NFL Thanksgiving Games: Chiefs-Cowboys Highlights Huge Holiday List

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Happy Thanksgiving, sports fans! Carter Bahn is with you on this holiday morning as we gear up for a fantastic slate of NFL matchups and electric college basketball action. Is there anything better than sitting down with a plate full of festive food and watching some of the best teams in the league go to battle? I’ll be very grateful for that when I watch the Chiefs-Cowboys game on CBS. Here’s a quick video to get you excited about the game. (If you like the Chiefs, the Cowboys, their cheerleaders, or Beyoncé, you’ll be glad you watched.)

For those of you spending the day with your family, we have a comprehensive cheat sheet for the trio of NFL games. How do you talk to your family about football? JP Acosta has built a flawless script.

One quick programming note before we get started. Today’s newsletter covers both Thanksgiving and Black Friday. We’ll be back on Saturday morning with a special edition to recap the holidays and give a taste of the weekend, so keep an eye on your inbox.

With that, we’ll dive in.

⚾ Five things you need to know this Thanksgiving

1. The Blue Jays are on the verge of signing Dylan Cease to the biggest contract in franchise history. The hot stove season is in full swing and Toronto is the latest team to make an impact. The Blue Jays are reportedly in agreement with Cease on a seven-year contract worth $210 million, which is the largest deal in franchise history by a margin of $60 million. The free agent rightfully disappointed in his final season with the Padres, posting a 4.55 ERA, but he is among the top prospects on the market and will bolster a rotation that is inches away from winning the World Series this fall.
2. Michigan wins Players Era Men’s Championship crown. No. 7 Michigan toppled No. 12 Gonzaga, 101-61, in the championship game of the tournament last night, which gives the Wolverines an additional $1 million on top of the first $1 million the school received for participation. Kansas defeated No. 17 Tennessee81-76, in the third-place match of the Las Vegas event.
3. Arsenal beat Bayern Munich to headline a big matchday 5 in the UEFA Champions League. Arsenal is the best team in the world, writes James Benge after the 3-1 win over Bayern. The Gunners are the last perfect team left in the UEFA Champions League, and after Bayern’s unbeaten start to the season, they look the team to beat on their way to international club glory. In other Matchday 5 action, Liverpool came away from a 4-1 defeat at home to PSV in stunning fashion a run of terrible form for the Reds. Once a preseason darling, they have now lost five of their last seven games.
4. College football rivalry week kicks off with the big games on Friday. Three top-25 confrontations ensure a loaded Black Friday on the university schedule. No. No. 4 Georgia is a two-touchdown favorite over No. 23 Georgia Tech (Brad Crawford and Chris Hummer both side with the Bulldogs to win by margin), No. 3 Texas A&M looks to wrap up its perfect regular season at No. 16 Texas and No. 20 Arizona State hosts No. 25 Arizona in the Territorial Cup. And if that’s not enough drama, all eyes will be on Lane Kiffin when No. 7 Ole Miss hits the road for the Egg Bowl against Mississippi State. Will it be his last game with the Rebels, or will he stay in Oxford? An announcement is expected on Saturday.
5. Two more names are coming off college football’s coaching carousel. Colorado State will hit the restart button ahead of the move to the new Pac-12. Jim Mora Jr. is headed to Fort Collins after a successful run at UConn, where he completed a surprising rebuild with two nine-win seasons. Meanwhile, Southern University is reportedly close to hiring legendary NFL running back Marshall Faulk. He is currently the running backs coach under Deion Sanders in Colorado.

🏀 Don’t miss: The final spots in the NBA Cup knockout stages are up for grabs on Friday

There’s just one more day of group action left as the NBA Cup knockout stages begin to take shape. The first round of the season tournament concludes on Friday with 11 matches, including a pair of nationally televised matches: Bucks bee Knicks And Outsiders bee Lakers.

Speaking of the Lakers: Luka Doncic is frustrated with the NBA Cup jobs. The superstar said he slipped several times during Tuesday’s win over the Hair clippers and advocated that the league change the sticker-laden floor because it is “dangerous.”

