1-2-25 roundup: Pro football, soccer and basketball, High school basketball, College football and basketball

By Richard Walker

The 23rd Duke’s Mayo Bowl will be held at Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium on Friday at 7:30 p.m.

Virginia Tech of the ACC will make its 3rd appearance while the Minnesota of the Big Ten will make its debut.

The ACC has played in each of the previous 22 contests that have previously been sponsored by Contential Tire, Meineke Car Care and Belk in addition to Duke’s Mayo.

The league is 10-12 all-time with 5 consecutive losses.

Minnesota will become the 3rd Big Ten Conference team to appear in the contest.

Virginia has the best record in the bowl at 3-0 with North Carolina (6 appearances, 1-5 record) and N.C. State (4 appearances, 2-2 record) with the most times in the game.

Here are the bowl’s all-time results (with game attendance in parentheses):

Dec. 28, 2002 (Continental Tire Bowl) — Virginia 48, West Virginia 22 (73,535)
Dec. 27, 2003 (Continental Tire Bowl) — Virginia 23, Pittsburgh 16 (51,236)
Dec. 30, 2004 (Continental Tire Bowl) — Boston College 37, North Carolina 24 (70,412)
Dec. 31, 2005 (Meineke Car Care Bowl) — N.C. State 14, South Florida 0 (57.937)
Dec. 30, 2006 (Meineke Car Care Bowl) — Boston College 25, Navy 24 (52,303)
Dec. 29, 2007 (Meineke Car Care Bowl) — Wake Forest 24, Connecticut 10 (53,126)
Dec. 27, 2008 (Meineke Car Care Bowl) — West Virginia 31, North Carolina 30 (73,712)
Dec. 26, 2009 (Meineke Car Care Bowl) — Pittsburgh 19, North Carolina 17 (50,389)
Dec. 31, 2010 (Meineke Car Care Bowl) — South Florida 31, Clemson 26 (41,122)
Dec. 27, 2011 (Belk Bowl) — N.C. State 31, Louisville 24 (58,427)
Dec. 27, 2012 (Belk Bowl) — Cincinnati 48, Duke 34 (48,128)
Dec. 28, 2013 (Belk Bowl) — North Carolina 39, Cincinnati 17 (45,211)
Dec. 29, 2014 (Belk Bowl) — Georgia 37, Louisville 14 (45,671)
Dec. 30, 2015 (Belk Bowl) — Mississippi State 51, N.C. State 28 (46,423)
Dec. 29, 2016 (Belk Bowl) — Virginia Tech 35, Arkansas 24 (46,902)
Dec. 29, 2017 (Belk Bowl) — Wake Forest 55, Texas A&M 52 (32,784)
Dec. 29, 2018 (Belk Bowl) — Virginia 28, South Carolina 0 (48,263)
Dec. 31, 2019 (Belk Bowl) — Kentucky 37, Virginia Tech 30 (44,138)
Dec. 30, 2020 (Duke’s Mayo Bowl) — Wisconsin 42, Wake Forest 28 (1,500-COVID-19 restricted)
Dec. 30, 2021 (Duke’s Mayo Bowl) — South Carolina 38, North Carolina 21 (45,520)
Dec. 30, 2022 (Duke’s Mayo Bowl) — Maryland 16, N.C. State 12 (37,228)
Dec. 27, 2023 (Duke’s Mayo Bowl) — West Virginia 30, North Carolina 10 (42,925)

 

High school basketball

Here’s the upcoming area schedule:

(Friday, Jan. 3)
Bessemer City at East Gaston
Cherryville at Burns
Highland Tech at Thomas Jefferson
East Lincoln at Statesville
North Lincoln at Hickory
Kings Mountain at Shelby
South Point at Cox Mill
Sugar Creek at Piedmont CC
Burlington Christian at Gaston Day

(Saturday, Jan. 4)
Asheville at Crest
Gaston Christian at Zebulon Heritage Christian

(Tuesday, Jan. 7)
Cramer at North Gaston
Crest at Huss
Kings Mountain at Ashbrook
South Point at Forestview
Cherryville at East Gaston
Shelby at Bessemer City
Thomas Jefferson at Burns
North Lincoln at North Iredell
West Iredell at East Lincoln
Bandys at Lincolnton
Bunker Hill at West Lincoln
Lincoln Charter at Langtree Charter
Pine Lake Prep at Mountain Island Charter
Piedmont CC at Valor Prep
Concord Academy at Gaston Christian

(Wednesday, Jan. 8)
Langtree Charter at Highland Tech
South Point at Catawba Ridge, S.C.

