Sports
Purdue tops preseason AP Top 25 poll for 1st time
Purdue is No. 1 in the preseason Associated Press Top 25 college basketball poll for the first time.
The Boilermakers earned 35 of 61 first-place votes to top Monday’s poll to begin the 2025-26 season. That put Matt Painter’s squad ahead of the two teams that played in last year’s NCAA title game, with runner-up Houston at No. 2 and reigning champion Florida at No. 3.
“We are obviously excited to get the season going and being ranked No. 1 in the preseason is a great indicator of what we feel this team can accomplish,” Painter said. “But the goal is to be No. 1 at the end of the year. We’re thrilled that people think this highly of our team, but there is a long ways to go and a lot of work to do to reach that goal in April.”
Purdue started a season ranked as high as No. 2 once before, in 1987-88 under Gene Keady.
It’s another milestone for Painter, the former Keady player who has built his own successful program that is still looking for its NCAA title breakthrough as he enters his 21st season. Purdue had never been ranked No. 1 in any AP poll before the 2021-22 season, which marked the first of three straight seasons in which the Boilermakers have reached the top. The last was during the 2023-24 season behind two-time AP national player of the year Zach Edey in a run all the way to the national title game.
The Boilermakers reached last year’s Sweet 16 before falling to Houston on a last-second basket, but return a first-team AP All-American in point guard Braden Smith, scoring leader Trey Kaufman-Renn (20.1) and veteran guard Fletcher Loyer.
The top tier
Kelvin Sampson’s Cougars earned 16 first-place votes to match the program’s best-ever preseason AP ranking after last year’s run to the final. The other No. 2 appearance was by the 1967-68 team led by Elvin Hayes.
Todd Golden’s Gators earned eight first-place votes to start this year with their highest preseason ranking since the last time they entered a year as reigning champions in 2006-07, the start of a run to a second straight title.
UConn was next at No. 4 and earned the remaining two first-place votes. St. John’s was fifth, with Rick Pitino’s Red Storm surpassing the program’s previous best ranking in a preseason AP poll (No. 7 in 1984-85).
Duke was next at No. 6, followed by Michigan, BYU — which landed the nation’s No. 1 recruit in A.J. Dybantsa — Kentucky and Texas Tech to round out the top 10.
Quick transitions
It hasn’t taken long for Pat Kelsey to get Louisville back among the national elite, with the Cardinals checking in at No. 11 after a 27-win season to start his tenure. The Cardinals were 12-52 in the two seasons before his arrival.
Louisville is one of five programs with a second-year coach in the preseason poll, joining Michigan, BYU, Kentucky and No. 14 Arkansas with John Calipari.
Jayhawks lower
Kansas checked in at No. 19, the lowest preseason rank for Bill Self’s Jayhawks since starting at No. 24 in the 2008-09 season as the reigning national champion. Kansas had been ranked outside the top 10 only once since that year (No. 13 in 2011-12) while starting at No. 1 in 2019-20 as well as each of the last two seasons in that stretch.
Pearl’s debut
Auburn opens at No. 20 as it enters its first season since the unexpected retirement of coach Bruce Pearl following last year’s Final Four run.
Pearl stepped aside last month after 11 seasons, triggering a transition to his 38-year-old son Steven, who climbed his father’s staff through the elder Pearl’s Auburn tenure but has never been a head coach nor coached elsewhere in college.
Conference watch
The Southeastern Conference, Big Ten and Big 12 each had six ranked teams to make up 72% of the field. The Atlantic Coast Conference and Big East were next with three each, while the West Coast Conference had one with No. 21 Gonzaga. The Big 12 was the only league of that group to have three top-10 teams.
Watch list
Will Wade’s arrival at NC State and subsequent roster shakeup has the Wolfpack as the first team outside the poll, sitting just three points behind 25th-ranked rival North Carolina from the ACC. Oregon is lurking close behind entering its 16th year under Dana Altman.
Sports
Virginia’s Anna Moesch wins 1st career NCAA individual title
ATLANTA — Anna Moesch won the first NCAA individual title of her career in the 200-yard freestyle on Thursday night at the women’s swimming and diving championships to help Virginia add to its team lead.
Moesch’s time of 1:39.23 marked the second fastest performance in the event, just shy of Missy Franklin’s 11-year-old record.
Moesch also helped Virginia claim a third relay title in the competition with a 1:24.11 in the 200 freestyle. It was the fifth straight year Virginia won the event.
