Yahoo Sports AM: Crowded at the top

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🚨 Headlines

🏀 Loyd wants out: Perennial WNBA All-Star Jewell Loyd has requested a trade from the Seattle Storm. The two-time champion was reportedly at the center of complaints about bullying and harassment by the Storm coaching staff.

🏈 National Signing Day: College football's early signing period began Wednesday, and there was no shortage of activity among 2025 recruits. Oregon currently has the No. 1 class, per Rivals, followed by Georgia, Ohio State, Texas and Alabama.

⚾️ Korean star to MLB: Hyeseong Kim has been posted by the Kiwoom Heroes of the KBO (South Korea's top league). MLB teams have until Jan. 3 to work out a deal for the 25-year-old second baseman, who hit .326 last year with 41 extra-base hits and 30 steals.

🏀 Irving lawsuit: Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving is being sued for allegedly declining to pay a $390k bill for a 150-person family retreat this summer, which ended early due to a "tragic death of a participant."

⚽️ Back in the win column: Manchester City beat Nottingham Forest, 3-0, to snap a seven-game winless streak across all competitions. The four-time reigning champs hadn't won a Premier league match since October.

🏈 No breathing room for the 11-1 Lions

The Lions are 11-1, haven't lost since mid-September and sit atop our NFL power rankings for the sixth consecutive week. Usually, a team in that position has some breathing room. But for Detroit, there's little room for error as the schedule flips to Week 14.

From Yahoo Sports' Frank Schwab:

In 1999, the Titans went 13-3 but finished second in their division to the 14-2 Jaguars, giving Tennessee the distinction of having the most wins for a wild-card team in NFL history. The 1986 Bears, 1998 Falcons and 2004 Patriots are the only teams ever to win 14 games and not get a No. 1 seed.

This season could end up being a historical anomaly in the NFC. Usually when a team like the Detroit Lions is 11-1 and seemingly headed toward 15 or 16 wins, it doesn't have to worry much about winning its division or getting a No. 1 seed. But the Eagles and Vikings, both at 10-2, might keep the pressure on all season.

The Lions have the NFL's third-hardest remaining schedule, according to Tankathon, which doesn't help. The Vikings are fourth, and part of the problem for each team is they play each other in Week 18 at Detroit. Philadelphia, meanwhile, has the 23rd toughest remaining schedule.

And don't forget about Green Bay… The 9-3 Packers visit the Lions tonight in a high-stakes NFC North clash. If Green Bay wins, Detroit will have yet another 10-win team on its tail, further crowding the race for the division crown and No. 1 seed.

💵 Clarkonomics

Caitlin Clark only earned $100,000 playing basketball this year ($76,535 WNBA base salary plus bonuses), but she was still the 10th highest-paid female athlete in the world, per Sportico's 2024 calculations.

How is that possible? Endorsement deals, of course. Thanks to her lucrative partnerships with brands like Nike, Gatorade and State Farm, Clark's overall earnings in 2024 were $11.1 million. That puts her on par with Simone Biles, who had a similar salary/endorsement mix.

The Caitlin Effect: Clark was responsible for 26.5% of WNBA economic activity during the 2024 season (attendance, merch sales, TV viewership), one expert told the Indianapolis Star. That's crazy. Even crazier? One of every six tickets sold at a WNBA arena this past year can be attributed to Clark.

📸 In photos: Hump Day hoops

For the first time since December 10, 1983, three of the AP Top 5 men's college basketball teams lost on the same night in non-conference games. And this comes one day after unranked Clemson upset No. 4 Kentucky. December Madness!

Omaha, Nebraska — Fans stormed the court after unranked Creighton upset No. 1 Kansas, 76-63, to hand the Jayhawks their first loss. The Bluejays have now beaten a No. 1 team at home in back-to-back seasons, following last year's win over UConn.

Durham, N.C. — No. 9 Duke knocked off No. 2 Auburn, 84-78, behind freshmen studs Cooper Flagg (22 pts, 11 reb) and Isaiah Evans (18 pts, 6-8 3PT). That was the extent of the good for the ACC, which went 2-14 in the ACC-SEC Challenge this week. Woof.

Storrs, Connecticut — No. 25 UConn came back from an early deficit to defeat No. 15 Baylor, 76-72, and help the Big East take a 4-2 lead in the Big East-Big 12 Battle. Dan Hurley was so hyped at one point he head-butted his own player.

Ames, Iowa — Keshon Gilbert (24 pts, 7 ast) and No. 6 Iowa State beat No. 5 Marquette, 81-70, to win their 22nd straight game at Hilton Coliseum. Huge victory for Cyclone Nation; now their attention turns to Saturday's Big 12 title game on the gridiron.

More from Wednesday: No. 10 Alabama beat No. 20 UNC, 94-79, in a rematch of last year's Sweet 16 matchup, which Alabama also won … Unranked Mississippi State blew out No. 18 Pitt by 33 points … Belmont beat Illinois State, 99-97 (OT), on a buzzer-beater.

⚽️ Club World Cup 2025: What to know

The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup is still months away, but the buzz is building ahead of today's draw, where the 32 participating teams will be sorted into groups ahead of the first-of-its-kind event hosted by the U.S.

