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MATT BOLDY LOVES playing hockey in Minnesota. The way the community supports the sport at all levels. The thousands of fans who watch the Minnesota Wild in warm-ups. And, if he’s being honest, the level of celebrity an NHL player can attain after just 47 games in the show.

“It’s crazy. Everyone’s a huge fan,” the 21-year-old told ESPN. “Can’t really go anywhere without getting recognized, which is pretty cool in a lot of ways.”

Of course, scoring 39 points in those 47 games can get one noticed. Being the rookie who helped power the Wild to their most successful regular season in franchise history will earn that recognition.

Marco Rossi watched from afar as Boldy, who was his linemate with the AHL Iowa Wild, lived the NHL dream. They’re both first-round draft picks and among the best young forward prospects in the league. Boldy was called up to contribute to the Wild while Rossi was getting his reps in the AHL, one year after COVID-19 complications nearly derailed his career.

Was it inspiring? Like, if Boldy could do that in the NHL, could Rossi do that?

“Yeah, of course,” Rossi said with a laugh. “But I don’t really like to focus too much about that.”

Rossi, 20, played two games with the Wild last season and hopes to play many more.

“Every hockey player dreams, like since day one, to play hockey one day in the NHL. That’s the best league in the world,” Rossi said. “It would mean a lot for me, but I know nobody’s gonna give it to me. You have to earn that spot.”

Boldy and Rossi are part of the wave of young players who have populated the Minnesota roster in recent seasons. Joel Eriksson Ek is 26. Jordan Greenway is 25. So is Kirill Kaprizov, the franchise’s biggest star and the face of that youth movement. One of the catalysts for the Wild’s recent success is striking that balance every NHL team seeks to strike: Talented kids meshing with productive veterans such as Mats Zuccarello, Ryan Hartman and the majority of their defense corps.

“We’ve got a good balance. I think part of the beauty of it is that the older guys embrace the youth,” general manager Bill Guerin said. “They’re excited to have Boldy on the team. They’re excited about Marco. They’re excited to see Greenway and Ek take steps in their careers. They’re not threatened by them at all. They want them to be good and they help them. They just want to win. And they realize we all need each other to do that.”

Now it’s up to Boldy and Rossi to reward that excitement.


DID BOLDY OUTPERFORM Guerin’s expectations last season?

“One hundred percent,” the Wild GM said with a laugh.

Boldy was drafted 12th overall in 2019 as a highly skilled winger from the U.S. National Team Development Program. It was a banner year for that program, which produced Boldy, first overall pick Jack Hughes, Trevor Zegras and Cole Caufield, among others in that draft class.

He spent two seasons at Boston College, earning a spot in the final 10 for the Hobey Baker Award as a sophomore. He joined the Wild organization in March 2021 and was hyped as being part of that young wave of talented forwards set to power the roster.

“It’s so cool, honestly, just to be considered in that category with Kirill, watching him every day,” Boldy said. “You look up to those guys. You want to be as good as Kirill. You soak up everything they have to say. But you gotta go out there and earn that. It’s about going up there and earning your way into that spot.”

Last season, Boldy earned a valuable spot in the Wild lineup: playing the vast majority of his minutes with Kevin Fiala, the forward who posted 33 goals and 85 points. He won’t have the same luxury this season. Fiala was traded to the Los Angeles Kings; his next contract was going to be too rich for the Wild’s salary-cap situation.

“Kev’s awesome. I mean, I’d be lying to you if I said I wasn’t a little bit disappointed seeing him go,” Boldy said. “I get it. There’s a lot of business to hockey too. But he’s an awesome player. He’s an awesome teammate. So it’s tough to see him go, but that’s kind of the nature of the game. You gotta find different ways to score and build chemistry with different players. And we got plenty of players on our team that are really good and that can hopefully make me a better player.”

Guerin scoffed at the idea that Boldy might be negatively impacted by Fiala’s departure.

