Sports
Reports: Sacramento State joining MAC this year as football-only member
Sep 16, 2023; Stanford, California, USA; Sacramento State Hornets running back Elijah Tau-Tolliver (25) celebrates after a touchdown during the fourth quarter against the Stanford Cardinal at Stanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images The Mid-American Conference is going far west to add Sacramento State as a football-only member starting with the 2026 season, according to multiple reports on Saturday night.
The MAC presidents, per reports, approved the addition of the California-based Hornets, a Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) program from 1993-2025. Sacramento State will pay an $18 million entry fee to the MAC and a $5 million fee to the NCAA to move to the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level, according to reports.
With this addition, the conference will retain 13 football programs with the exit of Northern Illinois on July 1, which is leaving for the Mountain West Conference and paid a $2 million entry fee.
North Dakota State, an FCS power over the last 15 years with 10 national titles in that span, also is joining the Mountain West, per reports earlier this week.
According to ESPN, North Dakota State will pay roughly a $12 million entrance fee to its new league, as well as $5 million to the NCAA in order to move up to the FBS level. Per standard NCAA arrangement, the NDSU football team will not be eligible for a bowl or College Football Playoff berth until 2028.
Sacramento State is a geographic outlier for the MAC as its first program in the Pacific Time Zone. The other programs — not including Northern Illinois — are in the Eastern Time Zone.
The Hornets went 7-5 in 2025, 5-3 in the Big Sky Conference. They will be the first university on the West Coast to go from FCS to FBS in 57 years, following Fresno and San Diego State in 1969, Yahoo Sports reported.
During the 2026-27 academic season, all Sacramento State teams except football will move to the Big West Conference.
Last June, an NCAA Division I council denied a waiver for Sacramento State to move to FBS in 2026, a goal for the program since 2024. The original hope was to join a reconfigured Pac-12 Conference that was set to return to action in 2026 with five Mountain West Conference programs.
But the Hornets program did not receive an invitation for its football program to join an existing conference. Instead, the Hornets launched a plan to leave the Big Sky Conference for the Big West Conference in all sports but football and have its football team play as an FBS independent in 2026.
When the NCAA nixed that possibility last summer, the school planned on moving forward anyway.
“We still plan to be playing FBS football in 2026,” Sacramento State president Luke Wood posted on X after the NCAA denied the school’s waiver request.
“Sacramento State has met every meaningful benchmark for FBS membership, and we believe our university, our students, and the entire Sacramento region deserve major college football.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Austin Hill holds the line at Daytona in NASCAR O'Reilly Series opener
Feb 14, 2026; Daytona Beach, Florida, USA; O’Reilly Auto Parts Series driver Austin Hill (21) reacts after winning the United Rentals 300 at Daytona International Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Mike Dinovo-Imagn Images DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Austin Hill continued his mastery of NASCAR’s big tracks, dominating Saturday’s United Rentals 300 at Daytona International Speedway — the Georgia native’s fourth win in this NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season-opener here in the last five years.
As typically happens on Daytona’s 2.5-mile superspeedway, the outcome came down to the dramatic last few laps and the race was decided by a split second.
Although he started from pole position and led a race-high 78 of the 120 laps, Hill was tested all night — ultimately having to prevail on three restarts in the final 12 laps. His No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet beat 2024 season champion Justin Allgaier of JR Motorsports in another Chevrolet to the finish line by a slight .081-seconds.
It marked the famed Richard Childress Racing team’s fifth consecutive win in this race, tying a mark set by Dale Earnhardt Inc. from 1990-94. It was Hill’s 15th career victory and 11th on a drafting style track.
Even after holding the lead for most of the event, Hill said after the race that he had some concerns following a mid-race green flag pit stop. At one point, he was fairly certain that he would end up on a wrecker unable to handle the tight draft and aggressive pushes the conclusion of this race so typically includes.
He dropped back to 12th, but the new tires he took and some choice maneuvering landed him right back into the mix up front.
“Just shows how good this team is,” Hill, 31, said of being able to pit late and out of sequence but still move forward when it mattered most. “It was a really tough decision to go from being 14th or wherever it was we re-started. But it just goes to show how good this team was. We had that re-start and no one was going middle, so I was like, ‘Sure I’ll take it.’ Drove right up through there.”
On the final restart with two laps remaining, Hill said he thought he may have misjudged one move.
“Luckily, I was able to make the block on the (number) seven (Allgaier), almost missed the block, and had to save the car,” Hill said. “After that, it was just hammer down and hope they didn’t get back to me.
“Daytona has just been so good to me,” said Hill, who swept both stage wins in addition to leading the most laps. “I love this place and it’s always fun to win.”
