The Mets earned a much-needed victory on Tuesday night to start their three-game series against the Washington Nationals. Washington might have a better record than the Mets, but this is a franchise that signaled that it plans to continue rebuilding in 2026 with its offseason trade of ace pitcher Mackenzie Gore. Last night, the Mets handled the Nationals like a veteran team should handle a rebuilding one and won 8-0 behind six strong innings from Clay Holmes.

Clay was lights out 😤 pic.twitter.com/F7a16DOfGj

— New York Mets (@Mets) April 29, 2026

The offense woke up as well with a spark provided by Bo Bichette and his leadoff, opposite-field home run off of struggling Washington starter Zack Littell. New York really got the offense cranked up when Marcus Semien bounced a ground ball to third base with the bases loaded in the fourth inning. It looked like Nationals third baseman Jorbit Vivas had a chance to turn a devastating, inning-ending double play, but the ball slipped under his glove and rolled down the left field line to plate a pair of runs.

SOTO makes it a SEVEN-RUN inning 😤 pic.twitter.com/pEfOvEgKSx

— New York Mets (@Mets) April 29, 2026

That error opened the floodgates for the Mets, as Carson Benge roped Littell’s next pitch into center field to plate Semien. After another single by Ronnie Mauricio and a long sac fly to right field by Bichette, Juan Soto capped the rally with a two-run home run to left field. Now the score was 8-0 Mets, and they cruised to victory thanks to Holmes’ continued excellence.

Holmes, Nolan McLean, and Freddy Peralta have given the Mets a strong top of the rotation, but the last two spots have been hard to figure out because of how terrible Kodai Senga and David Peterson have been. With Senga landing on the injured list yesterday, Christian Scott will get another chance to prove himself as a big leaguer following his disaster of a season debut on Thursday against Minnesota. Peterson was ousted from the rotation a couple of weeks ago, but tonight he’ll get a chance to redeem himself thanks to two solid long relief outings and a lack of better options.

On the Washington side will be Opening Day starter Cade Cavalli, who has a 4.01 ERA this season despite allowing 29 hits and 12 walks in 24.2 innings this season for a 1.66 WHIP. Cavalli was sharp in his last start with 10 strikeouts and no walks in five innings against Atlanta.

Last night was a lot of fun for me because the Knicks also won in blowout fashion. I said before the game that the Knicks needed to defeat the Hawks at Madison Square Garden in Game 5 of their first round playoff series in order to be taken seriously as a title contender. The Knicks passed the test with a 126-97 win that featured 39 points and eight assists from Jalen Brunson. New York’s defense held new nemesis CJ McCollum to just six points on 3-for-10 shooting.

played our game and got the dub on home court 💪 pic.twitter.com/fBpGeSPgZA

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) April 29, 2026

Another good sign for the Knicks’ title hopes was Boston’s shocking loss to Philadelphia in another Game 5. The Celtics were supposed to wrap up the series easily at home, but they were outscored 28-11 in the fourth quarter and lost 113-97 while shooting just 40 percent from the field and 28 percent from three-point range. The 76ers were led by 33 points and eight assists from Joel Embiid. Boston still leads the series 3-2, but it will have to win in Philadelphia to avoid a Game 7 that seemed impossible a day ago.

The dreadful loss by the Celtics combined with top seed Detroit falling behind Orlando 3-1 makes me feel a lot better about the Knicks’ chances to reach the NBA Finals than I did at the start of the NBA Playoffs. Now it’s time to wrap up this series in Atlanta!

Just when it looked like the Mets were moving on from their 12-game losing streak and getting ready to make a serious run at the Postseason, they went and got swept by the Colorado Rockies, sinking to 9-19 for the season. Following two straight win over the Twins on Wednesday night and Thursday night, the Mets were big favorites against Colorado in the series opener on Friday, but couldn’t take advantage due to three ground-ball double plays and staff “ace” Freddy Peralta crumbling in the fifth and sixth innings.

McDouble! pic.twitter.com/icQQi9VVbc

— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) April 25, 2026

The first double play came in the bottom of the second after Brett Baty doubled and Mark Vientos hit and infield single to set up the Mets for a big inning. However, Marcus Semien ensured the Mets would only score once when he hit a one-hopper to Tyler Freeman at second base that gave the Rockies two outs for the price of one run and allowed Michael Lorenzen to work deep into the ballgame.

That would be the only New York run until the eighth inning, when the Mets would rally against Colorado reliever Jaden Hill. Ronnie Mauricio, Bo Bichette, and Francisco Alvarez all singled to load the bases with one out. Baty then came through with a base hit up the middle to drive in a pair and put the tying run in scoring position. Finally the Mets were stringing some clutch hits together in a game that they needed to have! Colorado changed pitchers to Antonio Senzatela and Citi Field was ready for one more big knock, but instead we got the most brutal double play of the evening. Mark Vientos ripped a line drive to the opposite field, but it went straight into Freeman’s glove, and he easily doubled pinch-runner Tommy Pham off second base to end the inning.

