Horschel takes first PGA win at Zurich Classic

AVONDALE, La. | Billy Horschel sensed the time had come for him to win his first PGA Tour event. This could explain the composure he displayed in the face of two final-round weather delays and a 27-foot putt he had to make on the final hole to avert a playoff.

Louisville beats Cal to reach title game

NEW ORLEANS | Make that three straight upsets for Louisville, who used the latest thriller to head back to the women's national championship game for the first time since 2009.

Deng leads Bulls over Hornets

NEW ORLEANS | Even if Derrick Rose wasn't ready to return, the Bulls got healthier as a team over the All-Star break — and it showed.

Panel vacates bounty suspensions for 4 NFL players

NEW ORLEANS | Jonathan Vilma, Scott Fujita and Will Smith are back in the NFL. For now.

Thomas emerging for Saints in playoffs

NEW ORLEANS | One of Pierre Thomas' teammates referred to him as "an animal" after the Saints' playoff opening triumph over Detroit.

Saints: results endorse their approach to running

NEW ORLEANS | Lost in all the gaudy, record-breaking numbers Drew Brees puts up in the Saints' passing game -- led by T.F. North graduate Pierre Thomas -- is the fact that New Orleans' running game isn't half bad.

LSU's Miles wins AP coach of the year

BATON ROUGE, La. | Louisiana State University's 2011 season will be remembered for challenging Les Miles' crisis-management skills over and over again.

Drew Brees and Saints blow out Giants

NEW ORLEANS | Drew Brees passed for 363 yards and four touchdowns and ran for another score as the New Orleans Saints rolled to a 49-24 victory over the Giants on Monday night, extending New York's losing skid to three games.

Saints set points record, beat Colts 62-7

NEW ORLEANS | Drew Brees completed 31 of 35 passes for 325 yards and five touchdowns, and the New Orleans Saints set a franchise record for points and victory margin in a 62-7 demolition of the hapless Colts on Sunday night.

QB trio added to legacy with lockout leadership

Even with a Super Bowl victory and his name in the NFL record books, Drew Brees struggles to see himself in the same class of quarterback as Tom Brady or Peyton Manning.

Bears call off practice because of bad turf

The Bears canceled a practice Friday in front of fans at Soldier Field because the turf was deemed unsafe for the players to use.

Peyton Manning says lockout limiting his rehab

THIBODAUX, La. | The power and accuracy with which Peyton Manning's passes bowl over bad guys in a recent "Football Cops" TV spoof was nowhere to be seen at the Manning family's annual football camp.

Butler back in Final Four, beats Florida in OT

NEW ORLEANS | Of course Butler erased a late deficit. Of course the Bulldogs hit a clutch 3-pointer late in overtime. Of course they're going back to the Final Four.

Cinderella Butler keeps the glass slipper on with win over Wisconsin

NEW ORLEANS | Wisconsin's normally suffocating defense could not slow Matt Howard and Butler's run toward a second straight Final Four appearance. If anything, the Bulldogs may be gaining momentum.

Payton moving family to Dallas with Saints' OK

NEW ORLEANS | Sean Payton is moving his family to Dallas and the Saints have no problem with it -- however, many New Orleans fans do.

T.F. South grad Thomas ponders future out of Big Easy

METAIRIE, La. | Reggie Bush and Pierre Thomas, the stars of the Saints' backfield when they were Super Bowl champs, are preparing for an offseason of uncertainty that could end with them wearing different uniforms whenever the next football season begins.

Former Purdue star is the AP's Male Athlete of the Year

NEW ORLEANS | Drew Brees has New Orleans swinging, singing and trumpeting their Saints like never before.

Vikings-Saints 'encore' kicks off NFL season

NEW ORLEANS | The Saints' first Super Bowl title was so big in New Orleans that Mardi Gras, a revered local institution dating back well more than a century, became popularly known as, "Lombardi Gras."

T.F. South grad Thomas signs with Saints but still wants more

METAIRIE, La. | Pierre Thomas signed his one-year restricted free agent tender offer from the New Orleans Saints on Monday, but he wants to negotiate a longer and more lucrative deal before training camp opens at the end of July.

Former IU star Porter seals Colts' fate

MIAMI | Louisiana native Tracy Porter played a crucial role in the New Orleans Saints' magical run to a Super Bowl title and their victory over the Colts.

Saints soaking in landmark victory

METAIRIE, La. | Sean Payton still hadn't gone home yet when the New Orleans Saints returned to work the day after the biggest win in franchise history.

Saints, T.F. South grad Thomas reach NFC title game

NEW ORLEANS | Maybe a little rest was all Drew Brees and Reggie Bush needed to shift the Saints' league-leading offense back into overdrive.

Saints' confidence was never shaken

METAIRIE, La. | With nine double-digit victories during the regular season, the New Orleans Saints weren't all that surprised by the way they dominated their playoff opener.

