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🚨 Headlines
🏈 Coaching carousel: Lane Kiffin left Ole Miss for LSU (more below), Kentucky fired Mark Stoops after 13 seasons, Florida hired Jon Sumrall (Tulane), Arkansas hired Ryan Silverfield (Memphis), Auburn hired Alex Golesh (USF), Michigan State hired Pat Fitzgerald (ex-Northwestern), and more.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement🏎️ Down to the wire: Red Bull's Max Verstappen won Sunday's Qatar Grand Prix to set up a season-ending three-way race for the title. McLaren's Lando Norris leads Verstappen by 12 points and teammate Oscar Piastri by 16 points entering the finale in Abu Dhabi.
🏀 NBA Cup knockouts: Group play is complete and the knockout stage is set for the in-season tournament, with the Magic, Raptors, Knicks and Heat advancing in the East and the Thunder, Lakers, Spurs and Suns advancing in the West.
⚽️ Iran boycotts draw: Iran is boycotting this week's World Cup draw in Washington, D.C., after members of its delegation were denied visas to enter the United States. Barring further action, Iran still plans to compete in next summer's World Cup.
🏀 Deadline extended again: The WNBA and players association have agreed to extend their CBA for a second time as negotiations continue, this time through January 9. The first extension was set to run out on Sunday night.
🏈 Kiffin's disastrous exit from Ole Miss
After weeks of public scrutiny and private consternation, Lane Kiffin finally made his decision on Sunday, ditching Ole Miss on the eve of the College Football Playoff to take the job at LSU.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBehind the scenes: In his statement announcing his departure, Kiffin said he wanted to coach the Rebels in the postseason but the school wouldn't allow it. Hard to disagree with them on that one.
From Yahoo Sports' Dan Wolken:
Kiffin leaving the No. 7 team in the country to take a job with another SEC program before the sport's marquee event is bad for the product, and no other well-run sports league would tolerate it.
While it's easy to blame "the system" or "the calendar," as you might have heard on ESPN over the weekend, this is a story of individual choices and responsibilities.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIt's Kiffin's choice to leave a trail of sleaze on his way out of town. And it's the choice of SEC commissioner Greg Sankey and other college sports leaders to do nothing about it, to shrug their shoulders and to rail against professionalization of college sports when making it a priority would be the best path for their business.
Instead, lack of action is a strategic choice, and it's one that needs to be called for what it is: A dereliction of duty in protecting the best interests of college football.
Don't you think, during all those years of the Patriots winning championships, that other NFL franchises would have liked to break up the dynasty by putting a huge pile of cash in front of Bill Belichick right before a Super Bowl run?
Loyalty wasn't the reason it never happened. It's not possible because the NFL understands how bad it would be for its product and has made rules that govern when and under what circumstances coaches can change jobs when they're under contract.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWithout collective bargaining, college sports has often run into legal trouble when trying to regulate anything regarding compensation or movement of personnel.
And yet, every time people like Sankey end up on Capitol Hill begging for some type of NCAA protection legislation, it's amazing how the focus is always on the chaos of NIL and the transfer portal while the coaching carousel never gets mentioned as a source of harm for the product and schools that pour hundreds of millions of dollars into their programs.
A coach leaving is, by definition, traumatic and overwhelming. Players start thinking about their own futures and options. Routines get broken up. It would truly defy the odds if Ole Miss was as good of a team under these circumstances as it has been for the past three months.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThat's Kiffin's fault, and his reputation will pay a price across generations. The circus of the last few weeks will go down in SEC infamy, a forever stain on his already pock-marked record.
But this is also the product of an ecosystem where players changing jobs on a whim or for a paycheck is a crisis that needs to be dealt with immediately and regulated through a literal act of Congress, while coaches getting paid $10 million a year wrecking their own teams gets met with a shoulder shrug.
This might be the first time it's happened in college football. But in the 12-team playoff era, you can bet it won't be the last.
If the leaders of college sports aren't willing to make this as much of a priority as opt-outs and portal windows while it turns their national playoff into a punch line, they've lost all sense of perspective on what's good or bad for the game.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementRead the full story.
🏀 OKC is unstoppable
The 2024-25 Thunder put together a historic campaign en route to a championship. So far this season, the defending champs look even better.
Historic start: OKC beat Portland on Sunday to win their 12th straight game and become just the fourth team in NBA history to start a season 20-1 or better.
The 1969-70 Knicks started 20-1 and went on to win the championship.
The 1993-94 Rockets started 20-1 and went on to win the championship.
The 2015-16 Warriors started 21-0 and went on to lose in the NBA Finals.
The 2025-26 Thunder started 20-1 and [TBD].
The straw that stirs the drink: Reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is putting up 33-5-7 on 67.3% true shooting, which is pretty incredible for a guy who rarely even plays in the fourth quarter and has been without his wingman, Jalen Williams, for all but two games.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIf not for Nikola Jokić, who is casually averaging a near 30-point triple-double, SGA would be the runaway favorite to win back-to-back MVPs.
He scored 20+ points for the 93rd consecutive game on Sunday, which is the longest streak by any player not named Wilt Chamberlain (126 straight).
Just how good are these guys? Well, let's see: Last year's Thunder team outscored opponents by 12.9 points per game, which broke the previous NBA record that had stood for more than half a century (12.3 by the 1971-72 Lakers). This year's Thunder squad? They're outscoring opponents by 15.5 points per game. More nights than not, they're cruising to victory.
Looking ahead: What if I told you the NBA's best team could soon be adding the NBA's best prospect? The Thunder own the Clippers' 2026 first-round pick, and L.A.'s putrid 5-15 start means OKC currently has a 10% chance of landing the No. 1 pick (and a 40% chance of landing a top-four pick) in next year's draft. Something to keep an eye on as L.A.'s season spirals dangerously out of control.
