The New York Mets acquired All-Star right-handed pitcher Freddy Peralta in a trade with the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports.
The Brewers will receive infielder Jett Williams and right-handed pitcher Brandon Sproat in return, per the report. Both were rated by MLB as top-five prospects in the Mets’ system. The trade marks the third significant acquisition for the Mets in the past week.
Advertisement
Mets loading up after losing big names in free agency
The Mets have suffered their share of losses in free agency, including All-Star slugger Pete Alonso departing to the Orioles and All-Star closer Edwin Díaz joining the Dodgers. But they’re making moves late in the offseason to set themselves up to compete for the NL East crown and beyond.
What Peralta brings to New York
Peralta is an eight-year MLB veteran who has played his entire career with the Brewers. The ace of the Brewers’ pitching staff, Peralta was integral to Milwaukee’s run to the 2025 NL Central title and the NLCS, in which the Brewers were swept by the eventual World Series champion Dodgers.
Advertisement
Last season, Peralta posted a career-best 2.70 ERA alongside a 1.075 WHIP with 204 strikeouts and 66 walks in 176 2/3 innings pitched. He led the NL with 17 wins as the Brewers raced to baseball’s best record at 97-65.
Peralta immediately provides the Mets with a starting pitcher for the top of their rotation. For the Brewers, consequently, his exit creates a significant hole in the pitching staff for a team with aspirations of building on last season’s success.
Meanwhile, Brewers president of baseball operations Matt Arnold said this about Peralta at the general manager meetings in November.
“Clearly, there’s a lot of interest in Freddy,” Arnold said. “He means a lot to our group, but certainly a ton of interest there. And I’ve said before, we can never shut the door on anything with anybody in our market.
“We’ve had to make some very tough decisions over the years. … I mean, we want to try to compete next year, and I think he could be a really big part of that, like he has for a long time.”
It turns out that the interest in Peralta was too strong to turn down.
Peralta is due only $8 million in 2026, per a club option on the final year of his contract. Barring him signing an extension, he’ll become a free agent next winter. So rather than risk losing him in free agency for nothing, the small-market Brewers got two top prospects in return for one year of Peralta’s services.
Williams, 22, is a former first-round draft pick and was New York’s No. 3-rated prospect and the No. 30 overall in baseball, according to MLB. He has speed, patience at the plate and home-run pop, recording a .263/.425/.451 slash line, 13 home runs, 104 walks and 45 steals in New York’s minor-league system last year, and he can play multiple positions.
Advertisement
Sproat, 25, was New York’s No. 5-rated prospect. He’s not rated among MLB’s top 100 prospects from 2025. A 6-foot-3 right-hander, Sproat throws a fastball up to 98 mph and also has a curveball, slider and changeup in his arsenal. He could join the Brewers’ rotation next season.
San Francisco Giants outfielder Jung Hoo Lee was briefly detained at Los Angeles International Airport on Wednesday after a flight from South Korea, his agent told the San Francisco Chronicle.
The Giants said in a statement that Lee, 26, either misplaced or forgot part of his travel packet upon landing at LAX from Seoul, South Korea. The issue was quickly handled, and Lee was released and allowed to enter the United States legally.
Advertisement
Giants general manager Zack Minasian said there were no political motivations behind Lee’s brief detainment.
“Earlier today, Jung Hoo Lee experienced a brief travel issue at LAX due to a paperwork issue,” the Giants said in a statement, via The Athletic. “The matter was quickly clarified with the appropriate authorities, and he has since been cleared to continue his travel. We appreciate the professionalism of all parties involved.”
Lee is scheduled to appear at a Giants fan event on Saturday in San Ramon, California.
Lee spent the past two seasons with the Giants. He recorded a .266 batting average with eight home runs and 55 RBI last season, all career highs for the 27-year-old.
He signed a six-year, $113 million deal with the Giants ahead of the 2024 campaign after a huge run in the Korean Baseball Organization. Lee’s father, Jong Beom Lee, was often regarded as the best all-around player in the KBO in the 1990s, and he earned the nickname “Son of the Wind.”
Advertisement
Spring training for the Giants begins next month in Scottsdale, Arizona, though Lee isn’t expected to be there long. He will play for Korea in the World Baseball Classic in March, and his team will open the event with an exhibition game against Czechia on March 5 in Tokyo.
The Giants, who went 81-81 last season and missed the playoffs for a fourth straight year, will open the 2026 MLB campaign against the New York Yankees on March 25.
A debunked conspiracy theory with no basis in reality linking a power substation to injuries to the San Francisco 49ers has made its way up to general manager John Lynch.