Saints showing signs of wearing down

NEW ORLEANS | As Drew Brees, T.F. South graduate Pierre Thomas and the rest of the New Orleans Saints walked off the field following their first defeat of a thrilling season, the Louisiana Superdome crowd offered the kind of appreciative applause a pitcher receives after losing a no-hitter i…

Saints, T.F. South's Thomas suffer their first loss

NEW ORLEANS | Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints are marching toward perfection no more.

T.F. South grad Thomas scores as Saints beat Patriots

NEW ORLEANS | The New Orleans Saints are still unbeaten and have joined the Colts in making NFL history.

T.F. South grad Thomas gives unbeaten Saints another weapon other than Purdue product Brees

NEW ORLEANS | Drew Brees doesn't see himself in quite the same class as Tom Brady.

T.F. South grad Pierre Thomas leaves no doubts

METAIRIE, La. | T.F. South grad and former University of Illinois star Pierre Thomas put on more than 10 pounds during the offseason, hoping that would make him more in the mold of former Saints power runner Deuce McAllister.

T.F. South grad Pierre Thomas leading New Orleans' running attack

METAIRIE, La. | Pierre Thomas was in no shape to celebrate.

T.F. South's Thomas continues to improve with Saints

METAIRIE, La. | T.F. South grad Pierre Thomas listened to his mother, and look where it got him.

T.F. South grad Pierre Thomas emerges with Saints

METAIRIE, La. | T.F. South grad Pierre Thomas listened to his mother, and look where it got him.

Why LSU will win the BCS national championship

LSU played like a juggernaut when the season began, defeating eventual bowl teams Mississippi State and Virginia Tech by a combined score of 93-7 in its first two games.

Tigers rely on 2 QBs

BCS CHAMPIONSHPI

Former TF South star may start against Bears

BC-FBN--Saints-Thomas,0725

FAU meets Memphis in New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS | Howard Schnellenberger's career in football has spanned generations, touching the lives of numerous successful coaches and players.

Hornets hope Thornton grad Ely can boost front court

NEW ORLEANS | Melvin Ely received no guarantee of playing time with the New Orleans Hornets.

T.F. South's Pierre Thomas fares well for Saints

NEW ORLEANS | Undrafted rookie Pierre Thomas may have played himself onto an NFL roster, even if it isn't with the New Orleans Saints.

Former Notre Dame center now the Saints' renaissance man

JACKSON, Miss. | In art galleries from the French Quarter to New Orleans' warehouse district, the dealers have learned to look forward to seeing a big guy with tattoos on his arms walk through the door.

Final Four frustration continues for LSU

CLEVELAND | Her headband crooked, Sylvia Fowles turned away from a missed jump hook and screamed, angrily pumping her fists and stomping her feet as she started to run back to LSU's defensive end of the court.

LSU acknowledges Chatman inquiry, praises assistant

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

North Texas wins Sun Belt, automatic NCAA bid

LAFAYETTE, La. | Calvin Watson hit six 3-pointers and scored 24 points to help North Texas get to its first NCAA tournament since 1988 with an 83-75 victory over Arkansas State in the Sun Belt Conference tournament championship on Tuesday night.

In defeat, Bush gave Saints hope for future

CHICAGO (AP) -- High-stepping and somersaulting his way to the end zone, Reggie Bush gave New Orleans a reason to celebrate the Saints' future, if not their present.

McAllister and Bush: thunder and lightning

NEW ORLEANS | Deuce McAllister is a tough, stout country guy who spends much of his free time in the offseason hanging around with old friends in central Mississippi.

Bruising McAllister crucial in Saints' playoff push

NEW ORLEANS | The New Orleans Saints have showcased several new offensive threats this season -- quarterback Drew Brees, rookies Reggie Bush and Marques Colston and deep-ball threat Devery Henderson.

Brees has New Orleans howling

NEW ORLEANS | Drew Brees has talked about how much he's grown to love New Orleans.

Saints-obsessed N.O. gearing up

NEW ORLEANS | A dozen guests have canceled plans to attend the Saturday evening wedding of Tara Chauffe and Corey Boland, and they didn't need to make up an excuse.

Horn misses practice, questionable for playoff game

METAIRIE, La. | Four-time Pro Bowl receiver Joe Horn sat out significant portions of the New Orleans Saints' practice Tuesday, still bothered by the groin injury that caused him to miss the last four games of the regular season.

LSU's "Three Musketeers" make curtain call in the Sugar Bowl

NEW ORLEANS | It's the last time LSU's imposing, cannon-armed quarterback and the receiving corps he's dubbed "The Three Musketeers" line up together.

Saints' dominance in Dallas heightens "Who Dat" hysteria

NEW ORLEANS | Special teams standout Steve Gleason likened the Saints' welcome home to a Mardi Gras parade, except that it happened on a dark and normally quiet airport access road around 2:30 a.m. Monday.