That was a tough way to lose a ballgame, but it was even tougher to watch the Mets’ offense during Sunday’s doubleheader. The first game was a great opportunity to get back on the winning track, with Nolan McLean on the mound and the lineup taking on former Mets southpaw Jose Quintana. New York loaded the bases with one out in the first, but failed to score because Semien and Baty struck out. The Mets wouldn’t reach base again until Tyrone Taylor homered to lead off the fifth inning and tie the score 1-1. Surely that was the spark we were waiting for, right?

Taylor’s home run was less of a spark and more of an aberration, as the Mets would not score again for the rest of the day, including all nine innings of the second game. After Colorado took the lead in the sixth thanks to an Edouard Julien leadoff double and Vientos throwing the ball into Mickey Moniak’s back on a potential double play ball (double plays only work out when the Mets hit into them), New York tried to rally in the eighth against Hill with Alvarez, Bichette, and Juan Soto all reaching base with one out. Once again, there was a big opportunity in the eighth inning to flip the miserable script, but once again, the Mets chose misery with Luis Robert Jr. flying out into foul territory and Vientos flailing away at an outside-corner slider for his second strikeout of the day.

GET OUT THE PURPLE COAT FOR HUNTER GOODMAN pic.twitter.com/iFoMVcTCY2

— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) April 26, 2026

The second game of the day didn’t go any better for the Mets. In fact, it went worse because this time New York put zero runs on the board. We found out quickly that zero wouldn’t not be enough because Kodai Senga continued to be a disaster on the mound. After a decent start to the campaign, Senga has now made three straight starts without competing the fourth inning. In this one, he allowed three hits, three walks, and a hit-by-pitch in the first three innings, and that includes a perfect first inning. Hunter Goodman’s two-run bomb in the third gave Colorado more than enough runs to win the game.

Welcome to the 7 (strikeout) Train

Dollander continues to dominate 💪 pic.twitter.com/Rupt1vJdup

— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) April 26, 2026

Meanwhile, the Mets were shut down by Chase Dollander, the right-handed pitcher who was chosen by the Rockies in the first round of the 2023 MLB Draft. Dollander had never completed seven innings before in 21 major league starts, but he did just that against the Mets while allowing just five hits and two walks. The Mets had their best chance to break through in the fifth when Carson Benge and Mauricio both singled with nobody out, but Mauricio was easily doubled off first when Taylor hit a soft line drive to TJ Rumfield.

The Mets are now 9-19 and getting ready to start a series against the 13-16 Washington Nationals. Already two MLB teams have fired their managers, but the Mets are not one of them. Boston and Philadelphia are off to similar slow and very disappointing starts. As a result, both Alex Cora and Rob Thomson have lost their jobs even though Cora has won a World Series with the Red Sox and Thomson led his team to the NL pennant just four years ago. What has Mendoza won to earn such a long leash from the Mets? 2024 was a thrilling season, but Buck Showalter was let go just one year after leading the Mets to 101 wins and a Postseason berth. Mendoza has already been allowed to oversee the 2025 meltdown. Will he really be allowed to continue at the helm if the Mets continue to bust in 2026?

There’s also the matter of David Stearns, the president of baseball operations who was supposed to be the architect of the Mets’ resurgence, whiffing on every move he made this offseason. After a hot start, Robert Jr. has looked like the broken slugger that the White Sox traded away for the low, low price of Luisangel Acuna. However, Robert Jr. is still hitting better than Bo Bichette, who was brought in to easy the pain of Pete Alonso’s departure. Like Alonso last year, Bichette is on an opt-out deal that will allow him to bolt from the Mets the minute he finds some success.

Marcus Semien had a lot of success in Texas, but his offense dropped off the last two seasons, and this April he’s hitting even worse than he did then. Semien was brought in to form a great middle-infield defensive combination with Francisco Lindor, but their glovework hasn’t been good enough to make up for the abysmal offense. The worst acquisition has been Devin Williams, who has been a total gas can as the closer and has made me miss Edwin Diaz even though I thought I never would.

Some people have said that firing Mendoza or Stearns right now won’t do anything to help the Mets win more games. That might be true, but something has to be done to show the fans that the team’s performance in April is unacceptable. Maybe Steven Cohen is willing to ride out the season and give the team a chance to turn it around, but I have a feeling that the owner will be compelled to do something if attendance dwindles over the summer.

One game might not be enough to save Mendoza or Stearns from being fired at season’s end, but it would still be cool if the Mets stopped being the worst team in baseball. They can take a step tonight by beating the Nationals. Washington’s starting pitcher Zack Littell has allowed 14 combined runs over his last two starts against San Francisco and Atlanta. He’s someone that even a feeble offense can take advantage of. The Mets will be sending Clay Holmes and his 2.10 ERA to the bump. He has allowed fewer than three runs in all five starts this season.

The Mets appeared to be on their way to ending their 11-game losing streak in the series opener vs. Minnesota on Tuesday night. Nolan McLean was dominant and retired the first 15 batters that he faced while Francisco Lindor came up big with a three-run blast to right field that ended up being the only significant offense from the Mets all night. Still, it looked like it would be enough until Byron Buxton took McLean deep over the left field wall just three batters after Matt Wallner became the first Twins batter to reach base with a single to open the sixth inning.

