South Carolina is starting the season where it finished off last year — ranked No. 1 in the AP Top 25 women’s college basketball poll.

The Gamecocks received 27 of the 30 first-place votes in the preseason rankings from a national media panel Tuesday. South Carolina returns four starters from the national championship team that went undefeated last year, capping off the historic season over Caitlin Clark and Iowa in the title game.

UConn is No. 2, USC is No. 3 and Texas and UCLA round out the top five.

South Carolina has been No. 1 in the preseason poll four of the past five years. Last season, they started sixth in the preseason before moving up to No. 1 for the remainder of the year.

NFL

Bills acquire WR Cooper in trade with Browns >> The Buffalo Bills’ patchwork group of receivers is getting a boost, with the team acquiring Amari Cooper in a trade with the Cleveland Browns, both teams announced.

Buffalo gave up a third-round pick in the 2025 draft as part of the trade that also included a swap of late-round picks. Buffalo also acquired a 2025 sixth-round draft pick and sent Cleveland a 2026 seventh-round pick in a trade.

The 30-year-old Cooper is in his 10th season and third in Cleveland, where he and the rest of the offense have struggled under quarterback Deshaun Watson.

Jets acquire wide receiver Adams from Raiders >> Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams are finally reunited after more than two years of separation and one year of speculation — and now they’ll try to save the New York Jets' sinking season.

The Jets acquired the disgruntled Adams from the Las Vegas Raiders on Tuesday, sending a conditional third-round pick in next year’s draft that could become a second-rounder.

The 31-year-old Adams, who missed the Raiders’ last three games with a hamstring injury, reportedly told the team he wanted out of Las Vegas — and the team was willing to accommodate his request.

Super Bowl will return to Atlanta in 2028 >> The Super Bowl will return to Atlanta in 2028 at the home of the Falcons, following a vote of approval by NFL team owners at the league’s annual fall meeting.

This will be the fourth time the NFL’s championship game is played in Atlanta and the second in Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which was the site when the New England Patriots beat the Los Angeles Rams in 2019.

The first two Super Bowls held in Atlanta were at the now-demolished Georgia Dome in 1994 and 2000.

New Orleans will host the game following this season. It then goes to California for two years, with the San Francisco Bay Area hosting in 2026 and Los Angeles in 2027.

College football

Colorado expects to have banged-up 2-way star Hunter available >> The Colorado Buffaloes are expected to have banged-up receivers Travis Hunter and Jimmy Horn Jr. available this weekend at Arizona.

It wasn’t all positive news on the injury front for Colorado’s deep corps of wideouts. While coach Deion Sanders said Tuesday at his weekly news conference that Hunter (shoulder) and Horn (knee) “should play for certain,” Omarion Miller (broken lower left leg) and Terrell Timmons Jr. (unspecified) are out indefinitely. Miller underwent surgery Monday and may be done for the season.

Hunter, a Heisman hopeful for his elite play on both sides of the ball, hurt his shoulder and left the game in the first half of a 31-28 loss to No. 17 Kansas State.

NASCAR

Logano gets back into playoffs following Bowman disqualification >> Joey Logano hoped he’d done enough to advance in NASCAR’s playoffs with an eighth-place finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

But when he left the track Sunday night, he was four points below the cutline and eliminated from any shot at winning a third Cup Series title.

But then Alex Bowman’s car was found to be underweight and he was disqualified. The penalty dropped Bowman in the standings, and as soon as Hendrick Motorsports declined Monday night to appeal, Logano was back in title contention.

“NASCAR, man. Expect the unexpected,” Logano said Tuesday.

Hockey

Pro Women’s Hockey League unveils 30-game schedule that will open Nov. 30 >> The Professional Women’s Hockey League’s second season is opening a month earlier — on Saturday, Nov. 30 — than last year and features an expanded schedule, the league announced.

Each of the league’s six teams will play 30 games, up from 24 in the inaugural season. The season will begin with the Boston Fleet playing at the Toronto Sceptres, followed by the Ottawa Charge traveling to play the Montreal Victoire. The New York Sirens travel to play the Minnesota Frost to open their respective schedules the following day.

Soccer

The cost of rising number of injuries in European soccer nears $800M >> The rising number of injuries to top soccer players came at a cost of nearly $800 million to teams across Europe’s leading leagues last season, according to a report published Tuesday.

At a time when there are growing concerns about the number of games players are being asked to play, the Men’s European Football Injury Index found there were 4,123 injuries in the top divisions of England, Spain, Germany, Italy and France in the 2023-24 campaign.

The cost of the injuries was based on the reported salaries of the players concerned and the amount of time they were sidelined for.