Pac-12 scraps divisions before season starts up
Moments after the NCAA Division I Council tossed out requirements that dictate how football conferences can determine a champion, the Pac-12 announced Wednesday that it was scrapping its divisional format for the coming season.
The Pac-12 will now match the teams with the highest conference winning percentages in its title game after 11 seasons of matching winners of the North and South divisions.
Other conferences are expected to follow, most notably the 14-team Atlantic Coast Conference. The ACC is looking to implement a new scheduling model as soon as 2023.
NCAA rules previously required football conferences that want to play a championship game to split into divisions if they cannot play a full round-robin schedule.
“Our goal is to place our two best teams in our Pac12 football championship game, which we believe will provide our conference with the best opportunity to optimize CFP invitations and ultimately win national championships,” Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff said. “Today’s decision is an important step towards that goal and immediately increases both fan interest in, and the media value of, our football championship game.”
RAISE MAKES OHIO STATE’S DAY ONE OF HIGHEST-PAID COACHES »
Ohio State is hiking Ryan Day’s annual salary to $9.5 million as part of a two-year contract extension that will put him among the nation’s highest-paid college football coaches.
Day’s raise makes him the latest coach to crack $9 million per year, making him one of the highest-paid coaches along with Alabama’s Nick Saban and Clemson’s Dabo Swinney and putting his contract in line with recent deals given to Michigan State’s Mel Tucker and LSU’s Brian Kelly.
Golf
DECHAMBEAU WITHDRAWS FROM PGA AFTER TESTING REPAIRED WRIST »
Bryson DeChambeau withdrew from the PGA Championship after practicing for two days at Southern Hills to test his surgically repaired left wrist.
The former U.S. Open champion practiced with
a wrap that extended several inches up his left forearm. He tweeted Tuesday it had “held up nicely” after his initial practice round.
The 28-year-old had surgery to repair the hamate bone in his wrist on April 14, a procedure that was expected to sideline him for up to two months. He removed his cast and bandages more than a week ago, and teased an early return when he posted an online video of himself hitting a driver.
His withdrawal leaves 95 of the top 100 players in the field for Thursday’s first round. Denny McCarthy replaces DeChambeau.
MLB
PHILLIES’ HARPER WON’T PLAY RIGHT FIELD FOR 6 WEEKS » Bryce Harper sat out a third straight game as he recovers from a plateletrich plasma injection in his right elbow and the Phillies slugger may not play right field again until late July.
The reigning NL MVP, Harper said he was hopeful of returning at some point in the Philadelphia’s threegame series against the Padres. He did not play in Tuesday’s 3-0 loss. The Phillies and Padres wrap the series Thursday afternoon.
Harper had the injection Sunday because of a small tear in the ulnar collateral ligament of his throwing elbow that’s forced him into the role of designated hitter. He hasn’t played right field since April 16 and will remain as DH whenever he returns.
Phillies manager Joe Girardi said Wednesday that doctors said Harper should
not throw for at least six weeks.
MLB.TV STREAMING SEES RECORD VIEWING THROUGH FIRST 40 DAYS » Fans have watched more than 2.8 billion minutes of game action on MLB.TV through the first 40 days of the regular season, a record for the streaming package and a 9% increase over the same period last year.
Three of the mostwatched days on the 20-year-old-streaming platform have come this season — April 12, April 8 and April 9. The three most-watched games also occurred during the first two days of this season, including the Red SoxYankees opener on April 8, along with Brewers-Cubs and Guardians-Royals on April 7.
FRANCONA BACK MANAGING GUARDIANS FOLLOWING COVID-19 OUTBREAK » Guardians manager Terry Francona missed so much time over the past two seasons that even a four-game absence was difficult.
Francona and two of his coaches cleared health and safety protocols Wednesday and returned to the team after missing part of the past week after testing positive for COVID-19.
Tennis
DEFENDING CHAMPION RUUD WINS, 3 SEEDS GO OUT AT GENEVA OPEN »
Defending champion Casper Ruud eased into the quarterfinals of the Geneva Open, while three seeded players went out in the second round.
The second-seeded Ruud won 6-3, 6-1 against Benoit
Paire to confirm his status as the favorite to retain his title after second-ranked Daniil Medvedev was beaten Tuesday by Richard Gasquet.
Third-seeded Denis Shapovalov also lost his opening match, 6-4, 6-7 (2), 6-3 against Ilya Ivashka.
Soccer
FRANKFURT BEATS RANGERS IN SHOOTOUT TO WIN EUROPA LEAGUE » Eintracht Frankfurt’s 42-year wait for a European trophy is over.
The German club ended its title drought with a penalty shootout win over Rangers in the Europa League final.
Goalkeeper Kevin Trapp came up with a big save at the end of extra time and another in the shootout to help give Frankfurt the 5-4 win on penalties. The game ended 1-1 after regulation and extra time.
Colombia striker Rafael Borré, who scored a second-half equalizer for Frankfurt, converted the decisive penalty to clinch the club’s first European trophy since the 1980 UEFA Cup, a predecessor to the Europa League.
Trapp, a former Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper, made a key save in the final minutes of extra time by stretching out a leg to stop a close-range shot by Ryan Kent. The veteran goalkeeper used his left leg to stop Aaron Ramsey’s penalty in the shootout, setting off huge celebrations by Frankfurt’s “white wall” of fans behind the opposite goal.