The Associated Press released its All-America team Monday, and it was full of players that will be taking the field at AT&T Stadium on Friday when No. 4 Notre Dame plays No. 1 Alabama in the College Football Playoff.

Despite falling to the No. 2 ranked Baylor Bears 82-69 Wednesday night in Indianapolis, there were some encouraging signs for the road ahead for the Fighting Illini.

MADISON, Wis. — Graham Mertz threw five touchdown passes to match the Wisconsin record in a commanding first career start and the No. 14 Badgers beat Illinois 45-7 on Friday night to open the pandemic-delayed Big Ten football season.

All Times TBA x-if necessary WILD CARD SERIES (Best-of-3) American League (Broadcast TBA)

The Bears will go on the road for the second time this season, headed for Atlanta and a Sunday game against the Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The Falcons remain three-point favorites as the Bears look to move to 3-0 for the first time since 2013.

CARBONDALE – The SIU football team jumped back into the fall season Monday, announcing a home game with regional rival Southeast Missouri State that will be played Friday, Oct. 23, at Saluki Stadium.

The National Football League is tough. On the field? Absolutely. The MASH Unit after Sunday was epic considering the amount of very good players deemed out for the year.

Big Ten college football is set to return next month, with an important element missing.

NEW YORK — Major League Baseball issued a 60-game schedule Tuesday night that will start July 23 or 24 in empty ballparks as the sport tries to push ahead amid the coronavirus following months of acrimony.

The Chicago Bears made 13 of their assistant coaches available to the media this week, a Zoom Q&A binge that offered progress reports on key players and insight into the team’s plans for 2020. The virtual interview sessions provided an introduction to new offensive coordinator Bill Lazor…

How do you follow up “The Last Dance,” the 10-part series on Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls that broke every ESPN documentary record?

The Cubs home opener usually starts shortly after Hall of Famers Billy Williams, Ferguson Jenkins and Ryne Sandberg throw ceremonial first pitches to the delight of fans from all generations.

Whenever opening day rolls around, I get wistful for the days when the late, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Mike Royko would present his annual Cubs quiz.

Major League Baseball has made no formal announcement regarding the status of the London Series, but an England-based newspaper reported Thursday that the two-game series between the Cubs and Cardinals has been canceled.

Baseball will be back at some point in 2020, Joe Maddon firmly believes.

AVONDALE, Ariz. — Joey Logano’s promising start to the afternoon fell apart with a slow, helpless slide though the field at ISM Raceway. Now he won’t have the opportunity to defend his NASCAR title at Homestead.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Nick Bonino had a natural hat trick, Pekka Rinne made 20 saves for his second consecutive shutout and the Nashville Predators beat the Chicago Blackhawks 3-0 on Tuesday night.

CHICAGO — Marc-Andre Fleury made 31 saves through overtime and two more stops in the shootout, leading the Vegas Golden Knights to a 2-1 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday night.

WASHINGTON — It was merely the first inning, yet fans kept rising out of their seats to applaud or yell or twirl their red towels, to chant “Let’s go, Nats!” and “M-V-P!” and various players’ names, enjoying every moment of a seven-run outburst that would, eventually, propel their city to it…

TALLADEGA, Ala. — When rain stopped NASCAR’s playoff race at Talladega Superspeedway, a gaggle of Chevrolet drivers headed into a private room for a meeting about alliances.

BOSTON (AP) — Everybody seems to be having fun when the kids in a new public service announcement are just playing football, until one boy is thrown to the ground and the background music turns ominous.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It is odd to classify a victory on a 1-mile concrete oval in Delaware as the biggest win of Kyle Larson’s career. Maybe he is among those who count their greatest triumphs on dirt, in sprint cars, venues far away from NASCAR’s glitz and glamour.

DOVER, Del. — The Latest on the NASCAR race at Dover International Speedway (all times local):

TEMPE, Ariz. — He owned one of the oldest franchises in professional football and rarely talked about it.

INDIANAPOLIS – An adjective rarely used to describe the Indianapolis Colts during the Frank Reich era applied Sunday.

CHICAGO — Matt Carpenter homered in the 10th inning against Craig Kimbrel in the All-Star closer’s return, and the St. Louis Cardinals regrouped after blowing a late lead to beat the Chicago Cubs 5-4 Thursday night.

MONTEREY, Calif. — Josef Newgarden, clad head-to-toe in solid black, was the last championship contender to arrive at an IndyCar event already underway. He climbed the stairs, saw challenger Alexander Rossi bogged down in interviews and spread his arms wide as he made his entrance.

Gold-medal sprint contender Christian Coleman's Olympic prospects might be in jeopardy after three missed drug tests, two people familiar with the case told The Associated Press.

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump presented 91-year-old basketball legend Bob Cousy with the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Thursday, praising the Boston Celtics star as “one of the all-time greats in the history of sports.”

The prospects of a Major League Soccer franchise ever calling St. Louis home appeared to have died two years ago when voters turned down the use of a business tax to finance a new downtown stadium.

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Chicago Bears guard Kyle Long took it too far and knew it.

ST. LOUIS — Dakota Hudson and two relievers combined on a one-hitter, and Paul DeJong homered to lead the St. Louis Cardinals over the Milwaukee Brewers 3-0 Monday night in a series opener between NL Central contenders.