Defending champ Ohio State loses to Miami as teams with first-round byes drop to 0-5 in playoff

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Jeremiah Smith and the Ohio State Buckeyes won't be the school's first back-to-back national champions, and the College Football Playoff still doesn't have a winner from teams with the first-round byes.

No. 10 Miami held on for a24-14 victoryin the Cotton Bowl quarterfinal Wednesday night, bouncing the No. 3 Buckeyes a year after they won four CFP games on the way to the title.

Ohio State (12-2, CFP No. 2 seed) trailed 14-0 at halftime, but was within three at 17-14 after Smith's 14-yard touchdown catch on fourth-and-2 early in the fourth quarter.

Smith, the All-America receiver, ended up with 157 yards on seven catches, including a 59-yarder that didn't lead to points in a scoreless first half for the Buckeyes.

The sluggish first half meant Smith's shiny second half wasn't enough as Ohio State finished the season with two losses following a 12-0 start. Top-ranked Indiana beat the Buckeyes 13-10 in the Big Ten championship game.

In the first year of the 12-team playoff last season, all four teams that got first-round byes lost in the quarterfinals. Now that record is 0-5, but this time it's different. A year ago, two teams with first-round byes were lower seeds. This time, the top four seeds got the byes.

Miami's Keionte Scott returned Julian Sayin's interception 72 yards for a 14-0 lead in the second quarter. Sayin's second interception in the final minute sealed the win for the Hurricanes (12-2, CFP No. 10 seed).

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign uphere. AP college football:https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-pollandhttps://apnews.com/hub/college-football

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Defending champ Ohio State loses to Miami as teams with first-round byes drop to 0-5 in playoff

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Jeremiah Smith and the Ohio State Buckeyes won't be the school's first back-to-back natio...

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Has NBA fought off NFL's Christmas Day invasion? Viewership up for hoops

For the NBA, Christmas Day in 2025 was a resounding success — at least in terms of viewership.

Across the five-game slate on the Disney networks, 47.19 million unique viewers tuned in, making it the most-watched Christmas Day since 2010 and representing a 45% year-over-year increase, according to Nielsen Big Data + Panel. These data exclude 2011, when a lockout prompted the start of the regular season to fall on Dec. 25.

Interestingly, Christmas Day viewership may also be hinting at a general changing of the guard. The first two games of the slate — Knicks vs.Cavaliersand Thunder vs. Spurs — were the ones with the highest viewership.

Oct. 26: The Brooklyn Nets' Michael Porter Jr. dunks in front of the San Antonio Spurs' Victor Wembanyama at Frost Bank Center.

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Dribble into this collection of dunk photos as NBA stars posterize opponents

Knicks-Cavs averaged 6.37 million viewers, making it the most-watched 12 p.m. ET Christmas game in history. Thunder-Spurs averaged 6.71 million, making that the most-viewed second game since 2017.

The league made an impact on social media, as well. According to Videocites, the NBA generated more than 1.6 billion views across social platforms, making it the brand with most views on Christmas.

This is notable, given that the NFL has also laid claim to the holiday, broadcasting Christmas games over the past two years. NFL remains king in broadcast viewership, but this year's games proved to besignificantly inconsequential, with injuries marring the matchups, which mostly featured teams already eliminated or in danger of elimination from playoff contention.

The Knicks-Cavaliers game featured a late flurry from New York, whichrallied back from a 17-point fourth quarterdeficit to beat Cleveland, 126-124.

TheThunder-Spurs gamefeatured the latest iteration ofan emerging rivalry in the NBA, one that features a pair of the game's most dynamic young stars in Spurs phenom Victor Wembanyama and reigning NBA MVP, Shai Gilegous-Alexander.

The other games on the 2025 Christmas slate wereWarriors-Mavericks, Lakers-Rockets and Nuggets-Timberwolves.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:NBA on Christmas Day TV ratings up as NFL invasion continues

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Has NBA fought off NFL's Christmas Day invasion? Viewership up for hoops

For the NBA, Christmas Day in 2025 was a resounding success — at least in terms of viewership. Across the five-g...

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Steven Stamkos scores goal No. 600, Predators win New Year's Eve matinee in Vegas 4-2

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Steven Stamkos scored his 600th career goal and the Nashville Predators beat the Vegas Golden Knights 4-2 on Wednesday.

The Predators, in the middle of a season-long seven-game road trip, won for the 12th time in 17 games, including the third of their first four on the trip.

The win put the Predators (18-17-4) above .500 for the first time since Oct. 16, just five games into the season, when they were 2-1-2.

Vegas, meanwhile, lost for the sixth time in seven games. The Knights closed their four-game homestand with a 1-2-1 mark.

Now in his 18th season, Stamkos scored his 18th of the season and ninth against the Golden Knights since they entered the league in 2017. The game-tying goal was part of an unanswered three-goal spurt over five minutes that turned a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 lead for the Predators.

Nick Perbix, Reid Schaefer and Michael Bunting also scored for the Predators. Justus Annunen made 29 saves.

Former Knight Erik Haula, who is two games shy of skating in his 800th game, registered the 200th assist of his career on Bunting's goal.

Mark Stone, who earlier in the day was named toCanada's Olympic roster, scored his 10th goal of the season, while Ben Hutton added his sixth for the Knights. Akira Schmid stopped 15 shots before being pulled late in the third period for an extra skater.

Vegas forward Mitch Marner and defenseman Shea Theodore were also named to Canada's team. All three of the Knights represented their homeland in the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off.

Nashville: Visits Seattle on Thursday.

Vegas: Visits St. Louis on Friday.

