Lane Kiffin arrives in Baton Rouge, as the college football coaching carousel keeps going round and round

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This is an article version of the CBS Sports HQ AM Newsletter, the ultimate guide to every day in sports. You can sign up to get it in your inbox every weekday morning here.

Happy Tuesday, everyone! Brent Brookhouse here to take you through the day's news you need to know in the world of sports.

As a Bills fan since Super Bowl XXV, I woke this morning terrified after another dominating performance by the Patriots on Monday Night Football. To soothe my nerves, I'm looking forward to a long day of sports, from the soccer pitches of Europe to the college and professional basketball courts and ice hockey rinks of North America; there is plenty of action on the calendar to soothe my nerves as I try to forget those many years of Buffalo playing second fiddle to New England.

FIrst, let's dive into the news you need to know to kick off your Tuesday.

🏈 Five things to know Tuesday

The Patriots walloped the Giants. As scores go a 33-15 defeat isn't the worst -- but it's how it happened. Jaxson Dart returned for the G-Men after missing time for a concussion, yet the rookie quarterback seemed to spend more time putting himself in harm's way than not. This as New England's Drake Maye (282 yards, two TDs) put on another MVP clinic. But the game -- if not the season -- for these teams can be summed up in two special teams plays. Marcus Jones' 94-yard punt return TD tied the Pats' mark for the longest in franchise history. Meanwhile, Giants kicker Younghoe Koo had such a bizarre approach to a 47-yard field goal attempt that it elicited everything from stunned disbelief to open laughter. With the victory, the 11-2 Patriots moved back into first place in the AFC, while the 2-11 Giants moved up to second in the 2026 NFL Draft.
NFL coach hot seats are getting toasty. College doesn't own all of the coaching drama. Two NFL coaches have already been fired, and that might not be the end of things when everything is said and done. CBS Sports' Zachary Pereles took a look at the five hottest seats in the NFL, including Pete Carroll, who could be one-and-done for the Raiders as the team sits at 2-10.
Barcelona vs. Atletico Madrid headlines an intriguing day of soccer. Tuesday features three Premier League matches, but the day's headliner is Barcelona vs. Atletico Madrid in Spanish La Liga. We have a breakdown and prediction for that clash between two of Spain's top five clubs.
College football rankings near year's end. As we head to conference championship weekend, the time for rankings has nearly come to a close. That said, we have our final CBS Sports 136, and Ohio State lands atop the nation one last time. The Buckeyes also topped our College Football Power Rankings, with Indiana nipping at their heels as a massive Big Ten championship game looms. But what of the raging debate over whether Miami should leap Notre Dame?
College basketball season is just heating up. While football is winding down, basketball is just getting started. The first college basketball NET rankings have been released by the NCAA, and Michigan's thunderous run through the Players Era has them sitting at No. 1, while the Wolverines also moved up to No. 3 in the AP Top 25. On the women's side, Texas parlayed its own Players Era tournament win into the No. 2 spot in the AP Top 25 poll, just behind No. 1 UConn.

🐯 Do not miss this: The full drama of Lane Kiffin to LSU

The story of Lane Kiffin's decision to leave Ole Miss on the edge of the team's trip to the College Football Playoff and take the top coaching job at LSU is still dominating the headlines. During Kiffin's introductory press conference in Baton Rouge on Monday afternoon, he credited Nick Saban with influencing his decision to leave Ole Miss. Meanwhile, another legendary coach, Bill Cowher, blasted Kiffin for his decision, saying Kiffin's actions depleted the program and proved Kiffin "doesn't care about the players."

CBS Sports' John Talty dove deep to tell the story of Kiffin's decision, from how he nearly landed at Florida instead of LSU before finally agreeing to take the helm for the Tigers.

Talty: "When he suddenly had two of the best jobs in the country, Florida and LSU, fighting over him, he couldn't resist. It seemed to color the way he viewed his current job, too, even though he publicly said he loved Ole Miss. He'd privately complain about the fanbase and whether the program's recent success was sustainable, especially compared to more historically successful programs like Florida and LSU. He locked in on what he thought were disappointing home crowds, telling some around him that didn't happen in Baton Rouge and Gainesville."

🎠 College coaching carousel chaos

Kiffin's story may be dominating the headlines, but the coaching carousel kicked into overdrive on Monday. UCLA made a big move for the future with plans to hire Bob Chesney away from James Madison. Chesney stepped in at James Madison after Curt Cignetti left to kick off his highly successful stint at Indiana and led the Dukes to a 20-5 record over two seasons, including having the team on the verge of a spot in the upcoming CFP.

Michigan State addressed its own coaching vacancy after firing Jonathan Smith, hiring former Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald spent 17 seasons at Northwestern from 2006-22. He has not coached at the collegiate level since.

