Yahoo Sports AM: All eyes on the Mountain West

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🚨 Headlines

🏀 NBA investigates 76ers: The NBA has opened an investigation into the 76ers regarding Joel Embiid’s participation. He’s set to miss at least the first three games of the season due to “left knee management.”

⚾️ Could Ohtani pitch? Some have speculated that Shohei Ohtani could come out of the bullpen in a tight spot during the World Series, but Dodgers manager Dave Roberts says there’s “no possibility” of that happening.

🏀 Teams revealed: Unrivaled, the 3-on-3 women’s basketball league tipping off in January, has announced the names and branding for its six teams: Laces, Mist, Rose, Lunar Owls, Phantom and Vinyl.

⚾️ Reds to honor Rose: The Reds and Pete Rose’s family will hold a visitation for baseball’s all-time hits leader at Great American Ball Park next month. The team will also honor him with “Pete Rose Day” on May 14.

💔 Gone too soon: USF men’s basketball coach Amir Abdur-Rahim, a rising star in the college coaching ranks, died Thursday after a battle with an aggressive illness. He was 43.

🏈 All eyes on the Mountain West

No. 17 Boise State (6-1) and UNLV (6-1) face off tonight (10:30pm ET, CBSSN) in one of the biggest non-power conference games in college football history.

From Yahoo Sports’ Dan Wetzel:

On Nov. 6, 2010, No. 3 TCU visited No. 5 Utah. This was back when both were members of the Mountain West Conference (they are now in the Big 12). It was a rarity, a top-five matchup between teams from outside the so-called power conferences.

TCU, led by QB Andy Dalton, won big that day, 47-7, but the headline of Sports Illustrated’s story the following week offered a stark reminder of how college football conducted its business: “Does It Matter?”

Well, every game matters in some way but at least in pursuit of a national title, it didn’t. TCU would finish undefeated but not get a bid to the BCS title game (Auburn beat Oregon, 22-19). TCU got to play (and win) the Rose Bowl as consolation.

14 years later, a real playoff, with 12 teams and a path of access to leagues such as the Mountain West, is here. It’s just in time for what may be the most consequential and anticipated non-power conference game in memory.

What’s at stake: The winner of tonight’s game will inch closer to winning a Mountain West championship, and ultimately earning the automatic College Football Playoff bid reserved for the best “Group of Five” team.

Adding to the intrigue… Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty is the current favorite to win the Heisman Trophy (+200 at BetMGM).

⚾️ Interview: MLB Network’s Mark DeRosa

The World Series begins tonight in Los Angeles. To preview the matchup, I spoke with former player and current MLB Network star Mark DeRosa, who will be covering the action.

Some highlights from our conversation…

MVP pick: “Over the course of 162, Juan Soto’s focus and discipline within the strike zone is unmatched, and it showed itself big time in the ALCS. The confidence with which he played — he was so in control and in command for every big at-bat — was impressive. I’m gonna say he heads into free agency in 2026 with the World Series MVP.”

The Dodgers bullpen: “One of the big storylines for me is, you kind of know what the Dodgers are gonna do. They’re limited starting pitching-wise due to all their injuries, so you’re gonna see a steady diet of a nasty Dodgers bullpen. Dave Roberts has to play it that way. If Jack Flaherty’s in trouble, he’s gotta come out. Same with Yamamoto in Game 2.”

The Yankees starters: “The Yankees starters have a big advantage on paper, and they have to be the story. Their bullpen, regardless of statistics, isn’t as talented as the Dodgers bullpen, and it can’t be a race to get there. Gerrit Cole’s gotta give them length tonight. Carlos Rodón, Clarke Schmidt, all these guys… their strength needs to be a massive strength for them.”

The X-Factor: “The Yankees have to play clean baseball. I think fundamentally, they’ve played undisciplined baseball for the majority of the season. They don’t run the bases great, they don’t do the little things great, but the stars kind of cover it up. I don’t think you can do that against the Dodgers. For example, you can’t send Gleyber Torres in the first inning tonight — like they did in Cleveland — and get him thrown out at home. That can’t happen in this series.”

The best infield in baseball… Here’s DeRosa on the infield at Dodger Stadium, which hosts Games 1 and 2 (and Games 6 and 7 if needed):

Every day in spring training, my heaven was when we’d go 20 minutes of ground balls. I ate that up. That was like heaven on Earth for me. And when you get a chance to get to the big leagues and move around all these different parks, they’re all beautiful. But you get out to Dodger Stadium and I swear to you…

The infield grass is like Augusta National. The dirt is perfectly watered. The lip, there is no lip. If you die and go to heaven and there’s a baseball infield, this is it. You don’t need a glove here. There are no bad hops. I never feared a ball being hit to me in a big spot in this place.

🇺🇸 Photos across America

Inglewood — The Rams upset the Vikings, 30-20, behind Matthew Stafford’s 4 TDs. Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua combined for 12 catches, 157 yards and a score in their return to action.

New York — The Liberty celebrated their first WNBA championship with a ticker tape parade down Manhattan’s Canyon of Heroes before continuing the celebration into the evening with a fan event at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Pittsburgh — No. 19 Pitt throttled Syracuse, 41-13, behind three pick-sixes and five interceptions. The Panthers are 7-0 for the first time since 1982 when a senior named Dan Marino was their starting QB.

Dallas — The reigning Western Conference champs looked dangerous in their season-opening win over the Spurs. Luka Dončić filled the stat sheet (28-10-8) and Klay Thompson set a franchise record for three-pointers in a debut (6).

🏀 Coming soon: Basketball AI chatbot

The news: Cerebro Sports, a leader in basketball analytics and performance metrics, is partnering with Google to launch a basketball AI chatbot that will deliver real-time insights to players, fans and decision-makers.

