It’s a foregone conclusion that UConn Huskies women’s basketball team will be a No. 1 seed when the NCAA Women’s Tournament Selection Show gets underway at 7 PM tonight on ESPN. The only questions to be answered is who do they play and who else will be in their bracket.

UConn women’s basketball links

Moore Chases Wolters’ Record [Hartford Courant]

UConn women prepared for tourney run [Waterbury Republican-American]

Huskies eliminate suspense from bracket [Norwich Bulletin]

UConn Women Judge Greatness by Their Own Past [New York Times]

Rutgers women could face Connecticut in NCAA Tournament [The Star-Ledger]

Breaking down the bracketologists [Elm City To Eagleville]

UConn men’s basketball links

Moc … Yeah! Ing … Yeah! [Matt’s UConn men’s basketball blog]

Slip on your dancing shoes (Mocs, maybe?) [In Storrs Now]

All Aboard! [Emeka, Nadav and Corny]

UConn Receives Top Seed In West [Hartford Courant]

UConn Earned No. 1 Seed [Hartford Courant]

UConn men earn No. 1 seed in West Region [Waterbury Republican-American]

UConn men play afternoon games to start [Waterbury Republican-American]

Huskies grab a No. 1 seed [Norwich Bulletin]

Best of the West [New Haven Register]

Huskies’ legacy is yet to be written [New Haven Register]

UConn Men Top Seed In West [Connecticut Post]

Breakdown analysis for the West Regional [Connecticut Post]

Huskies Headed West As Top Dog [New London Day]

West Region Breakdown: Did UConn Deserve No. 1 Seed? [Fanhouse]

West overview: Despite 6OT loss, UConn still a No. 1 [Salt Lake Tribune]

Top-seeded Connecticut has pros and cons going into West Regional [LA Times]

There’s a lot to like about No. 1 UConn in West Regional [Salt Lake Tribune]

Location is where it’s at for UConn [Boston Globe]

No. 1 Connecticut vs. 16 Chattanooga [Sporting News]

Connecticut — and Maryland — Can’t Ask for a Better Path [Washington Post]

Mocs Headed to City of Brotherly Love for NCAA Tournament [GoMocs.com]

Big East Bonanza! UConn, Pitt and Louisville all grab top seeds in 2009 NCAA tournament [New York Daily News]

Other UConn related links

Meet Manfred [Thoughts From a Fat White Guy]

Guess The Age Of The Austrian [Thoughts From a Fat White Guy]

Cowgirls Shut Out Softball 4-0 [UConnHuskies.com]

Baseball’s Game Against Sacred Heart Changed to Darien High School on Tuesday [UConnHuskies.com]

It was a tough weekend for the Boston Red Sox as yesterday they lost Dustin Pedroia for a few days, lost Julio Lugo for a month and were swept by the Baltimore Orioles in the weekend series. Not that it matters at this time of year but the Orioles did sweep the Red Sox in Grapefruit League Action.

It wasn’t the best of outings for Clay Buchholz in yesterday’s 6-2 loss to the Orioles. While he did strike out 6 in 3 2/3 innings, it took him 69 pitches to do so. He ended up allowing one run on 4 hits and 2 walks. Jonathan Papelbon gave up 1 run in his inning of work without allowing a hit or a walk. Hideki Okajima gave up 2 hits and Manny Delcarmen gave up 1 in their inning of work. Ramon Ramirez took the loss giving up a run on a hit (home run). Billy Traber took one for the team, giving up 3 runs in the top of the 9th.

Jason Varitek had the only RBI of the day on a groundout in the 4th inning as he finished up 0-for-3. Gil Velazquez had 2 of the Red Sox 6 hits on the afternoon with Mike Lowell, Angel Chavez, Chris Carter and Jason Bay adding the others.

The Red Sox are back in action this afternoon when they head north up I-75 to take on the Toronto Blue Jays in Dunedin at 1:05 PM. There is no television coverage of the game and the game can listened to online at MLB.com.

The Red Sox and Jason Bay also broke off contract extension talks due to the economy and the ever-changing market for corner outfielders.

“I don’t think anybody in my situation wants to play for six years and then you earn the right to be a free agent and on some levels sell yourself short, and that doesn’t mean there doesn’t have to be some concessions,” Bay said. “But you put yourself in this position and I think it’s in my best interest to kind of explore. Not to say we’re ever going to go that far, but I definitely want to make sure it’s the right fit.”

Here’s what Red Sox GM Theo Epstein had to say on the matter:

“We’ve had some talks but they weren’t really substantive, but recently we’ve had more substantive talks and it’s become clear because of the unusual marketplace that we’re not going to get anything done in spring training so we’re going to halt talks for now,” Epstein said. “Just table them. But both sides have committed to maintaining dialogue throughout the course of the season. I think there’s desire to get something done on both sides. There’s just a mutual recognition right now that it’s going to be next to impossible to get something done. It really boils down right now to the nature of the market. The market has changed so much from two years ago to this winter, or from a year ago to now and who knows where it’s going to be a year from now. So that unpredictability I think has created a landscape that’s difficult to navigate to get any extension done a year earlier. Both sides wanted it, so we tried. But both sides recognized it’s just too difficult to get it done right now.”

Things weren’t all bad for the Red Sox on Sunday as they made the Jon Lester extension official. The breakdown of the contract looks a little something like this.

• 2009 – $1,000,000
• 2010 – $3,750,000
• 2011 – $5,750,000
• 2012 – $7,625,000
• 2013 – $11,625,000
• 2014 (club option) – $13,000,000
• Buyout – $250,000

There’s also the usual awards clauses and clause to void the option year.

Red Sox in WBC news and links after the jump.

