Yahoo Sports AM: The Super League that could radically alter college sports

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🚨 Headlines

🏈 Jets fire Saleh: The Jets fired head coach Robert Saleh, replacing him with defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich in the interim. Saleh’s 20-36 record in New York wasn’t great, but this mess wasn’t all his fault.

⚽️ Chicago hires Berhalter: The Chicago Fire hired former USMNT manager Gregg Berhalter as their head coach and director of football. This is Berhalter’s second MLS head coaching gig, having previously coached the Columbus Crew from 2013-18.

🏈 Maye gets starting nod: The Patriots will start rookie QB Drake Maye on Sunday against the Texans, demoting veteran Jacoby Brissett in favor of this year’s No. 3 overall pick after the team’s punchless 1-4 start.

🏀 JuJu’s huge deal: Nike reportedly signed USC superstar JuJu Watkins to an extension that includes “one of the richest shoe endorsement deals in women’s basketball.” Watkins, a sophomore at USC, scored 27.6 ppg last year, second only to Caitlin Clark.

⚾️ RIP, “El Tiante”: Beloved Cuban pitcher Luis Tiant, who won 229 games across a 19-year career mostly with the Red Sox and Indians, died on Tuesday. He was 83.

🎓 The Super League that could save college sports

As SEC and Big Ten leaders prepare to meet Wednesday and Thursday in Nashville for a historic summit of the industry’s two powers, there is an unreported undercurrent driving the discussion: Project Rudy.

A college football “Super League”: A group of investors and ex-Disney executives from the investment firm Smash Capital have met with athletic directors at 30 power schools with a pitch: a $9 billion infusion as part of a 70-school football league.

• This Super League — referred to as Project Rudy in a nod to the famous Notre Dame walk-on, Rudy Ruettiger — would preserve the Power Four, expand the postseason, overhaul scheduling and create a tiered system of revenue distribution.

• The plan is built on two somewhat simple concepts: Arrange more games between power conference programs by eliminating all games against Group of Five and FCS opponents, and consolidate the media rights of the 70 schools under one agreement.

• “The claim is everybody will be saved,” one power conference AD told Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger.

Here’s Ross on Project Rudy:

College sports resides at a vulnerable place as court rulings and public perception shift against its traditional amateurism model. At the heart of the matter is the intensifying pressure to fairly share revenue with high-level football players from the riches of the NCAA’s most profitable football programs — which, for decades, used their profits to subsidize all other sports, pay coaches millions and construct gaudy facilities.

Sensing a vulnerability within the sport and fearing for its future, outside entities are mobilizing in an attempt to deliver capital to cash-craving schools while creating more professionalized models to replace the current crumbling structure from a bygone era.

As major college athletics bursts (reluctantly) from its amateurism façade, Project Rudy lurches over the gathering of Big Ten and SEC leaders.

This new multi-billion-dollar idea is poised to escalate the budding partnership between the two leagues, accelerating what some believe are inevitable changes in both revenue generation and distribution. At the center of the debate are two men: SEC commissioner Greg Sankey and Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti.

“The Smash Capital idea is brilliant,” says one high-level SEC school administrator, “but you’ve got to convince those two guys.”

Keep reading.

🇺🇸 Photos across America

Minneapolis — The Lynx will face the Liberty in the WNBA Finals after dominating the Sun, 88-77, behind another huge game from Napheesa Collier (27 pts, 11 reb, 4 ast, 4 blk) — the first player in WNBA history with 25+ points and 10+ rebounds in three straight playoff games.

San Diego — The Padres beat the Dodgers, 6-5, to take a 2-1 series lead at a raucous Petco Park in a game that saw all 11 runs scored in the first three innings. Fernando Tatis Jr, who homered again, is absolutely scorching in this series: 6-12 with 3 homers, 2 doubles and 5 RBIs.

New York — The Mets crushed the Phillies, 7-2, to take a 2-1 series lead behind a brilliant start from Sean Manaea (7 IP, 6 K, 3 H, 1 R) and another home run from Pete Alonso — his third in his last four games.

