The Bill Belichick era in Chapel Hill starts with a thud
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🚨 Headlines
🎾 U.S. Open update: Naomi Osaka upset Coco Gauff to advance to the quarterfinals; Venus Williams is into the doubles quarterfinals; Jannik Sinner destroyed Alexander Bublik for his 25th consecutive win at a hard court major.
⚽️ Sounders add more hardware: Seattle smacked Inter Miami, 3-0, in front of a sold-out crowd on Sunday to win the 2025 Leagues Cup and become the first MLS club to claim every possible North American trophy.
⛳️ Team Europe is set: Luke Donald announced his captain's picks for Europe's Ryder Cup team. The only roster difference from two years ago? Rasmus Højgaard is now on the team in place of his identical twin brother Nicolai.
🏁 Racing roundup: McLaren's Oscar Piastri won the Dutch GP to extend his lead atop F1; Chase Briscoe won at Darlington to open the NASCAR playoffs; Josef Newgarden won the IndyCar finale, marking his 11th straight season with a victory.
🥍 PLL semifinals: The New York Atlas beat the Philadelphia Waterdogs, 13-11, to advance to the PLL Championship. They'll play the Denver Outlaws, who dispatched the California Redwoods, 12-7.
🏈 Belichick era starts with a dud
The Belichick era got off to a horrid start on Monday night in Chapel Hill, where the Tar Heels suffered a blowout 48-14 loss to TCU.
From Yahoo Sports' Dan Wolken:
Since he took the job last December, having been thoroughly rejected by the NFL despite his six Super Bowl Rings, the football world has been wondering what 73-year-old Bill Belichick would look like coaching a college team.
It subsequently became a nine-month journey of interest in his personal life, a book tour, a series of awkward interviews and a branding initiative led by his 24-year-old girlfriend.
What we didn't hear much about was the football team he had to coach. Maybe now we know why.
North Carolina's 48-14 drubbing at the hands of TCU was evidence that $10 million for the most accomplished coach in the history of the sport may not go as far as it used to.
In the NFL, we can debate where Belichick ranks among names like Vince Lombardi, Bill Walsh and Chuck Noll. As a college coach, Belichick's debut was more in the realm of his former Patriots assistant Charlie Weis, who once described his recruiting pitch at Kansas thusly: "Have you looked at that pile of crap out there?"
Belichick, of course, is too buttoned up to provide such a juicy sound bite. But his assessment of the proceedings Monday was direct and in character.
"They just outplayed us, they outcoached us and they were better than we were. That's all there is to it," Belichick said, speaking in front of a backdrop of balloons that seemed far too festive for the occasion. "They did a lot more things right than we did. Give them credit for being the better team."
While it would be imprudent to declare the Belichick experiment a failure already, you get this kind of honeymoon only once.
As kickoff approached Monday, idyllic Chapel Hill looked like something it has never been: A real college football town with packed tailgates and bars, Tar Heel celebrities like Michael Jordan and Mia Hamm jetting in to be part of the atmosphere and ESPN treating the game like a national event.
Instead, it quickly turned into a social media pile-on. After scoring easily on their first scripted drive to take a 7-0 lead, the Tar Heels played like they have the potential to end up one of the worst teams in FBS.
🏈 In photos: Week 1 blockbusters
Did you enjoy the playoff games in Columbus, Clemson, Miami and Tallahassee? That's what they felt like. Big brands. Home stadiums. Exciting atmospheres. Perhaps we could see it all again come December.
Columbus, Ohio — The Arch Manning era got off to a rocky start, as No. 3 Ohio State's defense shut down the top-ranked Longhorns in a 14-7 victory, making Texas the first preseason No. 1 team to lose its opener since 1990.
Sportsbooks make bank: BetMGM's top five Week 1 bets by total money wagered — led by Texas +1 — all went the way of the house in a brutal weekend for the betting public.
Clemson, South Carolina — No. 9 LSU took down No. 4 Clemson, 17-10, for their first Week 1 win since 2019, when they went 15-0 en route to a national title. Could this finally be the year Brian Kelly and the Tigers break through in a crowded SEC?
Heisman Watch: LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier (28/38, 230 yards, TD) leapfrogged Manning to become the new Heisman favorite (+650 at BetMGM), just ahead of South Carolina QB LaNorris Sellers (+700). Manning fell from +500 to +1600.
Miami, Florida — No. 10 Miami hung on to beat No. 4 Notre Dame, 27-24, thanks to a clutch 47-yard field goal from newcomer Carter Davis with just over a minute left.
