4/19 (Friday) Quickie

A brief diversion from following the insane story out of Boston:

*NBA Playoffs begin: As little drama as I can remember -- per my USA TODAY Sports column this morning, no one is beating the Heat, so I guess the excitement is watching everyone else knock each other off en route to Miami winning 16 games?

*NFL Schedule release: Once again, the NFL shows it rules -- the schedule release in and of itself is a big deal. Ravens at Broncos in Week 1 might be the highlight of the season.

*Michigan stars return: McGary and GRIII make Michigan one of the few non-Kentucky teams worth watching next season. (And, yeesh: The NBA Draft this year is awful.)

Have a safe and relaxing weekend.

-- D.S.

4/17 (Wednesday) Quickie

RIP Pat Summerall, whose voice is the very definition of NFL broadcasting and whose partnership with John Madden offered the vision of NFL broadcasting that I remember most from growing up.

NBA regular-season finale: Lakers. If they beat the Rockets, they could end up 7th in the West. If they lose to the Rockets and the Jazz win, the Lakers are out of the playoffs. A must-follow.

Braves win 10th straight: Sheesh. And Justin Upton: Wow. I know I was touting Bryce Harper as the most must-see player in baseball a few weeks ago (most must-see player in sports, actually), but Upton has eclipsed him in the now.

Marcus Smart returning to Oklahoma State: He was a Top 3 NBA Draft pick in '13 and will instantly be a pre-season All-America for '13-14 and presumptive National Player of the Year. He won't have the breakthrough of Trey Burke, because he doesn't have the same supporting cast or media promotion. But he is the higher-upside NBA talent. Given the insane talent in next year's draft class, you would wonder if Smart will end up being picked lower than he would this year, but he is good enough that he will likely still end up in the Top 5.

Tracy McGrady signed by the Spurs: Amazing on multiple levels -- it's T-Mac (he hasn't been in the league all season); it's the Spurs (who make the savviest moves of any team); could the Spurs get McGrady a ring? How awesome would it be if he made a contribution? They clearly didn't bring him in to sit on the bench. McGrady is a throwback to another era in the NBA; here's to something wild happening with him during the playoffs, where he contributes meaningfully.

Stephen Curry is going to set the NBA record for 3s made in a season: Best pure shooter since...? (Let me take this moment to lament that my Wizards skipped taking Curry so that they could trade the No. 5 overall draft pick for Randy Foye and Mike Miller, which remains one of the biggest trade bilkings of the past decade, in any sport.)

I have not posted the past few days -- since Monday's tragedy in Boston -- and my thoughts have been with the victims, their families and anyone touched by what happened. The Yankees playing "Sweet Caroline" in honor of Boston was a nice

-- D.S.

4/15 (Adam Scott) Quickie

I love being proven wrong. I love changing my mind in the face of superior evidence. I love having my assumptions and presumptions challenged -- I might put up a fight, but I am open to yours.

I blithely throw around the concept that the only golf storyline anyone cares about is Tiger Woods. Well, the mania around 14-year-old Guan Tianlang proved that wrong.

And even after Saturday's insanity around Tiger's drop and subsequent two-stroke penalty, in the end, Tiger fell short and we were all captivated by Adam Scott and Angel Cabrera last night.

Scott's putt on 18 to put him briefly in the lead was incredible. Cabrera's answer was brilliant. The first playoff hole was tense. Following Cabrera's agonizingly close putt on the second playoff hole, Scott's close-out was clutch.

And so Scott had his first major -- more importantly, he exorcised the demons from his implosion at the British Open last year. Even more impressively, he exorcised Australia's legacy of Greg Norman's epic chokery at The Masters in 1996.

And perhaps most impressively of all, he made everyone forget about Tiger and forget that Tiger was supposed to be the be-all-end-all of the sport. He was a reminder that golf can captivate without Tiger.

Today's Morning Win column for USA TODAY Sports is a celebration of Scott's performance and how he left us all cheering nearly as loudly as he cheered for himself on that epic putt on 18.

Because I cannot learn my own lesson, I will maintain that losing Kobe deprives us of the most compelling storyline -- perhaps the only compelling storyline -- of the NBA Playoffs, which are going to be an exercise in "How few games will the Heat lose en route to the 16 wins needed for a repeat championship?" You better be ready to find drama in the middle rounds, as we figure out who will inevitably lose to Miami. That said: For a team like New York or Indiana, making it to the conference finals before losing is entirely a successful season. Does anyone actually give them a chance to beat the Heat? Come on.

