THURSDAY SPORTS, MARCH 26, 2026
MITCHELL KERNELS
— Mitchell Kernels softball starts its season on Tuesday at Watertown at 5 pm.
— Mitchell Kernels track and field starts its season on Tuesday at a meet host at Dakota Wesleyan starting at 11 am.
DAKOTA WESLEYAN
— Dakota Wesleyan baseball will be at Doane on Friday at 1 pm for a doubleheader.
— Dakota Wesleyan softball will be at the College of St. Mary on Friday for a doubleheader at 3 pm.
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
— South Dakota State baseball gave up seven runs in the second inning in an 11-5 loss at Crieghton on Wednesday. The Jackrabbits got within two after scoring five times in the top of the fourth inning, before the Blue Jays would score in each of the next three innings. SDSU, 7-18 on the season, will be at Northern Colorado this weekend for a three-game series starting on Friday at 3 pm CST.
— South Dakota State softball, 17-20 on the season and 2-1 in the Summit League, will host North Dakota for a three-game series starting Saturday at 1 pm, followed by a Sunday doubleheader also starting at 1 pm. UND is 22-11 on the season and have not played a conference game yet.
SOUTH DAKOTA
— USD women’s basketball will host Pepperdine in the WNIT Round of 16 on Thursday at 7 pm. With a win, the Coyotes would take on either Montana State or Portland in the quarterfinals. The Coyotes defeated Northern Colorado 80-60 on Sunday to move on to the Round of 16.
— USD softball will be at St. Thomas for a three-game series this weekend starting Friday at 2 pm. The Coyotes are 9-23 on the season, losing two out of three last weekend at South Dakota State. St. Thomas is 21-9 on the season and 3-0 in the Summit League.
NCAA MEN’S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT SWEET 16 – THURSDAY
No. 2 Purdue vs. No. 11 Texas – 6:10 pm on CBS
No. 4 Nebraska vs. No. 9 Iowa – 6:30 pm on TBS
No. 1 Arizona vs. No. 4 Arkansas – 8:45 pm on CBS
No. 2 Houston vs. No. 3 Illinois – 9 pm on TBS
NCAA MEN’S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT SWEET 16 – FRIDAY
No. 1 Duke vs. No. 5 St. John’s – 6:10 pm on CBS
No. 1 Michigan vs. No. 4 Alabama – 6:35 pm on TBS
No. 2 UConn vs. No. 3 Michigan State – 8:45 pm on CBS
No. 2 Iowa State vs. No. 6 Tennessee – 9:10 pm on TBS
NCAA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT SWEET 16 – FRIDAY
No. 2 Vanderbilt vs. No. 6 Notre Dame – 1:30 pm on ESPN
No. 1 UConn vs. No. 4 North Carolina – 4 pm on ESPN
No. 1 UCLA vs. No. 4 Minnesota – 6:30 pm on ESPN
No. 2 LSU vs. No. 3 Duke – 9 pm on ESPN
MLB – THURSDAY
New York Mets vs. Pittsburgh Pirates – 12:15 pm on NBC
Baltimore Orioles vs. Minnesota Twins – 2:05 pm
Philadelphia Phillies vs. Texas Rangers – 3:15 pm on ESPN
Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Arizona Diamondbacks – 7:30 pm on NBC
— The New York Yankees opened the season with a 7-0 win over the San Francisco Giants 7-0 in a game that also marked the debut of Major League Baseball’s automated ball-strike challenge system. Max Fried allowing just two hits over 6 1/3 shutout innings. New York broke the game open early, scoring five runs in the second inning. José Caballero delivered an RBI single, while Ryan McMahon added a two-run hit. Trent Grisham capped the inning with a two-run triple. Meanwhile, Aaron Judge went 0-for-5 with four strikeouts. The night also featured a milestone moment for MLB’s new technology. Jose Caballero made the first challenge to the automated strike zone in the fourth inning, but the call was upheld after review.
— Hall of Fame slugger Frank Thomas has filed a lawsuit against the Chicago White Sox, Nike, and Fanatics, alleging unauthorized use of his name and likeness on merchandise. The suit claims the defendants profited from selling City Connect jerseys featuring Thomas’ identity without his permission. Thomas, a two-time MVP who hit 521 home runs during his career with the White Sox, is seeking more than $50,000 and a jury trial. His attorney says the case is based on violations of the Illinois Right to Publicity Act, which protects individuals from companies profiting off their identity without consent.
NFL
— The NFL will open the season on a Wednesday for the second time ever with the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks set to host the first game of the 2026 season. The NFL announced the Seahawks will play the opener on Sept. 9, a day earlier than usual with the league also having a Week 1 game in Australia between San Francisco and the Los Angeles Rams. The only other time the opener was played on a Wednesday came in 2012 when Dallas visited the New York Giants. President Barack Obama spoke on that Thursday at the Democratic National Convention.
— Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua is facing a civil lawsuit after a woman alleges he made an antisemitic remark and later bit her on the shoulder on New Year’s Eve. The lawsuit cites assault, battery, and negligence, and a hearing is scheduled for April 14. Nacua’s attorney denies the allegations, calling them “a blatant lie,” and says multiple witnesses confirm he never made the statement. The attorney also characterized the alleged biting as “horseplay” and announced plans to file a defamation suit against the plaintiff. This comes months after Nacua apologized for an antisemitic gesture during a livestream, which the Rams condemned.
