This is For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Have feedback? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey! Now, here’s Mike Sykes.
Good morning, Winners. Welcome back to the Morning Win. Thanks so much for rocking with us today.
It’s Week 10 in the college football world, so you know what that means. Our very first official College Football Playoff rankings are here. This is arguably the most important moment of the college football season every year — it’s what everyone is playing for.
RELATED: A look at the full College Football Playoff rankings
Cory Woodroof has our five biggest takeaways from the first ranking of the year and the fact that Georgia isn’t No. 1 is a shocker to me. Here’s Woodroof with more on that.
“ESPN’s Rece Davis astutely pointed out that Ohio State’s wins over teams like Notre Dame and Penn State might sway the committee a bit more than Georgia’s group of wins right now.
That doesn’t mean that this is set in stone, far from it. The committee just seemingly prefers the Buckeyes’ victories over the Bulldogs’ at the moment.
However, Ohio State’s annual rivalry game against Michigan will ultimately determine how long the Buckeyes hold onto first place.”
The drama is palpable, folks. We’ve got a team with a chance to go back-to-back-to-back at No. 2 in the rankings. We’ve got a matchup between Michigan and Ohio State that is going to almost certainly knock one of those two teams down a few spots. And Florida State is just lurking in the background waiting to leap up again.
It’s been fun following the storylines of the CFB season so far this year. Between Deion Sanders and Colorado’s hype machine and the Pac-12’s untimely demise, the drama has been at its peak most of this year.
It’s time to get serious now, though. The race to the end of the CFB season is going to be filled with a lot of quality football coming to us.
I cannot wait to watch it all.
READ MORE: Woodroof on the 5 biggest takeaways of the CFB season
The Cowboys are set, for better or worse
The Dallas Cowboys must be completely OK with the way the team looks right now. The team didn’t make a single move at the NFL’s trade deadline on Tuesday.
And, look, Dallas is good. The team is already 6-2 through eight weeks and has plenty of talent on both sides of the ball. But essentially every contender the Cowboys are going up against in the NFC made some sort of move on or leading up to the trade deadline.
— The Eagles traded for Kevin Byard
— The Seahawks traded for Leonard Williams
— The 49ers traded for Chase Young
— The Lions traded for Donovan Peoples-Jones
This isn’t necessarily a situation where Dallas had to do something. Again, the team is already talented. And we’ve known that Dallas likely wouldn’t make a deal for a while — Jones said he saw his team standing pat at the deadline last week.
But still, the top of the conference has improved in so many meaningful ways. You’ve got to wonder if Dallas might regret this. We’ll find out one way or another.
REQUIRED READING: The biggest winners and losers of the NFL trade deadline
How did the Spurs do this?!?
Just one look at the NBA Lead Tracker for the Spurs-Suns game on Tuesday night will let you know how ridiculous this game was. The Spurs didn’t grab the lead until *checks notes* 1.2 seconds were left in the game. San Antonio was down by 20 (!!!!) at one point.
Y’all. Look at this.
This game was so fun. Victor Wembanyama vs. Kevin Durant was incredible. Keldon Johnson and Devin Vassell balled out. Johnson and Tre Jones made the play on Durant late to get a steal and take the lead after a putback from Wemby.
WHAT AN ENDING 😱
SPURS WIN pic.twitter.com/aT0wlTpMfF
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) November 1, 2023
If you didn’t have a league pass team before, you do now. Watch these Spurs, folks. It’s going to be a fun year.
Quick hits: The Michigan sign-stealing conspiracies, explained … Players who should’ve been traded … and more
— Charles Curtis explains the Michigan sign-stealing conspiracies, including the one that Connor Stalions was on the CMU sidelines. There’s wild stuff going on in Ann Arbor, man.
— Speaking of Michigan stealing signs, the College Football Playoff chair says that’s not a CFP issue…somehow? Michelle Martinelli has more.
— Cory Woodroof takes a look at the NFL’s five players who should’ve been traded at the trade deadline. Sorry, Devante Adams.
— Here’s everything we know about the Colorado jewelry stealing scandal. This isn’t a good look.
— James Harden has officially been traded to the Clippers, so what should Daryl Morey do with the Harden portrait in his home? Bryan Kalbrosky and Blake Schuster have more. Yes, this is real. Yes, this is weird.
— This Toledo dunk tank in the snow is absolutely brutal. Cory has more for you here.
That’s all, folks. Thanks so much for reading TMW today. We appreciate you. Have a fantastic Wednesday.
Let’s chat again tomorrow. Until then, peace.
-Sykes ✌️