Sports
White-hot Texas A&M in position to prolong Alabama's woes
Jan 24, 2026; College Station, Texas, USA; Texas A&M Aggies forward Rashaun Agee (12) reacts during the first half against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Reed Arena. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images Alabama has hit a roadblock which coincidentally accompanies its controversial roster decision.
Since Charles Bediako’s much-criticized return nearly three years after he left the program for the NBA, the Crimson Tide have lost two of their last three games.
That has Alabama (14-7, 4-4 Southeastern Conference) outside the AP Top 25 for the first time this season entering Wednesday’s matchup against Texas A&M in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Bediako has been far from the problem, averaging 11.0 points and 5.3 rebounds and shooting 73.3% from the floor in his first three games back in the college ranks.
Defense and ball security are far bigger culprits in the team’s recent struggles. The Crimson Tide are coming off a 100-77 loss at then-No. 19 Florida on Saturday in which they turned it over 18 times and allowed a gaudy 72 points in the paint.
Alabama’s up-tempo offense has the team third in the SEC in scoring offense (91.2 points per game), but it is undeniably playing a role in the Crimson Tide bringing up the SEC rear in scoring defense (82.3).
The team is a No. 5 seed in ESPN’s updated bracketology released Tuesday morning.
“It’s getting close to a tipping point,” Oats said. “We’re either going to start playing better and go on a run here, or we’re going to continue to play .500 basketball. That’s not what anybody came here to do.”
Things don’t appear to be getting any easier this week with a smoldering Texas A&M team coming to town.
Since a 2-2 start, the Aggies (17-4, 7-1) have won 15 of their last 17, including 10 of the last 11 after a 92-77 win at Georgia on Saturday.
In a battle of the league’s two highest-scoring offenses, Texas A&M jumped out to a 22-2 lead and led the rest of the way.
Rashaun Agee led the Aggies’ 46-39 rebounding advantage with a game-high 18 points and 15 boards for his 10th double-double of the season and his fifth in eight conference games.
Agee ranks second in the league in rebounds (9.0 per game).
Despite this extended run of success, Texas A&M enters the week as the first team out of the Top 25. That’s only serving as further motivation.
“I hope so,” Agee said when asked if the team has made believers out of everyone yet. “If not, it’s OK. We’ve got a lot of basketball left. We’re just going to continue to do what we do regardless.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Team Falcons, Team Spirit advance in group stage at BLAST Open Spring
A backlit keyboard is part of the gear online video game streamer Jordan Woodruff uses in his Gilbert home.
Jordan Woodruff
Team Falcons, FURIA, Team Spirit and The MongolZ each recorded wins on Sunday to stay alive in the BLAST Open Spring event in Copenhagen, Denmark and Rotterdam, Netherlands.
The Group A lower-bracket final on Monday is set between Team Falcons and FURIA, while Aurora Gaming and Natus Vincere previously secured the upper-bracket final.
The Group B lower-bracket final is between Team Spirit and The MongolZ, while Team Vitality and PARIVISION already had their spots in the upper-bracket final on Monday.
The 16 teams in the $400,000 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive event were split into two groups of eight that are contesting a pair of double-elimination brackets. The top three finishers in each bracket will advance to the six-team playoffs. All matches will be best-of-three until the best-of-five grand final on March 29.
The winning team will earn $150,000 along with three BLAST Frequent Flyer tokens.
On Sunday, Team Falcons rallied for a 2-1 win in the Group A lower-bracket semifinal over TYLOO, who opened with a marathon 16-14 win on Inferno. The Falcons responded in a big way with a 13-1 win on Ancient and a 13-2 victory on Mirage.
Nikola “NiKo” Kovac of Bosnia and Herzegovina led Team Falcons with a plus-14 kill-death differential while posting 45 kills, and teammate Maksim “kyousuke” Lukin of Russia had 50 kills and a plus-12 differential. No TYLOO players had a positive K-D differential.
FURIA followed a similar path in the other Group A lower-bracket semifinal, defeating NRG 2-1. NRG opened with a 13-10 win on Mirage, then FURIA surged past with wins on Nuke (13-2) and Dust II (13-7).
Danil “moloday” Golubenko of Kazakhstan led FURIA with 61 kills and a plus-32 differential.
Team Spirit swept 9z Team 2-0 in the Group B lower-bracket semifinal, winning on Overpass and Dust II on matching 13-6 scores.
Danil “donk” Kryshkovets of the all-Russian Team Spirit posted 44 kills and a plus-22 K-D differential.
The MongolZ notched a 2-0 win over Team Liquid in the other Group B lower-bracket semifinal, winning 16-14 on Ancient and 13-10 on Mirage.
Ayush “mzinho” Batbold led the all-Mongolian Mongolz with 45 kills while recording a plus-8 differential. Jonathan “EIGE” Jablonowski of the United States paced Liquid with 52 kills and a plus-10 differential.
