Evan Mobley’s dunk with 4.8 seconds remaining in regulation led the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 117-115 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday night. The Cavs rallied from multiple double-digit deficits for the road win.
Jaylon Tyson scored a career-high 39 points for Cleveland, shooting 13-of-17 from the floor. He nailed 7-of-9 3-pointers and went 6-for-6 on free throws. The Cavs’ 2024 first-round pick also grabbed five rebounds and dished out four assists. The last of those assists came on a wrap-around pass from the baseline to Mobley in the lane for his game-winning dunk.
The two teams finished the first quarter tied 31-31. But the Sixers went into halftime with a 62-55 lead on two free throws from Joel Embiid, followed by five points from Quentin Grimes to close out the second quarter.
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Philadelphia took a 66-55 lead at the 11:02 mark of the third quarter on a jumper from Embiid. Tyson quickly followed up with a 3-pointer to cut the deficit back to single digits. Cleveland got to within three points before the 76ers outscored the Cavs 17-13 to end the frame.
Midway through the fourth, the Sixers built an 100-89 lead on a Paul George jumper. But a Donovan Mitchell 3-pointer cut Philly’s lead to 102-95, igniting a 10-0 run by the Cavs. A DeAndre Hunter 3 tied the score at 102-102 with 5:53 remaining in regulation, setting up a battle during the last six minutes of the game.
A stepback jumper from Tyrese Maxey put the Sixers back up by seven with 3:53 left, but two 3-pointers by Tyson and a dunk from Hunter (with an assist from Tyson) put Cleveland on top, 112-111. The two teams then traded the lead twice during the final two minutes before Maxey hit a floater to tie the score at 115-115 with 8.1 seconds remaining. That gave the Cavaliers enough time, following a timeout, to set up the game-winning play.
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Hunter scored 15 and Mobley added 15 with 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 blocks. Mitchell and Tyrese Proctor each tallied 13 points to help improve the Cavs to 24-19. That boosts them to sixth in the Eastern Conference, just ahead of the 76ers.
Embiid finished with 33 points, the fifth time he’s scored 30 or more this season. Maxey added 29 points, 9 assists, 5 rebounds and 5 steals, though he shot 9-of-24 from the floor. Grimes and George each scored 14 for Philadelphia, which dropped to 22-18 and seventh in the East.
Brittney Sykes hit a 3-pointer to give Lace a 76-75 win over Phantom in Unrivaled play on Friday night. The 3-pointer hit the target score of 76 after Lace took a 65-60 lead at the end of the third quarter on a 2-point free throw by Jordin Canada.
Lace ran out to a 27-18 lead after the first quarter, giving Phantom a large deficit to overcome. They trimmed the margin to 47-43 at halftime, but Lace kept Phantom at a five-point margin at the end of three frames.
However, Phantom took a 69-67 lead in the fourth with Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Plum leading the surge. A layup by Boston gave Phantom a 73-70 lead and with 76 the target score to win, it appeared that they would pull off a comeback win. But Jackie Young responded with a layup and free throw to tie the score at 73-73.
Boston followed up with another layup to put Phantom on top, 75-73. She scored the team’s final five points. But at one point away from reaching 76, that gave Sykes an opportunity to take a 3-pointer for the win.
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Plum led all scorers with 25 points for Phantom, adding 6 rebounds and 7 assists. She came into Friday’s game as Unrivaled’s fourth-leading scorer, averaging 23.3 points per game. Boston followed with 23 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks, while Kiki Iriafen scored 10 points.
Alyssa Thomas was Lace’s leading scorer with 19 points, along with 6 rebounds and 4 assists. Sykes finished with 17 points, coming into the game as Unrivaled’s fifth-best scorer at 22.5 points per game. Young also scored 17.
With the win, Lace improves to 3-1 after going 7-7 to finish third in the league last season. Phantom drops to 2-2, improving thus far on last year’s 4-10 record.
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Hive gets first-ever Unrivaled win
Unrivaled added two new teams this season with Hive and Breeze. While Breeze is off to a 2-1 start in its inaugural season, Hive looked like an expansion team by struggling to an 0-3 start. But they earned their first win of the season on Friday.
Kelsey Mitchell’s layup lifted Hive to a 78-75 win over Rose, pushing the team past the winning target score of 77 established with a 66-54 lead after three quarters.
