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  • 2024 Super Bowl: Here’s why you should root for the Chiefs when they take on the 49ers in Super Bowl 58

    2024 Super Bowl: Here’s why you should root for the Chiefs when they take on the 49ers in Super Bowl 58

    Don’t look now, but the Kansas City Chiefs are set to play in their second straight Super Bowl, and their fourth in five years. The Chiefs won their sixth straight AFC title game after ousting the Baltimore Ravens on the road. The upset marked Patrick Mahomes’ second road playoff game aside from past Super Bowl appearances. Kansas City previously beat the Bills in Buffalo in the divisional round.

    Mahomes and Co. ended the regular season 11-6, with some ups and downs giving them their most losses since 2014. Now they look to win back-to-back NFL titles, but standing in their way are the San Francisco 49ers. As Kansas City prepares to face the NFC’s top-seeded team, here are three reasons to root the Chiefs on Feb. 11 in Las Vegas.

    1. A dynasty in the making

    The Chiefs have been an AFC powerhouse for years, making the playoffs every year since 2015 and reaching three Super Bowls since 2019, winning two of them. They defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl last year and are looking for their second straight championship. 

    Kansas City can do something no team has done since the New England Patriots in 2004 and 2005 (Super Bowls XXXVIII and XXXIX) by winning back-to-back championships. The Chiefs have proven time and time again they are the team to beat since Mahomes became the starter.

    The Chiefs are on the verge of securing that dynasty status, so why not be along for the ride while they attempt to do so. 

    2. Rooting for trio of Mahomes, Kelce, Reid

    In the divisional round, Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce dethroned Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowksi for most touchdowns in the playoffs by a quarterback-receiver duo with 19. The two are arguably the greatest QB-TE duo and continuing to make their case with each game.

    Mahomes finished the regular season going 10-6 in 16 games, with a career high in completion percentage (67.2), along with 4,183 passing yards and 14 interceptions.

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  • Judge sides with NCAA, denies state of Tennessee’s temporary restraining order request in NIL lawsuit

    Judge sides with NCAA, denies state of Tennessee’s temporary restraining order request in NIL lawsuit

    Getty Images

    A federal judge denied a request from the states of Tennessee and Virginia for a temporary restraining order that would have halted the NCAA from enforcing NIL recruiting guidelines. The ruling comes one week after attorney generals from the two states filed a federal antitrust lawsuit. The two states claim that the NCAA violated antitrust laws by denying athletes their ability to earn full NIL compensation. 

    Though Judge Clifton L. Corker’s decision provides an early victory for the NCAA, his comments may paint a bleaker picture for the organization’s long term standing in the legal battle. Corker said he believed the states’ case will “likely” succeed based on federal antitrust statutes, going as far as to say current NIL regulations “likely foster economic exploitation of student-athletes.”

    NCAA athletes have been permitted to earn NIL compensation since July 2021, but with parameters. For example, schools are not allowed to directly recruit players — high school prospects or transfer portal entrants — using NIL opportunities. 

    The judge’s decision leaves current NIL regulations in place for National Signing Day on Wednesday. The next battle is a hearing for a preliminary injunction on Feb. 13 in Greenville, Tennessee. If granted, that injunction would prevent the NCAA from enforcing current NIL regulations until the conclusion of the lawsuit.

    The timing of the lawsuit was no coincidence; It was filed one day after CBS Sports reported that the University of Tennessee is dealing with an ongoing NCAA investigation into potential NIL violations involving…

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  • The NFL’s 180 on Las Vegas

    The NFL’s 180 on Las Vegas

    In 2002, the creative team at Las Vegas’ largest advertising agency began working feverishly on a campaign to reinvent the city’s image.

    They wanted to veer away from prior failed attempts to market Las Vegas’ family-friendly roller coasters and attractions. They wanted to portray the city as a destination for adults who wanted to let loose in ways they normally wouldn’t. They wanted something brash, something edgy, something that ushered in a new era.

    They wanted something that captured what made Vegas Vegas.

    Out of all the seasoned pros who took on that challenge, the ones who struck advertising gold were a pair of 20-something copywriters with plenty of blank space on their resumes. Jason Hoff told Yahoo Sports that he and Jeff Candido bounced ideas off one another for days until they agreed on a now-iconic five-word tagline and a cheeky story to go with it.

    The commercial begins with a woman in a low-cut blue top and stiletto boots sliding into the back of a limousine. She brazenly flirts with her limousine driver before vanishing behind the privacy divider. When they arrive at the airport, the driver opens the limo door and is surprised to see the woman step out dressed conservatively, phone to her ear and her hair in a tidy bun. The spot then ends with the words, “What happens here, stays here.”