(Friday, Jan. 10)
Cramer at South Point
Crest at Ashbrook
Huss at Kings Mountain
North Gaston at Forestview
Bessemer City at Cherryville
East Gaston at Thomas Jefferson
Highland Tech at Shelby
East Lincoln at Foard
North Lincoln at St. Stephens
Polk County at Burns
Lincolnton at West Caldwell
Newton-Conover at West Lincoln
Mountain Island Charter at Langtree Charter
Pine Lake Prep at Lincolnton Charter
Piedmont CC at Carolina International
Gaston Christian at Westminster Catawba
Gaston Day at SouthLake Christian

(Saturday, Jan. 11)
Lincoln Charter at Combine Academy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pro football

Here is the Carolina Panthers’ full 2024 schedule:

(preseason)
Aug. 8 at New England (L 3-17)
Aug. 17 N.Y. Jets (L 12-15)
Aug. 24 at Buffalo (W 31-26)
(regular season)
Sept. 8 at New Orleans (L 10-47)
Sept. 15 L.A. Chargers (L 3-26)
Sept. 22 at Las Vegas (W 36-22)
Sept. 29 Cincinnati (L 24-34)
Oct. 6 at Chicago (L 10-36)
Oct. 13 Atlanta (L 20-38)
Oct. 20 at Washington (L 7-40)
Oct. 27 at Denver (L 14-28)
Nov. 3 New Orleans (W 23-22)
Nov. 10 N.Y. Giants* (W 20-17 in OT)
*-game played in Munich, Germany
Nov. 17 BYE
Nov. 24 Kansas City (L 27-30)
Dec. 1 Tampa Bay (L 23-26 in OT)
Dec. 8 at Philadelphia (L 16-22)
Dec. 15 Dallas (L 14-30)
Dec. 22 Arizona (W 36-30 in OT)
Dec. 29 at Tampa Bay (L 14-48)
Jan. 5 at Atlanta, 1 p.m.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

College football

2024-25 College football Division I playoff/bowl schedule:

-College Football Playoff

(Friday, Dec. 20)
No. 10 Indiana at No. 7 Notre Dame – ND 27-17

(Saturday Dec. 21)
No. 11 SMU at No. 6 Penn State – PS 38-10
No. 12 Clemson at No. 5 Texas – Texas 38-24
No. 9 Tennessee at No. 8 Ohio State – OS 42-17

(Tuesday, Dec. 31)
-CFP Quarterfinal at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl
No. 6 Penn State vs. No. 3 Boise State – PS 31-14

(Wednesday, Jan. 1)
-CFP Quarterfinal at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl
No. 5 Texas vs. No. 4 Arizona State – Texas 39-31 (2 OT)
-CFP Quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl Game
No. 8 Ohio State vs. No. 1 Oregon – OS 41-21

(Thursday, Jan. 2)
-CFP Quarterfinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl
No. 7 Notre Dame vs. No. 2 Georgia – ND 23-10
(postponed from Jan. 1 due to terrorist attack)

(Thursday, Jan. 9)
-CFP Semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl
No. 6 Penn State vs. No. 7 Notre Dame, 7:30 p.m., ESPN

(Friday, Jan. 10)
-CFP Semifinal at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic
No. 5 Texas vs. No. 8 Ohio State, 7:30 p.m., ESPN

(Monday, Jan. 20)
-CFP National Championship Presented at Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta)
7:30 p.m., ESPN

-Bowl schedule

(Saturday, Dec. 14)
-Cricket Celebration Bowl at Atlanta
Jackson State vs. South Carolina State – JS 28-7

