🏈 Y! Sports AM: Chaos meets controversy

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🏈 Y! Sports AM: Chaos meets controversy

Mon, Oct 19, 2026 ·

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🏈 Chaos meets controversy

Saturday's historic college football chaos arrived just as the sport moves closer to a 24-team playoff , providing ammunition for both sides of the expansion debate.

ICYMI:Five of the AP's top seven teams lost on the same day for the first time ever, with No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 5 Indiana, No. 6 Alabama and No. 7 Texas all going down. The rankings were shaken up so thoroughly that not a single team retained its position in Sunday's new AP poll .

The timing:This came just two days after news broke of a reported "handshake agreement" between the College Football Playoff and ESPN to televise a new 24-team playoff beginning next season. The madness on the field immediately became Exhibit A for both sides of the expansion debate, with two competing arguments echoing across TV broadcasts and social media feeds all weekend:

Anti-expansion:Saturday's upsets were seismic precisely because every loss carries enormous consequences, even in October. Under a 24-team format, most of those defeated heavyweights would barely suffer a scratch and season-defining losses would be more like a speed bumps. Why devalue the best regular season in sports?
Pro-expansion:Look at all that parity! We need more playoff teams, not fewer. Saturday proved how many programs are capable of beating the nation's best, and a bigger field would give more of them a shot at a national championship. Why let a bad performance in October decide who gets to compete for a title when we could settle it on the field?

What they're saying:Polling has shown that the vast majority of college football fans oppose a 24-team playoff. But regardless of where you stand, I thought Tim Tebow did a good job summing up what expansion will fundamentally change:

"Before, it was about how consistent could you be throughout the season. Now it's about can you just get in and get hot at the right time. So it takes away the consistency. Before, you had to focus every week and you had to show up and you had to bring your best. Now, you can have weeks where you don't have to show up. And I think it changes … what college football is about."

Bottom line:Saturday was either the best advertisement imaginable for a 24-team playoff or the strongest argument against one. It all depends on what you think college football should value most: The magic of its regular season, or the possibilities of its postseason.

Good read: What was the most damaging loss from the chaotic college football weekend?

📸 Through the lens

⚾️ Cleveland, Ohio

The Rays have regained control of the ALCS, winning Game 4 (7-3) and Game 5 (3-1) over the weekend to take a 3-2 series lead and move within one victory of their third Fall Classic appearance (2008, 2020).

Ace delivers:Tampa Bay's bats got the job done on Saturday, but it was Drew Rasmussen's arm (7 IP, 6 K, 1 ER) that paced the AL East champions on Sunday. The former Brewer is now 11-0 with a 1.73 ERA across his last 15 starts.

🏀 San Francisco, California

The Valkyries' vaunted defense took care of business on Saturday at "Balhalla," where Golden State beat Atlanta , 68-64, to take a 1-0 lead in the WNBA Finals. Gabby Williams continued her dominant form with a game-high 26 points, including eight in the final three minutes to turn a narrow deficit into a narrow victory.

From 10-0 to 0-10:The Dream entered the day riding a 10-game winning streak… and left having lost 10 straight Finals games. They're still searching for their first win on the sport's biggest stage after being swept in 2010, 2011 and 2013.

🏀 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

LeBron James made his 76ers home debut in Friday's preseason finale, putting up 8 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists in an overtime loss to the Celtics. Next up: The new-look Sixers travel to New York for tomorrow's season-opener against the reigning champion Knicks.

Preseason takeaways:On the eve of Opening Night, it's a great time to absorb the basketball we saw during the preseason. What are teams trying to establish? What do they need to work on? And how much should you believe in your squad? Here's what we learned .

⚽️ Atlanta, Georgia

Stop me if you've heard this one before: Lionel Messi just set a new MLS record. This time, he became the first player in league history with at least 15 assists in three straight seasons after setting up Miami's first goal in Saturday's 3-1 win over Atlanta.

But wait, there's more:Messi then scored twice in a four-minute span, giving him 25 goals this season, five more than anyone else. With 40 goal contributions for second-place Miami, he's a virtual lock to win his third straight MVP.

🏈 NFL Sunday: Rams reeling, Bolts broken

The Rams entered the season as one of the biggest Super Bowl favorites in recent memory. Six weeks in, they don't even look like a playoff team. The latest low point: an 18-16 loss to the Cardinals as 12.5-point favorites, dropping them to last place in the NFC West at 2-4.

"We won't win a game unless we figure out how not to beat ourselves. There's nothing positive I can say about today," head coach Sean McVay told reporters postgame. "A good, humbling day. This is the challenge in sports."

Across town, it's even worse:The Chargers fell to 0-6* with a 22-6 loss to the Chiefs , leaving Los Angeles' two NFL teams with a combined 2-10 record. The Bolts didn't generate as much preseason hype as their SoFi Stadium** co-tenants, but they were widely viewed as being among the top contenders. Instead, they might be the worst team in the league.

