The cases of Canelo Alvarez and Conor McGregor connect in a way that those who will ultimately decide their fates are well aware of the financial jackpots both represent.
Ed Graney
Ed Graney came to the Review-Journal in May of 2006 as its lead sports columnist. He has covered all major sporting events, including Super Bowls to NBA championships to every Final Four since 1995. Graney also covered the Olympic Games in Beijing (2008) and London (2012). A graduate of San Diego State University, he is a five-time Nevada Sportswriter of the Year and past winner of Associated Press Sports Editors Top 10 for columns. He and wife Bonnie have two children, a son (Tristan) and daughter (Bridget).
Gonzaga owned the lion’s share when it came to this whole leaving the West Coast Conference for the Mountain West scenario, but that doesn’t mean the league in which UNLV exists shouldn’t have made the effort.
Donte DiVincenzo, a redshirt sophomore, scored 31 points and the Wildcats are national champions for the second time in three years after a 79-62 victory against Michigan before 67,831 at the Alamodome.
If you were to begin a list of the best active college basketball coaches who haven’t yet won a title, you wouldn’t write many — perhaps any — before coming to John Beilein of Michigan.
Key facts and matchups for Monday night’s NCAA national championship game between No. 1 Villanova and No. 3 Michigan.
The Villanova Wildcats, favored to beat Michigan on Monday night at the Alamodome, are most often compared to the Golden State Warriors.
Villanova took as decisive a step toward its second national championship in three years as anyone could have imagined, overwhelming a fellow No. 1 seed in Kansas 95-79 in the Final Four.
Michigan played the villain to the underdog Final Four narrative on Saturday, using a huge second-half effort to beat Loyola-Chicago 69-57 in San Antonio.
About that possibility of Gonzaga jumping from the West Coast Conference to the Mountain West … not happening. At least not now.
The popular Final Four storyline that is No. 11 seed Loyola Chicago and its 98-year-old team chaplain on Friday did, in fact, relegate the Wildcats and Jayhawks to the back seat of media attention at the Alamodome.
Michigan plays Loyola-Chicago and Villanova meets Kansas in the Final Four on Saturday in San Antonio.
The mid-major is becoming less and less of a presence in the 68-team bracket, a shame when you consider the terrific storyline that has been Loyola Chicago this NCAA Tournament.
Some featured comments from Sister Jean-Dolores Schmidt, the 98-year-old team chaplain for Loyola Chicago, at a news conference featuring her on Friday at the Final Four in San Antonio.
Vegas is bound for the postseason, a fact stamped with a 4-1 win against visiting Colorado on Monday evening.
One way of thinking is that the former soccer prodigy landed in Las Vegas still thinking a shade of supremacy still exists within those once magical feet.