Volume 26:5

Super Bowl Preview

To find the Super Bowl Preview, read V26:4 after finishing today’s volume.

NFL Award Winners

MVP: Matthew Stafford

Stafford beat Drake Maye by five points (366-361). Stafford was 37 years old this past season and threw for 4,707 yards and 46 TDs.

DPOY: Myles Garrett

Garrett won his second defensive player of the year award. He totaled 23 sacks, which was the new single season sack record. He was dominant all season and an easy choice for DPOY.

OROY: Tetairoa McMillan

The eighth pick in the 2025 draft, Tetairoa McMillan won offensive rookie of the year. The young Panthers wide receiver had 1,014 yards and seven touchdowns. He also helped lead the Panthers to a surprise playoff berth.

POTY: Joe Thuney

Thuney won the first Protector of the Year award in his first season with the Chicago Bears. After being traded from Kansas City to Chicago, Thuney was dominant, as he did not allow a sack all season. 

CPOY: Christian McCaffery

CMC won comeback player of the year. He had a dominant 2025 season after a 2024 season where he played only four games.

COTY: Mike Vrabel

Vrabel won coach of the year after turning the Patriots around from a four-win team to a 14-win team in one year. Vrabel also coached New England to Super Bowl 60 this Sunday. With a win versus Seattle, Vrabel will be the first person to win a Super Bowl as a player and coach with the same franchise.

ACOY: Josh McDaniels

McDaniels was Vrabel’s assistant during New England’s turn around and for that reason he won this award.

DROY: Carson Schwesinger

Schwesinger won defensive rookie of the year, helping the Browns sweep the defensive awards. He was the signal caller on defense in his rookie year. He had 146 tackles, 11 TFLs, and two INTs. He was great at linebacker and look for him to just get better. The Browns defense is looking scary with Garrett, Schwesinger, and five-time Pro Bowler Denzel Ward, who is one of the best CBs in the league.

OPOY: Jaxon Smith-Njigba

JSN led the league with 1,793 yards receiving and also helped lead his Seattle Seahawks to a Super Bowl berth. He scored ten TDs this season and has had two great postseason games.

NFL Hall of Fame Class

The NFL Hall of Fame inductees this year are: Drew Brees, Larry Fitzgerald, Roger Craig, Luke Kuechly, and Adam Vinateri.

In his career, Brees had 80,358 passing yards, 571 TD passes, and a 67.7% completion percentage. Brees, a Super Bowl MVP and 13-time Pro Bowler, made the Hall of Fame on his first ballot. Brees likely would have been the best QB of his era if Tom Brady wasn’t during that same era. Brees is one of the best to ever do it and truly deserves this first ballot hall of fame induction.

Larry Fitzgerald was the best WR of his time and one of the best all time. He was inducted as a first ballot hall of famer thanks to his 1,431 catches and 17,492 receiving yards. Those two stats are second all time to only Jerry Rice. Fitzgerald made 11 pro bowls during his 17-year career.

Roger Craig was a four-time Pro Bowler and three time Super Bowl champion. In 1985, he had 1,000 receiving and rushing yards becoming the first player ever to reach that mark in the same season.

Luke Kuechly won both Defensive rookie of the year and Defensive player of the year. He was a seven time Pro Bowler in his eight year career. The Panthers linebacker had 18 career INTs.

Adam Vinateri may very well be the best kicker all time. During his 24 year career, he won four Super Bowls. He made 29 game winning field goals in his career. He has attempted and made the most FGs in NFL history. He is also the NFL’s all time leading scorer with 2,673 points. 

CT Bracketology

From now until March the CT, will be tracking Men’s College Basketball and putting out a projected March Madness bracket. So without further ado, here is the first CT bracketology. 68 teams make March Madness with 31 automatic bids from Conference Champions. The CT does have projected conference champions. There are six 11 and 16 seeds to get to 68 teams. The bottom four 11 seeds and bottom four 16 seeds are projected to be in the play in games. The spotlight this week is Villanova.

