Daily Archives: July 19, 2022

Russian President Vladimir Putin championed domestic reform and international integration when he first took power in 2000.Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images

Russia once had ambitions for Moscow to be an international financial center.

But its annexation of Crimea in 2014 unleashed a rash of sanctions and curbed foreign investments.

Russia's now cut off from the international community, which is crucial in building a knowledge economy.

It was only a decade or so ago that Russia was working towards its grand ambition of making Moscow a global financial hub.

At a 2010 conference in St. Petersburg, then-President Dmitry Medvedev said the country's interest in becoming a global financial center was "obvious," the BBC reported at the time. Russia needs "a developed and globally competitive national financial system" to modernize the economy, Medvedev said.

"The Kremlin was advancing a lot of efforts to make Moscow an international financial center," said Hassan Malik, a senior sovereign analyst at Loomis Sayles, a Boston-based investment management consultancy.

"Various Russian politicians, including Putin, talked about making Russia an international financial center for years," Malik, who lived in Russia from 2005 to 2008, added to Insider.

Over the next 10 years, Russia started to lay the groundwork for its vision. There were official efforts to elevate the profiles of Moscow and St. Petersburg, and the Kremlin pushed to make the ruble a global reserve currency, Malik said.

As a large and resource-rich economy, Russia despite its risks was an attractive investment destination. Global financial powerhouses such Goldman Sachs and Citibank set up shop in Moscow. The Big 4 accounting firms PwC, KPMG, EY, and Deloitte were also in the country.

But Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014 and its invasion of Ukraine in 2022 have thrown its financial hub ambitions into peril.

In the months since the invasion, countries have slapped Russia with sweeping sanctions. Major banks and international financial institutions have pulled out of the country en masse. The big 4 accounting firms have all pulled out of Russia or begun the steps to do so, as have Goldman and Citibank. What's more, the war has not only jeopardized Moscow's standing as a finance hub: It also marks a reversal from Russian President Vladimir Putin's efforts early in his reign to modernize the economy.

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Russia's economy wasn't always moving backward.

When Putin first came to power as Russia's president from 2000 to 2008, he advocated for reforms and modernization, wrote Anders slund, an economist and a senior fellow at the Stockholm Free World Forum, a think tank. At the time, Putin "often championed sensible reforms while promoting initiatives to modernize and diversify the Russian economy," slund wrote on the Atlantic Council's blog on June 13. Among his major reforms were tax reform and cutting red tape for the setup of small and medium enterprises.

Putin managed to complete all the progressive economic reforms started in the 1990s by the administration of Boris Yeltsin, who served as Russia's first president after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, slund added. Putin also championed far-reaching international integration of Russia, pushing for the country's membership into the World Trade Organization, slund noted.

"These policies paid dividends. Russia enjoyed a period of uniquely strong economic expansion during the early years of the Putin era, with annual growth rates of around seven percent from 1999 to 2008," wrote slund.

Foreign direct investments, or FDI, into Russia rose steadily in the 2000s up until the Global Financial Crisis, when they slumped, according to World Bank data. After the recession, FDI into the country resumed a general trend upwards from 2009 until Russia illegally annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, prompting a raft of US and EU sanctions.

Even after the annexation of Crimea, Russia continued to push ahead with its financial ambitions: The Moscow Exchange that was set up in 2011 continues trading today. The country's top central banker, Elvira Nabiullina who has been helming the institution since 2013 was well-respected by her peers and named by several trade publications, including Euromoney in 2015, as the world's best monetary policymaker.

By the time Putin began his second presidency in 2012, he had "already begun embracing isolationist policies, protectionism, and import substitution," slund said.

Today, Russia is all but an international pariah, with global financial institutions withdrawing from the market left, right, and center due to sanctions.

In March, just days after the invasion, TheCityUK a prominent industry group tore up a memorandum of understanding with Russia that supported Moscow's path to becoming an international financial center.

