Titans make necessary move to start Will Levis; Michigan scandal stays under fire; NFL's best team is ...

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🏈 Good morning to everyone but especially ...

WILL LEVIS AND THE TENNESSEE TITANS

It's a new era in Tennessee, and it's an exciting one, too. The Titans are going with Will Levis as their starting quarterback for the rest of the season, bringing Ryan Tannehill's tenure as the top signal caller to an end.

The Titans traded up in the 2023 NFL Draft to select Levis 33rd overall. In two starts this season, he has 500 yards passing, four touchdowns (all thrown in a marvelous debut) and an interception. The early returns have been mostly positive, and he earned a "B-" in Chris Trapasso's most recent young quarterback grades.
Levis only got the opportunity after Tannehill suffered a high-ankle sprain in Week 6. The staff then went with Levis over 2022 third-rounder Malik Willis following the team's Week 7 bye.

This is the right move, even if/when Tannehill, 35, is healthy. Tannehill and Derrick Henry -- two pillars of the last half-decade -- are free agents this offseason, and the team traded away Kevin Byard -- another pillar -- at the deadline. The Titans are 3-5 this season after going 7-10 last season. The tube has ran out of toothpaste, and that's totally OK: The Titans made the playoffs every year from 2019-21, compiling the sixth-most regular-season wins in that stretch. They were good but not quite good enough, and it's time for a new chapter.

As for that next chapter, the Titans aren't giving up on this season -- Tannehill played poorly prior to getting injured anyway -- but this move makes sense. As Bryan DeArdo writes ...

DeArdo: "Mike Vrabel is clearly hoping for the best, but he's obviously willing to risk this season going sideways if things don't go as planned. ... Best case, the Titans realize that they have found their next franchise quarterback. The next best case is Levis doesn't pan out and they have to go back to the drawing board. The worst-case scenario would be Levis being so-so and not giving the Titans a definitive answer. Either way, the Titans will learn something during the final nine games of the season, which they wouldn't have if they had kept Tannehill in the starting lineup."

👍 Honorable mentions

Tiger Woods provided an update on his injured ankle.
The Cowboys signed Martavis Bryant.
The Cowboys are also the biggest favorite of the year ahead of their game against the Giants.
Carson Wentz is back! He'll back up Matthew Stafford with the Rams.
Dolphins-Chiefs in Germany was historically popular.
There's more work for the Cubs to do following Craig Counsell's hiring.
Could a Team USA vs. Team World All-Star Game be coming to the NBA?

😅 And not such a good morning for ...

JIM HARBAUGH AND THE MICHIGAN WOLVERINES

The tension in the Michigan sign-stealing scandal continues to rise, and that's not a good thing for the Wolverines. One day after the Big Ten sent the school a notice of potential discipline, Michigan plans to counter that this is an NCAA issue, not a Big Ten issue, sources tell Dennis Dodd.

Furthermore, Dodd reports that "Any suspension of Jim Harbaugh will be swiftly met with immediate court action, an injunction or temporary restraining order ..." It's unclear whether that's part of Michigan's reply to the Big Ten. Here's more.

Dodd: "There is no specific language in the Big Ten Sportsmanship Policy regarding sign stealing. That may be by design because 'sportsmanship' is such a wide-ranging term. However, the policy states commissioner Tony Petitti shall have 'exclusive authority' where a sportsmanship violation has occurred. The NCAA has not connected the sign-stealing investigation directly to Harbaugh ... However, that may be a minor point for the NCAA as the association's bylaws state that a head coach 'shall be' responsible for the conduct of his staff."

Michigan also submitted evidence to the conference that Ohio State and Rutgers shared the Wolverines' signals with Purdue ahead of Michigan's 2022 Big Ten Championship triumph over the Boilermakers.

👎 Not so honorable mentions

Brian Cashman says the Yankees aren't analytically driven.
Aaron Rodgers isn't close to returning after all.

