Stanford’s baseball team must settle for 9th seed
The Stanford baseball team did not receive the overall seed it might have been looking for Monday when the 64-team field was announced for the NCAA Tournament.
The Cardinal (33-14) received the No. 9 seed overall, meaning if it wins the regional tournament it’ll host later this week at Sunken Diamond, it might have to travel to play in the super regional.
Texas Tech (36-15) was awarded the No. 8 seed overall, and the top eight national seeds are assured of hosting super regionals if they win their regionals.
Stanford will play North Dakota State (41-17) on Friday at 1 p.m. in the first game of the double elimination regional tournament that also includes UC Irvine (40-16) and Nevada (25-18). Stanford’s game will be streamed live on ESPN3.
Stanford won four of its last five Pac-12 games, including two on May 22 and 23 against Oregon, which was ranked 13th in the country at the time. Stanford finished third in the conference with a 17-10 record, behind Arizona (21-9) and Oregon (20-10).
Six Pac-12 teams are in the tournament, including UCLA (35-18), Oregon State (34-22) and Arizona State (32-20). Arizona was awarded the No. 5 seed overall, and Oregon was seeded 14th.
Stanford is the only Bay Area school in the tournament. Cal, which finished seventh in the Pac-12 and was 29-26 overall, did not receive an at-large bid.
Football
NFL CONSIDERING GERMANY AS NEXT INTERNATIONAL DESTINATION >> The NFL appears to be looking at expanding international locations to host regular-season games, and Germany has emerged as the top destination to join England and Mexico as host countries as early as 2022.
According to a league memo regarding a proposed international scheduling model, the NFL is considering putting a game in either Munich or Berlin.
The memo outlines the league’s tentative plan for 2022, putting two games in London, one in Mexico and one in Germany. For the upcoming 2021 season, the NFL will stage international games in London: The Falcons will host the Jets on Oct. 10, and the Jaguars will host the Dolphins the following week.
NFL owners have reportedly agreed to a rule that would require every team to “host” at least one international game every eight years.
Soccer
ZINEDINE ZIDANE REVEALS WHY HE LEFT REAL MADRID >> Zinedine Zidane took aim at his former club Real Madrid and team president Florentino Perez in an open letter, refuting claims that he was tired of coaching and citing a lack of trust for his decision to resign as head coach.
Zidane’s comments in an open letter published Monday in the Madridbased newspaper Diario AS were his first public words since he resigned last week following a two-season run in his second stint as coach.
“I’m leaving, but I’m not abandoning ship and I’m not tired of coaching,” Zidane wrote. “I’m leaving because I feel the club is no longer giving me the trust I need, it isn’t offering me the support to build something medium-to-long-term.”
Zidane, 48, led Real Madrid to the 2017 La Liga title and three Champions League crowns from 2016-18.
Lacrosse
VIRGINIA BEATS MARYLAND TO WIN
NCAA TITLE >> Matt Moore and Connor Shellenberger scored four goals apiece and goalie Alex Rode made a huge save in the final seconds in Hartford, Conn., and Virginia held off previously unbeaten Maryland 1716 to win its second straight NCAA men’s lacrosse championship.