Some of the top teams from power conferences took to the court Thursday in their repsective tournaments, but it was the lower seeds in the Big East that stole the show in New York. Top-seeded Syracuse, which ranks No. 3 nationally, fell to eighth-seeded and No. 22 Georgetown, 91-84. The Orange, who lost forward Arinze Onuaku to a right knee strain, had never won the Big East Tournament as the top seed and may have jeopardized their chances for a No. 1 seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament. Next up for the Hoyas are the fifth- seeded Golden Eagles of Marquette, who topped No. 10 and fourth-seeded Villanova, 80-76. To start the nightcap, Notre Dame made it 3-for-3 for the lower seeds, as the seventh-seeded Fighting Irish beat second-seeded Pittsburgh, 50-45. No. 7 and third-seeded West Virginia became the only higher seed of the day to win, as Da'Sean Butler banked a three off the glass at the buzzer to thwart Cincinnati's comeback attempt and lead the Mountaineers to an exciting 54-51 victory in the nightcap.

In the Big 12, the top-ranked program in the land, Kansas, took care of business with an 80-68 victory over Texas Tech in their quarterfinal clash. It was the 2,000th win in the Jayhawks' storied history. Next up for Kansas will be 23rd-ranked Texas A&M, which got by Nebraska, 70-64. In the night session, No. 9 Kansas State crushed Oklahoma State, 83-64, and No. 21 Baylor beat the struggling Longhorns, 86-67.

In the SEC, 15th-ranked Tennessee won its first-round game, beating LSU, 59-49. Also in the first round, Alabama topped South Carolina, 68-63. Later Thursday, Florida beat Auburn, 78-69, and Georgia is currently in the second half against Arkansas in the final game on the slate.

Also, eighth-ranked New Mexico survived a scare against Air Force in a 75-69 final in the Mountain West quarterfinals.

The University of Connecticut and men's head basketball coach Jim Calhoun are reportedly close to a contract extension. Calhoun told ESPN in a prepared statement, through his agent Jeff Schwartz, that the sides were close to finalizing a new contract. The network reported it to be a four-year extension. Calhoun's six-year contract expires in June. The 67-year-old, who guided the Huskies to a pair of national titles in 1999 and 2004, experienced health problems during an up-and-down 2009-10 campaign and left the team for seven games. UConn ended the season 17-15, including a lowly 7-11 mark in conference play. In his 24 years with the program, the Huskies have gone 573-218. He also coached 14 seasons at Northeastern, compiling a record of 250-137.

Norm Roberts is reportedly out as head coach at St. John's after six seasons with the Red Storm. A New York newspaper cited sources within the university as saying Roberts won't be back for the 2010-11 season. Roberts has a record of 81-100 at St. John's, and this year's squad posted the most wins in his tenure with a mark of 17-15. The Red Storm upended Connecticut in the first round of the Big East Tournament on Tuesday before coming up just short in a 57-55 loss to Marquette in the second round on Wednesday.

Pro football Hall of Famer Merlin Olsen died early Thursday morning in California at the age of 69 after a battle with cancer. Olsen was a two-time All-American at Utah State, playing both the offensive and defensive line, and won the Outland Trophy as the nation's outstanding interior lineman in 1961, then went on to star in the NFL for the Los Angeles Rams. In 15 seasons with the Rams, Olsen was selected for 14 Pro Bowls and was part of the famed "Fearsome Foursome" defensive line with Deacon Jones, Rosey Grier and Lamar Lundy. He was selected as the NFL's Rookie of the Year in 1962 and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1982.

The Cincinnati Bengals have re-signed defensive tackle Tank Johnson, who recorded two sacks and 29 tackles in 14 games with the club last season. The 28-year-old University of Washington product spent the previous two seasons in Dallas, primarily as a backup nose tackle. He was originally a second-round pick of the Bears in 2004 but was released by the team in 2007 following numerous off-field issues, including an arrest for violating probation on a gun charge, which also drew an eight-game suspension from the league.

Willie Clark has been found guilty in the fatal drive-by shooting of Denver Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams. A Denver jury convicted Clark of the crime Thursday. He was convicted on all 21 charges, including a pair of counts of first-degree murder. The jury deliberated over a span of three days. Clark will be sentenced April 30 and he faces life in prison for the crime that occurred in the early morning hours of January 1, 2007. Williams was 24 years old when he was shot and killed near downtown Denver mere hours after the Broncos' 2006 season came to an end.

Colorado Rockies first baseman Todd Helton has agreed to terms on a two-year contract extension that will allow him to finish his career with the franchise. The new deal will take Helton through the 2013 season and includes a provision that will defer a portion of his contract over a 10-year period beginning in 2014. Helton is the franchise's all-time leader in nearly every offensive category. The five-time NL All-Star is a career .328 hitter with 325 homers and 1,202 runs batted in over 1,812 games. Last season, he batted .325 with 15 homers and 86 RBI in 151 games.

The New York Mets said shortstop Jose Reyes will not participate in any baseball activities until his thyroid levels return to normal. Reyes underwent additional blood tests this week after being diagnosed with an overactive thyroid. In addition to rest, Reyes will have to make changes to his diet. Doctors will also monitor his thyroid levels through regular blood tests.

South Africa's Charl Schwartzel posted a brilliant, bogey-free, five-under 67 on Thursday to take the first-round lead of the WGC-CA Championship. Schwartzel braved tough, windy conditions at the TPC Blue Monster at Doral for the first-round advantage, when every other leader got tripped up by the famed Blue Monster 18th hole. Robert Allenby, Vijay Singh and Ernie Els are tied for second place, one shot back.

The Masters truly will be a tradition unlike any other this April, as several media outlets have reported that Tiger Woods will make his highly anticipated return to competitive golf at the season's first major championship. Refuting an earlier New York newspaper report that targeted Woods' return at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in two weeks, several media outlets pointed to a season debut at Augusta National instead, where Woods would be playing for the first time since the fall of 2009. His early morning accident the day after Thanksgiving led to Woods admitting marital infidelity. He has been in a self- imposed break from golf.