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🎉 Yahoo! It's Friday! You made it. In today's edition: College fandom map, the last days of LIV, QB1 to head coach, how the Braves make money, Weekend Watchlist, This Week in Sports History (new game!), and more. Yahoo Sports AM is written by Kendall Baker and Jeff Tracy, with contributions from Neil Paine and Dylan Dittrich. Let's sports...

🚨 ICYMI HEADLINES ⛳️ RIP, LIV: Five years after its controversial launch, LIV Golf has officially begun winding down via bankruptcy, "bringing an end to the most disruptive era of any major American sport in decades," writes Yahoo Sports' Jay Busbee. 🏈 Jaguars 33, Ravens 10: Jacksonville (6-2) blew out Baltimore on a rainy night in Charm City, making life miserable for undrafted rookie Joe Fagnano (10/18, 60 yards, 2 INT) and handing the reeling Ravens (4-5) their fourth straight loss. ⚽️ End of an era: Cristiano Ronaldo announced his retirement from the Portuguese national team on Thursday, ending a 23-year career in which he scored a record 146 goals, played in a record six World Cups and won Euros in 2016. 🏈 Coaches to Canton? Bill Belichick, snubbed from the Hall of Fame on his first ballot last year, is among the five NFL coaches under consideration for the Class of 2027, joining Tom Coughlin, Mike Holmgren, Dan Reeves and Mike Shanahan. ⚾️ Silver Slugger finalists: The finalists for MLB's best hitters by position have been announced. The White Sox led all teams with four finalists, followed by the Brewers, Cubs, Tigers and Royals with three.

📍 MAPPED OUT COLLEGE FANDOM: HOOPS VS. FOOTBALL The heart of college basketball fandom beats in the heart of America. But unlike in college football, basketball fandom extends toward the American coasts. Fan in the arena: Nielsen released the Nielsen Scarborough Local College Basketball Fandom Index this week, which measures fandom avidity across metrics like attendance, viewership, and social media activity. The release follows similar market rankings for college football published in September. Sport schism: Despite overlapping cores, college hoops fandom is more geographically dispersed than football, with voracious fanbases in Washington, New York, Connecticut, and Arizona. None of those markets cracked basketball's top 10, though. Substantial overlap: 11 markets appear in the top 20 on both lists, illustrating the intense avidity of college-focused markets like Lexington, Omaha, and Birmingham. However, no market bested Iowa, with Des Moines/Ames ranking 2nd in college football fandom and third in college basketball. No pros: Of the top 20 basketball markets, only three (Indianapolis, Memphis, Oklahoma City) are situated within 100 miles of an NBA franchise. This story was written by Dylan Dittrich, author of our Yahoo Sports Biz newsletter.

🏈 COLLEGE REUNION FROM QB1 TO HEAD COACH? Wilson and Rivers after a game in 2018. (Abbie Parr/Getty Images) You rarely see two former Pro Bowl QBs competing for the same job, but that appears to be the case at NC State, where Russell Wilson and Philip Rivers are both interviewing to fill the head coaching vacancy on the campus they once roamed. Wilson, 37, starred for three years in Raleigh (2008-10) before transferring to Wisconsin and eventually becoming a Super Bowl champion in Seattle. The 10-time Pro Bowler has never coached at any level, and only retired from playing five months ago. Rivers, 44, rewrote the Wolfpack record books (2000-03) before embarking on a legendary pro career. He's coached high school ball since 2021 at St. Michael in Alabama, where his son, Gunner, is a four-star senior QB committed to… NC State. Rethinking the résumé: Most schools still want an experienced head coach, but the changing demands of the job may give leadership and star power more weight. In the NIL and transfer portal era, a respected former NFL player can bring credibility to the locker room and be the face of a program, attracting recruits, donors and attention. Meanwhile, coordinators, analysts and expanded support staff can shoulder more of the tactical work than ever before. The Deion Sanders Effect: Coach Prime, like Rivers, had only high school coaching experience when Jackson State hired him in 2020. His success there ultimately landed him a much bigger gig at Colorado, and also paved the way for more such hires to follow. Eddie George, now at Bowling Green, joined Tennessee State in 2021 despite no previous coaching experience. Same goes for Eddie Robinson Jr. (Alabama State, 2022) and Michael Vick (Norfolk State, 2025). DeSean Jackson spent one year as a high school OC before taking over at Delaware State in 2025, and Marshall Faulk is the new head coach at Southern after spending last season as Sanders' running backs coach in Boulder. Next in line? Pro Football Hall of Famer Jason Taylor is the defensive ends coach at Miami; Hines Ward is the associate head coach at Arizona State; C.J. Spiller is the running backs coach at Clemson; James Laurinaitis is the linebackers coach at Ohio State. Perhaps one day they'll become head coaches who do have the relevant experience.

