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Texas (8-3) will likely fall short of the College Football Playoff even if it upsets Texas A&M in the Lone Star Showdown this Friday, as it currently sits at No. 16 in the latest rankings, but this program could still gain great satisfaction by potentially denying its rival a chance to compete for the SEC championship. The Longhorns will have a much better shot at playing the spoiler role if Anthony Hill Jr. is on the field. The star linebacker is listed questionable, via the Inside Texas X account. Hill suffered a fractured fifth metacarpal in his hand during a 35-10 loss to Georgia and did not play in last weekend’s 52-37 win versus Arkansas. He is a disruptive force who could be selected in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft. Texas is itching to unleash him on Marcel Reed and the Aggies, but since the team’s national title ambitions have seemingly been squashed, head coach Steve Sarkisian and the medical staff may want to exercise caution. The 2024 All-American does not want to hurt his draft stock by possibly aggravating his hand injury. Though, he also does not want to end his college career by getting destroyed against Georgia. Hill would probably have an extremely bitter taste in his mouth if he was unable to battle Texas A&M in Austin. The 6-foot-3 junior still has a few days to get himself ready to compete. He has four sacks, two interceptions, 37 solo tackles, seven tackles for loss, three forced fumbles and one fumble recovery this season. The post Texas’ Anthony Hill Jr. listed as questionable for Texas A&M clash appeared first on ClutchPoints.

The Kansas basketball program continues to benefit from one of the most significant offseason turnarounds in a while. Although the team remains unranked, the Jayhawks have shown steady progress despite missing potential top-three NBA Draft pick Darryn Peterson. Following Tuesday’s 71-60 win vs. the Syracuse Orange, Bill Self praised sophomore big man Flory Bidunga, whose breakout start has anchored the group through early adversity. Self, now in his 23rd year leading the Kansas basketball program, reflected on Bidunga’s offseason journey and the decision that defined his second year in Lawrence. Following the Jayhawks’ 11-point win over the Orange, Self spoke with TNT Sports about the sophomore’s mindset and loyalty after briefly testing the transfer portal last spring. The network later took to its official X (formerly known as Twitter) account to share the clip of the coach’s praise for Bidunga. “The fact that he tested [the portal] and still wanted to come back […] this was the right thing for him to do.” “The fact that he tested [the portal] and still wanted to come back […] this was the right thing for him to do.” @KUHoops’ Bill Self weighed in on Flory Bidunga’s journey and commitment to this Jayhawk squad with @realchriswebber, @JalenRose, @jamalmashburn &… pic.twitter.com/DEBSZyZhgM — TNT Sports U.S. (@TNTSportsUS) November 25, 2025 That comment underscored what may have been the most pivotal stretch of Bidunga’s young career. After briefly entering the portal in March, the 6-foot-9 center re-committed to Kansas within days, deciding to stay and develop under Self’s system. Since then, the results have spoken for themselves. Bidunga has emerged as one of the Big 12 basketball season’s most improved players, elevating from a backup to an offensive centerpiece. His scoring, rebounding, and passing numbers have skyrocketed, highlighted by a 25-point double-double vs. Princeton and a near triple-double against Notre Dame. Through seven games, he’s averaging nearly 17 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 blocks — a complete transformation that reflects Self’s confidence in his development. For Kansas basketball, the rise of Bidunga couldn’t have come at a better time. With their top freshman guard sidelined, the sophomore’s dominance in the post has stabilized the Jayhawks’ offense and reasserted their identity as a national contender. As Self put it, the sophomore’s offseason decision to return wasn’t just the right move — it may have saved Kansas’s season. The post Kansas basketball HC Bill Self applauds Flory Bidunga after pivotal offseason appeared first on ClutchPoints.

It wasn’t too long ago that the Detroit Pistons were losing games left, right, and center. In 2023, they lost an NBA-record 28 consecutive games, and it looked like everything was bleak and that there was no hope for this Pistons squad. Fast forward to 2025, and they are sitting pretty atop the Eastern Conference with a 15-2 record that’s been powered by an ongoing 13-game winning streak. This Pistons team has come such a long way from when getting a win felt like winning an NBA championship. Getting victories on a nightly basis is now the expectation for this burgeoning powerhouse led by Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren, and they might be able to compete for a title as soon as next year. What makes the Pistons’ future prospects that much more promising is the fact that they’ve gone on this hot streak despite not having their full roster yet. Jaden Ivey and Tobias Harris only recently returned from their respective injuries, while Marcus Sasser has been out all year as well. It might be a stretch to think that a team with a 15-2 record still has a ton of room to grow, but this is exactly the case for this Pistons team. The Pistons have become the pick of many media members as the next team to pull off a blockbuster trade to try and expedite their contending timeline. One trade target that’s emerged for them is Utah Jazz star Lauri Markkanen, who is in the middle of a strong bounce-back campaign in which he’s averaging nearly 30 points per contest. Detroit’s best offer for Lauri Markkanen Pistons trade: Jaden Ivey, Tobias Harris, 2026, 2028, and 2030 first-round picks, 2027 and 2029 first-round pick swap Jazz trade: Lauri Markkanen Chris Nicoll-Imagn Images Acquiring a star player who’s under contract for multiple years requires trading away multiple future first-round picks; the New York Knicks’ trade for Mikal Bridges had them ship off five first-round picks to the Brooklyn Nets. This is a similar price for the Pistons to pay. Many insiders believe that any Pistons trade talks for Markkanen will be having Ausar Thompson as the starting point. Thompson is a blossoming two-way force, and he is proving himself to be one of the best defenders in the association. He’s only 22 years of age, and his athleticism and defensive instincts have become a huge part of the Pistons’ gritty identity. It’s understandable as to why the Jazz will be asking for Thompson in any trade scenario. Thompson is by far the Pistons’ best prospect who could be available for trade (Cunningham and Duren are untouchable), and there’s always going to be the question of whether or not his offensive game develops to the point of him being more than a transition demon and a threat near the hoop. Thompson is shooting 30.8 percent from beyond the arc this year, but he’s doing so on just one attempt per game. As tantalizing as his talent and athleticism may be, he might end up getting played off the court in playoff scenarios if he’s unable to at least hit his open triples. He will be dared to shoot — can he rise to the challenge when the time comes? But Thompson is too important of a piece for the Pistons to give up. Markkanen is so far and away a better scorer than Thompson, but the Pistons need his defensive contributions to progress in their path to contention. The player who’s emerging as a bit of a superfluous piece for the Pistons is Jaden Ivey. No one should doubt whatsoever that Ivey is a talented scorer who simply had some bad luck when he broke his leg earlier in the year. Ivey can score from all three levels, and he’s the exact kind of off-guard who can relieve some of the scoring pressure as well as ballhandling burden from Cunningham. But the Pistons have been thriving even with Ivey playing a small role. Ivey being out has also allowed the Pistons to give Duren more faceup opportunities, and he’s been making the most of them. Duncan Robinson has also emerged as a valuable piece of the starting lineup as a lower-usage, motion-based shooter. And then…

The fans and media have been conflicted about who to crown as this year’s “team to beat.” Amid a truly strange NFL season that has featured a plethora of upset losses and ugly wins, many people have opted to place their trust with either the Kansas City Chiefs or Philadelphia Eagles, the Super Bowl matchup in two of the last three years. Finally, though we have reached the point where a squad has convincingly taken the lead in both the eye and metrics tests. The Los Angeles Rams are presently the class of the league. Following a 34-7 drubbing of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, LA has seized control of the No. 1 seed in the NFC. A 9-2 record (.818) is obviously important, but there is another statistic that warrants proper acknowledgement. The Rams rank first in both offensive and defensive Defense-adjusted Value Over Average (DVOA), which measures performance and efficiency and compares it to league average by adjusting for down, distance and strength of opponent. Only four other squads in NFL history have led in both categories after Week 10 or later, per FTN Fantasy’s Aaron Schatz: the 1994 Dallas Cowboys, 2001 LA Rams, 2007 New England Patriots and the 2014 Denver Broncos. Although none of those franchises won the Super Bowl in the respective seasons in which they accomplished that remarkable feat, they were all unquestionable powerhouses entering the playoffs. The 2025-26 Rams also intend to carry that label this postseason. The Rams are balanced and dangerous Ageless quarterback Matthew Stafford has thrown an NFL-best 30 touchdowns to only two interceptions, as he continues to make a strong case for his first career MVP award. Puka Nacua is posting an All-Pro-level season — 80 receptions for 947 yards in 10 games — and fellow wide reliever Davante Adams has scored a league-leading 12 touchdowns. Stunningly, Los Angeles could be even more lethal defensively, as it is allowing an elite 16.3 points per game (fewest in NFL). Cobie Durant and Emmanuel Forbes Jr. lead a group that features four players with two or more interceptions, Byron Young has a team-high nine sacks, and Nathan Landman and Jared Verse have combined for seven forced fumbles. The men who command the sidelines are also quite impressive. Sean McVay is eyeing his third Super Bowl appearance since becoming Rams head coach in 2017, and coordinators Mike LaFleur and Chris Shula could both be head coaches by next season. This is a machine, and there are no glaring flaws to be found. Even LA’s two losses felt more about what it did wrong rather than what the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers did right. That is not to discount those teams or a highly capable NFC, but if the Rams figure out how to avoid catastrophe in close games, they may be able to break this DVOA curse. A road matchup versus the Carolina Panthers (6-6) is a potential letdown spot, so McVay’s group will have another opportunity to prove that it deserves all the praise it is receiving. The post Rams join 2007 Patriots, Peyton Manning Broncos in NFL history books appeared first on ClutchPoints.