Good Morning! Today is Monday, August 26. Here’s what happened over the weekend in the world of sports.

NCAA FOOTBALL

What a start to the college football season! Number 10 Florida State went all the way to Dublin, just to be upset by unranked Georgia Tech 24-21. Here’s what you need to know from the week zero ACC battle:

• After missing a 51-yard field goal to end the first half, Georgia Tech kicker Aidan Birr nailed the game-winner from 44 yards as time expired.

• If you remember from Friday’s ACC rankings, I said to keep an eye on GT’s quarterback Haynes King this season… King threw for 146 yards and ran for 54 in the victory. A good start for the sophomore.

• The playoff race is far from over for Florida State, although the margin for error going forward has dropped significantly. Transfer QB DJ Uiagalelei was fairly uninspiring in his first start for the Seminoles, too. After an offseason of high expectations, there are suddenly a lot of questions down in Tallahassee.

MLB

Baseball is a team sport, but the story of last weekend in the Major Leagues was dominated by sparkling individual performances:

• The leading story is once again Shohei Ohtani, as the Dodger superstar became the sixth player ever with 40 home runs and 40 steals in a season. Check out top plays (below) to see how he accomplished the feat in extraordinary fashion. The crazy thing is that the season is still going– there’s a good shot Shohei becomes the first ever 50-50 player!

• On the east coast, Aaron Judge is on a quest for history of his own. The New York slugger hit his 50th and 51st home runs this weekend. Could he break his own American League record of 62? Meanwhile, the Yankees are thriving around Judge– his 51st homer was part of a back-to-back-to-back with Juan Soto and Giancarlo Stanton.

• Tigers starter Tarik Skubal became the first pitcher in the league to reach 15 wins on the season. Skubal also leads the big leagues in ERA and strikeouts. The Cy Young is on its way to Detroit.

• Speaking of awards, the NL rookie of the year might be Jackson Merrill. The San Diego centerfielder hit another walk-off home run and continues to be a difference maker for the surging Padres.

• Finally, a shoutout to three very cool home runs. Cubs centerfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong showed off the wheels on his inside-the-park homer on Friday. Meanwhile, the Toronto Blue Jays hit back-to-back solo shots in the ninth inning to tie and win the game against the Angels.

GOLF

Keegan Bradley won the BMW championship by one stroke over Sam Burns, Ludwig Aberg, and Adam Scott. Bradley shot even par on Sunday, doing just enough to hold off the challengers. The win vaulted the veteran up to fourth place in the FedEx playoff rankings ahead of next week’s Tour Championship.

It wasn’t a good weekend of golf for everyone in Colorado– take a look at Rory McIlroy on the tee during round three:

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LITTLE LEAGUE WORLD SERIES

Florida beat Taiwan 2-1 in extra innings to win the Little League World Series. The final play was a walk-off error on a sacrifice bunt… instead of showing you that, take a look at the game-tying hit in the bottom of the 6th, when the home team was down to their final out.

SOCCER

German soccer legend Marco Reus made his debut in the MLS for the LA Galaxy over the weekend. He promptly registered an assist and a goal. It’s looking very likely that Reus will face Messi, Luis Suarez, and Inter Miami in the MLS finals later this fall.

NOTEWORTHY NEWS

After an emotional season three finale, Ted Lasso is back for season four. And to think, it all started with a silly commercial for NBC. I guess that’s the power of Believe and having the memory of a goldfish.

Remember Mondo Duplantis, star of the Olympics? Well, the Swedish pole vaulter has done it again, breaking his own world record for the tenth time. I wonder if he’s ever going to reach a vaulted ceiling?

POWER RANKINGS

Welcome to day two of The Remix college football preview. In case you missed it, click here to view day one’s preview of the ACC.

Today’s rankings are a doozy… there are so many good teams in the Big 10:

TIER FIVE: Anything Can Happen

Probably destined for the bottom of the conference, but the beauty of college football is anything can happen. Road games and rivalries and upsets, oh my!

18. Northwestern | 17. Indiana | 16. Purdue

Northwestern has a new, temporary stadium on Lake Michigan this year, so that’s pretty cool. Really, it’s no fault of these three teams that they are ranked here at the bottom. Respected programs, just hard to find wins when you look at the schedule.

TIER FOUR: Goal is a Bowl

A six-win season is nothing to hang your head about. Even in the new landscape of expanded playoffs, a bowl game is an accomplishment.

