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From Ben Bolch: USC and UCLA won’t be able to ease their way into the Big Ten.
The football schedules for their debut 2024 season, announced by the conference Thursday, include a heavy sprinkling of traditional powers.
USC will face Michigan, Penn State and Wisconsin at a time when it presumably will no longer have Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Caleb Williams, gone to try his luck in the NFL.
UCLA gets Michigan and Ohio State during a season in which it will also play at Louisiana State, ending all jokes about the ease of the Bruins’ recent schedules that included Football Championship Subdivision opponents.
Game dates and order of opponents were not announced. UCLA’s first Big Ten schedule will include Ohio State, Northwestern, Nebraska, Minnesota and USC at the Rose Bowl in addition to road games against Michigan, Indiana, Iowa and Rutgers.
2024 UCLA OPPONENTS
at Hawaii (Aug. 31)
Fresno State (Sept. 14)
at LSU (Sept. 21)
at Indiana
at Iowa
at Michigan
at Rutgers
Minnesota
Nebraska
Northwestern
Ohio State
USC
2025 UCLA OPPONENTS
Georgia (Aug. 30)
at UNLV (Sept. 6)
New Mexico (Sept. 13)
at Illinois
at Michigan State
at Nebraska
at Penn State
at USC
Maryland
Purdue
Rutgers
Wisconsin
2024 USC OPPONENTS
Sept. 1 LSU
Sept. 7 San José State
Nov. 30 Notre Dame
Illinois
Iowa
Michigan
Wisconsin
at Maryland
at Northwestern
at Penn State
at Purdue
at UCLA
2025 USC OPPONENTS
Aug. 30 Ole Miss
Sept. 6 Georgia Southern
Oct. 18 at Notre Dame
Indiana
Michigan State
Nebraska
Penn State
UCLA
at Minnesota
at Ohio State
at Rutgers
at Wisconsin
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DODGERS
From Jack Harris: Of the many missing ingredients that have afflicted the Dodgers’ struggling pitching staff, one has started looming large among the rest.
The team’s starters haven’t pitched nearly deep enough into games.
And, as evidenced by their 22nd-ranked team earned run average, it has led to a slew of cascading side effects.
“It’s important,” manager Dave Roberts said about starting pitching length. “With relievers as volatile as they are, to put them in stressful games every night, to have to use certain guys every night, it gets taxing.”
That’s what made the 6-0 defeat of the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday so refreshing for the Dodgers.
It wasn’t just that the club stopped its losing streak at four games, or managed to avoid a series sweep at Great American Ball Park after being walked off the previous two nights.
Where does top prospect Diego Cartaya fit into the Dodgers’ future plans?
ANGELS
From Sarah Valenzuela: Jo Adell just wants to do the best he can with this opportunity.
“How many ever times I get put out there, whether it’s a pinch-hit, whether it’s a start, whatever it is, I’m gonna try to help the team win,” Adell said before the Angels’ 3-1 win in the series finale against the Chicago Cubs on Thursday at Angel Stadium.
The Angels outfielder was sent to triple A to start the 2023 season. He was called back to the major leagues on Wednesday, a late scratch from a start with the Salt Lake Bees, after Hunter Renfroe went on the paternity list for the birth of his first child. Adell started Thursday’s game at right field and batting sixth.
BELMONT STAKES
From John Cherwa: Saturday’s running of the Belmont Stakes has suddenly been downgraded from probable to possible after the state of New York suspended racing, training and workouts Thursday.
“The New York State Gaming Commission directed all tracks to stop all racing, training and workouts until further notice,” the commission’s statement said. “The Gaming Commission continues to monitor air quality and rely on guidance from veterinary expertise to ensure any decision to resume racing is based solely in the best interest of the horse population.”
The air on Thursday was improved from what it was on Wednesday afternoon when it appeared as if there was a light orange lens over the sky.
GOLF
From Samantha Masunaga: Sometimes sports isn’t just about sports.
For decades, athletic events have been used to launder images and reputations in a tactic called “sportswashing.” Whether embraced by a company or a nation with regressive policies, sportswashing has particular allure, experts say, because it works.
That’s what critics say is happening with the proposed merger between the Saudi-backed LIV Golf and PGA Tour.