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The NCAA Selection show is underway and the UConn Huskies men’s basketball are a No. 1 and are heading to the West Region bracket. The Huskies will take on Chattanooga on Thursday in Philadelphia.

The other No. 1 seeds were Louisville Cardinals (Midwest), Pittsburgh (East) and North Carolina (South). The Cardinals were the No. 1 overall seed.

The two times the Huskies have won the National Championship (1999, 2004), they have come out of the West Region bracket.

And if you need help filling out your March Madness brackets, don’t forget to try out Bracket Brains.

The worst-kept secret in the Boston Red Sox organization was made official on Sunday when they announced the Jon Lester extension was official. As always the Red Sox didn’t release the terms of the contract but as we know it’s a 5-year deal worth $30 million with team option for $13 million for 2014.

Here is the official release from the Red Sox on the Lester deal:

BOSTON, MA — The Boston Red Sox have agreed to terms on a five-year contract with lefthanded pitcher Jon Lester with a club option for 2014. Terms were not disclosed.

The announcement was made by Executive Vice President/General Manager Theo Epstein.

Lester went 16-6 with a 3.21 ERA over a team-high 33 starts in 2008, his first full season at the major league level. The 25-year-old finished among American League leaders in shutouts (T1st, 2), ERA (4th), starts (T5th), innings (T7th, 210.1) and wins (T8th) and was named the Red Sox Pitcher of the Year by the Boston chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America.

Cleveland’s Cliff Lee (22) and the Angels’ Joe Saunders (17) were the only A.L. lefties with more wins than Lester’s 16 in 2008, the most by a Red Sox southpaw since Bruce Hurst’s 18 in 1988. The Tacoma, Washington native joined Babe Ruth (1916) and Lefty Grove (1937) as just the third lefthanded Boston hurler ever to record 15 wins, 30 starts, 200 innings, 150 strikeouts and a sub-3.50 ERA in a single season.

Lester threw the 18th no-hitter in club history in a 7-0 win over Kansas City on May 19, 2008 at Fenway Park. He allowed just two base runners on walks in the second and ninth innings and retired 20 consecutive batters between the free passes. He was the first Red Sox lefthander to toss a no-hitter since Mel Parnell against the White Sox on July 14, 1956.

A lymphoma survivor, Lester was given the 2008 Hutch Award for “fighting spirit and competitive desire” by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and in 2007 received the Tony Conigliaro Award for overcoming adversity.

Boston’s second-round pick in the 2002 draft owns a 27-8 record with a 3.81 ERA in 60 career games/59 starts in the majors since making his debut in 2006. His .771 career winning percentage is the highest in the majors since 1900 among pitchers with at least 30 decisions. He is 2-2 with a 2.25 ERA in seven career post-season games/five starts including a 1-2 mark and 2.36 ERA in four playoff starts in 2008. He was the winning pitcher in the decisive fourth game of the 2007 World Series and his 1.95 ERA as a starter in the postseason is the third-lowest in club history (minimum 30.0 innings).

It’ s Selection Sunday for the UConn Huskies men’s basketball team. Sometime after 6 PM, the Huskies will find out if they are a No. 1 seed or have dropped to a No. 2 seed.

I still think the Huskies are a No. 1 seed and shouldn’t be penalized for losing in 6 overtimes to Syracuse. Plus with a lot of other potential No. 1’s going down during the conference tournaments, things may not change as much. For my money, UConn, Louisville, Pittsburgh and North Carolina will be the 1 seeds. And remember if you need help with your picks, you can always use Bracket Brains.

UConn men’s basketball links

A.J. Price was named to the 2009 BIG EAST Men’s Basketball Championship All-Tournament Team [BigEast.org]

Bracketology –Memphis and UConn will be tied [JSilver’s UConn Blog]

UConn a No.1 seed?; Transcripts from UConn-Syracuse [UConn | Men’s Basketball]

After Syracuse Loss, UConn Turns Its Gaze Forward [Hartford Courant]

With Cards On A Roll, Let’s Talk Seeds [Hartford Courant]

UConn, like many others, anxiously awaits seedings [Waterbury Republican-American]

Huskies still worthy of top seed [Norwich Bulletin]

Huskies’ bid for 1 seed in doubt [New Haven Register]

Sweet title memories for UConn [Connecticut Post]

Like Huskies, columnist keeps on ticking [Connecticut Post]

UConn 1998-99 men: Closer look [Connecticut Post]

UConn men’s top 5 teams [Connecticut Post]

Do Conference Tournaments Help or Hurt? Theories Abound [New York Times]

Adrien key to UConn’s success in NCAA play [New Haven Register]

Rest stop reached [Journal Inquirer]

UConn women’s basketball links

Huskies Shutting Down Top Scorers [Hartford Courant]

Taurasi greatest player, greatest winner [Waterbury Republican-American]

Chemistry a big key when chasing perfection [New Haven Register]

Is this UConn team among the best? [Connecticut Post]

Road to St. Louis [New London Day]

Connecticut prohibitive favorite in NCAA tourney [AP]

Geno temporarily suspends belief in miracles [Journal Inquirer]

UConn football links

They’ll Be There, Too [UConn | Football]

Other UConn related links

Bucknell Sneaks Past Huskies 11-10 in Final Game of the RussMatt Invitational [UConnHuskies.com]

Lacrosse Drops 13-8 Decision to No. 5 Syracuse in BIG EAST Opener [UConnHuskies.com]

Softball Sweeps Northern Colorado And Texas Tech In Day Three Of San Diego Classic [UConnHuskies.com]

Erickson Signs With Trenton Devils Of ECHL [UConnHuskies.com]