Basketball
Spain, U.S. on a crash course for the World Cup final
BARCELONA, Spain – The United States will play Turkey in the group stage of this summer’s World Cup of Basketball in a rematch of the 2010 final.
The rest of the opposition in Group C looks a lot easier, with the Americans also drawn Monday to play the Dominican Republic, Finland, New Zealand and Ukraine.
Host Spain, meanwhile, has a tougher Group A with Brazil, Egypt, European champion France, Iran and Serbia.
The U.S. will open its title defense Aug. 30 against wild-card entry Finland, with the Group C games played in the northern Basque city of Bilbao.
The U.S. beat Turkey in the final four years ago, when the tournament was known as the world championship.
Spain and the U.S. are in groups on opposite sides of the bracket, meaning the title favorites can’t meet until the Sept. 14 championship.
College Basketball
’Zona and ’Cuse switch spots atop the AP Top 25 poll
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Syracuse’s reward for winning one of the best college basketball games of the season was a spot on top of The Associated Press Top 25 poll.
Combined with No. 1 Arizona’s first loss of the season last weekend, the Orange’s 91-89 overtime win over Duke on Saturday moved them up one spot to the top. Syracuse (21-0) received all 65 first-place votes from the national media panel Monday, making the Orange the first unanimous No. 1 since Duke in 2010-11.
Syracuse, off to the best start in school history, is on top of the poll for the first time since a six-week run in 2011-12.
This is the 15th week all-time Syracuse has been No. 1.
Arizona (21-1) and Syracuse, which were 1-2 for the last eight weeks, switched spots this week.
Florida, Wichita State, the only other unbeaten in Division I, and San Diego State remained third through fifth.
Two more victories and No. 1 Connecticut now is 23-0
Connecticut remained No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 poll Monday after cruising to two more victories.
The Huskies routed both Temple and Cincinnati to improve to 23-0 this season. UConn will host Southern Methodist and No. 4 Louisville this week, with the game against the Cardinals on Sunday a rematch of last season’s national championship game.
Notre Dame, also undefeated, Stanford and Duke rounded out the first five teams.
MLB
Rockies come to terms with relievers Corpas, Masset
DENVER – The Colorado Rockies completed minor league contracts with 31-year-old right-handed relievers Manny Corpas and Nick Masset.
Corpas went 1-2 with a 4.54 earned-run average with 16 walks and 30 strikeouts for the Rockies last season after going to Colorado’s big league spring training camp under a similar deal and beginning the season at Triple-A Colorado Springs.
Masset missed the last two seasons after right shoulder surgery. He is 16-14 with a 3.78 ERA in 308 major league appearances from 2006 to 2011 with the Rangers, White Sox and Reds.
NFL
Super Bowl XLVIII ratings draw a record 111.5M
NEW YORK – For the fourth time in five years, the Super Bowl set a record for the most-watched television event in U.S. history, drawing 111.5 million viewers, even though the Seattle Seahawks’ 43-8 victory over the Denver Broncos wasn’t really competitive.
The ratings’ record is further evidence of how live events are becoming dependable and valuable properties for broadcast television at a time the audience is fragmenting and ratings for regular entertainment shows continue to fall.
The game also set standards for the most-streamed sports event online and, with 24.9 million tweets, the biggest U.S. live TV event on Twitter.
Associated Press
