As of Friday, St. Thomas was the 116th-ranked program in all of Division-I men’s basketball, per the NCAA’s NET Rankings.

The Tommies played in the Summit League Tournament final last spring and are a legitimate threat to win the league and reach the Big Dance this March in their first year of eligibility. So, why are they hosting a 2-9 Division-III team on Sunday? Welcome to the wacky world of Division I scheduling.

St. Thomas head coach Johnny Tauer, left, talks with leading scorer Nolan Minessale during the Tommies’ victory over Army at Lee & Penny Anderson Arena in St. Paul on Nov. 8. (Nick Wosika / St. Thomas Athletics)

The challenge of finding teams to play in the nonconference slate is still the biggest surprise for St. Thomas coach John Tauer since the Tommies made the jump from Division III to Division I in 2021.

At the Division-III level, you had to schedule five nonconference games a year. So, the Tommies would play a few of the top regional, non-MIAC teams, and also take one trip to go play a couple other national powers.

This year, the Tommies have 15 nonconference games, the last of which is Sunday, when they host Minneapolis-based North Central, which is struggling with its Division III schedule thus far this season.

It’s the third Division III opponent the Tommies will play this season. They already have beaten Lawrence of Appleton, Wis., by 35 and former rival St. John’s by 24. Why schedule such foes?

Frankly, it’s standard operating procedure for mid-major clubs across the country. Every Summit League team played three or more non Division I opponents last season. No one else is knocking on the door to come play nonconference games in your gym — especially not in St. Paul, where the Tommies have won 24 straight games.

St. Thomas has played the likes of Marquette and Creighton in past seasons. It opened its season at St. Mary’s (Calif.) this fall. Those games take too much of a physical toll to be littered in your early season schedule.

Coaches aren’t looking to schedule non-premier opponents that might beat you, and St. Thomas qualifies for that. Even though a road game in St. Paul currently qualifies as a Quad 2 game — which doesn’t kill your NCAA Tournament resume if you drop it — coaches have cracked the code that your NET Ranking, a major data point for programs trying to get earn at at-large berth in the dance, is more positively affected crushing some of the country’s worst teams.

“We don’t have a lot of people calling us to come play,” Tauer said. “Can you imagine if we had a high-major team to come play here? It would be one of the best events we’ve ever had on campus. We hope someday that would happen but, understandably, it would take a lot. … High-major teams, when you look at what a home game is worth to them in terms of revenue, it’s understandable why they wouldn’t want to go play on the road.”

But St. Thomas has its own checklist it’s attempting to fill via its nonconference schedule. According to Tauer, the Tommies want:

—Good games.

—To be competitive and have success.

—An “excellent experience” for student-athletes in terms of who they play and where they go.

—To go either where many alumni are based, or a site they might want to visit.

—To minimize missed class time.

—To generate revenue

Not included on that list is NCAA Tournament positioning. The Tommies play in what’s almost exclusively a one-bid league, and while résumé could impact a seed in the Big Dance, the fact that it takes three conference tournament wins to even reach the NCAAs makes it a lesser priority.

This season, St. Thomas already has traveled to California, Oregon, Missouri, Washington, Montana and North Carolina, and the season is not yet two months old. It’s not ideal, but it’s a reality for St. Thomas, which has few possibilities for regional, nonconference opponents. The one obvious one, Minnesota, won’t play the Tommies. So they have to play elsewhere.

That type of travel is difficult for players to balance along with practice and academics. The latter remains of high importance at St. Thomas, where athletes typically perform better in the classroom than the general student body. That’s a standard athletics director Phil Esten demands.

The travel has to be balanced with home games to allow players to maintain some semblance of a normal schedule. Games at the new Lee & Penny Anderson Arena also are a major source of revenue for the program.

The only way for St. Thomas to get those in the nonconference slate with Division I opponents is seemingly to schedule home-and-home series. For example, the Tommies traveled to UC-Riverside last December, and the Highlanders returned the favor last weekend.

But even those are growing increasingly difficult to book because everyone wants to know what type of team they’re scheduling. Now, no one knows. In the era of the transfer portal and Name, Image and Likeness, rosters are fluid. A team’s competitiveness can change drastically season to season.

Associate head coach Mike Maker is the Tommies’ scheduling czar. Already, next season’s schedule is written on the whiteboard of his office. He’s working year round to try to find the right games for the Tommies to play. That process for this season wasn’t completed until early September, two months out from the start of the season.

“It feels almost never ending,” Tauer said.

Scheduling is an inexact science, but one that coaches deem nearly as important as coaching and recruiting. Tauer noted there is no one game that checks every box for what the program wants to achieve, before quickly correcting himself.

“I suppose a home game that’s a sellout,” he said.

Which is why the Tommies played St. John’s earlier this month; Division III opponents provide home games mid-major programs in the Midwest can’t otherwise get.

Tauer insists it was more of a risk than others may presume. Other Summit League programs have struggled against quality D3 programs this season, and the Tommies won 10 games in their first season playing Divison I basketball while largely fielding a Division III roster. The Johnnies last week trailed by just four at the half before St. Thomas pulled away.

