Other Sports

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana coach Tom Crean challenged his team to be tougher than Illinois on Thursday night.

The Big Ten, which helped squash the notion of a four-team playoff to crown a national champion in college football several years ago, is taking another look.

INDIANAPOLIS – Take that, Brady. You too, Peyton.

INDIANAPOLIS –- The eyes that watched Tom Brady's pass sail to him were red. The hands that couldn't catch it were clasped in his lap. The heart that has helped make Wes Welker a star was broken.

INDIANAPOLIS – Eli Manning is elite, for sure. A king of comebacks, too. And far, far more than Peyton's little brother now.

CHAMPAIGN – Northwestern's formula for Sunday's 74-70 win against Illinois was a familiar one: stick to a guard-heavy six-man rotation, and hit open shots.

CHAMPAIGN – In a game in which neither team made even one-third of its shots, it seemed right the deciding free throws would be followed by a few more misses.

INDIANAPOLIS – Even the usually dour Bill Belichick was joking around as the New England Patriots arrived in Indianapolis for Super Bowl week.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – They stood outside for hours on a winter afternoon, waiting to pay their respects to the late Joe Paterno. The line snaked down a long block on the Penn State campus.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – Joe Paterno was upbeat and confident in his final days and didn't die broken-hearted over his firing in November as Penn State's longtime football coach, his son said Monday.