AP Sports Summary for December 5th, 2024:
Liverpool's lead cut in Premier League and Man City ends slump. Chelsea and Arsenal win
MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Liverpool's lead at the top of the Premier League was cut to seven points after a 3-3 draw with Newcastle. Chelsea moved up to second by thrashing last-place Southampton 5-1, while Arsenal is third after a 2-0 win over Manchester United. Fourth-place Manchester City ended its seven-game winless run with a 3-0 victory over Nottingham Forest. Liverpool's result will give hope to its title rivals after Fabian Schar's 90th-minute equalizer at St James' Park. Arsenal inflicted a first loss on new Man United head coach Ruben Amorim.
Lindsey Vonn to make her comeback to downhill racing at age 40 this weekend
Lindsey Vonn is going to enter an official ski race for the first time in nearly six years this weekend at age 40. Vonn announced last month that she was coming out of retirement and she will race lower-level FIS downhills and super-Gs on Saturday and Sunday in Copper Mountain, Colorado. Vonn needs some decent results to improve her long-dormant ranking so she can enter World Cup races this season under a new wild card rule. U.S. Ski Team head coach Paul Kristofic says that "obviously her history speaks for itself and she's definitely the most decorated speed skier out there." He adds that "it will be really, really fun and interesting to see what she can do."
SEC and Big Ten powers lead the way on signing day as prospects finalize their college selections
Georgia, Texas, Alabama, Oregon and Ohio State are bringing in the nation's top recruiting class as high school prospects across the country finalize their college plans. The identity of the No. 1 class according to composite rankings of recruiting sites compiled by 247Sports may not be determined until Friday because of the uncertainty surrounding a couple of top-10 prospects. But most top recruits already committed to a school well before the signing period arrived Wednesday.
LPGA and USGA to require players to be assigned female at birth or transition before male puberty
The LPGA and the USGA have updated gender policies that will require players to be assigned female at birth or to have transitioned to female before going through male puberty. The policies begin in 2025 and follow more than a year of study. The groups concluded that going through male puberty allows for competitive advantages in golf. The USGA has seven championships for females next year. The new policies rule out eligibility for Hailey Davidson. She missed U.S. Women's Open qualifying by one shot this year and tried LPGA Q-school. Davidson began hormone treatments when she was in her early 20s in 2015 and in 2021 underwent gender-affirming surgery, which was required under the LPGA's previous gender policy.
The draw for the FIFA's revamped Club World Cup is coming up. Here's what to know
GENEVA (AP) — Soccer's biggest ever global club tournament comes to the United States next year and the 32-team group stage is drawn Thursday. FIFA relaunched the Club World Cup to be played every four years. A new generation of stars plays in the 11 U.S. cities from June 15 to July 13. One year later they plan to return for the 2026 World Cup. Real Madrid has Kylian Mbappé, VinÃcius Júnior and Jude Bellingham. Manchester City has Erling Haaland. Missing out are superstars Cristiano Ronaldo and Robert Lewandowski because Al-Nassr and Barcelona failed to qualify. FIFA ensured an entry for Lionel Messi's Inter Miami.
Creighton makes it 2 wins in less than a year against No. 1s, with Jayhawks latest to lose in Omaha
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Creighton has played eight No. 1 teams in its program's history, and the first six of those games weren't close. All were losses. The last two were Bluejay blowouts at the CHI Health Center. Creighton took down top-ranked Kansas 76-63 in a game in which the Bluejays never trailed and led by as many as 17 points. Ten months ago they upset a No. 1 Connecticut 85-66. That was UConn's last loss before they won 13 in a row on its way to a second straight national title. Five of the Creighton players on the court against KU played against UConn.
Flagg leads the way as No. 9 Duke holds off Broome and No. 2 Auburn for an 84-78 win
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Freshman sensation Cooper Flagg had 22 points and 11 rebounds to help No. 9 Duke push past No. 2 Auburn 84-78 in the SEC/ACC Challenge. The preseason Associated Press All-American had 16 points after halftime to help the Blue Devils hold off the Tigers and fellow All-American Johni Broome. Broome had 20 points and 12 rebounds before fouling out with 15 seconds left.