In the 100 days since it was founded, a US-backed global task force has blocked and frozen more than $330 billion in assets belonging to sanctioned Russians and the country's central banks.

At least tens of thousands of jobs have been impacted the Big Four accounting firms employ about 15,000 staff collectively, while Western banks employ about 40,000 staff, according to the Financial Times.

Despite the exits, unemployment in Russia has been steady as foreign companies are leaving in an orderly fashion, and as the Kremlin has been trying to preserve employment through implicit pressure on employers a tactic Putin's regime has been using throughout the years, said Malik. This has contributed to a flurry of deals involving foreign companies selling their businesses and stakes in their Russian operations to local buyers who would continue running them under a different brand.

Russia is seeking to turn inward to weather current sanctions, but it'll be challenging for the country to make inroads into the big league of knowledge economies, experts say.

"A knowledge economy depends on interacting with the cutting edge of whatever field you're in which means international interactions," Malik said.

Russia's economyis expected to shrink 8.5% in 2022, with a further decline of 2.3% in 2023, theInternational Monetary Fund projected in an April report. That would be the economy's largest decline since the years following the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.

"The 2014 invasion of Ukraine dealt a serious blow to even what equivocal progress there had been until then, and after the events of recent months, it is difficult for me to see how Russia will emerge as a global financial center in the foreseeable future," said Malik.

Read the original article on Business Insider

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Russia once had ambitions of making Moscow an international finance hub. Putin's war has crushed the dream. - Yahoo Finance

The final round of the final men's major of 2022 is here, and it promises to be a spectacular one. Rory McIlroy and Viktor Hovland are tied for the lead at the British Open, both standing at -16 as Sunday begins at St. Andrews. Four strokes behind them are Cam Smith and Cameron Young, the leaders on Saturday who suffered through similar struggles as the rest of the field was surging. Si Woo Kim, Scottie Scheffler and Dustin Johnson are lurking, but no one else is within six strokes of the leaders.

McIlroy is aiming to break an eight-year major drought, and a victory this week at St. Andrews would be one of the most popular in recent golf history. Hovland, one of the game's best young stars, would ascend to the next level with his first major, but the crowd in Scotland is firmly behind McIlroy. The challenge, and the opportunity, of a lifetime awaits.

To check out the current leaderboard, go here.

Follow along with Yahoo Sports as we bring you all the action from the final day of the Open Championship.

Further British Open reading:

The Claret Jug awaits the winner of the British Open. (Ross Parker/SNS Group via Getty Images)

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2022 British Open live updates: Cam Smith captures the Claret Jug - Yahoo Sports

Weeks after Washington Nationals GM Mike Rizzo said 23-year-old megastar Juan Soto would not be dealt amid a rebuild, word leaked out that the trade winds had changed. The reasoning? Soto reportedly rejected a 15-year, $440 million extension offer.

The number is undoubtedly large at first glance, but it shrinks the longer you look at it.

For one, Soto is two-and-a-half years from needing to make this decision. The earliest he can become a free agent is after the 2024 season. Hes making $17.1 million through arbitration in 2022, and that number will escalate as he continues racking up stellar seasons, to the point where he could make $40 million to $50 million total in his remaining two years under team control. Think about why a 31-63 team is so eager to commit $440 million. Its not because they need to shore up a championship run.

What theyre offering him is 13 years and $400 million, roughly, to forfeit his chance to spark a bidding war that would likely take him closer to $500 million or even over it. Theyre offering him an average annual salary of less than $30 million, less than what Nolan Arenado, Francisco Lindor and Corey Seager signed for when they were both older and less productive than Soto.

Theyre also asking him to forfeit the information he would gain over the next two-and-a-half years namely, whether the Nationals steep decline after the 2019 World Series triumph is going to produce a similar upswing.