“I’m not worried at all. Kevin’s a good player,” Guerin said. “Look, I’m sure that Colorado would love to have [Nazem] Kadri back. I’m sure Calgary wanted [Johnny] Gaudreau and [Matthew] Tkachuk back. You lose good players. That’s what happens.

“Matt Boldy’s going to be fine. As much as Kevin helped him, he helped Kevin.”

What Guerin is more concerned about is how Boldy adjusts to his opponents’ adjustments.

“The thing about these second-year players is that you’re not a secret anymore. Everyone knows how good you are,” Guerin said. “A veteran defenseman knows that if he doesn’t play Matt Boldy hard, he’s going to get burned. Sometimes that takes a second for a second-year forward to learn. It’s like, ‘Hey, these guys are playing me differently.’ And it’s like, yeah, because you’re good.”


MARCO ROSSI DOESN’T want to be defined by COVID-19. That much is clear.

“We don’t try to think too much about what happened like last year,” he said. “I focus and think more in the future than the past right now.”

Rossi left Wild training camp in February 2021 because of complications from COVID-19, for which he had tested positive the previous November. Rossi was diagnosed with myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle. He returned to Austria to recover with family and resumed training in June 2021. He played 63 games in the AHL along with his brief stint with the Wild in January.

“The hardest part was to stay patient. It’s not gonna be done in two weeks or something like that,” he said. “After the recovery time, you gotta come back to training and try to get better and that’s not easy.”

Rossi said that in the beginning of his comeback, he worried too much about his heart. Was it really healthy? He’d feel something in his chest during training and worry. It took a while for him to fully believe that he was 100 percent as the doctors were telling him.

“Health-wise, it was a scare. But he’s come back from it. He’s healthy,” Guerin said.

Rossi was drafted No. 9 overall in 2020 by the Wild as a dynamic offensive center for the OHL Ottawa 67’s. Born in Austria, Rossi remembers navigating through some cultural differences in North America. Like, for example, the affinity for one of his favorite sports.

“Three years ago, I was talking in Ottawa that I like to watch Formula One,” he recalled. “Not many guys knew what that really was or how it worked.”

Things change.

“They promote it so good right now,” Rossi said. “I mean, with the Netflix show, it’s now something that so many people watch.”

Rossi has his engine primed for the NHL but doesn’t know if he’s in the race yet. The expectation is that he’ll make the leap to the main roster, but both Guerin and Rossi said that’s contingent on a strong training camp.

“I think he’ll do very well. He’s a smart kid. He analyzes where he’s at. There’s no secret to his work ethic and his competitiveness,” Guerin said. “I think his game will transition well, but he has to do it right off the hop. He has gotta come in and prove himself.”

Boldy, his friend and potential linemate, thinks he will.

“He can play,” Boldy said, laughing. “I think he’s just a really, really good skater. Really good on his edges. He’s got a lot of speed. He’s smart and scores goals. He can pass. He’s kind of got it all. He’s definitely got every tool that you need to be successful.”

The Wild have the tools now, too, thanks to this balance between established talents and emerging ones such as Boldy and Rossi.

“It’s really good. It’s a good mix between us,” Rossi said. “Because like the younger kids can learn a lot from the older guys and even like the older guys can learn a lot from the young guys. You can see everyone likes each other. That helps a team to push it all the way to the end.”

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Irish AD: Independence ‘more valuable than ever’

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Irish AD: Independence 'more valuable than ever'

While college athletics undergoes sweeping changes, Notre Dame‘s desire to remain independent is constant, as Notre Dame leadership feels “as secure as ever” in its football status, first-year athletic director Pete Bevacqua told ESPN on Thursday.

Bevacqua, who began his new role on Monday following the retirement of longtime athletic director Jack Swarbrick, cited multiple reasons for the athletic department’s continued sense of security. He said the university’s most recent television deal with NBC, its partnership with the ACC for all other sports except hockey, and the new College Football Playoff deal all provide financial security. He also said he’s “bullish” on the future of the football program as coach Marcus Freeman enters his third season.

