USA-Canada 4 Nations Face-Off championship game preview; No. 15 Missouri upsets No. 4 Alabama

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Good morning to all, but especially to …

USA, CANADA AND HOCKEY FANS

Tighten up those chin straps — and then tighten them up some more — because USA vs. Canada in the 4 Nations Face-Off championship tonight won’t be for the faint of heart. The Americans and the Canadians fought three times in the first nine seconds of their round-robin meeting before the Americans won, 3-1, last weekend and both sides seem eager to lay it all on the line again.

The USA will be without Charlie McAvoy (shoulder), and some other stars are banged up. Austin Nivison breaks down which Americans will shine.

• Nivison: “Auston Matthews — Since the start of the 2023-24 season, no one has scored more goals than Matthews (89), and that elite scoring touch makes him an extremely valuable weapon. His wicked release and pinpoint accuracy allow Matthews to score from anywhere in the offensive zone, and that should come in handy for testing Canadian goalie Jordan Binnington, who has looked shaky at various times throughout the tournament.”

Really, though, we’re all winners here. If you’re a hockey fan, great. If you’re not, tonight’s a great chance to become one. Pete Blackburn explains why this one is so important … and so fun.

• Blackburn: “There continues to be a steady stream of high-end talent coming out of American programs, and many are finally getting their first opportunity to represent their country (and its growth in the sport) at the top level with this tournament. And while the tournament may not be inherently ‘important,’ it’s clear that the opportunity to showcase how far the USA has come as a hockey country holds importance. … USA’s Matthew Tkachuk and Jack Eichel both said this week that Thursday’s final might be the most important game they’ve ever played. Both have won a Stanley Cup in the last few years.”

Honorable mentions

• Here’s our NFL free agency primer. Oh, and teams are going to have a ton of money to spend.
• The Eagles promoted pass game coordinator and associate head coach Kevin Patullo to offensive coordinator, where he’ll fill the void left by Kellen Moore‘s departure. Here’s what to know about Patullo and what Jalen Hurts said about him.
• The Cowboys should extend Micah Parsons sooner rather than later, Joel Corry says.
• Could Aidan Hutchinson and Myles Garrett team up?
• Where could Chris Godwin land?
• The Chargers will open next season in Brazil.
• Lionel Messi scored as Inter Miami beat Sporting Kansas City.
• Vladimir Guerrero Jr. leads the way in R.J. Anderson’s top 10 free agents for next offseason.
• Here’s why Illinois and Wisconsin men’s basketball teams didn’t shake hands after Tuesday’s game.
• Wisconsin football extended Luke Fickell.
• Alex Bregman is willing to play “wherever it helps the team win.”
• I enjoyed Matt Snyder’s breakdown of who’s an ace and who’s a No. 1.
• The USWNT opens SheBelieves Cup play tonight against Colombia. Here are three players to watch.
• Here’s Jack Maloney’s latest WNBA mock draft.

Not so honorable mentions

• Grizzlies GM Zach Kleiman dismissed Ja Morant trade rumors as “nonsense.”
• Tim Hardaway called Jimmy Butler a “crybaby.”
• Mark Williams was “shocked” that he failed his physical, leading to his trade to the Lakers being rescinded.
• Brendan Haywood says the NBA All-Star Game started to fall off when Kobe Bryant retired.
• Count Novak Djokovic among the many tennis players unhappy with the results of Jannick Sinner‘s doping case.
• A male fan was banned from the Dubai Championships after exhibiting “fixated behavior” toward Emma Raducanu.
• Brittney Griner pulled out of a speaking engagement after finding “threatening objects and words left inside her hotel room.”
• Brewers owner Mark Attansio shared thoughts on why he doesn’t add more payroll. It sounds like an excuse to me.
• Tony Clark and Rob Manfred are at odds.
• Mack Brown addressed his departure from North Carolina.
• Thieves stole roughly $500,000 worth of goods from Olivier Giroud‘s house. Meanwhile, seven men were charged with burglarizing the homes of Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and other NFL players.

No. 15 Missouri beats No. 4 Alabama

You know No. 1 Auburn, with National Player of the Year contender Johni Broome. You know No. 2 Florida, which has already beaten two top-ranked teams. You know No. 4 Alabama, coming off its first Final Four.

But do you know No. 15 Missouri? Well, you should. The Tigers beat the Crimson Tide, 110-98, for their third top-five win of the season, tying a program record.

The Tigers are the perfect example of what transfer portal slam dunks can do. Mark Mitchell had 31 points on 11 of 15 shooting, muscling through Alabama’s front line, and Caleb Grill had 25 points and 10 rebounds.

Mitchell, a former five-star recruit who spent two years at Duke, is shining. Grill, who was on Iowa State before transferring to Missouri two seasons ago, has been excellent after missing nearly all of last season with a wrist injury.

Speaking of last season, Missouri went 0-18 in SEC play. It was awful. But Dennis Gates kept plugging away, in the portal and with holdovers. Missouri is 20-6 (9-4 in SEC play) with a top-10 offense nationally that attacks the basket relentlessly — no team has a higher free throw rate — and can really shoot it (second in 3-point percentage in SEC play). The defense is among the country’s most disruptive, too.

Missouri is deep, experienced and talented. March is just over a week away, and the Tigers, seemingly out of nowhere, are ready to pounce.

Elsewhere in the SEC, Auburn held off Arkansas, 67-60, a missed opportunity for the Razorbacks, who are right on the bubble. No. 17 Kentucky beat Vanderbilt, 82-61. 

Kylian Mbappe hat trick leads Real Madrid past Manchester City; end of an era for Citizens?

Watch out, world. Kylian Mbappe is starting to feel at home at Real Madrid, which is once again looking like the UEFA Champions League force that has dominated the competition for ages. Los Blancos rampant over Manchester City, 3-1 (6-3 on aggregate), behind Mbappe’s wonderful hat trick to reach the round of 16.

• Mbappe latched onto a long ball over the top and chipped the goalkeeper in the fourth minute.
• He finished a lovely attack in the 33rd minute, taking Rodrygo‘s deft pass, cutting back to avoid a defender and finishing coolly.
• He got the hat trick in the 61st minute, gliding past a defender with a stepover and ripping a long shot to the opposite corner.

City, without Erling Haaland (knee), looked defeated as soon as it gave up Mbappe’s first. The streak of 11 consecutive round of 16 appearances is over, and so, too, might be the era as a whole, James Benge writes.

• Benge: “The City team you thought you knew is gone. … It is not as if the mistakes made tonight were particularly unique to this game. … The game is becoming more athletic, midfields defined by the running power and strength of Jude Bellingham, Declan Rice and Joao Neves. City have that up top in Haaland, but right across this tie, they have looked lighter, slower and weaker than Madrid.”

Elsewhere …

• PSG beat Brest, 7-0 (10-0 on aggregate).
• Borussia Dortmund drew Sporting CP 0-0 and advanced 3-0 on aggregate.
• PSV stunned Juventus, 3-1 (4-3 on aggregate), concluding an awful two days of soccer for Italian clubs. Inter is the only Italian team left in the Champions League.

The round of 16 draw is tomorrow.

Big Ten, SEC leaders meet, discuss potential College Football Playoff changes

Big Ten and SEC leaders met Wednesday to discuss major changes to the College Football Playoff format. Here are the biggest takeaways:

• Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti and SEC commissioner Greg Sankey want the seeding process changed. Currently, the top four-ranked conference champions (from the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, SEC and Group of Five) get the top four seeds and automatic byes.
• That’s how Big 12-champion Arizona State got the No. 4 seed despite being the 12th-ranked team, for example, and Texas got the No. 5 seed despite being the third-ranked team.
• The Big Ten and SEC want four automatic qualifiers each, with the ACC and Big 12 getting two each, should the field expand to 14 starting in 2026.

Basically, these two super conferences — which have combined for the past six national titles — want even more representation and control. Dennis Dodd says some of the asks are outlandish and put the credibility of the sport at risk.

What we’re watching Thursday

Celtics at 76ers, 7 p.m. on TNT/truTV
Canada vs. USA, 8 p.m. on ESPN
USWNT vs. Colombia, 8 p.m. on TBS
Suns at Spurs, 9:30 p.m. on TNT/truTV
No. 25 Illinois at No. 3 UCLA (W), 9:30 p.m. on BTN