🧹 Y! Sports AM: The empire strikes out

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🧹 Y! Sports AM: The empire strikes out

Fri, Oct 16, 2026 ·

11 min read

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🚨 Headlines

🏈 CFP expansion is near:The College Football Playoff is "nearing a deal" to double the size of the field to 24 teams and the agreement "is expected to come together in the near future," according to ESPN, which holds the broadcast rights to the current 12-team playoff.

⛳️ Rahm, LIV part ways:Jon Rahm has officially broken up with LIV Golf as the struggling tour prepares for "LIV 2.0." As part of the separation agreement, he has released all claims for future money owed, which could total $100 million.

🏈 Hurts ruled out:Eagles QB Jalen Hurts will miss Sunday's game against the Panthers due to a blood clot in his calf . Tanner McKee, who has played six games since being drafted in 2023, will now be tasked with righting the ship in Philly.

🏀 GMs love the Spurs:NBA general managers answered 48 questions about the upcoming season , and the consensus is: they love Victor Wembanyama (77% picked him to win MVP) and the Spurs (50% picked them to win the title).

🥍 Mustangs adds lax:SMU will launch a men's lacrosse team that will begin play in the ACC in 2028, the university announced Thursday. The Dallas-based school will become just the fourth men's Division I lacrosse program west of the Mississippi River, joining Denver, Air Force and Utah.

🧹 The empire strikes out

Not even a Shohei Ohtani resurgence was enough to save the Dodgers on Thursday night in Los Angeles, where the Brewers — bursting with confidence — completed an unthinkable NLCS sweep to clinch their first World Series berth since 1982.

The comeback crew:The Dodgers held the lead in every game of the series. That never fazed the Brewers, who are the first team in MLB history with six comeback wins in their first eight games of a postseason.

Game 1:Brewers 2, Dodgers 1
Game 2:Brewers 7, Dodgers 4
Game 3:Brewers 6, Dodgers 2
Game 4:Brewers 6, Dodgers 4

Jake Mintz, Yahoo Sports:

While the 2026 team is finished playing ball, don't expect the Dodgers, and all they mean, to exit the conversation. Beneath the specter of a looming labor fight, Los Angeles' gilded roster will remain in the spotlight even once autumn flips to winter.

But their being bested in this particular series has less to do with larger debates about the game's future or economics and more with the simple fact that a superior Brewers team kicked their doors in. On the field, this was not an underdog story or an upset. Sure, Los Angeles was richer. Milwaukee was better.

Looking ahead:No matter how the rest of the postseason unfolds, a long World Series drought will be ending this month. Either the Brewers or Rays win their maiden title, or the Guardians win their first since 1948.

📸 Through the lens

⚾️ Cleveland, Ohio

The Guardians beat the Rays , 3-2, to take a 2-1 lead in the ALCS behind another excellent start from Gavin Williams (5 IP, 9 K, 2 ER) and a go-ahead 2-run blast from rookie Petey Halpin, who unleashed a truly spectacular bat flip after admiring his work.

Strikeout merchant:Williams, who led the AL with 248 strikeouts this year, has fanned 33 of the 64 hitters he's faced this postseason and now has 44 Ks in his first five career playoff starts. The only pitchers with more? Hall of Famers Sandy Koufax (48) and Bob Gibson (47). Elite company!

🏈 Denver, Colorado

The Broncos just keep winning ugly. Despite another uninspiring offensive performance, Denver beat the defending champion Seahawks, 17-14 (OT) , in the third straight "Thursday Night Football" game to require overtime. The Broncos improve to 4-2, while Seattle falls to 3-3.

Shots fired:Ryan Fitzpatrick was highly critical of the winning QB during the postgame show. "Bo Nix is not playing competitively," he said . "It's almost disrespectful to the quarterback position how he's playing football."