Monday’s schedule
–Group A upper-bracket final, Aurora Gaming vs. Natus Vincere
–Group A lower-bracket final, Team Falcons vs. FURIA
–Group B upper-bracket final, Team Vitality vs. PARIVISION
–Group B lower-bracket final, Team Spirit vs. The MongolZ
BLAST Open Spring prize pool (cash prize, BLAST Frequent Flyer tokens)
1. $150,000, 3
2. $60,000, 1
3-4. $40,000, 1
5-6. $20,000, 1
7-8. $10,000
9-12. $7,500 — TYLOO, NRG, 9z Team, Team Liquid
13-16. $5,000 — FaZe Clan, B8, MOUZ, Ninjas in Pyjamas
–Field Level Media
Sports
Tundra Esports, MOUZ unblemished to start ESL One Birmingham
A backlit keyboard is part of the gear online video game streamer Jordan Woodruff uses in his Gilbert home.
Jordan Woodruff
Tundra Esports and MOUZ went undefeated in Group A on Sunday as ESL One Birmingham 2026 began play with 16 matches in the United Kingdom.
The $1 million tournament, featuring 16 teams in a Dota 2 competition, will award $750,000 in prize money and $250,000 in club rewards as well as 35,460 EPT points spread among all participants.
The group stage runs from Sunday through Wednesday, with two single round-robin groups of eight teams each. All series consist of two games.
The top two teams from each group advance to the upper bracket of the playoffs. The third- and fourth-place teams are delegated to the lower-bracket playoffs, and the remaining teams are eliminated.
The playoffs are March 26-29 with a double-elimination bracket. All matches are best-of-three except for the grand final, which is best-of-five.
Tundra Esports opened with a 2-0 sweep of PARIVISION, winning in 54 minutes on green and 29 minutes on red. Tundra also downed BetBoom Team in 30 minutes on green and 40 minutes on red.
MOUZ swept GamerLegion in 63 minutes on red and 46 minutes on green. MOUZ also swept REKONIX in 34 minutes on green and 29 minutes on red.
Team Yandex recorded a win and a tie on Sunday, while the remainder of Group A had a loss and a tie: BetBoom Team, GamerLegion, PARIVISION, REKONIX and Yakult Brothers.
In Group B, Aurora Gaming and Team Spirit are atop the standings with a win and a tie.
Aurora handled Team Falcons in 50 minutes and 26 minutes, both on green. Team Spirit and Aurora Gaming split their match, with the latter winning in 35 minutes on red and the former wining in 36 minutes on red.
Team Spirit also swept paIN Gaming with victories in 57 minutes on red and 30 minutes on green.
The following teams lost both matches: Nigma Galaxy, OG, Virtus.pro and Xtreme Gaming. Team Falcons and paIN Gaming each lost and tied after the first day.
Each group has eight matches scheduled for Monday.
Prize pool (prize money, club reward)
1. $250,000, $40,000
2. $100,000, $30,000
3. $80,000, $25,000
4. $60,000, $20,000
5-6. $40,000, $15,000
7-8. $27,500, $12,500
8-10. $20,000, $10,000
11-12. $17,500, $10,000
13-14. $15,000, $10,000
15-16. $10,000, $10,000
–Field Level Media
Sports
Spacestation Gaming stay hot in Overwatch Champions Series
A custom gaming keyboard backlit with red LED lights waits for tactile input before Manual took on Boone County in a Rocket League match, which was streamed on YouTube on Thursday, March 5, 2020. Spacestation Gaming recorded their second win in as many days by posting a 3-2 victory over Disguised on Sunday in the Overwatch Champions Series 2026 — North America Stage 1.
The Overwatch 2 online competition, with a prize pool of $75,000, features six teams playing a regular season with a round-robin format from March 21 to April 5. All matches are first-to-three.
The top four teams advance to the regional playoffs, which are April 10-12 and feature a double-elimination bracket. All matches are first-to-three except for the grand final, which is first-to-four.
Spacestation Gaming followed up their 3-0 victory over LuneX on Saturday by outlasting Disguised on Sunday.
Disguised jumped out to a fast start by sandwiching a 2-1 victory on Lijiang Tower and a 3-1 triumph on Aatlis around a 3-0 setback on Rialto. Spacestation Gaming, however, bounced back with a 3-1 win on Numbani and 89.69m-62.11m victory on Runasapi.
LuneX Gaming rebounded from Saturday’s setback with a 3-0 victory over Extinction.
LuneX notched a 2-1 win on Lijiang Tower, a 128.06m-51.42m victory on Esperanca and 3-2 triumph on Suravasa.
Saturday’s Week 2 matches:
–Team Liquid vs. Dallas Fuel
–Disguised vs. Extinction
Standings
1. Spacestation Gaming, 2-0, +4
2. Dallas Fuel, 1-0, +2
3. Team Liquid, 1-0, +1
4. LuneX Gaming, 1-1, 0
5. Disguised, 0-2, -3
6. Extinction, 0-2, -4
Prize pool:
1. $30,000, qualifies for Champions Clash, NA Stage 2
2. $15,000, qualifies for Champions Clash, NA Stage 2
3. $12,000, qualifies for NA Stage 2
4. $8,000, qualifies for NA Stage 2
5-6. $5,000, qualifies for NA Stage 2 promotion/relegation
–Field Level Media
Team Falcons, Team Spirit advance in group stage at BLAST Open Spring
Tundra Esports, MOUZ unblemished to start ESL One Birmingham