Buck gets us on the board! pic.twitter.com/R584and5SS

— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) April 22, 2026

The two-run home run brought Minnesota within one and put some pressure on New York’s offense to add some runs. Instead, the Mets made 12 straight outs against the Twins’ beleaguered bullpen. While the Mets flailed about, Minnesota broke through against McLean again with Kody Clemens hitting a double with one out in the seventh and Luke Keaschall following up with an RBI single to tie the game. Huascar Brazoban kept the score steady until the ninth, which set the stage for Devin Williams to blow a game for the second time in a row.

Williams started by walking Josh Bell on four pitches and then gave Ryan Jeffers a free pass as well. Clemens bunted to the first base side, but the Mets failed to record an out when pinch runner Josh Outman beat Mark Vientos’ throw to third base. With the bases loaded and nobody out Keaschall hits a ground ball to the left side that bounced past New York’s drawn-in infield. What looked like it could yield an out at home plate turned into an RBI single. Not content to let his defense shoulder some of the blame, Williams then walked Wallner to make the score 5-3 Minnesota.

KEASCH. KLUTCH. pic.twitter.com/U0xxrIZ48B

— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) April 22, 2026

Austin Warren did an amazing job striking out the side to prevent further damage, but it didn’t matter much since the Mets were lifeless in their half of the ninth. I’m all for Warren or Brazoban getting the next save opportunity since it would show the clubhouse that performance matters, but I don’t expect Carlos Mendoza to rock the boat so much despite a disastrous start to the season.

The Mets are back at it tonight with Juan Soto in the lineup against a southpaw making his MLB debut. Surely, now is when the Mets take a break from losing, right?

The Mets got the offense revved up in the second inning on Friday afternoon in Chicago, but it didn’t matter very much since Kodai Senga was a flaming tire fire for the second time in a row. The Japanese right-hander was one strike away from escaping a jam in the bottom of the first, but then Seiya Suzuki dropped an RBI single into right field and Cubs phenom Moises Ballesteros followed up with a three-run opposite taco. The Mets, who have had trouble scoring more than two runs in a game during this long losing streak were down 4-0 out of the gate.

MOISÉS BALLESTEROS FOR THREE pic.twitter.com/S8Y4ef0k99

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) April 17, 2026

Even before I could say “it’s over,” the Mets surprisingly battled back against Chicago starter Edward Cabrera. MJ Melendez continued his hot hitting with a scorching line drive single to put two runners on base for Marcus Semien, who ripped a double into the gap to get the Mets on the board. After Brett Baty continued his monster slump with a strikeout, Tyrone Taylor ripped a line drive off the left-center field wall for what could have been a two-RBI double. However, Taylor had to settle for a single since he was thrown out by former Mets draft pick Pete Crow-Armstrong. On instant replay it looked like Taylor might have avoided the tag by Nico Hoerner, but Carlos Mendoza chose not to challenge the play and the rally fizzled out on Caron Benge’s fly out with the New York still down a run.

TT drives in ✌️ pic.twitter.com/MTVKbsMwee

— New York Mets (@Mets) April 17, 2026

The momentum didn’t last long, as Senga gave up a two-run blast to Hoerner in the bottom of the inning to make the score 6-3. The Mets wouldn’t score again until the game was well out of hand in eighth inning. The game almost got interesting when the first three New York batters reached base, but then Melendez struck out and Mark Vientos grounded into a double play to doom the Mets to a 12-4 blowout loss.

For the second straight week, a decent offensive showing from the Mets was spoiled by a Senga disaster start. It’s time to consider a change to the rotation, especially with Christian Scott heating up at Triple-A. The lineup could also use a lot of work, but the most pressing concern is Brett Baty, who has 21 strikeouts and zero walks so far, resulting in a .190 on-base percentage. He also is a man without a position since Bo Bichette signed on to play third base. Baty has tried to fit at first base and right field, but he cost the Mets a run with an error on Friday and could be due for a demotion when Juan Soto or Jared Young returns from the injured list.

If the Mets continue floundering into oblivion, at least we’ll have the NBA Playoffs and the Stanley Cup Playoffs to distract us starting this afternoon. The Knicks losing in the first round would be a bigger mess than the baseball season, so hopefully that doesn’t happen. This was supposed to be the Knicks’ year with Jayson Tatum missing most of the season due to his Achilles injury, but now Tatum is back and the Celtics will be favored to beat New York in the Eastern Conference Semifinals if we get that far. The expectation is for the Knicks to finally reach the NBA Finals, but it would be surprising if they got back to the Conference Finals.

There is also WrestleMania this weekend, which means maybe just maybe we’ll get to see Roman Reigns beat up the insufferable CM Punk and return to his role as the Head of the Table at WWE. Also, can Gunther finally get a big win at WrestleMania after being “upset” by Sami Zayn and Jey Uso in the last two years? Speaking of Zayn, I’m looking forward to seeing if he fully commits to his new heel bit and beats Trick Williams or if Williams continues on his rocket ship ride to the top of the company. Another recent NXT call-up who is super hot right now is Oba Femi. If he beats Brock Lesnar on Sunday, Femi could take Lesnar’s place as one of the most intimidating forces in the wrestling world. There’s so much to look forward to!

