Sports
Sacramento State’s Move to the MAC Highlights College Football’s Travel Problem
This weekend, presidents from the MAC conference have made an interesting decision, voting to add Sacramento State to their conference. The Hornets have now officially made the jump to the FBS level, a project they have pursued for the last few seasons.
Sacramento State is joining as a football-only member starting in 2026, marking the second FCS program to make the leap to the FBS level. It’ll be an expensive move, as they will need to pay $5 million to move up to the FBS level and another $18 million to join the MAC.
Over the past few seasons, Sacramento State has been a solid FCS program and has invested money into developing its football program, but I hate that they’re joining the MAC. Football’s greed has ruined college sports conferences, and they’ve claimed another victim.
I’m not upset by Sacramento State trying to join the FBS; I just hate that they’re joining the MAC. No school in college football will have to travel more than the Hornets this year.
Stanford and Cal have been among the busiest travelers over the last few seasons, with their moves to the ACC. Fortunately, since they’re power conference programs, they’re able to spend the majority of their non-conference schedules at home. Sacramento State won’t be given that same luxury, as they will need to find ways to increase their bottom lines after the significant funding to make the leap to the FBS level.
The Pac-12 and Mountain West both denied Sacramento State entry, and now the Hornets are stuck traveling over 2,000 miles for every road game during conference play. On the other hand, you have Northern Illinois, who just finished up a 3-9 season, leaving the MAC for the Mountain West, where they will be one of the worst schools in that conference.
I’m not against all conference realignment; it just has to make sense. North Dakota State was the other FCS program promoted, but their move to the Mountain West makes sense. They’ve won 10 FCS National titles since 2011, they’re a well-funded football program that’s proven they can beat FBS-level competition, and they’ve joined a geographical conference that makes sense for them.
These mega-conferences that the power-four created have ruined college football and are making it impossible for smaller schools to keep up. They have to find every possible way to make more money from TV deals, and that’s by joining the biggest conference available.
At the end of the day, these kids are still student athletes, and having Sacramento State travel to Kent, Ohio, on a Tuesday night in November makes you think they don’t care about the “student” aspect of college sports. It’ll be interesting to see what the breaking point will be for these smaller FBS programs.
Sports
BetBoom Team captures PGL Wallachia Season 8 over Aurora Gaming
BetBoom Team swept Aurora Gaming 3-0 on Sunday to win the grand final and the $300,000 top prize of the PGL Wallachia Season 8 event at Bucharest, Romania.
It was a rematch of Saturday’s upper-bracket final that BetBoom Team won 2-1.
To reach the grand final, Aurora needed to beat Team Falcons earlier Sunday in the lower-bracket final. Aurora pulled off the 2-0 win to advance to the best-of-five grand final.
Sixteen teams began the $1 million Dota 2 tournament with the top eight advancing from the Swiss-system group stage. The double-elimination playoffs continued with all matches best-of-three until the best-of-five grand final on Sunday.
BetBoom Team opened the grand final with a challenging 62-minute victory on green, then followed with a 42-minute triumph on red. They wrapped up the championship by winning again on green, this time in 49 minutes.
Russian Danil “gpk~” Skutin guided BetBoom with a 32-2-48 kill-death-assist ratio over three games. Russia’s Ilya “Kiritych” Ulyanov aided BetBoom with a 32-9-33 K-D-A ratio.
Egor “Nightfall” Grigorenko of Russia posted a 9-15-21 K-D-A ratio to pace Aurora Gaming. Indonesia’s Rafli “Mikoto” Fathur Rahman finished at 14-17-15.
PGL Wallachia Season 8 prize pool:
1. $300,000 — BetBoom Team
2. $175,000 — Aurora Gaming
3. $120,000 — Team Falcons
4. $80,000 — Team Liquid
5-6. $60,000 — South America Rejects, PARIVISION
7-8. $40,000 — HEROIC, Team Spirit
9-11. $20,000 — GamerLegion, Xtreme Gaming, MOUZ
12-14. $15,000 — Vici Gaming, Virtus.pro, Natus Vincere
15-16. $10,000 — Team Yandex, Tundra Esports
–Field Level Media
Sports
Oilers not saying if Tristan Jarry or Connor Ingram will man net in Game 4
Apr 7, 2026; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Edmonton Oilers goaltender Tristan Jarry (35) blocks a shot by the Utah Mammoth during the third period at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images Connor Ingram served as the Edmonton Oilers’ goaltender for the first three games of their Stanley Cup first-round playoff series against the Anaheim Ducks.