Rose outscored Hive 15-7 to begin the fourth quarter, closing the score to 72-69 on consecutive 3-pointers by Chelsea Gray. But layups by Mitchell and Monique Billings put Hive one point away from the win. Kahleah Copper then hit a 3 to give Rose an opportunity to win on its next possession.
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However, they didn’t get that chance with Hive calling timeout and setting up the game-winner. Mitchell inbounded the ball, then took a handoff from Billings, who set a screen to clear a path to the basket. The eighth-year pro drove to her left and dashed past Azura Stevens to get Hive over 77 points.
Mitchell finished with 24 points, shooting 11-for-17 from the floor. Billings added 12 points and 10 rebounds, while Sonia Citron scored 14 points. Gray led all scorers with 36 points with 7 assists for Rose, hitting 6-of-9 3-pointers. She came into Friday’s game as Unrivaled’s leading scorer, averaging 32.8 points per game. Stevens followed with 17 points and 9 boards.
The defeat dropped Rose to 3-1, tying them with Lace for the league’s top record.
The former MVP and 15-time All-Star scored 39 points to push the Rockets to a 110-105 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves in a clash of top Western Conference contenders. Durant totaled a season-high, draining 6-of-8 3-pointers while shooting 11-for-18 from the floor. He also made 11-of-14 free throws.
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Durant has scored 30 or more points in 14 games for the Rockets this season. Friday’s performance follows up a 19-point game against the Oklahoma City Thunder in which he shot 7-for-23 and 0-for-5 on 3-pointers.
Alperen Şengün added 25 points and 14 rebounds for Houston, though he fouled out after committing an offensive foul with 1:19 remaining. Amen Thompson scored 14 points with 7 boards, while Reed Sheppard also tallied 14 (hitting 4-of-6 3-pointers).
Minnesota held a narrow 82-81 lead after a tightly contested third quarter. But the Rockets outscored the T-Wolves 19-9 midway through the fourth quarter to take a 100-91 lead on a 3-pointer by Jabari Smith Jr. Durant scored 10 points during that run.
However, Julius Randle and Jaden McDaniels led the T-Wolves on a 12-5 surge, trimming the Rockets’ lead to 105-103 with 1:09 remaining in regulation. From there, Durant made four free throws to boost Houston’s lead to 109-103 with 22.1 seconds left.
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Randle also scored 39 points on 14-of-25 shooting from the floor (also hitting 9 of 11 free throws). Naz Reid contributed 25 points and 10 boards off the bench, knocking down 5 of 7 3s. Rudy Gobert added 13 rebounds with 10 points.
Anthony Edwards did not play for Minnesota, sitting out his second consecutive game with a right foot injury. Altogether, the T-Wolves star has missed nine games this season with right foot issues and a previous hamstring injury. With a back-to-back game scheduled for Saturday against the San Antonio Spurs, Edwards missing a third straight game seems likely.
Friday’s matchup was the first of the season between the Timberwolves and Rockets. With the loss, Minnesota drops to 27-15 but has still won seven of its past 10 games. Houston improves to 24-15 with the win, yet has lost five of its last eight games. The Rockets are 1.5 games behind the T-Wolves, holding the fifth spot in the Western Conference.
Sacramento Kings forward Domantas Sabonis returned on Friday night against the Washington Wizards, scoring 13 points with 6 rebounds and 5 assists in a 128-115 win. Sabonis has been sidelined with a partial meniscus tear for the last 27 games.
He played 21 minutes, hitting 5 of his 6 shots from the floor.
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Sabonis last played on Nov. 16, and in his 11 games this season, he’s averaged 17.2 points, 12.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists. The three-time All-Star ultimately opted against surgery and rehabbed carefully, per Slater.
Trade speculation has surrounded Sabonis and the Kings in general, and that will only ratchet up as the deadline looms less than three weeks away. Sabonis signed a four-year, $186 million contract before the 2024-25 season, and has three years and $136.3 million remaining.
The Kings are 12-30, which is the second-worst record in the Western Conference, and they went 8-19 without Sabonis in the lineup. But after seven straight losses, Sacramento is on a four-game win streak, after prevailing over the 10-30 Wizards.
Darnold is still listed as “questionable” for the highly anticipated rematch between NFC West rivals.
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Macdonald said that Darnold feels better a day removed from pain popping up and explained that he will test things out Saturday before a final decision is made.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Darnold has yet to throw since suffering the injury. Backup Drew Lock has taken the reps this week to prepare should he be needed against the 49ers.
