Checking in on the College Football National Championship + NBA, NHL and MCBB Insights

Plus the Steelers are looking for a new head coach for the first time since 2007

In today’s newsletter…

1. Leading Off: Checking in on the college football national championship

2. Game of the Day: The 76ers are in unfamiliar territory — relatively healthy

3. Scouting Report: Leonard is lifting the Clippers back into playoff contention

4. By the Numbers: Knicks struggle ATS on the road but have a huge spread tonight

5. Overtime: The most secure head coaching job in the NFL is now open

1. Leading Off

Miami is looking for its sixth national championship and the game is being played on the school’s home field. Until this season, Indiana had the most losses in Division I history. The Hurricanes started the year ranked 10th and had a top-15 recruiting class each of the seven seasons leading up to this campaign. The Hoosiers were 20th and their 2025 class was 14th — in the Big Ten. But it’s Indiana that’s No. 1 and favored by 8.5-points in Monday’s title game, and 84% of the money and 76% of the bets are with them.

Both the 15-0 Hoosiers and 13-12 Hurricanes are 10-5 against the spread this season. In its past three games, No. 1 Indiana ended reigning national champion Ohio State’s 16-game winning streak, held No. 9 Alabama to a lone field goal in a 35-point victory, and dominated No. 5 Oregon 56-22. No. 10 Miami kept No. 7 Texas A&M out of the endzone in a 10-3 win, also beat the Buckeyes, and came from behind twice in the last five minutes of the game to defeat No. 6 Ole Miss.

With a win, Indiana would become the first Division I team since Yale in 1894 to reach 16-0. Miami would break a tie with Nebraska for the sixth-most national titles, one away from matching Ohio State, Oklahoma and USC for third.

— Abe Rakov

2. Game of the Day

Healthy 76ers Have Won 6 of 8, Cavs Lost 8 of Past 15 Games

Cleveland has lost eight of 15 games and is down to seventh in the East, while Philadelphia has won six of eight and climbed to fifth in the conference. The Cavaliers can still score — they average the fourth-most points per game in the NBA and are atop the conference at 119.8 — but only nine teams allow more points each night (117.7). Still, Cleveland has the 10th-best point deferential in the league at +2.0, one spot ahead of Philadelphia’s +1.9.

With Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid both healthy, the 76ers’ stars have been leading the way: One of the two has led the team in scoring in all 13 games since December 19th (Maxey eight times and Embiid five). Maxey has returned to his early-season form, increasing his points per game by over three in January compared to December. Donovan Mitchell continues to carry the Cavaliers, but the team has seven players averaging 12 or more points.

Cavaliers (22-19, 8-9 Away) vs. 76ers (22-16, 10-9 Home)
7pm on ESPN

The Odds

• Spread: CLE (+1, -112), PHI (-1, -108)

  • 57% of the money and 56% of the bets are with PHI

  • ATS | CLE (road): 6-11, PHI (home): 9-10

• Moneyline: CLE -104, PHI -112

• Total (237.5): Over -110, Under -110

  • CLE: 19-22, PHI 19-19

Head-to-Head

Players to Watch

• CLE G Donovan Mitchell | Points: 26.5 (29.5 - 21, 28, 30, 30, 33), Reb: 4.5 (4.7 - 3, 3, 7, 6, 6), Ast: 5.5 (5.5 - 2, 8, 8, 3, 5)

• CLE C Evan Mobley | Points: 16.5 (17.9 - 15, 24, 19, 20, 15), Reb: 8.5 (8.6 - 9, 4, 4, 6, 4), Ast: 3.5 (4.1 - 8, 3, 3, 5, 5)

• PHI G Tyrese Maxey | Points: 26.5 (30.9 - 33, 38, 29, 22, 28), Reb: 4.5 (4.5 - 4, 4, 1, 3, 6), Ast: 6.5 (6.7 - 2, 5, 1, 8, 6)

• PHI C Joel Embiid | Points: 25.5 (23.7 - 27, 22, 28, 32, 26), Reb: 8.5 (7.1 - 8, 9, 7, 10, 10), Ast: 3.5 (3.3 - 4, 3, 2, 2, 5)

*Player stats are shown as: Today’s total (Season average - last 5 games from most recent to oldest)

3. Scouting Report

Leonard’s Scoring Consistency is Leading Clippers Back to Playoff Contention

Clippers F Kawhi Leonard (vs. Wizards)

• The Clippers have won 10 of 12 games and are back in playoff contention thanks to in large part to Leonard’s consistency. He’s scored 25 or more points 10 games during that stretch, nine of which were wins. Leonard went for 35 on Monday against a Hornets’ defense not nearly as bad as the Wizards. The last time he faced a bottom-five defense, Leonard scored 45 points against the Jazz (30th) on New Year’s Day and dropped 33 against the Kings (27th) the game before.

