One day after initially committing to play at Nebraska next season, the QB flipped his commitment on Monday night. He will now play for Kentucky and new head coach Will Stein next season instead, according to ESPN’s Max Olson.
Minchey played six games for the Fighting Irish last season, and ended up throwing for 196 yards while completing just shy of 77% of his passes. The redshirt sophomore with two years of eligibility remaining entered the transfer portal officially on Friday with hopes of becoming a starter in 2026.
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He told ESPN on Sunday that he was going to play at Nebraska next season, which would have given the Cornhuskers their top target among transfer quarterbacks in the portal. He would have been a very solid replacement in Lincoln after two-year starter Dylan Raiola hit the portal himself following his season-ending injury.
Kentucky went just 5-7 last season and failed to reach a bowl game for a second straight year under Stoops, who took over in 2013. While he led the team to a pair of 10-win seasons, they’ve failed to win more than seven games in each of the past four seasons and largely fell off in the SEC.
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While it’s unclear what led to the flip, Stein has now landed a big name to help jumpstart the Wildcats next fall. Nebraska coach Matt Rhule will have to head back to the drawing board to find Raiola’s replacement.
There is still more than half the schedule remaining in the 2025-26 NBA season, but the Oklahoma City Thunder are off a great start. Well … they were off to a great start.
For most of the first two months of the season, the Thunder looked like they could threaten the Golden State Warriors’ single-season wins record of 73. They have now fallen well off that pace. The Thunder have gone 6-6 over their past 12 games and just lost both ends of a back-to-back — the second coming Monday night when the Charlotte Hornets humbled them 124-97 in OKC.
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Only two teams in league history have won more than 70 games in a single season. The first was the Chicago Bulls during the 1995-96 campaign, when they won 72 games. The Warriors broke that record by one in 2016. The Bulls won the NBA championship in their record-breaking season, while the Warriors ultimately fell to the Cleveland Cavaliers during their Finals run.
Their sixth loss of the season came in crushing fashion, on a last-second Devin Booker 3-pointer Sunday night. It was the Thunder’s first loss since Christmas. They followed that with Monday’s blowout defeat at the hands of the Hornets.
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A lot can change between now and April. But OKC would now have to go 43-2 over their final 45 games just to tie the Warriors’ record.
OKC’s current pace: 66.5 wins
OKC’s last game
Most wins in NBA history, single season
73: Golden State Warriors, 2015-16 72: Chicago Bulls, 1995-96 69: Chicago Bulls, 1996-97 69: Los Angeles Lakers, 1971-72 68: Oklahoma City Thunder, 2024-25 68: Boston Celtics, 1972-73 68: Philadelphia 76ers, 1966-67
Thunder vs. ‘95-96 Bulls vs. ‘15-16 Warriors
Record after 37 games ‘25-26 Thunder: 30-7 (.811) ‘95-96 Bulls: 34-3 (.919) ‘15-16 Warriors: 35-2 (.946)
SGA vs. MJ vs. Steph Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: 31.6 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 6.4 APG (36 games) Michael Jordan: 30.4 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 4.3 APG (82 games) Stephen Curry: 30.1 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 6.7 APG (79 games)
OKC’s upcoming schedule
Jan. 7: vs. Jazz Jan. 9 vs. Grizzlies Jan. 11 vs. Miami Full schedule
Tracking Thunder’s historic start
Largest average margin of victory in a season ‘25-26 Thunder: 13.62 ‘24-25 Thunder: 12.87 ‘71-72 Lakers: 12.28 ‘70-71 Bucks: 12.26 ‘95-96 Bulls: 12.24
Highest net rating in a season ‘25-26 Thunder: 13.5 ‘95-96 Bulls: 13.4 ‘24-25 Thunder: 12.8 ‘96-97 Bulls: 12.0 ‘25-26 Rockets: 11.9
A 6-5 run since then muted that talk. A stunning home loss to the previously 12-23 Charlotte Hornets on Monday night dropped the Thunder to 30-7 and should officially put to bed their quest for a 73-win regular season.