Lynch was asked about it at a news conference Wednesday on the heels of a 49ers season that was ravaged by injuries to key players. Here’s what he had to say:
“Because it deals with, allegedly, the health and safety of our players, I think you have to look into everything,” Lynch said. “Our guys have been — we’ve been reaching out to anyone and everyone to see — does a study exist other than a guy sticking an apparatus underneath a fence and coming up with a number that I have no idea what that means.
“That’s what we know exists. We’ve heard that debunked. So yes, we will look into it. We have. The health and safety of our players is of the utmost priority. … I know that a lot of games have been won at this facility since it opened. We aren’t gonna turn a blind eye. We look into everything.”
John Lynch answered a question on Wednesday about a conspiracy theory linking 49ers injuries to a power substation near their home stadium and practice facility.
(Mitchell Leff via Getty Images)
We’re not going to go into detail about the theory here because, as noted, it has no basis in reality. But the short of it proposes that the 49ers have experienced an increase in injuries because their home field, Levi’s Stadium, is built near a power substation.
The theory was amplified by a person who describes himself on social media as a “board-certified quantum biology practitioner.” A post perpetuating the theory had gained more than 22 million views as of Wednesday.
Per FOS, the person who posted the viral theory is not a doctor. He took a Gauss meter, which measures the strength of magnetic fields, to the 49ers facility to garner a reading. That’s presumably the “apparatus” that Lynch referred to Wednesday.
Advertisement
Jerrold Bushberg, a radiology professor at UC Davis, told FOS that “there is no firmly established evidence” that backs up the theory. Other medical experts with whom FOS spoke with called the theory “nonsense,” “wild,” and “not possible.”
The Washington Post spoke with Frank de Vocht, a professor of epidemiology and public health at Bristol Medical School in England, whom the Post described as a leading expert on how electromagnetic fields impact humans, which is at the basis of the theory. De Vocht told the post that the theory is “nonsense.”
The 49ers have played at Levi’s Stadium since 2014, but the substation also sits adjacent to the practice facility that they’ve used since 1988, a span that includes two Super Bowl championships.
After making headlines with her first-round attire, Japan’s Naomi Osaka will step onto the court for her second-round match at the 2026 Australian Open tonight, where she’ll face Romania’s Sorana Cirstea. Osaka entered as the No. 16 seed. The unseeded Cirstea has a WTA ranking of 41.
The pair will face off in Melbourne’s Margaret Court Arena, with an estimated start time of 3 a.m. ET/12 a.m. PT. Tournament coverage will air across ESPN and ESPN2. The entire tournament will stream on ESPN+ for ESPN Unlimited subscribers. Here’s what you need to know about watching the 2026 Australian Open.
Advertisement
How to watch Naomi Osaka play tonight:
Date: Thursday, Jan. 22
Time: 3 a.m. ET
Location: Margaret Court Arena, Melbourne, Australia
TV channel: ESPN2
Streaming: ESPN+
When does Naomi Osaka play at the 2026 Australian Open?
Naomi Osaka plays her second round at the Australian Open late tonight, at 3 a.m. ET/midnight PT.
Naomi Osaka vs. Sorana Cirstea match start time:
In the U.S., thanks to the time difference, the second-round match between Osaka and Cirstea is scheduled to start at 3 a.m. ET.
Australian Open channel:
The Australian Open will air on ESPN, with the entire tournament streaming on ESPN+ for Unlimited subscribers. Select tournament coverage will also air on ESPN2 before moving to ESPN for the semifinals and beyond.
Advertisement
How to watch the 2026 Australian Open:
Sling Orange, which includes ESPN, ESPN2, TNT, Disney Channel and 30 more with no other subscriptions or commitment necessary.
Where to watch the 2026 Australian Open without cable:
If you want to catch every match of the Australian Open and don’t currently subscribe to ESPN+, cable or a live TV streaming service, in Australia, a majority of the action will be streaming free with ads on 9Now.
Don’t live in the land down under? You can still stream like you do with the help of a VPN. A VPN (virtual private network) helps protect your data, can mask your IP address and is perhaps most popular for being especially useful in the age of streaming. Whether you’re looking to watch Friends on Netflix (which left the U.S. version of the streamer back in 2019) or tune in to tennis coverage without a cable package, a VPN can help you out. Looking to try a VPN for the first time? This guide breaks down the best VPN options for every kind of user.
9Now. Plus it’s Engadget’s pick for the best premium VPN. ExpressVPN offers three tiers of subscriptions: the Basic Plan (starting at $3.49/month), the Advanced Plan (starting at $4.49/month) and the Pro Plan (starting at $7.49/month).
ExpressVPN also offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, in case you’re nervous about trying a VPN.
