As Tulane plays North Texas in the American championship game, here's what to know of Green Wave quarterback Jake Retzlaff:
The college football games to watch on conference championship weekend
The college football regular season is down to one weekend with several matchups that will impact the playoff. We break down the biggest matchups.
How to watch Mississippi vs. No. 23 St. John’s: TV, live stream info, storylines for Saturday’s game
Madison Square Garden will be the site of the nonconference matchup between the Rebels and the Red Storm.
Penn State must hire Matt Campbell to avoid blowing college football coaching carousel
Penn State has had several high-profile misses in its football coaching search but may have stumbled into a great hire in Matt Campbell.
How CFP will be impacted by every conference championship game scenario
There are several scenarios that could play out during conference championship games. We break down all the possibilities and what it means.
How Crumbl Cookies helped BYU keep Kalani Sitake away from Penn State
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Kilmarnock v Rangers: Pick of the stats
- Kilmarnock have lost 12 of their past 14 league meetings with Rangers, although the two exceptions both came at home, 1-0 wins in August 2023 and October 2024.
- None of Rangers' past 11 league visits to Kilmarnock have been drawn, with the Glasgow side winning five and losing six since a 0-0 stalemate in April 2017 under Pedro Caixinha.
- Kilmarnock are winless in eight league games (D2 L6), last going longer without victory in the Scottish Premiership in March 2021 (10).
- Rangers have drawn their past three games in all competitions, last drawing more in a row in March 2015 (5), and last doing so as a top-flight club in November 2005 (4). In the league, the Ibrox side have already drawn eight of their 14 matches in 2025-26, their joint-most ever at this stage of a league campaign, alongside 1978-79.
- Although Rangers rank second-highest for shots per game in the Scottish Premiership this season (15.2, behind Celtic's 16.5), they have the third-lowest shot conversion rate (8.9%), netting 19 times from 213 shots.
Imagining if CFP selection committee chairman told the truth in interviews
Wouldn’t it be better for all of us if a CFP selection committee chairman just told the truth in these interviews, rather than make up stories?
Giants promote Paul Bien, add Curt Casali, Javier Lopez to front office
Giants promote Paul Bien, add Curt Casali, Javier Lopez to front office originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO — When Buster Posey first took over the baseball operations department a year ago, he added two longtime friends — former Giants GM Bobby Evans and former agent Jeff Berry — to help him navigate the new job. As he begins year two, Posey is turning to former teammates, as well.
The Giants announced on Friday that Curt Casali and Javier Lopez have returned to the organization as advisors to the baseball operations department. The bigger move with that department was a notable promotion. Paul Bien has been promoted to assistant general manager after years as the organization’s vice president of baseball analytics.
Bien joined the Giants in 2012, the middle of a three-year title run that Posey and Lopez were huge parts of. He has had a steady rise through the front office over the past decade and is responsible for overseeing the organization’s analytics department. Bien is instrumental in the player-acquisition process and he has sat in on interviews this offseason as the Giants have filled out their coaching staff. Bien joins Jeremy Shelley as assistant general managers to Posey and GM Zack Minasian.
Lopez has been Mike Krukow’s primary backup on the broadcast team in retirement, but he joined Posey, Minasian, Shelley, Bien and others from the front office at the GM Meetings in Las Vegas last month. The left-hander spent seven seasons in San Francisco, winning three titles and the Willie Mac Award.
Lopez still will be involved with NBC Sports Bay Area’s Giants broadcasts.
Casali backed up Posey in 2021 and spent parts of three seasons with the Giants. The popular catcher is viewed within the industry as a potential future manager, much like Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt and Texas Rangers executive Nick Hundley, who at one point was a candidate for the job that went to Tony Vitello. Casali played for the Giants in 2024 and spent this past season in the Cincinnati Reds front office.
The additions give the Giants eight advisors to the front office. In addition to Evans, Berry, Casali and Lopez, the Giants have former managers Bruce Bochy and Dusty Baker, longtime coach Ron Wotus and John Barr, the man who drafted Posey.
Michigan State has big chance against Duke as college basketball weekend headliner
Tom Izzo has Michigan State playing like a top-tier team, and another chance for a big win comes to town with a visit from star-studded Duke.
Edgecombe shows knack for doing ‘whatever it takes' on 1st career game-winner
Edgecombe shows knack for doing ‘whatever it takes' on 1st career game-winner originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
VJ Edgecombe didn’t pause.
For rookies — and for anyone — it’s natural to stop and stare as a crunch-time shot is launched. But the Sixers’ 20-year-old guard saw De’Anthony Melton block Tyrese Maxey’s jumper and reacted first. As is his habit, he knew where to be and was determined to get there.
The result was a first career NBA game-winner, a put-back layup with 0.9 seconds on the clock. Despite blowing a 24-point lead Thursday night to the Warriors, the high-drama Sixers sit at 12-9.
Edgecombe’s vital rebound was no fluke. He’s grabbed 1.9 offensive rebounds per game — second among rookies to 7-foot-1 Hornets center Ryan Kalkbrenner — and has at least one offensive board in 16 of his 18 games.
“I’m athletic,” he said. “Just try to use my athleticism. The shot goes up, people tend to relax. I’m a victim of it. So I know the opportunity is going to present itself for me to grab the board. And like I said, I can jump, so I just try to jump before them, to be honest.”
Maxey sat to Edgecombe’s left at the postgame press conference podium. Instead of being grateful after Edgecombe’s put-back and celebrating a presumed win, he chased down Melton and blocked his layup attempt on the other end at the buzzer.
