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    • A twelve-team CFP without Alabama? Plus an NFL watch guide and easy Thanksgiving recipes
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    A twelve-team CFP without Alabama? Plus an NFL watch guide and easy Thanksgiving recipes

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    The Pulse Newsletter 📣 | This is The Athletics‘s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Pulse straight to your inbox.

    Good morning! Make your Thanksgiving shopping list today — and check it twice.

    New Eras: Alabama all but eliminated from the 12-team CFP

    The previous decade of college football was largely defined by a few things: the four-team Playoff and Nick Saban’s annual dominance.

    Alabama fails to reach a four-team field? It almost never happened. During that decade, Saban’s Tide made the cut eight times and were once the first team to compete. (Their only outlier: the two-loss team from 2019 that still finished No. 8 in the AP.)

    So you know what would be really weird? If Bama a 12 team field.

    Well, here we go.

    Last night, Oklahoma (6-5) pulled off one of the most shocking wins of the season, not only at the hands of Kalen DeBoer’s No. 7 Tide – that much had already been accomplished this year by Tennessee and even Vanderbilt – but by dismantling them. The 24-3 final was Alabama’s worst scoring day since 2004, when Saban was still LSU’s coach, and its biggest loss to an unranked team since 1998. 😮

    With three losses and a resume that’s pretty much nothing more than “remember we beat Georgia,” Bama lands in the Needing A Ton Of Help bracket of CFP hopefuls.

    A lot happened yesterday, actually:

    • Fellow SEC contender No. 9 Ole Miss looks even more doomed by its three-loss status after falling prey to Florida’s sudden upset yesterday. But No. 15 Texas A&M isn’t quite out yet, despite last night’s 4OT loss to Auburn. Next week’s highly anticipated showdown with Texas now also features an SEC title against Georgia.
    • In the Big 12, No. 14 BYU had the clearest path to the conference title, but wildly surrendered it to No. 21 Arizona State. (More on that in a moment.) And No. 16 Colorado‘s season-long turnaround hit a major snag, aka the Kansas Jayhawks, who defeated their third straight opponent. With one regular season week left, the Big 12 standings are hilarious.
    • That shit served as the bright side for No. 5 Indianathat took its first L yesterday, a 38-15 humiliation at No. 2 Ohio State. Scheduling concerns will weigh on the Hoosiers, but with so many bubble teams on three losses, make room for a one-loss power. Austin Mock’s updated CFP projections have IU at No. 9.

    There’s almost no room left! For so much more CFB, make sure you’re subscribed to our free college football newsletter.

    Oh, and about that BYU-ASU ending: We’ve seen premature field rushes before, including several already this season (and another against Oklahoma last night), but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a premature lowering of the goalpost before:

    NFL Watch Guide: Get those errands done early today

    If you need to plan your day, I say skip the early window, which is largely filled with mismatches. Typing that causes us to see a few disruptions of course, but from here it can be snoozy. The afternoon period is now fully loaded and the nightcap is perhaps our best match of the weekend.

    See for yourself:

    1:00 PM ET
    Vikings (8-2) at Bears (4-6) — Here’s a divisional game with cliffs ahead for both teams. If Chicago loses, expect more hand-wringing in the Windy City, where it feels like Matt Eberflus could be fired at any moment. For Minnesota, the hot start has waned; are they just pretty good, or are they the elite team we saw early on? Implications everywhere. Television: FOX

    4:25 PM ET
    Cardinals (6-4) at Seahawks (5-5) — Three teams in the NFC West are 5-5 and one team, Arizona, is 6-4, meaning we likely won’t know who wins the division until the season. last week. I think that’s great for us. If the Cardinals win here, you’ll go a long way. Are these teams good too? I don’t know and at this point I don’t really care. It’s just fun. Television: FOX

    8:20 PM ET
    Eagles (8-2) at Rams (5-5) – Philly has an elite vibe right now, but LA has won four of five as Matthew Stafford continues to stuff the tape with plays to make any movie nerd drool. An Eagles win makes them Detroit’s biggest threat. A Rams win is crucial in that crazy NFC West and sends LA to a playoff berth. Television: NBC

    News to know

    Pride wrap historic season
    The Orlando Pride, who won the NWSL Shield (for best record) in the regular season, defeated the Washington Spirit 1-0 in the championship last night. Star forward Barbra Banda hit the eventual match winner in the 37th minute to give the Pride and legendary teammate Marta their first league titles. Yesterday also marked a new milestone in 38-year-old Marta’s career: the first time her mother was in the stadium to watch her play an NWSL match. 🥹

    Could Rodgers…be cut?
    The Jets remain the kind of mess you just can’t look away from. The latest, via Dianna Russini: It seems increasingly likely that Aaron Rodgers will be placed on IR or possibly benched in the coming weeks. Some around the league have said they won’t be surprised if Rodgers is permanently cut this season, according to Dianna, to end his time with New York. But team and league sources have indicated that Rodgers, who turns 41 in a few weeks, still wants to play in 2025 — just not for the Jets. Here we go again! Learn more about Dianna’s entire competition here.

    More news

    • Double warning: Novak Djokovic appointed Andy Murray as his new coach for the Australian Open.
    • Penguins star Sidney Crosby became the 21st player in NHL history to score 600 goals and only the seventh to score that many with one franchise.
    • Javier MascheranoLionel Messi’s old teammate at Barcelona and former Argentina captain will be InterMiamis next head coach, Felipe Cardenas and Pablo Maurer report.
    • After Joel Embid missed Friday’s game against the Nets, the 76ers said he is experiencing swelling in his knee and will also miss today’s game against the Clippers. Yes.

    What we eat: Here’s a cheat code for Thanksgiving

    Now we welcome newsletter editor Torrey Hart for expert advice on holiday recipes:

    The Sunday before Thanksgiving can be stressful – potentially your last guaranteed work-free period to get your food plans in order for the big day. It’s a good thing that at The Pulse we have a connection to the best recipe database in the world. Some thought starters to guide you:

    Finally, bookmark this resource for your leftovers. And stay tuned for a very special and important Pulse Poll on Thursday. Have fun eating!

    Always trust a recipe recommendation from Torrey. Thank you, Torrey.

    Pulse choices

    Kendrick Lamar is now ubiquitous. His new album hits, his Super Bowl set approaches, and the diss track that started this whole series – “Not like us” — becomes a legend thanks to HBCU bands.

    You know who hates the Detroit Lions? Sports books.

    As of Friday, I loved this from John Hollinger Franz Wagnerwhose game winner against the Lakers helped build a burgeoning All-Star case.

    🎧 Andrew Marchand joined Robert Mays to talk about the future of the NFL on TV in an episode of “The Money Down,” a four-part miniseries about the business of the NFL from “The Athletic Football Show.”

    Try today’s Connections: Sports Edition Beta.

    Most clicked in Friday’s newsletter: Our story on ESPN’s “Around the Horn” is coming to a close.

    Most read on the website yesterday: Dianna’s NFL News Column. Check out.

    📫 Do you love the wrist? Check out The Athleticsother newsletters.

    (Top photo: David Stacy/Getty Images)

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