-- D.S.

4/13 (Very) Quickie

This Kobe injury news is the worst. Kobe willing the Lakers from NBA oblivion into the 8th seed in the playoffs was the best storyline of the NBA regular season -- and by far the best storyline of the first round of the playoffs. Now, we only get "What if?" It is a huge bummer, and I'm hardly a Lakers fan. Kobe's Facebook venting was epic -- one of the best things any athlete has ever said on Facebook or Twitter.

Should Tiger have been DQ'ed? Let's be real: If it was any other golfer -- say Guan Tianlang (see next item) -- they would almost surely be bounced. But it's Tiger. So he gets a two-stroke penalty and the chance to rally. Let's please not look to Augusta National for any sort of lessons about morality or sportsmanship.

Guan Mania: Youngest ever to make the cut at The Masters -- despite the absurd "slow play" penalty he was given, which is -- at least as it relates specifically to the play on the course during The Masters -- Augusta National at its stodgiest. (Obviously, Augusta National's stodginess has extended WAY beyond the course itself.) Meanwhile, tough break for Tiger on that flagstick.

A-Rod tried to pay to keep Biogenesis docs suppressed? If there is some kind of tangible proof, that's really bad for him.

Enjoy the day.

-- D.S.

04/11 (Masters) Quickie

As is pretty obvious, one of my fascinations is "win or fail" stakes -- teams and athletes for whom anything less than a championship is a failure.

That was the case with Louisville (and the Baylor women's team). That is the case with the Heat (if not quite the Thunder, because of the Heat). That is the case with Alabama football.

And, even more than the Heat, that is the case for Tiger Woods, as I lay out in today's Morning Win column for USA TODAY Sports.

The context of golf majors -- every golfer gets four chances to win one per year -- means that winning The Masters isn't do-or-die for Woods in terms of winning another major. He will get three more chances this year, and four a year from now until whenever he hangs it up.

But that doesn't mean that anything less than winning in Augusta isn't a failure for Woods. With the momentum he brings into the tournament, this year is "win or fail" more than any since before his personal life fell apart.

It used to be "Tiger versus the field," with the expectation that Tiger was going to win. Now it is "Tiger versus the field," with the expectation that he will fall short.

Tiger failing remains the most compelling story in golf and one of the most compelling stories in sports.

Give the column a read, if you would -- I nearly led with Kobe and his 47-point performance last night, because the Lakers trying to cling to their 1-game lead on the playoff 8-spot with three games to play is the best storyline of the NBA regular season. (And Lakers-Whoever in the first round of the playoffs will be the best storyline of the postseason, given that it is essentially a certainty that the Heat are going to roll to a title.)

-- D.S.

4/10 (Bubba Watson) Quickie

We're through the NCAA tournament tunnel and out on the other side. There are a few weeks until the NFL Draft, but the rest of this week is dominated by The Masters.

Today's Morning Win column for USA TODAY Sports is a salute to defending Masters champ Bubba Watson, whose "Champions dinner" menu last night was straight outta Publix.

And that is entirely consistent with Bubba's appeal -- his accessibility, his "everyman-ness," and his lack of pretense.

Compare that to the big Masters story of the week -- Tiger Woods, who is defined by his inscrutability and (at least on The Masters stage) his lack of signature major wins recently.

In golf -- and The Masters, specifically -- I am rooting for two things: (1) Tiger to fall short (because he is infinitely more fascinating as a loser than a champ), and (2) Bubba to repeat.

Check out the column here, which also includes two Top 5 lists -- "Athletes You Want to Fail" and "Most Accessible" (the second of which was probably too hastily constructed, aside from Bubba Watson at No. 1) -- a tribute to UConn's women's hoops dominance and more.

-- D.S.

04/09 (Louisville) Quickie

Here is some classic Quickie "Instant History":

Last night's game was the most entertaining NCAA hoops title game ever.

Others have had more dramatic final sequences and maybe even more memorable single signature moments, but last night's game tops them for sheer end-to-end enjoyment -- college basketball played at a high level, with many (many) "shining moments," plural.

That is the lead of today's USA TODAY Sports "Morning Win" column -- from Spike Albrecht's first-half barrage to Luke Hancock's answer to Montrezl Harrell's alley-oop to the Siva-vs-Hardaway dueling takes to the rim (bridged by Siva's dad celebrating in that awesome tank-top) to Trey Burke's block-that-wasn't to Chane Behanan's relentless offensive rebounding spurt... play after play after play.

