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🚨 Headlines
⚾️ Soto decision imminent? Juan Soto reportedly has offers of $600+ million from every team still in contention to sign him and could make his decision this week.
🏈 Al-Shaair suspended: The NFL suspended Texans LB Azeez Al-Shaair three games for the hit that concussed Trevor Lawrence on Sunday. He’s appealing the suspension.
⚽️ USA 2, Netherlands 1: The USWNT won their final match of the year on a cold and rainy night in the Dutch capital to end their triumphant, resurgent 2024 campaign on a 20-match unbeaten streak.
⚾️ Sox sign Chapman: Veteran reliever Aroldis Chapman is signing a one-year, $10.75 million deal with the Red Sox. Chapman’s 335 saves are third-most among active pitchers.
⚽️ Call to the Hall: USWNT great Carli Lloyd was elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame in her first year of eligibility, headlining the five-member class of 2025.
🏈 CFP rankings: Alabama has inside track
Alabama jumped Miami in the penultimate CFP rankings, giving the three-loss Tide the inside track to a playoff berth.
“What it really came down to is Alabama is 3-1 against top 25 teams, Miami is 0-1. Alabama is 6-1 against teams over .500. Miami is 4-2.”
— Warde Manuel, CFP committee chair
Here’s how I see it: If SMU beats Clemson in the ACC championship game, Alabama is in the playoff. If Clemson wins, then the committee will have to decide between giving the final at-large spot to SMU or Alabama.
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It would seem a bit unfair to punish the Mustangs for losing a conference title game when Alabama didn’t even make it there, but I’m not the one making the call.
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Manuel on whether SMU could drop below Alabama with a loss on Saturday: “Potentially, yes.”
The Zombie Tide: Alabama’s own fans buried them two weeks ago. Turns out, they were only mostly dead, writes Yahoo Sports’ Dan Wetzel.
The man is known as “Legend” for a reason — his legendary rants about Alabama football on “The Paul Finebaum Show.”
Just two Mondays ago, he was calling for the firing of coach Kalen DeBoer following an ugly 24-3 loss at Oklahoma by telling the story of an aunt who had been married “about eight” times. Her explanation for having many husbands? “You can’t fix stupid,” Legend said. “But you can divorce it.”
Legend was just getting started. “Man, I’ve never been so embarrassed in all my life,” he continued, lamenting that Bama hadn’t just lost three times this season, but that it was, in his opinion, out of the playoff chase.
Well, Legend, and the rest of the Alabama fans (and haters) who understandably buried the Tide after that disaster in Norman … not so fast. It isn’t completely over yet. In fact, it’s looking pretty good.
⚾️ The Golden At-Bat: MLB’s newest experiment?
Imagine if your favorite MLB team could choose one at-bat each game to send any hitter they want to the plate. It’s a concept called the Golden At-Bat, and it could become a reality.
Wait, what? Commissioner Rob Manfred said on a recent podcast that the Golden At-Bat was discussed at MLB owners meetings this fall. It’s “in the conversation-only stage right now,” but the league reportedly wants to test it in the minors, per The Athletic ($).
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The exact mechanics haven’t been determined (again, “conversation-only stage”), but you’d likely see it used in later innings when a team needs a run and has a poor hitter due up.
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For example, say the Dodgers are down one with two outs in the bottom of the ninth and the batter is supposed to be Austin Barnes (a career .223 hitter). They could send up Shohei Ohtani instead.
Could this actually happen? Never say never, but it’s hard to imagine a league and sport so steeped in tradition making a change this drastic. It feels more like a rule you’d make up at recess. “My instinct is that it’s not baseball,” MLB insider Ken Rosenthal said Tuesday.
Bottom line: While the Golden At-Bat seems unlikely to find its way to the majors, the fact that they’re even talking about it shows how experimental and open to change MLB has become under Manfred. The pitch clock and ghost runners are here, robo-umps are coming; who knows what could be next.
🏀 In photos: NBA Cup group play finale
The NBA Cup’s group play concluded on Tuesday night. 13 teams were competing for the final five spots in the knockout round.
Detroit — The Bucks crushed the Pistons, 128-107, to clinch the East’s No. 1 seed and win their seventh straight game. Giannis Antetokounmpo (28 points on 10-11 shooting) continued his scorching hot play.
New York — The Knicks punched their ticket to the knockouts with a 121-106 win over the Magic behind a triple-double from Josh Hart (11-13-10). Orlando still reached the quarterfinals as the East’s wild card.
Dallas — Luka Dončić (37-12-4) and the Mavericks rallied to beat the Grizzlies, 121-116, erasing a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit to claim the West’s wild card.
Oklahoma City — The Thunder entered the night with their fate undecided and left as the West’s No. 1 seed after blowing out the Jazz, 133-106. They also got some help from the Suns, who beat the Spurs but lost Kevin Durant to a sprained ankle.
What’s next: The Bucks, Knicks, Hawks and Magic advanced in the East; the Thunder, Rockets, Warriors and Mavericks advanced in the West. The knockout round begins next Tuesday (Dec. 10) and a champion will be crowned the following Tuesday (Dec. 17) in Las Vegas.
