Amazon is expanding its music offering, opening up its full catalog of 100 million songs in Amazon Music to Prime subscribers at no extra charge. The company is also offering many of its in-house podcasts and a selection of others, ad-free, in the app. You’ll still need a separate subscription if you want Amazon Music to really rival Spotify and Apple Music, but Amazon’s service is becoming a seriously compelling (sort of) free option.
The difference in tiers is all about access. All Prime members will be able to access the entire Amazon Music catalog, but not fully on demand; you can shuffle any artist, album, or playlist, Amazon says, but you can’t just select a song and hit play. For that — and to play songs in higher fidelity or with…
A healthy sampling of NBA scouts, GMs and coaches polled by FOX Sports had no trouble offering a host of reasons the Warriors will not be in this year’s Finals.
From the Champions Classic to conference showdowns, these are the matchups you don’t want to miss.
We’re just days away from the start of the 2022–23 college basketball season, bringing five straight months of compelling games. The sheer number of matchups on the schedule can be overwhelming—there are 363 teams, after all—so we’re here to help. Here are 10 men’s regular-season games we’re circling, ranging from November’s Champions Classic all the way to an SEC showdown in the first week of March.
*Predicted winner margin in parentheses, via T-Rank
10. No. 16 Villanova (-0.7) at Connecticut (Dec. 28, 2022)
Villanova has dominated this old-school Big East rivalry since UConn originally left the conference, with the Huskies picking up their first win since 2014 in a 71–69 thriller at the XL Center last season. However, Dan Hurley has steered UConn out of its mid-decade slump back toward the top of the Big East and will hope to capitalize on a potential power vacuum in the league—Villanova has won seven of the last nine conference championships but faces an uncertain future with legendary coach Jay Wright’s retirement.
The Huskies suffered significant losses to the pro game this summer, including diminutive, do-it-all point guard R.J. Cole and sharpshooting wing Tyrese Martin. But with Adama Sanogo continuing the lineage of dominant centers in Storrs, the addition of Virginia Tech standout Nahiem Alleyne and the nation’s 10th-best home-court advantage over the last 60 games, per KenPom, this should be one of the Big East’s most entertaining and impactful matchups this season.
Die-hard Hoosiers likely still wince remembering when Tyler Griffey miraculously slipped away from the Indiana defense for a last-second layup to best No. 1 IU and put an embarrassing dent in its storybook 2012–13 season. And with Indiana poised for its most successful campaign since then, Illinois and its ravenous Orange Krush at the State Farm Center will relish the opportunity to play spoiler once again.
Indiana’s biggest move this offseason was managing to keep second-team All-Big Ten star Trayce Jackson-Davis in Bloomington. He’ll pair with five-star Florida flip Malik Reneau and veteran Race Thompson to create a formidable frontcourt in candy stripes. Conversely, Illinois made waves plundering the transfer portal, securing two of the summer’s most sought-after prospects in Terrence Shannon Jr. and Matthew Mayer. In what projects to be a rare down year for the Big Ten, this elite matchup should provide the best spectacle of the season and offer one of the two conference favorites early-season separation.
The Bruins have fared better than most on their most recent treks to the notoriously hostile Tucson desert, posting a 4–1 record over the last five matchups. Mick Cronin has the UCLA program tracking back toward its blue-blooded best, surging to the Final Four in 2021 and hoping to reach three consecutive Sweet 16’s for the first time since ’08. Arizona, likewise, didn’t skip a beat following the scandal-ridden departure of Sean Miller, as former Gonzaga assistant Tommy Lloyd led the Wildcats to a 33–5 record along with Pac-12 regular-season and tournament crowns.
Fans tuning in should enjoy a healthy dose of offense (and Bill Walton anecdotes), as the winner of all three matchups last year eclipsed 75 points and both teams have finished inside the top 15 for offensive efficiency each of the last two seasons. Sharpshooting transfers Courtney Ramey (Texas) and Cedric Henderson Jr. (Campbell) will help reinforce a Arizona roster that suffered significant losses to the NBA draft. On the other side, expect more of the same from UCLA’s familiar faces Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Tyger Campbell.