The second-year Seahawks coach was asked if the oblique issue could limit the way Darnold plays.
“Well, yeah, that’s a possibility,” Macdonald said. “I think right now he’s confident that he’s going to be able to go do his thing at 100%, and we are, too. But with these things, something could change between now and then or something could happen in-game. So kind of just have to roll with it.”
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Macdonald clarified, however, that the Seahawks won’t put Darnold out there if he’s not fit to do his job.
Lock appeared in five games this season but attempted only three passes. A 2019 second-round pick out of Missouri, Lock has started 28 games in his career, including two for the Seahawks during the 2023 season.
Darnold told reporters he felt something in his oblique early in practice Thursday when throwing routes.
“Just didn’t want to push it. It wasn’t the day to push it,” Darnold said, per Gregg Bell of The Tacoma News Tribune. “So that was it. Just came inside, got some rehab. I feel like I’ll be ready to go for Saturday.”
Darnold said he never had oblique issues before. He put a positive spin on the midweek hurdle that he’s eager to clear ahead of the biggest game of his career.
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“It’s fun. We’ll attack it the next couple days and be ready to go for Saturday,” Darnold added.
Darnold, a righty, explained at the time that he experienced the discomfort on his left side on a throw.
He was asked what percent of him thinks he might not play against the 49ers this weekend at Seattle’s Lumen Field.
“Very low percentage,” he said Thursday. “Probably closer to zero.”
He picked up where he left off in Minnesota last season when he led the Vikings to a 14-3 record as a replacement for the injured J.J. McCarthy.
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This time around, he became the fourth quarterback in NFL history to guide two different teams to 14-win seasons, joining Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and Jared Goff.
Despite a league-high 20 turnovers, Darnold made the Pro Bowl. With a win over San Francisco in the regular-season finale, Seattle earned the division title and the NFC’s No. 1 seed, which came with a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
Darnold is now slated to face the resilient 49ers again. He’s hoping for playoff redemption after throwing a pick, losing a fumble and being sacked nine times during the Vikings’ 27-9 wild-card loss to the Los Angeles Rams last season.
The NFC West champion and No. 1-seeded Seattle Seahawks will host the San Francisco 49ers on Saturday in the third meeting between the two teams this season. The Seahawks beat the 49ers 13-3 in Week 18 to clinch the NFC West and the conference’s top seed, so they got to rest at home while San Francisco impressively went on the road and defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 23-19 as a 5.5-point underdog.
Can Kyle Shanahan win another game as a big underdog? Will Sam Darnold overcome his issues in big games to lead Seattle to the NFC championship game?
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Here is insight from oddsmakers for the game, and our team of NFL handicappers provides its favorite wagers on the game.
“I did add the 49ers to my Christmas list for next year after they eliminated the Eagles for us. Losing George Kittle is huge, as they’ve basically been a MASH unit all season. We opened Seattle -6.5, it was quickly bet up to -7 and touched -7.5. Now we’re back down to -7. Pretty good two-way action. Total has come down from 46.5 down to 45. Sharp action on the total pushing it down. Seattle is our best-case scenario for futures, both Super Bowl and NFC, and 49ers aren’t bad either. The only team we have liability left on is the Rams.” — Thomas Gable, sportsbook director at The Borgata
“Last week, we saw an unprecedented move with sharps betting Eagles from -3.5 to -6 before some buyback brought it -5.5. The thought was that the 49ers were beat up and there’d be some weather and they couldn’t compete — and that was not the case. We opened this game at Seahawks -7, briefly hit -7.5, now back down to -7. Seeing a lot of 49ers moneyline wagers and to cover +7.5. Big number for a divisional game.” — Joey Feazel, head of NFL trading at Caesars Sportsbook
Best bets
Matt Jacob: Total points scored when the Seahawks and 49ers squared off for a second time last season: 37.
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Total points scored when these NFC West rivals met in the 2025 season opener in Seattle: 30.
Total points scored in the 2025 regular season finale in San Francisco: 16.
In fact, seven of the last nine head-to-head meetings have fallen short of 45 combined points.
Yes, the Niners’ defense has gotten picked apart at times this season — from Weeks 15-17, they surrendered 89 points to Caleb Williams, Philip Rivers and Cam Ward. But that defense came up huge against the defending Super Bowl champs last week and did it on the road.
