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Austin Reed’s first start at quarterback in the UFL was one to remember. The Western Kentucky product engineered a scintillating debut for the Dallas Renegades, completing 26 of 40 passes for 376 yards — the most in league history in a regular-season game — three touchdowns and no interceptions in his team’s 36-17 win over the Houston Gamblers in the season opener for both teams. Veteran UFL receiver Tyler Vaughns led Dallas (1-0) with seven receptions for 144 yards and a score, while fellow receiver Greg Ward added three catches for 93 yards and a touchdown in a runaway victory over Houston (0-1). “It was really a team effort more than anything,” Reed said. “[The] guys were playing well, and we had a really good game plan. We felt good about what we had going into this game, and what we were going to do. It just came down to whether we were going to execute or not.” Reed said despite how well the offense moved the ball, the Renegades can play even bigger, which makes for an interesting matchup next week against one of the best defenses in the league in the St. Louis Battlehawks (1-0). “I feel like we could have played even better, and that’s a great thing to see when your Week 1 output looks like this,” Reed added. “There’s so much more we can improve.” [UFL 2026: Everything To Know About the Upcoming Season] Speaking of St. Louis, former legendary NFL receiver Ricky Proehl earned his first victory as a head coach, leading his hometown Battlehawks to a 16-10 victory over the defending UFL champion DC Defenders (0-1) in front a league-high crowd of 31,191 at The Dome at America’s Center. The Louisville Kings (0-1) couldn’t hold onto the lead late, falling to the Birmingham Stallions (1-0) by two, 15-13, in AJ McCarron’s first victory as head coach. The Kings played in front of 14,034 at Lynn Family Stadium in Kentucky. Leading the Orlando Storm (1-0) for the first time, head coach Anthony Becht helped to engineer a 23-16 victory over the visiting Columbus Aviators (0-1). Here are my takeaways from Week 1 of the UFL: 1. Opportunistic defense leads Stallions to road win over Kings Birmingham forced 13 takeaways last season, and it continued its ball-hawking ways to start the 2026 season. The Stallions thwarted an early promising drive for Louisville when Kings tight end Zach Davidson failed to corral a pass from his quarterback, Jason Bean, with Birmingham linebacker Dyontae Johnson winding up with the loose ball. The Stallions turned that into a 5-yard touchdown, courtesy of Snoop Conner, for an early lead. Later in the game, Birmingham safety Hudson Clark intercepted a Bean pass in the fourth quarter to help salt away a two-point victory — McCarron’s first as a head coach, as he replaced three-time spring football champion coach Skip Holtz this year. Birmingham finished with three takeaways overall, the most for a defense in Week 1. 2. Matt McCrane drills first 60-yard, 4-point field goal It didn’t take long for a kicker to take advantage of one of the UFL’s newest rules implemented to generate more points. Defenders kicker McCrane booted a 60-yard field goal on his team’s opening drive on the road against St. Louis on Saturday, marking the first 4-point field goal in UFL history. However, McCrane did miss from 55 yards later. Elsewhere, Battlehawks kicker Tucker McCann made a 58-yarder in the opening quarter but missed from 45 yards. “Matt was hitting the ball well on field goals and things like that,” Defenders head coach Shannon Harris said. “He had the long miss, but he’ll make that 10 out of 10 times. So, we’re going to always continue to put him in those situations because of the faith we have in him.” In Week 1, kickers went 15-for-20 on field goals, including four from beyond 50 yards, and 8-for-10 on extra points. 3. Battlehawks’ defense looks legit after seven-sack performance Led by 2025 UFL Defensive Player of the Year Pita Taumoepenu, the Battlehawks sacked the Defenders seven times on their way to a tough win. Taumoepenu finished with 2.5 of those sacks, along with a combined six tackles in the win. St. Louis lost to DC at home in the playoffs last season, so the win was a little measure of revenge for St. Louis. “When one guy gets to the ball carrier, I want 11 guys getting to the football,” Proehl said. “They bought in, and they’ve done it in practice every day for the last two weeks. They showed up today. They wore them down. We were in better shape, in my opinion. We were in great shape, and we finished.” 4. Jordan Ta’amu and DC’s offense show early struggles Led by 2025 UFL Championship Game MVP Ta’amu, the Defenders struggled to move the ball on the road against the Battlehawks. One of the top offenses in 2025, DC mustered just 153 total yards offensively against St. Louis’ stingy defense. The Defenders averaged 22.4 points per game last season but were held to a league-low 10 points this week. Considered one of the most dynamic quarterbacks returning in the UFL this season, Ta’amu was sacked seven times and held to 123 passing yards. He also threw two interceptions. The only way is up for DC’s offense in Week 2. “We’ve got to clean things up,” Harris said. “We’ve got to understand that every game thus far is going to be everyone’s Super Bowl. We’ve got to understand that magnitude of it.” 4 ½: What’s Next The Kings and the Battlehawks are on the road next week after hosting in Week 1, while the Renegades and the Storm have their second consecutive home matchup of the season. One game will be played on Friday (Defenders at Aviators), one on Saturday (Kings at Storm), one on Sunday (Stallions at Gamblers) and the final game on Tuesday (Battlehawks at Renegades).​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

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