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SEC football schedule expansion is slam dunk, but isn’t that simple

The SEC faces a choice with its future football schedule: Opt for rivalry games like Alabama-Tennessee and Auburn-Georgia, or continue with cupcake games?
If SEC finally embraces a ninth conference game, it could come with a financial reward from media partner ESPN.
Rivalry games promote strength of SEC’s brand, but can conference’s membership resist the catnip of games against directional schools?

Picture the scene in “Shawshank Redemption” when Morgan Freeman’s character goes in front of the parole board, expecting to be rejected once again. He comments on the mockery of the proceeding and says bluntly, “You go on and stamp your forms, sonny, and stop wasting my time, because, to tell you the truth, I don’t give a (expletive).”

Yeah, that just about sums up my feelings on this upcoming SEC football scheduling debate.

Stay at eight conference games, or go to nine, I don’t much care anymore. Just put the schedule format to a vote in what will be a high-profile discussion item this week at the SEC spring meetings and make a decision.

As it stands, the SEC has approved no schedule format beyond the upcoming 2025 season.

The SEC carried on this scheduling charade for years since the announcement of Texas and Oklahoma joining the league. Some conference members previously pretended like they wanted an additional conference game, only to turtle up come voting time and preserve the eight-game conference schedule that’s supplemented with a feast of non-conference cupcake games.

HEATED MATCHUPS: Ranking the 10 best SEC football rivalries

BEHIND CENTER: Breaking down every SEC quarterback situation

Before this came up for vote the last time in 2023, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey implied that money wouldn’t be a driver in the scheduling decision. Only an idiot would believe that, though. Money talks, and some conference members were reluctant two years ago to add another conference game unless ESPN, the league’s media partner, put more cash on the table. ESPN didn’t sweeten the pot.

Sankey proclaimed before the schedule vote in 2023 that the conference at the vanguard of college athletics “does not stand still.” Days later, the SEC’s membership unanimously voted to stand still with an eight-game conference schedule for the 2024 and 2025 seasons. Eighteen months later, the Big Ten, which plays nine conference games, led all conferences with four playoff qualifiers. The jokes write themselves.

Rivalries hang in balance of SEC football schedule debate

The SEC cared so much about secondary rivalries like Auburn-Georgia and Alabama-Tennessee in its divisional era that it built a schedule format around maintaining those games. This next vote on the schedule will test how much resolve still exists for protecting centuries-long rivalry games.

A nine-game conference schedule would allow for secondary rivalries like those two and others like Texas-Texas A&M to continue annually. Forging ahead with an eight-game format would put those secondary rivalries under threat of interruption unless the league abandons its stated goal of having all schools play each other twice during a four-year period.

Rivalry scenes like the “Prayer at Jordan-Hare” and cigar-puffing Tennessee fans tearing down the goal posts and baptizing them in the river after a long-awaited win on “The Third Saturday in October” help make the SEC brand what it is.

But, maybe SEC members will decide this week that it’s more important to leave room on the schedule for Tennessee to play Furman and Kennesaw State – both will come to Neyland Stadium in 2026! – instead of Alabama, and for Auburn to tussle with Jacksonville State instead of Georgia.

And after the Mississippi beats Wofford 92-0 in 2026, coach Lane Kiffin can chant “S-E-C! S-E-C!” and declare the strength of the SEC (half of which the Rebels didn’t play) so strong that the Rebels deserve a playoff bid with their 9-3 record.

Few SEC teams opt for 10 power conference games in current format

Credit Alabama, Florida and South Carolina for cueing up two Power Four non-conference opponents in 2025 to accompany the eight conference games. If Florida smashes Miami and Florida State en route to a 9-3 record against a rigorous schedule, well, we might see a 9-3 playoff team for the first time.

By comparison, the 13 other SEC teams will play only nine Power Four opponents. That’s one fewer Power Four opponent than teams like Arizona and Central Florida will play.

If Missouri can manage to fend off Central Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana-Lafayette, Massachusetts, Vanderbilt and one more SEC team, the Tigers would wrap up bowl eligibility.

That’s the beauty of the eight-game conference schedule: Bowl bids await for average teams that can beat bad teams in their out-of-league slate.

The beauty of the SEC adding a ninth conference game would be the creation of more matchups fans want to watch and media partners want to televise.

One fewer cupcake game also would bolster the SEC’s case when it comes time to stump for at-large bids for bubble teams.