Miami's playoff hopes nosedive as Alabama rises in the latest College Football Playoff rankings
Miami's playoff hopes took a nosedive while Alabama's got a boost in the last rankings before the College Football Playoff bracket is set next weekend. The Hurricanes moved down six spots to No. 12 after suffering their second loss of the season. They are one spot behind the Crimson Tide, who won won last week and moved up two spots to No. 11. Alabama is projected as the last team in and the fourth from the Southeastern Conference. Oregon stayed at No. 1 for the fifth straight week and will head into Saturday's Big Ten title game as the only undefeated team in big-time college football.
The CFP rankings — and 'data points' — have left Miami, Ole Miss and South Carolina puzzled
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — Miami wants things reconsidered. So does South Carolina. The Big 12 is puzzled. And Mississippi coach Lane Kiffin turned toward social media to ask the College Football Playoff committee a question. "You guys actually meet for days and come up with these rankings??" Kiffin wrote. The fallout and, for some, anger stemming from the release of the latest CFP ranking — one that almost certainly means Miami (10-2), South Carolina (9-3) and Ole Miss (9-3) all have no chance of getting into the 12-team field — continued Wednesday as the schools on the outside looking in continued making their case, even though all hope for them seems to be gone.
League upholds 3-game suspension for Houston LB Azeez Al-Shaair following hit on Trevor Lawrence
NEW YORK (AP) — The NFL and the NFL players association are upholding Houston linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair's three-game suspension without pay for repeated violations of player safety rules. Al-Shaair's violent hit to the head of Jacksonville's Trevor Lawrence left the quarterback with a concussion and on injured reserve. Hearing officer Ramon Foster, jointly appointed by the league and the players' union, ruled a day after Al-Shaair's punishment was announced. NFL vice president of football operations Jon Runyan handed down the punishment and said Al-Shaair had multiple offenses for personal fouls and sportsmanship-related rules violations in recent seasons. His most egregious one came in a 23-20 win at Jacksonville on Sunday.
AP-Scorecard
Here are the scores from yesterday's sports events:
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NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Final Miami 134 L.A. Lakers 93
Final Boston 130 Detroit 120
Final Brooklyn 99 Indiana 90
Final Orlando 106 Philadelphia 102
Final Atlanta 119 Milwaukee 104
Final Minnesota 108 L.A. Clippers 80
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NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Final Boston 4 Chicago 2
Final Toronto 3 Nashville 2
Final Vegas 4 Anaheim 1
Final Los Angeles 3 Dallas 2
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TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Final Creighton 76 (1)Kansas 63
Final (9)Duke 84 (2)Auburn 78
Final (6)Iowa St. 81 (5)Marquette 70
Final (10)Alabama 94 (20)North Carolina 79
Final (12)Oregon 68 Southern Cal 60
Final (13)Florida 87 Virginia 69
Final (25)UConn 76 (15)Baylor 72
Final (16)Memphis 81 Louisiana Tech 71
Final Mississippi St. 90 (18)Pittsburgh 57
Final (24)San Diego St. 84 Fresno St. 62
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TODAY'S SPORTS SCHEDULE
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NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Dallas at Washington 7 p.m.
Denver at Cleveland 7 p.m.
Charlotte at New York 7:30 p.m.
Oklahoma City at Toronto 7:30 p.m.
Chicago at San Antonio 8 p.m.
Phoenix at New Orleans 8 p.m.
Sacramento at Memphis 8 p.m.
Houston at Golden State 10 p.m.
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NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Colorado at Carolina 7 p.m.
Detroit at Ottawa 7 p.m.
Florida at Philadelphia 7 p.m.
Nashville at Montreal 7 p.m.
San Jose at Tampa Bay 7 p.m.
Winnipeg at Buffalo 7 p.m.
Seattle at N-Y Islanders 7:30 p.m.
Columbus at Edmonton 9 p.m.
St. Louis at Calgary 9 p.m.
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NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Green Bay at Detroit 8:15 p.m.
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TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
(8)Purdue at Penn St. 6:30 p.m.
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