National Signing Day winners and losers; Joel Embiid looks like the MVP favorite

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🏈 Good morning to everyone but especially ...

NATIONAL SIGNING DAY WINNERS

National Signing Day has come and gone, and after a bevy of commitments, flips and other dramatics, Georgia clinched the top 2024 class. It's the first time the Bulldogs have had the nation's top group since 2020, and it's the 16th consecutive year an SEC program has the No. 1 class.

Kirby Smart officially clinched the top ranking when he flipped five-star safety KJ Bolden from Florida State.
The class features 28 commits, including 10 top-100 prospects and four five-star prospects according to the 247Sports Composite: Ellis Robinson IV (No. 1 cornerback, No. 3 overall), Justin Williams (No. 1 linebacker, No. 8 overall), Bolden (No. 1 safety, No. 14 overall) and Joseph Jonah-Ajonye (No. 7 defensive lineman, No. 32 overall).
Georgia was able to keep the No. 1 class despite losing top 2024 quarterback Dylan Raiola, who flipped to Nebraska earlier in the week. The Bulldogs did add another quarterback in the class: four-star Ryan Puglisi.

Georgia topped Brandon Huffman's list of National Signing Day winners, but there were major victories elsewhere, including the team just behind Georgia.

Huffman: "Alabama: Well, look who shined on signing day. The Crimson Tide rose from fourth to second in the rankings, keeping their annual off-field rivalry with Georgia in play for yet another cycle. Five-star QB Julian Sayin, a longtime commit, was never in play to go elsewhere as the headliner of the class. But where Alabama really does damage is in flipping players, and Wednesday was no different. The Tide flipped four-star RB Kevin Riley from Miami and four-star ATH Aeryn Hampton from Texas.

Meanwhile, things got a little too interesting for Ohio State. Ryan Day breathed a huge sigh of relief -- and feigned fainting from joy -- when No. 1 overall prospect Jeremiah Smith seemed to reaffirm his commitment to Ohio State, but the Buckeyes waited another 10 hours or so before receiving his National Letter of Intent. Smith is the first wide receiver to be No. 1 overall in Top247 history and has earned comparisons to Julio Jones. He'd been committed to the Buckeyes for a year, but Florida, Florida State and Miami remained in pursuit. Day can breathe another sigh of relief after some nervous hours.

Here are the other biggest stories from the day:

Eddrick Houston stayed with Ohio State.
Amaris Williams flipped to Auburn.
Overall team rankings
Wednesday's top commitments

😊 Honorable mentions

What a night of college basketball: Seton Hall upset No. 5 UConn, No. 21 Duke topped No. 10 Baylor for Jon Scheyer's first career top-10 win, Villanova beat No. 12 Creighton, and No. 11 UNC ended No. 7 Oklahoma's undefeated start. The Big East already looks like a whole lot of fun.
Jerry Rice says Brock Purdy reminds him of Joe Montana in this key aspect.
Nikola Jokic in a commercial? Must-see TV.
Klay Thompson has bounced back strongly from his benching.
The Cavaliers are reportedly unlikely to trade Donovan Mitchell.
The Mets traded for Adrian Houser.

😣 Not so honorable mentions

The Knicks have lost Mitchell Robinson (ankle surgery) for the remainder of the season.
The George Pickens not blocking drama continues. Mike Tomlin had some harsh advice, and Jaylen Warren said he would have blocked in that scenario.
Tua Tagovailoa is tired of the narratives.
The Falcons are benching Desmond Ridder for Taylor Heinicke again.
Michigan received its NCAA notice of allegations for recruiting violations.

🔥 Joel Embiid's amazing run has him as MVP favorite

We're running out of adjectives to describe Joel Embiid's start to the season. The 76ers superstar reached new heights Wednesday with a 51-point explosion against the Timberwolves in a 127-113 victory.

Minnesota entered the game with the best record (20-5) and the best defensive efficiency (106.8) in the NBA. And it was no match for Embiid, who made 17 of 25 shots (68%) from the field and 17 of 18 shots (94%) from the line.
Embiid also had 12 rebounds, making it his seventh career 50-point double-double. Only James Harden and Giannis Antetokounmpo have more among active players.
It's also Embiid's third straight game with at least 40 points and 10 rebounds; the only other player in franchise history to do that is Wilt Chamberlain.
His 51 points and 36 minutes means that Embiid is maintaining his stat of more points scored (843) than minutes played (819) this season. Chamberlain is the only player to have accomplished that feat over an entire season.

One year after winning MVP, Embiid has gotten even better. Sam Quinn says he's the rightful early MVP favorite.

Quinn: "Embiid isn't just the NBA's current leader in scoring. He's currently on track to become just the seventh player in NBA history to average 35 points per game over a full season. Only two others, Harden and Kobe Bryant, have done so this century, and Embiid has done all of this while holding his team together in the wake of Harden's very public exit. He is currently the league leader in estimated plus-minus at plus-10.8, the metric that tends to most frequently correlate with MVP winners."

😬 Ranking NFL wild card contenders

Good luck trying to figure out the wild card picture. In the NFC, there are seven teams at either 7-7 or 6-8. In the AFC, there are eight teams at 8-6, 7-7 or 6-8. It's an ever-changing mess. A few weeks ago, the Packers looked like an exciting, young team growing up, and the Browns were going to their fourth different starting quarterback. Now, the Packers are struggling on both ends, and Joe Flacco has the Browns looking like a strong contender given their outstanding defense. There's a reason the NFL stands for Not For Long.

Cody Benjamin tried to clean up the mess in the NFC, ranking the nine contenders, and while the Eagles are already qualified for the playoffs, his No. 2 team has caught my eye recently.

Benjamin: "2. Rams (7-7) -- They aren't the shutdown defense they were during their title-contending years, but guess what? Matthew Stafford has been back to full form for weeks now, helping L.A. tie the 49ers for the longest current streak of 28-point games (4). If the line can keep him upright and the secondary heals up, Sean McVay's squad could be an early-round surprise."

The Rams have a huge game tonight against the Saints -- another team hovering in the Wild Card picture -- and I can't wait. SportsLine gives Los Angeles a 46% chance to make the playoffs and New Orleans a 48.9% chance.

Over in the AFC, Jordan Dajani sifted through nine wild card-contending teams, and in a perfect encapsulation of how quickly things change, the Bills are No. 1.

Dajani: "1. Bills (8-6) -- Buffalo has averaged 29.3 points per game since firing Ken Dorsey, which ranks fifth most in the NFL in that span. You have to credit the Bills defense, too. They held the Cowboys out of the end zone until the fourth quarter, and held (maybe former) MVP candidate Dak Prescott to 134 passing yards, zero touchdowns and one interception."

But here's the crazy part: The Bills -- who also own the league's fifth-best scoring differential -- wouldn't even be in the playoffs if they started today. They're currently the ninth seed. But it's a good thing the playoffs don't start today, because I want to see Buffalo in the playoffs. I can't wait to see how this soap opera plays out.

👀 Oregon State, Washington State to join WCC for all sports except football, baseball

Oregon State and Washington State -- the two teams left out of the crumbling Pac-12's massive realignment -- finally have a home for basketball, at least for the time being. The Beavers and Cougars will join the West Coast Conference for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons, Matt Norlander and Dennis Dodd reported Wednesday. WCC presidents and athletic directors are scheduled to approve the measure today.

The WCC is one of the nation's best "mid-major" conferences in men's basketball thanks in large part to Gonzaga. Saint Mary's has also emerged as a strong program, and the WCC has sent multiple teams to each of the last four NCAA Tournaments.
Oregon State and Washington State football agreed to join the Mountain West conference for the 2024 season about three weeks ago. The WCC does not sponsor football.
As for baseball -- in which Oregon State is a national power -- both teams are currently moving forward as independents.

Both Oregon State and Washington State basketball will be eligible for WCC regular-season and tournament titles as well as the conference's automatic qualifier berth.

It's another positive development for the hard-luck programs: Last week, they got a key legal victory that allows them to retain control of the Pac-12 and all of its assets.

📺 What we're watching Thursday

🏈 RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl: South Florida vs. Syracuse, 8 p.m. on ESPN
🏈 Saints at Rams, 8:15 p.m. on Prime Video
🏀 Lakers at Timberwolves, 9 p.m. on NBA TV