-IS4S Salute to Veterans Bowl at Montgomery, Ala.
South Alabama vs. Western Michigan – SA 30-23

(Tuesday, Dec. 17)
-Scooter’s Coffee Frisco (Tex.) Bowl
Memphis vs. West Virginia – Memphis 42-37

(Wednesday, Dec. 18)
-Boca Raton (Fla.) Bowl
Western Kentucky vs. James Madison – JM 27-17

-Art of Sport LA Bowl at Inglewood, Cal.
Cal vs. UNLV – UNLV 24-13

(Thursday Dec. 19)
-R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl
Georgia Southern vs. Sam Houston – SH 31-26

(Friday, Dec. 20)
-StaffDNA Cure Bowl at Orlando, Fla.
Ohio U. vs. Jacksonville State – Ohio 30-27

-Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl at Tampa, Fla.
Tulane vs. Florida – Florida 33-8

(Monday, Dec. 23)
-Myrtle Beach Bowl at Conway, S.C.
Coastal Carolina vs. UTSA – UTSA 44-15

-Famous Idaho Potato Bowl at Boise, Id.
Northern Illinois vs. Fresno State – NI 28-20 (2 OT)

(Tuesday, Dec. 24)
-Hawai’i Bowl at Honolulu
South Florida vs. San José State – SF 41-39 (5 OT)

(Thursday, Dec. 26)
-GameAbove Sports Bowl at Detroit
Pittsburgh vs. Toledo – Toledo 48-46 (6 OT)

-Rate Bowl at Phoenix
Rutgers vs. Kansas State – KS 44-41

-68 Ventures Bowl at Mobile, Ala.
Arkansas State vs. Bowling Green – AS 38-31

(Friday, Dec. 27)
-Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl at Fort Worth, Tex.
Oklahoma vs. Navy – Navy 21-20

-Birmingham (Ala.) Bowl
Georgia Tech vs. Vanderbilt – Vanderbilt 35-27

-AutoZone Liberty Bowl at Memphis, Tenn.
Texas Tech vs. Arkansas – Arkansas 39-26

-DirecTV Holiday Bowl at San Diego
Syracuse vs. Washington State – Syracuse 52-35

-SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl
Texas A&M vs. USC – USC 35-31

(Saturday, Dec. 28)
-Wasabi Fenway Bowl at Boston
North Carolina vs. UConn – UConn 27-14

-Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl at Bronx, N.Y.
Boston College vs. Nebraska – Nebraska 20-15

-Isleta New Mexico Bowl at Albuquerque, N.M.
Louisiana vs. TCU – TCU 34-3

-Pop-Tarts Bowl at Orlando, Fla.
Iowa State vs. Miami – Iowa State 42-41

-Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl at Tucson, Ariz.
Miami, Ohio vs. Colorado State – Miami 43-17

-Go Bowling Military Bowl at Annapolis, Md.
East Carolina vs. N.C. State – EC 26-21

-Valero Alamo Bowl at San Antonio
BYU vs. Colorado – BYU 36-14

-Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl at Shreveport, La.
Louisiana Tech vs. Army – Army 27-6
(Marshall opts out Dec. 14 due to transfer portal departures)

(Monday, Dec. 30)
-TransPerfect Music City Bowl at Nashville, Tenn.
Iowa vs. Missouri – Missouri 27-24

(Tuesday, Dec. 31)
ReliaQuest Bowl at Tampa, Fla.
Alabama vs. Michigan – Michigan 19-13

-Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl at El Paso, Tex.
Louisville vs. Washington – Louisville 35-34

-Cheez-It Citrus Bowl at Orlando, Fla.
South Carolina vs. Illinois – Illinois 21-17

-Kinder’s Texas Bowl at Houston
Baylor vs. LSU – LSU 44-31

(Thursday, Jan. 2)
-TaxSlayer Gator Bowl at Jacksonville, Fla.
Duke vs. Ole Miss, 7:30 p.m. ESPN

(Friday, Jan. 3)
-SERVPRO First Responder Bowl at Dallas
North Texas vs. Texas State, 4 p.m., ESPN

-Duke’s Mayo Bowl at Charlotte
Minnesota vs. Virginia Tech, 7:30 p.m., ESPN

(Saturday, Jan. 4)
-Bahamas Bowl at Nassau, Bahamas
Buffalo vs. Liberty, 11 a.m., ESPN2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pro basketball

The NBA announced on Thursday early fan voting for the 2025 NBA All-Star Game in San Francisco and Hornets guard LaMelo Ball leads Eastern Conference.