Even better, ESPN might now be ready to fork over extra revenue in exchange for that ninth SEC game.

The SEC could even time its rollout of a ninth conference game with playoff expansion that’s probably coming in 2026. A bigger playoff would reduce the risk of an additional conference game thwarting a team’s opportunity for playoff access.

Alternatively, the SEC could stay at eight, turn up its nose at rivalries, rebuff the prospect of a bigger payday from ESPN, protect the cupcake games, and maintain the daintier conference schedule that offers minimal resistance to the league’s weaker members securing a Liberty Bowl bid.

At this point, there’s not much left to debate. So, go on ahead, sonny, and call it to a vote.

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com. Follow him on X @btoppmeyer.

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Russia, China, North Korea condemn Trump’s $175 billion Golden Dome missile shield

The U.S.’s chief adversaries, Russia, North Korea and China, all of which are nuclear-armed nations, have condemned President Donald Trump’s space-based defensive plan he dubbed the ‘Golden Dome’ as ‘dangerous’ and a threat to global stability. 

The president discussed his $175 billion plan, which will use satellites and other technologies to detect and intercept a missile strike ‘even if they are launched from other sides of the world,’ Trump said last week.

The defensive plan, though it is believed to be years away before being fully operational despite Trump’s three-year goal mark, sparked stiff backlash from the U.S.’s top competitors, who took direct aim at what they called Trump’s ‘arrogance.’

North Korea’s foreign ministry, whose leader shared an uncommonly cordial relationship with Trump during his first term, called it the equivalent of an ‘outer space nuclear war scenario’ that supports the administration’s strategy for ‘uni-polar domination.’

According to local media outlets, the ministry on Tuesday said it was a ‘typical product of ‘America first’, the height of self-righteousness, arrogance, high-handed and arbitrary practice.’

The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News’ Digital’s questions regarding the reactions to the plan, intended to resemble Israel’s ‘Iron Dome’ defensive capability.

But the North Korean foreign ministry claimed the defensive strategy was actually an ‘attempt to militarize outer space’ and ‘preemptively attain military superiority in an all-round way.’

Similarly, on Tuesday, Russian foreign minister Maria Zakharova said the strategy would undermine the basis of strategic stability by creating a global missile defense system, reported Reuters. 

But her comments were not the first time Moscow aligned its condemnation of the ‘Golden Dome’ as it issued a joint statement with China earlier this month after Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping met for formal talks in Russia.

The duo called the plan ‘deeply destabilizing’ and claimed it erodes the ‘inseparable interrelationship between strategic offensive arms and strategic defensive arms.’

They also argued that it would turn ‘outer space into an environment for placing weapons and an arena for armed confrontation.’

Russia has remained relatively muted in its response following Trump’s Oval Office discussion on the Golden Dome, which came just two days after Trump held a two-hour phone call with Putin. 

But China reiterated its objection to the plan, and following Trump’s announcement on it, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning said last week, ‘The project will heighten the risk of turning space into a war zone and creating a space arms race, and shake the international security and arms control system.’

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has rejected the claims that the plan could be viewed as an ‘offensive’ strategy and told Fox News Digital, ‘All we care about is protecting the homeland.’

Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.

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Dems drop $20M on bizarre ‘American men’ strategy plan study in effort to dig out of 2024 political hole

Democrats are spending $20 million on a study examining how to speak to ‘American men’ after losing ground with the demographic during the 2024 election cycle, The New York Times revealed. 

‘Speaking with American Men: A Strategic Plan’ is a $20 million project crafted by Democrats to ‘study the syntax, language and content that gains attention and virality in these spaces’ of male voters, the Times reported Sunday. 

Known as ‘SAM,’ the study will specifically examine young male voters and how the party can connect with the demographic. Additionally, the study advised rolling out pro-Democrat ads in video games. 

The study’s revelation was made in an overarching article detailing the uphill battle Democrats face after the 2024 election, which included Democrats scrambling to replace former President Joe Biden as the nominee with just more than 100 days left in the election cycle and ultimately delivering all seven battleground states to President Donald Trump. 

‘The Democratic Party’s tarnished image could not come at a more inopportune moment,’ the article detailed. ‘In this era of political polarization, the national party’s brand is more important and influential than ever, often driving the outcomes of even the most local of races.’ 

In response, Democrat operatives and donors have gathered at swank hotels to craft plans on how to draw back the working class and male voters, the Times reported. 

