National Sports

By STEPHEN WHYNO – AP Sports Writer LANDOVER, Md. (AP) — Moments after the Washington Commanders finished the 2023 season at 4-13 and locked up the second pick in the draft, Daron Payne was already feeling optimistic about the organization’s long-term future. In fact, the standout defensive tackle was bullish about success coming much quicker.

By The Associated Press The Associated Press national player of the week in women’s basketball for Week 8 of the season: JuJu Watkins, Southern California The sophomore guard had another stellar effort in a win over Michigan on Sunday, scoring 31 points with seven assists, five rebounds and three steals. She was also 13 of

By The Associated Press The Associated Press national player of the week in men’s college basketball for Week 8 of the season: Zakai Zeigler, Tennessee Zeigler had quite a game in the top-ranked Vols’ only game last week. The 5-foot-9 guard had 17 points, 15 rebounds and four rebounds in Tennessee’s 82-64 win over Middle

By The Associated Press No. 6 Ohio State (11-2, CFP No. 8 seed) vs. No. 1 Oregon (13-0, CFP No. 1 seed), Wednesday, 5 p.m. EST (ESPN) BetMGM College Football Odds: Ohio State by 2 1/2. Series record: Ohio State leads 9-2. What’s at stake? The oldest bowl game will decide a berth in the

By AP CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) — Quarterback Cade Klubnik, who led Clemson’s surprise run to the Atlantic Coast Conference championship and College Football Playoff, will return for a fourth and final season with the Tigers rather than declare for the NFL draft. Klubnik, who announced his decision on social media Monday night, recently finished his

By The Associated Press No. 2 Georgia (11-2, CFP No. 2 seed) vs. No. 3 Notre Dame (12-1, CFP No. 5 seed), Wednesday, 8:45 p.m. EST (ESPN) BetMGM College Football Odds: Georgia by 1 1/2. Series record: Georgia leads 3-0. What’s at stake? The winner moves on to a College Football Playoff semifinal at the

By TIM REYNOLDS – AP Sports Writer CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — Miami parted ways with defensive coordinator Lance Guidry on Tuesday, after the Hurricanes failed to make the College Football Playoff and allowed 42 points in each of their final two games of the season. The Hurricanes had gone 50-0 in games since the

By RAF CASERT – Associated Press GHENT, Belgium (AP) — Finally coming to a halt on Tuesday — the last day of 2024 — Belgian ultra runner Hilde Dosogne felt she had done all to take the world record as the first woman to run a marathon every single day of the year. Weary but

By DOUG FERGUSON – AP Golf Writer Encores are never easy in golf, and that’s particularly true for Scottie Scheffler. For starters, he can’t win another Olympic gold medal until 2028 in Los Angeles, though getting his hands on a 17-inch gold Ryder Cup trophy might suffice. Winning another Masters, or any major, is not

By AP LONDON (AP) — West Ham captain Jarrod Bowen will be sidelined indefinitely with a fractured left foot, the club said on Tuesday. Bowen suffered the injury during Sunday’s 5-0 loss to Premier League leader Liverpool and was substituted in the second half. “The injury to his left foot, picked up in the first

By The Associated Press Jan. 1 1902 — Michigan beats Stanford 49-0 in the first Rose Bowl. Neil Snow scores four touchdowns in a game that ends with eight minutes to play. The Wolverines earned the nickname as the “Point a Minute” team, having scored 501 points in their ten games. The next Rose Bowl

By The Associated Press PGA Tour THE SENTRY Site: Kapalua, Hawaii. Course: Plantation Course at Kapalua. Yardage: 7,596. Par: 73. Purse: $20 million. Winner’s share: $3.6 million. Television: Thursday-Friday, 6-10 p.m. (Golf Channel); Friday-Saturday, 4-6 p.m. (NBC), 6-8 p.m. (Golf Channel). Defending champion: Chris Kirk. FedEx Cup champion: Scottie Scheffler. Last tournament: Maverick McNealy won

By AP AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Johni Broome had 14 points and 11 rebounds, Dylan Cardwell had 12 points and 11 rebounds and No. 2 Auburn overcame a slow start to beat Monmouth 87-58. After an eight-day break between games, Auburn (12-1) struggled early and trailed Monmouth (2-11) for nearly seven minutes in the first half.