• Cerebro collects box score data for high school, college, NBA and overseas competitions and turns all of those numbers into actionable information.

• Their global database has over 1.3 million player profiles, 4,500 events and 10 million data points, making it a useful tool for scouts and coaches, in particular.

Where AI comes in: Cerebro’s mission is to democratize access to performance metrics, says president Ryan Girardot, and combining their large repository of statistics with Google’s AI capabilities allows them to do just that.

What they’re saying: “Basketball has always been a data-driven sport, but this AI chatbot takes it to a whole new level,” said Mark Cuban, an investor in Cerebro Sports, which has been used by all 30 NBA teams in some capacity. “This is going to be a game-changer.”

Coming soon: The Cerebro AI Basketball Chatbot will launch on November 15th.

📆 Oct. 25, 1986: Through Buckner’s legs

38 years ago today, the Red Sox lost Game 6 of the World Series to the Mets when a weak grounder to first got through Bill Buckner’s legs in one of the most infamous moments in MLB history.

The curse continues: Boston — which had been one out away from clinching their first title in 68 years a few batters earlier — went on to lose Game 7, and Buckner was roundly derided by Red Sox fans for his role in continuing the Curse of the Bambino.

‌Yes, but: Was this really Buckner’s fault? Sure, it’s easy to blame him considering his error on a routine ground ball led directly to the Mets’ Game 6 victory. But dig a little deeper and there are plenty more fingers to point.

• For starters, they still had Game 7. Win that one and Buckner’s gaffe becomes little more than a footnote. Plus, even if he makes the play at first, Game 6 goes to the 11th inning.

• Red Sox relievers didn’t exactly do their job, either. First, they gave up the game-tying run in the eighth after replacing Roger Clemens. Then, after taking a 5-3 lead in the 10th and needing just one more out, they allowed two runs on three straight singles and a wild pitch.

And why was he still in the game, anyway? The 37-year-old’s ankles were so bad he’d needed nine cortisone shots just to make it through the season, and in every one of Boston’s wins that postseason he’d been substituted for a defensive replacement in the late innings.

Justice for Bill: Most fans eventually forgave Buckner, who threw out the first pitch of the 2008 season at Fenway Park after the Sox won the 2007 World Series. He passed away five years ago, and I’ll choose to remember him as the guy who forgave Boston and had one heckuva career: He’s one of just 52 players in MLB history with 2,700 hits, 1,000 runs and 1,200 RBIs.

📺 Watchlist: The 120th World Series

The 120th World Series begins tonight in Los Angeles as the Dodgers and Yankees face off in the postseason for a record 12th time.

• Game 1: Jack Flaherty vs. Gerrit Cole (Fri. 8:08pm ET, Fox)

• Game 2: Yoshinobu Yamamoto vs. Carlos Rodón (Sat. 8:08pm, Fox)

More to watch:

• ⚽️ MLS Cup Playoffs: Miami vs. Atlanta (Fri. 8:30pm, Apple); LA Galaxy vs. Colorado (Sat. 11pm, Apple); Orlando vs. Charlotte (Sun. 7:30pm, FS1); LAFC vs. Vancouver (Sun. 9:45pm, FS1) … Round One, Game 1.

• 🏈 NFL Sunday: Eagles at Bengals (1pm, CBS); Falcons at Buccaneers (1pm, Fox); Bills at Seahawks (4:05pm, Fox); Bears at Commanders (4:25pm, CBS); Cowboys at 49ers (8:20pm, NBC) … Week 8.

• 🏈 CFB: No. 17 Boise State at UNLV (Fri. 10:30pm, CBSSN); No. 12 Notre Dame vs. No. 24 Navy (Sat. 12pm, ABC); No. 20 Illinois at No. 1 Oregon (Sat. 3:30pm, CBS); No. 8 LSU at No. 14 Texas A&M (Sat. 7:30pm, ABC) … Week 9.

• 🏀 NBA: Pacers at Knicks (Fri. 7:30pm, ESPN); Suns at Lakers (Fri. 10pm, ESPN); Clippers at Nuggets (Sat. 5pm, NBA); Magic at Grizzlies (Sat. 8pm, NBA); Kings at Lakers (Sat. 10:30pm, NBA)

• ⚽️ LaLiga: Real Madrid vs. Barcelona (Sat. 3pm, ESPN+) … The 258th El Clásico.

• ⚽️ NWSL: KC Current vs. NJ/NY Gotham FC (Fri. 8pm, CBSSN) … Final of the NWSL x LigaMX Femenil Summer Cup.

Plus… Arsenal vs. Liverpool (Sun. 12:30pm, Peacock); Inter vs. Juventus (Sun. 1pm, Paramount+); USWNT vs. Iceland (Sun. 5:30pm, TNT); F1’s Mexican Grand Prix (Sun. 4pm, ABC); NASCAR Playoffs in Miami (Sun. 2:30pm, NBC); PGA Tour’s Zozo Championship (Fri-Sat, Golf); UFC 308 (Sat. 2pm, ESPN+ PPV).

⚾️ World Series trivia

The Dodgers and Yankees are just the third pair of No. 1 seeds to face off in the World Series this century.

Question: Can you name the other two such matchups?

Hint: 2013 and 2020.

Answer at the bottom.

🏈 The NFL’s favorite snack

Orange slices are out, Uncrustables are in. NFL players collectively eat at least 80,000 of the pre-packaged PB&J treats each year, according to data collected by The Athletic ($).

The hungriest teams: The Broncos estimate they go through 700 Uncrustables each week, by far the most among the 24 teams who responded to the request for information, followed by the Seahawks (320), Jaguars (315) and Dolphins (300).

Trivia answer: Red Sox vs. Cardinals (2013) and Dodgers vs. Rays (2020)

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