Category: Sport

Welcome to 2026! We’re back with the first High Score perfect lineup of the New Year. We hope you all made resolutions that you plan on carrying out in 2026. Perhaps one of those resolutions is to win your fantasy basketball league. If that’s in High Score and you’re a Joel Embiid manager, you’re happy the Sixers big man finally showed some signs of life this season.

Below we’re going to go over the top scorers from Week 11 with a recap of each of their performances:

More on the top performers

Cade Cunningham, guard: With Nikola Jokić sidelined for the next month or so, someone is going to have to pick up the slack as the top dog in fantasy. Cunningham has a shot at that as a frequent visitor to this article. On New Year’s Day, he had a near-triple-double with 31 points, 8 rebounds, 11 assists and 5 stocks against Miami in a losing effort. With Jalen Duren and Tobias Harris dealing with injuries, Cade will be tasked with doing more on offense as Detroit tries to stave off the Knicks for first in the conference.

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Tyrese Maxey, guard: It had been a bit since we saw Maxey; the last time he eclipsed 70 fantasy points was back at the end of November. But he enters next week with at least 34 points in three straight games, including 36 in a win over the Knicks on Saturday. Maxey scored 34 points with 8 boards, 10 assists and 4 stocks on New Year’s Day against Dallas to get into this lineup.

Kawhi Leonard, frontcourt: This is the best stretch of basketball we’ve seen from Leonard in a while — perhaps his entire career, but definitely since he joined the Clippers back in 2019-20. Los Angeles was on a six-game winning streak before Jaylen Brown’s 50 points ended that on Saturday.

After scoring 55 last week to post a High Score of 94 fantasy points, Kawhi had 45 against the Jazz to start 2026. Leonard has now played in 18 straight games and is singlehandedly lifting the Clippers out of the basement in the Western Conference.

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Deni Avdija, frontcourt: Avdija has quietly been a top-five fantasy asset this season and ranks ninth in fantasy points per game in High Score with 51.4. He may be one of the better floor plays in fantasy, averaging over 25 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists per game while playing heavy minutes for a rebuilding Portland squad that’s starting to compete. Avdija has at least 60 fantasy points in four of his past five games, all of those wins for the Blazers.

Joel Embiid, frontcourt: Ahhhh, we finally get to Embiid. The Philly big’s top score for the season was 57 going into last week. After missing most of October and November, Embiid played in seven games in December, averaging 25.9 points, 8.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.3 blocks per game over 31.3 minutes. Embiid hasn’t been efficient from the floor scoring the rock in years, but was able to reach his ceiling thanks to eight assists against the Grizz. He also scored 34 points with 10 rebounds and 3 stocks. Don’t get accustomed to seeing Embiid in this story but it was nice of him to say, “Hi.”

[It’s not too late to create or join a High Score league, a new way to play Fantasy Basketball on Yahoo with simple rosters and scoring]

Derrick White, utility: This is the first time we’re seeing White’s name in this story as well. He just sneaks on after tying Donovan Mitchell last week. White is another underrated fantasy asset this season who has stepped up with Jayson Tatum sidelined for the Celtics. It’s the Jaylen Brown show but White offers a lot of fantasy upside given his stocks production; he’s averaging almost 3.0 steals + blocks per game this season.

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Donovan Mitchell, utility: Mitchell hadn’t posted a fantasy score this high since the season opener (69 points). He dropped 34 points with 10 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 stocks against the Suns on New Year’s Eve to make it onto this list. The Cavaliers have struggled this season, which has impacted Mitchell’s consistency from a fantasy perspective. His clear path to ceiling games comes from volume scoring since he lacks elite peripheral stat production.

The Cleveland Browns have been searching for stability at quarterback since Baker Mayfield left the team following the 2021 NFL season. While the team has experienced at least one major high point since then, its inability to find a starter at the league’s most important position may have cost head coach Kevin Stefanski his job.

The Browns fired Stefanski on Monday, according to Ian Rapoport. The move comes after the team went 5-12 in 2025, one of the worst records in the NFL.

