Notre Dame surges past Georgia to reach CFP semifinals, sets date with Penn State; Previewing huge NFL Week 18

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Happy Friday, everyone! Hope you have fun plans for the first weekend of 2025. The Heat certainly do not as Jimmy Butler reportedly told the organization he’d like to be traded late Thursday, though Miami still doesn’t plan to acquiesce. Our NBA team will have more on this today, but for now, here are some potential landing spots.

OK, now let’s get right to it.

☘️ Good morning to all, but especially to …

THE NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH

A football game is 3,600 seconds long.

And Notre Dame only needed 54 of them to not just stun Georgia, but essentially put the Bulldogs away. The Fighting Irish are into the College Football Playoff semifinal after a 23-10 Sugar Bowl win, powered by an incredible surge on either side of halftime.

• Mitch Jeter nailed a 48-yard field goal with 43 seconds left in the first half.
• On the next play from scrimmage, RJ Oben strip-sacked Gunner Stockton, and Junior Tuihalamaka recovered. One play later, Riley Leonard threw a 13-yard touchdown to Beaux Collins. Notre Dame took a 13-3 lead into halftime.
• Jayden Harrison then returned the opening kickoff of the second half 98 yards for a touchdown. That’s 17 points in 54 seconds.

And that, basically, was that. The Fighting Irish defense was excellent, and Leonard provided 80 yards on the ground and 90 through the air. This is the script for Notre Dame to follow: a physical defense that flies around and enough offense to creep up towards 20 points. It’s not pretty, but two games away from a title, it has sure proved effective.

So now, the semifinals are set, and we have early Cotton Bowl (Ohio State vs. Texas) and Orange Bowl (Notre Dame vs. Penn State) previews as well as expert picks.

😁 Honorable mentions

🏈 And not such a good morning for …

THE GEORGIA BULLDOGS

Georgia simply didn’t have enough offensively, not just in this game but on the season. And when your margin for error is so thin, every mistake hurts so much. One Stockton turnover turned into Notre Dame’s only offensive touchdown. Georgia had two early opportunities for touchdowns, but Trevor Etienne had his first career fumble to end one drive, and inactive cornerback Parker Jones collided with a referee on the sideline — a personal foul — to disrupt another.

Next is an offseason full of questions for Kirby Smart‘s program, and John Talty provided the roadmap ahead. Moreover, with Georgia’s exit, just one SEC team remains, and Shehan Jeyarajah says the conference no longer runs college football.

• Jeyarajah: “The Big Ten has passed the SEC — Tennessee fans showed up big and traveled to Ohio Stadium, but they were treated to a 42-17 filleting at the hands of the Buckeyes. The score actually made it look closer than it was. … The best team in college football by far (Ohio State) plays in the Big Ten. The undefeated No. 1 team did too. Penn State has unquestionably played at a higher level than SEC runner-up Texas to this point. And by the way, we’re fresh off a national championship game that featured two Big Ten teams in the final (Michigan vs. Washington).”

Finally, whatever you do, don’t blame byes for quarterfinal results, Tom Fornelli writes.

Not so honorable mentions

🏈 NFL Week 18 picks, scenarios, previews

Welcome to the final week of the NFL regular season. Whether your favorite team’s season can’t end soon enough or its postseason journey can’t begin soon enough, there are huge implications across the weekend slate. Eleven of the 16 games have some sort of playoff implication, and the other five impact the hectic draft order standings.

Postseason-speaking, no game is more important than Vikings-Lions. Both teams are 14-2, and the winner will earn the NFC North title and the NFC No. 1 seed, while the loser falls all the way to the No. 5 seed as a wild-card team. It’ll be the first time a 14-win team plays in the wild card round, and they’ll have to hit the road to do it!

So who gets the win, the No. 1 seed, the bye and home-field advantage? Jordan Dajani’s picks are in, and he’s rolling with …

• Dajani: “Ben Johnson‘s offense looks incredible, but this Lions defense is worth worrying about. Detroit allowed 7.4 yards per play in December. That’s the most yards per play any team has allowed in the month of December in the Super Bowl era. The Lions ranked last or second-to-last in points per game (32.5), yards allowed per game (428.5) and passing yards allowed per game (321) last month. The pick: Vikings +3 | Projected score: Vikings 40-33“

In the AFC, the Broncos can lock up a playoff berth with a win over the Chiefs‘ backups, but don’t just dismiss Kansas City, John Breech says. If Denver loses, the Dolphins get in with a win over the Jets. If Denver and Miami lose, the Bengals get in with a win over the Steelers. If all three lose, the Broncos back into the playoffs in uninspiring fashion, but they’d certainly take it.

Here are all of our expert picks:

Pete Prisco | Will Brinson | John Breech | Tyler Sullivan | Jordan Dajani

🏀 What rest of the 2020s will look like in NBA

We’re officially into the second half of the 2020s, and we have a ton to look forward to across the sports world, both in the short and long terms.

The NBA is chock full of young talent, meaning exciting times ahead. If only we had a crystal ball that could tell us how it will all play out. Sam Quinn tried his best, predicting NBA champions, MVPs, blockbuster trades and expansion for the back half of the decade.

Let’s start with the here and now. Who’s winning it all this year? We’ve had six champions in the last six years, and Sam says that trend is going to continue.

• Quinn: “The 2025 NBA champions will be the Cleveland Cavaliers. — Boston is certainly a viable pick, but I’m leaning toward the recent history of champions wearing down during their title defenses. That leaves the Cavaliers and Thunder as the two obvious favorites. I’m leaning Cleveland very slightly right now. Donovan Mitchell has a bit more playoff experience than Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Oklahoma City’s health scares me a bit more. The Thunder are probably too patient for a big deadline upgrade. … I’ve written about my faith in the Cavaliers in more depth here.”

The NBA’s trade drama often supersedes on-court drama, and Sam accounted for that with best players to be traded between now and 2030. Next year, Sam says, watch out for a big one. Really big. Multi-time MVP big.

⚾ MLB free agent predictions, plus what rest of the 2020s will look like

MLB’s hot stove has been reduced to a simmer, but things are certain to heat up in the new year. R.J. Anderson predicted landing spots for the remaining top free agents, with Alex Bregman — this offseason’s No. 3 free agent according to R.J.’s rankings — the best available.

• Anderson: “He’s been linked to several clubs throughout the winter, including the Yankees, Tigers and Red Sox. … I predicted that Bregman would sign a six-year pact worth $162 million back in November; he’s reportedly since declined a six-year offer from the Astros worth $156 million that suggests he’s aiming even higher. I’m more confident in Boston’s willingness to spend than Detroit’s, and that’s a reasonable determiner if you ask me. Prediction: Red Sox“

You know who should be all over these predictions? The Orioles and Mariners. Both teams should be contenders willing to spend, but Matt Snyder wonders if either even realizes the offseason is underway. It’d be nice to see them do something.

We also have longer-term predictions, including best player, best team and biggest changes to the sport of the next half-decade.

📺 What we’re watching this weekend

Friday

⚽ Supercoppa Italiana semifinal: Juventus vs. AC Milan, 2 p.m. on CBS Sports Golazo Network/Paramount+
🏈 SERVPRO First Responder Bowl: North Texas vs. Texas State, 4 p.m. on ESPN
🏈 Duke’s Mayo Bowl: Minnesota vs. Virginia Tech, 7:30 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 Knicks at Thunder, 8 p.m. on NBA TV
🏀 No. 18 Michigan State at Ohio State (M), 8 p.m. on Fox
🏀 Creighton at No. 8 Marquette (M), 9 p.m. on FS1
🏀 Hawks at Lakers, 10:30 p.m. on NBA TV

Saturday

🏈 Bahamas Bowl presented by Atlantis Resorts: Buffalo vs. Liberty, 11 a.m. on ESPN2
🏀 No. 6 Florida at No. 10 Kentucky (M), 11 a.m. on ESPN
🏀 Georgia at No. 24 Ole Miss (M), noon on SEC Network
🏀 North Carolina at Notre Dame (M), noon on CBS/Paramount+
🏀 No. 1 UCLA at Indiana (W), noon on Fox
🏒 Rangers at Capitals, 1 p.m. on ABC
🏀 No. 23 Arkansas at No. 1 Tennessee (M), 1 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 No. 25 Baylor at No. 3 Iowa State (M), 2 p.m. on CBS
🏀 No. 2 Duke at SMU (M), 2:15 p.m. on The CW Network
🏀 Missouri at No. 2 Auburn (M), 4 p.m. on SEC Network
🏀 San Diego State at Boise State (M), 4 p.m. on CBS
🏈 Browns at Ravens, 4:30 p.m. on ABC/ESPN
🏀 No. 12 Oklahoma at No. 4 Alabama (M), 6 p.m. on SEC Network
🏈 Bengals at Steelers, 8 p.m. on ABC/ESPN
🏀 Texas at No. 13 Texas A&M (M), 8 p.m. on SEC Network
🏀 Knicks at Bulls, 8 p.m. on NBA TV
🏀 Hawks at Clippers, 10:30 p.m. on NBA TV

Sunday

🏈 Panthers at Falcons, 1 p.m. on CBS
🏈 Commanders at Cowboys, 1 p.m. on Fox
🏈 Saints at Buccaneers, 1 p.m. on Fox
🏀 No. 3 Notre Dame at No. 17 North Carolina (W), 1 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 No. 2 South Carolina at Mississippi State (W), 2 p.m. on SEC Network
🏀 No. 9 Oklahoma at No. 15 Tennessee (W), 3 p.m. on ESPN
🏒 Rangers at Blackhawks, 3 p.m. on ABC
🏈 Chiefs at Broncos, 4:25 p.m. on CBS
🏈 Dolphins at Jets, 4:25 p.m. on Fox
🏀 No. 6 Maryland at No. 23 Iowa (W), 6 p.m. on BTN
🏈 Vikings at Lions, 8:20 p.m. on NBC