The still-defending champions are facing a season as difficult as any in the college landscape.

Thankfully, Baylor has experience re-loading. For three straight years, the Lady Bears dominated the Wade Trophy for the national player of the year. Brittney Griner won in 2012, when Baylor won a national title, and again in 2013; Odyssey Sims followed in 2014.

The next season may have been Kim Mulkey’s most significant challenge in terms of replacing talent. And while Baylor continued to dominate the Big 12, they couldn’t find their way past the Elite Eight until 2019, when they finally reached the mountain top again, and claimed another NCAA title.

This year, Baylor not only needs to find a new rotation, but they’re also dealing with all the schedule irregularities that have begun to hound college basketball due to the pandemic.

Forward Lauren Cox and guards Te’a Cooper and Juicy Landrum were all drafted to the WNBA after combining for 45.1% of the team’s points per game and 49.4% of the team’s assists. Entering the season, senior guard DiDi Richards and junior forward NaLyssa Smith were expected to be the only full-time starters returning from last year’s squad that went 28-2 overall and 17-1 in the Big 12.

 Now, the AP poll’s 3rd-ranked team in the preseason is figuring out how to move forward from the indefinite loss of Richards. In a preseason practice, Richards and Moon Ursin were injured in an accidental collision. According to Baylor, Richards suffered a spinal-cord injury without radiographic abnormality, which causes temporary impairment. She has been treated, released, and is making progress from her injury. Ursin has been in concussion protocol.

Get a peak into the road to recovery for DiDi Richards#SicEm https://t.co/lChgAgbDYE

— Baylor Lady Bears (@BaylorWBB) November 30, 2020

“I said at my first press conference, the teams that survive and win this year will be those who have the most depth and most experience,” Mulkey said. “We, as of today, have nine players who will play. When DiDi gets back, she will be the 10th player. While we do have five or six players who had significant minutes (last season), their roles will now change. And that does matter. While we have the talent and experience back, we don’t have them in the role they played last year.”

Last season, Richards earned the Naismith and WBCA awards for national defensive player of the year. In her junior year, her second as a starter, she averaged 8.2 points, 4.9 rebounds, 5.7 assists, and 1.7 steals. This season, the coaching staff was hoping to turn Richards into a point guard after seeing something in a season in which she had a team-high 170 assists last season and had just 58 turnovers in 896 minutes.

“I watched a lot of games. I definitely watched the Iowa State game, the one we lost. I watched it at least 20 to 30 times, I’m not kidding. But I watched a lot of games. I didn’t want that to happen again,” Richards said in the offseason. “I worked hard this summer trying to get my game to another level and my confidence built.”

So far, it seems that sophomore Jordyn Oliver and freshman Sarah Andrews will assume the duties of point guard. Ursin will also be a candidate to replace backcourt minutes.

Here’s Sarah Andrews’ first bucket ???? as a Lady Bear!#SicEm pic.twitter.com/ZWBxsxXozS

— Baylor Lady Bears (@BaylorWBB) November 26, 2020

After a brilliant sophomore season, NaLyssa Smith will step into a much bigger role as a junior. In just 24.1 minutes per game, she led Baylor in scoring with 14.3 points per game and was second in rebounding at 8.0 per game. Her next step will be increasing her shooting range — she took and missed just four 3-pointers last year.

Queen Egbo, the Big 12 Sixth Person of the Year, will likely be the second post player in a two-big lineup. Last year, she averaged 10.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. Behind Smith and Egbo, Hannah Gusters arrives as a freshman from MacArthur High School in Irving, Texas. The No. 16 ranked recruit will benefit from the experience ahead of her without having the pressure to perform immediately.

Despite coming from the same high school, Andrews is in a different spot with the immediate need for production at the point guard position. In practice, UCLA transfer Jaden Owens and Penn State transfer Kamaria McDaniels will add competition, but neither can play this season.

The transfer who can make an impact is DiJonai Carrington, a grad transfer from Stanford. Carrington was picked as the Newcomer of the Year in the Big 12 by ESPN.

In a breakout junior year alongside Alanna Smith and Kiana Williams, Carrington started 36 games and averaged 14 points and 7.5 rebounds. After the season, she had knee surgery, and five games into her senior season, she shut it down after re-injuring the knee. After graduating with degrees in Psychology and African & African American Studies, Carrington transferred in hopes of playing in a new offense.

Carrington said that Mulkey has stopped practice to instill a more aggressive mindset, but she will not be hearing it from just her coach. Richards, who is not expected to play in Game 1, will be a force on the sideline.

“If my role is yelling and being the voice on the sideline,” she said, “I’m prepared to do that.”

Nike is sending Team USA to Italy in style, with the sportswear giant's ACG (All Conditions Gear) brand releasing the designs for a special 2026 Winter Olympics collection this week.

Branded with Nike ACG badges alongside Team USA patches, this year's collection builds off a traditional red, white, and navy color scheme to outfit the country's Olympic and Paralympic athletes, as well as fans, ahead of the 2026 Games' February 6th opening ceremony in Milan.

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The designs include a long-sleeved T-shirt displaying an animated, winter sports-bound bald eagle and a zipped fleece sherpa and Therma-Fit skirt, both emblazoned with a bald eagle soaring over mountains.

