Editor’s note: The Athletic 134 is a weekly ranking of all FBS college football teams. Winning games is hard. That’s a press conference cliché you’ll hear from every coach, but it’s true, especially for coaches dealing with college athletes. How else can you explain what happened on Saturday? For two weeks, SEC fans beat the…

Welcome back to the Monday Tennis Briefing, where The Athletic will explain the stories behind the stories from the past week on court. This week, Jannik Sinner ended 2024 on the ATP Tour with an unreturned serve and arms aloft, just as he has spent much of the tennis season. The world No. 1 and a…

Grab a rotten tomato. Raise your fist and prepare to shake it. Add honey to your tea, clear your throat and ready yourself for a Bronx cheer. Because while New York Yankees fans should be eager to spend owner Hal Steinbrenner’s money to sign Juan Soto, there are reasons teams should pause before giving him…

LAHAINA, Hawaii — You cannot miss it, just across the gravel parking lot behind the Lahaina Civic Center: burned brush, as far as the eye can see. Charred shrubs practically surround the place, a semicircle that looks like it should’ve swallowed the gym, best known for hosting college basketball’s famed Maui Invitational. But it didn’t.…

LOS ANGELES — Ahead of this weekend’s doubleheader of No. 6 Notre Dame at No. 3 USC and No. 1 South Carolina at No. 5 UCLA, all four coaches preached the importance of these games for the growth of women’s basketball. Scheduling marquee contests early in the season keeps the sport’s momentum flowing. In the…

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — New York Giants coach Brian Daboll turned to third-string quarterback Tommy DeVito to provide a “spark.” Instead, Daboll got a five-alarm blaze that will be difficult to extinguish. The Giants were destroyed 30-7 by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday in the first game after the benching of quarterback Daniel Jones.…

“I want to show Freya and every other girl and boy that you can stand up for yourself if something happens to you, no matter who the person is, and justice will be served. To all the victims of sexual assault, I hope my story is a reminder that no matter how afraid you might…

The low point of Brian Kelly’s 38 games as head coach at LSU came in Gainesville two weeks ago, with a third consecutive loss and two heated sideline exchanges with his players. The first sideline interaction looked familiar: Kelly got in the face of wide receiver Chris Hilton with a stern lecture that featured a…

Week 12’s Sunday games brought pretty much every ending you could think of: an onside kick recovery leading to overtime in Chicago, a missed chip-shot field goal from one of the NFL’s best kickers costing the Texans, a Carolina Panthers near-upset over the defending champs, and another miracle touchdown in Washington — but it goes…

By Jeremy Rutherford, Fluto Shinzawa and Alex Andrejev The St. Louis Blues have fired coach Drew Bannister and immediately hired former Boston Bruins coach Jim Montgomery as his replacement, the team announced Sunday. The Blues signed Montgomery, who the Bruins fired Tuesday, to a five-year contract to become the 28th head coach in the team’s…