2026 Winter Olympics: Jordan Stolz becomes breakout star; NFL mock draft

Getty Images

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 Thursday, everyone! It's Zach Pereles here to recap a full day at the Olympics and preview what's next. Plus, we have a brand new NFL big board and mock draft with the combine coming up -- here's the player list for that, by the way -- as well as some big MLB and NWSL news, NBA projections and much more.

Let's get right to it.

🏒 Five things to know Thursday

The U.S. men's hockey team begins quest for gold. Team USA's first opponent will be Latvia, and our Austin Nivison has an excellent preview and explanation about why the Stars and Stripes could be poised to end their disappointing history overseas.
Team USA named its 2026 FIBA Women's World Cup roster. Folks, this qualifying tournament roster is absolutely loaded. Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers are all set to make their senior team debut in the event, which runs March 11-17. Aliyah Boston will also take part as the Americans turn from the "old guard" to the "new guard" and look to maintain their world dominance ahead of the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. In other exciting women's basketball news, Reese is joining Unrivaled, which hosted the first round of its 1-on-1 Tournament last night.
MLB teams are tabbing their Opening Day starters. While not a surprise, one happens to be Tarik Skubal for the Tigers, Garrett Crochet for the Red Sox and Hunter Brown for the Astros.
In less fun MLB news, Jackson Holliday will miss the start of the season. The Orioles' Holliday has a broken hamate bone. The hamate, a one-inch bone on the pinky side of the wrist, and this injury is becoming a common one in baseball as both the Mets' Francisco Lindor and the Diamondbacks' Corbin Carroll are also dealing with it.
We got not one, but two NWSL blockbuster trades. The Kansas City Current acquired Croix Bethune from the Washington Spirit for a record-matching fee. Bethune, who had requested a move out of the nation's capital, was the 2024 NWSL Rookie of the Year. Meanwhile, the Current also sent Claire Hutton to Bay FC. Pardeep Cattry handed out trade grades to all three teams.

🥇 Do not miss this: Jordan Stolz is primed to be Team USA's breakout Olympian

Welcome to the limelight, Jordan Stolz. The 21-year-old Wisconsin native won the men's 1,000-meter speed skating gold in an Olympic-record 1:06.28. It was an absolute thriller, with Stolz chasing down and then passing the Netherlands' Jenning de Boo on the final lap.

It could be just the beginning. Stolz still has the 500-meter, the 1,500-meter and the mass start events left in these games, and Matt Norlander says he's primed to be the Games' breakout star.

Norlander: "Stolz's superhuman strength is how he doesn't wear down as races go on. As other elite speedskaters see their times unavoidably weighted by critical seconds the deeper they get into their races, Stolz's endurance is a phenomenal separator. ... Stolz's time was a laughable half-second faster than de Boo's, marking the largest gap between a gold and silver Olympics finish in the 1,000 since 1984. ... He's practically already at the Michael Phelps, Katie Ledecky level already where it would be stunning to see him finish in any place other than the top podium position."

Elsewhere for the U.S. on Wednesday ...

Madison Chock and Evan Bates won silver in ice dancing free skate, just barely behind France's Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillame Cizeron.
Liz Lemley and Jaelin Kauf won gold and silver, respectively, in women's moguls.
Ryan Cochran-Siegle won silver in men's Super-G.
Chloe Kim was the top qualifier in women's halfpipe snowboarding.

Also, French biathlete Julia Simon won gold in the 15km biathlon months after a credit card fraud scandal. These Olympics have everything!

Entering Thursday, the United States has 12 medals, one behind the lead shared by Norway and host Italy. Here's today's schedule.

And here is where to track Thursday's events.

🏈 NFL Draft big board, first-round mock draft

Wednesday was a very special day: Ryan Wilson's 2026 NFL Draft Big Board arrived.

