⚡️ Michigan Man Visits LA. Stays.

Good Morning! Usually, I just browse sports Twitter to take in some reasonable and fair-minded discussions. But the app can also be useful for breaking news, and yesterday, we had a lot of it. The rumors were indeed true: The Doc is in for the Deer, and Jim Harbaugh is a lightning bolt — both figuratively and now contractually. Apart from the big Headlines, we also had another busy day of organized athletics. The Warriors honored their late coach in an emotional return, Alabama stunned Auburn in another Iron Ball (get it? ha), Auston Matthews did Auston Matthews things, and I don’t know what day it is Down Under, but I do know that the Australian Open semifinals are underway as we speak. To whom it applies: Happy Thursday!

WTF Stat: The last time Jim Harbaugh won an NFL division title was in 2012. The last time the Chargers won an NFL division title was in 2009 - with a 44-19-1 (.695) NFL record, Harbaugh owns the fifth-highest winning percentage in league history and the highest among active coaches.

🏈 Chargers hired Michigan HC Jim Harbaugh as their next head coach on a five-year contract - Harbaugh coached the 49ers from 2011-14 before spending the past nine seasons at Michigan, which culminated in a national title earlier this month

🏈 Michigan is expected to name OC Sherrone Moore as their next head coach in the wake of Jim Harbaugh’s departure - Moore went 4-0 last season as the team’s interim head coach while Harbaugh was suspended

🏀 Bucks are hiring former Celtics and 76ers HC Doc Rivers as their next head coach, one day after firing first-year HC Adrian Griffin - Rivers was fired by the 76ers last May after three seasons and began serving as an informal consultant to Griffin in December at the behest of the Bucks

NBA - Top Games

• Golden State Warriors 134, Atlanta Hawks 112: In their first game since the passing of assistant coach Dejan Milojevic, the Warriors paid tribute to their late coach with an emotional pregame ceremony and then put on a vintage scoring performance as Stephen Curry (25 PTS, 5-8 3PT, 8 AST) and Klay Thompson (24 PTS, 5-10 3PT) combined for 10 threes while Jonathan Kuminga (25 PTS, 9 REB, 2 AST, 2 BLK) had perhaps his best game of the season to help blowout Dejuante Murray (23 PTS, 7 REB, 7 AST) and the Hawks at the Chase Center - players and staff on both teams wore black t-shirts during pregame with the word “brate” on them, which translates to brother in Serbian

• Phoenix Suns 132, Dallas Mavericks 109: It was a tie game at the half. And then Devin Booker decided it wasn’t. Booker (46 PTS, 6-10 3PT, 7 REB) erupted for 22 points in the 3rd quarter to spark a massive 43-20 Phoenix run, and the Suns remained hot by pulling away from Luka Doncic (34 PTS, 8 REB, 9 AST) and the Mavs for their seventh straight win - Phoenix (26-18) has the fifth-best record in the West, two spots ahead of Dallas (24-20)

• Milwaukee Bucks 126, Cleveland Cavaliers 116: Despite all the coaching drama, the Bucks still have to play basketball, and luckily for them, Giannis Antetokounmpo (35 PTS, 18 REB, 10 AST) does that incredibly well. The Greek Freak notched his second consecutive 30-point triple-double, and Damian Lillard (28 PTS, 4 AST) did his thing as Milwaukee coasted past Donovan Mitchell (23 PTS, 7 REB, 8 AST) and the Cavs in their first game under interim HC Joe Prunty - the Bucks are still finalizing negotiations with Doc Rivers to eventually take over as head coach

• Minnesota Timberwolves 118, Washington Wizards 107: Karl Anthony-Towns (27 PTS, 6 REB) didn’t score 62, but he still did pretty well, while Anthony Edwards (38 PTS, 11-28 FG, 5 AST) dropped a casual 38 to give the T-Wolves a share of the Western Conference lead with the Thunder, who blew out the Spurs last night - at 31-13, both teams hold a half-game lead over the Nuggets (31-14), who were idle last night

See the full NBA scoreboard here and the current standings here.