• Points: 27.5 (28.1 - 35, 26, 26, 25, 24), Reb: 5.5 (6.4 - 5, 8, 5, 3, 12), Ast: 3.5 (3.4 - 3, 1, 5, 4, 5)

• WAS - L3 (5-5 L10) | Points Allowed: 124.0 (29th), Reb Allowed: 48.1 (30th), Ast Allowed: 29.0 (28th)

Knicks G Jalen Brunson (at Kings)

• Brunson has fallen below his season average in scoring in six of his past eight games, including the last four. He’s four points a night down from his December average in January and his team is 2-4 this month. But only three teams give up more points than the Kings, who have allowed 42 to Luka Doncic, 37 to Giannis Antetokounmpo, 33 to Devin Booker, and 31 to Amen Thompson in January.

• Points: 29.5 (28.9 - 26, 27, 26, 25, 31), Reb: 3.5 (3.3 - 6, 3, 3, 3, 4), Ast: 6.5 (6.3 - 8, 5, 7, 0, 4)

• SAC - W2 (3-7 L10) | Points Allowed: 121.2 (27th), Reb Allowed: 46.0 (25th), Ast Allowed: 27.7 (26th)

BYU F AJ Dybantsa (vs. TCU)

• The freshman phenom has lived up to the hype in his first and almost certainly only season in Provo. Dybantsa is the fourth-highest scorer in men’s college basketball at 22.9 per game and had gone over that average in seven straight before scoring 20 in a rivalry matchup win over Utah. No. 11 BYU’s only loss this year was by two points to No. 3 UConn in the fourth game of the season, when Dybantsa scored a then-career high 25 points on 57.1% shooting. TCU has a solid defense, but UConn allows the ninth-fewest points in all of Division I, so he shouldn’t be intimidated.

• Points: 21.5 (22.9 - 20, 23, 24, 33, 35)

• TCU - L2 (1-3 vs. AP Top 25) | Points Allowed: 68.4 (69th)

*Player stats are shown as: Today’s total (Season average - last 5 games from most recent to oldest)

4. By the Numbers

Bettors Think Knicks’ 11.5-Point Road Spread is Too Big Against Kings

NBA

Raptors (24-17, 11-8 Away) vs. Pacers (9-31, 7-15 Home)

• TOR (-2.5, -110), IND (+2.5, -110): 63% of the money and 59% of the bets are with TOR

  • ATS | TOR (road): 10-9, IND (home): 13-9

• Total (222.5) | TOR: 16-25 (113.9 ppg), IND: 15-25 (110.2 ppg)

Knicks (25-14, 8-10 Away) vs. Kings (10-30, 7-13 Home)

• NYK (-11.5, -106), SAC (+11.5, -114): 66% of the money and 63% of the bets are with SAC

  • ATS | NYK (road): 5-13, SAC (home): 8-12

• Total (231.5) | NYK: 23-17 (119.5 ppg), SAC: 18-22 (110.2 ppg)

Wizards (10-28, 4-15 Away) vs. Clippers (16-23, 10-9 Home)

• WAS (+12.5, -110), LAC (-12.5, -110): 58% of the money and 51% of the bets are with LAC

  • ATS | WAS (road): 7-12, LAC (home): 8-11

• Total (225.5) | WAS: 19-19 (112.8 ppg), LAC: 20-19 (112.1 ppg)

NHL

Kraken (21-15-8, 11-8-3 Away) vs. Devils (23-21-2, 11-8-2 Home)

• SEA (+1.5, -184), NJ (-1.5, +148): 66% of the money is with NJ but 56% of the bets are with SEA

  • ATS | SEA (road): 16-6, NJ (home): 6-15

• Moneyline | SEA +136, NJ -164: 70% of the money and 54% of the bets are with SEA

• Total (5.5) | SEA: 18-26 (2.77 gpg), NJ: 20-26 (2.61 gpg)

Flyers (22-14-8, 10-7-3 Away) vs. Sabres (24-16-4, 14-6-2 Home)

• PHI (+1.5, -210), BUF (-1.5, +168): 65% of the money and 52% of the bets are with BUF

  • ATS | PHI (road): 15-5, BUF (home): 13-9

• Moneyline | PHI +122, BUF -146: 54% of the money and 70% of the bets are with BUF

