Yahoo Sports AM: 14 Sundays down, 4 to go
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🚨 HEADLINES
🏀 Bronny's USC debut: LeBron James Jr. (four points) has officially passed his dad (zero points) on the NCAA scoring list.
🏀 Fever win Clark sweepstakes: The Indiana Fever won Sunday's 2024 WNBA draft lottery, securing first rights to Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark — assuming she doesn't stay in college for a fifth year.
🏐 Final Four: No. 1 seeds Nebraska (five national titles), Wisconsin (one) and Pitt (zero) are joined by No. 2 seed Texas (three) in the women's volleyball Final Four, which begins Thursday in Tampa.
🏒 Kings streak ends: The Kings lost to the Islanders in overtime on Saturday to snap their 11-game road winning streak, one shy of matching the NHL record.
🏈 FCS semis: Four teams remain in the FCS playoffs. SDSU hosts Albany on Friday and Montana hosts NDSU on Saturday.
⚽️ Joint bid: The U.S. and Mexico are already co-hosting the 2026 World Cup alongside Canada. Now they've submitted a joint bid for the 2027 Women's World Cup.
🏈 14 SUNDAYS DOWN, FOUR TO GO
The Cowboys made a statement on Sunday night, beating the Eagles, 33-13, to tie up the NFC East race with four games left.
New MVP favorite: Dak Prescott is now the favorite to win MVP (+150 at BetMGM). Dallas' last winner was Emmitt Smith in 1993.
Four-way tie: The Cowboys, Eagles, 49ers and Ravens are all tied for the NFL's best record at 10-3.
Still perfect: 28-year old soccer player-turned-kicker Brandon Aubrey nailed field goals from 59 and 60 yards to stay perfect (30-for-30) in his rookie season for the Cowboys. What a story.
More from Sunday:
Bills 20, Chiefs 17: Buffalo got a much-needed win after Kansas City had this spectacular TD called back for offsides, leaving Patrick Mahomes livid.
Ravens 37, Rams 31 (OT): Walk-off punt return!
Vikings 3, Raiders 0: Minnesota kicked a late field goal to cap the lowest-scoring indoor game in NFL history.
Buccaneers 29, Falcons 25: Baker Mayfield led a game-winning drive to vault the 6-7 Bucs into first place in the dismal NFC South.
Browns 31, Jaguars 27: Three weeks ago, Joe Flacco was watching football at his mom's house. Now he's balling out for the Brownies (3 TDs on Sunday) and will be their QB1 the rest of the way.
49ers 28, Seahawks 16: That's five straight wins for Brock Purdy and the Super Bowl favorites.
Broncos 24, Chargers 7: Nightmare day for the Chargers, who fell to 5-8 and may have lost Justin Herbert (fractured right index finger) for the season.
Bengals 34, Colts 14: Joe Burrow gifted his suite to Jake Browning's family and friends, who watched the career backup win his second straight start.
Bears 28, Lions 13: For the first time in 10 years, Chicago won coming off a bye week. What a bizarre streak.
Jets 30, Texans 6: Zach Wilson impressed in his return to the lineup, throwing for 301 yards and two scores.
Saints 28, Panthers 6: The Bears' grip on the No. 1 pick (via Carolina) grows stronger as the Panthers fall to 1-12.
Further reading: The NFL has an officiating problem
⚾️ THE $700 MILLION MAN
Shohei Ohtani is joining the Dodgers on a 10-year, $700 million deal, the largest contract in team sports history.
Wild stats:
Ohtani's annual salary of $70 million is more than the current payroll of seven MLB teams.
The two-way sensation will make $432,099 per game and $133 per minute over the life of his contract.
The top three hitters in the Dodgers' lineup now account for $1.2 billion in guaranteed money, with Ohtani joining Mookie Betts ($365M) and Freddie Freeman ($162M).
Of note: Most of Ohtani's money is deferred and will be paid out after his contract ends. Those dollars will depreciate, so the value of his deal
will end up being significantly less than $700 million.
The bottom line: Ohtani is a player without equal. Now he has a contract to match.
⚽️ CREW WIN SECOND TITLE IN FOUR YEARS
Five years ago, Columbus nearly lost its soccer team to Austin, Texas. But fans rallied to save the Crew, and on Saturday, their beloved club won their second MLS title in four seasons.
The grand finale: Columbus beat defending champion LAFC, 2-1, in a fantastic MLS Cup Final, closing the curtain on a new postseason format that saw 18 teams play 28 matches over 46 days.
Between the lines: The Crew's championship journey began 12 months ago when they hired French visionary Wilfried Nancy away from CF Montreal and handed him the keys to a club that had missed the playoffs in back-to-back seasons after winning a COVID-stained title in 2020, writes Yahoo Sports' Henry Bushnell.
