With many professional sports leagues, seasons just beginning, while others are getting ready for the postseason, it is an exciting time to be alive for sports fans. With college football getting ready for bowl season, the NFL getting ready for the playoffs, college and professional basketball seasons just beginning, and the MLB making major headlines, I figured it would be the perfect time to recap what has been happening in sports this week.

NFL

This last weekend concluded the end of the 14th week of the NFL season, meaning that the race for the playoffs is beginning to heat up. If the playoffs were to begin today, the following teams would be in the playoffs: the Chiefs, Packers, Dolphins, Steelers, Cardinals, Saints, Colts, Bills, Bucs, Rams, Browns, Titans, Seahawks, and The Washington Football Team. With the next few weeks consisting largely of divisional matchups, expect to see some teams emerge as playoff contenders while others fall off. Last Monday, a game between the Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns proved to be what many consider the game of the year. With a fourth-quarter comeback, the Ravens were able to win the game 47-42.

College Football

Last week concluded the final week of the regular season for college football. With covid cases resulting in a number of delayed games, there will be some makeup games as well as conference championships this weekend. The college football playoff committee released their new rankings earlier this week. As it currently stands University of Alabama, Notre Dame, Clemson, and Ohio State would be the four teams in the playoffs while Texas A&M, Iowa State, and Florida would be the next teams out. Some of the more notable matchups coming this weekend are a rematch of Clemson vs. Notre Dame and Iowa State vs. Oklahoma. In other news, last weekend Sarah Fuller of the Vanderbilt Commodores continued to make history, being the first Lady to ever score a point in an NCAA football game. Although she has officially concluded her time with the team, it was certainly an inspiring stint for people everywhere.

Men’s College Basketball

As the men’s college basketball season begins the third week of its season some teams are beginning to emerge as the frontrunners of this 2020-2021 season. This weekend look for the matchups from a few of these teams. On Sunday, number 1 ranked Gonzaga faces number 3 Iowa which will likely be a battle for the title of the best team in the country. The stadiums are not allowing any visitors in order to comply with covid-19 restrictions but the NCAA hopes to be able to have the march madness tournament this year. Hopefully, by the time the tournament rolls around, they will be allowed to have crowds again.

Women’s College Basketball

With the NCAA women’s basketball season also entering the third week of its season some of the higher-ranked teams are dominating. One such team is the ladies from the University of South Carolina who are ranked number 5 in the country who have only lost one game on the season. The other teams who make up the current top 5 are Stanford, Louisville, Connecticut, and NC State. They also hope to have a tournament at the end of their season as well.

Major League Baseball

This past week, the MLB has been in the headlines for reasons other than the sports itself. First off, the Cleveland Indians announced that they will be changing their names due to perceived potential stereotypes it could have. The Cleveland Indians have had the name since 1948 and a new name has not yet been announced. In other news from the MLB, they announced that the statistics from the Negro League will now officially be recorded as the official records. This decision also aligns with the changes for racial equality coming with the wave of changes from the murder of George Floyd. These decisions are both very progressive towards finding equality in the United States.

National Basketball League

In the NBA this week, the preseason is beginning. The scheduling is coming with some controversy, with many players thinking that the start of this season is too close to the conclusion of this past season. The preseason for the NBA is generally a way for teams to see what kind of players they drafted and signed over the offseason while allowing their established players to get some playing practice. One rookie who has impressed so far is LaMelo Ball of the Charlotte Hornets. LaMelo was selected as the third overall pick in the draft and has averaged 11 points per game so far in the preseason. He comes into the league with a lot of hype surrounding him to do his father and his brothers as well as their reality television show.