The Big 12 Conference is opening its 25th season a week later than expected, and with just seven of its 10 teams playing. No. 15 Oklahoma State, TCU and Baylor all had their scheduled openers and only non-conference games postponed because of the coronavirus. No. 23 Iowa State opens against an FBS opponent for the first time in coach Matt Campbell’s five seasons. No. 14 Texas is a six-TD favorite over UTEP, while five-time defending Big 12 champion Oklahoma plays its first game with redshirt freshman Spencer Rattler starting at quarterback. He is the fourth different starter in four seasons for the fifth-ranked Sooners.

Here is the latest Mid-America sports news from The Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — This most unusual NFL season kicks off with the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs facing the Houston Texans before about 17,000 fans at Arrowhead Stadium tonight (Thursday night). The game features two teams intimately familiar with each other, and each led by dynamic, young — and rich — quarterbacks in the Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes and the Texans’ Deshaun Watson. The Chiefs rallied from a 24-0 hole to beat Houston in the divisional round of the playoffs, but both teams have changed plenty in the eight months since that January day.

MISSION, Kan. (AP) — Kansas City Chiefs fans who file into Arrowhead Stadium for a masked and socially distanced start to the NFL season won’t be wearing headdresses or face paint amid a nationwide push for racial justice following the police-custody death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The move by the reigning Super Bowl champions has pleased Native Americans as a good first step. But it frustrated some of the 17,000 fans who will be in the stands Thursday. The team will bes the first to take the field in front of a crowd amid the coronavirus pandemic. The team also announced last month that it’s discussing the future of its tomahawk chop celebration.

CLEVELAND (AP) — Danny Duffy pitched four-hit ball into the sixth inning and snapped a winless streak of nearly six years in Cleveland as the Kansas City Royals beat the Indians 3-0 on Wednesday night. Adalberto Mondesi had an RBI single in the sixth and Edward Olivares and Nicky Lopez drove in runs in the ninth, giving the Royals their second straight victory after starting September with seven losses. Duffy struck out four and walked four over 5 2/3 innings to win for the first time at Cleveland in eight starts since Sept. 22, 2014. The left-hander was 0-6 at Progressive Field during that span. Greg Holland earned his third save.

MONTREAL (AP) — Kansas City Chiefs lineman Laurent Duvernay-Tardif will spend the next few months studying at one of the world’s most prestigious universities instead of playing football. The Canadian addressed the media Wednesday, speaking about his decision to opt out of the 2020 NFL season after spending the past few months as an orderly at a long-term care facility an hour away from Montreal during the COVID-19 pandemic. Duvernay-Tardif will take online classes at Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The 29-year-old McGill University medical school graduate first revealed he would try to take classes in nutrition, biostatistics and epidemiology in an article with Sports Illustrated released Wednesday.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Kyle Lowry contributed 33 points, eight rebounds and six assists in 53 minutes as the Toronto Raptors outlasted the Celtics, 125-122 in double-overtime. Norman Powell finished with 23 points off the bench to help the defending champs force a Game 7 in the NBA’s Eastern Conference semifinals. Fred VanVleet had 21 points and OG Anunoby chipped in 13 with 13 rebounds.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — The Los Angeles Clippers are one win away from their first trip to the Western Conference finals following a 96-85 victory over the Denver Nuggets in Game 4. Kawhi (kah-WY’) Leonard finished one assist shy of his first playoff triple-double, providing 30 points, 11 rebounds, four steals and two blocked shots. Los Angeles coughed up an early 18-point lead and was tied at 48 early in the third before the Clippers responded with a 21-5 run.

The Atlantic School Board, Wednesday evening, heard discouraging news with regard to the anticipated first home game in the new Trojan Bowl on Friday, Sept. 18th, against Clarinda. FRK Architect Principal Tom Wollan and Athletic Facilities construction liaison Bob Sweeney both shared bad news that cast the game in doubt.

Wollan said the ability of the contractors to finish the field is “Touch and Go” right now. Wollan says while there is some positive activity on the site, and Midwest Field Turf from Denison has “Done a heroic job of getting down and getting work on the field started just as soon as they possibly could,” but the key issue is  all the field graphics must be installed before the rubber and sand infield can be laid.

The bleachers, concession stands, scoreboards and other elements he said, are close to being done. Critical concrete and asphalt work are also being accomplished as quickly as possible, given the current wet conditions. He said “There will be parts of the stadium that aren’t quite finished (Fencing, concrete work, etc.), but we are anticipating that the stadium would be ready for your spectators and kids on the field.”

Bob Sweeney was less optimistic the field would be ready by Sept. 18th. He told the Board “it goes without saying, the construction schedule is tight.” He said Midwest Turf had 15 people here last Saturday working 10-to 11 hours, “So if we don’t make it to the finish line, it’s [not the fault] of the sub-contractor from Denison.” Sweeney said the company showed up on Sept. 1st and had 14 days to the district’s cut-off for project completion. “They have never put in a football field in 10 or 11 days. It has not been done.”

He said they lost valuable work time Tuesday and Wednesday (today), due to the rain. “They’re just up against it,” Sweeney said. He said the inside fence will be installed but the outside fence may be unfinished by the 18th. There are other items yet to be completed, including the sound system. Sweeney choked up as he said “I’m disappointed tonight, personally. I think Sept. 18th is probably too high of a goal. We gotta get this project right.” The bottom line reality, he said, is “The owner [The District] has got to have a back-up game plan.” The decision, Sweeney said, can’t be made at the last minute.

