Kyle Busch’s quest for a Daytona 500 win will start from the pole position Sunday.
Busch earned the top spot in front row qualifying for the Daytona 500 on Wednesday night with a lap of 183.925 mph in the second round of qualifying. Busch’s lap usurped Chase Briscoe from the top spot in the final round. Briscoe started last year’s Daytona 500 on the pole.
Advertisement
Sunday will mark Busch’s 21st start in the Daytona 500 as he chases his first win in NASCAR’s biggest race. His winless streak is longer than any other active driver’s and is even longer than Dale Earnhardt’s. The seven-time champion won the 1998 Daytona 500 in his 20th start.
Earnhardt won that race while driving for Richard Childress Racing, the same team that Busch represents. The 2026 season is Busch’s fourth with RCR after moving over from Joe Gibbs Racing. And Busch is looking to recapture the form he had with JGR.
Busch, 40, has 63 Cup Series wins across 750 starts. But he hasn’t won in each of the last two seasons after scoring three wins in his first season with RCR in 2023.
At JGR, Busch won the 2015 and 2019 Cup Series titles as he won 40 races in the 2010s. Busch missed the Daytona 500 in 2015 after suffering a broken leg in the Xfinity Series race the day before. But he returned after missing 11 races and went on to win five of the remaining 25 races that season to win his first title.
Advertisement
Daytona has not been terribly kind to Busch in the Cup Series, either. Across 41 starts, Busch has just one win and 13 top-10 finishes. That win came in the 2008 summer race and just five of his top 10s at the track have come in the Daytona 500.
Wednesday night’s qualifying session only locked in the top two starting spots for the Daytona 500 and determined which two non-chartered teams would make the race. Corey Heim, driving a fourth car for Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan’s 23XI Racing, was the fastest driver in a non-chartered entry and he’s locked into the race. So is Justin Allgaier. He posted the second-fastest time among open teams while driving for Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s JR Motorsports.
With Jimmie Johnson also guaranteed to be part of the 41-driver field, thanks to a NASCAR provisional, six drivers are competing for the final two spots in the Daytona 500 in Thursday night’s Duel races.
Advertisement
The highest finisher among Corey LaJoie, Chandler Smith and Casey Mears in the first Duel race will make the 500 while the best finishing driver among Anthony Alfredo, BJ McLeod and JJ Yeley will make the race from the second Duel.
Here are the lineups for each of the two qualifying races on Thursday night. The first race will set the inside row and the odd-numbered starting positions while the second race will set the outside row and the even-numbered starting spots.
Former Colorado tight end Christian Fauria is not a backer of Buffaloes coach Deion Sanders.
The ex-NFL player said on a podcast appearance Tuesday that he was “not a fan” of Sanders as the Pro Football Hall of Famer enters his fourth season at Colorado in 2026. Colorado went 3-9 in 2025 after a 9-4 season in 2024 when Travis Hunter won the Heisman Trophy.
“I’m just not a fan of the coach. I’m not. I’ll never be a fan of the coach,” Fauria said on the “Zach Gelb Show” released on Tuesday. “I love the school, and this isn’t me picking on Deion Sanders, because I picked on Joe Gibbs. The worst coach I ever had was Joe Gibbs. So me picking on Deion Sanders is nothing. I just don’t like the way he coaches football. I don’t think he’s very bright. I don’t think he can manage a game. I think there’s a lot of flash but there’s no substance. And he’s got a lot of people brainwashed.
“And we’ll see what he can do. But I’m just not a fan of him. Not a fan of his coaching style, not a fan of his messaging. There’s a lot of things internally that I know about that I’m not a fan of. And it’s just not worth my energy to sit there and follow it and go back and forth with the emperor has no clothes crowd that support him regardless of how stupid he is sometimes.
“So yeah, that’s the way I feel about it. And it bugs me that a lot of alumni just don’t speak up about it. They don’t say anything. But I will.”
Fauria’s son Caleb played three seasons at Colorado before transferring to Delaware ahead of the 2024 season. Caleb Fauria left after Sanders’ first season in charge with the Buffaloes and appeared in six games in 2023.
Christian Fauria admitted in the discussion that it was difficult to win at Colorado; Karl Dorrell won seven games when he was fired midway through his third season with the school in 2022. Colorado’s last 10-win season came in 2016, and the Buffs’ nine-win season in 2024 was their first winning record across a full season since that 10-4 year under Mike MacIntyre.