Australian Open 2026 schedule:
All times Eastern
Advertisement
Saturday, Jan. 17
(Day 1) Men’s and Women’s 1st Round: 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, Jan. 18
(Day 1) Men’s and Women’s 1st Round: 3:00 a.m.
(Day 2) Men’s and Women’s 1st Round: 7:00 p.m.
Monday, Jan. 19
(Day 2) Men’s and Women’s 1st Round: 3:00 a.m.
(Day 3) Men’s and Women’s 1st Round: 7:00 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 20
(Day 3) Men’s and Women’s 1st Round: 3:00 a.m.
(Day 4) Men’s and Women’s 2nd Round: 7:00 p.m.
Wednesday, Jan. 21
(Day 4) Men’s and Women’s 2nd Round: 3:00 a.m.
(Day 5) Men’s and Women’s 2nd Round: 7:00 p.m.
Thursday, Jan. 22
(Day 5) Men’s and Women’s 2nd Round: 3:00 a.m.
(Day 6) Men’s and Women’s 3rd Round: 7:00 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 23
(Day 6) Men’s and Women’s 3rd Round: 3:00 a.m.
(Day 7) Men’s and Women’s 3rd Round: 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 24
(Day 7) Men’s and Women’s 3rd Round: 3:00 a.m.
(Day 8) Men’s and Women’s 4th Round: 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, Jan. 25
(Day 8) Men’s and Women’s 4th Round: 3:00 a.m.
(Day 9) Men’s and Women’s 4th Round: 7:00 p.m.
Monday, Jan. 26
(Day 9) Men’s and Women’s 4th Round: 3:00 a.m.
(Day 10) Men’s and Women’s Quarterfinals: 7:00 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 27
(Day 10) Men’s and Women’s Quarterfinals: 3:00 a.m.
(Day 11) Men’s and Women’s Quarterfinals: 7:00 p.m.
Wednesday, Jan. 28
(Day 11) Men’s and Women’s Quarterfinals: 3:00 a.m.
(Day 12) Women’s Semifinals: 7:00 p.m.
Thursday, Jan. 29
(Day 13) Men’s Semifinal: 8:00 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 30
(Day 13) Men’s Semifinal: 3:30 a.m.
Saturday, Jan. 31
(Day 14) Women’s Final: 3:30 a.m.
Sunday, Feb. 1
(Day 15) Men’s Final: 3:30 a.m.
Who is playing in the 2026 Australian Open?
The top 10 seeded players for the singles draws are listed below.
Men’s singles seeds
1. Carlos Alcaraz
2. Jannik Sinner
3. Alexander Zverev
4. Novak Djokovic
5. Felix Auger-Aliassime
Women’s singles seeds
1. Aryna Sabalenka
2. Iga Swiatek
3. Amanda Anisimova
4. Coco Gauff
5. Elena Rybakina
Australian Open prize money:
For 2026, the men’s and women’s singles winners each get $4,150,000, with the runner-up receiving $2,150,000 and semi-finalists receiving $1,250,000.
Jalen Brunson’s players-only meeting seems to have worked.
Brunson and the New York Knicks cruised to a blowout 120-66 win over the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday night, which snapped a four-game losing skid. The 54-point win was the largest in franchise history.
“A win. That was the most important thing, just finding a way to break the ice and get one in the left column,” Karl-Anthony Towns said, via The Associated Press. “So good game, good day for us to show what we’re capable of, but consistency is what makes champions and we’ve got to find that consistency and bring this kind of intensity and energy and execution every single night.”
The Knicks led almost the entire way on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden, and they opened the contest on an 18-6 run. They held the Nets to just 18 points in the second quarter, which sent them into the locker room with a 22-point lead, and then pushed that to 32 points by the end of the third period.
Advertisement
Brunson and the rest of the Knicks starters were pulled at that point, but their reserves still opened the fourth quarter on a 16-0 tear to secure the blowout win.
Brunson had 20 points and five assists to lead the Knicks. Landry Shamet added 18 points off the bench, shooting a perfect 6-of-6 from behind the arc, and Towns added 14 points and eight rebounds. The Knicks shot 50% from behind the arc, and more than doubled the Nets up on the glass.
Michael Porter Jr. led the Nets with 12 points and six rebounds. Ziaire Williams was the only other player to hit double figures with his 11 points off the bench. The Nets have now lost 13 straight to the Knicks. Their last win in the series came back in January 2023.
Advertisement
While a singular blowout win over the Nets is one thing, it came on the heels of what has been a rough stretch for the Knicks. The team entered Wednesday night having lost nine of their last 11 games, and they were booed heavily at Madison Square Garden in each of their last two losses. After Monday’s loss to the Dallas Mavericks, Brunson called a meeting to try and turn things around.
