Wolfpack nirvana, uneven 3-point lines and a bumper barrage in the sports moments of the week

The internet is a big place. Unless you're 100% plugged in all the time (and let's be clear, that is NOT recommended), you're going to miss some stuff.

Let us do that work. You can be a well-adjusted human being and still catch all the best sports moments of the week, with a quick review ...

I thought for sure that last week was going to be the best 7-day stretch all year for NC State.

Nope.

But make no mistake. Neither of these March Madness runs has been anywhere close to a fluke. All four Wolfpack wins last week came by at least 9 points.

Although doubted and discounted by some, both teams have proved that they belong among the nation's elite... which is good because they each has their toughest test yet on deck.

The Gamecocks have won 78 of their last 79 games dating back to their national championship run in 2022. That one loss, however, did come in the Final Four last year, when they were upended by Caitlin Clark's Iowa Hawkeyes.

NC State obviously doesn't have the singular star power of a Caitlin Clark, but they do have a starting group that's playing as well as anyone right now.

The Wolfpack will clash with No. 1 seed Purdue in Phoenix on Saturday. (Finally, Wolfpack Nation will be able to watch one game at a time.)

Burns, Mohammed Diarra and Ben Middlebrooks will have their hands full in that respect, especially if Edey continues to get a favorable whistle from the officials.

I expect them to try to turn the tables, attack Edey and try to make him uncomfortable, which should open things up for the rest of the team.

Purdue is a big favorite, but they are beatable.

Keep soaking in the moment, Wolfpack Nation! This is going to be fun.

Let's take a moment to appreciate DJ Burns a little bit more.

(Tough end to the season for Duke, by the way. They finished 2-5 against the rest of the "Big Four" this season, their worst mark since the infamous 1994-95 campaign.)

He's 100% living his best life, and may have just played his way into a pro career... in the NFL.

Wait, what?

Obviously, all focus should be on the basketball court right now, but I'm keeping my eyes on this. Could be a really cool sequel to an already incredible story.

This edition of Women's March Madness is the most hyped its been in years.

On the floor, the players have delivered on that hype so far and played an outstanding tournament.

As for the NCAA? Not great, Bob!

That's right, one side of the court was painted with different dimensions than the other side. Before a nationally televised, regional championship game.

If it was a one-time incident, you might be able to excuse this kind of error as a funny quirk. I've certainly never seen anything like it before.

But when you stack it up next to all the other B.S. that's gone on this tournament from a referee officiating her alma mater (also involving NC State), to a team being made to stay in a far-away hotel where they endured racial abuse, to a player erroneously being forced to remove her nose ring... it comes across as downright negligent.

The lines were fixed in time for Monday's Iowa-LSU title game rematch. And really, they could have painted the 3-point lines out to the logo and it wouldn't have impacted Caitlin Clark, who dropped 41 points in a Hawkeyes win.

Let's hope things are a little more buttoned-up in Cleveland.

All but one team in each tournament bracket ends in disappointment, and that was the case for the Duke women and North Carolina men this week, both of whom bowed out in the Sweet Sixteen.

For Duke, making it this far should be considered a very good step forward. It's the first time under Kara Lawson that the Blue Devils have made it to the second weekend and their toughness, especially on defense, is certainly something to build on moving forward.

The culture is in place, now the question is how locked in is Lawson?

As for North Carolina, going out in the Sweet Sixteen hits a little differently when you're a No. 1 seed and when it means the end for great players like Armando Bacot and RJ Davis.

Both seniors leave an impressive legacy at UNC, but you can bet both are still bitterly disappointed by their 2-point loss to Alabama.

For Davis, it was simply an unfortunate time to have one of his worst shooting performances of the season. He finished 4/20 from the field and 0/9 from 3-point range. If just one of those deep balls goes down, we might be talking about a different result.

(Jae'Lyn Withers' ill-advised 3-point attempt with 1:02 left is the other.)

If you were at Richmond Raceway this Saturday, you may have briefly confused the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ ToyotaCare 250 for a Will Ferrell movie.

Major League Baseball opening week (USA edition) delighted fans across the country, and also gave us our first glimpse at a few teams that could be historically bad.

The hapless and tragic Oakland A's lead the pack in that regard, but it looks like the Colorado Rockies are right behind them.

The Rockies were locked in a scoreless tie Monday against the Cubs, until some comically bad fielding caused the wheels to come off.

With runners at first and second, Christopher Morel hit a routine single to left field, but Colorado's Nolan Jones let the ball roll under his glove and then all the way back to the wall.

If baseball's not really your thing, there is professional football to watch as well.

The new UFL season is underway, and featured a mind-bending, momentum-turning trick play in Week 1.

How was this possibly a legal play? I don't know. But apparently it stood and the Brahmas won, so I need no more information than that.

We'll see you next week.