The North Platte Community College Knights are ready for first round action in their second trip to the NJCAA Division I Men’s Basketball National Tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas today. The Knights are the sixteenth overall seed of 24 teams. They play the tournament’s first game this morning, taking on Mineral Area College at 10 AM. The Knights enter tournament play with a 29-5 record. Those 29 wins tie a school record for wins in a season, equaling the total posted by the 2010 team that made the program’s first trip to Hutchinson. They have won 11 straight games entering today’s first-round contest. Mineral Area Cardinals are 26-7 and are also making their second tournament apperance. ESPN Radio 1410 will bring you the action this morning, with the pregame show getting underway at 9:45.

The red-hot Denver Nuggets are pursuing their longest winning streak since 1982 as they visit the Windy City tonight to take on the Chicago Bulls. The Nuggets have won 11 straight games and have won a dozen in a row only once since joining the NBA from the ABA in 1976. The Bulls have put together a solid season, going 36-29 while waiting for star Derrick Rose to return from injury. Denver pounded Chicago 128-96 in Denver in the first meeting of the season February 7. Tipoff tonight is scheduled for 7 PM.

For the 15^th straight year, the Husker men’s basketball team didn’t hear their names called on Selection Sunday. But the Husker women can expect to earn a berth in the Big Dance for the fifth time in seven years on Selection Monday tonight. The latest ESPN Bracketology predicts the 23-8 Huskers as the third seed in the Oklahoma City region. The women’s NCAA tournament brackets are released tonight at 6 PM.

The Husker baseball team dropped the rubber game of their three-game series at 25th-ranked UC-Irvine yesterday afternoon, falling 2-0. The Big Red mustered just five hits on the afternoon, spoiling a fine effort from starting pitcher Brandon Pierce and three relievers who limited the Anteaters to just eight hits and one earned run. It’s the sixth time in Nebraska’s eleven losses in which they have scored one run or fewer. The Huskers are 6-11 overall and their schedule gets no easier. They are at 8th-ranked Cal State-Fullerton for a two-game set tomorrow and Wednesday.

Michael Cuddyer drove in three runs, and Troy Tulowitzki added a pair of RBI, but the Colorado Rockies still came up short against the San Francisco Giants, falling 9-7 in Cactus League action last night. Rockies starter Jhoulys Chacin struggled through four and two-thirds innings, allowing four runs on nine hits. Carlos Gonzalez also tallied an RBI for the Rox. The Rockies host the Cincinnati Reds tonight.

Danny Woodhead is changing coasts. The veteran running back signed a two-year deal with the San Diego Chargers today, joining a team in transition under new head coach Mike McCoy. Woodhead totaled 747 yards of total offense and scored a career-high seven touchdowns last season, his third with the New England Patriots and fifth in the NFL. He has rushed for 1,263 yards on 265 carries and caught 100 passes for 1,069 yards in his career.

Despite almost giving the game away from the free throw line, Nebraska survived to knock off Purdue 57-55 in first-round play at the Big Ten Tournament in Chicago last night. The Huskers stretched a two-point halftime lead to eleven points in the early stages of the second half, and held the Boilermakers at bay, taking a four-point lead into the final minute. In those waning moments the Huskers missed four out of seven free throws, giving Purdue a chance to tie or win on their final possession, but two contested shots in the paint went beggings and the Big Red survived for their first ever Big Ten tournament win. Shavon Shields scored 19 points and Brandon Ubel added 16 to lead the Huskers to victory. The tenth-seeded Huskers face two-seed Ohio State in second-round action today at 5:30.

After an off day, the Colorado Rockies are back in action in Cactus League tonight, visiting the Cincinnati Reds in Goodyear, Arizona. Veteran left-hander Jeff Francis gets the start on the mound for the Rockies. Johnny Cueto pitches for the defending National League Central champs. ESPN Radio 1410 will bring you the ballgame tonight. Pregame coverage starts at 8:30 with the first pitch at 9:05.

Their game Wednesday night might have gotten more hype, but tonight’s game is even more important for the Denver Nuggets. They host the Memphis Grizzlies in a crucial Western Conference clash. The Nuggets are a game back of the Clippers and a game and a half behind the Grizzlies in fifth place in the West. Because division winners are locked into home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs, the Nuggets must catch and pass the Grizzlies to earn a top-four seed. Denver has won 11 straight games and has beaten Memphis two times in three meetings this season. Tipoff is set for 8 PM.

The newest members of the Denver Broncos met the media yesterday afternoon. Louis Vasquez and Wes Welker held introductory press conferences in the Mile High City. Vasquez, expected to take over as the starting right guard after signing a four-year deal, said coming to Denver with a chance to win a Super Bowl was a ‘no-brainer’. Welker admitted it was hard to leave New England, where he averaged 112 catches per season the last six years, but says he feels Denver is a ‘great fit’.