UNC, Gonzaga remain 1-2 atop AP Top 25 men’s poll

North Carolina and Gonzaga remain 1-2 in the first regular-season men’s college basketball poll from The Associated Press.

The top-ranked Tar Heels (2-0) earned 44 of 63 firstplace votes in the AP Top 25 while the second-ranked Bulldogs (2-0) picked up 14 after the opening week of the regular season. Thirdranked Houston and fourthranked Kentucky picked up the remaining votes in a poll that featured only slight changes from the preseason poll released Oct. 17.

Baylor and Kansas were tied for fifth previously. This time, Baylor is alone at No. 5, followed by Kansas and Duke. UCLA, Arkansas and Creighton round out the top 10.

Tennessee (1-1) took the biggest tumble, falling 11 spots to No. 22 after losing to Colorado in its home state. And Villanova went from 16th to unranked for the first time since February 2019 after a loss to Temple in its second game under Kyle Neptune, who took over in the spring after the retirement of Hall of Fame coach Jay Wright.

College football

COACH: SLAIN VIRGINIA FOOTBALL PLAYERS ‘WERE ALL GOOD ‘KIDS >> Three University of Virginia football players killed in an on-campus shooting were remembered Monday by their head coach as “all good kids.”

Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr., and D’Sean Perry were juniors returning to campus from a class trip to see a play Sunday night when authorities say they were killed by a fellow student.

The young men were also members of the Virginia football team, journeying through periods of transition in their careers — whether it was bouncing back from a season-ending injury, changing positions on the team or transferring in from another school.

“They were all good kids,” head football coach Tony Elliott said early Monday afternoon. He said he would talk about the victims “when the time is right.”

The shooting happened just after 10:15 p.m. Sunday as a charter bus full of students returned from seeing a play in Washington. University President Jim Ryan said authorities did not have a “full understanding” of the motive or circumstances surrounding the shooting.

WEST VIRGINIA FIRES AD AS FOOTBALL TEAM FALTERS >> West Virginia announced the firing of athletic director Shane Lyons on Monday, a move that comes amid the worst stretch for the football team in more than four decades.

President Gordon Gee said there were no immediate plans to make changes under coach Neal Brown.

Lyons is gone after nearly eight years. Gee said in a statement that Rob Alsop, WVU’s vice president for strategic initiatives, has been named interim athletic director while a search is ongoing for Lyons’ replacement.

Women’s basketball

AP TOP 25: NO. 1 SOUTH CAROLINA, NO. 2 STANFORD SHOWDOWN SET >> South Carolina passed its first test of the season and now the topranked Gamecocks have a tougher challenge: a visit to

No. 2 Stanford on Sunday.

South Carolina remained the unanimous choice as the top team in first regular-season Top 25 women’s basketball poll from The Associated Press. Texas, Iowa and UConn round out the first five in the poll released Monday.

The Gamecocks (3-0) beat then-No. 17 Maryland 81-56 last week, setting up the showdown with Stanford.

It will be the 63rd meeting between the top two teams in the women’s AP Top 25 and the seventh time it has happened in November. The last 1-2 matchup was also South Carolina-Stanford with the Gamecocks beating the Cardinal by four points last Dec. 21, rallying from an 18-point deficit. The No. 1 team holds a 39-23 advantage in the meetings.

NBA

NETS COACH VAUGHN HAS NO UPDATE WHEN IRVING MIGHT RETURN >> Kyrie Irving’s return from suspension is still unknown, with Brooklyn Nets coach Jacque Vaughn saying Sunday he had no update on the guard.

Irving was suspended by the Nets for a minimum of five games on Nov. 3 for refusing to say he had no antisemitic beliefs, and the game against the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday was the sixth he missed.

NFL

BROWNS QB WATSON CLEARED TO PRACTICE >> Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson was cleared to practice Monday, a significant step in his return to the NFL following an 11-game suspension.

