ATLANTA (AP) — The image of Ronald Acuña Jr. stealing second base and then holding the bag above his head in triumphant glory is a signature moment from the Atlanta Braves' season. The steal did more than make Acuña the game's charter member of the 40-70 club. It also set him up to score the go-ahead run in a 6-5 win over the Chicago Cubs on Sept. 27.

The ACC is off to a promising start this season with several notable non-conference victories and five teams ranked in the Top 25. A common thread is easy to find: Check behind center. The Atlantic Coast Conference, not always known for its strong cadre of quarterbacks, has 10 of the top 60 passers in yards per game this season.

NEW YORK (AP) — Ronald Acuña Jr. was selected major league player of the year by Baseball Digest and eBay after hitting 41 home runs and stealing 73 bases for the Atlanta Braves. The outfielder beat out two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels, who didn't play after Sept. 3 because of injuries.

LONDON (AP) — Desmond Ridder hasn't put up big numbers in his handful of NFL starts for the Atlanta Falcons. At least he hadn't thrown many interceptions, though. Until Sunday.

LONDON (AP) — Calvin Ridley is making the most of his second chance, in more ways than one. The wide receiver held on to a touchdown pass — after a couple of key drops last week — to help the Jacksonville Jaguars beat the Atlanta Falcons 23-7 on Sunday at Wembley Stadium.

GUIDONIA MONTECELIO, Italy (AP) — The best collection of players at Marco Simone had flags from their eight countries draped around their shoulders as they took turns clutching and thrusting the gold Ryder Cup, the very trophy that turns them into one nation, one team, with one purpose.

ATLANTA (AP) — One final power milestone for the Atlanta Braves was especially memorable for Marcell Ozuna. The Braves homered three times to tie the major league season record of 307 but lost their regular-season finale 10-9 to the Washington Nationals on Sunday as Jacob Young drove in two runs with a go-ahead single in the ninth.

Tim Wakefield, the knuckleballing workhorse of the Red Sox pitching staff who bounced back after giving up a season-ending home run to the Yankees in the 2003 playoffs to help Boston win its …

Georgia’s hold on No. 1 in The Associated Press college football poll loosened as the Bulldogs received a season-low 35 first-place votes out of possible 62. The Bulldogs needed a late touchdown to …

AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — With Georgia's No. 1 ranking and lengthy winning streak on the line, Brock Bowers caught a 40-yard touchdown pass from Carson Beck in the final minutes of a 27-20 win over Auburn on Saturday. The Bulldogs (5-0, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) made it the Beck-and-Bowers show in the fourth quarter to bail out of another slow start and SEC scare.

ATLANTA (AP) — Finn Hogan's 1-handed scoring catch late in the first half gave Bowling Green the lead, Deshawn Jones Jr. returned an interception 45 yards for a touchdown and the Falcons upset Georgia Tech 38-27 on Saturday.

TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) — It’s been a year since Chase Elliott won a Cup Series race, a drought that played a role in NASCAR’s most popular driver missing the playoffs in what's guaranteed to be the worst season of his career. As Elliott returns for Sunday's race at Talladega Superspeedway, site of his last victory, there’s no sugarcoating his season.

ATLANTA (AP) — Carter Kieboom, Jake Alu, Kibert Ruiz, Dominic Smith and Lane Thomas homered to help the Washington Nationals beat the Atlanta Braves 10-6 on Friday night. Washington tied a season high for homers on a night the NL East champion Braves started resting regulars to prepare for the postseason.

ATLANTA (AP) — Matt Olson hit his major league-leading 54th homer, and the Atlanta Braves clinched home-field advantage throughout the postseason with a 5-3 win over the slumping Chicago Cubs on Thursday night. Austin Riley had three hits and scored two runs as the Braves (103-56) won for the sixth time in seven games. The NL East champions can match the franchise record for wins with a season-ending sweep of the Nationals.

NEW YORK (AP) — More than 70 million fans will attend Major League Baseball games for the first time in six years, a post-pandemic rebound for a sport that instituted its biggest on-field changes in decades. A pitch clock to speed play — game times are down 24 minutes to 2:40 for nine-inning games — limits on defensive shifts to increase offense, new social spaces at ballparks and technology innovations to speed entry have factored into a 9.2% rise in average attendance to 29,176. 

Maybe the Jacksonville Jaguars can jump-start their lackluster offense overseas. After scoring nine and 17 points in consecutive home losses to Kansas City and Houston, respectively, the Jaguars headed across the pond for back-to-back games in London.

AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — The Georgia Bulldogs are taking their star-studded show on the road for the first time. Challenged only once this season, the top-ranked Bulldogs (4-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) visit an Auburn team Saturday that flopped in its first SEC game under Hugh Freeze.

ATLANTA (AP) — Ronald Acuña Jr. slid into second base ahead of the throw, adding another slice of history to an already unprecedented season. He grabbed the bag and hoisted it above his head, soaking up the cheers from the home crowd after becoming the charter member of the 40-70 club.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The Southeastern Conference has an identity crisis. Turn on SEC game tape the past few decades and themes jump off the screen — a league stacked with talented runners; fierce, strong, fast defenders or elusive, accurate passers who lead their teams to titles.

ATLANTA (AP) — Sean Murphy reached on a two-run fielding error by right fielder Seiya Suzuki in the eighth inning and the major league-leading Atlanta Braves overcame a six-run deficit to beat the Chicago Cubs 7-6 on Tuesday night.

His time or place didn't matter in this particular competition. It was just sprinter Matthew Boling against the posted speed limit sign on a quiet street. For fun, he wanted to see if he could equal — or eclipse — the sign's motion-triggered readout in the 25 mph zone. On his fourth attempt, he dashed by and the yellow number lit up with “26."

It’s highly unlikely any player other than Lionel Messi could have brought Prince Harry, Selena Gomez and Leonardo DiCaprio out to a regular-season Major League Soccer match. But there they were — very noticeable in fact — in the crowd when Messi’s Inter Miami squad took on LAFC in Southern California early this month.

ATLANTA (AP) — Baseball's best team has some major pitching concerns heading into the final week of the regular season. Two of Atlanta's key starters — Max Fried and Charlie Morton — have landed on the injured list in recent days, raising questions about just who'll be available for the Braves in the playoffs. Spencer Strider (19-5) and Bryce Elder (12-4) are the only two regular starters who appear certain to pitch in the NL Division Series, which starts Oct. 7.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Spencer Strider earned his major league-leading 19th win and the Atlanta Braves got their 100th victory of the season Sunday night by defeating the Washington Nationals 8-5 for a doubleheader split. Kevin Pillar and Forrest Wall homered, and Orlando Arcia drove in three runs for Atlanta (100-56), which has won 100 games in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2002-03.

Colorado and Deion Sanders fell out of The Associated Press college football poll on Sunday after a resounding loss in one of the weekend's showcase games, and the teams toward the top of the rankings were shuffled and tightened. A season-high six teams received first-place votes, the most since the 2016 preseason poll. Georgia is still where it started at No. 1 in the AP Top 25, but it is down to 55 first-place votes out of a possible 63.