🏆 Y! Sports AM: The year of the longshot

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🏆 Y! Sports AM: The year of the longshot

Mon, November 2, 2026 at 1:29 PM UTC ·

10 min read

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🚨 Headlines

🏈 FSU fires Norvell:Florida State fired Mike Norvell on Sunday amid a 3-5 start. The school will owe $51 million in buyout money to their departing head football coach, who went 41-39 during his mostly disappointing tenure in Tallahassee.

⚾️ Gold Glove winners:MVP favorite Pete Crow-Armstrong and World Series champions Jackson Chourio and Brice Turang headlined this year's 20 Gold Glove winners , which included nine first-time winners and an MLB-best three each from the Red Sox and Diamondbacks.

🏀 Irish sweep in Italy:Notre Dame beat Villanova twice in Sunday's season-opening doubleheader in Rome, with the men coming back for a narrow 74-72 victory and the women cruising to a 99-75 win behind 32 points from preseason All-American Hannah Hidalgo.

🏒 Kuch's trade request:The latest NHL star to request a trade is reigning MVP Nikita Kucherov, who informed the Lightning he will not re-sign with the team when he becomes a free agent after this season. The Russian has been with Tampa Bay since debuting in 2013, winning two MVPs and two Stanley Cups.

⚽️ NWSL Decision Day:Gotham FC secured its first Shield (best record) with a 2-0 victory on the last day of the regular season , while the Seattle Reign clinched the eighth and final playoff spot with a 1-0 win.

🏆 The year of the longshot

The Golden State Valkyries won the 2026 WNBA title on Saturday in just their second year of existence, continuing a recent trend of unlikely champions across North American sports.

The grand finale:The Valkyries beat the Atlanta Dream, 68-63 , in Game 7 behind a stellar performance from Gabby Williams. The Finals MVP set the tone with her defense and scored 28 second-half points to help Golden State become the first WNBA champion without a single All-WNBA selection (from that season) on the roster.

"All it took was good people. That's it. All we heard last year: 'We don't have no stars, we don't have no talent,' yeah, right. We got winners. We got people who are ready to put their bodies on the floor to win the game. They don't care about scoring, they just want to play defense and rebound and do whatever it takes. We've just built a beautiful culture here."

— Gabby Williams, WNBA Finals MVP

The year of the longshot:The Valkyries ( 33-1 ) are the fourth champion crowned this calendar year that had 30-to-1 or longer preseason title odds, joining the Brewers (30-1), Seahawks (60-1) and Indiana Hoosiers in college football (100-1). No other year since 2002 (the earliest complete year in SportsOddsHistory's data for the Big Four + CFB/MBB) had anywhere near as many longshot champions.

More heartbreak for Atlanta…The Dream fell to 0-4 in WNBA Finals, tied for the most appearances without a championship. That continues another familiar theme this fall, as the Rays (0-3) also set the record for most World Series appearances without a title.

🏈 NFL Sunday scoreboard

Lions 19, Vikings 15: In football news: The last undefeated team has fallen. In more important news: Detroit linebacker Jack Campbell remains hospitalized after being stretchered off with a scary injury.

Bengals 43, Titans 36 (OT): That's a Scorigami! 43-36 is the 1098th unique final score in NFL history, and the third of the 2026 season.

Buccaneers 16, Falcons 0: Last week, the Bucs had 62 passing yards and won. This week, they had zero passing yards and won again. Alrighty then!

Cardinals 33, Cowboys 30 (OT): Dallas had never lost at home (202-0-1) when leading by 14+ points in the fourth quarter… until Sunday. Backup QB Gardner Minshew came off the bench and simply took over.

Steelers 27, Browns 6: Cleveland lost its 23rd straight regular-season game in Pittsburgh, tying an NFL record for most consecutive road losses vs. a single team.

Raiders 38, Jets 33: The only positive news for Jets fans amid another disappointing start? If the season ended today, they'd own the 4th (via Colts), 5th (own) and 10th (via Cowboys) picks in the 2027 NFL Draft.

Bills 36, Ravens 10: Lamar Jackson (thumb) was injured on his first play back and needs surgery. Backup Tyler Huntley (toe) also exited the game and could miss extended time. Brutal news for Baltimore.

Jaguars 42, Colts 7: How's this for efficiency: Trevor Lawrence (10/14, 210 yards, 3 TD) became the first QB with 3 TDs on fewer than 15 pass attempts since 2015.

Patriots 24, Dolphins 19: Through seven games last year, Miami was 1-6 with a -65 point differential. This year? 1-6 with a -64 point differential. Progress!

Broncos 28, Chiefs 24: Denver erased an 11-point fourth quarter deficit to take over first place in the AFC West and win its 15th straight regular season game that was decided by one score.

Rams 24, Chargers 9: The Bolts are the third team in the past 30 seasons to start 0-7 after making the playoffs, joining the 1997 Colts (year before drafting Peyton Manning) and 2011 Colts (Manning injured).

Commanders 27, Eagles 10: Washington scored 27 unanswered points on "Sunday Night Football" to hand the reeling Eagles their sixth straight loss, Philly's longest losing streak since 2012.