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After a 33-33 first quarter, the Hornets rode a 34-17 second quarter to a 67-50 halftime lead in Oklahoma City. They never looked back en route to a 124-97 win that’s arguably the most stunning result of the NBA season.
“From the get, it just seemed like they were ahead of us on both ends of the floor, offensively and defensively,” MVP Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said after the game.
Are the Thunder OK?
The loss is the second straight for the Thunder after Devin Booker iced a Phoenix Suns win Sunday night with a last-second 3-pointer. Oklahoma City has now lost six of its past 12 games. Three of those losses have come to the San Antonio Spurs.
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A stretch of .500 basketball and a single bad loss isn’t cause for panic in Oklahoma City for a Thunder team that remains the favorite to win the NBA title. But the Thunder look much more vulnerable now than they were during their scorching start to the season.
Hornets controlled both ends of the court
The Hornets outplayed the Thunder in virtually every facet of the game. They outshot them from the floor (53% to 37%), from 3 (51% to 28%) and from the line (92% to 67%).
They secured a 52-34 rebounding advantage and moved the ball better while assisting on 25-of-41 made field goals, compared to 18 assists on 34 made field goals for the Thunder. Charlotte did this on the third leg of a three-game road trip.
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Oklahoma City’s only notable advantage in the game arrived where expected. The Thunder forced 20 Hornets turnovers while committing just eight of their own. But their ball-hawking defense wasn’t enough to overcome a Hornets team that shot the lights out when it held on to the ball.
Starting Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein sat for a fourth straight game with a calf injury. Alex Caruso also was out. Otherwise, Oklahoma City featured its full allotment of starters, including Gilgeous-Alexander, All-Star Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren.
Gilgeous-Alexander led OKC with 21 points and 6 assists in an unusually inefficient effort while shooting 7 of 21 from the floor. Holmgren added 15 points and 6 rebounds, while Williams posted 16 points, 4 assists and 2 rebounds. Aaron Wiggins (4 of 8) was the only Thunder starter to shoot 50% from the field.
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Brandon Miller paced the Hornets with 28 points and 6 rebounds while shooting 7 of 10 from 3. Breakout rookie sharpshooter Kon Knueppel hit 5-of-7 3s en route to 23 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. LaMelo Ball got in on the long-distance party in a 4-of-7 effort from deep while tallying 16 points.
The Hornets will return home to Charlotte to host the Raptors on Wednesday night. The Thunder, meanwhile, will look to regroup for a home game against the Jazz on Wednesday.
Ole Miss star running back Kewan Lacy reached agreement to return to the program next season, according to On3.
Lacy has 1,464 rushing yards — which ranks third in the nation — and 23 touchdowns so far this season with the Rebels. He had two touchdowns in last week’s win over Georgia in the Sugar Bowl, helping push the Rebels into the College Football Playoff semifinals.
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Lacy has scored a touchdown in all but one game this season. His 23 TDs lead the SEC.
Fortunately for NBA fans, Snoop Dogg was on the call on Peacock to take everyone through it.
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Kerr erupted midway through the fourth quarter of the game at the Intuit Dome after becoming increasingly frustrated throughout the game. It was a block from John Collins, who stuffed Gary Payton at the rim and blocked his layup off the backboard, that finally set off Kerr for good. After Stephen Curry was called for a foul on the other end, an irate Kerr charged toward the officials screaming and arguing for a goaltending call.
It took an assistant, Payton and Gui Santos restraining him to keep Kerr back while he picked up two technical fouls, which triggered the ejection. Kerr then quickly walked off the floor and into the tunnel.
Snoop Dogg was a special guest on the broadcast for Peacock’s tripleheader Monday night. He joined regular announcers Reggie Miller and Terry Gannon in a unique event ahead of his participation in the network’s coverage of the Winter Olympics next month in Italy.
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While it didn’t have an impact on the game, his presence on the broadcast made Kerr’s ejection that much more memorable.
Kerr declined to speak with reporters after the game. Instead, assistant coach Terry Stotts took his place.
