There’s a certain magic to Kansas’ Phog Allen Fieldhouse, a building in which seemingly inexplicable things routinely happen late in games to doom visiting teams.

On Saturday night, whatever supernatural forces there might be inside the 80-year-old arena worked against the Jayhawks.

Coach Bill Self’s team squandered a six-point lead over Houston with fewer than 10 seconds remaining before ultimately falling 92-86 in double overtime in a matchup of top-15 teams.

How does a squad as talented and experienced as Kansas manage to blow a multi-possession advantage in such a short period of time, with all of that unfolding in front of what’s arguably the best home-court advantage in the sport?

It took a special, difficult-to-replicate sequence of events.

The Jayhawks led by six, 79-73, in overtime after a pair of Rylan Griffen free throws with 28 seconds remaining. Looking to get his team within a basket, Houston’s LJ Cryer misfired on a 3-pointer, which was collected by Kansas’ Dajuan Harris Jr.

He was quickly fouled, sending the 71.9% free-throw shooter to the line with 18.5 seconds remaining. In that moment, with one made free throw extending their lead to three possessions and effectively icing the game, the Jayhawks had a 99% chance of winning, according to ESPN analytics.

Harris, however, missed both free throws and Houston responded on the other end, with Emauel Sharp draining a contested 3 to cut the Cougars’ deficit in half with 7.5 seconds to play.

On the ensuing inbounds pass, Kansas’ Zeke Mayo threw the ball well short of his intended target, Hunter Dickinson. The ball was deflected back to Houston’s Mylik Wilson, who had the presence of mind to take a step back to get behind the arc and calmly sink the game-tying 3 with 4.3 seconds remaining.

Houston extended the game to a second overtime, where coach Kelvin Sampson’s team used a 6-0 run to turn what was an 86-84 lead with 1:16 remaining into six-point victory.

It wasn’t the first time Saturday that Kansas had given away a late lead. The Jayhawks were up 66-60 with 1:10 remaining in regulation, but allowed a jumper to Houston and then had turnovers on back-to-back possessions, opening the door for the Cougars to tie the game with a pair of J’Wan Roberts free throws with 14 seconds left.

Roberts had a game-high 24 points and nine rebounds for Houston while Wilson added 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting.

The win improved the No. 5 Cougars’ record to 16-3 while dropping the No. 11 Jayhawks to 14-5. For either team, no win or loss this season came under more improbable circumstances.

Free agent first baseman Pete Alonso remains unsigned less than a week from February, and New York Mets owner Steve Cohen got ‘brutally honest’ during an event Saturday about winter negotiations with the team’s longtime slugger.

With fans chanting ‘we want Pete’ during Cohen’s panel at Citi FIeld with president David Stearns and manager Carlos Mendoza, the Mets owner took the mic and explained his frustrations with efforts to bring Alonso back.

‘Personally, this has been an exhausting conversation and negotiation,’ Cohen said. ‘(Juan) Soto was tough, this is worse.’

The Mets signed Soto to a 15-year, $765 million deal in December, the largest contract in sports history. Alonso is also represented by Soto’s agent Scott Boras.

‘We’ve made a significant offer to Pete,’ Cohen said. ‘I don’t like the structures that are being presented back to us. I think it’s highly asymmetrical against us and I feel strongly about it.’

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Drafted by the Mets in 2016, Alonso made his big-league debut in 2019 and set the MLB rookie record with 53 home runs. In six seasons with the Mets, Alonso hit 226 home runs – third on the club’s all-time list – and became one of the team’s most beloved players in recent history.

‘I will never say no, there’s always the possibility. But the reality is we’re moving forward and we continue to bring in players,’ Cohen said Saturday. ‘As we continue to bring in players, the reality is it becomes harder to fit Pete into what is a very expensive group of players. …

‘I don’t like the negotiations. I don’t like what’s been presented to us and maybe that changes – and certainly I’ll always stay flexible – but if it stays this way, I think we’re going to have to get used to the fact that we may have to move forward with the existing players that we have.’

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The Super Bowl 59 matchup is about to be set.

For the four teams still left standing in the conference title games, it might seem like there’s little room for surprise. The Washington Commanders and Philadelphia Eagles have already met twice this season, with the NFC East rivals splitting the season series. And the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs have plenty of familiarity with one another, including the Week 11 contest in which Josh Allen and Co. handed Andy Reid’s team its first loss of the season.

