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MARCIOJOSESANCHEZ—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS San Jose Sharks goalie James Reimer stops a shot against the Arizona Coyotes on Sunday. Reimer is 3-1since coming over in a trade. ByCurtisPashelka BayAreaNewsGroup SAN JOSE The 2015-16 NHL season figured to be a crucial one for Sharks general manager Doug Wilson. Wilson made the moves he felt were necessary — hiring a new coach, trad- ing an unprotected first round draft pick in 2016 for a No. 1 goalie that was still relatively unproven, spend- ing millions in free agency — to get the Sharks back into postseason con- tention. If it all didn't work, the next finger was probably going to be pointed in his direction. Ultimately, Wilson — the third-lon- gest tenured G.M. in the NHL — may still be judged on how the Sharks per- form in the playoffs. But for now, his changes have paid off. A win Tuesday against the St. Louis Blues would put the Sharks back in the playoffs for the 11th time in 12 sea- sons. For the first time in 24 months, people are projecting who the Sharks might play in the first round and what the best matchup might be, instead of wondering who might stay and who might go if the team fails to make the postseason. Wilson and the Sharks parted ways with Todd McLellan after the team missed the 2015 playoffs. But that was just the start. Wilson still needed to hire the right coach, bring in the right free agents and make the right trades to add depth and help heal a wounded cul- ture. Sharks coach Pete DeBoer has built an atmosphere of accountabil- ity in his first season and has gotten his top players to buy into his system. Joe Thornton has found the fountain of youth and leads the team in scor- ing at age 36. Martin Jones has been everything the Sharks had hoped for SHARKS GMWilson'smovespayingoff GMbuildingplayoff-boundteam ST.LOUISATSHARKS When: Tuesday, 7:30p.m. TV: CSN-CA TUNEIN By Aaron Beard The Associated Press RALEIGH, N.C. Upsets and wild finishes have altered the NCAA Tournament landscape for No. 1 seeds Virginia and North Car- olina in their bids for the Final Four. Ten of the top 16 seeds have reached the Sweet 16, and seven of those are with fellow top seeds Oregon in the West Region or Kansas in the South. But the Mid- west and East have lost several ex- pected roadblocks for the Cava- liers and Tar Heels, respectively. Here's a look at those new tour- nament paths: Midwest No one talked much about Vir- ginia thanks to the presence of second-seeded Michigan State, which had ousted the higher- seeded Cavaliers the past two years. Now the Cavaliers (28-7) have a favorable draw after the Spartans lost to 15-seed Middle Tennessee in the tournament's biggest upset. "It was something to take note of and to recognize," Virginia star Malcolm Brogdon said Saturday after a win against Butler in Ra- leigh, "but at the same time, we're not really a team that, you know, focuses on everything else." That task-at-hand focus is one of the reasons the Cavaliers are here, along with an efficient of- fense and a defense that seems to tighten its grip as the games go on. KenPom's top-ranked team NCAA TOURNAMENT UPSETS CREATE NEW PATHS FOR VIRGINIA, UNC Field has changed drastically for No. 1 seeds CHUCK BURTON — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS North Carolina guard Nate Britt chases a loose ball against Providence during the second half of a second-round men's game in the NCAA Tournament on Saturday in Raleigh, N.C. GERRY BROOME — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Virginia guard London Perrantes and Butler forward Andrew Chrabascz chase a loose ball during the second half of a second-round men's game in the NCAA Tournament, Saturday in Raleigh, N.C. Online: Be the first to get results from local athletes and teams at REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM/SPORTS. By Aaron Beard The Associated Press RALEIGH, N.C. Atlantic Coast Conference teams aren't tak- ing anyone lightly in the NCAA Tournament because of their status as Power 5 schools. Maybe that's why they're roll- ing along with a record number of teams in the Sweet 16. The ACC went 12-1 in the tour- nament's opening weekend and put an NCAA-record six teams in the regional semifinals: No. 1 seeds North Carolina and Vir- ginia, No. 3 seed Miami, No. 4 seed Duke, No. 6 seed Notre Dame and No. 10 seed Syracuse. The six Sweet 16 teams broke the previous record of five set by the Big East in 2009 and matched by the ACC last year, according to STATS. Tenth- seeded Pittsburgh's first-round loss to 7-seed Wisconsin is the only ACC loss. It comes in a year when the league tied its own record with seven NCAA bids on Selection Sunday despite the fact that an- other likely high seed — Lou- isville — ended up sitting out due to a self-imposed postsea- son ban amid an NCAA inves- tigation. "With the year this year, it's playing out to be the best league," Fighting Irish coach Mike Brey said Sunday after his team ousted 14-seed Stephen F. Austin on a last-second tip-in. "Remember, I came from that league called the Big East where we were by far the best league and had this kind of depth and number of NCAA Tournament- caliber teams," Brey said. "It's unbelievable and further vali- dates how hard our league was and how proud I was that we were 11-7 and the 4-seed (in the ACC Tournament). We'll take that." Granted, the ACC hasn't NCAA TOURNAMENT At 12-1, ACC rolls with record 6 teams in Sweet 16 By Cam Inman Bay Area News Group Colin Kaepernick's name didn't take long to surface at the NFL owners meetings being held this week in Boca Raton, Florida. The Cleveland Browns said Monday they're not actively pur- suing a trade for the 49ers quar- terback and that they've never been in serious pursuit. "All of those discussions were very preliminary, way over re- ported, period," Sashi Brown, Cleveland's head of football oper- ations, told Ohio.com. "But (we're) not actively engaged with San Francisco and at this point don't anticipate being actively engaged with San Francisco." That counters an NFL Network report last week that the Browns agreed to move a third-round draft pick to the 49ers in a po- tential deal that was being stalled by Kaepernick's reluctance to re- work his contract. "So and so is reporting we've got into contract negotiations and draft-pick negotiations with San Francisco that just weren't hap- pening," Brown added. "We were called about whether or not we'd have some interest and had some very preliminary discussions, and it didn't go much further than that." Kaepernick's representatives, from XAM Sports, rather than the 49ers called the Browns to gauge their interest, ESPN.com reported. Kaepernick's agents 49ERS Browns 'not actively engaged' in Kap trade By Jimmy Durkin Bay Area News Group The Raiders' future home re- mains up in the air, but owner Mark Davis isn't afraid to admit how much he likes the site in In- glewood that remains an option for the franchise. "I know the site very much," Da- vis told CSNBayArea.com on Mon- day at the NFL owners meetings in Boca Raton, Fla. "I love the site. I think it's a great opportunity." The Los Angeles Rams are building a new stadium in Ingle- wood, scheduled to open in 2019, and the San Diego Chargers have a one-year option to join them that expires in January. (That option could receive a one-year extension if a referendum to approve fund- ing for a San Diego stadium is ap- proved by this November). If Chargers' chairman Dean Spanos passes on L.A. to remain in San Diego, the option transfers over to the Raiders, who could re- turn to the area they called home from 1982-94. NFL Davis calls Inglewood 'a great opportunity' NCAA PAGE 2 ACC PAGE 2 RAIDERS PAGE 2 49ERS PAGE 2 SHARKS PAGE 2 SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Tuesday, March 22, 2016 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1