Rick Pitino becoming the first coach to win titles with two teams? Novel.

Kevin Ware cutting down the nets? Feel-good.

But it was the game, from tip to final buzzer, that superseded the easy narratives and made us all affirm how awesome college basketball can be.

Check out the column here, if you have a minute.

Meanwhile, my bracket finished just shy of the 75th percentile nationally -- way better than the past few years, and basically tied with President Obama. If I had used the National Bracket, of course, I would have finished better than 90% of the country. (And, true to form, Mrs. Quickie out-performed me with her bracket -- she was the top finisher among folks near the top who didn't pick Louisville to win it all.)

Let's do it again next year.

-- D.S.

04/08 (Michigan-Louisville) Quickie

Regardless of who wins, my NCAA Tournament bracket will be as accurate as it has been in years, a long stretch in the bracket-picking wilderness that I am excited to recover from. That said, there is still a very good chance that the "National Bracket" will out-perform me -- if not, then it will outperform 85% (maybe even 90%) of the country. That's pretty good.

As for the game itself, I expect Louisville to roll, but - then again - I expected UL to thrash Wichita State. The best thing about the game is that it is the country's best defense versus its best offense -- you can't ask for much more than that. The big difference? Louisville's offense is still pretty good, while Michigan's offense remains just OK -- although way better since Mitch McGary became a force in the lane.

I'm facinated by McGary's ascension, which -- if you really consider it -- has been all of four games, and yet he is the leading candidate to be Most Outstanding Player of the tournament. I'd give him that through five games, to be sure.

He takes his place alongside a small handful of the most memorable freshmen in the history of the NCAA Tournament -- Carmelo obviously. Ewing. Ellison. Anthony Davis. Webber. Michael Jordan had a memorable shot (and a memorable title game in 1982 overall), but the rest of his tournament was just OK. Chris Webber was tremendous (as was the entire Fab Five -- but if you had to pick one, it would be Webber).

In today's USA TODAY Sports column, I ranked McGary sixth among NCAA Tourney frosh phenoms -- with the main qualifier being that the player had to get to at least the title game (Ewing, Webber) if not lead the team to a title outright (Carmelo, Ellison, Davis). If Michigan wins and McGary plays like he has the past four games, I would have no problem putting him in the Top 5 (if, as a hedge, tied with Webber for 5th). Unlike Davis or Ewing or Melo, McGary's contribution has almost entirely been in the tournament itself -- that alone makes him fascinating.)

Please give it a look -- and enjoy the end of the college basketball season tonight.

-- D.S.

4/5 (Final Four) Quickie

No team in sports aside from the Miami Heat has more pressure on them to win a championship than Louisville.

That raises the stakes for this weekend's Final Four, which is otherwise a celebration of Wichita State's Cinderella status, Michigan's revival and Syracuse's once-a-decade trip. That is the lead of today's Morning Win column for USA TODAY Sports, if you would be good enough to give it a read.

Meanwhile, not in the column because it just happened, but Rutgers AD Tim Pernetti has been fired. If you've been reading the column this week, you know I have been calling for his job since the first minute -- Rice should have been fired for what he did, but Pernetti was the one who showed even worse judgment, which is saying something. Rice is unbalanced; Pernetti is pernicious.

The ultimate question is whether Rutgers president Robert Barchi will lose his job over this. He should.

There are open questions around "What did he know and when did he know it?" but the reality is that he is damned both ways:

If he knew the details in December and didn't overrule Pernetti and demand Rice's resignation, he committed a grievous failure of leadership that disqualifies him to run the school.

If he didn't know the details, it would indicate he didn't WANT to know the details surrounding one of his most high-profile employees being suspended under highly sketchy circumstances -- that too is such a grievous failure of leadership that it disqualifies Barchi from running the school.

Either way, he is disqualified from running Rutgers, which is why so many professors around the university -- appropriately appalled -- have protested that Barchi lose his job, too.

It's a Friday. This story has dominated the week but will lose steam over the weekend as our attention goes to the Final Four, then whatever is next. Barchi might be able to ride this out -- it depends on the level of leadership shown by the board of trustees at Rutgers. Will they lead where Barchi, Pernetti and Rice did not?

