Sports

7:00 AM ET Into the second week of the second month of the 2021-22 NHL season, two Western Canadian teams have continued their climb up the power rankings, making homes in the Top 5 this week. Plus, which players are the most underrated for each team? We’ve identified one for all 32 clubs here. How

7:21 AM ET Justin Thomas pointed to the positives after his third-place finish at World Wide Technologies Championship, a tournament where he was in contention through three rounds but could not close the gap on Sunday and finished 5 shots behind winner Viktor Hovland. That has — save for the Players Championship — been the

1:27 PM ET Yunus Musah had only heard about it. The fire. The intensity. The bags of urine flying from the stands like gross, golden grenades. Tall tales, you know? Lore. Musah had heard stories, but it wasn’t until this summer that he finally saw a sliver of it with his own eyes. It wasn’t

9:41 AM GMT England coach Eddie Jones has told young fly-half Marcus Smith to be wary of the “flood of distractions” that could come his way as the “next big thing” and referred to the attention U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu has received since winning her first Grand Slam. Jones said Raducanu “hasn’t done so

7:11 PM ET Associated Press AVONDALE, Ariz. — Kyle Larson won. That was the expected result of NASCAR’s season-ending championship race, right? Larson closed his comeback season in NASCAR with his first championship Sunday, where he capped his return from a nearly yearlong suspension with a title-winning victory at Phoenix Raceway. “I can’t believe it,”

11:58 PM ET It is notoriously difficult to see a truly great race car driver ever show us a lot of real, raw emotion. Not anger. We’ve all seen that plenty. Not celebratory joy. That’s what we see most, when the driver who has just pulled into Victory Lane finally shows us their face after

1:46 AM ET The night ended with Kamaru Usman outlasting Colby Covington in another epic five-round fight, but there was no shortage of action throughout UFC 268. Rose Namajunas successfully defended her strawweight title, Justin Gaethje and Michael Chandler did not disappoint and Marlon Vera finished Frankie Edgar with a highlight-reel kick that may have

1:20 AM ET Mike CoppingerESPN LAS VEGAS — Canelo Alvarez was, at one point in his career, reserved and respectful ahead of his massive showcase fights — a departure from the traditional fighter archetype. Despite his calm demeanor, Canelo was still the biggest attraction in boxing due to his incredible fighting prowess and his legion

9:30 PM ET Associated Press DEL MAR, Calif. — Knicks Go burst into the lead out of the starting gate and kicked away to a 2¾-length victory in the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Saturday at Del Mar. No one seriously pressed the colt, who earned his fourth straight victory and in the process

1:38 PM ET Associated Press Novak Djokovic will end the year at No. 1 for a record seventh time after rallying to beat Hubert Hurkacz 3-6, 6-0, 7-6 (5) in the Paris Masters semifinals on Saturday. Djokovic, who also stays on course for a record-extending sixth Paris Masters title, moved one ahead of American Pete

9:30 AM ET Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Keita Nakajima became the first No. 1 amateur to win the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, closing with a 3-under 68 and outlasting Taichi Kho on the second hole of a playoff Saturday. Needing three putts from 20 feet to win, Nakajima finished in style by making

8:19 PM ET DETROIT — Mayor-elect Eric Adams said Friday night that New York City will not change its COVID-19 vaccination mandate that currently prevents Kyrie Irving from playing in games there. Adams, who won the city’s mayoral election Tuesday, put the onus on the NBA and Irving to find a resolution. The current mandate

1:06 PM ET EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley and safety Xavier McKinney returned to the team after spending several days away because of false positive COVID-19 tests. They were activated from the reserve/COVID list on Friday morning. McKinney was at practice and is expected to play Sunday vs. the

6:36 AM ET The 38th edition of the Breeders’ Cup will kick off two days of action Friday afternoon at Keeneland. A lot of eyes will be on the Breeders’ Cup Classic, and with so many high-profile races in the mix, there are numerous opportunities to wager on horses that offer significant value. Chris “The

7:00 AM ET ESPN staff Among the year’s most baffling storylines is the disappointing results from many of the preseason’s Heisman hopefuls. Spencer Rattler was benched. D.J. Uiagalelei has struggled mightily. D’Eriq King got hurt. JT Daniels has barely played. And North Carolina‘s Sam Howell — he’s disappointed, too, right? That seems to be the

8:04 AM ET Jack Eichel will get artificial disk replacement surgery as soon as this week after being traded from the Buffalo Sabres to the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday morning, sources told ESPN. The return for Buffalo is Peyton Krebs, Alex Tuch, a 2022 first-round draft pick and a 2023 third-rounder, sources confirmed. Vegas

6:34 PM ET ESPN News Services San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey will announce his retirement from baseball on Thursday, according to a report from The Athletic on Wednesday. Posey, 34, has played his entire 12-year career in San Francisco, helping the team win three World Series titles, in 2010, 2012 and 2014. He is

1:57 PM ET There’s the journey, and there’s the destination. For a sport dominated by haves and have-nots — so, most sports — we generally understand that the winner of a league or tournament is going to come from a select minority of teams. But in instances in which the destination is predictable, or even

9:24 PM ET Associated Press Knicks Go is the early 5-2 favorite for the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic this weekend at Del Mar. The two-day world championships drew 169 horses from eight countries, including 46 foreign horses to the seaside track north of San Diego. Del Mar is hosting for the second time in

8:00 AM ET Welterweight champion Kamaru Usman defends his UFC title against Colby Covington, in a rematch of their tremendous 2019 fight, which Usman won by fifth-round TKO. The bout on Saturday headlines a packed UFC 268 card that also includes another title rematch, a must-see lightweight fight and an opportunity for a few fighters