JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Chris Ashby made 10 3-pointers and scored 34 points to lead Queens University to a men’s NCAA tournament berth in its first year of eligibility with a 98-93 overtime win over Central Arkansas in the Atlantic Sun tournament despite allowing 49 points to Camren Hunter.
The third-seeded Royals (21-13) of Charlotte, North Carolina, survived a late second-half collapse Sunday and Hunter’s heroics to reach the NCAA tournament in their fourth season of Division I play.
Queens had an 11-point lead with 3:25 remaining in regulation but couldn’t handle the Bears’ full-court pressure, turning the ball over five times while Hunter went on a 20-point scoring binge to tie the game at 82.
Ashby scored the first five points of overtime and the Royals kept the lead, making 9 of 10 free throws, including two more by Ashby for a 95-90 edge.
All of Ashby’s shots came from beyond the arc, finishing with a tourney-record 10 made 3s on 19 attempts. Jordan Watford added 19 points, Nasir Mann 14 and Yoav Berman 10, while Avantae Parker collected 10 rebounds to go with eight points.
Hunter bested his career high by 16 points, hitting 17 of 30 shots and going 8-of-12 on 3-pointers on his way to his tournament-record total. Ty Robinson added 16 points and Javion Guy-King scored 10 for the Bears (22-12), who were also seeking their first NCAA berth.
The teams combined for 74 3-point attempts, with Queens making 16 of 38 and Central Arkansas 15 of 36.
Queens had a six-point lead in the first half before Central Arkansas closed the final 5½ minutes on a 12-2 run to take a 34-30 lead.
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Dramatic moments unfolded at the Kansas City International Airport when travelers were evacuated, some even stranded on the tarmac, after officials became aware of an unspecified situation. The FBI later determined that the threat was not credible. It comes as TSA shortages from the partial government shutdown are causing long waits at other airports just ahead of the busy spring break travel season. NBC News’ George Solis reports.March 8, 2026
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NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – A small grass fire grew into a large railroad fire, causing multiple agencies to respond to the scene yesterday. The fire broke out between Lake Arthur and the Eddy County line and quickly spread to a nearby railroad bridge. Hagerman Fire and EMS assisted Eddy County Fire, Dexter Fire Department, and Midway […]
Can anyone topple Michigan? That’s the theme of the 2026 Big Ten Tournament after Dusty May’s Wolverines ran roughshod through the Big Ten slate. Michigan became the first team since 1975-76 Indiana to win every single road game in conference play. It’s an absurdly impressive accomplishment, and the big, bad Wolverines will waltz into the Windy City as the unquestioned favorite to add a Big Ten Tournament title to its long list of accomplishments.
But none of the narrative stuff matters in this single-elimination bracket. The top seed has won the Big Ten Tournament just twice in the last nine years, and plenty of teams in this top-heavy league have the ammunition to go on a multi-day heater.
Here is the official bracket.
2026 Big Ten Tournament bracket, scores
Location: United Center — Chicago Live stream: fuboTV (Try for free) | Follow live:CBS Sports App
All times Eastern; some start times approximated
First round — Tuesday, March 10 Game 1: No. 16 Oregon vs. No. 17 Maryland | 5 p.m. on Peacock Game 2: No. 15 Northwestern vs. No. 18 Penn State | 25 minutes after Game 1 on Peacock
Second round — Wednesday, March 11 Game 3: Game 1 winner vs. No. 9 Iowa | Noon on Peacock Game 4: No. 12 Washington vs. No. 13 USC | 25 minutes after Game 3 on Peacock Game 5: Game 2 winner vs. No. 10 Indiana | 6:30 p.m. on Big Ten Network Game 6: No. 11 Minnesota vs. No. 14 Rutgers | 25 minutes after Game 5 on Big Ten Network
Third round — Thursday, March 12 Game 7: Game 3 winner vs. No. 8 Ohio State | Noon on Big Ten Network Game 8: Game 4 winner vs. No. 5 Wisconsin | 25 minutes after Game 7 on Big Ten Network Game 9: Game 5 winner vs. No. 7 Purdue | 6:30 p.m. on Big Ten Network Game 10: Game 6 winner vs. No. 6 UCLA | 25 minutes after Game 9 on Big Ten Network
Quarterfinals — Friday, March 13 Game 11: Game 7 winner vs. No. 1 Michigan | Noon on Big Ten Network Game 12: Game 8 winner vs. No. 4 Illinois | 25 minutes after Game 7 on Big Ten Network Game 13: Game 9 winner vs. No. 2 Nebraska | 6:30 p.m. on Big Ten Network Game 14: Game 10 winner vs. No. 3 Michigan State | 25 minutes after Game 9 on Big Ten Network
Semifinals — Saturday, March 14 Game 15: Game 11 winner vs. Game 12 winner | 1 p.m. on CBS, CBSSports.com, Paramount+ Premium Game 16: Game 13 winner vs. Game 14 winner | 25 minutes after Game 11 on CBS, CBSSports.com, Paramount+ Premium
Big Ten Tournament Championship Game — Sunday, March 15 Game 17: Game 15 winner vs. Game 16 winner | 3:30 p.m. on CBS, CBSSports.com, Paramount+
Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei, the second son of former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has been named Iran’s new supreme leader, Iranian state media reported Sunday.
