College Basketball
Kentucky still firm No 1; defending champs out
Those young Kentucky Wildcats still have a firm grasp on the No. 1 spot in the AP Top 25.
Kentucky (7-0), outscoring opponents by an NCAA-best 36.8 points a game, again got 62 of 65 first-place votes Monday in the new rankings. No. 2 Wisconsin (7-0) was on top of the remaining ballots.
Defending national champion Connecticut (3-2) dropped out of the poll from 24th after their second consecutive loss, 55-54 at home to Texas.
Junkanoo Jam champs stay in the top spot in AP Poll
South Carolina’s women’s basketball team is No. 1 in The Associated Press poll for the second consecutive week Monday after winning the Junkanoo Jam.
The Gamecocks, who ascended to the top spot last week for the first time, beat Wisconsin and then-No. 22 Syracuse.
Notre Dame, Connecticut, Texas and Texas A&M round out the first five. The Irish play No. 15 Maryland on Wednesday before hosting the Huskies on Saturday in a rematch of last season’s title game.
Texas achieved its highest ranking since Dec. 29, 2008, when the Longhorns were also fourth. They beat then-No. 4 Tennessee on Sunday.
College Football
Florida: Job hasn’t been posed to anyone, yet
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – A week after starting its coaching search to replace Will Muschamp, Florida already is shooting down reports.
The Gators released a statement refuting reports that athletic director Jeremy Foley has offered the job to anyone.
SB Nation reported Sunday that Mississippi head coach Hugh Freeze was mulling an offer to become Florida’s next coach. Yahoo.com reported Sunday that Colorado State head coach Jim McElwain was a leading candidate for the job. And then FootballScoop.com reported Monday that the Gators are vetting former Denver Broncos head coach and current New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels for the job.
NFL
Belichick, Kraft may testify in Hernandez trial
BOSTON – New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and team owner Robert Kraft are listed as possible witnesses by prosecutors in the upcoming murder trial of former Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez.
Hernandez’s lawyers are asking prosecutors to pare down their list of more than 300 witnesses.
Hernandez is charged in the 2013 killing of semi-professional football player Odin Lloyd. Lloyd’s body was found in an industrial park about a mile from Hernandez’s home in North Attleborough.
In a motion released Monday, Hernandez’s lawyers asked a judge to order prosecutors to reduce the list to people they actually intend to call during the trial, which is scheduled to begin in January.
Olympics
Timelines still `tight’ in Rio for 2016 Games
LAUSANNE, Switzerland – Eight months after warning that the 2016 Olympics were at risk because of delays, sports federations say Brazil has made “considerable progress” but must accelerate preparations for the Rio de Janeiro Games.
The Association of Summer Olympic International Federations says the crisis has eased since the sports publicly raised concerns over Rio’s delays at a meeting in April in Belek, Turkey.
But ASOIF said in a statement Monday that “timelines remain tight for the construction of the venues.”
The association added that “progress with operational planning and implementation must increasingly be the priority as we are now well inside the `two years to go’ marker.”
Associated Press
