Sports
Oklahoma, West Virginia see momentum opportunity in Crown championship
Mar 13, 2026; Nashville, TN, USA; Oklahoma Sooners head coach Porter Moser reacts to a called foul against the Arkansas Razorbacks during the second half at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Imagesduring the first half This time last year, Nebraska took home the inaugural College Basketball Crown trophy. The winner of Sunday’s championship game in Las Vegas between Oklahoma and West Virginia will hope to carry similar momentum into next season.
Oklahoma (21-15) endured a nine-game losing streak in the heart of Southeastern Conference play, ultimately dooming its NCAA Tournament chances before finishing as the first team left out of the 68-team field.
The Sooners face former Big 12 rival West Virginia on Sunday in the program’s first championship game since their 1991 NIT final loss to Stanford. For Oklahoma coach Porter Moser, the decision to accept the bid wasn’t a tough one, and so far, it’s paid off.
“I’m not going to lie, it was a very hard Selection Sunday,” Moser said. “The emotions were very raw, because of how much these guys battled through when no one else believed. We felt we should have been in (the tournament), but that’s for a later discussion. We could either talk about that, or we could show them why they made a mistake.”
After beating Colorado 90-86 in overtime on Wednesday in the quarterfinals, Oklahoma got 21 points from Xzayvier Brown in its 82-69 victory over Baylor on Saturday. Nijel Pack’s 16.6 points per game pace the Sooners, while Brown adds 15.5.
West Virginia (20-14) beat Creighton 87-70 in the semifinals on Saturday to earn its first 20-win season since the 2019-20 campaign. One more victory would give the Mountaineers their first postseason tournament title since winning the 2007 NIT.
First-year head coach Ross Hodge’s team flirted with the NCAA Tournament bubble all season. When that dream fell short, there were no doubts about heading to Las Vegas.
“There was no conversation that needed to be had about playing,” Hodge said. “These guys love each other. They love the university. They love the state of West Virginia. It’s their heart and their gratitude that is directly responsible for us to be in the position that we’re going to be in (Sunday).”
Freshman DJ Thomas scored 20 points in the Mountaineers’ win over Creighton — his second most this season. Honor Huff leads West Virginia with 15.9 points per game, followed by Brenen Lorient’s 11.8.
Nebraska followed up its CBC title last season by winning a school-record 28 games this season, including the first two NCAA Tournament victories in program history.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Cloud9 rally past LYON in LCS Spring opener
A custom gaming keyboard backlit with red LED lights waits for tactile input before Manual took on Boone County in a Rocket League match, which was streamed on YouTube on Thursday, March 5, 2020. Cloud9 recorded a 2-1 win over LYON to begin the regular season of the LCS Spring event on Saturday.
LYON posted a 35-minute victory on blue before Cloud9 bounced back with a 33-minute triumph on red and 30-minute victory on blue.
Canadian Philippe “Vulcan” Laflamme and South Korean Seung-gyu “Thanatos” Park were tabbed as MVPs for Cloud9, while Australian Jonah “Isles” Rosario earned the distinction for LYON.
Also on Saturday, Disguised overcame dropping the first map in 32 minutes to secure a 2-1 victory over Sentinels. The former capped the win with a 30-minute win on blue.
Canadian/Romanian player Christian “KryRa” Rahaian earned a pair of MVP honors for Disguised, while South Korean Yoo-jin “HamBak” Ham received the distinction for Sentinels.
Eight teams will compete in best-of-3 matches in the round-robin regular season before advancing to the playoffs, which will be contested in best-of-5 matches in a double-elimination format. The top two teams will qualify for the Mid-Season Invitational.
Regular season standings
T1. Cloud9, 1-0, 2-1
T1. Disguised, 1-0, 2-1
T3. FlyQuest, 0-0, 0-0
T3. Team Liquid, 0-0, 0-0
T3. Dignitas, 0-0, 0-0
T3. Shopify Rebellion, 0-0, 0-0
T7. LYON, 0-1, 1-2
T7. Sentinels, 0-1, 1-2
–Field Level Media
Sports
Renato Moicano snaps losing streak with submission victory
Jun 28, 2025; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Beneil Dariush (red gloves) fights Renato Moicano (blue gloves) during UFC 317 at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images Renato Moicano of Brazil snapped a two-fight losing streak with a rear-naked-choke submission victory over Scotland’s Chris Duncan at 3:14 of the second round in the lightweight main event of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas.
