Yahoo Sports AM: The Super League that could radically change college sports

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🚨 Headlines

🏈 Jets fire Saleh: The Jets fired head coach Robert Saleh and replaced him with defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich in the meantime. Saleh's 20-36 record in New York wasn't great, but this mess wasn't entirely his fault.

⚽️ Chicago hires Berhalter: The Chicago Fire hired former USMNT manager Gregg Berhalter as head coach and director of soccer. This is Berhalter's second stint as an MLS head coach, having previously coached the Columbus Crew from 2013 to 2018.

🏈 Maye gets a beginning nod: The Patriots will face the Texans on Sunday with rookie QB Drake Maye, demoting veteran Jacoby Brissett in favor of this year's No. 3 overall pick after the team's hitless 1-4 start.

🏀 JuJu's huge deal: Nike has reportedly signed USC superstar JuJu Watkins to a contract extension that includes “one of the richest shoe endorsement deals in women's basketball.” Watkins, a sophomore at USC, scored 27.6 ppg last year, second only to Caitlin Clark.

⚾️ RIP, “El Tiante”: Popular Cuban pitcher Luis Tiant, who won 229 games in his 19-year career, mostly with the Red Sox and Indians, died Tuesday. He was 83.

🎓 The Super League that could save university sports

As SEC and Big Ten executives prepare to meet A historic summit between the two industry powers will take place in Nashville on Wednesday and Thursday. An unknown undercurrent is driving the discussion: Project Rudy.

A college football “Super League”: A group of investors and former Disney executives from the investment firm Smash Capital have met with athletic directors from 30 power schools for a pitch: a $9 billion infusion as part of a 70-school football league.

• This Super League — dubbed Project Rudy in reference to famed Notre Dame backup Rudy Ruettiger — would preserve the Power Four, expand the postseason, overhaul scheduling and create a tiered system of revenue distribution.

• The plan is based on two fairly simple concepts: organize more games between power conference programs by eliminating all games against Group of Five and FCS opponents, and consolidate the 70 schools' media rights under an agreement.

• “The claim is that everyone will be bailed out,” a Power Conference AD ​​told Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports.

Here's Ross on Project Rudy:

College sports find themselves in a vulnerable place as court rulings and public perception shift away from its traditional amateur model. At its core is the increasing pressure to equitably share with top football players the revenue from the riches of the NCAA's most profitable football programs, which for decades have used their profits to subsidize all other sports, pay coaches millions and build gaudy football players Equipment.

Sensing the sport's vulnerability and fearing for its future, outside organizations are mobilizing to inject capital into money-hungry schools while creating more professionalized models to replace the current crumbling structure of a bygone era.

As major college athletics (hesitantly) breaks out of its amateur façade, Project Rudy looms over the gathering of Big Ten and SEC executives.

This new multi-billion-dollar idea is intended to expand the burgeoning partnership between the two leagues and accelerate what some say are inevitable changes in both revenue generation and revenue distribution. At the center of the debate are two men: SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey and Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti.

“The idea of ​​Smash Capital is brilliant,” says a senior SEC school administrator, “but you have to convince these two guys.”

Read on.

🇺🇸 Photos across America

Minneapolis— The Lynx face the Liberty in the WNBA Finals after dominating the Sun 88-77 behind another big game from Napheesa Collier (27pts, 11reb, 4ast, 4blk) – the first player in the WNBA -History of scoring 25+ points and 10+ rebounds in three consecutive playoff games.

San Diego – The Padres defeated the Dodgers 6-5 to take a 2-1 lead at raucous Petco Park in a game in which all 11 runs were scored in the first three innings. Fernando Tatis Jr, who hit another home run, is an absolute hit in this series: 6-12 with 3 home runs, 2 doubles and 5 RBIs.

New York – The Mets beat the Phillies 7-2 to take a 2-1 lead behind a brilliant start from Sean Manaea (7 IP, 6 K, 3 H, 1 R) and another home run from Pete Alonso – his third in his last four games.

Seattle- Kraken assistant coach Jessica Campbell made history at Tuesday's season opener* in Seattle, becoming the first woman ever to serve as a full-time coach on an NHL bench.

