The college football season opened in late August but this is its grand opening weekend. There is only one game between two Associated Press Top 25 teams and that is on Sunday, with No. 24 Louisville facing No. 9 Mississippi in Nashville. But the weekend is filled with intrigue, including Clemson at No. 11 LSU on Saturday night after nearly two weeks of court fights over who's eligible to play.
LSU did not place one-time pros Dae’Quan Wright, Zxavian Harris on its roster in advance of its season opener. A person familiar with the situation confirmed it to The Associated Press on Friday. The move appears to avoid an immediate confrontation with the Southeastern Conference, which had passed a rule forbidding former pros on rosters, only to see that rule put on hold by a court in Louisiana. It means LSU will open its season against Clemson on Saturday without Wright and Harris on the roster, according to the person who spoke to AP. The person did not want to be named because the school had not released the details publicly.
NEW YORK (AP) — Serena and Venus Williams are out of the U.S. Open women’s doubles after losing in a match tiebreaker. The sisters blew a 5-0 lead in the 10-point tiebreaker and lost 6-3, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (10-7) on Friday night to Hao-Ching Chan and Maya Joint. It was the first U.S. Open match since 2022 at the Grand Slam tournament the sisters won twice. They pulled out the second set in a tiebreaker, battled back from 4-1 in the third set to tie it, but then faltered late. Serena came back to tennis this year at 44. Venus has continued to play on tour at 46.
DUESSELDORF, Germany (AP) — Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva has had her permission to compete internationally as a neutral athlete revoked, a person familiar with the situation has told The Associated Press. The latest twist in Valieva’s career comes nearly four years after disputes over her positive test overshadowed the Beijing Olympics. The person says that the International Skating Union is due to rule on appeals against the decision. The person did not want to be identified because the details of such cases are not typically released publicly.
STANFORD, Calif. (AP) — Darian Mensah threw five touchdown passes in his Miami debut, Malachi Toney set a school-record with 234 yards receiving and the seventh-ranked Hurricanes opened their season with an 45-6 victory over Stanford. Mensah and Toney connected on touchdown passes on the first two drives of the game for Miami and then again on a 47-yarder in the third quarter that broke Eddie Brown's school record of 220 set in 1984. Davis Warren threw for 204 yards for Stanford but couldn’t get the Cardinal in the end zone.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jayden Maiava passed for 349 yards and threw two of his three touchdown passes to freshman Trent Mosley, and No. 14 Southern California rolled to a 39-0 victory over Fresno State. Tanook Hines also made a TD catch for the unbeaten Trojans, who followed up their Week 0 win over San Jose State by streaking to a 32-0 lead through three quarters over the Bulldogs. USC’s defense allowed just 49 yards in the first three quarters while recording two safeties and forcing two turnovers under new coordinator Gary Patterson. Jayden Mandal passed for 77 yards with an interception in his second career start for the Bulldogs.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Rams’ entire roster will travel to Australia for their regular-season opener next week. Coach Sean McVay still isn’t sure whether unretired defensive tackle Aaron Donald will play, however. The Rams were initially equivocal on whether Donald would make the long trip for the NFL’s first international game in Australia. The 35-year-old superstar only ended his retirement last weekend and rejoined the Rams after 2 1/2 years away. McVay said the Rams still haven’t decided whether Donald will suit up at the Melbourne Cricket Ground alongside Myles Garrett, but Donald has clearly made significant progress in his return to game shape.
KATOWICE, Poland (AP) — FIFA President Gianni Infantino declined to answer questions about his future as he arrived at the opening of the Under-20 Women’s World Cup while under continuing pressure since abandoning his plan to sell off World Cup profits. Infantino was in the stands speaking with Polish soccer federation president Cezary Kulesza as host nation Poland faced Argentina on the opening day of the tournament. Infantino had mostly kept out of the spotlight in the weeks since his World Cup sell-off plan fell apart amid opposition from many FIFA member nations and some of his own officials.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is overhauling the selection process by eliminating a separate category for senior players, cutting the selection committee nearly in half and returning to in-person meetings. The Hall announced the new procedures that were approved by the Hall of Fame board following discussions with Hall of Fame staff, members and people on the selection committee. The changes will be in place for the Class of 2027 and come after the voting process came under heavy scrutiny for the most recent class, when six-time Super Bowl winning head coach Bill Belichick failed to get enough support for induction.
NEW YORK (AP) — Feeling better than he expected after a four-month absence, Carlos Alcaraz is planning to take more breaks during the tennis season. Alcaraz returned to play at the U.S. Open after being sidelined since April by a right wrist injury. The defending champion advanced to the fourth round Friday with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-1 victory over Wu Yibing. He said his body feels good and he’s had no setbacks after his matches. Alcaraz said the injury that forced him to withdraw during the Barcelona Open wasn’t caused by playing too much, so taking time off would be for mental, not physical reasons
Finals
INTERLEAGUE
Final Pittsburgh 1 L.A. Angels 0
Final Houston 3 Arizona 1
Final San Diego 3 N.Y. Yankees 2
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Cleveland 7 Detroit 6
Final Boston 1 Baltimore 0
Final Chicago White Sox 4 Minnesota 1
Final Cleveland 4 Detroit 3
Final Toronto 9 Kansas City 2
Final Tampa Bay 7 Texas 6
Final Athletics 7 Seattle 6
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Atlanta 5 Philadelphia 2
Final Milwaukee 10 Cincinnati 7
Final N.Y. Mets 10 San Francisco 6
Final Chicago Cubs 6 Miami 1
Final St. Louis 7 Colorado 6
Final L.A. Dodgers 5 Washington 3
TOP-25 COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Final (10)Oklahoma 51 UTEP 0
Final (14)Southern Cal 39 Fresno St. 0