Sports

12:36 PM ET Alex KirklandESPN FC Take a look at Real Madrid‘s season so far, and by almost any metric, it looks like a success. They’re top of LaLiga with 12 games left to play, six points clear of Sevilla and 15 ahead of the rivals they care about most, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid. They

7:00 AM ET Bryce Young finished his first season as Alabama‘s full-time starting quarterback with the second-most passing touchdowns (47) and yards (4,872) in the FBS en route to the 2021 Heisman Trophy. But will he repeat? Not if Ohio State standout C.J. Stroud has anything to say about it. Stroud is coming off a

7:52 AM ET Josh Taylor made a big statement in May, when he defeated Jose Ramirez to win all four major junior welterweight belts. Taylor had another opportunity to show the world that his victory wasn’t just a one-off this past weekend, when he faced mandatory challenger Jack Catterall. But while Taylor won a split

7:56 AM ET No one can match Kamaru Usman for the depth of his hard-won expertise on Colby Covington vs. Jorge Masvidal. The headliners for Saturday’s UFC 272 have each challenged Usman twice for his UFC welterweight championship. As Usman was winning all four of those fights, the champ piled up knowledge along the way.

2:39 PM ET Associated Press LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Embattled Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert has sued Churchill Downs and track leadership in federal court, seeking to overturn his two-year suspension on grounds it violated his due process rights. The suit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court names Churchill Downs Inc., CEO William C. Carstanjen

11:17 PM ET ESPN News Services MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant threw down a massive dunk over 7-footer Jakob Poeltl, knocked down a buzzer-beater without touching the ground and then broke his own franchise record for points in a regular-season game just two days after setting it. Morant scored 52 points on

9:00 PM ET Tory BarronESPN Editor Close Tory Barron is a Bristol-based writer and editor for ESPN.com. After retiring from playing lacrosse at UConn, the DC native decided to try her hand at writing about people playing sports. Serena Williams is no stranger to the runway, having modeled for her own fashion line’s shows in

7:53 AM ET Michael A. FletcherESPN Close Michael Fletcher is a senior writer with ESPN’s enterprise and investigative team. Before that, he wrote for ESPN’s The Undefeated, focusing on politics, criminal justice and social issues. He spent 21 years at The Washington Post, where his beats included the national economy, the White House and race

5:12 PM GMT Ireland kept the pressure on unbeaten Six Nations leaders France with a 57-6 thrashing of Italy on Sunday in a game that descended into farce after the visitors were forced to play most of it with 13 men. Ireland were 7-3 up when replacement hooker Hame Faiva, on for the injured Gianmarco

9:22 PM ET NASHVILLE — Wearing attention-grabbing outfits has become a hallmark of the NHL’s outdoor games, and the Nashville Predators matched the vibe ahead of their Stadium Series game on Saturday. The home team rolled up to the game looking like a bunch of outlaws before taking on the defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa

2:02 PM ET Associated Press RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Emblem Road rallied with a wide, sweeping move on the outside to win the $20 million Saudi Cup at 99-1 odds on Saturday, beating Bob Baffert-trained Country Grammar by a half-length. Ridden by Wiggy Ramos, Emblem Road ran 1 1/8 miles in 1:50.52 in the world’s

8:14 AM ET Mark Schlabach Close ESPN Senior Writer Senior college football writer Author of seven books on college football Graduate of the University of Georgia Tom VanHaaren Close ESPN Staff Writer ESPN staff writer Joined ESPN in 2011 Graduated from Central Michigan What started out as a typical Thursday morning for PGA Tour players,

6:30 AM ET NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The workout program prescribed by the San Francisco Giants‘ training staff covered 10 weeks, but this is Week 11 of the lockout by the owners and those instructions are beyond their expiration date. Because club employees are forbidden from having any contact with players, Giants Curt Casali and Mike

5:55 PM ET Associated Press LEXINGTON, Ky. — Kentucky’s racing director has denied trainer Bob Baffert’s request to stay his suspension by stewards in their ruling that also disqualified Medina Spirit as Kentucky Derby winner. Kentucky Horse Racing Commission stewards on Monday suspended Baffert for 90 days, effective March 8 through June 5, and fined

12:04 PM ET Borussia Dortmund and United States international midfielder Giovanni Reyna said that he’s “pretty positive” he’ll return from his latest injury setback in time to help the U.S. in the last round of World Cup qualifying. In last weekend’s 6-0 Bundesliga win against Borussia Monchengladbach, Reyna suffered a recurrence of the hamstring injury

7:00 AM ET Thirteen Power 5 schools hired new coaches during a tumultuous college football coaching carousel. Remember when Lincoln Riley turned down speculation he would leave Oklahoma for LSU, only to accept the position at USC less than a day later? What happened after that? Brian Kelly filled Ed Orgeron’s shoes at LSU, the

12:04 PM GMT Courtney Lawes and Manu Tuilagi return to the England team to face Wales in the Six Nations at Twickenham on Saturday, while Harry Randall gets another chance to impress at scrum-half in the squad named by coach Eddie Jones on Thursday. Lawes missed the opening two games with concussion but comes back

2:14 PM ET The Mohegan Tribe Department of Athletic Regulation has medically suspended Adam Piccolotti for six months after the Bellator fighter posted an Instagram video of himself vomiting during his weight cut last week, director Mike Mazzulli said Wednesday. Piccolotti wrote on social media that he had thrown up “20-plus times” during the weight

7:51 AM ET Timothy Bradley Jr. Josh Taylor returns home to Scotland to make his first title defense as boxing’s undisputed junior welterweight champion of the world at The SSE Hydro in Glasgow (Saturday on ESPN+, 2 p.m. ET). Taylor (18-0, 13 KOs) faces undefeated Englishman Jack Catterall (26-0, 13 KOs), who previously stepped aside

7:00 AM ET The first hole at Riviera Country Club is arguably the most famous first tee box on the PGA Tour. It’s perched 75 feet above the fairway and it’s about the size of a modest living room. It might also be the tour’s most beautiful, particularly early in the morning, when the Southern