*NHL scoreboard: The Blues beat the Kraken 3-2; the Panthers began their title defense with a 6-4 victory over the Bruins; The Utah Hockey Club defeated the Blackhawks 5-2 in their first game.

⚾️ Aaron Judge's postseason struggles

Aaron Richter will almost certainly win his second MVP award of the season, but the Yankees could be in trouble if they don't get this version of him in the batter's box soon.

Strikeout machine: Judge is 1-for-7 with four strikeouts this postseason, giving him 70 strikeouts in 46 career playoff games, a strikeout rate of 33.8% – the second-worst in MLB history among players with at least 200 Postseason plate appearances.

• He used to be able to get away with all those strikeouts because he did so much damage in his other offenses, posting a .910 OPS in 27 playoff games from 2017 to 2019.

• But he's been downright bad in his last 19 playoff games since 2020, with an abysmal .143 AVG, a .559 OPS and nearly three times as many strikeouts (29) as hits (11).

And tonight's match could be more similar: Judge is 0-8 lifetime against current Royals starter Seth Lugo. That includes 0-3 with two strikeouts this season.

Fresh pod: Can Judge handle the pressure of the postseason?

📆 Oct. 9, 1915: Woodrow at the World Series

109 years ago today, Woodrow Wilson was the first sitting president to attend a World Series game, watching the Red Sox defeat the Phillies in Game 2 at the Baker Bowl in Philadelphia.

World Series Presidents: Not only was Wilson the first of nine sitting presidents to attend the Fall Classic, he was also the first of seven to throw out the first pitch

• There.Wilson

• * (1915)Calvin Coolidge

• * (1924)Herbert Hoover

• * (1929–31)Franklin Roosevelt

• * (1933, 1936)Dwight Eisenhower

• * (1956)Jimmy Carter

• * (1979) Ronald Reagan

• (1983)George W Bush

• * (2001) Donald Trump

(2019) Speaking of the first presidential election…

Every U.S. president since William Howard Taft in 1910 has thrown out the first pitch at an MLB game (World Series or elsewhere) either during or after their presidency, with the exceptions of Donald Trump and Joe Biden. However, both did so before becoming president (Trump in 2006, Biden in 2009).

(Yahoo Sports) Today is bittersweet for baseball fans:

• It is the final day of the season that will feature more than two games, with all eight remaining teams taking the field in the Division Series. ALDS Game 3s:Guardians (1-1) at Tigers* ( 3:08 p.m. ET, TBS/Max); Yankees (1-1) at Royals*

• (7:08 p.m., TBS/Max) NLDS Game 4s: Phillies (2-1) at the Mets (5:08 p.m., FS1); Dodgers (2-1 deficit) at Padres (9:08 p.m., FS1)

… The Phillies and Dodgers need a win to keep their seasons alive.

• More to watch: 🏒 NHL: Rangers at Penguins(7:30 p.m., TNT/Max) ; Avalanche at Golden Knights

• (10 p.m., TNT/Max) ⚽️ Women's Champions League: Matchday 1

• (12:45 p.m. – 3 p.m., YouTube/DAZN) 🏈 NCAAF: New Mexico State at Jacksonville State

• (7:30 p.m., ESPN2) 🏀 NBA preseason: Rockets on thunder(8 p.m., NBA) ; Warriors at Kings

(10:30 p.m., ESPN)*

Welcome back: This is the Tigers' first home playoff game since 2014 and the Royals' first since 2015. These crowds are going to be *electric*.

(Taylar Sievert/Yahoo Sports) The five teams mentioned above

are the only ones who have never won a World Series, but can you name the four who have won exactly once? A notice:

They all won this century.

Answer below.

(Giphy) Frances Tiafoe did not

I appreciate that he was convicted of a time violation for a serve against unseeded Roman Safiullin near the end of the Shanghai Masters on Tuesday. He posted an apology

He will post on Instagram later in the day and will likely face a hefty fine for his outburst. Trivia answer:

Rangers (2023), Nationals (2019), Angels (2002), Diamondbacks (2001) We hope you enjoyed this edition ofYahoo Sports AM our daily newsletter that keeps you up to date on all things sports. Register here