Anyway, that was a heavy story this week. It will be fun to get back to basketball this weekend, on both the men's and women's side. The NBA regular season is wrapping up and the whole situation with the Lakers is fascinating. The MLB season is off to a fantastic start, too.

And my Wizards are celebrating the 1978 world championship -- yes, the franchise was once NBA champs -- on Saturday night, and I will be there to try to get a sense of what it is like to root for an NBA championship team. It should be a lot of fun.

Enjoy your weekend.

-- D.S.

4/3 (Rutgers) Quickie

UPDATE: Mike Rice has been fired. Looks like the AD isn't going anywhere (and would find the idea of losing his job to be absurd). The president is untouchable. My pick for next Rutgers coach: Danny Hurley, native son of NJ, former top NJ prep coach and on-the-rise college coach at Rhode Island.

ORIGINAL (which mostly still holds):

If there is a recurring theme here as it relates to scandals, it is this simple idea: The cover-up is always worse than the crime.

In the context of this Mike Rice/Rutgers awfulness, you can add another: If there's video -- uh-oh.

The visual evidence is the battering ram here: You cannot watch it and not find yourself outraged at Mike Rice's conduct, which appears to be a totally natural thing for him.

But then you peel it away and it becomes more insidious and more -- to lean on a pun I came up with related to Rutgers AD Tim Pernetti -- pernicious.

It wasn't just that Rice abused his players.

It was that the Rutgers AD for all intents and purposes covered it up -- a three-game suspension? It doesn't pass the smell test, especially after you watch the video. The AD's decision-making -- the lack of leadership -- was appalling.

And then you move up the chain: There is no way that the president of Rutgers didn't know about this -- an AD can't suspend the basketball coach without the president of the school (which had just spent an enormous amount of energy and resources muscling its way into the Big Ten) knowing why.

In that way, it was a disqualifying display of "leadership" from the Rutgers president.

And you get the sense that had Don Van Natta and his team at ESPN not dug all this up, Rutgers would have been content to let all of this slide. And that is where the rot is.

It is impossible to take Rutgers seriously as an athletic or academic institution while Mike Rice is the basketball coach, while Tim Pernetti is the AD and while Robert Barchi is the president.

Given that Rice wasn't gone this morning, either Rutgers is figuring out how to navigate through this without firing him -- which would be gobsmacking -- or they are getting rid of him and at this point, it's just about Pernetti and Barchi saving their own jobs, not that they have any credibility remaining.

The point of my column today for USA TODAY Sports is that while Mike Rice's actions were appalling, the institutional failures were just as bad.

There's a lot more in there: Yu Darvish and perfection, Mark Cuban and Brittney Griner, Shaq and Kobe, Louisville women's hoops and Louisville men's hoops, Nnamdi Asomugha and the 49ers and more. Give it a look, if you would.

-- D.S.

04/02 (Bryce Harper) Quickie

Call it East Coast Bias or my own Nats fandom or the fact that Bryce Harper is -- less than a year into his MLB career -- my favorite baseball player right now, but what Harper did yesterday is more impressive than what Clayton Kershaw did (although if you're a West Coaster or a Dodgers fan or just a smarter baseball fan than me, I appreciate why you might side with CK).

Today's "Morning Win" column for USA TODAY Sports positions Bryce Harper as the most "must-see" athlete in sports right now -- ahead of LeBron, ahead of Messi, ahead of surprising No. 4 Russ Smith (remember, I qualified the list as "right now"). I honestly believe that, and here is the money line:

"LeBron offers the thrill of the expected, honed to near-perfection; Harper offers the thrill of the unexpected -- we have no idea what might happen, and that's the point."

If, like me, you are a little obsessed with Bryce Harper, don't forget to follow @harperatbat, the best Twitter feed ever.

More:

*Andy Enfield to USC: Over-under of 3 years until he is the coach of the Clippers.

*Clayton Kershaw and Felix Hernandez: The best two pitchers in baseball at the top of their game, already.

*UConn women's hoops: Sixth straight Final Four. So why do I find myself more fascinated by Cal?

*Jackie Bradley Jr.: Boston sports fans love their phenoms -- look for him to be a top-selling shirsey.

Read the whole column here -- thanks for the support!

-- D.S.

04/01 (Opening Day) Quickie

I had no intention of rooting for Louisville to win the national title. First of all, I figured Florida would be in the Final Four. So much for that.