The deal ends a bitter war with PGA Tour, turns LIV Golf into a major force in the sports world and furthers Saudi Arabia’s efforts to expand the kingdom’s revenue beyond its shrinking oil business. But the Saudis also are banking on the glamour of athletics to outshine concerns about a history of human rights abuses.
“The merger really places the Saudi government in a very unprecedented position of influence and control over the top levels of golf,” said Joey Shea, Saudi Arabia researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Given the country’s egregious human rights record, it’s particularly concerning.”
SPARKS
From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: Before her long-awaited season debut, Azurá Stevens needed a moment to collect herself inside Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena. The Sparks forward’s time had finally come.
“I’ve worked really hard to get here,” Stevens said.
The Sparks’ top free-agent signing will make her home debut Friday against her former team, the Chicago Sky, at 7 p.m. at Crypto.com Arena. The game will be televised nationally on ION.
With Stevens back, the Sparks (3-3) are nearing full health as guard Jasmine Thomas was upgraded to available for Friday’s game. The point guard suffered a torn ACL last May. Stevens, an athletic 6-foot-6 center who helped Chicago to the WNBA championship in 2021, missed the first five games of the season because of a lingering back injury suffered while playing in Turkey.
COLLEGE SOFTBALL
Jordy Bahl threw three innings of perfect relief and Oklahoma won its third straight Women’s College World Series title and seventh overall, beating Florida State 3-1 on Thursday night for a two-game sweep.
The Sooners finished 61-1 and extended their Division I-record win streak to 53 games. They have won six titles since 2016 after getting their first in 2000, all under coach Patty Gasso.
Oklahoma’s only defeat was a 4-3 loss at Baylor on Feb. 19. The Sooners set a record for win percentage and had the fewest losses of any NCAA champion. They led the nation in runs per game, earned run average and batting average — even after losing Division I career home run leader Jocelyn Alo from last year’s team.
UCLA was the only other program to win three straight titles, from 1988 to 1990. But the Bruins lost 19 games during that stretch. Oklahoma has dropped just eight during its three-peat.
NBA PLAYOFFS
Results, schedule
All times Pacific
NBA Finals
No. 1 Denver vs. No. 8 Miami
Game 1: at Denver 104, Miami 93
Game 2: Miami 111, at Denver 108
Game 3: Denver 109, at Miami 94
Today at Miami, 5:30 p.m., ABC
Monday at Denver, 5:30 p.m., ABC
*Thursday at Miami, 5:30 p.m., ABC
*Sun., June 18 at Denver, 5 p.m., ABC
*-if necessary
NHL PLAYOFFS
From Helene Elliott: It rained plastic and plush rats inside FLA Live arena on Thursday, a quirky nod to the Florida Panthers’ past and a joyful celebration of their present position of being very much in the Stanley Cup Final after their 3-2 overtime victory over the Vegas Golden Knights.
The first Panther team that went to the Final, in 1996, rallied around a symbolic rat after Scott Mellanby found a real rodent in the team’s locker room at decrepit Miami Arena. The Panthers were swept by Colorado in that Final, and after losing the first two games of this Final to Vegas, their return trip appeared to be following the same futile path.
But Matthew Tkachuk, who had missed most of the first period and part of the second period Thursday after being rocked by a hit from Keegan Kolesar, wrested control of the game away from the Golden Knights when he tied the game from close range with two minutes and 13 seconds left in the third period and goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky on the bench in favor of an extra skater. Carter Verhaeghe triggered a rainfall of rats when he wristed a shot past Vegas goaltender Aidan Hill 4:27 into sudden-death play, cutting Vegas’ lead in the series to 2-1.
Results, schedule
All times Pacific
Stanley Cup Final
Vegas (P1) vs. Florida (WC2)
Game 1: at Vegas 5, Florida 2
Game 2: at Vegas 7, Florida 2
Game 3: at Florida 3, Vegas 2 (OT)
Saturday at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT
Tuesday at Vegas, 5 p.m., TNT
*Fri., June 16 at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT
*Mon., June 19 at Vegas, 5 p.m., TNT
*-if necessary
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1888 — James McLaughlin sets the record for wins by a jockey in the Belmont Stakes, six, when he rides Sir Dixon to a 12-length victory. McLaughlin’s record is matched by Eddie Arcaro in 1955.
1899 — Jim Jeffries knocks out Bob Fitzsimmons in the 11th round in New York to win the world heavyweight title.
