Sports
Ranked again, No. 25 Tennessee faces road-tested Ole Miss
Tennessee forward Nate Ament (10) celebrates making a basket and getting fouled on during a NCAA basketball game between the Tennessee Volunteers and Auburn Tigers at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center in Knoxville, Tenn., on Jan. 31, 2026. No. 25 Tennessee seems to be hitting its stride as the first half of the SEC season winds down.
The Volunteers (15-6, 5-3 SEC) will try to win their fourth consecutive game when they play Ole Miss (11-10, 3-5) on Tuesday night in Knoxville, Tenn.
Tennessee slipped out of the AP Top 25 when it started SEC play 2-3, but wins at Alabama and Georgia and a 77-69 home victory against Auburn on Saturday returned the Vols to the rankings on Monday.
The latest victory came despite the absence of starting center Felix Okpara, a significant defensive force who averages 5.9 rebounds and 1.6 blocks. Okpara suffered a calf injury against Georgia three days earlier.
“In a situation where somebody is a game-time decision (and doesn’t play),” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said, “somebody has to step up.”
Barnes got a team effort as Nate Ament, Bishop Boswell, Jaylen Carey and Amari Evans each grabbed eight rebounds.
“Our front line, that was something we haven’t had for a couple years,” Barnes said.
The coach was pleased with the victory against an Auburn team that had won four straight. The Vols overcame foul trouble for leading scorer Ja’Kobi Gillespie, who played nearly five minutes fewer than his average of 33.5 and finished with 11 points, 7.6 below his average.
But Barnes doesn’t want his team to be satisfied with its mini-surge.
“Complacency is an evil,” he said. “If you’re not getting better, you’re getting worse. My biggest fear in coaching has always been complacency. It’s never easy. If players don’t realize that they have to get better every day, then it gets away from you.”
Ole Miss still has time to prevent its season from getting away, but coach Chris Beard admitted “our backs are against the wall.”
The Tennessee matchup will be the Rebels’ sixth road game in the first nine SEC games and they will face a seventh road game against Texas before getting back home.
“It’s been quite a challenge,” Beard said. “We’ve been able to win a couple road games at this point.”
Ole Miss almost got a third road win Saturday before falling to then-No. 18 Vanderbilt 71-68.
The Rebels fought back from a 13-point deficit against the Commodores and missed two shots on the final possession.
“We’ve been in a lot of games just like this,” Beard said. “We just need one more break down the stretch, one more play throughout the course of the game.”
Ole Miss has 10 more games beginning with the one against the Volunteers. Six of their last eight will be at home and then they’ll have the SEC tournament to try to bolster their postseason resume.
“We just haven’t done the things that we needed to do in the nonconference schedule to put ourselves in great contention right now,” Beard said, “but there’s lots of season left.”
Malik Dia, Ole Miss’ second-leading scorer (13.8), scored 16 points in each of the last two games after having just 16 in the previous three games combined.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Lindsey Vonn has ruptured ACL, intends to ski at Olympics
[US, Mexico & Canada customers only] Jan 30, 2026; Crans-Montana, SWITZERLAND; Lindsey Vonn of the United States reacts after sustaining an apparent injury in the women’s downhill alpine skiing race during the FIS World Cup. Mandatory Credit: Denis Balibouse/Reuters via Imagn Images American skiing great Lindsey Vonn has a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee but said Tuesday she intends to race in the women’s downhill race Sunday at the Milano Cortina Olympics.
It will be the fifth Winter Olympics for the 41-year-old Vonn. She suffered the injury on Friday when she crashed in a World Cup race in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, and was airlifted to a hospital.
“I completely ruptured my ACL. I also have bone bruising, which is a common injury,” she told reporters in a news conference in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, site of the Alpine ski competition.
“We have been doing extensive therapy, been consulting with doctors, been in the gym, and today, I went skiing, and considering how my knee feels, it feels stable. I feel strong.”
