The Sportsletter - Instant CFB Chaos 🏈

BY JEFF YODER

AUG. 26, 2024 |  SUBSCRIBE  |  WEB VIEW

Welcome Back 👋

The final weekend of August sports didn’t disappoint. Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge can’t stop making history. Georgia Tech delivered the first top-10 upset of the college football season — in the first game! Keegan Bradley won a thriller to tee up next week’s Tour Championship at East Lake. And to top it off, Florida won the Little League World Series for the first time ever on a wild finish (a walk-off bunt). 

Coming Up

• 🎾 The U.S. Open starts today in New York. It’s the final tennis major of 2024.
• 🏈 NFL Roster Cuts are coming tomorrow. We’ll have daily NFL coverage all week as we get ready for fantasy drafts, too. Stay tuned…

Letter Rip!

  CFB  

Another Top-10 Upset Opener? 

Photo: Brendan Moran / Getty Images

Georgia Tech Stuns #10 Florida State (24-21) to Continue Streak of Opening Week Top-10 Upsets in College Football

Week 0. Week 1. Whatever you want to call it. College football fans got their first time of live action over the weekend, albeit in Ireland, and a very weird trend continued. Florida State, the No. 10-ranked team in the preseason AP Poll and the most notable snub from the 2023 CFB Playoff, lost to Georgia Tech (24-21). Aside from a quick 8-0 burst by FSU, the Georgia Tech defense made life difficult for QB D.J. Uiagalelei (19/27, 193 yards, 0 TDs). Tech kicker Aidan Birr hit a walk-off field goal from 44 yards. One game. One top-10 upset. Believe it or not, it’s become a common theme to open the CFB season.

Top-10 Takedowns on Opening Weekend

Only ten top-10 teams in the modern AP Poll era have lost their opening weekend games to unranked opponents, but it’s happened in each of the last four seasons. Three of those four were ACC matchups.

Last 4 Seasons

• 2024: Georgia Tech def. #10 Florida State (24-21)
• 2023: Duke def. #9 Clemson (28-7)
• 2022: Florida def. #7 Utah (29-26)
• 2021: Virginia Tech def. #10 North Carolina (17-10)

Watch: Georgia Tech Stuns #10 Florida State to Open CFB Season

Read More

CBS Sports: Florida State’s CFB Playoff Outlook Already Looks Bleak

Yahoo! Sports: CFB Fans Made So Many Jokes About Florida State’s Lawsuit Against the ACC After Upset by Georgia Tech

  MLB  

Grand Entrance to the 40/40 Club

Photo: Katelyn Mulcahy / Getty Images

Shohei Ohtani Joins Exclusive 40/40 Club in the Most Amazing Way — A Walk-Off Grand Slam

Another exhilarating weekend of baseball centered around the two biggest stars in the game — Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge. While Judge ripped his 50th home run of the season on Sunday afternoon, it was Ohtani’s Friday night that was extra special. Shohei logged his 40th stolen base of the year before stepping to the plate with the bases loaded in the 9th of a tied game with the Rays (3-3). His 40th blast was a walk-off grand slam into a steamy Los Angeles night. A grand entrance! Dodgers win, 7-3. That made Shohei just the sixth member of the 40/40 club — 40 HRs and 40 stolen bases — joining names like Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, and Ronald Acuna Jr. He's also the fastest to join the 40/40 mark in a single season, and he followed it up with an encore 41st HR on Saturday.

Could we see the first 50/50 season in MLB history?

Watch: Ohtani Hits Walk-Off Grand Slam to Join 40/40 Club

Judge Watch (51 & Counting)

Aaron Judge Cranks 50 & 51 in 2-HR Day

Aaron Judge notched his 50th HR of the season on Sunday in the Bronx to help the Yankees beat the Rockies (10-3). That was in the 1st inning. Then he did it again in the 7th. That makes Judge just the fifth player in MLB history with at least three seasons of 50 or more HRs — Ruth, McGwire, Sosa, and A-Rod. He’s now on pace for 63.

Top MLB Highlights

Soto, Judge & Stanton Go Back-to-Back-to-Back

Rafael Devers Delivers 200th Career HR

Jackson Merrill Lifts 2nd Walk-Off HR of Rookie Season

  GOLF  

Bradley Goes From 'Last In' to 'Win'

Photo: Harry How / Getty Images

Keegan Bradley (-12) Wins BMW Championship by 1 Stroke to Keep FedExCup Playoff Hopes Alive

The next U.S. Ryder Cup captain just gave fans a surprise in Colorado. Keegan Bradley was the final golfer (50th) in the field for Round 2 of the FedExCup Playoffs at the BMW Championship at Castle Pines. He led after Round 1 and fought off a wave of challengers all weekend to win the tournament for the second time in his career. Bradley (-12) went shot-for-shot with Adam Scott (-11) and Ludvig Aberg (-11) for most of the final round. Sam Burns (-11) came screaming up the leaderboard with a 65 on Sunday, but he didn’t have enough juice to track down Bradley. The 2025 Ryder Cup captain held a two-stroke lead on the 18th and safely bogeyed for the win. It’s his second time winning the BMW Championship, and he’ll start fourth in starting strokes next weekend after a 2,000-point boost in the points standings. As expected, it’ll be the field chasing Scottie Scheffler at East Lake.