And in two games against the Seahawks, San Francisco surrendered just two touchdowns and four field goals.
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Meanwhile, Seattle had the NFL’s No. 1 scoring defense in the regular season, allowing just 17.2 points per game. What’s more, if you take out a wild 38-37 overtime win over the explosive Rams, here are the point totals produced by the last four visitors to Seattle: 19 (Texans), 22 (Cardinals), 0 (Vikings) and 16 (Colts).
Bet: Under 45 total points (-110)
Russell: Part and parcel with the under is that operation No. 1 for the Seahawks is to manage Darnold’s exposure to potential turnovers, because generating multiple interceptions or strip-sack of the quarterback is the only way the 49ers can win this game.
Normally, the team that won the last matchup has to worry about having to change something in order to stay ahead of the adjustments that the losing team is going to make, but Seattle’s Week 18 performance was so basic that it can replicate its success on the ground. After all, it wasn’t an anomaly that San Francisco would get gashed on the ground, as the Bears ran well the week before, and Saquon Barkley had a rare 100-yard game this season in the wild-card game, the week after Seattle’s tailback duo combined for 171 yards on 33 carries in Week 18.
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Which running back will clear his various prop totals is tough to parse, so instead we’ll bet that Darnold isn’t asked to do much, and that the 49ers’ defense will continue its plan to keep everything in front of it, hoping to get stops in the red zone. With explosiveness unnecessary and unlikely, we’ll fade Darnold’s yardage total, in a backhanded compliment to the Seahawks’ chances of winning.
Bet: Sam Darnold under 236.5 passing yards (-115)
Jacob: Two weeks ago against the Seahawks, Christian McCaffrey touched the pigskin 17 times and produced a total of 57 scrimmage yards. Not only was McCaffrey playing at home, but 49ers teammate (and perennial Pro Bowler) George Kittle was on the field drawing the attention of the Seahawks’ linebackers and defensive backs.
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This week, McCaffrey travels to Seattle and Kittle won’t be anywhere near the field after tearing his Achilles last week in Philadelphia. In other words, CMC will be public enemy No. 1 (and Nos. 2 and 3) for Seattle’s dominant defense.
Of course, McCaffrey will get plenty of opportunities to duplicate last week’s performance in Philadelphia (21 touches, 114 total yards). Not only because of his dual-threat skills, but also because 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy doesn’t have a ton of other options.
Still, even if McCaffrey gets his hands on the ball 25 times, can you really envision him doubling the numbers he produced against Seattle in Week 18? Especially when facing a defense whose rallying cry this week has to be “Anybody but McCaffrey?”
I sure can’t.
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Bet: Christian McCaffrey under 107.5 rushing and receiving yards (-105)
Feng: Purdy has been excellent this season. When I take his yards per pass attempt and adjust for opposing defenses, Purdy is expected to throw for 6.95 YPPA against an average NFL defense, fifth-best among starters. However, he faces an elite Seattle defense that ranks third in these same numbers. My model based on adjusted YPPA predicts 219 passing yards for Purdy, and it should be even less without Kittle and likely WR Ricky Pearsall.
Purdy effectively didn’t have both receivers last week — Kittle got hurt on his second target — but he still threw for 262 yards against an excellent Philadelphia defense. That performance is probably propping this number up.
The AFC West champion Denver Broncos will host the Buffalo Bills this Saturday, as Buffalo advanced with a hard-fought 27-24 win at the Jacksonville Jaguars in the wild-card round while the Broncos sat and watched at home as the conference’s top seed.
Will Allen and Co. take the next step en route to that elusive Super Bowl trip? Or will Sean Payton, Bo Nix and Denver’s terrific defense move them one step closer to their first Super Bowl appearance since 2016?
Ben Fawkes gathered quotes from oddsmakers for all the games and our team of NFL handicappers provides their favorite wagers on the game.
