Author: rb809rb

It was a typically warm day on June 24 in Arizona, when one bettor strolled into BetMGM sportsbook at State Farm Stadium in Glendale and decided to place a staggering $615,000 on three college football futures wagers.

The likely line of thinking: Bet on three highly-ranked college football powerhouses (excluding Ohio State) to win the national title, and at worst have an opportunity to hedge off of one (or more) of them in the College Football Playoff. Potentially, two of the teams could even end up playing each other in the CFP semifinals or title game.

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Unfortunately, the season didn’t quite go as planned for the bettor.

The first bet was $300,000 on the preseason AP No. 1 Texas Longhorns to win the CFP at +500 odds. The Longhorns, led by then-preseason Heisman Trophy favorite Arch Manning, were the co-favorites with Ohio State at BetMGM to win the national championship.

The Longhorns went 9-3 in the regular season — losses at Ohio State (14-7), at Florida (29-21) and at Georgia (35-10) — but missed out on the CFP, finishing 13th in the final ranking.

The second wager was $200,000 on the preseason AP No. 2 Penn State Nittany Lions to win the CFP at +750 odds. Penn State had its best preseason title odds since at least 2001, but shocking back-to-back losses as a 25-point favorite at UCLA and 21-point favorite against Northwestern led to the firing of head coach James Franklin. Starting QB Drew Allar also suffered a season-ending ankle injury in the Northwestern game. The 6-6 Nittany Lions weren’t a serious contender to make the CFP this season after those early upsets.

The third wager was $115,000 on the preseason AP No. 4 Clemson Tigers to win the CFP at 13-1 odds. Clemson was a popular futures bet this offseason at several books. Head coach Dabo Sweeney had won at least nine games in every season since 2011 at Clemson, but fell short of that number this campaign. The 7-5 Tigers lost three of their first games (including as 17.5-point home favorites against Syracuse) to quickly fall out of the CFP conversation.

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Any of the three bets would have won roughly $1.5 million on its own — instead, they are all part of a donation to BetMGM.

As we get ready to begin the fantasy football playoffs, let’s jot down a few strategy tips. Most of this will be review, and stuff we’ve written and talked about in years past. Some of these things are specific to December; other tips are more universal. As usual, many of these tips are common sense — common sense is the most important club in your bag.

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It all boils down to good decisions. That’s what probably led you to this point, and that’s the key to giving yourself the best chance in the next few weeks. Keep making those good decisions, amigos.

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Here’s what you need to know and consider before your fantasy football postseason begins.

Fantasy Roster Composition Changes In December

The bye weeks are long gone and forgotten. Depth isn’t nearly as important as it once was. If you run into a bunch of injuries in September, you rally, you make the best of it. If the wrong guys get hurt at this time of year, you probably lose. That’s just how it goes.

I’m willing to consider player types now that I wouldn’t care for in August or September. An understudy running back doesn’t matter to me when the season starts — I’m trying to hit home runs then, assemble a team with theoretical upside — but the insurance probably makes sense at this time of year. Usually that’s a running back thing, but even positions you generally don’t insure could be worth a look. Maybe the CeeDee Lamb manager looks to Ryan Flournoy, or the Mark Andrews manager targets Isaiah Likely. It’s also a key time to consider more than one fantasy defense. And that’s because of the next point.

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Looking Ahead is Critical

I’m a firm believer that fantasy football is best played with a microscope, not a telescope — let’s focus on what’s in front of us and not kid ourselves with our ability to tell the future, months in advance. Summer strength of schedule? I’ve always considered it a fool’s errand; a low-end piece of info that’s sometimes pushed into the wrong ratio of importance.

But this late in the season, I’m going to start looking ahead. We have a much better sense of what good and bad matchups look like. And heck, maybe you scored a Week 15 bye — in that sense, you start planning for Week 16 and Week 17 right now, with casual indifference to what happens this week.

I favor having at least two fantasy defenses at this time of year because fantasy defenses, while maddeningly erratic at times, are heavily dependent on matchup and opponent. You always want to play a D/ST that’s a favorite in its game, and it’s not easy to latch onto a defensive team that will have pristine matchups for 2-3 weeks. Sure, the fluidity of the league will kick in and some matchups will gain or lose luster when the week eventually arrives. But I’m comfortable doing some speculating now. (There are some lousy offenses out there, let’s pick on a few!)

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Know your FAB Neighborhood By Heart

Free-agent bidding is always a league-contextual exercise, but the task at hand becomes more specific at this time of year, with less teams still eligible to bid (or engaged in the league) and not all teams having ample resources. When I’m making early-season bids, I’ll loosely consider where the rest of the room stands with needs and leverage. But at this time of year, I will make sure I know exactly what the other teams need and what they can and can’t do.

