A. Allen Fieldhouse. Kansas does not often lose its way in the Phog, but it did on Sunday for its third setback in its last 115 home games. The Jayhawks fell to San Diego State 61-57, a result that ended their 68-game nonconference winning streak at the house that Phog Allen built. Kansas is a -4.5 favorite at Oklahoma on Wednesday, according to Sportsbook.ag.

B. BCS National Championship. The BCS went out with a bang as Florida State vs. Auburn evoked memories of the Rose Bowl at the end of the 2005 season (Vince Young led Texas past Southern California in a thriller). On Monday night, the Seminoles battled back from a 21-3 deficit and also trailed 31-27 when Auburn scored with 1:19 remaining before Jameis Winston tossed the game-winning touchdown pass to Kelvin Benjamin with 13 seconds left—in the same endzone in which Young scored his game-winner.

C. Comeback/Collapse. You probably thought it could not get any worse for the Chiefs when they lost 23-7 at home to the Colts in Week 16. Oh, it got worse; a lot worse. Kansas City led 38-10 at Indianapolis in the second half last Saturday only to lose the wild-card playoff showdown 45-44. The Colts’ surge from 28 points down marked the second biggest comeback in the history of the NFL postseason. 5Dimes Sportsbook has Indianapolis as a +7 road underdog against New England on Saturday night.

D. Drew Brees. Brees’ assertion that New Orleans is a solid road team is still up for debate (we’ll find out a lot more on Saturday at Seattle), but he temporarily silenced critics as the Saints edged host Philadelphia 26-24 last weekend. Their reward for said victory is another visit to the Seahawks, who humiliated Brees and company 34-7 on Dec. 2 at CenturyLink Field. The Saints are +8 underdogs on Saturday, per Carbon Sports.

E. Evander Holyfield. Normally an appearance by Holyfield on something called “Celebrity Big Brother” would not generate news of any kind. And when it does, you know it can’t be good. Well, it isn’t. Holyfield went on an anti-gay rant before his son rushed to his defense and claimed that the former boxing champion does not hate gay people. Perhaps a rant on people who like to bite off people’s ears would have made sense, but this one was out of bounds and has Holyfield in hot water.  

F. FC Barcelona. Good news for FC Barcelona, and for any soccer fans who need to whet their appetites for this summer’s World Cup: Lionel Messi has been cleared for a return. The Argentine striker has not played since partially tearing a hamstring in early November. Messi is now good to go for a Copa del Rey match on Wednesday against Getafe. Barcelona is a -1100 favorite at BetOnline Sportsbook.

G. Grinnell College. That school that puts up a ridiculous amount of points was up to its old tricks on Monday night. Some dude named Patrick Maher set the NCAA record with 37 assists in a 164-144 win over College of Faith.

H. Hot. That’s what the Golden State Warriors are, to put it mildly. They extended the NBA’s longest current winning streak to 10 games by hammering Milwaukee 101-80 on Tuesday. The Warriors are -5.5 favorites at Brooklyn on Wednesday, according to BookMaker.

I. Irish. Notre Dame earned a statement win on Saturday, beating Duke 79-77 at home. However, it seems like the Fighting Irish could not stand prosperity. They promptly lost 77-70 at home to N.C. State on Tuesday. Ah, the perils of ACC basketball.

J. Jonathan Toews. Toews, who was named to Canada’s Olympic roster last week and is a prime candidate for captain, has tallied points in his last three games, six of his last seven, and 11 of his last 14 with Chicago. The Blackhawks are +550 to win the Stanley Cup at Bovada Sportsbook.
 
K. Colin Kaepernick. Ron Jaworski said before this season that Kaepernick could be one of the best QBs ever. Whoa now, tone it down just a bit. Kaepernick did, however, outplay Aaron Rodgers in San Francisco’s 23-20 win at Green Bay on Sunday. GT Bets has the 49ers at +250 to win the NFC Championship.

L. Luol Deng. The Bulls have decided that this Derrick Rose-less 2013-14 campaign is a lost cause, so they traded Deng to Cleveland on Monday in deal that will give them nothing this season (Andrew Bynum and three future draft picks). Bynum, as expected, was released one day later.

M. Machine gun. LeBron James apparently enjoyed some target practice on New Year’s Eve. He and his wife hit up some place called Lock & Load in Miami, where the fired off plenty of rounds. Pictures indicate that LeBron was in absolute sniper mode, Ray Allen style.

N. Rafael Nadal. Nadal won yet another hard-court title last Saturday in advance of the Australian Open, as he prevailed in Doha. The world No. 1, who lifted trophies last summer in Montreal, Cincinnati, and at the Australian Open, is the top seed for the Aussie—which begins on Monday. Sportsbook has Nadal at +250 behind favorite Novak Djokovic, who is even money.

