In today's edition: NFL power rankings, Blue Jays avoid 3-0 hole, Mammoth unveil mascot, the growing college hoops divide, Pope Leo claps back, and more.
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🚨 Headlines
⚾️ Gold Glove finalists: The Cubs lead all teams with six Gold Glove finalists, followed by the Blue Jays and Rangers with five each. The 20 winners (nine fielding positions plus utility in each league) will be announced on Sunday, Nov. 2.
🏀 Russ to the Kings: Russell Westbrook has agreed to a one-year contract with the Kings ahead of his 18th season. After spending his first 11 years with the Thunder, this is his sixth team in the last seven (Lakers, Clippers, Nuggets, Rockets, Wizards).
⚾️ Bregman opts out: Alex Bregman is opting out of the final two years of his three-year, $120 million deal with the Red Sox, as expected. The 31-year-old third baseman hits free agency after a bounce-back year that saw him make the All-Star team with his best OPS since 2019 (.821).
⚽️ Press to retire: Angel City's Christen Press, 37, will retire from soccer at the end of her NWSL season. The striker won two World Cups (2015, 2019) and scored 64 international goals, ninth-most in USWNT history.
🏎️ Mercedes extends Russell: George Russell, who currently sits in fourth in the Formula 1 drivers' standings, signed a contract extension to remain with Mercedes through at least next year.
🏈 NFL power rankings: A third of the way home
We're one third of the way through the NFL season, and our Week 7 power rankings, courtesy of Yahoo Sports' Frank Schwab, look nothing like they did entering Week 1.
Biggest risers: The Colts have vaulted 22 spots (25 to 3) since Week 1, the Patriots have risen 11 spots (21 to 10), the Falcons have risen 10 spots (23 to 13), the Seahawks have risen nine spots (18 to 9) and the Buccaneers have risen eight spots (9 to 1).
Biggest fallers: The Ravens have plummeted 19 spots (2 to 21), the Bengals have fallen 16 spots (12 to 28), the Vikings have fallen 12 spots (7 to 19) and the Commanders have fallen eight spots (10 to 18).
Here's a quick peek at what we've seen from every team so far with six weeks down and 12 to go.
Buccaneers (5-1): Baker Mayfield has gone from cast-off QB to MVP candidate, leading Tampa to weekly victories, whether close or convincing.
Lions (4-2): Detroit could use a victory over a true contender after a frustrating loss to KC. Enter this Monday's clash against the Bucs.
Colts (5-1): Indy boasts the league's best offense (32.3 ppg) and is already halfway to its first 10-win season — and playoff berth — since 2020.
Bills (4-2): The current Super Bowl favorites (+600 at BetMGM) don't even lead their own division after losing back-to-back games.
Broncos (4-2): Denver's second-ranked defense is doing a lot to mask an offense that has regressed considerably in Bo Nix's sophomore campaign.
Eagles (4-2): The Birds are trending in the wrong direction right now and must right the ship with eight of their remaining 11 games coming against teams currently at .500 or better.
Packers (3-1-1): Green Bay is top 10 in both points for and against, but going 1-1-1 in their last three games against the Browns, Cowboys and Bengals leaves something to be desired.
Chiefs (3-3): Patrick Mahomes is playing like an MVP, Rashee Rice returns from suspension this week and they already have as many 30-point games as they did all of last season (two).
Seahawks (4-2): Seattle is the only team that ranks in the top four of DVOA (defense-adjusted value over average) on offense, defense and special teams.
Patriots (4-2): Can Drake Maye lead New England to its first division title since Tom Brady led them to 11 straight from 2009-19?
Rams (4-2): Can they keep pace in a strong division if Puka Nacua (ankle) misses significant time?
Chargers (4-2): There's a long way to go, and their +2 scoring differential may portend some regression, but the first-place Chargers could win their first division title since 2009.
Falcons (3-2): The Bijan Robinson-led offense is really good and the defense might be, too. This is a team to watch.