1914 — Honus Wagner of the Pittsburgh Pirates becomes the first player in modern baseball to get 3,000 hits.
1934 — Olin Dutra edges Gene Sarazen by one stroke to win the U.S. Open.
1940 — Lawson Little beats Gene Sarazen by three strokes in a playoff to win the U.S. Open golf title.
1945 — Hoop Jr. wins the Kentucky Derby, which is run one month after a national wartime government ban on racing is lifted.
1946 — Joe Louis KOs Billy Conn in 8 for heavyweight boxing title.
1973 — Secretariat, ridden by Ron Turcotte, wins the Belmont Stakes in record time to capture the Triple Crown. Secretariat sets a world record on the 1½-mile course with 2:24, and a record for largest margin of victory in the Belmont, 31 lengths.
1978 — Larry Holmes scores a 15-round split decision over Ken Norton for the WBC heavyweight title in New York.
1979 — Coastal, ridden by Ruben Hernandez, spoils Spectacular Bid’s attempt at the Triple Crown with a 3¼-length victory over Golden Act. Spectacular Bid finishes third.
1984 — Swale, ridden by Laffit Pincay, wins the Belmont Stakes by four lengths over Pine Circle. Swale dies eight days later.
1984 — French Open Women’s Tennis: Martina Navratilova beats Chris Evert 6-3, 6-1; 2nd women in Open Era to hold all 4 Grand Slam titles at once.
1985 — Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scores 29 points to lead the Lakers to a 111-100 victory over the Boston Celtics and the NBA title in six games.
1990 — Monica Seles holds off four set points in the first set tiebreaker and goes on to become the youngest winner of the French Open, beating two-time champion Steffi Graf 7-6 (8-6), 6-4. Seles is 16 years, six months.
1991 — In the first all-American men’s final at the French Open since 1954, Jim Courier rallies to beat Andre Agassi 3-6, 6-4, 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 for his first Grand Slam title.
1993 — Patrick Roy makes 18 saves and the Montreal Canadiens capture their 24th Stanley Cup, beating the Kings 4-1 in Game 5.
2001 — Stanley Cup Final, Pepsi Center, Denver, CO: Colorado Avalanche beat defending champion New Jersey Devils, 3-1 for 4-3 series win.
2001 — Jennifer Capriati beats Kim Clijsters 1-6, 6-4, 12-10 to win the French Open, her second consecutive Grand Slam title.
2003 — The New Jersey Devils end the Mighty Ducks’ surreal season, winning the Stanley Cup with a 3-0 victory. Mike Rupp, who had never appeared in a playoff until Game 4, scores the first goal and sets up Jeff Friesen for the other two.
2007 — Rags to Riches, a filly ridden by John Velazquez, outduels Curlin in a breathtaking stretch run and won the Belmont Stakes, becoming the first of her sex to take the final leg of the Triple Crown in more than a century.
2008 — Ken Griffey Jr. becomes the sixth player in baseball history to reach 600 homers with a drive off Mark Hendrickson in the first inning of the Cincinnati Reds’ 9-4 victory over the Florida Marlins.
2010 — Chicago’s Patrick Kane sneaks the puck past Michael Leighton 4:10 into overtime, stunning Philadelphia and lifting the Blackhawks to a 4-3 overtime win in Game 6 for their first Stanley Cup championship since 1961.
2013 — Rafael Nadal becomes the first man to win eight titles at the same Grand Slam tournament after beating fellow Spaniard David Ferrer in the French Open final, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3.
2015 — Chris Heston, San Francisco Giants throws a no-hitter against the New York Mets, 5-0.
2018 — Justify becomes the 13th Triple Crown winner by winning the Belmont Stakes with Mike Smith aboard.
2019 — Former Boston Red Sox star David Ortiz shot while visiting Dominican Republic.
2019 — French Open Men’s Tennis: Rafael Nadal beats Austrian Dominic Thiem 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1; 3rd straight French singles title; 12th overall; first to win 12 singles titles at same Grand Slam; 18th major.
2022 — The controversial Saudi-backed LIV Golf Invitational Series gets underway at the Centurion Club, Hertfordshire; PGA suspends 17 participating players.
—Compiled by the Associated Press
And finally…
Secretariat dominates the Belmont Stakes. Watch and listen here. The Lakers win the 1984-85 NBA title. Watch and listen here.
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at [email protected], and follow me on Twitter at @latimeshouston. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.