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The team confirmed the move in a statement, thanking Stefanski for his “hard work and dedication.” Browns owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam said team general manager Andrew Berry will remain in his role and look to find a new head coach who can work toward “building out a roster that can achieve sustainable success.”

The Atlanta Falcons, New York Giants and Tennessee Titans are expected to speak to Kevin Stefanski about their own head-coaching vacancies, according to ESPN.

[Get more Browns news: Cleveland team feed]

It was always going to be a transition year for the Browns in 2025. While the defense was expected to be strong, the offense lacked an answer at quarterback. The Browns entered training camp with four quarterbacks on the roster: 40-year-old Joe Flacco, Pittsburgh Steelers washout Kenny Pickett and rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders.

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Pickett was shipped out before the regular season began, leaving Flacco as the default choice to open the year as the team’s starter. It didn’t go well. Surrounded by an underwhelming cast, Flacco tossed two touchdowns against six interceptions in four games before being traded to the division-rival Cincinnati Bengals. He seemed to find the fountain of youth with his new club, throwing multiple touchdowns in his first four games with the team.

With Flacco gone after just four games, it was clear the Browns were playing for the future. Gabriel was inserted as the team’s starter, but didn’t wow in his starts. Despite Gabriel’s struggles, Stefanski seemed hesitant to turn the reins over to the much-hyped Sanders, who was eager to prove he can play after experiencing one of the most shocking falls in NFL Draft history in April.

A Gabriel concussion eventually opened the path for Sanders to assume the starting role. The rookie had moments of promise under center — a three-touchdown performance against the Tennessee Titans being the high point — but wasn’t able to lead the team to wins. With the season lost, it was determined Stefanski had to go.

Sanders responded to that news Monday, saying, “That’s just how the league is.” Sanders said he would work hard to improve before the next head coach is brought in.

While the end of Stefanski’s run was disappointing, his tenure didn’t start that way. Stefanski showed promise immediately after taking over the Browns, leading the team to an 11-5 record in his first season. The Browns disappointed the next two seasons due to a Mayfield injury and an ill-advised trade for Deshaun Watson, but Stefanski still managed a 26-24 record in his first three seasons.

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Watson was underwhelming again in 2023, but an injury opened the door for Flacco to work some magic. The veteran, then-38, went 4-1 down the stretch, resuscitating his career and leading the Browns to the playoffs with an 11-6 record. The magic didn’t last and the team was crushed 45-14 by the Houston Texans in the wild-card round.

Since then, the team’s inability to find a useful quarterback doomed the offense. The Browns went 3-14 in 2024. Watson once again struggled before tearing his Achilles, forcing the Browns to start a combination of Jameis Winston, Dorian Thompson-Robinson and Bailey Zappe down the stretch.

Watson has spent the entire 2025 season rehabbing from that injury, though it’s unlikely he would have saved Stefanski’s job had he played. The Watson trade has proved to be among the worst in NFL history considering his numbers and contract since joining the franchise. The Browns took a massive risk in acquiring Watson — who was essentially benched by the Texans in 2021 after being accused of sexual misconduct by a number of women. After going through with the trade, the Browns then gave Watson a fully guaranteed, $230 million contract. He’s rewarded the team by tossing 19 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 19 games, a far cry from his numbers with the Texans, where he made three straight Pro Bowls after an excellent rookie season.

The Watson saga would have been enough to get most coaches fired eventually. And while the decision to bring Watson in may not have been Stefanski’s call, the coach stood by Watson even after it became clear he was no longer the same player. The front office didn’t exactly give Stefanski better options after Watson faltered, saddling Stefanski with career backups and also-rans. If not for Flacco’s miraculous comeback year in 2023, Stefanski may have found himself out of a job sooner.

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Even with the team’s struggles the past two years, Stefanski leaves the organization as one of the most successful Browns coaches in recent memory. His .446 winning percentage is the best by a Browns coach who has coached at least 10 games since Bill Belichick led the team to a .450 winning percentage over 80 games. Belichick’s last game with the team occurred in 1995.