💯 Big Numbers

🏎️ 20 years, 68 days

Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli finished third at Sunday's Mexico City Grand Prix to clinch the 2026 Formula 1 title , making him the series' youngest world champion… by more than three years. "I'm still trying to realize what just happened," said Antonelli, who also became the first Italian to win the title since Alberto Ascari in 1953.

🏀 37.7 ppg

Lakers superstar Luka Dončić ( 45 points on Sunday ) is averaging 37.7 points per game, the fifth-highest scoring average ever through the first six games of a season… and the most since Michael Jordan in 1986. And let's not forget: He's also racking up 8.2 rebounds (22nd in NBA) and 7.3 assists (9th) per contest.

👟 2:06:01

Sweden's Andreas Almgren used a superhuman 4:30 final mile to win the New York City Marathon (in his marathon debut!) with a time of 2:06:01. Kenya's Sheila Chepkirui won the women's race (2:24:36), finishing six seconds ahead of American Jess McClain (2:24:42).

🏈 The AP poll's last day in the sun

Ohio State tumbled out of the Top 10 in the new AP poll after Saturday's stunning 30-18 loss to USC , which marked the third straight week that the AP No. 2 team lost (Notre Dame two weeks ago, BYU last week).

Miami stayed at No. 1 after a narrow three-point win over North Carolina* that included two onside kick recoveries by UNC nullified because of penalties.
Georgia moved up to No. 2 after a dominant win over Florida , while Utah jumped three spots to No. 3 after blowing out Cincinnati on the road.

Elsewhere:Notre Dame moved up to No. 4 after beating Navy , while UCLA moved into the top five for the first time since 2001 … Indiana dropped two spots to No. 6 after escaping Minnesota in OT … USC is back in the poll at No. 18, while Iowa rejoined at No. 20 after shutting out Wisconsin … No. 22 New Mexico is ranked for the first time ever.

Goodbye AP, Hello CFP:The first College Football Playoff rankings will be unveiled tomorrow night , and the committee's picks will drive the weekly conversation for the remainder of the season as the AP poll — the source of truth for the past two months — mostly fades into the background.

Is it Saturday yet?No. 1 Miami visits No. 4 Notre Dame as part of this weekend's loaded slate, which also includes No. 2 Georgia at No. 12 Ole Miss, No. 3 Utah at No. 7 BYU, No. 8 Kentucky vs. No. 16 Tennessee, No. 9 Alabama at No. 15 LSU, No. 10 Texas at No. 23 Missouri and more . Yeah, I'm not leaving my couch…

*A first for Bill: Miami's 38-35 victory over North Carolina marked the first time in Bill Belichick's head coaching career that his team scored at least 35 points and lost. His teams had been 103-0 entering the day.

📺 Watchlist: Monday, Nov. 2

🏈 Bears at Seahawks

The defending champion Seahawks (4-3) host the Bears (5-2) tonight at Lumen Field (8:15pm ET, ABC/ESPN) in a battle of NFC contenders.

New additions:Three-time All-Pro defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons (acquired from the Titans) will make his Bears debut, while six-time All Pro guard Quenton Nelson (acquired from the Colts) will debut for Seattle. "I can't get away from this guy," joked Nelson , who's been facing off against Simmons for years in the AFC South.

🏀 Men's College Basketball

The season tips off in earnest today with wall-to-wall action , and no game is more tantalizing than the Sunshine State clash between top-ranked Florida and No. 14 Miami (6pm, ESPN2) at Tampa's Benchmark International Arena, home of the Lightning.

Best of the rest:Army at No. 2 Duke (6:30pm, ESPNU) ; No. 18 Iowa State vs. Memphis in Sioux Falls (7pm, FS1) ; No. 15 Gonzaga vs. Purdue in Vegas (7:30pm, TNT) ; No. 5 Arizona vs. No. 22 UCLA in Vegas (10pm, TNT) ; No. 25 BYU vs. Ohio State in Salt Lake City (9pm, FS1).

🏀 Women's College Basketball

South Carolina — the preseason No. 1 for the fifth time in seven seasons — takes on No. 20 Maryland (12pm, ESPN2) in the first leg of today's all-ranked doubleheader in Paris, followed by No. 12 North Carolina vs. No. 21 Oklahoma (2:30pm, ESPN2) .

Meanwhile, in Las Vegas:Preseason All-American JuJu Watkins returns to the court for the first time since tearing her ACL in March 2025, as her third-ranked Trojans take on UNLV (4pm, CBSSN) .

More to watch:

🏀 NBA:Thunder at Cavaliers (7pm, Peacock) … OKC (4-2) looks to rebound after back-to-back losses, but a win won't come easy in Cleveland (4-2).
🏒 NHL:Golden Knights at Bruins (7pm, NHL) … Boston ranks fourth in the league with 21 points, while Vegas is tied for sixth with 19.

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

🏀 Rank 'em

Question:Can you rank the preseason title favorites listed above by number of national championships won?

Hint:One team has never won.

Answer at the bottom.

📸 Photo finish

Nobody takes the subway anymore?

Trivia answer:UConn (6 titles), Duke (5), Florida (3), Michigan State (2), Arizona (1), Illinois (0)

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