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🚨 Headlines
🏈 College Football Awards: Colorado’s Travis Hunter (best WR, best defensive player, AP POY), Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty (best RB, college POY) and Miami’s Cam Ward (best QB) headlined Thursday’s end of season awards.
⚾️ Expensive drop: The ball that bounced off Aaron Judge’s glove in Game 5 of the World Series sold for $43,510 to an unidentified buyer. The proceeds for the auction, run by the Dodgers, will go to the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation.
🏀 Butler on the block: The Heat are reportedly willing to listen to offers for Jimmy Butler, who can become a free agent this summer. Butler’s wish list is said to include the Mavericks, Rockets, Warriors and Suns.
🏈 Mullen to Vegas: Dan Mullen is set to take over at UNLV. The former Florida and Mississippi State coach has been working as an ESPN analyst for the past three seasons.
🏒 Nine goals for Pittsburgh: The Penguins had the highest scoring output of any NHL team this season in a 9-2 win over the Canadiens. Sidney Crosby had three assists and now has 30 points (8 goals, 22 assists) in 31 games.
🏈 Hunter vs. Jeanty: Who ya got?
The Heisman Trophy will be awarded tomorrow night in New York City, and for just the fifth time this century, the winner won’t be a quarterback.
The contenders: With all due respect to Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel and Miami QB Cam Ward, it’s a two-man race between Colorado WR/CB Travis Hunter, who is the heavy favorite (-2500 at BetMGM), and Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty, who has put up historic numbers for the playoff-bound Broncos.
Hunter’s résumé: The two-way star played 92% of snaps for the Buffaloes this season and dominated on both sides of the ball, becoming the first player to win both the Bednarik Award (best defensive player) and Biletnikoff Award (best WR).
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Hunter ranks fifth in FBS in catches (92), sixth in receiving yards (1,152) and second in receiving TDs (14), rating as the nation’s fifth-best receiver, per PFF. He also added one rushing TD.
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He also has four interceptions, 11 passes defensed and a forced fumble, rating as the third-best corner in FBS.
Wild stat… He’s the only player this century with 10 catches and an interception in the same game, and he’s done it twice this season.
Jeanty’s résumé: Boise State’s workhorse may do only one thing, but he does it significantly better than anyone else.
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With 2,497 rushing yards, he’s on pace to break Barry Sanders’ single-season FBS record of 2,628 in his next game (albeit in three more games than Barry had). And his 7.3 yards per carry aren’t that far off Barry’s 7.6 from that year.
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Jeanty’s 29 rushing TDs are tied for first in the nation (Army QB Bryson Daily), and he’s added 116 receiving yards and one score through the air.
Wild stat… He has more rushing yards after contact this season (1,882) than any other player has, period.
🏀 Man on fire: Jokić can’t be stopped
The Nuggets return to the court tonight after a rare four-day break for NBA Cup action. They’ll be hoping that lengthy hiatus didn’t cool down their red-hot star.
By the numbers: Nikola Jokić is averaging 43.7 points, 16.7 rebounds and 9.0 assists on 55% shooting across his last three games. No other player (since at least 1975-76) has ever reached those numbers in any three-game span.
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Dec. 8: 48 points (17-29 FG), 14 rebounds, 8 assists
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Dec. 7: 56 points (22-39 FG), 16 rebounds, 8 assists
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Dec. 5: 27 points (13-26 FG), 20 rebounds, 11 assists
Zoom out: The craziest thing about those numbers is that they’re sort of in line with what Jokić has done all season. The three-time MVP is averaging a triple-double while ranking at or near the top of the league in most statistical categories.
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He leads the NBA in rebounding (13.6 per game), and he’s second in both scoring (32.3, behind Giannis Antetokounmpo’s 32.7) and assists (10.2, behind Trae Young’s 12.2).
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Most impressively, he’s shooting 50% from behind the arc on more than four attempts per game, the second-best mark in the league.
MVP trajectory: The season is still young, but Jokić is currently favored to win his fourth MVP award, which would put him in elite company. Only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (6x), Michael Jordan (5x), Bill Russell (5x), Wilt Chamberlain (4x) and LeBron James (4x) have won that many.
🏈 What’s wrong with Justin Tucker?
Justin Tucker is arguably, and perhaps unequivocally, the best kicker in NFL history. But right now, there’s only one way to describe the Ravens’ all-time great: He stinks.
The nightmare continues: Tucker missed three kicks for the first time in his career in Baltimore’s last game — a 24-19 loss to the Eagles that represented the latest low point in a shockingly bad season for the 35-year-old Texas native.
By the numbers: Tucker has hit just 19 of 27 field goals this season, a career-worst rate of 70.4% that ranks second-to-last among the 28 kickers with at least 20 attempts.
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After entering the year as the most accurate kicker in NFL history, he’s now fallen to second on the all-time field goal percentage leaderboard behind the Chiefs’ Harrison Butker.
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He’s even missed two extra points, both in his last four games. That’s after missing six total in his first 204 career games.
His misses have been costly, too: Baltimore’s five losses this season have come by 22 combined points, and Tucker has missed 22 points worth of kicks in those losses.
Did this come out of nowhere? Not exactly. Tucker has shown signs of slipping for a few years. After missing more than five kicks just once in his first 10 seasons, he’s done so in each of the last three. And after making 73% of his kicks from 50+ yards in his first 10 seasons, he’s made just 50% of them in his last three.