RSS Racing owner-driver Ryan Sieg finished third despite being caught up in a mid-race incident. Another owner-driver — Jordan Anderson Racing’s namesake Jordan Anderson — was fourth, followed by Allgaier’s JR Motorsports teammate Sammy Smith.
Ryan Ellis, Carson Kvapil, Blaine Perkins, Hill’s teammate Jesse Love and Rajah Caruth rounded out the top 10.
Love led 27 laps, second only to Hill, but got caught up in the frantic final laps — his ninth-place showing not truly indicative of his evening.
“At the end, I feel for my guys,” Love said. “They want to be where that 21 group (Hill) is. I’m still a step behind Austin. He’s so great at this craft. I feel like he’s a little more patient than I am right now, and I think that’s what my learning lesson is after tonight.
“I think I just wasn’t patient enough when I really needed to be. You know, taking Sammy (Smith) three-wide probably wasn’t the right move there. Made some other moves along the way in waning laps that I could have done about. I’ll look back at it and learn from it, and next week is a similar style of flow of things. I’ll try to take this learning lesson and bring that to Georgia.”
The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series moves to Atlanta’s EchoPark Speedway for Saturday’s Bennett Transportation & Logistics 250 (5 p.m. ET on The CW, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Hill, from Winston, Ga., is the defending race winner and has won five of the last seven races at his home track.
NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Race — United Rentals 300
Daytona International Speedway
Daytona Beach, Florida
Saturday, February 14, 2026
1. (1) Austin Hill, Chevrolet, 120.
2. (13) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 120.
3. (10) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 120.
4. (17) Jordan Anderson, Chevrolet, 120.
5. (12) Sammy Smith, Chevrolet, 120.
6. (32) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 120.
7. (11) Carson Kvapil, Chevrolet, 120.
8. (14) Blaine Perkins, Chevrolet, 120.
9. (2) Jesse Love, Chevrolet, 120.
10. (7) Rajah Caruth, Chevrolet, 120.
11. (26) Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, 120.
12. (25) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 120.
13. (19) Patrick Emerling(i), Chevrolet, 120.
14. (27) Parker Retzlaff, Chevrolet, 120.
15. (36) Kyle Sieg, Chevrolet, 120.
16. (37) Lavar Scott #, Chevrolet, 120.
17. (34) Josh Bilicki, Chevrolet, 120.
18. (8) Patrick Staropoli #, Chevrolet, 120.
19. (38) Carson Ware, Chevrolet, 120.
20. (20) Carson Hocevar(i), Chevrolet, 120.
21. (33) Daniel Dye(i), Ford, 120.
22. (30) Austin Green, Chevrolet, 118.
23. (23) Luke Fenhaus #, Ford, 117.
24. (5) Sheldon Creed, Chevrolet, 116.
25. (22) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, DVP, 107.
26. (4) William Sawalich, Toyota, DVP, 99.
27. (6) Corey Day, Chevrolet, Accident, 99.
28. (9) Taylor Gray, Toyota, Accident, 99.
29. (24) Harrison Burton, Toyota, Accident, 98.
30. (15) Brandon Jones, Toyota, DVP, 92.
31. (3) Sam Mayer, Chevrolet, Accident, 91.
32. (29) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, Accident, 91.
33. (35) Natalie Decker, Chevrolet, Accident, 91.
34. (31) Josh Williams, Chevrolet, Engine, 77.
35. (18) Dean Thompson, Toyota, Suspension, 68.
36. (28) Nick Sanchez, Ford, Accident, 32.
37. (16) Giovanni Ruggiero(i), Toyota, Accident, 29.
38. (21) Mason Maggio, Chevrolet, Accident, 0.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 116.618 mph.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 34 Mins, 21 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.081 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 7 for 36 laps.
Lead Changes: 15 among 8 drivers.
Lap Leaders: A. Hill 1-6;W. Sawalich 7-8;A. Hill 9-34;J. Love 35-44;A. Hill 45-57;R. Caruth 58;A. Hill 59-80;S. Mayer 81-86;J. Anderson 87-90;R. Ellis 91;J. Love 92-97;S. Smith 98;J. Love 99-108;A. Hill 109-113;J. Love 114;A. Hill 115-120.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Austin Hill 6 times for 78 laps; Jesse Love 4 times for 27 laps; Sam Mayer 1 time for 6 laps; Jordan Anderson 1 time for 4 laps; William Sawalich 1 time for 2 laps; Ryan Ellis 1 time for 1 lap; Sammy Smith 1 time for 1 lap; Rajah Caruth 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 21,2,1,7,31,00,18,25,51,20
Stage #2 Top Ten: 21,1,7,18,88,99,8,51,27,31
–By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service. Special to Field Level Media.