Given his previous success as an offensive coordinator, and relative success with the Browns despite being put in some tough spots, Stefanski could find himself in the conversation for another head-coaching role in the offseason. If that doesn’t come to fruition, Stefanski will almost certainly be picked up as an offensive coordinator.

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Stefanski was far from blameless for the Browns’ struggles, particularly near the end of his run. But leading Cleveland to two playoff appearances in six seasons proves he has some ability.

As for the Browns, the team has a few tough decisions ahead of it. Cleveland not only has to choose the right coach to lead the team back to prominence, but that coach will have to decide whether Gabriel or Sanders can be the future at quarterback.

If not, the Browns could find themselves with yet another option at quarterback to start the 2026 season.

Jonathan Gannon’s short tenure as the Arizona Cardinals’ head coach has come to an end. Gannon was fired by the Cardinals on Monday after his third straight losing season, the team announced.

The Cardinals went just 3-14 this season and were a combined 15-36 under Gannon in his three years.

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Gannon was hired in part to toughen up Arizona’s defense, and that didn’t really happen. This season’s unit was 26th in EPA per play allowed, 27th in success rate allowed, and in general, hasn’t taken a step forward despite 17 of Gannon’s 28 draft picks being on that side of the ball, including six of seven last spring. It’s hard to say the Cardinals are demonstrably better than they were when Gannon was hired.

Gannon was hired as the Cardinals’ head coach in 2023, coming off a two-year stint as the Philadelphia Eagles’ defensive coordinator. Gannon’s hire came with controversy, with Arizona admitting that the team had contacted Gannon about the position before the Eagles’ season had ended. The two teams later settled the issue with a draft-day trade.

[Get more Cardinals news: Arizona team feed]

After a 2-0 start to the 2025 season, the Cardinals went on a significant skid. A moment of hope — a 27-17 win over the Dallas Cowboys on Monday Night Football — was followed by back-to-back blowout losses to division rivals, first with the Seattle Seahawks and then to the San Francisco 49ers.

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That proved to be the start of a lengthy losing streak, in which the Cardinals dropped games to future playoff teams like the Jacksonville Jaguars, Los Angeles Rams and Houston Texans. The team also lost to both the Atlanta Falcons and Cincinnati Bengals down the stretch.

The pressure seemingly boiled over for Gannon relatively early in the season, with the coach laying into running back Emari Demercado for a goal-line drop in a one-point loss to the Tennessee Titans. Gannon later apologized for his behavior and was fined $100,000 by the league.

Some of the team’s struggles have had to do with injuries: The Cardinals placed quarterback Kyler Murray on injured reserve on Nov. 5 with a foot injury that has kept him out since Week 5, leaving backup Jacoby Brissett to take over. Though Brissett put up some solid showings for Arizona, he wasn’t able to single-handedly turn around the season. Murray’s future with the franchise now also looks dim, after Gannon essentially benched the starter and then announced he was done for the year, stating his recovery from injury hadn’t progressed as hoped.

Cardinals ownership, though, seemingly placed blame on Gannon — and Gannon may have seen it coming. In a press conference in mid-November, Gannon acknowledged potentially being on the hot seat.

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“Yeah, not a controllable for me,” Gannon said. “That’s the business we’re in. If you don’t want to be in that business, we laugh, we joke, go work somewhere else. I’m going to control the controllables for myself. You know, come to work and do the best job that I can.”

While Gannon is out, general manager Monti Ossenfort will stay. Ossenfort and team owner Michael Bidwell will meet with the media Monday to discuss Gannon’s firing and talk about the franchise’s future.

Ossenfort was hired by the team in 2023. Notable players drafted by Ossenfort include Marvin Harrison Jr. and Paris Johnson, both of whom should be part of the Cardinals’ core moving forward.

It was a disappointing result considering some saw the Cardinals as a team on the rise after it improved from four wins in 2023 to eight in 2024. While things looked promising early, the Cardinals collapsed, leading to Gannon’s third straight losing season with the franchise.

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Arizona will now open the search for a new coach, after burning through six head coaches in the past two decades. Since moving to Arizona in 1988, the Cardinals have had only one coach who has lasted longer than four seasons: Ken Whisenhunt, who coached from 2007-2012.

