I Dig Sports
Pep looks to future after 1st-ever round-of-16 miss
Pep Guardiola said Manchester City must now fight to qualify for next season's Champions League after Kylian Mbappé's hat trick for Real Madrid sent the Premier League champions crashing out of the competition before the Round of 16.
The elimination at the hands of holders Madrid ensured that former Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach Guardiola would not reach the Round of 16 for the first time in his coaching career.
Mbappé's hat trick sealed a 3-1 second-leg win for Real, and 6-3 on aggregate, to book a clash against either Bayer Leverkusen or Atletico Madrid in the next round.
With City now out of the competition and 17 points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool, Guardiola said his team must now focus on securing a top-four finish in England to be in Europe's top club competition next season after admitting that Madrid deserved to end his team Champions League hopes.
"We couldn't defend well with the movement from Mbappé and it was more difficult," Guardiola said. "The best team won, they deserve it.
"We have always done a group stage in Champions League seasons -- finals, semifinals, but this season in all competitions we have not been good.
"I have the feeling we were better than Real in the previous three seasons, but this time they were better. They deserve it. What we have to do is accept it and move forward.
"We have 13 games in the Premier League to try and be here next season. Nothing is eternal.
"We have been unbelievable and we have to try. We cannot win the league and we have to be in the top four or top five to try to be here again."
City have faced Madrid four times in the Champions League knockout stages since 2020, winning two ties and losing two ties including this one. And Guardiola said that this defeat did not hurt as much as previous losses to Madrid because his side were unable to compete over the two legs.
"It's ok to accept the reality that they were better," Guardiola said. "In previous seasons when we were playing outstanding, it hurts more than today.
"I always ask of my teams that the team who deserves to win wins all the time but that doesn't happen in football.
"It's the reality, so we must reflect on the good things we have done. "We have time to think about it [the team's future]. Now it's easy to say, but it's not the point.
"Losing 2-3 at home was hard to swallow, but even with a good result, I know how good they are. With time, the team and club will accept what it is."
Next up for City is a high-profile Premier League matchup with leaders Liverpool on Sunday. The status of star striker Erling Haaland, who was unable to play against Madrid on Wednesday due to injury, is in doubt for that game.
Mbappé's hat trick inspires Madrid, as Man City are humbled out of Champions League
MADRID, Spain -- Kylian Mbappé sealed Real Madrid's 6-3 aggregate victory over Manchester City with a hat trick at the Santiago Bernabéu as the reigning European champions booked their place in the UEFA Champions League round of 16.
Real, seeking their sixteenth Champions League title, went into the second leg of the playoff with a 3-2 lead over the Premier League champions after last week's win at the Etihad. And with City forward Erling Haaland fit enough for only a place on the substitutes' bench, Carlo Ancelotti's team made easy work of the 2023 Champions League winners.
For City, their miserable season continues, and the club now have only the FA Cup as a realistic chance of silverware as they go into Sunday's clash with Premier League leaders Liverpool seventeen points behind Arne Slot's side. -- Mark Ogden
Mbappé delivers on the kind of night he dreamt about
Mbappé had already played in some big games for Real Madrid. There'd been two Clásicos and two Madrid derbies, and he faced Borussia Dortmund, AC Milan and Liverpool in the league phase. But this was his first big game. At Real Madrid -- where standards are higher than anywhere else -- that means a Champions League knockout tie, against another top club, ideally with a vibrant second leg at the Santiago Bernabéu.
And tonight, Mbappé emphatically delivered. This is why he joined Madrid. Having previously experienced what can happen on a European night at this stadium -- Mbappé put Paris Saint-Germain ahead here in March 2022 before a second-half Karim Benzema hat trick sent Madrid through -- he's now on the other, happier side of the equation.
Mbappé's first-half performance against City was ruthlessly efficient. He needed just 14 touches to take five shots. Two of them were goals, with an xG (expected goals) of 0.73. And what goals they were. The first was lofted, unerringly, and first-time, over Ederson after Raúl Asencio's long ball.
The second came after a flowing move involving Jude Bellingham, Vinícius Júnior and Rodrygo, before some nimble Mbappé footwork. In the second half, a deserved hat trick was completed, stepping inside to stroke a shot, left-footed, into the bottom corner. Those early-season doubts about Mbappé's adaptation feel an awfully long time ago.