Seattle — Kraken assistant coach Jessica Campbell made history in Seattle’s season-opener* on Tuesday, becoming the first woman ever to serve as a full-time coach on an NHL bench.

*NHL scoreboard: The Blues beat the Kraken, 3-2; the Panthers began their title defense with a 6-4 win over the Bruins; the Utah Hockey Club beat the Blackhawks, 5-2, in their inaugural game.

⚾️ Aaron Judge’s postseason struggles

Aaron Judge is almost certainly going to win his second MVP award this season, but the Yankees could be in trouble if they don’t get that version of him in the batter’s box soon.

Strikeout machine: Judge is 1-for-7 with four strikeouts this postseason, giving him 70 strikeouts in 46 career playoff games for a 33.8% strikeout rate — the second-worst in MLB history among players with at least 200 postseason plate appearances.

• He used to be able to get away with all those strikeouts because he did so much damage in his other at-bats, with a .910 OPS in 27 playoff games from 2017-19.

• But he’s been downright bad in his last 19 playoff games dating back to 2020, with an abysmal .143 AVG, .559 OPS and nearly three times as many strikeouts (29) as hits (11).

And tonight’s matchup could be more of the same: Judge is 0-8 lifetime against Seth Lugo, tonight’s starter for the Royals. That includes 0-3 with two strikeouts this season.

Fresh pod: Can Judge handle the pressure of the postseason?

📆 Oct. 9, 1915: Woodrow at the World Series

109 years ago today, Woodrow Wilson became the first sitting president to attend a World Series game, watching the Red Sox beat the Phillies in Game 2 at Philadelphia’s Baker Bowl.

Presidents at the World Series: Wilson wasn’t just the first of nine sitting presidents to attend the Fall Classic, he was also the first of seven to throw out the first pitch(*) there.

• Wilson* (1915)

• Calvin Coolidge* (1924)

• Herbert Hoover* (1929–31)

• Franklin Roosevelt* (1933, 1936)

• Dwight Eisenhower* (1956)

• Jimmy Carter* (1979)

• Ronald Reagan (1983)

• George W. Bush* (2001)

• Donald Trump (2019)

Speaking of presidential first pitches… Every U.S. president since William Howard Taft in 1910 has thrown out the first pitch at an MLB game (World Series or otherwise) either during or after their presidency except Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Both did so before becoming president, though (Trump in 2006, Biden in 2009).

📺 Watchlist: Let’s play four

Today is bittersweet for baseball fans: It’s the last day of the season that will feature more than two games, with all eight remaining teams taking the field in the Division Series.

• ALDS Game 3s: Guardians (1-1) at Tigers* (3:08pm ET, TBS/Max); Yankees (1-1) at Royals* (7:08pm, TBS/Max)

• NLDS Game 4s: Phillies (down 2-1) at Mets (5:08pm, FS1); Dodgers (down 2-1) at Padres (9:08pm, FS1) … The Phillies and Dodgers need a win to keep their seasons alive.

More to watch:

• 🏒 NHL: Rangers at Penguins (7:30pm, TNT/Max); Avalanche at Golden Knights (10pm, TNT/Max)

• ⚽️ Women’s Champions League: Matchday 1 (12:45-3pm, YouTube/DAZN)

• 🏈 NCAAF: New Mexico State at Jacksonville State (7:30pm, ESPN2)

• 🏀 NBA Preseason: Rockets at Thunder (8pm, NBA); Warriors at Kings (10:30pm, ESPN)

*Welcome back: This is the Tigers’ first home playoff game since 2014 and the Royals’ first since 2015. Those crowds are going to be *electric*.

⚾️ World Series trivia

The five teams above are the only ones who’ve never won a World Series, but can you name the four who’ve won exactly once?

Hint: They all won this century.

Answer at the bottom.

🎾 Outburst of the day

Frances Tiafoe did not appreciate being called for a time violation on a serve late in his loss to unseeded Roman Safiullin on Tuesday at the Shanghai Masters.

He posted an apology on Instagram later in the day, and will likely face a hefty fine for his outburst.

Trivia answer: Rangers (2023), Nationals (2019), Angels (2002), Diamondbacks (2001)

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