Good Morning! Here’s what happened in the world of sports on Thursday, January 9th.

A quick correction from yesterday- Learner Tien is the first American male SINCE 2012 to make the Australian Open main draw, not the first ever. Sorry for the confusion

THE ORANGE BOWL

Notre Dame won a thrilling Orange Bowl 27-24 over Penn State. Here’s what went down in the first College Football Playoff semifinal:

• This game started slow, with Penn State leading 10-3 going into halftime. As expected, both defenses were dominant. The Nittany Lions had control of the line of scrimmage and were much more physical in the early goings.

• Fighting Irish QB Riley Leonard led his team on a touchdown drive to begin the second half, but the fourth quarter is when the offenses started clicking. Jeremiyah Love broke a million tackles for a touchdown, but after an interception by Leonard, Penn State’s Nicholas Singleton answered with two TDs of his own. The Nittany Lions led 24-17 with five minutes remaining.

• But that was the last time they scored. Leonard hit Jaden Greathouse in stride, and Greathouse broke out a nasty ankle-breaker on what became a 54-yard touchdown pass-and-run. Neither team could get into field goal range for a game-winner, and it looked like we’d get overtime… until Penn State turned the ball over. Drew Allar had a miserable game, completing just 12 of 23 passes for 135 yards. His crucial interception gave Notre Dame the ball with 30 seconds. 15 yards later, Mitch Jeter connected on the game-winning 41-yard field goal. Notre Dame advanced to the championship, and Penn State was sent home.

BASKETBALL

One big mix of hoop highlights today:

• Darius Garland scored 40 points and the Cleveland Cavaliers won their 12th game in a row. They beat the Toronto Raptors 132-126

• Want to see Anthony Edwards do a really cool dunk? You won’t be disappointed. Ant-Man and the Timberwolves beat the Magic 204-89.

• In the women’s game, (19) North Carolina took down (14) Duke in double overtime. The Tar Heels made 10 free throws in the extra frame. Elsewhere in the ACC, (24) Cal beat (21) NC State 78-71.

• Continuing with women’s hoops, (5) Texas absolutely crushed (18) Alabama. Madison Booker scored 21 points and the Longhorns won 84-40.

• Finally, undefeated (6) LSU was tied at 87 against (16) Tennessee with just seconds remaining. Kailyn Gilbert, the floor is yours:

NHL

The criteria to be included today is scoring six goals… apologies to the Pittsburgh Penguins, who fell one goal short:

• The St. Louis Blues got serious, taking down the Anaheim Ducks 6-2. You know what it means when St. Louis scores six…

• Columbus buried six pucks in the net in their 6-2 win over the Seattle Kraken.

• Carolina got in on the fun with six tallies, beating the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-3.

• And I’m running out of ways to say a team scored six goals, so here’s the last score: Colorado Avalanche 6, Minnesota Wild 1.

NOTEWORTHY NEWS

Two days after they fired their head coach, the Las Vegas Raiders have parted ways with general manager Tom Telesco. Let the rumors fly about new owner Tom Brady recruiting his old pal Bill Belichick…

After originally declaring for the NFL Draft, Georgia quarterback Carson Beck has changed course. Beck has entered his name in the transfer portal, and will play college ball for one more season.

Baltimore wideout Zay Flowers has been ruled out for tomorrow’s playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Pro Bowler injured his knee last weekend, and will be tough for the Ravens to replace.

The NFL has announced that Monday night’s playoff game between the Minnesota Vikings and Los Angeles Rams will be played in Arizona, as a result of the ongoing fires in LA.

THE PREDICTION CORNER

Welcome to The Remix Prediction Corner! With not a lot going on today, my CFP pick looking good last night, and two huge tournaments about to start, I thought we’d have some fun. In this section, I will rank the most likely winners for the Super Bowl and the Australian Open. This will work the same as Power Rankings: the highly-scientific formula used by the Remix will remain a secret, and you are free to bookmark this page for the future when everything comes true. Here we go!

NFL PLAYOFFS: SUPER BOWL TIERS

JUST HAPPY TO BE HERE: 14. Washington Commanders | 13. Denver Broncos | 12. Los Angeles Chargers | 11. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

HAD HIGH HOPES: 10. Pittsburgh Steelers | 9. Houston Texans | 8. Green Bay Packers

COULD GO ON A RUN: 7. Los Angeles Rams | 6. Minnesota Vikings

THIS COULD BE THEIR YEAR: 5. Philadelphia Eagles | 4. Baltimore Ravens | 3. Buffalo Bills

And MY SUPER BOWL MATCHUP… you know who I’m picking to win, don’t make me say it: Detroit Lions vs Kansas City Chiefs

AUSTRALIAN OPEN: MOST LIKELY CHAMPIONS

MEN:

5. Novak Djokovic– if he’s going to win another one, this may be his best chance

4. Daniil Medvedev– always in the running

3. Carlos Alcaraz– a tough draw with Djokovic in the quarters, but you never want to pick against Carlitos

2. Alexander Zverev- we say it ever few months now, but this may be the year he finally wins a Slam

1. Jannik Sinner– the defending champ and number one player in the world, for good reason

Dark Horse: Alex de Minaur- could the speedy Australian win his home Slam? He’s got a decent draw…

WOMEN:

5. Coco Gauff– a brutal draw for the top-ranked American, or she may have ranked higher on this list

4. Mirra Andreeva– showed signs of breaking through last year. It may not be this one, but she’s going to win a Slam very soon

3. Karolina Muchova– finally healthy, we saw what Muchova could do at last year’s US Open. Naturally, she’s in the same section of the bracket as Coco

2. Iga Swiatek– has never made the final in Australia, but it feels silly to leave her off the list

1. Aryna Sabalenka– that’s right, I’m picking both of the defending champs. She’s just too good

Dark Horse: Elina Svitolina– a solid draw for the veteran. Svitolina usually plays the top players close, and consistently goes deep at big tournaments

TODAY’S BIG GAMES (all times Eastern)

COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS: THE COTTON BOWL

Ohio State vs Texas, 7:30 PM on ESPN

SATURDAY’S BIG GAMES

COLLEGE BASKETBALL:

• (5) Alabama @ (10) Texas A&M, 8 PM on ESPN

• (6) Kentucky, @ (14) Mississippi State, 8:30 PM on SEC Network

NFL:

• Chargers @ Texans, 4:30 PM on CBS

  • Remix pick: LA

• Steelers @ Ravens, 8 PM on Amazon Prime

  • Remix pick: Baltimore

SUNDAY’S BIG GAMES:

WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL: (5) Texas @ (2) South Carolina, 1 PM on ESPN

NFL:

• Broncos @ Bills, 1 PM on CBS

  • Remix pick: Buffalo

• Packers @ Eagles, 4:30 PM on Fox

  • Remix pick: Philly

• Commanders @ Buccaneers, 8 PM on NBC

  • Remix pick: no clue!

Enjoy your weekend! See you back on Monday