Yahoo Sports AM: The next big thing
In today's edition: The next big thing in women's hoops, why fans are more distracting than usual at the Australian Open, ranking the 10 CFP champions, and more.
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🚨 Headlines
🏀 Blockbuster trade: The Raptors are sending All-Star forward Pascal Siakam to Indiana for three first-round picks and some role players. Here's why this trade makes so much sense for Tyrese Haliburton and the Pacers.
💔 RIP, Dejan: Warriors assistant coach Dejan Milojević tragically died at age 46 on Wednesday after suffering a heart attack at a team dinner on Tuesday night in Utah. The NBA postponed the Warriors-Jazz game earlier in the day due to the medical situation with Milojević.
🏈 McCarthy to return: Mike McCarthy will return as Cowboys head coach in 2024, owner Jerry Jones announced Wednesday. Dallas has finished 12-5 in McCarthy's last three seasons, but they all ended in playoff disappointment.
🏀 Giddey cleared: Thunder guard Josh Giddey won't face charges in California following an investigation into whether the 21-year-old was in a relationship with a minor.
🏀 JuJu Watkins: Get to know the name
USC women's basketball is having its best season in decades thanks largely to JuJu Watkins, one of the best freshmen the sport has ever seen, Jeff and I write.
The latest: The Trojans (13-1) handed crosstown rival UCLA (14-1) its first loss of the season on Sunday and vaulted up to No. 6 for their highest ranking since 1994. Leading the charge as always was Watkins, who added yet another 30-point outing to her historic freshman campaign.
By the numbers: The 6-foot-2 guard from Los Angeles has topped 30 points six times, doubling the USC freshman record previously held by Paula McGee (1980) and WNBA Hall of Famer Lisa Leslie (1990).
She's averaging 26.5 points, second only to Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark (31.0), while filling up the stat sheet with 7.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 2.5 steals and 1.9 blocks per game.
Sunday's performance (32-10-3) also helped Watkins secure her ninth Pac-12 freshman of the week honor, a new conference record.
High praise: "She's the next greatest thing in women's basketball," said LeBron James after watching Watkins score 27 points in 29 minutes against UC Riverside.
To be clear, this didn't come out of nowhere: Watkins was the No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2023 and was named the national Gatorade and Naismith Player of the Year last season at Sierra Canyon, where she was classmates with another USC freshman hooper, Bronny James.
Before she'd played a single college game, Watkins' red No. 12 USC jersey was one of four selected by Nike as part of the first batch of jerseys sold with active college basketball players' names on them.
That's how much hype there was surrounding JuJu when she arrived at USC. And so far, she's more than lived up to it. "I don't know what else to say other than, she's something else," said head coach Lindsay Gottlieb.
Coming up: Watkins and the Women of Troy have their hands full this weekend, with away games at No. 20 Utah on Friday and No. 3 Colorado on Sunday.
🎾 The Australian Open's distracting new fan experience
Tennis is a game of etiquette and rhythm, but a new fan-centric rule at the Australian Open has received mixed reviews from players for its disruption of those two hallmarks, Jeff writes.
State of play: Fans at Melbourne Park may now enter and exit their seats between any game, not just when players are changing ends. Some players don't mind, but others have taken serious umbrage with what they view as a distracting new rule.
What they're saying: "I feel like we keep making some rules that make no sense at times," two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka said Tuesday. "Like, we're trying to shorten the changeovers, [but] then we are waiting for people to sit down."
Novak Djokovic said he understands wanting to give fans a better experience, but the 10-time Australian Open champion wasn't happy that his opening match "dragged a lot" because his opponent waited until everyone was seated.
And then there's Cameron Norrie, who couldn't care less: "I'm not really too bothered about it," said the 28-year-old Brit. "Playing in college, you could shout out in the middle of the point ... I was pretty used to it."
The tournament's response: "For the fans, we want them to get to their seats more quickly so they can see more tennis," said tournament organizer Tennis Australia following early criticism. "For the players we want stadiums full of supportive fans to help them compete at their best."
But wait, there's more… The Australian Open has also added a new two-story bar overlooking Court 6 — complete with a DJ blasting music. Unsurprisingly, this has also received some negative reviews from players like Stefanos Tsitsipas, who said he could "subconsciously feel the movement and hear the music" during his doubles match, per The Athletic ($).
"It would be a new change towards the direction that modernizes tennis and makes it more sort of entertainment style. But you don't know until you're a tennis player, when you're trying to zone in, get in the zone, it's difficult when you see … stuff happening around you. There is a tiny little yellow ball flying around, and it requires your concentration."
🏈 The 10 CFP champions, ranked
Last week marked the end of an era for college football in more ways than one. First came the conclusion of the four-team playoff. Then came the retirement of Nick Saban, who coached in more playoff games than anyone, Jeff and I write.
Looking back: To reminisce about days gone by, we ranked the 10 CFP champions.
2019 LSU (15-0): Heisman winner* Joe Burrow led one of the best offenses in college football history. Reminder: His top two receivers were Justin Jefferson and Ja'Marr Chase.
2020 Alabama (13-0): It's hard to properly evaluate the COVID season, but this is pretty simple: Bama scored 30+ points in every game and won all but one of them by 15 points.
2018 Clemson (15-0): The Tigers won their final 10 games by an average of 36 points behind true freshman Trevor Lawrence, including a cumulative score of 74-19 in the playoff.
