DR Congo, Harry Kane shine at World Cup; who will win it all at the U.S. Open?

1 hour ago 1

Plus, five college football teams poised to smash their win totals this season

Jun 18, 2026 at 9:12 am ET • 6 min read

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⚽ Five things to know Thursday

Congo DR and Harry Kane shine on Tuesday. There have already been plenty of surprising results in the first games of World Cup group play, and we can add Congo DR's 1-1 draw with Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal to the list. You can learn why Congo superfan Michel Mboladinga dresses as a Lumumba statue for 90 minutes. The individual star of the day was England's Harry Kane, who found the net twice to ease his team to a 4-2 win over Croatia.
Looking ahead to the next NBA season. Sure, the NBA season just wrapped with the Knicks hoisting the Larry O'Brien Trophy, but it's never too early to look ahead. With that in mind, take a look at our 2026 NBA mock draft and the top 40 free agents heading into the offseason. We also have predictions on where some of the sport's biggest names could land before the next season tips off.
North Carolina and Oklahoma advance to the College World Series championship. The Tar Heels will play in the championship series for the first time since 2007 after taking down West Virginia 12-7 on Tuesday. Oklahoma defeated Georgia 11-4 to advance to play the Tar Heels, with the Sooners picking up a second win over the Bulldogs in the tournament and preventing another game between the two on Thursday.
Did Texas Tech play themselves in the Brendan Sorsby saga? That's the belief of Richard Johnson, who wrote that Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark rose to the occasion in his biggest moment.
UFC's trip to the White House shakes up pound-for-pound rankings. Alex Pereira and Ilia Topuria suffered big losses at UFC Freedom 250 and tumbled in the CBS Sports UFC pound-for-pound rankings as a result.

⛳ Do not miss this: Who will win it all at the U.S. Open?

One of the biggest golf tournaments of the year kicks off today, with the US Open at Shinnecock Hills. The usual suspects are in the field, such as Scottie Scheffler, who has a career grand slam within reach, but plenty of unexpected winners have taken home the trophy at the U.S. Open. The weather is shaping up to play a significant role in the tournament, with gusty, changing winds in the forecast all week in Southampton, New York.

To the surprise of no one, Scheffler is the favorite to sit atop the leaderboard when the action wraps on Sunday, but he's not the only man with a legitimate shot to hoist the trophy. Patrick McDonald took a look at the nine men most likely to get a big boost to their resume, including Rory McIlroy.

McDonald: "It's not only about picking off certain golf tournaments these days for McIlroy but also about picking off certain golf tournaments at certain golf courses. Shinnecock Hills is one of those U.S. Open venues that is a résumé builder, and McIlroy knows this. He has evolved into a five-tool player with an affinity for firm, fast U.S. Open conditions, as evidenced by his record ever since missing the cut in 2018. The driver has been a little wayward in 2026, but if that tightens, he'll be right in this championship. Odds: 12-1"

🏈 Five college teams poised to smash their win totals this season

In the offseason, hope springs eternal for all fans. Maybe this is the year that roster construction, talent growth, coaching, and a few lucky bounces break a team through from pretender to contender, or from contender to champion. Teams -- and fans -- are still navigating the waters of the NIL, transfer portal and College Football Playoff, all of which combine to allow teams more opportunities than ever to make massive adjustments and move closer to a national championship.

In that spirit, Tom Fornelli took a look at five teams he believes can break through expectations and smash their preseason win totals, even if the list is a group of squads that have caused fans pain in the past, not the least of which is the Florida Gators.

Fornelli: "How high am I on the Florida Gators? Well, current win totals have the Gators pegged at 7.5 right now, but when I look at this team, I don't just see a squad that can get to 8-4. I see a team that could reach the College Football Playoff.
"This is a talented team that made what I consider a massive upgrade to its coaching staff over the offseason. Jon Sumrall wasn't the first choice of many Gators fans, but he was a good one. There is no single factor we can point to that guarantees success for a coach when they change jobs, but how they perform in conference play at their previous stops is about as reliable an indicator as you can find. It makes sense, whether you're coaching at Florida or Florida A&M, in conference play, you are facing teams on a level playing field, so coaching can be a difference-maker."

👍👎 The best (and not-so-best) of the rest

Shohei Ohtani had another rocky outing on the mound, but still picked up his seventh win of the season as the Dodgers beat the Rays 5-4, though he added a blister on his pitching hand to lingering concerns about his knee.
One question lives above all in the mind of an NFL fan during the offseason: How good -- or bad -- can things get this season? To that point, we looked to answer that question for every NFL team.
Pete Crow-Armstrong is playing like one of the best players in MLB again, but will he be able to maintain the recent heater?
UFC 330 landed a pair of headline fights, with Islam Makhachev defending the welterweight championship against Ian Machado Garry and Mackenzie Dern putting her women's strawweight title on the line against Gillian Robertson.
Here are 10 AFC rookies drafted outside the first round who could surprise NFL fans this season.
We have a look at what Brendan Sorsby's NFL contract would look like if he is the first supplemental draft pick since 2019 and the first quarterback drafted in the position since Terrelle Pryor in 2011.
LSU coach Lane Kiffin says injured quarterback Sam Leavitt has "been out there pretty much full strength now."
Clemson is looking to sophomore tackle Brayden Jacobs to bring stability to the offensive line for the 2026 season.
Ivory Coast's Elye Wahi was arrested for alleged spot-fixing just a couple of weeks before the World Cup began.
The WNBA regular season will expand to 50 games in 2027.
As the Fever have bounced back from a rocky stretch with a four-game winning streak, Caitlin Clark appears to have bounced back as well.

📺 What we're watching Thursday

🏌 U.S. Open: First round, 6:30 a.m. on USA Network
⚽ World Cup: Czechia vs. South Africa, 12 p.m. on Fox
⚾ Blue Jays at Red Sox, 1:35 p.m. on MLB.TV
⚽ World Cup: Switzerland vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina, 3 p.m. on Fox
⚾ Orioles at Mariners, 4:10 p.m. on MLB.TV
🏌 U.S. Open: First round, 5 p.m. on Peacock
⚽ World Cup: Canada vs. Qatar, 6 p.m. on Fox
⚾ Mets at Phillies, 6:40 p.m. on MLB Network
⚾ White Sox at Yankees, 7:05 p.m. on MLB.TV
🏀 Dream at Fever, 7:30 p.m. on Prime Video
⚽ World Cup: Mexico vs. South Korea, 9 p.m. on Fox
⚾ Angels at Athletics, 9:40 p.m. on MLB.TV