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⭐ Five things to know Thursday
- Cameron Boozer headlines the 2025-26 CBS Sports All-America teams. The Duke star is one of four unanimous selections to the first team of college basketball standouts along with Yaxel Lendeborg, AJ Dybantsa and Darius Acuff Jr. Keaton Wagler also earned enough votes to join them, making it four freshmen to receive top billing. A bevy of household names round out the three All-America teams, with Braden Smith and Bennett Stirtz among the handful of March Madness celebrities to make the cut.
- Bill Self will return to Kansas for a 24th season. Self spent the last 10 days weighing his options and ultimately decided to hold off on retirement for at least one more year. Questions about his future have been present over the last couple of months and grew louder following the Jayhawks’ Round of 32 exit at the NCAA Tournament, but the 63-year-old Hall of Famer put them to rest and will seek a third national championship in 2027.
- Puka Nacua checked into rehab. Nacua’s lawyer confirmed that the Rams superstar is enrolled at a facility and seeks to “improve his overall behavior in every aspect of his life.” His rehab stay predates the lawsuit that alleges he bit a woman and made antisemitic remarks, but comes after Nacua made headlines during the 2025 season for eyebrow-raising behavior, including the performance of an antisemitic gesture. The expectation is that Nacua will remain at the rehab center for “a while longer” but will join the Rams in time for OTAs.
- Tiger Woods withdrew from 2027 Ryder Cup captaincy consideration. This is the latest ripple from Woods’ DUI arrest and comes one day after he announced he would step away from golf indefinitely to seek treatment. The PGA of America gave Woods a deadline of next week to determine whether he wanted the captain role, and that was before the accident. His decision now forces the PGA to look elsewhere for the Ryder Cup team leader, but the problem is that prime candidates are few and far between.
- Arsenal and Bayern Munich are through to the UEFA Women’s Champions League semifinals. Bayern punched the first ticket with a 2-1 win (5-3 on aggregate) over Manchester United, and the Gunners joined them a couple of hours later. Chelsea defeated Arsenal 1-0 in Wednesday’s quarterfinal, but that was not enough to overcome the two-goal margin the latter built in the first leg. Two more squads will clinch semifinal berths this afternoon. Watch Barcelona vs. Real Madrid at 12:45 p.m. ET and OL Lyonnes vs. VfL Wolfsburg at 3 p.m. on CBS Sports Network and Paramount+.
🏆 Do not miss this: World Cup schedule, predictions with 48-team field set
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With the final six teams securing their spots in the 2026 FIFA World Cup earlier this week, the tournament’s schedule and groups are now set in stone. Check out the full 48-team field, the largest in World Cup history, divided into Groups A-L. The action begins June 11 in Mexico, and the USMNT will make its tournament debut on June 12 with home-field advantage against Paraguay in Los Angeles.
Now that we know every team that will compete for international glory, we can make proper predictions about how the historic tournament will unfold. James Benge picked every match from the group stage through the final and selected France as World Cup champions.
- Benge: “There is no answer for Kylian Mbappe and Michael Olise on the day, and the French reign over the world game is extended. Two titles in eight years, a final appearance in between. They are the great international team of the age.”
How will the host countries fare? Benge foresees both the United States and Mexico advancing to the Round of 16 but a slightly earlier exit for Canada.
The Americans have work to do if they are to roll that deep into the knockout stage. Their 2-0 loss to Portugal in Tuesday’s friendly brought an underwhelming end to a miserable two-match international window. Coach Mauricio Pochettino pushed back against some of the pessimism following the losses to Portugal and Belgium, but he has a lot of questions to answer in order to get his squad to reach its high potential.
🏒 Canadiens crack top tier of NHL Power Rankings
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The NHL regular season concludes two weeks from today. The Canadiens seem to be peaking at the right time. Winners of their last six games, the Habs now stand second in the Atlantic Division and are suddenly in the most elite echelon of our NHL Power Rankings. Austin Nivison explained why he moved them up three spots to No. 3.
- Nivison: “I think it’s fair to say Nick Suzuki has reached superstar No. 1 center status. He’s got 92 points — a career high — and he boasts a plus-29 goal differential at five-on-five. Suzuki has done all that while wearing the “C” for one of the most iconic franchises in the NHL.”
The Canadiens are not the biggest movers of the week, though. That title goes to the Bruins, Islanders and Flyers, who all climbed four positions. The Mammoth, meanwhile, dropped four spots.
Here is the updated top five:
- Avalanche (Last week: 1)
- Sabres (2)
- Canadiens (6)
- Lightning (5)
- Hurricanes (4)
👍👎 The best (and not-so-best) of the rest
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📺 What we’re watching Thursday
⚽ UEFA Women’s Champions League: Real Madrid at Barcelona, 12:45 p.m. on CBS Sports Network/Paramount+
⚾ Twins at Royals, 2:10 p.m. on MLB Network
⚽ UEFA Women’s Champions League: VfL Wolfsburg at OL Lyonnes, 3 p.m. on CBS Sports Network/Paramount+
⛳ Texas Open, first round, 4 p.m. on Golf Channel
🏀 Timberwolves at Pistons, 7 p.m. on Prime Video
🏀 Lakers at Thunder, 9:30 p.m. on Prime Video
