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Afternoon Edition

December 30, 2025

College basketball coaches are frustrated and confused as the NCAA lets more players with pro experience into the college ranks.

— Margaret Fleming [[link removed]], David Rumsey [[link removed]], and Eric Fisher [[link removed]]

Coaches ‘Just Want to Know the Rules’ on NCAA Eligibility Chaos

Chris Jones-Imagn Images

College basketball coaches are protesting recent eligibility changes and criticizing the NCAA for allowing schools to bring on players with professional experience [[link removed]].

“We just want to know the rules so we can abide by them,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said on Monday [[link removed]]. “We don’t know what’s going on.”

The criticism grew louder on Monday night after college basketball reporter Jeff Goodman posted on X/Twitter an NCAA statement [[link removed]] he received after asking whether players with NBA experience are eligible to play college basketball.

“Schools are recruiting and seeking eligibility for more individuals with more international, semi-pro and professional experience than ever before and while the NCAA members have updated many rules following the House [v. NCAA] injunction, more rules must likely be updated to reflect the choices member schools are making,” the NCAA’s statement read. “At the same time, NCAA eligibility rules have been invalidated by judges across the country wreaking havoc on the system and leading to fewer opportunities for high school students, which is why the Association is asking Congress to intervene in these challenges.”

This month, schools have begun picking up former European professional players, such as Toni Bilić [[link removed]] to Illinois and Lucas Langarita [[link removed]] to Utah. Then, Baylor added former NBA draft pick James Nnaji [[link removed]], who the NCAA said could play immediately. Over the weekend, On3 first reported [[link removed]] that Chicago Bulls two-way player Trentyn Flowers [[link removed]], who has appeared in eight NBA games, had also received college interest.

The NCAA’s statement makes several things clear. First, the organization is not taking responsibility, instead trying to shift the onus to “the choices member schools are making” and judges’ rulings that are “wreaking havoc on the system.” Consequentially, the NCAA draws a direct line between the eligibility chaos and its fight to get antitrust exemption from Congress.

“Translated: We are going to grant eligibility to pro athletes that schools choose to recruit and enroll, because we think it will help us get a federal law with an antitrust exemption passed,” sports lawyer Mit Winter posted. [[link removed]] Winter said in a subsequent post [[link removed]] that the NCAA’s stance “is an open invitation for schools to start recruiting NBA players.”

Several college basketball coaches commented on the eligibility situation Monday on social media or after their games. “Yikes,” Xavier coach Richard Pitino [[link removed]] responded to Goodman’s post.

“I’d like to get a 36-year-old with four kids and hungry for a job, I’d like to get one of those guys,” Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell quipped [[link removed]] when asked about bringing new players in midseason.

After Arkansas’s win Monday night over James Madison, coach John Calipari spoke for almost seven minutes [[link removed]] about college eligibility in his postgame press conference. “If you go pro, I don’t care what country you’re from, if you leave your name in, you cannot play college basketball,” Calipari said. “We can do it without having Congress and the Senate getting 60 votes.”

“It’s a frustrating game to play when you don’t know the rules and rules are being made up as you go and there’s no communication and there’s no leadership. So, I think college basketball needs a commissioner,” UConn coach Dan Hurley told CBS Sports [[link removed]] on Monday night.

“Somebody that’s gonna make decisions and start making moves that are in the best interest of college basketball, not just having coaches and players do what’s in the best interest of them.”

For more on the debate over NCAA eligibility and professional players, read Margaret Fleming’s full story here [[link removed]].

SPONSORED BY AT&T BUSINESS

The WNBA and WNBPA agreed to a second extension of their current collective bargaining agreement just minutes before the first extension expired on Nov. 30. The CBA now runs through Jan. 9, 2026. [[link removed]]

The league initially proposed a 21-day extension, while the union countered with six weeks on Nov. 30, the day the original CBA was set to expire, a source told Front Office Sports. Both sides ultimately agreed to extend the agreement by nearly six weeks. As with the previous extension, either party can opt out with 48 hours’ notice.

Check out the women’s sports content hub [[link removed]], presented by AT&T, to read the full story [[link removed]] and stay up to date on all things women’s sports.

NFL Playoff Seeding Questions Back in Spotlight As Week 18 Looms [[link removed]]

Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

The NFL’s playoff seeding structure—and the value of competing late in the year—is coming into focus as the regular season concludes.

While an entertaining Week 18 slate includes several pivotal matchups that should make for good TV [[link removed]], not every postseason-bound team is putting its best foot forward.

The Chargers will rest quarterback Justin Herbert against the Broncos, opting to start backup Trey Lance instead. Los Angeles is not locked into a playoff seed in the AFC, and it could end up anywhere between No. 5 and No. 7. Denver, already having clinched the AFC West, can earn the conference’s top seed with a win.

The winner of the AFC North—either the Steelers (9–7) or Ravens (8–8)—will have a worse record than all three AFC wild-card teams, and host a wild-card game. That’s also the case in the NFC for the eventual winner of the NFC South, either the Panthers (8–8) or Buccaneers (7–9).

Meanwhile, the Packers are locked in to the NFC’s No. 7 seed.

Seeding Strategy

Last offseason, a proposal to alter the NFL’s playoff seeding system had some support from commissioner Roger Goodell.

The rule change, which was ultimately tabled [[link removed]], would have eliminated guaranteed home games for division champions and instead seeded conference playoff participants strictly on win-loss records.

“The question is at some point, if you’re not .500 or better, do you deserve the ability to have a home game, too? I think that’s pretty hard to argue,” Goodell said in April [[link removed]].

