Spots in the rankings can be tenuous, as Washington, Memphis, Iowa and ACC contenders Virginia and Louisville found out the hard way Saturday. Even teams much higher in the rankings, such as Oregon and Vanderbilt, came away from narrow wins with areas to clean up for the all-important games ahead. BYU certainly has things to assess on offense after being held to seven points and only 67 net rushing yards in its first loss of the season, at Texas Tech.
The longest regular season in WNBA history has finally arrived at its last day, and there's plenty at stake heading into Thursday's finales. Eight teams -- the Atlanta Dream, Golden State Valkyries, Indiana Fever, Las Vegas Aces, Minnesota Lynx, New York Liberty, Phoenix Mercury and Seattle Storm -- open the 2025 WNBA playoffs Sunday, but through Wednesday's games, the seeds are set for fewer than half of the teams and only one of four first-round series matchups is determined.
They've been nondescript and largely underwhelming all year. Suddenly, though, the New York Yankees have a puncher's chance at a prime time spot in the playoffs. The Yankees finished off their season series with the first-place Toronto Blue Jays by winning two of three at Yankee Stadium and suddenly, with 19 games left in the season, are just two games out of the American League East lead.
The Tigers lost to the Chicago White Sox, 7-5, on Friday night, allowing a golden opportunity to trim their magic number slip out of their grasp. Detroit (81-61) managed to score five runs, even though no hitter in the lineup had more than one hit. Parker Meadows was the only Detroit hitter with a home run. Tigers starter Jack Flaherty had a rough game, giving up six hits and four earned runs in 4.1 innings.