Court concerns aside, here are the teams that have already punched tickets to the knockout stages:

• Birds of prey (Winner East Group A)
• Lakers (Winner West Group B)

And this is what’s at stake on Friday:

• East B: Magic bee Pistonswinner sounds
• East C: Knicks clinch with victory; Heat clincher with a win and Knicks loss
• East Wild Card: Cavaliers currently hold the spot, but Knicks, Pistons or Bucks are still possible
• West A: Sunbathing bee Thunderwinner sounds
• West C: Spurs bee Gold nuggetswinner sounds
• West wildcard: Suns currently hold the spot, but Spurs, Grizzlies or Clippers are still possible

🏈 Previews of NFL Thanksgiving and Black Friday games

Thanksgiving means football. And for the third year in a row, Black Friday also means football. The NFL features four games over the two holidays, and it all starts at 1 p.m. when the Lions host the Packers. That’s not a typo. For the first time in 43 years, the early Thanksgiving game won’t start at 12:30 PM ET. Congratulations on the extra half hour of sleep this morning, West Coast fans!

Here’s the list of four games, with links to previews and predictions for each game:

And here are the biggest storylines from the midweek games:

👍👎 The best (and not-so-best) of the rest

📺What we watch on Thursday and Friday

Thursday

🏀 Battle 4 Atlantis: #24 Vanderbilt vs. VCU (M)Afternoon is ESPN
🏈 Packers at Lions1pm on Fox
🏀 Rady Children’s Invitational: No. 10 Florida vs. TCU (M)3pm on FS1
🏈 Chiefs at Cowboys4:30pm on CBS/Paramount+
🏀 Tipoff Fort Myers: No. 16 North Carolina vs. No. 11 Michigan State (M)4:30pm on Fox
🏀 ESPN Events Invitational: No. 9 BYU vs. Miami (M)5pm on ESPN
🏈Navy at Memphis7:30 PM on ESPN
🏀 CBS Sports Thanksgiving Classic: No. 4 Duke vs. No. 22 Arkansas (M)8pm on CBS/Paramount+
🏀 Players Era Festival Championship: No. 2 South Carolina vs. No. 4 Texas (W)8 p.m. on TruTV
🏈 Bengals at Ravens8:20 PM on NBC
🏀CBS Sports Thanksgiving Classic: Northwestern vs. Oklahoma State (M)10:30 PM on Big Ten Network
🏀 Players Era Festival (Third Place Match): Duke vs. No. 3UCLA (W)10:30 PM on truTV

Friday

⛳ The skins game9am on Prime Video
🏈 No. 7 Ole Miss in Mississippi State12pm on ABC
🏈Iowa in Nebraska12pm on CBS/Paramount+
🏈 No. 13 Utah in Kansas12pm on ESPN
🏀 Eastern Illinois at No. 1 Purdue (M)12pm on Big Ten Network
🏀 No. 13 Illinois vs. No. 5 UConn (M)12:30pm on Fox
🏒 Rangers at Bruins1 p.m. on TNT
🏀 Battle 4 Atlantis Championship1 p.m. on ESPN2
🏈 Bears at Eagles3pm on Prime Video
🏀 ESPN Events Invitational Championship3pm on ESPN2
🏈 No. 4 Georgia at No. 23 Georgia Tech3:30pm on ABC
🏈 Boise State at Utah State4pm on CBS/Paramount+
🏀 Rady Children’s Invitational Championship5:30pm on Fox
🏀 Acrisure Holiday Classic Championship4:30 PM on TruTV
🏒 Penguins at Blue Jackets7pm on NHL Network
⚽ Women’s International Friendly Match: United States vs. Italy7pm on TNT
🏀 NBA Cup Group Game: Bucks at Knicks7:30 PM on Prime Video
🏈 No. 3 Texas A&M at No. 16 Texas7:30pm on ABC
🏈 No. 2 Indiana at Purdue7:30 PM on NBC
🏈 No. 25 Arizona at No. 20 Arizona State9pm on Fox
🏀 NBA Cup Group Play: Mavericks at Lakers10pm on Prime Video