Sports

7:00 AM ET This whole season went pretty much how we expected, right? AP preseason No. 1 Alabama is in the College Football Playoff, as is Georgia, who was No. 5. And then there’s … Michigan and Cincinnati. OK, so Cincy was No. 8 at the start of the season. Michigan was unranked. And that’s

1:43 AM ET Associated Press LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. — Slow Down Andy upset heavily favored Messier by a length to win the $300,000 Los Alamitos Futurity on Saturday, snapping trainer Bob Baffert’s seven-year winning streak in the race for 2-year-olds. Ridden by Mario Gutierrez, Slow Down Andy ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:42.33. The son

7:01 AM ET Sidney Crosby hears a lot on the ice during an NHL game. Cheers and jeers. The cacophony of trash talk, interrupted by a few goal horns. But as the years have passed, Crosby’s started to hear something else: Opponents openly confessing that they had the Pittsburgh Penguins star hanging on their bedroom

10:44 AM ET PORTLAND, Ore. — On a rainy Thursday at Providence Park, the Portland Timbers‘ home venue has all the trappings of base camp on Mount Everest. Shelters have been constructed. Sleeping bags and blankets are everywhere. Propane canisters and space heaters provide little additional warmth against the December chill. Adult beverages are expected

8:00 AM ET Mark Fainaru-Wada Close ESPN Staff Writer Investigative reporter for ESPN’s Enterprise and Investigative Unit since 2007 Co-author of New York Times best-selling books “League of Denial” and “Game of Shadows” Co-winner, 2004 George Polk Award T.J. Quinn Close ESPN Staff Writer T.J. Quinn joined ESPN in November 2007 as an investigative reporter

1:33 PM GMT France scrum-half Antoine Dupont has been named World Rugby Men’s Player of the Year, it was announced on Friday, beating out Australia’s Michael Hooper and Samu Kerevi, as well as England’s Mauro Itoje, to the award. The 25-year-old enjoyed a stunning year, notably completing a superb European Champions Cup and Top 14

2:10 PM ET Khabib Nurmagomedov‘s MMA promotion has its first United States main event. Tyrone Spong and Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva will headline Eagle FC 44 on Jan. 28 in Miami, officials told ESPN on Monday. The three-round heavyweight bout will mark Spong’s return to MMA after eight years. Spong is a world-class kickboxer and an

7:25 AM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Former lightweight champion Vasiliy Lomachenko returns to the ring for his second fight of 2021, as he faces Richard Commey in the main event of a Top Rank boxing card at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Saturday (5:30 p.m. ET, ESPN/ESPN+). Lomachenko (15-2, 11 KOs), of Ukraine, hoped to

11:09 AM ET Associated Press LONDON — Irish jockey Robbie Dunne was given an 18-month suspension on Thursday after being found guilty of bullying and harassing female rider Bryony Frost in a disciplinary case that highlighted a weighing-room culture described as “not conducive to the development of modern-day race-riding.” Dunne was found in breach on

7:14 AM ET Associated Press NASCAR veteran Landon Cassill will drive for Kaulig Racing in the Xfinity Series in 2022 and is bringing sponsor Voyager Digital with him, which will again pay him entirely in cryptocurrency. Cassill, who has been avid in the the market for several years, pitched NASCAR sponsorship to Voyager CEO Steve

12:28 PM ET Tiger Woods said Wednesday he will play with his 12-year-old son, Charlie, next week in the PNC Championship. “Although it’s been a long and challenging year, I am very excited to close it out by competing in the PNC Championship with my son Charlie,” Woods tweeted. “I’m playing as a Dad and

10:56 AM ET Any unvaccinated NBA player with temporary visa status who leaves the country will be unable to reenter the United States, according to a memo obtained by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Tuesday. For example, a player who is not vaccinated against COVID-19 would be unable to reenter the United States after playing in

9:06 PM ET Associated Press LAUSANNE, Switzerland — After five weeks of concern about the safety of tennis player Peng Shuai in China, the International Olympic Committee said Tuesday it cannot give any certainties about her case. The IOC’s two video calls with the Grand Slam doubles champion are the only reported contacts Peng has

8:32 PM ET Associated Press CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The GMS Racing majority purchase of Richard Petty Motorsports will be called Petty GMS Motorsports going into next season and NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty will be chairman of the new two-car Cup Series team. Petty GMS Motorsports revealed its plans for 2022 at the NASCAR

11:15 PM ET Those of us in the word business are running out of ways to say that the AFC playoff picture is complete chaos. There are teams near the top that have a decent chance to fall out of the race entirely, and there are teams outside the top seven that could still wind

3:00 PM ET College football bowl season is almost here. There will be 44 bowl games, including the College Football Playoff and the national championship games, beginning Friday, Dec. 17, and ending on Monday, Jan. 10. Here’s a look at all of this season’s games. (All times Eastern) Bowl schedule Go perfect in your bowl

