Volume 14

Vol. 14 May 30, 2025 

International Football Association 

The International Football Association will start their first season this summer. The IFA is a summer football league and is focused on connecting to the local communities and giving back. The inaugural season features five teams– one in Mexico and four in the USA. The IFA will have the same rules as the NFL. The league will draw its talent from draft eligible players, veterans, and players who have been overlooked. The announced teams are: the Dallas Pioneros, Chihuahua Rebelion, Tampa Tornadoes, Ohio Valley Ironmen (based out of Wheeling, WV), and Huntsville Astros. The Arkansas Storm will be added to the league in 2026. The 2025 season begins on May 31st and will end on August 9th. 

TGL Expansion 

The Atlanta Drive Golf Club won the inaugural TGL championship over the New York Golf Club. Now the TGL is looking forward by adding the Motor City Golf Club. Motor City is led by Middle West Partners. MWP is led by the Hamp Family, who are long-time co-owners of the Detroit Lions. The ownership group also has Rob Walton, owner of the Denver Broncos, and Jordan Rose the president and founder of Rose Law Group, the largest women-founded law firm in Arizona. The Motor City Golf Club will play their first season in 2027. 

Indy 500 

Memorial Day weekend is always one of the best sports weekends of the year. There is one event, however, that stands out from the rest– the Indianapolis 500. Alex Palou is one of Indy Car’s most successful racers. However, he had never won the Indy 500 entering the 109th edition in 2025. Palou said he would feel incomplete if he never made it to the most coveted Victory Lane. He has now completed his dream, as he became the 74th winner of the greatest race ever. He became the first racer from Spain to win the Indy 500.

College Baseball 

The NCAA College Baseball tournament bracket was announced, and the first round is today. Vanderbilt got the 1 seed and they will play Wright St. The other matchup in the Nashville Regional is Louisville vs. East Tennessee State. Texas is the 2 seed and they will play Houston Christian. UTSA vs. Kansas State is the other matchup in Austin. Arkansas got the 3 seed. They will face North Dakota St. Creighton vs Kansas also takes place in Fayetteville. Auburn is the 4 seed and will play Central Connecticut State. Also taking place in Auburn is NC State vs Stetson. 5 seed North Carolina is taking on Holy Cross. Oklahoma and Nebraska will meet in Chapel Hill for their matchup. 6 LSU is taking on Little Rock. Baton Rouge will also host Dallas Baptist and Rhode Island. Georgia (7 seed) will face Binghamton. Duke and Oklahoma State are also facing each other in the Athens Regional. 8 Oregon State will play St Mary’s. Also in Corvalis, USC vs. TCU will take place. 9 Florida State will play Bethune-Cookman. Northeastern and Mississippi State will also play in the 1st round in Tallahassee. 10 Ole Miss plays Murray State, and Georgia Tech plays Western Kentucky in Oxford. 11 Clemson plays in-state rival South Carolina Upstate in Round 1. Also in Clemson, West Virginia will face Kentucky. 12 Oregon hosts Utah Valley in Eugene. Also in Eugene is Arizona vs Cal Poly. 13 Coastal Carolina plays Fairfield, and Florida and East Carolina also meet in Conway. In Knoxville, the defending champions, 14 Tennessee, plays Miami (Ohio). Wake Forest and Cincinnati also play in Knoxville. 15 UCLA plays Fresno State in Los Angeles. The City of Angels also hosts UC Irvine vs Arizona State. 16 Southern Mississippi is the host of the Hattiesburg Regional, where they play Columbia. Alabama and Miami (Florida) are also in Hattiesburg. 

College Softball Tournament 

Eight teams remain in the NCAA softball tournament. 2 Oklahoma plays 6 Texas in Bracket 1 Winners Bracket. In Bracket 1’s Elimination Bracket, 3 Florida plays 7 Tennessee. In Bracket 2, 12 Texas Tech and 9 UCLA play in the Winners Bracket. Ole Miss (Unseeded) and 16 Oregon play in the Elimination Bracket. The tournament is a double elimination tournament, which means teams go home only after two losses.

UEFA Champions League 

In The UEFA Champions League, only two teams remain: Paris Saint Germain and Inter Milan. In the Knockout phase, PSV beat Juventus 4-3. Real Madrid beat Manchester City 6-3. PSG beat Brest 10-0. Club Brugge was able to get past Atalanta 5-2. Benfica won vs Monaco 4-3. Borussia Dortmund beat Sporting CP 3-0. Bayern Munich beat Celtic 3-2. Feyenoord beat Milan 2-1. The Round of 16 saw Arsenal bounce PSV 9-3. Real Madrid beat Atletico Madrid 2(4)-2(2) on penalty kicks. PSG beat Liverpool 1(4)-1(1), also on PKs. Aston Villa beat Club Brugge 6-1. Barcelona beat Benfica 4-1. Dortmund bounced out Lille 3-2. Bayern Munich shutdown Leverkusen, winning 5-0. Inter knocked Feyenoord out 4-1. The Quarterfinals had Arsenal beat Real Madrid 5-1. PSG beat Aston Villa 5-4. Barcelona beat Dortmund 5-3. Milan beat Bayern Munich 4-3. In the Semifinals, PSG took care of business beating Arsenal 3-1, and Milan beat Barcelona 7-6. PSG and Inter Milan will meet in the finals May 31 at 3:00 ET. 