Jaguars (4-2): The Jags lead the league with 14 takeaways and a +8 turnover differential. Can they win 10 games for the first time since 2017?
Steelers (4-1): Death, taxes and Mike Tomlin leading Pittsburgh to a winning record.
49ers (4-2): The Niners' 4-2 start despite a second consecutive season with countless injuries is impressive. But the loss of Fred Warner may be the tipping point.
Bears (3-2): The culture has changed this year in Chicago. Why? "Ben," pass rusher Montez Sweat told Yahoo Sports, referring to first-year head coach Ben Johnson. "Three letters."
Commanders (3-3): Monday's turnover-laden loss was a reminder that not every season can be as magical as what D.C. fans got to witness last year.
Vikings (3-2): Safe to assume Minnesota won't be going 14-3 again. But this is a talented squad that could level up if J.J. McCarthy gets healthy and starts showing signs of improvement.
Texans (2-3): Houston's defense is allowing just 12.2 points per game, on pace for the fewest since the 2000 Ravens (10.3) and Titans (11.9). Can the offense catch up?
Ravens (1-5): Baltimore will try to become just the fifth team in NFL history to make the playoffs after starting 1-5. "We still believe we can do it," says coach John Harbaugh.
Panthers (3-3): Rico Dowdle has more scrimmage yards in the last two games (473) than Saquon Barkley has all season (462). He can't still be Chuba Hubbard's backup, right?
Cowboys (2-3-1): An excellent QB and electric WRs scoring lots of points while a porous defense severely limits their ceiling. 2025 Cowboys or 2024 Bengals?
Giants (2-4): Rookie QB Jaxson Dart and rookie RB Cam Skattebo have burst onto the scene and given Giants fans a lot to cheer about.
Cardinals (2-4): The good news? Arizona had its first 400-yard game of the season on Sunday. The bad news? It came courtesy of backup QB Jacoby Brissett, not Kyler Murray.
Browns (1-5): Cleveland has scored fewer than 18 points in 11 straight games. Unsurprisingly, they lost 10 of them.
Raiders (2-4): Pete Carroll, Geno Smith and Ashton Jeanty were supposed to turn things around in Vegas. That has… not happened so far.
Bengals (2-4): There were some signs of life from the offense last week with newly-acquired Joe Flacco at the helm. It's still not good.
Saints (1-5): No NFC team scores fewer points than New Orleans, and just two allow more. Not great!
Dolphins (1-5): The vibes are rotten in Miami, where Tua Tagovailoa just aired the Dolphins' dirty laundry following another crushing loss.
Titans (1-5): As Tennessee continued cleaning house on Tuesday, their goal this season must be to get Cam Ward through 17 games relatively unscathed (developmentally).
Jets (0-6): Gang Green is 0-6 for the third time in franchise history. They finished 1-15 (1996) and 2-14 (2020) the other two times they started out this bad.
📸 Through the lens
Seattle — The Blue Jays teed off on the Mariners in a 13-4 rout on Wednesday, spoiling Seattle's first ALCS home game in 24 years to avoid falling into a 3-0 hole. They'll look to even the series tonight.
Historic power surge: The Jays and Mariners combined to hit eight homers, tied for the most ever in a playoff game. One of those came off the bat of George Springer, who's now tied with Bernie Williams for the fourth-most in postseason history (22).
Salt Lake City — After spending last year as the Utah Hockey Club, the Mammoth played their first home game with their new identity on Wednesday and emerged victorious. Final score: Mammoth 3, Flames 1.
New mascot: The team unveiled Tusky, a 6-foot-5 mammoth with blue fur. The name fits in with the team's new "Tusks Up" slogan.
Baltimore — The Rams are practicing at Camden Yards this week ahead of Sunday's game in London, opting to stay in Baltimore following their game against the Ravens in order to shorten their flight overseas. Needless to say, the team had a blast acting like MLB players.
A first for OPACY: This is believed to be the first time that Oriole Park at Camden Yards, which opened in 1992, has hosted any non-baseball sporting event or practice.
