Nashville is not close to getting an MLB franchise.

The people who want to bring Major League Baseball to Nashville have a logo and are selling baseball hats. Music City Baseball picked out the team name, the Nashville Stars in 2019, and six years later there is a hat and logo. There is still no indication that Major League Baseball plans to add two teams in the near future. The move of John Fisher’s Athletics franchise from Oakland to Las Vegas has hit a number of roadblocks and Stu Sternberg’s Tampa Bay Rays franchise pulled out of stadium-village deal with municipal partners, the city of St. Petersburg and Pinellas County, Florida. MLB has maintained that it would not expand until stadium situations in Oakland and the Tampa Bay market were resolved. The problems remain and there are stadium issues that have cropped up in Chicago, White Sox ownership wants a new stadium, Kansas City and Phoenix.

In December, 2024, the mayor of Nashville, Freddie O’Connor threw cold water on the possibility that his city could take on a Major League Baseball expansion franchise or go after an existing franchise that might be on the market. O’Connor appearing on a local radio show told host George Plaster that Nashville does not have the ingredients to take on an MLB business. Music City Baseball is led by John Loar but O’Connor seems to think that Loar’s group lacks some sort of credibility. O’Connor talked about one of the ingredients that would be necessary for Nashville to land a team. The city needs a baseball stadium. If someone wants to build a stadium and is willing to pay for the structure and the land needed for the facility, he would listen and possibly work with the group. Nashville is not paying the freight for an MLB venue. It is still early in the MLB expansion process but Music City Baseball has a baseball cap.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Sarah Strong and Azzi Fudd didn’t even need much help from superstar Paige Bueckers to propel UConn into the national title game, leading the Huskies to a remarkably easy 85-51 victory over UCLA on Friday night in the Final Four of the women’s NCAA Tournament.

Strong finished with 22 points and Fudd scored all of her 19 points in the first half for the second-seeded Huskies, who are one win away from their 12th national championship and first since the team won four straight from 2013-16, led by Breanna Stewart. The eight-year title drought is the longest for the Huskies since they won their first in 1995.

“We aren’t worried about the past. Every single day you walk into the gym and live up to the standard of playing UConn basketball,” Bueckers said. “Not comparing yourself to other teams and players before. We want to fill their shoes and make them proud. Wear the jersey with pride.”

UConn will face defending champion South Carolina on Sunday for the title after the Gamecocks beat Texas 74-57 earlier Friday night. It’s a rematch of the 2022 championship game, which the Gamecocks won 64-49. The teams met in February and UConn shocked South Carolina with a 29-point road victory.

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SOUTH CAROLINA WANTS TO REPEAT.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — The journey has been more challenging than usual, but Dawn Staley and defending national champion South Carolina are still getting the job done.

The Gamecocks (35-3) overwhelmed Southeastern Conference rival Texas 74-57 on Friday night in the Final Four of the women’s NCAA Tournament, advancing to the title game Sunday against UConn (36-3), an 85-51 winner over No. 1 overall seed UCLA.

Coach Geno Auriemma’s Huskies traveled to Columbia, South Carolina, in the regular season and dominated the Gamecocks, winning 87-58 on Feb. 16.

This is the seventh time The Associated Press preseason Nos. 1 and 2 teams will play in the women’s NCAA championship game. South Carolina beat UConn in the 2022 title game after the teams began that season ranked 1-2.

The No. 1 preseason team is 6-0 in the previous title games against the preseason No. 2. The Huskies’ Paige Bueckers will try to end that streak as she seeks a national title, the only prize left in a remarkable collegiate career. UConn’s loss to South Carolina in 2022 concluded an injury-marred sophomore season for Bueckers, who is expected to be the top overall pick in the WNBA draft.

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TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Paige Bueckers insists she’s not concerned about her legacy.

The UConn standout will close out her college career when the Huskies face South Carolina in Sunday’s national title game. She said Saturday that she would like to be remembered as “a great teammate, a great leader” who makes players around her better.

She’ll leave it to others to decide if adding an NCAA championship to an already impressive resume will validate her accomplishments.

“I don’t think that’s up to me. I think that’s up to the people who, I guess, get to decide if people’s legacies are cemented or whatever,” Bueckers said. “But I’m not worried about that at all.

“The thing I take great joy and great pride in is the relationships, the experiences, the journeys we’ve gone on throughout the team,” she added. “Just the bonds I’ve been able to create with my teammates, the memories, the close-knit stuff that, I mean, you can’t really experience without support, just how it’s brought us all together and how much we’ve grown as individuals, grown as a team. All the stuff we’ve been through and how much it’s made us stronger.”

UConn players talk about their desire to deliver a 12th national title for Geno Auriemma, who has led the Huskies to a record 24 Final Fours. The coach, however, would like Bueckers and the rest of his players to experience the joy of winning it all.

Win or lose, however, Auriemma knows Bueckers has already made a lasting impact on his storied program.

“If you’re in this for the first time, you really don’t have the appreciation for what it really is. If you’re fortunate like I’ve been, you know what that feels like when someone who has given their whole heart and soul to your program walks off the court in the last game of their career with a national championship. … You see the effect that it has on their life,” Auriemma said.

“Paige doesn’t need anything to change her life to make her life better. She’s got a life that most people would dream about. But for someone who’s invested so much into the University of Connecticut, the community, the team, her teammates, and loves the game so much, she deserves to go out as a national champion,” Auriemma added. “But so do a bunch of kids at South Carolina that have done the exact same thing.”

Count South Carolina coach Dawn Staley, whose team is seeking an impressive third title in four years, among those who don’t believe Bueckers needs to win Sunday to validate her career.

“She’s a great player, but just because you’re a great player doesn’t mean you need to win the national championship to legitimize it. Paige is legit. She was legit from the moment she stepped on this stage or prior to, in Minnesota,” Staley said.

“Her career is legendary,” Staley added. “She will leave a legacy at UConn whether she wins one or not.”

Bueckers scored 16 points on 7 for 17 shooting in UConn’s 85-51 victory over No. 1 overall seed UCLA in Friday’s national semifinals. While the Huskies went on the road to beat South Carolina by 29 points in mid-February, there are lingering memories of a loss to the Gamecocks in the 2022 NCAA title game.

The tournament loss three years ago concluded an injury-marred season for Bueckers, who’s expected to be the first overall pick in the upcoming WNBA draft. A UConn win Sunday would deny South Carolina’s bid to become the first repeat champion since the Huskies won four straight from 2013 to 2016.

“Really, the journey is the reward for me. And I never take it for granted being able to play here and put on this uniform,” Bueckers said on the eve of her last game for the Huskies.

“Whatever talks of legacy and whatever, I guess that’s not up to me,” she reiterated. “All I can worry about and control is who I am every single day and who we are as a team. That’s all I’m worried about.”

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