Sports

7:15 AM ET ESPN staff With our 2022 Way-Too-Early college football top 25 established, we asked our reporters what each team’s biggest strength will be in the coming season — in other words, what makes the best teams so good. Looking into a crystal ball more than six months before the start of the season

4:36 PM ET After a two-month break, the United States men’s national team resumes World Cup qualifying with a game against El Salvador in Columbus, Ohio (Thursday, 7 p.m. ET; stream LIVE on ESPN2, ESPN+). It’s the first of a pivotal three-match window that includes a trip to Canada on Sunday before returning home to

10:00 AM GMT England captain Owen Farrell has been ruled out of the entire Six Nations championship after suffering a second serious ankle injury in the latest blow to head coach Eddie Jones’s preparations for the competition that begins next week. Farrell had surgery in November on an ankle he injured playing against Australia then

7:40 AM ET ANAHEIM, Calif. — Jon Jones was going to be in attendance at UFC 270 on Saturday night. He’d be there, likely close to the Octagon, to watch the heavyweight title unification fight between Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane, and the winner would likely be his next opponent. That was the plan a

1:47 AM ET D’Arcy MaineESPN.com Competing in her 63rd major main draw appearance, Alize Cornet finally advanced to the first quarterfinals of her career with a 6-4, 3-6, victory over former world No. 1 Simona Halep on Monday at the Australian Open. Cornet’s streak marks the most majors played before reaching a quarterfinal in the

4:53 PM ET Jamal CollierESPN The NBA suspended the Milwaukee Bucks‘ Grayson Allen for one game on Sunday for his flagrant 2 foul on Alex Caruso that caused a fractured wrist for the Chicago Bulls guard. The league punished Allen, who was ejected from the Bucks’ 94-90 victory over the Bulls on Friday night after

5:29 PM ET Associated Press ORLANDO, Fla. — Danielle Kang readily admits she, and her golf game, remain a constant work in progress. She spent much of the offseason finding a way to be “comfortable being uncomfortable.” It seems to be working. On a difficult championship test at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club, Kang

12:48 AM ET The longest active run by a male titleholder in boxing is over. Mark Magsayo upset Gary Russell Jr. by majority decision on Saturday night — 114-114, 115-113 and 115-113 — to claim the WBC featherweight title in Atlantic City, New Jersey, taking away Russell’s title after almost seven years with the WBC

4:55 AM ET Jeff Darlington Adam Schefter Close ESPN Senior Writer ESPN NFL Insider Joined ESPN in 2009 Former president of the Pro Football Writers of America and the author of four books As the Tampa Bay Buccaneers enter the reality that their season is at most three weeks from its conclusion, there is another

11:03 PM ET Adam Rittenberg Close ESPN Senior Writer College football reporter. Joined ESPN.com in 2008. Graduate of Northwestern University. Pete Thamel June Jones turned down an opportunity to return as Hawai’i‘s head football coach after meeting with school officials Friday. Jones, 68, expressed interest in the job shortly after coach Todd Graham resigned under

8:31 PM ET Associated Press CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Red Farmer, one of the top late-model drivers, and the late Mike Stefanik, considered one of the most talented modified race car drivers to ever get behind a wheel, have been inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. They were among the three drivers to be inducted

7:00 AM ET Six first basemen have attained nine-figure contracts in their 30s, and the results haven’t necessarily been great. The megadeals for Miguel Cabrera and Albert Pujols became problems almost immediately. So did the one for Ryan Howard. Deals for Jason Giambi and Carlos Lee started off well but fizzled in the back halves.

10:40 AM ET Hockey fans are an opinionated lot, willing to share our analysis on everything from player performances to big trades to playoff-worthiness of teams. But we also have those opinions that we’re hesitant to share, even if we’re convinced of their value or inherent truth. We whisper them at a game or text

3:00 AM ET Tor-Kristian Karlsen The January transfer window is open and though clubs are still finding things tough amid COVID-19 restrictions, financial issues and match postponements, there has been movement already. 2 Related The futures of some of the big-name players out of contract in summer 2022 — like Kylian Mbappe, Paul Pogba and

3:18 PM ET Associated Press CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Dale Earnhardt Jr. recognized early he would never be a seven-time NASCAR champion like his dad. It was unrealistic to believe he would match the late Dale Earnhardt on the track. The Intimidator was tough as nails, didn’t tolerate any nonsense and built a winning resume that

10:45 AM GMT Owen Farrell has retained his England captaincy for the 2022 Six Nations while George Ford, Elliot Day, Sam Underhill and Mako and Billy Vunipola miss out on the squad. Manu Tuilagi was also not named in the 36-man squad announced by coach Eddie Jones on Tuesday but he is expected to join

2:37 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Shakur Stevenson and Oscar Valdez are in the process of finalizing a deal for a 130-pound title unification fight on April 30 in Las Vegas, sources told ESPN on Sunday. Sources said no financial agreement has been reached for the proposed ESPN main event. After Valdez (30-0, 23 KOs) scored

4:43 PM ET Associated Press SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — The New York Racing Association is planning to reconstruct the Wilson Chute at Saratoga Race Course, which will allow one-mile races to be run on the main dirt track during the summer meet. A chute is an extension of the backstretch or homestretch of a track

Dec 11, 2020 Marc Raimondi Eric Gomez Editor’s note: This story was originally published ahead of UFC 256. It has been updated to reflect the result of that fight and the upcoming trilogy fight at UFC 270. The half-made piñata would be sitting on the floor of Pinatas Moreno in Tijuana, Mexico, and business owner

12:42 AM ET D’Arcy MaineESPN.com Defending champion Naomi Osaka didn’t need luck to win her opening-round match over Camila Osorio 6-3, 6-3 at the Australian Open on Monday. But that didn’t stop her from trying to create some. In an act of superstition that would surely make Rafael Nadal proud, Osaka took great lengths, literally