Day: March 30, 2026

John Harbaugh didn’t pour water on the possibility of the New York Giants bringing back star wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. In fact, the Giants’ first-year head coach added some fuel to the idea that Beckham could potentially close his NFL career out with the team that drafted him. “The obvious pat answer would be you look at every option, and if Odell is an option, we’ll be looking at him for sure,” Harbaugh told reporters when asked about the possibility of signing Beckham at the owners meeting on Monday. Beckham, 33, didn’t play in the NFL in the 2025 season, remaining unsigned for the entire year following a stint with the Miami Dolphins as he was also suspended six games for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs. However, he has indicated that he’d like to play another season in the NFL. His showing at the Fanatics Flag Football Classic earlier in March also sparked chatter about him potentially signing with a team for the 2026 season, with Beckham telling reporters after the event that he hoped it would be a “starting point” toward a return. While Beckham emerged as one of the NFL’s top receivers during his Giants tenure, he also has a connection to New York’s next head coach. Harbaugh coached Beckham when the wide receiver was with the Baltimore Ravens for the 2023 season. The three-time Pro Bowler had 35 receptions for 565 yards and three touchdowns that year, helping quarterback Lamar Jackson win his second MVP honor and the team reach the AFC Championship Game. Even though the Ravens didn’t retain Beckham after that season, Harbaugh said that he’s remained in communication with his former wide receiver since he departed Baltimore. “He and I do talk. We do text,” Harbaugh said. “We’ve maintained a really great relationship. He’s one of my very favorite people in the world. It’s not like you don’t talk to guys on things like that. And certainly we have.” Beckham, whom the Giants took with the 12th overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, was arguably one of the league’s top wide receivers during his five-year stint in New York. He won Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2014, logging 1,305 receiving yards and making his memorable one-handed grab that season. He also tied Lance Alworth for the NFL record for the fewest games needed to reach 4,000 career receiving yards as he had at least 1,300 receiving yards in each of his first three seasons. The Giants traded Beckham to the Cleveland Browns in 2019. New York has some depth questions at wide receiver ahead of the 2026 NFL Draft. While Malik Nabers might be one of the top wide receivers in the league, he’s returning from an ACL tear that ended his second season prematurely. The team also lost veteran wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson in free agency, but signed Darnell Mooney and Calvin Austin. They also added tight end Isaiah Likely, signing him on a three-year deal from the Ravens.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

An eight-team field. Loaded with talent. Half-a-million in NIL money on the line. The College Basketball Crown returns to Las Vegas this week with some must-see stars and matchups. Several all-conference performances will take the court in the single-elimination tournament, which tips off with first-round games scheduled for April 1-2, followed by the semifinals on April 4 and the championship game on April 5. The tournament will be played at MGM Grand Garden Arena and T-Mobile Arena with a $500,000 NIL prize pool. The complete bracket features Oklahoma, Colorado, Baylor, Minnesota, Stanford, West Virginia, Rutgers and Creighton. Who are the top names in this year’s College Basketball Crown, and what should fans expect to see this weekend in the desert? Here is a breakdown of the top-10 players to watch in this year’s event. [COLLEGE BASKETBALL CROWN: Schedule, Bracket, Teams] Ebuka Okorie, G, Stanford This 6-foot-2, 182-pound guard from New Hampshire is an elite-level scorer with the potential to be the star of this tournament. He averaged 22.8 points per game, which ranked eighth among Division I players, joining BYU’s AJ Dybantsa, Arkansas’ Darius Acuff Jr. and Duke’s Cameron Boozer as the only first-year players to average more than 22 points per contest this season. Okorie scored at least 30 points on seven occasions this season, including a memorable 40-point outing in Stanford’s 95-72 win over ACC foe Georgia Tech back on Feb. 7. He is the best pure scorer in the field and has the ability to lead the Cardinal on a run to the College Basketball Crown title. Cameron Carr, G, Baylor After spending the past two seasons at Tennessee, Carr transferred to Baylor and made an immediate impact in Waco. The 6-foot-5 redshirt sophomore leads the Bears in scoring at 19.2 points per game while also contributing 5.