Sports
College Basketball Schedule Must See Non-Conference Games in 2024
Still almost 50 days out, college basketball doesn’t make a splash landing until the first week of November.
About the time the 12-team field for the college football playoff starts to be narrowed, the hoops season gets going with a slow buildup to a beefy menu of marquee matchups.
Early season tournaments and the Champions Classic without John Calipari stand as games to mark on the calendar.
Here are the games our staff is jotting down in Sharpie.
North Carolina at Kansas, Nov. 8
A Friday night at Phog Allen Fieldhouse provides a huge hello to hoops in a pairing of bluebloods sure to generate an audience and endless closeups of Roy Williams in the stands.
Tennessee at Louisville, Nov. 9
SEC Player of the Year Dalton Knecht was subtracted from the Vols’ roster and landed with the Lakers as a first-round draft pick. Now it’s up to Rick Barnes to keep Tennessee atop the SEC in the first spotlight game for new Cardinals coach Pat Kelsey.
Kentucky vs. Duke, Nov. 12 (Atlanta)
The Champions Classic also features Kansas-Michigan State, but we’re dialed in on the Cooper Flagg primetime matchup with the Wildcats. Mark Pope arrives in Calipari’s stead with a potpourri roster that might make its mark with a common defensive DNA and a dash of star power. Among newcomers at UK are 3-point specialist Koby Brea (Dayton), 6-11 forward Andrew Carr (Wake Forest) and 6-10 center Brandon Garrison (Oklahoma State). Duke draws Kansas in Las Vegas 14 days later.
Duke at Arizona, Nov. 22
Old friend Caleb Love, who helped usher Mike Krzyzewski into retirement at the 2022 Final Four in New Orleans with North Carolina, and the Wildcats are another likely top-10 team on the Duke schedule in November. Among new helping hands at Arizona are Campbell transfer Anthony Dell’Orso, who averaged 19.5 points per game last season. Sophomore center Montiejus Krivas is another player to watch for the Wildcats.
Duke vs. Kansas, Nov. 26 (Las Vegas)
Likely preseason No. 1 Kansas and presumed 2025 No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg should be enticing enough. Hunter Dickinson returned for redemption and the Jayhawks are heavy on experience. Duke’s recruiting class tracks as the stuff of heavyweights and borders on ridiculous behind Flagg with 7-foot-2 center Khaman Maluach and 6-6 wings Isaiah Evans and Kon Knueppel.
Baylor at UConn, Dec. 4
A potential matchup at the Maui Classic with Michigan State (Nov. 26) in the second round at Lahaina would make this list, but that one isn’t set in stone. The two-time defending national champions might not be beatable again this season even after losing Stephon Castle, Donovan Clingan and Cam Spencer to the NBA. That’s because coach Dan Hurley scored a transfer portal win landing Aiden Mahaney via Saint Mary’s and picking up a heralded recruiting class headlined by Liam McNeeley.
Alabama at North Carolina, Dec. 4
Can the Tide roll all the way to San Antonio? Alabama could be in play as the No. 1 team in the country by the time this one rolls around as part of the SEC-ACC Challenge. It’s a rematch of the 2024 Sweet Sixteen matchup. North Carolina has experience and guard depth. But the Tar Heels have big questions to answer inside without Armondo Bacot for the first time since the 2018 season.
Gonzaga vs UConn, Dec. 14 (Madison Square Garden)
This is how Mark Few does non-conference. Matchups with Baylor, Kentucky and a potential meeting with Arizona in the Battle 4 Atlantis headline the Bulldogs’ buildup to the WCC schedule.
Duke vs. Illinois, Feb. 22 (Madison Square Garden)
If all goes according to plan for these teams, this is a rare late February matchup that could define an NCAA Tournament seed line. Illinois has a new-look roster that doesn’t include Terrence Shannon Jr. or Coleman Hawkins, and that might not be bad news for Brad Underwood. His recruiting class headlined with Will Riley and Morez Johnson Jr. and Arizona transfer Kylan Boswell brings a needed dimension in the backcourt.
Sports
Angels activate OF/DH Jorge Soler from four-game suspension
Apr 7, 2026; Anaheim, California, USA; A fight breaks out between Atlanta Braves pitcher Reynaldo López (40) and Los Angeles Angels right fielder Jorge Soler (12) during the fifth inning at Angel Stadium. Mandatory Credit: William Navarro-Imagn Images The Los Angeles Angels activated outfielder/designated hitter Jorge Soler from the suspended list on Sunday and put him in the cleanup spot of the lineup for the series finale against the San Diego Padres.
Soler was given an original seven-game suspension for an on-field fight with former Atlanta Braves teammate Reynaldo Lopez on April 7. Soler appealed the suspension, and it was reduced to four games, while the Angels were in New York last week.
Soler, 34, is batting .231 with five home runs and 18 RBIs in 18 games for the Angels this season.
In 13 major league seasons, Soler is a career .240 hitter with 208 home runs and 568 RBIs over 1,112 games for the Chicago Cubs (2014-16), Kansas City Royals (2017-21), Atlanta Braves (2021, 2024), Miami Marlins (2022-23), San Francisco Giants (2024) and Angels.
Lopez had his own seven-game suspension reduced to five games.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Flyers aim to take 2-0 lead over rival Penguins
Apr 18, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar (80) makes a save against Pittsburgh Penguins right wing Anthony Mantha (39) during the third period in game one of the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at PPG Paints Arena. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images The Philadelphia Flyers got the best of the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 1, but both teams understand that the Keystone State rivals are likely headed for a long series.
