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🍎 Five things to know Monday

1. The Giants are the NFL's biggest winners from Week 7. In a division where seemingly nothing is going right this season, New York might just be on to something. The Giants have more reason to celebrate than essentially any other team this week after J.J. McCarthy surprisingly excelled in his first start with the team in a 27-21 overtime win on the road against the Texans. Further aiding the offense was a redemption game from Cam Skattebo, who set a career high in rushing yards one week after John Harbaugh benched him for his fumbling issues. Skattebo looked more like his usual self in the victory and is not backing down from his physical play style after being flagged for a rarely enforced penalty. Maybe that's exactly what this team needs as it pursues an NFC East crown.
2. The Brewers are halfway to their first World Series title. So much for the idea that a long layoff would hurt Milwaukee, because baseball's best team did not look the least bit rusty over the weekend. William Contreras was excellent in every phase in helping the Brewers take Game 1, and an unlikely hero stepped up in Game 2 when Sal Frelick delivered a game-tying home run to complete a four-run comeback. Of course, the National League champions remain formidable on the mound, too. Aaron Ashby has been the star of the bullpen and is now on the verge of MLB history. It doesn't hurt to get a little help from the Rays, too. Tampa Bay could not get out of its own way, especially in the Game 2 collapse. This series is far from over, but these four things have to go the Rays' way in order for them to erase the 2-0 deficit.
3. The college football rankings -- and the Big 12 -- are in disarray. Just when you think you have it all figured out, everything changes again. Every single team except for No. 1 Miami moved at least one spot in the Week 9 AP Top 25, and all but three teams switched spots in the Coaches Poll. The conference most responsible for the mayhem is the Big 12. BYU (which was ranked No. 2 for one week only) lost in double overtime at UCF, Texas Tech's quarterback troubles popped up again in a loss at Cincinnati and Utah is suddenly the team to beat in this league thanks to a win over Houston. With a pair of top-10 teams going down, the Big 12 now has to thread a needle in order to get multiple teams into the College Football Playoff.
4. College football's coaching carousel is officially off and running. The first major firing of the year came last week at Maryland, and two other schools moved on from their head coaches on Sunday. NC State sacked Dave Doeren in his 14th year at the helm and now faces the daunting task of replacing one of the greatest coaches in program history. Philip Rivers is on the shortlist of names under consideration, and while it would be an unconventional hire, the Wolfpack legend might just make sense. Baylor is also in search of a new leader with Dave Aranda out the door and should be an attractive destination for some of the best candidates in the West. On the assistant coaching carousel, offensive coordinator Drew Mehringer is out at Oregon following a rough eight-game start to his tenure. And now it's time for your annual reminder that being a fired college football coach is a highly lucrative business.
5. The WNBA Finals are level at two games apiece. The Valkyries constructed a 16-point halftime lead and closed it out for a 67-62 win over the Dream in Game 2, which knotted the series and guaranteed it will go at least six games. Gabby Williams was the leader of the charge, both vocally and by example. She ignited a fire in Golden State and scored a game-high 17 points to fuel the road win. Game 5 is set to unfold tonight in San Francisco, but Game 6's location is still up in the air due to a scheduling conflict at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.

👊 Do not miss this: UFC 333 features potential Fight of the Year

The featherweight championship bout between Alexander Volkanovski and Movsar Evloev was the main event at UFC 333 and was an excellent fight in its own right with Volkanovski retaining his title via second-round TKO. But the most entertaining bout of the night came in the prelims when Petr Yan defended his bantamweight championship against Merab Dvashvili. Yan won by unanimous decision in a thriller our Brent Brookhouse said might go down as the Fight of the Year. The win was one that only Yan could have pulled off, said Brian Campbell.

• Campbell: "For the second straight fight, Yan completely took away the superhuman part of Dvalishvili's game that the rest of the division -- throughout the former champion's incredible 14-fight win streak -- were routinely humbled by. Yan's combination of stamina, IQ, toughness and striking technique was legendary on this night as many began to call him, quite possibly, the best bantamweight fighter in history."

