Teams coming off difficult road losses meet Saturday afternoon in Cincinnati as Xavier takes on Marquette in a Big East rematch.

Xavier (12-12, 4-9 Big East) is coming off an 87-82 overtime loss on Monday to No. 17 St. John’s while Marquette (9-16, 4-10) blew a late nine-point lead Tuesday against Villanova.

In their first meeting on Jan. 7 in Milwaukee, Marquette came away with a 66-65 win, one of three one-point losses this season for Xavier. Marquette forward Ben Gold’s putback dunk in the final minute of regulation proved to be the game-winner for the Golden Eagles.

Gold finished with 10 points and had five of Marquette’s 19 offensive rebounds.

Rebounding remains an issue for the Musketeers, who have relied on strong guard and wing play this season without much size in the middle.

Xavier did not outrebound any of its last five opponents and was beaten 47-34 on the boards in the first matchup with Marquette.

In Monday’s loss at Madison Square Garden, St. John’s grabbed three offensive rebounds on its final possession of regulation before hitting a game-tying tip-in.

“We had a chance to win it. I’m proud of the effort. They’re great kids. I really believe in what we’re building,” Xavier head coach Richard Pitino said.

Xavier, which has lost two straight games and five of six, is trying to avoid falling below .500 for the first time since finishing the 2023-24 season with a 16-18 mark.

One game after scoring a career-high 18 points, Marquette freshman Adrien Stevens matched that total last time out versus Villanova. In the last two games, Stevens made 11 of 22 shots and was 10-of-19 (52.6%) from behind the 3-point line.

Stevens knocked down a career-best six treys against Butler on Feb. 7 and reached double figures in three of the past four games.

Royce Parham finished with a career night at Villanova, posting his first double-double — and the team’s first this season — with a 26-point, 11-rebound effort in 37 minutes. Parham averaged 17.1 points over his last seven games.

“Just my coaches trusting in me,” Parham said. “They believed in me and were calling up a lot of plays for me (against Villanova). I was kind of being more assertive today, too. I just kept going, flowing with that.”

–Field Level Media

The NFL selected Tiger Woods’ sports business venture, TMRW Sports, as its operational partner for a professional flag football league that is in development, according to a report by Sportico.

Sources told the publication that TMRW Sports beat out about a dozen competitors in a bid process. NFL owners voted in December to authorize the search for a partner and invest up to $32 million to support the creation of the new league.

TMRW Sports confirmed its interest in flag football to Sportico but would not comment on discussions with the NFL.

“We’ve made a tremendous amount of progress in one year, and the league is moving forward,” an NFL spokesperson told Sportico while declining further comment.

Woods co-founded TMRW, the group behind the TGL indoor golf league, in 2022 with fellow golf star Rory McIlroy and media executive Mike McCarley. Backers with ties to the NFL include Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank, Minnesota Vikings owner Mark Wilf and Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen.

The NFL has embraced flag football by making it the cornerstone event of the revamped Pro Bowl Games and allowing players to compete in the sport’s Olympic debut at Los Angeles in 2028.

“Today’s vote represents a critical step in establishing flag football as a premier global sport,” NFL executive Troy Vincent Sr. said in December when owners green-lit the new pro league.

“We are developing the infrastructure to accelerate the game’s growth to new heights by creating a clear pathway for aspiring athletes to progress from youth and high school programs through college and now to the professional level. We look forward to forming a partnership to bring this vision to life and deliver a world-class professional flag football experience for elite athletes and fans alike.”

–Field Level Media

Ole Miss is still considered a longshot to win the 2026 College Football Playoff, but the Rebels’ chances in the eyes of oddsmakers definitely increased with a judge ruling that quarterback Trinidad Chambliss can play next season.

The Rebels were a +4000 longshot at BetMGM to win next season’s CFP before a judge in Pittsboro, Miss. ruled on Thursday that Chambliss merits one more year of college football eligibility. Following the ruling, Ole Miss’ title odds shortened to +3500 at BetMGM and DraftKings, while FanDuel trimmed the Rebels to +3000.

The Rebels also led all teams with 48% of the total bets and 90% of all money wagered on next season’s national champion backing Ole Miss at BetMGM since the ruling. That included one $5,000 bet at the book backing the Rebels at +3500.

Ole Miss still has only the 14th-shortest title odds at the book with the Rebels behind SEC rivals Texas (+700), Georgia (+900), LSU (+1200), Alabama (+1500), Texas A&M (+1500) and Oklahoma (+3000).

With the potential of the NCAA appealing Thursday’s ruling, Chambliss has not yet been added to the 2025 Heisman Trophy market by any of the three books.

JUDGE: NCAA SHOWED ‘BAD FAITH’

Chambliss, who finished eighth in the 2025 Heisman Trophy race while leading the Rebels to the College Football Playoff semifinals, initially had his appeal to play in 2026 denied by the NCAA on Jan. 9.

That led Chambliss’ lawyers to file for the injunction granted Thursday by Judge Robert Whitwell in Lafayette County Chancery Court. The University of Mississippi is located in Oxford, the county seat for Lafayette.

Whitwell spoke for more than an hour before declaring Chambliss would receive the injunction. He declared the NCAA showed “bad faith” when denying Chambliss’ appeal by ignoring evidence brought forth by Ferris State doctors.

Chambliss spent his first four college years at Ferris State. He redshirted as a freshman in 2021, appeared in just two games due to illness in 2022 (triggering the belief he merited a medical redshirt) and threw just 33 passes as a backup in 2023 before directing Ferris State to the Div. II national championship in 2024.

The Grand Rapids, Mich., native transferred to Ole Miss in 2025 and became the team’s quarterback in Week 3 after starter Austin Simmons suffered an injury. Chambliss wound up leading the Rebels to a 13-2 season that ended with a 31-27 Fiesta Bowl loss to Miami on Jan. 8.

Chambliss completed 66.1% of his passes for 3,937 yards, 22 touchdowns and just three interceptions. He also rushed for 527 yards and eight scores.

He signed a lucrative NIL deal to return to Ole Miss, but that was placed in jeopardy when his waiver appeal was denied.

The NCAA can appeal Thursday’s decision, so Chambliss isn’t guaranteed to be in uniform when Ole Miss opens the 2026 season against Louisville on either Sept. 5 or 6 in Nashville.

The NCAA issued a statement shortly after the injunction was granted:

“This decision in a state court illustrates the impossible situation created by differing court decisions that serve to undermine rules agreed to by the same NCAA members who later challenge them in court. We will continue to defend the NCAA’s eligibility rules against repeated attempts to rob future generations of the opportunity to compete in college and experience the life-changing opportunities only college sports can create. The NCAA and its member schools are making changes to deliver more benefits to student-athletes, but the patchwork of state laws and inconsistent, conflicting court decisions make partnering with Congress essential to provide stability for current and future college athletes.”

–Field Level Media