His goal scoring record in Champions League knockout games is staggering: 24 goals since 2017, including tonight's hat trick. No player has scored more. That's why Madrid worked so hard to bring Mbappé here. And there'll be plenty more big nights to come. -- Alex Kirkland
Time catching up with Man City
The signs have been there for a while, especially during the worst season of Pep Guardiola's nine-year reign as Manchester City manager, but this dismantling at the hands of Real Madrid offered indisputable evidence that time has caught up with this City side.
City offered no resistance as Real cruised to victory, and Guardiola's side were as passive as perhaps ever before. But take a look at the squad on duty, and it is easy to see why this group of players -- a group that has won so much -- has come to the end of the line.
Kevin De Bruyne, City's talisman for so many years, is now 33, and injuries have taken their toll on the Belgium midfielder to the extent that he didn't even start this must-win game.
John Stones, 30, has spent 10 weeks on the sidelines due to various injuries this season and the England defender is now facing another spell out of the team after lasting just eight minutes in the Bernabéu before limping off with another injury.
And in midfield, the 34-year-old Ilkay Gündogan must have wished he never returned to City on a free transfer from Barcelona last summer after being left chasing shadows by his Real opponents.
Bernardo Silva, another 30-year-old, was also anonymous on a night when Real looked hungry, energetic and full of belief -- none of which applied to City.
The Champions League is always the true test of a top team, and City have been found wanting this season. They only just sneaked into the playoff round after finishing 22nd in the initial stage of the competition, and Real have now given them a brutal reality check. -- Ogden
Valverde is more than just a stand-in right-back
Carlo Ancelotti once jokingly said that Federico Valverde is the world's third-best right-back, after Dani Carvajal and Lucas Vázquez. But maybe it's time to ask: was Carlo underselling it? Because make no mistake, the Uruguayan -- nominally a central midfielder -- is an outstanding full-back. He might just be a long-term candidate for the role at Real Madrid (as ESPN colleague Gab Marcotti has argued in the past) if he weren't so important in midfield.
Valverde's display against City, and some theoretically testing opponents in Savinho and Omar Marmoush, was effortless. One second-half tackle, diving in to dispossess Marmoush, got one of the biggest cheers of the night from the Bernabéu crowd. Valverde even recovered to make a technically perfect block of a cross -- arms behind his back to avoid any chance of a handball -- inside the area moments later. The once shy, soft-spoken Valverde is now one of this team's leaders, wearing the captain's armband with Carvajal, Vázquez and Luka Modric out of the side.
He's also endearingly modest. "We know I'm playing there because others are injured," he said prematch when asked about the challenge of filling in at right-back.
"I think I've done quite well. If I don't get opportunities in midfield in the future, I'll play at full-back!" -- Kirkland
Khusanov not ready for the big time
Abdukodir Khusanov has had a nightmare start to his Manchester City career since arriving from Lens in January, and it continued for the Uzbek defender against Real. Since having a debut to forget against Chelsea last month, the 20-year-old has found the going tough in the Premier League, and his confidence is clearly on the floor.
But with injuries hitting hard at the Etihad, Pep Guardiola had no option but to select Khusanov in his starting team against Real.
Khusanov is still a youngster learning the game and ordinarily wouldn't have been thrown in at the deep end to the extent that he has been since arriving at the club. But just imagine his mood at being tasked with the challenge of marking Vinícius and then having to deal with Mbappé when the hat-trick-scoring Real forward fancied a run down the Real left.
He also had to contend with Bellingham playing in his area of the pitch, but despite his workload, he was rarely helped out by his teammates. He needs time out of the team so he can adjust to the demands of his new club before his confidence is shattered beyond repair. -- Ogden
After a slow start, Madrid are back among UCL favourites
Madrid's performance in the league phase was underwhelming and unworthy of a team that had never failed to progress from the old group stage. Beaten by Lille, AC Milan and Liverpool and only a string of late wins -- against beatable opposition in Atalanta, RB Salzburg, and Brest -- secured a place in the playoffs. Madrid looked like a deeply flawed team, beset by injuries and unable to balance the twin demands of accommodating Mbappé, Vinícius, Bellingham and Rodrygo with maintaining a functioning defensive unit.