The Clippers led for most of the game Monday night, and even built up a 14-point lead in the third quarter before the Warriors came storming back down the stretch. Curry brought the Warriors within a single possession after hitting a huge 3-pointer with just more than a minute left in the game before fouling out. Draymond Green, who was briefly considered questionable to return with a rib injury after he crashed into the bench just before halftime, then cut the deficit to a single point with a layup.
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While Jimmy Butler had a look at a game-winner, his turnaround jumper was just off the mark at the buzzer. That secured the Clippers’ one-point victory.
Kawhi Leonard led the Clippers with 24 points and 12 rebounds, though he went 0 of 8 from behind the arc. Kobe Sanders added a career-high 20 points and seven rebounds, and Collins finished with 18 rebounds. The win for the Clippers pushed them to 13-22 on the season.
Curry led the Warriors with 27 points and six assists in the loss. Butler added 24 points and six rebounds. Those two were the only Warriors starters to hit double figures, and they combined to shoot just 5 of 19 from the 3-point line. The loss dropped Golden State to 19-18 on the season.
On a day when the Cleveland Browns knew fans wanted answers and accountability, team brass didn’t hide the direction the franchise must go.
“The offense, it’s no secret that’s where we’re going to invest most of our resources this offseason,” general manager Andrew Berry said.
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Team owner Jimmy Haslam agreed that “we have a lot of work to do on the roster, particularly on the offensive side of the roster.”
That neither man crowned any quarterback on their roster as the 2026 leader was telling — not because Shedeur Sanders, Dillon Gabriel and Deshaun Watson have no chance, but because it is clear that none of them has a guarantee.
That the Browns will hire an offensive-minded head coach to develop that quarterback is no guarantee: The job will be “to make sure that the offense is run and developed well,” Berry said, “as opposed to necessarily having to be the person that directly does it.”
But losing, particularly in three- and five-win seasons the last two years, cost Stefanski his job. And the Browns know that finding a lasting quarterback answer is the No. 1 factor that will correlate with turning around their win total.
No one is saying aloud that Sanders, Gabriel and Watson cannot be the answer. But the organization planted seeds of doubt Monday about the Browns’ answer to the most impactful position in sports.
Kevin Stefanski gave QB Shedeur Sanders the last seven starts of Cleveland’s season. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
(Patrick McDermott via Getty Images)
What the Browns do know, and were willing to say, is that they need an answer quickly.
“At the end of the day, the National Football League is a quarterback league, right?” seven-time Pro Bowl left guard Joel Bitonio said. “If you have an elite quarterback in this league, it allows you to be a little bit more sustained in your success. And it’s not me saying like, ‘Do we know if Shedeur or Dillon or Deshaun or Bailey [Zappe], any of these guys is that guy,’ right?
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“We have those guys in our locker room. But until you have a guy that can stay healthy and can be on the field and be that guy for your team, it’s hard to have that sustained success. …
“Until you find one that’s stable and can lead your team, it’s going to be hard to not ride the roller coaster of wins and losses.”
After high-profile drafting, what do Browns make of Sanders’ rookie year?
The Browns do not regret that they evaluated and practiced with four quarterbacks during the offseason and training camp.
Considering depth was not the problem. Missing on a higher ceiling was.
“We believe in competition in every room on the roster, and quarterback’s no different,” Berry said. “Quarterback is the most important position in sports. We all know that. And part of the equation with quarterback is the evaluation part. Part of it is the development part as well.”
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The Browns traded away the second overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft rather than spend a premium pick on quarterback as some expected. Later in the draft, they selected two quarterbacks — Gabriel in the third round followed by Sanders in the fifth. It was a curious move. And yet, Berry believes philosophically in expending significant resources at quarterback.
“I wouldn’t necessarily say draft a quarterback every year, I don’t believe it being that,” Berry told Yahoo Sports last June from minicamp. “But if you’re in position to make a bet on a quarterback that you think can be a quality starter or some level of high-level proficiency, understand that it’s not always going to pan out. That’s a bet you should be making because you just never know.”
