Sports
Players Era hoops tournament expanding to 24 teams
Nov 26, 2025; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Michigan Wolverines forward Yaxel Lendeborg (23) reacts in the second half against the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the 2025 Players Era Festival championship game at MGM Grand Garden Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images The Players Era men’s college basketball tournament is expanding to 24 teams this November in Las Vegas.
An extended version of the event calls for splitting two separate bracket-play tournaments over the course of two weeks.
ESPN reached a multiyear deal to serve as the exclusive broadcast partner, the network announced Thursday. ESPN networks will carry all 37 games of the 2026 event.
“College basketball is the hottest and one of the fastest-growing sports properties in the country,” Players Era CEO Seth Berger said. “The players have never been better, and record ratings for early season college basketball reflect that. Led by top programs from multiple conferences across the sport, the teams in our field are stronger than ever. We can’t wait to bring March to November with the number one college basketball network in the world, ESPN.”
The Players Era Eight will be held the week of Nov. 16 featuring Florida, Houston, Kansas, Auburn, West Virginia, Notre Dame, Rutgers and UNLV.
The Players Era Sixteen will take place during the week of Thanksgiving. Defending Players Era and NCAA Tournament champion Michigan headlines this bracket, joined by Alabama, Gonzaga, St. John’s, Louisville, Tennessee, Iowa State, Miami, Texas Tech, Baylor, Maryland, TCU, Oregon, Creighton, San Diego State and Kansas State.
“Players Era features elite programs, meaningful competition and high-stakes matchups to start each season,” said Dan Margulis, ESPN senior director of college basketball programming and acquisitions. “These tournaments immediately strengthen ESPN’s industry-leading college basketball portfolio and underscores our commitment to showcasing the best teams and storylines across the sport. We’re excited to partner with the Players Era team to continue to elevate the Players Era Men’s Championships and showcase them to fans across the country.”
A full release of schedules and venues is expected later in the offseason.
The Wolverines won last November’s 18-team Players Era Festival, crushing Gonzaga 101-61 in the championship at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Oregon won the inaugural eight-team tournament in 2024.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Pirates' Konnor Griffin 'settled in' ahead of opener vs. Giants
May 6, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Konnor Griffin (6) against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images San Francisco Bay Area baseball fans will get their first up-close look at Pittsburgh prized rookie Konnor Griffin when the Giants host the Pirates in a three-game series that begins Friday night.
Griffin, who made his MLB debut as a 19-year-old early last month, arrives in San Francisco on a nice run. He has hits in eight of his last nine games, raising his batting average from .213 to .257.
“It’s been good to get settled in,” said Griffin, who played just 127 games of minor-league ball before his promotion less than two years after he was drafted ninth overall by the Pirates straight out of high school.
“Just a good locker room,” he added. “Everybody supports you. I’m just glad to be out there every day, working hard and doing what I love.”
The shortstop appears to have settled in on the road as well. After starting his big-league career 1-for-22 there, he has rebounded to go 7-for-20 against the Milwaukee Brewers and Arizona Diamondbacks away from home.
Griffin has yet to face the Giants’ Friday probable starter, left-hander Robbie Ray (2-4, 2.95 ERA), who hasn’t allowed more than three runs in any of his seven starts this season. Ray, however, has a losing record, with the Giants having been shut out in three of his four losses — including 3-0 at Tampa Bay last Friday.
Ray, 34, is 2-2 with a 4.50 ERA in seven career starts against the Pirates, who have won five of their past six games.
Scheduled Pittsburgh starter Carmen Mlodzinski (2-2, 4.76 ERA) benefited from his team’s 19-hit assault in a 17-7 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday in his most recent outing. The right-hander won despite allowing five runs for a third consecutive start, a stretch that followed yielding a total of four runs over his first four outings of the season.
Mlodzinski, 27, has yet to start a game in San Francisco. Overall, he has faced the Giants five times — all in relief — and is 0-2 with a 6.00 ERA.
Mlodzinski will try to keep the Giants’ Willy Adames in a slump. The shortstop has a hit in only 10 of his last 78 at-bats, with no homers or RBIs as his batting average has plummeted to .194.
The Giants have scored just 18 runs in their last nine games, losing eight times.