But the penultimate weekend of action has a way of producing some unexpected twists, including the San Francisco 49ers’ rally from 17 points down to beat the Detroit Lions last year. Could another defining moment for a franchise be ahead?

Here are our bold predictions for the conference title games this Sunday:

Chris Jones ends drought and collects two sacks

In typical matchups, it’s not so bold to predict All-Pro defensive tackle Chris Jones will get to the quarterback. But this is different. It’s Buffalo. And Josh Allen.

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The Bills’ underappreciated offensive line allowed an NFL-low 14 sacks during the regular season, which included a shutout of the Chiefs during Buffalo’s big win in November. In fact, the Chiefs also didn’t sack the slippery Allen during KC’s divisional playoff win last year. So, I’m thinking the Chiefs defense is overdue. Jones will lead the way – and by example, too – with a pair of sacks to end the drought.

No, it won’t be easy. Allen, rolling with an MVP-credentialed season, is arguably the toughest quarterback in the NFL to bring down, given his knack of extending plays with power, speed and vision. And his elusiveness is only part of the reason the Bills gave up the fewest sacks. Allen helps his O-line’s protection with his improved sense of awareness on pass plays, which translates into knowing exactly when to throw the football as trouble looms with the pass rush. Of course, Allen can also just bolt from the pocket to avoid a sack. It’s worth noting that in the past two meetings between the team, not only wasn’t Allen sacked. He was also Buffalo’s leading rusher, too, in each of those games. Jones had just five sacks during the regular season, which was his lowest total since his rookie year in 2016. Yet perhaps his sack against C.J. Stroud last weekend to open the playoffs was a sign. No doubt, with a Super Bowl berth at stake, his pass-rush could be a serious X-factor.

— Jarrett Bell

Patrick Mahomes throws 3 interceptions as three-peat dream ends

The three-time Super Bowl MVP won’t flop his way out of this one. 

Mahomes has eight playoff-career interceptions total, and he’s thrown a pair of them three times (twice in the Super Bowl). A three-pick performance would be uncharted territory for him, and it would go a long way in ending the Chiefs’ chances of a three-peat. 

Sean McDermott’s defense may not have stars or big names, particularly in the secondary. But that unit will have to turn Mahomes over a time or two to put the Chiefs on the back foot. Add in a desperation interception, and there’s the three – and the Bills may need each one – to pull off the upset and head to New Orleans. 

Mahomes has had a somewhat bizarre season when it comes to throwing picks. He tossed at least one in the first seven games of the season, when nine of his 11 occurred. But the two-time league MVP hasn’t thrown a pick in seven straight games.  

Of course, the idea of Mahomes turning over the ball at all seems far-fetched. He’s only thrown three picks three times in his entire career, and the Chiefs actually won two of those games. The lone loss was the memorable “Monday Night Football” shootout against the Rams in 2018 that ended 54-51 in favor of Los Angeles. But something drastic has to happen to terminate the Chiefs’ magic. This is it. 

— Chris Bumbaca

Bills’ no turnover streak ends in Kansas City

The Bills’ two takeaways were key in their Week 11 win over Kansas City. Buffalo has an NFL-high 35 takeaways and an NFL-low eight turnovers this season (including playoffs). Josh Allen and company have committed zero turnovers in their last four playoff games. They are the first team ever without a turnover in four straight postseason games.

The Bills’ no turnover streak will end Sunday in Kansas City. I predict Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie will pick off Allen and the Bills will also lose a fumble. Buffalo will lose the turnover battle for the first time this postseason, and the giveaways will play a critical role in the team’s loss to Kansas City.

All streaks come to an end at some point. Unfortunately for the Bills, their streak will coincide with a playoff loss.

— Tyler Dragon

Saquon Barkley runs into record books with most rushing yards in season including playoffs

The Philadelphia Eagles’ All-Pro running back ended up just short of Eric Dickerson’s storied single-season rushing record when he was kept out of the lineup for the Week 18 finale. But Barkley has a solid shot – how bold is this prediction, really? – at breaking Terrell Davis’ mark for rushing yards in a season including the playoffs (2,476), as he stands just 148 yards away from taking over the top spot. His average in two games against Washington during the regular season: 148.

— Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz

LAWRENCE, Kan. — Inbound that ball successfully, and Kansas is well on its way to a victory.

This is with about seven seconds remaining in the first overtime period Saturday, at home against Houston. This is with the Jayhawks leading 79-76, and the Cougars trying desperately to complete a late comeback without any sizable margin for error.