An up-and-down season in Central Florida got even choppier over the weekend, as the Orlando Magic announced bellwether starting guard Jalen Suggs will be out indefinitely after suffering a Grade 1 sprain of the medial collateral ligament in his right knee.

Suggs sustained the injury during Orlando’s loss to the Bulls on Friday, landing hard following a foul by Chicago center Jalen Smith on a drive to the basket late in the third quarter:

Despite being in evident pain as soon as he hit the deck, Suggs got to his feet and shot and made a pair of free throws to give Orlando a three-point lead before asking to come out of the game on the next possession; he wouldn’t return. With Suggs sidelined for the rest of the contest, the Bulls blitzed the Magic 30-19 in the fourth quarter, coming away with a 121-114 win that dropped Orlando to 8-10 on the road this season.

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[Get more Magic news: Orlando team feed]

It’s a frustrating setback for Suggs, who had just returned to the lineup following a seven-game absence due to a left hip contusion, and for the Magic, who have been at their best this season with the hard-charging 24-year-old guard on the floor.

“It’s tough,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said before the team’s Sunday home win over the Pacers, according to Jason Beede of the Orlando Sentinel. “Your heart goes out to him just because he was just coming back, then something happens again.”

Suggs has dealt with an array of injuries since the Magic drafted him out of Gonzaga with the fifth overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, missing significant time in three of his first four pro campaigns. He made just 35 appearances last season, with a pair of injuries — first a lower back strain, then a left knee issue — keeping him on the shelf from early January through the end of Orlando’s playoff run. Recovery from arthroscopic knee surgery had Suggs on a minutes restriction to start the 2025-26 season; he’s topped 30 minutes just five times in 23 outings.

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“He’s such a resilient young man,” Mosley said Sunday. “You know he’s been through this process before, and he’s going to continue to bounce back regardless of the scenario.”

When Suggs has been on the floor, the former All-Defensive selection has made a significant impact, averaging 15 points, 4.7 assists and 3.7 rebounds per game, shooting a career-best 62.1% on 2-pointers and 85.7% from the free-throw line. Among players who’ve made at least 20 appearances, Suggs sits tied for third in steals per game, seventh in deflections per game and tied for 13th in loose balls recovered per game — all despite only logging 25.4 minutes a night.

Those two-way contributions make Suggs something of an advanced stats darling: a top-40 performer this season, according to estimated plus-minus, box plus-minus, DARKO, LEBRON, xRAPM and Net Points Per 100, among other metrics.

The Magic have outscored opponents by 11 points per 100 non-garbage-time possessions with Suggs on the floor, according to Cleaning the Glass, and have been outscored by 4.9 points-per-100 when Suggs is out of the game. That 15.9 points-per-100 swing is not only the biggest on-court/off-court differential on the Magic, but one of the biggest in the entire NBA. Among players who’ve logged at least 500 minutes this season, only Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokić and Lauri Markkanen have had a more dramatic impact on their teams’ fortunes than Suggs.

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“Just his energy out there, he’s just a huge part of the team,” Magic star Paolo Banchero recently told reporters. “So when he’s out there, I just think we’re better.”

Banchero’s assessment shows up in the data — three of Orlando’s four most potent lineups this season have featured Suggs — and in the overall results. The Magic have gone 14-9 with Suggs in the lineup, serving as an elite point-of-attack defender and a complementary source of playmaking and shot creation, compared to just 6-7 in the 13 games he’s missed.

That’s why — even with Banchero now back from a groin strain that cost him nearly a month, with primary offseason addition Desmond Bane producing well in his first season in Orlando, and with third-year wing Anthony Black in the midst of an eye-popping breakout — losing Suggs for another extended stretch would be troubling for a team that enters Monday’s action tied with the Miami Heat for sixth in the East.

