NCAA Tournament to open in Dayton
The University of Dayton will host all four first-round games of the newly expanded men's basketball tournament next March, NCAA officials said Thursday.
Two games will match the tournament's lowest seeds, Nos. 65 through 68, with the winners advancing as No. 16 seeds to play a top seed. The other two games will match the last four of the 37 at-large qualifiers.
The at-large teams will be seeded where they would normally be placed in the bracket, meaning a first-round game between two No. 10 seeds would result in the winner playing a No. 7 seed.
The 68-team field is scheduled to be announced March 13. (AP)
FIFA looks at Houston • Inspectors for FIFA, soccer's governing body, wrapped up a three-day, five-city visit in Houston as they weigh potential venues for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup tournaments. FIFA's 24-member executive committee will vote Dec. 2. Europe is expected to be awarded the 2018 tournament, with England, Russia, Spain-Portugal and Belgium-Netherlands competing. The United States is facing Australia, Japan, Qatar and South Korea for 2022. The inspectors also visited New York, the White House, Miami and Dallas. (AP)
Rascals postponed • The River City Rascals' Frontier League baseball playoff game against Southern Illinois was postponed Thursday because of rain. The best-of-five Western Division championship series now is set begin at 7 tonight in Marion, with Game 2 to be played there at 7 p.m. Saturday. Game 3 is set for T. R. Hughes Ballpark in O'Fallon at 5 p.m. Sunday. Game 4, if needed, will be there at 6:30 p.m. Monday. (Staff report)
Police seek Mayweather • Las Vegas police sought boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. for questioning about a domestic battery report filed by an ex-girlfriend who recanted a similar claim in 2005, police and his lawyer said. No charges were immediately filed, authorities said. (AP)
Elsewhere • Saori Yoshida and Kaori Icho extended Japan's domination in women's freestyle wrestling by winning gold medals at the world championships in Moscow, and Tatiana Suarez earned the United States its first medal at the event. Yoshida won her eighth world title in the 121-pound class by beating Yuliya Ratkevich of Azerbaijan 2-0, 6-0. Suarez beat Russia's Maria Gurova 1-1, 4-0 for bronze at 121 pounds. Suarez also won bronze at the 2008 worlds. ... Lindenwood University-Belleville's men's soccer team is ranked No. 1 nationally by the United States Collegiate Athletic Association. The Lynx are 3-0. (Staff, wire reports)