More from Sunday:

Packers 23, Cowboys 13 …Once upon a time, this was a storied rivalry. Not so much anymore. The Packers are 11-1-1 against the Cowboys since 2009 and haven't lost to "America's Team" in over a decade (Oct. 16, 2016).
Bills 33, Raiders 30 …For the fourth time this season, Buffalo's defense allowed 30+ points. And for the fourth time, Josh Allen and the offense bailed them out and they won.
Texans 34, Jaguars 31 …The third and final London game ended on a walk-off field goal . Next up on the NFL's international slate: Steelers vs. Saints this Sunday in Paris.
Browns 13, Ravens 10 …Cleveland (4-2) sits atop the AFC North after beating the Lamar Jackson-less Ravens, but Baltimore (4-2), Pittsburgh (4-2) and Cincinnati (3-2) are lurking.
Steelers 26, Buccaneers 19 (OT) …After trailing 16-3 entering the fourth quarter, Pittsburgh roared back late to win back-to-back games for the first time this season.
Patriots 26, Jets 19 …Feel familiar? It should. This was New England's 41st victory over Gang Green since 2000, the most wins by any team vs. any opponent in that span.
Saints 34, Giants 27 …J.J. McCarthy nearly engineered an epic comeback after replacing Jameis Winston in the fourth quarter (243 passing yards in 11 minutes!). Is it his job now?
Bears 31, Falcons 23 …Caleb Williams returned with a flourish after missing the last three weeks with a hamstring injury, completing 30 of 36 passes for 305 yards and a touchdown.
Titans 26, Colts 20 …Tennessee scored 26 second-half points to earn its first victory and snap an 11-game losing streak to AFC South opponents dating back almost two years.
Panthers 25, Eagles 14 …The Eagles looked like a potential dynasty 20 months ago. Less than two calendar years later, it's worth asking if they need to start a rebuild .

* Full circle: The Chargers' starting QB the last time they began a season 0-6 (in 2000)? Jim Harbaugh, their current head coach.

** Make yourselves at home: The Cardinals (2-0) have more wins at SoFi Stadium this season than the Rams (1-2) and Chargers (0-3) combined.

⚾️ Milwaukee's "Timeless" promotion

Eleven years ago, 1,000 Brewers fans paid $1,000 apiece for a ticket to any future home game. Now, with Milwaukee headed to the World Series for the first time in more than four decades, the lucky fans who held onto theirs can finally cash in.

Timeless Ticket:The Brewers launched the unusual promotion in 2015, selling 1,000 " Timeless Tickets " for $1,000 each. The personalized, 1-pound brass tickets ( Willy Wonka would be proud! ) could be redeemed for any future home game, "whether it's this season, the year 2050, or the 7th game of the World Series."

Fans who hadn't already redeemed their ticket were required to submit a form to secure their World Series seat. Ticket redemption "is subject to availability," according to the Brewers, who have been " working diligently on all inquiries ."
Fans who submitted requests are expected to learn today which game they'll attend and where they'll be sitting. Milwaukee hosts Games 1 and 2 on Friday and Saturday, plus Games 6 and 7, if necessary, the following weekend.

Quite the value:The cheapest available ticket for Game 1 is currently $2,681 ( via Gametime ), and plenty of nosebleed seats are going for more than $3,500. Timeless Ticket holders, meanwhile, not only get their own much cheaper ticket but also the right to purchase three additional tickets at face value, subject to availability.

Then vs. now:When the Brewers launched this promotion in 2015, it was a fun way to drum up some sales and attention for a team that rarely contended into October. Fast forward a decade, and that isn't exactly an issue anymore, as they've now reached the postseason twice as many times in the last nine seasons (8) as they did in their previous 49 (4).

📺 Watchlist: Monday, Oct. 19

⚾️ ALCS, Game 6

Who will face the Brewers in the World Series? We could get our answer tonight in St. Petersburg (8pm ET, TBS) , where the Rays (up 3-2) will try to finish off the Guardians.

Pitching matchup:Freddy Peralta (0.79 ERA in 11.1 IP this postseason) gets the ball for the home team, while the Guardians will deploy a bullpen game with ace Gavin Williams "not an option" after he went five innings on Thursday.

🏀 WNBA Finals, Game 2

The Valkyries host the Dream again this evening (8pm, USA) as they look to take a commanding 2-0 lead before the best-of-seven series shifts to Atlanta.

Grit and grind:Don't expect an offensive shootout. These two defensive-minded teams combined to shoot just 32% (46-142) from the floor in Game 1, the second-worst FG percentage in Finals history.

🏈 Commanders at 49ers

San Francisco brings its 5-0 record and NFL-best +61 scoring differential into a home matchup against Washington (8:15pm, ESPN/ABC) , which will look to rebound from last week's clock mismanagement that resulted in a tie.

Wrong kind of history:Unless the Commanders win tonight, the NFC East will become the first division since the merger (1986) to go winless in back-to-back weeks despite every team playing both weeks.

Got plans tonight? Gametime is the best place to score last-minute tickets to the events in your city. Get tickets now!

🏈 College football trivia

With Indiana's 22-game winning streak and Notre Dame's 16-game run both ending Saturday, which FBS team now owns the nation's longest active streak at 12 games?

Hint:Big 12.

Answer at the bottom.

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Trivia answer:Utah

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