While the new supreme leader has never held elected office, the 57-year-old for years has operated quietly behind the scenes from within his father’s office — cultivating influence across the security establishment, particularly within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Mojtaba Khamenei was selected by Iran’s Assembly of Experts, comprised of 88 clerics and supervised by the 12-member Guardian Council, which acts as a watchdog for Iran’s constitution. Ali Khamenei was killed on Feb. 28 in a strike that also took out about 40 other high ranking Iranian officials.
When his father became supreme leader in 1989, Mojtaba Khamenei effectively became one of his closest aides. Over the years, he has been involved in running parts of the state apparatus, with his influence growing particularly after the 2009 political unrest known as the Green Revolution. He is believed to have played a role in coordinating elements of the government response — a brutal crackdown involving killings and mass arrests.
Mojtaba Khamenei studied theology in Qom and served in the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, during which he was injured. The war was where he developed close ties with the military services and with the IRGC.
A 2019 file photo of Mojtaba Khamenei, son of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images
In Iran’s political system, the IRGC wields vast military, economic and political power — and Mojtaba Khamenei’s authority has largely come from proximity to power rather than his religious stature.
His selection as supreme leader signals that Iran’s ruling elite has chosen stability over experimentation at a moment of extreme pressure. His deep ties to the Revolutionary Guard and security apparatus also suggest that the institutions driving Iran’s current war posture will retain strong influence in the next phase of leadership. It also marks something unprecedented in the Islamic Republic: a leadership transition that effectively keeps power within the same family.
Leading a secretive life, Mojtaba Khamenei has never given a public speech and is rarely seen out and about. As there is not much public record of him, his political opinions are not fully known, but many analysts consider him a hardliner. He was his father’s assistant, and he has been teaching in Qom seminary, Iran’s main clerical center, for about eight years.
Mojtaba Khamenei is married and has at least two children, a son and a daughter.
President Trump had previously spoken out against Mojtaba Khamenei, calling him a “lightweight,” and has said that any supreme leader appointed without U.S. approval is “not going to last long.”
The Corydon Fire Department in Iowa spent much of Saturday night and Sunday morning battling a massive fire at a petroleum plant.Fire Chief Josh Cobb told Hearst sister station KCCI they were first called to a fire at Stubbs Petroleum around 9:15 p.m. When they got there, Cobb said, two propane trucks and one fuel delivery truck were also on fire. He says many 55-gallon barrels filled with assorted fuels exploded over the course of several hours.Cobb noted that one explosion was so massive that it sent a large fireball several hundred feet into the air that could be seen as far as 20 miles away.The fire department evacuated six city blocks while they worked to put out the flames.Cobb said the response to the fire and explosions was nearly perfectly executed, and they were able to avoid a “catastrophic” event.Firefighters cleared the scene around 4 a.m.Investigators aren’t sure what caused the fire, but Cobb said it was likely electrical.
CORYDON, Iowa —
The Corydon Fire Department in Iowa spent much of Saturday night and Sunday morning battling a massive fire at a petroleum plant.
Fire Chief Josh Cobb told Hearst sister station KCCI they were first called to a fire at Stubbs Petroleum around 9:15 p.m. When they got there, Cobb said, two propane trucks and one fuel delivery truck were also on fire. He says many 55-gallon barrels filled with assorted fuels exploded over the course of several hours.
Cobb noted that one explosion was so massive that it sent a large fireball several hundred feet into the air that could be seen as far as 20 miles away.
The fire department evacuated six city blocks while they worked to put out the flames.
Cobb said the response to the fire and explosions was nearly perfectly executed, and they were able to avoid a “catastrophic” event.
Hearst Owned
The Corydon Fire Department spent much of Saturday night and Sunday morning battling a massive fire at a petroleum plant.
Firefighters cleared the scene around 4 a.m.
