Here is the latest Mid-America sports news from The Associated Press

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Adam Wainwright believes he can still be the best pitcher in all of baseball, even at 36 years old and coming off an injury-riddled season that was the worst of his career. The right-hander will play a key role as St. Louis tries to end a skid of two straight seasons without making the playoffs.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Royals thought they would be rebuilding when their core group hit free agency. A soft market allowed them to retain several key players. Now, nobody is quite sure whether they will compete or collapse, which makes the upcoming season surprisingly interesting. The Royals open the season at home March 29 against the Chicago White Sox.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs have signed defensive tackle Xavier Williams. The Arizona Cardinals declined to match the offer Kansas City made to the run-stopper. Williams grew up in the Kansas City suburb of Grandview, Missouri, before a standout career at Northern Iowa. He started twice and appeared in 23 games over the past two seasons in Arizona.

ATLANTA (AP) — The bracket-busting South Region looks more like the Kentucky Invitational, featuring the blue bloods from the Bluegrass State and those other guys. The Wildcats are joined in Atlanta by Nevada, Kansas State and Loyola, an upset-minded trio that made this the first regional in NCAA tournament history to oust all four top seeds on the first weekend. But Kentucky coach John Calipari is urging his young team not to “drink the poison” that they’ve got an easy road to the Final Four.

UNDATED (AP) — Kentucky should feel right at home in ‘Cat-lanta’ when it faces Kansas State in the semifinals of the South Regional. The team had a 26-6 record at the Georgia Dome, including a triumph in the 2012 South Regional on the way to its last national title. Kansas State is looking for extra motivation in the perception that it’s the worst team left in the NCAA field.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Missouri State is filling its men’s basketball coaching vacancy by hiring Dana Ford away from Tennessee State. Tennessee State athletic director Teresa Phillips has announced in a university release that Ford has accepted the Missouri State job. Ford went 57-65 in four seasons at Tennessee State but was 52-39 over the last three seasons. Ford takes over for the fired Paul Lusk.

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Duke and Kentucky have been down this road before, winning championships with extraordinarily young rosters. They seem to be the masters of the one-and-done era. Both programs have a chance to do it again. After several potential one-and-done phenoms were bounced from the NCAA Tournament in the opening weekend, the Blue Devils and Wildcats are the teams still playing that have rosters stacked with high-profile freshmen. Marvin Bagley III leads Duke; Kevin Knox is the centerpiece at Kentucky.