1 Michigan (Big 10 Champion)

1 Duke (ACC Champion)

1 Arizona

1 UConn (Big East Champion)

2 Illinois

2 Gonzaga (WCC Champion)

2 Houston

2 Kansas (Big 12 Champion)

3 Nebraska

3 Texas Tech

3 Michigan State

3 North Carolina

4 Iowa State

4 Purdue

4 Kentucky (SEC Champion)

4 Louisville

5 BYU

5 Florida

5 Virginia

5 Vanderbilt

6 St John’s

6 Arkansas

6 Clemson

6 Saint Louis (A-10 Champion)

7 Miami (OH) (Mac Champion)

7 NC State

7 Auburn

7 Villanova

The Villanova Wildcats are 17-5 and third in the Big East. Being in the weakest power conference has helped Nova surge back up to relevance. The Wildcats have a 96% to make the NCAA Tournament and are nearly locks. Seton Hall is still chasing them and they are looking up at UConn and St John’s. Nova is in a great position to make the tournament but they could make noise. Four of their five losses are to ranked teams (Michigan, BYU, UConn, St John’s) and their only other loss is to a shaky Creighton squad. Villanova swept Seton Hall in the regular season. With seven regular season games left, Villanova can cause chaos. With matchups versus UConn and @ St John’s, the Wildcats are not done yet. And they won’t be done in March.

8 Tennessee

8 Wisconsin

8 Alabama

8 UCLA

9 Oklahoma State

9 Iowa

9 Georgia

9 Missouri

10 UCF

10 Saint Mary’s

10 USC

10 Miami

11 Utah State

11 Texas A&M

11 Seton Hall

11 California

11 New Mexico

11 Tulsa (AAC Champion)

12 Liberty (C-USA Champion)

12 Yale (Ivy League Champion)

12 Stephen F Austin (Southland Champion)

12 Grand Canyon (MW Champion)

13 Belmont (MVC Champion)

13 High Point (Big South Champion)

13 UT Martin (OVC Champion)

13 UNC Wilmington (CAA Champion)

14 Portland State (Big Sky Champion)

14 North Dakota State (Summit Champion)

14 East Tennessee State Southern Champion)

14 Austin Peay (ASUN Champion)

15 California Baptist (WAC Champion)

15 Troy (Sun Belt Champion)

15 Navy (Patriot Champion)

15 UC Irvine (Big West Champion)

16 Merrimack (MAAC Champion)

16 Long Island (Northeast Champion)

16 Howard (MEAC Champion)

16 Wright State (Horizon League Champion)

16 NJIT (America East Champion)

16 Bethune-Cookman (SWAC Champion)

Women’s College Basketball Look Ahead

There is one question being asked in Women’s College Basketball: are the four one seeds already determined? UConn, UCLA, Texas, and South Carolina have all been playing dominant basketball en route to being the top four teams in the country. These teams all look like they are no brainers to run the table and be the one seeds come March. All four of these teams seem like they can drop a pair of games and still be one seeds. Texas’s recent win over 5th ranked LSU seemingly solidified that. The defending champs, the UConn Huskies, are ranked #1 and are still undefeated this season. UConn has a 40-game win streak spanning back to last season. UCLA is undefeated in Big 10 play and ranked 2nd. UCLA and UConn both look poised to run the rest of the schedule and their conference tournaments to being the top 2 teams in March Madness. For Texas and South Carolina, it is a bit more iffy. South Carolina is on top of the SEC with Texas at 4th. These two teams split the regular season series. Five of South Carolina’s last six games are versus ranked opponents. The Gamecocks will be favored in all of those and can still be a 1 seed with a loss. Texas however is in a very tough situation with three remaining away games at ranked teams. So, are these one seed’s determined or has the dust not yet settled?

Premier League Title Race

The Premier League season is two-thirds of the way in. That means that people are starting to look forward to who will win the best soccer league in the world. League leaders Arsenal have a six-point advantage over second place Manchester City. Machester City is just above Aston Villa and Manchester United. Arsenal may be running away with the title, but anything can happen.