And then not only did Houston’s pressure force a turnover, as KU guard Zeke Mayo failed to complete a pass to one of his teammates, but the Cougars quickly pounced on the late change in possession and hit a 3-point shot that tied the score at 79-79 to send the game to double overtime.

It wasn’t the only time No. 11 Kansas had an opportunity to close out a win inside Allen Fieldhouse against No. 5 Houston. The Jayhawks also led in the final minute of regulation, too, before turning the ball over and later watching the Cougars tie the score at 66-66 to force overtime. But given the chance to make up for not making the necessary plays at the end of the second half, Kansas came up short again and went on to lose 92-86.

“It’s like a gut punch, and it feels terrible,” Kansas center Hunter Dickinson said. “It feels like we just went to battle for however long, however many minutes we were out there, and just — we did everything we were supposed to do to win but just in the end didn’t make the right plays to finish it out.”

Kansas finished the game with 12 turnovers. Houston scored 17 points off of them, and the Cougars only allowed eight points off of their five turnovers. The Jayhawks ended up shooting 17-for-30 on free throws, 56.7%, as they failed to take advantage of their visitor shooting 14-for-25, 56%, from the free-throw line. Execute in the way Kansas has shown itself capable of, and coach Bill Self’s squad is the one that’s celebrating a victory Saturday.

Instead, Kansas (14-5, 5-3 in Big 12), again without forward KJ Adams due to injury, finds itself in a more than just challenging situation when it comes to the Big 12 Conference race. Houston (16-3, 8-0 in Big 12) is a full three games clear of the Jayhawks. This was an opportunity to make up ground on the Cougars, and it was squandered.

For the second time this season, Kansas lost a game at home that it had its chances to win. This one, because of the way it ended, likely will sting that much more. While the Jayhawks can boast of a roster with so much talent, and so much experience, that combined with the crowd inside Allen Fieldhouse wasn’t enough against a Houston team that has the same kind of aspirations this season the Jayhawks do.

“I feel like the way they pressured the ball, the way they guarded it, just — we didn’t get open in time,” KU guard Rylan Griffen said, assessing why his Jayhawks struggled with some inbounds situations against Houston.

“And that’s really what happened right there.”

Houston vs. Kansas highlights

Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on X at @JordanGuskey.

As much as this roll to the NFC Championship Game by the Washington Commanders has been fueled by the best rookie quarterback we’ve ever seen, Jayden Daniels, I couldn’t help but notice some of the so-called “old heads” living it up in the festive visitors’ locker room at Ford Field on Saturday night.

There was Zach Ertz, the 34-year-old tight end who many might have figured was close to the end last season, when he missed the final 10 games for the Arizona Cardinals with a quad strain and posted a career-low 27 catches. The year before that, his season ended with torn knee ligaments.

Now Ertz is headed back to Philadelphia, where his records as the most-prolific tight end in Eagles history still stand.

Now Ekeler, who had 88 rushing-receiver yards in the divisional playoff win at Detroit, is poised to play in a conference title match for the first time.

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Then there’s Bobby Wagner. His presence is striking in another sense.

During his second NFL season with the Seattle Seahawks, Wagner won a Super Bowl ring as a member of the vaunted defense led by its “Legion of Boom” secondary. The next year, they went back to the Super Bowl and were positioned to win … until Russell Wilson’s last-minute, goal-line pick.

In the decade since, Wagner, 34, hasn’t sniffed the Super Bowl. Until now.

Wagner went to the playoffs five times during his final seven season with the Seahawks and never got past the divisional round. That’s one reason why in his 14th NFL season, the grizzled vet is savoring this new deal.

“It just means a lot,” Wagner told USA TODAY Sports. “When I first got in the league, we made it to the Super Bowl my second year, again in my third year, and then we hadn’t been back to the NFC Championship Game. So you appreciate these moments a little bit different now, knowing how hard they are to get to.”

Wagner is undoubtedly a huge key to Washington’s formula to spring an upset and become just the third sixth-seed to advance to a Super Bowl. The middle linebacker led the Commanders with 132 tackles during the regular season, but this unit is a far cry from the dominance of those old Seahawks Super Bowl defenses that, incidentally, were coordinated by Washington coach Dan Quinn.

