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| Presented By SiriusXM |
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| Axios Sports |
| By Kendall Baker · Jan 09, 2023 |
| 👋 Good morning! Happy Monday. Today's word count: 1,409 words (5 minutes). Let's sports... |
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| 1 big thing: 🏈 Bring on the playoffs |
 Table: Axios Visuals The NFL season is over for 18 teams. For the other 14? Bring on the playoffs, Axios' Jeff Tracy writes. State of play: The Chiefs and Eagles clinched No. 1 seeds and first-round byes. The other 12 teams will battle it out on Super Wild Card Weekend, which begins Saturday afternoon and ends Monday night. - Saturday: No. 7 Seahawks at No. 2 49ers (4:30pm ET, Fox); No. 5 Chargers at No. 4 Jaguars (8:15pm, NBC)
- Sunday: No. 7 Dolphins at No. 2 Bills (1pm, CBS); No. 6 Giants at No. 3 Vikings (4:30pm, Fox); No. 6 Ravens at No. 3 Bengals (8:15pm, NBC)
- Monday: No. 5 Cowboys at No. 4 Buccaneers (8:15pm, ABC/ESPN)
Fun fact: For the fifth time since the 1970 merger, every game in the opening round is a rematch from the regular season. The scene in Buffalo on Sunday. Photo: Timothy T Ludwig/Getty Images Week 18 notes: - Can't script it: Nyheim Hines returned the opening kickoff in Buffalo with Damar Hamlin's No. 3 stitched on his jersey — the Bills' first kickoff return in three years and three months. Then he returned another one.
- Detroit plays spoiler: The Lions beat the Packers, 20-16, on Sunday night at Lambeau Field to eliminate Green Bay. Aaron Rodgers will have the entire postseason to ponder his future.
- Sunshine State success: For the first time since 1999, all three Florida-based teams (Buccaneers, Jaguars, Dolphins) are in the playoffs.
- Bears gifted No. 1: The Texans (3-13-1) were in line for the No. 1 pick until Davis Mills' miraculous TD and two-point conversion lifted them past the Colts and handed the Bears (3-14) the top pick.
- First time for everything: The Bucs lost to the Falcons to finish 8-9 and give Tom Brady the first losing season of his 23-year NFL career.
- Tomlin's streak: Mike Tomlin has spent 16 seasons as an NFL head coach, and he's still never finished under .500. The Steelers missed the playoffs but finished 9-8 after starting 2-6.
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| 2. 🏆 CFP title game: By the numbers |
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| Logos: Texas Christian University and the University of Georgia |
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| Georgia and TCU meet tonight in Los Angeles, with one powerhouse seeking back-to-back titles and one underdog hoping to become college football's most unlikely champion in decades. By the numbers: - 12.5-point favorite: Georgia (-12.5, per Caesars) is the biggest favorite in College Football National Championship history. The favorite has won every title game since 2017 and six of eight overall.
- 5-7 record: TCU went 5-7 last year. The last team to have a losing record the year before winning a national title was 1965 Coaches Poll champion Michigan State, which went 4-5 in 1964.
- 8 straight: This is the eighth straight CFP title game with at least one team from the SEC. The conference has won 25 games in CFP history, while every other league has combined to win 11.
- 79.9 yards: Georgia allows just 79.9 rushing yards per game, fewest in the nation. Don't expect TCU's rushing attack to hit their average (204.5 yards) tonight.
- 21 plays: TCU has had 21 plays from scrimmage gain at least 50 yards this season, two more than any other team. Georgia has yielded just six such plays.
- 2,143 miles away: Georgia's bulldog mascot, Uga X, didn't make the cross-country trip to SoFi Stadium. He'll be cheering from his home in Savannah.
- 6 seasons later: The last time these teams played was the 2016 Liberty Bowl, which Georgia won 31-23. The Bulldogs went 8-5 that year, Kirby Smart's first in Athens. In the six seasons since, they're 72-10.
- 84 years: If the Horned Frogs pull off the upset, it will set a record for the longest span between national championships. TCU's only other title came in 1938 behind Heisman winner Davey O'Brien.
Pregame reading: |
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| 3. 👑 Football is king |
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| Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios |
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| Speaking of pro and college football, nothing captures America's attention more. By the numbers: The NFL accounted for 82 of the top 100 most-watched U.S. TV broadcasts in 2022, per Sportico. College football was second with five. Full breakdown: 94 of the top 100 broadcasts were sports. - 🏈 NFL (82x)
- 🏈 CFB (5x)
- 🇺🇸 Politics (4x)
- ⚽️ World Cup (3x)
- 🏀 CBB (2x)
- 🥇 Olympics
- 🦃 Thanksgiving Parade
- 🍿 Academy Awards
- 🐎 Kentucky Derby
Between the lines: Of the 50 most-watched sporting events last year, 45 were NFL games, three were college football games, one was the World Cup Final (which led into the NFL) and one was a night of the Olympics (that aired after the Super Bowl). What to watch: Last year's CFP title game (22.6 million viewers) ranked 34th on the 2022 list. Where will tonight's game rank for 2023? |
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| 4. ⚡️ Lightning round |
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| Photo: Peter Mundy/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images |
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| 🎾 Djoker's wild streak: Novak Djokovic won the Adelaide International on Sunday to continue an incredible run: Since July 2018, he's played 62 matches in Australia or at Wimbledon — and won all 62 of them. ⚾️ Bauer released: The Dodgers released pitcher Trevor Bauer on Friday, two weeks after his suspension for domestic violence was reduced to 194 games. It's "unlikely, but not impossible" that a team signs him in free agency, per ESPN. ⚽️ Zidane says no: French legend Zinedine Zidane reportedly rejected an offer from U.S. Soccer to succeed Gregg Berhalter as USMNT head coach. ❤️ Liam's fight: White Sox closer Liam Hendriks, a three-time All-Star, announced Sunday he's been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and will begin treatment today. |
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| 5. 🎿 Shiffrin and Vonn: Tied at the top |
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| Photo: Christophe Pallot/Agence Zoom via Getty Images |
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| Move over, Lindsey Vonn — you've got company at the top, Jeff writes. Driving the news: Mikaela Shiffrin won her 82nd World Cup ski race on Sunday in Slovenia, tying Vonn's mark for the most ever by a woman. - Vonn was 33 when she won her 82nd race in 2018, retiring a year later due to injuries. Shiffrin is just 27.
