Sports
College Basketball Schedule Must See Non-Conference Games in 2024
PHOTO USA Today Sports Images 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)
source: Getty Images 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)
source: Getty Images 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
Dodgers put 1B Freddie Freeman on paternity list, call up OF Ryan Ward
Apr 8, 2026; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman (5) hits a single against the Toronto Blue Jays during the sixth inning at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images The Los Angeles Dodgers placed first baseman Freddie Freeman on the paternity list Sunday and called up outfielder Ryan Ward to the major leagues for the first time after seven minor league seasons.
Freeman, 36, is batting .296 with three home runs and 14 RBIs over 20 games this season. He had two hits in each of the last three games and four times in the past five games to raise his early batting average nearly 40 points.
Ward, 28, was drafted in the eighth round by the Dodgers in 2019 and is in his fourth season at Triple-A Oklahoma City. He won the Pacific Coast League MVP last season when he hit 36 home runs with 122 RBIs in 143 games.
Ward finally gets his first call to the major leagues after 154 home runs, 530 RBIs and a .266 batting average over 696 games in the Dodgers’ system, including 420 games at Triple-A.
“You talk about performance and he’s performed as well as, if not better than, anyone,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said about Ward in spring training, according to the Orange County Register. “So for him to not get a shot, I’m sure he’s frustrated and understandably so. But the message for him is to keep putting up numbers and knock the door down and hopefully the opportunity comes for him sometime this year.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Transfer portal roundup: Kentucky adds Furman transfer Alex Wilkins
Mar 20, 2026; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Furman Paladins guard Alex Wilkins (10) dribbles the ball against the UConn Huskies in the second half during a first round game of the men’s 2026 NCAA Tournament at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images Former Furman guard Alex Wilkins has transferred to Kentucky.
His move was one of the biggest on a busy transfer portal weekend.
Wilkins excelled in his freshman season with the Paladins, averaging 17.8 points, 4.7 assists and 2.0 rebounds in 35 games (all starts).
Listed at 6-foot-5, Wilkins showed his skills to a national audience in Furman’s lone game of the NCAA Tournament. He made four 3-pointers and scored 21 points in the Paladins’ 82-71 loss to eventual national championship runner-up UConn in the first round.
–Ex-Belmont forward Drew Scharnowski announced his transfer to Duke.
In his recently completed sophomore season at Belmont, the 6-9 Scharnowski averaged 10.7 points. 6.0 rebounds and 2.6 assists over 21.9 minutes per game. He shot 68.1% in 30 games (24 starts).
He takes the roster spot of forward Nikolas Khamenia, who transferred to UConn on Saturday.
–Florida State gained the commitment of 6-11 forward Sebastian Rancik, who heads to Tallahassee after two seasons at Colorado.
A native of Slovakia, he attended high school in Southern California, where he was ranked as a four-star prospect in the 2024 class.
In 29 games (26 starts) with the Buffaloes as a sophomore, he averaged 12.3 points and 5.6 rebounds per game.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Astros place OF Joey Loperfido (quad) on injured list
Apr 11, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; Houston Astros left fielder Joey Loperfido (10) is congratulated by teammates in the dugout after scoring a run during the second inning against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images The Houston Astros placed outfielder Joey Loperfido on the injured list with a right quad strain on Sunday and recalled right-hander Jayden Murray from Triple-A Sugar Land.
Loperfido, 26, was batting .259 with six RBIs in 20 games this season. He started at least one game in all three outfield positions.
Traded to the Toronto Blue Jays in 2024 and then re-acquired via trade in February, Loperfido is a career .249 major league hitter with eight home runs and 45 RBIs in 142 games over three seasons.
Murray, 29, had one appearance earlier this season and has a 2.63 ERA in 10 games over the past two seasons for the Astros. His addition increases Houston’s staff to 13 pitchers.
Also on Sunday, the Astros traded minor league right-hander Wilmy Sanchez to the New York Yankees for infielder Braden Shewmake, a former first-round draft pick of the Atlanta Braves in 2019.
In 31 major league games for the Braves and Chicago White Sox, Shewmake, 28, is batting .118 with a home run and four RBIs.
–Field Level Media
Dodgers put 1B Freddie Freeman on paternity list, call up OF Ryan Ward
Transfer portal roundup: Kentucky adds Furman transfer Alex Wilkins