“We opened this game Bills -2, total of 46.5. We’re at pick-em right now, certain places have Denver -1. It certainly has been early Denver money. I don’t think Buffalo is quite at the San Francisco level of injuries, but they’re getting up there. Early money grabbed the +2, +1.5 on Denver. Total has ticked down to 46 here, down half a point. At pick-em, you’re going to get public Bills money” — Thomas Gable, sportsbook director at The Borgata
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“We opened Bills -1.5, now at Bills -1 (EVEN). My power ratings made this Broncos -0.5. In this type of game, the Bills have the playoff experience, which we’ve seen make a difference. In terms of biggest one-way sided games, it’s going to be this one. Bills getting majority of the action” — Joey Feazel, head of NFL trading at Caesars Sportsbook
Best bets
Matt Jacob: A week ago, the 2025 NFL rushing champion (Buffalo’s James Cook) faced the league’s No. 1 rushing defense (Jacksonville). Suffice to say, it wasn’t a fair fight: The Jaguars held Cook to 46 yards on 15 carries (a paltry 3.1 yards per tote).
Thanks to Josh Allen’s heroics, the Bills escaped Jacksonville with a victory and now head back on the road, this time traveling to Denver. And greeting Cook will be the NFL’s No. 2-ranked rushing defense.
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The Broncos surrendered 91.1 rushing yards per game (only 4.5 more yards than Jacksonville) and held opponents to just 3.87 yards per carry (tied for second-best in the league).
Over the last six regular-season games, only three players tallied more than 50 rushing yards against Denver: Chargers backup quarterback Trey Lance (69 yards in Week 18); Packers running back Josh Jacobs (73 yards in Week 15); and Commanders backup quarterback Marcus Mariota (55 yards in Week 13)
Take out Lance and Mariota, and only five running backs have eclipsed 50 rushing yards against the Broncos since Week 4 (14 games): Jacobs; rookies Ashton Jeanty and Cam Skattebo (60 yards each); and Kareem Hunt and Breece Hall (59 yards each).
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The only player to top 75 rushing yards versus Denver all season? The Colts’ Jonathan Taylor (165 yards in Week 2).
Bet: James Cook under 75.5 rushing yards (-115)
Jacob: In his final regular season game against the Chargers, Denver quarterback Bo Nix put the ball in the air a season-low 23 times. It made perfect sense, as the Chargers started a slew of backups on both sides of the ball and the Broncos cruised to a 19-3 victory.
Why put the franchise quarterback at unnecessary risk in a one-sided game, right?
Of course, Denver coach Sean Payton would love nothing more than to see the same scenario play out Saturday against Buffalo, with his troops jumping out to a big lead and the offense leaning heavily on the run game. It’s just not likely to happen.
Because they’ve struggled to defend the run, I expect the Bills to load the box and force Nix to beat them with his arm. In turn, I expect Payton to allow his young quarterback to fire away — because he did it all season.
To wit: Prior to the finale against the Chargers, Nix threw at least 34 passes in six straight games (and averaged 39.8 per contest). And going back to a Week 4 home rout of Cincinnati, Nix cleared 33 pass attempts in 10 of his final 14 games.
With ideal weather expected in Denver, Nix should air it out at least 34 times in what figures to be a close game.
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Bet: Bo Nix over 33.5 pass attempts (+100)
Russell: While the Broncos offense got better after their Week 12 bye, Denver’s defense actually regressed, with a stretch of games in which they were 21st by EPA/Play (adjusted for turnovers and garbage time). What that means for the Bills is that Josh Allen should be able to move the ball through the air.
However, Allen’s running low on deep threats, and tempting fate against the Broncos’ pass rush seems like a bad idea. Look for an array of safe, underneath throws to his tailbacks, tight ends and Khalil Shakir. With the market tilting towards favoring the Broncos, at the very least a close game-script could enhance Allen’s chances for a high-volume afternoon — and a game where they’re trailing would secure it.
“We’ve lived it at NBC with the Blackhawks games,” Tirico said. “I’ve lived it at the Indy 500, Jim singing back home in Indiana. I would walk out during the Saturday rehearsal of the pre-race for the Indy 500 just to be there and listen to Jim singing in the rehearsal so I can hear it on Sunday live. That’s the best anthem you’re gonna get at any game, any year. … That place [Soldier Field] is gonna be at 11 out of 10.”
The 61-year-old Cornelison began singing the anthem at Chicago Blackhawks games in 1996 and assumed the role full-time in 2007. His pre-game anthem was an attraction during the Blackhawks’ Stanley Cup runs in the 2010s.
Soldier Field has also heard his booming pipes on numerous occasions before Bears games. But Sunday’s anthem might garner the biggest response he’s received with a trip to the NFC title game on the line.