But even with the risk, Tauer believed “the benefits of it were a lot of interest.”

“If you asked basketball fans in the state of Minnesota, it would be probably the second-most interesting game between two teams in the state that they could see,” he said. “It was a home game, it was a sellout, it allowed alums from both schools to come back. … It brought all these people together. It brought (together) two schools that used to have a wonderful rivalry, but also have a mutual respect. And so when you look at all of those (benefits), we thought that, yes, there was a risk of it, but it also was the right thing to do at the right time.”

And it was a win, which when it comes to scheduling nonconference Division I games for schools of St. Thomas’ size, aren’t easy to come by.

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By MARI YAMAGUCHI, Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s Cabinet on Friday approved a record defense budget plan exceeding 9 trillion yen ($58 billion) for the coming year, aiming to fortify its strike-back capability and coastal defense with cruise missiles and unmanned arsenals as tensions rise in the region.

The draft budget for fiscal 2026, beginning April, is up 9.4% from 2025 and marks the fourth year of Japan’s ongoing five-year program to double annual arms spending to 2% of gross domestic product.

“It is the minimum needed as Japan faces the severest and most complex security environment in the postwar era,” Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said, stressing his country’s determination to pursue military buildup and protect its people.

“It does not change our path as a peace-loving nation,” he said.

The increase comes as Japan faces elevated tension from China. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said in November that her country’s military could get involved if China were to take action against Taiwan, the self-governing island that Beijing says must come under its rule.

FILE – Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, speaks during a news conference at the prime minister’s office in Tokyo, Japan, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (Kiyoshi Ota/Pool Photo via AP, File)

Takaichi’s government, under U.S. pressure for a military increase, pledged to achieve the 2% target by March, two years earlier than planned. Japan also plans to revise its ongoing security and defense policy by December 2026 to further strengthen its military.

Missiles and drones will add to southwestern island defense

Japan has been bolstering its offensive capability with long-range missiles to attack enemy targets from a distance, a major break from its post-World War II principle limiting the use of force to its own self-defense.

The current security strategy, adopted in 2022, names China as the country’s biggest strategic challenge and calls for a more offensive role for Japan’s Self-Defense Force under its security alliance with the U.S.

The new budget plan allocates more than $6.2 billion to bolster Japan’s “standoff” missile capability. It includes a $1.13 billion purchase of domestically developed and upgraded Type-12 surface-to-ship missiles with a range of about 620 miles.

The first batch of the Type-12 missiles will be deployed in Japan’s southwestern Kumamoto prefecture by March, a year earlier than planned, as Japan accelerates its missile buildup in the region.

In part due to Japan’s aging and declining population and its struggles with an understaffed military, the government believes unmanned weapons are essential.

To defend the coasts, Japan will spend $640 million to deploy “massive” unmanned air, sea-surface and underwater drones for surveillance and defense under a system called “SHIELD” planned for March 2028, defense ministry officials said.

For speedier deployment, Japan initially plans to rely mainly on imports, possibly from Turkey or Israel.

Tension with China grows

The budget announcement comes as Japan’s row with China escalates following Takaichi’s remark in November about Taiwan.

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The disagreement escalated this month when Chinese aircraft carrier drills near southwestern Japan prompted Tokyo to protest when Chinese aircraft locked their radar on Japanese aircraft, which is considered possible preparation for firing missiles.

The Defense Ministry, already alarmed by China’s rapid expansion of operations in the Pacific, will open a new office dedicated to studying operations, equipment and other necessities for Japan to deal with China’s Pacific activity.

Two Chinese aircraft carriers were spotted in June almost simultaneously operating near the southern Japanese island of Iwo Jima for the first time, fueling Tokyo’s concern about Beijing’s rapidly expanding military activity far beyond its borders and areas around the disputed East China Sea islands.

In Beijing, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said the Takaichi government has “noticeably accelerated its pace of military buildup and expansion” since taking office.

“Japan is deviating from the path of peaceful development it has long claimed to uphold and is moving further and further in a dangerous direction,” Lin said.

Japan plans joint development of frigates and jets

Japan is pushing to strengthen its largely domestic defense industry by participating in joint development with friendly nations and promoting foreign sales after drastically easing arms export restrictions in recent years.

For 2026, Japan plans to spend more than $1 billion to jointly develop a next-generation fighter jet with Britain and Italy for deployment in 2035. There are also plans for research and development of Artificial Intelligence-operated drones designed to fly with the jet.

In a major boost to the country’s defense industry, Australia selected Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in August to upgrade the Mogami-class frigate to replace its fleet of 11 ANZAC-class ships.

Japan’s budget allocates nearly $64 million to support industry base and arms sales.

Meeting targets but future funding uncertain

The budget plan requires parliamentary approval by March to be implemented as part of a $784 billion national budget bill.

The five-year defense buildup program would bring Japan’s annual spending to around $64 billion, making it the world’s third-largest spender after the U.S. and China. Japan will clear the 2% target by March as promised, the Finance Ministry said.

