March Madness: Xavier still dancing, Trotwood falls, Bengals mock draft, Reds rotation, OSU Pro Day, etc.

Well the Musketeers staked their claim by knocking off Arizona on Thursday night.

They are the lowest seed left and the only hope left of getting a double-digit seed into the Final Four, which would put them in some exclusive company and make sure they are forever part of such lists that are referenced every year when we talk about Cinderellas.

Of course this is an odd team to be in this position.

The Muskies come from the same league that produced last year's national champ, and they began the season ranked in the top 10.

If you told someone in December that Chris Mack’s team would reach the Elite Eight, they probably wouldn’t have thought twice.

Now that Xavier has overcome personnel losses to become a tournament darling again, they are partying like it's 2008 in Cincinnati.

Earlier in the night, Michigan's run came to an end against Oregon, Gonzaga outlasted Bob Huggins' West Virginia and Kansas blew out Purdue.

Tonight we get four more Sweet 16 matchups as North Carolina takes on Butler and Baylor faces South Carolina in the early window and Kentucky-UCLA headlines the second pair of games. Wisconsin-Florida is the fourth and probably worst game.

Also tonight the Ohio State women's basketball team takes on Notre Dame in the Sweet 16.

That’s a 7 o’clock start from Lexington, Ky., where the Buckeyes will look to make their first Elite Eight since 1993 – Katie Smith’s freshman year...

Yesterday I was at Value City Arena to watch a classic state tournament game decided at the buzzer. 

Unfortunately, Trotwood-Madison ended up on the short end of a 62-60 final as Jayvon Graves scored the game-winning basket for Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary at the buzzer, but I was among the many in attendance blown away by the performance of Rams senior guard Torrey Patton.

He scored 34 points and inspired both coaches to wonder why he does not have any NCAA Division I scholarship offers.

It’s a situation that reminds me of Norris Cole, who won a state title with Daequan Cook at Dunbar and then another without him but nearly ended up in a lower division before Cleveland State came calling…

The Bengals re-signed another core player yesterday in Cedric Peerman.

That’s nice and all, but how does it help the offensive line?

OK, so maybe I’ve got a one-track mind, but I can’t help it after watching that unit torpedo the 2016 team.

RELATED: Let’s grade the NFL’s plans for speeding up games next year

Certainly the team will address that all-important position group in the draft, but who will they go with in the first round?

Jay Morrison's second mock draft sees them going with the best player available (a good bet) and that being Alabama linebacker Reuben Foster. 
I would endorse this pick, although Malik Hooker would be hard to pass up…

Hooker was among those to appear at Ohio State’s Pro Day yesterday, although he did not work out.

Marvin Lewis, Hue Jackson, Bill Belichick and Mike Tomlin were among the head coaches on hand.

READ MORE at Marcus Hartman’s ‘Cus Words Blog’ 

The Cincinnati Reds are in the home stretch of spring training, and a rotation seems to be coming together.

After another pain-free outing, Bronson Arroyo seems destined to make the team after signing a minor-league contract in the offseason.

Yesterday, manager Bryan Price said he would like to see two young starters make the rotation along with Brandon Finnegan, Scott Feldman (and presumably Arroyo) while two more youngsters still in the competition are likely to be in the bullpen rather than sent back to the minor leagues.

Tim Adleman, Rookie Davis, Sal Romano, Amir Garrett, Cody Reed and Robert Stephenson are the remaining competitors.

Although Romano has had a strong spring, he has not pitched above Double-A. He and Davis seem like the best bets to start the year in at Triple-A Louisville.