AP National Sports

By The Associated Press USC is going for its first 12-win season since 2008 in the Cotton Bowl. The 11-2 Trojans have only lost to one team in coach Lincoln Riley’s first season. Both losses were to Utah, including the Pac-12 championship game. American Athletic Conference champion Tulane is also 11-2 and already has tied

LONDON (AP) — Aston Villa has continued its resurgence under Unai Emery with a hard-fought 2-0 away victory over Tottenham in the Premier League. Emiliano Buendia took advantage of an error by Hugo Lloris in the Spurs goal to open the scoring and Douglas Luiz doubled the advantage to secure a second consecutive away league

By RALPH D. RUSSO AP College Football Writer After the best semifinal day in the nine-year history of the College Football Playoff, the title game will match the defending national champion against the closest thing the sport has had in years to a Cinderella team. It will be No. 1 Georgia (14-0) looking for its

By MAURICIO SAVARESE AP Sports Writer SANTOS, Brazil (AP) — Pelé. Santos, Brazil. Over decades, adoring fans around the world mailed thousands of letters, postcards and packages to the sports legend without his address or full name. Almost without fail, they reached the office of Edson Arantes do Nascimento in the port city he made

ADELAIDE, Australia (AP) — Canada’s Bianca Andreescu has rallied to beat Garbine Muguruza of Spain 0-6, 7-6 (3), 6-1 in a clash of Grand Slam champions in the first round of the Adelaide International. The 2019 US Open champion Andreescu trailed 0-6, 2-5 before staging a remarkable comeback to beat two-time major winner Muguruza in

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Defenseman Mackenzie Weegar scored his first goal with Calgary and added an assist to lead the Flames to a 3-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks. Elias Lindholm and Blake Coleman also scored for Calgary, which has points in 12 of its last 15 games. Sheldon Dries and Elias Pettersson scored for

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Neal Pionk and Kyle Connor each had a goal and an assist as the Winnipeg Jets defeated the Edmonton Oilers 2-1. Connor Hellebuyck made 31 saves for the Jets, who mustered only 17 shots on goal. Klim Kostin scored for the Oilers, who have lost four straight at home. Connor McDavid’s

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Neal Pionk and Kyle Connor each had a goal and an assist as the Winnipeg Jets defeated the Edmonton Oilers 2-1. Connor Hellebuyck made 31 saves for the Jets, who have won two in a row. Klim Kostin scored for the Oilers, who have lost four straight at home. Connor McDavid’s

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Defenseman Mackenzie Weegar scored his first goal with Calgary and added an assist to lead the Flames to a 3-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks. Elias Lindholm and Blake Coleman also scored for Calgary (18-13-7), which has points in 12 of its last 15 games (8-3-4). Sheldon Dries and Elias Pettersson

By RALPH D. RUSSO AP College Football Writer After the best semifinal day in the nine-year history of the College Football Playoff, the title game will match the defending national champion against the closest thing the sport has had in years to a Cinderella team. It will be No. 1 Georgia (14-0) looking for its

By TOM WITHERS AP Sports Writer CLEVELAND (AP) — The Cleveland Cavaliers are betting on betting. The NBA team is set to open a full-service sportsbook inside Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, its downtown home, on Jan. 1 when gambling becomes legal in Ohio. The Cavs are partnering with Caesar’s Sportsbook on the stylish, two-story facility. The

By GEORGE HENRY AP Sports Writer ATLANTA (AP) — Quarterback C.J. Stroud and No. 4 Ohio State came up just short, and this one has to hurt. After dominating No. 1 Georgia for most of the first three quarters, the Buckeyes ended their season early Sunday with a second straight loss. The first one, to

By CHARLES ODUM AP Sports Writer ATLANTA (AP) — Stetson Bennett capped No. 1 Georgia’s comeback from a two-touchdown, fourth-quarter deficit with a 10-yard, last-minute scoring pass to Adonai Mitchell in a 42-41 victory over No. 4 Ohio State for a shot at its second straight national title. The comeback in the College Football Playoff

HONOLULU (AP) — Kamaka Hepa, Jovon McClanahan and Noel Coleman scored 12 points apiece to help the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors beat Cal Poly Mustangs 57-48 Saturday night. Hawaii improved to 11-3 and Cal Poly fell to 7-7.

By BRIAN HALL Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Bojan Bogdanovic scored 28 points, including 17 in the third quarter as Detroit erased a double-digit deficit, and the Pistons got 65 points from their bench in a 116-104 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves. Marvin Bagley Jr. had 18 points and 10 rebounds off the bench for

By TON SELLARS Associated Press OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Joel Embid had 16 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists for his fifth career triple-double and the Philadelphia 76ers never trailed in beating the Oklahoma City Thunder 115-96 on Saturday night. Tobias Harris hit his first seven shots and scored 23 points for Philadelphia. Harris scored

DALLAS (AP) — Fredrik Olofsson’s first NHL goal was the eventual winner as the Dallas Stars beat the San Jose Sharks 5-2. Joe Pavelski had a goal and two assists and Jason Robertson had a goal and an assist for the Stars, who ran their winning streak to a season-best four games. Jake Oettinger, who