He also added that he initially supported Sanders’ hire before he soured on how Sanders’ tenure has gone so far. Over the offseason, Colorado had the No. 28 transfer class in the country, according to On3, with 41 arrivals and 34 departures. Sanders has mined the transfer portal nearly as much as any other coach since he came to Boulder — though the Buffaloes did lose star offensive tackle Jordan Seaton when he transferred to LSU late in the January transfer window.
“If relevancy and having a sold-out crowd and having people talk about you on Twitter, if that’s what you want, then congratulations, you’ve achieved it,” Fauria said. “But I just don’t know if that’s — is that the end goal? Just to be relevant? To have a new scoreboard? To have people talking about you? Or do you want to win games? Win games. The way you win games, the way you recruit, know everybody’s name, give everybody the same attention. Sing the fight song. Learn the fight song. I would say then you’ve got business. But right now all your victories are hollow in my book if all you care about is relevancy.”
The public airing of Pittsburgh Steelers grievances by ex-players hit a new level Wednesday.
This time, former All-Pro linebacker Joey Porter weighed in, coming to former head coach Mike Tomlin’s defense. He had some scathing criticism of Ben Roethlisberger along the way.
Advertisement
Porter didn’t play for Tomlin. But he was a defensive assistant on Tomlin’s staff from 2015-18. And he won a Super Bowl with the Steelers under head coach Bill Cowher while playing with James Harrison and Ben Roethlisberger. Both have publicly criticized Tomlin in recent months.
Porter calls out Harrison, Roethlisberger for Tomlin criticism
Porter questioned Harrison’s motivations for criticizing Tomlin. And he saved some choice words for Roethlisberger, whom he called “not a good teammate.”
“They tell the version of the story in Pittsburgh that they want to tell,” Porter said of Tomlin’s critics.
Porter then directly addressed Harrison, who’s criticized Tomlin repeatedly, calling him not “a great coach” and not a Hall of Famer. He says that he told Harrison that he disapproves of everything that he said about Tomlin.
“How can you say he’s not a great coach when everything that happened good to you in football was under his watch?” Porter said.
He rattled off Harrison’s accolades while playing for Tomlin, which included two All-Pro selections, a Super Bowl championship and a Defensive Player of the Year award.
Advertisement
“You think the head coach didn’t have his hand in making that player?” he continued. “When you say he did nothing for you, that’s crazy. Then it’s like, why would you take the shot at the guy who changed your life?”
Porter goes off on Ben Roethlisberger
But Porter saved his most scathing comments for Roethlisberger, who said during the season before Tomlin’s postseason resignation in January that “maybe it’s a clean-house time.”
Roethlisberger quarterbacked the 2006 Steelers team on which Porter won a Super Bowl. Porter didn’t even say Roethlisberger’s name on Wednesday. He instead referred to him by his jersey, No. 7.
Advertisement
“[Harrison] broke the brotherhood, then 7 definitely broke the brotherhood,” Porter said. “The s*** that 7 do, that did, that we don’t talk about, is crazy. Out of anybody that should talk, he should never grab a microphone and really talk Steeler business.
“Because if we’re talking Steeler business, his a** is foul of all foul. Like the s*** that he did is foul of all foul. He’s not a good teammate. Won a Super Bowl with him. But the person? He’s just not a good teammate. He knows that. Anybody in the Steeler building knows that. But we protected him.”
Joey Porter, seen here as Pittsburgh’s linebackers coach in 2016, has weighed in on the ongoing Steelers drama.
(IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect / Reuters)
When asked for specifics, Porter said that Roethlisberger refused as a rookie to sign autographs for teammates’ families.
Advertisement
“Who the hell is too cool to sign for your teammate?” Porter said. “Like, I’m not a fan. I strap on with you every day. I’m in practice with you every day”
And he said that when he returned to the Steelers as a coach, Roethlisberger “was off limits to even talk about.”
“At that point in time, he could do it however he want to and wasn’t nobody gonna say nothing,” Porter continued. “That animal was already built.”
This isn’t likely to be the last word in this Steelers saga.
The remade Pac-12 is introducing a scheduling wrinkle in 2026.
The conference announced Wednesday night that it will have a flexible schedule for the final week of the football regular season. Week 13’s matchups will officially be decided after Week 12, though they were tentatively announced on Wednesday night with Boise State visiting Utah State, Texas State at Colorado State, San Diego State at Fresno State and Oregon State at Washington State.
