Spectacular as the ratings for this Super Bowl were, they could have been better.

Just imagine how many more millions would have watched if all those folks hadn’t sworn off the NFL after Colin Kaepernick took a knee to protest racial injustice. Think of the millions of dads, Brads and Chads who skipped the game because they’re sick of seeing Taylor Swift after every play.

Why, the entire country would have watched, rather than the mere 61% that tuned in!

I’m being sarcastic, obviously. And very much so.

The numbers released by CBS on Monday night were straight-up bonkers. The Kansas City Chiefs’ overtime victory over the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl 58 was the most-watched television event in history. You read that right. Ever.

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Not by a small margin, either; the average of 123.7 million who tuned in across all platforms was up 7% from last year, which was also a record.

Even more jaw-dropping was that more than 200 million watched the Super Bowl at some point or another during the broadcast. Think about that. We’re a country of almost 332 million people and we can’t agree on anything these days. It doesn’t matter if it’s an issue of consequence, like whether an election was stolen (it wasn’t), or something frivolous, like whether it’s pop or soda (duh, soda). You’re going to get a significant portion of the population who vehemently disagrees and will never budge.

Yet we find common ground in the NFL because it gives us both a shared experience and a shared language. Need something to do on a Sunday, Monday or Thursday? There’s an NFL game on. Even in the off-season, there’s the combine. And the draft. And free agency. And training camps. And … you get the idea.

Trying to fill the uncomfortable silence before a meeting or at a social gathering? Ask those around you what they thought of (insert local team name here)’s last game and you’re off and running. If you don’t follow said team enough to feel confident doing that, or it’s the off-season, ask whether Patrick Mahomes will wind up being better than Tom Brady.

It doesn’t matter what part of the country we’re in, what we look like, who we worship or who we love. The NFL gives us a common bond, and there’s nothing else in this country that comes close.

Of course there are some members of the lunatic fringe who boycotted Sunday’s game to make a point about Swift, who was shown for all of … checks notes … 55 seconds during the four-hour broadcast. Just as there were some people who turned off the NFL because they were offended by a Black man calling attention to the structural racism that persists in our society.

But the number of those people are, and were, small. And as the ratings from Sunday and the last few seasons show, most of those who quit the NFL eventually come back.

The NFL drew an average of 17.9 million viewers per game this season. That’s the highest since 2015, when the average was 18.1 million, and tied for second-highest since tracking of such things began back in 1995.

It’s also a 7% increase over last year, and the fourth time in five years the league has drawn 16.5 million or more per game. That one blip was 2020, when the country was just a tad bit distracted by the COVID-19 pandemic and a contentious presidential election going on.

Sure, this year’s numbers were boosted by the Swifties, who more than offset the petulant manbabies who took their remotes and went home because they were offended by the coverage of Swift and her boyfriend, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, by both the networks and the NFL.

(This wasn’t Swift’s doing, mind you. It was the league and the networks that decided to cater to their newfound fans. Which, if I’m not mistaken, would be called Business 101 in any other scenario.)

Anyway, the point is, the pull of our national pastime is stronger than any faux outrage or differences we have. It’s the NFL’s world and, in this country, we’re all living in it.

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.

LAS VEGAS – An epic Super Bowl 58 has been forever etched into NFL lore while also cementing the (still) champion Kansas City Chiefs atop the final iteration of this season’s power rankings. And you can bet a team that’s already setting its sights on the first Super Sunday three-peat will be parked at the top for at least the next few months.

Or, as superstar TE Travis Kelce said after the overtime thriller: ‘I’ll see you all next year.’

Yet these power rankings aren’t purely reflective of the now-completed 2023 campaign. Since our last entry, which preceded Week 18, much has changed across the league – including eight head coaching hires and quite a few starting quarterback jobs in some level of serious flux.

So with one eye on the playoffs and one on the 2024 offseason, here are your post-Super Bowl power rankings (previous rank in parentheses):

1. Kansas City Chiefs (4): Any questions about whether they’re the NFL’s newest dynasty have been definitively answered. And if they become the first to three-peat? That could be an unprecedented hype machine. But next up, K.C. must determine if and how to keep DT Chris Jones and CB L’Jarius Sneed while likely considering how to get three-time Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes another weapon.

