AP Sports

Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk opens up about the death of his friend Johnny Gaudreau

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Matthew Tkachuk estimates that he tells a story about Johnny Gaudreau’s exploits, both the on-ice and off-ice variety, to somebody at least once a week. And he’s not going to stop, either. Tkachuk spoke Wednesday about the death of his longtime friend and former teammate, calling Gaudreau “the most offensively talented player I’ve ever seen.” Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew, were killed on Aug. 29 when police said they were struck by a suspected drunken driver while they were riding bicycles on a rural road in New Jersey. Tkachuk spoke at the Panthers’ media day, the first formal event of the new NHL season.

After decades wait for Champions League games, Sparta beats Salzburg and Bologna holds Shakhtar

GENEVA (AP) — Long-time absentees from top-level European soccer had a good evening against the Champions League regulars in their return to action Wednesday. Sparta Prague was playing in the main stage of the competition for the first time in 19 years and brushed aside Salzburg 3-0. Bologna had to wait 60 years and held Champions League veteran Shakhtar Donetsk to a 0-0 draw in Italy. Bologna did most of the attacking after the Ukrainian champion had a penalty saved in the fourth minute. Manchester City hosting Inter Milan was the standout of four games later Wednesday.

Wojnarowski is leaving ESPN for alma mater to become GM of St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team

ESPN NBA reporter Adrian Wojnarowski is retiring from broadcasting to return to his alma mater, St. Bonaventure, to take over the newly created position of general manager of the men’s basketball program. The Atlantic 10 school in western New York announced Wednesday that Wojnarowski will oversee a wide range of responsibilities while working alongside coach Mark Schmidt and his staff. His duties will include focusing on name, image and likeness opportunities, transfer portal management, recruiting and alumni player relationships. Wojnarowski graduated St. Bonaventure with a journalism degree in 1991 and received an honorary doctorate from the school in 2022.

Wake Forest replaces canceled trip to Ole Miss with home-and-home series vs. Oregon State

Wake Forest has announced future football games against Oregon State. That series starts next year to replace a trip to Mississippi after a cancellation that drew the ire of Rebels coach Lane Kiffin. Wake Forest announced the series with the Beavers on Wednesday morning. Wake Forest athletics director John Currie in a statement called the cancellation and the Oregon State series “the right business decision.” Kiffin had said Wake Forest broke “an unwritten rule” by backing out of next year’s return trip to Oxford and forcing the school to search for a replacement game.

WNBA awards Portland an expansion franchise that will begin play in 2026

The WNBA is headed back to Portland, with Oregon’s biggest city getting an expansion team that will begin play starting in 2026. The team will be owned and operated by Raj Sports, led by Lisa Bhathal Merage and Alex Bhathal. They paid $125 million for the franchise. The Bhathals started having conversations with the WNBA late last year after a separate bid to bring a team to Portland fell through. It’s the third expansion franchise the league will add over the next two years, with Golden State and Toronto getting the other two. The Golden State Valkyries will begin play next season and Toronto in 2026.

Derek Carr and the Saints buck the NFL trend of early season offensive struggles

The worst start to an NFL season for passing offenses in years hasn’t hit the New Orleans Saints. While quarterbacks and offenses around the league have struggled to get going, Derek Carr and the Saints are clicking with an early efficiency that might not ever have been reached before in the NFL. The Saints followed up a 47-point outburst in the season opener against Carolina by beating the Dallas Cowboys 44-19 on Sunday, becoming the fifth team to score at least 44 points in each of the first two games of a season.

College football picks: New conference rivalries for No. 11 USC and No. 15 Oklahoma take spotlight

Conference realignment has done more harm than good for college football and it’s easy to lament what has been lost in the name of chasing dollars. Then Week 4 of the season rolls around and the schedule is highlighted by No. 6 Tennessee at No. 15 Oklahoma in the Sooners’ first Southeastern Conference game and No. 11 Southern California visiting No. 18 Michigan in USC’s Big Ten debut. Yes, those matchups were created by greed, but they are pretty tasty. That’s how they get you.

Once known for its tough defenses, the SEC has started to open up the offense this season

Tennessee is scoring a touchdown more than anyone in the country after the first three weeks of the season. Anyone happens to begin with Southeastern Conference rival Ole Miss. And while the sample size is small, and nonconference schedules in particular are hardly created equal, there is reason to believe that a league that was once known for its defense has swung the other way. The scary thing for the rest of the nation, and each other as SEC teams begin conference play: The Vols and many other high-scoring teams think they have yet to truly hit their stride.

Blue Jackets open camp amid lingering grief over death of Johnny Gaudreau

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Columbus Blue Jackets opened training camp still weighed down by the grief of losing star forward Johnny Gaudreau three weeks ago. One of the worst teams in the NHL last season, the Blue Jackets must find a way to move forward with a new general manager and new coach and with a huge void left on and off the ice by the death of the 31-year-old Gaudreau. Gaudreau was killed with his brother Matthew on Aug. 29 when they were hit by a car driven by an alleged impaired driver while bicycling in Oldsman Township, New Jersey.

Setting 12-team playoff bracket not the same as ranking top 12 teams and could be ‘a shocker’

GRAPEVINE, Texas (AP) — Setting the 12-team bracket for the expanded college football playoff won’t be the same as ranking the top 12 teams. That could be a shocker for some fans and teams. The four-highest-ranked conference champions are guaranteed the top four seeds and first-round byes. That makes it possible for the second-ranked team being no higher than the No. 5 seed. And it could mean some teams ranked in the top 12 getting left out of the 12-team playoff. The CFP does its first weekly top 25 ranking November 5. The playoff bracket will be revealed Dec. 8.