But in the absence of Florida, it didn't seem like much fun to root for the pre-tournament prohibitive favorite -- all three other FF teams are way more compelling.

Then Kevin Ware's injury happened -- and the team's immediate, heart-breaking reaction to it. And then Louisville destroyed Duke. And then they put on Ware's jersey. And then the news about how Ware told the team -- while laying on the court -- to win for him. And then the Instagram of him in his hospital bed, holding the regional trophy.

At this point -- as I wrote in today's USA TODAY Sports column --  how can you NOT root for Louisville to complete the journey and win the title?

It helps that they are clearly the best team left, with or without Ware. Wichita State will give them a battle for a half. The Michigan-Syracuse winner (I'll say Syracuse, but then again, I said Florida would handily beat Michigan) will also make it interesting for 20-30 minutes. And then this Louisville team will take its place among the more memorable champs of the past decade.

More:

*MLB Opening Day: I love that the Nationals are "World Series Championship or bust." That's all you can hope for, as a fan, no matter how much it might hurt more if they fall short.

*Matt Flynn to Raiders: He simply had no career left in Seattle -- a little crazy, given where we were a year ago, a month before Seattle even drafted Russell Wilson. (If Pete Carroll wants to raise the stakes, he should trade for Tim Tebow. I'm totally serious.)

*Louisville women stun Baylor: Lost in the men's tournament, let's please not lose sight of the fact that Louisville's women's team pulled off the biggest upset in sports in the past decade.

-- D.S.

Congrats, Michigan -- Ugh, Disappointment

First of all, congrats to Michigan -- they played great. Better than great. They won the game in the first two minutes, against a really really good team.

As a Florida fan, it is some crushing disappointment -- the expectations were "Final Four or failure." At the very least! I thought this team was good enough to win the national title.

And they were/are. But as we all know, great teams that don't play well -- particularly at this stage of the tournament -- don't get that chance.

I love being a Florida fan, in part, because of the "title or fail" expectations.

But it offers very little margin for error, let alone a performance like this one, which was worse than they have played all season. Most disappointing of all, it wasn't even close, right from jump.

This senior group -- Murphy (who had an abysmal game that made me feel horrible for him more than anything else), Boynton and Rosario -- went to three straight Elite Eights. That is nothing to sneeze at. But this year's team was elite and should have had an elite (read: Final Four) finish.

Whether or not Patric Young comes back (and he should, although if the standard is "first-round pick," he clears that threshold), Florida will be very good again next year.

Wilbekin -- the team's MVP this year -- is back. So are versatile forwards Will Yeguete and Casey Prather. So is 3-point ace Michael Frazier. The team has two top freshmen coming in next year, along with the activation of two transfer interior players.

Hopefully, this year's successes -- and ultimate failure in the Elite Eight -- inspires the team to greater heights. Then again, I said the same thing last year. And the year before that.

Expectations are wonderful to have, but cruel when unfulfilled.

-- D.S.

3/31 (Syracuse! Wichita! Who Else?) Quickie

For the record, my 4-year-old son Jonah -- who picked a complete bracket entirely on his own this year (proud dad) -- had Syracuse winning the East region. (Meanwhile, 6-year-old Gabe is beating 80 percent of the country, so there's that.)

Syracuse -- which has busted so many brackets in the decade since Carmelo (pound-for-pound, the single most impactful player in college hoops history) led them to a title -- is a great example of a really good team playing exceptionally well at exactly the right time.

Wichita State is a wonderful story -- in a region that was supposedly "busted," the Shockers beat the No. 1 and No. 2 seeded teams in the region. For all their close calls the past two weeks, Ohio State was particularly tough. That's earning your way in. There is nothing fluke-ish about Wichita.

Teams seeded in the bottom half of each region almost never make the Final Four -- only three teems seeded higher than Wichita State's 9th have made it (LSU '86, Mason '06 and VCU '11, all 11-seeds). That makes Wichita State's accomplishment all the more special. They are a worthy addition to the exclusive club of Absurdly High Seed Final Four Teams.

Florida is going to beat Michigan, because as good as Michigan's offense is, Florida's defense is better than anything Michigan has seen this season, which includes two losses to Wisconsin and a tough split with Ohio State, both defenses ranked in KenPom's Top 10. For what it's worth, Florida is No. 2, but spent some time at No. 1.