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Reaching the heights for which many ticketed the Magic before the season — not just a third straight postseason appearance, but actually winning a playoff series, advancing and having a chance to push for a slot in the Eastern Conference finals and perhaps beyond — will likely require the Magic actually getting all of their best players on the floor. That hasn’t happened all that much: Thanks to Banchero’s groin strain, Franz Wagner’s high ankle sprain and Suggs’ injuries, the Magic have had all four of Banchero, Wagner, Suggs and Bane available for just 11 of their 36 games, with the quartet sharing the floor for just 125 minutes, according to PBP Stats.

Suggs might not miss an extended stretch; he “avoided structural damage in his right knee,” according to Beede of the Sentinel, which could mean that he’s back on the court in a week or two. The longer it takes for Suggs (and Wagner) to get back into the fold, and for them to resume getting reps alongside Banchero, Bane, Black and the rest of Orlando’s rotation mainstays, the tougher it’s going to be to develop the sort of cohesion that can fuel the deep postseason run the Magic have had their sights set on making.

It took many weeks before Shedeur Sanders got his first start with the Cleveland Browns. The much-hyped fifth-round pick made an uneven seven starts down the stretch, though ended the year on a high note with a win over the Cincinnati Bengals.

Following that seven-start audition, Sanders was asked Monday whether he believes he showed enough to warrant being the team’s starter next season. While Sanders made it clear he has confidence in his ability, he deferred to the team’s decision makers to make that call, saying, “It’s not in my hands and I can’t speak on how other people feel.”

Sanders’ future with the franchise is an even bigger question following the firing of head coach Kevin Stefanski on Monday. Stefanski was initially hesitant to insert Sanders into the starting lineup, but an injury to rookie Dillon Gabriel forced the coach’s hand. But once Sanders got the role, he kept it, starting the team’s final seven games.

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[Get more Browns news: Cleveland team feed]

With Stefanski out now, it will be up to general manager Andrew Berry and the team’s next head coach to determine whether Sanders deserves to be the team’s starter next season — or if he should be given the chance to compete for the job.

Sanders, 23, experienced a few highs as the Browns’ starter. He seemed to have a knack for deep touchdowns, and turned in a three-touchdown performance against the Tennessee Titans in Week 14.

Other than that, though, he mostly struggled. Sanders finished the year with a 56.6 completion percentage. He tossed seven touchdowns against 10 interceptions.

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While that performance should be expected from a fifth-round rookie, Sanders was not the typical fifth-rounder. After a standout college career at Colorado, Sanders was projected by many to be an early-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, with some analysts believing he would go in the first round.

But Sanders experienced one of the most shocking draft falls in recent memory, plummeting all the way to the fifth round before the Browns eventually selected him with the 144th overall pick. Given those high draft projections — and Sanders being the son of Hall of Famer Deion Sanders — there was far more excitement and expectation than normal surrounding the pick.

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Whether Sanders lived up to those expectations in his seven-game stint as the starter will be up to Berry and the Browns’ next head coach. Berry was non-committal when asked about the situation Monday, saying he wasn’t sure if the team’s 2026 starter was currently on the Browns.

The team could have an opportunity to add an elite talent at the position in the 2026 NFL Draft, as the Browns hold the No. 6 overall pick. Depending on who is still available, the Browns might have a hard time passing on quarterback with that pick.

That feels like the most likely outcome. Despite the hype, Sanders lasted until the fifth round of the NFL Draft and followed that up with a rocky rookie season. Even if he’s not outright replaced in the offseason, Sanders is unlikely to be guaranteed anything from the Browns heading into 2026.

Subscribe to Yahoo Fantasy Forecast

Matt Harmon and Scott Pianowski recap a wild Week 18 that saw an instant classic in the Ravens-Steelers SNF game. The two look ahead to the entire playoff field and ask what’s next for teams like the Ravens and Buccaneers. The two also look at latest coaching news and react to all the firings that have already taken place on ‘Black Monday’.

(1:00) – New pod schedule for January

(3:45) – NFC playoffs first look: Who can actually win it all?

(14:00) – AFC playoffs first look: Who can actually win it all?

(29:00) – What’s next for Baltimore Ravens and Tampa Bay Buccaneers?

(49:30) – Reaction to all the head coaching news so far

🖥️ Watch this full episode on YouTube

Check out the rest of the Yahoo Sports podcast family at https://apple.co/3zEuTQj or at yahoosports.tv

College basketball is back, and Michigan is again inching closer to overtaking the No. 1 ranking.