Just a couple of months later, it's a different story. Yes, the caveat: Manchester City aren't very good. And it would be unwise, therefore, to draw too many broad, sweeping conclusions. But some of the doubts about this Madrid side have been dispelled over these two legs.
The defence is much more solid, with Asencio improving all the time, alongside an already-fit Antonio Rüdiger. Valverde, as discussed above, is arguably an improvement on Vázquez at right-back. In midfield, Aurélien Tchouaméni might have put in his best display of the season against City on Wednesday, and Dani Ceballos continues to exceed expectations.
Most importantly in attack, the "Fantastic Four" are flying. Madrid's second goal, with all four forwards involved, was an example of what they can do. Mbappé looks a different player to the one who started the season, and both Vinícius and Rodrygo have tended to deliver in key Champions League games. The suspension of Bellingham for Madrid's round-of-16 first leg, after picking up a booking Wednesday, is the only concern. But you'd rather that suspension comes now than later in the knockout phase.
Overall, Madrid head into the last 16 back where they belong: among the favourites to win this competition. -- Kirkland
Haaland's fitness is a worry for City
Haaland wasn't fit enough to start against Real Madrid, but the Manchester City striker didn't even take part in the prematch warmup, so how bad is the Norwegian's knee injury?
That will be the question worrying City's supporters and also intriguing Liverpool ahead of Sunday's Premier League clash at the Etihad because the initial verdict from City boss Guardiola was that the knee injury sustained against Newcastle United at the weekend wasn't a concern.
Haaland was substituted late in the game against Newcastle after going down unchallenged before clutching his right knee. He looked visibly worried but was able to walk off the pitch following treatment, so Guardiola attempted to allay fears over the forward's fitness after the 4-0 win.
But having taken no part against Real, in a game City had to win after losing 3-2 in the first leg, means that there is an issue that Guardiola is worried about. Haaland was named as a substitute, perhaps as a last throw of the dice if the game was close in the final stages, but his failure to even warm up before or during the game has raised more questions than answers. -- Ogden
If the shoe fits: Chinelle Henry ready to step up for Alyssa Healy
Henry, the powerful West Indies middle-order batter and handy fast bowler, received a late call-up to the tournament as a replacement for Australia captain Healy, who is recovering from a stress injury in her foot, and while she is yet to play a game, she wants to make her inclusion count.
"This is a really huge, huge opportunity for me," Henry told ESPNcricinfo's Powerplay podcast. "My only other franchise league would've been the CPL, so to be a part of one of the biggest franchises around in female cricket in the WPL is a really big thing for my career going forward. Next year maybe I could secure a place to be actually a part of a team permanently coming in the next edition of the WPL, so this year is definitely kind of like a test run, a trial run, for me.
"Coming in has a replacement, that's a huge set of responsibilities on me, huge shoes to fill. The atmosphere playing along with some of the best in the world from their respective regions is going to be huge. This will be a lot of learning this year and I'm hoping that I can actually go there and deliver on the field when called upon, because that's the reason why I'm here. Obviously they saw something. Healy, unfortunately the team lost to injury, and to be that replacement is a huge honour."
It only takes a glance back to December to see why UP Warriorz reached for Henry's number when Healy succumbed to the injury she has been battling on and off since last year's T20 World Cup.
"We just don't want to keep dwelling on the past that, 'hey, we won the 2016 T20 World Cup'. Teams are evolving, teams are getting better, players are getting better. We know that we have to get better"
Chinelle Henry
"A lot of people have been talking about it, that I have been in form lately, and that's something that I actually want to continue to do because obviously the pressure of the WPL is different from everything else," Henry said. "Being here in the WPL, I'm not going to lie, I was a little bit nervous at first, but after coming back here, adjusting to the atmosphere, it's just about getting to know the girls a little bit better and just picking up where I left off the last time I was in India. It's just about continuing that confidence, continuing to play with that freedom and to know that I have the backing of the coaches and team."
West Indies will need all of those components to come together again in April when they face five other teams vying for just two qualifying places at the 50-over World Cup, to be played in India later this year.