Advertisement
With eight teams in the conference, each team plays seven conference games by playing everyone else once. A repeat matchup is needed for an eighth conference game. And with that in mind, the Pac-12 said it’s introducing the flex scheduling so it can “retain the right to adjust matchups based on the best interests of the league, including College Football Playoff considerations at that time.”
Simply put, if the Pac-12 has a chance to bolster a team’s playoff position late in the season, it’s going to do that by tweaking the schedule.
The schedule can’t change en masse, however. The four home teams listed above will play at home no matter what in Week 13 to ensure they have a fourth conference game at their own stadiums. The only teams that can be moved around are the road teams. And the Pac-12 said it will make any changes no later than the Sunday after Week 12 concludes.
Oregon State and Washington State had competed in a two-team Pac-12 for the past two seasons after they got hung out to dry when the conference effectively dissolved in the summer of 2024. Four teams went to the Big Ten, while four others went to the Big 12, and Stanford and Cal joined the ACC.
Advertisement
Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State have all joined the Pac-12 from the Mountain West while Texas State came over from the Sun Belt. The Mountain West will have nine members in 2026 as Northern Illinois joins as a football-only member.
The eight-team Pac-12 will have its games on CBS, CBS Sports Network, USA and the CW in 2026 and beyond. The conference title game is scheduled for Friday, Dec. 4, on CBS.
Things have not gone well so far this season in Manhattan, Kansas, and Wildcats fans look like they’re simply done with Jerome Tang.
A large group of students threw brown paper Aldi bags on their heads during Kansas State’s 91-62 loss to Cincinnati at Bramlage Coliseum on Wednesday night. The message was clear. The students were looking for just more than $18.5 million to buy out the rest of Tang’s contract.
Advertisement
It’s no wonder that, after the blowout loss that dropped the Wildcats to 1-10 in Big 12 play, Tang erupted on his program and took only two quick questions.
It would take more than $18.5 million to buy out the rest of Jerome Tang’s contract at Kansas State, which would set a record in the sport. (Scott Sewell-Imagn Images)
(IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect / Reuters)
“I’m embarrassed for the university. I’m embarrassed for our fans, our student section. We have practice at 6 a.m. tomorrow morning. We will get this right. I have no answers and no words.”
Tang is in his fourth season with the Wildcats this fall. He led the team to the NCAA tournament in his first campaign running the program, which he took over from longtime coach Bruce Weber, and they climbed as high as No. 5 in the national rankings.
But it’s been a steady decline ever since. The team hasn’t been to the NCAA tournament the last two years, and now sit at just 10-13 with seven games left in the regular season. The Wildcats have lost five straight and only just barely snuck out their one conference win late last month against Utah after a late go-ahead bucket from PJ Haggerty. The Wildcats, without a remarkable run both over the next few weeks and in the Big 12 tournament, are going to miss the NCAA tournament once again.
Advertisement
But getting rid of Tang isn’t that simple. Tang’s buyout is the 12th-largest in all of college basketball, according to the Capital-Journal, and would set a record for the largest buyout in the sport’s history if Kansas State pulls the trigger. Wake Forest currently holds that record with the nearly $14.7 million buyout it gave Danny Manning in 2020. Jerry Stackhouse was believed to have received more than $15 million when he was fired from Vanderbilt, but terms of his buyout are not publicly known.
While Wildcats fans may not like it, they are very likely stuck with Tang for another year. And by the sounds of it, they’ll have a very different roster next fall.
The Winter Games have begun in Italy. From the rink to the slopes, a new generation of stars has emerged to chase gold. We’ll keep you connected to all of the thrilling moments and top stories as we track the medal race each day of the Games.
The United States is up to 12 total medals so far in Italy, and will have several opportunities to add to that count in Day 6 of the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Advertisement
Here are the top five things to watch on Thursday at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics:
1. Team USA gets started in men’s hockey
NHL players are officially back at the Olympics for the first time since 2014, and Team USA’s cohort get started at 3:10 p.m. ET against Latvia.
The Americans enter the Olympic tournament as co-favorites alongside Canada. This could very well be the best team in U.S. history, with Auston Matthews, Jack Eichel, the Tkachuk brothers, the Hughes brothers and reigning Hart trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck forming a strong core.
2. Chloe Kim goes for Olympics’ first snowboarding 3-peat
There is exactly one snowboarder in Olympic history with three gold medals: Shaun White. Kim has a chance to join him in that club Thursday, while going for the Olympics’ first three-peat in snowboard halfpipe (White won his in 2006, 2010 and 2018).
