Turkey with a side of drama

The GIST: The College Football Playoff (CFP) is fast approaching, with just two more rankings drops, one week of regular-season play, and conference championship action remaining. Time is running out for teams hoping to punch their postseason ticket — here’s how the playoff picture looks after last night’s CFP rankings reveal:

Who moved up: Most notably, No. 5 Notre Dame. The Irish avoided being bit by the upset bug that plagued college football over the weekend and routed Army 49–14. That alone was enough to move them into the top five, just behind No. 1 Oregon, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Texas, and No. 4 Penn State, meaning if the season ended today, Notre Dame would host a first-round game. Home sweet home.

Who dropped out: No. 13 Alabama and No. 14 Ole Miss both have three losses, which spells trouble in this competitive field. After Bama failed to score a touchdown against Oklahoma and Ole Miss was upset by Florida last Saturday, both SEC squads currently find themselves without CFP spots, while three of their conference foes — No. 3 Texas, No. 7 Georgia, and No. 8 Tennessee — are currently in.

What’s coming up: A rivalry showdown between No. 12 Clemson and No. 15 South Carolina this Saturday at 12 p.m. ET, which could turn out to be a play-in game for the CFP. South Carolina’s one of the hottest teams in the country, riding a five-game win streak that includes three victories over ranked opponents.

• Clemson, meanwhile, has taken advantage of their weak ACC schedule and is currently 9-2 on the season. It’s not the biggest matchup of the season, but that didn’t stop Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney from calling out ESPN College GameDay for not showing up for this rivalry showdown.

The GIST: The Maui Invitational always delivers some of the best men’s November basketball, and this year is no exception. From top-five matchups to wild upsets, the Aloha State has it all.

• Here’s the latest from the prestigious three-day tourney, plus other happenings in the men’s game.

Two-time defending champs No. 2 UConn get upset…twice: Hawaii is paradise unless you’re the Huskies, who were upset by two unranked teams in the past two days. First, they lost 99–97 to Memphis in overtime on Monday after head coach Dan Hurley received a late-game technical.

• Then, the Colorado Buffaloes upset UConn again yesterday by beating them 73–72. Pure chaos.

No. 4 Auburn sneaks past No. 5 Iowa State: In another exciting first-round Monday matchup, Auburn outscored Iowa State 50–32 (!!!) in the second half to secure an 83–81 come-from-behind victory. Senior forward Johni Broome led the way with a double-double, posting 21 points and 10 rebounds.

• And the Tigers kept the party going, topping No. 12 UNC 85–72 in last night’s late game. They’ll play for the championship today at 5 p.m. ET against Memphis. Pick a Tiger, any Tiger.

Other tournament matchups: In a matchup between two historic programs, Kansas got the better of Duke with a 75–72 win. Freshman star Cooper Flagg continued to do Cooper Flagg things with another double-digit performance, but his 13 points weren’t enough to hand the Jayhawks their first loss of the season, even after Hunter Dickinson’s second half ejection.

The GIST: Fresh off their Sunday upset of defending champs South Carolina, UCLA received the No. 1 spot in the AP Poll for the first time in school history on Monday — a perfect prelude to an exciting week of women’s hoops. Here are the must-watch games to feast on today.

No. 7 LSU vs. No. 20 NC State — 1:30 p.m. ET: LSU head coach Kim Mulkey typically keeps her team’s non-conference schedule light, so this will be the Tigers’ biggest test of the season after narrowly surviving unranked Washington by a single point on Monday.

• Meanwhile, NC State has already faced tough competition this season, but they’ve struggled against contending opponents. Can they pull off a lunchtime stunner?

No. 13 Duke vs. No. 8 Oklahoma — 4:30 p.m. ET: The Blue Devils are coming off a hot shooting performance in their Monday win against No. 9 Kansas State, where junior guard Ashlon Jackson dropped 30 points. As for Oklahoma, they boast one of the best centers in the game in junior Raegan Beers. It’s guards vs. bigs, who ya got?

No. 18 Ole Miss vs. No. 2 UConn — 7:30 p.m. ET: UConn’s dynamic guard duo of Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd will contend with Ole Miss’ suffocating defense in this can’t-miss top-25 matchup. The Huskies are averaging 79.4 points per game, while Ole Miss holds opponents to just 46.6 points on average — something’s gotta give.

No. 19 Illinois vs. No. 14 Kentucky — 8 p.m. ET: Illinois is riding high after earning its highest AP ranking in the last three seasons on Monday, and a win over a Kentucky team led by Georgia Amoore, would only boost their standing. Both teams are also undefeated… drama, incoming.

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