"When you talk about West Indies, we always want to be at the big stage, big competitions, we always want to be competing," Henry said. "The same amount of confidence, the same amount of enthusiasm that we play the T20s with, that's something we are trying to go out there and play the longer version with. The longer version of the game is something that we are going to have to take more responsibility for as a person, as a team, and know that to avoid these situations [going through the qualifier] this is what we have to do.
"We won the T20 World Cup once and definitely the ODI World Cup is something that we talked about. We just don't want to keep dwelling on the past that, 'hey, we won the 2016 T20 World Cup'. Teams are evolving, teams are getting better, players are getting better. We know that we have to get better and these are things that we have to do in order to be better at the longer version of the game."
West Indies will also return to playing a women's Test for the first time in a generation in 2026 when they host Australia, having last played the format in 2003-04.
"The World Cup, it was good for us, the things that we achieved," she said. "England being one of the best in the world, we were able to overcome that hurdle. Unfortunately we couldn't make it to the final, but I was definitely proud of the team, proud of the performances. It is definitely going to be a challenge [playing in England] because I'm pretty sure they'll remember that we're the reason why they didn't make it further in the T20 World Cup, so there would be a lot to settle there.
"But that happened and we know what it takes to beat teams that are ranked above us. We know what it takes individually and as a team and there's a lot we could take from that World Cup and bring into this series that we have coming up against them in May. They will be coming out guns blazing so as a unit we have to be up for the challenge and we have to be ready to know that when the pressure happens we just know how to deal with it."
Valkerie Baynes is a general editor, women's cricket, at ESPNcricinfo
Latham and Young centuries hand New Zealand thumping victory
New Zealand 320 for 5 (Latham 118*, Young 107, Phillips 61, Naseem 2-63) beat Pakistan260 (Khushdil 69, Babar 64, O'Rourke 3-47, Santner 3-66) by 60 runs
Just like Fakhar, most of the Pakistan batters failed to get out first gear, including Babar Azam who needed 81 balls for his fifty. New Zealand's attack was depleted by the injuries to Lockie Ferguson and Ben Sears, but their spinners made up for that on a pitch that offered turn and variable bounce. The spinners were so good that New Zealand didn't need Nathan Smith, their third seamer, until the 31st over. By then Pakistan's asking rate had almost touched ten an over.
That total, however, had looked so far away when New Zealand were reduced to 40 for 2 in the ninth over and then 73 for 3 in the 17th over. That's when Young got together with Latham to repair the early damage and then boss the middle overs.
Young brought up his third fifty-plus score in nine innings in Pakistan and converted it into a century. He got there in 107 balls in the 35th over, with Ravindra warmly applauding him from the dressing room.
As for Latham, he rattled off his own hundred off 95 balls and remained unbeaten on 118 off 104 balls. It capped a remarkable turnaround for him after he had come into the tri-series final on the back of three ducks, stretching back to the Auckland ODI against Sri Lanka in January. After being assisted by multiple reprieves on his way to 56 in the tri-series final against Pakistan, Latham reminded the world of his full range. He played a variety of sweeps, including the reverse, off a variety of lengths to disrupt Pakistan's spinners. Fifty-two of his 118 runs came square or behind square on the leg side.
After Young holed out for 107, Latham forged 125-run partnership with Phillips for the fifth wicket off just 74 balls. Having been on 10 off 18 balls, Phillips surged to his fifty off his next 16 balls. He had launched Shaheen for back-to-back sixes and then when he shaped to ramp Haris Rauf over short third, he ended up toe-ending it to the fielder for 61 off 39.
In his first match at a global event as New Zealand captain, Santner came away with three wickets though he took some tap at the end. For the third time in a space of two weeks, New Zealand put Pakistan away with ruthless efficiency and embellished their status as title contenders.