Wildcats coach John Calipari watched future conference mate Texas take a pummeling in “The Kennel” last season and decided he wanted nothing to do with Gonzaga’s intimate venue. The two teams have opted to play about a mile up the road at the 12,000-seat Spokane Arena, where Gonzaga and Kentucky will meet for just the second time ever. Bart Torvik’s T-Rank projects that the change in venue won’t do the Wildcats much good, listing Kentucky as nearly 10-point underdogs. However, this matchup serves as one of the greatest concentrations of talent you’re likely to see on a college basketball court this season—they have a combined 19 former four-and-five star recruits—and provides an elite individual battle between early Wooden Award favorites Drew Timme and Oscar Tshiebwe.
Wilson is one of the few key returners from the Jayhawks’ title run.
Over the last couple of years, the Big 12 regular-season crown has been a telling prerequisite for a Final Four bid. Since 2017, every Big 12 winner has survived to college basketball’s final weekend, with Baylor and Kansas hoisting national championship trophies each of the last two seasons. So this late-season matchup at Allen Fieldhouse between the conferences’ two front-runners should be pivotal in crowning its all-important champion.
Kansas lost its top three contributors to the pro game, and it’s expected much of its offense will run through returners Jalen Wilson, who averaged 12 points per game during the NCAA tournament, and Dajuan Harris Jr. Coach Bill Self added reinforcements in Texas Tech transfer Kevin McCullar Jr. along with five-star recruits Gradey Dick and MJ Rice, culminating in a roster that shouldn’t skip a beat. Baylor, alternatively, returns key contributors LJ Cryer, Adam Flagler and Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua (the last of whom is still rehabbing an injury), who will hope to avenge a 34-point drubbing in Lawrence last season.
5. No. 1 North Carolina at No. 13 Indiana (-1.9) (Nov. 30, 2022)
The preseason AP top 25 poll confirmed one thing: The media believes in North Carolina. The Tar Heels scooped up 47 of the 62 available first-place votes eight months after falling short in the national title game against Kansas, the hype being bolstered by UNC’s deep roster. North Carolina returns four of the top five scorers from last year’s Final Four team, including a devastating backcourt of Caleb Love and R.J. Davis, while also adding Northwestern star Pete Nance over the offseason.
After a Charmin-soft opening to the season, UNC should enjoy a solid tuneup at the Phil Knight Invitational right before heading to Bloomington, where it hasn’t won in nearly two decades. Armando Bacot and Trayce Jackson-Davis, two of the best interior players in the nation, will provide a fantastic individual matchup, and Assembly Hall will be ready to erupt after years of the program’s mediocre basketball.
4. No. 7 Duke (-1.3) vs. No. 5 Kansas (Nov. 15, 2022)
While the Kansas-Duke matchup on the gridiron drew an ill-fated internet bid for College GameDay, their meeting on the hardwood in November will require no such promotion. The bluebloods’ three contests in the last six seasons have all turned into instant classics, producing an average margin of victory below three, and this season projects to offer another elite showdown. Both teams enjoyed strong runs in last year’s March Madness, with Duke ultimately sending Coach K somberly into the twilight after a Final Four loss to North Carolina, while Kansas bested the Tar Heels to claim its first title since 2008.
Duke’s first-year coach, Jon Scheyer, has been blessed with more than enough talent to tangle with the Jayhawks, trotting out a trio of top-six 2022 recruits in Dereck Lively II (No. 1), Dariq Whitehead (No. 4) and Kyle Filipkowski (No. 6). Between the talented rosters and illustrious programs, this will be a fantastic matchup on just Day 8 of the college basketball slate.
I promise this is the last you’ll hear about the Jayhawks, but this semiregular matchup is comfortably the best product of ESPN’s intraconference challenge programming. Kansas and Kentucky have met four times in the SEC/Big-12 Challenge, and, unlike many elite nonconference matchups held in soulless neutral-site arenas, these games alternate between two of the sport’s most hallowed grounds in Rupp Arena and Allen Fieldhouse. The most surprising result in series history came last season, when the Wildcats waltzed into Lawrence and pummeled the eventual national champions, 80–62. For Kansas’s revenge tour, the most pressing question surrounds how it will approach containing Tshiebwe, with four-star freshman Ernest Udeh Jr. currently slated to duke it out with the reigning Naismith winner.
