The NFL’s regular season has reached its final weekend with plenty undecided in terms of the playoff picture, including the No. 1 seed in both the AFC and NFC. The Denver Broncos, New England Patriots and Jacksonville Jaguars all have a shot at the No. 1 seed in the AFC, which includes a first-round bye and home-field advantage through the playoffs. The Broncos have the clearest path — if they beat the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday, they’ll earn the top seed. The Seattle Seahawks face the San Francisco 49ers on Saturday night with the NFC’s No. 1 seed, first-round bye and home-field advantage on the line.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — T.J. Watt is eager to return to the field after a dry needling mishap led to surgery for a partially collapsed lung. The Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker hopes to play Sunday night against the Baltimore Ravens, with the AFC North title at stake. Watt, who missed three games because of the incident, called it a “fluke” and said he won’t use the treatment in the short term. He felt good after practice on Friday and is focused on helping Pittsburgh reach the playoffs. The Steelers went 2-1 in his absence and can win the division with a victory.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Luka Doncic and LeBron James topped 30 points each in the same game for the first time this season as the Los Angeles Lakers rallied for a 128-121 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies. Doncic scored 34 points, hitting 17 of 20 free throws, while James added 31 points on 12-of-18 shooting. The superstars previously achieved this feat twice in March, a month after Doncic joined the Lakers in a blockbuster trade from Dallas. Doncic's made free throws were one off his career high, while his 20 attempts were a season high. Doncic hit James with a 70-foot outlet pass and the NBA's oldest active player scored.
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Kevin Jennings threw for 278 yards, highlighted by an 80-yard completion on a razzle-dazzle play on the second play from scrimmage, and SMU beat No. 21 Arizona 24-19 in the Holiday Bowl on Friday night. Jennings completed 21 of 32 passes, and set up two touchdown runs by T.J. Harden and one by Stone Eby for the Mustangs (9-4). They snapped a five-game postseason losing streak that included a 38-10 defeat to Penn State in the opening round of last season’s College Football Playoff. Arizona also finished 9-4. SMU was up 24-0 at halftime, a big enough lead to overcome three interceptions by Jennings in the second half and three touchdown passes by Arizona’s Noah Fifita.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Robby Ashford threw for 303 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 50 yards and two scores, Koredell Bartley scored on a 100-yard kickoff return and Wake Forest beat Mississippi State 43-29 in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl on Friday night, earning coach Jake Dickert a mayonnaise bath. Ashford threw TD passes of 14 yards to Kamrean Johnson, 64 yards to Jack Foley and 62 yards to Ty Clark III and had scoring runs of 2 and 1 yards for the Demon Deacons (9-4). Freshman quarterback Kamario Taylor, making his second college start, had a big second half for Mississippi State (5-8) before suffering what appeared to be a significant leg injury with 1:46 left.
KRANJSKA GORA, Slovenia (AP) — Swiss skier Camille Rast earned her first career win in a World Cup giant slalom and dedicated her victory to the victims of the fire at a Crans-Montana bar. Rast tapped the black mourning band on her left upper arm twice after she finished her final run to beat second-placed Julia Scheib of Austria by two-tenths. Rast said “there was a tragical accident and I think about those families. We race for them this weekend.” The fire left 40 people dead and more than 100 injured during a New Year’s celebration. Paula Moltzan behind third and Mikaela Shiffrin was fifth.
Aston Villa has rebounded from its first loss in two months by beating Nottingham Forest 3-1 to climb into second place in the Premier League. John McGinn scored twice in the second half for Villa, building on Ollie Watkins’ opener in first-half stoppage time. Morgan Gibbs-White had reduced the deficit to 2-1 in the 61st minute, only for McGinn to restore Villa’s two-goal cushion after a poor piece of goalkeeping from Forest’s John Victor. Villa’s 11-game winning run was ended by a 4-1 thumping by Arsenal on Tuesday. Unai Emery’s team moved above Manchester City, who hosts Chelsea on Sunday, and three points behind Arsenal. The leaders visit Bournemouth later.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Mississippi quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and his Rebels teammates have been saying for weeks that they have the chemistry, talent and confidence to carry on in the College Football Playoff without former coach Lane Kiffin. There's been no evidence to the contrary since Kiffin left for LSU on November 30th. The Rebels have a January 8th date with Miami in the CFP semifinals at the Fiesta Bowl. The matchup features quarterbacks with contrasting backgrounds. Miami's Carson Beck is a high-profile transfer from Georgia who was a blue-chip recruit. Chambliss played previously at Division II Ferris State and began this season as a backup.
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — Indiana and Oregon will meet in the Peach Bowl next week for a College Football Playoff semifinal. Neither school has ever won a national championship. The winner in Atlanta will be the favorite to accomplish that feat in the national title game on Jan. 19. The Hoosiers beat the Ducks in Eugene three months ago before going on to the Big Ten title and a blowout victory over Alabama in the Rose Bowl as the CFP's No. 1 seed. Oregon has won eight consecutive games since that loss to Indiana, capped by a 23-0 pasting of Texas Tech in the Orange Bowl.
MIAMI (AP) — The New York Rangers have continued their dominance in outdoor games. Mika Zibanejad had a hat trick, Artemi Panarin scored twice and the Rangers beat the Florida Panthers 5-1 on Friday night in the Winter Classic at Miami's loanDepot Park. It was the first outdoor game played in the Sunshine State. Alexis Lafrenière had three assists and Igor Shesterkin stopped 36 shots for the Rangers, who improved to 6-0-0 in outdoor games. The roof was open and the game-time temperature was 63 degrees at the home of baseball's Miami Marlins. Sam Reinhart scored for Florida, which was playing outdoors for the first time.
Finals
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Final St. Louis 4 Vegas 3
Final N-Y Rangers 5 Florida 1
Final Minnesota 5 Anaheim 2
Final SO Seattle 4 Vancouver 3
TOP-25 COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Final (22)Navy 35 Cincinnati 13
Final SMU 24 (21)Arizona 19
TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Final (2)Michigan 96 (24)USC 66
Final (3)Iowa State 80 West Virginia 59
Final (7)Gonzaga 80 Seattle 72
Final (13)Nebraska 58 (9)Michigan State 56