Here’s everything you missed in the ninth week of the regular season, and the latest Associated Press poll.

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Michigan can’t quite overtake Arizona

Arizona is still undefeated, but the Wildcats are barely clinging on to the top spot in the polls.

Arizona held on to the No. 1 ranking in the polls again this week despite yet another blowout win for Michigan over a ranked team. The Wolverines were just a single point away from Arizona in the AP poll.

The Wolverines cruised to a 30-point win over then-No. 24 USC on Friday night to get to 13-0 on the year. It marked their third 30-point win over a ranked opponent already this season, following wins over Auburn and Gonzaga. They are now the first team in nearly 30 years to have three such wins in a single season, and it’s only the first week in January.

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That’s only part of what’s been an absolutely dominant run for Michigan this season. Of their 13 wins this season, 10 of them have been by at least 20 points. More than half of those were by at least 40 points, too.

The top six in the poll remained unchanged. Arizona got to 14-0 after it beat Utah convincingly to kick off Big 12 play. Iowa State held at No. 3 after it beat West Virginia by 21 points on Friday in its Big 12 opener, and UConn remained at No. 4 after it won its 10th straight on Sunday against Marquette. Purdue and Duke then rounded out the top six after Isaiah Evans dropped a career-high 28 points on Saturday to lead the Blue Devils past Florida State.

Iowa was the biggest mover in this week’s poll. The Hawkeyes jumped up six spots to No. 19 after a 13-point win over UCLA on Saturday, which marked their fourth straight win.

While they are only three games into conference play, the Wolverines have clearly separated themselves in the Big Ten. They have a path to stay there over the next several weeks, too, as they won’t play another ranked opponent until the end of the month, when they host undefeated Nebraska and then travel to rival Michigan State back-to-back. The back half of their schedule is much tougher with both Purdue and Duke looming in mid-February and then Illinois, Iowa and Michigan State set for their final three games.

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But so far, very few teams have even come close to challenging the Wolverines. At the rate they are going, it’s only a matter of time before they finally catch Arizona.

Speaking of Nebraska…

The Cornhuskers might be for real.

Nebraska knocked off Michigan State on Friday night in what was the school’s first home ranked matchup in decades. Michigan State looked off for most of the night, committing 19 turnovers and making just six field goals as a unit in the second half.

The win for the Huskers was their 18th straight dating back to last season when they won the College Basketball Crown tournament, which is now the longest streak in the country. It also pushed the Huskers to No. 10 in this week’s poll, which is the program’s highest ranking since 1966.

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Michigan State, now with two losses this season, fell three spots to No. 12.

It’s easy to not believe in Nebraska basketball. The school is the only major conference team to have never won an NCAA tournament game, after all, and hasn’t even been since 2014. Friday’s win was just the Huskers’ second game against a ranked opponent this season, too. But they seem well on their way to a third straight 20-plus win season under head coach Fred Hoiberg, something the program has never seen.

While getting past the top tier of the Big Ten isn’t going to be easy down the stretch, especially considering what we just talked about with Michigan, Nebraska is in position to finally make a meaningful basketball run.

Games to watch this week

All times ET | * denotes neutral site

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Monday, Jan. 5

USC at No. 12 Michigan State | 8:30 p.m. | FS1

Tuesday, Jan. 6

No. 6 Duke at No. 20 Louisville | 7 p.m. | ESPN
No. 18 Georgia at Florida | 7 p.m. | SECN
No. 14 Texas Tech at No. 7 Houston | 9 p.m. | FS1

Wednesday, Jan. 7

No. 13 Alabama at No. 11 Vanderbilt | 9 p.m. | ESPN2

Saturday, Jan. 10

Wisconsin at No. 2 Michigan | 1 p.m. | CBS
No. 21 Tennessee at Florida | 12 p.m. | ESPN
No. 10 Nebraska at Indiana | 12 p.m. | BTN
No. 7 Houston at Baylor | 1 p.m. | Peacock

Sunday, Jan. 11

No. 16 Illinois at No. 19 Iowa | 12 p.m. | Fox

AP Top 25

The full Associated Press men’s basketball poll from Jan. 5, 2026.