The Flyers aim to take a commanding 2-0 series lead over the Penguins when the teams match up Monday in Pittsburgh.
In Saturday’s series opener, Philadelphia posted a 3-2 victory behind third-period goals from Travis Sanheim and Porter Martone. Sanheim, one of the team’s veteran players, scored the go-ahead goal midway through the final session before Martone added an insurance tally with 2:37 remaining.
Martone’s goal proved to be critical as Bryan Rust scored with 1:01 to play. However, Philadelphia goaltender Dan Vladar stayed firm down the stretch as the Flyers held on.
“I think I understand the level that’s needed to play in the playoffs,” said Sanheim, who helped keep Sidney Crosby off the scoreboard. “I understand the challenge ahead and my job, playing against top guys.”
Crosby and Sanheim received penalties late in the third period – Crosby for slashing and Sanheim for cross-checking – that forced both key players off the ice for the final stretch.
“That’s going to be part of a series,” Crosby said. “I think we’ve got to stay out of it a little bit more and trust that when they do it and try to start it up, that they’re going to get penalized for it. But that’s more something I think they’re looking to do. We’ve got to stay out of it and trust they’ll be undisciplined.”
Jamie Drysdale also scored for Philadelphia, while Rasmus Ristolainen notched a pair of assists. The headline, though, was Martone with the game-winning goal in his postseason debut.
“Everyone’s been great,” said the 19-year-old Martone, the sixth pick in the 2025 draft. “I think we were all pretty excited going into this game, being able to play in the playoffs. For me, it’s my 10th NHL game. It’s pretty special, and it’s an opportunity you can’t pass up.”
Philadelphia is in the postseason for the first time since 2020, while Pittsburgh is back in the playoffs for the first time since 2022. The Penguins certainly don’t want to go down 2-0 in the series before heading across the state for Games 3 and 4.
“(The Flyers) make it hard,” Pittsburgh coach Dan Muse said. “I think that’s part of their game. They’ve been doing that for a while. … They can make it difficult. I think we got away from things that worked. Part of that is the intensity. Everything is ramped up here in the playoffs.”
Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin was a force in Game 1 with a goal and an assist. He has 68 goals and 114 assists in 178 career playoff games.
“We played good all year long,” Malkin said. “We know how we play and we just, like, maybe nervous too much or we want (it) too much. We just (weren’t) thinking a little bit, I think.”
The Flyers are expecting a crisper overall effort by the Penguins in Sunday’s affair.
“We did a good job, but we know they’re going to respond,” Philadelphia captain Sean Couturier said. “We know they’re going to come hard next game. We’ve got to keep respecting their skill and just be prepared.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Best College Basketball Transfer Portal Players Still Available
The college basketball portal window has lived up to expectations so far, as long as your expectations were pure chaos.
Approximately a third of all Division-I players — what was projected to be over 3,000 players — have entered the portal.
Louisville landed the top portal player, Kansas big Flory Bidunga, to anchor the elite class of transfers it is assembling.
But there is still plenty of talent available in the portal, which is set to close for entries early next week.
Here’s a look at the best players remaining in the portal:
Milan Momcilovic
Ranked by On3, 247Sports and ESPN as the best transfer still available, Momcilovic is coming off an exceptional shooting season at Iowa State.
In his third season with the Cyclones, the 6-foot-8 forward saw his shooting percentages jump up significantly, making 50.6% of his shots and a nation-leading 48.7% of his 3-pointers.
Mind you, that perimeter performance wasn’t in a small sample size. He finished the season with 136 made threes, ranking fifth nationally with 3.7 made shots outside the arc per game.
Momcilovic also entered his name in the NBA draft. But considering he’s not considered a first-round pick, it’s entirely possible he returns for his senior season at some school and immediately gives their offense a big shooting boost.
John Blackwell
Similar to Momcilovic, Blackwell has been a gradual bloomer in college basketball at Wisconsin.
He went from 8.0 points as a freshman to 15.8 as a sophomore and, most recently, 19.1 points per game this season for the Badgers. The 6-foot-4 guard also made his impact in a number of ways with 5.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.1 steals per game, making 43% of his shots and 38.9% of his 3-pointers.
With a finalist list of Alabama, Arizona, Duke, Louisville, Illinois and UCLA, that shows the caliber of teams in on Blackwell coming off his second straight strong season in Madison.
Juke Harris
Harris exploded onto the scene at Wake Forest this past season.
He jumped up from 6.1 points per game as a freshman to 21.4 as a sophomore, good for third-most in the ACC.
Harris was only a 33.2% perimeter shooter, but made 44.4% of his total shots, showing his ability as a slasher and jumpshooter. He also led the Demon Deacons in rebounds (6.5 per game) as a 6-foot-7 guard.
He’s reportedly receiving interest from a number of top teams in the portal, including defending champs Michigan, North Carolina and Tennessee.
Massamba Diop
Arizona State didn’t have a very good 2025-26 season, finishing 17-16 and seeing head coach Bobby Hurley fired after the season.
But one thing the Sun Devils did have going for them was an exceptional season from freshman big Massamba Diop, who unfortunately for them and new coach Randy Bennett entered the portal after the season.
The 7-foot-1 native of Senegal finished second on the team in scoring (13.6 ppg) and rebounding (5.8). He was also second in the Big 12 in blocks (2.1) behind Bidunga.
A 30.8% 3-point shooter in a small sample size (8 of 26) and a 56.9% shooter from the floor, Diop showed his well-rounded ability which could make him a star on a better team next season.
