Yahoo Sports AM is our daily newsletter that keeps you up to date on all things sports. Sign up here to get it every weekday morning.
🚨 Headlines
🔥 L.A. wildfires update: Monday’s Rams-Vikings playoff game has been moved to Arizona, and the NBA postponed Thursday’s Lakers-Hornets game.
🏒 Crosby climbs scoring list: With a goal and two assists, Sidney Crosby passed Joe Sakic for ninth on the NHL’s all-time scoring leaderboard with 1,643 points.
🏈 Hurts trending towards playing: Jalen Hurts was elevated to a full practice participant on Thursday after missing the last two weeks with a concussion.
🏀 McCain out for year: 76ers guard Jared McCain was on his way to being Rookie of the Year. Now, his season is over (torn meniscus).
🏈 Beck enters portal: Georgia QB Carson Beck, who’d previously declared for the NFL draft, will instead enter the transfer portal and play one more college season.
See what else is trending on Yahoo Sports.
🏈 The Fighting Irish are moving on
For the first time in 12 years, Notre Dame will play for a national championship after beating Penn State, 27-24, in the Orange Bowl.
Frantic finish: Both teams combined for 31 points in the fourth quarter after scoring just 20 in the first three quarters.
-
Mitch Jeter made a 41-yard field goal with seven seconds left to lift the Fighting Irish to victory.
-
The kick came after Nittany Lions QB Drew Allar threw a pick with 33 seconds to go.
Wild stat: Prior to Jeter’s game-winning field goal, kickers were 0-4 in CFP history on go-ahead field goals in the fourth quarter.
The losing side: Will James Franklin and Penn State ever get over the hump? (Ross Dellenger, Yahoo Sports)
James Franklin seemed destined to break the skid: 12 consecutive losses to top-five opponents, a miserable eight-year drought.
But the 11th-year Penn State coach was on the way to snapping that streak. He was en route to ending the nasty stretch, to quieting the critics, to shutting down the talk.
Here in South Florida, inside Hard Rock Stadium against, of all teams, one of the biggest brands in the sport, Franklin’s skid seemed over and done with.
His team led 10-0 in the second quarter, 24-17 in the fourth quarter and held offensive possession in the final seconds of a tied game.
And then, in a nightmare of a play, his quarterback threw one of the most costly interceptions in College Football Playoff history. Skid continues. Streak extended.
What’s next: Notre Dame will face the winner of tonight’s Cotton Bowl (Texas vs. Ohio State) in the CFP championship game on Monday, Jan. 20 at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
🏈 All 49 Super Bowl matchups, ranked
With the playoffs now set, we know all 49 possible matchups for Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans — and Yahoo Sports’ Jay Busbee ranked them all.
The top 10:
-
Lions vs. Bills: Call it the Validation Bowl, call it the Long-Suffering Bowl, call it the At-Freaking-Last Bowl. Whatever you want to call it, this is absolutely the best possible matchup, from both an on-field and narrative standpoint. Bring it.
-
Vikings vs. Bills: Eight combined Super Bowl appearances, zero wins. Somebody’s got to end their streak of 0-4 futility here, right? Bonus: These are two talented squads, and this would be a fantastic game.
-
Lions vs. Chiefs: Admit it, you want to see what kinds of trick plays Andy Reid and Dan Campbell cook up for this one. We could see everything from the ol’ hidden-ball trick to full-scale Broadway productions in the backfield.
-
Eagles vs. Bills: This game needs to be played in the snow. That will be a difficult task to pull off in a dome in New Orleans, but I have faith in the NFL.
-
Vikings vs. Chiefs: A rematch of Super Bowl IV, which Kansas City won 23-7. They ought to play this one with 1970s equipment and under 1970s officiating rules, just to see who’s really the toughest.
-
Rams vs. Bills: The two teams responsible for one of the great points-scoring shootouts of the 2024 season? Sure, that’ll work.
-
Eagles vs. Chiefs: A rematch of Super Bowl LVII a couple years back, where Philly led going into the 4th quarter, but — stop us if you’ve heard this one before — Patrick Mahomes led the Chiefs to victory.
-
Lions vs. Ravens: This would be a ground-game Super Bowl for the ages. Sonic & Knuckles vs. King Henry. Who ya got?
-
Rams vs. Chiefs: The two teams responsible for one of the greatest regular-season games of all time? Sure, that’ll work too.
-
Buccaneers vs. Bills: The Bucs have been a mystery all season — dominant some weeks, barely good enough to win others, but always somehow in the hunt. Prediction: The Bills post a four-touchdown lead and watch in horror as Tampa Bay crawls back into the game.
🔮 Looking ahead: NFL playoff predictions (Yahoo Sports Staff)
🎾 Australian Open preview
The first Grand Slam of the year begins on Sunday in Melbourne (Saturday night in the states), as 256 players begin their quest to win the 2025 Australian Open.
Storylines:
-
The defending champs: The top-ranked man (Jannik Sinner) and woman (Aryna Sabalenka) both won here last year, kicking off incredible seasons in which they combined for 12 titles and four majors. Sabalenka, who won last week in Brisbane, can become the first woman this century to win three straight Australian Opens.
