COLLEGE FOOTBALL:
You can expect Oklahoma State and Notre Dame to be rooting hard against Alabama, Michigan and Cincinnati this weekend.
The latest CFP rankings have Georgia still on top, followed by Michigan, Alabama and Cincinnati. The Crimson Tide will take on the Bulldogs in the SEC championship game, Michigan goes against Iowa for the Big Ten crown and Cincinnati will host Houston in the AAC title game.
The Wolverines moved up with Saturday’s 42-27 win over Ohio State, dropping the Buckeyes from the top 4.
The Cowboys will be fifth going into their Big 12 championship game against Baylor. The Fighting Irish are sixth, followed by Ohio State, Mississippi, Baylor and Oregon.
Georgia and Cincinnati are the only unbeaten teams in the rankings. Michigan, Alabama, Oklahoma State, Notre Dame have lost once.
The final CFP rankings will be released on Sunday.
LSU and newly hired coach Brian Kelly have agreed to a 10-year contract worth $95 million plus incentives.
Kelly has coached at Notre Dame for the past 12 seasons and eclipsed Knute Rockne for career victories with the Fighting Irish.
Kelly replaces Ed Orgeron, who posted a 15-0 record and a national championship with Tigers just two seasons ago.
In other college football news:
Virginia Tech has hired Penn State defensive coordinator Brent Pry as its next head coach. Pry has been with Penn State since 2014, first as co-defensive coordinator before becoming the sole defensive coordinator in 2016.
Kentucky coach Mark Stoops has agreed to a yet-to-be-finalized contract extension that will keep him with the Wildcats through June 2028. The deal also will continue guaranteed extensions of one year for a seven-win season and two years for a 10-win campaign. Stoops is 58-53 in nine seasons at Lexington.
NBA:
The Phoenix Suns have set a club record for consecutive victories by winning a matchup of the NBA’s two best teams.
Deandre Ayton scored 24 points and the Suns claimed their 17th consecutive win by knocking off the Warriors, 104-96. Chris Paul added 15 points and 11 assists, for the Suns, who also won 17 straight during the 2006-07 season.
The Suns won despite losing star guard Devin Booker to a left hamstring injury in the second quarter. He had 10 points and two rebounds in 15 minutes.
Jordan Poole led Golden State with 28 points, but Stephen Curry managed just 12 points on 4 of 21 shooting.
Both teams are 18-3.
Checking out Tuesday’s other NBA action:
Brooklyn coughed up a 16-point lead before James Johnson made two free throws with 2.2 seconds left to give the Nets a 112-110 victory over the Knicks. Harden had 34 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, and Durant heated up after a slow start to finish with 27 points and nine assists in Brooklyn’s 13th win in 16 games.
Anthony Davis scored 25 points, Russell Westbrook added 23 and the Lakers overcame the absence of LeBron James to slam the Kings, 117-92. The Lakers sent James home earlier in the day after he was placed in the NBA’s health and safety protocol.
Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 25 points and Desmond Bane had 23 as the Grizzlies dumped the Raptors, 98-91. Bane made five 3-pointers and Jackson had four for the Grizzlies, who never trailed and led by as many as 17 points in their second straight win.
CJ McCollum had 28 points as the Trail Blazers handed the Pistons their seventh straight loss, 110-92. Ben McLemore had 17 points off the bench after appearing in just six games for Portland this season.
DeMarcus Cousins will attempt to boost a Milwaukee Bucks frontcourt that’s missing injured center Brook Lopez. The Bucks announced Tuesday they have signed the 31-year-old, four-time All-Star.
Lopez hasn’t played since a season-opening victory over the Nets because of a back injury.
Cousins played a combined 41 games with the Rockets and Clippers last season, averaging 8.9 points, 6.4 rebounds and 17.4 minutes.
MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL:
Duke’s stay atop the Associated Press men’s basketball poll could be short-lived.
Ohio State held the Blue Devils scoreless for the final 4 1/2 minutes, completing a rally from a 15-point second-half deficit in a 71-66 victory for the Buckeyes. Zed Key scored a career-high 20 points and E.J. Liddell hit two free throws with 1:06 remaining to give the 5-2 Buckeyes their first lead since early in the first half.
Liddell finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds for Ohio State.
Wendell Moore Jr. had a team-high 17 points for the Blue Devils, who moved up to No. 1 in the AP poll by defeating Gonzaga over the weekend.
