UNDATED (AP) — Kansas is the preseason No. 1 in the AP men's college basketball poll. The Jayhawks received 46 of 63 first-place votes to outdistance second-place Duke and third-place Purdue. It's the third time since coach Bill Self's arrival in 2003 that his team will start the season on top. The Blue Devils received 11 first-place votes and the Boilermakers earned three. Michigan State was fourth with one first-place vote while Marquette rounded out the top five. Defending national champion UConn was sixth and runner-up San Diego State was No. 17. The season begins Nov. 6.
UNDATED (AP) — As the NCAA works to find a way to manage the way athletes are compensated for name, image and likeness, other threats are gathering. A federal antitrust case could force the NCAA and the wealthiest conferences to create pro-style revenue sharing of billions of broadcast-rights dollars with football and basketball players. House vs. the NCAA is a class-action lawsuit being heard by Judge Claudia Wilken, whose previous rulings in NCAA cases paved the way for college athletes to profit from their fame and for schools to direct more money into their hands.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos homered to lead the Philadelphia Phillies to a 5-3 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 1 of the NL Championship Series. Zack Wheeler struck out eight in six innings to help the defending National League champions win their seventh Game 1 of the last two postseasons. Arizona was handed its first loss of the postseason after ripping off five straight wins against the Brewers and Dodgers. Game 2 in the best-of-seven playoff is Tuesday night.
HOUSTON (AP) — Jonah Heim homered, Nathan Eovaldi pitched six effective innings and the Texas Rangers beat Framber Valdez and Houston Astros 5-4 for a 2-0 lead in the AL Championship Series. Adolis García, Mitch Garver and Nathaniel Lowe each hit an RBI single during Texas’ four-run first inning against Valdez, and José Leclerc closed it out for the Rangers after Yordan Alvarez powered an Astros rally. Eovaldi struck out nine, including two in a row after Houston loaded the bases with none out in the fifth. He was charged with three runs and five hits in his third win this postseason. The Rangers improved to 7-0 in the playoffs, including six wins on the road.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Bryce Harper wants to take a swing at the Olympics. The Philadelphia Phillies slugger said it would be a dream to play for Team USA when baseball returns for the 2028 Los Angeles Games. Harper has long been an advocate of MLB taking a break during the season to let major leaguers play in the Olympics. Harper turned 31 on Monday. Harper spoke of his Olympics dreams ahead of Game 1 of the NL Championship Series against Arizona.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Dak Prescott threw for 272 yards and a touchdown, and the Dallas Cowboys rebounded from a rout a week ago, beating the Los Angeles Chargers 20-17 Monday night. Prescott completed 21 of 30 passes and also had a rushing TD. He connected with Brandin Cooks for a 2-yard score with 11:19 remaining in the game to give the Cowboys a 17-10 lead. Los Angeles tied it at 17 with 7:11 remaining when Gerald Everett caught a 1-yard touchdown pass from Justin Herbert. After Brandon Aubrey gave the Cowboys a 20-17 lead with a 39-yard field goal, the Chargers had one last chance to send it into overtime. But Stephon Gilmore picked off Herbert at the LA 33-yard line with 1:22 remaining to seal the victory.
UNDATED (AP) — The NFL’s last two undefeated teams beat themselves. The San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles struggled on the road against inferior opponents with backup quarterbacks and tough defenses. That allowed Larry Csonka and his teammates from the 1972 Miami Dolphins to pop the champagne bottles in October. They’ll remain the only perfect team in league history for at least another year. The Buffalo Bills, the NFL’s biggest favorite so far this season, also had problems facing a losing team and a backup quarterback but they held on at the 1-yard line for a 14-9 win over the New York Giants.
HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — The Las Vegas Raiders received encouraging news on Jimmy Garoppolo’s injured back. But coach Josh McDaniels said Monday he didn’t know if the quarterback would be healthy enough to play at Chicago on Sunday. Garoppolo was injured in Sunday’s 21-17 victory over the New England Patriots. McDaniels said Garoppolo was examined to see if “there was an internal issue.” If Garoppolo doesn’t play against the Bears, McDaniels can turn to Brian Hoyer or Aidan O’Connell.
BRUSSELS (AP) — Thousands of soccer fans were kept inside Belgium’s national stadium for about 2 1/2 hours after a game between Belgium and Sweden was suspended at halftime following the fatal shooting of two Swedes in Brussels before kickoff. The European Championship qualifier on Monday was being played 3 miles (5 kilometers) from the shooting in the Belgian capital. More than 35,000 fans attended the match. With the suspected shooter still at large, Belgian authorities kept fans inside the venue for security reasons before they started the evacuation around midnight local time. Fans chanted “All together, All together” inside the King Baudouin Stadium after the match was halted. Thousands of supporters from both sides shouted “Sweden, Sweden!”
MONDAY SCORES
AMERICAN LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Final Texas 5 Houston 4
NATIONAL LEAGUE PLAYOFFS