Watson, who was accused of sexual misconduct by more than two dozen women during massage therapy sessions, reached a settlement with the league in August to sit out 11 games, pay a $5 million fine and undergo counseling and treatment.

To this point, Watson has been permitted only to attend meetings and work out at the team’s facility. The Browns (3-6) don’t practice until Wednesday, when Watson will rejoin his teammates on the field.

As long as he continues to meet conditions of the agreement, Watson will make his debut for the Browns on Dec. 4 against Houston, which drafted him in 2017 and traded him to Cleveland in March. PANTHERS WILL START MAYFIELD AT QB WITH WALKER INJURED >> Baker Mayfield is back as Carolina’s starting quarterback.

Mayfield, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NFL draft, will start for the Panthers on Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens after P.J. Walker was diagnosed with a high ankle sprain.

The Panthers say Walker was injured in Thursday night’s 25-15 victory against the Atlanta Falcons but coach Steve Wilks said Walker toughed it out and continued to play. The Panthers made no mention of the injury after the game.

Tennis

RUBLEV APPEALS FOR PEACE >> Russian tennis player Andrey Rublev made an appeal for peace following his win over compatriot Daniil Medvedev at the ATP Finals on Monday.

The seventh-ranked Rublev wrote “Peace, Peace, Peace, All we need,” on a TV camera lens.

Rublev and Medvedev — along with all Russian and Belarus tennis players — have been competing without their flag or country next to their names as part of widespread sports sanctions due to Russia’s war with Ukraine.

Rublev made a similar appeal in February, writing “No war please” on a TV camera lens shortly after Russia’s invasion.

Soccer

PULISIC TO WEAR NO. 10 FOR US AT WORLD CUP >> Forward and winger Christian Pulisic will wear No. 10 for the United States at the World Cup and goalkeeper Matt Turner will wear No. 1.

The U.S. team announced jersey numbers Monday, a week before the Americans play Wales at Al Rayyan, Qatar, in their first World Cup match since 2014. DeAndre Yedlin, the only holdover from the roster eight years ago, will wear No. 22 instead of No. 2.

Twenty-two of the 26 players were in Qatar ahead of Monday’s training, with Sergiño Dest, Weston McKennie, Tim Weah and Haji Wright due later in the day following scheduled Sunday league matches with their European clubs.

GHANA WITHOUT ITS TOP TWO GOALKEEPERS FOR WORLD CUP >> Ghana had to leave its top two goalkeepers out of the World Cup squad after they were injured ahead of the announcement on Monday.

First-choice goalkeeper Jojo Wollacott broke his finger in the warmup ahead of a game with his English club side Charlton Athletic this weekend and has now been ruled out of the World Cup, while backup Richard Ofori has a knee injury, according to his South African club Orlando Pirates.

That means Ghana has been forced to dig deep into its reserves for the tournament in Qatar.

Lawrence Ati-Zigi, who plays his club soccer in Switzerland, is likely to start the World Cup in goal. The other two goalkeepers named in the squad are Abdul Manaf Nurudeen, who has two caps, and 19-yearold Ibrahim Danlad, who is yet to play for Ghana.

As expected, Ghana selected defender Tariq Lamptey, a former England youth international, and forward Iñaki Williams, who has one cap for Spain, after they changed allegiance this year.

Baseball

MARLINS PROMOTOE CAROLINE O’CONNOR TO PRESIDENT >> Caroline O’Connor didn’t know what her ceiling was when she entered the sports business world, simply because there were so few examples of women who traveled her path.

Turns out, she had no limit.

The Miami Marlins promoted O’Connor to president of business operations on Monday, making them the first U.S. major sports franchise to have women serving simultaneously as president and general manager. The Marlins made history by hiring Kim Ng as GM in November 2020; two years later, they’ve made another significant move.

“When I talk to young girls, I really like them to see me in my role because I didn’t feel like I had that role model,” O’Connor said. “And I want people to see themselves when they see me and know that it is a possibility.”