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Cornelison won’t be the only star not on the field but in the building on Sunday night. Brandon Martinez, better known as “Cheese Grater Guy” was gifted tickets from Miller Lite after he went viral during last week’s win over the Green Bay Packers.
CORAL GABLES, Fla. — For years now, especially during the era of athlete compensation, few universities have been the target of more criticism than the University of Miami.
One of the program’s mega-boosters, Nevin Shapiro, spent time in prison, after all. Another, John Ruiz, landed the program in one of the last wide-ranging NCAA investigations a couple years ago.
Maybe all of this can be solved in one way: uncap the market.
“The idea of capping compensation has never worked in this industry,” said Miami athletic director Dan Radakovich, speaking to Yahoo Sports from his second-floor office on campus Friday morning. “The model we have right now is really difficult to enforce. People who feel like they want to invest should have the ability to invest.”
Radakovich is the latest and, perhaps, the boldest to publicly encourage an uncapped market of athlete compensation.
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As schools strategize to exceed the new $20.5 million roster cap in a variety of ways, many college officials believe that enforcement is “really difficult,” Radakovich says, and that the act of restricting earnings — even within the House settlement’s injunction — is not a way forward.
“Over time, if we have this kind of open system, economics will bring things back to a more normal circumstance,” Radakovich said. “This model would allow this to be fair to those who want to invest and allow the market to settle. It will settle over time. It always has.”
Would removing the cap fix the new problems in college sports or just create new issues? (Grant Thomas/Yahoo Sports)
Roughly six months into college sports’ new revenue-share era, many of the highest-ranking college administrators are supporting abandoning the roster spending limit.
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In an interview earlier this week, Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork said college sports “cannot govern the money any longer” and should consider an unlimited spend. Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua, in an interview last month, said very bluntly, “I think the cap is too low.”
But wouldn’t an uncapped market mean the wealthiest programs in the country would outspend others?
“Aren’t they now?” Radakovich replied. He estimates that an uncapped market would mean football rosters at $35 million-40 million and reaching, in a couple years, the $50 million mark.
“We’ve never been successful to a large extent at legislating competitive equity,” he said.
Radakovich and other Miami officials did not comment Saturday about the potential transaction. Now that Mensah is in the portal, UM’s staff can legally contact him, though communication has likely already happened with Mensah’s representatives.
In what is standard language in many revenue-share agreements, Mensah’s contract with Duke prohibits another university to use his name, image and likeness, potentially impacting his compensation or participation at any other school. It’s a legal entanglement that may be necessary to resolve, likely through a financial settlement between the schools or legal action.
The situation shines a light on the messy circumstances in college athletics, where an industry is slowly evolving from amateur to professional and where a lack of national enforcement has even resulted in some conferences — the SEC — to consider a league-only model.
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Some believe enforcement from the College Sports Commission — the new policing arm created by the power conferences — is around the corner. In fact, the CSC is in the process of notifying several programs of inquiries into unreported third-party NIL contracts or NIL guarantees to athletes — which is against the rules — that may eventually be denied by the CSC’s NIL Go clearinghouse. If a player accepts compensation of a denied deal, they are deemed ineligible.
“Student athletes appear to be being promised NIL deals, and it’s not clear that they will actually get through NIL Go,” CSC CEO Bryan Seeley said earlier this week from the NCAA convention.
At the root of all of this is the NCAA’s landmark decision in May 2024 to settle three antitrust cases, most commonly referred to as the House settlement. The agreement — blessed by a federal judge — features a concept of permitting schools to share revenue with athletes under a spending cap.
In a negotiated resolution between plaintiff lawyers and NCAA/conference administrators, the Year 1 cap was established at $20.5 million — an amount meant for all athletes at each school. The $20.5 million represents 22% of certain athletic department revenues among the 68 power conference programs. That figure, when coupled with scholarship and other benefits, nets to near 50% of an average of athletic department revenues to achieve a 50-50 split similar to an NFL model.
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However, budgets even in the power conferences vary widely. Ohio State’s $250 million budget, for instance, is more than twice the amount of at least two dozen fellow power league schools. If the cap were set on an individual school basis, the Buckeyes’ cap would likely exceed $40 million annually — or twice the current spending limit.
It’s part of why schools are creating third-party deals — exempt from the cap — to exceed the limit, as reported recently at Yahoo Sports.