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1. Arizona (14-0)
2. Michigan (13-0)
3. Iowa State (14-0)
4. UConn (14-1)
5. Purdue (13-1)
6. Duke (13-1)
7. Houston (13-1)
8. Gonzaga (16-1)
9. BYU (13-1)
10. Nebraska (14-0)
11. Vanderbilt (14-0)
12. Michigan State (12-2)
13. Alabama (11-3)
14. Texas Tech (11-3)
15. Arkansas (11-3)
16. Illinois (11-3)
17. North Carolina (13-2)
18. Georgia (13-1)
19. Iowa (12-2)
20. Louisville (11-3)
21. Tennessee (10-4)
22. Kansas (10-4)
23. Virginia (12-2)
24. SMU (12-2)
25. UCF (12-1)

Others receiving votes: Villanova 127, Seton Hall 31, USC 28, Utah State 27, Miami (Ohio) 22, Clemson 21, Saint Louis 14, LSU 14, Texas 12, Florida 11, Saint Mary’s 10, Kentucky 9, California 8, Miami 5, Indiana 4, Auburn 3, TCU 2, UCLA 2, Virginia Tech 2

Pete Carroll was fired by the Seattle Seahawks when he was 72 years old, but he wanted to keep coaching.

His next NFL stop turned out to be an absolute mess. And it didn’t last long.

Carroll was fired by the Las Vegas Raiders after the team went 3-14 in his first season, the team announced on Monday.

The team signed him to a three-year contract to become the team’s head coach in January 2025. Now, they’ll move forward with a new leader, having clinched the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, entering a new era.

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Carroll was brought in to improve the culture and the competitiveness of a Raiders franchise that has been among the NFL’s worst for decades. It was an odd choice, with a team nowhere near contention hiring the oldest head coach in NFL history. But Carroll, who had a long track record of success with the Seahawks, and at USC before that, seemed like he should be an upgrade over what the Raiders have had lately.

He wasn’t, and the Raiders decided it wasn’t worth trying again for a second season with him.

Pete Carroll doesn’t work out with Raiders

Carroll came to the Seahawks with a modest NFL resume from the 1990s. He had a mostly unsuccessful stint with the Jets and one season with the Patriots, which ended in a losing season. It looked like maybe he was just a good college coach when he followed that up with a tremendous run at USC. But in Seattle, he was a smashing success, with a 137-89-1 record and leading the team to its first-ever Super Bowl championship.

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His firing after the 2023 season by the Seahawks was surprising, but the Seahawks wanted to go in a different direction, and nobody questioned Carroll’s ability as an NFL coach. After the Raiders lost out on their publicized chase of Ben Johnson to replace Antonio Pierce as their head coach last offseason, they settled on Carroll. Not much went right.

[Get more Raiders news: Las Vegas team feed]

The Raiders made three other huge moves to try to improve right away. They hired Chip Kelly as the highest-paid offensive coordinator in the NFL. They traded for Carroll’s old quarterback in Seattle, 35-year-old Geno Smith. And they drafted a running back, Ashton Jeanty, with the sixth overall pick. All of those moves were win-now moves. Kelly was fired in midseason, Smith fell apart and was booed often by the home fans, and Jeanty had a disappointing and unproductive rookie season.

The losses piled up. After a season-opening win at the Patriots, the Raiders won only one of their next 15 games, and that was against a lowly Titans team at home. The losses became less competitive, like a 31-0 loss at the Eagles in Week 15. They did beat the Chiefs in Week 18, which was a nice sendoff but far from enough to save Carroll’s job.

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As losses piled up, it started to become clear that Carroll was likely to be replaced after just one season. The question became whether he would make it to the end of his first season.

Who will Raiders hire?

The Raiders’ opening will be a tough sell, like it was when Johnson decided to go to the Chicago Bears instead of Las Vegas. Perhaps the No. 1 overall pick and the ability to start fresh with a new quarterback, potentially Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza, will be a draw.