The philosophy suggests the Browns will not stay put at quarterback this spring, the question of their acquisition more a question of how rather than if. In their 2025 season, the Browns recognized their transitional stage and built up the roster at some positions. But while their defense posted its second top-five unit in three years, the Browns’ offense ranked bottom-five in offense for the second straight season.
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A year after ranking last in scoring, the Browns ranked second-to-last this year. In what Berry and Haslam described as a year of roster “transition,” the franchise evaluated its rookies at length.
The Browns won three of Sanders’ seven games compared to one of Gabriel’s six, wins often considered the “most important” quarterback statistic. In traditional quarterback stats, their performance was mixed.
Sanders averaged 193 passing yards per start compared to Gabriel’s 153, while completing 59.5% of his attempts to Gabriel’s 58.9%. But Sanders’ 0.8 touchdown-to-interception ratio (seven touchdowns, nine interceptions in seven games) paled in comparison to Gabriel’s 3.0 (six touchdowns to two interceptions in six games). Sanders’ 72.9 passer rating trailed Gabriel’s 78.9.
Sanders earned the right to continue starting and warranting evaluation through season’s end. But with below-league-average metrics, the Browns are not saying right now that he’s earned the right to start next season.
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“We saw a lot of progress with Shedeur this year,” Berry said. “I think that’s both mentally, physically, playing the position. He’s still very much a work in progress, like many rookie quarterbacks are. But I think we saw some really good things in terms of his playmaking, his accuracy, his ability to extend [plays] with his feet. And I think I’d also give him credit as well as our offensive staff for bringing him along in terms of his pocket management, his situational awareness and things of that nature.
“Now that all being said, we’re going to do our work on the quarterback market. It’s too important of a position and it’s something that has to be solidified. I can’t sit here and tell you today, you know, whether the solution for or the starter in 2026 is internal or external. But it’s something that we’re going to work through over the next several weeks. And quite honestly, the new head coach will also have a lot of input into that as well.”
If Browns follow recent QB trends, Sanders’ chance to start will be an uphill climb
Perhaps the best thing the Browns can do for their quarterback future is hire the coach they best believe will lead their organization, independent of any single quarterback style.
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Berry acknowledged that “schemes, they really do come and go.” An NFC assistant coach whose team helped their quarterback rebound after a coaching change felt no single schematic factor was the answer in their club.
“I think they just need to find the best coach possible,” the assistant told Yahoo Sports. “You just need to hire the best guy for each job of the organization vs. being predetermined to get a QB guru or whatever you think you need stylistically.
“That way you’re able to pivot if it turns out [the quarterback] isn’t the guy, but at least you hired the right coach.”
This year’s sophomore quarterback class is evidence of that.
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Setting a historic pace, teams selected six quarterbacks in the first 12 picks of the 2024 NFL Draft. Second overall pick Jayden Daniels took the Commanders to the NFC championship game in his first season under center. This year, three more 2024 quarterbacks have led their teams to a playoff berth.
Selected at first, third and 12th respectively, Caleb Williams, Drake Maye and Bo Nix vary in style and NFL early-career experience. While Nix arrived to an organization with coaching stability, receiving play calls from Super Bowl-winning Sean Payton, his counterparts each entered Year 2 with a new head coach. Their two coaching résumés differ vastly, Chicago’s Ben Johnson a first-time head coach who’s calling offensive plays while New England’s Mike Vrabel is a second-time head coach calling plays on neither side of the ball.
And yet, talent evaluators around the league look at each of their stories and see the success stemming from coach at least as much as quarterback. The “right” coach was hired. Neither his quality nor quantity of experience determined whether he was the right coach.
Finding Mr. Right will be Berry’s job in the coming weeks, after which the group will decide how and with whom they want to augment the quarterback room. Doing nothing, while currently on track for a host of 2026 draft picks, including the sixth overall as well as a late first-round selection, would be shocking.
