Sports
No. 12 Michigan, Nebraska square off looking to bounce back from losses
Michigan Head Coach Dusty May talks with coaches during the Indiana versus Michigan men’s basketball game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025. Two teams looking to rebound from defeats will collide Monday night when No. 12 Michigan visits Nebraska for a Big Ten contest in Lincoln, Neb.
The Wolverines are recovering from a tough home loss (75-62) Friday night to rival Michigan State in what was a battle for first place in the conference.
The Wolverines (20-6, 12-3) are still squarely in the race for a league title, but instead of being in firm control with a win over Michigan State, they are a half-game behind the Spartans entering their final five games of the regular season.
Michigan will start with a game at Nebraska; the Wolverines are 6-2 on the road this season.
“This group has proved all year that we respond and unify when things don’t go well,” said coach Dusty May, who agreed to a multi-year contract extension with Michigan before the Michigan State game tipped off. “There’s no reason to expect anything different.”
Michigan has relied all season on arguably the best frontcourt tandem in the country in 7-footers Danny Wolf — who is averaging 12.8 points and 9.9 rebounds per game — and Vladislav Goldin (15.9 ppg, 6.1 rpg).
Even though the Wolverines won six games in a row before the loss to Michigan State, one big concern recently has been their perimeter shooting.
In its last six games, Michigan is shooting 30 percent (40 of 133) from 3-point range, which has made it easier for opponents to clamp down on Wolf and Goldin in the lane.
“We really haven’t shot it well in probably three or four weeks,” May said.
Michigan hopes to break out of its shooting funk against a Nebraska team coming off a lopsided loss (89-72) at one of the league’s worst team, Penn State, on Wednesday.
The Cornhuskers (17-10, 7-9) are still in the hunt for an NCAA Tournament berth, and playing Michigan will present another opportunity to get a Quad 1 win to pad their resume.
Helping the cause will that Nebraska will be at home, where it is 10-3 this year. But the Cornhuskers first want to get the taste of the loss to Penn State out of their mouths.
“We’re playing for something right now,” Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg said. “We still have our goals in front of us. We can reverse this. We still have an opportunity to achieve what we set out to. But we’ve got to fix it in a hurry. We’ve got some soul-searching to do.”
Nebraska features one of the top scorers in the conference in Brice Williams, who is averaging 19.4 points per game. Juwan Gary (13.3 ppg) and Connor Essegian (10.8 ppg) also are averaging double figures.
Nebraska has won the last two meetings against Michigan, although the Wolverines have dominated the rivalry since Nebraska joined the Big Ten in 2011, owning a 16-3 record against the Cornhuskers.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Richard Carapaz, Tadej Pogacar stand tall at Stage 20 of Tour de France
Richard Carapaz of Ecuador is in action during Stage 20 of the Tour de France on Saturday. The race ends Sunday. Richard Carapaz of Ecuador won the stage and Tadej Pogacar of Slovenia all but wrapped up his fifth general classification title in seven years during a wild penultimate day at the Tour de France on Saturday.
The 33-year-old Carapaz capped a monumental week with his second victory in three stages, and third of his career, while also taking over the polka-dot jersey for top climber of the three-week stage race. He also finished third in Friday’s Stage 19.
Stage 20 unfolded in dramatic fashion as Sepp Kuss of the United States held a comfortable lead with just over 7 kilometers remaining in the 170.9-kilometer stage as it approached the finish at the resort town of Alpe d’Huez.
Kuss then crashed against a curb on the right side of the road while exiting a tunnel but got back on his bike and continued with the lead. Misfortune struck again when Kuss crashed against a left-side curb with 5.8 kilometers remaining.
Carapaz passed Kuss after his second solo crash and went on to the stage victory for the U.S.-based EF Education-EasyPost team. Remco Evenepoel of Belgium passed Kuss near the finish line to take second place, while Kuss made his way to the podium with a disappointing third-place finish.