The very evil and very nice future WWE Hall of Famer Danhausen agreed to uncurse the Mets on Wednesday morning, but New York continued to stumble that night in an 8-2 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers that completed a three-game sweep. The Mets have now lost eight games in a row and sit in last place in the National League East. Maybe the loss was due to Danhausen’s face not yet appearing on a WWE equipment truck, or maybe the Mets were never cursed and have just been a terrible franchise for the past 40 years. I don’t want to contemplate that second scenario, but after this latest result, it has to be brought into consideration.

Hyeseong starts the game with a BANG! pic.twitter.com/F4xkYqmPNL

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 16, 2026

Clay Holmes kept the Mets in the game with his third straight solid outing, but hope remained bleak due to the offense’s continued ineptness against Dodgers starter Shohei Ohtani. It looked like Los Angeles might have enough runs to win the game when Hyeseong Kim delivered a two-run home run to the right field seats in the second inning.

The Dodgers ended up needing a little bit more than those two runs, but that was only because of a garbage-time run in the ninth inning driven in by Marcus Semien. New York’s other run came in the fifth inning during a stretch that should have allowed the Mets to take control of the game. Ohtani had trouble finding the strike zone during that frame, starting with a walk to Francisco Alvarez. Carson Benge followed with a solid line drive to left field that appeared to land in front of Teoscar Hernandez for a base hit. Unfortunately, Alvarez thought otherwise and headed back to first base instead of advancing to second. This resulted in an easy force out at second base instead of two runners on and nobody out.

MJ comes through! 👏 pic.twitter.com/tFDeiaaQTO

— New York Mets (@Mets) April 16, 2026

Even after the baserunning blunder, the Mets continued to rally with Semien drawing a walk and MJ Melendez, who was just called up that day to replace an injured Jared Young in the lineup, bouncing his second double of the game into the right field seats. The clutch hit could have tied the game if only Alvarez hadn’t ran himself into an out, but it still scored one run and there was still a chance for more. The Mets did not score more, though, because Tommy Pham struck out with two runners in scoring position and then Francisco Lindor lined out to end the threat.

That was the closest the Mets would get to contending in this game. In the sixth inning, Ohtani recovered to strike out the side and Teoscar Hernandez hit a solo shot off of Tobias Myers to put Los Angeles ahead by two again.

Another mistake from Francisco Lindor, whose decision not to charge this ball allowed Teoscar Hernandez to hustle down the line with an infield hit. The Dodgers are now rallying in the eighth. pic.twitter.com/zWW6ZccN9q

— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) April 16, 2026

Hernandez was back at the plate in the eighth to open up the floodgates. The rally started with an innocent ground ball to shortstop, but instead of charging the ball, Lindor backed up on it, and his throw to first was not in time to get Hernandez out. After a walk by Max Muncy and a very long single by Andy Pages, Dalton Rushing drove a Devin Williams hanging changeup over the center field fence for a grand slam and a 7-1 lead.

FIRST CAREER GRAND SLAM FOR DALTON RUSHING! pic.twitter.com/N72dk4GzAq

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 16, 2026

The Mets have a day off on Thursday before starting a three-game series at the Cubs on Friday. It will be nice to have three straight day games after three straight late-night games to start the road trip. Chicago is off to a 9-9 start, but the team appears to be rounding into form with two straight blowout wins over Philadelphia.

The young New York Mets 2026 campaign took a turn for the worse after the team defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-3 to improve to 7-4 last week. Since then, the Mets have lost seven straight games, and in only two of those games have they scored more than one run. Tuesday night against the Dodgers was a great opportunity to score more than a run because Francisco Lindor led off with a solo home run off of Los Angeles ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto to finally find his first RBI of the season. This could have been the night that the Mets’ offense exploded and snapped the losing skid, but instead Yamamoto settled in and retired the next 20 New York batters in a row before Bo Bichette hit a double with two outs in the seventh inning. With the scored tied 1-1, the Mets had a chance to take a rare lead, but Brett Baty struck out to end the frame.

LAUNCHED!@Lindor12BC | #LGM pic.twitter.com/1mFb1IltM4

— New York Mets (@Mets) April 15, 2026

The Mets were still in the game until late because Nolan McLean proved to be just as brilliant as Yamamoto. He allowed a run in the first when Will Smith hit a double that led to Kyle Tucker scoring on Freddie Freeman’s ground out, but after that McLean was lights out. The most encouraging part was how he stayed in control even when facing the powerful Dodgers lineup for a third time. He even struck out the side in the seventh inning before leaving the game with 95 pitches thrown.

