ESPN Classic to replay 1988 OU-Kansas NCAA final

DVD alert: ESPN Classic (Cox 254) will replay the OU-Kansas men’s basketball championship game at 3 p.m. Tuesday. Kansas took 15 fewer shots, but made five more than Oklahoma as the Jayhawks upset No. 4 OU 83-79 at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Mo. Kansas, eight-point underdogs, shot 63.6 percent from the field, led by Manning’s 31 points. The Jayhawks finished the season 27-11. The game is a part of a marathon of NCAA championships on ESPN Classic. Other NCAA finals games involving the Jayhawks: 1 p.m. March 24  —  1991, vs. Duke; 1 p.m. April 3  —  2003, vs. Syracuse.

Tar Heels early favorite: Early returns from ESPN.com’s Tournament Challenge indicate North Carolina is the heavy favorite, taking the championship spot in 34 percent of the brackets ompleted online. The other top seeds follow — UCLA (16 percent), Kansas (14 percent) and Mmphis (13 percent). Fans are also predicting that the 12th seed most likely to upset the 5th seed — always a highly contested match up — is Villanova over Clemson in the Midwest. Davidson is the highest seed (10) to be favored by fans to make it past Round 1 over Gonzaga (7).Fans can complete their Tournament Challenge Brackets on ESPN.com.

Time for baseball: ESPN and ESPN2 will combine to deliver four consecutive days of spring training telecasts beginning Tuesday when the Detroit Tigers host the Washington Nationals at noon on ESPN. Other games include Toronto at Boston, 11 a.m., Wednesday; New York Yankees at Toronto, noon Thursday; Chicago Cubs at Colorado, 3 p.m. Friday.

Red-hot Rockets: The Houston Rockets will go for their 23^rd victory in a row  —  second longest in NBA history  —  when they host the Boston Celtics at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday on TNT. The Los Angeles Lakers won a record 33 in a row during the 1971-72 season. Kevin Harlan, Doug Collins and David Aldridge will call the game.

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