John Robinson, the veteran football coach who enjoyed many years of success at the University of Southern California and with the Los Angeles Rams, has died. He was 89.

The Rams confirmed Robinson’s death on Monday. He died in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, of complications from pneumonia, USC said in a release.

Robinson is high on the short list of football coaches who enjoyed significant success in both the college and pro ranks. He went 104-35-4 at USC and 75-68 with the Rams, winning postseason games and contending for championships regularly with both teams. Robinson was particularly successful in bowl games, going 8-1 in the postseason with USC and UNLV.

Robinson was a member of the College Football Hall of Fame for his two successful tenures at USC. He also became the winningest coach in Rams history during his nine-year tenure with the NFL club. Sean McVay passed Robinson’s career victories total only last month.

Robinson spent six seasons coaching UNLV after his second USC tenure, also serving a stint as the Rebels’ athletic director. He was most recently a senior consultant at LSU from 2019 to 2021 during the tenure of head coach Ed Orgeron.

Robinson was born July 25, 1935, in Chicago, and he grew up in the Bay Area, attending prep school with close friend John Madden and graduating from high school in 1954. He played tight end on Oregon’s 1958 Rose Bowl championship team before beginning his coaching career with the Ducks.

College basketball

Kansas stays No. 1 in latest men’s poll

Kansas remained atop the first Associated Press Top 25 men’s college basketball poll of the regular season after winning a matchup of basketball bluebloods, while Gonzaga and Auburn cracked the top five after impressive opening-week wins and St. John’s led by Rick Pitino joined the rankings.

The Jayhawks received 44 of 62 first-place votes after a home win against North Carolina, a game that saw Kansas blow a 20-point lead but hold on for a 92-89 win. That kept them ahead of Alabama and two-time reigning national champion UConn in an unchanged 1-2-3 lineup in the poll, with the Crimson Tide getting six first-place votes and the Huskies getting seven.

South Carolina women are unanimous No. 1

South Carolina was the unanimous No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 women’s basketball poll Monday after a pair of victories to kick off its national championship repeat bid while Kansas State joined the top 10 and both Stanford and Oregon cracked the first regular-season rankings of the season.

The Gamecocks earned a hard-fought six-point win over Michigan in Las Vegas to open the season and beat then-No. 9 North Carolina State on Sunday by 14. The two victories made the defending champions a unanimous choice from the 31-member national media panel. In the preseason poll, No. 2 UConn got two first-place votes and No. 3 USC one.

The top eight teams in the rankings remained unchanged with Texas and UCLA rounding out the top five.

baseball

Ohtani, Judge among MVP finalists

Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani is a finalist for his first National League MVP award after winning the AL honor twice, joined among the top three in NL voting by New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor and Arizona second baseman Ketel Marte.

New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge is a finalist for his second American League MVP in three seasons, joined by Kansas City shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. and Yankees outfielder Juan Soto.

Ohtani would join Frank Robinson for Cincinnati in 1961 and Baltimore in 1966 as the only players to win the MVP award in both leagues.

Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes is a finalist in balloting for the NL Cy Young Award and NL Rookie of the Year. The 22-year-old right-hander becomes the fifth rookie to finish among the top three in Cy Young Award voting, after Mark Fidrych (1976), Fernando Valenzuela (1981), Dwight Gooden (1984) and José Fernández (2013). The only one to win both in the same year was Valenzuela in the National League.

Atlanta’s Chris Sale and Philadelphia’s Zack Wheeler are NL Cy Young Award finalists along with Skenes, who made his big league debut May 11.

Detroit’s Tarik Skubal, Kansas City’s Seth Lugo and Cleveland closer Emmanuel Clase are the finalists for the AL honor.

Padres outfielder Jackson Merrill and Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Jackson Chourio joined Skenes as finalists for NL Rookie of the Year. Yankees right-hander Luis Gil and catcher Austin Wells are AL finalists along with Baltimore outfielder Colton Cowser.

Cleveland’s Stephen Vogt, Kansas City’s Matt Quatraro and Detroit’s A.J. Hinch are finalists for AL Manager of the Year. The three NL finalists were all first-year managers with their teams: the Mets’ Carlos Mendoza, Milwaukee’s Pat Murphy and San Diego’s Mike Shildt.

Briefly

Baseball >> Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco, who awaits trial in a sexual abuse case, was arrested for his involvement in an armed altercation in the Dominican Republic countryside, police said Monday.

Baseball >> The Atlanta Braves acquired infielder Nick Allen from the Athletics on Monday in exchange for minor league right-hander Jared Johnson.

baseball >> The Miami Marlins officially hired Los Angeles Dodgers first base coach Clayton McCullough on Monday as the club’s 17th manager. McCullough, 44, was hired by the Dodgers in 2015 as their minor league field coordinator and had been the first-base coach on Dave Roberts’ staff since the 2021 season.

hockey >> Buffalo Sabres leading scorer Tage Thompson left Monday’s game against the Montreal Canadiens in the second period with a lower-body injury and did not return.

Tennis >> Carlos Alcaraz struggled with a stomach issue and looked far from the player who won two Grand Slams this year while losing to Casper Ruud 6-1, 7-5 at the ATP Finals on Monday. In the same group, Alexander Zverev began his bid for a third ATP Finals title by beating Andrey Rublev 6-4, 6-4.

— From news services