    “When we came up with the tagline, we both were like, ‘Wow, that’s it!!’” Hoff recalled. “The agency and the client were on board, but it wasn’t until years later that any of us understood this was going to be a forever line.”

    The commercial that Hoff and Candido dreamed up isn’t just the opener for a wildly successful ad campaign. It also stands as a 30-second monument to Las Vegas’ transformation from sports pariah to sports haven.

    The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority was ready to shell out more than $2 million to launch its new ad campaign during Super Bowl XXXVII. Instead the NFL refused to air it, citing concerns about any…

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  • SEC softball power rankings: Reigning conference champion Tennessee starts out on top

    SEC softball power rankings: Reigning conference champion Tennessee starts out on top

    The first pitch of the 2024 softball season is almost here, and the SEC is looking like the deepest conference in the country again.

    The SEC has nine teams in the NFCA preseason rankings, with Tennessee softball at No. 2, behind reigning national champion Oklahoma. After the way the top teams in the SEC reloaded in the transfer portal and several highly rated freshman classes, nothing is certain in the last season of the SEC as we know it.

    Now, on to the preseason SEC power rankings:

    1. Tennessee

    Tennessee returns seven of its nine starters from the team that swept the SEC titles last season. But NFCA Pitcher of the Year Ashley Rogers graduated, so we’ll see if the Lady Vols’ pitching holds up to back up its offensive firepower.

    2. Georgia

    The Bulldogs finished only a few games behind Tennessee and didn’t get a chance to square off last year. But this season, with a few All-ACC additions, they’ll go to Knoxville and get a chance to show who the top team in the SEC is.

    3. LSU

    The Tigers return nearly all of their starters and brought in the No. 5 freshman class. Can the youngsters take LSU to the next level after it finished sixth in the SEC last season?

    4. Alabama

    Alabama scored one of the top pitchers in the transfer portal in Kayla Beaver and brought in highly regarded freshman Jocelyn Briski to help fill the Montana Fouts-sized hole in its pitching staff. But the Crimson Tide lost their two best hitters to graduation, and they’ll need a lot more firepower to return to the top of the SEC.

    5. Florida

    The Gators cleaned up in the portal to add to their No. 1-ranked freshman class. With reigning NFCA and SEC Player of the Year Skylar Wallace and a talented freshman pitching staff, Florida just might turn into a contender this season.

    6. Auburn

    Auburn’s roster saw a lot of turnover, but when you have Nelia Peralta leading off and…

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  • Dan Quinn Commanders press conference takeaways: Hiring Kliff Kingsbury, why this opportunity was ‘different’

    Dan Quinn Commanders press conference takeaways: Hiring Kliff Kingsbury, why this opportunity was ‘different’

    ASHBURN, Va. — The Commanders formally introduced Dan Quinn as their newest head coach Monday after a long hiring process that included plenty of twists and turns.

    Quinn, 53, and the Commanders reached a verbal agreement Thursday, and the team formally announced the hiring Saturday. The Commanders were the last of the eight teams to fill their head-coaching vacancy this offseason but proceeded quickly thereafter, with Kliff Kingsbury hired as offensive coordinator and Joe Whitt Jr. hired as defensive coordinator on Sunday.

    Owner Josh Harris and general manager Adam Peters — also hired this offseason — were on hand Monday alongside Quinn. Here were the key takeaways as Washington enters a new era:

    1. ‘If I get another shot’ … and why this one is ‘different’

    Quinn said he tries to live his life by five words: “Be where your feet are.” But he also admitted there had been another five-word phrase in his mind: “If I get another shot.”

    That sort of uncertainty gave way to unbridled excitement when he got the call from Peters, and the enthusiasm was on display throughout the hour-long press conference.

    “As a coach, you prepare for it, you study for it, and there’s some lessons that you can’t study for, there’s lessons that you just have to live — sometimes through success and sometimes also through adversity — but once you learn those lessons, all you want to do is grab them and run and prove it. So let me tell you, I am ready to run and prove it, run like hell.

    “There is nothing I enjoy more than doing hard shit with good people. And these guys here, there’s some really good people and I cannot wait to get it rocking here.”

    Quinn made it clear this had to be a fit for him, not just vice versa. He interviewed with five teams — the Chargers, Panthers, Seahawks, Titans and Commanders — this year. He interviewed with three — the Broncos, Cardinals and Colts — last year. But…

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  • SEC, Big Ten leaders express uncertainty with College Football Playoff as future formatting questions linger

    SEC, Big Ten leaders express uncertainty with College Football Playoff as future formatting questions linger

    The SEC and Big Ten committing to the College Football Playoff for the long haul may be in jeopardy if key issues are not rectified. Speaking to Yahoo Sports, both SEC commissioner Greg Sankey and Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti expressed doubts concerning their respective leagues’ commitment to the CFP as its governance struggles to iron out details surrounding its future format. 