The news that a Soto deal was possible propelled a daydream hypothetical out into the world as real, if not realistic, conversations. Fans started ticking off the prospects they would be willing to deal for a player whose offensive prowess since he debuted at age 19 has been bested only by Mike Trout and Yordan Alvarez and Soto has played hundreds more games than either of them over that span.

Between Tuesdays All-Star Game and the Aug. 2 trade deadline, the question will be posted over and over: What could make trading Soto worth it?

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The Nationals apparent pivot smacks of a team that is now willing to answer that question with a dollar figure instead of the prospect packages floating around Twitter. The Lerner family, the owners of the Nationals, has said it is exploring a sale. Rizzo, the GM, is not signed long term. That this news came out right before Soto faced a horde of reporters at the Midsummer Classic is certainly suspicious, a move to try to frame him as the bad guy in all this. His agent, Scott Boras, said Monday afternoon that the uncertainty makes it harder for Soto to commit to the team two-and-a-half seasons before the decision is required.

You have no idea of their intentions, Boras said of the future ownership group. Are they going to be in a rebuild for five years or are they going to immediately win? You have no way of knowing. The Lerners are a respected, winning ownership family. It was very easy to always deal with them because you knew who they were and what their intentions were. And now that they're passing that baton on to another ownership group, you really don't know until you find out and obviously that has a big impact on decision making.

But Sotos posture betrayal and confusion over why this needed to happen now would be a good one for fans to take, too.

Washington Nationals' Juan Soto takes batting practice a day before the 2022 MLB All-Star baseball game, Monday, July 18, 2022, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Between 2019 and 2020, the Nationals committed $385 million to a duo of pitchers Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin who have barely pitched and pitched poorly, respectively. In that same window, the team let Bryce Harper and Anthony Rendon walk away. At last years trade deadline it dealt Max Scherzer and a year-and-a-half of Trea Turner for prospects good prospects, but prospects.

When players as good as Juan Soto have been dealt in recent years, they have never changed teams alone. They have left town alongside expensive players, almost always pitchers, whose contracts no longer feel worth it to the teams. Any Soto deal would almost inevitably begin with a teams willingness to take on Corbin or Strasburg. Thats a lot of money to commit to, which means the talks wont be driven by finding the most talented possible group of young players to return the Nationals to prominence, but by finding a team that can handle the financials.

Really, if the Nationals envision winning any time in the next decade, Juan Soto is just about the most surefire player in baseball to help with that. Moving him now two whole years ahead of the timeline where the Boston Red Sox pulled the trigger on a money-driven Mookie Betts deal, a year-and-a-half before Cleveland did the same on the Francisco Lindor trade is to get a whole bunch of money off the books.

So what would make a Soto trade worth it? Well, it depends on whether you sign checks for the Washington Nationals or buy tickets from them.

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What sort of Juan Soto trade would be worth it? - Yahoo Sports

Following Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck's wedding over the weekend, a vintage clip of the Marry Me actress who is now officially Jennifer Affleck in which she reveals plans to change her name to that during their first engagement, has resurfaced.

In the 2003 footage, when Access Hollywood's Pat O'Brien asks Lopez what her name will be a week after her then-planned wedding, she doesn't hesitate.

"Jennifer Lopez," she says, confirming that she planned to keep her name professionally. "But my name will be Jennifer Affleck, obviously."

The new moniker would also be on her personal stationery, she said.

Still, she joked, "J. Aff... doesn't have quite the same ring to it."

The couple nicknamed Bennifer famously ended up postponing their wedding back then because of "excessive media attention," before calling it off altogether in 2004. They, of course, reunited last year and announced in April that they were engaged for the second time.

Following their ceremony Saturday at A Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas, Lopez shared an announcement in the latest edition of her On the JLo newsletter, which she signed "Mrs. Jennifer Lynn Affleck." Their marriage license, listed on the Clark County Clerk's Office website, confirms that her new name is "Jennifer Affleck."

In the same note, she gave details about the nuptials, including the fact that her kids Max and Emme, the 14-year-old twins she shares with ex-husband Marc Anthony were there to watch as she and the Argo director and star exchanged vows.