Trump made big in-roads with the male vote during the 2024 election cycle. A Fox News Voter Survey published in November 2024 found that men aged 18–44 supported Trump at 53%, compared to former Vice President Kamala Harris’ 45%. 

While The Associated Press found that more than half of male voters under the age of 30 voted for Trump instead of Harris — including roughly six-in-10 White male voters supporting Trump — about one-third of Black male voters supported Trump, as did about 50% of young Latino male voters. 

Trump’s support among young Black and Latino male voters jumped by about 20% compared to his 2020 support, the AP reported. 

Democratic strategist Michael Ceraso told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that he does not take issue with Democrats investing in voter engagement strategies but added that he found it ‘hilarious’ that ‘people in suits are hanging out at luxury hotels asking how they can talk to day-to-day Americans.’

‘We’re having an issue with the messenger more than the message,’ Ceraso said, arguing that voters support longstanding Democratic policies such as affordable housing, but that ‘Democrats just need to take a reality check’ on how they convey their messaging to voters. 

‘I just don’t understand how, after all these years and all these Democrats who’ve been in the game, how we continue to make those same choices,’ he added. ‘Like Rahm Emmanuel, or all these sort of big names, they’re just like, ‘Yeah, we’re going to figure out how to win in, you know, rural North Carolina by hanging out in a New York hotel.’ That makes no sense to me. And strategically, I don’t care how much money you spend on focus groups, if you’re doing that, you’re just negating any type of investment you’re putting into how to have a conversation with voters.’ 

Democrats spending millions studying American male ‘syntax’ sparked condemnation from conservatives and Democrats alike on social media, Fox News Digital found. 

‘Democratic donors treating men like an endangered species on a remote island they need to study probably won’t rebuild trust,’ MSNBC contributor Rotimi Adeoy posted to X in response to the Times’ report. ‘This kind of top-down, anthropological approach misses the point: people don’t want to be decoded, they want to be understood and met where they are.’ 

‘The idea that you can ‘fix’ the male voter problem that exists with Black, Latino, and white men by spending $20 million to study their syntax like they’re a foreign culture is exactly why there’s a disconnect,’ Adeoy continued. ‘These voters aren’t a research subject. They’re citizens.’ 

Chief political analyst at the Liberal Patriot, Michael Baharaeen, posted to X, ‘This really says it all,’ in response to a tweet quoting the article regarding how ‘Democratic donors and strategists have been gathering at luxury hotels to discuss how to win back working-class voters, commissioning new projects that can read like anthropological studies of people from faraway places.’

‘The fact that Democrats need to drop $20 million just to figure out how to speak to American men tells you everything you need to know. This is the same move they pull on black people. They don’t care about you they only care about your vote!’ conservative podcaster DeVory Darkins posted to X. 

‘Democratic donors are planning to spend $20 million to figure out how to talk to dudes,’ polster Frank Luntz posted to X. 

A handful of critics reposted a video from the 2024 campaign cycle that featured men declaring they were ‘man enough’ to support Harris for president. The grassroots ad went viral in October 2024 as social media commenters panned it as ‘the cringiest political ad ever created’ and pointed out it was created by a former producer for Jimmy Kimmel and featured actors vowing support for Harris. 

The video featured six self-described manly men who claimed they were so masculine that they ate ‘carburetors for breakfast’ and were not ‘afraid of bears,’ while adding they also do not fear women and would support Harris for the Oval Office.

‘Remember the month before the election and Democrats tried to relate to men?. Now they’re trying again spending $20 million,’ one social media commenter posted this week, accompanied by the October 2024 video. 

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Thunder stifle Anthony Edwards with potent inside-out defense

To slow Anthony Edwards, the Oklahoma City Thunder returned to their strategy from Games 1 and 2 of the Western Conference finals.

Edwards, the unquestioned top threat for the Timberwolves, finished Monday night’s Game 4 loss with 16 points on 5-of-13 shooting, as Minnesota fell into a 3-1 hole. Oklahoma City put multiple bodies in front of Edwards, mirroring its plan from early in the series. And if Minnesota’s postseason run does indeed end here, Oklahoma City’s defensive plan on Edwards can be seen as nothing but decisive.

“I thought the second half was more aggressive,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said after the game. “He got downhill, we got him off the ball a bit more. When he got to the paint, I thought he found some people, made the right plays. First half, I thought he lagged behind a little bit too much; he needed to get out in front so that we could stretch the floor and screen for him a bit. But the second half was much better.”