Filth pic.twitter.com/MLzLaGHspC

— New York Mets (@Mets) April 15, 2026

The eighth inning provide another opportunity for the Mets when Carson Benge and Lindor both singled with two outs to finally get Yamamoto out of the game. However, Blake Treinen struck out Luis Robert Jr. to end the threat and the Dodgers pushed a run across in the bottom half thanks to Miguel Rojas’ leadoff walk and Tucker’s bloop single off of Brooks Raley.

Kyle in the clutch! pic.twitter.com/t7zmleECQ6

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 15, 2026

Even with Edwin Diaz out of commission due to a decrease in velocity, the Dodgers had no trouble shutting down the Mets in the ninth, as Alex Vesia struck out the side on just 10 pitches. Almost immaculate!

Juan Soto is still on the shelf for a little while, so it’s hard to foresee an end to the batting struggles, but maybe a supernatural force can step in and lift the Mets out of their long slump.

WWE Superstar Danhausen has officially uncursed the Mets

(h/t @bfg728) pic.twitter.com/y4XgYeaxBd

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) April 15, 2026

Former WWE writer Brian Gewirtz appears to have the connections necessary to make this deal happen with Danhausen. As soon as we see his ghoulish face on a production truck, there’s a chance the Mets never lose again.

Wisconsin avoided a letdown game following its shocking upset at Michigan when John Blackwell crushed a triple at the buzzer to give the Badgers a 78-75 victory at Minnesota on Tuesday night. The Gophers led 41-30 over their rivals with 18 minutes left thanks to Jaylen Crocker-Johnson hitting a floater plus the foul, but Blackwell answered with a pair of three-point shots to lead Wisconsin on the comeback trail. The Badgers would lead by as many as nine thanks to former Gopher Braeden Carrington knocking down seven triples of his own for a season-high 21 points, but Minnesota refused to go away. Nolan Winter’s missed free throw with 12 seconds left gave Cade Tyson the opportunity to tie the game at 75-75 with five seconds to play, but Blackwell struck right back with his clutch winner.

WISCONSIN WINS AT THE BUZZER IN AN UNREAL FINISH 😱 pic.twitter.com/LqqiJEFDOt

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) January 14, 2026

Blackwell led everyone in scoring with 27 points and added five assists as well. Minnesota had four players in double figures led by Crocker-Johnson with 20 points while Langston Reynolds scored 12 points with 10 of the Gophers’ 20 assists.

Talk about two teams going in different directions. Nebraska wrecked Oregon 90-55 to keep the Cornhuskers undefeated at 6-0 in the Big Ten and 17-0 overall. It’s the biggest blowout Nebraska has ever had over a Big Ten opponent in conference play. This is also the best start to Big Ten play that Nebraska has had since joining the conference for the 2011-12 season. Meanwhile, the Ducks are 1-5 in the Big Ten haven’t started this poorly in league play since they went 1-5 to begin the Pac-12 campaign of 2013-14.

Braden Frager goes back-to-back from deep 🔥 @HuskerMBB

📺: @BigTenNetwork pic.twitter.com/JHURPL5b1S

— Big Ten Men's Basketball (@B1GMBBall) January 14, 2026

The game didn’t start so lopsided. Oregon center Nate Bittle made a layup to tie the score at 28-28 with four minutes left in the first half, but then Oregon rolled off a 14-2 run to gain a 42-30 lead at halftime. The burst was spearheaded by Pryce Sandfort and Braden Frager each making two three-point shots, and they would end up torching the nets by each going 7-for-11 from beyond the arc during the game. That accounted for 14 of Nebraska’s 17 three-point shots. On the other side, Oregon made just six shots from beyond the arc while shooting 26 percent from there.

If it wasn’t clear enough from the Michigan State and Indiana results from earlier this month, the Huskers are for real. Rienk Mast has developed into an all-conference player, Sam Hoiberg is a steady hand at point guard, and the Sandfort-Frager combo is lighting up scoreboards. Plus, Nebraska’s defense ranks even higher than its offense on KenPom!

Two traditional Big Ten powers battled in East Lansing, but the hotly contested game turned into an 81-60 Michigan State blowout thanks to Indiana going seven minutes without scoring down the stretch. With just over 11 minutes to play, Indiana’s Lamar Wilkerson dunked to tie the score at 53-53, but Jordan Scott came back with a mid-range jump shot for Sparty to spark a 7-0 run over the next minute that was punctuated by a breakaway slam from Coen Carr. Hoosiers head coach Darian DeVries called a timeout, but it did nothing to get his team back into the game, as MSU rolled off 12 more unanswered points to make the score 72-53 with five minutes left.

Another game, another Coen Carr slam 😌 @MSU_Basketball

📺: Peacock pic.twitter.com/tYpx0XKZuU

— Big Ten Men's Basketball (@B1GMBBall) January 14, 2026

Jeremy Fears Jr. was fantastic for Sparty with 23 points and 10 assists while Jaxon Kohler also had a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Wilkerson scored 19 points for Indiana, but no other Hoosiers scored more than nine points, as Tucker DeVries was held to that many on 3-for-10 field goals.