“I’d be booing us too, straight up,” Brunson said on Monday night.
The Knicks now hold a 26-18 record entering Saturday night’s contest with the Philadelphia 76ers. That game, while just a mid-January bout, will be a better measure of if the meeting actually did its job.
“This was a good step for us, but we’ve got to continue to press the issue of getting better every single day,” Brunson said.
Naomi Osaka picked up a win in the second round of the Australian Open, but her on-court play wasn’t the biggest story to come out of the match. Following Osaka’s win, the 28-year-old was involved in a tense handshake with her opponent, Romanian player Sorana Cîrstea.
Following the match, which Osaka won (6-3, 4-6, 6-2), she met Cîrstea at mid-court to shake hands. Cîrstea’s handshake was extremely brief, leading Osaka to say something. The two then exchanged words near the umpire’s chair.
Osaka was asked about the situation after the match, and said she thought Cîrstea was upset that Osaka was verbally pumping herself up during the match. This clip helps give some context:
When asked what it took to advance past Cîrstea, Osaka responded, “Apparently a lot of ‘come ons’ that she was angry about.” Osaka later said, “I think this was her last Australian Open, so sorry she was mad about it,” per BBC News.
Advertisement
At a different press conference, Osaka apologized for those post-match quotes, saying she did not mean to disrespect Cîrstea, according to BBC News.
“I’m a little confused. I guess that emotions were very high for her. I also want to apologize,” the four-time major winner said.
“I think the first couple of things that I said on the court were disrespectful. I don’t like disrespecting people. That’s not what I do.”
Cîrstea, 35, downplayed the exchange following the match, saying there was “no drama” between the two players.
With the win, Osaka moves on to the third round of the event. It’s the first time she’s reached the third round at the Australian Open since 2022. She’ll take on Maddison Inglis on Saturday.
Taylor Fritz, Jannik Sinner advance on men’s side
On the men’s side, both Taylor Fritz and Jannik Sinner made quick work of their opponents Thursday. Both players won in straight sets, though Fritz did need a tiebreak to push past Vit Kopriva in the third set.
Advertisement
Fritz is looking for a repeat performance of last year, where he surged to the quarterfinal in the Australian Open. It was his best performance at the event to date. In order to get there, he’ll need to beat Stan Wawrinka on Saturday and then could match up with men’s No. 5 Lorenzo Musetti in the fourth round.
Sinner has won the previous two Australian Opens, and is seeking his third-straight win at the event. He’ll take on Eliot Spizzirri on Saturday.
Belinda Bencic stunned by Czech teen Nikola Bartunkova
Belinda Bencic entered the Australian Open as one of the top-ranked women in the event. But Bencic is going home early, losing in the second round against 19-year-old Nikola Bartunkova.
Advertisement
It was an impressive performance from Bartunkova, who won the match 6-3, 0-6, 6-4.
It’s the first time in which Bartunkova has taken part in the Australian Open. It took her only two matches to pick up a signature win at the event.
Elsewhere on the women’s side, No. 2 ranked Iga Swiatek won in straight sets over Marie Bouzková. Elena Rybakina also advanced in straight sets.
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
⚾️ Mets land Peralta: The Brewers are sending All-Star ace Freddy Peralta to the Mets in exchange for top prospects Jett Williams and Brandon Sproat. The trade marks the third significant acquisition by New York in the past week.
Advertisement
⚾️ Bellinger stays in pinstripes: Cody Bellinger has signed a five-year, $162.5 million deal to stay with the Yankees after the former MVP enjoyed a bounce-back season last year in the Bronx.
🏀 Back to college: Former Alabama center Charles Bediako has played for multiple G League teams, including one this season. Now, he’s been granted a temporary order to return to the Crimson Tide and could take the floor as soon as this weekend.
⚽️ Two tickets punched: Arsenal and Bayern Munich have clinched their spots in the Champions League Round of 16 with one match to spare. All 36 teams will take the field next Wednesday to wrap up the league phase.
🏀 WNBA schedule release: The WNBA has released its 2026 schedule amid CBA negotiations. The league’s 30th season will tip off on May 8, the All-Star Game will be held in Chicago on July 25 and the playoffs will begin on Sept. 27.
Advertisement
🏈 Will Indiana’s title invite copycats?
Indiana is synonymous with basketball. Suddenly, they’re pretty darn good at football, too. (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
Now that a “basketball school” has won a college football national title, will others chase that success too?