Advertisement
Going into the final, Kim sits in top position after leading all competitors in qualifying with a score of 90.25. The health of her shoulder, dislocated a month before the Games, was one of Team USA’s biggest storylines going in, but she looked perfectly fine while throwing down a 1080 on Wednesday.
Fellow American Maddie Mastro also qualified for the final.
3. Breezy Johnson continues her heater
The biggest Team USA skiing star of this Olympics hasn’t been Mikaela Shiffrin or Lindsey Vonn, who have won a combined 192 World Cup events. Instead, it’s been Breezy Johnson, a 30-year-old with exactly zero World Cup wins over a decade-long career.
Advertisement
Johnson landed a surprise gold in the women’s downhill, then proved it wasn’t a fluke with the best downhill time in the women’s combined event (but missed out on a medal because of Shiffrin’s lackluster slalom). Thursday will be her final day of competition in the Super-G. Considering she reached her first career podium in that event just two weeks ago, underestimate her at your own peril.
4. Americans try to break men’s moguls drought
The United States hasn’t won a medal in men’s moguls since 2010 — its last gold was Jonny Moseley in 1998— but 23-year-old Nick Page could be in striking distance after a fifth-place finish in the first round of qualifying on Wednesday.
Dylan Walczyk also made it through qualifications in seventh place, while Charlie Mickel and Landon Wendler will be trying to reach the medal round in the second round of qualifications after just missing out with the 11th and 12th fastest times.
Advertisement
5. Kristen Santos-Griswold’s redemption tour reaches its final leg
Santos-Griswold was one of two Americans to emerge from the heats Tuesday, winning her qualification race with a time of 42.767. She has three more rounds ahead of her on Thursday, but a win would be one of the best stories of the Olympics.
Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026 (Day 6)
All times ET.
Advertisement
Alpine Skiing
Super-G
5:30 a.m.: Women’s final (USA Network)🏅
Cross-Country Skiing
10 kilometers
7 a.m.: Women’s final (USA Network coverage begins at 7:15 a.m.; airs on NBC at 4 p.m.)🏅
Curling
Women’s round-robin
3:05 a.m.: South Korea vs. USA (airs at 9:15 a.m. on USA Network), Japan vs. Sweden, Italy vs. Switzerland, Canada vs. Denmark
1:05 p.m.: China vs. Great Britain, Italy vs. South Korea, Denmark vs. Japan, Sweden vs. USA (airs at 9:30 p.m. on USA Network)
Men’s round-robin
8:05 a.m.: Norway vs. Germany, USA vs. Switzerland (airs at 5 p.m. on CNBC), Great Britain vs. Sweden
Freestyle Skiing
Moguls
4 a.m.: Men’s qualifying (USA Network)
6:15 a.m.: Men’s final (USA Network coverage begins at 6:45 a.m.; airs on NBC at 12 p.m.)🏅
Hockey
Men’s pool play
6:10 a.m.: Switzerland vs. France
10:30 a.m.: Czechia vs. Canada (USA Network)
3:10 p.m.: USA vs. Latvia (USA Network), Germany vs. Denmark
Women’s pool play
8:20 a.m.: Finland vs. Canada — rescheduled
Luge
12:30 p.m.: Team relay final (NBC coverage begins at 12:45 p.m.)🏅
Short Track
2:15 p.m.: Women’s 500m and men’s 1000m finals (USA Network)🏅
Skeleton
3:30 a.m.: Men’s runs 1, 2 (airs on USA Network at 1:45 p.m.)
Snowboarding
Snowboard cross
4 a.m.: Men’s qualifying (USA Network coverage begins at 4:35 a.m.)
7:45 a.m.: Men’s final (USA Network coverage begins at 8:35 a.m.)🏅
Halfpipe
1:30 p.m.: Women’s final (NBC)🏅
Speed Skating
5000 meters
10:30 a.m.: Women’s final (airs at 1 p.m. on USA Network)🏅
One of the biggest names in women’s snowboarding, Chloe Kim, will be competing for the gold medal at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics on Thursday in the women’s half-pipe final. 25-year-old Kim came in first place during the qualifying round and is pursuing her third straight gold medal in the event despite a recent shoulder injury that some feared might show her down. She will be joined in the final by her American teammates Bea Kim and Maddie Mastro. The women’s half-pipe snowboarding final airs Thursday at 1:30 p.m. ET on Peacock and NBC. (A re-air will also be broadcast on USA at 2 a.m. Friday morning for you night owls.)