Investigators aren’t sure what caused the fire, but Cobb said it was likely electrical.
Rich Cimini is a staff writer who covers the New York Jets and the NFL at ESPN. Rich has covered the Jets for over 30 years, joining ESPN in 2010. Rich also hosts the Flight Deck podcast. He previously was a beat writer for the New York Daily News and is a graduate of Syracuse University.
Multiple Authors
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Joe Namath played his last game for the New York Jets exactly 50 years ago. Since then, the organization has experienced varying degrees of quarterback instability.
But perhaps nothing quite like the present.
The Jets are caught in the post-Aaron Rodgers/pre-(insert mystery name) era, which saw three quarterbacks start at least four games apiece last season — tied for the most by any team in a single season in NFL history.
They could have a new set of quarterbacks in 2026, and the seats at the table are expected to start filling up after free agent negotiating starts Monday (noon ET). The trade period is ongoing, but deals won’t become official until Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET, the start of the new league year.
The Jets hope to address their short-term needs by acquiring a bridge quarterback (or two), saving the long term for next month’s draft — or maybe next year’s draft.
Some fans want them to punt on 2026, waiting for Arch Manning, Dante Moore & Co. in the 2027 draft, but coach Aaron Glenn and general manager Darren Mougey need to win games after last season’s 3-14 mess.
They might not survive a “March for Arch,” so it’s imperative they choose the right veteran out of a mediocre group of options and decide whether Ty Simpson — widely regarded as the draft’s best quarterback prospect not named Fernando Mendoza — is worth New York’s second (16th overall) or third (33rd) pick.
It’s not overstating it to say these judgments will impact the franchise for several years to come. What makes it more challenging is that the Jets, who haven’t sent a quarterback to the Pro Bowl since Brett Favre in 2008, aren’t exactly a hot destination.
“You’re going into the Black Hole,” a longtime personnel executive said.
The unique thing about this year’s veteran market is that a handful of longtime starters are expected to be salary cap casualties and will be available for the minimum salary ($1.3 million) because they’re still owed massive guarantees from their soon-to-be-former teams. Ah, yes, the beauty of offset language in contracts.
Unless they sign Malik Willis, an unrestricted free agent expected to make at least $20 million per year, the Jets probably won’t have to make a financial splurge for a quarterback. Remember, they owe $10 million guaranteed to Justin Fields, who will leave a $22 million dead cap charge in the likely event of his release.
So the apparent plan is to find a veteran placeholder and reevaluate in 2027, when they can use their treasure chest of draft picks (three first-rounders) to position themselves for a quarterback.
“If it were me having five first-round picks over the next two years, I wouldn’t be in a rush to [draft] a quarterback this year, just because you have so much flexibility in this year’s draft,” ESPN draft analyst Jordan Reid said. “I believe this year they just need to get those pillar pieces, those blue-chip-type players that they need to just supplement the roster that they have right now.”
Reid believes New York, with four picks in the top 44, should fill needs other than quarterback and “prepare for dropping a young quarterback in the situation in 2027.”
Mougey said he and Glenn have daily discussions with offensive coordinator Frank Reich and quarterbacks coach Bill Musgrave, both new hires, on the quarterback plan. The plan must be nuanced because it’s a multilayered challenge. You’re talking about free agents, players who could be cut and players who could be traded.
“I do feel like there’s some good options out there,” Mougey said.
It’s not a very attractive group. Willis is the star attraction because he played well in his cameo for the Green Bay Packers — 46 dropbacks that will result in life-changing wealth. After doling out $30 million in guarantees last year for Fields, who flopped, the Jets might want to avoid betting big on an unknown two years in a row.
Wentz, recovering from surgery on his left shoulder after going 2-3 as the Minnesota Vikings‘ starter, is on the list because of his background with Reich — two years with the Philadelphia Eagles and one year for the Indianapolis Colts. Wentz is 33 and has gone from MVP candidate (2017) to NFL journeyman, but he has played his best ball with Reich at his side and wouldn’t cost that much. That makes him the most likely preference out of this group.
Smith, who had a rough go with the Jets from 2013 to 2016, reinvented himself with the Seattle Seahawks. His career nosedived last season with the Las Vegas Raiders — a league-leading 17 interceptions. The Jets had high grades for Smith, now 35, last offseason when the Seahawks made him available in a trade, so they appear willing to chalk up last season to a dysfunctional situation in Las Vegas.
It’s hard to imagine Smith back with the Jets after what happened in 2015 — his jaw was fractured in a locker-room fight with a teammate — but the NFL moves in strange ways. Smith is owed $18 million by the Raiders, so he can be had for the veteran minimum.
