Who's Hot/who's Not

WHO'S Hot

No. 1s

Down went 2-seeds, down went 3s, but amid all the NCAA tournament upsets (page 58), the top dogs in each regional--Duke, Illinois, North Carolina and Washington--all rolled into the Sweet 16, winning their eight games by an average of 16 points. The Illini, the nation's No. 1 overall, have it extra sweet: They play a 12 seed (Wisconsin- Milwaukee) on Thursday in their home state.

Miami

"Whoever wants that backside spanking, come on down," says Heat center Shaquille O'Neal to all potential playoff opponents. Shaq and his streaking (12 straight wins) teammates are also whupping foes as action heroes in a comic book sold in Publix stores; meantime Miami native and ex-Dolphins cheerleader Nadia Turner is among 11 American Idol finalists.

Rafael Palmeiro

No hemming or hawing, no contradictions, no refusal to look into the past. At last week's congressional hearings, the dapper Baltimore slugger stood out from his peers (and bosses) as well-spoken and forceful, unequivocally denying he's ever used steroids and punctuating the denial with a now-famous finger-pointing.

BC Men's Hockey

Less than 24 hours after defeating New Hampshire in the Hockey East final--"Everyone needed to pick it up, and everyone did," BC's 6'7" center Brian Boyle told the Boston Herald--Eagles got No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament and will play in Worcester, Mass. BC hasn't lost in eight games.

WHO'S Not