UNDATED (AP) — Beginning with next year’s NCAA women’s basketball tournament, the top 16 teams will be placed in the bracket in their true ranking regardless of conference affiliation. In the past, the top four teams in a conference would be placed in different regions to protect them from playing each other until the Final Four. For example, the tournament this past season had four SEC teams in the top eight overall seeds. Texas was third, South Carolina fourth, LSU fifth and Vanderbilt seventh. The Gamecocks and Tigers would now be in the same region instead of moving them to different ones.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Chicago White Sox selected UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky with the first pick of the MLB amateur draft. Cholowsky was a Golden Spikes finalist at UCLA and had a 1.088 OPS with 21 homers and 60 RBIs in his junior season. He was the Big Ten Player of the Year. Tampa Bay selected Texas high school shortstop Grady Emerson with the second pick and Minnesota took Georgia Tech catcher Vahn Lackey third.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The Atlantic Coast Conference has hired Gary Patterson as supervisor of football officials. The league announced the hiring Monday after Al Riveron announced last week he is stepping down. It marks a return for the longtime official to the league. He had worked as an ACC on-field official since 2002 and as a referee since 2009 before quitting last September. ESPN reported at the time it came in frustration with the handling of a replay review during the UConn-Syracuse game. Patterson has worked the 2009 BCS championship game, four ACC title games and numerous bowl games in his career.
CINCINNATI (AP) — An Ohio judge has granted a preliminary injunction for 24 men’s and women’s college basketball players suing the NCAA to be eligible, claiming the new age-based model unfairly shuts them out of further competition. Judge Christopher Wagner said Thursday the NCAA eligibility rules have been applied in an arbitrary and capricious manner. Wagner’s ruling allows the athletes in the lawsuit an opportunity to enter the transfer portal. He scheduled a conference for Aug. 4 to prepare for a trial. Downton has filed similar lawsuits against the NCAA on behalf of nearly 30 men’s and women’s basketball players.