While Michigan's offense falters, Florida's offense -- also ranked in the Top 5 nationally, just like Michigan -- will find Michigan's 45th-ranked defense to be not quite as challenging as, say, Florida Gulf Coast.

It's not that Michigan isn't a really good team -- it's that this match-up particularly favors Florida, including an ideal match-up with Trey Burke (Scottie Wilbekin, one of the Top 3 defensive guards in the country) and Mitch McGary (Patric Young provides the muscle and Erik Murphy's shooting will draw McGary away from the basket).

Louisville will beat Duke, and it won't be close. Duke barely beat Louisville in the non-conference schedule, and that was with UL not having Dieng in the post. Seth Curry -- arguably the best shooter in college basketball -- isn't at his best on a two-day turnaround. And Louisville is playing like a team obsessed with not just making the Final Four, but winning it all.

More:
*Steve Alford to UCLA: Meh. And kind of a jerk. I don't begrudge him leaving for a better job; I begrudge him signing a 10-year extension 10 days ago.

Quick self-indulgent story: A million years ago, I accepted a job offer from SI.com to be an editor. The night before I was supposed to start, ESPN came to me with an awesome role at ESPN Magazine. It was something I probably would have enjoyed even more (in fact, a few years later, my SI.com boss ultimately left to take the ESPN job I was offered.) But I had committed to SI and there was no question I was going to honor that commitment. It's not quite the same -- again, let's put the emphasis here on self-indulgent story -- but the point is that Alford is an asshole, if a very rich one having the last laugh as he takes over a plum (if not Top 5) college hoops coaching role.

*Kevin Kolb to Buffalo: Not quite the missing piece.

*The MLB season starts tonight: World Series title or bust for my Nationals.

-- D.S.

3/30 (Florida) Quickie

First of all, after Florida's win last night (paired with Duke's win, which I begrudgingly picked), my bracket is in the 96th percentile nationally.

Anyone who has been reading this blog for the last six years knows that, historically, my bracket is anywhere between mediocre and horrible. This is my best performance ever. It basically comes down to this: If Florida wins it all, I'm in great shape. If they lose Sunday to Michigan -- or in the Final Four or title game -- I'm going to plummet.

But I feel pretty good about my pick, and last night's game displayed why: Florida has the best defense in college hoops this year -- start with that, and you will always stay in games. They also have a Top 5 offense, nationally; what that means is that even if they have their worst offensive game of the season (as they did last night, because of nerves or FGCU's defense or whatever), it is enough to pair with the elite defense to scratch out a win.

In fact, I was more nervous about a black swan like Florida Gulf Coast than I am about Michigan or the Syracuse-Marquette winner or even Louisville.

In the end, the game was sort of close -- not close close, but nothing I was comfortable with under there was less than a minute remaining in the game. And the first five minutes had me freaking out. But the last 10 minutes of the half -- when Florida stifled FGCU's offense almost entirely (FGCU hurt themselves with turnovers, too) -- I felt like a non-existent offense might not kill them.

And so it's on to the Elite Eight -- for the third straight year -- and Michigan, a team that pulled off one of the greatest comebacks I have seen in the Tournament in years. Michigan's offense is as better than any in the tournament (again, Florida's is Top 5, so hardly a slouch), but Michigan's defense is mediocre; Florida should have a much better time against it than they did against FGCU.

In short: Florida has been through its tournament crucible; Michigan has never seen or played a defense as good as Florida's. The closest proximation -- Michigan State -- yielded a 1-point win in Ann Arbor and a 17-point loss in East Lansing, with Michigan averaging only 54.5 ppg in both, well below its season average. Against Wisconsin's Top 5 defense? Two losses for Michigan, and a 60.5 ppg average.

Against common opponents, don't be fooled by Michigan's 2-0 record against Kansas State and Arkansas, who combined to go 2-1 vs. Florida -- Michigan played K-State in Ann Arbor; Florida played the in Manhattan, Kansas. And Michigan also played Arkansas in Michigan (Arkansas was awful on the road and a completely different team in Fayetteville, where they beat Florida).

The point is that Florida is precisely the kind of team gives Michigan problems. It is unclear that Michigan is the kind of team that gives Florida problems.

Regardless, the stakes for Florida are much higher: In their third straight trip to the Elite Eight, it is break through or bust-- Final Four or failure.