2022 Georgia (15-0): They nearly lost in the semifinal (Ohio State missed the field goal) but made up for it with a 65-7 rout in the championship, the biggest win in bowl game history.
2021 Georgia (14-1): Their record-breaking defense allowed 20 points just once — in their SEC title game loss to Alabama. But they got their revenge in the national championship.
2015 Alabama (14-1): The Tide beat nine ranked teams and 12 that finished with a winning record, the most by any team in the CFP era.
2023 Michigan (15-0): They eked out some close wins down the stretch but always got the job done, never scoring fewer than — or allowing more than — 24 points in a game.
2014 Ohio State (14-1): The Buckeyes lost their top two QBs but still found a way to win the Big Ten championship and CFP title in Cardale Jones' first three career starts.
2016 Clemson (14-1): For the second straight year, the Tigers and Tide played a title game thriller. But this time Clemson came out on top thanks to Deshaun Watson's last-second TD.
2017 Alabama (13-1): The only CFP champion that failed to win its division, the Tide squeaked into the playoff and won it all after Tua Tagovailoa replaced Jalen Hurts at halftime.
*The Heisman-CFP double: Burrow is one of just three players to win the Heisman and CFP title in the same year, joining Alabama's Derrick Henry (2015) and DeVonta Smith (2020).
🏀 TCU's season has come undone
TCU women's basketball started the season 14-0 and were ranked as high as No. 23 after running the table in non-conference play for the first time ever. Then disaster struck.
Since the calendar flipped to 2024, the Horned Frogs are 0-4 and will soon be 0-6 after forfeiting two games due to a lack of healthy players.
The shortage is so dire that the team is holding open tryouts today and tomorrow for students interested in walking on for the rest of the season.
To recap: In the span of less than three weeks, TCU has gone from "best start in program history and potential Big 12 contender" to "we literally need random students to join our team so we can field a roster and get to the finish line." Life comes at you fast.
🌎 The world in photos
Cleveland — Donovan Mitchell was all smiles during the Cavaliers' 135-95 massacre of the short-handed Bucks. That's a framable photo right there.
Foxborough, Massachusetts — Jerod Mayo's main message during his introduction as Patriots head coach on Wednesday: "I'm not trying to be Bill."
Al-Ula, Saudi Arabia — Another day, another epic photo from the Dakar Rally that looks like something out of "Star Wars." I mean, is that even planet Earth?
📆 Jan. 18, 1996: Interleague play is born
28 years ago today, MLB owners unanimously approved interleague play to begin in the 1997 season, which would mark the first time the leagues faced off in regular-season games, Jeff writes.
All-time series: On June 12, 1997, the Giants beat the Rangers in the inaugural interleague game. But 27 years later, it's the AL that holds the 3,962-3,690* advantage.
🏒 1958: Willie O'Ree debuted for the Bruins, becoming the first Black player to appear in an NHL game.
🏈 2015: The Patriots walloped the Colts, 45-7, in the game that triggered the infamous Deflategate scandal.
*The lone tied season: The AL has come out on top in 19 seasons and the NL in seven, with just one ending in a tie: 2020's pandemic-shortened campaign.
📺 Watchlist: Golf galore
Three golf tournaments tee off today across the PGA, LPGA and European Tours, Jeff writes.
PGA: The American Express (9am, ESPN+; 3pm Golf) in La Quinta, California, is the first event of the season in the continental U.S.
LPGA: The Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions (12pm, Peacock; 1pm, Golf) in Orlando is the first event of the season.
Euro: The Dubai Desert Classic (2:30-8:30am, Golf/Peacock) features PGA stars like Rory McIlroy, Cameron Young and Tommy Fleetwood.
🎾 Australian Open: Day 5 (7pm, ESPN+; 9pm, ESPN)
🏀 NBA: Bulls at Raptors (7:30pm, TNT); Grizzlies at Timberwolves (10pm, TNT)
🏀 NCAAM: USF at No. 10 Memphis* (7pm, ESPN); No. 14 Illinois at Michigan (8:30pm, FS1)
🏀 NCAAW: No. 4 NC State at Miami (6pm, ACC); No. 10 LSU at Alabama (9pm, SEC)
🏒 NHL: Avalanche at Bruins (7pm, ESPN+); Rangers at Golden Knights (10pm, ESPN+) … All top-two teams in their division.
⚽️ Italian Super Cup: Napoli vs. Fiorentina (2pm, CBSSN) … Semifinal.
*Memphis on fire: The Tigers (15-2) have won 10 straight and are coming off consecutive games with at least 100 points scored — a feat they hadn't accomplished since 1986.
🏈 Super Bowl trivia
The Lions, Bills and Texans are three of the 12 NFL franchises that have never won the Super Bowl. How many of the other nine can you name?
Hint: Only one made the playoffs this year.
Answer at the bottom.
🏀 Out: Icy roads
Charles Barkley once missed an NBA game because he got body lotion in his eyes at an Eric Clapton concert. 30 years later, DeAndre Ayton missed an NBA game because he's stuck at home, surrounded by ice.
According to reports: "Ayton tried for hours to combat the sheet of ice leading out of his neighborhood and the team sent people out to help as well, but to no avail," tweeted Trail Blazers beat reporter Casey Holdahl.
In all seriousness, the weather is no joke right now in certain parts of the country. Stay safe out there, friends.
Trivia answer: Bengals, Browns, Cardinals, Chargers, Falcons, Jaguars, Panthers, Titans, Vikings
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