Kuss was trying for his second career stage and stands as the last American man to win a Tour de France Stage when he reached the finish line first in 2021.
Race leader Pogacar finished fourth in the stage, while his UAE Team Emirates teammate Isaac del Toro of Mexico was fifth. The finish kept del Toro in the white jersey given to the top rider under 26 years old.
All that remains is Sunday’s mostly ceremonial final Stage 21. Barring major disaster, Pogacar will wrap up his third consecutive Tour de France title as he takes a 6-minute, 26-second lead over Evenepoel into the final day.
In third place overall is del Toro, who is 9:42 off his teammate’s pace. Paul Seixas, the 19-year-old sensation from France, is fourth overall and nearly two minutes behind del Toro for the white jersey. Seixas finished 10th in Stage 20.
The final stage into Paris on Sunday was cut from 133 kilometers to 89 kilometers because of nearby wildfires, with fans now treated to two extra circuits along the Champs-Elysees before a climbing finish on the nearby Montmartre loop.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Tour de France final stage rerouted due to wildfires
A firefighter works to battle wildfire near the A9 motorway near Beziers, France, July 3, 2026. Wildfires in southwest France have forced organizers of the Tour de France to reconfigure the final stage, set for Sunday.
The change is necessary because multiple first responders have been diverted to the fires. The new route will leave a smaller race footprint for local officials to secure.
“As numerous wildfires are currently affecting France, particularly the Gironde region, emergency services are fully mobilized to combat the blazes, while internal security forces are working to secure the affected areas and protect the population,” the Amaury Sport Organisation said in a statement.
“In light of this, the Ministry of Interior has decided to redeploy a portion of the internal security forces initially mobilized to ensure security for the final stage of the Tour de France, in order to reinforce the response efforts in the areas affected by the wildfires.”
The wildfires have led to the evacuations of about 200,000 people.
Stage 21 had been set as a 132.5-kilometer ride from Thoiry down the Champs-Elysees in Paris.
The re-imagined Stage 21 still will end along the famed road, just after a circuit on the Montmartre. But the run now will occur solely within the Paris boundaries and travel just 89 km. Cyclists will take two extra circuits along the Champs-Elysees before heading out for the Montmartre climb.
The Montmartre circuit has proven to be popular after it was used in the 2024 Paris Olympics and then added to the 2025 Tour de France. The area can accommodate large gatherings of fans, who turn the area into a party atmosphere.
Earlier in the Tour de France, fans were asked to stay away from the final 40 kilometers of Stage 3 because of wildfires and the need to deploy first responders to the area.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Robert Kraft: Patriots offered CB Christian Gonzalez record-setting deal
Jun 9, 2026; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez (0) takes questions from the media at minicamp at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft said the team offered Christian Gonzalez a contract extension that would make him the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL.
Kraft did not reveal the specific terms of the deal on Saturday, the first day of training camp.
“We love Christian Gonzalez,” Kraft said during the team’s Pawtriots pet adoption event, per the Boston Herald. “We love him as a player, as a person. That’s why we’ve made an offer to him that makes him the highest-paid player ever to play that position in the NFL, and coincidentally, it’s the highest contract in the Patriots franchise history.
“So we’re glad we drafted him and we developed here, and we hope he’ll be with us for a long time.”
Gonzalez is eligible for a contract extension for the first time after being selected by the Patriots with the 17th overall pick of the 2023 NFL Draft.
The Los Angeles Rams’ Trent McDuffie is currently the NFL’s highest-paid cornerback, pocketing $31 million per season on his four-year, $131 million contract that he signed this offseason.
Gonzalez, 24, made the Pro Bowl last season after posting 69 tackles and 10 passes defensed in 14 starts. He has three interceptions, 24 passes defensed, one fumble recovery, one sack and 145 tackles in 34 career games (all starts).
–Field Level Media
Richard Carapaz, Tadej Pogacar stand tall at Stage 20 of Tour de France
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