College Basketball - Top Games

• NCAAM | Alabama 79, #8 Auburn 75: After trailing by 14 at the half, Johni Boome (25 PTS, 14 REB, 5 BLK) and the Tigers stormed back to set up a dramatic finish where Auburn’s Chad Baker-Mazara (11 PTS, 3 STL) was fouled on a three-point attempt with his team down three and just 13 seconds remaining, but after making his first two attempts, Baker-Mazara missed the third, and Alabama’s Mark Sears (22 PTS, 5 REB, 8 AST) closed it out from the line to snap the Tigers’ 11-game winning streak - Auburn (16-3) hadn’t lost since Dec. 3, and Alabama (13-6) has now won six of their last seven

• NCAAM | Northwestern 96, #10 Illinois (OT): In a thrilling track meet featuring 24 lead changes, Illinois’ Marcus Domask (22 PTS, 6 AST) missed a potential game-winning jumper at the end of regulation, and then Boo Buie (29 PTS, 7 AST) and the Wildcats scored the first nine points in overtime to pull off another shocker in their home building - it’s Northwestern’s second top-10 upset this season as they also knocked off then-No. 1 Purdue on Dec. 1

• NCAAW | Oklahoma 91, #10 Texas 87: The Longhorns’ men’s team knocked off No. 11 Oklahoma on Tuesday, but this time it was the Sooners who were doing the spoiling as their women’s squad had all five starters score 13 or more points to stave off a late rally by Madison Booker (29 PTS, 6 REB) and the Burnt Orange, marking Texas’ second loss in four games

See the full men’s scoreboard here and the current rankings here. See the full women’s scoreboard here and the current rankings here.

NHL - Top Games

• Toronto Maple Leafs 1, Winnipeg Jets 0 (OT): Who else but Auston Matthews? Toronto’s Ilya Samsonov (32 SV) and Winnipeg’s Laurent Brossoit (29 SV) each stood on their head, but after a scoreless 60 minutes, Matthews (1 G) had seen enough and said goodnight with a late OT-winner to give the Leafs a win in the opener of a home-and-home set - Mathews now has a league-leading 39 goals this season

• Carolina Hurricanes 3, Boston Bruins 2: Brad Marchand (2 G) buried two straight in the 3rd period to erase a 2-0 deficit for Boston, but Jordan Martinook (1 G) netted the game-winner on a breakaway with 2:27 remaining, and the Canes cracked the B’s five-game winning streak with a road dub in Beantown - Carolina (26-15-5) is only four points back of New York (29-15-3) for first place in the Metropolitan

• Florida Panthers 6, Arizona Coyotes 2: Matthew Tkachuck (2 G, 1 A) and Carter Verhaeghe (3 A) both had three points, Sergei Bobrovsky (31 SV) was fantastic, and the surging Panthers went up 6-0 to rout the Coyotes for their 29th win of the season, matching the Bruins and Rangers for the most in the East

See the full NHL scoreboard here and the current standings here.

ATP Australian Open - Quarterfinals

• Men’s QF | #6 Alexander Zverev def. #2 Carlos Alcaraz (6-1, 6-3, 6-7, 6-4): After missing last year’s tournament due to injury, Spain’s 20-year-old phenom Carlos Alcaraz breezed through the first four rounds to reach his first quarterfinal at Melbourne. However, he came out sluggish Wednesday morning against Germany’s Alexander Zverev, and although Alcaraz rallied to take a third-set tiebreaker, Zverev broke the two-time major winner twice in the fourth set to pull off the upset - Zverev also made the semifinals in 2020 and will face Daniil Medvedev, who won a grueling four-hour match over Hubert Hurkacz Tuesday night

• Women’s QF | #12 Zheng Qinwen def. Anna Kalinskaya (6-7, 6-3, 6-1): In her first Grand Slam quarterfinal, Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya claimed a tiebreaker in the first set and then led 3-2 in the second, but China’s Zheng Qinwen suddenly found a second gear and won 10 of the next 11 games to advance to her first Grand Slam semifinal, where she will face unranked qualifier Dayana Yastremska

See the full results here.

Singles Semifinals

• Women’s | #2 Aryna Sabalenka vs. #4 Coco Gauff: Live Score

• Women’s | Dayana Yastremska vs. Zheng Qinwen: Live Score

• Men’s | #1 Novak Djokovic vs. #4 Jannik Sinner 10:30pm ET, ESPN

• Men’s | #3 Daniil Medvedev vs. #6 Alexander Zverev Friday 3:30am ET, ESPN

See the men’s singles bracket here and the women’s singles bracket here.

English Carabao Cup - Semifinals (2nd Leg)

• Liverpool 1, Fulham 1 (LIV wins 3-2 Agg.): Needing just a draw after a 2-1 victory in the first leg, Liverpool received a critical boost from Luis Diaz’s (11’) early strike, and despite a second-half equalizer from Fulham’s Issa Diop (76’), the Reds held on at Craven Cottage to advance 3-2 on aggregate, staging a 2022 final rematch versus Chelsea, who sealed a 6-2 aggregate win over Middlesbrough on Tuesday - Liverpool won the ‘22 final for a record ninth League Cup

See the full international soccer scoreboard here.

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Now that the Titans have hired Brian Callahan and the Chargers have hired Jim Harbaugh, how many head-coaching vacancies remain in the NFL?

A. 2

B. 3

C. 4

D. 5

On January 25, 1924, the first Winter Olympic Games opened in Chamonix, France. Initially dubbed "Winter Sports Week," the 12-day program featured six sports and 16 events, with 16 countries competing. The first modern Summer Olympic Games were held in 1896, and by the 1920s, the Summer Games had already featured many winter sports. However, these events were extremely limited by the warm weather. So, before the 1924 Summer Olympics, the French Olympic Committee scheduled Winter Sports Week. Two hundred fifty-eight athletes competed in events such as figure skating, speed skating, hockey, curling, and more. American Charles Jewtraw won the 500-meter speed skate in the Games' first event, making him the first-ever Winter Olympic champion. Canada won gold in ice hockey, with three wins against Czechoslovakia (30–0), Sweden (22–0), and Switzerland (33–0), for a total victory margin of 85-0. With the success of the events in Chamonix, it was retroactively designated by the IOC as "the first Olympic Winter Games" in 1925 - the Winter Olympics were held during the same year as the Summer Olympics until 1992, when the Games became staggered by two years of one another.

NBA

• Philadelphia 76ers @ Indiana Pacers 7:00pm ET, Local

• Boston Celtics @ Miami Heat 7:30pm ET, TNT

• Sacramento Kings @ Golden State 10:00pm ET, TNT

• Full Schedule

NHL

• New York Islanders @ Montreal Canadiens 7:00pm ET, NHLPP / ESPN+

• New Jersey Devils @ Carolina Hurricanes 7:30pm ET, NHLPP / ESPN+

• Chicago Blackhawks @ Edmonton Oilers 9:00pm ET, NHLPP / ESPN+

• Full Schedule

College Basketball

• NCAAM: SMU @ North Texas 7:00pm ET, ESPN2

• NCAAM: San Francisco @ Gonzaga 9:00pm ET, ESPN2

• NCAAM: Full Schedule

• NCAAW: #22 Syracuse @ #15 Notre Dame 7:00pm ET, ACCNX

• NCAAW: #1 South Carolina @ #9 LSU 8:00pm ET, ESPN

• NCAAW: Full Schedule

Australian Open - Semifinals

• Women’s: Dayana Yastremska vs. Zheng Qinwen 5:30am ET, ESPN2

• Men’s: #1 Novak Djokovic vs. #4 Jannik Sinner 10:30pm ET, ESPN

• Men’s: #3 Daniil Medvedev vs. #6 Alexander Zverev Friday 3:30am ET, ESPN

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Trivia Time Answer

C. 4. Following this week’s recent hirings, only four NFL teams are still looking for a new head coach: The Commanders, Falcons, Panthers, and Seahawks. Originally, there were eight head-coaching vacancies, but the Patriots (Jerod Mayo), Raiders (Antonio Pierce), Titans (Brian Callahan), and Chargers (Jim Harbaugh) have all found their new guys - what do you think is the best job still remaining? Reply to this email with your thoughts!

Prime Lock of the Day

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NFL conference championship previews coming tomorrow!