It’s March Madness, and the whole damn nation is feeling it, including some of the double-digit seeds as three out of the last 16 teams left are 10-seed or higher. So far teams that have shone in particular include North Carolina, Kentucky and Florida, the latter of which is currently playing on a level well above the number seven seed it was designated. Only time will tell what team is worthy of a Final Four bid and, in this writer’s opinion, Kentucky will ultimately reign supreme as this year’s champion. If UNC can somehow manage to get Kendall Marshall back from his injury before the tourney ends, however, they have a chance to be a major player themselves.

After a five-year marriage that was marked more by its shortcomings than its accomplishments, the University of Texas and its women’s head basketball coach Gail Goestenkors have parted ways after Goestenkors resigned on the heels of another lackluster season. Although basketball fans on the 40 Acres probably wish they had gotten more out of Goestenkor’s tenure while she was here, it was clear it was time to move on for both parties. One thing people won’t forget from this year’s run, however, will be the Lady Longhorn’s pounding of the defending national championship Aggies in coach G’s last game against A&M. All the best to coach G in the future and a big salute for her service on the 40 Acres.

We officially have a winner in the Peyton Manning sweepstakes and the lucky team is the Denver Broncos! In what could easily be the biggest upgrade in quarterback play one team has ever experienced in a one-year period in the league’s history, questions about Tim Tebow’s future are running rampant. While Denver has pretty much accepted that they’ll be trading the spunky QB with questionable mechanics but a penchant for winning, it’ll be interesting to see who picks him up. Even more interesting will be to see if he can win a starting job or if there is any team in particular that has a demand for his unique skill-set. Only time will tell but I’ll be damned if this hasn’t been one of the craziest seasons of free agency in recent memory.

Top three best teams in the NBA right now, in order: Chicago, Oklahoma City, Miami.

Speaking of the Bulls, how great is it for them that they’ve been able to be such a force even with the reigning MVP being out for the last week or two? That is a direct reflection of the fantastic job head coach Tom Thibodeau has done in coaching this group of guys as well as the great chemistry this squad has been able to develop. After flying somewhat under the radar in the first half of the season (if you can believe it since it’s the freakin’ Bulls after all), Chicago is clicking on all cylinders right now and will only get that much better when Derrick Rose returns. Teams in the east better be on watch.

Brian Bogart

• As a huge boxing fan, it’s always tough for me to see just how little exposure the sport gets on a consistent basis, and a lot of that comes from fans simply not knowing or caring about the names and faces involved in the sport outside of Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather. While admittedly boxing has nothing to blame but itself for its decline in the public eye, HBO has done more than its fair share to bolster the sport’s credibility with its latest endeavor being a personal look into the life of celebrated trainer Freddie Roach who, besides training some of the biggest names in the sport, is also in a constant struggle with Parkinson’s Disease. If you have any interest in boxing as a sport or Freddie Roach the man, do yourself a favor and watch “On Freddie Roach,” because in my opinion it’s one of the best things on television you can watch. Then again, this isn’t television. It’s HBO.

• Is Texas in or is Texas out? That is the question that has been haunting our Longhorn basketball team ever since they’ve settled in on the NCAA tournament bubble since about the midpoint of the season. Some people have UT as one of the last four teams in the tournament, and some have UT as one of the last four teams out; either way, if Texas doesn’t make it to the dance this year, this team will have no right to complain as it never truly sealed a season-defining win over the course of the regular season. Now that the Big 12 championship is looming, it will be up to the Longhorns to prove on a national stage that they belong in the dance and that, for the first time in a long time, they just might be Cinderella.

• NBA mid-season MVP’s so far, in order: Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Love and . . . Tony Parker? Sure, why not.

• Speaking of the NBA, as much as the whole lockout ordeal completely sucked, I’ve really enjoyed this year’s NBA season thus far and think that the talent pool currently in the NBA is at an all-time high. It’s just a great time for basketball in general. Rejoice.

• Let’s see how this year’s recruiting race between Texas and OU has been shaking out so far, several weeks removed now from Signing Day:
  Texas: 12 commits, 8 in the ESPN Top 150
  Oklahoma: 1 commit, 1 in the ESPN Top 150

• As far as NCAA basketball is concerned, this is how I see it. Top-tier teams: Kentucky and Syracuse. Bottom-tier teams: Everyone else.