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This is an article version of the CBS Sports HQ AM Newsletter, the ultimate guide to every day in sports. You can sign up to get it in your inbox every weekday morning here.
JOEL EMBIID AND SHAI GILGEOUS-ALEXANDER
Joel Embiid is back, and the 76ers are back in the win column. After missing four games due to an ankle injury, Philadelphia’s superstar returned with a 31-point, 15-rebound, 10-assist triple-double in a 110-97 win over the Bulls. It’s Embiid’s 14th straight 30-point, 10-rebound game. Only Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar have had longer streaks.
Somehow, it might have been only the second-most impressive performance from an MVP contender: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 36 points as the Thunder held on for a thrilling 127-123 win over the Celtics in a game featuring two of the NBA’s four top teams.
It’s no coincidence Embiid and Gilgeous-Alexander are battling for No. 1 in Brad Botkin’s latest MVP rankings.
DAVID TEPPER AND THE CAROLINA PANTHERS
The NFL fined Panthers owner David Tepper $300,000 for throwing a drink at a Jaguars fan in the arena’s seating bowl from his private suite during Sunday’s 26-0 loss in Jacksonville.
Yes, this is a drop in the bucket for Tepper, who is worth over $20 billion. But you can’t put a price on dignity, and Tepper’s was compromised in the most public of eyes. It’s one thing to run a franchise into the ground. It’s another thing to lash out at fans like a child.
Unfortunately for Tepper, he has now done both. The Panthers are 2-14 this season and will soon be looking for their third full-time coach of the last 15 months: Tepper fired Matt Rhule five games into last season and Frank Reich 11 games into this season. Since Tepper became owner in 2018, only the Jets have a worse record than the Panthers.
This coaching search might be even more daunting than the last. Last offseason, the Panthers traded two first-round picks, two second-round picks and star wide receiver D.J. Moore to the Bears to move up to No. 1 and select Bryce Young. Now, this year’s No. 1 pick belongs to Chicago, leaving minimal draft capital, Young has endured a nightmare rookie year, the roster is lacking, and there’s an owner who added “publicly embarrassing himself and his franchise” to a long list of mishaps.
Tepper has dug himself a massive hole, and he keeps digging.
Welcome to Week 18 in the NFL, where change is omnipresent. In Pete Prisco’s final Power Rankings of the regular season, six of the top seven teams changed places, and eight teams overall — a quarter of the league(!) — moved at least four spots. But we do now have a solid No. 1. Here’s the top five:
The Bills moving back into the top five shows the fine margins of the NFL. Come the end of Sunday night, the Bills could be the AFC No. 2 seed, a wild-card team … or out of the playoffs completely. Oh yeah, and they’re playing in the final game of the regular season, the 8:20 p.m. start in Miami against the division-rival Dolphins. Drama incoming!
The good news is Allen has dominated Miami (10-1 record including playoffs), and with the AFC East crown on the line, there are few players you’d want more at quarterback. Pete says if the Bills make the postseason, they could be the Ravens’ biggest threat in the AFC.
As for another team that will be a big threat, the Chiefs held steady at No. 8. It’s lower than Kansas City has been at this point under Patrick Mahomes historically, but a key part of the Kansas City attack reemerged Sunday, Jeff Kerr notes in his “One thing we learned about each team in Week 17.”
Sure, it came against the struggling Bengals‘ defense, but the Chiefs will take any and all positive signs offensively.
Monday night’s title game in Houston should be a doozy. We’re down to No. 1 Michigan vs. No. 2 Washington in the College Football Playoff championship. We touched on it a bit yesterday, but now that we’re another day closer, we can take a deeper dive, and Dennis Dodd did just that.
There are so many storylines. It’s the final football game involving a Pac-12 team and, oddly, it’s against a future conference rival. Washington will join the Big Ten next season and even plays Michigan Oct. 5. Kalen DeBoer and Michael Penix Jr., meanwhile, give the Huskies a feel-good air, while the Wolverines are easily cast as villains given Jim Harbaugh‘s controversies. And while DeBoer seems to be building a dynasty in the Pacific Northwest, Harbaugh might be coaching his final game with the Wolverines.
But at the end of the day what matters is what takes place on the field, and that will be a tale as old as time: offense vs. defense. Dennis has keys for both teams:
Speaking of those CFP semifinals, they were great. But how do they factor into what were the best bowl games of the season? Tom Fornelli ranked all 41 before they were played and has now ranked all 41 now that they’re done. So where does the Rose Bowl rank? And where does the Sugar Bowl rank?
🏀 No. 16 Clemson at Miami, 8 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 Bulls at Knicks, 8:30 p.m. on ABC
🏀 Heat at Lakers, 10 p.m. on ESPN
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