The Commanders tied for the NFL’s fourth-worst run defense during the regular season. And now comes the challenge of handling Eagles running back Saquon Barkley, who ran for 205 yards and two touchdowns against the Los Angeles Rams last weekend. During his 2,000-yard season, Barkley went for 146 and 150 yards against the Commanders.

“You just try to contain him,” Wagner told reporters at Commanders headquarters this week, mindful that Barkley’s ability to break off a long-distance run at any time is enabled when defenders get out of their gaps. “This is going to be a game of discipline.”

I asked Wagner, whose Hall of Fame-credentialed career includes 11 All-Pro selections, to compare the Commanders to his old Seahawks team. Like Washington, there was a young quarterback in Wilson, who was in the same Seattle draft class with Wagner in 2012. And youth was served across the board, with the likes of Richard Sherman (2011, fifth round), Earl Thomas (2010, first round) and Kam Chancellor (2010, fifth round).

‘If I were to compare it to those teams, the biggest thing is how close we are,” Wagner said. “Our team in Seattle might have been a little smarter, but what made us so good was how close we were.”

Ekeler won’t dispute that. He pointed out that, on top of new GM Adam Peters, Quinn and a staff of new coaches, there were 60 new players on the 90-man roster when the team began offseason workouts last spring. To develop a bond, they were intentional about spending time together away from the field.

“I think it’s a staple of our brotherhood, and the talent we have, too,” Ekeler told USA TODAY Sports. “A lot of people came together who were new to the area. You really can’t measure the way we’ve connected.

“And then you throw in 5 having a crazy year as a rookie,” he added, referring to Daniels, “and it kind of puts a cherry on top.”

Follow Jarrett Bell on X: @JarrettBell

The Dallas Cowboys have settled on the 10th head coach in their 65-year history and – in something of an upset, which is all too familiar in a different sense to his family’s football lineage – Brian Schottenheimer has been tabbed as the new leader (sort of) for “America’s Team.”

Schottenheimer wasn’t viewed as a leading candidate when this job opened last week. To be clear, he comes with extensive experience, patrolling NFL sidelines in various capacities since 1997, minus a few brief gigs in the college ranks. He’s worked on Dallas’ staff the past three seasons and served as the offensive coordinator since 2023.

That doesn’t necessarily mean this is a total slam dunk of a promotional hire for the Cowboys, who made the announcement late Friday night (well off the league’s typical news cycle), but it definitely lends itself to some winners and losers:

WINNERS

Dak Prescott

Continuity was important to the Dallas quarterback, who’s set to enter his 10th season after a blown hamstring cut his ninth short. But Prescott’s best year in the NFL occurred in 2023, when he led the league with 36 touchdown passes and was the runner-up for MVP. Former coach Mike McCarthy was calling the plays then, but Schottenheimer had a front-row seat to what worked so well. The goal moving forward will clearly be to get the QB back at that level of production, which Prescott didn’t approach in 2024 even before going down for good in Week 9.

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Deion Sanders

A star cornerback when the Cowboys last won the Super Bowl 29 years ago, he was linked to the Dallas HC post almost from the moment McCarthy and the team opted for a mutual break-up after his contract expired. Yet for all the hype Sanders generates, he’s still a relatively inexperienced head coach, one who didn’t come close to winning the Pac-12 in 2023 nor the new-look (read: diminished) Big 12 in 2024. This isn’t to say Sanders might not be a strong candidate here eventually given his legendary background, sharp mind and understanding of the Dallas market – but the circumstances would need to be ideal given the numerous conditions he’s already placed on a potential jump to the NFL. They didn’t feel quite right at present, and that could have spelled disaster given the likelihood he and owner Jerry Jones – both known for headstrong personalities – would eventually collide at a time when Sanders might not be on a more level field as he continues to learn the ropes of the profession.

Ashton Jeanty?

Or maybe Rico Dowdle? Or fellow free agent Najee Harris? Or fellow free agent J.K. Dobbins? Or maybe UNC’s Omarion Hampton? The point being, Schottenheimer’s best offenses – and those that have been part of the most successful teams he’s coached for – have featured a strong ground game. Though the Cowboys, who pick 12th in Round 1 of the 2025 draft, have several needs, running back appears to be one, and that could be a logical spot to target Jeanty, the highly regarded former Boise State star and two-time All-American who led the country with 2,601 rushing yards in 2024. Regardless, expect the Cowboys, who ranked 27th rushing the ball in 2024 – and that was despite a strong finish from Dowdle, who’s a free agent himself – to put a much bigger emphasis on their ground attack under Schottenheimer.