Finch is not wrong. Edwards did start the game deferring considerably, taking his first shot attempt — a driving layup through three Thunder defenders — when there were 35 seconds left in the first quarter. He took just one shot in the second quarter and had attempted his third after nearly two minutes had passed in the third quarter.

But even when Edwards did take actions to assert himself, the Thunder made life difficult. Oklahoma City took advantage of the game being officiated loosely, allowing for physicality along the perimeter.

Therefore, when the Timberwolves launched screen actions on pick-and-rolls, Thunder defenders like Luguentz Dort and Alex Caruso could hand check and body Edwards. And when Edwards was able to slip through the first line, the Thunder clogged the paint with more bodies, tempting Edwards to kick the ball out.

This has been the desired outcome for Oklahoma City throughout the series: pester Edwards enough with one or two bodies, forcing the ball out of his hands.

“I thought Dort early in the game on Edwards was really, really on it,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said after the game. “He set a great tone and established a level of energy and activity with him that was important. We really made him work for the ball. We really made him work for his shots.”

But even when Edwards sought a switch to Oklahoma City’s center, Chet Holmgren did an excellent job of facing up and using his length to contest deep 3s.

Shot attempt splits have certainly been a problem for Edwards this series — he put up just 13 shot attempts in losses in Games 1 and 4 — but the primary issue has been his inefficiency from deep. In Minnesota’s lone victory, in Game 3 on Saturday, Edwards flushed 5-of-8 shots (62.5%) from beyond the arc.

After going just 1-of-7 Monday night, Edwards is 5-of-24 (20.8%) across the three Timberwolves series losses.

it’s difficult to see the Timberwolves becoming the 14th team in NBA playoff history to overcome a 3-1 deficit without Edwards drastically improving his 3-point efficiency.

Minnesota must also fix its turnovers issue, after committing 23 Monday night, five by Edwards.

“I don’t look at it like I struggled,” Edwards told reporters after the game. “They had a good game plan, making us get off the ball — especially for me, man, they was super in gaps. I made the right play all night. So I don’t look at it like I struggled. I didn’t get enough shots to say I struggled. That might be how you guys look at it, but, yeah, I didn’t struggle at all, I made the right play.”

This post appeared first on USA TODAY
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College baseball tournament field winners and losers start with SEC

The NCAA baseball tournament bracket is headlined by the SEC, which as a deserving reward for another dominant regular season was assigned half of this week’s regional host sites and awarded 13 bids in the tournament’s 64-team field.

This is totally unsurprising: SEC teams rank No. 2, No. 3, No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6 in the USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll entering the tournament while the league has 11 teams in the Top 25.

The league’s regional hosts include Texas, which will look to rebound from an early exit from the SEC tournament, and Tennessee, the defending national champions. The eight hosts tie the tournament record from one conference previously set by the SEC in 2023 and the 13 teams set a new record.

Three ACC teams will play host for the regionals in North Carolina, Florida State and Clemson. Big Ten newcomers Oregon and UCLA are hosts, as are Coastal Carolina and Southern Mississippi from the Sun Belt and Oregon State, an independent.

Regional play features four teams in a double-elimination format. Winners will advance into best-of-three super regional play next weekend.

Beginning with the SEC, here are the biggest winners and losers from the World Series bracket:

Winners

The SEC

The full list of hosts: No. 1 Vanderbilt, No. 2 Texas, No. 3 Arkansas, No. 4 Auburn, No. 6 LSU, No. 7 Georgia, No. 10 Mississippi and No. 14 Tennessee. Joining this group are Alabama, Mississippi State, Oklahoma, Florida and Kentucky. As you can tell, there is simply no conference that’s close to the SEC. As in the NCAA softball tournament, the SEC has so many teams in the field, and so many near the top of the bracket, that the league is the undeniable favorite to bring home the national championship. Of course, the SEC has won the past five crowns and six of the past seven.

North Carolina

After capturing the ACC tournament for the second time in four years, No. 5 UNC is the highest-ranked seed from outside the SEC. The Tar Heels will also draw what looks on paper like a friendly regional that includes Oklahoma, Big Ten tournament champion Nebraska and Patriot League winner Holy Cross. UNC will open against the Crusaders, who needed extra innings to win the clinching game against Army and capture their second conference title in program history.