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.3 blocks per contest. He shoots 51% from the field and sports a 39% clip from 3-point range. Carr has put up 21 or more points in four of Baylor’s last five games heading into the College Basketball Crown, including a 25-point outing against Arizona State in the opening round of the Big 12 Tournament. Tounde Yessoufou, G, Baylor A five-star recruit out of Benin, Yessoufou has lived up to his billing during his first year on campus. The 6-foot-5 guard is averaging 17.8 points and 5.8 rebounds per game en route to being named All-Big 12 honorable mention this season. He has elite physical strength for a guard, but he has shown to be inconsistent at times on the defensive end of the court. His best game of the season came in a mid-February matchup against BYU when he put up 37 points and six rebounds on 12-of-19 shooting from the floor and 5-of-8 from 3-point range. [CBB CROWN: How to Bet the Crown’s First Round] Barrington Hargress, G, Colorado With Colorado freshman guard Isaiah Johnson reportedly set to enter the transfer portal, a massive opportunity awaits for Hargress, who was the team’s second-leading scorer behind Johnson this season.  Hargress, a 6-foot-1 junior guard from Inglewood, California, put up 14.2 points and a team-best 4.5 assists this season for the Buffaloes. He is coming off one of the best games of his career, an 18-point, nine-rebound, four-assist showing against Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Tournament. Look for Hargress to step into a leading role for the Buffs in Las Vegas this week. Josh Dix, G, Creighton Dix spent the first three seasons of his college career at Iowa and made the decision to transfer to Creighton last offseason. He has made an instant impact, averaging a team-high 13 points per game on the season. Dix has topped the 20-point mark in three of his last six games heading into the Crown, including a memorable 21-point, eight-rebound performance in Creighton’s 91-84 upset win over UConn back on Feb. 18. 6. Cade Tyson, G, Minnesota Tyson is on his third stop in four years after spending the first two seasons of his collegiate career at Belmont with a year at North Carolina in between. He has developed as the Gophers’ most consistent offensive threat in his senior season, averaging a team-high 19.6 points per game, the sixth-highest average in the Big Ten. He is also an above-average 3-point shooter, hitting at a 42% clip from beyond the arc. 7. Tariq Francis, G, Rutgers Francis, a junior guard out of Pittsburgh, is one of the top bucket-getters in this tournament. He is a crafty scorer who averaged 16.9 points per game this season, which led the Scarlet Knights. He had 30 or more points on three separate occasions this season, as well as a 29-point showing on 5-of-7 shooting from downtown in a Big Ten Tournament win over fellow Crown participant, Minnesota. 8. Honor Huff, G, West Virginia Huff is not only one of the top 3-point shooters in this year’s College Basketball Crown, but the 5-foot-10 senior guard is also one of the most successful shooters from downtown in West Virginia program history. Huff knocked down 109 3s this season, which ranked third among Big 12 players this season. He led the Mountaineers in scoring at 15.8 points per game and has scored in double-figures in eight straight games. 9. Nijel Pack, G, Oklahoma Pack is a sixth-year senior who began his career at Kansas State, where he played for two years before transferring to Miami. He spent three years at Miami and is now in his final year at Oklahoma. The 5-foot-10 senior guard has been a scoring threat throughout his collegiate career, totaling more than 2,300 points. He led the Sooners in scoring this season, averaging 16.5 points per game while shooting 47% from the field and 45% from 3-point range. 10. Xzayvier Brown, G, Oklahoma After playing his freshman and sophomore year at S. Joe’s, Brown transferred to Oklahoma this offseason and became a full-time starter in the Sooners’ backcourt, averaging 15.3 points per game, which ranked second on the team. He led the Sooners in both assists (3.2) and steals (1.3), while shooting 46% from the field.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

Clearly, we can extrapolate a lot from the first few games of a season. Remember last year when the Brewers started 0-4 with a minus-32 run differential, and then they…uhh, they did what, now? Led all of Major League Baseball in wins? Look, it’s deflating to start a season winless (as the Giants, Diamondbacks, Rockies, Athletics and White Sox have), and it feels more exciting winning the first three games of the year (as the Dodgers, Brewers, Blue Jays, Yankees, Marlins have) than three games in the middle of June. But, as the Brewers example goes to show, it’s best not to overreact or draw any sweeping conclusions over a single series. The Giants probably aren’t going to shatter the record for fewest runs scored in a season, and the NL East isn’t likely to end with the Marlins in first and the Phillies in last. If your favorite team got off to a slow start, don’t let a couple bad games stifle your optimism. For now, all we can do is take what we’ve seen so far in a small sample, try to factor in what we know about the teams and expect moving forward, and do our best to provide a starting point for conversation based on my preseason power rankings. So, without further ado, below are my power rankings after the first weekend