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While free agency is always an option, 12 of the 14 starting quarterbacks in this year’s postseason were selected in the first round. Three are no longer with the team that initially drafted them, a reminder of success teams have had in recent years finding quarterbacks via trade or free agency.
That context may hint at the Browns brass’s next move. And it may hint at Sanders’ chance of keeping the starting job through 2026.. Fifth-round quarterbacks face uphill battles. So do quarterbacks selected before a coach had input in that decision.
“I think overall, like as a quarterback, I showed different pieces in different games to all add up to one complete quarterback,” Sanders said. “And that’s what I had to get to in those situations — red-zone situations, field-goal situations, third-down situations, ‘where you at on the field’ situations. So, it was a lot of situations that was good. I feel like this was a good learning year for me, and I’m excited for it. Because like I say, like moving forward I’ll be prepared.
“I did what I was able to do, and I definitely grew from a lot of things. And I got experience now. So, I’m always the same: confidence-wise, I’m there. But like, that’s not in my hands. Like, that’s not my decision.
Kevin Durant did not hold back after beating his former team on Monday night.
Durant hit a game-winning shot with just 1.1 seconds left on the clock to lift the Houston Rockets to a 100-97 win over the Phoenix Suns on Monday. He caught an in-bounds pass with Royce O’Neale on him, dribbled twice and pulled up easily to sink the shot from deep.
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Naturally, that sparked a huge celebration at the Toyota Center and prompted some very clear taunts from Durant.
But it was what Durant said about the Suns after the game that was the most notable part of the night.
“Most definitely,” he said when asked if the shot meant more because it was against the Suns, via The Associated Press. “[That was] a place that I didn’t want to leave. My first time — I don’t want to sound too dramatic, but I will — to be kicked out of a place.”
Durant spent 2 1/2 seasons with the Suns before the team traded him to the Rockets in a massive deal last summer. The Suns made it to the second round of the playoffs only once with Durant on their roster, and they missed the postseason completely last season. Durant also had three different head coaches during his time in Phoenix, and the organization has a new one running things now in Jordan Ott.
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While the Suns had more issues with their roster than just Durant, he said he felt like all of the blame was placed on his shoulders.
“It feels good to play against a team that booted you out of the building and scapegoated you for all the problems they had,” he said. “And it hurt because I put all my effort and love and care towards the Suns and the Phoenix area and Arizona in general. But that’s just the business, that’s the name of the game. So, when you play against a [former] team, yeah you got a chip on your shoulder.”
Devin Booker led the Suns with 27 points in the loss. O’Neal finished with 15 points, and Dillon Brooks added 15 points. The Suns now sit at 21-15 on the season, and have won six of their past eight to climb rapidly in the Western Conference standings.
Durant finished with 26 points and 10 rebounds in the win for the Rockets. His game-winner was just the second 3-pointer he made all night. Durant went 2 of 12 from behind the arc.
Both Amen Thompson and Jabari Smith Jr. finished with 17 points and seven rebounds each, and Tari Eason added 12 points and eight rebounds. Houston now holds a 22-11 record this season.
“Even though I’m old, I still can play,” Durant said. “I feel like every player has that mentality playing against their former team. I don’t think it’s malicious in any way towards them. But just as a competitor, you want to go out there and beat them.”
While Durant is still clearly harboring some negative feelings toward the Suns organization, he’s gotten most of his matchups against them out of the way early. Monday’s game wasn’t the Rockets’ first against the Suns this season; it was their third. All three of them have been wins. The Rockets won’t play the Suns again until April 7. If the two teams don’t see each other in the playoffs, that’ll be it until next fall.
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Yet despite his comments, Durant may not even care by then — or even by the time he left the Toyota Center.
“By the time I get home tonight, I probably won’t even remember it,” he said. “Well, I will remember it, but I’ll try my best to forget about it and move on to the next one.”
🏀 Thunder blown out: OKC’s slide continued with a stunning 27-point home loss to the lowly Hornets, falling to 6-6 in their last 12 games after going 24-1 in their first 25. Their pursuit of the single-season wins record has officially hit a wall.