As for the rest of the regionals, I'll take absurdly confident Wichita State over Ohio State (on my bracket, I had Gonzaga over Ohio State) and Syracuse over Marquette (I had Indiana over Marquette) today, then Louisville over Duke (which I had on my bracket) and Florida over Michigan (I had Florida over Kansas). Should be a great four games over the next two days. Enjoy it.

-- D.S.

03/28 (Sweet 16) Quickie

It's a good set of games tonight, but in today's USA TODAY Sports column, I'm focused on expectations.

For Indiana, if they lose tonight, the season is a failure. It's harsh, but true. It doesn't take away from Tom Crean's rebuilding job, but they are past the point of "happy to be good again!" and squarely in the "this team can/should win a title" zone. The same goes for Louisville -- maybe even more, which makes a Louisville-Indiana title game so interesting. One team will crap out, guaranteed.

As you roll down the field, expectations change: Because college hoops has this quirky thing where being a national semifinalist is nearly as meaningful as winning it all, simply making the Final Four is the expectation for the other 1-seed Kansas, the 2-seeds Ohio State and Duke, the 3-seeds Michigan State and Florida and the 4-seed Michigan.

Florida is a unique case: Because they made the Elite Eight the past two years, it's "Final Four or fail" for them, even if their seed doesn't quite justify that expectation. For Michigan State, it's the remarkable Izzo streak of every four-year player getting to at least one Final Four. For Michigan, it is simply that they are unlikely to have a team this talented in the near future. Again, that makes a Florida-Michigan regional final absolutely amazing, as it does for Michigan State-Duke.

Miami is an odd case: By seed, it should be "Final Four or bust." But because the program is so nouveau riche -- literally, this season -- you get the sense that getting to the Elite Eight will still be considered pretty good, albeit disappointing for those who thought this team was good enough to get to the Final Four.

As for the rest, it's pretty much all gravy. Oh, Arizona fans can/should be ticked if they don't get to the Elite Eight, but there isn't a huge shame in losing to a strong 2-seed.

Wichita State-LaSalle is fascinating: One of those teams is going to the Elite Eight -- bringing with it a puncher's chance at making the Final Four and earning college hoops immortality that would come with it. Both teams have to be saying to themselves: Why not us? In that case, losing tonight will be hugely disappointing to the loser, even if making the Sweet 16 at all should be cause for celebration.

Give the column a read -- this tension between "win or failure" and "just happy to be here" is a long-standing fascination of mine. Tons more in the column, too. Enjoy the games tonight.

-- D.S.

3/27 (US Soccer) Quickie

It's funny -- I just got an email ripping me for this morning's USA TODAY Sports column that led with a celebration of the US's huge tie with Mexico last night.

Make no mistake: I am only a casual soccer fan. But the point of the take was that in a month dominated by "survive and advance" and "win or go home," it was refreshing to be reminded that we can enjoy thrilling sports and have the result be... a tie.

In this case, the old adage "a tie is as good as a win" (is that an old adage? maybe I'm thinking of "a walk is as good as a hit") really makes sense -- particularly in that stadium for this US team.

There is a ton of other great stuff in the column today: Brittney Griner! Dirk! Florida Gulf Coast! (Obviously!) And an amazing moment starring Mr. T!

Please give it a look. We're into week 2 on this experiment, and I'd like to know what you think.

Tons of Sweet 16 goodness coming tomorrow.

-- D.S.

03/25 (FGCU!) Quickie

Is Florida Gulf Coast the greatest Cinderella in NCAA Tournament history?

It is hard to measure up to NC State '83 or Villanova '85 (both champs) or George Mason 2006 (which made it to the Final Four).

But I would argue that even if they lose to Florida on Friday night, FGCU is in the conversation for Greatest Cinderella Ever, because of their unique confluence of factors.

Start with the unprecedented: They are the first 15-seed to reach the Sweet 16.

They play a highly telegenic style. They have amazing backstories. The program has no history except for this. They don't come from a major (or even mid-major) conference. They are a GIF industry unto themselves.

And there is no reason to believe that it will stop now.

If you asked me heading into the Tournament if there was a team that I thought would beat Florida, I'd say no -- after all, it's why I picked Florida to win it all.

But that didn't account for the "black swan" scenario -- the entirely unforeseen competitor that is a mix of moxie, motivation, method and manpower.

At this point, I am extremely nervous that Florida will lose to FGCU -- even with five days for Billy Donovan to prepare, even with the idea of "regression to the mean," even with Florida's history of smashing Cinderella's slipper (they beat George Mason in the Final Four in '06).

