Basketball - through games played on April 3
North Carolina, the only Final Four regular to advance to Phoenix, captured their sixth national championship while moving to an above-.500 record in title games at 6-5. Gonzaga, playing in their first Final Four and title game, took their final lead at 65-63 with just under two minutes remaining before surrendering the last eight points of the game. It is unfortunate that the controversial out-of-bounds play when it was just a one-point lead for UNC was not reviewed. The Zags did have the ball down 66-65, 68-65, and 70-65 and scored no points to give themselves a chance. Nevertheless, Gonzaga advanced two rounds further than they ever had before. Oregon enters their offseason thinking about a couple of missed rebounds, but at least they snapped a 78-year Final Four drought. South Carolina reached the Final Four after picking up their first NCAA Tournament win in 44 years and did win the women's championship over the weekend. I'm focusing on the positives for the losers because it's hard to not respect how difficult it can be to break down the door to the Final Four.

Basketball - through games played on April 1
And, then there were Four. South Carolina picked up their first NCAA Tournament win in 44 years and is now in their first Final Four. Gonzaga is also making their Final Four debut. The Zags' growing frustration differed from that of the Gamecocks. Gonzaga has racked up plenty of tournament wins, having been to every tournament since 1999, but they have finally knocked down the door to the Final Four. Oregon is back in the Final Four for the first time in 78 years. Of course, North Carolina is a regular. We had dueling late-game 3-point runners in the Florida-Wisconsin Sweet Sixteen game and dueling late-game clutch jumpers in the North Carolina-Kentucky Elite Eight game. Looking forward, South Carolina is the Cinderella. The Gamecocks are still outside my Top 25, checking in at #26. The next-lowest remaining team is Oregon at #7. Gonzaga is #1 in both the Fister Ratings and my efficiency rankings. North Carolina is #2 in my efficiency rankings. South Carolina does have the second-best defense left in the tournament, per my efficency rankings, but they also have the #100 offense and are facing the lone remaining team with a better defense in Gonzaga. As we've seen, anything's possible in this event.

Football - through games played on January 9
Alabama and Clemson delivered a classic national championship game for the second straight year, and for the first time since the 2012 season, the team entering the final game ranked No. 1 on this page was not the winner. The Tigers rallied from a 14-point deficit in the first half and a 10-point deficit entering the fourth quarter. Deshaun Watson led three TD drives in the final 17 minutes of game time, and the Clemson defense held Alabama to 2-15 on third down for the game. Hunter Renfrow caught two TD passes, including the game-winner, and had another huge play on 'defense'. It was Renfrow who made the tackle on Alabama's fumble return in the third quarter, giving Clemson's defense the opportunity to hold the Tide to a field goal. Bama's defense scored 12 TDs this season; that's the type of play they've been taking to the house all year. It's Dabo Swinney's first national title as a coach and the first for Clemson since 1981. Swinney played on Alabama's 1992 championship team. Nick Saban's decision to change offensive coordinators the week of the title game was a huge surprise and a big topic of discussion. Saban has five national titles, including four at Alabama since 2009, and I think it's fair to say he made what he believed was a necessary decision coming out of the Washington game, with an outgoing coordinator who's the incoming head coach at another school. They scored 31 points, including a go-ahead TD with just over two minutes remaining; they also went 2-15 on third down. With Alabama's loss, the No. 1 team in the Fister Ratings is now 8-3 in the national title game. The No. 1 team on this site is actually 6-0 when the title game does not involve Alabama; whatever that means.

Football - through games played on December 3
The College Football Playoff Committee selected the Top 4 teams in the Fister ratings for the third straight season. This is the first time the playoff seeds have also matched the Top 4 on this site in order. As always, I'm looking forward to the playoff games, but I have to take a moment to consider what an eight-team field would look like. Penn State and Oklahoma would be in as additional Power Five Champions. Western Michigan would be in if they reserve a spot for a Group of Five Champion. I figure Michigan would join Ohio State as the other at-large particpant. The eight playoff teams would have all been ranked in my Top 9. Anyhow, four is what we have for now, and it will be interesting to see if anyone can stop Alabama from repeating. 13-0 against the #5 schedule is very impressive, but anything can happen in postseason college football, especially with the four-week break in between the conference championship games and the semifinals. Ohio State has a five-week break. There are also two non-playoff bowl games that match Top 10 teams per my rankings, with Western Michigan challenging Wisconsin in the Cotton Bowl and Florida State staying in its home state to play Michigan in the Orange Bowl.