💯 STAT SHEET BIG NUMBERS ⚾️ 49.1%   The Braves reported their third-quarter earnings on Wednesday, providing the public with its lone quarterly look at MLB financials. One number that might surprise you? Over the past year, less than half (49.1%) of the team's revenue came from Baseball Events (ticket sales, concessions, advertising, suites, premium seats, etc).   The other half: The Braves' other revenue sources are Broadcasting (23%), which was down from last year, and Mixed-Use (14.5%), which was up thanks to The Battery district adjacent to the ballpark. Making up the final chunk: Retail and Licensing (7.2%) and Other (6.3%), which includes things like concerts.   🏀 +8.4 points   How prolific has Luka Dončić been scoring the basketball this season? The gap between him (38.5 ppg) and second-place Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (30.1 ppg) is currently the same as the gap between SGA and 28th-place Nickeil Alexander-Walker (21.7 ppg).   Another stat-stuffing start: Dončić is the only player in NBA history to record 250 points, 50 rebounds and 50 assists through the first seven games of a season… and he's now done it three times.   🇺🇸 50 marathons, 50 states   Completing a single marathon is a bucket-list accomplishment for most people. But it's just another day at the office for British endurance athlete William Goodge, who just set a Guinness World Record by running 50 marathons in 50 states… in just 23 days!   Hawaii to New York: Goodge ran 50 marathons (or marathon-length runs) from Oct. 9th in Hawaii through Sunday's NYC Marathon, all while raising money for cancer research in honor of his late mother.

