the Spokane Region makes sense. But if Stanford is the fourth No. 1 seed and LSU is the first No. 2 seed, they would probably end up in the same bracket.
And with New Orleans on the list of regional sites - with LSU a definite draw there - maybe the Cardinal go to the Big Easy? Not rooting or anything.
Cal, meanwhile, is hoping to get a shot at Stanford for the first- and second-round games. If the NCAA is truly interested in giving their sites the best chance to draw fans, they will put the Bears in Palo Alto.
Possible early exits: Don’t even need to see the brackets to know that there are a few high-profile teams that could have short stays.
– Oklahoma. The Sooners go into selection day with three straight losses, two to close the regular-season and then a first-round loss to Missouri in the Big 12 tournament. The Tigers won two conference games all year.

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Illinois (14-18) at No. 16 Purdue (24-7) 6:30 pm EDT
INDIANAPOLIS (Ticker) - Purdue has not fared well in the Big Ten Conference tournament. But they have never been as seeded highly as they are this season either.
The 16th-ranked Boilermakers hope to make a deep run in the conference tournament as the second seed for the first time in school history when they face Illinois in the quarterfinals on Friday.
Purdue is just 4-10 all-time in the tournament, including just 2-9 since 1999. Last season, the Boilermakers made it to the semifinals for just the second time in their history. Purdue lost to Michigan in the 1998 tournament final.
Freshmen E’Twaun Moore and Robbie Hummel lead the team in scoring at 12.4 and 11.7 points per game, respectively.
The 10th-seeded Fighting Illini were swept in the two-game series with Purdue this season and have struggled to their first losing campaign since the 1998-99 season.
Chester Frazier’s layup with under four seconds remaining lifted Illinois to a 64-63 victory over Penn State in an opening round matchup on Thursday. Brian Randle led the Illini with 17 points.

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — When he was being courted by Clemson to coach its woeful basketball team five years ago, Oliver Purnell kept hearing the same thing from friends.
“A lot of people said it’s one of the toughest jobs in America — it’s the toughest job in the league,” Purnell said.
He took it, anyway.
And now, Clemson is no longer considered a bottom-feeding record-padder for the rest of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Purnell has turned the program around with the help of an aggressive defense, and his Tigers enter the A.C.C. tournament at Bobcats Arena here this week as the No. 3 seed, behind North Carolina and Duke.
They earned the comforts of a top conference team, including a first-round bye and the freedom to watch Thursday while preparing for the quarterfinals Friday. At 22-8, the Tigers are also likely to receive a berth in the N.C.A.A. tournament for the first time since 1998.
“It means a lot from where we were when Coach first got here, his first season here and then our first season here,” the senior guard Cliff Hammonds said after practice Wednesday night. “We’re getting the program going in the right direction. And all year, we’ve been talking about busting down the door, getting in the tournament, with an opportunity to do big things. I think that’s where we are right now.”

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LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) -The Western Athletic Conference came up with something different this season, even for the wacky WAC.
Four teams tied for the regular season championship with 12-4 records, so now it’s a horse race as Boise State, New Mexico State, Nevada and Utah State square off at the WAC tournament.
Yet such parity brings a measure of peril.
Only the WAC tournament champion is guaranteed a trip to the NCAAs, and with the regular season wealth spread among four schools - not to mention the WAC’s No. 20 slot in the national RPI - there’s likely no dancing for the also-rans.
“We are a one-bid league,” Utah State coach Stew Morrill said Wednesday. “It’s not perception. It’s reality.”
New Mexico State coach Marvin Menzies figures all four co-champions must take the same approach: Win the next three games or expect to be left out of the NCAA tournament.
“You never can figure out how that NCAA process works,” Menzies said. “There’s always a couple teams left out and some get in. It’s a tough job, but you’ve got to cut the line somewhere. Our efforts have been focused on winning the tournament the whole time to get the automatic bid.”

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Thinking of going to the Atlantic Coast Conference men’s basketball tournament in Charlotte? It’s definitely not cheap.
Just ask Andy Westmoreland of Gastonia.
Westmoreland’s been to the last five ACC tournaments and nine total, including last year’s in Tampa, Fla. He said the priciest part of attending the tournament throughout the weekend, which he plans to do, is buying tickets. His were about $400.
The best parking near the arena is $20, so there goes another $80 if you’re attending the four-day tournament and don’t want to park miles away and take the new Charlotte light rail into downtown.
And if you’re going to be at the arena all day, as was the case for Westmoreland Thursday (and today), you’ve got to eat. Want a hot dog? That’s $3.75. Some fries to go with it? Four bucks more. Top it off with a drink ($3.75) and that’s $11.50 for one person. An individual Domino’s pizza and a box of Bojangles supremes (fries and biscuits not included) are $7 each.
Westmoreland, who ate lunch at the arena before stepping out after the afternoon session for dinner, said it’s still a good deal if you eschew getting a program ($10) or extras like team shirts ($25).

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Texas Tech will win if: G Alan Voskuil finds his shooting touch after going scoreless in a loss at home against Baylor … G/F Martin Zeno has an explosive night … Freshman G John Roberson goes off on OSU G Byron Eaton like he did (20 points) in a win over the Cowboys on Feb. 2.
Oklahoma State will win if: G Byron Eaton of Lincoln keeps playing the way he has the last nine games. … Defensive stopper G/F Marcus Dove can shut down Tech’s Martin Zeno. … Guards Obi Muonelo, James Anderson and Terrel Harris give inspired effort on both ends.
The bottom line: Eaton helps Cowboys continue their season.
Baylor will win if: LaceDarius Dunn can build on 10-of-16 shooting (38 points) in a win over Texas Tech last Saturday. … The Bears get hot from the 3-point line, where they lead the league with 8.6 3s per game. … Show the poise exhibited in eight wins after trailing by nine or more points.
Colorado will win if: Freshman G Javon Coney can build on the season finale vs. Nebraska when he scored 15 points in 10 minutes. … If guards Richard Roby and Marcus Hall have big games. Hall has scored in double figures in nine of his last 10 outings and has 13 steals in his last four games.

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