Tide tops preseason coaches poll
Alabama was voted No. 1 in the preseason USA Today coaches’ poll released Monday, with Ohio State second and defending national champion Georgia third.
The Associated Press preseason Top 25 will be released Aug. 15.
The Crimson Tide received 54 first-place votes from a panel of 66 major college football coaches.
Alabama is coming off a loss in the College Football Playoff title game to Georgia.
The Buckeyes received five first-place votes and the Bulldogs got six. No. 18 Texas also received a first-place vote.
Clemson was No. 4 and Notre Dame was No. 5. Michigan, coming off its first CFP appearance, was sixth, followed by Texas A&M, Utah, Oklahoma and Baylor.
NBA: The league informed teams in a memorandum that players still need to have either received a primary course of a COVID-19 vaccine, or been given a medical clearance from getting one, in order to play games in Canada, ESPN reported. The memo also states that, should players be ineligible to play in games in Canada, teams must list them as, “Out — Health and Safety Protocols,” and they will lose their pay for any games missed due to not being vaccinated. Those are the same rules that governed being able to play in Toronto since the middle of last season.
NFL: The Ravens and five-time All-Pro K Justin Tucker agreed to a four-year extension worth $24 million. The agreement includes $17.5 million guaranteed for the star kicker, whose previous deal was through 2023. Tucker, 32, has been a gamechanger for the Ravens in his 10 years with the team. He’s made a record 91.1% of his field goal attempts, and his 1,360 points are the most ever by a player through his first 10 seasons. Tucker set another record last year with a 66-yard kick against the Lions in Detroit that won the game. He’s 16 of 16 on field goal attempts in the final minute of regulation and has converted 58 straight in the fourth quarter and overtime, the longest active streak in the league . ... Saints QB Jameis Winston left practice with what coach Dennis Allen described as an apparent foot injury. “He tweaked his foot a little bit,” Allen said after practice. Winston didn’t receive treatment on the field and continued to practice for a period after he’d first felt discomfort before deciding to walk to the training room. The 28-yearold Winston is the Saints’ projected starter despite tearing ligaments in his left knee in a game against the Buccaneers on Oct. 31. ... Jets RT Mekhi Becton was scheduled to undergo an MRI on his surgically repaired right knee after limping off the practice field in apparent pain. The injury doesn’t appear serious, according to the Jets.
WNBA: Mercury G Diana Taurasi will miss the remainder of the regular season with a quadriceps strain. Taurasi missed the last two games with the injury and the team announced Monday that the WNBA’s all-time leading scorer will not be available as the Mercury fight for a 10th straight playoff appearance. A five-time Olympic gold medalist and three-time WNBA champion, Taurasi averaged 16.7 points and 3.9 assists this season, her 17th in the WNBA. The Mercury are one of six teams fighting for the final three playoff spots heading into the final week of the season.