College athletics is, if nothing else, the ultimate copycat industry. Whenever somebody has success doing something unique, dozens of struggling programs will try to beg, borrow and steal whatever they can from that blueprint.
There is no real precedent, however, for how the broader world of college athletics is going to react to Indiana winning a national championship in football. In a sport that has always been tilted toward the pedigreed programs, watching a perennial loser cap a 27-2 two-year stretch with a title is such a one-off that it’s hard to know exactly what the takeaway should be for everyone else.
Advertisement
Does it mean suddenly anything is possible for the middle and lower class of the sport? Has it ruined the excuses of every program struggling to achieve great things? Are there other Curt Cignettis out there who can build a national champion out of three-star recruits and a few hits in the transfer portal?
Here’s the real answer: Probably not. But that isn’t going to stop a whole lot of similarly situated schools from chasing the idea they can become “the next Indiana.”
Who can blame them after watching Hoosier fans suddenly activated after decades to take over the Rose Bowl, the Peach Bowl and even outnumber Miami fans in their home stadium for the national championship game? What administrator could resist the idea that football success is going to get billionaire alums like Mark Cuban to write big checks to the athletic department for the first time?
Indiana fans celebrate at a national championship game watch party in Bloomington. (Jon Cherry/Getty Images)
Though nobody could have envisioned a national title within two years, Indiana’s administration was not shy about saying that the school needed to invest more and build a winning football program. The subtext of that move, after decades of relative apathy, was that Indiana might be at risk of getting left behind if there was ever a so-called super league of the top 30 or 40 programs that broke away from everyone else.
Advertisement
Indiana certainly isn’t the only school that has that fear. Fundamentally, though, athletic departments will have to ask themselves whether Indiana is a comet or a blueprint. Because the reality of college sports is that no matter how much anybody invests in a particular sport, there are limits to the number of wins available. And in most cases, particularly in the NIL era, giving money to one sport is probably going to negatively impact another.
That’s where Indiana’s success has been a little bit scary for men’s basketball coaches. When their administrations start to feel the pressure of “If Indiana did it, we can too,” will they continue to feed their other sports or try to double down on football like the Hoosiers?
There’s no one-size-fits-all answer here. Every school has a different stadium size, a different donor base and different budgetary pressures. There are one-off places where a sport outside the traditional profit centers of football and men’s basketball really, really matters like LSU baseball, Nebraska women’s volleyball, Minnesota hockey and Utah gymnastics.
Realistically, though, King Football rules all those campuses in terms of dollars and institutional priorities. If anything, Indiana’s title will probably lead to schools throwing a lot of good money after bad, only to find out that it isn’t so easy to pull off anything close to what they just accomplished.
Speaking in the most assertive tone we’ve heard to date from a league power broker, Kraft married the expected push for an 18th game to the NFL’s quest to expand revenue through international growth.
Kraft’s belief is that the two-pronged push — expansion of the regular season and international slate — will draw more global interest in the league, resulting in more money for everyone.
To date, the NFLPA has pushed back on adding another game, citing health and safety concerns. … Yet, Kraft sounded certain in his confidence that it’s going to happen.
The Pitinos in 2014 after Richard won the NIT with Minnesota. (Frank Franklin II/AP Photo)
🏀 899 wins
St. John’s coach Rick Pitino will go for his 900th career win on Saturday. Standing in his way? Xavier, coached by none other than his son, Richard.
Climbing the leaderboard: Pitino currently ranks fifth all-time in wins among Division I men’s coaches, but should soon pass Bob Knight (902) and Roy Williams (903) for third. He still has a ways to go before catching Jim Boeheim (1,116) and Mike Krzyzewski (1,202).
⛳️ 141 straight weeks
This is Scottie Scheffler’s 141st consecutive week being No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking, which puts him more than halfway to breaking Tiger Woods’ record of 281 straight weeks atop the OWGR, set from June 12, 2005 to Oct. 30, 2010.
Advertisement
On a related note: Woods also holds the record for total weeks at World No. 1 with 683. With Scheffler at 175, the 29-year-old would need to stay atop the ranking for about another decade to top that.
Cody’s staying in New York. Where will the other top free agents end up? (Evan Bernstein/Getty Images)
⚾️ 14 of 50
After Cody Bellinger re-signed with the Yankees, just 14 of our top 50 MLB free agents remain unsigned: LHP Framber Valdez (No. 8), RHP Zac Gallen (12), RHP Lucas Giolito (21), 3B Eugenio Suárez (24), INF Luis Arráez (26), OF Harrison Bader (30), RHP Zack Littell (39), RHP Griffin Canning (40), OF Max Kepler (41), OF/DH Miguel Andújar (42), RHP Chris Bassitt (46), LHP Jose Quintana (47), RHP Justin Verlander (48) and DH Marcell Ozuna (49).