Nancy, an ideologue in a sport often ruled by pragmatists, arrived with a bold vision for how the Crew would play, whether or not they won — he sometimes calls it "a way of life."
He spent the coming weeks and months reteaching players and purging well-drilled habits. He asked them to invite pressure onto themselves, to hold the ball rather than quickly ping it. Sometimes, he knew, they'd lose it and put their teammates in peril; he wanted them to accept the potential embarrassment.
He asked for their trust and courage, because all of this, he knew, would manipulate opponents and produce splendid soccer. It could remake a mediocre team into a prolific one. It could invigorate fans and guide Columbus back to the top of MLS. And that's precisely what it did.
The Crew led MLS in goals, chance creation, possession and entertainment throughout 2023. They hunted the ball, and passed it perilously, baiting opponents out of position. Sometimes they knew they'd look silly. They'd turn the ball over. They'd leave themselves exposed.
They did both of those things in last Saturday's Eastern Conference Final in Cincinnati. But they dug themselves out of a 2-0 hole. They won 3-2 that night, and seven days later, they simply kept rising.
🇺🇸 PHOTOS ACROSS AMERICA
Las Vegas — Anthony Davis (41-20-5) and LeBron James (24-11-4) led the Lakers past the Pacers, 123-109, to win the NBA's inaugural In-Season Tournament. James was named MVP after averaging 26-8-8 on 57% shooting across seven games.
New York — LSU QB Jayden Daniels (503 first-place votes) won the Heisman Trophy over Washington QB Michael Penix Jr. (292) in the closest vote since 2018.
Foxboro*, Massachusetts — Army stuffed Navy at the goal line with three seconds left to clinch a 17-11 victory in the 124th edition of America's Game, the first ever held in New England.
Naples, Florida — Former world No. 1s Jason Day and Lydia Ko won the Grant Thornton Invitational, the PGA Tour and LPGA's first mixed-team event in 24 years.
*Foxborough or Foxboro? Foxborough is the Massachusetts town's official spelling but Foxboro is widely used, even by the U.S. Postal Service.
🌎 PHOTOS AROUND THE WORLD
Beijing — 19-year-old Ilia Malinin won Saturday's figure skating Grand Prix Final, becoming the fourth American man (and second family member) to do so. His mom, Tatiana, won in 1999 with Uzbekistan.
London — A Women's Super League record 59,042 fans watched second-place Arsenal beat first-place Chelsea, 4-1, on Sunday at Emirates Stadium, leaving the Gunners and Blues even on points atop the WSL table.
Rio de Janiero, Brazil — World-famous Copacabana beach served as the launch point for Sunday's annual "Rei e Rainha do Mar" (King and Queen of the Sea) open water swimming competition.
Brussels, Belgium — France's Yann Schrub won Sunday's European Cross Country Championships, running 5.6 (very muddy) miles in 30 minutes, 17 seconds.
📆 DEC. 11, 2000: A-ROD'S RECORD CONTRACT
23 years ago today, Alex Rodriguez signed a 10-year, $252 million pact with the Rangers, the largest contract in team sports history at the time, Jeff writes.
That was then, this is now: A-Rod's once record-breaking deal now ranks 18th in MLB alone.
⚾️ 1951: Joe DiMaggio announced his retirement after 13 years with the Yankees, ending his career as a three-time MVP and nine-time* World Series champion.
🥊 1981: Muhammad Ali lost to Trevor Berbick by unanimous decision in the final fight of his career.
*Nine rings: Only teammate Yogi Berra (10) won more World Series than DiMaggio.
📺 WATCHLIST: TWO GAMES AT ONCE
For the first time ever, ESPN will broadcast two "Monday Night Football" games simultaneously, with both games starting at 8:15pm ET on ABC and ESPN*, Jeff writes.
ABC: Packers (-6) at Giants
ESPN: Titans at Dolphins (-14)
More to watch:
⚽️ Men's College Cup Final: No. 2 Notre Dame vs. No. 9 Clemson (6pm, ESPNU) … The Irish are seeking their second title (2013); the Tigers are seeking their fourth (1984, 1987, 2021).
🏀 NBA: Mavericks at Grizzlies (8pm, NBA)
*Alternate stream: ESPN2's ManningCast will help fans keep track of all the action, with Peyton and Eli commentating on both matchups concurrently.
🏈 HEISMAN TRIVIA
Jayden Daniels is the fifth QB in the last seven seasons to win the Heisman after transferring.
Question: Can you name the other four?
Hint: Three spent time at the same school.
Answer at the bottom.
🍿 BAKER'S DOZEN: TOP 13 PLAYS OF THE WEEKEND
___
Trivia answer: Baker Mayfield in 2017 (Texas Tech to Oklahoma), Kyler Murray in 2018 (Texas A&M to Oklahoma), Joe Burrow in 2019 (Ohio State to LSU), Caleb Williams in 2022 (Oklahoma to USC)
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