Read on for a complete schedule of every Team USA Snowboarding event at this year’s games, a rundown of who’s competing, and how to watch all the action. And if you want to learn even more about every event at this year’s Winter Games, here’s a guide to everything you need to know about the Milano Cortina Games.
Advertisement
How to watch the women’s snowboarding half-pipe final:
For $17 monthly you can upgrade to an ad-free subscription which includes live access to your local NBC affiliate (not just during designated sports and events) and the ability to download select titles to watch offline.
Where to watch the women’s half-pipe final on TV:
Women’s snowboarding coverage on Thursday will be broadcast on NBC, which you can stream on DirecTV, Hulu + Live TV and more. You can also catch a re-air on USA at 2 a.m. Friday.
How to watch Olympic snowboarding for free without cable:
Who is on the Team USA Snowboarding team?
These are the athletes on Team USA’s snowboarding team:
Advertisement
2026 Team USA Olympic Snowboarding Schedule:
Thursday, February 12
Men’s Snowboard Cross: Qualifying: 4 a.m. (Peacock, USA)
Men’s Snowboard Cross: Finals: 7:45 a.m. (Peacock), re-air at 8:35 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.(USA)
Ever since that miraculous win in 1980, it feels like Olympic ice hockey holds an extra-special place in the hearts of American audiences. This year, the Team USA men’s and women’s ice hockey teams will be comprised of some of the very best professional and amateur players the country has to offer. The women’s action kicks off early on Feb. 5, with the gold medal final on Feb. 19, while the men’s tournament runs from Feb. 11-22.
Read on for a complete schedule of every Team USA hockey game at this year’s games, a rundown of who is playing, and how to watch all the action. And if you want to learn even more about every event at this year’s Winter Games, here’s a guide to everything you need to know about the Milan Cortina Games.
Advertisement
How to watch ice hockey at the 2026 Winter Olympics
For $17/month, you can upgrade to an ad-free Premium Plus subscription, which includes live access to your local NBC affiliate (not just during designated sports and events) and the ability to download select titles to watch offline.
Where to watch ice hockey on TV:
Team USA men’s and women’s ice hockey coverage will generally be split between NBC and USA, which you can stream on DirecTV, Hulu + Live TV and more.
For $17 monthly you can upgrade to an ad-free subscription which includes live access to your local NBC affiliate (not just during designated sports and events) and the ability to download select titles to watch offline.
Who is on the Team USA hockey teams?
These are the athletes on Team USA’s men’s team, including their hometowns and professional teams:
Advertisement
Jake Sanderson (Whitefish, Mont./Ottawa Senators)
Brock Faber (Maple Grove, Minn./Minnesota Wild)
Matt Boldy (Millis, Mass./Minnesota Wild)
Kyle Connor (Shelby Township, Mich./Winnipeg Jets)
Jack Eichel (North Chelmsford, Mass./Vegas Golden Knights)
Jake Guentzel (Woodbury, Minn./Tampa Bay Lightning)
Noah Hanifin (Northwood, Mass./Vegas Golden Knights)
Connor Hellebuyck (Commerce, Mich./Winnipeg Jets)
Jack Hughes (Canton, Mich./New Jersey Devils)
Quinn Hughes (Canton, Mich./Minnesota Wild)
Clayton Keller (St. Louis/Utah Mammoth)
Jackson LaCombe (Eden Prairie, Minn./Anaheim Ducks)
Dylan Larkin (Waterford, Mich./Detroit Red Wings)
Auston Matthews (Scottsdale, Ariz./Toronto Maple Leafs)
Charlie McAvoy (Long Beach, N.Y./Boston Bruins)
J.T. Miller (East Palestine, Ohio/New York Rangers)
Brock Nelson (Warroad, Minn./Colorado Avalanche)
Jake Oettinger (Lakeville, Minn./Dallas Stars)
Jaccob Slavin (Erie, Colo./Carolina Hurricanes)
Jeremy Swayman (Anchorage, Alaska/Boston Bruins)
Tage Thompson (Orange, Conn./Buffalo Sabres)
Brady Tkachuk (St. Louis, Mo./Ottawa Senators)
Matthew Tkachuk (St. Louis, Mo./Florida Panthers)
Vincent Trocheck (Pittsburgh, Pa./New York Rangers)
Zach Werenski (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich./Columbus Blue Jackets).