🏈 The Bengals stink. Don’t blame their QB
Joe Burrow has played like an MVP this season, leading the NFL in passing yards (3,337) and passing TDs (30) while completing 67.7% of his passes and throwing just 5 INTs. And yet: The Bengals are 4-8.
What gives? Usually, a superstar QB putting up MVP-like numbers is a sign of a winning team. But so far this year, Burrow’s stellar play hasn’t translated to victories, thanks in large part to the Bengals’ horrendous defense.
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Sunday’s 44-38 loss to the Steelers was the sixth loss where they allowed 25+ points, the fourth with 33+ points allowed, and the second with 38+ points allowed.
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All of those are the most in NFL history, per CBS Sports. Cincinnati’s 27.8 points per game allowed in losses this season is also the most all time.
Consider this: Burrow is the seventh QB in NFL history with 30+ passing TDs and 5 or fewer INTs through 12 games. Here are their records…
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Burrow (2024): 4-8
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Mahomes (2020): 11-1
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Rodgers (2020): 9-3
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Brees (2018): 10-2
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Rodgers (2014): 9-3
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Rodgers (2011): 12-0
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Brady (2007): 12-0
Another jaw-dropping stat: Tom Brady had four losses in his career (333 starts) when his team scored 33+ points. Burrow has four such losses this season: Commanders 38, Bengals 33; Ravens 41, Bengals 38 (OT); Ravens 35, Bengals 34; Steelers 44, Bengals 38.
From Yahoo Sports’ Jay Busbee:
Football is a team game played by individuals, which means that on occasion an individual can singlehandedly undo the work of an entire team. The kicker who misses a crucial game-winning field goal, the QB who throws a crushing pick-6, the defensive lineman who commits a back-breaking penalty.
The exact opposite scenario is playing out in Cincinnati right now, a strange dynamic where the team is undoing the excellence of the individual. Burrow is playing some of the best football of his career … and the Bengals defense is taking a sledgehammer to all that hard work.
📆 Dec. 4, 1987: Kareem goes cold
37 years ago today, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was held to seven points in a loss to the Bucks, snapping his then-record streak of 787 consecutive games scoring in double figures.
A model of consistency: Before this rare off night — which came in his 19th season, at age 40 — Kareem had failed to score 10 points just four times in 1,419 career games. This did signal the beginning of the end, though, as he’d score in single digits 12 more times that season and 34 times the following season, which would be his last.
Passing the torch: Abdul-Jabbar’s record was broken 10 years later by —who else? — Michael Jordan, who scored 10+ points in 866 straight games. And MJ’s record was later broken by — who else? — LeBron James, who scored exactly 10 points on Monday to extend his active streak to an astonishing 1,243 games.*
*For context… Kevin Durant has the second-longest active streak, at 201 games, and just five other players have an active streak of at least 100: Joel Embiid (178), Kyrie Irving (130), Luka Dončić (107), Giannis Antetokounmpo (106) and Donovan Mitchell (100).
📺 Watchlist: Hoops heaven
Men’s college hoops takes center stage tonight, with four games between ranked teams including two top-10 clashes, Jeff writes.
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No. 15 Baylor at No. 25 UConn (6:30pm ET, FS1)
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No. 10 Alabama at No. 20 North Carolina (7:15pm, ESPN)
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No. 5 Marquette at No. 6 Iowa State (8pm, ESPN+)
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No. 2 Auburn at No. 9 Duke (9:15pm, ESPN)
More to watch:
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🏀 NBA: Lakers at Heat (7:30pm, NBA); Timberwolves at Clippers (10:30pm, NBA)
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🏒 NHL: Bruins at Blackhawks (7:30pm, TNT); Stars at Kings (10pm, TNT)
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🏀 NCAAW: No. 11 Oklahoma at No. 22 Louisville (5pm, ESPN2)
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⚽️ Premier League: Man City vs. Nottingham Forest (2:30pm, Peacock); Newcastle vs. Liverpool* (2:30pm, Peacock); Arsenal vs. Man United (3:15pm, Peacock)
*Historic start: The Reds (11-1-1) are just the third team in Premier League history to hold a nine-point lead atop the table after 13 matches, joining 1993-94 Manchester United and 2005-06 Chelsea, both of whom went on to win the title.
🏈 NFL trivia
The Chiefs and Bills have clinched playoff spots, extending their active streaks of making the postseason to 10 and 6 years, respectively, the two longest in the league.
Question: Which team has the third-longest active postseason streak, at four years?
Hint: NFC.
Answer at the bottom.
🎰 Coming soon: Daily Draw!
Daily Draw, our new free-to-play game, is coming to the Yahoo Sports app (and this newsletter) on Dec. 20! Our goal: give fans a fun new way to engage with each day’s marquee sporting event.
How it works:
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Players receive a randomly-generated pack of six cards in the app. Each card features a prediction about a marquee game that day (e.g. “Team A will beat Team B by three points” or “Player C will rush for more than 50 yards”).
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Players must select four cards from their pack of six. Cards carry different point values and players receive points if their selected predictions are correct.
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The Daily Draw leaderboard tracks the scores of every player in real-time, and the top three finishers each day will be eligible to earn a cash prize.
Sound fun? Sign up today to be reminded when Daily Draw launches. We’ll be giving away $10,000 each day for 10 days straight!
Trivia answer: Buccaneers
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