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Published

3 years ago

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9:33 PM ET

The final weekend of the college football season is here and the stakes in the games could not be higher.

There is legitimate College Football Playoff drama. The No. 4 USC Trojans are out after their loss to the No. 11 Utah Utes in the Pac-12 title game. The No. 3 TCU Horned Frogs will have to await their fate after losing, in overtime, to the No. 10 Kansas State Wildcats.

The SEC, however, will be drama-free. At least as it pertains to Georgia. The Bulldogs cruised past LSU and locked themselves into the No. 1 spot in the final playoff ranking.

USC’s loss is the Ohio State Buckeyes‘ gain. Ohio State was No. 5 in the last ranking. TCU’s loss could put the No. 6 Alabama Crimson Tide back in the mix.

The No. 2 Michigan Wolverines are last up on championship Saturday. They’ll face the Purdue Boilermakers. The drama would only arise for Michigan should it lose.

Here are the top plays, biggest moments and playoff takeaways from championship weekend.

Big Ten championship

Wolverines regain the lead

Purdue responds with a TD

Michigan finds the end zone first

Playoff takeaway: Locked into No. 1

This will be the easiest part of the selection committee’s night.

Georgia further solidified itself as the No. 1 team in the country Saturday evening with its lopsided win over No. 14 LSU in the SEC championship game. Regardless of how soundly Michigan might beat Purdue in the Big Ten title game, there won’t be any debate over who’s No. 1 on selection day. If Michigan didn’t leapfrog Georgia in the fifth ranking after it beat then-No. 2 Ohio State, it’s certainly not going earn a promotion for beating an unranked, four-loss Purdue team.

The only question for Georgia is who it will face at No. 4 in a CFP semifinal. — Heather Dinich

If there was an image that encapsulated the SEC championship Saturday, it was this: Georgia star defensive lineman Jalen Carter knifing through the LSU offensive line and wrangling quarterback Jayden Daniels for a sack before lifting him up off the ground his left arm and holding out his right index finger to signal No. 1.

The message might have been two-fold. Carter showed why he’s in contention to be the top pick in next year’s NFL draft and why his team is the clear-cut top-seed in the College Football Playoff. When LSU showed some brief signs of life in the second half, like going for it on fourth-and-1 inside the red zone, it was Carter who helped stuff the run for no gain and a turnover on downs.

Georgia dominated LSU from start to finish to win. Even special teams got the job done as Nazir Stackhouse blocked a field goal attempt, Christopher Smith picked it up and ran 96 yards for a touchdown.

The Bulldogs’ offense was no slouch, either. Stetson Bennett was ruthlessly efficient, completing 23 of 29 passes for 274 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. The running game, led by Kendall Milton, pitched in with 255 yards and two scores. — Alex Scarborough

UGA drops the mic

Tigers keep fighting

LSU turns a turnover into a TD

Halftime: Georgia 35, LSU 10

So Georgia is good and lucky.

Now maybe you create your own luck, but however you look at it, the Bulldogs got some fortunate bounces to jump out to a 35-10 lead on the Tigers in the first half of the SEC championship game.

First, after Georgia allowed LSU to drive the field and set up a chip-shot field goal, Nazir Stackhouse blocked the kick. Which was kind of normal. But then, with half the players standing around or celebrating as if the play was over, Chris Smith waited a moment, picked up the ball and ran it back 96 yards for a touchdown.

LSU responded with a touchdown of its own, but Georgia had an answer.

First, Stetson Bennett found Brock Bowers for a 3-yard touchdown reception. Then things got weird again.

LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels threw an errant pass, the ball bounced off Jack Bech‘s helmet and landed in the arms of Smael Mondon Jr. Georgia took over on the LSU 22-yard line and Bennett immediately hit Ladd McConkey for a touchdown to go ahead by two scores.

From there, it was a return to form for Georgia as it forced three consecutive three-and-outs and scored a pair of touchdowns to pad its lead. — Alex Scarborough

Georgia closes the half strong

Massive headwear

INT leads to Georgia TD

UGA’s offense gets involved

Trading big-play scores

Atlanta arrivals

Mike the Tiger is ready

play

0:38

Ty Zentner knocks in the 31-yard field goal, giving Kansas State an overtime win and the Big 12 title.

Playoff takeaway: Comparing Tide vs. Frogs

If TCU was going to lose to Kansas State in the Big 12 championship game, this was how it had to happen — the overtime, 31-28 defeat gives the Frogs a good chance to remain in the top four, but until it’s official an air of uncertainty will loom.

The selection committee has to concur that TCU is “unequivocally” one of the four best teams in the country — meaning there has to be no doubt within the room that the Frogs belong in the top four without the Big 12 title. If that’s the case, they don’t necessarily have to resort to tiebreakers, but the committee will at least compare TCU and Alabama side-by-side on large monitors in the center of the room.

TCU just lost a close game to a top-10 team — the same team it beat during the regular season. The Frogs also have a common opponent with Alabama — they both beat Texas on the road — and that will be considered. Alabama’s best wins are at Texas, against Ole Miss, and Mississippi State, which is now a top-25 team.

A two-loss team has never made the CFP before, though, and Alabama didn’t win its division. The bigger debate in the room might be if Ohio State moves up to No. 3 without winning its division, while the Frogs drop to No. 4. — Heather Dinich

Kansas State finally found the antidote to TCU’s magic. After withstanding a furious 11-point comeback to get to overtime — including TCU’s Max Duggan rushing for 95 yards on an 80-yard drive due to penalties to tie the game — and the Wildcats stopped Kendre Miller twice from the 1-yard line, including on fourth down in the first half of overtime. As a result, K-State was able to play it safe and kick a field goal to walk off with a 31-28 win to claim a Big 12 championship for the third time in school history. Deuce Vaughn was the backbone for the Wildcats as usual, carrying it 26 times for 130 yards and a touchdown, adding two catches for 30 yards. — David Wilson

Playoff takeaway: Welcome back, Ohio State

With No. 4 USC losing to Utah on Friday night in the Pac-12 championship game, the No. 5 Buckeyes (11-1) should slide right into the top four on selection day. The committee will justify the move with Ohio State’s wins against Penn State and Notre Dame, plus its lone loss was to a top-four team in Michigan. It’s extremely unlikely and unexpected for two-loss No. 6 Alabama to leapfrog Ohio State at this point, which is why the fifth ranking was so important. The Buckeyes will maintain their edge over the Tide, whose last hope would be for undefeated TCU to lose convincingly to K-State in the Big 12 title game — and even that might not be enough.

USC’s Friday night flop was an all-too familiar finish for the Pac-12 with the selection committee watching together here in their meeting room at the Gaylord Texan Resort in Grapevine, Texas. They’re not going to reward three-loss conference champion Utah with a top-four spot, and two-loss USC simply doesn’t have the defense to make a case as Pac-12 runner-up — especially with a second loss to the same team. Utah should be heading to the Rose Bowl again but that will be the league’s ceiling this year. — Heather Dinich

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Champions Stable: Equestrian Dynasty coming to PC, consoles

Published

7 hours ago

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November 18, 2025

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Champions Stable: Equestrian Dynasty coming to PC, consoles

  • Marco Wutz

Nov 18, 2025, 12:10 PM ET

Horse racing has seen a major surge in popularity among gamers this year thanks to the global launch of Umamusume: Pretty Derby — which just nabbed a nomination for Best Mobile Game at The Game Awards 2025 — and the Italian development studio Leonardo Productions aims to strike while the iron is hot with Champions Stable: Equestrian Dynasty.

The open-world horse racing management sim is set for a launch on PC and consoles in 2026, combining the excitement of racing events with the relaxing experience of animal care.

Players can either directly control the action by taking the reins on track for the real-time races or completely manage the business from behind the scenes, giving strategic commands to the jockey similar to how players might direct their squad from the sidelines in Football Manager.

From picking the most promising horses for breeding programs, creating training schedules and upgrading facilities, to scouting what rival stables are doing, all aspects of the sport are in the player’s hands.

Created in Unreal Engine, Champions Stable: Equestrian Dynasty features 3D visuals and takes players to several authentically recreated real-world tracks around the globe, including Ascot, Churchill Downs, Flemington, Longchamp, Capannelle, Maydan and Tokyo.

Whenever the pressure of competition gets too much to handle, players can take time relaxing with their animals and ride out into the game’s open world to uncover secrets and easter eggs, which appears to be an element borrowed from other successful sim franchises like Farming Simulator. Paying personal attention to race horses by grooming and caring for them also yields benefits in the form of enhanced performances on the track.

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Ovechkin passes Howe in goals at single venue

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9 hours ago

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November 18, 2025

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Ovechkin passes Howe in goals at single venue

  • ESPN News Services

Nov 17, 2025, 11:15 PM ET

WASHINGTON — Alex Ovechkin scored his 903rd career NHL goal as the Washington Capitals beat the Los Angeles Kings 2-1 on Monday night.

Ovechkin also passed Gordie Howe for the most regular-season goals scored at a single venue in NHL history with his 442nd goal at Capital One Arena.

Matt Roy also scored for the Capitals, who ended a two-game losing skid to gain some traction in the standings.

Anze Kopitar scored for lone goal for the Kings, who had won four straight. It was just their second regulation road loss of the season.

Washington, which has been struggling to finish at 5-on-5, opened the scoring early, as Roy got to the front of the net and tipped Aliaksei Protas‘ point shot past Darcy Kuemper. It was Roy’s first goal in 25 games, dating to last season.

In the second period, Ovechkin crashed the crease and got to the front of the net before burying a behind-the-net feed from Connor McMichael. Ovechkin now has goals in back-to-back games and three of his past four.

Kopitar pulled Los Angeles to within one with his third goal of the season with 6:33 left in the second. He tapped in a backdoor feed from Corey Perry on a power play. Washington has now given up a power-play goal in three straight games and five of the past six.

Despite a rally, the Kings couldn’t beat Charlie Lindgren, who stopped 30 of 31 shots for his second win of the season after losing his previous four starts.

Kuemper stopped 23 of 25 in the defeat.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Kempe signs 8-year, $85M contract with Kings

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9 hours ago

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November 18, 2025

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Kempe signs 8-year, M contract with Kings

The Los Angeles Kings have signed winger Adrian Kempe to a new eight-year contract worth $10.625 million annually, the team announced Monday.

The Kings viewed it as a priority to re-sign Kempe, especially as they prepare for captain Anze Kopitar to retire at the end of the season. The sides had been negotiating over the past few months, and Kempe, sources said, took a little less money, indicating his desire to stay in Los Angeles, where he believes he can win a Stanley Cup.

The contract runs through the 2033-34 season. The 29-year-old Kempe, a native of Sweden, has played his entire 10-year career with the Kings after being drafted in the first round in 2014.

Kempe, the Kings’ leading scorer in each of the past two seasons, has six goals and 19 points through 19 games this season.

He was arguably the biggest free agent remaining for the summer of 2026. Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel, Kirill Kaprizov and Martin Necas all re-signed with their respective teams over the past two months.

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