Did The College Football Playoff Committee Get It Right?

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🏈 The College Football Playoff is set

The 12-team College Football Playoff bracket was finalized on Sunday. Shockingly, not everyone is happy.

The controversy: Notre Dame was left out of the field in favor of Miami, who had been ranked behind them for every iteration of the CFP rankings prior to Sunday.

How did the Hurricanes leapfrog the Irish despite neither team playing a game? It came down to head-to-head.
With BYU losing in the Big 12 title game, there was no longer a buffer between Notre Dame and Miami, allowing the committee to prioritize the Hurricanes’ win over the Irish back in August.

What they’re saying: “There is no explanation that could possibly be given to explain the outcome,” Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua told Yahoo Sports. “Any rankings or show prior to this last one is an absolute joke and a waste of time.”

In an interesting wrinkle, as part of a memorandum of understanding signed by CFP officials last spring, Notre Dame will be assured of making the playoff if it is ranked in the top 12 starting next year, Bevacqua tells Yahoo Sports.
So if this year’s circumstances unfolded next year, the final at-large team (Miami) would have been automatically bumped from the field for No. 11 Notre Dame.

Looking ahead: Duke’s win in the ACC title game opened the door for both Tulane and James Madison to make the playoff, where they’ll be significant underdogs.

No. 9 Alabama (-1.5) at No. 8 Oklahoma
No. 10 Miami (+3.5) at No. 7 Texas A&M
No. 11 Tulane (+16.5) at No. 6 Ole Miss
No. 12 JMU (+21.5) at No. 5 Oregon

First-round byes: No. 1 Indiana, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Georgia, No. 4 Texas Tech

Good read: CFP committee sends a message by leaving Notre Dame out of the field (Dan Wolken, Yahoo Sports)

🏈 NFL Sunday scoreboard

Christian Watson celebrates with fans after scoring a touchdown. (John Fisher/Getty Images)

Packers 28, Bears 21 … A late INT helped Green Bay seal the win and take over first place in the NFC North. They’ll meet again in Chicago in two weeks.

Texans 20, Chiefs 10 … KC’s streak of nine straight AFC West titles is officially over, and they’re barely alive in the wild-card race.

Jaguars 36, Colts 19 … Indianapolis lost its third straight game, and Daniel Jones likely needs season-ending surgery. Not great!

Titans 31, Browns 29 … Shedeur Sanders (4 TD) had his breakout game, but fellow rookie Cam Ward got the victory.

Steelers 27, Ravens 22 … From “Fire Tomlin” to first place in the AFC North. Amazing what a win over a rival can do.

Broncos 24, Raiders 17 … A penalty as time expired led to a meaningless Raiders field goal, and a bad beat for the ages (DEN -7.5).

Saints 24, Buccaneers 20 … Tampa Bay (7-6) is now tied with Carolina atop the NFC South, and they play each other twice over the next month.

Rams 45, Cardinals 17 … Matthew Stafford and company put on a show in Arizona, reminding us all why they’re Super Bowl favorites.

Bills 39, Bengals 34 … Joe Burrow’s back-to-back INTs sunk Cincinnati in a dazzling shootout with Josh Allen in a snowstorm.

Seahawks 37, Falcons 9 … With its seventh loss in eight games, Atlanta (4-9) sealed an eighth straight losing campaign.

Vikings 31, Commanders 0 … Minnesota flipped the script after getting shut out last week in Seattle.

Dolphins 34, Jets 10 … Miami won its fourth straight game as Tua Tagovailoa improved to 8-0 against the Jets.

🇺🇸 Photos across America

Fort Lauderdale, Florida — Inter Miami beat the Vancouver Whitecaps, 3-1, on Saturday to claim their first MLS championship and provide the signature moment of Lionel Messi’s brief but stunningly successful career in North America’s top league.

More hardware: After winning league MVP for the second straight year, Messi was named MVP of the MLS Cup. He had two assists in the final to give him 15 goal contributions in the playoffs (six goals, nine assists), the most ever in a single postseason.

Washington, D.C. — The World Cup draw was held on Friday at the Kennedy Center, where Spain (+400 at BetMGM) and England (+600) emerged as the favorites, France drew a tough schedule that includes an opener against Erling Haaland’s Norway, and the USMNT caught a break with a favorable draw.

Mark your calendars: The Americans open play in Group D against Paraguay in Los Angeles (June 12), then take on Australia in Seattle (June 19) before returning to Los Angeles for their final group stage matchup against either Turkey, Romania, Slovakia or Kosovo (June 25).

Las Vegas — Petr Yan stunned Merab Dvalishvili on Saturday to reclaim the UFC bantamweight title with one of the most shocking upsets in recent memory, handing the Georgian his first loss since 2018 to snap the longest win streak in bantamweight history (13 in a row).

End of an era: UFC 323 marked the final pay-per-view event of the year, if not ever. The MMA promotion is moving from ESPN to Paramount+ beginning next year, with all major events included in the standard subscription rather than put behind an additional paywall.