Earlier in the night, Aaron Pico scored a brutal knockout of Losene Keita and called out ranked fighters for avoiding him, and Lone'er Kavanagh bounced back from a loss with a knockout of Ramazan Temirov.

In the wake of these results, our experts would like to see the following fights scheduled, among others:

• Alexander Volkanovski vs. Jean Silva
• Aaron Pico vs. Yair Rodriguez
• Petr Yan vs. Sean O'Malley

And while we're looking ahead, the UFC 336 card is taking shape. The promotion announced a championship doubleheader as its co-main event for the Jan. 30 event in Toronto, which will be the first numbered event of 2027. Notably absent from the interim welterweight title fight is Islam Makhachev, and Dana White explained why he picked Carlos Prates and Michael Morales over him.

🤕 Jalen Williams injury deals huge blow to Thunder's title chances

The NBA season is not even a week old, yet injuries have already begun to impact the championship hunt. Multiple big-name players came out of the weekend with health concerns. None are more devastating than the gruesome leg injury Jalen Williams sustained Sunday night. The Thunder star appears destined to miss the remainder of the season after he was taken off the court on a stretcher.

Our Jack Maloney explained how significant this could be to Oklahoma City as it aims to lift a trophy at season's end.

• Maloney: "The Thunder made some moves around the margins this offseason but brought back their entire core and hoped to make another run at the title in a top-heavy Western Conference. Vegas oddsmakers agreed, tabbing OKC as the shortest favorite to win the NBA Finals. Williams' injury is a major blow to those chances. CBS Sports ranked Williams as the 20th-best player in the NBA."

The Magic are also the victims of brutal injury luck. Just minutes after Williams' awful leg issue occurred, Jalen Suggs went down with a scary-looking injury of his own as his knee buckled from underneath him on a layup. That followed Paolo Banchero's high-ankle sprain, which made us wonder whether Orlando is cursed.

And on Friday, reigning NBA Rookie of the Year Cooper Flagg sprained his shoulder when he found himself on the receiving end of a flagrant foul. He will be reevaluated in the coming days.

📝 NFL Week 7 takeaways

• Overreactions: Sunday's NFL action opened in Paris, where the Steelers topped the Saints in a 16-10 struggle. New Orleans' offensive woes and 2-5 record might lead you to think Kellen Moore needs to go, but we still think that's a step too far -- even though owner Gayle Benson called him out by name when she said the start to the season has been "not acceptable."
• Grades: Remember when the Ravens held a 13-0 lead over the Bengals in the third quarter? If you didn't watch the game and you saw the final score, you wouldn't believe it. They squandered that advantage by surrendering five touchdowns in the last 25 minutes. That kind of performance is worthy of a "D-" on our Week 7 report card.
• Injuries: The 49ers escaped an injury scare to Christian McCaffrey, who said he experienced a dead leg in their loss to the Falcons. But the Bears and Jaguars were not so fortunate. Chicago fears the knee injury Cole Kmet suffered on Thursday will end his season, and Jacksonville will be without left tackle Anton Harrison for the rest of the year due to a torn ACL.
• Milestones: Not only was he the winning quarterback in the NFL's first game in Paris, but Aaron Rodgers also made history by becoming the first quarterback to play in an international game in a different country in three straight years and by passing Peyton Manning into third place on the NFL's all-time regular season passing touchdown leaderboard. He also revealed that the league once had a much different plan for its international games.
• Highlights: He only had one catch in the game, but it was a big one for Marvin Harrison Jr. Watch him score his first touchdown in a Texans uniform.

🏈 College football Week 8 winners and losers

The last time there were only three undefeated teams remaining in college football through Oct. 24 was in 1977. Congratulations are in order for Miami, Utah and UCLA as the only three teams to survive the chaos of this historically unpredictable season. The Hurricanes are off to the best start of that trio as the clear-cut No. 1 team in the country and week after week prove that "The U" is very much back.

