With Pope Francis a few weeks away from his 88th birthday, the plotting for his successor is well underway at the Vatican.

Louisville has fired coach Kenny Payne after going 12-52 in two seasons that marked the worst consecutive finishes in the storied basketball program’s history.

Louisville plans to fire men's basketball coach Kenny Payne after he went 12-52 in two seasons.

The Chicago Bears already faced this decision once — keep quarterback Justin Fields or start anew with the No. 1 overall pick.

Jack Plummer threw three touchdown passes, the last of them a 58-yarder to Kevin Coleman with 4:17 remaining, and No. 9 Louisville clinched a spot in the Atlantic Coast Conference title game by beating Miami 38-31.

Georgia extended its streak of weeks being top-ranked in the AP Top 25 to 22, giving the Bulldogs the second-longest run of being No. 1 in the history of the college football poll.

Georgia’s hold on No. 1 in The Associated Press college football poll loosened as the Bulldogs received a season-low 35 first-place votes out of possible 62.

Denny Crum, who won two NCAA basketball championships and built Louisville into one of the 1980s’ dominant programs during a Hall of Fame coaching career, has died.

For one night at least, running backs got some of the glory in the pass-happy NFL.

Georgia Amoore scored 25 points to help No. 8 Virginia Tech beat Louisville 75-67 on Sunday to win its first Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament title.

Little has come easy this season for Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who despite their struggles can repeat as NFC South champions and guarantee themselves a home playoff game by beating the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.

Tampa Bay’s Tom Brady and Arizona’s Trace McSorley are two quarterbacks making their Christmas Day debut on Sunday.

Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer stands atop The Associated Press women’s basketball poll with the most appearances all-time, breaking a tie with the late Pat Summitt.

Last year, Louisville knocked UCF starting quarterback out of the game. Friday night, the Cardinals did the same to the Seminoles' Jordan Travis.

The Arizona Cardinals say they're not worried about quarterback Kyler Murray's game preparation habits.

Aaron Judge and Pete Alonso swing away as the Subway Series starts up at Citi Field on Tuesday night with both New York teams in first place.

Ryan Mountcastle, Trey Mancini and the surprising Baltimore Orioles try on Sunday for their eighth straight win, which would match their best streak in 17 years.

A pair of Cy Young Award winners are on the mound when Corbin Burnes and the Milwaukee Brewers visit Blake Snell and the San Diego Padres in a matchup between two of the National League's top teams Tuesday night.

The New York Mets are upset after several of their hitters have been hit by pitches over the first few weeks of the season.

There's a lot to catch up on from a bizarre baseball offseason before the 2022 season officially begins with first pitch at Wrigley Field.

The Associated Press will hand out its individual NFL awards on Feb. 10 at NFL Honors in Los Angeles.

Cincinnati sacks leader Trey Hendrickson and three other starters are among five Bengals that have been placed on the COVID-19 reserve list.

The Green Bay Packers maintained the top spot in the latest AP Pro32 poll as they earned all 12 first-place votes.

Clayton Kershaw starts at Dodger Stadium against Milwaukee to begin a season-ending, three-game series in a possible playoff preview.

Zack Wheeler pitches Tuesday night for Philadelphia in the opener of a pivotal three-game series at Atlanta.

Yankees ace Gerrit Cole starts the opener of a crucial three-game series at Fenway Park with the Red Sox two games ahead of New York for the top AL wild card.

Kevin Gausman returns to the mound — and plate — as he tries to help the Giants protect their lead in the NL West.

New York Mets ace Jacob deGrom was scratched from Tuesday night’s scheduled start against St. Louis because he was having trouble getting loose as he started to stretch ahead of his outing.

(AP Photo/Morry Gash)SAN ANTONIO – Lexie Hull scored 21 points and Stanford reached the Final Four by rallying for a 78-63 victory over Louisville on Tuesday night. Stanford dropped that one 62-53, ending its previous appearance in the Final Four. Stanford (29-2) trailed by 12 midway through the third quarter before scoring 13 consecutive points to take its first lead since early in the game. The teams traded baskets the rest of the period and No 2 seed Louisville (26-4) was up 50-48 heading into the final quarter. The Cardinal scored the first 10 points of the fourth to go up 58-50.