BMW Championship Leaderboard (Final)

1. Keegan Bradley (-12)

T2. Sam Burns (-11)

T2. Adam Scott (-11)

T2. Ludvig Aberg (-11)

T5. Cam Davis (-8)

T5. Xander Schauffele (-8)

T5. Tommy Fleetwood (-8)

T5. Si Woo Kim (-8)

Other Notable Scorecards: C. Kirk (-7), A. Noren (-7), S. Im (-6), R. McIlroy (-6), T. Finau (-5), W. Zalatoris (-5), P. Cantlay (-5), W. Clark (-5), V. Hovland (-2), C. Morikawa (-1), S. Scheffler (+1), J. Thomas (+2) | FedEx Cup Points Standings

Watch: Keegan Bradley Goes Wire-to-Wire to Win BMW Championship

Read More

Yahoo! Sports: Keegan Bradley, the Last Man in the Field, Hangs On to Win in Colorado

PGA: Tour Championship: How ‘FedExCup Starting Strokes’ & Payouts Work

  EXTENDED HIGHLIGHTS   🎥

⚾️ Little League World Series

Florida def. Chinese Taipei (2-1)

Lake Mary Wins Florida’s 1st LLWS Title on 8th-Inning Walk-Off Bunt

⚽️ Soccer

Columbus Beats LAFC for Leagues Cup (3-1)

Crew Score 2 Goals in Stoppage Time

Bayern Rally in Bundesliga Opener (3-2)

Serge Gnabry Scores Match-Winner in 82nd Minute

Chelsea Crush Wolverhampton in EPL (6-2)

Noni Madueke Scores 2nd Half Hat Trick

🏀 WNBA

Sun def. Liberty (72-64)

Several Technicals Late in Fiery Finish

Lynx def. Fever (90-80)

Collier (31 pts) Helps Lynx Clinch Playoff Berth

Aces def. Sky (77-75)

A’ja Wilson (20 pts, 18 rebs) Hits Game-Winner

Wings def. Sparks (113-110)

Ogunbowale (33 pts), DAL Overcomes 19-Point 4Q Deficit

⛳️ LPGA Women’s Open

Lydia Ko (-7) Wins at St. Andrews

Claims 3rd Career Major (1st in 8 Years) Just 2 Weeks After Olympic Gold

🏈 NFL Preseason

Saints’ Samson Nacua's 106-Yard Runback

Cowboys’ Backup QB Trey Lance Throws 5 INTs

Raiders vs. 49ers Game Ends in Tie (24-24)

Jets Beat Giants (10-6) in Annual NYC Preseason Game

 🏁 Racing

NAS: Harrison Burton Gets 1st Cup Series Win at Daytona

F1: Lando Norris Holds Off Max Verstappen to Win Dutch Grand Prix

  NEWS   📰 

⚾️ Babe Ruth’s ‘Called Shot’ World Series Yankees Jersey Sells for Record $24 Million (B/R)

🏈 Ravens O-Line Coach Joe D’Alessandris Dies at Age 70 From Acute Illness (ESPN)

🏀 Minnesota Lynx Retire Maya Moore’s Jersey After Beating Caitlin Clark (Yahoo! Sports)

🏅 Swedish Olympian Mondo Duplantis Breaks Pole Vault World Record Again (SI)

🏈 Mike Tomlin Says Steelers Will Choose QB1 Sometime This Week (CBS Sports)

🏈 Washington Commanders to Honor Sean Taylor With Statue (B/R)

🏀 Magic Johnson Takes Vicious Shot at Anthony Edwards Over 90s Era Comments (SI)

⚾️ Umpire Carted Off After Being Hit by Broken Bat in Yankees-Rockies Game (CBS Sports)

  STORYLINES    

🏈 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet

Not too long ago, newsstands featured magazines where you could pick up hundreds of pages of fantasy advice. These days, copious amounts of information are available across the internet. Being ill-prepared is simply unacceptable. (Sporting News)

🎾 ‘As Open As I’ve Ever Seen It’

The final grand slam of the tennis season is upon us – and the US Open might be the most enthralling of the year. Emotions are high after the Olympics schedule. Can Coco Gauff and Novak Djokovic defend their titles in a wide-open field? (CNN)

  SCHEDULE   🗓️

Today's Must-Watch List

🎾 U.S. Open

1st Round Schedule (11:00 am ET—TBD, ESPN)

⚾️ MLB

Royals at Guardians (1:10 pm ET, MLBN)

Astros at Phillies (6:40 pm ET, FS1)

Rays at Mariners (9:40 pm ET, FS1)

🏀 WNBA

Fever at Dream (7:30 pm ET, NBATV)

Liberty at Mercury (10:00 pm ET, NBATV)

  THE TEAM  

Writer & Editor: Jeff Yoder

Assistant Writer: Marissa Kasch

Social Media: Aaron Yorke

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