“We are now in as good of a position as we’ve ever been in the modern era of college football to be independent,” said Bevacqua, a 1993 Notre Dame graduate who returned to the school in 2023 in an administrative role after serving as the third chairman in the history of NBC Sports. “You see all the conference realignment, you see everything that’s happened, I think our position as being independent in football quite frankly is certainly more unique than ever, but also more valuable than ever.”

According to sources, in the new six-year CFP agreement, which begins in 2026, Notre Dame has the potential to earn roughly $18 million annually, which would significantly elevate the program closer to what the Big Ten and SEC schools will be making (more than $21 million). It would also boost the Irish ahead of the ACC and Big 12 schools.

Starting in 2026, Notre Dame is expected to get more than $12 million from CFP revenue distribution, which is in the same ballpark as ACC schools (more than $13 million annually) and Big 12 schools (also more than $12 million each).

Bevacqua declined to comment on the CFP revenue agreements, but industry sources told ESPN there will also be a $6 million financial incentive for any independent team that reaches the CFP — what should typically be a source of additional revenue for the Irish because Notre Dame has access protections built into the new CFP contract that will survive regardless of whether the ultimate format includes 12 or 14 teams. If Oregon State and Washington State don’t join a conference by then, they would also be eligible for the additional $6 million, along with UConn, which is the only other independent school remaining. There will no longer be a participation bonus for any of the conferences.

“Our dollar figure that’s derived from the CFP for us is quite strong, plus the fact we have the ability to earn additional revenue in the instances where we make the CFP, which puts us in an even stronger position,” Bevacqua said. “So when you step back and look at the totality of those three elements — the NBC relationship, the ACC Network relationship and the CFP — we’re in an incredibly strong position relative to the rest of the college sports world.”

With the Big Ten and SEC having separated from the other leagues in both size and wealth, and the ACC entangled in lawsuits with Clemson and Florida State, questions continue to swirl about further realignment. Bevacqua said Notre Dame feels “very strongly” about its relationship with the ACC and commissioner Jim Phillips, also a Notre Dame graduate.

“Clearly like everybody else in the conference we’re certainly talking about FSU and Clemson with the conference and Jim Phillips, but we feel that the conference is in such great shape, has a long-term relationship with ESPN which is important, and has secured its very important inclusion in the CFP like we have for the next eight years,” Bevacqua said. “There’s a lot of unbelievably great things going on for the ACC and we value our relationship and being a part of that conference in the overwhelming majority of our sports with the two exceptions, obviously football and hockey.”

Notre Dame is the most valuable property remaining — and the ACC hasn’t been shy in the past about courting the Irish as a full member — but Bevacqua said “it’s fundamentally important to Notre Dame to stay independent in football” because it has allowed the school to position itself as a national university as it relates to football.

As confident as Bevacqua is in Freeman’s future leading the Irish, he recognized the pressure to win to sustain that national brand and said, there’s “an absolute need for us to win a national championship.”

“That pressure has been on Notre Dame since Knute Rockne,” he said. “That’s not a pressure quite frankly we shy away from. That’s a pressure we accept. As a lifelong Notre Dame fan and as an alumnus, we thrive on that pressure. There’s an understanding that Notre Dame football — maybe more than anywhere else in the country, certainly as much as anywhere else in the country — is part of the DNA of this university.

“We know that is a key priority of ours,” he said, “not only to stay relevant, but quite frankly to win a national championship and be the best.”

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NCAA prez calls for ban on college prop bets

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NCAA prez calls for ban on college prop bets

NCAA president Charlie Baker is calling for a ban on college prop bets in states with legal sports wagering.

Prop bets — short for proposition bets — are wagers not related to the final score of a contest. An example of such a side bet would be an over/under on how many 3-pointers an individual player will make in a game.

“Sports betting issues are on the rise across the country with prop bets continuing to threaten the integrity and competition and leading to student athletes and professional athletes getting harassed. The NCAA has been working with states to deal with these threats and many are responding by banning college prop bets,” Baker said in a statement.

His request comes on the heels of ESPN reporting that the NBA is looking into betting irregularities involving Raptors forward Jontay Porter. At issue were two games in which prop bets on Porter were the two biggest winners on prop bets in the NBA on those respective evenings.