🏆 Bobcats crowned champs: Montana State outlasted Illinois State, 35-34 (OT), to win its first FCS title since 1984. How good was this game? It featured a 20-point comeback, a blocked FG, a blocked PAT in overtime and a game-winning score on 4th and 10.
🏀 Trae on the move? After the Hawks began talks with Trae Young’s camp last week about moving the four-time All-Star, reports now suggest the Wizards are a potential landing spot in a deal that would be centered around C.J. McCollum’s expiring contract.
🌹 Rose Bowl makes history: Indiana’s blowout win over Alabama drew 23.9 million viewers, making it the most-watched CFP game in the 12-team era. By comparison, last week’s other three quarterfinals all fell short of 20 million viewers.
❤️ Why we love sports
Frank (L) and Clayton. (Frank Michael Smith)
Frank Michael Smith is one of my favorite people in sports — and millions of followers on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and other platforms agree. Frank is also a loyal Yahoo Sports AM reader, and he was kind enough to share a memorable experience he had on Sunday that captures the magic of sports.
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Frank Michael Smith (Pittsburgh) writes:
My father in-law barely speaks English. He arrived from São Paulo and was greeted by Pittsburgh weather at its worst, a new culture, and a Steelers team in the midst of yet another late season collapse. None of it mattered. The moment he stepped foot in the North Shore, he belonged.
The days before the Steelers Week 18 showdown versus the Ravens were ordinary, but packed with new experiences. His first snowball, icy roads, and a Bloody Mary he politely finished but vowed never to order again.
Clayton was treating each day like an open invitation. The guy was down for anything, but when the Steelers blew their Week 17 game vs. Cleveland, I knew what had to be done. I broke the news that things were about to get serious. The purest most authentic version of my city lives inside Steelers January football.
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I explained to Clayton that it wouldn’t be enough to dress warm. We had to leave the house looking like Eskimos if we were to endure my struggling Steelers for 3.5 hours in 20 degree weather. Clayton smiled and said…”nova experiência” (new experience).
Clayton waving a Terrible Towel. (Frank Michael Smith)
We both speak a bit of each other’s languages, but once we rolled into the North Shore our broken conversations weren’t necessary. The crowd spoke for us. Collective groans after the Steelers went down by 10 points early, and eruptions after they stormed back to seize the lead with 4 minutes remaining.
Clayton understood the winner take all stakes, but nothing could prepare him for the pandemonium after Baltimore missed a 44 yard field goal that sent the Steelers to the playoffs.
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When I say the crowd exploded, I mean for a minute there I was nervous about the structural integrity of the venue. It was a level of euphoria usually reserved for an AFC Championship game. We hugged each other and seemingly everyone else in a 15 foot radius.
This is what sports are all about. They transcend distance and language. They bring people together and transform random visits into core memories. Years from now, Clayton won’t remember the weather. He’ll remember the night Pittsburgh adopted him.
✍️ Submit your story: Do you have a fondest sports memory? Or an example of sports having a positive impact on your life? If you’d like to share, email me at kendall.baker@yahooinc.com. We hope to feature more of these kinds of stories throughout 2026.
🏀 AP polls: Arizona, UConn on top
(Davis Long/Yahoo Sports)
Arizona held off Michigan for the top spot in this week’s AP poll by a single point (!!), while Nebraska moved into the top 10 for the first time since 1966.
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Conference call: The Power 4 are dominating this season, with nearly every team in the top 25 coming from the Big 12 (7), Big Ten (6), SEC (5) and ACC (5). The Big East and West Coast round things out with one team each.
(Davis Long/Yahoo Sports)
The women’s poll got a major shakeup with Kentucky, Vanderbilt and Louisville replacing Iowa State, LSU and TCU in the top 10 after the latter three all lost last week. The very top, however, remains unchanged as the top four has comprised the same four teams every week this season.
Streak snapped: Notre Dame’s run of 85 consecutive appearances in the top 25 ended after the Irish lost twice last week. That had been the third-longest active streak in the nation behind UConn (615) and South Carolina (257).
