After Sunday’s exciting games, we are amped up about soccer! 10 out of the 11 players on this year’s MLS Best XI are newbies, and we watched 6 of them play in yesterday’s Eastern and Western Conference Finals. Check them all out in preparation for next Sunday’s 2015 MLS Cup:

 

QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK

NFL

In Sunday Night Football, the New England Patriots were defeated by the Denver Broncos 24-30 in OT after C.J. Anderson scored on a 48-yard run. The Pats lost their record as one of the only undefeated teams in the league, and also may have lost their tight end Rob Gronkowski to a knee injury.

Sunday football also featured a few other notable games. The Washington Redskins beat the New York Giants 20-14 to regain a 5-6 tie atop of the NFC East, the Seattle Seahawks defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 39-30, and the Arizona Cardinals got the win over the San Francisco 49ers, 19-13. Additionally, Thanksgiving football saw the Carolina Panthers take out the Dallas Cowboys  33-14 to remain undefeated this season, and also saw the potential end to Tony Romo’s season due to a hairline fracture injury.

Monday Night Football features the Baltimore Ravens v. the Cleveland Browns at 8:30pm EST on ESPN.

College Football

College football had a pretty interesting, rivalry-themed weekend starting with #4 Iowa beating Nebraska 28-20 and #19 TCU beating #7 Baylor 28-21 on Friday. Then on Saturday, #1 Clemson defeated South Carolina 37-32, #2 Alabama took down Auburn 29-13, #3 Oklahoma dominated #11 Oklahoma State 58-23, #6 Notre Dame lost to #9 Stanford 36-38, and #14 Florida State got the win over #12 Florida 27-2.

As we move closer and closer to the playoffs, the new rankings reflect  what will likely be the post-season match-ups. Currently, Clemson leads the pack at #1 followed by Alabama, Oklahoma, Iowa, and Michigan State. Close behind the top five are Ohio State, Stanford, North Carolina, Notre Dame and Florida State.

Conference championship games to watch this week include:

• #12 Florida v. #2 Alabama – Saturday at 4:00pm EST on CBS
  
• #9 Stanford v. USC – Saturday at 7:45pm EST on ESPN
• #5 Michigan State v. #4 Iowa – Saturday at 8:00pm on FOX
• #14 North Carolina v. #1 Clemson – Saturday at 8:00pm on ABC

NBA

There’s a few main things to talk about in pro hoops:

• Kobe Bryant of the LA Lakers announced that he will be retiring at the end of the season.
• The Golden State Warriors are still undefeated at 18-0.
• Jahlil Okafor of the Philadelphia 76ers tweeted a series of statements  about concerns over recent off-the-court activity.

On Saturday, Leicester City moved to the second spot in the Premier League table with a 1-1 draw against Manchester United, after Manchester City picked up a 3-1 win (and the 1st place spot in the table) against Southampton. On Sunday, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur finished with a 0-0 draw, Arsenal finished with a 1-1 draw against Norwich City, and Liverpool scored a 1-0 win against Swansea City. Under Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool has climbed the table and is now sitting in the 6th position, behind Tottenham (still in #5) and Arsenal (#4).

Also on Sunday, we watched the second leg of the MLS Conference Championships: FC Dallas v. Portland Timbers ended in a 2-2 draw and New York Red Bulls v. Columbus Crew SC ended 1-0. Based on series aggregates, Columbus and Portland captured the Eastern and Western Conference titles, respectively, and will progress to the 2015 MLS Cup on Sunday, December 6th in Columbus. Be sure to watch — next Sunday on ESPN at 4pm!

The NHL is heating up! On Saturday, the Montreal Canadiens lost 2-3 in OT to the New Jersey Devils, but they remain at the top of the league standings in first place. Currently residing in second, the Dallas Stars gained a 4-3 win against the Minnesota Wild. Third in the standings, the Washington Capitals won 4-2 against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The 4th place New York Rangers may have lost 0-3 to the Philadelphia Flyers, but Rangers’ goalie Henrik Lundqvist has been playing “the best hockey of his career” and is an early favorite to win the Hart Trophy at the 2016 NHL Awards. And, in 5th right now, the St. Louis Blues scored a 3-1 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday. For more NHL info, check out the league standings here.

Other

Current men’s college basketball top ten rankings are as follows: Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan State, Iowa State, Kansas, Duke, Oklahoma, Villanova, North Carolina, and Gonzaga.

This weekend, the world’s #2 player, Andy Murray, helped Britain to win tennis’ most prestigious team competition, the Davis Cup.

JUST FOR FUN

Sweet Kicks
LeBron honored an 18-year old fan who passed away from cancer by writing “R.I.P. Ebony” on his sneakers

STORIES FOR INSIGHTS, COOL FACTOR + DEBATE

Too many losers
There aren’t enough six-win college football teams to fill all 40 bowls
Does this mean that there are too many bowl games?

Revolving door
Are you having a hard time following who’s in and who’s out?
This year’s NCAA football hiring and firing

Domination
It’s no fun if the same guy always wins
Mercedes has won all but three Formula One races so far in 2015 (and the same thing happened last year, too)