Euroleague Basketball Next Generation Tournament

• LAKELAND, Fla., Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Florida Southern College Athletics will induct four new individuals into the Florida Southern College Athletics Hall of Fame at its Hall of Fame Banquet on Thursday, Nov 16.
• Those interested in attending the 2023 Florida Southern College Athletics Hall of Fame event, can purchase tickets ($50) by contacting Kris Doorey, Director of Athletics Development, at [email protected] or 863-680-4109.
• NICOLE "NYCKI" SANDSTEDE – Softball, 1989-1990
  Sandstede joins several softball players and her Hall of Fame coach, Chris Bellotto, in the Florida Southern Hall of Fame after two fantastic seasons with the Mocs from 1989-90.
• He joins Hal Wissel as the only other men's basketball coach in the FSC Hall of Fame and the 14th member of the storied men's basketball program at Florida Southern to enter the Hall.

• Despite New Zealand’s record loss to South Africa in August, All Blacks fans can take heart from statistical modelling that has them as favourites to win the 2023 Rugby World Cup (RWC).
• According to Rugby Vision, a well-tested algorithm I developed to predict outcomes for major rugby competitions, New Zealand has a 33.5% chance of winning their fourth RWC title.
• And while the system has some similarities with the official world rugby rankings, it is less sensitive to the outcome of any particular game.

Global rugby rankings

• The Rugby Vision rankings are a custom “points exchange” system based on past game results and home advantage (if applicable).
• Currently, the official world rankings have Ireland at the top, followed in order by South Africa, France and New Zealand.

Predicting game results

• In the Rugby Vision rankings, differences between rating points for any two teams equal the predicted score margin for a game played at a neutral venue.
• This means that in the opening game of this year’s RWC – between France and New Zealand in Paris – New Zealand is expected to win by three points.
• This estimate means that if the game was played 100 times, New Zealand would win by three points on average.

RWC simulations

• Read more:
  Long-range goals: can the FIFA World Cup help level the playing field for all women footballers?
• To account for uncertainty in game outcomes, the system simulates the RWC 10,000 times in accordance with tournament rules.
• Estimated probabilities of each team reaching various stages of the 2023 RWC are shown below.

Pool predictions and beyond

• In Pool A, heavyweights New Zealand (98.9%) and France (97.9%) are highly likely to qualify for the quarterfinals.
• South Africa and Ireland are the likely quarter-finalists from Pool B, but there is a 26.3% chance Scotland will send one of those teams home early.
• In Pool D, England and Argentina are favourites to make the quarterfinals, with Japan and Samoa possible spoilers.
• After the initial round, Pool A teams will play opponents from Pool B in the quarterfinals.

Towards the final whistle

• Conversely, Pool C and D teams with high semifinalist chances have relatively low finalist probabilities.
• For example, England has a 55.0% chance of playing in a semifinal but only a 9.7% chance of being a finalist.
• In short, the draw helps Pool C and D teams go deeper into the tournament, but does not increase their chances of winning.

• We're continuing this legacy to help approximately 50,000 girls and women join and stay in sports," said Brett O'Brien, Chief Marketing Officer of Frito-Lay North America.
• The 'All-In with Frito-Lay' initiative, established in 2022, is a three-year, $1 million commitment to increase equity in soccer.
• Frito-Lay's donation to WSF will help girls pursue their passion in sports by increasing access and opportunity across the country, including programming for 8,000 girls actively playing soccer.
• "We know from our extensive research1 that girls and young women drop out of sports at higher rates compared to their male counterparts.

• Frito Lay Canada is proud to continue its relationship with FIFA, signing on as the Official Canadian Snack Tournament Supporter for the upcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™
  MISSISSAUGA, Ontario, May 30, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Frito Lay Canada and FIFA™ today announced the continuation of their relationship, with Frito-Lay signing on as a North American Tournament Supporter and Official Canadian Snack Tournament Supporter of the upcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023™, the company’s largest-ever investment in women’s sports.
• “We are thrilled to be the Canadian Snack Tournament Supporter and announce our involvement with this year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup™,” said Rachel Ferdinando, President, Frito Lay Canada and Quaker Canada.
• Now, Frito-Lay brand Lay's® will offer FIFA Women’s World Cup™-branded packaging just in time for the tournament.
• "FIFA is delighted to welcome Frito-Lay as the Canadian Snack for the FIFA Women's World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023™," said Romy Gai, FIFA’s Chief Business Officer.