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Ohio State has some work to do if it plans on matching last year's 29-win effort and subsequent trip to the Elite Eight. Especially with Deshaun Thomas heading to the NBA. But the foundation for another successful run is already in place, thanks to the return of Aaron Craft, Lenzelle Smith, Jr. and LaQuinton Ross. And reinforcements are on the way.

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The Baltimore Ravens had a stressful offseason over the past few months, having to say goodbye to a number of key players either via retirement (Ray Lewis), free agency (Ed Reed, Paul Kruger, Dannell Ellerbe) or cap space-saving trade (Anquan Boldin). As it turns out, next offseason may be just as bad.

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Despite the presence of Willis McGahee, Knowshon Moreno and Ronnie Hillman on the roster, there was a lot of speculation that the Denver Broncos would be upgrading their RB stable this offseason via the draft; that speculation proved spot-on as the club added Wisconsin's Montee Ball to the mix. However, with Ball in the picture, the RB rotation becomes one of the big questions as the spring and summer practices get rolling.

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Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard sat out Sunday's game against the Reds with a sore left knee and will have a precautionary MRI on Monday.

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What Trey Burke showed as a sophomore in this year's NCAA tournament is that he has the talent to be a point guard in the NBA for a long time. Without him, Michigan wouldn't have made it past Kansas, let alone continued on to the championship game against Louisville.

Just how great Burke will be at the next level is the big question, and according to ESPN's draft expert Chad Ford there are some areas of concern based on Burke's showing at the recent Draft Combine.

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The framework for a new deal between the Atlanta Falcons and their franchise QB Matt Ryan appear to be in place after new deals this offseason for Joe Flacco, Aaron Rodgers and Tony Romo. But that doesn't necessarily mean that this new deal will be agreed to in the very near future.

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Viktor Stalberg isn't accustomed to sitting. The Chicago forward played in 156 of the Blackhawks' 164 regular season games over the previous two seasons, suiting up for all 13 of their playoff games in that stretch as well. This year, he was on the ice for 47 of the club's 48 games, plus all five tilts of their opening round series with Minnesota.

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It's been a frustrating couple of weeks for Martin Havlat. The veteran winger had to leave after the first period of Game 1 in San Jose's opening round showdown with Vancouver, and ended up missing the rest of the series because of a lower-body injury. That same ailment kept him out for the first two contests of the Sharks' second round matchup with Los Angeles as well, before he finally made it back for Game 3 on Saturday. Unfortunately, that return was short-lived.

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It took until the middle of May this offseason, but veteran pass-rusher Dwight Freeney finally found a new NFL home, signing a two-year deal with the San Diego Chargers. Prior to the deal becoming official, there was word that the Chargers would make adjustments to their 3-4 defensive scheme to accommodate the veteran, as he had some issues playing in the Colts' 3-4 alignment in 2012 after spending his career as a 4-3 DE.

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2014 PG Mike Williams (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Loughlin) already has a big list of offers that includes Rutgers, Virginia, George Washington, Fordham, Drexel and Creighton, but Greg McDermott's Bluejays may be the one to beat in this recruiting battle.

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Here it is May 20, and Memphis transfer Tarik Black still hasn't decided on what school he'll play for next season. Will a visit to Kansas this week swing things in the Jayhawks' favor, or is there another school to beat?

Here's the latest.

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One of the big storylines for the Detroit Lions during the early portion of the offseason was how they would deal with losing a number of key veteran players to free agency. The secondary appeared particularly vulnerable, as CB Chris Houston and S Louis Delmas were both in the group with expiring deals. However, both Houston and Delmas were brought back on new contracts, which provides two out of four starters for the base defense. The other safety spot will belong to FA addition Glover Quin, but that leaves one CB spot open to competition.

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It would have been easy to write the Detroit Red Wings off heading into their second round matchup with the highly touted Chicago Blackhawks. After all, the 'Hawks have the best record in hockey, just cruised past Minnesota in Round 1 and had beaten Detroit seven straight times heading into the series. Following a 4-1 Chicago victory in the opener, things weren't exactly looking up for the Wings.

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As the Houston Texans begin their full-team OTAs this week, they'll get a better sense of how their rookies and veteran additions fit in to the framework of the club that remains in place from 2012. One of the position groups that remains in question heading into the fall is linebacker.

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