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31 January 2006 (Tuesday)

• Football: 2006 African Cup of Nations
  • Group D: Nigeria 2–1 Senegal Nigeria finishes with a perfect record in the group. Senegal backs into the quarterfinals thanks to Zimbabwe's win over Ghana.
  • Group D: Ghana 1–2 Zimbabwe
• NCAA Men's College Basketball:
  • (1) UConn 80, (9) Pittsburgh 76: The homestanding Huskies, behind 22 points from Rudy Gay, win a physical matchup against the Panthers.
  • (6) Illinois 66, Wisconsin 51: For the second straight year, the Fighting Illini go to the Badgers' fortress home court, Kohl Center, and come away with a win. The Illini get 16 points from Dee Brown and Rich McBride, and take command of the game with a 19-0 run late in the first half. They also take sole possession of the Big Ten lead.
  • Creighton 63, (25) Northern Iowa 55: The Panthers go into Omaha as a ranked team for the first time, but leave the same way as they have every year since 1996—losing to the Bluejays.

30 January 2006 (Monday)

• Football:
  • 2006 African Cup of Nations
    • Group C: Tunisia 0–3 Guinea Guinea makes 3 wins out of 3 in a surprise defeat of the title holders. Both countries progress to the quarter-finals.
    • Group C: Zambia 1–0 South Africa
  • FA Cup: In the fifth round draw, Manchester United and Liverpool will meet on the weekend of February 18.
• NCAA College Basketball: AP Polls
  • Men's: UConn, Duke, and Memphis remain in the top three spots. In other highlights:
    • George Washington rises to #10, their first top-10 ranking since 1956.
    • Northern Iowa enters the rankings for the first time ever, at #25.
  • Women's: As expected, North Carolina earns its first #1 ranking in history. Duke remains #2. Other highlights:
    • Tennessee drops to #5 after losses to Duke and Kentucky.
    • Kentucky enters the poll for the first time since 1993, at #21. This is also the first time since 1990 that Kentucky's women have been ranked and their men have not.
    • St. John's enters the poll at #25 after an even longer absence, since 1984.

29 January 2006 (Sunday)

• Football
  • 2006 African Cup of Nations
    • Group B: Angola 3–2 Togo
    • Group B: Cameroon 2–0 Congo DR Cameroon top the group with a perfect record from three matches. Congo DR backs into the knockout phase; if Angola or Cameroon had scored one more goal, Angola would have advanced instead.
  • FA Cup Fourth Round
    • Portsmouth 1-2 Liverpool
    • Wolverhampton Wanderers 0-3 Manchester United
• Tennis: Australian Open: Roger Federer defeats Marcos Baghdatis 5-7, 7-5, 6-0, 6-2 to win the men's championship. It is Federer's seventh Grand Slam title.
• NCAA Women's College Basketball:
  • (3) North Carolina 74, (2) Duke 70: In a showdown between the last two unbeaten women's teams in Division I, the Tar Heels come back from a 13-point halftime deficit at Duke. With this win and Tennessee's two losses in the past week, the Tar Heels are all but assured of their first-ever Number 1 women's ranking.

28 January 2006 (Saturday)

• Football
  • 2006 African Cup of Nations
    • Group A: Egypt 3–1 Côte d'Ivoire Egypt top the group; Côte d'Ivoire, which had already qualified for the knockout phase, finish second.
    • Group A: Libya 0–0 Morocco
  • FA Cup Fourth Round
    • Stoke City 2-1 Walsall
    • Cheltenham Town 0-2 Newcastle United
    • Coventry City 1-1 Middlesbrough
    • Reading 1-1 Birmingham City: Championship leaders Reading earns a replay at Birmingahm City's home.
    • Bolton Wanderers 1-0 Arsenal: The defending cup holders are eliminated thanks to Stelios Giannakopoulos' goal at Reebok Stadium.
    • Aston Villa 3-1 Port Vale
    • Brentford 2-1 Sunderland: The Premiership's current wooden spoon holders are ousted by a League One team.
    • Manchester City 1-0 Wigan Athletic
    • Everton 1-1 Chelsea
    • Preston North End 1-1 Crystal Palace
    • West Ham United 4-2 Blackburn Rovers
    • Colchester United 3-1 Derby County
    • Charlton Athletic 2-1 Leyton Orient
• College football bowl game:
  • Senior Bowl:
    • In the concluding game of the 2005-06 college football season, the North squad's Jay Cutler threw a winning touchdown pass as the North won the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama over the South, 31-14. (ESPN)
• Tennis: 2006 Australian Open:
  • Amélie Mauresmo defeats Justine Henin-Hardenne to win the Australian Open in Melbourne. Mauresmo wins the first set 6-1, and leads 2-0 in set 2, when Henin-Hardenne retires because of a stomach ailment. Though it may not be the way she wanted to pick her long-awaited first Grand Slam title, Mauresmo does exact revenge against the Belgian for her loss in the gold medal final at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, when Henin-Hardenne won gold in straight sets. The retractable roof on the Rod Laver Arena was closed because of thunderstorms, and birds that had become trapped inside the closed building could be heard chirping during both play and quiet moments in the match. (AP/Yahoo!)
  • The men's doubles pairing of American twins Bob and Mike Bryan defeat Martin Damm (CZE) and Leander Paes (IND) in the final 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
• Boxing:
  • Former WBO world Jr. Welterweight champion Randall Bailey collapses before a fight. He is taken to a local hospital. His fight is cancelled.
  • Arturo Gatti scores an eleventh round knockout of Thomas Damgaard, in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