    Yep (we’re committed for now), but we’ve got a lot to get right,” Sankey said. “The commitment is we want to see this get right. … We have the reality of meeting to deal with CFP governance with the 2026 season and beyond. That’s a highly important issue.”

    No issue looms larger than access to the CFP as college football’s power conference landscape prepares for drastic changes this summer. All of this as the CFP prepares for an expansion from four teams to 12 teams starting with the 2024 season. The previously agreed-to model of six auto-bids for the six highest-ranked conference champions and six at-large berths was expected to be amended by the CFP Board of Managers to a 5+7 model in January to account for the Pac-12’s mass exodus of 10 members last August. That amendment was never finalized, however. 

    According to Yahoo Sports, Washington State president Kirk Schulz, whose school is one of only two continuing Pac-12 members along with Oregon State, delayed the vote, which needed unanimity for it to be adopted in time for the 2024 season. Schulz also reportedly proposed that the two schools would be guaranteed voting rights and CFP revenue distribution beyond 2025, which was met with pushback. 

    The CFP’s current contract expires after the 2025 college football season, so conferences would theoretically be free to explore other postseason options if…

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  • Patrick Mahomes Sr., father of Chiefs QB, arrested on suspicion of DWI in Texas ahead of 2024 Super Bowl

    Patrick Mahomes Sr., father of Chiefs QB, arrested on suspicion of DWI in Texas ahead of 2024 Super Bowl

    Getty Images

    Patrick Mahomes Sr., father of Patrick Mahomes II, the star quarterback of the Kansas City Chiefs, was arrested in Smith County, Texas on Saturday and charged with “driving while intoxicated third time or more,” per jail records. 

    Mahomes was arrested by the Tyler (Texas) Police Department on Feb. 3. He was released on Sunday afternoon, per ESPN, on a third-degree felony charge that carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison if he is convicted, according to state law. Jail records indicate Mahomes’ last arrest for DWI came in 2019. 

    Mahomes was a star athlete himself, an MLB pitcher who played for six teams, last appearing for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2003. 

    This comes as his son is preparing to start in his fourth Super Bowl this upcoming Sunday in Las Vegas. With a win over the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII, Mahomes II can become the fifth quarterback to win three Super Bowls, joining Tom Brady, Joe Montana, Terry Bradshaw and Troy Aikman. 

    If Mahomes II wins Super Bowl MVP, he will join Magic Johnson as the only players in NFL/NBA/NHL/MLB history to win three championship round MVPs before age 29. 

    The Chiefs are scheduled to arrive in Vegas Sunday afternoon, per CBS Sports HQ senior NFL insider Josina Anderson.

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  • Penn State extends offer to Class of 2026 offensive lineman Carter Scruggs

    Penn State extends offer to Class of 2026 offensive lineman Carter Scruggs

    Penn State is just days away from officially locking in its Class of 2024 and before you know it the Class of 2025 will be signed, sealed, and delivered. That means the work on the Class of 2026 is already underway on the recruiting of the Class of 2026. Already with one commitment tucked away, Penn State is actively handing out offers to potential Nittany KLions in the Class of 2026. This weekend resulted in more offers being extended.

    Among those receiving an offer was Carter Scruggs, an offensive tackle from Virginia who has already received a handful of offers from schools from the ACC and Big Ten. Penn State joined Indiana among the Big Ten offers extended to Scruggs (who has no relation to former Nittany Lion offensive lineman Juice Scruggs). ACC schools with offers extended include Duke, Pitt, and in-state options Virginia and Virginia Tech. Liberty, coming off an appearance in a New Years Six game and also located in Virginia, has extended an offer. West Virginia of the Big 12 (and Penn State’s season-opening opponent next fall) has also offered.

    Scruggs is a 6′-6″, 270-pound offensive tackle for Loudoun County in Leesburg, VA. He does not have a rating from the recruiting outlets yet, but the offers from multiple power conference programs should suggest he is firmly on the radar and will be receiving some star ratings once the Class of 2026 rankings are expanded.

    Virginia Tech is considered a favorite at the moment according to the way-too-early calculation from On3’s recruiting prediction machine. The Hokies have a 52.7% chance of receiving a commitment from Scruggs. Penn State is second on the list with a 16.3% chance.

    Penn State does already have one commitment on the board for the Class of 2026. That is the top-rated in-state recruit in the Class of 2026, running back Messiah Mickens. The…

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