AP NHL:https://apnews.com/hub/NHL

byGreen Magazine

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6:22:00 PM

Steven Stamkos scores goal No. 600, Predators win New Year's Eve matinee in Vegas 4-2

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Steven Stamkos scored his 600th career goal and the Nashville Predators beat the Vegas Golden Knights 4-...

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Trump says he’s withdrawing National Guard from Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland

President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he's withdrawing the National Guard from Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland but left the door open to sending federal forces "in a much different and stronger form."

His announcement comes after the US Supreme Court last weekrejected his requestto allow him to deploy the guard to Chicago to protect ICE agents as part of the administration's ongoing immigration crackdown.

"We are removing the National Guard from Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland, despite the fact that CRIME has been greatly reduced by having these great Patriots in those cities, and ONLY by that fact," Trump wrote on Truth Social, arguing that those cities would be "gone if it weren't for the Federal Government stepping in."

He suggested the possibility of future deployments, writing, "We will come back, perhaps in a much different and stronger form, when crime begins to soar again - Only a question of time!"

In blocking the guard deployment to Chicago, the Supreme Courtsuggestedthat a president's power to federalize the guard — which federal law allows when he can no longer execute the laws of the United States with "regular forces" — would not apply to protecting agents enforcing immigration laws.

While the ruling was a blow to his administration's efforts to crack down on illegal immigration, it appeared likely Trump could still invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy regular forces to Chicago and other cities.Invoking the 19th century law— a controversial move that Trump and his aides repeatedly teased during the 2024 campaign and early in the second term — would give him broad authority to evade restrictions on using the military domestically.

A separate National Guard deployment that Trump authorized in New Orleansbegan Tuesdayas part of a heavy security presence for New Year's celebrations a year afteran attack on revelerson Bourbon Street killed 14 people. And Trump gave no indication he is pulling back from using the National Guard in Washington, DC, where it is operating under a different federal law that was not at issue before the Supreme Court.

Trump's withdrawal announcement was welcomed by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat, who said in a statement the administration was using the guard as "political pawns" and blasted Trump as "a President desperate to be a king."

"While our rule of law remains under threat, our democratic institutions are holding," Bonta wrote. "My office is not backing down — and we're ready for whatever fights lie ahead."

Afederal judgehad previously ordered the return of control of the California National Guard to Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, but that ruling had been paused while the administration appealed. The Trump administration said in court papers on Tuesday that it was no longer requesting a pause on that portion of the order.

On Wednesday, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld the lower court order and directed the Trump administration to return control of the troops to Newsom.

"About time @realDonaldTrump admitted defeat," Newsom said in a post on X. "We've said it from day one: the federal takeover of California's National Guard is illegal."

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat, echoed similar sentiments in response to Trump's announcement.

"He lost in court when Illinois stood up against his attempt to militarize American cities with the National Guard," Pritzker said on social media. "Now Trump is forced to stand down."

This story has been updated with additional details.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Trump says he’s withdrawing National Guard from Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland

President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he's withdrawing the National Guard from Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland but left the...

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Watch live as US celebrates New Year's Eve and rings in 2026

Soon the sounds ofold acquaintances being forgottenwill ring across the country as 2025 is set to come to a close.

The year began withblazes engulfing Southern California, then saw PresidentDonald Trumpassume the office for a second time; adeadly collisioninvolving a military helicopter and a passenger jet thatkilled 67 peoplenear Washington, D.C.;the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk; the contentiousexpansion of immigration enforcement actions; and the emergence of outsider challengers to the Democratic establishment among a myriad of major headlines.

North America is set to step over the threshold and into 2026 in a matter of hours,as many parts of the world have already set off their fireworks to ring in the new year.

Shortly after the New Year's ball drops (only once) in New York City, theZohran Mamdaniera will begin in the Big Apple and the political horses will be braying at the gates to start the2026 midterm election season in earnest.

For now, however, revelers are set to gather to watch an item – ranging froma crystal balltoa shrimp– drop and fireworks light the night sky in the waning moments of 2025.

You can watch live coverage ofNew Year's Eve celebrationsfrom across the country by starting the USA TODAY livestream at the top of this story oron our YouTube channel.

How to watch New Year's specials on television

As the clock counts out the final moments of 2025, here's how to watch the television specials that ring in the new year:

The classic:How to watch 'Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve' 2026

A country New Year:Who is hosting 'Nashville Big Bash' for 2026? How to watch NYE special

On cable:How to watch CNN's 'New Year's Eve Live' with Anderson Cooper, Andy Cohen'

Ring in the new year by seeing photos of celebrations around the world, beginning here with fireworks over Sydney Harbour Bridge in Sydney, Australia, January 1, 2026.

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See NYE celebrations around the world as 2025 comes to an end

Ring in the new year byseeing photos of celebrations around the world, beginning here with fireworks over Sydney Harbour Bridge in Sydney, Australia, January 1, 2026.

What's open on New Year's Day in the U.S.?

While the final hours of 2025 whittle away, here's what to know aboutwhat will be open and closed on the first day of 2026.

Which retail stores open New Year's Day?Details on IKEA, Kohl's, Macy's, more

New Year's Day 2026:Are banks, post offices, UPS and FedEx open? What to know

Details on Aldi, Lidl and more.Which grocery stores are open New Year's Day?

Which restaurants are open?Find out the places that are serving customers on New Year's Day

Are CVS, Walgreens open New Year's Day?What to know about pharmacies

Getting on a resolution:Which gyms are open New Year's Day? Details on Gold's, Planet Fitness, more

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:US celebrates New Year's Eve to ring in 2026. Watch the revelry live

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5:42:00 PM

Watch live as US celebrates New Year's Eve and rings in 2026

Soon the sounds ofold acquaintances being forgottenwill ring across the country as 2025 is set to come to a close. ...

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