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By Sonny Jones

Some news and notes from around the sports world:

• Check out that West Bladen baseball team. The Knights are 6-1, won their conference opener against Clinton on Tuesday night and have outscored the opposition 75-28. Nice to see.

• Mark your calendar for March 28 and March 31. That’s when the baseball teams at West Bladen, coached by Wade Pait, and East Bladen, coached by Grant Pait, meet on the diamond. Brother vs. brother. Wonder what the side bet is between the two?

• The ACC is 1-0 in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament after Pittsburgh slipped past Mississippi State 60-59 in a First Four game Tuesday night. Jamarius Burton with the game-winning bucket for the Panthers. There were 21 lead changes during the game.

• Still can’t believe Clemson isn’t in the NCAA tournament.

• Still can’t believe the highest seed an ACC team received was fourth by Virginia. Is the ACC really that weak now? Guess that’s what the metrics show, but sometimes it’s best to use your eyes as well. Obviously, the tournament will decide.

• Still can’t believe Wake Forest isn’t in the NIT. The Demon Deacons deserved a shot.

• Remember Mike Moses, who coached the St. Pauls girls’ basketball team? He’s now the recruiting coordinator for the Western Kentucky women’s basketball program. The Hilltoppers play at Kansas on Friday in the first round of the Women’s NIT. Moses’ St. Pauls’ teams went 97-24 in his five seasons.

• Nice signing by Carolina for Andy Dalton to be the bridge quarterback for whomever the Panthers take with the top pick in April’s NFL draft. Don’t want to get too excited, but the offseason has gone extremely well with the signing of center Bradley Bozeman, safety Vonn Bell, nose tackle Shy Tuttle, who is a North Carolina native, and a veteran coaching staff.

• Solid win Tuesday by the Carolina Hurricanes, who defeated Winnipeg 5-3 inside PNC Arena. Jesperi Kotkaniemi had two goals and an assist. The team was playing its first game without All-Star Andrei Svechnikov, who will have surgery Thursday for a torn knee ligament and is out for the season and upcoming playoffs.

• It’s not a must-win Wednesday night for Team USA, but it’s a much-needed win against Colombia in pool play of the World Baseball Classic. A win assures the Red, White and Blue advances to the quarterfinals. A loss means it would take tiebreaker advantages to advance. Team USA is stacked and the defending WBC champ, but strange things happen in baseball. Game is at 10 p.m. on FS1

TODAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

• 1997 — North Carolina’s Dean Smith becomes the career victory leader when the Tar Heels beat Colorado 73-56. Smith, with 877 victories, passes Kentucky coaching legend Adolph Rupp.

POTATO PICKS TO WATCH TODAY

• WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: Australia vs. Cuba, 6 a.m., FS2

• WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: Venezuela vs. Israel, noon, FS2

• MLB: Philadelphia vs. N.Y. Yankees, 1 p.m., MLBN

• WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: Mexico vs. Canada, 3 p.m., FS2

• PREMIER: Brentford at Southampton, 3:30 p.m., USA

• BASKETBALL: NCAA tournament – Fairleigh Dickinson vs. Texas Southern, 6:40 p.m., TRUTV

• WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: Puerto Rico vs. Dominican Republic, 7 p.m., FS1

• BASKETBALL: NIT – UCF at Florida, 7 p.m., ESPN2

• BASKETBALL: NCAA women’s tournament – Mississippi St. vs. Illinois, 7 p.m., ESPNU

• NHL: Colorado at Toronto, 7 p.m., TNT

• NBA: Philadelphia at Cleveland, 7:45 p.m., ESPN