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Still, that doesn’t quite explain why he’s been this bad this year. Sure, he’s aging, but 35 isn’t that old for a kicker. One special teams coach thinks it could be attributed to Tucker’s timing being off by just a hair.
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“The harder you swing, the more active your left side has to be. If your left side is late, the ball is going to track left,” the coach told SB Nation. “He swings as hard as any player that’s ever kicked. When you swing that hard, it’s easy to pull one.”
Looking ahead: Head coach John Harbaugh says Tucker will remain Baltimore’s kicker despite his slump, and it’s hard to blame him. Serviceable kickers don’t grow on trees, and Tucker has something most legs-for-hire don’t: postseason experience. He hasn’t missed a kick in the playoffs in the last two years.
What they’re saying: Tucker said he feels “very good” ahead of Sunday’s game against the Giants after getting work in during the bye week, and his teammates are fully behind him. “He’s the GOAT, still,” said Lamar Jackson last week. “Hell yeah, I’ve got confidence [in him].”
🇺🇸 Photos across America
Santa Clara, California — The Rams outlasted the 49ers, 12-6, for an ugly but important victory that put them in the thick of the NFC West title chase at 8-6. It was the first game this NFL season to finish with no touchdowns.
Queens, New York — Juan Soto was officially introduced as a member of the Mets during a news conference Thursday at Citi Field. One notable comment: Soto said he hasn’t spoken with his now-former Yankees teammates since the end of the World Series.
South Bend, Indiana — Sophomore Hannah Hidalgo (29 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals) led No. 8 Notre Dame to a 79-68 win over No. 2 UConn, handing the Huskies their first loss.
📆 Dec. 13, 1983: The NBA’s highest-scoring game
41 years ago today, the Pistons beat the Nuggets, 186-184 (3OT), in the highest-scoring game in NBA history.
By the numbers: 12 players scored in double figures, including a record four who eclipsed 40 points: Isiah Thomas (47) and John Long (41) for Detroit; Kiki VanDeWeghe (51) and Alex English (47) for Denver.
A different era… Each team made just one 3-pointer, which had been adopted by the league in 1979. By comparison, when the Kings beat the Clippers, 176-175 (2OT), two seasons ago in the second-highest scoring game ever, they combined for 44.
📺 Watchlist: Army vs. Navy
Army and Navy face off on Saturday (3pm ET, CBS) in Landover, Maryland, in the 125th Battle for the Secretary’s Trophy. Navy leads the all-time series, 62-55-7.
Two great teams: The Black Knights (11-1) and Midshipmen (8-3) have combined for 19 wins this season, their highest total ever entering this game. Both have spent time in the AP Top 25, and Army is currently ranked No. 19 after winning the AAC championship.
More to watch:
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🏈 NFL Sunday: Bills at Lions (4:25pm, CBS); Steelers at Eagles (4:25pm, Fox); Buccaneers at Chargers (4:25pm, Fox); Packers at Seahawks (8:20pm, NBC) … Week 15.
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🏈 Celebration Bowl: Jackson State vs. South Carolina State (Sat. 12pm, ABC) … The de facto HBCU national championship game in Atlanta.
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🏈 FCS: Quarterfinals ((Fri-Sat, ESPN/ABC/ESPN+) … No. 1 Montana State and No. 2 North Dakota State headline the field.
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🏀 NBA Cup: Hawks vs. Bucks (Sat. 4:30pm, TNT); Rockets vs. Thunder (Sat. 8:30pm, ABC) … Semifinals in Las Vegas.
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🏀 NCAAM: No. 17 Texas A&M at No. 11 Purdue (Sat. 12pm, CBS); Louisville at No. 5 Kentucky (Sat. 5:15pm, ESPN); No. 8 Gonzaga at No. 18 UConn (Sat. 8pm, Fox)
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🏀 NCAAW: No. 21 Iowa at No. 17 Michigan State (Sun. 12pm, BTN); No. 25 Georgia Tech at No. 14 UNC (Sun. 2pm, ACC)
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⚽️ Premier League: Manchester City vs. Manchester United (Sun. 11:30am, USA) … The 195th Manchester Derby.
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⚽️ Men’s Final Four*: No. 3 Denver vs. Vermont (Fri. 5pm, ESPNU); No. 1 Ohio State vs. No. 13 Marshall (Fri. 7:30pm, ESPNU) … In Cary, North Carolina.
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🏒 NHL: Maple Leafs at Red Wings (Sat. 7pm, NHL); Golden Knights at Wild (Sun. 6pm, NHL)
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🏐 NCAA Women’s Volleyball: Regionals (Fri-Sun, ESPN/ESPN2/ABC) … The Final Four will be set by Sunday night.
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⛳️ PGA/LPGA: Grant Thornton Invitational (Fri-Sun, Golf/NBC/Peacock) … The second annual mixed-team tournament features 32 PGA and LPGA players.
*New champion crowned? Marshall, which won its lone title in 2020, is the only semifinalist that has won a national championship.
🏈 Coach trivia
Only three head coaches have won a Super Bowl and a college football national title. Bill Belichick hopes to become the fourth.
Question: Can you name those three coaches?
Hint: Two won Super Bowls with the same team.
Answer at the bottom.
🏀 The Friday long read
Free Lutheran Bible College might be the worst college basketball team of all time. Make fun of them all you want, but they have a bigger priority than winning, writes Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Eisenberg.
Read the full story.
Trivia answer: Barry Switzer (Oklahoma and Cowboys), Jimmy Johnson (Miami and Cowboys) and Pete Carroll (USC and Seahawks)
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