We are totally flipping out because the NCAA gymnastics season officially starts today. There’s a whole lot of floor routines, gravity defying tricks, and balance beaming to come between now and the national championship in April.

Stockings were hung by the chimney with care because on Christmas Day, NBA and NFL action would be there. So today unwrap this present — a complete primer for all of the glorious games, tackling both the gridiron and the hardwood.

After a weekend full of blowouts in the first round of the newly expanded 12-team College Football Playoff (CFP), the upcoming quarter-finals (featuring the top four teams who automatically received byes) should be more exciting.

No. 1 seed Penn State women’s volleyball defeated fellow No. 1 seed Louisville in four sets in yesterday’s national championship game, claiming the program’s eighth overall title and first in a decade.

Netflix pulled off quite the heist on Friday by acquiring the U.S. media rights for the 2027 and 2031 editions of the FIFA Women’s World Cup (WWC). It will be Netflix’s first time covering an entire sports tournament and marks FIFA’s biggest deal with a streamer, not to mention it’s the first time the WWC’s U.S. rights were sold separately from the men’s FIFA World Cup.

The 16th NFL Sunday of the season has us feeling like Buffalo Bills quarterback (QB) Josh Allen as we single-handedly tackle our last-minute holiday shopping — and the league’s complicated postseason picture.

At long last, the expanded 12-team CFP makes its debut this weekend, with first-round games kicking off tonight and tomorrow. Four squads earned byes straight to the second round and await the winners of these initial clashes.

Several top-25 basketball games are on tap this weekend, but none bigger than Paige Bueckers’ No. 4 UConn taking on JuJu Watkins’ No. 7 USC tomorrow at 8 p.m. ET on FOX.

On Wednesday, Athletes Unlimited (AU) announced it’s indefinitely suspending its AU Pro Lacrosse league. After jumpstarting opportunities in four sports — softball, basketball, lacrosse, and volleyball — within the past four years, this is the first time the company has suspended operations for one of its leagues.

In recent years, sponsors have talked a big game about increasing their investment in women’s sports, and in 2024, many stepped up. According to Sports Innovation Lab (SIL) survey results released yesterday, brands are boosting women’s sports budgets for 2025 and reallocating sponsorship dollars from men’s sports to women’s.

It all comes down to this: After battling through the 64-team bracket, No. 1 seeds Louisville and Penn State will play for the national title Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on ABC.

USWNT veteran defender and former captain Becky Sauerbrunn is retiring from pro soccer, effective immediately, she announced yesterday. To celebrate the queen of consistent defense, here’s a look at her legendary career by the numbers. Not not crying.