Sports Today: Archie Miller’s gone, Final 4 set, Reds inch closer to Opening Day and more

I will have some thoughts on Archie Miller leaving Dayton for Indiana, his impact, etc., later today, but first let’s look at what else is going on around the sports world.

How many Final Four teams did you pick correctly?

I got one – Gonzaga – as my brackets continue to trend worse and worse from year to year, but what are ya gonna do?

At least we finally got a couple of buzzer beaters.

The Bulldogs, North Carolina, Oregon and South Carolina kind of create a weird group as far as obvious headlines go, but it should be a fun weekend in Arizona.

The matchup to hope for seems obviously to be UNC- Gonzaga. Can the Tar Heels finish out the championship run this time, or will they lose to another non-football powerhouse?...

I guess Saturday could have gone worse for UD Fans: At least Xavier didn't make the Final Four.

The Musketeers had a great run, though, considering what they overcame.

At least one national site declared Xavier the new best team never to make a Final Four, and in the short term that would seem to be true…

I remember quite well that first Gonzaga run in 1999 as it coincided with Ohio State making its first Final Four in my lifetime.

Maybe it’s because of proximity, but it feels like Xavier has much more notoriety now than the Bulldogs did then, for whatever that is worth...

The Reds took one on the chin from the Cubs on Sunday, but at least their social media folks had fun with it.

Tim Adleman started and got rocked, giving up six runs in 3 1/3 innings to run his spring ERA to 11.81.

Billy Hamilton was 0 for 4 to drop his spring batting average to .178, but Arismendy Alcantara went 3 for 5 to raise his average to .293.

Cody Reed is set to start today against the Giants.

There is yet more indication Bronson Arroyo will make the team, but it is all but confirmed Devin Mesoraco will not be ready on Opening Day.

Amir Garrett, one of the prospects trying to make the starting rotation, has had a couple of bad starts statistically but said he feels good overall.

“I think I presented myself well,” Garrett said. “I think I came into this camp as ready as I could be. I felt like I pitched pretty well. I had a couple of those games where you don’t pitch as well as you can. It is how you bounce back from those games. Just like today. It wasn’t a good day for me but able to go five for my team and kept them in the ballgame.”… 

We can probably cross North Carolina off the list of potential destinations for Malik Zaire. 

The Tar Heels were one of the programs connected to the former Alter High School star after he left Notre Dame, but they no longer have a need for a veteran QB transfer with the announcement Brandon Harris will transfer to Chapel Hill from LSU.

The other schools most prominently listed as potential destinations for the lefty grad transfer are Wisconsin and Florida, but Scout.com reported yesterday Texas has reached out to Zaire.

He would certainly be an intriguing fit in Tom Herman’s version of Urban Meyer’s power spread offense...

How much longer will Miami legend Ben Roethlisberger be tormenting the Bengals and Browns as the quarterback for the Steelers? 

That is unknown, but coach Mike Tomlin confirmed Pittsburgh is considering how it will handle the transition.

READ MORE at Marcus Hartman’s new “Cus Words Blog.”