Wembanyama needs to fix this to keep Thunder from NBA Finals; Our annual college football coach rankings

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🏀 Five things to know Wednesday

1. The Thunder are one win away from a return to the NBA Finals. It is do-or-die time for San Antonio after Oklahoma City took command of the Western Conference Finals on Tuesday. Behind 32 points from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and a 22-point bench effort from Alex Caruso, the Thunder exploded for their most points of the series in a 127-114 Game 5 victory. Not only did the Spurs’ defense fail them, but they also did not get nearly enough from Victor Wembanyama on the offensive end. He needs to bounce back in a major way from his 4-for-15 effort if San Antonio is to prevent the Thunder from continuing their search for back-to-back titles. Meanwhile, the Knicks will be resting up since the NBA Finals won’t start until June 3.
2. The Golden Knights completed their Western Conference Final sweep. For the third time in the franchise’s nine-year history, Vegas is headed to the Stanley Cup Final. The Golden Knights added a late-third-period insurance goal in Game 4, and it’s a good thing they did, because the Avalanche found the back of the net moments later to create some late drama. In the end, though, it was the fourth win in as many outings for one of the NHL’s most successful teams of the last decade. It will be a few days before the Golden Knights learn their opponent, as the Eastern Conference battle between the Hurricanes and Canadiens will extend to at least Friday.
3. Mauricio Pochettino announced the USMNT’s World Cup roster. The United States is the latest country to unveil its World Cup squad ahead of next month’s kickoff. Pochettino revealed the 26-man team in a made-for-TV event on Tuesday and explained some of the more surprising choices, including the decision to name Gio Reyna to the squad. Without further ado, here are the 26 men who will represent the Red, White and Blue when the U.S. serves as one of three host countries this summer. The fallout has been immense. Pochettino drew criticism for the manner in which he informed players of his roster decisions, and there are significant questions about the team’s depth, especially in the midfield.
4. Josh Jacobs was arrested on domestic violence charges. The Packers running back and former NFL rushing champion denies the allegations that led to his arrest and booking in the Brown County (Wisc.) Jail. Police responded on May 23 to a disturbance complaint against Jacobs, who reportedly turned himself in on Tuesday and faces five charges. The NFL says it is aware of the report and has been in contact with the Packers.
5. Joe Mazzulla is the NBA’s Coach of the Year. The league handed out its final award of the season and recognized Mazzulla for helping the Celtics defy expectations en route to the Eastern Conference’s No. 2 seed. They entered the year with a projected win total of 41.5 but rattled off 56 games and looked — until their premature postseason exit — like a surprise championship threat. Mazzulla is the first Boston coach to win NBA Coach of the Year since 1980.

🏈 Do not miss this: College football coach rankings (Nos. 68-26)

It’s an annual tradition around here. Every summer, our college football experts fill in their ballots and rank every Power Four coach. Before we unveil the top 25, we start with those a little farther down the list. Or a lot farther down. Looking at you, Bill Belichick.

Belichick is a polarizing figure among our writers. Three of them placed him at the very bottom of their ballots, which led to some spirited behind-the-scenes debates. The North Carolina coach, who checks in at No. 63, was the only person not named Tavita Pritchard to receive last-place votes. Our Tom Fornelli is scratching his head.

• Fornelli: “The coach who won six Super Bowls finished behind a coach who has never been a head coach at any level and was only 13 years old when Belichick won his first Super Bowl with the Patriots. I genuinely don’t question my fellow voters’ rankings too much, but I have a very difficult time seeing the logic behind those decisions.”

Two coaches slipped out of the top 25 after posting sub-.500 seasons:

• Lance Leipold, Kansas (2026: 34 | 2025: 15)
• Mike Norvell, Florida State (2026: 42 | 2025: 25)

That’s quite the fall-off for Norvell. He was all the way up at No. 8 as recently as two years ago. With just six wins since the perfect 2024 regular season, the Seminoles have a deep hole to climb out of this year. Norvell made a few key changes this offseason, but will it be enough to save his job?

📈📉 Our latest MLB, WNBA and boxing power rankings

Rankings, rankings, rankings. I hope you like rankings. Our periodic pecking orders for MLB, the WNBA and the world of boxing saw refreshes this week, and unfortunately for a few parties, those that made significant tumbles down the ladder are the biggest stories from the respective rankings refreshes.

Starting in baseball, the Cubs are officially the streakiest team in the majors. Earlier in the year, they rattled off two 10-game winning streaks. Now they’ve lost 10 in a row. They are down a whopping 11 spots from last week. Here’s their new tier:

14. White Sox (↓3)
15. Cubs (↓11)
16. Nationals (↑3)

In the WNBA, the Liberty are on a similarly appalling slide. Three losses in a five-day span sent them spiraling from the No. 1 spot all the way down to No. 8. Not even season debuts from Satou Sabally and Sabrina Ionescu could prevent the early-year struggles. Here’s the landscape around them:

7. Fire (↑6)
8. Liberty (↓7)
9. Sparks (↑3)

And lastly, even though Oleksandr Usyk won his heavyweight bout with Rico Verhoeven (as expected), the manner in which he got the job done raised more questions than it delivered answers. He only narrowly avoided what would have been a colossal upset and the first defeat of his career. Here’s where he landed in our latest boxing pound-for-pound rankings:

3. David Benavidez (↑1)
4. Oleksandr Usyk (↓2)
5. Shakur Stevenson (–)

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

📺 What we’re watching Wednesday

🎾 French Open, second round, 5 a.m. on TNT
⚾ Marlins at Blue Jays, 1:07 p.m. on ESPN Unlimited
⚾ Nationals at Guardians, 1:10 p.m. on MLB Network
⚾ Cardinals at Brewers, 1:40 p.m. on Peacock
⚽ UEFA Conference League final: Crystal Palace vs. Rayo Vallecano, 3 p.m. on CBS Sports Network/Paramount+
⚾ Diamondbacks at Giants, 3:45 p.m. on MLB Network
⚾ Rays at Orioles, 6:35 p.m. on FS1
🏀 Mercury at Liberty, 7 p.m. on USA Network
🏒 Hurricanes at Canadiens, Game 4, 8 p.m. on TNT
🏀 Dream at Lynx, 9 p.m. on USA Network
⚾ Rockies at Dodgers, 10:10 p.m. on MLB Network

Article Originally Posted Here.