Red Raider Soccer continues to roll in Smoky Mountain Cup

Kansas City Chiefs defensive end BJ Thompson is in stable condition at a local hospital after having a seizure and going into cardiac arrest on Thursday, multiple media outlets reported. Per reports, the Chiefs' medical staff attended to Thompson and an ambulance was called. The Chiefs sent players home and rescheduled the practice for Friday. Thompson, 27, recorded two tackles in one game last season. He was selected by the Chiefs in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL Draft out of Stephen F. Austin. --Field Level Media

Reports: Chiefs DE BJ Thompson in hospital after cardiac arrest

Wide receiver Sterling Shepard has agreed to terms on a one-year contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, multiple media outlets reported Thursday. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed for Shepard, who will see a familiar face in quarterback Baker Mayfield. The two were teammates at Oklahoma, with Shepard reeling in 86 passes for 1,288 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2015. Shepard, 31, had just 10 catches for 57 yards and one touchdown in 15 games last season with the New York Giants. He has 372 receptions for 4,095 yards and 23 scores in 90 career games since being selected by the Giants in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft. --Field Level Media

Wide receiver Mecole Hardman has agreed to terms on a new contract with the Kansas City Chiefs, multiple media outlets reported Thursday. NFL Network reported it was a one-year deal for Hardman, who caught the game-winning touchdown in Kansas City's 25-22 overtime victory against the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII. Hardman, 26, rejoins a wide receiver room that added free agent Marquise Brown and first-round pick Xavier Worthy. He also could provide depth should fellow wideout Rashee Rice receive a suspension due to off-the-field issues. A three-time Super Bowl champion, Hardman had 15 catches for 124 yards in 11 games last season split with the New York Jets and Chiefs. Hardman has 166 receptions for 2,212 yards and 16 touchdowns in 68 career games (28 starts) since being picked by the Chiefs in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft. --Field Level Media

The first 12-team edition of the College Football Playoff will begin on Dec. 20 and end exactly one month later, with the national championship game set to be played in Atlanta, it was announced Wednesday. The expanded playoff format will start with four first-round games played at campus sites on Dec. 20 and Dec. 21. Two of those games will be broadcast on TNT, which has a sublicense with ESPN. ESPN will carry the remaining nine games of the playoffs, with two of the first-round games airing on both ESPN and ABC. The quarterfinals begin on New Year's Eve with the Fiesta Bowl at 7:30 p.m. ET, followed by a trio of games on New Year's Day. The Peach Bowl will begin at 1 p.m., the Rose Bowl at 5 p.m. and the Sugar Bowl at 8:45 p.m. Both semifinals will start at 7:30 p.m. The first, the Orange Bowl, will be played on Jan. 9, and the second, the Cotton Bowl, will take place on Jan. 10. The championship game is set for 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 20 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The playoff field will be announced on Dec. 8 after the conclusion of conference championship weekend. The top four seeds will receive a first-round bye. --Field Level Media

PARIS (AP) — Catch up on the French Open with a guide that tells you everything you need to know about what happened at the clay-court Grand Slam tennis tournament, what the upcoming schedule is, how to watch, what the betting odds are and more:

Miami transfer guard and Philadelphia native Wooga Poplar has committed to Villanova, The Philadelphia Inquirer and On3 Sports reported Wednesday. Poplar also considered Oregon and garnered interest from a host of schools, including Kentucky, Arkansas and Kansas, per the reports. He has one year of eligibility remaining. Poplar withdrew his name from the NBA draft before the deadline. The 6-foot-5 guard averaged 13.1 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 29 games (all starts) for the Hurricanes last season. Poplar has started 65 of 66 games the past two seasons in Miami. He averaged 7.7 points and 3.1 rebounds in three seasons there. He helped the Hurricanes make a run to the Final Four in 2023. He shot 38.5 percent from the 3-point line last season. --Field Level Media

Five-star linebacker Zayden Walker, a Top 25 player in the Class of 2025, committed to Georgia on Wednesday. Walker, the second-ranked linebacker in the class, according to the 247Sports composite rankings, chose the Bulldogs over Florida State, Miami, Penn State and South Carolina among 29 offers. "It felt like home," Walker told On3 Sports. "I made my decision to commit to Georgia over the weekend when I was on my official visit. I had been close to committing before, but that was the right time. My family was there, I knew that is where I wanted to go and I made my decision." The Schley County High School standout from Ellaville is considered the 23rd-best prospect in the class, fifth-best out of Georgia, according to 247. --Field Level Media

Kansas sophomore guard Elmarko Jackson will miss the 2024-25 season after tearing his patellar tendon during a workout, Jayhawks head coach Bill Self announced Wednesday. Jackson will have surgery in the coming days with a recovery process that's expected to take a full year. The 6-foot-3 guard suffered the injury on Tuesday. He is expected to make a full recovery. "We are all crushed by this," Self said in the statement. "Elmarko has had a terrific spring. He has worked so hard and improved so much." Jackson averaged 4.3 points and 18.6 minutes in 34 games (17 starts) last season as a freshman. --Field Level Media

Corey Linsley released by Chargers, expected to retire