🏒 Sunrise, Florida

Panthers newcomer Brady Tkachuk made history on Thursday, becoming the first NHL player with natural hat tricks in back-to-back games since Petri Skriko in 1986. And Florida needed every one of those three goals in a 3-2 (OT) win over Vancouver.

Natural hat trick?A natural hat trick is when a player scores three consecutive goals in a game, with no player on either team scoring in between.

🏈 College football's October surprise

After decades of unfettered spending, the rising cost of college football rosters might finally be slowing down the coaching churn — at least a little bit.

Dan Wolken, Yahoo Sports:

At this point in the college football season one year ago, Mike Gundy had been dismissed from Oklahoma State, James Franklin was working on his next job at Virginia Tech, Bobby Petrino had taken over as interim coach at Arkansas and UCLA was having a midseason renaissance after getting rid of DeShaun Foster.

But this fall, as we head into Week 7, the coaching carousel is oddly frozen in place. Nobody's been fired yet. Call it college football's October surprise.

If this year's coaching cycle were like those of recent vintage, you'd have expected jobs like Maryland, Rutgers, Florida State and maybe even South Carolina to be open by now. Instead, there has not been much urgency to make moves.

In conversations with sources who represent various sectors of college sports, a picture has emerged of an industry being forced to confront its new reality in a world of $40 and $50 million rosters. "It's a money thing," one agent told Yahoo Sports. "People who don't have any money to pay players are having to rethink what their ceiling is with their current spend."

Bottom line:College football has long operated on the principle that firing a coach is the cure-all. Buyouts, no matter how expensive, were treated like line items in a budget that could be recovered by a boost in ticket sales or donor excitement. It was, in a sense, the last vestige of a fixed market where schools didn't have to pay the players. This season, though, lessons are being learned on several different fronts.

Keep reading: College football's new reality: Schools can't fire their way out of trouble anymore

📸 Behind the Lens

Each week, Yahoo Sports AM goes "Behind the Lens" with Getty Images to share the stories behind the best photographs in sports.

This week's photo:Alex Ovechkin skates during warmups before the final home opener of his career.

Photographer:Patrick Smith
Location:Washington, D.C.
Date:Oct. 7

Behind the Lens:Take it away, Patrick…

Photographing Alex Ovechkin in his final home opener was bittersweet. Having been a photojournalist for the better part of two decades, I approach early regular-season games as just another day on the sidelines. However, it's always the players who excite me and change that outlook — and Ovechkin is one of those athletes.

With the announcement of his retirement after the season, this game carried a little more significance. I wanted to make sure we had plenty of imagery of him on the ice before the game even began.

Often, photographers can feel as though editors are watching every frame they shoot, which can lead to playing it safe. I feel the opposite. I want someone to see my photographs, pause, and want to know more — about the subject or the photograph itself. This image does just that.

Using my Canon mirrorless camera (1/2500, f/4, ISO 5000 at 7mm), I photographed Ovechkin with Canon's newer circular fisheye lens which delivers a 190-degree field of view. Paired with the small opening cut into the glass for photographers, it creates a true snow globe effect.

I've tried this before, but Ovechkin doesn't typically skate too close to my photo hole during warmups, so I was pleasantly surprised when he did, allowing me to capture a couple of frames as he went by.

I knew immediately it was a special moment, even if it was only during warmups. It's the type of photograph I hope makes viewers pause and appreciate everything he's done for the game and the organization.

📺 Weekend Watchlist

🏈 College Football Saturday

Six ranked matchups? Including two between Top 10 teams? Welcome to the best slate of the year so far : No. 4 Ohio State at No. 5 Indiana (12pm ET, Fox) ; No. 16 Mississippi State at No. 22 LSU (12pm, ESPN) ; No. 6 Alabama at No. 14 Tennessee (3:30pm, ABC) ; No. 13 Missouri at No. 9 Ole Miss (3:30pm, SEC) ; No. 2 Notre Dame at No. 8 BYU (7:30pm, ABC) ; No. 18 Oklahoma State at No. 20 Houston (7:30pm, Fox).