In other top-25 men’s basketball games:
Jaden Ivey scored 18 points and matched his career high with four 3-pointers as second-ranked Purdue hammered Florida State, 93-65. Brandon Newman added 13 points for Purdue, which led by just 59-51 before scoring 12 straight points.
Kennedy Chandler and Justin Powell scored 15 points apiece to lead No. 13 Tennessee to a 86-44 rout of Presbyterian. Powell came off the bench to hit all five of his 3-point attempts.
No. 15 Houston crushed Northwestern State, 99-58 as Marcus Sasser drained seven 3-pointers in the first half and finished with 26 points. Sasser had 23 points by halftime on 7-of-12 shooting from beyond the arc as the Cougars built a 60-25 lead at the break.
R.J. Cole scored 25 points and No. 17 UConn survived a challenge from Maryland-Eastern Shore to win, 72-63. Tyler Polley added 14 points for the Huskies.
MLB:
Major League Baseball appeared headed to its first work stoppage in 26 years after a pair of brief negotiating sessions Tuesday led to little or no progress.
The sport’s five-year collective bargaining agreement expires at 11:59 p.m. EST Wednesday. Management is expected to follow with a lockout of the Major League Baseball Players Association.
Major League Baseball hasn’t had a work stoppage since 1994-95.
The Atlanta Braves have exercised the option for the 2024 season on Brian Snitker’s contract, an expected move for the highly popular skipper who had two more years on his current deal.
The 66-year-old Snitker has been the manager since 2016, guiding the Braves to four straight NL East titles — capped by this year’s surprising run to the World Series championship.
Elsewhere in the majors:
Javier Báez has agreed to a six-year, $140 million contract with Detroit, giving the Tigers a dynamic bat for the middle of their order. Báez hit .265 with 31 homers and 87 RBIs in 138 games with the Cubs and Mets last season.
Right-hander Michael Lorenzen agreed to a one-year, $6.75 million contract with the Angels. The Anaheim native spent his first seven major league seasons with the Reds, making 295 appearances and going 23-23 with a 4.07 ERA, 14 saves and 406 strikeouts.
A person with knowledge of the decision tells The Associated Press the Pirates have agreed to a 1-year deal worth $5 million with former Cleveland catcher Roberto Pérez. He won Gold Gloves in 2019 and 2020 with Cleveland but struggled at the plate throughout his career.
The White Sox have fortified their bullpen by announcing a $24 million, three-year contract with right-hander Kendall Graveman. The 30-year-old Graveman is expected to pitch in front of All-Star closer Liam Hendriks, who had 38 saves and a 2.54 ERA in his first season with Chicago.
The Cubs have added another catcher, agreeing to a $13 million, two-year contract with Yan Gomes. The 34-year-old Gomes played for Washington and Oakland this year, batting .252 with 14 homers and 52 RBIs in 103 games.
The Orioles are nearing a one-year agreement with second baseman Rougned Odor, according to a person with knowledge of the deal. The 27-year-old Odor spent last season with the Yankees, hitting .202 with 15 home runs and 39 RBIs in 102 games.
The Rays have signed reliever Brooks Raley to a $10 million, two-year contract with a 2024 club option. Raley went 2-3 with a 4.78 ERA in 58 games with Houston this year, striking out 65 and walking 16 in 49 innings.
The Brewers have added a pair of catchers by signing Pedro Severino and minor leaguer Brett Sullivan to one-year contracts. The 28-year-old Severino batted .248 with a .308 on-base percentage, 11 homers and a career-high 46 RBIs in 113 games with the Orioles this year.
NFL:
Urban Meyer has no interest in coaching college football again.
A person familiar with Meyer’s thinking says the 57-year-old coach is fully committed to the Jacksonville Jaguars and has no plans to return to the ever-changing landscape of college football.
Meyer shot down speculation about leaving the NFL for Southern California after the Trojans fired coach Clay Helton in September. His name was immediately linked to Notre Dame after coach Brian Kelly bolted for LSU on Monday.
In other NFL news:
The Titans have added rookie linebacker Monty Rice to an injured reserve list now at 18 with the team at its bye. Rice hurt his right ankle in last week’s loss to the Patriots.
Cowboys rookie cornerback Nahshon Wright has tested positive for COVID-19 and is the eighth player or coach to be sidelined by the coronavirus for Thursday’s game at New Orleans. Coach Mike McCarthy and five members of his staff won’t make the trip because of positive tests.