Moicano (21-7-1) dominated the fight, allowing Duncan (15-3-0) just one second of control time while landing over twice as many strikes (62-30). Duncan had a four-match win streak snapped, taking his first defeat since Feb. 24, 2024.
In the co-main event, Virna Jandiroba (23-4-0) came away with a unanimous-decision victory (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) over fellow Brazilian Tabatha Ricci (12-4-0) in a strawweight fight. It was a bounceback for Jandiroba after she had a five-fight win streak snapped in a title-fight loss to Mackenzie Dern last October.
Abdul-Rakhman Yakhyaev of Turkey also had a rear-naked-choke submission win on the main card, beating Brazil’s Brendson Ribeiro (17-10-0) 2:52 into the opening round to improve to 9-0-0 in the light heavyweight division.
Ethyn Ewing (10-2-0) came away with a third-round KO/TKO bantamweight victory to hand Brazilian Rafael Estevam (14-1-0) his first MMA loss. Before that, Tommy McMillen (10-0-0) won his UFC debut in the featherweight division with a first-round KO/TKO via a series of blows culminating with a knee strike which took Italy’s Manolo Zecchini (11-5-0) to the mat.
In the main-card opener, Jose Delano (17-3-0) of Brazil won via unanimous decision (30-26, 29-27, 29-27) over Poland’s Robert Ruchala (11-3-0) in his UFC debut.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Padres, Red Sox chasing first series win of season
Mar 30, 2026; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres starting pitcher Walker Buehler (10) delivers during the first inning against the San Francisco Giants at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images With both starting pitchers seeking bounce-back outings for their new teams, the Boston Red Sox and visiting San Diego Padres face off to close a three-game weekend series on Sunday afternoon.
The Padres scored a 3-2 victory on Saturday after Ramon Laureano’s two-out RBI single in the ninth inning. San Diego now turns to a familiar sight on the Boston mound in Walker Buehler (0-1, 6.75 ERA) for his second start.
Buehler, who began last season with the Red Sox before he was released in September, will face Boston left-hander Ranger Suarez (0-1, 8.31). Both teams are searching for their first series victory of the season.
“Laureano has been doing that the last few years, so you’ve got to tip your cap to them,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “Gotta regroup and get ready for (Sunday) to win the series.”
Though the Padres entered Saturday hitting a National League-worst .192, Laureano continued a strong early-season run with the big hit. He now boasts a .308 batting average and has reached base safely in six of his first seven games.
“I think Laureano has had the best results and best at-bats we’ve gotten so far, so we’ll probably see him more at the top of the lineup going forward,” Padres manager Craig Stammen said.
A two-time World Series champion with the Los Angeles Dodgers, who signed a free-agent contract in February, Buehler made his Padres debut Monday against the San Francisco Giants, allowing three runs on five hits across four innings.
“Our hope is that he kind of returns to who he’s been in the past,” Stammen said last week. “And that we have somebody that was a former All-Star pitcher, someone that was a thorn in our side as the Padres, and becomes a thorn in the side for other people.”
Buehler’s only career start against the Red Sox came in the 18-inning marathon Game 3 of the 2018 World Series. He started and went seven scoreless innings.
The Red Sox were in position to win the series on Saturday, holding a one-run lead with Aroldis Chapman taking the mound in the ninth looking for his second consecutive save. Andruw Monasterio’s pinch-hit RBI fielder’s choice had tied the game for the Red Sox in the eighth.
Instead, Boston fell to a major league-worst 2-6 for the first time since 2019 and has now lost all three of its one-run games this season.
Cora’s offense has also struggled, scoring two or fewer runs for the fourth time in eight games and going 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position.
“We have to make sure when we are ahead in the count, get a pitch you can handle. If not, pass the baton,” Cora said.
The Red Sox had an 8-7 advantage in hits on Saturday, with Roman Anthony (triple) and Ceddanne Rafaela each recording a pair.
Suarez looks to deliver an improved start in his first Fenway Park outing for Boston. He allowed four runs, including a pair of home runs, in 4 1/3 innings Monday against the Houston Astros.
“I feel very good physically,” Suarez said. “I missed a couple (pitches), but I’ll just keep working for the next outing.”
Suarez, who is 3-1 with a 2.39 career ERA in eight appearances (five starts) against the Padres, is coming off back-to-back seasons with double-digit wins and recorded a career-high 151 strikeouts in 157 1/3 innings in 2025 with the Philadelphia Phillies.
–Field Level Media
Larry David Said He Would Never Write Another Finale, Then He Did The Funniest Thing Ever
Cloud9 rally past LYON in LCS Spring opener