If the project cannot be finished in-time for the game to be played on Sept. 18th, Superintendent Steve Barber said the District will look at contacting other Hawkeye 10 schools to see if the game can be played elsewhere. Clarinda is out of the question, since they too, are having work done on their field turf. Another option would be to play on a Saturday night if just a little more time is needed.

The Chiefs and Texans will open the NFL season with a Thursday night matchup at Arrowhead Stadium, where about 17,000 fans will be allowed under coronavirus restrictions. The game features the defending Super Bowl champions, led by quarterback Patrick Mahomes, against a team in the Texans that they defeated in the divisional round of the playoffs.

Houston is led by Deshaun Watson, its own young star quarterback.

MONTREAL (AP) — Kansas City Chiefs lineman Laurent Duvernay-Tardif will spend the next few months studying at one of the world’s most prestigious universities instead of playing football. The Canadian addressed the media Wednesday, speaking about his decision to opt out of the 2020 NFL season after spending the past few months as an orderly at a long-term care facility an hour away from Montreal during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Duvernay-Tardif will take online classes at Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The 29-year-old McGill University medical school graduate first revealed he would try to take classes in nutrition, biostatistics and epidemiology in an article with Sports Illustrated released Wednesday.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa State quarterback Brock Purdy is embracing high expectations as the Cyclones get set to host Louisiana in their opener. The Cyclones have been to three straight bow games and hope to make a serious run at the Big-12 Championship game this fall.

Purdy admits there were times this summer he did not expect to have a season.

Purdy expects the second season under offensive coordinator Tom Manning to show significant progress.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds says if a school district moves to virtual instruction because of fears about Covid spreading through crowded classrooms, then it makes sense to cancel sports and other extracurricular activities in the district. Students from Des Moines and Ames Public School Districts marched to the governor’s mansion Monday to protest the suspension of their extracurriculars, including volleyball and football. Reynolds, who says she played every sport imaginable when she was in high school, calls this an unfortunate situation.

The governor says if social distancing is the main concern from educators seeking to teach classes online, then she says they should be worried about the lack of social distancing in sports.

A judge is letting the Des Moines School Board’s lawsuit proceed that challenges the governor’s authority to determine when schools may shift classes online, but the judge has declined to issue a temporary injunction — so the school district is violating the state’s order to have students in the classroom this week. Reynolds is expressing confidence the impasse between her administration and Des Moines Public Schools can be resolved.

Reynolds made her comments Wednesday in Atlantic, where she met with a non-profit group focused on improving Atlantic’s economic prospects.

The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast with Jim Field.

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ST. LOUIS (AP) — Matt Wieters hit 14 foul balls during a 19-pitch at-bat that ended with a flyout as the St. Louis Cardinals scratched out a 6-4 win over the Minnesota Twins to split a doubleheader. Josh Donaldson, Nelson Cruz and Miguel Sanó all homered to lead the Twins to a 7-3 victory over the Cardinals in the first game. The two-game series at Busch Stadium was condensed to one day so the Cardinals could have one more day off before the end of the season, with a backlog of makeup games this month.

CLEVELAND (AP) — Maikel Franco drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning and had an RBI single in the ninth as Kansas City beat the Cleveland Indians 8-6 to snap a seven-game losing streak. Whit Merrifield hit a three-run homer and Cam Gallagher had an RBI double for Kansas City, which had been outscored 51-18 and only held the lead after one inning in losing its first seven games in September. Adalberto Mondesí led off the eighth with a single off Adam Cimber and scored on Franco’s fly to center to put the Royals up 6-5. Carlos Santana, Sandy León and Francisco Lindor all homered for Cleveland.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Perhaps never before has the final full practice before an NFL game been more important than this season. With the coronavirus pandemic wiping out the offseason and eliminating all four preseason games, the Chiefs and Texans found themselves going through a final workout Tuesday with plenty of things to iron out — from the basics such as pregame stretch and warm-ups to the last-minute tweaks to formations, play calls and the game plan. After all, the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs and the Texans, whom they beat in the divisional round of the playoffs, know that all eyes will be on them as they kick off the season with a Thursday night showdown at Arrowhead Stadium.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — The Los Angeles Lakers enjoy a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference finals after beating the Houston Rockets for the second straight day. LeBron James scored 36 points and Rajon Rondo (RAH’-zhahn RAHN’-doh) sparked a fourth-quarter rally in the Lakers’ 112-102 win over the Rockets. Rondo scored eight straight points during a 10-0 run early in the fourth quarter that put the Lakers ahead for good.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — The Miami Heat are in the NBA’s Eastern Conference finals for the first time in six years following a 103-94 win over the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks. Jimmy Butler and Goran Dragic each scored 17 points for the Heat, who overcame 22 turnovers and clinched their seventh trip to the conference finals since 2005. Playing without Giannis Antetokounmpo because of a sprained ankle, the Bucks raced out to a 28-15 lead but couldn’t sustain the momentum.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Logically, Giannis Antetokounmpo is on the NBA All-Defensive Team after being named Defensive Player of the year. The Bucks forward appeared on 97 of the first-team ballots out of 100 cast by a global panel of sports writers and broadcasters who cover the league. Also named to the First Team are Lakers forward Anthony Davis, 76ers guard Ben Simmons, Jazz center Rudy Gobert and Celtics guard Marcus Smart.