Advertisement
The countdown is on: There are just 19 days left until pitchers and catchers begin reporting to spring training, 29 days until exhibition games begin and 62 days until the Giants and Yankees meet in San Francisco for Opening Night.
🏀 120-66
Two days after holding a players-only meeting in the midst of a 2-9 slide, the Knicks blew out the Nets, 120-66, on Wednesday for their most lopsided victory in franchise history.
Battle for New York: The Nets won nine straight meetings against the Knicks when Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving were in Brooklyn, but New York has now won 13 straight games against their crosstown rivals.
Advertisement
📺 Watchlist: Thursday, Jan. 22
Scheffler at last month’s Hero World Challenge. (Ben Jared/PGA Tour via Getty Images)
⛳️ The American Express
Scottie Scheffler, making his season debut, leads a stacked field that includes eight of the world’s top 13 players at the Pete Dye Stadium Course in La Quinta, California (11:30am ET, ESPN+; 4pm, Golf).
Meanwhile, in Dubai: Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry and Viktor Hovland are among those teeing it up at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic (8:30am, Golf).
🏀 NBA on Prime
Cooper Flagg’s Mavericks host Stephen Curry’s Warriors in the first game of tonight’s doubleheader (7:30pm), then the Clippers host the crosstown Lakers in the nightcap (10pm).
Advertisement
Clippers turnaround: Midway through December, the Clippers were left for dead after starting the season an abysmal 6-21. They’ve gone 13-3 since then, putting themselves squarely in the play-in picture.
More to watch:
🏒 NHL: Red Wings at Wild (9:30pm, ESPN) … Detroit (31-16-4) is second in the Atlantic, while Minnesota (28-14-9) is third in the Central.
🏀 NCAAW: No. 10 Iowa at No. 15 Maryland (6pm, NBC); No. 11 Kentucky at No. 17 Tennessee (6:30pm, SEC); No. 2 South Carolina at No. 16 Oklahoma (7:30pm, ESPN) … The Gamecocks (19-1) have won 12 straight games.
🎾 Australian Open: Third round (7pm, ESPN+; 9pm, ESPN2) … Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff and Carlos Alcaraz headline today’s action in Melbourne.
The expansion Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire will tip off this season as the 14th and 15th WNBA franchises.
Question: Can you name the 13 teams they’ll join?
Answer at the bottom.
📸 Photo finish
(Xavier Laine/Getty Images)
🇫🇷 Marseille, France — Marseille fans welcomed Liverpool at Wednesday’s Champions League match with a Beatles-inspired tifo. Unfortunately for the home side, the Fab Four helped power the Reds to a 3-0 victory.
Trivia answer: Washington Mystics, Connecticut Sun, New York Liberty, Atlanta Dream, Chicago Sky, Indiana Fever, Minnesota Lynx, Los Angeles Sparks, Seattle Storm, Golden State Valkyries, Las Vegas Aces, Phoenix Mercury, Dallas Wings
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.
The conference championship round doesn’t have Josh Allen, and we knew it wouldn’t have Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow and some other star quarterbacks, but it does feature four very good, well-coached teams.
The Seattle Seahawks, Denver Broncos and New England Patriots all went 14-3 in the regular season. The Los Angeles Rams were 12-5 and might be the best team out of the four. Nobody snuck into the NFL’s final four this season. This a good group of teams for what is annually one of the best weekends of football on the calendar.
Advertisement
Here are the picks for the NFL’s conference championship games, with odds from BetMGM:
Broncos (+5) over Patriots
No matter which side you’re on, and what you think of Jarrett Stidham as he takes over for an injured Bo Nix, everyone should agree that this point spread is an overreaction.
Jarrett Stidham’s fifth career start will come in the AFC championship game. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images)
(Tim Warner via Getty Images)
Before the season, when Yahoo Sports’ Ben Fawkes polled 12 oddsmakers to determine the difference in the point spread between each team’s starter and backup, the average for Nix to Stidham was 3.85 points. Last week, when some books posted lookahead lines to potential conference championship matchups, the Broncos were a 1.5-point favorite over the Patriots. This line has shifted 6.5 points from that lookahead line after the Nix injury. Nothing has changed other than the quarterbacks, and we already knew that switch should be worth less than four points.