"We barely made it to the little white wedding chapel by midnight," she wrote. "They graciously stayed open late a few minutes, let us take pictures in a pink Cadillac convertible, evidently once used by the king himself (but if we wanted Elvis himself to show, that cost extra and he was in bed)."

Lopez was ecstatic about the no-frills ceremony.

"They were right when they said, 'all you need is love,' We are so grateful to have that in abundance, a new wonderful family of five amazing children and a life that we have never had more reason to look forward to," she wrote, referring to Affleck's three children 16-year-old Violet, 13-year-old Seraphina and Samuel, 10 with ex-wife Jennifer Garner. "Stick around long enough and maybe you'll find the best moment of your life in a drive-through in Las Vegas at 12:30 in the morning in the Tunnel of Love drive-through, with your kids and the one you'll spend forever with. Love is a great thing, maybe the best of things-and worth waiting for."

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Jennifer Lopez says she'll take Ben Affleck's name in resurfaced 2003 clip and it's finally happened - Yahoo Entertainment

Chris Sale returned to the mound last week for his first start since 2021. Now he's headed for another injury layoff.

The Boston Red Sox pitcher left Sunday's game against the New York Yankees after getting hit with a line drive on his pitching hand. The injury took place in the bottom of the first inning with New York leading, 2-0. Yankees outfielder Aaron Hicks hit a comebacker off a changeup that hit Sale on his left hand and bounced into shallow right field.

Sale immediately walked off the mound and held up his hand to show a mangled pinky. He walked into the dugout and didn't return to the game. The Red Sox later announced that he fractured his finger. They didn't offer a timeline for his return. Sale told reporters that he believes that he'll pitch again this season. He's scheduled to see a specialist in Boston.

Sale, a seven-time All-Star, made his first start of the season on July 12 after being sidelined with a stress fracture in his right rib cage that was diagnosed in March. He pitched five scoreless innings against the Tampa Bay Rays in his return before being charged with two earned runs in 2/3 of an inning in Sunday's 13-2 loss.

Prior to his rib injury, Sale missed the entire 2020 season and most of 2021 following Tommy John surgery. The 33-year-old has been Boston's ace when healthy and helped the Red Sox to victory in the 2018 World Series, where he recorded the final outs of the decisive Game 5 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

He's in the third year of a five-year, $145 million contract extension he signed in 2019. Injuries have limited him to 11 starts during the extension that runs through 2024.

Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Chris Sale walks off the mound after a hand injury during the second inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Sunday, July 17, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

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Chris Sale hit by line drive, fractures pinky on pitching hand in second game back from injury - Yahoo Sports

One trend this earning season in the semiconductor industry has sparked murmurs of gluts at least in some parts of the industry.

The results from companies like Micron (MU) to Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) have led analysts to wonder if chip companies may be facing a so-called toilet paper moment in the coming months. Chip demand has slowed due to global economic downturn after a year when these companies did everything they could to ramp up production.

However, a close observer of the industry in Washington says she isnt worried. When asked about about the concerns on Friday, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo crisply responded, No, of all the things I worry about, that's not what I worry about.

Demand is just going to continue to rise, she added about the long-term outlook during the Yahoo Finance Presents conversation this week with Julie Hyman.

An Intel chip is displayed at a news conference in 2020. (REUTERS/Steve Marcus)

Raimondo is currently in the midst of talks with lawmakers to deliver new subsidies to the semiconductor industry that are expressly designed to expand supply further in the years ahead. The bill would encourage companies to build new factories and make semiconductors inside the United States. If passed, around $52 billion would be earmarked for American companies like Intel (INTC), who is looking to build in Ohio, to foreign companies like GlobalWafers, who are eyeing a new facility in Texas.

The Commerce secretary promised during Fridays conversation that President Biden would be able to sign the long-delayed bill this summer

But even as legislation would goose supply closer to the end of the decade, many observers of the industry are more focused on the coming year.