All I know is that what FGCU is doing is unprecedented (way beyond the 15-seed stuff), and that alone qualifies them for NCAA tournament immortality.

Check out the USATODAY.com column here.

-- D.S.

3/24 (Wichita State!) Quickie

There is always this moment of hindsight -- when my bracket basically implodes -- when I wonder "What was I thinking?"

Saturday night, that was when Gonzaga -- a team I picked to go to the Final Four -- lost to Wichita State. The Shockers totally earned it, out-playing the top seed in the game's final minutes.

Why did I buy Gonzaga? Why did I ignore their decade of underachievement in the tournament? Why did I buy into this year as different?

In retrospect, my strategy in that region should have been "Anyone BUT Gonzaga."

And so it will be Wichita State playing the winner of Ole Miss and LaSalle for the right to play the winner of Arizona and (presumably) Ohio State to go to the Final Four. Amazing.

It was an awesome night for the NCAA Tournament. A 1-seed losing in the first weekend is big enough, but the Butler-Marquette slugfest -- ousting the Bulldogs -- was an instant classic.

Speaking of shockers (sorry), it was jaw-dropping to see Brad Stevens' team execute so poorly down the stretch. Credit Marquette -- I can't help but think that the buzzer-beating loss to Butler in the preseason gave Marquette that extra edge they needed to push through to the finish.

Meanwhile, I also lost Saint Louis. Oregon is very good. It finally dawned on me that folks griping about Oregon being "under-seeded" had it entirely backwards.

Being under-seeded is a huge advantage. Sure, you start with a 5, but presuming you get past that -- as 12-seeds tend to -- you are playing a 4, rather than a 1- or 2- or 3-seed, which you would if you got seeded "accurately."

And so instead of playing Louisville (and presumptively losing) or playing Duke (and presumptively losing) or playing Michigan State (and presumptively losing), Oregon draws Saint Louis -- a scrappy team of extraordinarily hard workers totally ill-equipped to keep pace with the Ducks' athleticism.

Oregon is in the Sweet 16 BECAUSE they were under-seeded, not DESPITE being under-seeded.

Somehow, my bracket is hovering near the 70th percentile. (I picked Marquette over Butler, but lots of people did, too.) But that ranking will change with every round Gonzaga isn't advancing toward the Final Four I predicted for them -- and shouldn't have.

Among the stronger feelings engendered by the tournament -- "Shoulda." It is frustrating, but helps contribute to what makes it so great.

In the end, I'll trade my mediocre bracket for thrilling nights like this every time.

-- D.S.

3/23 (FGCU!) Quickie

The names are immortal in college hoops history:

Richmond. Santa Clara. Coppin State.
Hampton. Norfolk State. Lehich.

The six 15-seeds that have knocked off a 2-seed, the most exciting and meaningful result possible in the NCAA Tournament (until a 16 eventually beats a 1).

Add to the pantheon: Florida Gulf Coast.

It wasn't close. It wasn't a grinder. It wasn't a nail-biter.

This was FGCU punching Georgetown in the mouth, then continuing to smack them around for the rest of the game (despite the Hoyas' final futile flurry). FGCU earned it all the way, the better team.

(That alley-oop near the end? Ridiculous.)

The Round of 32 is sizing up with a couple of teams that you have to be rooting for, because they deserve the spotlight that comes with being in the Sweet 16:

Ole Miss. VCU. Florida Gulf Coast.

When they play San Diego State on Sunday, FGCU should come in as confident of being a Sweet 16 team as anyone in the field.

More than that, they join arguably the most elite fraternity in college hoops -- the 15-seeds who beat 2-seeds. The name "Florida Gulf Coast" will live in college hoops history and with fans energized by what happened on Friday night.

More:

*My bracket: I'm in the 58th percentile nationally. I went 21-11 in my Round of 64 picks, but lost only two Sweet 16 teams (Wisconsin and Georgetown). Along with the "National Bracket," I am tied for 62nd in the DQR group. Mrs. Quickie is tied for 19th. My two boys -- who picked their own brackets this year -- are tied for 93rd.

*Today's games:
VCU-Michigan is the first (and best) game of the day.
Butler-Marquette is the second-most intriguing.
Give Wichita State a puncher's chance against 1-seed Gonzaga.
12-seeds Oregon and Cal don't feel like Cinderellas if they win.
The only real Cinderella today is Harvard.

-- D.S.