Jun 8, 2023 2 min read

Big 12 to play in Mexico

The Big 12 Conference is extending its reach into Mexico, announcing plans Thursday for men’s and women’s basketball games to be played in Mexico City late next year while also exploring a possible football bowl game in Monterrey.

Big 12 Mexico is the league’s first international extension, and comes less than a year after Brett Yormark became commissioner of the evolving conference.

“Mexico is a natural extension to the Big 12 footprint,” Yormark said. “Through Big 12 Mexico, our student-athletes will have the opportunity to compete in an international setting, and our conference will have the chance to showcase our brand across Mexico.”

Kansas and Houston will play each other in men’s and women’s basketball at Mexico City’s Arena CDMX in December 2024. After that, women’s soccer teams and baseball teams from the Big 12 will participate in exhibitions against clubs from the region.

The conference said it would also explore adding a football bowl game in Monterrey starting in 2026, but didn’t elaborate on the potential plans for what would be the first bowl game in Mexico.

In auto racing

Noah Gragson will miss Sunday’s NASCAR race at Sonoma Raceway with concussion-like symptoms from a crash last weekend outside St. Louis.

Legacy Motor Club said Thursday that Truck Series driver Grant Enfinger will make his Cup debut as Gragson’s replacement in the No. 42 Chevrolet.

• Ryan Hunter-Reay will return to the IndyCar Series as Conor Daly’s replacement at Ed Carpenter Racing, the team announced.

In college basketball

The NCAA is tweaking how block/charge calls are made in men’s basketball.

The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved rule changes on Thursday that require a defender to be in position to draw a charge at the time the offensive player plants a foot to go airborne for a shot. If the defender arrives after the player has planted a foot, officials have been instructed to call a block when there’s contact.

Defenders had to be in position to draw a charge before the offensive player went airborne under previous rules.