Month: March 2026

Media availability at the NFL combine this week has given insights and perspectives that will fuel the news cycle over the next few months. Here’s our analysis of the most interesting remarks.

Tyler Reddick and Michael Jordan’s 23XI Racing have done it again. The No. 45 car has won its third race in a row to start the 2026 NASCAR season, racing to victory at the DuraMAX Texas Grand Prix Powered by RelaDyne on Sunday. Reddick, who opened the year with a victory at the Daytona 500, became the first driver to ever win the first three races of a NASCAR season. Reddick led from 60 of the 95 laps in Sunday’s race, getting his most dominant victory yet this season. As a result, 23XI Racing has also led for 206 laps this season. Here’s the full top 20 from Sunday’s race:

We’re tracking notable injuries, news and happenings across men’s and women’s college basketball during the 2025-2026 season.

Jaxon Kohler scored a season-high 21 points and Jeremy Fears Jr. added 21 points and nine assists to lead No. 13 Michigan State past Indiana 77-64 on Sunday. Kur Tang finished with a career-high 18 points, making 6 of 8 from 3-point range — nearly half of the Spartans’ 13 3s. Kohler also grabbed 13 rebounds, his 12th double-double of the season as the Michigan State (24-5, 14-4 Big Ten) won its fourth straight. The Spartans never trailed in winning at Assembly Hall for just the second time in six trips to complete a road sweep this week. They also won at No. 8 Purdue 76-74 on Thursday. It was coach Tom Izzo’s first trip to Bloomington since he broke the league record for conference wins in February 2025, breaking the mark held by former Hoosiers coach Bob Knight. Lamar Wilkerson scored 19 of his game-high 29 points in the second half, but it wasn’t enough to prevent Indiana (17-12, 8-10) from a fourth consecutive loss. Tucker DeVries finished with 20 points and six rebounds, while Sam Alexis added eight points in a game Indiana’s bench players were shut out. Michigan State used a hot start to take a 14-5 lead, then relied on its long-range flurry to thwart the Hoosiers from mounting serious challenge. The Spartans extended the margin to 39-26 on Teng’s fourth 3 of the game late in the first half. Indiana managed to cut the halftime deficit to 45-37, then quickly fell into a 52-41 hole early in the second half. The Hoosiers got as close as 54-48 with 13:41 to play, but Teng answered with another 3 and the Spartans went on a 10-3 spurt to rebuild a 67-55 lead. The Hoosiers never fully recovered. Reporting by The Associated Press.

Barcelona’s hopes of pulling off a historic comeback in the Copa del Rey have been met with a devastating setback. Lewandowski suffers injury against Villarreal The veteran goalscorer suffered the injury during Barcelona’s league outing against Villarreal on Saturday. After undergoing medical examinations on Sunday morning, the club’s medical staff revealed the extent of the damage, which will keep the Poland international on the sidelines during a defining week for the club’s season. The absence of their primary attacking outlet leaves a significant void in Barça’s frontline before the visit of Diego Simeone’s men. Barcelona confirm Lewandowski injury The club released an official medical statement on Sunday afternoon providing the grim details of the injury. According to the report, the former Bayern Munich man suffered a significant blow during the clash with the Yellow Submarine, leading to a bone fracture. The diagnosis effectively rules him out of the immediate mid-week fixture and potentially further matches depending on the speed of his recovery and the necessity of protective measures. The club said: “The player of the first team Robert Lewandowski received a trauma in the match of yesterday against Villarreal. The tests carried out today diagnosed a bone fracture in the internal face of the orbit of the left eye. The player will be out for the match of Tuesday against Atletico Madrid.” Mounting personnel problems for Flick The absence of Lewandowski is a tactical nightmare for the Barcelona coaching staff. Trailing 4-0 from the first leg in Madrid, the Catalans require a perfect offensive performance to stay in the competition. The Pole’s physicality and clinical finishing were expected to be central to any comeback attempt. Now, Flick must look toward his younger offensive options or shift his tactical setup entirely to find the four goals needed just to level the aggregate score. Despite the blow, there is still a sense of defiance within the club. President Joan Laporta has publicly backed the squad to deliver a miracle at the Spotify Camp Nou, citing recent frustrations as fuel for the fire. “I firmly believe in the comeback: the goal annulled, and legal, against Cubarsi will spur the players on,” Laporta stated. Looking for heroes in the squad The loss of Lewandowski adds to a growing list of concerns for a Barcelona side that has struggled for consistency in recent weeks. With the main man sidelined, the pressure shifts to the likes of Pedri and the club’s emerging talents to fill the void. Pedri has recently been a beacon of optimism for the Barcelona faithful, with his performances suggesting he is ready to take on a greater leadership role in high-stakes environments. The midfield maestro will need to be at his creative best to break down an Atletico defence that will undoubtedly look to sit deep and protect their four-goal cushion.