Sutherland, Kapp hold nerve to keep sloppy Warriorz winless
Delhi Capitals 167 for 3 (Lanning 69, Sutherland 41*) beat UP Warriorz 166 for 7 (Navgire 51, Sehrawat 37, Henry 33*, Sutherland 2-26) by seven wickets
Navgire's big hits against the big names
Navgire put all the doubts around Warriorz's inexperienced top order to bed by taking on the big names in Captilas' attack. She got going from ball one, smacking Kapp for back-to-back fours with a pull and straight loft. In the next over she repeated the act by making room against Shikha Pandey's inswingers with glorious drives. She upped the level further when she walloped Kapp and Jess Jonassen for two sixes and a one-bounce four all within the space of three balls to race to 35 off 13. With a straight six off Pandey at the start of the fifth over, Navgire brought up Warriorz's fastest team fifty, off 25 balls, and then brought up her own fifty off 24 balls, the joint-fastest by a Warriorz batter.
Sutherland sends Warriorz 'scrambling'
The Capitals spinners stepped up from the other end. Jonassen fired one outside off to have Tahlia McGrath stumped and Deepti Sharma suffered the same fate when she couldn't connect against the drift and turn of offspinner Minnu Mani. In a matter of 23 balls, Warriotz had lost 4 for 16 that eventually cost them the match.
Henry shines on WPL debut
Warriorz were headed towards more misery when Harris miscued an offcutter for 12 and they were reeling at 118 for 5. But with five overs to go, it was WPL debutant Chinelle Henry who struck the big hits as Shweta Sehrawat also showed her hitting skills with 37 off 33. Henry, who had scored 61 in her last game at the same ground for West Indies, lifted Warriorz from 128 to 150 single-handedly by smashing Pandey all around the park for three sixes and a four in four balls for a 23-run 17th over. Capitals, however, bounced back to concede just 16 runs in the last three as Jonassen varied her pace and Arundhati Reddy and Kapp took the pace off.
Lanning and Shafali pepper the boundaries, again
That Lanning and Shafali brought up their second fifty stand in three games was nothing new in the WPL, but this time it was with Lanning looking far more confident. Following two scratchy innings, she led her team for nearly three-fourths of the chase with a solid 69 off 49 after Shafali's 26 off 16 deflated UPW in the powerplay. Shafali punished Kranti Goud in the first over, Lanning dabbed Sophie Ecclestone for two fours in the second, they went after Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Goud together in the third and fifth, and with three fours off Henry's two overs, Capitals had 59 in the powerplay and the batting pair had their tenth 50-plus opening stand in WPL, the most by a distance.
Sutherland, Kapp see Capitals home after a stutter
Warriorz put down their first chance when Henry dropped Shafali on 25 at deep midwicket although it didn't cost them much because the batter pulled again to Henry four balls later on 26. It became two wickets in five balls when Jemimah Rodrigues paddled to short fine leg for her third duck in WPL. Once the wickets slowed things down briefly, Lanning's nifty footwork fetched her three fours in two overs to pull things back while a steady Sutherland kept going at run a ball.
Once Ecclestone and Harris sent down two boundary-less overs to bring the equation from 57 off 42 to 47 off 30 along with the wicket of Lanning, Warriorz were clawing back in the game. But Eccelstone put down a sitter of Sutherland and Kapp reeled off boundaries with placement and power to bring Capitals back and she also got a life in the penultimate over.
With 11 needed from six, Warriorz conceded two fours that could have been stopped in the outfield and McGrath failed to collect the ball at the bowler's end from mid-on which could have led to a run-out but turned out to be the winning run.
Vishal Dikshit is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo
What's his secret? "I'm just really clear at the moment, I'm seeing the ball really well and I guess being still at the point of contact and I think that goes a long way in being able to be a hitter," Phillips said after New Zealand's 60-run win in Karachi. "I haven't always got it right in the past, but I've got a little bit of a feel for it for the moment."
What was it that held batters back before this partnership? "I think we've played a different pitch and it's played a different way every time we've been here [Karachi].
"The pacers I think were definitely harder to play in the day when the ball was going up and down a lot. The way Matt Henry and Will O'Rourke bowled [in the chase], it was a testament to how good they did but I think during the day the way the Pakistan boys bowled, especially at the top, made it quite tough for us to get away early on.
"I think we've been really adaptable to different styles of pitches, and it was nice to see some turn out there in the evening."
New Zealand's next game is against Bangladesh in Rawalpindi on February 24, before they fly to Dubai to take on India on March 2. They will have to keep adapting for a while more to make the semi-finals and beyond, but this was a fine start in that direction.
