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USF and Memphis co-favorites in The American

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South Florida Men’s Basketball game vs East Carolina on December 31, 2024.

By Jim Williams – Senior Columnist – Capital Sports Network

The University of South Florida enters the 2025–26 season as a co-favorite to win the American Athletic Conference, thanks to the arrival of head coach Bryan Hodgson. Hired in March after leading Arkansas State to a Sun Belt title, Hodgson wasted no time reshaping the Bulls’ roster. He brought in 13 new players, including five highly rated freshmen and eight experienced transfers, forming the program’s No. 29-ranked recruiting class — its best since 2013 USF Athletics USF Athletics. Hodgson’s reputation as a top recruiter and player developer has energized the Tampa fan base and positioned USF as a legitimate contender.

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Memphis: Tradition, Talent, and Title Aspirations

Memphis, the defending AAC regular season and tournament champion, remains the team to beat. Under head coach Penny Hardaway, now in his eighth season, the Tigers are reloading after losing top scorers PJ Haggerty and Tyreek Smith. Despite the turnover, Memphis secured key transfers like Hasan Abdul Hakim (UTRGV) and Quante Berry (Temple), and is projected to start the season ranked No. 54 nationally. The Tigers received 11 first-place votes in the AAC preseason poll, edging out USF, which earned two The American Athletic Conference.

Other top teams in the conference include Tulane, led by Rowan Brumbaugh, the preseason AAC Player of the Year, and UAB and Wichita State, both returning deep rosters. Florida Atlantic’s Josiah Parker was named preseason Freshman of the Year, adding to the league’s rising talent pool The American Athletic Conference.

Depth and Drama in the AAC

The 2025–26 season promises to be one of the most competitive in AAC history. With Memphis and USF leading the charge, and programs like Tulane, UAB, Wichita State, and FAU poised to challenge, the conference boasts a blend of veteran leadership, elite transfers, and breakout freshmen. The American is no longer a one-team league — it’s a battleground of rising programs and national relevance.





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USMNT Watch: Wright, Agyemang & Weah shine in Europe with crucial goals

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Marseille’s US forward #22 Timothy Weah celebrates after scoring a goal during the French L1 football match between SCO Angers and Olympique de Marseille (OM) at the Stade Raymond-Kopa in Angers, central Framce, on January 17, 2026. (Photo by JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER / AFP)

The United States Men’s National Team (USMNT) players continued to impress across Europe this weekend, finding the scoresheet in some of the continent’s most competitive leagues.

Goals from France’s Ligue 1, England’s Championship, and the German Bundesliga highlighted another strong round of performances abroad.

With the 2026 FIFA World Cup fast approaching and set to be hosted on home soil, this surge in form couldn’t come at a better time as American players better prepared and more competitive than ever before.

Sports Talk ranks the best performers who found the scoresheet across Europe.

Patrick Agyemang

The former Charlotte forward scored a crucial goal in the English Championship to power Derby County to a 1-0 win against Preston North End.

The 25-year-old who has been in fine form since he moved to England last July, broke the deadlock for the Rams with his header in the 82nd minute.

The effort was Agyemang’s seventh Championship goal of the season on his 23rd outing.

Haji Wright

Wright was the second American to light up the Championship over the weekend…

He came off the bench to grab the match-winning goal for Coventry City that ended his goal drought since October in their 2-1 defeat of Leicester City.

Introduced by Frank Lampard in the 67th minute, the 27-year-old continue with Tatsuhiro Sakamoto’s cross to secure three points for Coventry in the 85th minute.

His last goal was against Sheffield Wednesday on October 4 and he has now bagged nine goals in 23 league games this term.

Haji Wright of Coventry City during the Sky Bet Championship match between Millwall and Coventry City at The Den on October 01, 2025 in London, England.

Timothy Weah

The versatile winger was among the goals as Olympique Marseille ran rampant in the French Ligue 1 with a 5-2 triumph against Angers.

Weah finished off a brilliant team movement with his header in the 40th minute to give Marseille a 4-0 lead at halftime.

The Juventus loanee has been a key figure in De Zerbi’s defensive set-up this season and his versatility on the flanks has seen him score two goals and provide an assist in 15 Ligue 1 matches this season.

James Sands

The New York City loanee opened his Bundesliga goal account in St. Pauli’s 3-2 loss to Borussia Dortmund.

With St. Pauli trailing 2-0, Sands tried to inspire a comeback with his goal in the 62nd minute but it was not enough as Dortmund grabbed a late winner in the stoppage time.

The American defender played from start to finish in the game that was his 16th appearance in the German top division this season.

Brenden Aaronson & Antonee Robinson

Aaronson and Robinson faced off in the Premier League as Leeds United hosted Fulham at Elland Road.

The game ended in favour in Aaronson as Leeds secured a hard-fought 1-0 for thier first league win of the new year.

Aaronson and Robinson played the entire 90 minutes but the former was replaced in stoppage time.





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Saudi Arabia Darts Masters – Quarter-final line up, predictions for tournament

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Michael van Gerwen (AP)

The 2026 World Series of Darts continues this week with the inaugural staging of the Saudi Arabia Masters. As with all events in the series, the format sees eight of the best players from the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) take on eight regional representatives in the last-16.

The winner of each international event earns £30,000 from a £100,000 prize fund, while the World Series of Darts Grand Final carries a total prize fund of £450,000, with £100,000 awarded to the champion.

