15 Biggest Sports Stories of 2015

15.

Jordan Spieth, Brother of Brown's Steven Spieth, Dominates Golf

Jordan Spieth, brother of Brown basketball's Steven Spieth dominated the golf world.

Spieth won the Masters and the U.S. Open, nearly won the British Open and the PGA Championship.

Spieth concluded the season by winning the FedEx Cup and securing the #1 spot in the world.

14.

David Ortiz Announces Retirement after 2016 Season

Boston Red Sox star David Ortiz will retire after the upcoming 2016 season, according to reports.  Ortiz turned 40 years old in November and will enter his 20th Major League Baseball season this spring.

13.

PC Basketball Reaches 2nd Consecutive NCAA Tournament

The Providence College Friars men's basketball team received a number six seed in the 2015 NCAA Tournament.  

The last time Providence received a six seed in the NCAA Tournament came in 1987. That team, coached by Rick Pitino and starring Billy Donovan, made it to the Final four. 

Providence would fall to Dayton in their first round game.

12.

Bryant Basketball Assistant Chris Burns Becomes First Openly Gay DI Coach

Bryant University men's basketball assistant coach Chris Burns came out as the first openly gay Division I men's basketball coach. Burns came out in an article he wrote for outsports.com.

11.

E.C. Matthews Out for Season with Torn ACL

In URI's first game of the 2015-16 season, star guard E.C. Matthews went out with a knee injury and was ruled out for the season.

Matthews was injured midway through the first half of URI's season opener against American at the Ryan Center when he crumpled to the ground and grabbed his knee while driving to the basket. 

Matthews was helped off the floor, unable to put any pressure on his leg and did not return to the game. Matthews was just three points shy of the 1,000 career points milestone. 

10.

URI Signs Hurley to $1 Million Contract Extension

In April, URI officially announced a million dollar contract for head basketball coach Dan Hurley. This came after there was some talk and rumors of Hurley leaving URI to take the vacant St. Johns job.

According to the University, Hurley's new contract will run through the 2021-22 season with a total compensation package that will be increased to a guaranteed $1 million per year by the 2017-18 season

9.

Kris Dunn Returns to PC

Would he stay or would he go? That was the only question surrounding Providence College Basketball following the NCAA Tournament.

After a bit of a wait and plenty of rumors, Kris Dunn announced he was returning to PC.

Dunn is currently ranked as the best or second best guard in college basketball, depending on what poll you look at.

8.

Warwick North Reaches Little League Softball World Series National Title Game

Warwick North advanced to the National Championship game of the Little League Softball World Series.

North went undefeated the entire season before falling to North Carolina in the National Title game held in Oregon.

7.

Cranston West Reaches Little League World Series

Cranston West Little League won the New England Championship 10-4 Over New Hampshire and advanced to the Little League World Series for the second time in league history.

This marked the second straight year in which a Rhode Island team has advanced to the World Series and the third time in five years.

Cranston West lost to South Carolina, and beat Missouri before being eliminated by California.

6.

PC Hockey Ranked #1 in the Country

The Providence College Friars men's hockey team is ranked number one in the country in both the USCHO.com Poll and the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll.

To date, the Friars are undefeated, 12-0-3, and still the number one team in the country.

5.

CVS Charity Classic Donates $1.3 Million to Local Charities.

The CVS Charity Classic donated $1.3 million to over 100 charities across Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts. Since the tournaments inception, the classic has raised more than $19 million for charity.

The 2015 CVS Classic was won by Keegan Bradley and Jon Curran

The 2016 CVS Charity Classic is set for June 26th-28th 2016 at Rhode Island Country Club.

Photo courtesy of Constance Brown photography

4.

PC Best Athletic Program in Country Per Capita

A GoLocalProv review of all NCAA Division I sports teams found that per capita Providence College had the most successful men’s athletic program in the US in the 2014-2015 season. 

The measuring stick for college sports program is a competition by which each year NCAA Division I teams fight for the Capital One Cup, “the Cup is awarded annually to each of the best men's (and women's) Division I college athletics programs in the country."

Providence College has 1,638 male undergraduate students, earned a point for every 32.76 of its male undergraduate students. The Friars also finished the year with 50 total points to put them at 13th in the overall rankings. 

GoLocal's review standardized the performances based on number of undergraduate students -- a measure that made the performances equalized. According to the GoLocal analysis, Providence College was the most successful athletic program in America this past academic year.

3.

The Deflategate Saga

The controversy started after the AFC Championship game when the Indianapolis Colts accused the Patriots of intentionally deflating footballs.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell hired Ted Wells to conduct an "independent" investigation into the matter and in early May, the Wells Report was released. The Wells Report states that it was "more probably than not that Tom Brady (the quarterback for the Patriots) was at least generally aware of the inappropriate activities."

Five Days later, Goodell suspended Tom Brady for four games. The Patriots were also stripped of a 2016 first round pick and a 2017 4th round pick as well as being fined $1 million. The organization accepted those penalties, however, Brady would appeal.

After a long and drawn out appeal process, a New York federal court judge overturned Tom Brady's suspension, making him eligible to play. 

However, the NFL is now appealing the ruling and that appeal hearing is set for February, but will not impact the Super Bowl.

Deflategate continues...

2.

Patriots Win 4th Super Bowl in Brady/Belichick Era

The New England Patriots defeated the Seattle Seahawks 28-24 in Super Bowl XLIX to win their fourth Super Bowl in the Brady/Belichick era and their first in ten years.

The game ended when the Seahawks and quarterback Russell Wilson decided to throw a pass on the goal line instead of running the ball with Marshawn Lynch. Wilson's pass was picked off by Malcolm Butler.

Tom Brady completed 27 passes in the game and was named Super Bowl MVP for the 3rd time in his career.

1.

PC Hockey Wins National Championship

The Providence College Friars men's hockey team defeated Boston University 4-3 at the TD Garden in Boston to win the first National Championship in program history.

Goaltender Jon Gillies was named Most Outstanding player after making 49 saves in the contest.

Brandon Tanev recorded the game winning goal for PC. Tanev took the puck off a PC face off win and fired a shot top shelf from the slot that beat O'Connor giving the Friars a 4-3 lead with 5:30 seconds left.