📰🏟️ Paint it black

Good afternoon, and welcome back. Today’s edition is full of top sports stories in an easy-to-digest format. Let’s rock and roll.

—Kyle

1) NFL saw an eventful Black Monday

Three NFL head coaches received pink slips yesterday, joining the Falcons’ Raheem Morris who was fired on Sunday. The Browns fired Kevin Stefanski after six seasons, the Cardinals fired Jonathan Gannon after three seasons, and the Raiders fired Pete Carroll after one season.

• Those four teams, along with the Giants and Titans, make up the league's six current head coaching vacancies.
• It marks the 15th straight NFL season with at least five head coaching changes, with insiders hinting that more could be on the way in the coming days or weeks.

Ranking the NFL’s 6 open coaching jobs

2) OKC Thunder’s pursuit of NBA win record has hit a wall

The Thunder got off to a 24-1 start this season, sparking talk of them potentially rivaling the 2015-16 Warriors’ historic 73-9 season. But a series of recent defeats, including a stunning 124-97 home loss last night to the lowly Hornets, have quickly cooled that chatter.

• The loss is the second straight and sixth in the past 12 games for OKC (30-7), effectively ending any realistic chance of rivaling the NBA’s regular-season wins record.
• The Thunder had won 45 straight games against teams below .500 entering last night’s contest against Charlotte (13-23).

How OKC became Thunderstruck

3) Montana State crowned FCS champs in wild title game

Montana State outlasted Illinois State, 35-34 (OT) last night to win the Bobcats’ first FCS title since 1984, after losing the title game twice in the previous four years.

• This year’s championship featured a 20-point comeback, a blocked FG, a blocked PAT in overtime—the first OT period in 48 years of FCS title games—and a game-winning score on 4th and 10.
• Montana State (14-2) capped a campaign that saw them lose the first two games of the season, then rattle off 14 straight wins—including two over in-state rival Montana, with one of them coming in the FCS semifinals.

Inside the Bobcats’ howling success

4) New CBB polls highlight tight races for #1

#1 Arizona (1,494 points) maintained the top spot in yesterday’s men’s AP poll by a single point over #2 Michigan (1,493 points), in one of the closest races in the poll’s 78-year history.

• While Arizona (14-0) has remained on top for the last five polls, Michigan (13-0) gained ground after becoming the first team ever to beat three consecutive ranked opponents by 30+ points.
• On the women’s side, #1 UConn (15-0) is off to their best start since 2017-18, with #2 Texas (17-0) hot on their heels in the latest AP poll.

See the men’s and women’s rankings

5) CFB transfer portal is in full swing

For the first time, a single transfer portal window for football players is open this year, running from Jan. 2-16. While thousands of players remain available, many of the top QBs have already found a new home. 

Notable transfers so far include:

• Former TCU QB Josh Hoover heading to Indiana.
• Cincinnati’s Brendan Sorsby, the top-ranked QB in the portal, heading to Texas Tech on a $5M deal.
• Notre Dame transfer QB Kenny Minchey flipping his commitment to Kentucky, one day after previously committing to Nebraska.

Stay on top of the CFB transfer portal

🙌🎓 In Partnership with Life Chiropractic College West

A career with 20-hour weeks at $150k+?

Looking for a fulfilling career? Chiropractic checks every box. It offers six-figure income, flexible schedules, and an AI-proof skill (seriously, would you trust a robot with your spine?).

With campuses in CA and NE, Life West was named the top chiropractic college of 2025. Their clinically inspired curriculum offers early hands-on experience and the world’s leading chiropractic preceptorship program.