Highlight reel: CJ Daniels gave Miami the lead going into halftime with an incredible one-handed catch, pictured above.
Tallahassee, Florida — Fans stormed the field after unranked Florida State stunned No. 8 Alabama, 31-17, in convincing fashion. The Seminoles went 2-10 last season and entered as 14-point underdogs.
Trouble in Tuscaloosa? A mere 14 games into the post-Nick Saban era, Alabama football is in crisis. That's already four losses as a double-digit favorite under head coach Kalen DeBoer.
Go deeper: Yahoo Top 10 | Winners and losers
📊 By the numbers
🏈 6-for-6
Lee Corso went out on top, going a perfect 6-for-6 with his picks on the final "College GameDay" show of his legendary career. With an average audience of 3.5 million viewers on ESPN, Corso's highly-anticipated finale was the most-watched edition of "GameDay" ever.
⚽️ $176 million
Liverpool finally reached a deal to sign Newcastle forward Alexander Isak for a $176 million fee, breaking the Premier League transfer record set earlier this summer when they signed Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen for $153 million.
⚾️ 306 feet
Trevor Story's bizarre home run on Monday afternoon at Fenway Park traveled just 306 feet — off the right fielder's glove and into Boston's famed "Pesky Pole" — making it the second-shortest non-inside-the-park home run of the Statcast era (since 2015).
⛳️ 24 winners
Miranda Wang (-20) won the FM Championship by a stroke over world No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul, continuing a remarkable streak on the LPGA Tour where there still hasn't been a repeat winner this season. 23 tournaments, 24 winners (one event featured teams).
🏀 4th triple-double
Luka Dončić put up 26 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists on Sunday in Slovenia's win over Belgium, notching the fourth triple-double in EuroBasket history. The other three: Poland's Mateusz Ponitka (2022), Romania's Rareș Mandache (2017) and Croatia's Toni Kukoč (1995).
⚾️ MLB playoff picture
The final month of the MLB regular season is upon us. Here's how the playoff picture is shaping up as September gets underway.
AL
East: Blue Jays (79-59) … Yankees (76-61), Red Sox (77-62)
Central: Tigers (80-59)
West: Astros (76-62) … Mariners (73-65), Rangers (72-67)
Wild card: Yankees (76-61), Red Sox (77-62), Mariners (73-65) … Rangers (72-67), Royals (70-67), Guardians (68-68), Rays (68-69)
NL
East: Phillies (80-58) … Mets (74-64)
Central: Brewers (85-54) … Cubs (79-59)
West: Dodgers (78-59) … Padres (76-62)
Wild card: Cubs (79-59), Padres (76-62), Mets (74-64) … Reds (70-68), Giants (69-69), Diamondbacks (68-71), Cardinals (68-71)
📺 Watchlist: Tuesday, Sept. 2
🎾 U.S. Open, Day 10 | ESPN
The men's and women's quarterfinals begin today.
Men: No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz, who has yet to drop a set, faces No. 20 Jiri Lehecka (12:40pm); No. 4 Taylor Fritz hopes to beat No. 7 Novak Djokovic (8:10pm) for the first time in 11 tries.
Women: No. 4 Jessica Pegula, a New York native, faces Barbora Krejčíková (11:30am); No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, seeking her fifth straight Grand Slam semifinal appearance, faces Markéta Vondroušová (7pm).
⚾️ Yankees at Astros | 8:10pm TBS
Two of the game's best lefties — Max Fried (14-5, 3.06 ERA) and Framber Valdez (12-7, 3.18 ERA) — take the mound in Houston for a pair of likely playoff teams.
More to watch:
🏀 WNBA: Fever at Mercury (10pm, NBA) … Phoenix (25-14) already clinched the playoffs; Indiana (21-19) would be the last team in if the season ended today.
🏀 EuroBasket: Group Stage (DAZN) … Giannis Antetokounmpo's Greece (8am) and Luka Dončić's Slovenia (11am) both take the floor.
⚾️ MLB trivia
Aaron Judge's 43rd home run of the season was the 358th of his career, tying Yogi Berra for the fifth-most ever by a Yankee.
Question: Which four Yankees have more?
Answer at the bottom.
🍿 Baker's Dozen: Top plays of the weekend
Trivia answer: Babe Ruth (659 HR), Mickey Mantle (536), Lou Gehrig (493), Joe DiMaggio (361)
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