of play, which includes at least one player on every team who has jumped out to a hot start. Be on the lookout for new rankings every week, each with a slightly different theme. After only hitting nine home runs last year, Ezequiel Tovar already has his first of 2026. I’m expecting a bigger year ahead for the 24-year-old shortstop. The White Sox have only scored 10 runs, but three of them have come on solo shots from Munetaka Murakami, who has homered in each of his first three big-league games. I can’t expect this to be a good year in Anaheim, but a Mike Trout resurgence? We can all get behind that. He’s 6-for-13 with two homers, seven walks and a stolen base in a sizzling start to the year. Brady House, a 2021 first-round pick, had a .574 OPS with an average exit velocity of 89.8 mph in 73 games last season. This year, three of his four batted balls have been hard hit (95+ mph) while starting the season with an .895 OPS. Joe Ryan had the best start of the weekend for the Twins, firing 5.1 scoreless innings while only allowing one hit. The most intriguing performance, however, might’ve been Taj Bradley, who struck out nine batters in 4.1 innings. Shea Langeliers has started the year 6-for-12 with three home runs; the rest of the team is a combined 10-for-90 (.111) with 46 strikeouts. Well, that was not the start new manager Tony Vitello was looking for. The Giants scored one run…total…in three games against the Yankees. Hard to find a standout there, but I guess we can go with Robbie Ray who gave his team a chance when he allowed two runs in 5.1 innings. Coming off a standout performance against Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, Eduardo Rodriguez held the potent Dodgers offense to one unearned run in five innings in his first start of 2026. The Diamondbacks’ shaky bullpen, however, could not hold the lead. Brandon Lowe provided the boost all Pirates fans hoped to see for the lineup with three home runs in three games. Here’s assuming Paul Skenes won’t get chased in the first inning … maybe ever again? The Rays scored 23 runs in three games against St. Louis…and still lost the series. They have five players with an OPS over 1.000, including Yandy Díaz, who leads MLB with nine hits. Top prospect JJ Wetherholt homered in his first career game and then walked the Cardinals off with a win one day later. Also keep an eye on Jordan Walker, who’s 4-for-10 with a homer and two doubles to start the year. Sure, it was against the Rockies. But Sandy Alcántara didn’t allow an earned run in seven innings in his first start of 2026, and prospect Owen Caissie’s walk-off home run secured Miami’s first 3-0 start since 2009. The Royals dropped two of three games in Atlanta despite Michael Wacha throwing six scoreless innings and Seth Lugo throwing 6.1 scoreless innings in their respective starts. Last year, Randy Vásquez struck out more than five batters in a game just once in 26 starts. He has already accomplished that feat in his first start of 2026, fanning eight batters in six scoreless innings against the Tigers. MLB’s home run leader after opening weekend? That would be rookie Chase DeLauter, who joined Trevor Story as the only players in MLB history with four home runs in their first three career regular-season games. In case anyone missed what Sal Stewart did late last year in Cincinnati, he’s showing why he should be among the top contenders for the NL Rookie of the Year Award this year by starting the season 7-for-10 with a homer, three doubles and three walks. The 22-year-old can flat-out hit. After missing the playoffs for the first time since 2016, a rebound season may depend on the health of Yordan Alvarez, who has already reached base nine times in the Astros’ four games. Cristopher Sánchez struck out 10 in six scoreless innings on Opening Day, securing the only win of the opening series for the Phillies. A better week should vault them back in the top 10, but for now they have to take a hit as the only one-win team in the NL East. Important weekend for the Jakes: After Jacob deGrom was scratched with neck stiffness, Jacob Latz stepped in and delivered four hitless innings in a Rangers win. Meanwhile, Jake Burger led the Rangers on the weekend with six hits and two home runs. If anyone’s going to challenge Tarik Skubal for the Cy Young Award this year, Garrett Crochet is as good of a bet as anyone. Crochet struck out eight in six scoreless innings in his 2026 debut. Meanwhile, Wilyer Abreu kept building off a standout World Baseball Classic with two home runs on the weekend. The offense overall, however, managed just 10 runs over three games in Cincinnati. While the first starts of the year didn’t go well for Matthew Boyd and Shota Imanaga, 2025 Rookie of the Year runner-up Cade Horton kept his arrow trending up by securing the Cubs’ lone win of the weekend, allowing just two runs in 6.1 innings. In case anyone needed a reminder of what Trevor Rogers did last year (1.81 ERA in 18 starts), the Orioles lefty fired seven scoreless innings in his first start of 2026. If the Braves want to bounce back, a rebound from Michael Harris II will be crucial. So far, so good. He had four hits and a home