In today's edition: Wild Card Weekend delivers, Cubs sign Bregman, Indiana keeps rolling, the Miracle in Macclesfield, Vandy hoops is 33-0, assist of the year, and more.
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🚨 Headlines
⚾️ Cubs sign Bregman: Chicago signed star third baseman Alex Bregman to a five-year, $175 million deal, breaking the deadlock atop the free agent market and announcing themselves as clear-cut offseason winners.
🏈 NFL All-Pros: Rams QB Matthew Stafford, picked over Patriots QB Drake Maye, headlined the NFL's All-Pro first team, which included three unanimous selections in Browns DE Myles Garrett, Rams WR Puka Nacua and Seahawks WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
⛳️ Koepka seeks return: Three weeks after stepping away from LIV Golf, five-time major winner Brooks Koepka has applied for reinstatement to the PGA Tour. The question now is whether there will be any punishment for such players wishing to return.
🏈 Texas lands top transfer: Former Auburn WR Cam Coleman has committed to Texas, giving the Longhorns the top-ranked player in the transfer portal, per On3. Follow our transfer portal tracker until the window closes on Jan. 16.
🏒 Youth brawl under investigation: A viral brawl that broke out between two "mites" teams (ages 8 and under) during the intermission of an AHL game on Saturday is under investigation by the Atlantic Amateur Hockey Association, which is calling the incident "staged."
🏈 A Wild Card Weekend to remember
Was that the most exciting weekend of playoff football… ever? The first five games of the Wild Card Round delivered four game-winning touchdowns scored in the final three minutes and four games decided by fewer than five points, the most ever in a single round. There were also a whopping 12 fourth-quarter lead changes, which is not only the most in a single round but the most ever in a single postseason (!!!).
Jacksonville — The Bills went into Duuuval and came away with their first road playoff win since 1992 courtesy of Josh Allen's game-winning TD with just over a minute left. Final score: Bills 27, Jaguars 24.
Elite company: Buffalo is just the fourth team ever to win a playoff game in six consecutive seasons, joining the Cowboys (1991-96), Patriots (2011-18) and Chiefs (2018-24).
Chicago — The Bears' magical season continued on Saturday with an incredible comeback win over the Packers. They scored 25 points in the fourth quarter for a 31-27 victory that marked their first over Green Bay in the playoffs since 1941, one week after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
The comeback kings: Before Chicago's victory, NFL teams were 3-158 all-time in the postseason when trailing by 15+ points entering the fourth quarter. Just another day in the life of Da Bears, who've won an NFL-record seven games this season in which they trailed with two minutes left.
Charlotte — The Rams nearly suffered a huge upset, but MVP favorite Matthew Stafford — battling a finger injury — came through when it mattered most, finding Colby Parkinson for the game-winning score with 38 seconds left to clinch a 34-31 victory over the Panthers.
Back and forth: This was one of two games this weekend (along with Bills-Jags) to feature four lead changes in the fourth-quarter, tied for the most in a playoff game in NFL history.
Philadelphia — The 49ers have been winning all season despite a never-ending stream of injuries to star players. Sunday was no different as they beat the defending champion Eagles, 23-19, after George Kittle tore his Achilles in the first half.
Play of the game: The Niners scored in the fourth quarter on a trick play TD thrown by WR Jauan Jennings, whose talent as a passer should come as no surprise. He was once a four-star dual-threat QB recruit ranked ahead of Sam Darnold, Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson.
Foxborough, Massachusetts — Well, they can't all be thrillers, right? The Patriots capped off the weekend with a workmanlike 16-3 win over the Chargers, who managed just 207 total yards against New England's smothering defense.
Herbert falters again: Maybe it's a shaky offensive line or myriad other factors, but Justin Herbert is now 0-3 in his postseason career with just two TDs against five turnovers as he yet again failed to play anywhere near the level he performed during the regular season.
🏈 Can Miami stop this Indiana freight train?
After their 56-22 semifinal beatdown of Oregon, the Indiana Hoosiers — yes, the Indiana Hoosiers — are one victory away from completing an undefeated championship season.
From Yahoo Sports' Dan Wolken:
The air horn at Mercedes-Benz Stadium blasted for the first time Friday night after just 11 seconds. It's a distinct, piercing sound with a unique local story, ringing through the sky here after every touchdown.
This city began to sprout up from the ground nearly two centuries ago because it is where the Western & Atlantic railroad made its last stop. With a stake hammered into the ground, they originally called it Terminus — the end of the line.
Since erecting this modern football palace nine years ago and adding the train horn to commemorate how it all began, nearly every great college football team has come through Atlanta on its way to a national title.
But none have embodied that sound quite like Indiana. Sleek and efficient, powerful and unrelenting, the Hoosiers are barreling down the tracks like a locomotive running late for a date with destiny, blowing that horn as a warning to any creature in its path.
Hey, after 139 years of mostly bad Indiana football, what's another 10 days to become the most mesmerizing national champion we've ever seen?
Perhaps the Jan. 19 national championship game against Miami will become something other than a Hoosier coronation. But after Indiana's tour de force through the College Football Playoff, rarely have we encountered a college football team that looks and feels more inevitable than this one.
⚽️ The Miracle at Macclesfield
The magic of the FA Cup was on full display on Saturday when Macclesfield FC, a semi-pro side in the sixth tier of English soccer, pulled off the biggest upset in the tournament's 154-year history.
Giant killers: Macclesfield beat Crystal Palace, 2-1, in the third round of the FA Cup, becoming the first non-league club to knock out the defending champions since 1909.
Palace, currently 13th place in the Premier League, are 117 spots ahead of the Silkmen, who sit in 14th place in the sixth-tier National League North.