With less rosters to worry about, there’s no excuse to ignore the narrow context. Bidding is a lot looser and inexact in September, much more specific (and projectable) now.

Don’t Fret Over Week 17 Sitdowns

Fantasy football is a better game now that Week 18 is commonly ignored in head-to-head leagues (though I do not mind continuing to play on through Week 18 in hybrid formats). Many playoff-bound NFL teams have little to play for in the final week, and will approach the game as nothing more than a glorified exhibition.

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But sometimes I hear fantasy managers working themselves into a tizzy over Week 17, concerned that a clinching team might blow off their penultimate game. While this is possible in theory and has occasionally been an issue historically, it’s a very rare occurrence. Most teams realize it’s foolish to go into shutdown mode a full three weeks in advance of its playoff schedule. From where we sit today, I’m going to fully expect all teams to play with usual motivations in Week 17.

Consider All You Respect, but Make Your Own Decisions

You’re the CEO, the general manager, the marketing director. You win, you get the spoils. I don’t blame you for seeking out information and other opinions — I’m going to do the same thing — but at the end of the day, you want to be responsible for your choices. You know your league better than we ever could.

There are no shortcuts or golden tickets, even as we want to believe in those things sometimes. This would be a rather boring game if the answers were easy. No analyst is worth your blind devotion, nor is anyone so dense that they’re worth an automatic fade (that would be just as valuable as the omniscient analyst, but neither exists). Consider the reasonable opinions you normally seek out, but condense everything down to your own sound decision-making process.

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Don’t Play For Friendliest Loss

This note isn’t for everyone, because I understand that many managers want simple rules of thumb to follow as they struggle with the Paradox of Choice. “Always Start Your Stars” has always struck me as a crutch, not an answer to anything — because the definition of a star is too fluid. Is Justin Jefferson still a fantasy star? Look what the Houston defense did to Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce last week. What about an injured star, or a player coming off a multi-game layoff? Do they fit this dated “start your stars” maxim?

Most coaches in professional sports still manage by the book (though that’s starting to change), and often they flush expected value in the process. It’s understandable that they’re pushed in this direction — they need to keep their jobs, answer to the media and the public, keep favor in the locker room. Very few decision-makers are tenured in a way that they can do unorthodox things without significant risk.

But fantasy managers don’t have that invisible hand guiding us. We don’t have to please ownership, or win the media, or placate the players. We just want our best chance of winning.

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I am not going to pick my starting lineups by name-brand value, or by August ADP, or by how I viewed my depth chart a month ago. I will try to make all of my key decisions in the sole objective of scoring the most points. I do not care which potential losing scenario would hurt the least (that’s why it’s so hard for some to bench a name player; it’s human nature to try to cushion the blow before it even comes). Never forget, it’s a game about numbers, not a game about names.

Think Like a DFS Player

Keep in mind your head-to-head game and your starting lineup are constantly-evolving entities, both before the games start and while the games are in action. If you find yourself shifting from clear favorite to obvious underdog after a few results filter in, it might make sense to embrace volatility in the later part of the slate. Optimum decision making is a dynamic process; like a card counter at the blackjack table, the variables are constantly in flux. Don’t throw common sense out the window as your game progresses, but at least consider how the picture is changing, and if you need to take a different strategy as your winning odds are improving or decreasing.

A key hack that ties into this — realize what your flex spots are for. If you’re going to play anyone in the early games, make sure they’re occupying a static position (RB, WR, etc.) rather than a flex spot.

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Quick Hits

This article could be a non-stop entity; eventually we have to hit publish. A few other bite-size thoughts:

• Weather is worth considering but as a low-end priority; heavy wind is generally the only thing to be proactive about.

• If you can get an indoor or warm-weather kicker, that’s nice, though mostly I just want a kicker tied to a team expected to win.

• The skill of fantasy football is what you do over the long run, the balance of the season. See the playoffs for what they are, a tournament. We all get bitten by variance sometimes.

• Take as much time as possible before you commit to decisions. The walk-up days are for collecting information.

• Make sure you’re regularly auditing your league transactions, especially players cut. It’s not unusual for a playoff team to release a useful player because they have immediate needs, and can’t wait for a later benefit. That’s where you might want to swoop in.

I’m sure I left out some tips that are prominent on your clipboard. Catch me on social media and share your thoughts.

Get ready hoop fans, Yahoo Fantasy and Arena Club are teaming up once again, this time to bring the thrill of fantasy basketball straight into your card collection. Introducing: Yahoo Fantasy Basketball Slab Packs, a brand-new weekly drop featuring real, graded trading cards of the hottest fantasy performers in the NBA.

If you’re new to Arena Club, here’s the lowdown. Arena Club is the premier online marketplace for sports cards, giving collectors a way to rip packs virtually, buy and sell graded cards and track their entire collection — all in one place. Whether you’re in it for the hobby, the thrill or the chase, Arena Club brings the excitement directly to your screen.

