AP Sports SummaryBrief at 3:29 p.m. EST

AP source: Correa reaches $200M, 6-year deal with Twins

A person familiar with the negotiations says Carlos Correa has agreed to a $200 million, six-year contract that keeps him with the Minnesota Twins after failing to complete deals with the New York Mets and San Francisco Giants. The deal for the All-Star shortstop is subject to a successful physical. Correa agreed Dec. 13 to a $350 million, 13-year contract with the Giants, who called off a news conference a week later over concerns with a right ankle injury. Correa agreed that night to a $315 million, 12-year deal with the Mets, who also had concerns about the ankle. The agreement with the Twins could be worth $270 million over 10 seasons if Correa remains healthy.

AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2023: Tennis sans Serena starts in earnest

The 2023 Australian Open will be the first Grand Slam tournament to be held since Serena Williams walked away from tennis with a farewell at the U.S. Open shortly before her 41st birthday. And so the sport will will get a real taste of what a post-Serena world looks like on a big stage. Williams will be missed. By spectators. By executives from the tours, tournaments and television. By other athletes. But tennis will need to move on. It won’t be easy. But all sports do need to take steps forward even when superstars leave.

Georgia becomes 12th back-to-back champ in AP Top 25 history

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Georgia is No. 1 in the final Associated Press college football poll, becoming the 12th back-to-back national champion in the history of the rankings after routing TCU. The Horned Frogs were No. 2, their best final rankings since the 2010 season. Michigan was No. 3, followed by Ohio State and Alabama. The Bulldogs won the College Football Playoff national championship game 65-7 to secure their third AP title overall. Their first came in 1980. Georgia also became the 14th school with as many as three AP national titles.

AP Top 25 Reality Check: Record churn in rankings … again

For the second straight season, a record number of teams that started the season ranked in the AP Top 25 finished it unranked. Georgia was a unanimous No. 1 in the final Associated Press college football poll after winning its second consecutive national championship. Missing from the final rankings were Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Miami and 12 other teams that were in the preseason poll. That is a 15-team turnover from the first poll to the final poll. It is also one more than there was in the 2021 season, which had been the most ever.

Damar Hamlin’s toy drive: What’s the plan for the $8.6M?

NEW YORK (AP) — Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin plans to support young people through education and sports with the $8.6 million in GoFundMe donations that unexpectedly poured into his toy drive fundraiser after he suffered a cardiac arrest in the middle of a game last week. The Giving Back Fund is a nonprofit that helps athletes and celebrities manage their charitable giving. They will host the “The Chasing M’s Foundation” Charitable Fund. A GoFundMe spokesperson said they will transfer the donations that have come in since Hamlin’s injury. Hamlin’s marketing representative, Jordon Rooney, said he and his family are humbled by the “tremendous support” and will communicate with donors over time.

New admission rules could spark ‘Prime Time’ at Colorado

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — The University of Colorado has initiated a pilot program that makes the credit review for transfer students a more seamless process. It may have been the move that ultimately lured Deion Sanders to Boulder. In the new landscape of college football, transfers make all the difference. But because of its stringent admissions rules, Colorado was struggling to adjust to those new realities. The charismatic Sanders is coming to Boulder, but not before this initiative was put in place to assure some of those inequities were fixed. By removing a potential stumbling block, Colorado has a chance to consistently win, just like in the days of Bill McCartney when the Buffaloes captured their only national title.

Shiffrin trails Vlhova in 1st slalom run of record attempt

FLACHAU, Austria (AP) — Mikaela Shiffrin had the second-best time behind Olympic champion Petra Vlhova in the first run of a night slalom as the American goes for a record 83rd win on the women’s World Cup circuit. Shiffrin entered the race tied with fellow American Lindsey Vonn for the record with 82 wins each. She is 0.17 seconds behind Vlhova going into the second run. Shiffrin was the first skier to start and didn’t make any glaring errors on her way down the flood-lit Griessenkar course but Vlhova knew where to be careful and where to charge more after several other skiers struggled. Zrinka Ljutic of Croatia stood third 0.58 behind Vlhova.

Column: Morikawa the latest case study in a bizarre collapse

KAPALUA, Hawaii (AP) — Collin Morikawa is the latest player to tie a PGA Tour record for losing a six-shot lead in the final round. AP Golf Writer Doug Ferguson was there for five of the last six such collapses and says this one was bizarre. It wasn’t a slow leak like so many others. Morikawa played beautifully at the Sentry Tournament of Champions for 69 out of 72 holes. Jordan Spieth has lost leads himself and says it’s not as easy as it looks. He says players can feel as though they are supposed to win. And if they lose, it’s the worst feeling in the world. Ferguson says Morikawa should bounce back. He is playing too well to let this linger.

Bears GM Poles expects Fields to be starting QB next season

LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) — Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles says he expects Justin Fields to be the team’s starting quarterback next season and just about slammed the door on drafting one with the No. 1 overall pick. Poles left it slightly ajar Tuesday by saying he would have to be “blown away” to take a passer. Quarterbacks such as Alabama’s Bryce Young, Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud and Kentucky’s Will Levis are among the top prospects available in the draft. Fields emerged as one of the NFL’s most exciting players in his second season. But he was drafted by former general manager Ryan Pace. The Bears finished 3-14 in one of the worst seasons in franchise history.

Analysis: 3-point shooting leads to more NBA scoring binges

The NBA these past few weeks has featured an almost nightly display of one-upmanship among the game’s greatest scorers. Donovan Mitchell had 71 points in a game for Cleveland. Dallas’ Luka Doncic reached 50 points three times in a nine-day span. Everywhere you turn, it seems like another player is putting up a huge total. Ten different players already have scored 50 points in a game this season. Those are Mitchell, Doncic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid, Devin Booker, Anthony Davis, Klay Thompson, Pascal Siakam, Darius Garland and Stephen Curry.