One storied program that cannot seem to revive its glory days, though, is USC. The Trojans (and more specifically, Lincoln Riley) are among the biggest losers of Week 8. 17 was the not-so-magic number for the Trojans, who lost by 17 points to Wisconsin and posted -17 rushing yards in an embarrassing defeat. It was the largest loss of Riley's career and one that amplifies the questions about his long-term future in Los Angeles. Our Brad Crawford says it's time for USC to scrap together a cool $70 million and pay Riley's buyout.

• Crawford: "Riley understands job expectations are high at USC, and it's already been widely reported this season that he's not necessarily safe if the Trojans fail to deliver with a CFP trip. Perhaps the wheels are further in motion after his second loss, a car that will be screeching off the tracks if the Trojans struggle in the coming weeks against the Buckeyes and Hoosiers prior to rivalry weekend next month."

Saturday delivered the full Texas experience. The Longhorns looked like championship contenders when they built a 24-3 lead over Ole Miss, then they showed their flaws when Arch Manning and the offense turned the ball over three times and let the Rebels back into the game. They held on for a seven-point win, but we were left less than enthusiastic by their performance and gave them a "B" on our report card. Losing star left tackle Trevor Goosby for the season with a knee injury does not inspire confidence in them, either.

Here are a few other grades from Week 8:

• LSU: A- (won 38-17 at Auburn)
• Alabama: C+ (won 31-20 vs. Texas A&M)
• Indiana: C (won 13-6 at Michigan)

👍👎 The best (and not-so-best) of the rest

• With star goalie Connor Hellebuyck headed to the Devils, we graded the blockbuster trade, which saw four players and two draft picks head back to the Jets.
• Saquon Barkley broke his silence on the Jalen Hurts blood clots situation, and other superstars spoke out about the Eagles' handling of his health.
• Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum aren't seeing eye to eye. Brown doesn't buy Tatum's recollection of the stunning Celtics-76ers trade, and while they claim there's no beef between them, there might be some lamb chops and gravy.
• The Ballon d'Or will be handed out this afternoon in London. Here's everything to know about the awards ceremony and our picks for the most prestigious award in soccer.
• The Fever shook up their front office with changes at president and general manager. The problems around Caitlin Clark go much deeper than that, though.
• As the college basketball season nears, we identified the nation's best defensive players, broke down the weekend's biggest exhibition games and determined which coaches do more with less in the NIL world.
• El Clasico went Real Madrid's way thanks to two goals from Kylian Mbappe. The win over Barcelona finally displayed their potential under Jose Mourinho.
• Friday in the NBA featured three remarkably clutch performances. Which one was the best?
• The NFL levied two fines to Fred Warner for one hit against a Commanders player in last week's 49ers win.
• Rob Manfred and the MLBPA addressed the salary cap fight that could lead to a baseball lockout.
• Meet the selections for the 2026 All-WNBA teams.
• Talk about a bad look -- the Knicks reportedly duped employees with championship ring email that was actually a phishing test.
• The boxing world now has a unified lightweight champion.
• Nikola Jokić had some stern words for a portion of the Nuggets' own fanbase.
• Another batch of players announced their exit from LIV Golf 2.0.
• Dalton Knecht signed with the Knicks, but will the former first-round pick actually find a role in New York?
• Sami Zayn and Trick Williams are set for a title match this week on WWE SmackDown.
• "Cream Abdul-Jabbar" is back. Robbie Avila is the latest college basketball star to win an eligibility ruling.
• Ex-NBA player Malik Beasley is negotiating a plea deal with the Department of Justice in an illegal sports betting case.

📺 What we're watching Monday

⚽ Ballon d'Or ceremony, 3 p.m. on DAZN
⚽ Lyon at Paris Saint-Germain, 3:30 p.m. on beIN Sports
🏒 Kings at Rangers, 7 p.m. on NHL Network
🏀 Mavericks at Heat, 7:30 p.m. on NBA TV
⚾ Game 3: Brewers at Rays, 8 p.m. on Fox
🏀 Game 5: Dream at Valkyries, 8 p.m. on USA Network
🏈 Cowboys at Eagles, 8:15 p.m. on ABC
🏀 Warriors at Nuggets, 10 p.m. on NBC Sports Network