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Each week, Arena Club curates real, graded NBA cards and builds two types of Yahoo Fantasy Slab Packs:

Every pack contains a graded card of an active NBA player — but the real treasure is the weekly Chase Cards, featuring some of the top fantasy basketball performers from the past week. These limited-edition hits can reach values up to 20x the cost of the pack.

Weekly NBA Slab Packs go live every Tuesday at 1 p.m. ET and remain available through Thursday at 8 p.m. ET (or until they’re gone). It’s the ultimate mid-week boost for fantasy hoopers and collectors alike.

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To top it off, use promo code YAHOO at checkout for 20% off your first slab pack or card purchase on ArenaClub.com or the Arena Club app.

This Week’s Featured Players

Rip a slab pack today for a chance to pull one of the week’s biggest fantasy basketball stars:

Tyrese Maxey, 76ers – Gold Only

Maxey has transformed into one of the most prolific scorers in the NBA. The Sixers guard ranks third in the NBA in scoring at 31.5 points per game, in the hunt for the scoring title.

Nikola Jokić, Nugget

To no one’s surprise, the Nuggets center is in the thick of the MVP race again, going for his fourth this season.

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Cade Cunningham, Pistons – Silver Only

Cunningham has Detroit on top of the Eastern Conference standings as one of the biggest surprises of the early season.

Anthony Edwards, Timberwolves

Ant Man missed time early in the season due to injury but is back and filling it up again. The star guard has dropped 40+ points in two of the past four games.

Scottie Barnes, Raptors

A nine-game winning streak in November has Barnes and the Raptors in the thick of the playoff chase in the East. The swingman is one of the top fantasy assets given his category coverage night in and night out.

Weekly Drops. Real Cards. Real Value. Real Thrill.

With new cards releasing every week based on real fantasy performance, the Yahoo Fantasy x Arena Club partnership delivers a constantly refreshing lineup of NBA stars — and the chase cards you’ll be talking about all season.

Don’t miss this week’s release.

Rip your slab pack, hit a chase card, and upgrade your collection today!

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Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua continues to express anger and frustration over the team being snubbed from the College Football Playoff. A day after Bevacqua called out the ACC, the AD continued to lament Notre Dame’s snub, saying the team went on “one of the most dominant 10-game runs in the history of college football” leading up to the selection committee’s final decision.

Bevacqua made those comments during a season-end press conference. He echoed many of the same sentiments he’s shared in recent days, calling the snub a “gut punch” and continuing to attack the ACC over its decision to go to bat for Miami.

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Calling Notre Dame’s 10-game run “one of the most dominant” ever, though, was a new talking point for the AD.

After falling to Miami and Texas A&M to kick off the season, the Fighting Irish rallied to win their final 10 games, putting them in position to make the CFP bracket. The team beat two top-25 opponents during its streak, taking down both USC and Pitt down the stretch. Both teams ranked in the 20s at the time Notre Dame beat them.

In between those wins, Notre Dame beat up on a lot of teams that ultimately posted poor records.

In Bevacqua’s defense, the Fighting Irish seemed poised to get into the CFP bracket despite that. Though the team lost to Miami earlier in the season, Notre Dame was ranked higher in the weekly CFP polls. It appeared the selection committee thought Notre Dame was the better team despite the early loss.

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But that changed at the absolute last moment. Miami leaped Notre Dame in the bracket, earning a spot in the CFP over the Fighting Irish. That decision, along with the selection committee’s unwillingness to punish Alabama for a blowout loss to Georgia in the SEC title game, resulted in Notre Dame getting axed from the bracket.

Following that snub, Notre Dame opted to take itself out of bowl consideration this season. On Monday, Bevacqua said that was a decision made by the team’s captains.

Following the initial snub, Notre Dame appeared to have public sentiment on its side. Many criticized the selection committee’s decision and process, justifying Notre Dame’s anger. Bevacqua continued to stoke those fires with his repeated attacks in the ensuing days.

After a five-year absence, Philip Rivers is back in the NFL. The 44-year-old reportedly agreed to join the Indianapolis Colts’ practice squad on Tuesday, days after the team lost starter Daniel Jones to an Achilles injury, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

Despite not playing since the 2020 NFL season, Rivers’ name popped up in rumors Monday, as it was reported the Colts brought in the veteran passer for a workout. That workout apparently went well enough that the Colts decided to sign Rivers to the practice squad despite his age and lack of recent experience in the NFL.

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While the move comes as a massive shock considering Rivers’ NFL career looked to be long over, the Colts had a few reasons for bringing back the soon-to-be 18-year pro. Rivers has a history playing with Colts head coach Shane Steichen, who served as the Los Angeles Chargers’ offensive coordinator when Rivers was with the team. Rivers also has familiarity with the Colts, as his final NFL season came with the team.

