Late Nov. start for college hoops
The NCAA men’s and women’s basketball season will begin Nov. 25, the day before Thanksgiving.
The Division I Council voted Wednesday to push the start date back from the originally scheduled Nov. 10 as one of several precautions against the spread of coronavirus.
The later start date coincides with the decision most schools made to send students home from Thanksgiving until January out of concern about a potential late-fall and earlywinter flareup of COVID-19. Closed campuses could serve as a quasi bubble for players and provide a window for nonconference games.
The maximum number of regularseason games was reduced from 31 to 27, while the minimum number for consideration for the NCAA Tournament was cut from 25 to 13.
Athletic activities will be prohibited on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November each year, including this year’s Election Day.
Cycling: Colombian rider Miguel Angel Lopez won Stage 17 of the Tour de France, the toughest mountain stage of this year’s race. Primoz Roglic kept the yellow jersey and extended his overall lead over fellow Slovenian Tadej Pogacar to 57 seconds with four stages remaining. Lopez moved into third, 86 seconds back of the lead.
NBA: LeBron James was revealed as an All-NBA player for a record 16th time, breaking the mark he shared with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kobe
Bryant and Tim Duncan. He was a first-team pick on all 100 ballots, joining the Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo as the only unanimous first-team selections this season. Joining them on the first team: Rockets G James Harden, Lakers F Anthony Davis and Mavericks G Luka Doncic.
NFL: Peyton Manning and Charles Woodson are among 14 first-year eligible candidates for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Joining the twotime Super Bowl champion QB and the star CB/S on the ballot are WRs Calvin Johnson, Wes Welker and Roddy White; RB Steven Jackson; TE Heath Miller; OLs D’Brickashaw Ferguson and Logan Mankins; DLs Jared Allen, Justin Tuck and Kevin Williams; LB Jerod Mayo; and DB Charles Tillman. ... The 49ers placed CB Richard Sherman on IR with a strained calf. Sherman will miss at least three games.
NHL: The Sharks will remove the interim tag and make Bob Boughner their coach, The Athletic reported. Boughner, 49, took over for Peter DeBoer, who was fired Dec. 11.
Soccer: French officials opened an investigation into Neymar’s claim of racist abuse during a contentious 1-0 loss to Marseille on Sunday. They also banned the Paris Saint-Germain star two matches for slapping defender Alvaro Gonzalez in the back of the head during that game. Neymar served the first game of his ban Wednesday, sitting out PSG’s 1-0 home win against Metz.