In the night cap, Maryland continued to slump in the first year of Buzz Williams’ leadership, falling at USC 88-71 and dropping to 0-6 in league play. Trojans star Chad Baker-Mazara was limited to seven points in nine minutes due to injury, but Jordan Marsh came through with 20 points off the bench. The gigantic center Gabe Dynes played a larger than usual role for USC with 10 points and eight rebounds. Four of those rebounds came on offense, which contributed to USC’s 13-4 edge on the offensive glass. That led to the Trojans firing off 66 shots in this game compared to just 48 for Maryland. All of those extra shots helped USC overcome a 30-point game from Terps guard David Coit.

Big Gabe 💪

📺 FS1 pic.twitter.com/X7Ok4Rez7D

— USC Men's Basketball (@USC_Hoops) January 14, 2026

Just like with Indiana and Michigan State, this one was close for most of the game, but USC outscored Maryland 25-12 over the last 11 minutes following a three-point shot by Coit that trimmed the Trojans’ lead to 63-59. Jade Brownell made a layup and a triple on consecutive possessions for USC to push the lead to 11 points with six and a half minutes left. Coit tried to stop the run with a layup, but then Marsh and Jacob Cofie hit back-to-back jumpers to put the game away.

There are four more Big Ten games tonight with both Northwestern and my Nittany Lions looking for their first conference wins of the season. Penn State has had a brutal schedule to start league play, so hopefully it can finally pull of a win over UCLA. The Wildcats are coming home to face in-state rival Illinois after losing at Rutgers in overtime. We also have Iowa visiting the Purdue juggernaut and Michigan traveling to Washington for late night hoops.

I was terrible last week, but so was everyone else except Abe, who tightened his stranglehold on the ChabDog picks contest by being sharp when everyone else was being square. Abe had New England when the rest of us had Tampa and New Orleans when the rest of us had Carolina. The only good pick I made was Houston, and that was still a loser after the Texans’ miracle comeback! It took a fluke touchdown at the end to get Houston to cover the spread. At least I finished strong with big wins by the Chargers and Eagles.

Abe might be too far gone at this point, but I can still catch the Tank with a solid Week 11.

Jets +11.5 at Patriots

Jets have won two in a row and the Patriots are wearing ugly uniforms.

Commanders +2.5 at Dolphins

This is such a recency bias spread. Marcus Mariota has played well for Washington with Jayden Daniels out.

Panthers at Falcons -3.5

I should pick Carolina since it was such a letdown last week, but I’m back on the Falcons after they blew the cover and the game in European overtime.

Buccaneers at Bills -5.5

Last week was a fluke for Buffalo. The Bills will bounce back at home against a team from Florida.

Texans -7.5 at Titans

Another favorite that I’m nervous about. Houston crushed Tennessee in their first meeting 26-0.

Bears at Vikings -3.5

Chicago only covered last week because Jaxson Dart got hurt. The squares will say the wrong team is favored.

Packers at Giants +7.5

This has Jameis Winston backdoor cover written all over it.

Bengals +4.5 at Steelers

There’s just something about Joe Flacco! Cincinnati can’t stop a nose bleed, but it’s still hard to bet against.

Chargers -2.5 at Jaguars

I’m going chalk here because of all the fantasy interest I have with the Bolts this week.

Seahawks at Rams -2.5

Chalk again. Rams being favored by less than three at home is disrespectful.

49ers at Cardinals +2.5

Despite getting their doors blown off in Seattle, Arizona has been more consistent than San Francisco lately.

Ravens at Browns +7.5

This game will either go like Bills vs. Dolphins and Saints vs. Panthers last week or like Lions vs. Commanders and Cardinals vs. Seahawks. That’s why picking is hard.

Chiefs -3.5 at Broncos

Major fraud test for the Broncos. I say they fail.

Lions +1.5 at Eagles

Detroit bounced back well last week. Now it is time to assert dominance over the NFC.

Cowboys at Raiders +3.5

Dallas desperately needs this game to justify the Quinnen Williams trade. Raiders have been plucky, though.

Oba Femi is back! The Ruler of NXT had been absent from the wrestling universe since dropping the NXT Championship to Ricky Saints at No Mercy in late September, but he returned to the scene on Tuesday night right after Saints barley survived his bloody Last Man Standing title match against Trick Williams. Williams did everything he could to keep Saints down for a 10 count, including hitting a Trick Shot knee strike, blasting him with the steel ring stairs, burying him under those stairs, and throwing him through a wall, but Saints got up and kept fighting. Williams then brought Saints into the crowd and hit another Trick Shot, but Saints answered by spearing Williams out of the stands and through the announce table below. The epic blow was barely enough to keep Williams down and keep the NXT Championship around Saints’ waist… for now.

Cinema. pic.twitter.com/q2Qxil8WuI

— Aaron Yorke (@AaronPYorke) November 12, 2025

As soon as the match ended, Femi emerged on the entrance ramp to stake his claim to a rematch. With no NXT Championship match on the upcoming Gold Rush card (November 18 and 25 at Madison Square Garden), I’m thinking that Femi will get his shot at becoming a two-time NXT Champion at Deadline on December 6 in San Antonio.

