NCAA March Madness Surprises;Fallen Oaks Golf

The experts are being proved wrong at the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament,which rivets sports fans' attention this time of year.Former NBA star and TBS commentator Charles Barkley says it is the most wide open NCAA Tournament he has ever seen.Friday's upsets:
12 Mississippi 57,5 Wisconsin 46
9 Temple 76,8 NC State 72;
13 La Salle 63,4 Kansas State 61
15 Florida Gulf Coast 78,2 Georgetown 68
10 Iowa State 76,7 Notre Dame 58
11 Minnesota 83,6 UCLA 63
At the Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic at the Fallen Oak Golf Course near Biloxi,windy conditions confronted the Champions Tour golfers,a brisk breeze whipping the flags.Topping the first round leader board and sharing first place at three under par were:
Hal Sutton(USA)
Steve Elkington(Australia)
Corey Pavin(USA)
Roger Chapman(Kenya)
A rare tornado hit Australia at Mulwala,New South Wales.The twister tossed large chunks of debris around.Only about 16 tornadoes a year occur in Australia,near the coastline.Southern Hemisphere tornadoes swirl in a clockwise direction,while Northern Hemisphere cyclones blow counterclockwise,The Weather Channel pointed out.

McDowell Leads in Thousand Oaks;Orangemen Overcome Razorbacks

Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell established a comfortable lead in the World Challenge Presented By Northwestern Mutual at Sherwood Country Club,Thousand Oaks,California.McDowell shot a cushy second round  9 under par 66,praising the golf course's undulating backdrop.It's a fun course,he said,noting that his win there in 2009 was a prelude to his successful 2010 season.
The course is set in the scrubby beauty of the Santa Monica Mountains.After the tournament,McDowell plans to take ten weeks off to spend time with his family and work on his game for 2013.The PGA 2013 season begins with the Hyundai Tournament of Champions in Hawaii from January 4-7.
In college basketball,Syracuse handled Arkansas 91-82 at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville.James Southerland came off the Syracuse bench for a career night,scoring 35 points with 6 rebounds.Arkansas' B.J. Young posted 25 points with 5 rebounds,while teammate Marshawn Powell added 19 points and 7 rebounds.
The Orangemen's victory puts the Big East over the SEC 5-2 in the conference Challenge.#6 Syracuse is 5-0,while Arkansas is 3-3.
A zonal flow jet stream pattern is keeping most of the cold and snow locked up in Canada,ensuring a generally mild to moderate week ahead for most of the US.