🏈 Ohio State still tops College Football Playoff Rankings

The second College Football Playoff Rankings of the season are here, and they look a lot like the first. In fact, they feature the exact same top eight:

Ohio State
Georgia
Michigan
Florida State
Washington
Oregon
Texas
Alabama

Despite a pair of strong wins fitting of the top team, the Buckeyes remain overrated, according to Barrett Sallee.

Sallee: "The Buckeyes were far from crisp against Rutgers, and we know 'game control' is a metric considered between those four walls of the committee room. It has to count for something. ... Part of the reason that Ohio State was ranked No. 1 to begin with was a resume that includes wins over No. 10 Penn State and No. 20 Notre Dame. That resume looked much better last week than it does this week after the Fighting Irish suffered their third loss of the season -- this time to a remarkably average (and unranked) Clemson team."

🏈 NFL Power Rankings: Ravens impress ... enough for No. 1?

The NFL is officially into the back half of the season. Nine of the 18 weeks are down. The stretch run is upon us. And it's hard to find any team playing better than the Ravens. They've won four straight games, two of which -- against the Lions and Seahawks -- were by 30+ points. Lamar Jackson is playing at an MVP level. But it's the defense, Pete Prisco writes, that's leading the way.

Prisco: "Second-year defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald does a great job of calling the defense, attacking from different areas and using all 11 guys to be disruptive. They use a bunch of pass rushers -- no real dominant star -- in a variety of ways to create havoc on opposing quarterbacks. ... That offense is getting better by the week, with Jackson really starting to jell in the Todd Monken offense. That's why the Ravens will be a true Super Bowl challenger in the end. But it's the defense that has them there right now."

So is it enough to get them to No. 1? Here's Pete's top five:

Eagles (previous: 1)
Ravens (2)
Jaguars (3)
Chiefs (6)
Bengals (8)

The Vikings (from 23rd to 12th) were the biggest risers, and I love that one of Cody Benjamin's second-half bold predictions is ...

Benjamin: "The Vikings make the playoffs -- Any hopes of a Minnesota postseason bid appeared to vanish the minute Kirk Cousins suffered a torn Achilles in Week 8. But there wasn't a more spirited team on Sunday, with journeyman Joshua Dobbs coming in cold off the bench to guide a comeback upset of Atlanta. Couple Dobbs' emergence with Justin Jefferson's eventual return from injury, plus Brian Flores' perpetually aggressive defense, and it won't be a shock if these Vikings outlast the Buccaneers, Commanders and even Seahawks in the wild card race."

The Jets (from 12th to 20th) were the biggest fallers.

⚽ UEFA Champions League Matchday 4 rolls on

Matchday 4 of UEFA Champions League group play got underway Tuesday, and the Group of Death is living up to its nickname. AC Milan finally picked up a win with a 2-1 triumph over PSG (as fake money rained down), and Borussia Dortmund topped Newcastle 2-0, leaving the Group F standings ...

Borussia Dortmund: 7 points (+1 goal differential)
PSG: 6 points (+1)
AC Milan: 5 points (-2)
Newcastle: 4 points (0)

In Group H, Barcelona suffered its first loss of the competition, falling 1-0 to Shakhtar Donetsk. Barcelona remains atop the group, but attacking inconsistencies are worrisome, notes Pardeep Cattry. Here are all of the day's scores and our takeaways.

There are eight more matches on tap today, including Arsenal-Sevilla, and our experts' predictions are in. Roger Gonzalez says ...

Gonzalez: "Man of the Match pick: William Saliba - The reason why you can state with confidence that it's hard to find a likely scorer on the Sevilla side is Saliba, a center back with authority and composure beyond his years. ... Match prediction: Arsenal 2, Sevilla 0 - This may not be pretty or a thrill a minute, but it says a great deal about the Gunners' recent progress that you could confidently suggest they will breeze through a Champions League game against such prestigious opposition."

📺 What we're watching Wednesday

⚽ UEFA Champions League on Paramount+
🏀 Spurs at Knicks, 7:30 p.m. on ESPN
🏒 Panthers at Capitals, 7:30 p.m. on TNT
🏀 Warriors at Nuggets, 10 p.m. on ESPN
🏒 Kings at Golden Knights, 10 p.m. on TNT