One rematch that is happening at Gold Rush is Tatum Paxley vs. Jacy Jayne for the NXT Women’s Championship. Paxley opened the Tuesday show by granting a rematch to Jayne despite Paxley’s friend Izzi Dame wanting her to be more selective when handing out title shots. If Paxley wins at Gold Rush, it could make the champion more confident in doing things her way instead of listening to Dame. If she loses, Dame can say “I told you so” and continue having Paxley do the bidding of The Culling. That’s why I’m predicting that Dame costs Paxley the title next week. Remember, at Halloween Havoc, it looked like Dame was trying to sabotage Paxley when Dame ran into the ring with the title.

We also set up an NXT Tag Team Championship match on Tuesday with Je’Von Evans and Leon Slater announcing that they’ll challenge DarkState at Gold Rush. Slater appeared to be in a remote location during the announcement, but when DarkState attacked Evans, he ran out from backstage and helped the Bouncy Boy fight off the fearsome foursome. Evans and Slater are a hot team right now, so I could see this going either way. I will give the edge to DarkState since I think Evans is close to breaking out on the main roster. Look for DarkState to interfere with Evans’ match against Gunther on Monday Night Raw the night before Gold Rush.

This is CHAOS!!!@theahail_wwe and @wwe_alba are giving us a good one! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/57mSGcyaAo

— WWE (@WWE) November 12, 2025

The Triple-A Mixed Tag Team Championship is also set to be defended during Week 1 of Gold Rush, and we got a little preview on Tuesday when Thea Hail defeated Secret Hervice member Alba Fyre in a singles match while fighting off interference from Ethan Page and Chelsea Green. Everyone loves Hail and Joe Hendry, but they don’t have the chemistry together than Green and Page do. That’s why I expect the defending champs to win next week. I would rather Hail lose and go on to pursue the NXT Women’s Championship or the Women’s North American Championship than continue teaming with Hendry and living in his shadow.

One more match on the Gold Rush card is Blake Monroe vs. Sol Ruca for the NXT Women’s North American Championship. I feel very good about Monroe winning so that the wedge between Ruca and Zaria is driven deeper. I could see Ruca losing next week and then Zaria winning the Speed Championship during Week 2. That would make Ruca bitter about Zaria only winning when its her title opportunity and not Ruca’s. Remember, Zaria lost the Women’s North American Championship at Halloween Havoc when she stepped in for an injured Ruca.

It wasn’t surprising to see John Cena open up Monday Night Raw last night and hear him hype up his last match ever on December 13. It was a lot more surprising when Dominik Mysterio came out and accidentally got himself booked in a fight for his Intercontinental Championship. Dom busted out all of his tricks in an effort to retain the prestigious title, but Cena ended up defeating him twice. First when Dom tapped out to the STF while the referee was incapacitated and again when Cena rolled through Dom’s Frog Splash and hit the Attitude Adjustment, this time with the referee ready to count to three.

Just one month before his retirement from WWE, Cena has shockingly won his first Intercontinental Championship, which raises the question, will Cena’s final match be a loss for the legendary wrestler? It seems likely now that the anticipated match on December 13 will be for the Intercontinental Championship unless Cena drops the title as suddenly as he won it. Heel Cena had previously talked about going home with the Undisputed WWE Championship and ruining wrestling, but this current version seems content to let the legacy of his current title continue past 2025. Unless Cena is taking the Intercontinental Championship with him into retirement, he is probably losing in his final match, and that only builds the intrigue over who the opponent will be.

We got two more possibilities announced by Adam Pearce on Monday night. The Raw general manager said that Je’Von Evans will face Gunther in The Last Time is Now Tournament next week. Solo Sikoa will also be in tournament action against a mystery opponent. That leaves us with a second mystery entrant with the first set to be revealed on SmackDown as LA Knight’s tournament opponent. Joe Hendry has been speculated as a mystery spot, but I would be surprised if it was him because he doesn’t have a connection to Cena. Oba Femi makes more sense to me because he is larger than life and is someone that fans including myself would love to see fight Cena before he rides off into the sunset. I will currently project Hendry to face Sikoa and Femi to face Knight, but the possibilities are endless. Chris Jericho making a return to WWE would be electric and Trick Williams seems overdue to break out on the main roster.

Next week, the tournament continues.@WWE pic.twitter.com/lwYpsGM495

— Adam Pearce (@ScrapDaddyAP) November 11, 2025

Right now my two favorites to defeat Cena in his final match at The Miz and Gunther. It would probably take some shenanigans to get The Miz past Jey Uso in the first round of The Last Time is Now Tournament, but he just cut a killer promo on Friday and he has history with both Cena and the Intercontinental Championship. Gunther has never faced Cena, but he’s someone who would certainly have had an epic feud with Cena if he had come around a decade earlier. With Seth Rollins out of action, Gunther is returning to the spotlight as WWE’s most dominant heel. He has almost always had a title around his waist since being promoted to the main roster, so it would make sense for him to take the IC Championship back after his glorious run with it two years ago.