As for Murray and Tagovailoa, they’re both 28 and have started 87 and 76 games, respectively. Tagovailoa has a 4,000-yard passing season on his resume (2023) and Murray topped 3,700 yards in four different seasons. The Jets are expected to have some level of interest in both.
Now for the downside: They both lost their job last season, both have durability questions (especially Tagovailoa, with his concussion history) and both are being paid enormous sums of money not to play for the teams that drafted them.
Murray is owed $36.8 million by the Arizona Cardinals, Tagovailoa $54 million by the Miami Dolphins. What does that tell you?
There’s also the climate issue. Tagovailoa is 0-5 when the kickoff temperature is 40 degrees or less; Murray is 1-1. Those November/December games at MetLife Stadium can get nasty.
“I wish you could bottle Tua’s character and put it into Murray’s body,” said the personnel executive, citing leadership concerns with the former No. 1 overall pick.
That said, the executive believes the Jets should sign Murray because “you can win with him. There’s still enough talent there.”
Thing is, the Vikings could be his preferred team. Tagovailoa’s injury history makes him too risky, per the executive.
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Why Stephen A. doesn’t want Kyler Murray to sign with the Jets
Stephen A. Smith sounds off on why he thinks the Jets should be Kyler Murray’s last option.
A rather lengthy list of current backups, huh? This speaks to the uncertainty surrounding the Jets’ situation.
Jones probably has the most upside of this group, but the San Francisco 49ers have said they’re not interested in trading him. If they did, it probably would take at least a second-round pick. The compensation for the rest of the options wouldn’t be nearly as much.
Brissett makes sense because he started a full season for Reich (Colts, 2019) and his future with the Cardinals appears uncertain. His starting record is only 20-45, but he has played decent ball at times. After replacing Murray in Week 6, he ranked first in completions, second in passing yards and third (tied) in passing touchdowns through the rest of last season. Maybe he can be had for a Day 3 draft pick. Brissett is close with Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells, who is close with Glenn. Connect the dots.
Carr, 34, who has talked about unretiring, enjoyed some of his best years when Musgrave was his offensive coordinator for the Oakland Raiders. But there are big questions: What’s the status of his right shoulder, so badly injured in 2024 that it forced him to retire? How would he play after a full year of inactivity? The New Orleans Saints still have his rights.
Levis, who had season-ending surgery on his throwing shoulder last July, and McKee have one year remaining on their rookie contracts. McKee played well in two meaningless, late-season starts, raising the Eagles’ asking price.
Dalton, 38, who played for Reich on the 2023 Carolina Panthers, might be a fallback option for a backup role.
No matter how you look at it, it’s not an ideal situation for the Jets.
“There’s no panacea out there,” the personnel executive said. “They’re going to have to get lucky.”
As missiles and drones curtail energy production across the Persian Gulf, analysts warn that water, not oil, may be the resource most at risk in the energy-rich but arid region.
Hundreds of desalination plants sit along the Persian Gulf coast, putting individual systems that supply water to millions within range of Iranian missile or drone strikes. Without them, major cities could not sustain their current populations.
In Kuwait, about 90% of drinking water comes from desalination, along with roughly 86% in Oman and about 70% in Saudi Arabia. The technology removes salt from seawater — most commonly by pushing it through ultra-fine membranes in a process known as reverse osmosis — to produce the freshwater that sustains cities, hotels, industry and some agriculture across one of the world’s driest regions.
For people living outside the Middle East, the main concern of the Iran war has been the impact on energy prices. The Gulf produces about a third of the world’s crude exports and energy revenues underpin national economies. Fighting has already halted tanker traffic through key shipping routes and disrupted port activity, forcing some producers to curb exports as storage tanks fill.
But the infrastructure that keeps Gulf cities supplied with drinking water may be equally vulnerable.
“Everyone thinks of Saudi Arabia and their neighbors as petrostates. But I call them saltwater kingdoms. They’re manmade fossil-fueled water superpowers,” said Michael Christopher Low, director of the Middle East Center at the University of Utah. “It’s both a monumental achievement of the 20th century and a certain kind of vulnerability.”
The war that began Feb. 28 with U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran has already brought fighting close to key desalination infrastructure. On March 2, Iranian strikes on Dubai’s Jebel Ali port landed some 12 miles from one of the world’s largest desalination plants, which produces much of the city’s drinking water.
Damage also was reported at the Fujairah F1 power and water complex in the United Arab Emirates, and at Kuwait’s Doha West desalination plant. The damage at the two facilities appeared to have resulted from nearby port attacks or debris from intercepted drones, and so far there is little evidence of Iran intentionally targeting water treatment sites, experts said.