That the game took place at Moss Rose — Macclesfield's 5,300-seat stadium where fans could storm the pitch to celebrate with their team — made the upset all that much sweeter.
What they're saying: "It still doesn't feel real," said first-year manager John Rooney, who played for the Silkmen last season before retiring and whose older brother is, yes, English legend Wayne Rooney. "I spoke before the game about having a bit of hope in the FA Cup, but did I really believe it? Probably not. It's mad to say but I thought we were deserved winners on the day. I thought we were incredible."
Upward trajectory: The Silkmen — named for the town's reputation as the center of Europe's silk industry in the 18th and 19th centuries — were formed just over five years ago as the successor to Macclesfield Town, a 150-year-old club that was liquidated amid mounting debts in 2020.
They started in the ninth tier but have earned promotion three times in their first four seasons to reach the sixth tier. For reference, that's one level below where Wrexham FC sat when Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney swooped in and bought the club five years ago.
And they are still very much at the level where their captain, Paul Dawson, who scored their first goal, could be found pulling pints behind the club bar after the game. Non-league football at its finest.
An emotional victory: The stunning result was dedicated to Ethan McLeod, Macclesfield's forward who tragically died in a car crash last month. "I was thinking about it when the final whistle went, Ethan was here," Isaac Buckley-Ricketts, who scored the second goal, said after the game.
💯 Big numbers
🏀 33-0
Vanderbilt is the nation's only school with both basketball teams still undefeated, and the 11th-ranked men (16-0) and seventh-ranked women (17-0) have both matched the best starts in program history.
Plus: Add in the football team's historic season, and the Commodores' top three programs are a combined 42-3 this academic year.
🏈 $5,589
Ticket prices for the College Football Playoff National Championship Game in Miami are through the roof. As of Saturday morning, the cheapest ticket on GameTime was over $3,500 (including fees) and the average ticket price was $5,589 — more than double the average price of last year's title game.
What might the crowd look like? The game is at Hard Rock Stadium where Miami plays its home games, so expect to see lots of Canes fans. But don't sleep on Hoosier Nation! Indiana has the largest living alumni base of any school in the country, and their fans took over Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta for Friday's Peach Bowl.
🎾 22 titles, 22 cities
With his victory in Brisbane to open the 2026 season, Daniil Medvedev has now won 22 ATP titles… in 22 different cities. He's never won the same tournament twice, and he's running out of events to win.
The full list: Sydney, Winston-Salem, Tokyo, Sofia, Cincinnati, St. Petersburg, Shanghai, Paris, London, Marseille, Mallorca, Toronto, New York, Los Cabos, Vienna, Rotterdam, Doha, Dubai, Miami, Rome, Almaty, Brisbane.
🎿 84th victory
Two weeks after officially qualifying for the Olympics, 41-year-old Lindsey Vonn notched her second World Cup downhill victory of the season, and 84th of her career. That puts her two shy of matching Ingemar Stenmark for the second-most ever behind Mikaela Shiffrin (106).
What she's saying: "Whatever I want to do, I can do it. And that's an amazing feeling because my body hasn't always been responding that way to me in the past," said Vonn after Saturday's win in Austria. "So now it's a whole other ball game … and I try to enjoy every single second I'm out here because it's just so fun to go fast."
📺 Watchlist: Monday, Jan. 12
🏈 Texans at Steelers
Wild Card Weekend concludes tonight in Pittsburgh (8:15pm ET, ESPN/ABC), where the AFC North champions host the red-hot Texans, who won nine straight games to close out the regular season.
Speaking of streaks: The Steelers have won 23 consecutive Monday night home games (!!!), which is hard to believe but we promise it's true. The last time they lost on Monday night at home? Oct. 14, 1991.
More to watch:
🏀 NBA: Celtics at Pacers (7:30pm, Peacock) … The last-place Pacers (8-31) are on pace for the worst season in franchise history.
🏒 NHL: Hurricanes at Red Wings (7pm, ESPN+) … The top two teams in the East face off in Detroit.
🏀 Unrivaled: Mist vs. Phantom (7:30pm, TNT); Laces vs. Lunar Owls (8:45pm, TNT)
🏈 NFL trivia
The Patriots notched their 38th playoff win on Sunday night, breaking a tie with the Packers for the second-most of any franchise.
Question: Which team ranks first with 40 playoff wins?
Answer at the bottom.
🍿 Top plays: Weekend edition
🏒 Assist of the year: Minnesota Gophers superstar Abbey Murphy broke the internet with a mind-bending assist, flipping the puck into the air, batting it through a defender's legs, then dishing it to her teammate for the goal.
🏈 Caleb saves the day: Caleb Williams made the best throw of his life on 4th and 8, delivering a perfect ball while rolling to his left, jumping in the air and falling to the ground. How is this even possible? No, but like seriously. How'd he do this?
🎾 Stan the Man: Stan Wawrinka hit an absolutely gorgeous backhand down the line at the United Cup. 40 years old, still got it! Tennis is going to miss this man when he retires at the end of the year.
⚽️ El Clásico nutmeg: Vinicíus Júnior nutmegged his defender and finished for a stunning goal in the 263rd meeting between Real Madrid and Barcelona.
🏈 49ers get tricky: The Niners stunned the Eagles on a trick play TD, with WR Jauan Jennings hitting RB Christian McCaffrey for a 29-yard score.
Honorable Mention: Amen Thompson poster dunk plus the foul … Harry Kane with a wonder strike for Bayern Munich … Ryan Dunn perfectly timed this putback slam … Mendoza to Becker can't be stopped.
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Trivia answer: 49ers
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Category: General Sports