Kentucky had never been out-recruited by an SEC foe in the history of 247Sports’s team recruiting rankings, which date back over a decade. That is, until Arkansas boss Eric Musselman hit the trail this offseason. The Hogs secured three five-star recruits—Nick Smith Jr., Jordan Walsh and Anthony Black—as part of Sports Illustrated’s second-ranked recruiting class in 2022. Kentucky has some talented freshmen in its own right in Cason Wallace and Chris Livingston, but will assume an unfamiliar role as the more experienced team with fourth-year guards Sahvir Wheeler and CJ Fredrick along with Tshiebwe. These two SEC titans will do battle on the final day of the league’s regular season, which could be crucial in crowning a conference champion.
1. No. 1 North Carolina at No. 7 Duke (-3.6) (Feb. 4, 2023)
It’s a new era on Tobacco Road. For the last 20 years, tuning into Duke-UNC meant seeing two of the winningest coaches in basketball history, Mike Krzyzewski and Roy Williams, patrol their respective sidelines. Both have made way for their disciples in recent years—and, hey, the kids aren’t doing half bad. Hubert Davis took the reins in Chapel Hill last season, falling slightly short of expectations during the regular season before catching fire late, winning 11 of his last 13 games en route to a national championship game appearance. And after tagging in for Coach K last spring, Scheyer landed SI’s No. 1 recruiting class, setting up one of the most talented rosters in the sport. Even in the programs’ respective down years, this rivalry has always provided drama and intrigue—recall 14–17 North Carolina taking Duke to overtime in 2020. But now, with fresh faces, elite rosters and the Cameron Crazies certainly turned up to 11, this spectacle becomes can’t-miss television.
Honorable Mentions
No. 3 Houston at No. 18 Virginia (-1.7) (Dec. 17, 2022): This is likely to be the stiffest regular-season test for what projects to be an elite Houston ballclub.
No. 9 Creighton at No. 12 Texas (-5.7) (Dec. 1, 2022): An outstanding matchup between two somewhat sneaky teams with very good odds at winning their conferences.
No. 5 Baylor vs. No. 2 Gonzaga (-2.7) (Dec. 2, 2022): One of the premier matchups of the season, hamstrung by an odd venue choice in Sioux Falls, S.D.
No. 23 Illinois vs. No. 8 UCLA (-1.0) (Nov. 18, 2022): Conference purists will be screaming, “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas,” for this one, as these transcontinental, future Big Ten rivals square off at T-Mobile Arena.
No. 2 Gonzaga (-1.0) @ No. 12 Texas (Nov. 16, 2022): The Longhorns will hope to avenge last season’s beatdown from the wiggy confines of Austin.
Justin Fields and Taylor Heinicke are reviving two stagnant offenses and can revive your fantasy team off the waiver wire.
Six teams are on bye this week, so it’s time to hit the waiver wire.
The quarterback position remains more difficult to predict than ever, but a few QBs have great matchups that can be streamed this week.
Our waiver wire pickup ahead of Week 8, D’Onta Foreman, rewarded us handsomely this week. I’ve included some rookie RBs in this week’s article that could pay off down the stretch.
At wideout, there are quite a few options. I wrote about a few, but be sure to also check the “others” section at the bottom of the wideout portion of the article to ensure you’re evaluating the best player for your team.
QUARTERBACKS WAIVER WIRE
Justin Fields (CHI) FAAB up to 7% Justin Fields finished as a top-seven QB in each of the last three weeks, including Week 8, when he faced off with a tough Dallas defense. Fields completed 74% of his passes and earned the fourth-best passer rating of the week (120). Though the Chicago passing game is not high volume—the team’s 160 passing attempts are tied for the least in the NFL with the Titans—Fields has the rushing ability to offer a solid floor. The Bears have been looking better of late, and this week they face a Miami defense that has surrendered the third-most passing yards and the sixth-most rushing yards to opposing QBs. Fields is still available in 59% of fantasy football leagues. Taylor Heinicke (WSH) FAAB up to 3% We had Heinicke in our waiver article a few weeks ago, and if you picked him up in a deeper league, he hasn’t let you down. Heinicke finished as the QB8 this week after a strong debut in Week 7. He’s also brought Terry McLaurin and Antonio Gibson back to fantasy relevance. This week he has a nice matchup vs. a Raiders team that allows an average of 24 points per game to opposing running backs. Heinicke is available in 93% of leagues.