Biggest risers: No team vaulted more spots from Week 1 to Week 18 than the Patriots (up 18), followed closely by the Seahawks (up 16) and Panthers (up 15). The Rams, Jaguars, Texans and Saints (up 10) made the next largest jumps.
Biggest fallers: The Chiefs (down 20) fell the furthest over the course of the season, followed by the Commanders (down 17), Ravens (down 16), Lions (down 13), Bengals (down 11), Cardinals (down 11) and Buccaneers (down 10).
🏈 River Falls rides “Top Gun” offense to title
(Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Indiana’s ascent from cellar dweller to juggernaut has been the story of the FBS season. A little farther north in River Falls, Wisconsin, another football team just completed an epic turnaround of its own.
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Champions at last: UW-River Falls beat North Central (Illinois), 24-14, on Sunday to win their first D-III national championship, toppling a dynasty that has reached six straight title games and putting the finishing touches on a historically dominant campaign.
A long time coming: The Falcons hadn’t won their conference outright since 1985, hadn’t reached the playoffs since 1996, and endured 19 consecutive losing seasons entering the pandemic. Something needed to change.
That’s when head coach Matt Walker, who took over in 2011 and jokes that he “should’ve been fired three times,” implemented what’s been dubbed the “Top Gun” offense.
Walker developed the up-tempo scheme alongside newly-promoted OC Joe Matheson during the lost COVID season. Their goal? Become “the fastest team to ever play,” he told The Athletic ($).
What they’re saying: “It was desperation,” Matheson said of creating the offense, which utilizes a wide array of formations. “If you have the personnel to run 12 personnel, that’s what you do. But we had to find ways to get our kids to success. People don’t understand how important it is to have a head coach that is willing to do crazy things.”
Well, the crazy thing worked: The “Top Gun” offense immediately paid dividends, resulting in four straight winning seasons before going supernova this fall.
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The Falcons (14-1) averaged 556 yards of offense on 84 plays per game this season, by far the best marks across all NCAA divisions. What does 84 plays per game look like? One snap roughly every 20 seconds, a truly dizzying rate.
No player benefitted more from the scheme than QB Kaleb Blaha, who won the Gagliardi Trophy (D-III’s Heisman) and broke Joe Burrow’s NCAA record for most individual yards in a season, with 6,189 combined passing (4,971) and rushing yards (1,218).
The last word: “It took 15 years to get here,” said Walker after hoisting the national championship trophy. “I had teams that won no games, won one. Everyone stayed committed to this vision. I’m speechless.”
📺 Watchlist: Tuesday, Jan. 6
Duke, led by Cameron Boozer, has lost just one game this season — by just one point. (Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
🏀 NCAA Men’s Basketball
Tonight’s stacked slate is headlined by a pair of ranked-on-ranked matchups, with No. 6 Duke visiting No. 20 Louisville (7pm ET, ESPN) and No. 14 Texas Tech visiting No. 8 Houston (9pm, FS1).
Best of the rest: No. 2 Michigan at Penn State (7pm, FS1); No. 18 Georgia at Florida (7pm, SEC); Texas at No. 21 Tennessee (9pm, ESPN2); TCU at No. 22 Kansas (9pm, ESPN).
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More to watch:
🏀 NBA: Heat at Timberwolves (8pm, NBC); Mavericks at Kings (11pm, NBC) … Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards ranks seventh in scoring (29.4 ppg).
🏒 NHL: Panthers at Maple Leafs (7:30pm, TNT) … Both teams are currently outside the playoff picture.
⛳️ TGL: The Bay vs. Atlanta (5pm, ESPN) … Shane Lowry, Ludvig Åberg and Wyndham Clark vs. Billy Horschel, Patrick Cantlay and Chris Gotterup.
Derrick Henry just recorded his fifth career season with at least 1,500 rushing yards, tied for the most such seasons in NFL history.
Question: Who is he tied with?
Hint: Spent his entire career with one team.
Answer at the bottom.