Vonn said she is determined to leave that starting gate at the Tofane Alpine Skiing Center.
“I know [what] my chances were before the crash, and I know my chances aren’t the same as it stands today, but I know there is still a chance. And as long as there’s a chance, I will try.”
To take part in the Sunday downhill, all skiers must complete at least one official training run. Vonn is no stranger to the mountain. She has 12 of her 84 World Cup victories there, the most of any skier.
Vonn also had been slated to compete for the U.S. Ski Team in the team combined (Feb. 10) and Super-G events (Feb. 12).
Vonn earned gold (downhill) and bronze (Super-G) medals at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and a bronze medal in the downhill at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games.
Vonn retired after the 2019 world championships due to injuries. She subsequently received a partial replacement of her right knee and launched a comeback late in 2024 with the Olympics in her sights.
She has won the downhill twice this winter and leads the World Cup standings in the discipline and was considered a favorite to win the gold medal in the event in Italy.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Rapids trade M Cole Bassett to Timbers in deal worth up to $3.6M
Jul 31, 2025; Commerce City, Colorado, USA; Colorado Rapids midfielder Cole Bassett (23) reacts in the first half against Santos Laguna at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images The Colorado Rapids traded midfielder Cole Bassett to the Portland Timbers FC, getting $2.65 million in return.
If Bassett, 24, meets certain performance metrics, the Rapids could receive as much as $950,000 more. Colorado also would receive a percentage of a future trade or transfer.
“We are thrilled to welcome Cole Bassett to the Portland Timbers. Cole has been an impactful player in MLS for a number of years, and his ambitions align with ours as he takes this next step in his career,” Timbers general manager Ned Grabavoy said.
“He immediately makes our midfield more dynamic with his ability to join attacks and provide an end product. We look forward to his arrival, and he will be an important player for us moving forward.”
A native of Littleton, Colo., Bassett came through the Rapids’ academy and is the club’s all-time leader among homegrown players in MLS regular season appearances (155), starts (128), minutes (11,286), goals (31) and assists (22). He was the youngest player in club history to play a complete match (17 years, 77 days) and the youngest to contribute to a goal (17 years, 252 days).
Among all Rapids players, Bassett ranks tied for fifth in appearances, tied for sixth in goals and total goal contributions, and ninth in assists and minutes played in club history.
“Cole has been an important part of this club for a long time, not only for what he contributed on the field but for the way he represented the Rapids off it as well,” said Padraig Smith, the team president, in a statement on Monday.
“As a Homegrown player, he set a strong example within our locker room, in our community, and for the next generation coming through our Academy. We’re grateful for everything he’s given the club and wish him nothing but success in the next chapter of his career.”
Bassett was named to the MLS 22 under 22 list three times from 2019-21.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Reports: Giants to add Matt Nagy as offensive coordinator
Nov 2, 2025; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy looks on during the third quarter against the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-Imagn Images The New York Giants plan to hire Matt Nagy as their offensive coordinator, multiple media outlets reported on Tuesday.
Nagy’s primary order of business will be to continue the development of prized quarterback Jaxson Dart.
Nagy, 47, spent the past three seasons in the same post with the Kansas City Chiefs, who welcomed back Eric Bieniemy to replace him as offensive coordinator. Nagy also was the OC in Kansas City in 2017 before serving as the head coach of the Chicago Bears from 2018-21, where he had a 34-31 record.
Nagy was unsuccessful in his bid to nab one of the vacant head coaching positions this offseason and now will join new head coach John Harbaugh with the Giants.
New York reportedly was interested in Todd Monken — Harbaugh’s offensive coordinator the last three seasons in Baltimore — to fill its OC position. Monken, however, was hired as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns.
The Giants finished fifth in rushing and 13th in total offense this past season. Dart, a first-round selection from the 2025 draft, totaled 24 touchdowns (15 passing, nine rushing) and five interceptions in 14 games (12 starts).
–Field Level Media
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