O. Michelle Obama. President Barack Obama and his daughters headed back from vacation to frigid Washington, D.C. on Sunday. As for his wife, she stayed in Hawaii to chill (in a much different way) with “friends.” Among those “friends” is Oprah, who has been slumming it in her 12-bedroom monstrosity with the First Lady. There are worse ways to ring in the New Year and spend the final days of your 40s (Michelle Obama turns 50 on Friday).

P. Chris Paul. CP3 suffered a separated shoulder last Friday at Dallas. An MRI on Sunday revealed the Clippers’ point guard does not need surgery, but he could still miss up to six weeks. Paul is averaging 19.6 points per game, and he is leading the NBA—with room to spare—at 11.2 assists per outing. Nobody other than Stephen Curry is within two assists per game of Paul.

Q. Jonathan Quick. 2014 is off to a nice start for Quick. L.A.’s net-minder was named to the United States’ Olympic squad and he also returned from a groin injury that had sidelined him since Nov. 12. Quick’s comeback last Saturday night resulted in a 3-1 home win for the Kings over Vancouver, during which he stopped 27 of 28 shots. Team USA is +550 at BetOnline Sportsbook to win the gold medal.

R. Philip Rivers. Rivers may be one of the most overrated quarterbacks in NFL history, but there’s no denying that he has been legit this season. San Diego’s signal-caller threw 32 touchdowns compared to only 11 interceptions during the 16-game slate. He did not have to be heroic in a wild-card blowout at Cincinnati last weekend, but he was rock-solid. Rivers completed 12 of 16 passes and tossed one scoring strike without committing any turnovers. The Chargers are +10 underdogs at Denver on Sunday, per WagerWeb.

S. Serena Williams. Serena will be looking for a sixth Australian Open singles title when action begins next week in Melbourne. She has not won it, however, since 2010, and Victoria Azarenka has captured two titles in a row Down Under. Still, Serena cemented her status as the woman to beat by dominating a tune-up tournament last week in Brisbane, where she did not drop a single set and her road to the trophy included defeats of Azarenka and Maria Sharapova. Serena is -150 favorite at Sportsbook.

T. Texas. Former Florida defensive coordinator and Louisville head coach Charlie Strong was hired last week to replace Mack Brown. While it’s a great job, it did not take Strong long to find out that it is also a tough job. One of UT’s biggest boosters, Red McCombs, on Monday blasted his Longhorns for Strong’s hiring. “I think the whole thing is a bit sideways," McCombs said in an interview with ESPN 1250 San Antonio. "I don't have any doubt that Charlie is a fine coach. I think he would make a great position coach; maybe a coordinator.” Zing!

U. Undefeated. Winston became the third quarterback since 1950 to go undefeated in a season and also win both the National Championship and the Heisman Trophy. Matt Leinart accomplished the feat in 2004 (national title since vacated), and Cam Newton did it in 2010. Florida State finished 14-0, and its only competitive game came on Monday against Auburn (other than that, a 48-34 win at Boston College on Sept. 28 was the closest). The Seminoles are +400 favorites to win next year’s National Championship, according to Bovada Sportsbook.

V. Lindsay Vonn. There will be no Sochi for Vonn. One of the United States’ most decorated skiers of all time will miss the upcoming Winter Olympics due to her ongoing knee problems. Vonn suffered a torn ACL at last winter’s World Championships, and she re-aggravated the issue during a training run in November.

W. Tiger Woods. Speaking of Vonn, her boyfriend is bringing in racks on racks. According to a report in the February issue of “Golf Digest,” Tiger has exceeded $1.3 billion in career earnings.

X. Xander Bogaerts. Bogaerts won something called the Jackie Jensen Hustle Award for 2013 from the Boston Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America. He will be honored on Jan. 23 in Boston. The Red Sox, of course, will be going after a much bigger prize in 2014—defense of their World Series title. They are +1000 at Carbon Sports to win it all again.

Y. Keith Yandle. Not much has gone wrong this season for Yandle. Nonetheless, he was one of the biggest snubs left off the United States’ Olympic team when the roster was announced last week. The Phoenix defenseman has six goals, 22 assists, and has points in four of his last six games.

Z. Zach Johnson. If the PGA Tour channeled its inner “NBA Jam,” Johnson would have just gone from “heating up” to the realm of “on fire.” The 2007 Masters Champion beat Tiger in a playoff to win the Northwestern Mutual World Challenge in early December. He emerged victorious for the second time in as many starts when he captured the Hyundai Tournament of Champions on Monday in Maui. Johnson is +5000 at Bovada Sportsbook to win the Masters.

Read more articles by Ricky Dimon