Who's in the field? The Club World Cup is modeled after soccer's actual World Cup, with one key difference: top professional clubs (like Real Madrid), rather than national teams (like Spain), are the contestants.

Europe (12): Manchester City (England), Chelsea (England), Real Madrid (Spain), Atlético Madrid (Spain), Bayern Munich (Germany), Borussia Dortmund (Germany), Juventus (Italy), Inter Milan (Italy), PSG (France), Benfica (Portugal), Porto (Portugal), RB Salzburg (Austria)

North America (5): Inter Miami (U.S.), Seattle Sounders (U.S.), Monterrey (Mexico), Pachuca (Mexico), León (Mexico)

South America (6): Flamengo (Brazil), Palmeiras (Brazil), Fluminense (Brazil), Botafogo (Brazil), River Plate (Argentina), Boca Juniors (Argentina)

Asia (4): Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia), Ulsan (South Korea), Urawa Reds (Japan), Al Ain (UAE)

Africa (4): Al Ahly (Egypt), Wydad (Morocco), Espérance (Tunisia), Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa)

Oceania (1): Auckland City (New Zealand)

Where will games be played? The tournament begins June 15 at Hard Rock Stadium (Miami) and concludes July 13 at MetLife Stadium (East Rutherford, NJ), with 10 other venues hosting matches along the way. The full schedule should be released soon after today's draw.

📆 Dec. 5, 1968: The Esposito brothers

56 years ago today, Bruins center Phil Esposito spoiled his younger brother Tony's NHL debut, scoring twice on the young Canadiens' goalie in a 2-2 tie.

Hall of Fame siblings: The Esposito brothers are both enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame and are considered among the best ever at their positions.

Phil played 18 years for the Bruins, Rangers and Blackhawks, winning two MVPs and two Stanley Cups. He was the first NHL player to eclipse 100 points in a season (1968-69) and is one of four skaters with at least four 60-goal seasons.

Tony won that season's Stanley Cup with Montreal before spending the rest of his 16-year career with the Blackhawks. He won three Vezina Trophies (top goalie) and popularized the now-ubiquitous "butterfly style" of goaltending.

Origin story: The Espositos spent their childhood playing hockey together on their backyard rink in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. And according to Phil, that's where their future positions were cemented.

"Tony and I would play by ourselves or we'd get two other guys and practice shooting. One guy would be the goaltender and the others would shoot, and the guy with the fewest goals would take over in goal. Tony won't like me saying this, but he always lost. I guess you could say that's how he wound up as a goalie."

📺 Watchlist: NFC North showdown

The Lions host the Packers tonight(8:15pm ET, Prime) as Detroit (11-1) looks to extend its 10-game win streak and Green Bay (9-3) looks to tighten the NFC North race.

Wild stat: If the Lions win tonight, they will have more 12-win seasons in the last two years (2) than they did in their first 93 seasons (1).

More to watch:

🏀 NBA: Nuggets at Cavaliers (7pm, NBA); Rockets at Warriors (10pm, NBA)

🏀 NCAAW: No. 14 Kentucky at No. 16 North Carolina (5pm, ESPN2); No. 4 Texas at No. 10 Notre Dame (7pm, ESPN); No. 8 Duke at No. 3 South Carolina (9pm, ESPN)

🏀 NCAAM: No. 8 Purdue at Penn State (6:30pm, FS1)

⚽️ Premier League: Fulham vs. Brighton (2:30pm, Peacock); Bournemouth vs. Tottenham (3:15pm, USA)

⛳️ PGA: Hero World Challenge (10:45am, ESPN+; 1:30pm, Golf) … Scottie Scheffler headlines the 20-man event in the Bahamas, hosted by Tiger Woods.

🏐 NCAA Volleyball Tournament*: First round (3:30-9:30pm, ESPN+) … The first 18 games in the 64-team bracket.

*Top seeds: Pitt, which has made the Final Four three years in a row but never won, is the No. 1 overall seed. The other No. 1 seeds are Nebraska, Penn State and Louisville.

🏈 College football trivia

Four FBS programs that changed conferences this year will play for a league championship this weekend in their inaugural seasons.

Question: Can you name those four programs?

Answer at the bottom.

🏈 Trade proposal: Football team for fighter jets

The 2024 NFL trade deadline has passed, but the Commanders could still be involved in a major swap, writes Yahoo Sports' Jack Baer.

Let's make a deal: Maryland senators Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen have proposed a trade that would allow D.C. to lure the Commanders from their current home at Northwest Stadium (formerly FedEx Field) in Landover, Maryland.

D.C. gets: Maryland senators not opposing a bill that would allow the District to redevelop the RFK Stadium site, where the Commanders franchise played from 1961-96.

Maryland gets: One of D.C.'s two Air National Guard squadrons (and the only one with fighter jets), and assurances about what would be built in place of Northwest Stadium.

My take as a D.C. resident… The Commanders belong in the nation's capital. I am willing to donate my fighter jet for this cause, and I encourage my fellow Washingtonians to also consider donating their fighter jets to Maryland.

Trivia answer: Texas (SEC), Oregon (Big Ten), Arizona State (Big 12), SMU (ACC)

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