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Good morning and happy hump day, sports fans! It's Austin Nivison greeting you on another beautiful Wednesday, and the sports world is moving quickly. The Olympics are in full swing, and Team USA's women's hockey team made quite a statement on the ice yesterday. The Tigers reunited with a franchise legend, and a historic streak for LeBron James has come to an end.

Let's get to all that and more in this morning's newsletter.

Five things to know

  1. U.S. women's hockey steamrolled Canada in a 5-0 rout. The Americans were slight favorites entering this preliminary matchup, but no one expected them to blow out their arch rivals quite like that. Hilary Knight tied the U.S. women's Olympic points record with an assist, and Team USA handed Canada its first Olympic shutout in history. The U.S. breezed through the prelims, outscoring opponents 20-1, and the quarterfinals are up next.
  2. Justin Verlander is returing to the Tigers on a $13 million contract. As it turns out, you can go home after all. Verlander is reuniting with the team that drafted him -- a place where he spent the first 13 years of his career -- on a one-year deal. The 42-year-old may no longer be the ace he was when he won the AL Cy Young and the AL MVP with the Tigers in 2011, but he will be part of a rotation that's expected to help the team contend for a World Series.
  3. The Blue Jays could go six months without OF/DH Anthony Santander. In much bleaker MLB news, the defending AL champs will be without a key player to for five to six months as Santander will undergo right shoulder surgery. Toronto was hoping that Santander could rebound from an injury-plagued 2025 campaign, but a new injury has derailed those plans. This is a familiar feeling for Santander, who was limited to 54 games with shoulder inflammation last year.
  4. LeBron James' historic All-NBA streak will come to and end this season. Due to arthritis in his left foot, LeBron James missed his 18th game of the 2025-26 season last night, which puts him below the 65-game awards minimum. That means James's record streak of 21 straight seasons on an All-NBA team is over. Given his quick ascension to All-NBA status, his longevity and durability coupled with the league's relatively new 65-game minimum requirement for such awards, it seems likely that James' streak will never be broken.
  5. Charlie Woods committed to play golf at Florida State. The son of golfing legend Tiger Woods, Charlie has committed to playing collegiate golf in Tallahassee. The younger Woods is ranked 21st in the American Junior Golf Association rankings and No. 9 in the Class of 2027. By committing to FSU, Woods will join top-ranked junior golfer Miles Russell, who will play for the Seminoles this fall.

🏈 Do not miss this: NFL teams poised for big leaps

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With the Super Bowl behind us, the 2026 season has everyone's attention. Every team holds hope at this time of year -- even the bottom-dwellers -- but some of that hope might be justified.

Our own Jared Dubin highlighted five teams that could take big leaps forward this year. In the case of the Titans, they're coming off a miserable 3-14 campaign, and the roster is a complete mess. Still, the team has the resources to improve its roster in a hurry, which would give incoming coach Robert Saleh a shot to succeed right away.

  • Dubin: "The Titans still have the fifth-most draft capital in the league heading into the 2026 NFL Draft, and they also have more cap space than any team in football. According to Over the Cap, they have over $104 million to spend this offseason, and we saw just this past year how having that much money to spend can lead to significant improvements. The Titans need to fill a lot of holes on their roster, but they have plenty of different ways to do that this year."

The Cowboys are another team on that list, and they have a major personnel decisions to make with star WR George Pickens set to hit free agency. In his 10 crazy offseason predictions, Jordan Dajani foresees Pickens on his way to an AFC West contender.

🏀 Michigan takes over No. 1 seed in Bracketology

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Arizona took its first loss of the season on Monday night, and the Wildcats have already been dinged in our latest bracketology. Michigan (22-1) surpassed Arizona as the No. 1 overall seed, even though both teams have a strong case for that spot.

The one edge the Wolverines might have is that they've pounded on fewer tomato cans than the Wildcats. As our own David Cobb explains, the selection committee would look more favorably on Michigan, which has played less than half the number of Quad 4 opponents as Arizona.

  • Cobb: "In a situation where two teams have comparable resumes, the committee could be inclined to give the benefit of the doubt to the team that spent less time feasting on Quad 4 opponents. Look no further than the decision in 2024 to give the final No. 1 seed to North Carolina as opposed to an Iowa State team that many in the Bracketology industry believed was more deserving."

Elsewhere on the hardwood, USC's Alijah Arenas earned Freshman of the Week honors after giving the Trojans a dramatic win over Penn State. Arenas has come a long way over the last year, in which he was placed in a medically-induced coma and underwent knee surgery following a serious car accident.

🏒 Olympic men's hockey preview

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Although Team USA won't be in action, men's hockey begins today with a matchup between Sweden and Slokavia. That means the NHL is back after a 12-year absence, and we have you covered with a full preview of every team from the favorites to the long shots.

And to track all of today's Olympic events, check out our live updates.

After suffering a heartbreaking loss to Canada in the 4 Nations Face-Off last year, Team USA seeks vengeance and a gold medal, something it hasn't won in 46 years. The Canadians are the best team in the tournament, but the Americans aren't far behind thanks to an elite goaltending trio. Here's more from ... well ... me:

  • Nivison: "Connor Hellebuyck will go down as one of the best goaltenders ever, even if he's looked human behind a mediocre Winnipeg Jets team this season. Since the start of the 2023-24 season, Hellebuyck saved 77.5 goals above average, per Natural StatTrick. The next closest goalie is Andrei Vasilevskiy at 52.2. Having Jake Oettinger and Jeremy Swayman behind Hellebuyck is an embarrassment of riches."

If the U.S. is going to capture it's first gold medal since a miracle transpired in Lake Placid, it will have to overcome a woeful history of overseas Olympic failures.

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

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📺 What we're watching Wednesday

🏅 Nordic Combined: Normal Hill Jump & 10km Cross-Country, 4 a.m. on Peacock
🏅 Snowboarding: Women's Halfpipe Qualification Runs, 4:30 a.m. on Peacock
🏅 Alpine skiing: Men's Super-G final, 5:30 a.m. on USA Network
🏅 Biathlon: Women's 15 km Individual,  8:15 a.m. on Peacock
🏅 Freestyle Skiing: Women's Moguls Final, 8:15 a.m. on USA Network
🏅 Luge: Men's and Women's Double's Runs, 11 a.m. on USA Network
🏅 Speed Skating: Men's 1000m, 12:30 p.m. on NBC
🏅 Curling: Men's Round Robin (United States vs. Czechia), 1:05 p.m. on Peacock
🏅 Snowboarding: Men's Halfpipe Qualification Runs 1 & 2, 1:30 p.m. on USA Network
🏅 Figure Skating: Ice Dance -- Free Dance, 1:30 p.m. on NBC
🏀 No. 14 Florida at Georgia (M), 7 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 Knicks at 76ers, 7:30 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 No. 2 UCLA at No. 13 Michigan State (W), 8 p.m. on Peacock
🏀 Spurs at Warriors, 10 p.m. on ESPN