27 January 2006 (Friday)

• Football
  • 2006 African Cup of Nations
    • Group D: Ghana 1–0 Senegal
    • Group D: Nigeria 2–0 Zimbabwe
  • FA Premier League 2005-06
    • Man United defender Gary Neville is charged with improper conduct by the Football Association for his goal celebration in his team's win over Liverpool. (BBC)
  • Euro 2008
    • The draw for the qualifying rounds for the UEFA Championships was held in Montreux, Switzerland, with defending champion Greece slotted in Group C. The top two teams from the seven pools will join co-hosts Austria and Switzerland in the summer of 2008 for the final round.

26 January 2006 (Thursday)

• Football:
  • 2006 African Cup of Nations
    • Group C: Zambia 1–2 Guinea
    • Group C: Tunisia 2–0 South Africa

• • Real Zaragoza ended FC Barcelona's 18-match Copa del Rey winning streak in the first leg of their tie, winning 4-2.
• NCAA Women's College Basketball:
  • Kentucky 66, (1) Tennessee 63: In a rare women's game at Rupp Arena, the Wildcats beat the Lady Vols for the first time in 20 years. Tennessee coach Pat Summitt goes 0-2 since winning her 900th game as coach, and the Lady Vols lose their second straight game for the first time since 1997.

25 January 2006 (Wednesday)

• NBA: The on-again, off-again trade between the Sacramento Kings and the Indiana Pacers is completed, with Peja Stojakovic going from Sacramento to Indiana for Ron Artest.
• MLS: The franchise formerly known as the San Jose Earthquakes, having moved to Houston, is renamed as Houston 1836.
• Football: 2006 African Cup of Nations
  • Group B: Angola 0–0 Congo DR
  • Group B: Cameroon 2–0 Togo Cameroon advance to the knockout phase, while Togo are eliminated.
• NCAA Men's College Basketball:
  • South Carolina 68, (5) Florida 62: The homestanding Gamecocks hand the Gators their second consecutive loss after a 17-0 start.
  • Marshall 58, (9) West Virginia 52: The Thundering Herd hold the Mountaineers to their lowest point total of the season and shock their in-state rivals in Charleston. Mark Patton led the Herd with 16 points and 10 rebounds; Kevin Pittsnogle scored 20 for the Mountaineers.
• Cricket: The Second Test between Pakistan and India at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad, ends in a draw. The three-Test series is tied 0-0, with one Test to be played.

24 January 2006 (Tuesday)

• NHL: Mario Lemieux announces his second — and likely last — retirement at the age of 40 from the Pittsburgh Penguins, effective immediately due to heart conditions. He became the first man to be a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, and play on, be president of and have a stake as a team owner. (Story from nhl.com)
• Football: 2006 African Cup of Nations
  • Group A: Libya 1 – 2 Côte d'Ivoire: Côte d'Ivoire advances to the elimination stage.
  • Group A: Egypt 0 – 0 Morocco

23 January 2006 (Monday)

• Auto racing
  • Toyota announces its will enter the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup and Busch Series for the 2007 season; its Camry will be the first car from marking the first time since the late 1950s that a car from a manufacturer operating principally abroad since the late 1950s. Toyota Press Release on NASCAR.com
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