The great city of Cincinnati is starting to heat back up. Between minicamp, scheduling news, a winning week for the Reds, expanded coverage for SSM, and much more, a ton is happening. Catch up on it all here and get yourself ready for the week ahead!
Pro Sports
Bengals
Mandatory minicamp was this week, and it was a great success. Zac Taylor and Co. called it off early, as they felt they had achieved everything they wanted.
We recently launched our official Bengals game-by-game prediction and an AFC North position-by-position breakdown.
FC Cincinnati
Cincinnati remains on break due to the World Cup. Miles Robinson remains on the USA’s roster. The USA officially has won their group after just 2 days!
Check out our World Cup page here: https://sansomsportsmedia.com/world-cup-2026/. Parker is bringing daily recaps and we have all of the updates you’ll need as we move through the Group Stages!
Reds
The Reds went 4-2 this week; here is a recap of each game.
6/15 | Reds beat Mets 12-0 | Great American Ballpark
Beatdown, excellent game all-around. Eugenio Suárez had six RBIs off two home runs. Sal Stewart (RBI single), JJ Bleday (three run homer), and Spencer Steer (groundout RBI) aided the push.
6/16 | Reds beat Mets 5-3 | Great American Ballpark
The Reds had a four-run first inning, thanks to home runs by Sal Stewart and Spencer Steer. Sal Stewart added a run in the fifth.
6/17 | Mets beat Reds 9-1 | Great American Ballpark
Nick Lodolo was shelled early and Cincy could never recover. JJ Bleday had a sac-fly RBI.
6/19 | Yankees beat Reds 5-0 | Yankee Stadium
Rough start to the series, the Reds produced fewer hits (4) than runs allowed (5).
6/20 | Reds beat Yankees 10-2 | Yankee Stadium
Another game of offensive domination. Sal Stewart had six RBIs off two doubles and a sac-fly. Spencer Steer (three-run homer) and Dane Myers (RBI double) added their own offensive spurts.
6/21 | Reds beat Yankees 4-1 | Yankee Stadium
A series win in New York was huge for a struggling Reds squad. Tyler Stephenson hit a three-run homer early and Noelvi Marte added an RBA ground-rule double in the ninth. Chase Burns pitched a solid five innings, Cincy went 2-0 with him on the mound this week.
Moving to this week, Cincy hosts the Brewers and visits the Pirates. The reds are currently 2-12 in NL Central play and these next games are pivotal in the outlook of the remainder of the year.
6/22-6/24 | Reds vs Brewers | Great American Ballpark
Believe it or not, this is the Reds’ first meeting with the Brewers this season. Milwaukee leads the NL Central at 46-29. They are an extremely strong and balanced team, leading the MLB in strikeouts (727), fourth in ERA (3.44), tied third in stolen bases (74), fourth in RBIs (367), and fourth in batting average (.255). Individually, they have one of the best pitchers in baseball in Jacob Misiorowski. Fortunately, Cincy avoids him. This will be a tough series.
6/26-6/28 | Reds @ Pirates | PNC Park
The Redlegs and Pirates have met twice this season, with the Pirates leading the series 5-1. The Reds are looking for some redemption this weekend (I said this last time and they were swept, so let’s hope for a different result). The Pirates find themselves at .500 (fourth in the NL Central). Pittsburgh is a very balanced squad. They are 4th in total strikeouts in the league with 701. They are also second in hits (675), fifth in RBIs (366), and fifth in batting average (.254). Unfortunately, Cincy will open the weekend against Paul Skenes. The Reds must win this series.
College Sports
Dominating the college sports world this week is the College World Series final on Monday night, summer hoops workouts, schedule news, and last but not least, the NBA Draft will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday night this week. We’re expecting to hear several local names go in the draft this year!
- Mikel Brown – Top 10. Likely between 5-10
- Jayden Quaintance – First round likely
- Baba Miller – Late first possible, but 2nd round likely
- Otega Oweh – 2nd round likely
- Lamar Wilkerson – 2nd round likely
- Tucker DeVries – 2nd round likely
- Bruce Thornton – 2nd round possible
- Peter Suder – 2nd round possible
There will be multiple other local guys who end up signing professional contracts around/shortly after the draft, and next week will feature a better breakdown of where everyone lands!