- Shiffrin has six wins in her past seven races and could pass Vonn at tomorrow's slalom race in Austria.
State of play: Vonn and Shiffrin are 20 wins clear of third place (Austria's Annemarie Moser-Pröll with 62), and the next-closest active woman is Switzerland's Lara Gut-Behrami, with just 35. What they're saying: "It's pretty impressive that the top two female skiers of all time are Americans in a sport historically dominated by Europeans," Vonn told AP. Between the lines: The co-leaders have compiled their totals in very different ways, with Shiffrin a slalom specialist and Vonn dominating downhill. - Shiffrin: Slalom (51 wins), Giant Slalom (17), Super G (5), Parallel Giant Slalom (5), Downhill (3), Combined (1)
- Vonn: Downhill (43), Super G (28), Combined (5), Giant Slalom (4), Slalom (2)
What's next: Shiffrin could break the all-time mark (man or woman) of 86 wins held by Sweden's Ingemar Stenmark before the current season ends in March. |
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| 6. 🇺🇸 Photos across America |
| Jackrabbits RB Amar Johnson celebrates a touchdown. Photo: Adam Davis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images FRISCO, Texas — South Dakota state beat North Dakota State, 45-21, on Sunday to win its first FCS national title. The Jackrabbits won 14 straight games after opening the season with a 7-3 loss at Big Ten team Iowa. Photo: Adam Davis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images LAHAINA, Hawaii — Jon Rahm came back to win the Sentry Tournament of Champions on a wild Sunday that saw Collin Morikawa become the ninth player in PGA Tour history to lose a six-shot lead going into the final round. Photo: Patrick Smith/Getty Images WASHINGTON, D.C. — Gervonta Davis (28-0, 26 KO) beat Hector Luis García by TKO on Saturday night, setting up what should be a superfight vs. Ryan Garcia (23-0, 19 KO) on April 15 in Las Vegas. |
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| 7. 📺 Watchlist: The Natty |
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| Photo: Brandon Sloter/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images |
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| Georgia and TCU face off at SoFi Stadium tonight (7:30pm ET, ESPN) for all the marbles. - Spread: UGA -12.5
- Over/Under: 63
- Moneyline: UGA -450, TCU +350
More to watch: - 🏀 NBA: Bulls at Celtics (7:30pm, NBA) ... Chicago (19-21) has won eight of 11; Boston (28-12) has won six of eight.
- 🏒 NHL: Predators at Senators (7:30pm, NHL) ... Nashville (18-14-6) has won three straight; Ottawa (18-18-3) has won four of six.
- 🏒 Women's U18 Worlds: USA vs. Finland (10am, NHL) ... Group stage in Sweden.
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| 8. 🤠 The Ocho: Bull riding in Manhattan |
| Professional bull riding returned to Madison Square Garden this weekend for its "Unleash The Beast" event. Photo: Elsa/Getty Images Photo: Jamie Squire/Getty Images Photo: Elsa/Getty Images |
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| 9. 🏈 College football trivia |
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| Photo: Emilee Chinn/Getty Images |
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| Georgia is vying to become college football's fourth back-to-back national champion since 1980. - Question: Who are the other three?
- Hint: Three different conferences.
Answer at the bottom. |
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| 10. 🍿 Top plays: Weekend edition |
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| Nyheim Hines waves to the camera. Photo: Bryan M. Bennett/Getty Images |
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- 🏈 Hines to the house
- 🏈 Kenny Golladay!
- 🏀 Huge dunk
- 🏀 Midcourt Max!
- 🏈 Cards get creative
- 🥍 Behind-the-back goal
- 🏀 Denied at the rim
- 🏒 Insane finish
- 🏀 Posterized
- 🏒 Baseball goal at Fenway
Watch all 10. |
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| Talk tomorrow, Kendall "Mondays are better with college football" Baker Trivia answer: Alabama (2011-12), USC (2003-04)* Nebraska (1994-95) ... *USC's participation in the 2004 championship was later vacated by the NCAA 🙏 Have a great day! Follow us for more (@kendallbaker and @jeffreytracy). Friends can sign up here. Thanks to Bryan McBournie for copy edits. |
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