After hat trick, Mbappé to 'define an era' at Real
Kylian Mbappé said he wants to "define an era" at Real Madrid after scoring a hat trick in their 3-1 Champions League win over Manchester City on Wednesday, but insisted his season should be judged on trophies, not goals.
Mbappé opened the scoring in the fourth minute at the Santiago Bernabéu before adding a second 30 minutes later.
His third goal, after an hour, ended the tie as a contest, before Nico Gonzalez scored a late consolation for City, as Madrid progressed to the round of 16, 6-3 on aggregate.
"I didn't want to come here to play badly," Mbappé told Movistar, when asked how he'd turned his season around after a slow start. "Fulfilling my dream was one thing, but I wanted to play well, I wanted to define an era, to make history at Real Madrid.
"I had to play with personality."
Despite a trophy-filled career, Mbappé has never won the Champions League, losing in the 2020 final with Paris Saint-Germain.
"The most important thing is winning trophies," he said, when asked if he'd set a goal target for this season. "I've scored a lot of goals in my career, but let's see if it's all for nothing, because we didn't always win trophies. If I score a lot of goals and win trophies, I'll sign for that in blood."
Mbappé -- who has now scored 28 goals in all competitions this season -- added he'd favour a last-16 derby with Atlético Madrid, rather than facing the alternative, Xabi Alonso's Bayer Leverkusen, after Friday's draw.
"They're two great teams," Mbappé said. "Playing against Atlético or Leverkusen is very difficult. For me, Atlético would be better, because then we don't travel! We travel a lot. The two games will be difficult, so it's better to have a difficult game without travelling."
Mbappé's teammate Jude Bellingham, who started the move that led to Madrid's second goal, could only marvel at the France World Cup winner's dominance.
"You go into games knowing he's going to affect games," Bellingham said. "You can give him the ball. Our job behind is to try to put the front three -- and myself -- into the best positions possible. You know when Kylian gets the ball in areas that he likes, he's going to be dangerous.
"It's incredible what he's done in his career. I know he had a slow start, and he was getting used to life here, but now he's just flying and it's a pleasure to watch."
Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti put Mbappé's name alongside Bernabeu royalty after the game, saying he could reach the heights of club legend Cristiano Ronaldo if he continues on this trajectory.
"He has the quality to reach the level of Cristiano [Ronaldo]," Ancelotti said. "He has to work. Cristiano set the bar very high. He's started his career at this club now. I think with his quality, and the excitement he has about playing here, he can reach Cristiano's level, but it won't be easy. He'll have to work at it."
Quinn Hughes won't join U.S. for 4 Nations final
Defenseman Quinn Hughes will not travel to Boston to join the United States team as an injury replacement option for its 4 Nations Face-Off championship game against Canada, his agent confirmed to ESPN on Wednesday.
Sources told ESPN that the Americans will have Buffalo Sabres center Tage Thompson and New Jersey Devils defenseman Brett Pesce as injury insurance for Thursday night's 4 Nations final.
Hughes, 25, was expected to join the Americans for the 4 Nations Face-Off championship game after defenseman Charlie McAvoy was lost for the tournament. McAvoy was hospitalized Monday with an infection in his right shoulder and a significant injury to his AC joint.
Hughes initially made Team USA's roster but had to back out because of an oblique injury. He still hasn't been officially cleared by the Vancouver Canucks to return to play, having been out of action since Jan. 31. He wore a red noncontact jersey in Canucks practice Tuesday before being cleared for contact for Wednesday's practice.
Sources told ESPN that Hughes recently flew across the country back to Vancouver from the East Coast. To fly to Boston, and then to Las Vegas for the Canucks' next game Saturday, would have been a taxing travel week for him.
Tournament rules state that if a team loses two players at forward or on defense to injury or illness, it can bring on a non-roster player as an emergency injury replacement. Team Canada, for example, called up Dallas Stars defenseman Thomas Harley after it lost Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Shea Theodore to injury and Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar was unable to play against the U.S.
"The rules are the rules. I can't play unless anyone else gets injured, and I obviously don't want to see anyone get injured," Hughes said Tuesday. "If they had to do it over again, I think they'd allow teams to bring a couple extra players."