Taiwan Semiconductor recently came out with earnings that showed resilient chip sales but the company was nevertheless reviewing their capital expansion plans in anticipation of a possible slowdown.

Similarly this week, Goldman Sachs cut its 2023 earnings forecast for chipmakers by an average of 20% because of similar concerns. Additionally, Micron directly told their investors last month they were concerned about a glut of chips and would reduce production.

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The divergence in outlooks is largely between short and long term expectations.

Daniel Clifton, head of Washington research at Strategas, appeared on Yahoo Finance this week and reminded of semiconductors that people call it the new oil adding that if a nation can control oil and chips, you start to control the production of just about anything that's going to happen in the economy and we could see that that's where the long-term trend is.

Raimondo predicts a rise of 20 to 25% in overall demand in the next three years.

There are thousands of kinds of chips and different products and such, so it may be that demand in certain areas goes down and demand in other areas goes up, she acknowledged but the larger picture is that pretty much every company in the world is now closely linked to the digital economy and you need semiconductors for every technology and anything that's digitized.

Ben Werschkul is a writer and producer for Yahoo Finance in Washington, DC.

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Commerce secretary on future of chips: 'Demand is just going to continue to rise' - Yahoo Finance

Fox Sports made a bizarre choice for a Baseball Night in America graphic. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

The biggest misstep of Saturday's New York Yankees-Boston Red Sox didn't come on the field.

Broadcaster Fox Sports saw a swift backlash during the game, part of its Baseball Night in America telecast, after it came out of a commercial break with a graphic depicting the two rivals' logos overlaid onto the reflecting pools of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.

Any nationally televised Yankees game is going to see a number of New York City establishing shots, but it's not hard to see why many felt this was in bad taste:

The reflecting pools sit on the former sites of the World Trade Center and feature the names of 2,983 victims, including first responders, flight passengers and World Trade Center workers, inscribed on their side walls.

Fox Sports would soon issue an apology Sunday afternoon, saying that they exercised "poor judgment" in airing the graphic.

During last nights telecast, we used poor judgment on the use of a graphic," a spokesperson for Fox Sports wrote in a statement. "We sincerely apologize and regret the decision.

While the backlash grew, the Yankees proceeded to register a one-sided win, defeating the Red Sox 14-1 to improve their record to an MLB-best 63-28. They now lead the AL East by 13 games, the largest division lead in baseball.

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Fox Sports apologizes for overlaying Yankees and Red Sox logos on World Trade Center site - Yahoo Sports

Comedian Craig Robinson's performance on Saturday evening was canceled after a gunman opened fire at the North Carolina comedy club where he was about to perform.

In an Instagram Live video that clocked in at over five-and-a-half minutes, the Killing It star chronicled the events as he moved from the scene into the neighboring concert.

"I'm performing at The Comedy Zone in Charlotte, N.C.. There was an active shooter in the comedy club," Robinson said. "So they moved us over ... there's a concert going on, and it's Big Time Rush, so I thought I would share it with y'all. But yeah. Hello, everybody."

Robinson went on to repeat, "Again, there was an active shooter at the club I was at."

As The Office star left the scene of the shooting, he described the setting to his followers.

"We had to run over here to this concert," said Robinson, before turning the camera and showing the celebratory concert scene to his followers. "That's Big Time Rush, y'all. Big Time Rush! Big Time Rush to the rescue."

Robinson also shared that he was safe after the incident.

"I'm cool. I'm safe. It was just wild. I was in the green room and they were like, 'Everybody get up,'" he shared. "It was wild. It was a moment for sure."

Later, he thanked his followers who were watching the incident unfold on Instagram Live.

"Thank y'all, I appreciate the love," Robinson shared, before blowing a kiss and waving to the camera. In the background, he can be heard talking to a guest who tells him "they got him," evidently referring to the alleged shooter.