Takaichi’s government plans to fund its growing military spending by raising corporate and tobacco taxes and recently adopted a plan for an income tax increase beginning 2027. Prospects for future growth at a higher percentage of GDP remain unclear.

PHOENIX — The Gophers will be shorthanded at receiver and cornerback for the Rate Bowl against New Mexico at Chase Field on Friday.

Senior wideout Le’Meke Brockington, who led Minnesota with 46 receptions and 484 yards, has opted out in preparations for the NFL draft in April. He is the only clear Gopher to forgo a chance to play in the bowl game.

A year ago, the Gophers had six players opt out of the Duke’s Mayo Bowl win over Virginia Tech in Charlotte.

This year Minnesota unfolded a clause in players’ revenue sharing contracts with a payment for being on the active roster for the bowl game. That could be helping keep some of the roster intact.

Besides Brockington, Minnesota has had five receivers announce intent to enter the transfer portal over the next month. With the portal opening in less than a week, Jan. 2,  most of them are not with the team in Arizona.

No. 2 and 3 wideouts, Javon Tracy and Jalen Smith, are active, with Bradley Martino, Logan Loya and Donielle Hayes contenders to get more time. Safety Koi Perich is a candidate to play more both ways; the sophomore had three receptions for 55 yards and three rushes for 11 yards this season.

In the secondary, cornerbacks Za’Quan Bryan and Jai’Onte’ McMillan were listed as out on the Gophers’ unavailability report issued two hours before kickoff.

Without Bryan in the Wisconsin game on Nov. 29, safety Aidan Gousby played corner in the 17-7 win over the Badgers. Against the Lobos, Gousby and Mike Gerald are candidates to play opposite John Nestor.

The Gophers had a total of 16 players listed as out: running back A.J. Turner (out for season; knee), defensive tackle Mo Omonode (season; back), linebacker Joey Gerlach (season; knee) and defensive tackle Theorin Randle (foot).

Minnesota is also without third and fourth-string quarterbacks Dylan Wittke and Emmett Morehead. With Jackson Kollock going into the portal, the third string QB is unknown behind starter Drake Lindsey and Max Shikenjanski.

The Gophers were also without offensive lineman Kahlee Tafai and Aluma Nkele; defnesive backs Simon Seidlnand Evan Redding; linebacker Drew Wilson; kicker Sam Henson; defensive tackle Sam Macy.

Minnesota listed safety Garrison Monroe and offensive lineman Daniel Shipp as questionable.

By MICHAEL R. SISAK and LARRY NEUMEISTER, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Two sisters testified at Harvey Weinstein’s most recent criminal trial. Kaja Sokola accused the disgraced movie mogul of sexual assault. Ewa Sokola was called as a witness to boost her claims, but ultimately ended up helping the defense.

Now, Ewa Sokola is suing Kaja for defamation, alleging in a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Manhattan federal court that the psychotherapist and ex-model’s public remarks amount to libel and are damaging Ewa’s reputation and business as a cardiologist in Poland.

Ewa Sokola says that her younger sister has made false statements subjecting her to public hatred, shame, contempt, ridicule, ostracism and disgrace in Wrocław, Poland. She seeks unspecified damages.

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Messages seeking comment were left for Kaja Sokola’s lawyers and spokesperson on Thursday and Friday.

In a split verdict in June, Weinstein was convicted of forcibly performing oral sex on film and television production assistant and producer Miriam Haley and acquitted on a charge involving Kaja Sokola’s allegations of similar conduct. Both women said they were assaulted in 2006.

The judge declared a mistrial on the final charge, alleging Weinstein raped former actor Jessica Mann, after the jury foreperson declined to deliberate further.

Weinstein has not yet been sentenced as a judge weighs a defense request to throw out the verdict after two jurors told Weinstein’s lawyers that other jurors had bullied them into convicting him. Judge Curtis Farber is expected to rule on Jan. 8.

Kaja Sokola has said her sister’s testimony at Weinstein’s state court trial in New York earlier this year undermined her own testimony that he forced oral sex at a Manhattan hotel just before her 20th birthday.

Weinstein had arranged for Kaja Sokola to be an extra for a day in the film “The Nanny Diaries,” and separately agreed to meet her and Ewa. After they chatted, she testified, Weinstein told her he had a script to show her in his hotel room, and she went up with him. There, she said, Weinstein pushed her onto a bed and assaulted her.

After the trial, Kaja Sokola criticized her sister’s testimony, saying that though she was called as a prosecution witness, she ended up serving Weinstein’s cause by providing his lawyers with a journal in which she wrote about the men who had sexually assaulted her in her life but did not include Weinstein.

According to the lawsuit, Kaja Sokola repeatedly characterized her sister’s testimony as a personal “betrayal” and falsely accused her of omitting journals in which she described what happened with Weinstein.

The lawsuit also said Kaja Sokola had falsely accused Ewa Sokola of homicide, theft, falsification of medical records, sexual impropriety and immoral conduct, and of colluding with Weinstein’s defense team.

The lawsuit said Kaja Sokola’s false claims have cost Ewa Sokola referrals and led to a reduction in patients and employees for her medical practice while damaging her professional reputation and her standing within the medical community.