The Hughes decision ends two days of intense speculation that one of the NHL's best players could make a surprise comeback in the championship game. He won the Norris Trophy as the NHL's top defenseman last season. He has 14 goals and 59 points to lead the Canucks and is averaging more than 25:18 in ice time this season.
On Tuesday, U.S. coach Mike Sullivan said "Quinn Hughes is coming" when asked about the Americans bringing in a defenseman from outside of their roster. After Wednesday's morning skate, Sullivan acknowledged that Hughes was not yet on his way from Vancouver and said Team USA GM Bill Guerin and his assistants were continuing to work to bring him to the 4 Nations final.
U.S. players anticipated the possibility that Hughes could join them in Boston, if not appear in the game.
"I know he's been watching every game," said his brother Jack Hughes of the Devils, who plays in Team USA's top line. "I know he is definitely frustrated. He wishes he could be a part of this, and a lot of great players that were injured and couldn't play a couple of them, so he's one of them and we're missing him big-time. But I know he was really looking forward to this and coming down the road here at the Olympics and World Cup of Hockey coming up, I know he'll be really excited for those events."
Jack Hughes said the drama surrounding his brother's Team USA status has been "just a tough situation for everyone" involved.
Quinn Hughes said the initial decision not to play was "extremely hard" for him.
"I gotta thank Bill Guerin for how patient he was with me, not only 10 days ago but even last night and the last 24 hours. He understood how much I wanted to play and also what my obligations were to the Canucks. Really what it came down to, I just wasn't healthy enough where I wasn't sure it couldn't get worse," he said. "If there's a positive, I should be healthy enough to go next game against Vegas."
Team USA will face Canada for the 4 Nations championship Thursday night at TD Garden. It's a rematch of their emotional battle in Montreal on Saturday night that featured three fights in the opening nine seconds of the game and that the Americans won 3-1.
ESPN's Emily Kaplan contributed to this report.
Commissioners agree CFP seeding needs change
NEW ORLEANS -- Following a joint meeting between athletic directors representing their respective conferences on Wednesday, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey and Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti said they agreed that the way teams are seeded in the 12-team College Football Playoff should change this fall.
While the voices of the two wealthiest and most powerful conferences certainly carry weight, any changes for the 2025 season have to be unanimously agreed upon by the 10 FBS commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua.
"I'm prepared to vote for seeding change, but it has to be unanimous," Sankey said.
This past season, the four highest-ranked conference champions earned the top four seeds and a first-round bye. It was one of the most controversial facets of the format because it allowed for ninth-ranked Boise State, which won the Mountain West Conference, to earn the No. 3 seed and for 12th-ranked Arizona State to earn the No. 4 seed. Third-ranked Texas and fourth-ranked Penn State were runners-up in their respective conferences, but they couldn't be seeded higher than Nos. 5 and 6 because the top four seeds were reserved for conference champions.
A popular suggestion to change the seeding for this fall -- which Petitti said he favored -- has been to use the selection committee's ranking for the seeding while still making room for the five highest-ranked conference champions. In that model, the committee's top four teams would earn the top four seeds and first-round byes, regardless of whether they were conference champions. That would also open the door for Notre Dame, which can't win a conference title as an independent, to earn a first-round bye as a top-four seed.
"We're in favor of going to a straight seeding, where there's no difference between rankings and seeding like we had this year," Petitti said. "We're in support of that for next year."
The joint meeting between the Big Ten and SEC came less than a week before both Petitti and Sankey will meet in Dallas with their fellow FBS commissioners and Bevacqua to begin a thorough review of the inaugural 12-team playoff.
The SEC and Big Ten have the bulk of control over what the CFP will look like when the new contract with ESPN begins following the 2025 season. That power was part of the negotiation process that also included guaranteed access for conference champions and certain protections for Notre Dame.
When asked directly what their respective conferences would like the playoff to look like in 2026 and beyond, Sankey declined to get into specifics.
"That's something we owe our colleagues first," he said, referring to his fellow FBS commissioners. "I think I've been consistent in that observation."
For almost a year, multiple sources in both leagues have indicated a strong preference for expanding the field to 14 teams in 2026 and beyond. Sources in the SEC and the Big Ten have also favored a certain number of automatic playoff spots for each league, but even within each league there remain varying opinions.