🏀 Charted: The growing divide
There have always been imbalances in men's college basketball — from the power conference and high-major programs down to the mid- and low-major teams. But the gap between the "haves" and "have nots" widened significantly during the NIL/transfer portal era, which saw the best talent matriculate to the top in unprecedented fashion.
The growing divide: "The disparity between the high majors and the rest of college basketball has never felt bigger," writes analytics expert Evan Miyakawa alongside his preseason rankings, noting that the conference strength drop off from the fifth-best league (Big East) to the sixth-best league (A-10) is larger than the gap between sixth and 17th (Sun Belt).
What they're saying: "This was always going to be a cost of the NIL/portal era (with other benefits)," writes journalist Eamonn Brennan, "but the acceleration you're seeing in 2025-26 preseason ranks is starting to get a little freaky."
📺 Watchlist: Thursday, Oct. 16
⚾️ Brewers at Dodgers, Game 3 | 6pm ET, TBS
The defending champs look to continue their dominant postseason, having won seven of their first eight games behind a historically stingy rotation. The Brewers (down 2-0) will be hoping their bats wake up after collecting just five total hits so far this series.
⚾️ Blue Jays at Mariners, Game 4 | 8:30pm, FS1
Toronto will try to even the series tonight on the road. They'll hand the ball to future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer, who's making his first playoff appearance since the 2023 World Series. Seattle will counter with Luis Castillo, who's pitched six scoreless innings this postseason.
🏈 Steelers at Bengals | 8:15pm, Prime
The Steelers (4-1) are 5.5-point road favorites over the Bengals (2-4) in a game that features a rare occurrence: For just the third time in NFL history, two 40-year-old QBs will square off as Joe Flacco (40) and Aaron Rodgers (41) get the start in Cincy. The other two instances came in 2020 when Drew Brees and Tom Brady faced each other twice.
🎾 Six Kings Slam | 12:30pm, Netflix
The semifinals of the second annual Six Kings Slam — an exhibition tournament featuring a $6 million grand prize — are today in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where two decent matchups are taking place: First up is Carlos Alcaraz vs. Taylor Fritz, followed by Novak Djokovic vs. Jannik Sinner.
More to watch:
🏒 NHL: Canucks at Stars (8pm, ESPN+); Hurricanes at Ducks (10pm, ESPN+) … Dallas and Carolina are the only remaining teams without a loss.
🏀 NBA Preseason: Rockets at Hawks (7:30pm, ESPN2) … The final tune-up for both teams before the regular season tips off next week.
🏈 NCAAF: Tulsa at East Carolina (7:30pm, ESPN) … The Pirates are 17.5-point favorites over the visiting Golden Hurricanes in this American Conference clash.
⚽️ Women's Champions League: PSG vs. Real Madrid (3pm, Paramount+); Arsenal vs. Benfica (3pm, CBSSN) … Two of four matches today in the League Phase.
🏀 NBA trivia
The ideal NBA lineup has a superstar, a deferential co-star, a third star who owns that role, a fourth option and a fifth starter to tie it all together. Today, Yahoo Sports' Ben Rohrbach ranks the best No. 3 options.
Question: Can you name the five players pictured in the graphic above?
Hint: Thunder, Cavaliers, Nuggets, Kings, Magic.
Answer at the bottom.
⚾️ The Pope claps back
We can safely say the MLB playoffs officially have the attention of the Vatican, writes Yahoo Sports' Jack Baer:
As Pope Leo XIV appeared in a parade Wednesday atop the Popemobile, one attendee bravely yelled "Go Cubs!" at the Chicago native and lifelong White Sox fan. Leo responded by pointing at the man and yelling back in both Spanish and English. The message was the same in both languages: "Han perdido! They lost!" This is the stuff you can only get when an American is sitting on the papal throne.
Trivia answer: Chet Holmgren, Darius Garland, Aaron Gordon, Domantas Sabonis, Desmond Bane
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Category: General Sports