Because of that, the Colts believe Rivers’ familiarity with Steichen’s offense would allow him to quickly get re-acclimated to the NFL.

[Get more Colts news: Indianapolis team feed]

The Colts are desperate for help at the position after Jones went down in Week 14 with a season-ending injury. Jones’ backup, rookie Riley Leonard, also came out of the team’s 36-19 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars with an injury, and is uncertain to play in Week 15 due to the issue. Anthony Richardson, the team’s former first-round pick, remains sidelined after sustaining an eye injury during a “fluke accident” in pregame warmups in October.

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It’s unclear whether Richardson or Leonard would be the team’s preferred starter over Rivers if all three players are healthy. That could be a decision the Colts have to make down the stretch depending on how things shake out in the coming weeks.

If Leonard is unable to go in Week 15, the Colts would essentially need to start a quarterback off the street on Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks. Given Rivers’ knowledge of the offense, he might be the best option the team has on short notice. The team also has veteran Brett Rypien on its practice squad, so he’s an option to start Week 15 as well.

If Leonard can play in Week 15, Rivers would provide support for the sixth-round rookie, per Rapoport.

While there’s logic in bringing Rivers back, the move also comes with significant risks. Rivers’ ability and playing shape are massive question marks after the quarterback has been away from the game for five years.

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He still proved to be effective in his final NFL season, completing 68 percent of his passes and throwing 24 touchdowns against 11 interceptions with the Colts. That performance was good enough to lead Indianapolis to an 11-5 record and a playoff berth. The team, however, lost its first playoff game, falling 27-24 to the Buffalo Bills in the wild-card round.

But that was five years ago, when Rivers was already considered an old quarterback at age 39. If Rivers is activated, he would become one of the oldest quarterbacks ever to play in the NFL. Only five other quarterbacks — Tom Brady, Warren Moon, Vinny Testaverde, Steve DeBerg and George Blanda — played at age 44 or older.

To really stress the unprecedented nature of Rivers’ return, the move adds an interesting wrinkle to his Hall of Fame case. Rivers is currently among the 26 semifinalists for the class of 2026. If Rivers is activated from the practice squad, it would reset his Hall of Fame clock, meaning he wouldn’t be eligible for the honor for another five years. Rivers has the numbers and longevity to warrant a lengthy Hall of Fame debate. While he may not have gotten in this year, his return could take him out of the running for now. If he remains on the practice squad, however, Rivers would keep his 2026 Hall of Fame eligibility.

At 8-5, the Colts are among the biggest surprises and best stories in the NFL this season. Led by a resurgent Jones and a dominant run game led by Jonathan Taylor, the Colts looked like an early contender for the Super Bowl in the AFC. But after a 7-1 start, the Colts have lost four of their last five and now trail the 9-4 Jacksonville Jaguars in the AFC South.

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With Jones down, the team doesn’t want to waste that opportunity. Bringing back Rivers after a five-year absence is a massive risk, but one that could keep the Colts in contention down the stretch.

It could also end in disaster, even if it’s the best move the Colts can make right now.

Indiana Pacers fans don’t have to wait until next season to see Tyrese Haliburton make his season debut … as a broadcaster, that is.

Haliburton will make his debut as a player contributor on “NBA on Prime” with an appearance on “NBA Nightcap” following Tuesday night’s NBA Cup quarterfinals matchups — the first of five such appearances this season. On “NBA Nightcap,” Haliburton is expected to offer commentary on his rehab and game insights for the 2025-26 season.

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The postgame analysis show is in its first season, hosted by broadcaster Taylor Rooks, featuring former NBA legends Dirk Nowitzki, Dwyane Wade, Steve Nash and Udonis Haslem, discussing the evening’s NBA action.

When discussing the opportunity with The Athletic, Haliburton spoke highly of the positivity of the broadcast’s coverage and its ability to reach the casual fan:

“I think just being able to talk about the game with people, and not always having to be so critical of players, but just how we can talk about the game and put today’s players in the right limelight. I think it is important.”

“I think that our league, arguably, is one of the only leagues where people are so critical of players that sometimes it can create opinions from the casual fan that they don’t even know what they’re talking about.”

“It’s just what they’re hearing on television. I think that Prime is doing a great job of just allowing former players to come on and celebrate our game, which I think is better just overall for everybody.”

Last season, Haliburton averaged 18.6 points, 9.2 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game. His late-game heroics in the playoffs helped lead the Pacers to beat the Milwaukee Bucks, Cleveland Cavaliers and the New York Knicks to advance to their first NBA Finals since 2000. Haliburton tore his Achilles early in Game 7 of the Finals, which the Pacers eventually lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

This year, the Pacers have struggled to fill Haliburton’s void as a scorer and playmaker. The Pacers are 6-18, currently 14th in the Eastern Conference, while ranking 29th in points per game and last in field goal percentage. Last season, they were seventh and third in those categories, respectively.