The Schottenheimer legacy

Schottenheimer is the son of the late Marty Schottenheimer, whose 200 regular-season wins are the most in league history … for a coach who never won a championship (and was 5-13 in the playoffs). Despite more than 50 combined years as NFL coaches, neither Schottenheimer has served on a staff that even reached the Super Bowl.

But Brian now has an opportunity, if not completely golden, to remedy that. Positioned to complete the third decade of their infamous championship drought, the Cowboys will hardly be viewed as Super Bowl 60 favorites. Yet it’s rare for a rookie head coach to take the reins of a team with an established quarterback who’s still squarely in his prime and with star power at so many key positions. Dallas should only be a good draft and a few targeted moves in free agency from returning to relevance – and in a division that constantly changes hands and that the Cowboys have won two of the past four seasons. This ain’t exactly Barry Switzer taking over for Jimmy Johnson, but it’s still a heck of an opportunity for Schottenheimer, who hasn’t been an especially prominent candidate in the annual coaching cycle for quite some time.

Experienced coaches

Six of the league’s seven coaching vacancies have now been filled – four by men who are at least 49 years old, suggesting the NFL continues to move in a direction where experience and culture seem to be more valued than young, hotshot coordinators. Schottenheimer, 51, was hired the same day the Las Vegas Raiders settled on 73-year-old Pete Carroll.

Jerry Jones

Of course, the Cowboys are still his team. Now he’s installed a coach who will neither command top dollar nor has the juice (or likely stomach) to challenge Jones from running this franchise how he sees fit – which is just how he wants it – despite the decidedly mixed results that approach has produced for decades.

LOSERS

Jerry Jones

Perhaps elevating Schottenheimer will prove a stroke of genius for an 82-year-old owner desperate to win his fourth Lombardi Trophy – and without the assistance of Johnson’s mastery as a team builder and talent evaluator. But what is almost certain is that Jones is likely to get roasted by his widespread fan base for this move rather than re-signing McCarthy, who was quite popular in the locker room, or importing Bill Belichick or bringing back Kellen Moore, whose relationship with Prescott runs even deeper than Schottenheimer’s following their time together as teammates prior to Moore’s stint as Dallas’ OC (2019-22). And given how this “search” went down – from the failure to keep McCarthy, to the buzz generated by Sanders to … this – it’s hard to shake a feeling that this is a (very) temporary move preceding the next one.

Brian Schottenheimer’s legacy

Maybe he’ll get a fair shake, all of Jones’ coaches this century getting at least a three-year run. And while Schottenheimer has factors working in his favor, he’s going to have shakier job security than recently extended Prescott and will have to be deferential to Jones on football matters – and probably even staffing decisions, such as the possibility he’ll have to hire, say, legendary Cowboys tight end Jason Witten, a favorite of Jones’ who has no NFL experience as an assistant but has nevertheless remained front of mind here as a future candidate. It all shapes up as a very tough needle to thread for Schottenheimer in what may be his only HC shot.

Mike McCarthy

“Loser” is too strong a label given what a strong five-year run he had in North Texas plus the fact he decided to explore other pastures. But McCarthy didn’t get the Chicago Bears gig that Jones initially refused to let him interview for when Dallas had exclusive negotiating rights to him. Maybe McCarthy gets the call from the New Orleans Saints – the last remaining team with a vacancy – two decades after he was their offensive coordinator. Regardless, hard to see McCarthy finding a situation as good as the one he seemed to have in Big D.

CeeDee Lamb

Like Prescott, the perennial Pro Bowl receiver had his best professional campaign in 2023 and set several team records with Schottenheimer as the nominal offensive coordinator. But like Prescott, Lamb fell off – by his impressive standards – significantly in 2024, a shoulder injury that cut his season short by two games part of the problem. But moving forward, it’s worth wondering where Lamb’s numbers will settle. The 2023 Dallas offense was the only one in Schottenheimer’s 14 seasons as an NFL offensive coordinator that even ranked in the top 10 – and half of those clubs failed to crack the top 20. Schottenheimer was raised by a man who believed in running the ball and that was before working extensively for the likes of Rex Ryan, Jeff Fisher and Carroll, all avowed ground-and-pound advocates. That’s not to say Lamb can’t still be a superstar – and should be based on what Jones is paying him – but he may not enjoy nearly the target volume he became accustomed to under McCarthy.

***

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