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The college football regular season has come to the close and the playoffs are decided, though not without drama. Indiana claimed the number one spot for the first time in program history after beating Ohio State in the Big 10 championship. The Buckeyes are ranked second, followed by Georgia and Texas Tech. These four teams will receive a first round bye in the playoffs. #5 Oregon will face #12 JMU in the first round, #6 Ole Miss will face #11 Tulane, #7 Texas A&M will play #10 Miami, and #8 Oklahoma will face #9 Alabama.
A notable exclusion is Notre Dame, who was ranked in the top ten all season and have been consistently viewed as one of the nation’s best teams. The committee’s argument was Notre Dame lost the only major games they played (which were Weeks One and Two for some reason ). After being ranked above both Miami and Alabama all season, however, it is a bit perplexing to exclude them last minute, especially to a three-loss Alabama. The Irish’s decision to not play a bowl game had drawn scrutiny from those saying they are sore losers.
Beyond the actual playing field, the winner of the Heisman Trophy, the most prestigious award in college football, was awarded to Fernando Mendoza from Indiana. He finished first over Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia, Notre Dame’s Jeremiyah Love, and Ohio State’s Julian Sayin.
In the NBA it has been the Thunder taking all the attention, as they have tied the best start to a season through 25 games ever, at 24-1. But they lost for a second time on Saturday, December 13, in the NBA Cup semifinals to the San Antonio Spurs, who were lucky to have superstar Victor Wembanyama back just in time. The Spurs, though fine without him, look like an entirely different team capable of winning it all with Wemby at the helm.
Other storylines include the Clippers sending NBA legend Chris Paul home in the middle of his farewell tour. Paul gave the Clippers relevance when they were merely the “other” LA team, so seeing them treat him so poorly in his final season is heartbreaking. The Lakers continue to look dominant with Luka at the helm, and LeBron continues to impress at age 40.
