AP National Sports

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer MIAMI (AP) — The NBA is welcoming their fans back with hopes everyone plays by the rules again. The league is expecting full arenas when the season starts next week. Keeping fans, players and coaches safe remains an utmost priority. Mindful of high-profile incidents of unruly fan behavior in

PARIS (AP) — Next year’s Tour de France will see the return of the Paris-Roubaix cobblestones and take the peloton to the summit of the famed Alpe d’Huez mountain. The route features two individual time trials and six mountain stages with five summit finishes and seems designed for complete riders such as two-time champion Tadej

By The Associated Press The 123rd meeting between AFC West rivals Las Vegas and Denver pits two teams who are evenly matched. Both the Raiders and Broncos started out 3-0 but have lost two in a row. The difference is the upheaval the Raiders are going through following the resignation of Jon Gruden over old

By The Associated Press Second-ranked Iowa will go for its 13th straight victory when Purdue visits Kinnick Stadium on Saturday. The Hawkeyes have their highest ranking since 1985 and are coming off a 23-20 come-from-behind win over top-10 Penn State. Purdue has won three of the last four meetings with Iowa. The Boilermakers have the

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Brady Tkachuk and the Ottawa Senators agreed to a seven-year, $57.5 million contract Thursday. The Senators made the announcement in the morning, hours before Ottawa’s home opener against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The 22-year-old Tkachuk was a restricted free agent. He missed the preseason and was not available to play Thursday

NEW YORK (AP) — Olympians Allyson Felix and Jordan Larson were honored as Sportswomen of the Year by the Women’s Sports Foundation. Felix won two medals at the Tokyo Games — giving her 11 in her career — to surpass Carl Lewis as the most decorated American in Olympic track and field history. Larson led

By The Associated Press Newly crowned as the nation’s No. 1 team, Georgia faces an SEC East showdown against surprising Kentucky. The No.11 Wildcats are off to their first 6-0 start since 1950, but they’re huge underdogs against a Georgia team that has surrendered only two defensive touchdowns all season. The Bulldogs were a unanimous

By The Associated Press The Chicago Bears can tie Aaron Rodgers and the Packers for the NFC North lead if they beat Green Bay at Soldier Field on Sunday. The Packers have won 19 of their past 22 meetings counting the playoffs. Green Bay is 21-5 against the Bears in games Rodgers has started. In

By The Associated Press The Minnesota Vikings are expected to throw all sorts of pressure on Carolina Panthers quarterback Sam Darnold on Sunday as they seek their second straight win. Darnold has been the fourth-most sacked quarterback in the league and has been under heavy duress playing behind an offensive line that has struggled. Darnold

By The Associated Press Ninth-ranked Oregon had a bye week heading into Friday night’s game against California. The Ducks’ last outing was an overtime loss at Stanford that dealt a blow to Oregon’s hopes for a spot in the playoffs and added some pressure to win out. But they’ll have to do it without top

By The Associated Press The Pittsburgh Steelers will try to build momentum on Sunday night against Seattle. Pittsburgh is coming off a 27-19 win over Denver but will have to move forward without wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster. Smith-Schuster is out for the season after injuring his right shoulder against the Broncos. Seattle will play without

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Manchester City forward Ferran Torres has broken a bone in his right foot and it potentially rules him out of Spain’s crucial World Cup qualifiers next month. City says the injury was a “small fracture” and happened while Torres was on international duty. He played for Spain in the Nations League

By The Associated Press The Cincinnati Bengals and Detroit Lions have at least one thing in common. Both the Bengals and the Lions lost last week on a game-ending field goal. Mason Crosby lifted Green Bay to a win in OT with a 49-yard kick after he and Cincinnati’s Evan McPherson combined to miss six

By The Associated Press The Los Angeles Rams will go for their third win over the Giants in the last five years when they meet at MetLife Stadium on Sunday. The Rams are 4-1 entering the game and are 2-0 on the road. The Giants are struggling for the fifth straight year. They are 1-4

By The Associated Press Penn State coach James Franklin denies any of his defensive players pretended to be injured during the Iowa game. Franklin detailed each one who went down during a 12-minute session with reporters in response to Hawkeyes coach Kirk Ferentz, who indicated he was suspicious of some of the stoppages in play.

By The Associated Press The Kansas City Chiefs have not lost to Washington since 1983. That was the season after Washington won the first of three Super Bowl titles and before now-coach Ron Rivera made his NFL debut as a player. The Chiefs have won the past seven meetings. This is the first time these

By JENNA FRYER AP Auto Racing Writer CONCORD, N.C. (AP) — Tony Stewart is entering NHRA drag racing next season with a two-car team that will feature his fiancée Leah Pruett in Top Fuel and Matt Hagan in Funny Car. Stewart fell in love with drag racing while attending events with Pruett the last two

By RALPH D. RUSSO AP College Football Writer Ohio State has righted itself after an early loss to Oregon by winning four straight games in mostly blowout fashion. On the latest AP Top 25 Podcast presented by Regions Bank, Buckeyes coach Ryan Day talks about striking a balance between the urgency of high expectations and

By DAVE SKRETTA AP Sports Writer KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Just when the Kansas City Chiefs finally got their ground game going, they watched as Clyde Edwards-Helaire was helped off the field with a knee injury. It wound up being a sprained knee ligament that landed Edwards-Helaire on the injured reserve list 48 hours