Heisman watch:Those Top-10 clashes feature two of the three Heisman favorites in Ohio State WR Jeremiah Smith (-220), who is the frontrunner by a mile, and Notre Dame QB CJ Carr (+1200), who barely trails Miami QB Darian Mensah (+1000).

Who ya got? Week 7 of our College Football Challenge has arrived. Don't forget to lock in your picks before kickoff.

🏀 WNBA Finals, Game 1

The best-of-seven series tips off tomorrow in San Francisco (3:30pm, NBC) , where the second-seeded Valkyries host the fourth-seeded Dream in a matchup of franchises seeking their first title.

Defense wins championships:The WNBA set a league-wide scoring record this season (87.1 ppg), yet the two finalists both make their hay defensively. Atlanta allowed the fourth-fewest points per game (84.5), while Golden State allowed the fewest (75.1), and they employ six of the 10 players who earned All-Defensive Team honors .

⚾️ ALCS

The Guardians (up 2-1) and Rays remain locked in a tight battle to determine who will face the Brewers in the World Series. Game 4 is tonight (6pm, TBS) and Game 5 is tomorrow (8pm, TBS) , both in Cleveland.

Shutting the door:Bryan Baker (TB) and Cade Smith (CLE) tied for the MLB lead with 41 saves this season, and have continued to shove in October. Baker is the first player in playoff history to allow 0 hits and earn the save in four straight appearances, while Smith, who earned the save on Thursday, has been a true postseason iron man .

🏈 NFL Sunday

Just two of Sunday's 12 games are between teams with .500 records, as the 3-2 Browns host the 4-1 Ravens (1pm, Fox) and the 3-2 Raiders host the 4-1 Bills (4:25pm, CBS) .

Best of the rest:The Texans and Jaguars play in the third and final London game of the season (9:30am, NFL) , the Falcons host the Bears (1pm, Fox) in what is expected to be Caleb Williams' return from injury and the Packers host the Cowboys on "Sunday Night Football" (8:20pm, NBC) .

More to watch:

🏀 NBA Preseason:Celtics at 76ers (Fri. 7pm, NBA) ; Nuggets at Lakers (Fri. 10:30pm, ESPN) … The regular season tips off on Tuesday.
⚽️ MLS:Philadelphia vs. Charlotte (Sat. 2:30pm, Apple) ; Minnesota vs. St. Louis (Sat. 4:30pm, Apple) … Philly (14 straight) and St. Louis (21 straight) seek to extend their historic unbeaten streaks.
⚽️ NWSL:Washington vs. Gotham (Sat. 12:30pm, CBS) … First-place Gotham vs. third-place Washington with three games left in the regular season.
🏒 NHL:Devils at Capitals (Sat. 1pm, NHL) ; Hurricanes at Jets (Sat. 3:30pm, ESPN+) … The defending champion Hurricanes (6-1-1) have won six straight.

Plus:🏁 NASCAR Chase in Phoenix (Sun. 3pm, USA) ; 🎾 ATP Shanghai Masters and WTA Wuhan Open (Fri-Sun, Tennis) ; ⚽️ Premier League, Matchday 7 (Sat-Sun, USA/Peacock) ; 👊 UFC Fight Night: Buckley vs. Malott (Sat. 8pm, Paramount+)

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

🔍 Guess the logo

20 NBA teams have some form of a basketball in their logo, but just three use a full, orange-colored version of the orb.

Question:Can you name the three teams whose logos feature the orange basketballs in the graphic above?

Hint:All three have played in the NBA Finals this decade.

Answer at the bottom.

🏀 Draft your squad!

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New way to play: High Score is our streamlined game format that features six weekly starters, with only their highest-scoring game each week counting toward your total. Spend less time managing your lineup and more time following the action.

Draft your squad:Opening Night is on Tuesday, so the clock is ticking! Tap in .

Logo reveal:A) Celtics, B) Knicks, C) Suns

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