If you looked at our schedule section yesterday, you may have not been floored by the sports action you saw. While that may have seemed true, it ended up being the furthest thing from the truth. It was a BUSY Tuesday in the world of sports, everything from big MLB acquisitions to national recruits signing, to Bill Belichick news, and even big soccer and basketball games, it was a day. To catch you up on all of it, here’s another edition of THE DAILY STUMP…

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Today’s Trivia🧠

(answer at the bottom of the Stump!)

On This Day…

⚾️ On this day in 1951, Joe DiMaggio officially retired from the game of baseball. He played his entire 13-year MLB career with the New York Yankees.

He debuted in 1936 and made 7-straight all-star appearances. He took a three-year hiatus from baseball from 1943-1946 to serve in the military. He returned for 6 more years with the Yankees, and he made 6 more all-star teams. Most notably, during his time with the Yankees, the franchise won 9 World Series.

Today’s Stump Story…

🏈 Favorites to Win for First Time since 2022

That’s right, the Carolina Panthers opened up as the FAVORITES to win a football game this weekend, the first time since 2022.

This would be the first time that the Carolina Panthers are betting favorites to win a football game since Week 15 of the 2022 season, about 2 years ago. This would end a streak of 33 straight games as underdogs, the sixth-longest streak since 1970 and the longest since the 2012-14 Jacksonville Jaguars.

The 3-10 Panthers host the 5-8 Dallas Cowboys this weekend and currently sit at 2-point favorites. If this all holds it will be the first time since Dec. 18th, 2022, when the Panthers took on the Steelers at home, that Carolina is a favorite at kickoff. In case you were wondering they did not win that game, Steelers 24-Panthers 16.

One of the big reasons surrounding the recent success of the Panthers has been the re-emergence of their former number-one overall pick Bryce Young. Young, who was benched after a very disappointing first two games this year for Andy Dalton, has successfully hit the reset button.

Young has not only put the Panthers in a position to win, but has made big-time throws and protected the football since his return as the starter. Since his week 9 return, Young’s total QBR ranks 13th in the NFL. That is higher than Patrick Mahomes, Jayden Daniels, Bo Nix, and Jalen Hurts. He has proved to many haters out there that they may have the right guy in place to lead the franchise.

If the Panthers remain favored against Dallas, and cover, it will be the first time they’ve done that since late September 2021, when they defeated the Houston Texans 24-9 as a 9-point favorite.

Quick Hitters

🏆️ NBA Cup Quarterfinals: In the first game of the night, the Bucks and Magic went toe-to-toe all night long, but it wasn’t until Damian Lillard’s nine-straight points late in the fourth quarter that the Bucks pulled away. Bucks advance! In the late game, the OKC Thunder showed exactly why they are the West’s #1 Seed. They took on Dallas in a rematch of last year’s Western Conference Semifinals. SGA had a game-high 39 points in a strong showing in what could possibly be…HIS MVP YEAR??? Thunder advance, 118-104.

⚽️ Champions League: The match of the day came between Real Madrid and Atalanta, as all three of Madrid’s stars scored: Mbappe, Vini Jr, and Jude Bellingham. It was grit that got Madrid the win, 3-2. Aston Villa scored a late match goal to get the win over winless RB Leipzig, 3-2. While Bayer Leverkusen and Inter Milan went all the way to the 90th without a goal when Nordi Mukiele put home the game-winner for Leverkusen.

🏀 AJ Dybantsa, the No. 1 recruit in college basketball and the projected number one pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, officially signed with BYU yesterday. He chose the Cougars over Alabama, North Carolina, and Kansas. He is the first five-star recruit to sign to BYU since the ESPN recruiting database began in 2007. Dybantsa, who is originally from Massachusetts, transferred from Prolific Prep (Cali.) to Utah Prep over the summer. The goal is to now fill out the roster and make BYU a national championship competitor come next season.

🏈 The Bill Belichick - North Carolina drama is becoming a little more cloudy than expected. News broke yesterday that he had ACCEPTED the job, but then that cooled off to him only being offered the role. It was also reported that Belichick provided UNC with a 400-page manual full of things he required to build a winning program at UNC, including bring his son with him to be the defensive coordinator. His son, Steve, is currently the defensive coordinator at the University of Washington. It’ll be interesting to see how all of this ends, but all signs are pointing towards Belichick landing in Chapel Hill.

⚾️ The Yankees got another ace in their rotation yesterday signing SP Max Fried from the Atlanta Braves. The two agreed on an 8-year, $218M deal, the largest guarantee for a left-handed pitcher in MLB history. In other MLB news, the Rangers brought back Nathan Eovaldi on a 3-year deal, and the Blue Jays traded for 3-time gold glove winner Andres Gimenez from the Guardians.

Other News:

• 🐛 Dallas Cowboys lose a star defender for possibly 2025

• 🤣 Lane Kiffin went IN on the transfer portal

• 🏠️ Joe Burrow’s home broken into during MNF

• ☝️ Michigan targeting UNC’s Chip Lindsey as new OC

Top Performers:

• 🏀 Zach Freemantle (XAV): 27 points, 10 rebounds

• 🏀 Giannis Antetokounmpo (MIL): 37 points, 7 rebounds

• 🏒 Mikko Rantanen (COL): Hat trick!

• ⚽️ Michael Olise (MUN): 2 goals for Bayern Munich in win

Stump Favorites

💯 GOGA BITADZE POSTER ON GIANNIS

🤣 Epic quote from AJ Dybantsa to Stephen A

⌚️ Dame time in Milwaukee

🔥 Auston Matthews wins it in OT for Toronto

💯 Full Scoreboards: MLB, Soccer, PGA, NFL, WNBA, NCAAF, NHL

Today’s Slate

*All times are ET*

🏀 NBA Cup Quarterfinals: Hawks @ Knicks (7:00 PM on ESPN), Warriors @ Rockets (9:30 PM on TNT), full schedule

🏀 CBB (M): Colgate @ (5) Kentucky (8:00 PM on ESPN2), California Baptist @ (23) SDSU (10:00 PM), full schedule

🏀 CBB (W): (18) Iowa @ (24) Nebraska (9:00 PM on FS1), full schedule

🏒 NHL: Rangers @ Sabres (7:00 PM on TNT), Ducks @ Senators (7:30 PM), full schedule

⚽️ Champions League: Atletico Madrid vs Solvan (12:45 PM), AC Milan vs Red Star Belgrade (3:00 PM), Arsenal vs AC Monaco (3:00 PM), Borussia Dortmund vs Barcelona (3:00 PM), Juventus vs Man City (3:00 PM), full schedule

Trivia Answer:

A. True! Mac Brown was the only coach in college football last year above the age of 70. If UNC hires Belichick, he’ll be the oldest head coach in college football heading into 2025.

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