Last season, the Rams rested many starters in their regular-season finale, despite not yet being locked in to a playoff seed. As the NFL considers expanding the regular season to 18 games, Goodell and other league officials likely will be focused on making sure late-season games still have importance.

NFL owners will next meet in March and again in May, when they could take another look at changing playoff seeding or any other league rules.

NHL Playoff Race: Why Almost Every Team Is Still in the Hunt [[link removed]]

Bob Frid-Imagn Images

Extreme parity has hit the National Hockey League, reshaping the sport’s competitive landscape.

As most teams hit the halfway point in their 2025–26 schedules this week, the NHL’s standings are showing a clustering that is unprecedented in league history.

Entering Tuesday’s action, all 16 teams in the Eastern Conference were at a .500 points percentage or better, were within 11 standings points of one another, and no team was more than four points out of the final playoff spot. The Western Conference is somewhat more spread out, with five teams below .500 and 31 points between the dominant Avalanche and cellar-dwelling Blackhawks.

Still, the NHL’s 27 teams with a points percentage of .500 or better are meaningfully more than the 23 at the midpoint of the 2024–25 schedule, a figure that held to the end of the regular season.

“You look at the standings and if you’re on the top of the mountain, you’re really not on top of the mountain,” said Red Wings coach Todd McLellan. “You’re in the middle of the forest. It’s so tight.”

The league’s hard salary cap, set this year at $95.5 million [[link removed]], certainly is part of the reason for the heightened parity. This season’s compressed schedule, due to the upcoming Winter Olympics in Italy, is another factor. So, too, is a series of team transitions, such as the elevation of the Sharks—the NHL’s worst team last year—into playoff contention due in large part to the scoring exploits of teenage phenom Macklin Celebrini [[link removed]].

The widespread competitiveness is also aiding many of the league’s core business metrics, with attendance up slightly and many of the league’s local and national broadcasters posting viewership increases in double-digit percentages.

Jeff Curry-Imagn Images Resurgence in Buffalo

Part of the clustering in the standings is also due to the Sabres, who have forcefully reentered the postseason race with a nine-game winning streak. Buffalo will go for a 10th consecutive win Wednesday night in Dallas, which would tie a franchise record.

The surge is happening as the Sabres installed Jarmo Kekäläinen as GM [[link removed]] earlier this month, and his arrival has quickly produced results. Fans are also beginning to take notice, with the last two home games at KeyBank Center selling out and showing a vastly different energy in what had been one of the NHL’s weaker attendance situations.

“It’s a pretty good vibe around here, eh?” said Sabres wing Zach Benson. “It’s awesome to be a part of and [we’re] just looking to keep going here.”

FRONT OFFICE SPORTS TODAY What Will Be the Top Sports Event of 2026?

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2026 has a packed sports schedule, including the Winter Olympics, FIFA men’s World Cup, World Baseball Classic, and more—plus big expectations around the Super Bowl, expanded College Football Playoff, and a potential UFC fight on the White House lawn. FOS newsletter writer Eric Fisher takes us through his expectations for the 2026 tentpoles across sports and what could boom or bust.

Plus, FOS women’s sports reporter Annie Costabile previews what could be the biggest year ever for women’s sports. She and Baker Machado discuss the potential for a WNBA labor stoppage, the second year of Unrivaled, and expectations for other women’s sports leagues that have blossomed in 2025.

Watch the full episode here. [[link removed]]

STATUS REPORT Three Up, One Push

Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images

Drake Maye ⬆ The Patriots quarterback, helping lead an upstart season [[link removed]] for the AFC East division champions [[link removed]], has returned to the top of the betting odds [[link removed]] for NFL Most Valuable Player. Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford had been leading those odds recently, but he threw three interceptions in a Monday Night Football loss to the Falcons.

World Cup ticket sales ⬆ Despite continued controversy over ticket prices [[link removed]], FIFA said it has received more than 150 million ticket requests for the 2026 World Cup, shattering all prior records, and more than seven times the 20 million requests that FIFA said it had two weeks ago. The demand for the upcoming event is more than triple the combined attendance for every World Cup match since the event’s 1930 debut. A current, lottery-based phase of ticket sales will continue through Jan. 13.

Chip Kelly ⬆ Northwestern has hired the veteran football coach as its new offensive coordinator. Last month, the Raiders fired Kelly [[link removed]], who had been the highest-paid OC in the NFL. In 2024, Kelly was OC at Ohio State, which won last season’s College Football Playoff national championship.

LIV Golf ⬆⬇ The Official World Golf Ranking board announced Tuesday that its review of LIV’s application for world ranking points [[link removed]] continues, but that there is no decision to share yet. LIV’s 2026 season begins in February, and the league on Tuesday said that it is increasing its tournament field sizes from 54 to 57 players.

Editors’ Picks Emerging Women’s Sports Leagues Kept Expanding in 2025 [[link removed]]by Annie Costabile [[link removed]]Beyond the WNBA and NWSL, women’s sports kept growing. The Legal Scandals That Plagued the NBA in 2025 [[link removed]]by Margaret Fleming [[link removed]]The NBA and players faced federal indictments, lawsuits, and other off-court drama. How a Famed Golf Course Architect Designs Holes for Tiger’s TGL [[link removed]]by David Rumsey [[link removed]]Gil Hanse is designing multiple holes for Season 2 of TGL. DAILY TRIVIA Factle Sports

Can you list the top five college football programs with the most NFL Draft picks?

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