run in the opening series. For a team that didn’t do anything to change its lineup, there was a lot of faith placed in top prospect Kevin McGonigle. He spent the weekend demonstrating why, joining Billy Bean as the only players in Tigers history with four hits in their MLB debut. One night later, McGonigle broke a tie game in the eighth inning with a two-run base hit to lift Detroit to victory in San Diego. For all the standout prospect performances over the weekend, there were also a handful of players turning back the clock. Christian Yelich’s pinch-hit go-ahead homer in the eighth inning Sunday finished off the Brewers’ sweep of the White Sox, and he went 6-for-10 in the opening series. Coming off two seasons in which he was a below league average hitter with the White Sox, Luis Robert Jr. has started his Mets career 5-for-11 with a home run and more walks (3) than strikeouts (2). Strong start to the Brendan Donovan era in Seattle: He became the first player in franchise history to hit a leadoff homer on Opening Day, and he has started his Mariners career 6-for-14 with two homers. On the pitching side, Emerson Hancock delivered six hitless innings with a career-high nine strikeouts Sunday against the Guardians. While the Yankees wait on Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón, the pitching staff still seems to be in good hands. As a team, the Yankees allowed just one run all weekend to the Giants. Starter Cam Schlittler was especially overpowering, holding the Giants to just one hit while striking out eight in 5.1 scoreless innings. Welcome to Toronto, Dylan Cease. Fresh off securing a $210 million contract, Cease backed up the Blue Jays’ faith by following Kevin Gausman’s 11-strikeout performance with 12 strikeouts against the A’s, setting a record for a Blue Jays debut.  Together, Gausman and Cease became the first duo to strike out at least 11 batters apiece in a team’s first two games in MLB’s modern era. Will Smith was back at it with another game-changing home run, this time providing a go-ahead homer in the eighth inning Saturday on his bobblehead night to finish off a sweep over the Diamondbacks. He also helped navigate a Dodgers bullpen that fired 11.2 scoreless innings on the weekend.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

The Entertainment Capital of the World will host one of the premier events in all of sports for the second time in just six years. Super Bowl LXIII will take place at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium in 2029, the NFL announced Monday. Allegiant Stadium, which is the Las Vegas Raiders’ home stadium, was expected to be named the host stadium for Super Bowl LXIII, with team owners voting to approve Las Vegas as the host city of the event at this week’s owners meeting. The stadium hosted its first Super Bowl in February 2024, when the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII. “We’re excited to bring the Super Bowl back to Las Vegas and provide our fans another incredible experience in one of America’s greatest sport and entertainment destinations,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement on Monday. “Super Bowl LVIII demonstrated the scale, energy and hospitality the city brings to global events, and we look forward to working alongside the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, the Raiders and the community to deliver an even greater experience this time around.” “We’re excited that the Super Bowl will be returning to Las Vegas and Allegiant Stadium in 2029,” Raiders owner Mark Davis added in the statement. “It’s a testament to the Raiders, the LVCVA (Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority), civic leaders, the community, and the NFL working together as one. Super Bowl LVIII set a high bar, and for Super Bowl LXIII we are committed to raising it even further.” The NFL’s decision to award Allegiant Stadium a second Super Bowl in six years marks a somewhat recent trend of cities playing host to multiple Super Bowls in a relatively short span. It will also be the sixth time in eight years that a Super Bowl will be played in California, Arizona or Nevada. Super Bowl LX was played at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, this past February after hosting the event 10 years prior. Super Bowl LXI will be played in Los Angeles in February 2027, which will be five years after SoFi Stadium hosted its first Super Bowl. Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium will host Super Bowl LXII in February 2028. That’ll mark the first Super Bowl played in the Eastern Time Zone since February 2021. However, Mercedes-Benz Stadium hosted the Super Bowl in February 2019. Allegiant Stadium opened in 2020, but it has quickly become one of the top venues to host some of the nation’s biggest events. In addition to hosting two Super Bowls, Allegiant Stadium will host the College Football Playoff National Championship in January 2027 and the Final Four of the men’s college basketball tournament in April 2028. The stadium also hosted WrestleMania 41 in April 2025 and will play home to WrestleMania 42 in April.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports