Good Morning! Today is Monday, December 9. Here’s what happened over the weekend in the world of sports.

JUAN SOTO

Free agent outfielder Juan Soto has agreed to a 15-year, $765 million contract with the New York Mets. It’s the largest contract in the history of professional sports, with an average annual value of $51 million. I’m still processing this whole thing, and don’t really know what to say about all of it. You can read more here– ESPN’s Jeff Passan does a nice job explaining all the angles of this historic decision.

Elsewhere in baseball free agency:

• The San Francisco Giants handed out the largest contract in their franchise history, agreeing to a seven-year, $182 million deal with shortstop Willy Adames.

• A pair of outfielders on the move– Tyler O’Neill has agreed to a deal with the Baltimore Orioles, while the Los Angeles Dodgers signed Michael Conforto.

• And on the pitching side, starter Shane Bieber has resigned with the Cleveland Guardians, reliever Blake Treinen has resigned with the Dodgers, and the Mets stole yet another player from the Yankees, signing reliever Clay Holmes with the intention of stretching him out into a starter.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Ashton Jeanty and Cam Skattebo ran all over their opponents, Georgia escaped Texas in overtime with a backup QB, and Oregon remained undefeated against Penn State. But the best game of conference championship weekend– and the one with the greatest impact on the playoffs– was in the ACC. Down 24-7 at halftime, SMU rallied all the way back to tie Clemson at 31 with just 16 seconds left. But a 41-yard kickoff return and quick pass set up Tiger kicker Nolan Hauser from 56 yards… and he drilled it. 

Somehow, someway, the Clemson Tigers snuck into the 12-team playoff as a conference champion. And after much hand-wringing from everyone outside the SEC , the playoff committee did not drop SMU from the top 12– they’ll stay in the field despite the upset. It was a thrilling weekend of college football, which bodes well for the weeks to come…

Now that the regular season is over, we turn towards the playoffs. Bowl games have been announced, and they’ll kick off next Saturday. And of course, here’s what the 12-team bracket looks like. Initial thoughts? Tough draw for the one-seed Oregon, who have to face Tennessee or Ohio State at the Rose Bowl:

NFL

There were some fun football games yesterday, but we’re going to focus on just four of them. These are the results that had the greatest impact on the playoff race:

• With their overtime loss to the Dolphins, the New York Jets hae officially been eliminated from the playoffs. Their 14-year playoff drought is the longest in the four major American sports leagues.

• After leaving this offseason, Falcons QB Kirk Cousins made his return to Minnesota. It did not go too well for him. Cousins had two interceptions and no touchdowns in a 42-21 loss to the Vikings. On the other side, Sam Darnold threw for 347 yards, connecting with Justin Jefferson for two TDs and Jordan Addison for three. Minnesota is now 11-2 on the year, while Atlanta drops to 6-7. With the Tampa Bay Buccaneers victorious over Vegas, the Falcons are now one game back in the NFC South.

• The Seattle Seahawks crushed the Arizona Cardinals, leading for practically the entire game in Phoenix before winning 30-18. It was a big win for Seattle, who now lead the NFC West by one game over the…

• …Los Angeles Rams. LA played the game of the day yesterday, battling Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills for four wildly entertaining quarters. The teams combined for 902 yards of offense without a turnover or a sack– the only defensive play of note was a blocked punt-touchdown by LA. That play proved key, as it allowed Matthew Stafford and the Rams to secure a crucial 44-42 victory. There were so many standout plays and players in this one, but the star of this game was Allen. The Bills QB became the first player in NFL history to both pass and run for three touchdowns in the same game. Despite the loss, it was a Herculean performance by the MVP-frontrunner.

• And in the nightcap, Kansas City clinched their 9th straight AFC West title with– stop me if you’ve heard this one before– a field goal as time expired. For the millionth time this season, the Chiefs struggled to put away their opponent before escaping at the end with a one-score win. The Los Angeles Chargers were on the wrong end of the 19-17 score:

NBA

Three basketball highlights from this past weekend:

• Nikola Jokic scored 56 points on Saturday against the worst team in the league... and yet the Nuggets lost to the Wizards 122-113. That mind-boggling result aside, Jokic dropped 48 more last night and Denver beat Atlanta 141-111.

• Congratulations to Chris Paul! The Wake Forest legend moved into second-place all-time in the NBA for assists, passing Jason Kidd with 12,092. In addition to the milestone, Paul and the San Antonio Spurs 121-116.

• Lastly, Ja Morant pulled off an absolutely ridiculous dunk against the Celtics. Memphis won this game, probably because this play should count for more than two points:

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

With so much going on this weekend, I’m just going to list some notable scores here without much extra analysis. Sorry college basketball, it’s almost your time of the year to shine:

• Mizzou upset (1) Kansas 76-67! That’s two losses this week for the number one team in the country

• (4) Kentucky eked out a 90-89 victory over (7) Gonzaga

• (5) Marquette pulled away from (11) Wisconsin, winning 88-74

• Arkansas State stunned (16) Memphis 85-72!

• UCLA handed (12) Oregon their first loss of the year on this awesome last-second shot:

SOCCER

Congratulations to the LA Galaxy, winners of the MLS Cup! The Galaxy beat the NY Red Bulls 2-1 in the final game on Saturday.

NOTEWORTHY NEWS

Don’t think we forgot about hockey! The big news on the ice this weekend came from New York. After a prolonged negotiation, the Rangers finally found a trade partner for Jacob Trouba. Trouba was captain of the team, but the writing was on the wall for a while that the defenseman and his expensive contract would be looking for a new home. Now, Trouba is a member of the Anaheim Ducks. New York worked quickly to use their newly-cleared cap space, signing superstar goalie Igor Shesterkin to an eight-year, $92 million contract extension. It’s the largest contract for a goalie in NHL history.

Dave Parker and Dick Allen have been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Both players were elected by the Classic Era committee, which meets every few years to consider players who made their primary contributions to the game before 1980. Parker is best known for his time as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates, where he won the NL MVP in 1978 and the World Series in 1979. Allen, who passed away in 2020, was a feared slugger for multiple teams throughout his career. He won the Rookie of the Year with the Phillies in 1964 and the AL MVP in 1972 as a member of the White Sox.

Two college football coaches have new homes– Scott Frost is returning to UCF, while Barry Odom is leaving UNLV to turnaround the program at Purdue. The season just ended, and already the coaching carousel has begun to spin.

TODAY’S BIG GAMES (all times Eastern)

NFL: Bengals @ Cowboys, 8:15 PM on ABC

…or if you want to watch the game a different way, check out the Simpsons cast on Disney+! Homer’s Dallas Cowboys are taking on Bart’s Bengals in a fully-animated simulcast taking place at the stadium of the Springfield Atoms. Unless you’ve got a lot on the line with the fantasy playoffs (couldn’t be me! Thanks a lot Josh Allen!) this might be a fun way to add entertainment value to this meeting of teams who disappointed in 2024.

“Josh Allen is an alien” –Rams head coach Sean McVay