Oregon State

Playing as an independent with the Pac-12 on hiatus, No. 8 Oregon State was able to corral a path toward hosting a super regional thanks in large part to a strong RPI ranking and a very challenging non-conference schedule that was mostly loaded with road games. This is a huge deal for the Beavers, who have gone 30-7 in regional games played at Goss Stadium. Coming out of the weekend against the group of TCU, Southern California and Saint Mary’s would put Oregon State on track to host its super regional. That the Beavers drew a top-eight seed has to be tough for rival Oregon to swallow after the Big Ten regular-season co-champions swept a four-game set in late April.

Losers

Texas A&M

After going all the way to the championship series against the Volunteers last season and beginning this year ranked No. 1, the Aggies were unable to find a groove and fell short of the tournament despite making a late run in the SEC tournament. In doing so, A&M became the first preseason No. 1 team to miss the bracket since 1991, painting the Aggies as one of the biggest letdowns in the recent history of college baseball. You can point to a brutal schedule loaded with ranked competition, injuries to a few key returning contributors and the drop in offensive production as the culprits behind this unexpected swoon. But there’s no sugarcoating just how disappointing this season was for A&M.

The Big 12

Arizona State, Kansas State and Oklahoma State sneaked into the tournament as three of the last teams to be selected, joining TCU, Arizona, Kansas, Cincinnati and West Virginia to give the Big 12 eight teams in the bracket. That a good chunk of these teams just barely cracked the 64-team tournament helps show where the league stands in the national picture, however. None of the Big 12 teams will host a series this weekend. But keep an eye on Arizona in the regional hosted by Oregon; the Wildcats’ pitching heads into the tournament on fire, with starters allowing just one run in the past 22.1 innings.

Georgia

Another Big 12 team that could make some noise is Oklahoma State, the third seed in the regional hosted by No. 7 Georgia. The Bulldogs might have the toughest draw of any host, in fact, with the Cowboys joined by Duke and Binghamton. While Georgia has the talent, confidence and experience to advance to the second weekend, the Bulldogs will be tested by the Cowboys and Blue Devils, two opponents capable of pulling off an upset and reaching super regional play. Georgia has eight players with at least 10 home runs, led by Robbie Burnett’s 20 and all-league pick Slate Alford’s 17, but will need to get even more from pitcher Brian Curley, who has developed into the Bulldogs’ No. 1 arm.

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NBA playoffs odds 2025: What team has the best shot to win it all?

The contenders during the 2025 NBA playoffs may be different than anticipated when the postseason began, but the team favored to win the championship more than a month ago continues to deliver whenever its perch has been challenged.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are now the overwhelmingly NBA Finals favorites after taking a 3-1 series lead over the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference finals. The Thunder were pegged to win the title by oddsmakers before the playoffs began, and their performance in big spots against the Denver Nuggets in the conference semifinals and again in Game 4 at Minnesota have strengthened that faith.

The Eastern Conference finals have also reached a pivotal juncture, with the Indiana Pacers holding a 2-1 series lead over the New York Knicks. The Pacers are favored to win the series after taking the first two games at Madison Square Garden, but the Knicks are coming off a resounding come-from-behind win at Indiana in Game 3. They play Game 4 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on Tuesday.

Whatever team emerges from either conference will be in position to end a long championship drought or win the first title in franchise history. Here’s a look at the current NBA championship odds from BetMGM now that the league’s conference finals are in full swing:

NBA championship odds

BetMGM odds for NBA Finals winner as of Tuesday, May 27:

1. Oklahoma City Thunder (-375)
2. Indiana Pacers (+550)
3. New York Knicks (+1000)
4. Minnesota Timberwolves (+4000)

NBA conference finals bracket

Eastern Conference

No. 3 New York Knicks vs. No. 4 Indiana Pacers (Indiana leads series 2-1)

Western Conference

No. 1 Oklahoma City Thunder vs. No. 6 Minnesota Timberwolves (OKC leads series 3-1)

Watch the NBA playoffs with Fubo

NBA playoffs 2025: Conference finals schedule

All times Eastern.

Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Minnesota Timberwolves

Game 1: Thunder 114, Timberwolves 88
Game 2: Thunder 118, Timberwolves 103
Game 3: Timberwolves 143, Thunder 101
Game 4: Thunder 128, Timberwolves 126
Game 5, May 28: Timberwolves at Thunder | ESPN, Fubo | 8:30 p.m.
Game 6, May 30: Thunder at Timberwolves | ESPN, Fubo | 8:30 p.m.*
Game 7, June 1: Timberwolves at Thunder | ESPN, Fubo | 8 p.m.*

New York Knicks vs. Indiana Pacers

Game 1: Pacers 138, Knicks 135
Game 2: Pacers 114, Knicks 109
Game 3: Knicks 106, Pacers 100
Game 4, May 27: Knicks at Pacers | TNT, Sling TV | 8 p.m.
Game 5, May 29: Pacers at Knicks | TNT, Sling TV | 8 p.m.
Game 6, May 31: Knicks at Pacers | TNT, Sling TV | 8 p.m.*
Game 7, June 2: Pacers at Knicks | TNT, Sling TV | 8 p.m.*

*if necessary

Watch Knicks vs. Pacers with Sling TV

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Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams hit career playoff highs, propel OKC

The Oklahoma City Thunder relied on all the attributes that led them to the NBA’s best record at 68-14 and the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.

Offense, defense, star power and depth propelled the Thunder to a 128-126 victory in Game 4 of the conference finals Monday, making it a 3-1 series lead for the Thunder who can finish the series in Game 5 Wednesday (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN). Oklahoma City is trying to reach the NBA Finals for the first time since 2012.

NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a playoff career-high 40 points, and All-NBA forward Jalen Williams had a playoff career-high 34 points for the Thunder. Oklahoma City held Minnesota All-Star Anthony Edwards to an uneventful 16 points and Julius Randle to five points.

Here are the winners and losers from Game 4 between the Thunder and Timberwolves:

Thunder vs. Timberwolves Game 4 winners

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

Gilgeous-Alexander, who was named MVP for the first time in his career last week, reached 40 points in a playoff game for the first time in his career, and it also was the first time he recorded 10 assists in a playoff game. He was one rebound shy of a triple-double and scored seven of his 11 fourth-quarter points on free throws – including five made three throws in the final 14.5 seconds.

He has scored at least 30 points in six of Oklahoma City’s past seven playoff games and is averaging 30.1 points in the four conference finals games.

Jalen Williams

Williams surpassed his previous playoff high (32 points against Denver in overtime earlier this month) with 34 points – 14 coming in the fourth quarter when the Thunder needed his offense to hold off a Minnesota rally. He was 13-for-24 from the field and 6-for-9 on 3-pointers, including a key 3 with 3:34 left in the fourth quarter that pushed OKC’s lead to 116-109 and another with 1:21 to play that gave the Thunder a 123-116 lead. He also had five assists, three rebounds and three steals.

Chet Holmgren

Holmgren scored 21 points on 9-for-14 shooting and added seven rebounds and three blocks. That two-way performance is what helped make the Thunder the No. 1 defensive team and No. 3 offensive team.

Minnesota’s bench

Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 23 points on 9-for-15 shooting, including 5-for-8 on 3s, and Donte DiVincenzo had 21 points on 7-for-11 shooting, including 5-for-8 on 3s for the Timberwolves, whose bench produced 64 points. Naz Reid had 11 points and Terrence Shannon Jr. had nine.

Thunder vs. Timberwolves Game 4 losers

Anthony Edwards’ scoring

Edwards had 16 points on 5-for-13 shooting and was just 1-for-7 on 3s. That’s not enough – the Timberwolves need more shooting and scoring from Edwards. It’s the second time Edwards, who averaged 27.6 points during the regular season, has scored fewer than 20 points in this series.

Oklahoma City executed another strong defensive gameplan, keeping Edwards from dominating.

Julius Randle’s production

Randle had just five points, was 1-for-7 from the field and missed all three of his 3-point attempts. He had just six points in Game 2, and it’s difficult for the Timberwolves to win conference finals when their second-best scorer has fewer than 10 points.

Timberwolves turnovers

Minnesota coach Chris Finch has bemoaned turnovers throughout the series, and Game 4 was another turnover-laden game for his squad. The Timberwolves committed 23 turnovers leading to 22 Thunder points. That facet of the game has turned into a major storyline of the series.

In Game 1 of the Western finals, the Timberwolves committed 19 turnovers leading to 34 Thunder points. In Game 2, Minnesota had 14 turnovers leading to 22 Oklahoma City points. The Timberwolves lost both games. In Game 3 at home, the Timberwolves turned the basketball over just 10 times for 15 Thunder points and won.

Late-game ‘intentional’ fouls

With the Thunder ahead 126-123 with less than 10 seconds to play, they played the foul game, preventing Minnesota from attempting a potential score-tying 3-pointer.