St. Petersburg, Fla. — Mick Schumacher’s INDYCAR debut was over after three turns. The former Formula 1 driver saw Sting Ray Robb and Santino Ferrucci locked up ahead of him and he had nowhere to go as they slammed into a tire barrier in the opening lap Sunday of the season-opening St. Petersburg Grand Prix. Schumacher’s car ended up on top of the rear of Ferrucci’s car, ending both of their days. Robb was able to continue but was issued a 30-second penalty for avoidable contact. [MORE MICK: Inside Schumacher’s Prep for Rookie INDYCAR Season] The 26-year-old former Formula 1 driver was disappointed but philosophical after his last-place finish. “That’s racing,” Schumacher told me and other reporters outside the INDYCAR medical unit. “So it’s very unfortunate. As a team, we’re really needed that race to kind of get everything sorted and not have doubts going into the next event. “But hey, we’ve got 16 or 17 more races to go. It’s just the first one. It’s just the start of it. And I’m very excited for the rest of the season.” Schumacher said he saw Ferrucci lock up and just had no time to react. “Sting Ray seemed like he went a little deeper than what’s supposed to be and that kind of chain-reactioned the whole scenario” Schumacher said. “Unfortunately, our real target was to finish the race, get all the laps in. We got even less than that. So very unfortunate.” Although Schumacher had started 21st in the 25-car field, his Rahal Letterman Lanigan team seemed pleased with his weekend up to the start of the race. He didn’t get a clean lap in qualifying, something that can be difficult to manage. The tough part for Schumacher — son of seven-time F1 champion Michael Schumacher — is now he heads to the March 7 race at Phoenix Raceway, a 1-mile oval. He has never competed on an oval in any form of motorsports. Schumacher has had tests at the 1.5-mile Homestead-Miami Speedway and Phoenix in the last month. “I’m still happy all the knowledge that we gained throughout this weekend, and things we can definitely take forwards and take it to Phoenix,” Schumacher said. “I’m looking ahead, not looking back, going to try to understand what we could have done better on our end. [ST. PETE HIGHLIGHTS: Alex Palou Begins Year With a Win] “Qualifying maybe being one of them — we were blocked, [in qualifying] so we kind of lost our bit of a momentum and kind of being in a better pack. When you’re starting in the back, things end up being quite difficult and tough anyways, but I think this just made it extra difficult for us.” Robb told me he didn’t really know what happened but agreed with the penalty that he could have avoided the situation. “I deserved it, I think,” Robb said. “I’m sorry to the 47 crew [of Schumacher], the 14 crew [of Ferrucci]. It’s just one of those days where it’s a shame to be a part of it. … Lap 1 – you’ve got to get through. We didn’t.” Ferrucci was frustrated that his day ended and Robb was able to continue. “We all sit around and talk about it at driver intros — it’s taking easy Lap 1,” Ferrucci told me and other reporters. “And for whatever reason, there’s a few of us that do that, and then there’s a couple of us that just forget where the brake zone is. “It’s a bummer.” Ferrucci and Schumacher know the one thing they potentially could have done came well before Sunday. “For us, the key takeaway here is qualify higher up,” Schumacher said. “Simple as that.” Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.