Manager Tony Vitello has cautioned his players that no starting spot is guaranteed. In fact, he sat third baseman Matt Chapman on Tuesday and second baseman Luis Arraez on Wednesday so that he could find a spot for his hottest hitter, Casey Schmitt.
Schmitt, who homered twice in the just-completed series against the San Diego Padres, also can play shortstop. The Giants lost two of three games in the home set to San Diego.
Vitello said he believes resting veteran players can be for their own good.
“There’s going to be days where they’re not playing,” Vitello said earlier this week, “but the benefit of that is that when they are playing, they’re not going to have any excuses. Not that they have, but they’re going to be fresh of mind and fresh of body.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Commanders sign 1st-round pick Sonny Styles
Apr 23, 2026; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes linebacker Sonny Styles is selected by the Washington Commanders as the number seven pick during the 2026 NFL Draft at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images The Washington Commanders signed first-round draft pick Sonny Styles to his four-year rookie contract on Friday.
Styles, the seventh overall pick of the 2026 NFL Draft, will receive $37.2 million in fully guaranteed money that includes a $23.5 million signing bonus. The deal also includes a fifth-year team option.
The Commanders also signed the remaining members of their draft class: Clemson wide receiver Antonio Williams (third round), Tennessee defensive end Joshua Josephs (fifth), Penn State running back Kaytron Allen (sixth), Michigan State center Matt Gulbin (sixth) and Rutgers quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis (seventh).
Styles, who was converted from safety to linebacker, recorded 82 tackles and 6.5 tackles for loss in 14 games as a first-team All-American last season at Ohio State.
He totaled 244 tackles, 22.5 tackles for loss, nine sacks, three forced fumbles and a fumble recovery in 53 career games with the Buckeyes.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Cavaliers Need Major Changes After Falling Behind 2-0 to Pistons
The Detroit Pistons took a commanding 2-0 lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers after a massive 107-97 win in game two. Cade Cunningham came through in the clutch for Detroit, the exact opposite of what occurred for the Cavs on the road.
Donovan Mitchell didn’t have a bad game two, but wasn’t able to get it going from beyond the arc. The real issue came from James Harden. In his age-36 season, Cleveland actually expected to get really playoff value out of Harden.
I feel a good description of Harden’s entire game came through with 40 seconds in the 4th quarter. Harden walked it up the floor, dribbled out the entire shot clock down six points, then immediately turned the ball over. You can live with Harden being a traffic cone on defense when he turns it up on offense, but he was simply the worst Cleveland player on both ends of the floor. He finished 3/13 from the field and had 4 horrible turnovers to go along with it.
Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson has been the worst coach in two straight series to start the playoffs, and if he wants to change things, he might have to make an insane move and bench Harden. I would love to see Harden contribute as an off-ball catch-and-shoot player, but he can’t seem to even accomplish that. If that’s the case, you might as well just try Craig Porter Jr. to see if he can provide energy.
I’m not sure if Cleveland is truly even dead in this series. Of course, they haven’t found any way to win on the road in the playoffs (0-5 thus far), but Detroit hasn’t wowed me with anything they’ve done. The Pistons’ defense has been aggressive and limited what Cleveland wanted to do, but the Cavs have played right into it. They’ve slowed the game down and relied on isolation, or high pick-n-roll offense right at half court, and it’s been insanely ugly for Cleveland.
Two things have to change for the Cavs. They need to get to the basket. In the third quarter, they made a run to make things interesting, then went right back to isolation basketball, zero ball movement, and James Harden starting the offense with 10 seconds left on the shot clock.
However, more important than that, they’ve simply got to make shots. They were 7/32 from three, while Detroit was 14/28. That’s the ball game. I have no idea why Atkinson continually blitzes Cunningham, which allows Detroit to finish a possession with a wide-open three. This is a bad defensive unit that struggles to make the right rotations. Quit overhelping; you’re letting a bad-shooting Pistons team get into a rhythm with easy catch-and-shoot threes.
Rebuilding in basketball is painful, but I’m not sure this Cavs team will ever be a real contender. Even if you somehow manage to get out of this round, you’re still left with a very flawed roster. Cleveland will have some tough decisions this offseason, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re seeing the last few games of this core in Cleveland.
Pirates' Konnor Griffin 'settled in' ahead of opener vs. Giants
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