Cal, Stanford get Super Bowl Sunday game

The Pac-12 Conference moved the Cal-Stanford men’s basketball game, originally scheduled for the weekend of March 6 or March 7, to Sunday, Feb. 7, otherwise known as Super Bowl Sunday.

The game will tip at 7 p.m. at Kaiser Permanente Arena in Santa Cruz and be televised on FS1.

The change was made in order to free up the final week of the regular season to allow for previously postponed games to be played at that time.

Cal and Stanford will now clash twice in a four-day span in early February; the teams’ first meeting is scheduled for Feb. 4 at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley.

ALABAMA LEAPS TO NO. 9 IN AP TOP 25 >> Gonzaga and Baylor remained 1-2 in the Associated Press Top 25 college basketball poll for the 10th straight week, while Alabama vaulted into the top 10.

Undefeated Gonzaga and Baylor are followed by Villanova (10-1) at No. 3. Michigan (13-1) moved up three spots No. 4, and Texas (11-2) held firm at No. 5, despite not playing last week because of COVID-19 issues among their opponents.

Virginia (10-2) climbed five places to No. 8 and Alabama (13-3) moved up nine spots to No. 9.

Rounding out the top 10 were No. 6 Houston (13-1), No. 7 Iowa (12-3) and No. 10 Texas Tech (11-4).

TEXAS COACH SHAKA SMART TESTS POSITIVE >> Texas coach Shaka Smart announced Monday that he tested positive for COVID-19 and is away from the team.

The Longhorns (11-2, 5-1 Big 12), ranked No. 5 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll, school did not announce who will fill in for Smart when Texas hosts Oklahoma tonight or whether the game would still be played.

Texas’ past two games were postponed because of COVID-19 issues among their opponents, first Iowa State and then TCU.

HAUSER, HUFF LEAD NO. 8 VIRGINIA

PAST SYRACUSE >> Sam Hauser hit seven of Virginia’s 14 3-pointers, and the No. 8 Cavaliers cruised to an 8158 victory against Syracuse at home.

Hauser hit five 3s before halftime as Virginia (11-2, 7-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) took a 41-26 lead into the locker room. He finished with 21 points.

With Jay Huff adding a careerhigh 21 points to go along with 12 rebounds and Trey Murphy III making four 3s on his way to 16 points, the Cavaliers finished 14 for 31 from deep. It was the seventh consecutive victory for the 2019 national champions.

Quincy Guerrier led the Orange (95, 3-4) with 15 points, and Alan Griffin had 13.

After going 17 for 51 (33%) from 3-point range in his first 10 games, Hauser is living up to his reputation as a 3-point specialist. The Marquette transfer is 15 of 21 from long range in the last three games.

Women’s college basketball

LOUISVILLE, NC STATE REMAIN ATOP POLL, STANFORD SIXTH >> Louisville and North Carolina State both survived upset bids by unranked teams to remain the top two teams in The Associated Press women’s basketball poll.

The No. 1 Cardinals needed a late basket from Dana Evans to stave off Wake Forest on Sunday while the second-ranked Wolfpack had to rally from a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat Virginia Tech a few hours later. N.C. State was playing its first game since Jan. 3 after the team was paused because of the coronavirus.

Fifth-ranked UCLA switched places with No. 6 Stanford in the poll after beating the Cardinal on Friday. GREENE LEADS NO. 14 OHIO STATE OVER NO. 7 MARYLAND >> Madison Greene scored 24 points, and No. 14 Ohio State (9-1, 5-1 Big Ten) beat No. 7 Maryland 88-86 at home. Back-toback 3-pointers by Braxtin Miller put the Buckeyes up 75-69 with 4:22 left. The Terps (11-2, 7-1) missed 12 of their next 13 field-goal attempts, allowing the Buckeyes to build a lead down the stretch.

Golf MCILROY COMMITS TO PHOENIX OPEN >>

Rory McIlroy has committed to play in next month’s Waste Management Phoenix Open for the first time, according to Golfweek.

It won’t be the usual raucous environment, with tournament chairman Scott Jenkins saying earlier this month that daily attendance will be capped at 5,000 people due to the coronavirus pandemic. The tournament, scheduled for Feb. 4-7, regularly welcomes more than 200,000 fans for the weekend rounds in typical years.

McIlroy will return to the PGA Tour with this week’s Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in San Diego. He is searching for his first tour win since 2019.

McIlroy is scheduled to take the week after the Phoenix Open off, then play in four consecutive events leading up to The Players Championship.

Baseball

YANKS TRADE RHP ADAM OTTAVINO TO RED SOX >> The New York Yankees have traded right-handed relief pitcher Adam Ottavino to the Boston Red Sox. The Yankees also sent a prospect and cash to Boston, which is picking up the bulk of the $11 million left on Ottavino’s deal, including a base salary of $8 million he is set to earn this season.

Ottavino, 35, finished 2-3 with a 5.89 ERA in 24 appearances for the Yankees last season.