Local news station WSOC-TV confirmed a suspect had been apprehended, and police were working to determine why he entered the scene.

In a post on the Atlas One app, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department released a statement late Saturday evening.

"Shortly after 9 p.m., a male suspect entered an establishment at the 900 block of NC Music Factory Boulevard. He brandished a firearm inside the business, which was quickly evacuated. The suspect then discharged his weapon. There were no injuries and the suspect was taken into custody. More information will be released by public affairs," the statement read.

Yahoo Entertainment reached out to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department but did not receive a response by press time.

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Craig Robinson reacts to comedy show being canceled after gunman opens fire in the club - Yahoo Entertainment

Nasdaq, Inc.

NEW YORK, July 18, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TheNasdaqStock Market announced today that it will delist the ordinary shares, warrant, unit, and rights of Alberton Acquisition Corporation. Alberton Acquisition Corporations securities were suspended on April 26, 2022 and have not traded on Nasdaq since that time.

Nasdaq also announced today that it will delist the common stock of Zosano Pharma Corporation. Zosano Pharma Corporations common stock was suspended on June 13, 2022 and has not traded on Nasdaq since that time.

Nasdaq also announced today that it will delist the Class A Common Stock and Warrant of Electric Last Mile Solutions, Inc. Electric Last Mile Solutions, Inc.s securities were suspended on June 23, 2022 and have not traded on Nasdaq since that time.

Nasdaq also announced today that it will delist the American depositary shares and warrant of 4D pharma plc. 4D pharma plcs securities were suspended on July 7, 2022 and have not traded on Nasdaq since that time.

Nasdaq also announced today that it will delist the common stock and warrant of Enjoy Technology, Inc. Enjoy Technology, Inc.s securities were suspended on July 11, 2022 and have not traded on Nasdaq since that time.

Nasdaqwill file a Form 25 with the Securities and Exchange Commission to complete the delistings. The delistings become effective ten days after the Form 25 is filed. For news and additional information about the companies, including the basis for the delisting and whether the companies securities are trading on another venue, please review the companies public filings or contact the company directly.

For more information about TheNasdaqStock Market, visit the Nasdaq Web site at http://www.nasdaq.com.Nasdaqsrules governing the delisting of securities can be found in the Nasdaq Rule 5800 Series, available on the Nasdaq Web site: https://listingcenter.nasdaq.com/rulebook/nasdaq/rules/nasdaq-5800-series.

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-NDAQO-

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Delisting of Securities of Alberton Acquisition Corporation; Zosano Pharma Corporation; Electric Last Mile Solutions, Inc.; 4D pharma plc; and Enjoy...

The 2022 season begins with some fantastic non-conference games over the first quarter of the season.

By now, you likely know about the big ones. Notre Dame and Ohio State meet in Week 1 just an hour or so after Oregon and Georgia face off. And Alabama and Texas play in Week 2, of course. But there are a lot of other intriguing non-conference matchups, too, especially in Week 3, a Saturday that could be full of fascinating matchups.

Here's our look at the most intriguing non-conference matchups over the first three weeks of the 2022 college football season.

(All times ET)

This is a fantastic way to cap off the first full Saturday of the season and a huge test for Marcus Freeman in his first regular season game as Notre Dame's coach. Ohio State has become the favorite pick of bettors to win the national title and is more than a two-touchdown favorite over an Irish team that brings back 15 starters.

New Oregon coach Dan Lannings first game with the Ducks comes against his former employer. Lanning was the defensive coordinator for Georgias national title-winning team in 2021 and will likely get a nice ovation from Bulldog fans in Atlanta. How will his familiarity with Georgias defensive personnel help QB Bo Nix and an offense that returns its entire starting offensive line?

Georgia coach Kirby Smart faces off against former defensive coordinator Dan Lanning in Week 1. (Photo by John Adams/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The Pac-12 champions travel to the Swamp and are currently favored over the Gators in Billy Napiers first game coaching Florida. Florida was one of the biggest underachievers in 2021 and enters this season with Anthony Richardson as the teams starting quarterback. Its a big chance for Richardson as he enters the season tied with others as the No. 5 favorite for the Heisman.