An All-Star in 2022 when he became the 4th-youngest NBA All-Star ever at 20 years and 182 days (trailing only Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Magic Johnson), Ball has received 947,444 votes – or more than 229,000 votes ahead of 2nd-place vote-getter Donovan Mitchell of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Ball is currently averaging career highs in points (30.1), field goals (10.5), 3-pointers (4.5) and free throws (4.7) in addition to averaging 5.3 rebounds, 7.4 assists and 1.3 steals in 22 games.

The 2021 NBA Rookie of the Year, Ball has appeared in 206 games (186 starts) in his 5-year career with averages of 21.1 points, 6.1 rebounds, 7.4 assists and 1.5 steals.

Here is the Charlotte Hornets full 2024-25 results and schedule:

-Regular season
(*-Emirates Cup games)
OCTOBER
Wed. 23 at Houston (W 110-105)
Fri. 25 at Atlanta (L 120-125)
Sat. 26 MIAMI (L 106-114)
Wed. 30 TORONTO (W 138-133)

NOVEMBER
Fri. 1 BOSTON (L 109-124)
Sat. 2 BOSTON (L 103-113)
Mon. 4 at Minnesota (L 93-114)
Wed. 6 DETROIT (W 108-107)
Fri. 8 INDIANA (W 103-83)
Sun. 10 at Philadelphia (L 105-107 in OT)
Tue. 12 at Orlando* (L 89-114)
Sat. 16 MILWAUKEE (W 115-114)
Sun. 17 at Cleveland (L 114-128)
Tue. 19 at Brooklyn* (L 115-116)
Thu. 21 DETROIT (W 123-121 in OT)
Sat. 23 at Milwaukee (L 119-125)
Mon. 25 ORLANDO (L 84-95)
Wed. 27 MIAMI (L 94-98)
Fri. 29 NEW YORK* (L 98-99)
Sat. 30 ATLANTA 6:00 (L 104-107)

DECEMBER
Tue. 3 PHILADELPHIA* (L 104-110)
Thu. 5 at New York (L 101-125)
Sat. 7 CLEVELAND (L 102-116)
Sun. 8 at Indiana (W 113-109)
Fri. 13 at Chicago (L 95-109)
Mon. 16 Philadelphia (L 108-121)
Thu. 19 at Washington (L 114-123)
Fri. 20 at Philadelphia (L 98-108)
Mon. 23 HOUSTON (L 101-114)
Thu. 26 at Washington (L 110-113)
Sat. 28 OKLAHOMA CITY (L 94-106)
Mon. 30 CHICAGO (L 108-115 in OT)

JANUARY
Fri. 3 at Detroit 7:00
Sun. 5 at Cleveland 6:00
Tue. 7 PHOENIX 7:00
Thu. 9 at L.A. Lakers 10:30
Sat. 11 at LA Clippers 10:30
Sun. 12 at Phoenix 9:00
Wed. 15 at Utah 9:00
Fri. 17 at Chicago 9:30
Mon. 20 DALLAS 12:00
Wed. 22 at Memphis 8:00
Fri. 24 PORTLAND 7:00
Sat. 25 NEW ORLEANS 7:00
Mon. 27 L.A. LAKERS 7:00
Wed. 29 BROOKLYN 7:00
Fri. 31 LA CLIPPERS 7:00

