General Sports 8-Hour Briefing
×College Basketball
One of the fixers in a sprawling betting scheme to cash in on big bets on rigged NCAA basketball games pleaded guilty Monday, according to federal prosecutors in Philadelphia. The final AP poll before Selection Sunday has a new top five with Florida and Houston entering the top five while Duke, Arizona and Michigan remain at the top three. No. 2 UCLA picked up three first-place votes from top-ranked UConn in this week's Associated Press women's basketball Top 25 poll, while Texas jumped South Carolina to move into the No. 3 spot. A week before Selection Sunday, championship week takeaways show which teams should be worried, like Tennessee, or encouraged, like Notre Dame, while the bubble picture continues to take shape.
International Sports
Ukraine's Maksym Murashkovskyi says he has Chat GPT to thank for helping him win Para-biathlon silver at the Winter Paralympics, using AI as his 'psychologist, coach and doctor.' Horse racing trainer Williams will be sentenced next month for assaulting a dog walker with a hockey stick, leaving the victim with a broken arm. Gillian Fortescue-Thomas remembers the 1976 Cheltenham Festival where she became the first female rider to complete a race, calling it a groundbreaking moment 50 years ago. Champion jockey Sean Bowen has achieved most of what there is to achieve as a jockey but there is one glaring omission on his impressive CV - a Cheltenham Festival win. Sri Lanka named former South Africa batter Gary Kirsten as their new head coach, hoping to revitalize their cricket program.
Combat Sports
Ex-UFC and PFL heavyweight champ Francis Ngannou will return to action on May 16 as part of Jake Paul's Most Valuable Promotions' inaugural MMA fight card headlined by Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano. The BMF title headliner between Charles Oliveira and Max Holloway earned the lowest grade at UFC, with the F in BMF standing for fail according to fight analysts.
Winter Sports & Paralympics
Figure skating remains absent from the Winter Paralympics, prompting questions about when it might be added. BBC Sport's Ask Me Anything team explains the reasons behind its exclusion from Paralympic competition. Meanwhile, Ukraine's Maksym Murashkovskyi continues to make headlines for his innovative use of AI technology to enhance his Paralympic training and performance.
Football & Soccer
Wales hope Tottenham defender Ashley Phillips could boost their World Cup qualifying hopes if they can persuade the 20-year-old to switch allegiance from England. The price of failure increases as the importance of the Champions League never goes away for big clubs, making European qualification crucial for Premier League giants' financial stability.
Motorsports & Racing
After a wild, often polarizing Australian Grand Prix weekend, ESPN looks at some of the sweeping generalizations being made about Formula 1 and judges whether they're overblown or not. Speculation about Max Verstappen potentially quitting F1 and McLaren's struggles dominated post-race discussions, though many analysts believe these reactions are premature.
Other Sports News
The Paralympic medallist using AI as 'psychologist, coach and doctor' represents a growing trend of athletes leveraging technology for competitive advantage. Meanwhile, college football's unique tampering etiquette continues to evolve, with experts outlining what is considered acceptable and what crosses the line in recruiting practices. As March approaches, fans' guides highlight the 10 most important things to know about men's basketball, including the top five teams, key players to watch, and narratives likely to shape the conference and NCAA tournaments."