Additionally, the collection boasts multiple T-shirts, long-sleeved sweat-wicking shirts, Polartec® jackets, and accessories including a baseball cap and winter beanie.

Nike is just one of many major brands outfitting Team USA for this year's competition, with the athletic corporation joining J.Crew in inviting fans to gear up for the Games after the fashion retailer dropped its own Winter Olympics capsule collection earlier this month.

How to purchase items from the Nike ACG x Team USA collection

The Nike ACG x Team USA line will hit shelves on Friday, January 23rd, with fans able to snag pieces prior to the 2026 Winter Olympics.

The collection will be available for purchase via nike.com.

Stars of the 2025 Euro stole the EA FC 26 spotlight this week, as the video game giant's fan-voted 2026 Team of the Year recognized some of international soccer's top achievers on Thursday.

Champions England fielded four honorees as forward Alessia Russo joined a trio of Lioness defenders — Leah Williamson, Millie Bright, and Team of the Year captain Lucy Bronze — on the 11-player list.

"Being named the first-ever Women's EA Sports FC TOTY Captain is an honour," Bronze said in a statement. "2025 was an amazing year — winning the Euros again and picking up my first BWSL with Chelsea — so much of that success is thanks to our fans, and it's great to see them recognize my efforts with this award."

The rest of the EA FC 26 Team of the Year also favored European titans, as Euro runners-up and Nations League winners Spain also saw a quartet of players make the roster. La Roja fully owned the Team of Year midfield as stars Aitana Bonmatí, Mariona Caldentey, and Alexia Putellas joined forward Clàudia Pina on Thursday's lineup.

Rounding out the squad were three other European club standouts as EA FC 26 also tapped Chliean goalkeeper Christiane Endler (OL Lyonnes), French defender Selma Bacha (OL Lyonnes), and Polish forward Ewa Pajor (FC Barcelona).

The first Grand Slam of 2026 has arrived, as the main draw of the Australian Open hits the court on Saturday evening, promising some early-round fireworks.

World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka enters as the tournament favorite, though the rest of the WTA Top 10 promises to give her a run for her money — as No. 2 Iga Świątek chases the only major tournament title still eluding her.

Meanwhile, No. 9 Madison Keys will attempt to defend her 2025 crown, as fellow US products No. 3 Coco Gauff, No. 4 Amanda Anisimova, and No. 6 Jessica Pegula also locked down top seeds.

Another US superstar will return this weekend, with 45-year-old Venus Williams following up her impressive 2025 performances by accepting a wild-card entry to her first Australian Open in five years.

"Even though I've been on tour for a long time, this is also still my first experience as [reigning champion]," Keys said. "I'm really just trying to soak in all of the really cool fun parts."

How to watch the 2026 Australian Open

The 2026 Australian Open begins at 7 PM ET on Saturday, with Williams as well as top-seed Sabalenka and world No. 7 Jasmine Paolini set to face their first opponents on the first day of the Slam's main draw.

The second day of first-round matches will see the rest of the WTA elite in action, as No. 2 Świątek, No. 3 Gauff, No. 4 Anisimova, No. 6 Pegula, and No. 9 Keys — as well as No. 5 Elena Rybakina, No. 8 Mirra Andreeva, and No. 10 Belinda Bencic — will hit the hardcourt in Melbourne starting at 7 PM ET on Sunday.

All matches in the 2026 Australian Open — from the first round through the women's final on Saturday, January 31st — will air live across ESPN platforms.

Monday's NCAA basketball action will put two of the nation's top guards to the test, as No. 10 TCU faces No. 14 Ohio State in Newark, New Jersey's Coretta Scott King Classic — part of a stacked MLK Day slate.

Buckeye sophomore Jaloni Cambridge is on a tear in this season, averaging 21.8 points per game — good for No. 10 in the country — and tallying 102 points, 20 rebounds, and 20 assists across Ohio State's last three games.

At the same time, TCU has seen similar stylings from Notre Dame transfer Olivia Miles, with the senior putting up a career-high 19.2 points per game while sitting at No. 9 in the nation behind her 7.3 assists average for the Horned Frogs.

Even more, Miles is lapping her collegiate cohort in triple doubles on the season, posting four of the elite stat-sheet performances while all other NCAA players have a maximum of one.

Both teams are meeting expectations head-on this season, impressing following 2025 NCAA tournament exits that spurred significant offseason roster changes.

Ohio State star forward Cotie McMahon transferred to Ole Miss after the Buckeyes' second-round ousting, while TCU graduated standout starting guard Hailey Van Lith and center Sedona Prince.

With Miles and Cambridge leading the charge, however, both squads are flourishing: TCU faltered just once in their 2025/26 campaign so far — a January 3rd overtime loss to unranked Utah — while Ohio State's two season losses came at the hands of titans No. 1 UConn and No. 3 UCLA.

"Ultimately, [TCU forward] Marta [Suarez] and Miles are two of the best players in college basketball," Horned Frogs head coach Mark Campbell said after Sunday's win over Arizona State. "But for our team to reach our full potential, we need these other players to show great growth. And I think we have."

How to watch TCU vs. Ohio State basketball on Monday

The No. 10 Horned Frogs will take on the No. 14 Buckeyes at 12 PM ET on Monday, airing live on FOX.