Both Rusev and Sheamus won their matches in The Last Time is Now Tournament to advance to the quarterfinals. Both wins were easy to predict since both guys have history with Cena. Sheamus’ case for winning the tournament is interesting because he has never won the IC Championship and December 13 is the anniversary of Sheamus defeating Cena for the WWE Championship many years ago. Rusev has beef with Cena because when Cena beat him for the United States Championship at WrestleMania 31, the Bulgarian Brute’s career was never the same. I like the promo that Rusev cut this week, but I give Sheamus the edge to advance farther in the tournament.

Getting back to that Dom vs. Cena match on Raw, it is interesting that none of Dom’s Judgement Day family was at ringside to help him out, especially since so many of his title defenses have been team efforts. Is this signaling a split between Dom and The Judgement Day? The legacy superstar is already being treated like a babyface by the crowd, and he’s been one of the hottest heels in the company since he betrayed his father three years ago. Pulling the trigger on a babyface turn for Dom would likely ignite a massive run for him with limitless possibilities including a reunion with Rey Mysterio and an underdog run at a major championship. It’s all potential energy right now and the only question for WWE creative is when to push that button.

"Lonely" Dominik Mysterio 👀 pic.twitter.com/uHm0JVWqS4

— WWE (@WWE) November 11, 2025

The other big thing to happen on Raw was the formation of teams for WarGames. On the men’s side, CM Punk called out Logan Paul after Paul sucker punched him with brass knuckles last week. That led to Paul coming to the ring with Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed, which in turn led to Punk fighting them off with the help of Jey Uso and Cody Rhodes. Later in the evening, William Regal showed up out of nowhere to officially announce “WarGames!”

We are still at only three men aside, though. It would be surprising if Roman Reigns didn’t join the babyface side. He’s got a strong bond with Jey and both he and Punk share a disdain for Paul Heyman, the man managing Breakker and Reed. With Reigns in the mix, you might as well throw in Jimmy Uso as well to get the babyfaces to five men. I suppose Sami Zayn is also a possibility if he is medically cleared with the history he shares with Reigns and Uso.

PREPARE FOR WAR. 👀

IT'S TIME FOR WARGAMES!!! pic.twitter.com/GN32iss2JS

— WWE (@WWE) November 11, 2025

As for the heels, Drew McIntyre is suspended, so he probably won’t get announced until close to Survivor Series, but he makes too much sense since he doubled down on his feud with Rhodes by Claymore Kicking a referee last Friday. Gunther is also a possibility based on him disappearing since losing the World Heavyweight Championship to Punk at SummerSlam. Kevin Owens has been on the shelf even longer than Gunther and has a score to settle with Rhodes, but I’m not sure how close he is to returning to action. Owens would also make sense as one of the mystery combatants in The Last Time is Now Tournament since he had a major feud with Cena as soon as he came up on the main roster.

The ladies also got into the WarGames spirit when the new team of Nia Jax and Lash Legend showed up to screw over Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss during their Women’s Tag Team Championship match against the Kabuki Warriors. Bliss had done a great job intercepting Kairi Sane with Sister Abigail to stop the Pirate Princess from breaking up Flair’s Figure Four leglock, but Jax and Legend interfered with the submission while the referee wasn’t looking. That led to Sane throwing Bliss over the announce table and then hitting the Insane Elbow on Flair for the pin to crown new champs.

NEW WOMEN'S TAG TEAM CHAMPS!

RHEA RIPLEY IS BACK!

WOMEN'S WARGAMES MATCH IS ON!

WHAT A CHAOTIC ENDING TO RAW! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/S27ZMgbw6D

— WWE (@WWE) November 11, 2025

Bliss tried to pick a fight with Jax and Legend after the match and it predictably wasn’t going well until Iyo Sky and Rhea Ripley showed up to clear the ring of the heels. Ripley shouted “WarGames!” at the baddies and all of a sudden we had four women on each team. I’m thinking that the final two spots will go to Jade Cargill and either Tiffany Stratton or Bianca Belair depending on who is available. Cargill doesn’t have a challenger for her new WWE Women’s Championship yet because all she did on Friday was say “I’m that bitch” and walk out of the ring. However, she didn’t make it far before bumping into Flair, which foreshadowed beef between the two powerhouses. Both Stratton and Belair have history with Cargill with Stratton just dropping the title to her and Belair teaming up with her before missing time due to injury.

If Stratton and Belair both aren’t cleared, I can see Bayley jumping on on the babyface side due to her history with Damage Ctrl. Nikki Bella and Stephanie Vaquer would make great candidates for WarGames as well, but they appear locked in their own feud after Bella smashed Vaquer with the title following the latter defeating Raquel Rodriguez to defend the Women’s World Championship last night.

Straight from Ava’s office…

Think of @WWE Last Man Standing matches from the past and understand that ya don’t wanna miss tonight!!!@TheCW_Sports pic.twitter.com/UZzA4ZKseM

— Robert Stone (@MrStoneWWE) November 11, 2025

Tonight on NXT, my hero El Grande Americano defends the Speed Championship against Jasper Troy and Ricky Saints faces Trick Williams in what is sure to be an epic Last Man Standing Match for the NXT Championship. Should be a great show.