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Pascal Siakam is the team’s leading scorer this season, averaging 24.5 points, 7 rebounds and 4.1 assists. Fourth-year guard Bennedict Mathurin is also having a career campaign, averaging 21.5 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game.

The Pacers have struggled to create assists without their leading playmaker, giving Andrew Nembhard and T.J. McConnell expanded playmaking roles. The Pacers are last in assists, averaging 23.5 per game. Last season, they were third in assists per game, averaging 29.2 per game.

Injuries have also taken a toll on this team, with Mathurin, Nembhard and Obi Toppin all missing a significant portion of the early season. The Pacers are currently on a two-game winning streak and play the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday.

The Indianapolis Colts were one of the feel-good stories in the first half of the NFL season. They were on a historic offensive pace from a points per drive standpoint and held the best record in the AFC at 7-2 in the first nine weeks of the season. The organization decided to go all-in on that version of the team and made a big swing to get cornerback Sauce Gardner at the NFL’s trade deadline heading into Week 10.

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Everything has gone horribly wrong for the Colts since that moment. After narrowly escaping their Germany meeting with the Falcons via an overtime win, the Colts returned from their Week 11 bye to drop two games to AFC contenders in the Chiefs and Texans before their nightmare finally came to a head on Sunday in Week 14.

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In the first quarter of their loss to Jacksonville, quarterback Daniel Jones went down with a non-contact injury on the opposite leg from the broken fibula he was playing through and slammed his helmet on the turf, signaling that he knew the worst outcome had been realized. The team quickly ruled him out with an Achilles injury on Sunday and announced on Monday that he was out for the season with a torn Achilles.

It’s a devastating injury all the way around. This is brutal for Jones, who has struggled with other injuries in the past and now has his career-rebirth season cut short by another setback. The Colts’ season, for all intents and purposes, ended on Sunday with their third-straight loss. The Athletic’s Playoff Simulator now gives the Colts a mere 30% chance to make the postseason with games against the Seahawks, 49ers, Jaguars and Texans — all of which are playoff teams if the season ended today — down the stretch. They’ll enter the offseason with questions about what to do with Jones, an impending free agent coming back from a major injury, without a first-round pick in either of the next two drafts.

Where do the Colts go from here?

The Colts will be set to play out the string, staring down familiar questions about who will be under center for them the rest of the season. You can’t even use this as a silver lining excuse to get a look at Anthony Richardson Sr. again because he’s on IR with a fractured orbital bone injury he suffered in pregame warmups weeks ago, and doesn’t sound close to getting back on the field.

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That seemed to leave sixth-round rookie Riley Leonard, the man who relieved Jones on Sunday, as the favorite to start at QB going forward, but even he is dealing with a knee injury that head coach Shane Steichen said puts his status for Week 15 unclear. Seventh-year journeyman Brett Rypien is on the practice squad but the team showed how desperate things are by reportedly signing 44-year-old Philip Rivers to the practice squad on Tuesday.

Rookie tight end Tyler Warren, who has taken three snaps as a quarterback this year and thrown one pass, is the emergency quarterback. I certainly feel like everything I’ve written in the last few paragraphs is outlining some level of an emergency state.

Let’s just, for the moment, assume it’s Leonard who starts on Sunday and holds the job the rest of the season. Maybe one of the other guys gets a look before Week 18 wraps up but based on the reporting around Richardson and now Rivers coming off the street, Leonard being the guy down the stretch outside of injuries sure seems like the most likely outcome.

I’d categorize Leonard’s debut in Week 14 as “well, it could have been much worse.” Leonard averaged -0.09 EPA per dropback on Sunday, which ranked 19th among 26 qualifying quarterbacks; not good, but not a disaster. He had a couple of moments as a scrambler, including a touchdown. We know, dating back to his college days, that he can take off and run.

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As a passer, the goal was to get the ball out and win in the quick game. He averaged just 5.9 air yards per attempt and a 2.65 time to throw. A whopping 92 of his 145 passing yards came on throws of 10 or fewer air yards. That’s likely the formula going forward for Leonard, who doesn’t have the arm talent of Jones to push the ball deep and outside the numbers as well as Jones did this year. However, it’s worth noting that Leonard did have one such throw on a back-shoulder touchdown to Michael Pittman Jr. that was called back due to a questionable OPI.

How Daniel Jones injury will impact Colts offense

Still, it’s safe to expect the quick game and RPOs to be the main diet of the passing game under Leonard. On those throws of 10 or fewer air yards, Pittman led the way by a wide margin with a 38.5% targets per route run and Josh Downs was second with 25%. Pittman caught eight of 10 targets for 55 yards. If anyone is going to survive this switch at quarterback, it’s likely Pittman on those quick in-breaking targets. That’s especially true heading into Seattle this week, as the Seahawks play two-high at the eighth-highest rate in the NFL, per Fantasy Points Data. Pittman has been the guy in the receiver room against those looks.