Andy Dalton (NO) FAAB up to 3% Dalton has made his case to remain the starting QB for the Saints after he led a 24-0 shutout vs. the Raiders, completing 73.3% of his passes for 229 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Two weeks ago, he threw for 368 yards and four touchdowns vs. the Cardinals, and he has another juicy matchup this week as he squares off with Baltimore for Monday Night Football. The Ravens have allowed the third-most passing yards to opposing QBs this year. Dalton is available in 85% of leagues. Others: Marcus Mariota (ATL), PJ Walker (CAR)
Chuba Hubbard (CAR) FAAB up to 6% Hubbard should be back this week, and though we saw Foreman dominate this backfield last week with a monster game, it’s worth remembering that two weeks ago, before Hubbard left the game early with an ankle injury, he ran double the routes and had double the carries of Foreman. Foreman will likely still lead this backfield, but Carolina has had success featuring their running backs, so both players should have plenty of opportunities. Hubbard is still available in 57% of leagues. Kyren Williams (LAR) FAAB up to 4% We know there is trouble in Los Angeles in that running back room. Cam Akers is in the doghouse, and Darrell Henderson, Ronnie Rivers and Malcolm Brown all combined for little effect and little fantasy value on Sunday. Before his Week 1 injury, there were rumors Williams was ahead of Akers on the depth chart. Williams is eligible to return this week, and he has the opportunity to step up as the clear starter should everything go well. It’s a speculative add that could pay off. He’s available in 55% of leagues.
James Cook (BUF) FAAB up to 4% This is about the point in the season when the rookies should start to take off. Cook is trending in a positive direction after he played in front of Zack Moss on Sunday, even though Moss was active. Cook carried the ball five times for 34 yards, and he caught a 41-yard pass. The matchups down the stretch are easy for the Bills, so the rookie could get more opportunities in those low-risk situations. Kenyan Drake (BAL) FAAB up to 4% Gus Edwards is dealing with a hamstring injury, and if he can’t go Monday, Drake will lead this backfield. It’s not a great matchup with the Saints, but there could be enough volume to make him worth an add. Drake is available in 68% of leagues. Others: Latavius Murray (DEN), Caleb Huntley (ATL), Khalil Herbert (CHI), Jaylen Warren (PIT), Isiah Pacheco (KC)
WIDE RECEIVERS WAIVER WIRE
Rondale Moore (ARI) FAAB Up to 7% Moore has clearly secured the WR2 spot in Arizona. In Week 8, he caught seven passes for 92 yards and a touchdown and also rushed for another 12 yards. He’s lined up in both the slot and out wide, and his 169 routes run over the last four weeks are tied for the fifth-most among receivers. Arizona keeps finding itself in negative game scripts, and the Cardinals have logged the second-most passing attempts this year (329). Volume, volume, volume. He’s available in 65% of leagues. Garrett Wilson (NYJ) FAAB up to 6% Wilson had a big game on Sunday, catching six of his seven targets for 115 yards. There is still some concern about how valuable the Jets receivers can be with Zach Wilson at QB, but it’s clear Wilson is the WR to have, as Robert Saleh recently told reporters he wants to get Garrett Wilson more involved. The Jets certainly have a lot of talent at wideout. Hopefully, they will take advantage. Wilson is available in 53% of leagues.
