U.S./World Sports category, Page 116

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — A day before facing off in the College Football Playoff, TCU’s Sonny Dykes and Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh talked fondly about the fathers they followed into coaching and a time when they might have shared more than a stage for one final pregame press conference. Dykes recalled returning...

NEW YORK — Aaron Judge has always stood out. With the imposing size and muscular frame of an NFL tight end or NBA power forward, the 6-foot-7, 282-pound New York Yankees slugger towers over teammates and opponents on the diamond. Never more so than in 2022. After hitting 62 home...

NEW YORK — Pelé was remembered for a life beyond the field, for transcending the sport of soccer and becoming perhaps the most well-known person on Earth. “Before Pelé, ‘10′ was just a number,” current Brazil forward Neymar wrote following the soccer great’s death Thursday at the age of 82....

SAN ANTONIO — Michael Penix, Jr. threw for 287 yards and two touchdowns and No. 12 Washington held off No. 21 Texas, 27-20, on Thursday night in the Valero Alamo Bowl. Texas scored 10 late points, pulling within seven on Bert Auburn’s 26-yard field goal with 1:40 remaining, then failed...

MIAMI — It was 2006. LeBron James wasn’t even midway through his first stint in Cleveland. He made the playoffs for the first time, was already a globally recognized star and well on his way to becoming the game’s best player. As a 21-year-old, he averaged 30.2 points. Fast forward...

HOUSTON — Tyler Shough threw for 242 yards and a touchdown and ran for two more scores as Texas Tech took advantage of three early turnovers to build a big lead and held on for a 42-25 win over Ole Miss in the Texas Bowl on Wednesday night. Shough, who...

SAN DIEGO — Bo Nix threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Chase Cota on fourth down with 19 seconds left and Camden Lewis’ PAT bounced off the left upright and went through to give No. 15 Oregon a wild 28-27 victory against North Carolina in the Holiday Bowl on Wednesday...

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Arkansas coach Sam Pittman admitted was exhausted after more than four hours of football. Who could blame him? KJ Jefferson passed to Rashod Dubinion for a 2-point conversion in the third overtime and Arkansas held off a furious second-half rally by Kansas for a 55-53 win in...

South Carolina coach Dawn Staley has been around women’s basketball long enough to see the growing pains of a young WNBA league gradually shifting to increased interest in the sport at all levels. “We probably are bursting at the seams for the people that are decision-makers in our game to...

PHOENIX — Wisconsin had a new coach on the sideline, with the interim coach still calling the shots. The Badgers had several new players in key positions, including quarterback. A long, sometimes-difficult season came to a conclusion with more adversity — and, eventually, a win. A 17-point lead nearly erased,...

A change of scenery worked out just fine for Katie Ledecky. Shifting coasts and coaches after last summer’s Tokyo Olympics, the American swimmer turned in another stellar performance at the world championships, set a pair of world records and capped 2022 as The Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year,...

BIRMINGHAM, Ala — Holton Ahlers threw a Birmingham Bowl-record five touchdown passes and accounted for a game-record six TDs to help East Carolina beat Coastal Carolina, 53-29, in the TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl at Protective Stadium. Ahlers, selected the game MVP, threw for 300 yards on 26-of-38 passing, rushed for 37...

South Carolina maintained its hold on top of The Associated Press Top 25 women’s basketball poll Monday, reaching a milestone in the process. The Gamecocks have held the No. 1 spot for 27 consecutive weeks, which is the fifth longest run all-time. UConn has three of the top four streaks,...

Purdue remained atop The Associated Press Top 25 men’s college basketball poll for a third straight week, while preseason No. 1 North Carolina returned to the rankings and New Mexico cracked the poll for the first time in eight years. The Boilermakers earned 40 of 60 first-place votes in Monday’s...

The unspoken deal between sports fans and their favorite teams and players has been, in theory: Sure, there are billions of dollars being thrown around, but at the core, sports are supposed to be fun and games, a never-ending menu of two- or three-hour escapes into a land of winners...