UConn's NCAA championship defense starts in Annapolis
The Huskies hit the court today, opening their back-to-back championship bid at the Armed Forces Classic, plus Unrivaled's jersey drop and more news to know
UConn’s back-to-back NCAA championship bid begins
The No. 1 Huskies tip off the 2025/26 NCAA season against No. 20 Louisville today. (Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images)
NCAA basketball is officially back in action, as reigning champions No. 1 UConn tip off their 2025/26 regular-season campaign this afternoon against No. 20 Louisville.
Featuring in the recently relocated first-ever women’s Armed Forces Classic in Annapolis, Maryland, UConn opens their season against a ranked opponent for the first time since 2017.
“It’s going to be a lot of learning with five new players,” Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma said this week. “There’s a lot of exciting things that are ahead of us… and I want to help them overcome some of those challenges we’re going to have.”
Big picture: Despite losing 2025 No. 1 overall pick Paige Bueckers to the WNBA, the Huskies enter the season with a healthy roster and more depth than recent years, centering the team around returning starters like top-ranked Sarah Strong and Azzi Fudd.
“I have to learn how to sub again,” Auriemma joked. “We’ve had three or four years in a row there where there’s nobody to sub.”
Rocky road: Staying atop the NCAA rankings won’t be easy, as No. 7 Duke learned on Monday after suffering the season’s first top-ranked upset to No. 16 Baylor.
“I think you can learn a lot from the first game of the season, especially when you’re playing a good team, because they expose a lot of things about you on both ends,” said head coach Kara Lawson. (Watch full highlights)
Tune in: UConn takes on Louisville at 5:30 PM ET, live on ESPN.
Unrivaled 3×3 drops jersey designs ahead of season 2 launch
Two new teams will join Unrivaled 3×3 Basketball’s second season this winter. (Unrivaled)
As Unrivaled 3×3 Basketball preps for its second season, the upstart league revealed new jersey designs for 2026 — including branding for incoming teams the Breeze and the Hive.
In collaboration with Under Armour, the updated jerseys feature details like bottom hem stripes for untucked wearing, side-body detailing, and a championship patch for inaugural title-winner Rose BC.
All eight clubs will sport home and away sets, along with alternate uniforms and more elaborate spins for the popular midseason 1v1 tournament.
Big picture: Unrivaled will also be revealing team rosters this week, with fans of particular teams bracing for change as the offseason league navigates player pool adjustments and expansion.
Unrivaled’s head coaches once again conducted an internal draft to build their rosters, pulling from six player pods organized according to position.
Each of last year’s four playoff teams were able to protect up to two returning players, with the two non-playoff teams allowed just one player, while expansion sides Breeze and Hive had their pick of the first two players available.
Unrivaled’s club roster reveal is set for this Wednesday at 7 PM ET, live on the Bleacher Report YouTube channel.
Get yours: Starting Wednesday night, a limited number of jerseys will be available to purchase via the Unrivaled shop.
Nebraska rolls & Texas skids in top-ranked NCAA volleyball action
No. 1 Nebraska is the only unbeaten NCAA women’s volleyball team left standing this season. (Kayla Wolf/Getty Images)
With 64-team Selection Sunday just weeks away, No. 1 Nebraska remains NCAA volleyball’s sole unbeaten team after back-to-back weekend losses snapped No. 4 Texas’s winning streak.
The Longhorns first fell to No. 6 Texas A&M in Friday’s tense five-setter, before getting swept by No. 2 Kentucky 3-0 on Sunday — their first two losses coming in consecutive Top 10 matchups.
“We got to make sure that we are dialed in from the very first point. I thought our team fought pretty hard, but we didn’t execute the level that we can,” said Texas head coach Jerritt Elliot.
View from the top: The weekend’s volatile Top 10 results cemented Nebraska’s standing as the team to beat, earning a unanimous No. 1 vote in the AVCA rankings for the third time this season.
The Huskers haven’t even dropped a set in their last 13 matches, riding an extended sweep streak into their last four regular-season games.
“I wouldn’t say there’s anything super unique or new that we’re doing,” said coach Dani Busboom Kelly. “Putting our players in challenging situations in practice against other players has been pretty important.”
Stay tuned: Nebraska next faces unranked Illinois on Thursday at 8 PM ET (FS1), while Texas takes on No. 25 Florida on Friday at 7 PM ET, live on SEC Network.
PRESENTED BY MINDSTREAM |
Choose the Right AI Tools
With thousands of AI tools available, how do you know which ones are worth your money? Subscribe to Mindstream and get our expert guide comparing 40+ popular AI tools. Discover which free options rival paid versions and when upgrading is essential. Stop overspending on tools you don't need and find the perfect AI stack for your workflow.
Spain vs. England headlines UEFA’s World Cup qualifiers draw
Reigning champions Spain and runners-up England will face each other in next year’s World Cup qualifiers. (Steve Christo - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)
Europe’s top soccer teams have started down their World Cup paths, with UEFA revealing the 2026 European Qualifiers field at this morning’s league-stage draw.
Reigning title-holders Spain headline the results, facing 2023 runners-up — and 2025 Euros champs — England in Group A3, while Group A1 pits perennial titans Sweden against rising stars Italy and Group A2 sees France, the Netherlands, Poland, and the Republic of Ireland square off. (See full draw)
How it works: 11 teams will qualify for the 2027 World Cup via the European Qualifiers starting in March 2026, while one additional nation tries to advance via an inter-continental playoff.
Teams are divided into three leagues based off the 2025 Nations League results, with League A and B housing 16 teams each while League C holds 21.
League A’s four league-stage winners directly qualify for the World Cup, with top finishers in League B and C moving on to a series of playoffs to determine the seven other direct qualifiers, plus the inter-confederation play-off contender.
Kenya’s Hellen Obiri breaks New York City marathon record
Kenyan runner Hellen Obiri set a new New York Marathon course record on Sunday. (CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images)
The New York City Marathon crowned a new champion on Sunday, with Kenya’s Hellen Obiri setting a new course record with a time of 2:19.51 — 2.80 seconds faster than the previous 2003 record.
Now a two-time champion after taking first in 2023, Obiri was joined on the podium by fellow former winners Sharon Lokedi (2:20:07) and Sheila Chepkirui (2:20:24), with all three beating 2003’s 2:22.31 benchmark.
“We had a very strong field,” said Obiri, who won an additional $50,000 in prize money for breaking the record. “[I told myself] let me try to do my best, let me push.”
A running trend: This year’s race also marked the second straight year that Kenyan runners took the top three spots on the podium.
Number of the day
1
After Racing Louisville punched a club-first postseason ticket on Sunday, head coach Bev Yanez became the first person in league history to make the NWSL playoffs as both a player and manager.