USA, Canada to meet in 4 Nations final; ranking MLB offenses; UEFA Champions League knockout phase picks

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Good morning to all, but especially to …

HOCKEY FANS

The dream 4 Nations Face-Off championship matchup has come to fruition: The USA will face Canada Thursday in a rematch of their thrilling round robin meeting over the weekend, which the USA won, 3-1.

• Canada, Sweden and Finland all entered Monday with two points, and Canada nabbed the championship berth with a 5-3 win over Finland early in the day.
• Canada led 4-0 with under seven minutes to play, but the Finns’ furious rally got them to 4-3, but Sidney Crosby‘s empty netter ended the threat.
• The USA, which was already into the championship thanks to wins over Finland and Canada, fell 2-1 to Sweden in the nightcap.

Now we get USA-Canada … again. In case you missed it, Saturday’s meeting had everything: three fights in the first nine seconds, offensive and defensive brilliance, goalkeeping blunders and a whole lot of intensity.

This is awesome, and it coinciding with the NBA All-Star Game being another awful watch is a big win for hockey and its fans. The 4 Nations Face-Off has featured stars going all out. I get that the NBA and NFL can’t replicate this event, but credit the NHL and its players for putting on one heck of a show. I can’t wait for Thursday night.

Honorable mentions

• The Bengals hope to reach a long-term deal with Tee Higgins and avoid a second straight franchise tag. Here are franchise tag candidates for every team.
• Aaron Rodgers does indeed intend to play in 2025.
• Trevor Lawrence is committed to the Jaguars.
• The Angels are moving Mike Trout to right field in hopes of keeping him healthy.
• Edwin Díaz hopes to play in the World Baseball Classic in 2026.
• Geraldo Perdomo and the Diamondbacks agreed to a four-year, $45 million extension.
• The Athletics extended manager Mark Kotsay through 2028.
• The Royals extended GM J.J. Picollo through 2030.
• Wade Boggs celebrated beating prostate cancer.
• Here are the newest men’s basketball AP Top 25 and Coaches Poll.
• Notre Dame ascended to No. 1 in the women’s basketball AP Top 25 for the first time since 2019 and defeated No. 11 Duke in impressive 64-49 fashion hours later.
• I loved Isaac Trotter’s story on Jahmai Mashack and his dad, who fought California wildfires.
• We’re keeping track of MLB Opening Day starter announcements.
• Could the Big Ten and the SEC taking over the College Football Playoff actually be a good thing?
• Virginia Tech hired Philip Montgomery as offensive coordinator ahead of a big season for Kyron Drones and the Hokies.

Not so honorable mentions

• LeBron James trolled Doug Gottlieb, whose Green Bay team is 3-24 in his debut coaching season.
• NBA players want a USA-vs.-World format for the All-Star Game, but there are hurdles aplenty to make that happen, Sam Quinn notes.
• Giancarlo Stanton (elbow) is in doubt for Opening Day.
• Rafael Devers is not exactly happy about potentially moving from third base to accommodate Alex Bregman.
• Frankie Montas (lat strain) is out until May or June.
• It sounds like Jaire Alexander and the Packers will go their separate ways.
• Micah Shrewsberry went on an epic rant about Notre Dame‘s lack of fan support.
• Could the House vs. NCAA settlement limit (or eliminate) walk-ons?

Ranking top 10 MLB offenses

I don’t think I’m spoiling too much when I reveal that the Dodgers are atop Matt Snyder’s top 10 MLB offenses. The defending champs bring back their top contributors. The Big Three of Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman is hard to beat, and there are plenty of excellent supporting pieces.

But who’s No. 2? The Juan Soto-led Mets? The new-look Yankees? The deep lineups of the Phillies or Orioles? Nope, according to Matt, the second-best offense in the bigs is …

• Snyder: “2. Braves — Ronald Acuña Jr. will be returning from his second torn ACL. He started slow last season, but he’s far too talented to discount how huge a loss he was to the offense. Matt Olson, Austin Riley, Michael Harris II and Ozzie Albies all took varying levels of big steps backward in 2024 compared to 2023, too. There were times it felt like the entire offense was in an extended slump. They are simply better hitters than this. I like the addition of Jurickson Profar and, once Acuña is fully functional, the Braves have as deep and powerful a lineup as anyone.”