The biggest coaching vacancy in the country remains at Penn State, and the team appears to be targeting BYU's Kalani Sitake to fill that spot. Sitake has built BYU into one of the nation's most consistent programs since taking over in 2016 and said that he has asked his team to remain focused on their goals as they try and lock up a CFP bid when they face Texas Tech in the Big 12 championship game on Saturday.

Kentucky fired Mark Stoops, the program's all-time wins leader, and hired Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein to fill the spot. Meanwhile, Ohio mysteriously placed coach Brian Smith on leave for an "undetermined period of time" while waiting for their bowl selection after an 8-4 season.

🏀 Grading the first quarter of the NBA season

It's hard to believe that we're already a quarter of the way into the NBA season, but that is reality. As expected, the season has produced plenty of surprises and disappointments. Some teams are still finding their way, while others are soaring to hot starts, with dreams of an NBA championship either tantalizing or teasing their fans.

With that in mind, the CBS Sports squad of Brad Botkin, Robby Kalland and Jack Maloney sat down to hand out grades for every team in the East. Unsurprisingly, given their 16-4 start, the Pistons have earned an elusive "A+."

Maloney: "Deee-troit basketball is back in a major way. Only the defending champion Thunder have a better record than the Pistons, who have already recorded more wins than they did in the entirety of their disastrous 2023-24 campaign, and boast a multi-game lead atop the East. Their 13-game winning streak tied a franchise record, they've won at least 16 of their first 20 games for the fourth time in franchise history and they're in first place in the East on Dec. 1 for the first time since 2005.

"Cade Cunningham is putting up career-highs across the board -- 28.8 points, 6.4 rebounds and 9.4 assists -- and playing like an MVP candidate, Jalen Duren has made a massive leap, they dominate the offensive glass and get to the line at will, they're tough as nails with a top-five defense and they have so much depth that it's creating a headache for coach JB Bickerstaff. It's fair to wonder how their bully-ball approach on offense will fare in the playoffs given their spacing concerns, but that's a long way off. For now, everyone in Detroit should enjoy the ride."

👍👎 The best (and not-so-best) of the rest

As the final CFP selections fast approach, Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea believes there is a bias against his team in at-large discussions. Our Brad Crawford believes Lea is correct.
The Steelers are reeling from a lopsided loss to the Bills. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers called the game "a boo-worthy performance." Meanwhile, Cam Heyward accused Buffalo QB Josh Allen of kneeing him in the stomach during the game.
A massive world championship bout was announced, with Shakur Stevenson challenging Teofimo Lopez for his WBO junior welterweight title on Jan. 31.
As the NFL season continues toward the final stretch, we've turned our attention ahead to the NFL Draft. There's a wide-open quarterback situation that created chaos in our latest NFL Mock Draft.
NC State and Virginia are set to play the first college football game in South America when they face off on Aug. 29, 2026, in Rio de Janeiro.
Giants rookie LB Abdul Carter, the third pick in the draft, was briefly benched -- again -- Monday night for reportedly missing another team meeting, his second in three weeks.
In news that may be interesting to people who aren't in their mid-40s, Syracuse football has landed rapper Toosii as a part of its 2026 recruiting class.
It's Toyotathon season, and somehow that means we've reached the part of the year where Packers QB Jordan Love becomes unstoppable.
The latest WNBA collective bargaining agreement proposal would see a boost in max player salaries to $1 million and a new salary cap of $5 million.
The Vikings released veteran wideout Adam Thielen, who has been seeking a larger role in what the 35-year-old says will be his final season. We had a look at the top five potential landing spots for Thielen to wind down his career.
In our latest look at MLB rumors, the Phillies are still the favorite to land designated hitter Kyle Schwarber.

📺 What we're watching Tuesday

⚽ Everton at AFC Bournemouth, 2:30 p.m. on Peacock
⚽ Manchester City at Fulham, 2:30 p.m. on USA Network
⚽ Atletico Madrid at Barcelona, 3 p.m. on ESPN+
⚽ Tottenham Hotspur at Newcastle United, 3:15 p.m. on Peacock
🏀 No. 1 UConn at South Florida (W), 5 p.m. on ESPN2
🏀 Iowa at No. 7 Michigan State (M), 7 p.m. on Peacock
🏒 Maple Leafs at Panthers, 7:30 p.m. on Hulu
🏀 No. 15 Florida vs. No. 4 Duke (M), 7:30 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 Knicks at Celtics, 8 p.m. on NBC
🏀 No. 1 Purdue at Rutgers (M), 8 p.m. on FS1
🏀 No. 5 UConn at No. 21 Kansas (M), 9 p.m. on ESPN2
🏀 No. 16 North Carolina vs. No. 18 Kentucky (M), 9:30 on ESPN
🏒 Blackhawks at Golden Knights, 10 p.m. on Hulu
🏀 Thunder at Warriors, 11 p.m. on NBC