— The Tennessee Titans say their new enclosed stadium in Nashville remains on schedule for completion in February 2027. Team officials report construction is progressing on the $2.1 billion stadium, with the goal of opening for the 2027 NFL season. The facility will feature a significantly larger locker room, upgraded player amenities, and expanded spaces for families and female coaching staff. For fans, the stadium will include major accessibility upgrades, with 44 escalators and 27 elevators to improve movement throughout the venue. Construction crews are preparing to install the stadium’s enclosed roof system this spring, with translucent panels expected to be in place by October.
WNBA
— The WNBA will hold an expansion draft for its new franchises in Portland and Toronto on April 3. A coin toss will be held Friday, with the winning franchise getting to choose either the first pick in the expansion draft or the No. 6 pick in the college draft on April 13. Whichever team doesn’t get the sixth pick in the college draft will choose seventh. The rules for the expansion draft were announced a day after the league’s Board of Governors ratified a new collective bargaining agreement. The expansion teams will choose among players left unprotected by their current clubs.
NBA
— NBA Commissioner Adam Silver says the league will address tanking, that’s when teams lose on purpose to improve draft positioning, before next season. Silver says changes to the draft process are in the works, with a special board meeting expected in May to finalize them. He also defended the 65-game rule for major awards, which some say can penalize injured stars, but said the rule is largely working as intended and protects players from excessive load management. Silver praised the WNBA’s new collective bargaining agreement and confirmed that Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon is set to buy the Portland Trail Blazers.
— The NBA could be taking a major step toward expansion, with team owners set to vote on a plan that would begin the process of adding franchises in Seattle and Las Vegas. If approved, the league would move forward in working with ownership groups interested in bringing teams to both cities, though expansion would still be years away, likely no earlier than the 2028-29 season. Seattle has been without a team since the SuperSonics relocated in 2008. Commissioner Adam Silver and players with Seattle ties have voiced strong support, calling both cities prime markets for future teams. Key details, including expansion fees, timelines and league realignment, would still need to be finalized if the process moves forward.
— Julius Randle hit the go-ahead jumper with 8 seconds left in overtime to cap a game-closing 15-0 run by the Minnesota Timberwolves for a 110-108 victory over the Houston Rockets. Minnesota overcame a 13-point deficit in overtime, the biggest comeback since detailed play-by-play throughout the game began in 1997. Kevin Durant and Alperen Sengun each scored 30 points in the loss for Houston.
— Luka Doncic scored 43 points to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a 137-130 victory over the Indiana Pacers. Doncic shot 15-of-30 from the field and hit 9 of 10 free throws. Austin Reaves scored 25 points, LeBron James scored 23 and Jaxson Hayes had 21 points and 10 rebounds for Los Angeles, who have won 10 of 11.
— Jamal Murray scored a season-high 53 points, while Nikola Jokic had 23 points, 21 rebounds and a season-high 19 assists, as the Denver Nuggets held off the Dallas Mavericks 142-135. The Nuggets are tied for fourth with Minnesota.. Denver holds the tiebreaker by virtue of winning the season series against the Timberwolves.
— Jaylen Brown scored 14 of his 31 points in the third quarter, along with eight rebounds and eight assists as the Boston Celtics rallied to beat Oklahoma City 119-109, snapping the Thunder’s 12-game winning streak. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 33 points and eight assists.
— Victor Wembanyama had 19 points, 15 rebounds and seven blocks as the San Antonio Spurs coasted to a 123-98 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies. With its seventh straight victory, San Antonio moved within two games of Oklahoma City for the top spot in the Western Conference.
— CJ McCollum scored 27 points, making the tiebreaking three-point play in overtime, as the Atlanta Hawks beat the Detroit Pistons 130-129. Jalen Johnson also had 27 points and came close to another triple-double, finishing with 12 assists and eight rebounds. The Hawks improved to 15-2 since the All-Star break, best in the Eastern Conference.
— Kawhi Leonard had 27 points, while Darius Garland added 24, as the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Toronto Raptors 119-94. Los Angeles stayed a half-game ahead of Portland for eighth in the Western Conference.
— Draymond Green made two free throws with 6 seconds remaining as the Golden State Warriors beat the Brooklyn Nets 109-106 to clinch a play-in spot. The Warriors are currently 10th in the Western Conference with a 35-38 record.
— Joel Embiid scored 35 points in his return to the lineup from injury, while Paul George had 28 points in his first game since serving a 25-game suspension, as the Philadelphia 76ers rolled to a 157-137 victory over the Chicago Bulls.
— Norman Powell scored 19 points, while Tyler Herro added 18 as the Miami Heat snapped a five-game losing streak with a 120-103 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
— Juju Reese had 26 points and 17 rebounds, while Will Riley added 19 points and 10 boards, as the Washington Wizards snapped a 16-game skid with a 133-110 win over the Utah Jazz. It was Washington’s first win since Feb. 20.