On both occasions, Porter left the game early, ensuring the under hit on the prop bets. ESPN has not reported a link between Porter and the wagers, but the activity was flagged by league data scientists.

Baker does not want prop bets to become an issue at the collegiate level.

“This week we will be contacting officials across the country in states that still allow these bets and ask them to join Ohio, Vermont, Maryland and many others and remove college prop bets from all betting markets,” he said. “The NCAA is drawing the line on sports betting to protect student-athletes and to protect the integrity of the game — issues across the country these last several days show there is more work to be done.”

The NCAA is in the middle of the March Madness basketball tournaments, and for the sixth straight year, the number of states with legal gambling has increased, with North Carolina recently becoming the 38th.

The American Gaming Association estimates $2.7 billion will be bet this year on the men’s and women’s NCAA basketball tournaments through legal sportsbooks.

Companies that monitor sports betting for irregularities have warned college sports administrators that prop betting on unpaid athletes elevates the potential risk for a scandal.

The NCAA conducted a survey after last year’s basketball tournaments that found 58% of 18- to 22-year-olds are gambling.

Baker has said the proliferation of legal sports gambling has increased stress on college athletes.

“All that chatter about who’s playing, who’s not playing. Who’s sore, who’s not sore. What’s going on with the team you’re playing? What do you think your chances are? Which is just classic chatter, where — in a world where people are betting — takes on a whole new consequence,” Baker said in January before his address to membership at the NCAA convention.

San Diego State athletic director JD Wicker echoed those sentiments Wednesday.

“Our student athletes are going to class, they’re more available in the community,” Wicker said. “So there’s a lot more opportunity for one of them to be pressured, for them to have something negative happen because maybe they miss the free throw or they miss the over the under, all those types of things.”

The NCAA has partnered with a data science company called Signify, which also works with the National Basketball Players Association and the WNBA, to online identify threats made to athletes during championship events that are often linked to wagering.

“Basically tracks ugly, nasty stuff that’s being directed at people who are participating in their tournaments, and we’d use it the same way,” Baker said in January. “And it can shut it down or basically block it. And in some cases even track back to where it came from.”

Illinois coach Brad Underwood wants to maintain competitive integrity.

“I think in the Big Ten we’ve been very, very proactive in terms of putting out an injury report before games to help protect student-athletes and coaches. I’m a big fan of that,” he said from the East Regional in Boston Wednesday. “I would hate to see the day where nobody jumps for the jump ball because of a prop bet. To me the greatness of college athletics is the competitive integrity that we have, and we should be able to keep that.”

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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Ranking college football’s top 10 defensive backs for 2024

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Ranking college football's top 10 defensive backs for 2024

As we continue our top 10 rankings at various positions around college football, it seems our voters had as much trouble finding separation among the candidates at defensive back as receivers do when going against the defenders themselves.

This was the tightest contest so far, with a tie at the top that was broken based on the number of first-place votes each of the two contenders received from our ESPN reporters. That left Georgia’s Malaki Starks at No. 1, edging Colorado two-way star Travis Hunter, who also made our top 10 receivers list.

The bunched results did not end there. In fact, the player with the most first-place votes was Michigan’s Will Johnson, who was third overall, and five players were No. 1 on at least one ballot.

Points were assigned based on our reporters’ votes: 10 points for first place, nine for second place and down to one point for 10th place.

Here are the results.

Previous top 10 lists: Receivers | Running backs | Quarterbacks | Pass-rushers

2023 stats: 3 interceptions, 7 passes defended, 52 tackles

Points: 67 (two first-place votes)

From the very first time Starks stepped on the field for the Bulldogs, there was a feeling that the five-star safety was different. In the first quarter of his first collegiate game Sept. 3, 2022, Starks intercepted a deep pass from Oregon quarterback Bo Nix. He high-pointed the ball and hauled it in while falling backward in Georgia’s 49-3 victory. Starks was named a freshman All-American while helping lead the Bulldogs to their second straight CFP national championship.