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2. San Francisco 49ers (2): Sunday’s painful loss is certainly bound to linger. Yet the Niners will essentially return intact in 2024 and appear to have a significantly easier route to Super Bowl 59 than the Chiefs.

3. Buffalo Bills (3): They’ll enter 2024 as four-time-defending AFC East champs. Only a barely missed field goal in the divisional round prevented Buffalo from taking Kansas City to overtime. GM Brandon Beane is likely about to shed a lot of depth in free agency, but the Bills’ nucleus should remain in place.

4. Baltimore Ravens (1): Another fantastic regular season, QB Lamar Jackson deservedly capturing MVP honors. Another baffling postseason ouster, Jackson a shell of himself with the chips on the table – and obviously undermined by the play calling.

7. Dallas Cowboys (T5): The league’s most publicized team got disappointing awfully fast. Feels like Super Bowl-or-bust for HC Mike McCarthy and QB Dak Prescott in 2024, though the latter’s unwieldy contract might spare him from the uncertainty of free agency in 2025.

9. Houston Texans (11): An up-and-coming squad – the first to win a division crown in the Super Bowl era with a rookie head coach and quarterback – will have the spending power to selectively upgrade during free agency.

10. Philadelphia Eagles (9): Seems like a good wager that experienced coordinators (OC Kellen Moore, DC Vic Fangio) will get much better results after this team ultimately came unglued with two inexperienced ones.

12. Cincinnati Bengals (21): They lose OC Brian Callahan, but QB Joe Burrow returns to a group that had a better record (4-3) without him than with him (5-5) in 2023.

13. Miami Dolphins (10): And they still have the league’s longest drought since their last postseason victory, which occurred 21 years ago. HC Mike McDaniel’s teams are forging a reputation as late-season faders that can’t win removed from ideal conditions – and they won’t be if injured pass rushers Bradley Chubb and Jaelan Phillips require a long road back to the lineup.

15. New York Jets (26): Amazing how similarly consecutive 7-10 seasons can feel … when Zach Wilson is your quarterback. But things should change in 2024 – they better for HC Robert Saleh and GM Joe Douglas – with Aaron Rodgers presumably back in the saddle.

17. Pittsburgh Steelers (19): Also remarkable they eclipsed .500, but that’s what Mike Tomlin teams do. They also don’t win playoff games as of late and suddenly have a major question at quarterback two years after drafting Kenny Pickett in the first round.

18. Chicago Bears (16): They won five of their final eight games, saving HC Matt Eberflus’ job – for now, though not everyone else’s – and head into the offseason with ample cap space, two Round 1 picks and a near certainty to add more draft capital, whether they trade the No. 1 selection or QB Justin Fields.

19. Los Angeles Chargers (30): The last time Jim Harbaugh took over an NFL team (2011 Niners), it improved by seven victories. Don’t pencil the Bolts in for 12 wins in 2024, but expect a quantum leap – no matter this offseason’s inevitable cap casualties.

22. Seattle Seahawks (20): Little doubt new HC Mike Macdonald will soon resurrect this defense, despite pending free agents like LB Bobby Wagner and DL Leonard Williams. But hard to say how an ineffective offense will fare with new coordinator Ryan Grubb, an NFL newcomer but fresh off a successful season at nearby University of Washington.

24. Atlanta Falcons (17): The return of Raheem Morris as head coach should provide an exciting lift for the players. Quarterback remains a huge question … though this club could become exciting quickly if it turns out that, say, Fields becomes the answer.

25. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (12): No, this isn’t a hot take intended to shade a club coming off an admirable and unexpected run to the divisional round. It’s merely a reality check given the Bucs’ most important players (save LT Tristan Wirfs) – QB Baker Mayfield, WR Mike Evans and FS Antoine Winfield Jr. – are all free agents and could be following former OC Dave Canales to less pewter pastures.

26. Washington Commanders (31): New HC Dan Quinn should infuse a needed culture change in the locker room for an organization just emerging from a quarter century of bad vibes.