🏈 Does anybody want to win the Super Bowl?
The Rams, Eagles, Chiefs, Seahawks and Colts entered Week 13 as the five betting favorites to win the Super Bowl. Four of those teams (all but Seattle) promptly lost and got exposed in various ways.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe big picture: The final month of the regular season is upon us, and it's hard to find any reliable contenders.
In the NFC, the defending champion Eagles (8-4) are flailing and the rock solid-seeming Rams (9-3) just showed they, too, are prone to a bad loss. The Bears (9-3) are the No. 1 seed, but can they really be trusted?
The Seahawks (9-3), 49ers (9-4), Packers (8-3-1) and Buccaneers (7-5) are the other teams in playoff position, while the Lions (7-5), Cowboys (6-5-1) and Panthers (7-6) are all in the hunt.
Meanwhile, in the AFC: The Colts (8-4) have gone from "best team in the league" to ceding control of their own division to the Jaguars (8-4). They now find themselves in the messy middle alongside the Bills (8-4), Chargers (8-4), Texans (7-5), Chiefs (6-6), Ravens (6-6) and Steelers (6-6).
The Broncos (10-2) have won nine straight games to leapfrog the Patriots (10-2) for first place, but they continue to fly under the radar. Perhaps that's because they barely eked out most of those wins, with seven of the nine being decided by four or fewer points.
Week 13 Scoreboard:
Cowboys 31, Chiefs 28 (Thanksgiving)
Packers 31, Lions 24 (Thanksgiving)
Bengals 32, Ravens 14 (Thanksgiving)
Bears 24, Eagles 15 (Black Friday)
Texans 20, Colts 16
Panthers 31, Rams 28
Seahawks 26, Vikings 0
Broncos 27, Commanders 26 (OT)
Bills 26, Steelers 7
Buccaneers 20, Cardinals 17
Jets 27, Falcons 24
Jaguars 25, Titans 3
49ers 26, Browns 8
Chargers 31, Raiders 14
Dolphins 21, Saints 17
Fantasy Focus: Underdog in your league? Week 13 showed there is always hope for an upset
🇺🇸 Photos across America
Fort Lauderdale, Florida — Inter Miami crushed NYC FC, 5-1, on Saturday to reach the MLS Cup Final for the first time in franchise history. Breakout star Tadeo Allende netted a hat trick, giving him eight goals across Miami's five playoff games.
Meanwhile, out West: Vancouver ended top-seeded San Diego's dream debut season with a 3-1 victory, sending the Whitecaps to their first MLS Cup Final.
Seattle — The Seattle Torrent drew 16,014 fans to Climate Pledge Arena on Friday for their inaugural home game, breaking the attendance record for a professional women's hockey game in the U.S.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementOn the ice: Seattle lost, 3-0, to two-time defending champion Minnesota, leaving the expansion Torrent as the only PWHL team without a win through two weeks of action.
Las Vegas — No. 7 Michigan dominated the Players Era Festival with blowout victories over No. 21 Auburn (102-72) and No. 12 Gonzaga (101-61), making the Wolverines the first team in AP poll history (since 1948) to post consecutive 30-point wins against ranked opponents.
On the women's side: No. 4 Texas won the Players Era Festival after beating No. 3 UCLA and No. 2 South Carolina on consecutive days.
Copper Mountain, Colorado — Death, taxes, and Mikaela Shiffrin winning the slalom. Sunday's victory, which came in front of an adoring crowd on her home snow, marked the Olympian's fourth straight win in her best discipline and her record-extending 104th career World Cup win.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementA league of her own: How dominant was Shiffrin? The 1.57-second gap between her and the runner-up was the same as the gap between the runner-up and 11th place.
📺 Watchlist: Monday, Dec. 1
🏈 Giants at Patriots
New England hosts New York (8:15pm ET, ABC/ESPN) in just their fourth meeting since Super Bowl XLVI nearly 14 years ago. Can the last-place Giants (2-10, six straight losses) pull off another stunner against the first-place Pats (10-2, nine straight wins)?
⚽️ USWNT vs. Italy
The Americans close out the year in Fort Lauderdale with another friendly against the Italians (7pm, TBS/HBO Max) just three days after beating them, 3-0, in Orlando.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementMore to watch:
🏀 NBA: Bulls at Magic (7:30pm, Peacock); Suns at Lakers (10pm, Peacock) … The Lakers (15-4) have won seven straight games to take over second place in the West.
🏒 NHL: Penguins at Flyers (7pm, NHL) … Philly hosts the season's second Battle of Pennsylvania. The Flyers took round one in a shootout.
Today's full slate.
🏈 NFL trivia
Josh Allen recorded his 76th career rushing touchdown on Sunday, passing Cam Newton for the most by a QB in NFL history.
Question: Who ranks third on that list with 63 rushing TDs?
Hint: Unlike Allen and Newton, he was not a first-round pick.
Answer at the bottom.
🍿 Top plays of the weekend
This weekend featured some of the best catches you'll ever see on the football field. Four of them top our list, and five made the cut overall.
Top 13:
🏈 Treylon Burks!!!
🏈 KJ Duff!!!
🏈 Puka Nacua!!!
🏈 Brock Bowers!!!
🏀 Pitt at the buzzer
🏀 Stanford at the buzzer
⚽️ Tyler Adams from way out
🏈 CJ Daniels!!!
🏒 Assist while injured
🏒 Ridiculous finish
🥍 No-look goal
🏈 Hardy to the house
🏀 Block → Dunk
Watch all 13.
Trivia answer: Jalen Hurts
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