Sports

6:42 PM ET Associated Press CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Kyle Larson rallied from early electrical issues Sunday to win for the seventh time this season and storm into the third round of NASCAR’s playoffs. Larson’s victory on The Roval at Charlotte Motor Speedway ended a topsy-turvy day for Hendrick Motorsports. Larson and reigning Cup champion Chase

7:00 AM ET The 2021-22 NHL season is being called a return to normalcy. Last season was an unprecedented one for the NHL due to the COVID-19 pandemic: Four geographically realigned divisions, including one solely comprising Canadian teams; teams playing only opponents within those divisions; and a new playoff format that eschewed wild-card teams. But

8:00 AM ET MLB InsidersESPN After a travel day Saturday, both American League Division series of this year’s MLB playoffs resume Sunday in new locations. Led by their dominant offense, the Houston Astros look to sweep away the Chicago White Sox in Game 3 while the Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox head to

6:00 AM ET Sid LoweSpain writer Luis Enrique was wrong. Just not the way everyone said he was wrong. “It’s ahead of time? Maybe, yeah, I won’t deny that,” Spain‘s coach had said, but it turned out it wasn’t too early at all. Pablo Paez Gavira, “Gavi,” had just turned 17, had played only 374

9:42 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Irad Ortiz Jr. rode his 3,000th career winner Thursday in the fifth race at Belmont Park. The 29-year-old jockey from Puerto Rico rode Saratoga Kisses to an 8 1/4-length victory for trainer and co-owner Rudy Rodriguez. Ortiz is 15th on the career earnings list, totaling over $220

2:42 AM BST Wallabies coach Dave Rennie has confirmed the worst kept secret in Australian rugby, naming Will Skelton, Rory Arnold and Tolu Latu for the team’s spring tour of the United Kingdom. Rennie on Friday unveiled a 37-man squad for the tour, which also includes a stopover in Japan that the European-based trio will

7:38 AM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Tyson Fury was jovial, sarcastic and helpful as he worked with the young heavyweights training alongside him at Warriors Boxing Gym in Hollywood, Florida. Just days earlier, the 6-foot-9 “Gypsy King” found out that his dream fight — an undisputed heavyweight championship bout with Anthony Joshua — wasn’t going to

8:00 AM ET The UFC’s year-end slate is taking shape, and the promotion is already starting to fill in some big fights for 2022. Conspicuous by their absences are some prominent, pay-per-view-headlining-caliber names, including Nate Diaz, UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou and the Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson-crowned BMF himself, Jorge Masvidal. Other stars, such as

7:26 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Embattled thoroughbred horse trainer Bob Baffert will have to face an administrative hearing scheduled for Monday by the New York Racing Association to address his suspension. Brooklyn Judge Carol Bagley Amon of the Eastern District of New York ruled Tuesday that a hearing was required for Baffert

2:42 PM ET A day after the announcement that he would be taking on Bryson DeChambeau in a made-for-TV match, Brooks Koepka didn’t have much to say about it. Koepka said he is looking forward to the Nov 26 match in Las Vegas but stopped short of going into much detail. Asked at the Shriners

8:59 PM ET Adrian Wojnarowski Close Senior NBA Insider Host of The Woj Pod Joined ESPN in 2017 Brian Windhorst Close ESPN Senior Writer ESPN.com NBA writer since 2010 Covered Cleveland Cavs for seven years Author of two books The Brooklyn Nets remain unclear on All-Star guard Kyrie Irving‘s ultimate intentions to get vaccinated and

6:45 AM ET NFL NationESPN While we’re not at the one-quarter mark of the season yet (thanks to the new 17-game schedule), the NFL Power Rankings thought this week was the perfect time to discuss each team’s biggest surprises in the early going. Some of these surprises are quite good, such as Cooper Kupp being

6:26 AM ET A return to court for Ash Barty this season looked less likely on Tuesday after the world number one was omitted from Australia’s team for next month’s Billie Jean King Cup finals in Prague. The Wimbledon champion, who returned to Australia after a third-round exit at the U.S. Open in September, led

8:23 PM ET Bubba Wallace is now a NASCAR Cup Series race winner. Deal with it. He did it Monday afternoon at Talladega Superspeedway, the crapshoot of all racetracks. He did it in a rain-shortened event, the crapshoot of all race strategies. He did it driving for a new team co-owned by the greatest basketball

7:00 AM ET ESPN staff The Nos. 1 and 2 college football teams in the country look stronger than ever, while three other top-10 teams lost. Our reporters try to make sense of what happened in Week 5 of the college football season and what to look forward to. The great wide divide The narrative

7:36 PM ET It wasn’t quite as chaotic of an ending as it could have been, but the 2021 MLB regular season is finally in the books. Now, playoff baseball is finally in store. In the AL, the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees renew their historic rivalry in what promises to be an

9:36 AM ET Sid LoweSpain writer “Today, everyone knows what the problem is,” said Ronald Koeman, which was asking for it, really. The “insert your own joke here” thing was just too easy, the response far too obvious. Yes, Ronald: it’s you. Barcelona had been beaten again, this time by Benfica in Lisbon, leaving them

12:07 AM ET Associated Press ARCADIA, Calif. — A 2-year-old gelding was euthanized Friday at Santa Anita after sustaining a racing injury on opening day of the track’s fall meet. It was the second death in two days at the Arcadia track. Fight On Ron suffered a musculoskeletal injury in the third race. The gelding

7:30 AM ET In the UFC’s light heavyweight division, 40 is the new 30. The current champion, Jan Blachowicz, turns 39 years old in February. No. 1 contender Glover Teixeira, who will challenge Blachowicz for the title at UFC 267 on Oct. 30, is 41. Blachowicz and Teixeira both have exhibited longevity and perseverance. Blachowicz

7:00 AM ET Aesthetics matter in hockey. The player with the wooliest thicket of playoff beard competes with the might of King Leonidas of Sparta. The team that gets the spiffy state-of-the-art arena stands just a bit taller in its skates. I think the New York Islanders are a playoff team this season not because