Things You Should Know

In place of Looking Back, since I never can seem to get that done on Mondays. Out o Here's what you need to remember from last weekend, which was chock-full of sports. 

1. The Big East is really good at basketball. Oh, let's see. You have Connecticut at number 2, Pittsburgh at number 3, Notre Dame at number 7, Louisville at number 11, Syracuse at number 16, Villanova at number 17, Georgetown at number 20 and Marquette at number 25 in the latest AP Rankings.  That means, if you're keeping score at home, that the Big East has 8 teams that are better than the Pac-10's third best. Good Lord. 

2. Texas has every right to be terribly upset about what happened with the BCS. Why, you ask? Out of the three important games between the three important Big 12 teams (Oklahoma, Texas and Texas Tech), Texas had the closest loss (by 6 at Texas Tech). Texas also played through a stretch of playing four top 11 teams in a row. I'm not sure any other team in the country could have done that and been as successful as the Longhorns. And, oh, by the way, they beat Oklahoma. 

3. But ... You can't make an argument that Texas should definitely be in over Oklahoma. Oklahoma had by far the most convincing win of the three games. It is many people's opinions, as well, that teams should be rewarded for what they do out of conference. Oklahoma played Orange Bowl-bound Cincinnati and top 25 TCU - two opponents far superior to any that Texas had in their non-conference schedule - and beat them both convincingly. Both teams have star power, and both teams have a devoted fan base. Someone had to be left out. (But not if you had a playoff!)

4. The football team and basketball team may have had a terrible weekend, but two other Maryland sports deserve their recognition. First of all, congratulations to the field hockey team for their national championship, their third in four years. I know absolutely nothing about the field hockey team, so it would be disrespectful of me to just list stuff that you can find online yourself if you're really interested in them. They do deserve all the credit in the world, though. Second, congratulations goes to the men's soccer team for getting past the cursed third round and into the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament. They beat number Cal 2-1, and will host Creighton on Saturday. Be there. 

5. NFL division races! Take your pick:

Jets or Patriots or Dolphins or Bills?

Steelers or Ravens?

Vikings or Bears or Packers?

Panthers or Buccaneers or Falcons?

It's exciting times to be an AFC East, AFC North, NFC North or NFC South fan. 

(Photo Credits: AP)