Sources in the Big Ten seem more aligned in their desire for automatic qualifiers. A popular model includes four guaranteed teams each from the Big Ten and SEC, two teams each from the Big 12 and ACC, one spot for the highest-ranked Group of 5 champion, and one at-large spot, which could go to Notre Dame if the Irish were ranked high enough for inclusion.
While Sankey declined to speak directly about automatic qualifiers, he said the leagues have talked about everything regarding format and will continue to.
"This is not a new issue," Sankey said.
Petitti said that because of the way the power is divided, eventually both leagues need to come to a consensus on what they want it to look like moving forward -- but there are no restrictions on where ideas can come from moving forward.
"The process going forward if we decide to make changes contemplates that the structure of that is led by the SEC and the Big Ten, so it requires us to get to a consensus to make a meaningful recommendation, if any, to our colleagues in other leagues, and it also requires us to give them an opportunity to weigh in on whatever it is that we're thinking about," he said.
Sankey said the 2026 season is a "pretty small part" of the agenda for next week's CFP meeting in Dallas, during which much of the time is expected to focus on 2025. This week was an opportunity, though, for both conferences to start in-person discussions about the future.
"I think we both individually owe our colleagues an update on our thinking," Sankey said. "Is it alignment? I'm not going to use that word. We've got our issues to work through. Our regular-season scheduling issue ... can we compare notes? Absolutely, but I'd be cautious about using the word 'alignment' at this point."
Sankey said he still wants a stronger understanding of the selection committee's decision-making process over the past few years. He pointed to inconsistencies in the value of conference championship games and strength of schedule.
"We entrust them with that work, but there are domino effects from those selection decisions," Sankey said. "I'm not forming the agenda [for next week], but I'm identifying things that are regularly a part of our conversation."
Petitti echoed what former selection committee chair and Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel said, which was that the committee did what was required of them according to the system designed by the commissioners.
"I believe the committee was doing the work that was set in place," Petitti said. "... Overall, that system that is taking place is part of the ideas we're raising about the process for next year because that would give the committee more flexibility to do the job in a way that's much clearer for fans."
On Monday, SEC coaches met with the league's athletic directors, and the ADs met again separately on Tuesday here as part of their regularly scheduled meetings before the Big Ten joined them. Sankey said considerations for a nine-game league schedule remain a part of their consideration, but no decisions have been made yet.
"I think there's a lot of interest," Sankey said. "People change, positions change ... understanding the selection committee's perspective and how the criteria is applied is an important element."
As expected, Wednesday's meeting also included discussions about the House vs. NCAA settlement and future NCAA governance. Attorneys for both leagues were present to avoid anything that might be construed as collusion. Petitti said that while the Big Ten and SEC are leading the future format decisions of the CFP, the NCAA governance conversations have been "incredibly collaborative and involves everybody."
"People are working together," Petitti said. "... The work that's been down around the settlement among the conferences is probably unprecedented in terms of the amount of collaboration that's required to get this right."
As far as the CFP conversations, Sankey said the Big Ten and SEC have "deployed leadership in a responsible way."
"Moving forward, Tony described a methodology that was agreed to by everyone a year ago for how decisions will be made by everyone -- not dictated by us -- agreed to by everyone," he said. "We have a responsibility to use that wisely."
Wemby (illness) doubtful to face Suns in Austin
AUSTIN, Texas -- All-Star center Victor Wembanyama is listed as doubtful for the San Antonio Spurs' game Thursday because of an illness.
The Spurs play the Phoenix Suns at the Moody Center on the campus of the University of Texas, where Kevin Durant starred during his lone college season.
It's the first game of a back-to-back that the Spurs will play in Austin, which is about 75 miles northeast of San Antonio. It marks the third consecutive season that the Spurs will play a pair of home games in Austin, which the franchise considers part of its region.
The Spurs play the Detroit Pistons at the Moody Center on Friday.
Wembanyama, the reigning Rookie of the Year and a first-time All-Star, has averaged 24.3 points, 11.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists and a league-leading 3.8 blocks in 46 games for the 23-29 Spurs.
Phone: (800) 737. 6040
Fax: (800) 825 5558
Website: 
Email: 