Let's cut straight to the chase: Ryan has seven defenders in his top 10. After Indiana's Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza, Ohio State linebacker Arvell Reese is No. 2, and six of the next seven players are defenders, too.

Among that group is Caleb Downs, who Ryan compares to Troy Polamalu. Yes, it's big praise.

So where do all of those 10 -- plus many others -- land? Garrett Podell has a fresh mock draft, and here's his top five:

Raiders: Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza
Jets: Ohio State LB Arvell Reese
Cardinals: Miami OT Francis Mauigoa
Titans: Texas Tech EDGE David Bailey
Giants: Ohio State WR Carnell Tate

As for last year's rookies, Josh Edwards graded every team's 2025 rookie class.

🏀 Projecting NBA season-ending standings

There are two months left in the NBA season, and the playoff races and the tanking races alike are heating up.

The Pistons and the Thunder built significant leads in the East and the West, respectively, but there are tight races behind that. Thankfully, Brad Botkin is here to sort it all out, predicting final standings for both conferences.

The East is especially tight after Detroit. Here's Brad's projected top six there:

1. Detroit Pistons
2. Cleveland Cavaliers
3. New York Knicks
4. Boston Celtics
5. Philadelphia 76ers
6. Orlando Magic

Yes, Brad sees a big jump from the Cavaliers ...

Botkin: "No team has more remaining games against tanking teams than the Cavs, who have added James Harden as a short-term upgrade over the injured Darius Garland and were finding their stride even before the trade. They are too far back to catch Detroit, but I like them jumping New York and Boston for the No. 2 seed and then we will see if Harden can shake his shaky playoff reputation."

Cleveland is 3-0 with Harden, for what it's worth!

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

The Seahawks celebrated their Super Bowl triumph with a parade, and Sam Darnold expressed his gratitude.
One of Ben Roethlisberger's former teammates said the Steelers protected him and that he wasn't a good person.
The NBA handed down suspensions from the massive Hornets-Pistons fight. Detroit's Isaiah Stewart got seven games, and Jalen Duren got two. For Charlotte, Miles Bridges and Moussa Diabate both received four-game suspensions.
Blake Griffin, Candace Parker and Doc Rivers are some of the finalists for this year's Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame class.
No, the Players Championship shouldn't be a major, Rory McIlroy says.
Lindsey Vonn had a third surgery on her broken leg.
The Orioles signed pitcher Chris Bassitt.
Shehan Jeyarajah says these college football players will bounce back in 2026.
Lionel Messi picked up a hamstring history just days ahead of Inter Miami's season opener.
Chuck Booth ranked the MLS kits.
Tottenham fired Thomas Frank, but issues and questions persist.
Here's the 2026 Pac-12 football schedule.

📺 What we're watching Thursday

🏅 Women's Super-G final, 5:30 a.m. on USA/Peacock
🏅 Men's moguls freestyle ski final, 6:15 p.m. on USA/Peacock
🏅 Women's 10km free ski final, 7 a.m. on USA/Peacock
🏅 Men's Snowboard Cross, 7:45 a.m. on USA/Peacock
🏅 Women's 5,000-meter speed skating final, 10:30 a.m. on USA/Peacock
🏅 Men's hockey: Czechia vs. Canada, 10:40 a.m. on USA/Peacock
🏅 Luge team relay final, 12:45 p.m. on NBC/Peacock
🏅 Women's snowboard halfpipe final, 1:30 p.m. on NBC/Peacock
🏅 Women's 500m and men's 100m speed skating finals, 2:15 p.m. on NBC/USA/Peacock
🏅 Men's hockey: United States vs. Latvia, 3:10 p.m. on USA
🏀 No. 17 TCU at No. 12 Baylor (W), 7 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 No. 4 Texas at No. 5 Vanderbilt (W), 7:30 p.m. on SEC Network+
🏀 Bucks at Thunder, 7:30 p.m. on Prime Video
🏀 Mavericks at Lakers, 10 p.m. on Prime Video