📸 Photo finish
(Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
The Hershey Bears, the AHL affiliate of the Capitals, collected 81,796 stuffed animals for charity during Sunday’s Teddy Bear Toss. The furry friends will be donated to children throughout Central Pennsylvania.
Trivia answer: Barry Sanders
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HOUSTON — Moments after draining a 27-foot game-winning shot over his former Suns teammates, Rockets veteran superstar forward Kevin Durant found it difficult to contain his emotions. The pleasantries exchanged after the final buzzer indicated the existence of bonds that still remained between Durant and his old colleagues, but the raw emotion of the moment — or more importantly, what it represented — took over.
Durant’s blunt honesty, delivered in an almost satirical fashion, cut through the room like a knife, all while reminding us of the other side we don’t see often. The fast-paced nature of the NBA — and the business of basketball, to some degree — routinely eschews personal feelings in lieu of the overarching structure of the sport. Our brains are wired to the transactional roller coaster the game brings, obsessed with trade talk, free agency and mass upheaval.
But far too often, we forget that for as much fun as it is to drum up fake trades and hypotheticals, these players are living out their lives in front of us — with real feelings and experiences. The NBA is the great equalizer, from the two-way late roster addition to the future Hall of Famer with one of the most decorated resumes in basketball history. Regardless of how Durant eventually found his way to Houston, it was evident the Suns, despite the fiasco that their 2024-25 campaign was, were comfortable with a future without Durant.
“It hurt because I put all my effort, love and care towards the Suns and Phoenix area,” Durant added. “But that’s just the business. That’s the name of the game. So when you play against a team, you got a chip on your shoulder. In the back of my mind it’s there. Nothing but love for the players, but I want to beat that team.”
Durant’s leadership and poise are especially needed in moments like this. The Rockets will be without starting center Alperen Şengün for at least two weeks after the Turkish big man rolled his right ankle against Dallas over the weekend. But Houston’s issues with their crunchtime execution have been well-documented, still with a 7-9 clutch record and a -9.7 net rating, per Second Spectrum. Head coach Ime Udoka has routinely expressed his satisfaction with how Durant approaches the game and closing moments, seeking out the best play instead of his own. But Monday night was a gentle reminder that perhaps one of the NBA’s best finishers should have the ball in his hands with the game on the line.
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“We wanted to get him the ball at the right spot,” Udoka said. “We want to keep it simple, not do too much where they can deny or take something away. Get him open to his spot. He said it felt good as soon as he let it go.”
With the win, Houston has now won five out of their last six games and are just two games out of second place in the Western Conference. An important upcoming road trip with two games in Portland and Sacramento could set up the Rockets for a big homestand to kickstart the new year.
However things shake out, it is all a reminder of Durant’s immense talent and what his presence means for the Rockets. And that superstars are people too.
Can Hollywood Smothers get Alabama’s run game on track in 2026?
The NC State running back is transferring to the Crimson Tide, according to multiple reports. Across 11 games in 2025, Smothers rushed 160 times for 939 yards and six touchdowns. He averaged just under six yards a carry before sitting out NC State’s bowl game ahead of entering the transfer portal.
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Smothers has averaged six yards a carry across his NC State career. As a redshirt freshman in 2024, he rushed for 571 yards on just 89 carries and also had six touchdowns. He also has 57 career catches for 453 yards and three touchdowns.
It’s the second transfer of Smothers’ career. He appeared in four games as a freshman at Oklahoma in 2023.
Alabama’s Jam Miller was the team’s leading rusher with 504 yards in 2025. Miller averaged less than four yards a carry and so did second-leading rusher Daniel Hill. He had 75 carries for 284 yards and a team-leading six touchdowns.
Overall, Alabama had just 1,562 yards on 456 carries. The Tide averaged just 3.5 yards a rush as a team all season. To put that into context, Alabama ranked 123rd out of 134 teams in rushing yards per game.
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As Smothers is heading to Tuscaloosa, the Tide also have a commitment from five-star running back Ezavier Crowell. The Alabama native is the No. 18 prospect in the country and the No. 2 running back while also being the top recruit in the state.