Advertisement
Stidham hasn’t thrown a pass in the past two regular seasons, but the Broncos obviously like him. He was a priority signing for Denver in 2023 during its first offseason with Sean Payton. He got $10 million over two years, which isn’t bad money for a backup. In 2025, when he was a free agent again, he got $12 million over two seasons. Denver likes Stidham, he just hasn’t had to play. In Stidham’s first NFL start, as a member of the Raiders at the end of the 2022 season, he threw for 365 yards and three touchdowns against a 49ers defense that made an NFC championship game. In Stidham’s last regular-season start at the end of the 2023 season, he had a respectable 272 yards and a touchdown. This past preseason Stidham was 30 of 38 for 376 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. This isn’t the preseason, and he won’t be facing defensive players about to get cut, but Stidham isn’t a zero. The Broncos also aren’t a quarterback-centric team. They got here by winning with defense and Sean Payton managing close games late, with Nix making a few plays when needed. Nix hasn’t been bad this season, but it’s also not the Chiefs trying to replace Patrick Mahomes.
The Patriots are a good team but have also caught breaks, particularly with their oft-mentioned soft schedule. Playoff wins against the Chargers and Texans were impressive. Drake Maye is already one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks, and the defense has gotten even better in the playoffs. New England could blow out a Denver team, especially if Stidham looks rusty after not throwing a pass in either of the past two regular seasons. But this might not be the easy out that some seem to believe it will be.
Rams (+2.5) over Seahawks
It’s fairly rare for an NFL favorite to win and not cover the spread, especially with a small spread. However, that happened in both Rams-Seahawks meetings this regular season. In the first meeting the Rams won 21-19 as a 3-point favorite. In the rematch, the Seahawks had an amazing comeback and won 38-37 as a 1.5-point favorite.
Advertisement
It seems likely we get another close game to close the trilogy.
Another oddity from the two regular-season meetings is that the losing team completely out-gained the winning team both times. In the Seahawks’ loss, they had 414 yards compared to only 249 for the Rams. In the Rams’ loss, they had 581 yards and Seattle had 415. The Rams blew that game, but the Seahawks should feel like they would have won the first meeting if Sam Darnold threw only two or three interceptions instead of four.
It’s a great matchup and almost impossible to pick one team over the other. Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula has had Sam Darnold’s number for most of the last three meetings, but Darnold ended up making many plays to lead Seattle to an overtime win in Week 16. Darnold also has an oblique injury that has been largely forgotten about. Darnold had to throw only 17 times in a blowout win last week over the 49ers, so we don’t know if he’s fully healthy. That’s in the Rams’ favor. But Seattle is the team with much more rest over the last two weeks, with a bye and an easy divisional round win. Both of the Rams’ wins the last two weeks came down to the end. Seattle also has a great home-field advantage at Lumen Field, which is one of the loudest outdoor venues in sports. There are good arguments to side for either team.
If we’re taking a side in a difficult game to pick, it seems wise to take the points. We might even get a third instance of a team winning but not covering a small spread.
Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills, Trevor Lawrence of the Jacksonville Jaguars, Drake Maye of the New England Patriots, Christian McCaffrey of the San Francisco 49ers and Matthew Stafford of the Los Angeles Rams have been voted the five finalists for the 2025 NFL Associated Press Most Valuable Player award.
Allen is the only finalist to have been voted an MVP, taking home the award last season. He played 17 games for the Bills this season, throwing for 3,668 yards, 25 touchdowns and a career-high 69.3 completion percentage while also rushing for 579 yards and 14 touchdowns to lead the team to its seventh straight playoff appearance.
Advertisement
Lawrence nearly doubled his passing yards total from 2024 with 4,007 yards and a career-high 29 touchdowns as the Jaguars won the AFC South and made the playoffs for the first time since 2022.
The Patriots’ revival led to a 14-3 record, and their first AFC East crown since 2019 was in large part because of the play of Maye. The second-year quarterback posted career numbers across the board with 4,394 passing yards, 31 touchdowns and an NFL-best completion percentage (72%) and 113.5 passer rating. He also rushed for 450 yards and four touchdowns.
McCaffrey, who was a first-team All-Pro along with Stafford, recovered from an injury that derailed his 2024 season to play all 17 games for the 49ers in 2025. He rushed for 1,202 yards and 10 touchdowns and also caught 102 passes for 924 receiving yards and seven touchdowns as San Francisco finished with a 12-5 record and returned to the postseason.
Advertisement
No NFL quarterback had more passing yards (4,707) or passing touchdowns (46) than Stafford as the Rams finished with a 12-5 record in the touch NFC West. He was right behind Maye in passer rating (109.2) and was named a first-team All-Pro for the first time in his 17-season career. It was the first time Stafford had reached the 4,000-yard mark since 2021, his first season in L.A., and only the third time in his career he’s surpassed 40 passing touchdowns.