*scores are all aggregate 

MLB Expectations 

The MLB season is in full swing, and with that it means some teams are overachieving and underachieving. Compared to the Cole Times’ preseason predictions, who has done the most overachieving and the most underachieving? The Atlanta Braves are currently projected for the exact amount of wins they were predicted to get in the preseason. The Chicago White Sox are the highest overachiever, currently projected at +9 more wins then previously. Other overachievers are: the San Francisco Giants +8, Detroit Tigers +7, Chicago Cubs +7, Los Angeles Angels +6, Toronto Blue Jays +5, Texas Rangers +5, St Louis Cardinals, +5, and the Tampa Bay Rays +4. Underachievers are: the Los Angeles Dodgers -5, Boston Red Sox -7, Pittsburgh Pirates -7, Kansas City Royals -8, San Diego Padres -10, Houston Astros -10, Cincinnati Reds -11, Colorado Rockies -13, Arizona Diamondbacks -13, and the Milwaukee Brewers -15. The team with the worst separation between projected wins now and in the preseason is the Baltimore Orioles at -17. 

* + & - is the amount of wins more or less a team is projected to get now compared to the preseason

Horse Racing 

The 151st Kentucky Derby came down to the wire this year. Sovereignty beat pre-race favorite Journalism on a sloppy track at Churchill Downs. Sovereignty gave trainer Bill Mott a second win in the Kentucky Derby. Sovereignty and Journalism were close for a 1/16 of a mile before Sovereignty broke away. Journalism, the favorite to win the Kentucky Derby, finished in second place. Baeza finished in 3rd, Final Gambit in 4th, Owen Almighty 5th, Burnham Square 6th, Sandman 7th, East Avenue 8th, Chunk of Gold 9th, Tiztastic 10th, Coal Battle 11th, Neoquos 12th, Publisher 13th, Citizen Bull 14th, American Promise 15th, Render Judgement 16th, Flying Mohawck 17th, and Admire Daytona 18th. Sovereignty skipped the Preakness Stakes, ending a chance at the triple crown. The Preakness Stakes took place on May 17th. The 2025 race is the final run of the Preakness at Pimlico for some years as the track will be renovated. Journalism won the Preakness Stakes, getting redemption for the loss in Louisville. The 2nd place finisher at Pimlico was Gosger, 3rd was Sandman, Goal Oriented finished 4th, Heart of Honor 5th, River Thames 6th, Pay Billy 7th, American Promise 8th, and Clever Again 9th. The Belmont Stakes is set for June 7th. The Belmont Stakes will be held at Saratoga Race Course this year, as Belmont Park is under renovation. Sovereignty and Journalism will both be racing at the Belmont Stakes. 

Worst to First 

The Coca-Cola 600 was won by Ross Chastain. Chastain only led for eight laps all race. Chastain started in 40th place but was eventually able to chase down leader Willam Byron with six laps to go. Chastain won his first ever crown jewel event after crashing out during practice the day before the race. Kyle Larson ended his day the same way it started, as he wrecked in both the Indy 500 and at the Coca-Cola 600. Larson arrived via helicopter after his race was over in Indy. Jimmie Johnson’s bid for a record-tying fifth Coca-Cola 600 victory saw him crash out in the second stage when he hit the wall at turn four.

NBA Playoffs 

The NBA Finals are almost set. The Oklahoma City Thunder are in after beating the Minnesota Timberwolves 4-1. MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander put on a show as the NBA’s top team cruised into the finals. In the East, the Indianapolis Pacers lead the New York Knicks 3-2. The Pacers jumped out to a 1-0 lead with a stunning OT victory in Game 1, 138-135. In Game 2, Pascal Siakam was the star, as Indiana got by New York 114-109 behind Siakam’s 39-point night. In Game 3, the Knicks got another win o of a 20-point comeback, beating the Pacers 106-100. In Game 4, Tyrese Haliburton was the star. He had 32 points, 15 assists, 12 rebounds, and 0 turnovers, helping the Pacers to a 130-121 win and a 3-1 lead. In Game 5, New York cruised behind big nights from Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns, who had 32 and 24 points respectively. 

NHL Playoffs 

The Stanley Cup Finals are set– a rematch from last year’s final. The Edmonton Oilers will face o against the Florida Panthers. Florida cruised through the Eastern Conference championship, winning 4-1 vs. the Carolina Hurricanes. After losing in Game 1 6-3, the Oilers crushed the Dallas Stars 3-0, 6-1, 4-1, then 6-3 to win the Western Conference.