Brock Bowers and Maxx Crosby are unquestioned stars, and Jeanty was a top-end prospect, but the Raiders lack young talent other than them. Crosby’s future with the team is also in doubt after a disagreement over putting him on injured reserve for the final two games of the season. It’s a franchise that used to have championship glory but has been synonymous with losing for a long time. The Raiders haven’t won a playoff game since the 2002 AFC championship game. It’s a dysfunctional franchise that lacks a clear plan, as we saw by their moves this past offseason.

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The Raiders have had 14 different head coaches, counting interims, over the last 24 seasons. That speaks to their constant losing and also the lack of leadership from ownership on down. They’ll be hoping the 15th coach in 25 seasons does better, but it’s a long-term project.

It was also a long-term project when they hired Carroll. It was a weird fit from the beginning. And it worked out even worse than anyone could have expected.

The NBA announced on Monday that it will be returning to China for the 2026-27 preseason.

Dallas and Houston will be featured in a pair of preseason games at The Venetian Arena in Macao. The Brooklyn Nets and Phoenix Suns played at The Venetian in October during the preseason. Mavericks team governor Patrick Dumont is the owner of Sands Corp., which owns The Venetian Arena.

“I could not be prouder of having the Mavericks come to Macao and have the team experience the incredible hospitality that Sands properties provide,” Dumont said in statements released by the NBA.

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Houston also makes sense with the Yao Ming connection. The Rockets drafted Yao No. 1 overall in 2002, and he spent eight years in Houston. Yao was an eight-time All-NBA selection, a five-time All-Star, and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016. In 2023, Yao was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame.

This past October, the NBA returned to China for the first time since 2019, when Daryl Morey, the Rockets general manager at the time, posted a tweet showing support for anti-government protesters in Hong Kong. The tweet was quickly deleted, but the damage had already been done. NBA games were taken off TV in China for a few years following the fallout, but that rift has since been mended.

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Multiple NBA stars like Stephen Curry, LeBron James, and Jimmy Butler have visited China in recent years as part of promotional tours and have drawn great support while visiting. The Mavs and Rockets will play the games on Oct. 9 and 11.

Despite missing the last three games of the regular season, Los Angeles Rams wideout Davante Adams still led the NFL in touchdown catches. Adams hauled in 14 scores, thanks to his elite route-running ability and Matthew Stafford’s trust in the veteran receiver.

But as the regular season came to a close, questions emerged regarding Adams’ availability for the playoffs. After missing three games with a hamstring injury, it was unclear whether Adams would be able to return when the team faced the Carolina Panthers in the wild-card round.

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Rams head coach Sean McVay put those worries to rest Monday, however, announcing Adams is expected to face the Panthers on Saturday.

McVay admitted Adams probably could have returned to action in Week 18, but the team took a cautious approach with the 33-year-old wideout, per ESPN.

McVay said the Rams “erred on the side of caution” with Adams’ return, and that it “pissed him off pretty good because of the competitor that he is.”

“But he’s got that look in his eye that I know he’s ready to go,” McVay said. “And man, you just feel better when you see No. 17 out there on our offense, and it poses a lot of different challenges for people to have to defend when you put that freaking stud back out on the grass for us.”

NFL insider Jay Glazer issued a similar report prior to Sunday’s game, saying Adams was pushing to play against the Cardinals, but was shut down by McVay. The Rams didn’t need Adams to pick up a win in the contest, though. After overcoming a slow start, the Rams’ offense broke out to score 37 points in a 17-point win over the Arizona Cardinals. That was likely exactly what McVay wanted to see after he announced he would play his starters in Week 18.

Adams was a revelation in his first season with the Rams. While the veteran posted his lowest yardage total since 2015, he made up for it with 14 scores. He proved to be the perfect complement to Puka Nacua and was a driving factor behind Stafford contending for the MVP award.

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Adams’ presence should go a long way toward giving the Rams an edge against the Panthers in the wild-card round. The Rams, however, are already heavy favorites for the contest, per BetMGM, and would have still been favored had Adams missed the contest.