Final Four

ESPN analyst Quint Kessenich provided commentary for No. 7 Syracuse's 13-12 upset of No. 5 Cornell on Wednesday night and No. 2 Duke's 19-16 victory over No. 16 Virginia on Friday night. The former Johns Hopkins All-American goalkeeper, who can be followed on Twitter via @QKessenich, will be on hand for Saturday's tilt between Navy and No. 15 Johns Hopkins. Kessenich offered his perspective on the No. 1 team in the country, the 10 programs that could advance to the Final Four at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Memorial Day weekend, and the issues plaguing No. 15 Virginia.

C.J. Fair is all too familiar with the history of former high school players from Baltimore who left Syracuse early for the NBA. This week, the 6-8 junior forward follows Carmelo Anthony, who as a freshman a decade ago led the Orange to its only national college basketball championship before embarking on his professional career. But Fair, who helped Syracuse reach the Final Four for the first time since 2003 with wins over Indiana and Marquette last week at the Verizon Center in Washington, is even more familiar with another former Baltimore star who also left after being one of the top freshmen in the Big East.

WASHINGTON - A year ago, C.J. Fair and top-seeded Syracuse left Boston's TD Garden unfulfilled after losing to No. 2 seed Ohio State in the NCAA tournament's East Regional final. Fair had done little to help, taking just two shots and scoring eight points in a seven-point loss to the Buckeyes. Fair and his Syracuse teammates had a much different feeling leaving Verizon Center on Saturday night. Not only did the fourth-seeded Orange advance to its first Final Four in a decade with a 55-39 win over third-seeded Marquette, but the former City standout played a big part in the victory.

Disregard Nate Silver David Teel Daily Press Nate Silver likes Louisville, Florida, Indiana and Gonzaga, and given his Obama-Romney projections, disagreeing is perilous. But let's anyway. Ohio State has won eight straight, including a road conquest of Indiana and Big Ten tournament wins over Michigan State and Wisconsin. Miami won the ACC regular season outright, and the league tournament, and six of the last eight teams with that double have reached the Final Four.

The Blast completed its 2012-13 regular season with a fundamentally sound stamp of approval Saturday night against the two-time defending Major Indoor Soccer League champion Milwaukee Wave. In a showdown for first place, the Blast defended more closely, scored the bigger goals and blanked the Wave in the fourth quarter to come away with a 10-6 win in front of an announced 6,386 at 1st Mariner Arena . The Blast finishes with a 21-5 record and moves one game in front of the Wave, which falls to 18-4 with four games still to play before the regular season concludes next Sunday.

We've made it to the finale already; it seems like the season has gone quickly, but then again, if I have to hear Lisa say "I know what I have to do to win, but it goes against everything I believe in ... " I may stab myself in the ear with an ice pick. Unsurprisingly, she is my last choice to win. My order of preference is Malcolm, Denise, Mike, and then Lisa. And really, Malcolm and Denise are interchangeable. First off, we recap the entire season of 'Survivor Philippines,' but since I've already done that, I'm not going to do it again.

One game does not define a team, but the next four will. It's crunch time in the NFL, the final month of the regular season where serious contenders start to pull away and pretenders bow out. The Ravens (9-3) have one of the best records in the NFL, but few take them seriously. They seem to have the right characteristics, but not the consistency. With the Washington Redskins, Denver Broncos, New York Giants and Cincinnati Bengals left on the schedule, the Ravens can silence their critics and go into the postseason pounding on their chests.

One-by-one, Ravens players said Sunday night that their last-second 23-20 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers wouldn't define their season or deter them from their regular-season goals. However, the defeat, coupled by another significant injury to linebacker Terrell Suggs, has made their already daunting four-game stretch to end the regular season even more difficult. Suggs tore his right biceps Sunday, leaving significant questions about whether he'll be able to help the Ravens the rest of the way. Suggs appears intent on trying to play through the injury, which wouldn't be unprecedented.

Maryland's Jake Pace has come off the bench and made the most of his minutes this season. With the final seconds of the first half ticking down in the NCAA men's soccer quarterfinal, Pace got behind No. 10 Louisville's defense and scored the go-ahead goal on a header off a cross from Dakota Edwards. As a Howard County native, it was the type of goal Pace dreamed about his entire life. The No. 2 Terrapins later added another goal by leading scorer Patrick Mullins for a decisive 3-1 victory before an announced 3,556 Saturday.

Previously on "Survivor:" Mike was awesome, Lisa was not, and is now dead to me. Back from Tribal Council, Abbi and Pete are scrambling and figuring out that it's going to be hard to form another alliance when no one likes or trusts them. Mike came out of his shell and is playing the game for real, now. It's interesting to watch since he never got this far in the game before, and only seemed likely to cut off a limb earlier in this game. And now Abbi is grilling Lisa about her loyalty.