Last season, Starks was even better. He was named a consensus All-American after totaling 52 tackles, 3 interceptions and 7 pass breakups, which was sixth among all Power 5 safeties, according to Pro Football Focus. With safeties Tykee Smith and Javon Bullard leaving for the NFL draft, Starks will have an even more important role on the back end of Georgia’s defense this season. He could become the Bulldogs’ first two-time All-American safety since John Little in 1985-86. The 6-foot-1, 205-pound junior is projected to be a first-round selection in the 2025 NFL draft. — Mark Schlabach


2023 stats: 3 interceptions, 5 passes defended, 31 tackles

Points: 67 (no first-place votes)

When Deion Sanders spoke of the Louis Vuitton he was bringing to Colorado, Hunter was one of the players he was referencing, and rightfully so. While he was the best player in the country who was getting snaps on both offense and defense, Hunter’s best plays from 2023 stand out on the defensive side, such as his spectacular interception in the opener against TCU.

He routinely followed the opponent’s best receiver and had three interceptions on the season, second most among Pac-12 corners. He also had 31 total tackles, two for a loss, as well as five passes defended. If Colorado takes another leap in 2024, Hunter will be a big reason. — Harry Lyles Jr.


2023 stats: 4 interceptions, 4 passes defended, 27 tackles

Points: 60 (three first-place votes)

One of Jim Harbaugh’s more decorated recent recruits, Johnson immediately lived up to blue-chip hype, allowing just a 44% completion rate and an 11.9 QBR in coverage and playing a major role for the Wolverines’ 2022 CFP team. In 2023, both Michigan and Johnson raised their respective games. He allowed just a 42% completion rate and a 4.3 QBR as the Wolverines won a national title with the No. 1 defense per SP+.

Just about everything is changing for Michigan in 2024 — Sherrone Moore replaces Harbaugh as head coach, Wink Martindale replaces Jesse Minter as defensive coordinator, and only about five total offensive and defensive starters return. But any secondary with Johnson in it will automatically be one of the nation’s best, especially with the veteran safety help he should receive. So that is something the Wolverines can bank on. — Bill Connelly


2023 stats: 2 interceptions, 3 passes defended, 107 tackles

Points: 53 (two first-place votes)

There is a reason Downs received more than 100 phone calls after he announced he was going to transfer from Alabama. Downs was the best freshman safety in the country a year ago, a five-star recruit in the Class of 2023 who lived up to the advance billing in his only season with the Tide. Downs became the first freshman to lead the team in tackles, tallying 107, and added two interceptions en route to freshman All-America honors.

He chose to transfer after Nick Saban retired and said he chose Ohio State over Georgia because it was the “best decision for me.” Downs joins a veteran defense that includes returning starters Jack Sawyer, JT Tuimoloau, Denzel Burke and Lathan Ransom. Ohio State already ranked in the top 10 in the nation in pass defense without him. His arrival only strengthens an already stout group. — Andrea Adelson


2023 stats: 3 interceptions, 10 passes defended, 31 tackles

Points: 48 (one first-place vote)

Morrison shares a defensive backfield with the 2023 Bronko Nagurski Trophy winner in safety Xavier Watts, but he might have a higher ceiling, both in college and with his NFL draft outlook. He had a breakout season as a freshman in 2022, recording six interceptions, which ranked seventh nationally and were the most for a Notre Dame players since Heisman Trophy finalist Manti Te’o in 2012. Although Watts had the glitzier interceptions numbers last season, Morrison had a very strong encore, leading the team with 10 pass breakups. He also added three more interceptions as well as 3.5 tackles for loss, showing improvement against the run.

A sound tackler who can mark an opponent’s top receiver, Morrison was a semifinalist for the Thorpe Award. The son of former NFL safety Darryl Morrison could be one of the first defensive players selected in the 2025 draft if he maintains his trajectory as a ball-hawking cornerback. — Adam Rittenberg


2023 stats: 1 interception, 8 passes defended, 24 tackles

Points: 37

Burke was a freshman All-American in 2021 before stepping in as Ohio State’s full-time starter a year later. He has started 24 straight games at corner for the Buckeyes and has been exceptional at the job.