The Padres and Brewers were among Matt’s honorable mentions. They also landed on a less coveted list: Dayn Perry’s would-be contenders who didn’t do enough this offseason.

College basketball buy or sell: Who wins National Player of the Year?

One month from today, the NCAA Tournament will be opening with the First Four. And while plenty of things will change between now and then, some things won’t, including Cooper Flagg and Johni Broome battling for National Player of the Year. Broome led No. 1 Auburn to an impressive win at No. 2 Alabama over the weekend, and Flagg had another impressive performance in a dominant win over Virginia Monday night. Isaac says Broome has closed the gap, but Cameron Salerno isn’t so sure in our buy or sell, college basketball edition.

Broome and Auburn lead the best conference in the country. The SEC isn’t just great in the context of this year but great in historical context. Jerry Palm’s Bracketology features three No. 1 seeds from the conference: Auburn, Alabama and Florida. No conference has had three No. 1 seeds since the ACC in 2019. Will the SEC accomplish that? Isaac says …

• Trotter: “Sell. Duke and Houston are humming along in the chase for No. 1 seeds. I don’t see many pitfalls left for those two squads. Meanwhile in the SEC, 40 minutes of hell are waiting every night. This league will cannibalize itself on the chase for three No. 1 seeds, down the stretch of the regular season and again in the SEC Tournament. That’s OK. I believe the SEC will get more teams to the Final Four than to the No. 1 line.”

UEFA Champions League knockout phase expert predictions

By the end of today, the UEFA Champions League field will be down to 20. By the end of tomorrow, it will be down to 16. The second legs of the knockout phase are here: four matches today and four matches tomorrow, with coverage across Paramount+, CBS Sports Network and CBS Sports Golazo.

Here’s today’s action:

• AC Milan vs. Feyenoord (Feyenoord leads 1-0) | 12:45 p.m. on Paramount+ | Preview here
• Benfica vs. Monaco (Benfica leads 1-0) | 3 p.m. on Paramount+ | Preview here
• Atalanta vs. Club Brugge (Club Brugge leads 2-1) | 3 p.m. on Paramount+ | Preview here
• Bayern Munich vs. Celtic (Bayern Munich leads 2-1) | 3 p.m. on Paramount+ and CBS Sports Network | Preview here

Yes, all four matchups feature a one-goal difference, which could set up for plenty of drama. Perhaps the most will come in Milan. Here are Jonathan Johnson’s pick and Chuck Booth’s best bet.

• Johnson: “Milan 1, Feyenoord 1 — The Italians face an uphill task after last week’s narrow defeat, so do not be surprised to see a tight encounter. If The Dutch outfit score then it will be extremely difficult for the Rossoneri to pull this one out of the fire, but there is always a chance if Milan strike first that they could flip this one on its head.”
• Booth: “Both teams to score (-128) — Milan’s defense has left much to be desired this season and in what will be a tense clash, both teams will be out to shoot early and often in what could be an open affair in Milan. We already saw in the first leg how Milan can give away a goal and even in their home stadium, Feyenoord will be able to capitalize on mistakes in the second leg as well.”

Here are all of our expert predictions.

What we’re watching Tuesday

We’re watching the UEFA Champions League. Here’s how.
Oklahoma at No. 2 Florida (M), 7 p.m. on ESPN2
No. 7 Texas A&M at No. 21 Mississippi State (M), 7 p.m. on SEC Network
No. 13 Purdue at No. 14 Michigan State (M), 7 p.m. on Peacock
Unrivaled, 7:30 p.m. on TNT
Illinois at No. 8 Wisconsin (M), 8:30 p.m. on FS1
Seton Hall at No. 16 Marquette (M), 9 p.m. on CBS Sports Network
No. 23 Kansas at BYU (M), 9 p.m. on ESPN