Sports
Way-Too-Early men’s Bracketology: Can Ryan Odom bring success back to Virginia, ACC?
RULES
ESPN’s Bracketology efforts are focused on projecting the NCAA tournament field just as we expect the NCAA Division I basketball committee to select the field in March. ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi uses the same data points favored by the committee, including strength of schedule and other season-long indicators, including the NET and team-sheet data similar to what is available to the NCAA, in his projections of the field. Visit the NCAA’s website for a fuller understanding of NCAA selection criteria.
68-Team Bracket
The 68-team bracket is the standard version of the NCAA tournament field that has been in place since 2011. If the 2021 field is comprised of 68 teams, there will be some key differences to past years, however.
The primary adjustment from a normal year is, of course, the playing of the entire NCAA tournament at a single site. This eliminates the need for geographical considerations in seeding. Additionally, there will be at least one fewer automatic qualifier this season, as the Ivy League’s decision to forgo the 2020-21 season reduces the number of AQ entries to 31 for this season.
48-Team Bracket
In this projection, a condensed selection process would reduce the field by 10 at-large teams and 10 automatic qualifiers (the latter of which still receive a revenue unit). The top four seeds in each region would receive a bye into the second round, with four first-round games per region – 5 vs. 12, 6 vs. 11, 7 vs. 10 and 8 vs. 9 – being played without fans on the higher seed’s home court.
To minimize travel, first-round pairings will be guided by geography to the greatest extent possible. And the reduced field results in only 32 teams competing at the central site. All participants must post a minimum .500 conference record – the “Lunardi Rule” – for at-large consideration.
16-Team Bracket
In this projection, the committee selects and seeds the 16 best available teams. There are no automatic qualifiers, although all non-competing conference champions receive the designated revenue unit.
To maintain some sense of national balance, conference participation is capped at four teams. And no region shall have more than one team from the same conference.
Happy Boxing Day!
The traditional British holiday featured a huge matchup, with Manchester United hosting Newcastle United as the only Premier League game of the day. In the end, a phenomenal strike from Patrick Dorgu was the difference, as Ruben Amorim’s squad hung on for a 1-0 victory and a valuable three points.
Take a look back at all the day’s action.
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Minnesota Golden Gophers wide receiver Jalen Smith made an incredible diving touchdown catch to help the team to a Rate Bowl win over the New Mexico Lobos on Friday night.
Minnesota trailed by three points in overtime and needed a field goal to extend the period or a touchdown to win the game.
On third down, Drake Lindsey found Smith between three Lobos defenders. Smith dove and made the wild catch to give Minnesota the 20-17 win.
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Minnesota wide receiver Jalen Smith scores a touchdown in overtime in front of New Mexico safety Austin Brawley (21) during the Rate Bowl Friday, Dec. 26, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
The Golden Gophers led 14-6 after Darius Taylor scored a touchdown. But on the ensuing kickoff, Damon Bankston returned a kick 100 yards for a touchdown. New Mexico’s trick play two-point conversion tied the game.
The bowl victory marked Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck’s seventh since he became the Golden Gophers’ head coach. Minnesota hasn’t lost a bowl game under Fleck and hasn’t lost a bowl game since the 2014 season, when Jerry Kill was the head coach.
GEORGIA TECH COACH BRENT KEY DEFENDS STATE OF COLLEGE FOOTBALL AMID WIDESPREAD CRITICISM
New Mexico safety Austin Brawley and safety Tavian Combs (7) react after losing to Minnesota in the Rate Bowl Friday, Dec. 26, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
Lindsey was 18 of 28 with two touchdown passes, both to Smith.
The Lobos went viral during the game for their turquoise uniforms, but they didn’t do enough to distract Minnesota’s defense.
New Mexico quarterback Jack Layne was 14-for-25 with an interception.
Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck, wide receiver Jalen Smith and safety Albert Nunes lift the trophy after defeating New Mexico in the Rate Bowl Friday, Dec. 26, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
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Minnesota finishes the season with an 8-5 record. New Mexico fell to 9-4.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Brooks Koepka’s decision to leave LIV Golf years after becoming one of the notable faces to join the renegade league sent shock waves through the sport this week.
Koepka played in the LIV Golf series for more than three seasons, winning five events and taking home the PGA Championship in 2023.
Golf commentator Brandel Chamblee on Friday offered his two cents on fans clamoring for Koepka to return to the PGA Tour, writing in a post on X he disagreed with the notion.
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Brooks Koepka of Smash GC plays his shot from the third tee during the quarterfinals of the LIV Golf Michigan Team Championship at The Cardinal at Saint John’s Resort Aug. 22, 2025. (Aaron Doster/Imagn Images)
“I certainly disagree with this,” he wrote. “Allowing Brooks Koepka to return to the PGA Tour with no consequence, would undermine the very meritocratic foundations that make the PGA Tour legitimate — not because of who he is, but because of what his return (will) signal.”
Chamblee said there should be a penalty of some kind for Koepka or anyone else who jumped to the league, which is backed by the Saudi Arabian government.
“LIV did not merely offer an alternative league, it fractured fields, diluted competitive meaning, triggered legal warfare, undermined sponsorship stability, and forced structural change across all of professional golf,” he continued. “Koepka was not a passive bystander, he was a marquee legitimizer.
“You don’t punish him for being influential, but you cannot pretend his influence didn’t matter. His credibility made LIV viable, his stature normalized defection and his success (especially after joining LIV) validated the disruption.”
Brooks Koepka acknowledges the crowd on the fifth green during the first round of the British Open at the Royal Portrush Golf Club in Northern Ireland July 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison, File)
Chamblee suggested a penalty would suffice and being reintegrated into the PGA Tour would be the route that officials should go with.
“A penalty would not so much be a punishment as it would be an acknowledgment of choice and the consequence does not need to be punitive to be meaningful,” he added. “He could be made to re-qualify for the PGA Tour (his 5 year exemption for winning the PGA Championship for majors may stand but not for the PGA Tour).
“He could have limited season eligibility and/or a suspension tied to prior contracted breach. The players who stayed on the PGA Tour paid a price. They had to absorb the uncertainty, play in weaker fields, shoulder reputational risk and take on a greater responsibility of protecting the tour’s continuity.”
Ultimately, Chamblee wrote, the penalty wouldn’t be about punishing anyone but rather the consequences for sending a ripple effect through the sport and protecting the PGA Tour.
“It is about whether the PGA Tour believe commitments mean something. If elite players can destabilize the system, take guaranteed money and then return instantly because they are popular or successful, the message is that rules apply only to the expendable,” Chamblee wrote.
“If excellence alone erases consequences then the PGA Tour ceases to be a meritocracy and becomes a marketplace of convenience. Great players most certainly deserve respect, but institutions deserve protection.”
Brooks Koepka plays a shot from a bunker on the second hole during the second round of the U.S. Open June 13, 2025. (Charles LeClaire/Imagn Images)
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LIV Golf said Koepka was leaving the series to prioritize the “needs of his family and staying closer to home.”
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