Alec Pierce may stand to lose the most in the receiver room. Pierce has evolved his game this year beyond just the deep shots but he still makes his plays on vertical routes outside the numbers. He has amassed 171 yards on just six catches with a whopping 21.5 air yards per target on targets outside the numbers. That’s just going to be difficult to maintain without Jones. He goes from a low-end WR2 with some volatility in fantasy football to an extremely boom/bust WR3, at best.

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Warren may indeed take some gadget work under center but the primary base of his value going forward will be on short targets and dumpoffs to the flat. He’s garnered plenty of looks in that area already, and leads all the main pass-catchers in yards after catch per reception this year at 7.0. He’s still a TE1 but there is much less juice here with the downgrade in the offense.

That bring us to Jonathan Taylor. There’s not actionable advice here; if you have Taylor you’re playing him and that’s an open and shut case. However, as much as the talk in NFL circles will be that they need to just get the ball in his hands as a runner as much as possible, he just can’t maintain what he did at the start of the season if the offense goes from a historic pace to below average, much less if it bottoms out. He’ll go from an unfair advantage in the first half to a mere mortal high-end fantasy back. It is what it is.

Finally, we need to circle back to the twist this story took late on Monday evening. With Jones officially out for the season, the Colts reached out to an old friend of the franchise and Steichen. After having Rivers in for a visit Tuesday, the team signed him to the practice squad shortly after.

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There are plenty of jokes available to make in the wake of this headline. Frankly, with this coming to pass, I’m not even sure what I can add other than if we’re expecting the offense to be quick-game focused with Leonard under center, that’s essentially what the Colts primarily did with Rivers under Frank Reich in his final season. Perhaps the once-star quarterback can provide a better version of that and get the ball to Pittman with heavy volume underneath; the two played together in the wideout’s rookie year. Then again, I don’t even feel like the same human being I was back in 2020, much less am I ready to proclaim Rivers can be anything close to that still-good-but-diminished version of himself back in that lone season with the Colts.

Punching down is never the right move. Win the battles you’re supposed to win, yes, but respect every opponent, no matter how small. Unless, that is, they’re poor and hail from a weak-ass conference. Then, hell with ‘em.

In the wake of the CFP bracket revelation that saw two Group of Five schools, Tulane and James Madison, make the field while blue bloods like Notre Dame and Texas missed the cut, there’s a whole lot of punching down going on … starting with the ESPN broadcast teams tasked with analyzing the bracket.

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“No one, no one in America aside from JMU or Tulane thinks that JMU or Tulane can win a championship this year,” ESPN’s Booger McFarland said Sunday shortly after the bracket announcement. “Like, that’s the matter of fact. But they’re in it because we had to include them based on the parameters we were given, and I think that’s going to rub a lot of people the wrong way.”

You know what’s going to rub a lot more people the wrong way? Excluding Group of Five schools because they don’t belong to the Cool Kids’ Clubs of the SEC and Big Ten, or don’t spend the GDPs of European nations on their roster, or didn’t have the good fortune to align with the right conference 70 years ago. (For the record, there are other nobody-believes-in-them stories in the playoff. No one in America outside Tuscaloosa thinks this Alabama team can win a championship this year, but that’s another story.)

And hey, speaking of Alabama … guess who else piled onto the two G5s in the playoff?

“You’re going to have two teams in the playoff, no disrespect to the Group of Five, that are nowhere near ranked as highly as some other teams that are much better than them,” former Alabama coach Nick Saban said. “We can learn something from this that will help us come up with a little better criteria of trying to make sure we get the best 12 teams in the playoff.”

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You know how you get the best 12 teams in the playoff? Make the field 16 teams, which is exactly what Saban’s “College GameDay” colleague Kirk Herbstreit is advocating.

“It’d be great if we had 16 teams,” Herbstreit told Pat McAfee earlier this week. “Maybe that’s the next answer, to get this thing up to 16 teams.”

Guess what the next answer is to that? Twenty teams! Or 24! Or 36! Hell, let’s just do a full 64-team bracket, run the football season all the way to Memorial Day! (Conveniently enough for Saban, Herbstreit and McFarland, take a wild guess which network will be broadcasting the CFP — and any expanded-field games — through the 2031-32 season.)

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All due respect to Saban and his seven national championships, and Herbstreit and McFarland’s indisputably successful careers … but these are analysts talking, not fans. Their view is from the club level, not the bleachers. Fans want to feel connected to the game they see on the field, and that only happens when the possibility exists that their team — provided they’re not a fan of one of the eight or so elites — has the opportunity to reach the big stage. It’s why the NCAA tournament is so popular; for one game, at least, the opportunity is equal.