FILE - Cardinals listen as Pope Francis, background, delivers his Christmas greetings to the Roman Curia, in the Clementine Hall at the Vatican, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2019. Pope Francis has ordered pay cuts for Holy See employees, including slashing cardinals salaries by 10%. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File)VATICAN CITY – Trying to save jobs as the pandemic pummels Vatican revenues, Pope Francis has ordered pay cuts for cardinals and other clerics, as well as nuns, who work at the Holy See. The Vatican's economy minister has said that the dwindled Museums revenue, as well as a drop in what Catholics donate, would contribute to a projected 30% reduction in revenue this year. The pay cuts also apply to several Vatican basilicas in Rome as well as to the Vicariate, or diocese of Rome, which is under the pope's direction.

South Carolina coach Dawn Staley confers with forward Aliyah Boston on the sideline during the second half of the team's NCAA college basketball game against Mississippi State in Starkville, Miss., Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021. 1 in The Associated Press women's college basketball poll. South Carolina, which originally fell from the top spot after losing to North Carolina State, beat the Huskies last season for the first time in eight tries. Here are other tidbits from the poll:MILESTONEMonday marked the 800th women's college basketball poll in the AP's history. Ad___More AP women's college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

Louisville guard Dana Evans, left, drives around Wake Forest guard Gina Conti (5) in the first quarter of an NCAA women's college basketball game in Winston-Salem, N.C., Sunday, Jan. 24, 2021. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)Louisville keeps winning and remained atop The Associated Press women's basketball poll. The Cardinals are the only unbeaten team left in the Top 25 after topping Miami and North Carolina this past week. 4 North Carolina State. Arizona expects to travel to Oregon to play Oregon State on Friday and Oregon next Monday.

Clemson’s offense led the Atlantic Coast Conference at 44.9 points a game and with 343.8 yards passing per game this season. The announcement Wednesday comes amid positive COVID-19 tests, quarantining and contact tracing for the host Cavaliers. The Cardinals later paused all team-related activities after there was a positive COVID-19 test within their program while the Blue Devils decided to end their season due to safety concerns. “But we have a lot to go through right now.”Perine is the first Jets player to test positive this season. ___The Cleveland Browns have two more positive COVID-19 cases — another player and a staff member — as they prepare for Sunday’s finale against the Steelers.

(AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)NEW YORK – As the NFC's only 5-0 team, the Seattle Seahawks had a quiet week on a bye. However, the Seahawks didn't lose any ground and maintained the top spot in the latest AP Pro32 poll. The Seahawks received nine of 12 first-place votes for 377 points in balloting Tuesday by media members who regularly cover the NFL. The Chiefs earned two first-place votes for 366 points, while the loss dropped the Bills one spot to No. 3 and the Tennessee Titans, the league's other 5-0 team, received the remaining first-place vote and gained two places to No.

The Marlins, Phillies, Cardinals, Reds, Brewers and Giants are the top teams still in contention -- and they’re packed tightly with slots available for one team from the NL East, another from the NL Central and then two wild cards. The Mets (26-31) and Rockies (25-31) are mathematically eligible but need to win out just to have a shot. AL-MOST OVEROnly one playoff spot remains open in the AL, and Michael Brantley and the Astros are on the verge of clinching it. The Twins are trying to seal the AL Central. The Chisox have lost five in a row, dropping them out of the AL Central lead and one game behind Minnesota.

18 Louisville 47-34 on Saturday night in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams. Miami (2-0) led 20-6 at halftime before Louisville (1-1) scored twice in a wild third to get within seven. Knighton also had a 3-yard TD run in the first half after King threw a 17-yard scoring pass to Will Mallory. The 'Canes had 10 chunk plays of at least 18 yards, including seven passing. The explosive plays, it was who we wanted to be.”Said Louisville coach Scott Satterfield, "Just too many big plays.

Hopkins and the Cardinals agreed to a two-year contract extension on Tuesday that will keep the three-time All-Pro in Arizona through the 2024 season. Hopkins said he worked on about 90% of the deal and had some help from advisers. Cardinals GM Steve Keim said it was a great process and he got to know the receiver even better during negotiations. It was our goal all along to get (Hopkins) extended, Keim said. I was like, man, if I could be in this offense, a pass-first offense one day, the sky's the limit, Hopkins said.