Chicago: Bop to the top

🎓🏀WBB: The No. 7 Northwestern Wildcats lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament yesterday, falling 62–53 to the No. 2 Lousiville Cardinals. Despite leading at the half and staying close in the third quarter, the ’Cats couldn’t keep up with the Cards’ fourth-quarter push. Sigh.

MBB: After overtaking No. 9 Georgia Tech and No. 1 Illinois, Loyola will face an unlikely opponent in the Sweet 16: the No. 12 Oregon State Beavers. To get to this game, the Beavs first beat No. 5 Tennessee before downing No. 4 Oklahoma State on Sunday. But the question remains: which bracket-buster is better?

• So far, Oregon State has succeeded by spreading the wealth: they don’t have one star to rely on. The Ramblers, however, have leaned heavily on senior center (and newly minted meme) Cameron Krutwig.

• The Ramblers will have to step up their defense to cover all the options the Beavs have at their disposal. But Loyola has something Oregon State could only ever dream of: the holy powers of Sister Jean. Bring it, Beavs!

🏈Bears: The Bears signed former Kansas City running back (RB) Damien Williams to a one-year deal after he opted out of the 2020-21 season and was released by the team. Williams last took the field in the Chiefs’ Super Bowl LIV victory, when he became the first RB to ever run for 100+ yards while scoring both rushing and receiving touchdowns in a Super Bowl. Offense? Must be nice!

• Speaking of our no-good-very-bad offense, quarterback Mitch Trubisky has officially left Chicagoland to sign a one-year deal with the Buffalo Bills. It was the right decision, but as well all know, breaking up is hard to do.