• Total (6.5) | PHI: 25-19 (2.91 gpg), BUF: 21-23 (3.18 gpg)

Golden Knights (21-11-12, 11-5-6 Away) vs. Kings (19-16-10, 7-10-5 Home)

• VEG (-1.5, +210), LA (+1.5, -265): 64% of the money is with VEG but 55% of the bets are with LA

  • ATS | VEG (road): 9-13, LA (home): 5-17

• Moneyline | VEG -118, LA -102: 59% of the money is with LA but 70% of the bets are with VEG

• Total (5.5) | VEG: 25-19 (3.25 gpg), LA: 21-24 (2.60 gpg)

MCBB

Iowa (12-4, 2-3 Big Ten) vs. No. 5 Purdue (15-1, 5-0 Big Ten)

• IOWA (+9.5, -102), PUR (-9.5, -120): 79% of the money and 74% of the bets are with PUR

  • ATS | IOWA (road): 1-2, PUR (home): 4-6

• Total (141.5) | IOWA: 10-6 (79.1 ppg), PUR: 6-10 (86.4 ppg)

No. 10 Vanderbilt (16-0, 3-0 SEC) vs. Texas (10-6, 1-2 SEC)

• VAN (-5.5, -110), TEX (+5.5, -110): 65% of the money and 69% of the bets are with VAN

  • ATS | VAN (road): 3-1, TEX (home): 5-4

• Total (165.5) | VAN: 9-7 (93.0 ppg), TEX: 10-5 (87.8 ppg)

No. 14 North Carolina (14-2, 2-1 ACC) vs. Stanford (13-4, 2-2 ACC)

• UNC (-2.5, -110), STAN (+2.5, -110): 90% of the money and 85% of the bets are with UNC

  • ATS | UNC (road): 1-1, STAN (home): 5-6

• Total (142.5) | UNC: 5-11 (81.7 ppg), STAN: 6-11 (76.9 ppg)

Nevada (12-4, 4-1 Mountain West) vs. No. 23 Utah State (14-1, 5-0 Mountain West)

• NEV (+12.5, -102), USU (-12.5, -120): 79% of the money and 70% of the bets are with USU

  • ATS | NEV (road): 2-2, USU (home): 2-3

• Total (151.5) | NEV: 9-7 (77.1 ppg), USU: 8-6 (87.0 ppg)

5. Overtime

In the News

• Steelers coach Mike Tomlin isn’t expected to coach next season after stepping down after 19 years in Pittsburgh. Tomlin leaves the job tied with Hall of Fame coach Chuck Noll with 193 regular season wins, but lost seven playoff games in a row. The Steelers will be looking for only their fourth head coach since 1969 with a very deep pool of candidates available. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, who has led Miami since 2008, is now the longest-tenured coach in the four biggest U.S. sports.

• The Chargers fired offensive coordinator Greg Roman after another early playoff exit, but it’s quarterback Justin Herbert who is still winless in the postseason. According to stats compiled by CBS Sports, Herbert has thrown just two playoff touchdowns in the past four seasons (to four interceptions), and his 5.5 net yards per attempts is 25th out of the 28 quarterbacks who have started a game in the postseason in that span.

• Mario Cristobal has Miami one win away from a sixth national championship, and he will have been a part of three of them (the coach won two as a player). The AP’s Tim Reynolds profiled Cristobal, who Hurricanes running back Mark Fletcher Jr. described as “a guy that will get the job done no matter what. He loves adversity. That’s what a dawg is. He will push through it.”

• ESPN’s Jeremy Woo updated his mock NBA draft, with the Pacers picking Kansas guard Darryn Peterson at No. 1 despite the freshman’s inability to play much this season due to health concerns. Freshmen are taken in the first seven picks in the update, with Kentucky sophomore center Jayden Quaintance the first non-first year player selected.

What to Watch (times ET)

• 3pm: Chelsea vs. Arsenal [Carabao Cup] on Paramount+

• 7pm: Cavaliers vs. 76ers on ESPN

• 7:30pm: Flyers vs. Sabres on TNT

• 9pm: No. 10 Vanderbilt vs. Texas [MCBB] on ESPN2

• 9:30pm: Nuggets vs. Mavericks on ESPN

• 10pm: Golden Knights vs. Kings on TNT

• 10:30pm: Arizona State vs. No. 1 Arizona [MCBB] on FS1

• 11pm: TCU vs. No. 11 BYU on ESPN2