Good Morning! Here’s what happened in the world of sports on Monday, December 23.

NFL

Monday Night Football gave us the first shutout of the NFL season, as the Green Bay Packers steamrolled the New Orleans Saints 34-0. Instead of taking you through the countless Saints turnovers and various Packer touchdowns, let’s do a quick check-in on the NFL playoff race.

Listed below are each of the teams that could still make the playoffs this year. With two weeks remaining, there’s still plenty to be sorted out: x= clinched a playoff spot; z= clinched division

NFC

The Vikings, Packers, and Lions are all in the NFC North division, which is why only the latter is currently in a top spot– the first four seeds are reserved for division winners. The Falcons and Buccaneers are tied atop the NFC South

AFC

The Ravens and Steelers are tied atop the AFC North

NHL

Lots of fun action last night ahead of a brief four-day break:

• Happy Holloways from the Blues! St. Louis forward Dylan Holloway had a hat trick in a 4-0 victory over the Detroit Red Wings.

• Mark Scheifele notched a hat trick and an assist for the league-leading Winnipeg Jets, who beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-2.

• Finally, we have the last-place Buffalo Sabres, who took on the New York Islanders last night… and scored seven goals! Buffalo had lost 13 games in a row before yesterday’s surprising victory.

NBA

So many great games on Monday- and they say the “real” NBA season starts tomorrow:

• The Detroit Pistons went into LA and swept the season series against the Lakers, taking down LeBron James and company 117-114. LeBron had a triple-double for the home team, but missed a tough three-pointer at the buzzer that would have forced overtime.

• Our star of the night is none other than Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the silky Oklahoma City guard who continues to assert himself as one of the best players in the league. SGA scored 41 in OKC’s 123-105 win last night against the last-place Washington Wizards.

• Last but not least, we had a bit of craziness in Philadelphia. First, 76ers big man Andre Drummond was ejected and then un-ejected after the refs reviewed an accidental tripping call. Then, Joel Embiid was actually ejected after losing his cool when this offensive foul was called. After all of that, Philly went on to beat San Antonio 111-106, thanks to some clutch plays down the stretch by Tyrese Maxey. Of course, we can’t mention the Spurs without acknowledging another amazing accomplishment of Victor Wembanyama– the Frenchman is the youngest player since Shaq to record 20 points and four blocks in four consecutive games. Wemby has 118 points and 29 blocks during this impressive stretch.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Coastal Carolina started a third-string quarterback in the Myrtle Beach Bowl yesterday, and it showed. The Chanticleers lost 44-15 against the UTSA Roadrunners.

Northern Illinois beat Notre Dame this season, and they capped off their impressive year with a win at the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. Down 13-3 in the second half, the Huskies came back to beat Fresno State 28-20 in double overtime.

NOTEWORTHY NEWS

World Series hero Walker Buehler has signed a one-year deal with the Boston Red Sox. A savvy signing for Boston, who now boast the top-end talent and rotation depth necessary of a top contender. Elsewhere in Major League Baseball, the Texas Rangers agreed to a deal with slugging outfielder Joc Pederson.

Houston Texans wideout Tank Dell will be out for the season after suffering an awful knee injury against Kansas City last Saturday. Wishing all the best to him during his recovery. While Dell will be sorely missed by the Texans offense, Houston has picked up Diontae Johnson on the waiver wire. Johnson, who was traded to Baltimore earlier this year, was let go by the Ravens after a strange few weeks where he did not play for the team. Naturally, the Texans play the Ravens tomorrow.

Georgia will be without starting quarterback Carson Beck for the remainder of the playoffs, after Beck had elbow surgery on Monday. Sophomore Gunnar Stockton will make his first career start next week in the Sugar Bowl.

Mark this under stories where we are just starting to understand the eventual consequences… The NCAA has granted a waiver for 2025-26 to athletes who attended a junior college and would have previously been out of eligibility. This follows a court ruling in favor of Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia, who had successfully sued and been granted the additional year. What does this mean for junior college athletes going forward? Nobody really knows. Even with the temporary waiver, the NCAA is still appealing the ruling.

TODAY’S BIG GAMES (all times Eastern)

HAWAI’I BOWL: South Florida vs San Jose State, 8 PM on ESPN

CHRISTMAS DAY GAMES

NBA:

• Spurs @ Knicks, Noon on ABC

• Timberwolves @ Mavericks, 2:30 PM on ABC

• 76ers @ Celtics, 5 PM on ABC

• Lakers @ Warriors, 8 PM on ABC

• Nuggets @ Suns, 10:30 PM on ABC

NFL:

• Chiefs @ Steelers, 1 PM on Netflix

• Ravens @ Texans, 4:30 PM on Netflix

DECEMBER 26TH BIG GAMES

GAMEABOVE SPORTS BOWL: Pittsburgh vs Toledo, 2 PM on ESPN

RATE BOWL: Rutgers vs Kansas State, 5:30 PM on ESPN

68 VENTURES BOWL: Arkansas State vs Bowling Green, 9 PM on ESPN

Happy holidays! The Remix will return on Friday, December 27th