The athletes on Team USA’s women’s team are:
Hilary Knight (Sun Valley, Idaho/Seattle Torrent)
Kendall Coyne Schofield (Palos Heights, Ill./Minnesota Frost)
Lee Stecklein (Roseville, Minn./Minnesota Frost)
Cayla Barnes (Eastvale, Calif./Seattle Torrent)
Alex Carpenter (North Reading, Mass./Seattle Torrent)
Megan Keller (Farmington Hills, Mich./Boston Fleet)
Kelly Pannek (Plymouth, Minn./Minnesota Frost)
Caroline Harvey (Salem, N.H./University of Wisconsin)
Abbey Murphy (Evergreen Park, Ill./University of Minnesota)
Yahoo Sports AM is our daily newsletter that keeps you up to date on all things sports. Sign up here to get it every weekday morning.
🚨 Headlines
🥇 Olympic highlights: Team USA won five more medals on Wednesday, including golds for 21-year-old Jordan Stolz in 1000m speed skating and 20-year-old Elizabeth Lemley in moguls. The others were all silver, for married figure skaters Madison Chock and Evan Bates (ice dance), alpine skier Ryan Cochran-Siegle (super G), and freestyle skier Jaelin Kauf (moguls).
Advertisement
🏀 Hall of Fame finalists: First-time nominees Blake Griffin, Candace Parker, Mike D’Antoni and Kelvin Sampson headline the candidates for The Naismith Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026. Doc Rivers and Amar’e Stoudemire are among the bigger names getting a second look for induction.
⚾️ Hamate bone woes: Diamondbacks RF Corbin Carroll, Mets SS Francisco Lindor and Orioles 2B Jackson Holliday have all broken their hamate bone and will need surgery. The hand injury is common among baseball players because the knob of their bats rest up against the bony protrusion.
🏈 Bowl game consolidation: The Detroit-based GameAbove Sports Bowl has been canceled, joining the Bahamas Bowl and LA Bowl as the third bowl game to be axed in the last 12 months as college football’s postseason skews increasingly away from tradition and towards the playoff.
🏀 Clark headlines Team USA: Two years after being a controversial snub from the U.S. Olympic team, Caitlin Clark will finally make her senior national team debut after being named to the World Cup qualifying roster alongside Paige Bueckers, Angel Reese and other WNBA stars.
Advertisement
🇺🇸 Spotlight: Men’s hockey team
(Mallory Bielecki/Yahoo Sports)
The first best-on-best Olympic hockey tournament since 2014 is officially underway, and Team USA takes the ice today with a squad full of NHL stars looking to deliver the Americans’ first gold medal since 1980’s “Miracle on Ice.”
Meet the team: The 25-man roster comprises eight defenders, nine wingers, five centers and three goalies, with 18 NHL teams and 12 states represented. There are also two sets of siblings (Hughes and Tkachuk), which is pretty awesome. Well done, parents.
Defenders: Brock Faber, Wild (hometown: Maple Grove, MN); Quinn Hughes, Wild (Canton, MI); Jackson LaCombe, Ducks (Eden Prairie, MN); Charlie McAvoy, Bruins (Long Beach, NY); Jaccob Slavin, Hurricanes (Erie, CO); Zach Werenski, Blue Jackets (Grosse Pointe Woods, MI); Noah Hanifin, Golden Knights (Norwood, MA); Jake Sanderson, Senators (Whitefish, MT)
Wingers: Brady Tkachuk, Senators (St. Louis); Matthew Tkachuk, Panthers (St. Louis); Matt Boldy, Wild (Millis, MA); Dylan Larkin, Red Wings (Waterford, MI); Clayton Keller, Mammoth (St. Louis); Jake Guentzel, Lightning (Woodbury, MN); Tage Thompson, Sabres (Orange, CT); J.T. Miller, Rangers (East Palestine, OH); Kyle Connor, Jets (Shelby Township, MI)
Centers: Jack Eichel, Golden Knights (North Chelmsford, MA); Auston Matthews, Maple Leafs (Scottsdale, AZ); Jack Hughes, Devils (Canton, MI); Vincent Trocheck, Rangers (Pittsburgh); Brock Nelson, Avalanche (Warroad, MN)
Collision course? 21 of those 25 players also represented the U.S. at last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off, where the Americans made the title game before falling to Canada in overtime. They’ll bring that chemistry with them to Milan, where the odds suggest we could be headed for a title game rematch: Canada (+100 to win at BetMGM) and the U.S. (+190) are heavily favored over the field.
Advertisement
Tournament format: 12 teams have been split into three groups. They’ll each play a round-robin, with the three group winners and the fourth-best team advancing directly to the quarterfinals. The remaining eight teams then face each other for one more qualifier to complete the final eight.
