NCAAMBB – Men’s College Basketball – Final Four
Saturday
2025 Men’s Final Four, Alamodome, San Antonio, TX
1 Florida vs. 1 Auburn, 6:09 p.m.
1 Houston vs. 1 Duke, 8:49 p.m.
NCAAMBB – Central Michigan fires basketball coach Tony Barbee after fourth season
Central Michigan fired basketball coach Tony Barbee on Thursday after the Chippewas failed to advance to the Mid-American Conference Tournament for the second time in three years. Athletic director Amy Folan announced that Barbee would not return for a fifth season, saying the program “needs to go in a different direction.” Central Michigan went 14-17 overall and 7-11 in conference play to finish 10th in the 12-team standings. Barbee had a 49-75 record with the Chippewas, including 0-2 in MAC Tournament games. The 53-year-old previously had coaching stints at UTEP and Auburn. He spent eight years as an assistant at Kentucky before taking over at Central Michigan in 2021.
NCAAMBB – NIT – Chattanooga becomes first Southern Conference team to win NIT title
Collin Mulholland scored 19 points and made five-pointers, Garrison Keeslar sank a go-ahead jumper from the free-throw line with 11 seconds left in overtime and Chattanooga became the first team from the Southern Conference to win the NIT championship after beating UC Irvine 85-84. Chattanooga (29-9) tied a program record for victories in a season after winning 17 of its last 18 to capture the program’s first postseason title. Devin Tillis tossed a full-court pass with 2.4 seconds left that Leuchten grabbed with one hand and passed it to Jurian Dixon under the basket for a layup that rolled off as time expired. UC Irvine (32-7) was also playing in the program’s first NIT championship game.
NCAAWBB – Women’s College Basketball – Final Four
Tonight
2025 Women’s Final Four, Amalie Arena, Tampa, FL
1 Texas vs. 1 South Carolina, 7:00 p.m.
1 UCLA vs. 2 UConn, 9:30 p.m.
NCAAWBB – USC star JuJu Watkins is the AP Player of the Year
JuJu Watkins, the sensational sophomore who led Southern California to its best season in nearly 40 years, is The Associated Press women’s college basketball Player of the Year. Watkins, whose Trojans won the Big Ten regular-season title for their first conference crown in 31 years, received 29 votes and Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo got the other two. Watkins is the first USC player to win the award and just the fourth to do it as a sophomore, joining Oklahoma’s Courtney Paris and UConn stars Maya Moore and Breanna Stewart.
NCAAWBB – ACC is moving women’s tournament from Greensboro to Atlanta area in 2026
The Atlantic Coast Conference women’s basketball tournament will move from its longtime home in North Carolina to the Atlanta area in 2026. The tournament will be held at the 13,000-seat Gas South Arena in Duluth, Georgia, which is about 30 miles northeast of downtown Atlanta. The decision to move the event followed an extensive bid process and evaluation by coaches and administrators. The tournament has been played in Greensboro, North Carolina, for 25 of the past 26 seasons.
MLB – Major League Baseball
Today
Chicago White Sox (Cannon 0-0) at Detroit (Flaherty 0-0), 1:10 p.m. News/Talk/Sports 94.9 WSJM 12:45p
San Diego (Vásquez 0-0) at Chicago Cubs (Imanaga 1-0), 2:20 p.m.
MLB – Demand for viral ‘torpedo’ bats has sent a Pennsylvania factory into overdrive
Torpedo bats drew attention over the weekend when the New York Yankees hit a team-record nine homers in one game. Using a strikingly different model in which wood is moved lower down the barrel after the label and shapes the end a little like a bowling pin, the bat has become baseball’s latest fad. All-Star and even amateur hardball players all want to take their swings with the bat. The torpedo bat took the league by storm in only 24 hours, and days later, the calls and orders, and test drives — from big leaguers to rec leaguers — are humming inside Victus Sports. The company is the official bat of MLB and has seen sales and interest spike in the bat.
NBA – National Basketball Association
Tonight
Utah at Indiana, 7:00 p.m.
Detroit at Toronto, 7:30 p.m.
Portland at Chicago, 8:00 p.m.
Saturday
Memphis at Detroit, 7:00 p.m.
Tonight
Chicago at Charlotte, 1:00 p.m.
Indiana at Denver, 8:00 p.m.
NBA – Curry scores 37 points and Warriors beat Lakers 123-116
Stephen Curry scored 37 points, Brandin Podziemski added 28 and the Golden State Warriors defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 123-116 for their fourth win in a row in a potential first-round playoff preview. LeBron James had 33 points and nine assists to lead the Lakers. Austin Reaves added 31 points, including nine 3-pointers, Rui Hachimura had 24 points and Luke Doncic had 19 points, missing all six of his 3-point attempts. Podziemski had a career-high eight 3-pointers on a night when Curry was 4 of 11 from long range.
NHL – National Hockey League
Tonight
Carolina Hurricanes at Detroit Red Wings, 7:00 p.m.
Chicago Blackhawks at Washington Capitals, 7:00 p.m.
Sunday
Florida Panthers at Detroit Red Wings, 5:30 p.m.
Pittsburgh Penguins at Chicago Blackhawks, 6:00 p.m.
NFL – Bears and veteran QB Case Keenum agree to 1-year, $3 million deal, AP source says
A person familiar with the situation says the Chicago Bears agreeed to a one-year, $3 million contract with journeyman Case Keenum. The move Thursday gives Caleb Williams a veteran backup. The person spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because the deal had not been announced. ESPN first reported the agreement. The Bears also signed veteran receiver Miles Boykin and cornerback Shaun Wade to one-year contracts. The 37-year-old Keenum spent the past two years in Houston with another prized quarterback in C.J. Stroud.
Golf – Trump again says he wants to see PGA Tour, LIV Golf merged
President Donald Trump arrived at his Doral resort Thursday for a LIV Golf event, shortly after reiterating to reporters aboard Air Force One that he wants to see the two men’s professional tours united. The president has spoken out on the subject before, and Trump has been involved in some of the talks that may eventually unify the PGA Tour and Saudi-funded LIV. Those talks have gone on for at least a year and how — or if — a deal can be struck is unclear. Trump told reporters that “having them merge would be a great thing.”
NCAAFB – Conference commissioners meet to discuss possible changes to CFP
Conference commissioners who manage the College Football Playoff had more discussions Thursday about potential changes to how the 12-team field will be set next season. The CFP Management committee didn’t take any vote on the issue. The committee meets again in three weeks. Among the changes being considered is straight seeding based on the final rankings of the CFP selection committee. Under the 12-team playoff format that began last season, the four highest-ranked conference champions were guaranteed the top four seeds that come with first-round byes. That meant the seeding wouldn’t always be the same as those final rankings. That happened, and was probably the most controversial and confusing aspect of the expanded playoff.
UFL – United Football League
Tonight
Birmingham Stallions at Michigan Panthers, 8:00 p.m.
AHL – American Hockey League
Tonight
Rockford IceHogs at Grand Rapids Griffins, 7:00 p.m.
ECHL – ECHL Hockey League
Tonight
Kalamazoo Wings at Cincinnati Cyclones, 7:35 p.m.
Indy Fuel at Fort Wayne Komets, 7:35 p.m.
Toledo Walleye at Bloomington Bison, 8:00 p.m.