Last week, Luke Littler was knocked out in the quarter-finals by Gerwyn Price, while Michael van Gerwen rediscovered his best form to overcome fellow Dutchman and rising star Gian van Veen 8–6 in a high-quality final.

This week, seven of the eight PDC representatives came through their last-16 matches against the invited regional opponents, though Man Lok Leung produced the shock of the round by defeating 2022 UK Open winner Danny Noppert, who is ranked tenth in the world.

First PDC event in Saudi Arabia event promises watchful eyes

As with all World Series events, the Saudi Darts Masters will see the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final all played tomorrow in one action-packed day.

There will be added eyes on this event, as it is the first PDC-sanctioned darts event held in Saudi Arabia, a country many feel is piling money into multiple sports in an attempt to distract attention from a poor human rights record, often referred to as “sportswashing”.

Quarter-finals: Match ups and predictions

Luke Littler v Gerwyn Price

‘Mighty Mike’ is top seed this week after his victory in Bahrain, where he defeated Bunting 6-4 in the quarter-finals. Their last ten matches have went 7-3 in favour of MvG. It must be said that Bunting, who was a controversial choice for this years Premier League given his poor showing in the 2025 event, does not look in great form.

If van Gerwen continues where he left off this week, he will have too much for the Englishman.

Prediction: van Gerwen 6-3

Nathan Aspinall v Man Lok Lueng

Lok Lueng is a rather unknown quantity, which made his victory over World No. 10 Danny Noppert all the more surprising. Aspinall won through his first round with an impressive 100.93 three dart average. Lueng and Aspinall have never met before.

It’s hard to see anything other than an Aspinall victory here.

Prediction: Aspinall 6-1

Gian van Veen v Luke Littler

This promises to be the match of the quarter-finals, provided van Veen can put behind him his heavy defeat to ‘the Nuke’ in last month’s World Championship final.

They have only met seven times on the PDC tour, with Littler edging the head-to-head 4-3.

If ‘The Nuke’ plays like in last weeks quarter-finals, van Veen has the game to gain a quick revenge.

Prediction: van Veen 6-5

Gerwyn Price v Luke Humphries

Price and Humphries tend to bring out the best in one another, with their last ten meetings evenly split at 5–5. Price was solid last week in his victory over Littler and, when his doubling clicks, he has the ability to drag any opponent out of their comfort zone.

With Humphries not in his richest vein of form, Price should edge this one.

Prediction: Price 6-4

Semi-final and final predictions

With van Gerwen showing something close to his best form last week and Littler exiting at the quarter-final stage, this shapes up as a tough week to predict a winner.

van Gerwen has the kinder side of the draw and should make the final at the expense of likely semi-final opponent Aspinall.

The lower half of the draw, however, contains three world champions and a runner-up, making it exceptionally difficult to predict with any real conviction who will emerge to reach the final. Littler could yet respond like a poked bear and bulldoze his way to the title, but it feels more likely that a semi-final between van Veen and Price awaits, with Price edging through to the final.

Who will win the title?

If van Gerwen reaches a second successive final and comes up against Price, he should hold the edge. The Dutchman leads their last ten meetings 6–4, a run that includes a dominant 7–2 victory in the Bahrain semi-finals last week.

Winner: Michael van Gerwen to beat Gerwyn Price 8-6





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Pegasus World Cup, live action from Tampa Bay Downs

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We are back at Gulfstream Park for the Pegasus World Cup

Busy week for Let ’em Run, live at Tampa Bay Downs Wednesday and previewing Pegasus World Cup

Let ‘em Run Review of 1/17/26

Last weekend saw a Kentucky Derby Prep race at Fair Grounds turn into a coming out party for trainer Cherie Devaux as her runners took the top 2 spots in The Lecomte. Golden Tempo and Mesquite earned points for the first Saturday in May, and also snapped an interesting trend that was broken in this edition of The Lecomte. Previous winners have only come out of having a maiden win last out, just one time in the past 25 years. So there is another example in horseracing where you need to sometimes look past the trends, and find the best horse.

Late P5 Breakdown Highlight

Our best breakdown occurred in the first race we looked at in the Late P5, when we had our bulls eye on the favorite, Medoro, in The Marie G. Krantz Memorial. The pace scenario played out as expected and set up for her, and she finished the job with a strong closing kick.

John Kostin’s Lecomte Insight

John was spot on in his deep dive in the Lecomte, where he was not impressed by the winners coming out of the Gun Runner Stakes. He had his eye squarely on both of trainer Cherie DeVaux’s runners, and gave his reasons why (check out clips attached).

Special Wednesday Podcast Preview

This week we will have a special edition of our Podcast, where our traveling handicapper, John Kostin will be live at Tampa Bay Downs on Wednesday 1/21/25 at 12:30 with special guest handicapper, Wadie Kalah. He is an avid handicapper, Tampa Bay native, and will be our “boots on the ground” with live updates, with John from Tampa Bay Downs. We will be breaking down the Late P5 sequence on the card, and any spot plays on the card that catch our attention. You can catch the Podcast live on Wednesday at 12:30 on Sports Talk Media Network, as well as multiple streaming apps and social channels.

Looking Ahead to Pegasus World Cup Day

Derby prep races take a break this weekend, as there is a huge card at Gulfstream Park on Saturday, The Pegasus World Cup Day. Included on the card are the Pegasus World Cup Turf for Fillies and Mares, and The Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational. These races, and all the races on the card, have big fields, and quality horses, with value to be had. So stay tuned, bet smart, cheer hard, fast horses equals serious fun and as always…Let ‘em Run.





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