📺 VIEWING GUIDE WEEKEND WATCHLIST (Dillon Minshall/Yahoo Sports) 🏈 College Football Saturday   It's been three days since the first CFP rankings dropped and we already have seven ranked matchups. Is that good? That seems good. Clear your calendar: Early: No. 9 BYU at No. 3 Utah (12pm ET, ABC); No. 7 Texas at No. 18 Missouri (12pm, ESPN) Late: No. 5 Alabama at No. 14 LSU (3:30pm, ABC); No. 23 Oregon at No. 12 Ohio State (3:30pm, CBS) Evening: No. 6 Kentucky at No. 13 Tennessee (6:15pm, ESPN); No. 1 Miami at No. 11 Notre Dame (7:30pm, NBC); No. 2 Georgia at No. 10 Ole Miss (7:30pm, ABC) Heisman Watch: Ohio State WR Jeremiah Smith (+160) and Miami QB Darian Mensah (+165) are the current favorites to win the Heisman Trophy, followed by Notre Dame QB CJ Carr (+550) and Ole Miss QB Trinidad Chambliss (+950).   Reminder: Don't forget to lock in your Week 10 picks in our College Football Challenge.   ⚽️ MLS Decision Day   Saturday marks the final day of the regular season, with half the league's teams kicking off at 4pm and the other half at 7pm (Apple).   Where it stands: The Eastern Conference field is already set, but the West has six teams fighting for the final three spots: LA Galaxy (44 points), Portland (43), Colorado (43), Seattle (43), Salt Lake (42) and Minnesota (41).   ⚽️ NWSL Playoffs   The postseason kicks off with a quartet of games across the country: No. 2 San Diego vs. No. 7 Utah (Fri. 10pm, Prime); No. 4 Kansas City vs. No. 5 Angel City (Sat. 12pm, CBS); No. 1 Gotham vs. No. 8 Seattle (Sun. 12:30pm, ABC); No. 3 Washington vs. No. 6 Portland (Sun. 3pm, ABC).   "Worst" to first: Gotham made a historic run from the No. 8 seed to the title last year, and that momentum carried through to this season's first-place finish. Can they keep it rolling and become the third back-to-back champion in league history?   🏈 NFL Sunday   The Bengals and Falcons get things started on Sunday in Madrid (9:30am, NFL) as the NFL returns to the Spanish capital for the second straight year.   Best of the rest: The first-place Panthers host the first-place Broncos (1pm, CBS); The Patriots host the Packers in a matchup of 5-3 teams (4:25pm, Fox); The 49ers host the Raiders in the erstwhile Battle of the Bay (4:25pm, Fox); The Bears host the Bucs in the nightcap (8:20pm, NBC).   🏁 NASCAR Finale   The Chase ends on Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway (3pm, NBC), where Kyle Larson is almost certain to win his second consecutive Cup Series championship, and third since 2021.   Comfortable lead: Only Christopher Bell (67 points back) and Denny Hamlin (70) are within striking distance of Larson, but just barely. Neither can catch him unless they win the race outright, and even if they do, Larson would still clinch the title as long as he finishes no worse than 28th.   More to watch: 🏀 NBA: 76ers at Cavaliers (Fri. 7:30pm, Prime); Trail Blazers at Lakers (Fri. 10pm, Prime); Nuggets vs. Pacers in Mexico City (Sat. 5pm, NBA) … The first of three international games this season. 🏒 NHL: Sharks at Wild (Fri. 8pm, NHL); Panthers at Bruins (Sun. 1pm, NHL) … Minnesota (11-3-3) is first in the Central, Boston (12-4-1) is first in the Atlantic. 🏀 NCAAM: No. 4 UConn vs. No. 16 Michigan in Boston (Fri. 8pm, TNT); No. 9 Virginia vs. No. 12 Arkansas in Washington, DC (Sun. 1pm, ESPN) 🏀 NCAAW: No. 10 Iowa at No. 2 UConn (Sun. 2pm, FS1); No. 1 South Carolina vs. No. 12 UNC in Charlotte (Sun. 5:30pm, ESPN) 🎾 ATP: Paris Masters (Fri-Sun, Tennis) … Carlos Alcaraz, Ben Shelton, Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz headline the quarterfinals. Plus: 🏎️ F1 Brazilian GP (Sun. 12pm, Apple); ⚽️ Premier League, Matchday 10 (Fri-Sun, Peacock/USA); ⛳️ World Wide Technology Championship (Fri-Sun, Golf); 🏒 Women's Hockey Worlds (Fri-Sun, NHL); 🏍️ MotoGP Qatar (Sun. 11am, FS1)   Got plans this weekend? Gametime is the best place to score last-minute tickets to the events in your city.

📸 PHOTOGRAPHY BEHIND THE LENS (Stacy Revere/Getty Images) Yahoo Sports AM goes "Behind the Lens" with Getty Images to tell the stories behind the best photographs in sports. This week's photo: Packers guard Laken Tomlinson, illuminated only by a spotlight, takes the field during player introductions. Date: Oct. 29, 2026 Location: Green Bay, Wisconsin Camera: Canon R1 Behind the Lens: Here's photographer Stacy Revere… Setting exposure for the spotlight rather than the crowd allowed me to "isolate" the player and keep the rest of the very crowded stadium in the dark. I went with a wide lens to show the size of the venue, and the lights from the suites and phones helped create a theatrical look. Shooting a game at Lambeau Field is always special, but being there the night after the Brewers won the World Series only added to the moment. It's the loudest I've ever heard that stadium in the nine years I've been shooting there regularly. Being able to make a really nice picture was almost like my gift back.

📆 LET'S PLAY THIS WEEK IN SPORTS HISTORY (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) This Week in Sports History, the following six events happened. Can you put them in chronological order? The Cubs won their first World Series in 108 years Alexander Ovechkin set the NHL record for most goals with one team Magic Johnson announced that he had HIV and was retiring from the NBA American Shalane Flanagan won the New York City Marathon George Foreman became boxing's oldest heavyweight champ The expansion Diamondbacks beat the Yankees in the World Series Your task: Can you put them in chronological order? This Week in Sports History was created by Patrick Hunter, a longtime Yahoo Sports AM reader and data analyst who spends his free time creating sports games and writing about the moments that make sports memorable. Let me know what you think!

🏎️ START YOUR ENGINES YAHOO SPORTS x APPLE TV This weekend's Formula 1 MSC Cruises Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2026 continues our season-long partnership with Apple TV for F1 coverage.

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