Oklahoma City fouled Minnesota’s Naz Reid with 7.8 seconds and 7.2 seconds left. The Thunder had a foul to give on the first foul and sent Reid to the free throw line on the second foul. After Reid made two free throws and Gilgeous-Alexander made two free throws, the Thunder fouled Edwards with 3.5 seconds left so he couldn’t try a 3. Edwards made the first and intentionally missed the second.

The Thunder made the sound strategic decision for certain, but it also sullied the finish of a great game.

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Jasmine Crockett shares bizarre song clip calling herself ‘leader of the future’

Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, appears to be leaning in on her rising political stardom this week, briefly sharing what appeared to be a fan-made song that referred to the Democratic firebrand as the ‘leader of the future.’

‘Jasmine Crockett, she rises with the dawn. Fighting for justice, her light will never be gone,’ the song went. ‘A voice for the people, standing strong and proud. Infectious with passion, she’ll never bow down. Leader of the future, she’s breaking all the chains. Jasmine you rock girl, keep leading the fight.’

The roughly two-minute-long song was set against what appeared to be photos of Crockett that were lightly animated using artificial intelligence (AI). It ended with a minute of Crockett’s own comments at a recent House hearing.

Fox News Digital observed the video on Crockett’s Instagram Story, where users post highlights that normally disappear after 24 hours. It was also visible on her Instagram Reels tab. Crockett’s official House of Representatives account was listed as a co-author alongside another Instagram account that appears to specialize in AI-generated musical video clips.

Crockett’s account notes that posts are made by her staff unless the letters ‘CWC’ are present. Her account appears to have shared, but not originally posted the video. Fox News Digital reached out to Crockett’s office to ask if she took any part in creating or sanctioning the post.

After Fox News Digital’s inquiry, mention of the video disappeared from Crockett’s page. 

‘A beacon of hope, we know you won’t deceive,’ the song continued at another point. ‘Democratic champion, her mission’s loud and clear. For every single citizen, she’ll always be near. No MAGA could silence the truth she displays. Jasmine, you rock girl, keep leading the fight.’

Crockett has garnered a notable fan base among the progressive left since bursting on the national stage just over two years ago.

She has been known for public comments that have pushed the boundaries of congressional decorum and have even earned her censure threats from her Republican colleagues in the House.

Crockett garnered controversy in late March for referring to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who is in a wheelchair, as ‘Governor Hot Wheels.’ She later clarified in a statement that she ‘wasn’t thinking about the governor’s condition,’ but she did not apologize.

She also appeared to cash in on a spat she was part of during a House Oversight Committee hearing last year, when her response to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., claiming Crockett had ‘fake eyelashes,’ was to mock Greene as having a ‘bleach blonde bad built butch body.’

Crockett later moved to trademark the phrase through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

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GOP Georgia Senate candidate targets vulnerable Jon Ossoff in ad depicting transgender ‘fan’

House Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., is taking aim at Georgia’s senior senator in a new ad highlighting the vulnerable Democrat’s stance on transgender student athletes.

Carter, who is running for Senate, is releasing a 30-second advertisement titled, ‘Ossoff Fan,’ which features a purported transgender woman complaining about Carter’s own Republican stances. It opens by showing a transgender woman, played by a stubble-chinned biological male wearing a wig and a dress, sitting in a living room beside a dumbbell watching Carter on Fox News.

‘He’s been MAGA from the beginning,’ the person says on the phone. ‘He’s been loyal to Trump, defended him during impeachment.’

The person on the other line says, ‘And Buddy helped Trump at the border with deportations.’

The transgender person picks up a trophy and says, ‘And preventing people like me from competing in women’s sports. Buddy Carter even believes there’s only two genders.’ 

‘Now Buddy wants to help Trump in the Senate and beat Jon Ossoff,’ the individual says. ‘It’s just not fair.’ Meanwhile, the voice on the phone quips, ‘After all Ossoff has done for us!’

The ad ends with the transgender person picking up a sign with pink lettering that says, ‘Ossoff for Senate,’ putting on a pair of wedge sandals, and stomping to their car.

The short but punchy advertisement signals that Republicans still believe the debate surrounding transgender inclusion is a potent issue for turning out voters in favor of the GOP. It proved to be a key issue in the 2024 general election, with moderate Democrats spending weeks after the fact decrying their own party’s intolerance to differing views.

