AP National Sports

By JOHN MARSHALL AP Basketball Writer The Pac-12 enters a new season buoyed by the league’s accomplishments in the 2021 NCAA Tournament. The conference turned heads with three teams reaching the Elite Eight and UCLA playing in the Final Four. Now it’s time to take that next step and consistently do well in March. The

By GENE CHAMBERLAIN Associated Press LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) — Chicago Bears rookie quarterback Justin Fields is getting his first taste of the rivalry against the Green Bay Packers, a lopsided one since Aaron Rodgers became a starter, and it’s not a new situation for him considering Fields played in the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry. Fields’

By KYLE HIGHTOWER AP Sports Writer FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — When the Patriots have been good on defense, it has usually meant they’ve gotten good play at linebacker. It’s true again this season with offseason addition Matt Judon thriving in his first season in New England while leading the team with 6 1/2 sacks. He

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Tampa Bay Rays minor league pitcher David Hess says he is starting chemotherapy to treat a cancerous tumor in his chest. Hess tweeted Wednesday that he went to an emergency room about a week ago after experiencing chest tightness and shortness of breath. The 28-year-old Triple-A right-hander said scans and

By STEVE MEGARGEE AP Sports Writer MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin running back Braelon Allen doesn’t look like a typical 17-year-old. He doesn’t play like one, either. Allen graduated from high school early to begin his college football career this fall. He’s still getting accustomed to playing offense on a full-time basis after most colleges

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter shook up his lineup, inserting goalkeeper Zack Steffen among nine changes to the starting 11 for a World Cup qualifier against Costa Rica. Chris Richards was given his first competitive start as the Americans fielded their youngest lineup in a World Cup qualifier, averaging 22 years, 229

By DAVE CAMPBELL AP Pro Football Writer EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota head coach Mike Zimmer gave his offensive staff an early homework assignment before the bye week. Coaches began dissecting why the Vikings have been frequently stalled after halftime. They’re trying to prevent a troubling pattern from becoming a trend. The Vikings have only

By AARON BEARD AP Basketball Writer CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The Atlantic Coast Conference women’s basketball race is headlined by contenders filled with experienced talent. Two-time reigning ACC Tournament champion North Carolina State returns its top eight scorers. Louisville returns multiple starters. Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech and Florida State return nearly their entire rosters after

By MARK LONG AP Pro Football Writer JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Urban Meyer is undefeated overseas. Meyer was Notre Dame’s receivers coach in 1996 when the Fighting Irish played Navy in Dublin, Ireland. Notre Dame won 54-27. Twenty-five years later, Meyer will try to get to 2-0 when his winless Jacksonville Jaguars play a home

By The Associated Press Sooner than many baseball fans wanted, maybe, but the San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers will meet in a winner-take-all Game 5 of the NL Division Series at Oracle Park. Logan Webb, who was dominant in winning the opener for the Giants, faces Julio Urías, who led the majors

By STEPHEN HAWKINS AP Sports Writer BYU’s game at Baylor has been on the schedule for more than five years. Nobody knew then or even before this season that this week’s trip to Texas would be a sneak peek of their new conference for the 19th-ranked Cougars. They have played as a football independent since

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer The Western Conference has the best regular season team from last year in Utah. The West champion Phoenix Suns are primed for another run. But the team to catch might be the Los Angeles Lakers. LeBron James and Anthony Davis now have tons of proven players alongside them like

By TERESA M. WALKER AP Pro Football Writer NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Titans wide receiver Julio Jones returned to practice Wednesday after missing the past two games with an injured hamstring. Both Jones and A.J. Brown practiced during the portion open to reporters. Jones ran well during the individual drills. Brown returned last week in

By The Associated Press Jon Gruden is being dropped from the Madden NFL 22 video game after he resigned as coach of the Las Vegas Raiders because it was reported that he used racist, homophobic and misogynistic language in emails. EA Sports tweeted Wednesday that it was “taking steps to remove” Gruden from the latest

By WILL GRAVES AP Sports Writer PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Steelers are preparing for life without wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster. The popular Smith-Schuster is out for the season after injuring his right shoulder in a win over Denver last weekend. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger says no single player can replace Smith-Schuster, adding it will take

By EDDIE PELLS AP National Writer DENVER (AP) — Olympic sports organizations will look into co-hosting championship events with the NCAA as a way of preventing the U.S. gold-medal pipeline from withering under financial pressure. The hosting partnerships were one of seven recommendations the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee released after several months of meetings

By ARNIE STAPLETON AP Pro Football Writer ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — He was hailed as a hero by his offensive coordinator, but Broncos guard Graham Glasgow says he’ll head straight for the sideline the next time his heart feels like it’s about to pound right out of his chest during a game. The veteran right

By ANDREW SELIGMAN AP Sports Writer CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago White Sox are shifting focus toward next season after they were eliminated in convincing fashion by Houston in an AL Division Series. Another early exit wasn’t what they envisioned. The White Sox thought they were in position to make a run in October with

NEW YORK (AP) — ESPN has signed a five-year agreement with the NFL to broadcast the Monday night game during the first weekend of the playoffs, beginning this season. The announcement was made by ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro at the CAA World Congress of Sport. The NFL announced last month that it was moving the

By ROB MAADDI AP Pro Football Writer TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Tom Brady remembers the losses. As Tampa Bay prepared to face the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday night, Brady pointed out a few times this week that the Buccaneers lost on short rest last season. That was when Brady forgot the number of downs at