The James Madison Dukes are rooting for Duke. Tulane is riding a wave straight into the bigtime. Alabama needs to take care of business. Notre Dame and Miami can only sit back, wait and hope. Saturday’s slate of conference title games will set the stage for the last debate among members of the College Football Playoff selection committee, who will release the bracket for the 12-team tournament Sunday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Perhaps it's fitting that after the World Cup draw ceremony began, it took about 90 minutes for the actual drawing of teams to begin in earnest. By then, casual fans who tuned in out of curiosity had learned that FIFA doesn’t really do understatement. Not for an event like this, at least. The president of the United States danced to the Village People, Wayne Gretzky struggled to pronounce the names of underdog soccer nations from Europe and the Caribbean — and the head of FIFA declared his governing body to be humanity’s official provider of happiness. It was all quite a spectacle.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Argentina and Lionel Messi will play Algeria to open their World Cup title defense as part of a group that also includes Austria. The United States was drawn to start against Paraguay at Inglewood, California, on June 12. That's a day after Mexico hosts the opener against South Africa. The U.S. reached the semifinals at the inaugural World Cup in 1930 and has gotten as far as the quarterfinals only one other time, in 2002. U.S. President Donald Trump, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney drew plastic balls representing their own countries from bowls during a ceremony at the Kennedy Center in Washington.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Tyler Adams has set a bold goal for the U.S. soccer team, aiming to reach the World Cup semifinals for the first time since 1930. The U.S. team, ranked 14th, will start Group D against Paraguay on June 12 in Inglewood, California. The Americans will then face Australia in Seattle six days later and conclude group play on June 25 against the winner of playoffs among Turkey, Slovakia, Romania and Kosovo. Defender Tim Ream emphasizes the team's desire to win the World Cup. Coach Mauricio Pochettino highlights the importance of choosing the right players to build a strong team.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Michael Jordan has testified in a landmark NASCAR antitrust case, stating he felt compelled to sue to force changes in a business model he believes shortchanges teams and drivers. Jordan, co-owner of 23XI, joined Front Row Motorsports in the lawsuit against NASCAR. He aargued for a more equitable revenue split similar to the NBA. Heather Gibbs, co-owner of Joe Gibbs Racing, also testified, highlighting the pressure teams face under the current system.
ROME (AP) — Olympic swimming champion Gregorio Paltrinieri started off the torch relay for the Milan Cortina Winter Games on Saturday marking exactly two months before the Feb. 6 opening ceremony. Paltrinieri carried the torch around the track of the statue-lined Stadio dei Marmi at the Foro Italico to begin a trek covering 12,000 kilometers that will wind its way through Italy before reaching Milan’s San Siro Stadium for the opening ceremony. In all, there will be 10,001 torch bearers. Also due to carry the torch Saturday were tennis player Matteo Berrettini, retired NBA player Andrea Bargnani and former motorcycle racer Max Biaggi.
Arsenal’s Premier League title challenge was hit after Emiliano Buendia struck in stoppage-time to seal a 2-1 win for Aston Villa. Villa cut the gap to first-place Arsenal to three points and gave Manchester City the chance to close in on Mikel Arteta’s team. Buendia fired into the roof of the net in the fifth minute of added time at Villa Park to leave the visitors stunned. It was the third time in succession that Arsenal has dropped points away from home after recent draws with Sunderland and Chelsea. Those results have opened the door to rivals like City and Villa to put pressure on at the top.
ROME (AP) — Construction on the main hockey arena is still not finished. Spectator and media areas at the controversial sliding venue also need to be completed. And with exactly two months to go to the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics there is another major area that local organizers are concentrating on. Only slightly more than half of the 1.5 million tickets for the games have been sold. As the torch relay began in Rome just over 850,000 tickets had been sold. Interest among Italians remains low. Local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier tells The Associated Press “that’s normal” and that “local fans get interested closer” to the games and the torch relay should help raise interest.
Matt Campbell has been hired as Penn State’s football coach. The announcement Friday night marks the end of a long search by the Nittany Lions to find James Franklin's successor. The 46-year-old Campbell heads to Happy Valley after going 72-55 in 10 seasons at Iowa State to become the winningest coach in the history of that program. Campbell's contract could be approved as early as Monday by a university committee, after which he is expected to be introduced. Penn State athletic director Pat Kraft calls Campbell “the right leader at the right time for Penn State football.”
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The 18th-ranked Kentucky Wildcats have lost back-to-back games and three of their last five. Worse, they are struggling to shoot. Panic is bubbling up in the Bluegrass State. Fans booed the Wildcats off the court at halftime Friday night and headed to the exits before Kentucky’s miserable and ugly 94-59 loss to No. 11 Gonzaga. The Wildcats now are 5-4. Onetime Kentucky one-and-done star DeMarcus Cousins didn’t hold back on his opinion on social media saying this team has no hard and is hard to watch. Kentucky coach Mark Pope took no issue issue with Cousins’ opinion. He said the Wildcats have to dig themselves out of a bad spot.
Finals
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Final Vegas 3 New Jersey 0
Final Winnipeg 4 Buffalo 1
Final Dallas 4 San Jose 1
Final Utah 4 Vancouver 1
Final SO Anaheim 4 Washington 3
TOP-25 COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Final (21)Tulane 34 (20)North Texas 21
Final (19)James Madison 31 Troy 14
TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Final (5)UConn 83 East Texas A&M 59
Final (11)Gonzaga 94 (18)Kentucky 59