15. UCLA | 14. Michigan State | 13. Minnesota | 12. Illinois | 11. Maryland | 10. Rutgers

I know this tier is titled “goal is a bowl” but I wouldn’t be shocked if five of these six schools make it to the six-win mark. Really not much else to add– not the most inspiring bunch, just solid teams that will win most of their games at home.

TIER THREE: If Everything Goes Right…

Due to a tough schedule or questions at key positions, the path to a conference championship is very narrow. Still, this is a tier of teams to keep an eye on…

9. Nebraska | 8. Wisconsin | 7. Iowa

Nebraska has a really exciting freshman quarterback, Dylan Raiola… Wisconsin plays five teams ranked in the pre-season top 25, including Alabama… Iowa usually struggles to score points, so the Hawkeyes brought in a new QB and offensive coordinator. For each team, these storylines could develop beautifully and create a dream season. A disaster scenario is just as likely.

TIER TWO: Dark Horse

There is one team in each conference I am highlighting as a Dark Horse. Under the radar for whatever reason, I like this squad to surprise some people.

6. Washington

The Huskies are a very different team than the one who lost in last year’s championship game. They have a new QB, head coach, star WR, and play in a new conference! All that being said, I wouldn’t dismiss this new-look Washington team so easily. The championship DNA remains, and the schedule starts off pretty friendly. If Washington figures things out early, another run to the playoff is very possible.

TIER ONE: CFB Playoff Contenders

The favorites to win the conference and make the College Football Playoff

5. USC | 4. Michigan | 3. Penn State | 2. Ohio State | 1. Oregon

I warned you the Big 10 was good this year– all five of these schools are capable of beating anyone in the country. Michigan are the defending national champs, USC boasts one of the strongest offenses in the country every year, and absolutely no one wants to play an away game at Penn State. Then you have Ohio State and Oregon, two of the favorites to win a national title. Personally, Oregon is my pick to win it all, with transfer QB Dillon Gabriel my frontrunner for the Heisman. I know I have given very little real analysis in this section, but trust me, plenty of time will be devoted to these schools once the playoff race amps up. All five are in this for the long haul.

TOP PLAYS OF THE DAY

10: Yves Bissouma, what a strike! The Tottenham midfielder scores a banger from just outside the box.

9: Game-winning touchdown with just over a minute left? Congratulations SMU, you got yourself a win and a top play.

8: How about a web gem from the Little League World Series? I don’t think any 12-year old has ever been this smooth.

7: Red Sox shortstop Ceddanne Rafaela adds another highlight to his exceptional rookie season… check out this diving grab.

6: Jazz Chisholm doesn’t even play third base, and he still made this stop up the line!

5: San Diego Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove makes a play I’m not sure I’ve ever seen before!

4: These two goals were so similar, I couldn’t separate them. First, Cole Palmer volleys one home for Chelsea. But is it better than this ridiculous goal from the Oxford City forward?

3: Gael Monfils is 37, and he’s still coming up with ridiculous shots like this one. 

2: We’ve got a lot of diving infielders on this list… Luis Guillorme beats out all of them. Look at the second baseman fly!

As promised, NUMBER ONE is the best player in the world making history. You can’t write a script cooler than this:

Honorable mention: This Oakland A’s fan caught three foul balls in the same game!

TODAY’S BIG GAMES (all times Eastern)

MLB: Blue Jays @ Red Sox: 0-0, top of the 2nd inning, resumes at 2:05 PM

• History will be made today at Fenway Park, as Boston catcher Danny Jansen becomes the first player in MLB history to play for both teams in the same game. Back on June 26th, Jansen was a member of the Blue Jays. He was at the plate with an 0-1 count when the game was called due to rain. Fast-forward a month, and Red Sox manager Alex Cora has confirmed that Jansen will be the Boston catcher when the game resumes. On the scorecard, Jansen will be the catcher for his own at-bat… how crazy is baseball?

WNBA: Fever @ Dream, 7:30 PM on NBA TV

• Caitlin Clark and the Fever look to rebound from a loss over the weekend.

TENNIS: US Open, round one begins at 11 AM on ESPN/ESPN+

The last Grand Slam of the year takes place in New York. Keep an eye on young Americans McCartney Kessler and Amanda Anisimova today–I’m putting their opponents on upset alert, as the Americans take on the 14 and seven seeds, respectively. Coco Gauff and Novak Djokovic are among the other top names in action.

“The risk of a wrong decision is preferable to the terror of indecision” –Maimonides

Enjoy your Monday!