There’s just no stopping Set-piece FC! Arsenal performed poorly in Sunday’s crucial Premier League clash with Chelsea at the Emirates, but still managed to eke out a vital 2-1 victory over the 10-man Blues that moves them five points clear of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League. Almost inevitably, both of the Gunners’ goals came from corners. William Saliba bagged the first, with the France international getting on the end of a header back across the Chelsea six-yard box from his fellow centre-back, Gabriel Magalhaes. Funnily enough, the Gunners also scored Chelsea’s goal from a corner, as Piero Hincapie got under an in-swinger from Reece James and unintentionally deflected the ball past Robert Sanchez. Arsenal were not to be denied, though, and Jurrien Timber nodded home a Declan Rice delivery in the 66th minute. The winning goal came very much against the run of play, but whatever chance Chelsea had of turning the match around ended when Pedro Neto stupidly got himself sent off for picking up two avoidable yellow cards. GOAL rates all of the Arsenal players at the Emirates as Mikel Arteta’s set-piece specialists took another small but significant step towards the title… Goalkeeper & Defense David Raya (8/10): Made a great reaction stop from a deflected Chelsea corner at his near post and also showed sharp reflexes to deny Joao Pedro. Arsenal’s best player on the day – and that says it all. Jurrien Timber (7/10): A real threat going forward in the first half, and although he was given a lot more defensive work to do in the second, he still popped up to restore Arsenal’s lead by heading home their second goal. William Saliba (7/10): Broke the deadlock with a close-range header that struck a Chelsea player on the way in, but was lucky to get away with gifting possession to Palmer just after the hour mark and had a couple of other nervy moments up against Joao Pedro. Gabriel Magalhaes (7/10): Set up Saliba’s opener with a tremendous leap at the back post and later tried an audacious lob. Didn’t neglect his defensive duties, winning plenty of duels, though he was booked for hauling down Joao Pedro. Piero Hincapie (5/10): Made a mess of dealing with James’ in-swinging corner to gift Chelsea an equaliser, but it was his overall performance that should concern Arteta, as the Ecuadorian wasn’t good defensively or offensively. Midfield Martin Zubimendi (5/10): A very rare poor performance from the Spaniard, whose passing was nowhere near as precise as usual, which meant that Arsenal struggled to control the game. Declan Rice (5/10): Once again proved an absolute menace with his set-pieces, but while the England international provided good cover at times, he was well off the pace and also incredibly lucky to get away with a handball in the area just before Chelsea’s equaliser. Rightly removed from the fray long before the full-time whistle. Eberechi Eze (5/10): A second consecutive Premier League start for Eze after his latest heroics in a north London derby, but the attacking midfielder was absolutely anonymous for an hour before going close to scoring in the closing stages, after Chelsea had been reduced to 10 men. Attack Bukayo Saka (5/10): Lively enough in the first half, creating three chances, but he faded badly after the restart as the game rather passed him by. Viktor Gyokeres (3/10): Did not get himself into the game – as underlined by one shot in 76 minutes of ‘action’. Even when he had some space to work with, he repeatedly ran into brick walls – and even desperately threw himself to the floor at one point after being cleanly dispossessed by Sarr. Leandro Trossard (3/10): Worked hard to win the ball back but gave it away repeatedly and offered absolutely nothing going forward. No surprise that he was hooked 10 minutes into the second half. Subs & Manager Gabriel Martinelli (6/10): Took over on the left wing from Trossard and it was his run down that provoked Neto’s senseless second yellow card. Kai Havertz (N/A): Replaced Gyokeres up front but made no impact. Christian Norgaard (N/A): Came on for an exhausted Rice but didn’t help Arsenal get a grip of the game. Mikel Arteta (5/10): Picked his strongest side but Arsenal played poorly and were very fortunate that Chelsea were reduced 10 while on top. Arteta deserves credit for turning Arsenal into set-piece specialists, but there really wasn’t much else to them while his substitutions didn’t influence the game in a positive sense at all.