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🚨 Headlines
🏀 NBA trades:The Maverickstraded Anthony Davis to the Wizardsin an eight-player blockbuster. Plus: The Warriorssent Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield to the Hawksfor Kristaps Porziņģis, the Thunderacquired Jared McCainfrom the 76ers in exchange for picks, and the Bulls sent Coby White and Mike Conley Jr.to the Hornets.
⚾️ Tigers sign Valdez:Framber Valdez isheading to Detroiton a three-year, $115 million deal, giving the Tigers a durable lefty and two-time All-Star who compiled a 3.36 ERA across eight seasons with the Astros. The $38.3 million average annual value sets a record for left-handed pitchers.
🏒 Panarin to the Kings:The Rangersdealt Artemi Panarin to the Kingson Wednesday ahead of the NHL's Olympic roster freeze. The four-time All-Star then agreed to a two-year, $22 million extension with Los Angeles.
📰 Farewell to an institution:The Washington Posteliminated its sports departmenton Wednesday as part of a widespread purge that saw one-third of the paper's staff laid off.
🏒 Top prospect facing charges:Penn State forward Gavin McKenna, the projected No. 1 pick in June's NHL Draft,has been charged with felony aggravated assaultand other counts following an alleged altercation in downtown State College.
🏀 This is what dominance looks like
The top brass in men's college basketball has been remarkably dominant so far this season. How dominant, you ask?
Well, consider this:Three years ago, the AP Top 10 had a combined 36 losses in the first February poll. Two years ago? 40 losses. Last year? 34 losses. This year?Just 18 losses. And nine of those losses came against each other!
(As fate would have it, two top-10 teams lost last night, which was just phenomenal timing for this story. Ugh. But the point still very much stands.)
Arizona (22-0)
Michigan (20-1)
UConn (22-1)
Duke (21-1)
Illinois (20-3)
Gonzaga (22-2)
Iowa State (20-2)
Houston (20-2)
Nebraska (20-2)
Michigan State (19-4)
Wild stat:This past Tuesday marked the third time this season that at least four D-I teams with a 19-1 record or betterwere in action on the same day. Prior to this season, that had happened three timesthis century.
The big picture:There are multiple factors at play here, and we'll dive deeper into the sport's current landscape at a later date. For now, all I'll say is this: Clear your calendars in late March and early April. You're not going to want to miss this year's tournament.
💯 Big numbers
🏀 88th meeting
This Saturday's game between No. 4 Duke and No. 14 North Carolina will be the 88th meeting in which both teams are ranked. That's47 morethan any other matchup (Syracuse vs. Georgetown).
Head-to-head:The Tobacco Road rivals have split those first 87 matches almost exactly, with the Tar Heels holding the slightest of edges in wins (44-43) and points per game (77.9-77.4).
🏈 60 Super Bowls
Just four people on Earth have attended all 59 Super Bowls to date, and all four are set to extend that streak to 60 this weekend.
Who are they?Three are fans — Tom Henschel, 84, Gregory Eaton, 86 and Don Crisman, 89, of the "Never Miss a Super Bowl Club" — and one is photographer John Biever, 74,who's shot every Super Bowl.
🏒 1.80 ppg
Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov has been on an absolute heater since the calendar flipped to 2026, scoring 39 points (11 G, 28 A) in just 15 games to push his season total to 90 in 50 games. If he keeps up that pace, he'd be just the12th player in NHL historyto eclipse 1.80 points per game in a season.
Who would he join?Wayne Gretzky (11x), Mario Lemieux (6x), Phil Esposito (2x), Connor McDavid (2x), Jaromir Jagr, Mike Bossy, Steve Yzerman, Bernie Nicholls, Adam Oates, Bill Cowley and Jari Kurri.
⚾️ 31 runs
The Dominican Republic's Leones del Escogidowon a 16-15 slugfestover Panama's Federales de Chiriquí on Wednesday in the Caribbean Series, breaking the tournament record for most runs scored in a single game.
Where it stands:The defending champion Leones are 3-0 entering the final day of round-robin play, after whichthe top four teams(out of five) will advance to tomorrow's semifinals. As it stands, the Federales are the odd man out behind two teams from Mexico (Charros de Jalisco, Tomateros de Culiacán) and one from Puerto Rico (Cangrejeros de Santurce).
📈 Vandy AD: This is the moment to invest in women's sports
This is a guest post from Vanderbilt athletic director Candice Storey Lee, published on National Women and Girls in Sports Day.
From Candice Storey Lee:
Long before women were formally recognized, funded or celebrated by their institutions, they were already competing — playing, organizing and building teams with little more than determination and belief.
The absence of institutional support never erased their talent or ambition. It only delayed acknowledgment of what was already true.
That history matters because it reminds us of a persistent pattern: opportunity often exists before institutions are willing to name it, fund it or lead it. And progress depends on leaders who are willing to close that gap — not with symbolic gestures, but with sustained investment.
Today, on National Women and Girls in Sports Day, we are at one of those moments. Women's sports are experiencing unprecedented visibility, competitive excellence and fan engagement.