-
Djoker chases No. 25: Novak Djokovic, who failed to win a Grand Slam last year* for the first time since 2017, is one away from breaking a tie with Margaret Court (24) for the most ever. And no one is better in Melbourne than the Serb, who’s won a record 10 Australian Opens.
-
Coco’s on fire: 20-year-old Coco Gauff has been red-hot since her fourth-round exit at last fall’s US Open, winning two of her three tournaments since then — including the WTA Finals — while also leading the U.S. to victory in last week’s United Cup.
-
Ending the drought: No American man has won a Grand Slam since Andy Roddick in 2003, but there’s plenty of talent to get the job done in Melbourne, with five seeded players: Taylor Fritz (4), Tommy Paul (12), Frances Tiafoe (17), Ben Shelton (21) and Sebastian Korda (22).
-
King Carlos: Carlos Alcaraz is already a four-time Grand Slam champ at 21. Now the Spaniard is an Australian Open shy of becoming the fifth man in the Open Era (1968) to achieve a career Grand Slam (Andre Agassi, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Djokovic).
*Djoker’s up-and-down year: Djokovic also failed to win any ATP Tour titles last year for the first time since 2005, but it wasn’t all bad: He finally captured that elusive Olympic gold medal in Paris in his fifth Summer Games.
🏀 Cade Cunningham: The face of Detroit
The Pistons are making noise in the East again, and star point guard Cade Cunningham, their undisputed leader, is touching team records only reached by two men, Isiah Thomas and Grant Hill.
From Yahoo Sports’ Vincent Goodwill:
It’s been 22 years since the Pistons’ last true resurgence, and Cunningham being drafted No. 1 in 2021 could be the start of another one — even if there have been some fits and bursts.
His six triple-doubles this season trail only LeBron James’ eight and Nikola Jokić’s 14. He’s currently on the doorstep of being the 18th player in NBA history to average 23 points, nine assists and seven rebounds; the other 17 instances were All-Stars, a who’s who of greats — Oscar Robertson, James, Jokić, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Luka Dončić, etc.
Cunningham hasn’t shied away from his ambitions. His demeanor is soft-spoken and low-key, but the clarity belies his youth. He wants to win in Detroit.
The Pistons, NBA royalty with their championships, defined play with periods of contention from previous decades but haven’t won a playoff game since May 26, 2008. It was the back end of a championship run guided by Chauncey Billups, a man whom Cunningham shares a birthday with — as Cunningham will point out.
“I would watch his clips. To see that team, the history of the organization,” Cunningham said of Billups. “I would love to have my own chapter.”
📺 Watchlist: Playoff weekend
Football fans, rejoice: We’ve got six playoff games across college and the NFL in the next three days, starting with a heavyweight clash tonight at Jerry World.
More to watch:
-
🎾 Australian Open: First round (Sat-Sun, ESPN2/ESPN+)
-
🏀 NBA: Thunder at Knicks (Fri. 7:30pm, NBA)
-
🏒 NHL: Bruins at Panthers (Sat. 1pm, ABC); Avalanche at Jets (Sat. 7pm, NHL)
-
🏀 NCAAM: No. 3 Iowa State at Texas Tech (Sat. 2pm, ESPN); No. 5 Alabama at No. 10 Texas A&M (Sat. 8pm, ESPN); No. 6 Kentucky at No. 14 Mississippi State (Sat. 8:30pm, SEC)
-
🏀 NCAAW: No. 5 Texas at No. 2 South Carolina (Sun. 1pm, ESPN)
-
⛳️ PGA: Sony Open (Fri-Sun, Golf/NBC/ESPN+)
-
🏈 High School Football: Navy All-America Bowl (Sat. 1pm, NBC) … At the Alamodome in San Antonio.
*Homefield advantage: The Cotton Bowl is basically a home game for Texas, which will have traveled just 1,128 miles during the playoffs by week’s end. That’s by far the fewest of the semifinalists: Notre Dame (2,290 miles), Ohio State (3,302), Penn State (3,458).
🏀 NBA trivia
Donovan Mitchell (22.9 ppg) is on pace to become the fifth player this century to average at least 20 points per game in each of his first eight seasons.
Question: Can you name the other four?
Hint: Two were in the same draft class. Three are still active.
Answer at the bottom.
🏈 History says bet on Baltimore
The Ravens have won the Super Bowl every 12 years this century (2001, 2013), and both title-winning teams were led by 28-year-old QBs (Trent Dilfer, Joe Flacco). Well, it’s been 12 years since Baltimore hoisted the Lombardi Trophy… and Lamar Jackson is 28.
Trivia answer: LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, Joel Embiid
We hope you enjoyed this edition of Yahoo Sports AM, our daily newsletter that keeps you up to date on all things sports. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox every weekday morning.
EMEA Tribune is not involved in this news article, it is taken from our partners and or from the News Agencies. Copyright and Credit go to the News Agencies, email news@emeatribune.com Follow our WhatsApp verified Channel