But with the higher-seeded Oilers trailing 2-1 in this best-of-seven set heading into Game 4 in Anaheim, Calif., on Sunday night, might head coach Kris Knoblauch change goalies? Backup Tristan Jarry spent practice on Saturday in the net typically used by the next game’s starter, but Knoblauch said Saturday that wasn’t necessarily a tell.
“We haven’t decided,” Knoblauch said. “I think going in (to this series), we were pretty sure (about our No. 1). And it was the same thing last year, and maybe the year before. Today in the NHL, very rarely do you have one goalie play all the games in the playoffs.”
He continued: “Twenty years ago and before that, it was unheard-of to be swapping goalies. But we’ve got two good goalies. We feel confident they can both play. And going into the playoffs, we felt there was going to be a time where we’re going to have to make a switch at some time. Whether that’s for Game 4 or Game 5 or whatever it is, we have confidence in both of them.”
Ingram, 29, who posted a 16-10-3 record with a 2.60 goals-against average and .899 save percentage in 32 regular-season games, has been less effective during the postseason. In the wake of Friday’s 7-4 win by the Ducks, Ingram has surrendered a league-high 14 goals and enters Game 4 with a 4.70 GAA and .849 save percentage.
Jarry, who turns 31 this week, was acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins on Dec. 12. He fashioned a 9-6-2 record with a 3.86 GAA and .858 save percentage in 19 appearances for the Oilers. He has not started a game since April 7 — a 6-5 overtime loss at Utah — and has not played since handling the final 20 minutes on April 8 in a 5-2 win against San Jose.
If Jarry gets the Game 4 nod, it will mark his first Stanley Cup playoff appearance since a 4-3 overtime loss by the Pittsburgh Penguins against the New York Rangers on May 15, 2022.
Jarry started eight postseason games for the Penguins from 2020-22 and produced a 2-6 record with a 3.00 GAA and .891 save percentage.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Three Teams That Screwed Up 2026 NFL Draft
Not every team can take home a prized draft pick, especially if they are throwing darts nowhere near the top of the board.
We can’t say enough great things about the Cleveland Browns and Las Vegas Raiders, Dallas Cowboys and New York Jets and their stadium co-tenants, the Giants. From top to bottom, there’s a lot to love about the Panthers’ draft, too.
But we have no worldly idea what a few other teams were thinking over the three-day NFL draft completed Saturday in Pittsburgh.
Jacksonville Jaguars
From all splash and sizzle in 2025 to … what-was-that vibes in 2026, maybe this is life with a 30-something general manager. We can’t say Travis Hunter, which cost Jacksonville a 2026 first-round pick in the deal with the Browns on draft night ’25, was a home run. Or even an infield single. And now we can’t say much at all about what the Jaguars did in this draft. The franchise is drafting “culture” and we’re anxious to find out how that computes year over year.
San Francisco 49ers
A jumbo receiver who would’ve been on the board 20 picks later De’Zhaun Stribling (Ole Miss) wasn’t entirely unexpected. But the 49ers signed Mike Evans and 2025 first-rounder Ricky Pearsall is being panned as a lead receiver. If these things compute internally, what’s the reward with Stribling? This isn’t a division where drafting depth over difference-makers can be a survival mode. Indiana RB Kaelon Black also would’ve been on the board later and he’s a niche player at best as long as the 49ers have the McCaffrey guy. So two of the top three picks are bit players in a division where everyone north of Arizona will be hyper competitive.
Atlanta Falcons
Clemson cornerback Avieon Terrell brings immediate value and it’s fair to wonder if the Falcons are having buyer’s remorse over the trade of a first-round pick for James Pearce Jr. in 2025 given his off-field issues. The draft wasn’t deep enough to find high-end pass rushers or offensive tackles in the late rounds. Using their third draft pick this year on Kendal Daniels (Oklahoma) at No. 134 is evidence the Falcons are hoping to hit the lottery on upside. Where Daniels fits in this defense is nowhere near clear at the moment.