💯 Big numbers

(Mario Renzi/Formula 1 via Getty Images)

🏎️ 423-421

Though Max Verstappen (Red Bull) won Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Lando Norris (McLaren) finished third to eke out his first F1 championship by the slimmest of margins, snapping Verstappen’s four-year title streak with a 423-421 advantage.

Close calls: Norris’ two-point victory was the closest since Lewis Hamilton won by a single point in 2008. Overall, in 76 seasons, there have been eight wins by one point and one win by a half-point (Niki Lauda over Alain Prost in 1984).

⚾️ 14 of 16 votes

Jeff Kent was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday by the 16-member Contemporary Era Committee. Candidates needed 12 votes for election, and the five-time All-Star second baseman received 14.

Who missed the cut? Carlos Delgado got the second-most votes with nine, followed by Don Mattingly and Dale Murphy with six. Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Gary Sheffield and Fernando Valenzuela all got fewer than five, which means they’ll be ineligible for the next Contemporary Era ballot in 2028.

🏀 28,303 points

James Harden (28,303 points) made history on Saturday when he passed Carmelo Anthony (28,289) for 10th place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. LeBron James (first) and Kevin Durant (eighth) are the only active players ahead of him.

All-time rankings: Harden is second on the 3-point list (behind only Stephen Curry) and fifth on the free-throw list (Karl Malone, James, Moses Malone, Kobe Bryant). He’s also 13th on the assist list — and fourth on the turnover list.

🏈 +23.5

Illinois State pulled off a stunning upset over North Dakota State in the second round of the FCS playoffs on Saturday, scoring 15 points in the final three minutes to beat the top-ranked Bison, 29-28, as 23.5-point underdogs. Even that undersells the magnitude of this upset, though. North Dakota State, which came in with a 16-game win streak, hadn’t lost a home playoff game since 2016 and was so good this year that they received AP poll votes!

Last eight standing: The Redbirds were the only unseeded team to reach the quarterfinals, where they’ll play No. 8 UC Davis. The other matchups: No. 2 Montana State vs. No. 7 Stephen F. Austin, No. 3 Montana vs. No. 11 South Dakota and No. 4 Tarleton State vs. No. 12 Villanova.

🏀 81-58

No. 10 Iowa State stormed to an 81-58 victory over No. 1 Purdue on Saturday afternoon, overwhelming the previously undefeated Boilermakers in a way nobody does at Mackey Arena.

Historic blowout: The 23-point margin of victory matches the largest-ever home defeat in college basketball history by a top-ranked program. Not since Villanova beat UConn, 96-73, in 1995 has the AP poll’s No. 1 team suffered such a one-sided loss.

⚽️ 4 teams left

The men’s College Cup (Final Four) is set, with No. 15 NC State, No. 16 Furman, Washington and Saint Louis emerging from the 48-team field of an upset-laden tournament that saw five of the top six seeds lose before the third round.

Davids vs. Goliath: Saint Louis has won an NCAA men’s record 10 national championships, while NC State, Furman and Washington are all seeking their first.

📺 Watchlist: Monday, Dec. 8

🏈 Eagles at Chargers

Philly and Los Angeles square off tonight at SoFi Stadium (8:15pm ET, ABC/ESPN) in a matchup of 8-4 teams trending in different directions. The Eagles have lost two straight while the Chargers have won four of five.

Injury report: Chargers QB Justin Herbert is questionable after undergoing surgery on his non-throwing hand. If he can’t suit up, former No. 3 overall pick Trey Lance will get his first start for the Bolts.

⚽️ Women’s College Cup Final

Top-seeded Stanford and third-seeded Florida State meet tonight in Kansas City (7pm ESPNU) for an all-ACC national championship. The Cardinal are seeking their fourth title, while the Seminoles are seeking their fifth (and third in five years).

More to watch:

🏀 NBA: Suns at Timberwolves (7:30pm, Peacock) … Minnesota (15-8) has won five straight to pass Phoenix (13-10) for sixth in the West.
🏒 NHL: Lightning at Maple Leafs (7:30pm, NHL) … Tampa (16-10-2) has lost three straight but is still clinging to first place in the Atlantic.

Today’s full slate.

🏈 NFL trivia

The Jets last made the playoffs in 2011. (Chris Coduto/Getty Images)

The NFL’s two longest active playoff droughts were extended on Sunday when the Jets (15 straight seasons) and Falcons (8 straight) were officially eliminated.

Question: Which team has the third-longest active playoff drought (7 straight)?

Hint: They’ve never won a Super Bowl (but they’ve appeared in two).

Answer at the bottom.

🏈 Talking the talk, walking the walk

On Dec. 20, 2023, Indiana’s newly-hired football coach Curt Cignetti was asked how he planned to sell his vision to recruits.

His response? “It’s pretty simple. I win. Google me.” Back then, it sounded like bravado. Two years later, it reads like prophecy.

Walking the walk: Since his arrival in Bloomington, Cignetti’s Hoosiers have authored one of the great turnarounds in college football history. They’ve gone 24-2, made back-to-back playoffs, and now they’re Big Ten champions for the first time since 1967 and the No. 1 team in the land.

Legendary stuff.

Trivia answer: Panthers

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Did the College Football Playoff committee get it right?