“We have a soft cap,” Bjork said. “The 22 percent was settled three years ago. The market went way beyond 22 percent. The House case settlement did not keep up with the market. In some ways, we need to overcorrect the House settlement in terms of the money piece.
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“When you restrict the money, you cause people to do things against the rules, go underground or wire things. We’re hearing all kinds of stories,” Bjork continued.
From the NCAA convention this past week, NCAA president Charlie Baker described the revenue-sharing portion of the settlement as a “dramatic departure from the status quo” and something in which stakeholders should be patient about.
“I think we’ll know a lot more about this over the course of the next 12 months or so, but I do believe that some of the things that are messy actually creates clarity,” Baker said.
In the meantime, here in Miami, the Hurricanes continue to rock the collective college sports boat — on and off the field.
“Everyone is looking to get an edge on everyone else as this industry has done forever,” Radakovich says. “They are going to spend X, so we are going to spend 2X.”
The PGA Tour’s 2026 season opener is the Sony Open, which kicked off this Thursday at the Waialae Country Club in Honolulu. While some of the sport’s top names like Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele won’t be competing in this week’s tournament, you’ll see golfers like Russell Henley, J.J. Spaun, Robert MacIntyre, Collin Morikawa, Keegan Bradley and Ben Griffin, at the 120-player event.
The first round of this week’s tournament began on Thursday, and it will run through Sunday. To watch all the action at this week’s Sony Open, you can catch featured groups and holes streaming live on ESPN+, or tune in to the Golf Channel each night of the event from 7-10 p.m. ET for primetime coverage. Here’s what you need to know about this week’s schedule, streaming info, and tee times.
While you can catch the tournament’s biggest moments during the Golf Channel’s primetime coverage from 7-10 p.m. ET each night, for the most comprehensive live coverage of every round, you’ll need to tune into ESPN+. ESPN+ will be streaming early coverage and featured group coverage every day of the event from roughly 12 p.m. to 10 p.m.
The Golf Channel is available with subscriptions to DirecTV and Hulu + Live TV.
Sony Open tee times (Round 3):
All times ET.
12:10 p.m.: Haotong Li and Zecheng Dou
12:19 p.m.: William Mouw and Rico Hoey
12:28 p.m.: Sahith Theegala and Aaron Rai
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12:37 p.m.: Zach Bauchou and Keith Mitchell
12:46 p.m.: Mac Meissner and Emilio Gonzalez
12:55 p.m.: Matt McCarty and Billy Horschel
1:04 p.m.: Hideki Matsuyama and Johnny Keefer
1:13 p.m.: Chad Ramey and Webb Simpson
1:22 p.m.: Robert MacIntyre and Pierceson Coody
1:31 p.m.: Denny McCarthy and Russell Henley
1:45 p.m.: Seamus Power and Tom Kim
1:55 p.m.: Zach Johnson and Vijay Singh
2:05 p.m.: Bud Cauley and Mark Hubbard
2:15 p.m.: Tom Hoge and Zac Blair
2:25 p.m.: Taylor Pendrith and Corey Conners
2:35 p.m.: J.J. Spaun and Adam Scott
2:45 p.m.: Matthieu Pavon and Sam Stevens
2:55 p.m.: Dan Brown and Jacob Bridgeman
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3:05 p.m.: Joe Highsmith and Jordan Smith
3:20 p.m.: Kensei Hirata and Lee Hodges
3:30 p.m.: Kota Kaneko and Ricky Castillo
3:40 p.m.: Ren Yonezawa and Patton Kizzire
3:50 p.m.: Jordan Spieth and Brian Harman
4 p.m.: Chandler Phillips and Daniel Berger
4:10 p.m.: Brice Garnett and Michael Kim
4:20 p.m.: Dylan Wu and Si Woo Kim
4:30 p.m.: David Ford and Adam Svensson
4:40 p.m.: Ben Griffin and Harry Hall
4:55 p.m.: Alex Smalley and Kurt Kitayama
5:05 p.m.: Jake Knapp and Sudarshan Yellamaraju
5:15 p.m.: Nick Dunlap and Doug Ghim
5:25 p.m.: Patrick Rodgers and Ryan Gerard
5:35 p.m.: Takumi Kanaya and Vince Whaley
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5:45 p.m.: Chris Gotterup and John Parry
5:55 p.m.: Kevin Roy and Maverick McNealy
6:05 p.m.: Adrien Dumont de Chassart and Nick Taylor
