Yahoo Sports AM: The new Hoosiers

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🚨 Headlines

🏈 Top QBs commit: Five-star QBs Julian Lewis and Bryce Underwood both flipped their commitments on Thursday, with Lewis heading to Colorado (originally USC) and Underwood going to Michigan (LSU).

⚾️ Robo-umps coming soon? MLB will test the robo-umpire challenge system during spring training, which could lead to regular-season implementation by 2026.

🏒 Ovi out 4-6 weeks: Alex Ovechkin, who leads the NHL with 15 goals, will miss 4-6 weeks with a fractured fibula, putting his Wayne Gretzky chase (27 goals shy of the all-time record) on hold.

🏈 Kraft denied again: Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who has made a concerted push in recent years to be enshrined in Canton, was passed over by the Hall of Fame’s contributor committee.

⚽️ MLS record transfer: FC Cincinnati signed forward Kévin Denkey from Cercle Brugge (Belgium) for a $16.2 million fee, making it the largest transfer in MLS history.

🏈 The new Hoosiers

No. 5 Indiana visits No. 2 Ohio State on Saturday in a clash no one saw coming — and a matchup, as one might describe it, between major college football’s biggest historical loser and its biggest historical winner.

From Yahoo Sports’ Dan Wetzel:

“Hoosiers” — the tale of a tiny high school winning the state basketball tournament — is the greatest underdog story ever told out of Indiana.

Yet as much as little Hickory High was an unlikely champion, it wasn’t completely improbable. The sweet shooting Jimmy Chitwood, after all, was the equivalent of a 5-star talent. He just happened to grow up on a nearby farm. Not even mighty South Bend Central had an answer for him.

The current Indiana football team — full of discount coaches and outcast players almost no major program wanted — has no one as heralded as Chitwood. But the new Hoosiers never stopped believing they were good enough, never stopped working to prove it and now have the opportunity to throw their best punch at the mighty Buckeyes.

Hollywood endings are hard to find in real life — so who knows what happens in Columbus, let alone beyond. Ohio State is a nearly two-touchdown favorite for a reason. But the fact IU is even here … is a testament to all that is great about sports.

Recruiting rankings and preseason perception don’t move the scoreboard. Fight and work and self-determination can still win out. After all, the field inside Ohio Stadium is 100 yards long. They’ll find this exact same measurement back in Bloomington.

Further reading: Forever a basketball school, Curt Cignetti has awakened a ‘sleeping giant’ of a football program at Indiana (Ross Dellenger, Yahoo Sports)

⚾️ Judge, Ohtani named unanimous MVPs

Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani were named unanimous MVPs on Wednesday, a fitting end to their epic 2024 campaigns.

• Judge, who led MLB with 58 HR, 144 RBI and an 1.159 OPS, beat out Royals SS Bobby Witt Jr. and teammate Juan Soto for his second MVP. He joins Mickey Mantle as the only Yankees to win the award unanimously.

• Ohtani, whose 54 HR, 130 RBI and 1.036 OPS trailed only Judge, beat out Mets SS Francisco Lindor and D-Backs 2B Ketel Marte for his third MVP in four years. He joins Frank Robinson as the only players to win the award in both the AL and NL.

Multi-time MVPs: Judge is the 34th player to win multiple MVPs and Ohtani is the 12th to win at least three, joining Barry Bonds (7x) and three-time winners Mike Trout, Albert Pujols, Alex Rodriguez, Mike Schmidt, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Roy Campanella, Stan Musial, Joe DiMaggio and Jimmie Foxx.

The big picture: Getting to watch even one player of Judge and Ohtani’s caliber is a treat, but seeing two play at this high a level simultaneously is downright historic: They’re just the fourth duo to each win two MVPs in the same three-year span.

• Judge and Ohtani (2022-24)

• Bonds and Rodriguez (2003-05)

• Bonds and Frank Thomas (1992-94)

• Berra and Campanella (1953-55)

Zoom out: Their dominance extends far beyond the past three seasons. Since 2018 (Ohtani’s rookie year and Judge’s second full season), they both rank in MLB’s top five for HR, OPS and WAR. And Ohtani also has the 11th-best ERA among starters in that time.

📸 Photo gallery

Cleveland — We got our first snow game of the season and it did not disappoint, as the Browns upset the Steelers, 24-19, thanks to a game-winning drive in the final minutes.

Washington, D.C. — President Biden hosted the Celtics at the White House to celebrate their 18th championship. Fun fact: Biden’s Secret Service code name is Celtic. “For real. Because I’m Irish,” he said. “From this old Irish Celtic, to all you Celtics, congratulations.”

Las Vegas — Sin City’s circuit is ready for the second annual Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Toronto — It would have been a crime for the Raptors to lose on a court this cool. They got the win.