Sports
Reports: Padres agree to deals with RHP German Marquez, Griffin Canning
Jul 5, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; Colorado Rockies relief pitcher German Marquez (48) delivers a pitch in the second inning against the Chicago White Sox at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images The San Diego Padres agreed to a one-year deals with right-handers German Marquez and Griffin Canning pending physicals, according to multiple reports on Saturday.
Marquez has played all 10 of his MLB seasons for the Colorado Rockies. He owns a career record of 68-72 with a 4.67 ERA and 1.334 WHIP.
He earned his sole All-Star selection in 2021, in which he posted a 4.40 ERA, 1.272 WHIP, 176 strikeouts and a league-leading three complete games across 32 starts.
Marquez, who turns 31 on Feb. 22, starting just five games from 2023 to 2024 due to Tommy John surgery. He is looking to bounce back from an underwhelming 2025 campaign. Across 26 games, he went 3-16 with a 6.70 ERA, 1.710 WHIP, 48 walks and 83 strikeouts in 126 1/3 innings pitched.
The metrics were concerning, as well. He ranked in the bottom five percentile in pitching run value (-42), fastball run value (-29), breaking run value (-11), xERA (5.81), xBA (.287) and strikeout percentage (14.0).
Pitching at Coors Field is a well-known challenge, and Marquez’s away splits are slightly better. For his career, he has a 5.17 ERA at home and a 4.22 ERA on the road.
Canning, 29, was 7-3 last season with a 3.77 ERA, 35 walks and 70 strikeouts over 76 1/3 innings in 16 starts for the New York Mets. He ruptured his left Achilles tendon in June to end a solid start to his lone campaign with the Mets, who had signed him as a free agent.
He has a career mark of 32-37 with a 4.65 ERA, 218 walks and 553 strikeouts in 584 1/3 innings over 115 regular-season games (110 starts) for the Los Angeles Angels (2019-21, 2023-24) and Mets. Canning missed the 2022 season due to a back injury.
The Angels selected Canning in the second round of the 2017 MLB Draft out of UCLA. He earned the Gold Glove for American League pitchers in 2020.
–Field Level Media
Sports
ATP roundup: Ben Shelton, Taylor Fritz to meet in all-American final in Dallas
Jan 28, 2026; Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Ben Shelton of United States in action against Jannik Sinner of Italy in the quarterfinals of the menís singles at the Australian Open at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne Park. Mandatory Credit: Mike Frey-Imagn Images Ben Shelton rallied past Canada’s Denis Shapavalov for a 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4) victory on Saturday to set up an all-American final of the Nexo Dallas Open against Taylor Fritz.
The second-seeded Shelton faced 11 break points but saved 10 of them, including all seven over the final two sets. He had eight aces to four double faults, breaking open a deciding tiebreaker with three straight points in a 3-3 deadlock to inch to the brink of victory.
Fritz won in straight sets but needed a pair of tiebreakers to do so, defeating Marin Cilic of Croatia 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3). It was an impressive statistical performance for the top seed, with 22 aces, no double faults and over twice as many winners (35) as unforced errors (17).
ABN Amro Open
Like in Dallas, the top two seeds of the Rotterdam, Netherlands, tournament will face off in the final after No. 1 Alex de Minaur of Australia and No. 2 Felix Auger Aliassime of Canada each won in straight sets.
de Minaur beat France’s Ugo Humbert 6-4, 6-3, saving all 10 break points he faced while converting three of the four he had on Humbert’s serve. The top seed had just four winners and 23 unforced errors.
Auger Aliassime beat No. 3 seed Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan 6-1, 6-2 in 54 minutes. He faced no break points in the convincing victory, winning 27 of his 28 (96.4%) first-service points with 25 winners and 12 unforced errors.
IEB+ Argentina Open
Top-seeded Francisco Cerundolo defeated No. 7 seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-3, 7-5 in a semifinal battle of Argentine competitors in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Cerundolo won 83.3% of his first-service points and faced just one break point. Etcheverry had nearly twice as many unforced errors (26) as winners (14), winning just 26.9% of his return points.
In the other semifinal, No. 2 seed Luciano Darderi of Italy defeated Argentinian No. 4 seed Sebastian Baez 7-6 (2), 6-1 to prevent a final between home-country competitors. After a first set with no breaks, Darderi won the final six games of the second set to clinch the victory, winning 12 of 13 service points (92.3%) and 15 of 26 return points (57.7%).
–Field Level Media
Austin Hill holds the line at Daytona in NASCAR O'Reilly Series opener
Reports: Padres agree to deals with RHP German Marquez, Griffin Canning