The maddening aspect of ESPN’s line of criticism isn’t really that there are only 12 teams in the playoff … it’s that they’re the wrong 12 teams. “We’re trying to include [G5] teams to make them a part of this, when I think everyone knows that, yeah, they’re good, but can they play with the big boys on a year-in and year-out [basis]?” McFarland wondered. “I don’t know if that’s the case, and I think that’s what’s going to rub Notre Dame, Texas and Vanderbilt because they could absolutely get hot and win it this season.”

You know when a good time for Notre Dame, Texas and Vanderbilt to get hot would’ve been? When they were losing their games to Miami, Florida or Alabama, just to pick three of their combined seven losses on the season.

Yes, in all likelihood, Tulane and James Madison will get blown out on Dec. 20. They opened as 16.5-point and 21.5-point underdogs to Ole Miss and Oregon, respectively. That seems bad!

However, consider this: In the opening round of the CFP last year, a team from the mighty SEC — Tennessee — lost by 25 points to Ohio State. That same day, the ACC championship runner-up — SMU — got absolutely skull-dragged by Penn State, losing by four full touchdowns. Blowouts happen across the sport at every level, regardless of the pedigree of the losing team.

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College football’s powers that be want to keep the club exclusive, but wild chaos-bringers keep crashing the party. Two years ago, if you’d suggested that Indiana and Vanderbilt were on the verge of becoming national powers, you’d have been laughed right off the internet. Four months ago, if you’d said that Penn State, Texas, Notre Dame and Clemson would all miss the playoff, you’d have been accused of clickbait hot takes. And yet … here we are. And the sport is better for it.

I know, I know, this is a plea for honoring the wide-open spirit of college football rather than kneeling at the exclusive-club altar of greed. In every single instance, when tradition meets profit motive, money wins by six touchdowns.

But college football was built on the promise of the impossible. From then-unknown Alabama winning the Rose Bowl in 1926, to Appalachian State knocking off Michigan in 2007, to Indiana becoming the No. 1 team in the country in 2025, this is a sport that burns brightest when it belly-flops into glorious chaos. If you want grim, exclusive professionalism, there’s always Sunday football waiting for you.

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The CFP has already choked the life out of so many of college football’s longstanding traditions. Regular-season losses are survivable, even irrelevant. The bowl system — love it or hate it — is effectively dead in the water. Saturday’s Big Ten championship was the least heralded No. 1 vs. No. 2 game in the game’s history. The sport’s kingmakers are doing all they can to orient the game around the playoff, protect the biggest brands and keep the scrappy underdogs in their place.

When the CFP kicks off next week, the vast majority of America will be rooting against Alabama for obvious reasons. But for the sport’s livelihood, you might want to save a couple cheers for Tulane and James Madison, too. They, and what they represent, are what’s keeping this most American of sports weird and unpredictable. The way it ought to be.

Following a second straight disappointing postseason, including a nightmare ending in Los Angeles against the eventual back-to-back World Series champion Dodgers in the NLDS, the Philadelphia Phillies decided to stick with manager Rob Thomson, who was under contract through the 2026 season.

Less than two months later, the Phillies have doubled down on Thomson, announcing Tuesday that they’ve extended him through the 2027 season. Their announcement came minutes after ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported that the team is re-signing free-agent designated hitter Kyle Schwarber to a five-year, $150 million deal.

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[Get more Phillies news: Philadelphia team feed]

Schwarber, 32, mashed 56 home runs this past season — the second-most in Phillies history and the most of any NL player in 2025 — and piled up 132 RBI while tying the highest OPS (.928) of his career.

Not only is the power-surged lefty one of the best sluggers in the game right now, as evidenced by the three-time All-Star’s four straight seasons with at least 38 home runs and his marked improvement against left-handed pitching, but he’s also an indelible clubhouse leader.

The Phillies ponied up to bring him back, and they could re-sign 34-year-old catcher J.T. Realmuto as well. That means Thomson is in position to retain the aging core of a team that won its second straight NL East title this year before again quickly bowing out of the postseason.

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Several of the players still on the roster were within reach of a World Series championship during the 2022 season, Thomson’s first at the helm after he took over for a fired Joe Girardi. The Phillies rallied to make the playoffs that year and caught fire in October, with 11 postseason victories before they fell in six games to the Houston Astros in the World Series.

In 2023, the Phillies returned to the playoffs as a wild-card team and looked like they were going to make another run to an NL pennant. Except that time, they blew a 2-0 NLCS lead to the Arizona Diamondbacks and lost in seven games.

In the two seasons since, Philadelphia has ended a 13-year drought without an NL East title and then delivered another first-place finish in the division. But the Phillies have regressed in the postseason, most recently with their top three hitters — Schwarber, two-time NL MVP Bryce Harper and three-time All-Star Trea Turner — going 2-for-21 with 11 strikeouts in the first two games of this year’s NLDS versus the Dodgers.