The field: Group A (Canada, Czechia, Switzerland, France); Group B (Slovakia, Italy, Sweden, Finland); Group C (USA, Germany, Latvia, Denmark)
Team USA’s schedule: The Americans play Latvia today (3:10pm ET, USA), Denmark on Saturday and Germany on Sunday. The quarterfinals are next Wednesday, the semifinals next Friday and the gold-medal match is on Feb. 22, the final day of the Games.
We’ll be spotlighting America’s best athletes throughout the Games. Follow Team USA’s progress on their homepage, and for in-depth Olympics coverage, go to ours.
Kim during Wednesday’s qualifier. (Oliver Weiken/Picture Alliance via Getty Images)
🏂 Snowboard Halfpipe, Women’s Final
Eight years ago, Chloe Kim burst on the scene as a teenage phenom; today at Livigno Snow Park (1:30pm ET, NBC), she’ll try to become the first snowboarder in Olympic history to win three straight gold medals. And judging by Wednesday’s qualifier, which she dominated despite having torn her labrum last month, the other 11 finalists will have their hands full trying to dethrone her.
Advertisement
What she’s saying: “I knew I could do it,” said Kim, referencing her shoulder injury. “I’ve been doing this for 22 years. Muscle memory is a thing. I might be better at snowboarding than I am at walking.” Friendly reminder, re: “doing this for 22 years” — she’s only 25!
🏒 Men’s Hockey
Team USA’s group stage opener against Latvia (3:10pm, USA) is one of four games today. The others: Switzerland vs. France (6:10am, Peacock), Czechia vs. Canada (10:40am, USA) and Germany vs. Denmark (3:10pm, Peacock).
The favorites: Canada won three of the first five Olympic tournaments featuring NHL players (1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014), including each of the last two. Today we’ll get our first look at their squad led by former Hart Trophy winners Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon, as well as teen phenom Macklin Celebrini.
Advertisement
🏂 Snowboard Cross, Men’s Final
Nick Baumgartner, 44, is already the oldest snowboarding medalist in Olympics history after winning mixed team cross in Beijing. Now, back for his fifth Winter Games, he’s out to prove age is just a number when he straps on his board for today’s final (7:45am, Peacock).
How it works: Unlike most snowboarding events, cross is a race in which competitors speed through a course filled with curves and jumps. The 32-man final is elimination style, with the top two finishers in each four-man race advancing until just four remain for the championship run.
⛸️ Short Track Speed Skating, Women’s 500m Final
Connecticut native Kristen Santos-Griswold is back for another shot at gold four years after the podium was stolen from her in Beijing. She’s already advanced to the quarterfinals (2:15pm, USA), with the title race coming a little over an hour later.
Advertisement
Flashback: Four years ago in her Olympics debut, Santos-Griswold was in position to win a medal with less than a lap to go in the 1000m final. But when Italy’s Arianna Fontana attempted an aggressive pass, the two skaters became entangled and spun out on the ice, and she ended up finishing fourth. “The hardest part about this sport,” she said recently, “is that kind of concept of, you can be the best, you can be the fastest, and things just don’t work out for you.”
🥇 Medal events
🎿 Freestyle Skiing: Men’s Moguls, Final (6:15am, Peacock)
Pebble Beach, you’re gorgeous. (Brian Spurlock/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
More to watch:
⛳️ PGA: Pebble Beach Pro-Am (11:45am, ESPN+; 3pm, Golf) … Defending champion Rory McIlroy makes his season debut against the likes of Scottie Scheffler and red-hot Chris Gotterup in the first signature event of the year.
🏀 NBA: Bucks at Thunder (7:30pm, Prime); Mavericks at Lakers (10pm, Prime) … Final day of games before the All-Star break.
🏀 NCAAW: No. 17 TCU at No. 12 Baylor (7pm, ESPN); No. 4 Texas at No. 5 Vanderbilt (7:30pm, SEC+) … Commodores guard Mikayla Blakes leads the nation in scoring (25.9 ppg).
🏁 NASCAR: Duels at Daytona (7pm, FS1) … Two 60-lap, 150-mile qualifying races will set the grid positions for this weekend’s Daytona 500.
Got plans tonight? Gametime is the best place to score last-minute tickets to the events happening in your city. Get tickets now!
