Oregon remained the unanimous No. 1 team in The Associated Press Top 25 college football poll Sunday after its close call at Wisconsin, Notre Dame and Alabama each jumped up two spots and Georgia returned to the top 10. LSU is unranked for the first time in two years.
The unbeaten Ducks are atop the AP Top 25 for the fifth straight week, passing Texas as the No. 1 team for the most polls this season. They received all 62 first-place votes for the third week in a row after scoring their fewest points in 37 games in the 16-13 win over Wisconsin.
Oregon also holds the top spot in the College Football Playoff rankings and will attempt to complete its first perfect regular season since 2010 when it hosts Washington in two weeks.
The Ducks were followed in the AP poll by No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Texas, No. 4 Penn State and No. 5 Indiana for the second straight week.
Tennis
Sinner beats Fritz, Wins ATP Finals >> Top-ranked Jannik Sinner added another big title to his tremendous year, beating U.S. Open runner-up Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-4 on Sunday for the ATP Finals trophy before his home fans — and before a final verdict is reached in his doping case.
Sinner won his first two Grand Slam titles at the Australian Open and U.S. Open in 2024 and had already clinched the year-end No. 1 ranking.
Sinner, however, has off-court issues after he tested positive in two separate drug tests in March. A decision to clear him of wrongdoing was appealed by the World Anti-Doping Agency in September. A final ruling is expected from the Court of Arbitration for Sport early next year.
Sinner’s explanation was that the banned performance-enhancer entered his system unintentionally through a massage from his physiotherapist, who had used a spray containing the steroid to treat his own cut finger.
Britain to face Slovakia in semifinals of Billie Jean King Cup >> Britain kept alive its hopes of winning the Billie Jean King Cup for the first time by defeating defending champion Canada in Sunday’s quarterfinals in Malaga.
Katie Boulter clinched the 2-0 victory with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Leylah Fernandez after Emma Raducanu defeated Rebecca Marino 6-0, 7-5 in the first singles match of the tie.
Four-time finalist Britain is yet to win the title, though it’s the second time in three years that it has made it to the last four. Canada clinched its first title last year.
Slovakia followed up its win over the United States with a 2-0 victory against Australia to reach the last four.
Golf
Mcilroy wins World Tour Championship >> Rory McIlroy ended a tumultuous year packed with emotion on and off the golf course with a pair of trophies and plenty of tears.
McIlroy broke a tie with Rasmus Hojgaard by hitting wedge to a foot for birdie on the 16th hole, and he closed with a 3-under 69 for a two-shot victory Sunday in the World Tour Championship. He also captured his sixth title as Europe’s No. 1 player.
He has won four times — two of them on the PGA Tour, one of those with close friend Shane Lowry in a team event — and tied the late Seve Ballesteros with his sixth title in the Race to Dubai, formerly the Order of Merit. Two more and he can match Colin Montgomerie for the record.
He also threw away a chance at the U.S. Open by missing two short putts over the last three holes at Pinehurst No. 2, finishing one behind Bryson DeChambeau. He was on the verge of finally winning on home soil until Hojgaard stunned him with a late charge in the Irish Open at Royal Country Down.
Campos wins first PGA Tour >> Rafael Campos felt like he was living a fairy tale when he went from being on the verge of losing his PGA Tour card to winning the Bermuda Championship, just six days after his wife gave birth to their first child in time to let him play.
Campos drilled his approach to 2 feet for eagle on the par-5 seventh hole during a surge that carried him to a 3-under 68 for a three-shot victory, joining the late Chi Chi Rodriguez as the only players from Puerto Rico to win on the PGA Tour.
The 36-year-old Campos has never played in a major. Now he’s going to the Masters. This was only his second full year on the PGA Tour.
Basketball
Hornets’ Ball fined $100,000 >> Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball was fined $100,000, the maximum allowed by league rule for making what the NBA called “an offensive and derogatory comment” during a televised postgame on-court interview.
Ball made the comment Saturday on FanDuel Sports Network shortly after the Hornets defeated the Milwaukee Bucks 115-114. Sideline reporter Shannon Spake asked Ball about the team’s defensive strategy against Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo on the game’s final play, and Ball used an anti-gay slur while delivering his answer.