Maye and McCaffrey were also voted finalists for Offensive Player of the Year, while the 49ers running back, along with Lawrence, is up for Comeback Player of the Year.
Advertisement
The NFL will announce its 2025 award winners during the “NFL Honors” show on Feb. 5, three days before Super Bowl LX.
AP NFL award finalists
Coach of the Year: Liam Coen, Jacksonville Jaguars; Ben Johnson, Chicago Bears; Mike Macdonald, Seattle Seahawks; Kyle Shanahan, San Francisco 49ers; Mike Vrabel, New England Patriots.
Assistant Coach of the Year: Vic Fangio, Philadelphia Eagles (DC); Brian Flores, Minnesota Vikings (DC); Vance Joseph, Denver Broncos (DC); Klint Kubiak, Seattle Seahawks (OC); Josh McDaniels, New England Patriots (OC)
Comeback Player of the Year: Stefon Diggs, New England Patriots; Aidan Hutchinson, Detroit Lions; Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars; Christian McCaffrey, San Francisco 49ers; Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys
Advertisement
Defensive Player of the Year: Will Anderson, Jr., Houston Texans; Nik Bonitto, Denver Broncos; Myles Garrett, Cleveland Browns; Aidan Hutchinson, Detroit Lions; Micah Parsons, Green Bay Packers
Offensive Player of the Year: Drake Maye, New England Patriots; Christian McCaffrey, San Francisco 49ers; Puka Nacua, Los Angeles Rams; Bijan Robinson, Atlanta Falcons; Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Seattle Seahawks
Offensive Rookie of the Year: Jaxson Dart, New York Giants; Emeka Egbuka, Tampa Bay Buccaneers; Treveyon Henderson, New England Patriots; Tetairoa McMillan, Carolina Panthers; Tyler Shough, New Orleans Saints
Defensive Rookie of the Year: Abdul Carter, New York Giants; Nick Emmanwori, Seattle Seahawks; James Pearce, Jr., Atlanta Falcons; Carson Schwesinger, Cleveland Browns; Xavier Watts, Atlanta Falcons
Things haven’t gone well for the Milwaukee Bucks over the past few games. The team is just 1-4 since Jan. 11 and has lost those four contests by an average of nearly 19 points per game. Frustration is starting to seep in.
Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo said as much following Wednesday’s 122-102 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Antetokounmpo, who scored 19 points in the loss, blamed the team’s current stretch on myriad issues, including poor effort and selfish play, per ESPN.
“We’re not playing hard,” Antetokounmpo said. “We aren’t doing the right thing. We’re not playing to win. We’re not playing together. Our chemistry’s not there. Guys are being selfish, trying to look for their own shots instead of looking for the right shot for the team. Guys trying to do it on their own.
“At times, I feel like when we’re down 10, down 15, down 20, we try to make it up in one play, and it’s not going to work.”
That’s quite the laundry list of issues, though Antetokounmpo thinks he has one potential fix that could turn things around. Following the game, Antetokounmpo said he isn’t being given as many opportunities from teammates.
“I’m not the guy that will yell and cuss his teammate out and demand the ball,” Antetokounmpo said. “I’ve never done that in my career. But I feel like I’ve played with teammates that kind of understand the gravity that I can cause for our team, in how I can create for teammates and for myself, and how I can help the team be more successful.
“But maybe for some reason, I don’t understand — maybe because we’re young, maybe because we’re not playing well, maybe because guys think it’s their turn, they want to carry the team on their back and try to turn this around — but I really don’t get it. I really don’t.”
While that could come off as a selfish statement, Antetokounmpo has seen limited field-goal attempts over the team’s last four games, reaching a high of just 13 during that stretch. Last season, Antetokounmpo averaged 19.7 field-goal attempts per contest. That figure is down to 16.5 this season.
Advertisement
That could partially explain why the Bucks are 18-25 halfway through the season. With the team struggling more than usual, there’s an argument to be made Antetokounmpo should get the ball more. If anyone can singlehandedly lead the team back into games, it’s Antetokounmpo.
Some of the Bucks’ struggles this season were expected. Following numerous trades and signings over the past few years, the Bucks entered last offseason with less talent than usual, and fewer resources at their disposal. That led to rumors about Antetokounmpo’s future with the team. He’s remained committed to the team, but Wednesday’s comments show he’s clearly frustrated with the way things are going.
Advertisement
The Bucks still have a few weeks to bring in more talent. With the trade deadline fast approaching, Milwaukee could try and add another contributor to help Antetokounmpo. Based on Antetokounmpo’s comments Wednesday, the team may need to do something significant at the deadline, because the current situation doesn’t seem to be working for its star player.
