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Good morning and Happy Thursday! It’s Austin Nivison greeting you with the news that the Mets have swung another major deal. In addition to the MLB hot stove doing its thing, the NFL coaching carousel is constantly updating and college basketball is really hitting its stride.
Let’s dig into the biggest and best stories from around the sports world, shall we?
⚾ Five things to know Thursday
The Mets acquired All-Star RHP Freddy Peralta from the Brewers. The Mets have been a busy team over the last two days. Roughly 24 hours after adding Luis Robert Jr. from the White Sox, New York picked up an ace for its pitching staff in the form of Peralta. In exchange for that upgrade, the Mets sent prospects Brandon Sproat and Jett Williams to Milwaukee. Last season, Peralta finished fifth in NL Cy Young voting with a 2.70 ERA and a 5.5 WAR.Vikings DC Brian Flores signed a contract extension. Considered a candidate for some of the head coaching vacancies around the NFL, Flores has signed a deal to remain with the Vikings, provided he doesn’t land one of the remaining jobs. Flores was coaching on an expiring contract, but his future is more certain now. In 2025, Flores led a Minnesota defense that allowed the seventh-fewest points in the NFL.Alabama center Charles Bediako has been cleared to return after G-League stints. This decision will surely be a hot-button topic in college basketball circles. Bediako, who last played on Alabama’s 31-win team in 2022-23, has been ruled eligible to return despite signing NBA contracts and playing in the G League. While the NCAA is expected to push back, this continues a trend of college teams targeting players without any actual NBA service. Bediako could see the floor in a big clash against Tennessee on Saturday.Cody Bellinger has re-signed with the Yankees on a five-year, $162.5 million contract. The Yankees won’t be losing their star outfielder, who just signed a massive deal to remain with the team for the immediate future. Bellinger’s contract does include multiple opt-outs, and he has a full no-trade clause. Bellinger had a fantastic debut season in New York last year with a .272/.334/.480 slash line to go along with 29 home runs.EDGE Princewill Umanmielen is following Lane Kiffin to LSU. The No. 1 EDGE in the transfer portal, per 247Sports, Umanmielen will be making the jump from Oxford to Baton Rouge to join Kiffin. The Rebels’ loss is once again the Tigers’ gain as Umanmielen brings good production to LSU. He led Ole Miss in tackles for loss (13) and sacks (9) last season. This five-star addition for LSU only extends its lead for the best transfer class in the nation, per 247Sports.
🏀 Do not miss this: Another ‘Miami’ team is making a major statement in another college sport
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There is one 20-0 team in college basketball this season, and that squad resides in Oxford, Ohio. The Miami RedHawks are taking the sport by storm as they defy the odds to keep their perfect record intact.
The RedHawks’ thrilling overtime win against Kent State on Tuesday gave them their 20th win of the season, and it’s time to start taking notice of this team. Detractors will point to a brutally weak strength of schedule, but Miami’s résumé is actually quiete impressive, and Matt Norlander has the numbers to back it up.
Norlander: “Though Miami’s overall strength of schedule is woeful (339th out of 365 teams), the slope of difficulty in getting to 20-0 is reflected in its Strength of Record ranking (21) and its Wins Above Bubble mark (29th). Those are objective indicators of how well Miami has done against its schedule vs. what the average bubble team would’ve done to this point.”
Here’s a brief list of teams with a worse SOR than the RedHawks:
Clemson (16-4)Villanova (14-4)St. John’s (14-5)Louisville (13-5)Tennessee (12-6)
While you’re getting up to speed on the hottest team in college hoops, you may as well get some more delicious nuggets of basketball wisdom. In this week’s Trotter’s Trends, Duke has regained its confidence thanks to some key tweaks.
🏈 Final CBS Sports 136 unveiled
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Before we officially bode farewell to the 2025 college football season, there was one final piece of business to handle. The final CBS Sports 136 has been revealed, and it should serve as you undisputed ranking of ever FBS team to close out what was an unpredictable and exciting year.
It should come as no surprise that Indiana, you new national champion, ended at the No. 1 spot. Lobotomies would need to be scheduled if that weren’t the case. One of the biggest fallers in our final rankings was LSU, which dropped six spots and outside the top 50. It’s a good thing the Tigers have won the offseason thus far because their on-field finish left a lot to be desired, as Chip Patterson explains.
Patterson: “From Oct. 15 until the end of the season, the only power conference win for LSU was a 23-22 home win against 2-10 Arkansas. The Tigers did not quit after Brian Kelly was fired, in fact they battled in close losses to Oklahoma and Houston, but the lack of results made it easy for voters to slide the Tigers back behind other teams with better postseason showings.”
If you had told everyone that Indiana would finish at No. 1 back in August, you would have gotten a few raised brows in response. So, who will be the next team to shock the country? Cody Nagel identified a few programs poised for rapid turnarounds.
👍👎 The best (and not-so-best) of the rest
📺 What we’re watching Thursday
⚽ Aston Villa at Fenerbahce, 12:45 p.m. on CBS Sports Network⚽ VfB Stuttgart at AS Roma, 3 p.m. on CBS Sports Network🏀 No. 7 Rutgers at Michigan (W), 6 p.m. on Big Ten Network🏀 No. 10 Iowa at No. 15 Maryland (W), 6 p.m. on NBC🏀 No. 11 Kentucky at No. 17 Tennessee (W), 6:30 p.m. on SEC Network🏀 Warriors at Mavericks, 7:30 p.m. on Prime Video🏀 No. 1 UConn at Georgetown (W), 7:30 p.m. on TNT🏀 No. 2 South Carolina at No. 16 Oklahoma (W), 7:30 p.m. on ESPN🏀 USC at No. 13 Michigan State (W), 8 p.m. on Big Ten Network🏀 No. 6 LSU at Texas A&M (W), 9 p.m. on SEC Network🏒 Red Wings at Wild, 9:30 p.m. on ESPN🏀 Lakers at Clippers, 10 p.m. on Prime Video
