College Basketball
NEW YORK – The NCAA says the top overall seed in the men’s NCAA Tournament will be able to pick its location to play for the first and second round and regional sites.
The Division I Men’s Basketball Committee decided the geographic preferences would be made by teams in contention for the overall No. 1 seed far in advance of Selection Sunday. There is no indication whether the preferences will be guaranteed.
Teams will be able to choose from eight assigned cities for the first and second round.
College Football
IRVING, Texas – The Big 12 presidents have directed Commissioner Bob Bowlsby to evaluate schools that are interested in joining the conference, stopping just short of announcing it was committed to expansion.After a meeting of the Big 12 university presidents and chancellors on Tuesday, Oklahoma President David Boren says the conference is still considering whether to add two or four teams to its 10 members.
Numerous schools have been pitching the Big 12 behind the scenes for months, including much of the American Athletic Conference along with BYU, Colorado State and others.
Oklahoma is the overwhelming preseason pick to win another Big 12 title. With quarterback Baker Mayfield among seven returning starters on offense, the Sooners got 24 of 26 first-place votes in the preseason media poll released Thursday.
TCU got the other two first-place vote and was picked second, followed by Oklahoma State, Baylor and Texas. Texas Tech, West Virginia, Kansas State, Iowa State and Kansas rounded out the poll.
Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby says there are members of the league’s board of directors who feel the sexual assault scandal at Baylor has sullied the image of the conference.Bowlsby said Monday at the start of the league’s football media days that Baylor interim President David E. Garland and the chairman of the school’s board of regents will address the Big 12 board Tuesday in Dallas.
Bowlsby says Big 12 members are committed to “eradicating sexual assault” on campus. He says “it almost goes without saying that when you combine alcohol and drugs and raging hormones and the experiences of 18-22 years old, it’s probably unrealistic to think that these kinds of things are never going to happen.”
Golf
Tiger Woods pulled out of the PGA Championship, the first time in his career he will miss all four majors in a year.
The PGA Championship announced the withdrawal of the 14-time major winner on its Twitter feed Tuesday. He will be replaced in the field by Harold Varner III. Woods is rehabbing from back surgery and hasn’t played since last August.
The PGA Championship is July 28-31 at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, New Jersey.
MMA
LAS VEGAS – The UFC said heavyweight Brock Lesnar failed a second doping test in a sample taken on the night of his victory over Mark Hunt at UFC 200.
The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency notified Lesnar last week about his first potential violation of the UFC’s policy from an out-of-competition test last month.
The UFC says Lesnar tested positive for the same unnamed substance in both tests.
Lesnar is among the most popular athletes in both mixed martial arts and professional wrestling. He beat Hunt by decision on July 9, handily winning his first MMA fight in 4½ years.
Associated Press