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The bats going cold when they’re supposed to be hot in the Phillies’ “Red October” has been an issue for Thomson, who hasn’t been absolved of the postseason blame, either.

Even so, he has remained in favor with the organization, and he has supported his players through their ups and downs. He has more talent on the way, too, with pitcher Andrew Painter, outfielder Justin Crawford and infielder Aidan Miller expected to debut soon.

Thomson has been on the Phillies’ staff since 2018. Before that, he was with the New York Yankees from 2008 to ’17, winning a ring in 2009 when the Yankees beat the Phillies in the World Series.

He’s the third Phillies manager to lead the team to consecutive division titles. His managerial winning percentage (.580) is first all time in the organization’s history.

The 2025-26 college football bowl schedule is set, including the matchups for the first round of the College Football Playoff. Indiana is the No. 1 seed in the CFP, while Notre Dame surprisingly missed out on the CFP altogether and won’t play in any bowl game as a result.

There are plenty of teams playing in bowls, though, and below are all of the matchups (and odds, courtesy of BetMGM), as bowl season spans over five weeks — starting Dec. 13 and ending on Jan. 19.

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All times are Eastern.

Saturday, Dec. 13

Bucked Up LA Bowl, 8 p.m., ABC

Tuesday, Dec. 16

IS4S Salute to Veterans Bowl, 9 p.m., ESPN

Wednesday, Dec. 17

StaffDNA Cure Bowl, 5 p.m., ESPN

68 Ventures Bowl, 8:30 p.m., ESPN

Thursday, Dec. 18

Xbox Bowl, 9 p.m., ESPN2

Friday, Dec. 19

Myrtle Beach Bowl, 11 a.m., ESPN

Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl, 2:30 p.m., ESPN

College Football Playoff first-round game, 8 p.m., ABC

Saturday, Dec. 20

College Football Playoff first-round game, Noon, ABC

College Football Playoff first-round game, 3:30 p.m., TNT

College Football Playoff first-round game, 7:30 p.m., TNT

Monday, Dec. 22

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, 2 p.m., ESPN

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Tuesday, Dec. 23

Bush’s Boca Raton Bowl of Beans, 2 p.m. ESPN

New Orleans Bowl, 5:30 p.m., ESPN

Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl, 9 p.m., ESPN

Wednesday, Dec. 24

Sheraton Hawaii Bowl, 8 p.m., ESPN

Friday, Dec. 26

GameAbove Sports Bowl, 1 p.m., ESPN

Rate Bowl, 4:30 p.m., ESPN

ServPro First Responder Bowl, 8 p.m., ESPN

Saturday, Dec. 27

Go Bowling Military Bowl, 11 a.m., ESPN

Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl, Noon, ABC

Wasabi Fenway Bowl, 2:15 p.m., ESPN

Pop-Tarts Bowl, 3:30 p.m., ABC

Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl, 4:30 p.m., CW

Isleta New Mexico Bowl, 5:45 p.m., ESPN

TaxSlayer Gator Bowl, 7:30 p.m., ABC

Kinder’s Texas Bowl, 9:15 p.m., ESPN

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Monday, Dec. 29

JLAB Birmingham Bowl, 2 p.m., ESPN

Tuesday, Dec. 30

Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl, 2 p.m., ESPN

Liberty Mutual Music City Bowl, 5:30 p.m., ESPN

Valero Alamo Bowl, 9 p.m., ESPN

Wednesday, Dec. 31

ReliaQuest Bowl, Noon, ESPN

Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl, 2 p.m., CBS

Cheez-It Citrus Bowl, 3 p.m., ABC

SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl, 3:30 p.m., ESPN

Goodyear Cotton Bowl (College Football Playoff quarterfinal), 7:30 p.m., ESPN

[Yahoo Sports TV is here! Watch live shows and highlights 24/7]

Thursday, Jan. 1

Capital One Orange Bowl (College Football Playoff quarterfinal), Noon, ESPN

Rose Bowl presented by Prudential (College Football Playoff quarterfinal), 4 p.m., ESPN

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Allstate Sugar Bowl (College Football Playoff quarterfinal), 8 p.m., ESPN

Friday, Jan. 2

Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl, 1 p.m., ESPN

AutoZone Liberty Bowl, 4:30 p.m., ESPN

Duke’s Mayo Bowl, 8 p.m., ESPN

Holiday Bowl, 8 p.m., FOX

Thursday, Jan. 8

Vrbo Fiesta Bowl (College Football Playoff semifinal), 7:30 p.m., ESPN

Friday, Jan. 9

Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl (College Football Playoff semifinal), 7:30 p.m., ESPN

Monday, Jan. 19

National Championship Game, 7:30 p.m., ESPN