Ossoff is a first-term lawmaker who was the first Democrat to win a Senate seat in the Peach State in roughly two decades. Republicans now view Ossoff’s seat as one of the most viable flip opportunities in the upcoming 2026 midterm cycle, when the GOP hopes to keep and expand upon its thin majority in the upper chamber. 

Carter was the first Republican to jump into the contest after Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who was considered a heavy favorite to run against Ossoff, opted to forgo a Senate bid. Georgia Insurance Commissioner John King is also running in the race as a Republican.

Ossoff joined with all other Democratic senators to filibuster the bill from Sens. Tommy Tuberville and Katie Britt, both Alabama Republicans, in March, effectively killing the legislation after it advanced out of the House earlier this year. 

Their bill, called the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, is designed to bar transgender athletes from participating in federally funded school athletics at all levels, from elementary school to college.

It would amend Title IX to make it a violation for any school athletic program that receives federal funding to allow a biological male to participate in sports or activities that are meant for women or girls, and defines a person’s sex by their reproductive biology and genetics at birth. 

The measure is similar to an executive order from President Donald Trump in February that argued that the participation of biological men in women’s and girls’ sports was ‘demeaning, unfair, and dangerous to women and girls, and denies women and girls the equal opportunity to participate and excel in competitive sports.’

Ossoff campaign communications director Ellie Dougherty argued in a statement after this report was published that athletic associations and local school districts could ensure fair and safe competition in school athletics, and accused the GOP’s bill of threatening to usher in ‘extremely intrusive’ federal investigations of children’s bodies.

‘American parents don’t need federal bureaucrats confirming our children’s genitalia,’ Dougherty said. 

The Carter campaign’s ad is also not the first time in the early days of the looming midterm cycle that the vulnerable senator has been targeted for his vote against the measure. 

One Nation, a nonprofit advocacy group closely aligned with Senate Republican leadership, ran an ad last month that accused Ossoff of ‘running point for the radical left’ with his vote to block the men in women’s sports bill. 

Fox News Digital reached out to Ossoff’s campaign for comment on Carter’s ad but did not hear back by press time.

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FBI reopening investigation into cocaine found at Biden White House

The FBI is taking another look at the cocaine found inside the Biden administration White House in 2023, according to Deputy Director Dan Bongino. 

‘Shortly after swearing in, the Director and I evaluated a number of cases of potential public corruption that, understandably, have garnered public interest. We made the decision to either re-open, or push additional resources and investigative attention, to these cases,’ Bongino said in a post on X. 

‘These cases are the DC pipe bombing investigation, the cocaine discovery at the prior administration’s White House, and the leak of the Supreme Court Dobbs case. I receive requested briefings on these cases weekly and we are making progress. If you have any investigative tips on these matters that may assist us, then please contact the FBI,’ he added. 

The FBI did not immediately respond Tuesday to a request for further comment from Fox News Digital. 

Earlier this year, President Donald Trump said in an interview he believes former President Joe Biden or his son, Hunter Biden, left behind the infamous bag of cocaine at the White House. 

‘So … who actually left the cocaine in the White House?’ The Spectator’s Ben Domenech asked Trump. 

‘Well, either Joe or Hunter,’ Trump responded. ‘Could be Joe, too.’  

The bag of cocaine was discovered on July 2, 2023, in a storage locker near the entrance to the White House’s West Wing.  

The Secret Service discovered the cocaine and launched an investigation, which turned up inconclusive for a suspect. 

‘On July 12, the Secret Service received the FBI’s laboratory results, which did not develop latent fingerprints and insufficient DNA was present for investigative comparisons,’ it said in 2023. ‘Therefore, the Secret Service is not able to compare evidence against the known pool of individuals. The FBl’s evaluation of the substance also confirmed that it was cocaine.’

‘That was such a terrible thing because, you know, those bins are very loaded up with … they’re not clean, and they have hundreds and even thousands of fingerprints,’ Trump also said in the interview. ‘And when they went to look at it, it was absolutely stone cold, wiped dry. You know that, right?’ 

The Biden family, including the former president and Hunter, were not staying at the White House when the cocaine was discovered. Instead, the family was staying at presidential retreat Camp David in Maryland. 

Hunter Biden has a long and well-documented history with substance abuse, and he detailed his hourly need for crack cocaine in his 2021 memoir, ‘Beautiful Things.’ He has since gone through recovery efforts and has been sober since 2019, according to sworn testimony in federal court in 2023. 

Fox News’ Emma Colton contributed to this report. 

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