“Rese probably ran a 4.2 (40-yard dash) or something,” Edgecombe said with a smile.
Maxey enjoyed swatting his good friend and former teammate, who returned Thursday from a torn ACL.
“Honestly, I just didn’t want him to call me in a couple minutes saying he beat us,” Maxey said of Melton. “I’m just happy to see him out there. He was at my house for two, three hours yesterday just chopping it up and talking about life. … I told him I’d give him one jump shot because he was struggling early. I gave him one middie in the third. But I’m just happy that out he was out there, man. It was good to see him. I told him he can’t guard me, so it’s all good.”
While Maxey continued to be a scorching scorer, posting 35 points, Edgecombe’s final box score stats were not sparkling. He chipped in 10 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals, but he committed five turnovers and only played 24 minutes in his third game since returning from a left calf injury.
None of his previous mistakes ever seem to matter in the final moments.
“He’s had some of these games where he just hasn’t done much, and then down the stretch he’ll hit a big three, get a big rebound,” Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said. ”I just thought, ‘Let’s go back with him and maybe he’ll make a play.’ He’s got a nose for the ball and he’s got a nose for what’s going on out there. Even though he’s a rookie, he can make those plays.”
The Sixers had their game-winning chance because Edgecombe stole Pat Spencer’s inbounds pass and called timeout with 8.2 seconds left.
“Just watching basketball, to be honest,” Edgecombe said of his defensive instincts. “I knew how much time they had to inbound the ball and I knew they had no timeouts left. He had to throw the ball somewhere and everyone was just contesting that one little spot. I just dove on the ball.
“It’s more just reading their eyes because people tend to telegraph their passes a lot. So just trying to read their eyes and make a quick play on the ball.”
Edgecombe has shined late in many of the Sixers’ ultra-tight early-season contests.
He’s played 54 minutes in “clutch” situations, which the NBA defines as the final five minutes of games within five points. Edgecombe has shot 10 for 13 from the field and 4 for 6 from three-point range, pulled down 11 rebounds and dished out seven assists.
“I just want to win,” he said. “Whatever it takes for me to do that, I’ll do it. I don’t care about (anything) else.
“If they need me to make a shot, I’m going to make the shot. If they need me to grab a rebound, I’ll grab the rebound. Get a steal, get a stop … I’ll do it. Whatever it takes to win, because winning feels great and losing (doesn’t).”
Rui Borges’s timely Sporting revival built on talent and a lucky charm
The Portuguese credits his loyalty to his trusty Casio watch for helping the head coach lift the Lisbon club after Ruben Amorim’s messy exit
If there is a stoppage in what is sure to be a supercharged Dérbi de Lisboa on Friday, the Sporting head coach, Rui Borges, will likely look down to check the watch he considers a lucky charm.
The black Casio – bought for €20 while still playing for his hometown club Mirandela in north-east Portugal, 150km inland from Porto – is a symbol of his superstitious nature and one he has maintained on his journey from the obscurity of being an amateur coach to making a mark on the biggest stage in club football.
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Cummins to rejoin hosts’ squad for third Test in Adelaide
Josh Hazlewood is racing the clock to play a role in the Ashes series after another injury speed bump on his road back to the bowling crease.
It has been a case of one step forward two steps back for the 34-year-old paceman who had been making positive steps in his return from a hamstring injury, sustained while playing for NSW against Victoria in the Sheffield Shield.
Continue reading...Ex-Warrior Jamal Crawford details Steph Curry's work ethic with classic story
Ex-Warrior Jamal Crawford details Steph Curry's work ethic with classic story originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Stephen Curry is 37 years old and still playing like one of the NBA’s best.And according to Jamal Crawford, the reason behind Curry’s sustained greatness is simple: relentless discipline.
During an appearance on “Dubs Talk” with NBC Sports Bay Area’s Bonta Hill and Monte Poole, Crawford didn’t hesitate when asked what keeps a guard like Curry playing at a high level for so long.
“Doing exactly what he’s doing,” Crawford said. “Shape has no age.”
Crawford knows that better than most. The former guard played in the NBA until he was 42, suiting up for nine teams — including the Warriors during the 2008-09 season — and becoming one of the most respected veterans in the league. He won three Sixth Man of the Year awards, made his name as a legendary ballhandler and, in 2019, became the oldest player in NBA history to score 50-plus points in a game when he dropped 51 for the Phoenix Suns at age 39.
So, when he looks at Curry, he recognizes the work behind the results.
Crawford recalled last year’s NBA All-Star Game, when most players had long hit recovery mode. But not Steph.
“Steph went and did a weight-room workout after an All-Star Game,” Crawford explained. “That kind of consistency, that kind of discipline, is why he is who he is.”
Now in his 17th NBA season after being drafted No. 7 overall in 2009, Curry continues to set the standard for veterans who refuse to slow down.
But Crawford said playing deep into your career isn’t luck — it’s commitment.
“It’s a lifestyle change,” Crawford noted. “You start changing your diet, you start stretching, even if you’re sore, you start foam rolling — ice tub. But you get in a routine.”
That’s why watching Curry continue to evolve and dominate year after year doesn’t surprise him.
“I’m sure Steph has his routine,” Crawford said. “He has the best team around him. And he’s very intentional … Not a lot of wasted motion. He knows how to scale it back, when to ramp it up. He’s in tune and the ultimate professional.”
Coming from someone who defied time for two decades, that’s as high a compliment as Curry can get.