27. Las Vegas Raiders (23): They probably made the right move by removing the interim tag from HC Antonio Pierce two years after opting not to extend that opportunity to Rich Bisaccia. But Pierce and new GM Tom Telesco have a lot to figure out, maybe starting with whether it makes sense to try and trade WR Davante Adams for maximum return soon.

30. New England Patriots (25): No longer the NFL’s reigning dynasty, the Pats have a new coach in Jerod Mayo. They don’t have a general manager … or a franchise quarterback … or many capable young cornerstones. Good luck, Coach.

31. Tennessee Titans (29): A club that’s been in steady decline will also need a new identity, among other things, given the departure of HC Mike Vrabel and near certainty RB Derrick Henry will be leaving NashVegas next.

32. Carolina Panthers (32): If ever a team needed (another) No. 1 draft pick, it might be this one. Alas. … At least the Panthers could serve as a punchline for Keegan-Michael Key on ‘NFL Honors.’

***

Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Nate Davis on X, formerly Twitter @ByNateDavis.

The Pac-12 Conference has countersued the Holiday Bowl in San Diego over a $3.4 million payment the league says it was owed for the game in December 2022, adding to the issues being sorted out by the league after it fell apart last year in the latest wave of college realignment.

The Pac-12’s countersuit comes about eight months after the Holiday Bowl first sued the Pac-12 in May in San Diego County Superior Court. In that lawsuit, the nonprofit bowl game sought payback from the league after the Holiday Bowl game in 2021 was canceled amid COVID-19 issues with players for UCLA, a member of the Pac-12.

“Holiday Bowl has breached the Agreement by failing and refusing to make any payment to (the Pac-12) in connection with the 2022 Holiday Bowl Game,” the Pac-12’s countersuit states. “Holiday Bowl’s breach is not justified or excused.”

The Holiday Bowl claimed last year that it suffered more than $7.8 million in losses from the canceled game in 2021 and later tried to offset this by withholding its required payment to the Pac-12 for the game that took place in 2022 between North Carolina and Oregon, another Pac-12 member.

Now the Pac-12 is asking the court to help the league collect.

Backdrop of Pac-12 issues

This court action comes even though the Pac-12 membership has been reduced to two members for 2024: Oregon State and Washington State. Those two schools recently gained control of the league’s governing board, which retained the league’s assets and future revenues.

The two schools have two years to chart a new future while staying in the “Pac-2,” which could include combining with the Mountain West Conference.

It’s a time of swirling change for the league, as 10 of its other members get ready to depart later this year for the Big Ten, Big 12 and Atlantic Coast Conferences. The 10 departing schools agreed to “provide specific guarantees against potential future liabilities” for the Pac-12, though it’s not clear if that could include what may come of this bowl game litigation.

On Tuesday, the league also issued a statement about the future of Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff, who replaced Larry Scott in 2021.

“The Pac-12 Conference Board has given the departing 10 schools notice of a proposed leadership transition with an invitation to provide comment,” the statement said. “We expect to provide more information following a decision in the coming days.”

What is the countersuit seeking?

The Pac-12’s countersuit was filed Jan. 19 but hasn’t been previously reported. It accuses the Holiday Bowl of breach of contract and seeks a judgment in its favor according to proof. It says the Holiday Bowl agreed to make a $3.4 million minimum payment to the league after every game in which the Pac-12 participates through 2025.

By contrast, the Holiday Bowl stated in its lawsuit against the Pac-12 last year that the payout obligation to the league for the 2022 game was reconciled at $2.45 million – an amount withheld by the Holiday Bowl to offset larger losses from the canceled game in 2021.

The dispute essentially comes down to whether the Pac-12’s nonperformance in that 2022 game was excused under the ‘Force Majeure’ provision in its contract, which covers ‘any unavoidable casualty, which cannot be reasonably forecast or provided against.’

The bowl game said the force majeure clause “could have been negotiated to included pandemic impacts and considerations but was not.”

The Pac-12’s countersuit also goes a step further and invokes the Holiday Bowl game from 2020, which was canceled months in advance during the middle of the pandemic.