This is the Bearcats second consecutive game against an SEC opponent after losing to Alabama in the College Football Playoff. Ben Bryant is in line to replace Desmond Ridder as Cincinnatis starting quarterback while Arkansas needs to replace Treylon Burks and four of its five leading tacklers from a team that won nine games in 2021.

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This game may be more about the name brands involved than the quality of football from two programs trying to get back to the top. But were very intrigued for Brian Kellys first game with the Tigers and if Arizona State transfer Jayden Daniels or Myles Brennan will be LSUs starting quarterback.

LSU opens the Brian Kelly era against Florida State. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)

The Backyard Brawl is back for the first time since 2011. Pitt enters the game looking to beat the Mountaineers for the first time since 2008 as WVU has won three straight. Both teams will feature former USC quarterbacks, too. Kedon Slovis is in line to start for Pitt while former Trojan and Georgia QB JT Daniels is now at West Virginia.

Who knows, maybe this will be a matchup we see in the Pac-12 in the future? Oregon State returns nine starters on a defense that improved a lot from 2020 to 2021 on the way to a bowl berth for the first time since 2013. The Broncos are a favorite in the Mountain West again and are looking to bounce back from a disappointing 7-5 season.

Appalachian State is a perennial Sun Belt contender and won double-digit games for the third time in four seasons in 2021. North Carolina was a disappointment a season ago and QB Sam Howell is one of six departing starters on the Tar Heel offense.

Houston went 12-2 in 2021 as the play for the future strategy of coach Dana Holgorsen bore fruit in Year 3. UTSA was one of the best stories of 2021 as the Roadrunners also went 12-2 and got to No. 15 in the AP Top 25. QB Frank Harris is one of eight starters back on offense for UTSA and the Alamodome will be very loud for this one.

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian (R) served as an offensive coordinator for Nick Saban before taking the Longhorns job after the 2020 season. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

The matchup of future SEC foes is the first between the two teams since Alabama beat Texas to win the national title in 2010. Former Alabama offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian will be hoping his offensive line can hold up against the Tides defensive front to let Quinn Ewers and Bijan Robinson make plays and that his defense can keep 2021 Heisman winner Bryce Young in check.

Baylor, the reigning Big 12 champion, beat the Cougars by 14 at home in 2021. BYU returns every starter on defense after taking a step back statistically in 2021 thanks to a much tougher schedule. The Cougars will need to replace RB Tyler Allgaier but QB Jaren Hall and WRs Puka Nacua and Gunner Romney return.

This matchup of former Big 12 rivals is sneakily significant. Missouri could need this win to make a bowl for the second consecutive season while Kansas State is going for its third eight-win season in Chris Kliemans four seasons with the school.

Cardinals QB Malik Cunningham is one of the best dual-threat QBs in college football and this is a second straight road game for Louisville to start the season. Well see if Mikey Keene or Ole Miss transfer John Rhys Plumlee is the starting QB for the Knights as they bring back 17 starters from a team that went 9-4 in Gus Malzahns first season.

Louisville QB Malik Cunningham scored nearly 40 TDs in 2021. (Photo by George Walker/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Pitt got the best of Tennessee last year and its easy to see Tennessee returning the favor in 2022. Hendon Hooker was phenomenal in 2021 and a win against the Panthers sets Tennessee up to be 3-0 before consecutive games against Florida, LSU and Alabama.

WSU went 6-3 in the Pac-12 in 2021 and blew out rival Washington to end the regular season. The Cougars also bring in FCS star Cameron Ward at QB with his offensive coordinator at Incarnate Word, Eric Morris, now in charge of the play-calling in Pullman. Wisconsin has to replace 14 starters but is the favorite in the Big Ten West and returns RB Braelon Allen. He rushed for nearly seven yards a carry as a freshman.

