General Sports 24 Hours

Last updated: August 12, 2026, 9:38 PM ET

NBA

The league has revealed the group stage schedule for the NBA Cup, the fourth annual in‑season tournament. The NBA opening night tripleheader on Oct. 20 features the Knicks against LeBron James’ team and the 76ers, among other marquee matchups.

College Football

Oklahoma’s John Mateer has turned heads this offseason with his massive arms, sparking debate about whether quarterbacks should be so muscular. A survey of general managers, staffers and agents put a price on each position; find out what a typical Power 4 starter salary looks like. In Arkansas, a high school football player unknowingly wore a helmet with a venomous snake inside for nearly an hour before discovering the unwelcome intruder.

College Basketball

SEC projections for 2026‑27 include three possible champions and three teams that won’t reach the NCAA tournament. Seth Trimble has committed to play for Louisville next season after a court ruling granted Class of 2022 high schoolers a fifth season of eligibility.

WNBA

A task force of team presidents and general managers met Wednesday to discuss transgender athletes but did not arrive at any eligibility rules. Fever coach Stephanie White spoke out against her critics and received vocal support from Caitlin Clark and Sophie Cunningham after she was booed in Indiana before Tuesday’s win over the Liberty. The WNBA Power Rankings show time running out as teams jockey for playoff seeds.

Golf

Rory McIlroy said he is confident he’ll reach a compromise with the PGA Tour to meet the minimum of 15 events required to maintain his dual membership. The FedExCup playoffs start in Memphis with spots in the Tour Championship on the line; Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy are among the stars to watch. Check out the St. Jude tee times for the first two rounds.

Baseball/Fantasy

Tristan H. Cockcroft identifies six fantasy baseball trade targets for the stretch run, focusing on players from the Bronx who could provide late‑season heroics.

Soccer

Less than a month after Mayo’s historic All‑Ireland final win, Croke Park turned its attention to English football as Man Utd beat Leeds in a historic pre‑season encounter. The match marked first English football clash between two English teams. Former Liverpool head coach Arne Slot confirmed he withdrew from talks for the Netherlands managerial vacancy to focus on club football.

Cricket

Welsh Fire and MI London are eliminated from The Hundred after losing their final group‑phase matches. Ellyse Perry hit a superb 62 not out to lead Birmingham Phoenix to a five‑wicket victory over MI London. Afghanistan sealed an ODI series victory over Ireland with a game to spare at Stormont, thanks to their record run tally.

Track & Field

Great Britain’s Matthew Hudson-Smith made history as the joint‑most decorated man at European Championships by winning 400m gold in Birmingham. Meanwhile, the women’s 800m record remains the longest‑standing world record in athletics at 43 years – we explore why it’s so tough to break.

Swimming

Great Britain’s Angharad Evans won her first European Championship gold in the 100m breaststroke final in Paris.

Rugby

Asher Opoku‑Fordjour, Alex Coles, Guy Pepper, Jack van Poortvliet and Seb Atkinson are among five players handed England central contracts for the first time in a shake‑up by Steve Borthwick. The Ospreys responded publicly to WRU plans to cut a professional team, arguing that four sides is the way forward. England’s Red Roses are using smaller balls in pre‑season training ahead of the WXV Global Series. Former All Blacks star Ma’a Nonu, performed a solo haka before his side the Sharks took on New Zealand in Durban.

Horse Racing

A horse racing integrity firm is investigating five horse races that took place Sunday at Saratoga and Monmouth Park after unusual betting patterns were detected on horses that overperformed.

Other Sports & News

Elena Rybakina came back from a set and a break down to beat Naomi Osaka in three sets at the Canadian Open quarterfinal. The Great Britain dressage team secured qualification for the 2028 Olympics by winning silver at the FEI World Championships in Aachen. A Texas judge backed a decision to remove a Tulsa team from the Southwest Region, keeping it from a spot in the Little League Baseball World Series. After Northern Ireland dropped outside Uefa’s top 50 coefficient ranking, the Irish League’s European hopes now rest with Larne. Briton Efe Obada retired from the NFL after 10 years, saying he has found his “life’s purpose” in launching a foundation. The horse racing meeting at Ffos Las in South Wales will begin about two hours earlier on Wednesday because of the solar eclipse.