FEBRUARY
Sat. 1 DENVER 7:00
Mon. 3 WASHINGTON 7:00
Wed. 5 MILWAUKEE 7:00
Fri. 7 SAN ANTONIO 7:00
Sun. 9 at Detroit 1:00
Mon. 10 at Brooklyn 7:30
Wed. 12 at Orlando 7:00
Thu. 20 at Denver 9:00
Sat. 22 at Portland 10:00
Mon. 24 at Sacramento 10:00
Tue. 25 at Golden State 10:00
Thu. 27 at Dallas 8:30

MARCH
Sat. 1 WASHINGTON 6:00
Mon. 3 GOLDEN STATE 7:00
Wed. 5 MINNESOTA 7:00
Fri. 7 CLEVELAND 7:00
Sat. 8 BROOKLYN 6:00
Mon. 10 at Miami 7:30
Wed. 12 at Atlanta 7:30
Fri. 14 at San Antonio 8:00
Tue. 18 ATLANTA 7:00
Thu. 20 NEW YORK 7:00
Fri. 21 at Oklahoma City 8:00
Sun. 23 at Miami 6:00
Tue. 25 ORLANDO 7:00
Fri. 28 at Toronto 7:30
Sun. 30 at New Orleans 7:00
Mon. 31 UTAH 7:00

APRIL
Wed. 2 at Indiana 7:00
Fri. 4 SACRAMENTO 7:00
Sun. 6 CHICAGO 1:00
Tue. 8 MEMPHIS 7:00
Wed. 9 at Toronto 7:30
Fri. 11 at Boston 7:30
Sun. 13 at Boston 1:00

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

College basketball

Here are the area men’s results and schedule:

(Tuesday, Dec. 31)
George Mason 69, Davidson 57
Tulane 83, Charlotte 68

(Thursday, Jan. 2)
Charleston Southern 72, Gardner-Webb 63
Stetson at Queens

(Saturday, Jan. 4)
Belmont Abbey at Barton
Charlotte at Rice
Duquesne at Davidson
Florida Gulf Coast at Queens
J.C. Smith at Virginia State
Pellissippi State at Cleveland CC
Presbyterian at Gardner-Webb

(Monday, Jan. 6)
J.C. Smith at Bluefield State

(Tuesday, Jan. 7)
Cleveland CC at Catawba Valley CC
Gaston College at Converse JV

(Wednesday, Jan. 8)
Belmont Abbey at Converse
Florida Atlantic at Charlotte
Winthrop at Gardner-Webb

(Thursday, Jan. 9)
J.C. Smith at Elizabeth City State
Queens at Lipscomb

(Saturday, Jan. 11)
Charlotte at Tulsa
Cleveland CC at Bryant & Stratton, Va.
Emmanuel at Belmont Abbey
Fordham at Davidson
Gardner-Webb at High Point
Pitt CC at Gaston College
Queens at Austin Peay

(Sunday, Jan. 12)
Pitt CC at Cleveland CC

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pro soccer

The Charlotte FC MLS team’s 2025 schedule:

Saturday, Feb. 22 at Seattle 10:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 1 Atlanta 2 p.m.
Sunday, March 9 at Miami 5 p.m.
Saturday, March 15 Cincinnati 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 22 San Jose 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 29 at Colorado 4:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 5 Nashville 2:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 12 at Montreal 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 19 San Diego 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 26 New England 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 3 at Columbus 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 10 at Nashville 8:30 p.m.
Wednesday, May 14 at Orlando 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 17 Chicago 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 24 Columbus 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, May 28 at NY Red Bulls 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 31 at Toronto 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, June 14 at Philadelphia 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, June 25 at Kansas City 8:30 p.m.
Saturday, June 28 at Chicago 8:30 p.m.
Saturday, July 5 Orlando 7 p.m.
Saturday, July 12 New York 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, July 16 DC 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, July 19 at Atlanta 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Aug. 10 at Cincinnati 6 p.m.
Saturday, Aug. 16 Real Salt Lake 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, Aug. 24 NY Red Bulls 7 p.m.
Saturday, Aug. 30 at New England 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 13 Miami 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 19 at New York 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 27 Montreal 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, October 4 at DC 2:30 p.m.
Saturday, October 18 Philadelphia 6 p.m.