12:48 PM ET Medina Spirit, the Thoroughbred who won the 2021 Kentucky Derby under suspicious circumstances, has died according to Dr. Jeff Blea, the California Horse Racing Board’s equine medical director. The 3-year-old racehorse collapsed after a workout at Santa Anita Park on Monday morning during which he completed five furlongs. It was his second

7:00 AM ET ESPN staff The first game of the 2022 Winter Olympics men’s hockey tournament is scheduled for Feb. 9. It’s still not certain that NHL players will be competing in the Beijing Games. Here’s a look at the issues, concerns and challenges facing the NHL and the players just two months away from

7:00 AM ET As much as it might feel like it, the baseball world has not completely shut down. While the thrilling rush of free-agent signings and trades from the past few days will cease for now because of the lockout, there is a lot of baseball business still to be conducted. One of the

12:29 PM ET Caitlin Murray There have been underdog teams in the 2021 MLS Cup playoffs, and then there is Real Salt Lake. You’d be forgiven if you didn’t predict they’d get this far — please forgive us, Utahans. To call RSL’s path to the MLS Western Conference final on Saturday a bumpy one would

9:24 PM ET Associated Press Urine testing of Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit has shown that a steroid present in the colt’s system came from a topical ointment and not an injection, according to an attorney for trainer Bob Baffert. Medina Spirit tested positive for the steroid betamethasone after winning the May 1 race and

3:34 PM ET The UFC is finalizing a middleweight bout between Jack Hermansson and Sean Strickland to headline an event in February, sources told ESPN on Friday. Contracts have not yet been signed for the 185-pound contest that will serve as the main event at UFC Fight Night on Feb. 5, but they should be

11:09 AM GMT England will begin their quest for a fourth consecutive Women’s Six Nations title away at Scotland on March 26 after the fixtures for next year’s competition were announced on Thursday. The 2022 edition, returning to its traditional format after COVID-19 enforced changes this year, will take place in a six-week window in

7:47 PM ET Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Chase Elliott held on to one of his NASCAR titles Thursday night when fans voted him most popular driver for the fourth consecutive year. Elliott was both the reigning Cup champion and most popular driver this season, but he was ultimately beaten by new Hendrick Motorsports teammate

7:48 AM ET Mike CoppingerESPN George Kambosos Jr.’s victory over Teofimo Lopez shook up the lightweight division in ways few could have anticipated, setting the stage for a scintillating stretch of fights in one of boxing’s deepest divisions. Now that Kambosos stands as the guy at 135 pounds, the hierarchy looks drastically different than it

2:41 PM ET Associated Press The head of the women’s professional tennis tour announced Wednesday that all WTA tournaments would be suspended in China because of concerns about the safety of Peng Shuai, a Grand Slam doubles champion who accused a former high-ranking government official in that country of sexual assault. Peng dropped out of

3:20 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN Miami Heat All-Star center Bam Adebayo will undergo surgery to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb, the team announced Wednesday. Sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski that Adebayo is expected to be out for four to six weeks, which would cause him to miss between 15 to

2:26 PM ET Tiger Woods offered hope of a return but also a sobering assessment of his situation in his first interviews since a serious car crash in February. Speaking at his first news conference Tuesday, a day after a lengthy video conversation with Golf Digest was released, Woods expressed gratitude for being alive and

7:02 AM ET The most exciting weekend of what was perhaps the greatest season in recent college football history brought us to this: 10 conference championship games that will decide as many as three spots in the College Football Playoff. If we can assume No. 1 Georgia will make the playoffs whether it wins or

6:00 AM ET KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Minnesota Vikings are like a lot of NFL teams in 2021 in that their game days have been stressful. They’ve just taken it to an extreme. The Vikings beat the Seattle Seahawks 30-17 in Week 3, but their other 10 games have been settled by one score,

3:19 PM ET After an offseason in which ardent New York Mets fans had been injected by rare optimism, New York’s 2021 season flamed out in epic fashion and was riddled by chaos throughout. The ensuing weeks provided a snapshot of the fallout — the game’s brightest minds rejecting overtures to lead their baseball operations

7:00 AM ET The Montreal Canadiens‘ encore to their Stanley Cup Final appearance last season has been an abject disaster, as they have a 6-15-2 record. With general manager Marc Bergevin in the last year of his contract having not signed an extension, it felt like a regime change was coming. Did it ever arrive

8:09 PM ET Benfica‘s Primeira Liga match at Belenenses on Saturday was abandoned amid extraordinary scenes after their COVID-hit opponents were forced to name a team of nine players, including two goalkeepers. Benfica took advantage of their numerical superiority to rack up seven goals by half-time before Belenenses returned with only seven players for the