Alec Pierce (IND) FAAB up to 6% The Colts made a change at QB this week, and the only person that came out of it OK was Alec Pierce. Pierce was already someone that should have been on your fantasy radar, but with Sam Ehlinger under center, Pierce has the chance to take off. Ehlinger targeted his receivers much more out wide, with Pierce seeing five targets and finishing with a team-leading 65 yards. His average depth of target was 21.2 yards as compared to his previous season-high of 15.5. That’s bad news for those who grabbed Parris Campbell, but the good news for those who can still get Pierce. He is still available in 60% of leagues, and his ceiling may have just gotten higher. Darius Slayton (NYG) FAAB 3% Slayton leads all Giants receivers with 232 yards this year. He’s averaging four catches and 55 yards per game since Week 5. There aren’t many options in NY, but Slayton seems to be Jones’s favorite target of late. Kadarius Toney is gone to Kansas City, and Slayton could be the big play guy that steps up. He’s on bye this week, but he’s a future stash available in 93% of leagues. Terrace Marshall, Jr (CAR) FAAB 1% If you’re in a deep league, why not take a shot on Terrace Marshall, Jr? Now that PJ Walker has led the Panthers to two consecutive wins, maybe we should go all in. Marshall saw nine targets on Sunday, and he caught four of them for 87 yards. Walker showed off his big arm last week in that final play to DJ Moore, so maybe there’s something brewing in Carolina. Marshall is available in 99% of leagues. Others: Demarcus Robinson (BAL), Nico Collins (HOU), Van Jefferson (LAR), Romeo Doubs (GB), Allen Robinson (LAR)
TIGHT ENDS WAIVER WIRE
Greg Dulcich (DEN) FAAB up to 4% The Denver offense looked alive last week on the third quarter drive where Russell Wilson continually targeted Dulcich. He finished the day as the Broncos’ leading receiver with 87 yards on four catches. Dulcich has run a route 73.3% of the time while blocking only 7% of the time. Dulcich is available in 58% of leagues.
Evan Engram (JAC) FAAB 3% Engram finally got into the end zone! Engram has had four consecutive 50-yard games, and among tight ends, he has run the fifth-most routes in the league (195). He’s playing 77.6% of the snaps and averaging four catches per game. That’s a good floor at the thin TE position. He’s available in 57% of leagues.
Isaiah Likely (BAL) FAAB 3% After Mark Andrews left with a shoulder injury, talented rookie Isaiah Likely had a fantastic game. There was a lot of buzz about Likely coming out of camp, and we finally got to see him in action. Likely caught six of his seven targets for 77 yards and a touchdown vs. the Buccaneers on Thursday. He ended the game as the leading receiver. With Rashaad Bateman out for at least a few weeks, and Mark Andrews dealing with a shoulder issue, Likely could be a pickup in deeper leagues. He’s still there in 95% of leagues.
After her sister “evolved” away from tennis just a few months ago, seven-time Grand Slam winner Venus Williams stirred up speculation about her own future in the sport in an Instagram post Monday night.
Taking to the platform on the 28th anniversary of her professional debut, the 42-year-old Williams penned a message reflecting back on her career in a manner that has many wondering if she might soon be leaving tennis for good.
“On this day 28 years ago I made my debut to professional tennis,” Williams wrote in the post’s caption alongside two photos of her as a 14-year-old at the site of her first WTA match. “I never imagined 28 years later what @serenawilliams and I would experience in this sport. I can recount the wins and the losses, but in the end it was always about the pursuit of my best self. Every day, win lose or draw.
“I can look back with no regrets. It’s all been worth it.”
The elder Williams sister last played at the U.S. Open in September. She lost in the first round in singles before pairing with Serena for doubles as a wild-card entry. The sisters fell 7–6 (5), 6–4 to Czech duo Lucie Hradecka and Linda Noskova in the first round of the event
Though Serena had announced prior to the U.S. Open in August that she planned to “evolve” away from tennis following the year’s final Grand Slam, Venus did not say she had the same plans. Following her loss in singles at Flushing Meadows, she told reporters she was “just focused on doubles” when asked if she planned to take the same path as her sister after the tournament.
Williams, a former world No. 1 and 16-time Grand Slam champion in doubles, played in just five events during the 2022 season. She was 0–4 in singles outings and would need a wild card invitation to play in the 2023 Australian Open, which begins on Jan. 16.
Today, mortgage rates moved in opposite directions, but one benchmark rate dwindled. If you’re shopping for a home loan, see how your payments might be affected by inflation.
There’s a lot of great wireless earbuds and headphones to choose from this holiday season. But if you’re on the fence about what to get for an iPhone user, the AirPods Pro 2 are the easy pick.
