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Good morning! Get a timely hit today. Inside:
Data: A numbers-based distraction
The worlds of the WNBA and college sports have never been more engulfed by off-court/field stories. Just look at yesterday’s Pulse to see what courts, temporary restraining orders and NIL have wrought on college sports, fair or not. And in the WNBA, this season has simply seen a parade of forced negativity that would make most leagues crumble.
The solution, which we’ve mentioned in this space plenty of times, is to focus on the actual competition. I’ve got two tools for us to do that today, fresh off the presses. Let’s start with football:
This week, The Athletic published its 2026 College Football Playoff projection bracket, which will be used all season, odds updating as the games happen. There are odds for making the Playoff, winning a conference (if applicable), hosting a Playoff game, getting a first-round bye and winning the whole thing.
- Our teams most likely to make the Playoff as Week 0 arrives: Notre Dame (76 percent), Texas Tech (72 percent), Miami (71 percent) and Ohio State (also 71). See all the data here.
We also have brackets from three of our experts, which you can see here.
On the hardwood, we have a similar tool to project the WNBA playoffs … which are just around the corner. We know the playoff teams, but we don’t know the playoff matchups. Here’s a view of the projections right now:
You can fiddle around with the whole model here. And while we’re at it, read Ian O’Connor’s column on why the WNBA is going to skyrocket when it outlasts the ongoing culture wars. Let’s hope.
Let’s keep going:
Heartwarming? A guy who really needed this walk-off
The Braves gave the Dodgers a brutal loss last night via a Ha-Seong Kim walk-off single. A fun result, but nothing out of the ordinary, right?
Not exactly. First, look at the reaction:
There may be no player in baseball who needed a win more than Kim, who signed a one-year, $20 million deal in Atlanta this offseason and has missed significant time because of injuries. His stat line in 32 games this season, even with last night’s heroics: .078 average with a .252 OPS.
It’s his only hit since June, which is just astounding. Read our story from the game.
News to Know
Julio Aguilar / Getty Images
RIP, Pro Bowl
The NFL Pro Bowl is no more, The Athletic’s Jonathan Jones reported yesterday, ending a 75-year run for football’s all-star game. The NFL becomes the first major sports league to scrap its all-star competition in an era where these games have become challenging to draw interest. Instead, players will simply earn Pro Bowl honors with no game involved.
Mike Silver has an ode to what used to be an incredibly fun event. It’s worth a read today.
More news:
- In a follow-up to yesterday’s news, SEC officials approved stiff penalties for any coaches and/or programs who violate the new rules around transfers. Yes, LSU sat out the vote.
- Related: Any NFL players who return to college will be ineligible for future NFL Drafts.
- The U.S. Open confirmed Venus and Serena Williams will earn a wild-card entry into the doubles bracket. Also, Stan Wawrinka is indeed getting his own wild-card spot for his last Open after some backlash.
- DeWanna Bonner, in her pursuit of a WNBA title, signed with the Dream. More here.
- Meanwhile, Unrivaled announced a new round of funding that puts the league’s valuation at $650 million.
- Jeanie Buss petitioned a court to block a move by her family to sell the Buss stake in the Lakers, calling her siblings “devious.”
- Blake Griffin’s next career stop: late-night TV.
- Time to worry about the Commanders? Judging by yesterday’s practice, it might be.
📰 Find more news here 24/7.
Feedback Loop: The Pulse votes for punishment
The saga of LIV Golf continued its sad arc yesterday, as the organization notified most of its employees of an impending mass layoff. It’s been a rough few weeks.
Your opinion of LIV’s current/former golfers isn’t great, either. We asked yesterday if there should be any route for said players to rejoin the PGA Tour (which doesn’t appear open to the concept). The results:
That’s a plurality for some type of ban. We suggested a minimum of a year, and judging by some of your emails, many of you hope for longer. A solid percentage of you wanted to reopen the route Brooks Koepka took, in which he accepted certain conditions and steep financial penalties to return. Per current intel, that route isn’t open.
Thank you, as always, for voting. And while I have you, I want your opinion on one more thing.
ESPN confirmed to multiple outlets yesterday that it will get rid of the bottom-line ticker during its college football broadcasts, which hit me harder than expected. Is this:
- A travesty. Bring it back ASAP.
- Reality. I check scores on my phone anyway.
We’ll run those results tomorrow, too. Onward:
Watch Guide
📺 NFL: Rams “at” Chargers
10 p.m. ET on NFL Network
We have a four-game slate of preseason action tonight, but this is the game with the most on the line (translated through a preseason lens), as the Rams’ backup quarterback job hasn’t been decided yet. That may sound like small potatoes, but the “away” Los Angeles team here — read: these teams share a stadium — is the Super Bowl favorite with a 38-year-old quarterback. The backup might be important!
📺 MLB: Dodgers at Braves
7:15 p.m. ET on FS1
We’re back in Atlanta for a third straight night because a) it’s an elite pitching matchup (Yoshinobu Yamamoto versus Chris Sale) and b) it’s the best widely televised game.
📺 WNBA: Valkyries at Liberty
8 p.m. ET on Prime Video
This one is certain to have an impact on the playoff picture we mentioned above. Find a seat.
Pulse Picks
Sure, we’re focused on college football for the moment. But where will those college football players will go in the NFL Draft? Dane Brugler has a gift for us: his top 50 players, ranked.
To be clear, the Cowboys still revolve around owner Jerry Jones. But his son, Stephen Jones, could chart a different path.
Ten years ago, Colin Kaepernick quietly took a knee. Now, as Jerry Brewer writes in a great column, everyone just performs.
Are MLB teams really losing money? Evan Drellich answers all things labor in his mailbag.
The Diamondbacks put up with Ketel Marte’s antics for a very simple reason, as Ken Rosenthal wrote.
Need some fantasy football draft help? “The Athletic Football Show” has a live draft tonight at 7 p.m. ET. Watch on our site or on YouTube.
Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: The further details of 49ers owner Jed York’s arrest. Yikes.
Most-read on the website yesterday: The Pro Bowl news.