The Panthers have lost starting cornerback Donte Jackson for the remainder of the season to a groin injury that could need surgery. Jackson was injured in Carolina’s 33-10 loss to the Dolphins on Sunday.
The Giants have activated defensive back Logan Ryan off the reserve/COVID-19 list and placed cornerback Darnay Holmes on the injured list with a rib injury.
NHL:
The Florida Panthers bounced back from their only home loss of the season by erasing a 4-1 lead in the third period.
Sam Reinhart scored the winning power-play goal with 14.4 seconds left to send the Cats to their 12th win in 13 home games, 5-4 over the Capitals. Eetu Luostarinen and Ryan Lomberg each had a goal and an assist for the Panthers, who fired 26 shots in the final period.
Aaron Ekblad had three assists and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 23 shots to move to 8-0-0 at Sunrise.
Nick Jensen had a goal and an assist for the Capitals, who lost for just the third time in 12 games.
Elsewhere on NHL ice:
Marc Staal’s first goal of the season was the tiebreaker with just over eight minutes remaining in the Red Wings’ 2-1 decision over the Bruins. Alex Nedeljkovic made 41 saves and Filip Zadina also scored as Detroit earned its third straight win.
Roope Hintz scored his first career hat trick on an empty netter in the closing minutes, finishing off the Stars’ 4-1 verdict over the Hurricanes. Joe Pavelski had a goal and two assists for the Stars, who earned their fifth straight win despite being outshot, 40-17.
The Blues erased an early three-goal deficit and beat the Lightning, 4-3 on Ryan O’Reilly’s tally in the shootout. O’Reilly, Logan Brown and Ivan Barbashev scored in regulation to help St. Louis beat Tampa Bay for the fifth straight time.
Jordan Greenway had a goal and two assists for the Wild in a 5-2 win against the Coyotes. Joel Eriksson Ek, Jonas Brodin and Marcus Foligno also scored for Minnesota, which has 19 goals during its four-game winning streak.
Kevin Shattenkirk and Trevor Zegras scored in the shootout, and the Ducks blew a three-goal lead in the third period before rallying for a 5-4 win over the Kings. Troy Terry and Shattenkirk scored unassisted goals in the second period and John Gibson made 30 saves before stopping two of Los Angeles’ three tries in the shootout.
Filip Forsberg scored four goals and Juuse Saros made 27 saves for his first shutout of the season highlighting the Predators’ 6-0 rout of the Blue Jackets. Mikael Granlund assisted on all four of Forsberg’s goals.
The Sharks posted a 5-2 win over the Devils as Timo Meier scored twice and James Reimer made 32 saves and San Jose defeated the New Jersey Devils 5-2 on Tuesday night. Noah Gregor, Jacob Middleton and Erik Karlsson also scored for the Sharks, who have started their five-game road trip 2-0.
It was a big day for New Jersey Devils center Jack Hughes.
The first overall pick in the 2019 NHL draft returned from a 17-game absence after accepting an eight-year, $64 million contract extension.
General manager Tom Fitzgerald announced the signing of Hughes, who had been out with a dislocated shoulder.
The big contract comes despite Hughes’ modest offensive numbers. He has 22 goals and 58 points in 122 career games.
In other NHL news:
Kings forward Brendan Lemieux has been suspended for five games, without pay, for biting Ottawa Senators forward Brady Tkachuk during Saturday’s game. Lemieux was assessed a match penalty and will forfeit close to $39,000 of his salary.
The Bruins say coach Bruce Cassidy has been placed in the league’s COVID-19 protocol. Cassidy is the first Bruins player or coach to be added to the protocol this season. He missed Tuesday’s game against Detroit, leaving assistant Joe Sacco to run the team.
Two more players are in COVID-10 protocol. Blues forward Tyler Bozak and Oilers defenseman Cody Ceci were added to the list.
Evander Kane has reported for his first day in the minors focused on doing what it will take to get back to the league. Kane’s 21-game suspension for submitting a fake COVID-19 vaccination card has ended and he is trying to work his way back into shape with the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda and prove himself worthy of another chance in the NHL.
GOLF:
Tiger Woods didn’t have a lot of answers about his past or his future as he granted full media availability on Tuesday for the first time since his February car accident.
Woods says he has no recollection of the crash in the Los Angeles suburbs that shattered his right leg. As for the golf, the 15-time major champion says he hasn’t reached a point where he can even decide whether he wants to return. If anything, he says he won’t be playing a full schedule again.
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