As a junior in 2023, he finished seventh in the Big Ten in completion percentage allowed (38.5%), surrendered just .88 yards per snap in coverage, allowed only one touchdown throw and broke up nine passes to go with one interception. — David Hale


2023 stats: 7 interceptions, 4 passes defended, 52 tackles

Points: 34 (one first-place vote)

Truth be told, Watts may be a little low on this list considering all he accomplished last season — and the potential for more in 2024. The reigning Bronko Nagurski Award winner as the best defensive player in the country, Watts was a unanimous All-American in 2023, leading the nation with seven interceptions while also finishing with 52 tackles, 4 pass breakups, 11 passes defended and a forced fumble returned for a touchdown.

Watts could have turned pro but decided to go back to school for one more season, returning to a veteran group that has designs on a playoff berth. His rise to becoming the best safety in the country has been fast. Watts began his career as a wide receiver, but switched positions and emerged as a starting safety at the end of 2022. — Adelson


2023 stats: 3 interceptions, 8 passes defended, 67 tackles

Points: 22

When your offense struggles to crack double digits in scoring, it is good to have a shutdown corner on the other side of the ball. Iowa was lucky enough to have two. While Cooper DeJean was the more recognized star in 2023, Sebastian Castro blossomed into a genuine star, doing a bit of everything along the way to help the Hawkeyes’ defense.

In coverage, he was among the nation’s best, allowing just 0.41 yards per coverage snap, which ranks as the third-best mark among returning cornerbacks for 2024. He allowed opposing QBs to complete just 37.5% of their passes against him, allowed just 3.3 yards per target and picked off one pass with eight PBUs. But he was also one of the most consistent tacklers at the position, racking up 67 takedowns, and he disrupted backfields routinely, racking up eight tackles for loss. — Hale


2023 stats: 0 interceptions, 6 passes defended, 42 tackles

Points: 16

After years of relying on a dominant defensive front, Clemson’s defense took an odd turn in 2023. The Tigers’ run defense was merely good, not great, but the pass defense was almost unassailable. Mukuba was the No. 1 reason for that. He erased half the field on any given play: In 10 games, his man was targeted only 27 times and caught only eight balls for 85 yards. That’s a paltry 0.27 yards allowed per coverage snap. He gave up one 20-yard completion all year, and it was a mere 21-yarder.

Now he moves back to his hometown of Austin, where, along with Jahdae Barron and Terrance Brooks, he should form one of the most physical and oppressive cornerback tandems in the country. He can play out wide or in the slot, and he could be a massive difference-maker for the Texas defense. — Connelly


2023 stats: 3 interceptions, 14 passes defended, 46 tackles

Points: 16

One of the most coveted cornerbacks in the transfer portal, Muhammad gives Dan Lanning’s defense another weapon. He began his career at Oklahoma State before spending last season at Washington, where he started all 15 games and had 46 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 16 passes defended and 3 interceptions. This was good enough to earn Muhammad second-team All-Pac-12 honors.

The addition of Muhammad, an honorable mention All-Big 12 pick in 2022, is big for Oregon, which revamped its secondary this offseason. What might be even bigger is taking him from Washington after Kalen DeBoer’s departure to Alabama, as both the Ducks and Huskies prepare for a transition into the Big Ten in 2024. — Lyles

Also receiving votes: Billy Bowman Jr., Oklahoma (14); Fentrell Cypress II, Florida State (14); Quincy Riley, Louisville (8); Tyreek Chappell, Texas A&M (8); Dorian Strong, Virginia Tech (6); Hunter Wohler, Wisconsin (6); Beau Freyler, Iowa State (5); Jordan Hancock, Ohio State (4); Deshawn Pace, UCF (3); Rod Moore, Michigan (3); Jahdae Barron, Texas (2); Kevin Winston Jr., Penn State (2)

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