“Holiday Bowl has breached the Agreement by failing and refusing to make any payment to Cross-Complainant in connection with the 2020 Holiday Bowl Game,” the Pac-12’s lawsuit states. “Holiday Bowl’s breach is not justified or excused. As a result of Holiday Bowl’s breach of the Agreement, Cross-Complainant has been damaged in an amount to be determined.”

But Toronto Maple Leafs All-Star defenseman Morgan Rielly violated a written rule when he reacted by cross-checking Greig in the head.

The NHL’s player safety department announced on Tuesday that it is suspending Rielly for five games for his infraction.

‘This is a forceful intentional strike to an opponent’s head using his stick as a weapon to exact retribution well after a goal has been scored,’ the department said in a video.

Rielly had an in-person hearing (via Zoom), so the suspension could have been six games or more. It was the first time that the defenseman had been suspended or fined by the league during his 11-year career. Rielly will forfeit more than $195,000 in pay.

The NHL Players’ Association can file an appeal on Rielly’s behalf. Commissioner Gary Bettman would rule first and then it could go to an independent arbitrator.

Toronto players took exception to Greig’s goal and said it deserved a reaction by the Maple Leafs.

“I don’t think it’s really necessary to go down there and (do a) hardest shot competition into the net,” forward Auston Matthews said.

But the department disagreed with Rielly’s approach.

‘Rielly approaches Greig for some time and has significant time to engage him in a different manner or ensure this cross-check is delivered solely to the body,’ it said.

The Maple Leafs will have to find a way to make up for Rielly’s absence. They held the first wild-card position in the Eastern Conference heading into Tuesday’s games, but the New Jersey Devils and New York Islanders were just four points back.

Rielly leads the team in ice time at more than 24 minutes a game. He leads Toronto defensemen in goals, assists and points, and his 43 points rank fourth on the team.

Detroit Red Wings forward David Perron was suspended for six games earlier this season for a cross-check to an opponent’s head on another reaction play. He hit Ottawa’s Artem Zub after seeing his captain, Dylan Larkin, lying unconscious on the ice, though Zub was not involved in the hit that injured Larkin. Perron previously had been fined for a retaliatory cross-check.

The people who run a fan podcast about the Columbus Blue Jackets have apologized for making a suicide reference about a forward who is in the NHL/NHLPA Assistance Program and vowed to take steps to remedy their mistake.

The comment was made on the most recent B&B Roundtable podcast as the members discussed the number of Blue Jackets players who are out of the lineup. One person, ‘Zach,’ made the remark about Patrik Laine, who entered the assistance program Jan. 28.

Reaction was quick when the clip hit social media. Laine, who had not posted on X (formerly Twitter) in more than a year, wrote, ‘This is just not okay.’ Elaine Shircliff, who was a guest on the podcast, said she would never appear again, saying, ‘Suicide is not a joke.’

The three on the podcast, ‘LiL Boomer,’ ‘SC Steve’ and Zach, apologized to Laine, the team and its fans.

‘I should have caught it, said something at the time,’ LiL Boomer said. ‘I did not. That is on me.’

He said he would step away from the podcast and ‘take sometime to myself and get my head right.’

Steve, who laughed at Zach’s comment, apologized to Laine for his reaction. ‘It was wrong,’ he said. ‘I still hope you are getting the help that you went into the player assistance program for.’

Zach apologized for the ‘extremely bad comment’ and said he has removed himself from X and has canceled his Blue Jackets season tickets.

Each said they would make a donation toward the Laine-supported Columbus Blue Jackets Foundation program that focuses on mental health awareness.

‘While we appreciated the podcast’s apology for their remarks, words have consequences,’ the Octagon agency, which represents Laine, said in a statement. ‘Suicide is not a punchline. We remain steadfast in our condemnation of such language and continue to advocate for mental health awareness.’

It urged fans to also make donations to the foundation to ‘turn this moment into a catalyst for positive change.’

As of Tuesday afternoon, fans had made 200-plus donations that exceeded $10,000 combined, Blue Jackets spokesman Todd Sharrock told the Columbus Dispatch, part of the USA TODAY Network.

Said LiL Boomer: ‘Hopefully this (comment) doesn’t end us, but if it does, I fully understand.’