Alabama gains ground in CFP rankings; Clippers part ways with Chris Paul

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Good morning and happy Wednesday, sports fans! It’s Austin Nivison greeting you on this hump day, and there is a lot to cover. The latest College Football Playoff rankings dropped. There were some monumental matchups on the hardwood and Tiger Woods shared a positive update on his health.

Let’s get right to it, shall we?

🏆 Five things to know Wednesday

1. The new College Football Playoff rankings were unveiled, and they offered a promising outlook for Alabama. After holding off Auburn in the Iron Bowl, the Crimson Tide leapt in front of Notre Dame to slot in at No. 9. With Alabama at 10-2 and set to face Georgia in the SEC Championship Game, the Tide’s playoff fate appears to be sealed, regardless of the outcome in Atlanta.
2. Duke held off Florida in ACC/SEC Challenge. It was a wild night of college basketball. Duke survived Florida erasing a 15-point deficit, but the No. 4 Blue Devils pulled out a 67-66 win over No. 15 Gators in an ACC/SEC Challenge game … Meanwhile, if your head is still spinning from all of the college basketball games during late November, culminating with last week’s Feast Week, look no further than our Isaac Trotter to help you break it all down. Isaac takes a look at 25 top teams and slots them into three different championships tiers.
3. Penn State’s coaching search continues after BYU signs Kalani Sitake to a contract extension. The tune has stopped, and Penn State is the last man standing in a game of musical chairs. That’s how the Nittany Lions’ coaching search feels after BYU stepped up and made a big offer to keep Sitake in Provo amidst an aggressive pursuit from Penn State. This tug-of-war over Sitake had it all, including the Crumbl Cookies CEO vowing to get involved on behalf of the Cougars.
4. Tiger Woods is cleared to chip and putt after undergoing another back surgery.  Just six weeks after undergoing back surgery, Woods revealed that doctors gave him the green light to chip and putt. However, a full return to golf may still be a good way off. Now 50, Woods is going to take it “slow” with his rehab, which also includes recovering from a torn Achilles. The Masters will be six months after surgery, so that may be a good barometer for how often Woods will play in 2026.
5. Clippers part ways with Chris Paul in a surprising overnight announcement. An iconic player with Los Angeles, Paul will have to find a new path to conclude his NBA career after the announcement from Clippers management to part ways with the future Hall of Fame point guard. Paul averaged just 2.9 points and 3.3 assists over 16 games this season. 

📉 Do not miss this: Contenders tumble in NFL Power Rankings

Before the 2025 season began, the Chiefs, Lions and Ravens were all among the betting favorites to win Super Bowl LX. Now? With more than two-thirds of the season in the books, all three teams would be left out of the playoffs if they started today. The Lions have the best record of that trio at 7-5.

All three of those teams dropped precipitously in Pete Prisco’s latest NFL Power Rankings, and the Chiefs seem to be in greatest jeopardy of missing the postseason. Patrick Mahomes is capable of pulling off superhuman feats, but getting this Kansas City team to the playoffs might be too much, even for him.

• Prisco: “Mahomes has been Superman at times in his career, but getting this team to the playoffs would be among his best achievements. It just doesn’t look like it will happen. The Chiefs are down to No. 16 in my Power Rankings this week, which is amazing to see after having them in the top 10 for most of the past eight years — and most of the time in the top five.”

The Lions were the second-biggest faller of the week, dropping seven spots to No. 15. Only the Colts (-8) fell further than them. Here’s a look at teams in the proverbial danger zone in this week’s power rankings.

15. Lions (-7)
16. Chiefs (-5)
17. Ravens (-5)
18. Chargers (–)
19. Panthers (+1)
20. Steelers (-1)

One team trending in the opposite direction is the Patriots, who just blew out the Giants on Monday night. They’re the new No. 1 team in the rankings, and they could rack up during awards season. Drake Maye has very much asserted himself as an MVP favorite, and Mike Vrabel is making a strong case to be Coach of the Year.

😱 CFP Rankings: ACC nightmare scenario in play

In the latest College Football Playoff rankings, James Madison (11-1) ranked No. 25. While the Dukes may seem like a plucky underdog story with a shot at the playoff, they represent the potential for unmitigated disaster in the ACC.

Because of tiebreaker rules that require a PhD to understand, No. 17 Virginia (10-2) will play unranked Duke (7-5) in the ACC Championship Game. The Cavaliers are only 3.5-point favorites, which means a Blue Devils win is very much on the table. If that happens and JMU wins the Sun Belt … that might mean the ACC gets shutout entirely, as our own Shehan Jeyarajah explains.

• Jeyarajah: “When the CFP bracket is mocked, No. 12 Miami plays the role of the fourth conference champion auto-bid. There’s just one problem: The Hurricanes — the best team in the ACC — aren’t eligible for the auto-bid. In fact, thanks to a bloated conference and convoluted set of tiebreakers, unranked Duke plays No. 17 Virginia for the ACC crown. And in Duke, the ACC has its perfect, disastrous storm.”

The ACC wasn’t the only party to receive poor news on Tuesday night. Vanderbilt held steady at No. 14 despite beating Tennessee in Neyland Stadium. That doesn’t bode well for the team’s playoff chances, but the Commodores’ long-term future seems bright after they flipped five-star quarterback recruit Jared Curtis from Georgia.

👍👎 The best (and not-so-best) of the rest

📺 What we’re watching Wednesday

⚽ Brentford at Arsenal, 2:30 p.m. on USA Network
🏀 Virginia at No. 15 Vanderbilt (W), 5 p.m. on SEC Network
🏀 No. 17 Kentucky at Miami (W), 5 p.m. on ESPN2
🏀 No. 22 Indiana at Minnesota (M), 7 p.m. on Big Ten Network
🏀 No. 6 Louisville at No. 25 Arkansas (M), 7:15 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 Clemson at No. 12 Alabama (M), 7:15 p.m. on ESPNU
🏀 NC State at No. 9 Oklahoma (W), 7:15 p.m. on ESPN2
🏒 Sabres at Flyers, 7:30 p.m. on TNT
🏀 Heat at Mavericks, 8:30 p.m. on NBA TV
🏀 SMU at No. 17 Vanderbilt (M), 9:15 p.m. on SEC Network
🏀 NC State at No. 20 Auburn (M), 9:15 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 No. 19 Tennessee at Stanford (W), 9:15 p.m. on ESPN2
🏒 Mammoth at Ducks, 10 p.m. on TNT