Good morning, New York-area sports fans! As you wake up today bleary-eyed and with your NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament bracket in shambles, let's look around and see what is going on in our corner of the sports world.
↵NCAA TOURNAMENT: The Syracuse Orange are out of the Big Dance. Syracuse fell to Big East Conference rival Marquette, 66-62, in the round of 32 on Sunday night. Syracuse was called for a backcourt violation with 51.6 seconds remaining, setting up Marquette's victory. That typified a sloppy, turnover-filled performance by the Orange. Syracuse has plenty of Big East company on the sidelines of the tournament now, though, as only two of the 11 teams who started the tourney remain. Notre Dame, a No. 2 seed in the Southwest Region, was soundly beaten by Florida State, 71-57, Sunday night. Only Marquette and Big East Tournament champion UConn are still in the field.
↵NBA: This is not how the New York Knicks and their fans envisioned things working out after the teams traded for Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups. The Knicks were beaten Sunday night by the Milwaukee Bucks, 100-95. The Knicks have lost four of their last five, are 7-8 since the trade and after Friday's loss Anthony bolted without talking to the media. Things are not good with the blue and orange right now.
↵NHL: Just when it looked like they were beginning to fade and fall out of the playoffs, the New York Rangers have gotten hot. The Rangers defeated Pittsburgh 5-2 Sunday night for their fourth straight victory. The New Jersey Devils shut out Columbus, 3-0, Sunday night. New Jersey remains seven points shy of a playoff spot with 10 games to play. Whether they make it or not, the Devils have certainly made the second half of the season incredible fun from their fans as they have gone from being the league's worst team to the brink of a stunning comeback.