🏀 The NBA is tweaking its All-Star Game

The NBA All-Star Game, long in need of a change amid declining ratings and non-competitive action, is finally switching things up.

Coming soon: The NBA is reportedly tweaking the format for this year’s All-Star Game in San Francisco, making it a four-team tournament that’s expected to more closely resemble fast-paced pickup games.

• The 24 All-Stars will be split into three teams of eight, and the winner of the Rising Stars game (comprising top rookies, sophomores and G Leaguers) will be the fourth team.

• The semifinals will be to 40 points and the final will be to 25.

Bottom line: Last year’s All-Star Game, which was the highest-scoring ever (211-186) and featured an absurd 168 attempted threes, was universally panned. ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith called it “an absolute travesty,” suggesting the NBA get rid of the game entirely. Hopefully all it needed was a refresh.

📆 Nov. 22, 2014: Perine runs wild

10 years ago today, Oklahoma true freshman Samaje Perine rushed for 427 yards against Kansas in a driving rainstorm, breaking the FBS record of 408 yards set a week earlier by Wisconsin’s Melvin Gordon.

• Perine: 34 car, 427 yds (12.6 avg), 5 TD

• Gordon: 25 car, 408 yds (16.3 avg), 4 TD

400-yard club: The only other players to eclipse 400 yards in an FBS game? TCU’s LaDainian Tomlinson in 1999 (406 yards) and Buffalo’s Jaret Patterson in 2020 (409 yards).

Look who it is! That’s Sooners walk-on Baker Mayfield celebrating next to Perine. He wasn’t eligible to play that season due to transfer rules but became the starter in 2015.

📺 Watchlist: NWSL Championship

A year after missing the playoffs, the Orlando Pride and Washington Spirit will meet for the NWSL Championship on Saturday night (8pm ET, CBS) in Kansas City.

Historic venue: The match will be held at CPKC Stadium, home of the KC Current, which opened this spring as the first venue ever built specifically for a women’s pro sports team.

More to watch:

• 🏈 CFB Saturday: No. 5 Indiana at No. 2 Ohio State (12pm, Fox); No. 14 BYU at No. 21 Arizona State (3:30pm, ESPN); No. 19 Army at No. 6 Notre Dame (7pm, NBC) … Week 13.

• 🏈 NFL Sunday: Lions at Colts (1pm, Fox); 49ers at Packers (4:25pm, Fox); Cardinals at Seahawks (4:25pm, Fox); Eagles at Rams (8:20pm, NBC)… Week 12.

• 🏁 Formula 1: Las Vegas Grand Prix (Sun. 1am, ESPN) … Max Verstappen can clinch his fourth championship in the third-to-last race of the season.

• ⚽️ MLS Playoffs: Conference semifinals (Sat-Sun, Apple/FS1) … Four winner-take-all matches in New York, Orlando and Los Angeles, which hosts two.

• ⛳️ LPGA: Tour Championship (Fri-Sun, ESPN+/Golf) … South Korea’s Narin An (-8) leads after Round One.

• 🏀 NBA: Warriors at Pelicans (Fri. 7:30pm, ESPN); Mavericks at Nuggets (Fri. 10pm, ESPN) … NBA Cup contests.

• 🏀 NCAAW: No. 6 Notre Dame at No. 3 USC (Sat. 4pm, NBC); No. 1 South Carolina* at No. 5 UCLA (Sun. 4pm, FS1)

• 🏀 NCAAM: No. 11 Tennessee vs. No. 13 Baylor (Fri. 9:30pm, CBSSN); No. 12 Duke at No. 17 Arizona (Fri. 10:30pm, ESPN2)

• ⚽️ Premier League: Manchester City vs. Tottenham (Sat. 12:30pm, NBC) … City have lost four straight games.

• 🎾 Davis Cup: Netherlands vs. Germany (Fri. 11am, Tennis); Australia vs. Italy (Sat. 7am, Tennis) … The winners will meet in Sunday’s final.

*Cruise control: The Gamecocks have won a program-record 43 consecutive games, dating back to their Final Four loss to Iowa in 2023.

🏀 NBA trivia

76ers guard Jared McCain is the new favorite to win Rookie of the Year, which would give Duke a record-tying five ROY recipients.

Question: Can you name the other four Blue Devils who won Rookie of the Year?

Hint: 1995, 2000, 2012, 2022

Answer at the bottom.

🎨 A drawing for every game

Lakers fan or not, this is awesome: Jack Perkins (@purehoop) is drawing an original piece for all 82 games this season, win or lose. Here’s a thread of all of them so far.

Trivia answer: Grant Hill, Elton Brand, Kyrie Irving, Paolo Banchero

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