Virginia sits in first place with 249 points heading into the third day of the four-day competition. Texas is second with 183 points and Stanford third with 173.
Olympic gold medalist Torri Huske clocked a 48.49 to win the 100 butterfly for her third career national title. Huske edged Virginia’s Claire Curzan after finishing second last season. The top three swimmers finished under 50 seconds, with Huske’s Stanford teammate, Gigi Johnson, coming in fourth.
Bella Sims led wire-to-wire in the 400 IM for Michigan’s first individual NCAA title since Maggie MacNeil in 2021. It was also the first gold in the event by a Wolverine since Mindy Gehrs in 1993.
NC State’s Eneli Jefimova took the 100 breaststroke with the fastest time in program history.
Senior diver Chiara Pellacani defended her one-meter national title for Miami. Pellacani became the first diver to win multiple national titles in a Miami career since Brittany Viola (2008, 2011).
Sports
FIFA clears Israeli settlement clubs but fines IFA over breaches
FIFA said Thursday that it would take no action on formal complaints by the Palestinian soccer federation in 2024 against its Israeli counterpart, including to suspend membership.
FIFA did, however, fine the Israel Football Association 150,000 Swiss francs ($190,000) on disciplinary charges relating to “discrimination and racist abuse,” plus “offensive behavior and violations of the principles of fair play.”
Palestinian soccer officials have long argued Israel violates FIFA statutes by letting teams from settlements in the West Bank play in the national league.
“FIFA should take no action given that, in the context of the interpretation of the relevant provisions of the FIFA Statutes, the final legal status of the West Bank remains an unresolved and highly complex matter under public international law,” the soccer body said.
“FIFA can’t solve geopolitical conflicts,” said Infantino, who presented U.S. President Donald Trump with a specially created peace prize at the World Cup draw in December.
“[B]ut we are committed to using the power of football and the FIFA World Cup to build bridges and promote peace as our thoughts are with those who are suffering as a consequence of the ongoing wars,” he said.
The disciplinary investigation of Israeli soccer also was opened 18 months ago in response to formal complaints by the Palestinian federation.
One third of the fine must be spent by Israeli officials, FIFA ruled, on “implementation of a comprehensive plan to ensure action against discrimination and to prevent repeated incidents.”
“The plan shall be approved by FIFA and shall focus on the following areas: reforms, protocols, monitoring, and educational campaigns in stadiums and on official channels for an entire season,” FIFA judges decided.
The judges said they “cannot remain indifferent to the broader human context in which football operates” and the sport “must remain a platform for peace, dialogue, and mutual respect.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Sports
TCU backs up its tough talk, bounces Buckeyes in 1st round
GREENVILLE, S.C. — TCU wasn’t short on confidence for Thursday’s NCAA tournament opener against Ohio State, with forward David Punch setting the stage of the matchup by saying he believed the Horned Frogs would beat the Buckeyes “nine out of 10 times.”
That, forward Xavier Edmonds said, added a bit of pressure on the Horned Frogs to back up Punch’s prediction.
“His words were just a little bit misconstrued and a little twisted,” Edmonds said. “Still, we saw it, and we felt like we had to stand on it.”
Given Ohio State’s raucous comeback from a 15-point halftime deficit, it’s hard to say what might happen if these two played nine more times, but on Thursday, Punch and Edmonds delivered. Punch connected on a nifty pass to Edmonds in the paint with four seconds to go for a go-ahead layup, helping TCU advance to the second round of the NCAA tournament with a 66-64 victory.
TCU was dominant from beyond the arc in the first half, but a brutal shooting performance after the break allowed the Buckeyes to claw back into the game, taking a 51-50 lead with just over seven minutes to play.
With Edmonds in foul trouble, Punch put the Frogs on his back late, however, finishing the game with 16 points, 13 boards and a pair of assists, including the go-ahead dish to Edmonds.
Ohio State had one final shot at the win, but Bruce Thornton couldn’t find an open man near the basket and settled for a half-court heave that fell short.
The win ensured Punch’s boast proved accurate, but TCU wasn’t done delivering a message to Ohio State.
“We just felt like them as a Big Ten team, they just haven’t felt or seen a defense like ours,” said Edmonds, who finished with 16 points and eight boards. “Being in the Big 12, and the different level of physicality and intensity, we just wanted to go out there and show them what Big 12 basketball is about.”
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