Many Gulf desalination plants are physically integrated with power stations as co‑generation facilities, meaning attacks on electrical infrastructure could also hinder water production. Even where plants are connected to national grids with backup supply routes, disruptions can cascade across interconnected systems, said David Michel, senior fellow for water security at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
“It’s an asymmetrical tactic,” he said. “Iran doesn’t have the same capacity to strike back at the United States and Israel. But it does have this possibility to impose costs on the Gulf countries to push them to intervene or call for a cessation of hostilities.”
Desalination plants have multiple stages — intake systems, treatment facilities, energy supplies — and damage to any part of that chain can interrupt production, according to Ed Cullinane, Middle East editor at Global Water Intelligence, a publisher serving the water industry.
“None of these assets are any more protected than any of the municipal areas that are currently being hit by ballistic missiles or drones,” Cullinane said.
Gulf governments and U.S. officials have long recognized the risks these systems pose for regional stability: if major desalination plants were knocked offline, some cities could lose most of their drinking water within days. A 2010 CIA analysis warned attacks on desalination facilities could trigger national crises in several Gulf states, and prolonged outages could last months if critical equipment were destroyed.
More than 90% of the Gulf’s desalinated water comes from just 56 plants, the report stated, and “each of these critical plants is extremely vulnerable to sabotage or military action.”
A leaked 2008 U.S. diplomatic cable warned the Saudi capital of Riyadh “would have to evacuate within a week” if either the Jubail desalination plant on the Gulf coast or its pipelines or associated power infrastructure were seriously damaged.
Saudi Arabia has since invested in pipeline networks, storage reservoirs and other redundancies designed to cushion short-term disruptions, as has the UAE. But smaller states such as Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait have fewer backup supplies.
As warming oceans increase the likelihood and intensity of cyclones in the Arabian Sea and raise the chances of landfall on the Arabian Peninsula, storm surge and extreme rainfall could overwhelm drainage systems and damage coastal desalination.
The plants themselves contribute to the problem. Desalination is energy-intensive, with plants worldwide producing between 500 and 850 million tons of carbon emissions annually, approaching the roughly 880 million tons emitted by the entire global aviation industry.
The by-product of desalination, highly concentrated brine, is typically discharged back into the ocean, where it can harm seafloor habitats and coral reefs, while intake systems can trap and kill fish larvae, plankton and other organisms at the base of the marine food web.
As climate change intensifies droughts, disrupts rainfall patterns and fuels wildfires, desalination is expected to expand in many parts of the world.
During Iraq’s 1990-1991 invasion of Kuwait and the subsequent Gulf War, Iraqi forces sabotaged power stations and desalination facilities as they retreated, said the University of Utah’s Low. At the same time, millions of barrels of crude oil were deliberately released into the Persian Gulf, creating one of the largest oil spills in history.
The massive slick threatened to contaminate seawater intake pipes used by desalination plants across the region. Workers rushed to deploy protective booms around the intake valves of major facilities.
The destruction left Kuwait largely without fresh water and dependent on emergency water imports. Full recovery took years.
More recently, Yemen’s Houthi rebels have targeted Saudi desalination facilities amid regional tensions.
The incidents underscore a broader erosion of long-standing norms against attacking civilian infrastructure, Michel said, noting conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza and Iraq.
International humanitarian law, including provisions of the Geneva Conventions, prohibit targeting civilian infrastructure indispensable to the survival of the population, including drinking water facilities.
The potential for harmful cyberattacks on water infrastructure is a growing concern. In 2023 and 2024, U.S. officials blamed Iran-aligned groups for hacking into several American water utilities.
After a fifth year of extreme drought, water levels in Tehran’s five reservoirs plunged to some 10% of their capacity, prompting President Masoud Pezeshkian to warn the capital may have to be evacuated.
Unlike many Gulf states that rely heavily on desalination, Iran still gets most of its water from rivers, reservoirs and depleted underground aquifers. The country operates a relatively small number of desalination plants, supplying only a fraction of national demand.
Iran is racing to expand desalination along its southern coast and pump some of the water inland, but infrastructure constraints, energy costs and international sanctions have sharply limited scalability.
“They were already thinking of evacuating the capital last summer,” Cullinane of Global Water Intelligence said. “I don’t dare to wonder what it’s going to be like this summer under sustained fire, with an ongoing economic catastrophe and a serious water crisis.”
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Follow Annika Hammerschlag on Instagram @ahammergram.
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The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP’s environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment
