Joel Embiid, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander look like MVP frontrunners; David Tepper pays for embarrassment

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🏀 Good morning to everyone but especially ...

JOEL EMBIID AND SHAI GILGEOUS-ALEXANDER

Joel Embiid is back, and the 76ers are back in the win column. After missing four games due to an ankle injury, Philadelphia's superstar returned with a 31-point, 15-rebound, 10-assist triple-double in a 110-97 win over the Bulls. It's Embiid's 14th straight 30-point, 10-rebound game. Only Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar have had longer streaks.

Somehow, it might have been only the second-most impressive performance from an MVP contender: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 36 points as the Thunder held on for a thrilling 127-123 win over the Celtics in a game featuring two of the NBA's four top teams.

It's no coincidence Embiid and Gilgeous-Alexander are battling for No. 1 in Brad Botkin's latest MVP rankings.

👍 Honorable mentions

Caitlin Clark from the logo? ... At the buzzer! ... For the win!
The Cowboys reunite with La'el Collins by signing him to their practice squad.
The Cardinals have a lot of questions to answer this offseason. According to their head coach, quarterback won't be one. Jonathan Gannon said "there is no doubt" Kyler Murray is the guy going forward.
Dalvin Cook is hoping to join a contender after being released by the Jets.
Damar Hamlin got a heart tattoo one year after his cardiac arrest.
Brock Bowers declared for the NFL Draft. So did Xavier Worthy.
Dillon Johnson is expected to play in the national championship game.
The PGA Tour season starts tomorrow, and Patrick McDonald's season-opening Power 18 is here.
Memorabilia collectors rejoice: Among things up for auction are a Tom Brady Expos baseball card, a Roberto Clemente autographed game-used bat and the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl hot tub.
Dayn Perry has resolutions for 10 MLB teams.

😐 And not such a good morning for ...

DAVID TEPPER AND THE CAROLINA PANTHERS

The NFL fined Panthers owner David Tepper $300,000 for throwing a drink at a Jaguars fan in the arena's seating bowl from his private suite during Sunday's 26-0 loss in Jacksonville.

Yes, this is a drop in the bucket for Tepper, who is worth over $20 billion. But you can't put a price on dignity, and Tepper's was compromised in the most public of eyes. It's one thing to run a franchise into the ground. It's another thing to lash out at fans like a child.

Unfortunately for Tepper, he has now done both. The Panthers are 2-14 this season and will soon be looking for their third full-time coach of the last 15 months: Tepper fired Matt Rhule five games into last season and Frank Reich 11 games into this season. Since Tepper became owner in 2018, only the Jets have a worse record than the Panthers.

This coaching search might be even more daunting than the last. Last offseason, the Panthers traded two first-round picks, two second-round picks and star wide receiver D.J. Moore to the Bears to move up to No. 1 and select Bryce Young. Now, this year's No. 1 pick belongs to Chicago, leaving minimal draft capital, Young has endured a nightmare rookie year, the roster is lacking, and there's an owner who added "publicly embarrassing himself and his franchise" to a long list of mishaps.

Tepper has dug himself a massive hole, and he keeps digging.

😅 Not so honorable mentions

It doesn't sound like Draymond Green will be back any time soon.
Conspiracy theory? Aaron Rodgers wants "Jets green" in next Super Bowl logo given the color of recent logos and participants.
David Ortiz swung and missed on a gender reveal.
Brad Allen and crew will call another crucial game in Week 18.
Connor Stalions was at the Rose Bowl.
Terry McLaurin just wants to win.

🏈 NFL Power Rankings and what we learned from Week 17

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Welcome to Week 18 in the NFL, where change is omnipresent. In Pete Prisco's final Power Rankings of the regular season, six of the top seven teams changed places, and eight teams overall -- a quarter of the league(!) -- moved at least four spots. But we do now have a solid No. 1. Here's the top five:

Ravens (previous: 1)
49ers (3)
Cowboys (9)
Bills (6)
Browns (7)

The Bills moving back into the top five shows the fine margins of the NFL. Come the end of Sunday night, the Bills could be the AFC No. 2 seed, a wild-card team ... or out of the playoffs completely. Oh yeah, and they're playing in the final game of the regular season, the 8:20 p.m. start in Miami against the division-rival Dolphins. Drama incoming!

The good news is Allen has dominated Miami (10-1 record including playoffs), and with the AFC East crown on the line, there are few players you'd want more at quarterback. Pete says if the Bills make the postseason, they could be the Ravens' biggest threat in the AFC.

As for another team that will be a big threat, the Chiefs held steady at No. 8. It's lower than Kansas City has been at this point under Patrick Mahomes historically, but a key part of the Kansas City attack reemerged Sunday, Jeff Kerr notes in his "One thing we learned about each team in Week 17."

Kerr: "Big plays returned in a big way: The Chiefs still had the offensive problems that plagued them all season, yet made up for it with big plays. Isiah Pacheco had runs of 35 yards and 37 yards in the first half, and Rashee Rice caught the longest pass for the year for Kansas City (67 yards). Justin Watson even had a 41-yard catch. ... A good sign Kansas City can move the ball down the field heading into the postseason."

Sure, it came against the struggling Bengals' defense, but the Chiefs will take any and all positive signs offensively.

🏆 Storylines abound for Michigan-Washington

Monday night's title game in Houston should be a doozy. We're down to No. 1 Michigan vs. No. 2 Washington in the College Football Playoff championship. We touched on it a bit yesterday, but now that we're another day closer, we can take a deeper dive, and Dennis Dodd did just that.

There are so many storylines. It's the final football game involving a Pac-12 team and, oddly, it's against a future conference rival. Washington will join the Big Ten next season and even plays Michigan Oct. 5. Kalen DeBoer and Michael Penix Jr., meanwhile, give the Huskies a feel-good air, while the Wolverines are easily cast as villains given Jim Harbaugh's controversies. And while DeBoer seems to be building a dynasty in the Pacific Northwest, Harbaugh might be coaching his final game with the Wolverines.

But at the end of the day what matters is what takes place on the field, and that will be a tale as old as time: offense vs. defense. Dennis has keys for both teams:

Dodd: "Michigan: Keep doing the same thing. Pound the rock, and defensively, pound the opponent. But it was one thing to smother punchless Big Ten offenses and another to slow an Alabama squad that was on a heater. ... Washington: Washington gives up a load of yards but not that many points (24 per game). ... Still, UW has needed to outscore pretty much everyone all season. They are top 10 in touchdowns and points. They are the best imitation of LSU in 2019 since LSU in 2019."

🏈 Ranking ... all ... 41 ... bowl games.

Speaking of those CFP semifinals, they were great. But how do they factor into what were the best bowl games of the season? Tom Fornelli ranked all 41 before they were played and has now ranked all 41 now that they're done. So where does the Rose Bowl rank? And where does the Sugar Bowl rank?

Fornelli: "No. 2: Gator Bowl -- No. 22 Clemson 38, Kentucky 35 -- There were 42 points scored in the fourth quarter of this game, more than in any fourth quarter in bowl game history -- and that was just part of what went down in the Gator Bowl. There were eight lead changes, including four in the fourth quarter, as both teams kept trading haymakers. ... All bowl games in the future should study tape of the 2023 Gator Bowl for an idea of what they should want to be. There wasn't even an edible mascot, or a novelty Gatorade dump in this game, but it didn't need it. Everything that happened on the field was more than enough."