By AP TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Six former Florida State basketball players are suing Seminoles coach Leonard Hamilton and alleging he failed to make good on a promise to get each of them $250,000 in name, image and likeness compensation. Darin Green Jr., De’Ante Green, Cam’Ron Fletcher, Josh Nickelberry, Primo Spears and Jalen Warley filed

By AP GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Boise State has taken that long-awaited next step, earning a spot in the College Football Playoff for the first time, 17 years after a program-shifting win. Awaiting the No. 8 Broncos in the desert is another team that made a breakthrough. No. 5 Penn State also is in its

By AP BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Curtis Jones scored 20 points, Keshon Gilbert had 14 and No. 3 Iowa State opened Big 12 Conference play with a 79-69 win over Colorado. The Cyclones (11-1) have won eight in a row, two over Colorado. Julian Hammond III had 21 points and RJ Smith scored 14 for

By AP LONDON (AP) — Wayne Rooney was fired as Plymouth Argyle coach on Tuesday after just seven months in charge of the struggling Championship team. The 39-year-old former England and Manchester United striker was hired in May and departs with Plymouth last in the English second tier with four wins in 23 games this

By ARNIE STAPLETON – AP Pro Football Writer DENVER (AP) — Count coach Sean Payton among those second-guessing his decision to go for the tie and not the win at the end of regulation in Cincinnati last weekend. “Oh, certainly. You go through it all the time relative to what the call would have been,”

By DAN GREENSPAN – Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jeremiah Smith isn’t just the next great Ohio State wide receiver. “He’ll probably be the best receiver to come through here,” Buckeyes cornerback Denzel Burke said. “He’s already on that verge, so really happy for him.” Smith is certainly on that trajectory after smashing Cris

By DOUG FEINBERG – AP Basketball Writer Rutgers coach Coquese Washington has seen the Big Ten grow over the years, from her time leading Penn State to now being in charge of the Scarlet Knights. Her team is going through a rough part of the conference schedule with three straight games against top-10 opponents, including

By AP BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — If Nick Kyrgios was attempting to prove his match fitness after 18 months off the tour due to wrist and knee injuries, he did a good job on Tuesday, albeit in a losing cause at the Brisbane International. In a match that lasted 2 hours, 27 minutes at Pat

By JOHN MARSHALL – AP Basketball Writer Coming off a quiet stretch in the schedule, the college basketball season kicks into full gear this week, highlighted by a super Saturday with four games between ranked teams. It starts with top-ranked Tennessee hosting No. 23 Arkansas. The Vols have held the No. 1 spot in the

By ERIC HE – Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — De’Aaron Fox scored 33 points, and the Sacramento Kings beat the short-handed Dallas Mavericks 110-100 on Monday night to give Doug Christie his first win as the interim head coach after the Kings fired Mike Brown last week. The Kings went on a 17-2 run

By ERIC HE – Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Doug Christie took over as the interim head coach of the Sacramento Kings amid a season-long losing streak, fans booing the team off their home court and questions surrounding the decision to fire Mike Brown, who led the franchise to its first playoff appearance in

By AP PERTH, Australia (AP) — The top-seeded pair of Coco Gauff and U.S. Open finalist Taylor Fritz of the United States are into the United Cup mixed teams tennis quarterfinals. Fritz beat Borna Coric 6-3, 6-2 Tuesday as the American team needed to win only one match to top Group A. For good measure,

By JOSH DUBOW – AP Pro Football Writer SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The big prizes for the Detroit Lions remain on the horizon, with the team seeking a division title, the top seed in the NFC playoffs and the franchise’s first Super Bowl trip. With almost nothing at stake in a rematch of last

By JOSH DUBOW – AP Pro Football Writer SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Brock Purdy hurt his surgically repaired throwing elbow late in a loss to the Detroit Lions on Monday night, the latest blow in an injury-plagued season for the San Francisco 49ers. The injury came in the final two minutes of a 40-34

By The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Josh Hart had 23 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists for his third triple-double of the season, Karl-Anthony Towns had 32 points and 13 rebounds, and the New York Knicks beat the Washington Wizards 126-106 on Monday night for their eighth straight victory. It was the second game

By AP SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Malik Thomas scored 34 points and Carlton Linguard Jr. had a go-ahead layup with 55 seconds left in overtime as San Francisco held off Santa Clara 97-94 on Monday night. Thomas made 9 of 21 shots with four 3-pointers and all 12 of his free throws for the Dons

By GIDEON RUBIN – Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Darius Garland scored 25 points, Donovan Mitchell scored 23 and the Cleveland Cavaliers extended their winning streak to seven games with a 113-95 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Monday night. Dean Wade had 10 points and 13 rebounds for Cleveland, and Jarrett Allen