Leading Off: Ohio, Big in Elections, and N.C.A.A. Tournament Too Of all the possible outcomes from the first weekend of the N.C.A.A. tournament, it was more likely you would have chosen two No. 15 upsets and a Duke platform-dive out of the first round than predicted we would all be talking about the state of Ohio. Yes, Ohio. If you're a presidential candidate, you know this state well. If you're a basketball fan, not so much. Sure, Ohio State flew high for a while this season and yes, once Bob Huggins willed Cincinnati into the national conversation for a referee-terrifying stretch of seasons, but, really, not since the days of Oscar Robertson has anybody focused the college basketball klieg lights here for more than a few minutes. And there are several generations of basketball fans who are now searching Wikipedia to find out who Oscar Robertson is. Trust us, the Big O was big. But this N.C.A.A. tournament is a new day. Ohio has gone and hogged a whole fourth of the remaining men's field. Ohio State, a quiet No. 2 seed, is the most unsurprising, having beaten a No. 15 (hey, Duke and Missouri couldn't do that!) and No. 7 Gonzaga. Cincinnati, a No. 6, and Xavier, No. 10, haven't done anything truly astounding, with the Bearcats winning something that looked more like a rugby match over No. 3 Florida State, writes Paul Daugherty in The Cincinnati Enquirer, and Xavier getting No. 15 Lehigh in the second round after it sideswiped Duke. Ohio University is the true darling, a No. 13 seed that followed a first-round shocker of No. 4 Michigan with a less-shocking second-round victory over South Florida to be the last real little guy still playing in this tournament. And the only downside of this is that guard Nick Kellogg is the son of the CBS announcer Clark Kellogg, whose emotions for his son are perfectly sweet, but it means the rest of the announcers will fawn over this storyline endlessly. This is why the mute button was invented. But there is plenty to love in the Bobcats. They revolve around the maturity of guard D. J. Cooper, as Brett McMurphy writes on CBSSports.com, which is a big reason they are still playing. Because unlike the last time Ohio plucked an upset (2010 over Georgetown), when the magic dust ran out after one game, the Bobcats had prepared a double batch, writes Tim May in The Columbus Dispatch. And next up? A reeling No. 1, North Carolina (more on the reeling in a bit). The Round of 16 brings an even more delicious matchup for Ohioans because Cincinnati gets a chance to knock off the state's big boy, Ohio State. To get this far required both Cincinnati and Xavier to bounce back and learn from the ugly spectacle that was their December brawl, writes Stewart Mandel on SI.com, which could have been just a low moment but turned into a turning point - and now, a big point of state pride. You might think a similar giddiness would be permeating North Carolina. After all, the Tar Heels are Tar Heels and North Carolina State has even soared back into this stratosphere by clipping No. 3 Georgetown. Yes, the giddiness over the Wolfpack is real, with the first-year coach Mike Gottfried making everyone forget he was the school's fourth or fifth choice in the hiring lottery last year, writes Jeff Goodman on CBSSports.com. He exceeded even his own expectations in restoring the Wolfpack to the state conversation so quickly, writes Ann Killion on SI.com. But the giddiness does not extend much further, with Duke's ignominious defeat, and the Tar Heels reacting to Sunday's victory over Creighton as if it were a loss, writes Scott Fowler in The Charlotte Observer, after point guard Kendall Marshall sustained a broken wrist. This might be the injury that derails North Carolina" s hopes, Eamonn Brennan writes on ESPN.com, because Marshall's vision and court sense are the key to the Tar Heels" offense, writes Ted Keith on SI.com. All that meant plenty of drama, despite the appalling lack of buzzer-beating shots and highlights for the ages, Luke Winn writes on SI.com. And it meant we're all focusing on Middle America, writes Pat Forde on Yahoo.com, just as if it were an election. Only with cheerleaders. The women's tournament had a bit of what the men's lacked with No. 3 St. John's needing a coast-to-coast drive by Nadirah McKenith to nip an upset by No. 14 Creighton at the buzzer, and it got its upset when No. 13 Marist outworked No. 4 Georgia, writes Graham Hays on ESPN.com. Elena Delle Donna, Delaware's star, gives the tournament not only a midmajor story to watch but another scoring phenom for opponents to contemplate, writes Mechelle Voepel on ESPN.com. Meanwhile, tennis tried to nudge its way back into the sporting conversation with Roger Federer nudging himself back into the Big 3 conversation after beating Rafael Nadal and John Isner for the title in Indian Wells, writes Howard Bryant on ESPN.com. And Victoria Azarenka's 23-0 start is worthy of a comparison to Novak Djokovic's incredible start last year, writes Courtney Nguyen on SI.com. Be warned, however, that the N.F.L. is preparing to charge back onto the scene and hog its share of news this week with the combination of Peyton Manning likely picking his next team and the N.F.L. unloading its punishment on the bounty-riddled Saints, writes Mike Freeman on CBSSports.com. Almost everyone agrees that news will be brutal for the Saints, but if you need help handicapping where Manning will land, Clark Judge of CBSSports.com lays out the situation for you. We can tell you that Manning will not end up in Ohio. But Ohioans will be busy watching college basketball anyway.