KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs exacted a bit of revenge on the Houston Texans for a regular-season loss by beating them in the playoffs. Now, they can do the same thing to the Tennessee Titans on the way to their first Super Bowl appearance in 50 years. The Texans had knocked off Kansas City in Week 6 but were routed 51-31 in the divisional round Sunday, when the Chiefs rallied from a 24-0 deficit. The Titans beat the Chiefs 35-32 in Week 10. That was also the last time Kansas City has lost a game this season.
UNDATED (AP) — Baylor climbed to No. 2 in The Associated Press men's college basketball poll after resounding road wins over Texas Tech and Kansas last week. Gonzaga maintained the top spot after breezing to a pair of victories while Duke dropped to third and unbeaten Auburn rose to fourth. Butler rounded out the first five, followed by the Jayhawks and another unbeaten in San Diego State. Oregon, Florida State and Kentucky rounded out the top 10.
WACO, Texas (AP) — All-America defensive end James Lynch is bypassing his senior season at Baylor. The 6-foot-4, 295-pound defender says it's time to chase his next dream of playing in the NFL. He announced his decision in a social media post. He says he was proud to be part of Baylor's turnaround from 11 losses two years ago to 11-3 this season. The Bears played in the Big 12 championship game and Sugar Bowl. Lynch finished his junior season with school records of 13 1/2 sacks and 19 1/2 tackles for loss. His 22 career sacks are also a school record.
STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) — All-America running back Chuba Hubbard will return to Oklahoma State for his junior season. Hubbard ran for 2,094 yards and 21 touchdowns this season. He was eighth in the Heisman Trophy balloting and was the AP's Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year. He also was a finalist for the Walter Camp and Doak Walker Awards for national player of the year. He ran for 296 yards against Kansas State, 256 against Tulsa, 223 against TCU and 221 against Oregon State. Receiver Tylan Wallace previously announced he would return for his senior season. He was a Biletnikoff Award finalist in 2018.
National Headlines
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — LSU is the national champion in college football following a 42-25 victory over Clemson in New Orleans. Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow threw for 463 yards and five touchdowns while also running for a score as LSU wrapped up its third championship since the 2003 season. Ja’Marr Chase had nine receptions for 221 yards and two touchdowns, Thaddeus Moss furnished a pair of TD grabs and Clyde Edwards-Helaire ran for 110 yards to help LSU finish 15-0.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — LSU has finished No. 1 in the AP Top 25 for the third time in school history, with Clemson No. 2 and Ohio State No. 3. The Tigers beat Clemson 42-25 in the national championship game Monday night and then received all 62 first-place votes from the media panel. LSU was No. 1 for the final eight weeks of the season and set a record by beating seven teams ranked in the top 10 at the time of the game. Georgia was fourth and Pac-12 champion Oregon was fifth. Florida was sixth and Oklahoma, which made the playoff, was seventh.
UNDATED (AP) — The top two NFC teams took care of business to set up a Green Bay-San Francisco conference championship. The bye week proved hazardous over in the AFC where the top two seeds fell into huge holes. The Chiefs overcame their 24-point deficit to the Houston Texans with an historic comeback to reach their second straight AFC title game at Arrowhead Stadium. The top-seeded Baltimore Ravens weren't able to climb out of their 22-point hole against the surging Tennessee Titans. So the Titans are in the conference championship for the first time in two decades.
UNDATED (AP) — So goes a wild weekend of historic offensive performances by Derrick Henry and nearly every Kansas City Chief. It was spiced by some timely defense from all the winners. They gave us the answers to the makeup of the NFL's Final Four. Which brings along a whole lot of questions. The NFC, following a wild-card weekend in which both wild cards won, settled down to top-seeded San Francisco and No. 2 Green Bay reaching the championship game. It's a classic rivalry that will resume next Sunday when the Niners host the Packers.
Monday Scores
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Final OT New Orleans 117 Detroit 110
Final Indiana 101 Philadelphia 95
Final Boston 113 Chicago 101
Final Oklahoma City 117 Minnesota 104
Final Portland 115 Charlotte 112
Final Orlando 114 Sacramento 112
Final L.A. Lakers 128 Cleveland 99