Oklahoma State should be in the thick of the Big 12 race once again but needs to replace seven starters on a defense that also has a new coordinator after Jim Knowles went to Ohio State. Arizona State has to replace 15 starters including QB Jayden Daniels as the program is in the midst of an NCAA investigation into recruiting violations.

The annual rivalry game isnt higher up on the Week 2 list because ISU only brings back eight starters from a team that underachieved in 2021. Matt Campbell needs to replace Brock Purdy, Breece Hall and Charlie Kolar on offense and the teams four leading tacklers are also gone. ISU hasn't beaten Iowa since 2014.

This game gets even more interesting if Appalachian State gets a win over North Carolina in Week 1. A&M will be a significant favorite and this is a potential look-ahead spot for the Aggies ahead of a massive Week 3 showdown with Miami.

This is another tough Mountain West test for the Beavers before a game against FCS opponent Montana State ahead of Pac-12 play. Fresno State and QB Jake Haener took down UCLA in a thriller in 2021.

Miami and new coach Mario Cristobal head to College Station to play Texas A&M in Week 3. (Al Diaz/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

This is a huge spot for the Hurricanes and new coach Mario Cristobal. Tyler Van Dyke has been mentioned as a possible first-round QB in the 2023 NFL draft and a big game against the Aggies will heighten that draft buzz. A&M is the fourth SEC opponent Miami has faced in the last five seasons and only one of its previous three losses a 24-20 loss to Florida in 2019 was within 14 points.

The Huskers hung around against Oklahoma a season ago before proceeding to lose seven of their final eight games of the season on the way to a 3-9 record. Expectations in Lincoln will be for nothing short of a win, even if Oklahoma will be favored in this one.

Oregon isnt skimping on its non-conference scheduling this season. Given the Ducks game against Georgia in Week 1 and BYUs game against Baylor in Week 2, its entirely possible that the loser of this game will be 1-2.

Auburn went 6-7 in Bryan Harsin's first season. (Photo by Andy Lewis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

It may be a stretch to say this is a must-win game for Auburn coach Bryan Harsin, but a win over Penn State would do wonders for a program that went 6-7 and had a tumultuous offseason. This will also be Penn States second road game of the season after a Week 1 visit to Purdue and the Nittany Lions first game at an SEC opponent since visiting Alabama in 2010.

MSU went to Miami and won by three touchdowns in Week 3 a season ago in what was a surprising result at the time. This is the first big test for Washington and new coach Kalen DeBoer after the Huskies were 4-8 in 2021. Improving the offense is a huge priority for DeBoer and Washington brought in former Indiana QB Michael Penix during the offseason.

Can Fresno take down another team from Los Angeles? This game gets the late-night treatment on Fox as all attention will be on Lincoln Riley and the offensive skill players that transferred to USC. The biggest question for the Trojans may be on defense, however. USC needs to replace eight starters after giving up 32 points per game in 2021.

USC hosts Fresno State in Week 3 after playing Stanford in Week 2. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

SDSU beat Utah in three overtimes in 2021 and also plays Arizona and Boise State over the first five weeks of the 2022 season. SDSU has given up fewer than 20 points per game in each of the last three seasons.

This is a game NC State needs to win to assert itself as one of the best teams in the ACC. A season ago, the Wolfpack lost 24-10 at Mississippi State in Week 2.

The Longhorns will likely win this one but 2022 is UTSAs chance to establish itself as a power player in the state after its run in 2021. Wins over Houston and Texas will give UTSA bragging rights itll retain forever.

The Wildcats are the first Power Five opponent for the FCS powerhouse Bison since NDSU took down Iowa in 2016. Dont be surprised when NDSU is favored ahead of the game as Arizona went 1-11 in 2021 and was outscored by two touchdowns per game.

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The best non-conference games of the 2022 college football season - Yahoo Sports