U.S./World Sports category, Page 312

NEW ORLEANS — LSU coach Ed Orgeron already is thinking about what comes next for his national champions. More specifically, who comes next. Orgeron and the top-ranked Tigers completed a 15-0 season with a decisive win over No. 3 Clemson, 42-25, on Monday night. Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow threw...

NEW ORLEANS — From small-town Ohio kid to Louisiana legend, Joe Burrow capped his record-breaking, Heisman-winning season by bringing a national championship to LSU. Burrow threw five touchdown passes, ran for another score and finished off one of the most accomplished seasons in college football history by leading the top-ranked...

HONOLULU — Two weeks in Hawaii brought rain, unusually strong wind, playoffs and two players who thought victory was out of reach until the winner’s lei was draped around their necks. Cameron Smith was the latest Sunday at the Sony Open. He might have been even more surprised than Justin...

NEW ORLEANS — Clemson coach Dabo Swinney has this drill down. The Sunday before the College Football Playoff championship game a news conference is held with the head coaches. They compliment each other’s team and talk about focus and preparation. After, they shake hands and pose for photographs with the...

NEW ORLEANS — Gloomy clouds were lingering over the Big Easy as the contestants were scheduled to arrived for the so-called national championship game. The weather conditions Friday were an appropriate mood-setter. The tedious, 16-day-long break since the semifinals has largely stifled the momentum of the college football season, turning...

DETROIT — Cleveland Cavaliers coach John Beilein said Thursday he has apologized after using the word “thugs” during a film session with his players the previous day. ESPN.com, citing unidentified sources, reported that Beilein suggested during a Wednesday film session his players were no longer playing “like a bunch of...

BOSTON — A man was arrested and escorted out of the arena after throwing a can of hard seltzer onto the court near the San Antonio Spurs bench during Wednesday night’s game with the Boston Celtics, Boston police said Thursday. Justin Arnold, 22, of Everett, was charged with disturbing a...

Six bowls had their smallest crowds on record, with section after section of unoccupied seats a yawning indication of how little buzz there can be for the long list of postseason games. Half-empty stadiums? Teams with tiny fan bases and mediocre records? Too many bowls? They aren’t going away. There...

Top-ranked LSU and Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow head into the national championship game peaking, matching their record-setting offense with a healthy and improving defense. Clemson has not lost since sophomore quarterback Trevor Lawrence joined the team in 2018. The third-ranked Tigers are looking for their third national title in...

As the NCAA grapples with how to provide athletes opportunities to be compensated for their fame, about two-thirds of Americans support college players being permitted to earn money for endorsements. That is according to a poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Support for the NCAA allowing...

CLEMSON, S.C. — LSU’s Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Clemson’s Travis Etienne have more in common than their Louisiana backgrounds heading into the national title game. Both are smallish running backs who were overlooked at times in high school but have emerged as critical factors for next week’s College Football Playoff championship...

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa put an end to the initial question about his future, announcing Monday that he is entering the NFL Draft and closing the book on a college career that began with a splash and ended with a devastating injury. Now the questions will be...

LAWRENCE, Kan. — The season barely was a week old when Michigan State lost to Kentucky in the Champions Classic, a defeat of the nation’s No. 1 team that could be written off easily as a high-profile battle of heavyweights on a neutral court early in the season that didn’t...

BRISBANE, Australia — Ash Barty was flying home across Australia following the Fed Cup final when she saw the early signs of devastation from the wildfires that are still raging in large parts of the vast island continent. So the problem hasn’t just dawned on her, the highest-profile tennis star...

FORT WORTH, Texas — Justin McMillan won two state championships playing for a Texas high school about 35 miles away from where he played his last game for Tulane. Both of his parents served in the Army. The Armed Forces Bowl provided a storybook finish for his college career. McMillan,...

BOISE, Idaho — Nathan Rourke accounted for 241 yards and ran for a touchdown to help Ohio beat Nevada, 30-21, on Friday in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. Ohio (7-6) rebounded from a 1-3 start for its fifth straight winning season under coach Frank Solich. The 75-year-old former Nebraska coach...

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Record-setting defensive end Chase Young is leaving Ohio State early to enter the NFL Draft, a widely expected move. The junior Heisman Trophy finalist made the announcement Friday on Twitter. He said he looks forward to “joining a new family in the NFL this spring and being...

Mississippi State fired Central Catholic graduate Joe Moorhead after just two seasons Friday, making the unusual decision to dismiss a coach after a bowl game. The Bulldogs went 14-12 under Moorhead, who previously was the offensive coordinator at Penn State. He was hired after the 2017 season when Dan Mullen...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Tennessee sure knows how to get out of a huge hole. The Volunteers scored twice in a 30-second span late, using an onside kick to help escape a 13-point deficit, and then held on to stun Indiana 23-22 in the Gator Bowl on Thursday night. The rally...

Increased parity in college basketball led to some of the greatest games in the sport’s history during the 2010s, from massive upsets to moments that had fans screaming from their couches. The decade had so many great games, it’s hard to narrow it down to just the five best ones....

CHICAGO — One night, it might be Myles Powell, with Seton Hall’s pair of 7-foot-2 centers patrolling the lane. Or Villanova, with its championship pedigree and coach Jay Wright roaming the sideline. Another tough Butler team. Xavier and its experience. The dynamic Markus Howard and Marquette. On and on it...