Yet the infrastructure that supports them — scholarships, facilities, staffing and long-term resources — too often lags the reality on the field and court. If we believe in excellence, we must be willing to invest accordingly.
A recent report by McKinsey found that between 2022 and 2024, revenue from women's sports grew 4.5 times faster than men's. And yet, even with that growth, revenues generated by women's sports represent less than 2 percent of the total U.S. sports market.
"The next frontier of growth for women's sports," the report concluded, "will be closing this monetization gap and realizing women's sports' full potential as a high-revenue market."
But supporting girls and women in their athletic endeavors goes well beyond the idea of increasing revenues — and it aligns with what we know sports can do for any young person.
It's also about developing leaders who will help build a better society. Whether a girl or young woman plays competitively in high school or college, goes on to the Olympics or simply plays at the recreational level for the pure enjoyment of the game, sports can teach us so much.
It's no surprise that studies consistently show that more than 90 percent of women in C-suite positions have a background in playing sports. Studies also show that 85 percent of women who played sports attribute their career success to the skills learned through athletic participation. Count me among them.
Keep reading.
🌎 The world in photos
🇮🇹 Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy —The Milan Cortina Olympicskicked off on Wednesday, with Canada, Great Britain, Sweden and Switzerland all winning their openers in mixed doubles curling. And while you were sleeping,Team USA won its opener, too.
Working out the kinks: The pre-Opening Ceremony event felt a bit like a dress rehearsal whenthe power went outjust five minutes into the competition, causing a brief delay. Here's hoping similar issues don't befall the hockey arena,which remains under construction.
🇺🇸 Portland, Oregon —Portland stunned No. 6 Gonzaga,87-80, on Wednesday to snap the Bulldogs' 15-game winning streak and notch one of the biggest upsets of the season. The Pilots, 21.5-point underdogs, hadneverbeaten a top-10 team in the 73-year history of their program.
Historic night: Unranked Minnesota also upset No. 10 Michigan State,76-73, marking thefirst time in 36 yearsthat two teams with losing records beat top-10 ranked opponents on the same day.
🏴 Manchester, England —Manchester City beat Newcastle United, 5-1 on aggregate, toadvance to their first EFL Cup finalsince winning four straight titles from 2018-21.
What's next: City will face Arsenal in the final on March 22 at London's Wembley Stadium in a clash of the top two teams in the Premier League standings.
🇸🇦Riyadh, Saudi Arabia —The fifth LIV Golf season opened at Riyadh Golf Club, where all 72 holes (up from 54 in previous seasons) will be played under the lights.
Meanwhile, in Arizona: The PGA Tour's Phoenix Open held its Pro-Am on Wednesday, and Travis Kelcecame a few feet from acingthe par-3 16th in front of a raucous stadium crowd.
📺 Watchlist: Thursday, Feb. 5
🏒 Women's Olympic Hockey
The 10-team tournament begins today, headlined by two-time gold medalist USA vs. Czechia(10:40am ET, USA)and five-time gold medalist Canada vs. Finland(3:10pm, Peacock).
More Olympics:The USA's mixed doubles curling team takes the ice against Switzerland(8:30am, USA)and Norway(re-airing at 5pm, CNBC), while qualifiers get underway for men's snowboard big air(1:30pm, USA).
⛳️ Phoenix Open
The loudest weekend in golf has arrived(9:20am, ESPN+; 3:30pm, Golf), as TPC Scottsdale and its famed "Party Hole" host a field of 123 golfers, led by two-time champion Scottie Scheffler.
Betting favorite:Calling Scottie the favorite does a disservice to the word. He's +240 to win at BetMGM. The next-best odds? Xander Schauffele, at +2000!
In the Phoenix area? Use Gametime to grab tickets for today'sopening round at TPC Scottsdalefor as little as $88.
More to watch:
🏀 NCAAW: No. 17 Duke at No. 6 Louisville (7pm, ESPN); No. 5 LSU at No. 4 Texas (9pm, ESPN) … The Tigers handed the Longhorns their first loss of the season last month.
🏀 NBA: Bulls at Raptors (7:30pm, Prime); Warriors at Suns (10pm, Prime) … All four teams are in playoff (or play-in) position entering deadline day.
⛳️ LIV Golf: Riyadh (10am, FS1) … Thomas Detry and Peter Uihlein (-7) lead after Round 1.
Got plans tonight? Gametime is the best place to score last-minute tickets to the events in your city.Get tickets now!
🏈 Super Bowl trivia
The Seahawks are one of two franchises this century to send three different QB-head coach combinations to the Super Bowl, with Sam Darnold & Mike Macdonald joining Russell Wilson & Pete Carroll (2014-15) and Matt Hasselbeck & Mike Holmgren (2006).
Question:Can you name the other franchise, and their three QB-HC combos?
Hint:Two Nicks.
Answer at the bottom.
🏀 Deadline day
The NBA trade deadline is today at 3pm ET, and plenty of high-profile names could still be moved.Follow along for live updates.
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Trivia answer:Eagles: Donovan McNabb & Andy Reid (2005), Nick Foles & Doug Pederson (2017), Jalen Hurts & Nick Sirianni (2023, 2025)
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