Cincinnati
Cincinnati held its first open media practice of the offseason this past Thursday. While Sansom Sports Media was unable to attend, reports from those in attendance have been overwhelmingly positive. Though no single player stood out above the rest, both Jaden Hastings and Myles Colvin spoke with the media following the session. By all accounts, the team appears significantly more athletic—just as expected. Furthermore, clips from practice featured Coach Calhoun emphasizing the need for “March habits in June,” a clear signal that the team’s mindset is already locked in on the tournament. One comment that stood out to me: “They’re big with very decent shooters… and not big like tall, but muscular.. something they haven’t seen in years”. I’m extremely excited to see this group on the court, and turns out, we won’t have to wait too much longer!
Also on Thursday, it was announced that Cincinnati will be headed to the Bahamas in early August to take a summer tour and get some games in vs. other competition. I’ve watched this event over the last several years, and while the competition isn’t great, it’s absolutely a great opportunity for the team to develop chemistry. UC’s games will be on Sunday August 2, and then on Tuesday August 4. We do not have their opponents locked in yet, but you can find everything you need at the link below if you’re looking to travel! Historically, these have been streamed on FloSports, but I’ll have updates once we get confirmation of that!
Xavier
There isn’t a lot currently ongoing for Xavier at the moment. However, Xavier’s MTE was announced for the season. They will play Virginia and Texas A&M in the Battle for Atlantis, both should be Quad 1 opportunities. Along with that, the coaches are busy deep into summer practice and getting this team into shape! We will keep working behind the scenes and there are a couple of really fun features we’re working on!
NKU
The first of several Meet the Team pieces is out! Starting today with Eric Acker and his journey from NYC to Highland Heights, you can read it here: Meet the Norse: Eric Acker
Miami
The big news for Miami right now is to see if Peter Suder is going to get drafted or not.
Other than that, it’s onto football season and the 2026-27 sports calendar! I’ll start football previews within the next two weeks with position by position breakdowns!
Kentucky
Kentucky’s non-conference schedule buy games were announced Monday morning.
All of these games would have been Q4 last year
- Manhattan – 328
- JMU – 209
- NAU – 315
- Grambling State – 305
- Bryant – 354
- Sacred Heart – 292
- Gardner Webb – 361
However, add in their other confirmed games:
- Kansas (n) – 18
- Indiana (n) – 41
- Virginia (A) – 16
- Louisville (H) – 19
- UNC (n) – 26
Based on last year’s NET, that’s 5 Q1 games, and 7 Q4 games.
12 NC games and 18 SEC games means UK is at 30. Likely one more matchup still to come if my math is correct!
We all remain on Nikolas watch, however, things are trending away from the Wildcats as of Sunday night.
Ohio State
The Buckeyes are now a full team with LJ joining the hoops summer practices. Here’s a dive into their deep roster this season:
Louisville
Mason launched the Louisville MBB coverage this year with a breakdown of what the two new assistants will bring! https://sansomsportsmedia.com/2026/06/18/kelseys-new-assistants-bring-change-in-identity/
Wright State
This weekend, we dropped a first look at the Raider roster this year, and this is a deep squad! Having guys like Holden, Pickett, and Pangonis back, along with a loaded portal class headlined by CJ Ohara (Green Bay), and 4 freshmen, this is a team that will have plenty of weapons in the Horizon League this year!
Dayton
Sansom Sports Media is still looking for a Dayton writer, however, Hunter will be providing coverage until the spot is filled! Up this week: the first look at the roster!
Indiana
IU announced a Neutral site matchup at Gainbridge Fieldhouse with North Carolina on 10/18 as an exhibition!
We also launched our Indiana Sports hub on the site, make sure you check it out! The Hoosier Huddle
The IU football season preview also launched and you can find it here: Reigning National Champs Indiana: Season Preview!