PHOENIX (AP) — Selection Sunday also happens to be the biggest complaint day on the sports calendar. Right after the bracket for March Madness is revealed, college basketball fans across the country complain about teams that were left out, received a low seed or have to travel across the country. But the process for determining the field is rooted in methods developed through years of building brackets. The 12-person selection committee spends the season monitoring teams across the country before gathering five days before Selection Sunday to being building the bracket. They are guided by a detailed set of rules that make sure the best 68 teams in the country get the chance to play.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Steve Sarkisian is college football’s latest $10 million man. The University of Texas System Board of Regents on Thursday approved a raise and contract extension for the Longhorns coach to boosts his guaranteed salary to $10.3 million this year and sign him through the 2030 season. The four-year extension makes Sarkisian one of the highest paid coaches in the country. Texas won the Big 12 last season and made the College Football Playoff. Sarkisian's original contract paid him $5.8 million this year. The board's approval was expected. The extension was announced in January. The board published financial details last week.
AMES, Iowa (AP) — Jake Waters has been promoted to Iowa State running backs coach after working as a senior offensive quality control staff member the past three years. Waters was an ISU graduate assistant in 2017 and coached tight ends, fullbacks and wide receivers at UTEP over three seasons before he returned to Ames in 2021. Waters was national junior college offensive player of the year for Iowa Western Community College in 2012 and a two-year starting quarterback at Kansas State. He returned to Iowa Western as volunteer quarterbacks coach for two years before his first stint at Iowa State.
UNDATED (AP) — Gamers will be blocked from manually adding players to EA Sports’ new college football game who decide not to accept an offer to have their name, image and likeness used in it. EA Sports revealed the safeguard Thursday in its announcement that it has begun reaching out to athletes to pay them to be featured in the game that’s set to launch this summer. EA Sports said players who opt in to the game will receive a minimum of $600 and a copy of EA Sports College Football 25. EA Sports didn’t say how it plans to prevent people from adding the opt-outs.
UNDATED (AP) — The 12-team College Football Playoff is 10 months away from kicking off. The format is finally locked in. University presidents have unanimously approved one last tweak to increase the number of at-large bids from six to seven. The change reserves five spots for conference champions instead of six. The move was prompted by conference realignment and the demise of the Pac-12. The process of expanding the CFP from four to 12 teams began in 2019. The new system finally arrives during the upcoming 2024 season. The next two seasons are expected to be something of a test drive.
MIAMI (AP) — A person with knowledge of the decision tells The Associated Press that former AL batting champion Tim Anderson has agreed to a one-year contact with the Miami Marlins. The deal for the shortstop is pending a physical, the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the deal was not yet announced. The agreement is worth $5 million, according to ESPN. Anderson is Miami’s first big free agent addition of the offseason. The two-time All-Star became a free agent in November after the Chicago White Sox declined a $14 million option, completing a $25 million, six-year contract.
UNDATED (AP) — One National League All-Star right-hander is getting the largest contract ever for a Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher. Another All-Star pitcher is expected to miss the start of the season for the New York Mets. A person with knowledge of the deal tells The Associated Press that Mitch Keller and the Pirates have agreed to a new $77 million, five-year contract. Meanwhile, the Mets are shutting down Kodai Senga because of a shoulder strain. Their All-Star right-hander will likely start the season on the injured list. Senga is going into the second year of a $75 million, five-year deal in New York after pitching 11 seasons in Japan.
PEORIA, Ariz. (AP) — MLB’s new uniform reveal hasn’t gone very well. Now the rampant criticism has moved below the belt. Major League Baseball Players Association deputy executive director Bruce Meyer confirmed on Thursday that the organization is relaying concerns from players to MLB about the new pants, which are somewhat see-through. The complaints — first reported by ESPN — are part of broader scorn for the new uniforms, which are designed by Nike and manufactured by Fanatics. Commissioner Rob Manfred previously said he expects criticism to fade, but that was before the below-the-belt criticisms.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs are signing punter Matt Araiza, who was dropped from a lawsuit in December that had been filed by a woman who alleged she was raped by San Diego State football players in 2021. The signing was announced by Araiza’s agent, Joe Linta, and confirmed a short while later by the Super Bowl champions. The lawsuit filed by the woman came after a party in 2021 in which she claimed Araiza had sex with her in a side yard, then brought her inside a house where a group of men took turns raping her. She agreed to drop Araiza from the lawsuit when prosecutors concluded he was no longer at the party when the alleged raped occurred, and he agreed to drop a defamation countersuit against her.
HOBE SOUND, Fla. (AP) — The 15-year-old son of Tiger Woods had a rough welcome in his first attempt at playing a PGA Tour event. Charlie Woods shot an 86 at a pre-qualifier for the Cognizant Classic. That's one of four pre-qualifiers from which a total of about two dozen players advance to the main Monday qualifier for next week's PGA Tour stop. Woods didn't make a birdie at Lost Lake Golf Club. His round came undone with a 12 on the par-4 seventh hole. The leading score was 65. Woods tied for 110th out of 112 players who turned in a score.
VALLARTA, Mexico (AP) — Erik van Rooyen of South Africa is feeling right at home in Mexico. Van Rooyen began the Mexico Open at Vidanta with a 63 for a one-shot lead over Sami Valimaki of Finland. Van Rooyen is trying to win a PGA Tour title for the second time in four months in Mexico. He won the World Wide Technology Championship last November. Van Rooyen had a pair of eagles at the Vallarta Vidanta course. Among those two behind was Cristobal Del Solar. He shot 57 two weeks ago on the Korn Ferry Tour in Bogota.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Sara Scalia scored 25 points, All-America center Mackenzie Holmes had 24 points and nine rebounds, and No. 14 Indiana frustrated Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark in an 86-69 win over the fourth-ranked Hawkeyes. Playing for the first time since she broke the NCAA women’s career scoring record, Clark finished with 24 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds but struggled from the field. She was 8 of 26 overall and 3 of 16 on 3-pointers while scoring just four points in the second half.
THURSDAY SCORES
TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Final (3)Purdue 96 Rutgers 68
Final (21)Washington St. 77 (4)Arizona 74
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Final Indiana 129 Detroit 115
Final New York 110 Philadelphia 96
Final Toronto 121 Brooklyn 93
Final Orlando 116 Cleveland 109
Final Dallas 123 Phoenix 113
Final Oklahoma City 129 L.A. Clippers 107
Final Boston 129 Chicago 112
Final New Orleans 127 Houston 105
Final Denver 130 Washington 110
Final Charlotte 115 Utah 107
Final Sacramento 127 San Antonio 122
Final Golden State 128 L.A. Lakers 110
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Final Ottawa 4 Dallas 1
Final Pittsburgh 4 Montreal 1
Final Carolina 1 Florida 0
Final OT Detroit 2 Colorado 1
Final Washington 5 Tampa Bay 3
Final N-Y Rangers 5 New Jersey 1
Final St. Louis 4 N-Y Islanders 0
Final OT Calgary 3 Boston 2
Final Toronto 7 Vegas 3
Final Seattle 5 Vancouver 2