Advertisement
❤️ Why we love sports
Josh and Michael Strahan at Giants training camp in 1994. (Josh Hyman)
Josh Hyman (Forest Hills, New York):
In the 1990s, my formative teenage years, I grew up a New York Giants fan, which is to say the next decade was about to be rough. I first became a fan during the legendary years of #89 Mark Bavaro catching passes all over the field and running defenders over, or carrying them on his back to the end zone.
Free agency was a newer thing in the early 90s, so when Bavaro left to go play with the Browns and then eventually the Eagles, I was confused and heartbroken. How could he? The Eagles? (Did Saquon call him for advice?)
By 1993, I understood how it all worked and was still a huge Giants fan. Then my father took me to a game that season where the Giants beat the Eagles soundly, 21-10. Bavaro played in that game but it seemed that nobody in the building remembered him. Not even boos. Just a ghost of Super Bowls past.
Advertisement
After the game, I spotted Bavaro in the parking lot. Nobody was swarming him. Nobody even recognized him. It was so strange but here he was, strutting right toward me. Rambo in the flesh!
Mark Bavaro runs the ball against the Redskins during a regular season game in 1986. (Focus on Sport/Getty Images)
Short, stout, baby-faced, 16-year-old me ran over and asked him for an autograph to which he looked me up and down wearing Giants blue, smiled and obliged. This was before the days of cell phones and selfies, just game programs and Bic Pens.
I gave him my game program and he turned to a page in the book that had a picture of him wearing Eagles green and #86. But when he signed my book, he signed it “Mark Bavaro, #89”
Advertisement
It was epic. It was like his heart never left the Meadowlands. He knew and I knew that he was always going to be a New York Football GIANT, no matter how the business of the NFL or free agency worked. Then he gave me a high-five and walked off to his car without anyone else saying a word to him.
That day, Mark Bavaro got another moment to be a New York Giant as his legendary #89, and I got my favorite autograph story ever.
✍️ Submit your story: Do you have a fondest sports memory? Or an example of sports having a profound impact on your life? If you’d like to share, email me at kendall.baker@yahooinc.com. We’ll keep sharing your stories until they run out!
📸 Layers of the Games
(Hector Vivas/Getty Images)
Through the combination of multiple images from a fixed camera, Getty Images’ “Layers of the Games” series shows the quickfire drama that unfolds in a single game or a day of competition during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics.
Advertisement
Above: Women’s Freestyle Slopestyle
(Hector Vivas/Getty Images)
Above: Women’s Parallel Giant Slalom
(Hector Vivas/Getty Images)
Above: Men’s Freestyle Slopestyle
(Pauline Ballet/Getty Images)
Above: Ice Dance, Rhythm Dance
🏆 Seattle trivia
(Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
The Seahawks held their Super Bowl parade on Wednesday to celebrate the city’s fourth “Big Four” championship (NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL), with the first coming all the way back in 1917 when they won the Stanley Cup.
Question: What was the name of that 1917 championship team?
(A) Seattle Pilots
(B) Seattle Rainiers
(C) Seattle Metropolitans
(D) Seattle Rangers
Answer at the bottom.
🏀 The season of the Red Hawks
Montclair State is the No. 1 team in Division III. (Elian Saldivar/The Montclarion)
The only undefeated team in Division I men’s basketball? The Miami (Ohio) RedHawks, who are 24-0 and ranked No. 23. The only undefeated team in D-III men’s basketball? The Montclair State (NJ) Red Hawks, who are 23-0 and ranked No. 1 for the first time ever.
We hope you enjoyed this edition of Yahoo Sports AM, our daily newsletter that keeps you up to date on all things sports. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox every weekday morning.
Breezy Johnson’s eventful week saw another highlight on Thursday when the downhill skier got engaged to boyfriend Connor Watkins at the base of the super-G run in Cortina D’Ampezzo.
According to NBC News, as skiers from other countries were gathered near the finish area, Watkins dropped to his knee and proposed. After Johnson said “yes,” her U.S. teammates and skiing officials nearby cheered.
Advertisement
“I mean, that was my hope!” Johnson told NBC’s Cara Banks when asked if she dreamt of getting engaged at the Olympics. “But it’s definitely a lot more crazy with everything just happening all at once, and the reality of it is so different than the way you imagined, and so much better.”
Watkins said he was hoping he could find a place in the finish area to propose the way he wanted. “And it turned out we could, and we’re just super excited,” he said.
The life milestone for the 30-year-old Johnson, who won gold in the women’s downhill on Sunday, came shortly after she crashed out of Thursday’s super-G and did not finish. That came one day after the team of Johnson and Mikaela Shiffrin failed to medal in the women’s combined.
