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We’re still three more sleeps from Super Bowl Opening Night, which unofficially kicks off Super Bowl hype week.

While Super Bowl 60 will be the Seattle Seahawks’ fourth appearance on Super Sunday, the New England Patriots are making an NFL-best 12th Super Bowl appearance. With a win in ‘The Big Game’ on Feb. 8, the Patriots can break their tie with the Pittsburgh Steelers for the most Super Bowl wins (seven).

The last time the Patriots and Seahawks played in the Super Bowl, it was a classic with a game-deciding moment that will be debated for as long as football is played. But, was it the best Super Bowl that the Patriots ever played in? Here we rank the previous 11 Patriots Super Bowl games:

Super Bowl 51: Patriots 34, Falcons 28 (OT) — The all-time classic game that spawned a meme. The Falcons famously led 28-3 in the third quarter, only to squander that lead as Tom Brady led an epic comeback — the largest in Super Bowl history — to force overtime, where what seemed totally inevitable happened … a Patriots victory. This was the signature Super Bowl win for both Brady — who cemented his G.O.A.T. status — and Bill Belichick — who had more Super Bowl wins than any other head coach after this dramatic triumph. Together the famed coach-quarterback combo won their fifth title together in what is considered by many to be the greatest Super Bowl game ever.
Super Bowl 42: Giants 17, Patriots 14 — 18 and d’oh! The Patriots entered this one 18-0 and were one win away from matching the 1972 Miami Dolphins as the only teams in the Super Bowl era to finish a season unbeaten. Instead, the Giants played spoiler. The dramatic win was made possible by an improbable play … David Tyree’s ‘helmet catch.’ That absurd play set up the winning touchdown in the Giants’ upset win, relegating the 2007 Patriots to ‘greatest team to not win the Super Bowl’ status.
Super Bowl 49: Patriots 28, Seahawks 24 — What was a thrilling back-and-forth tussle will be forever remembered for one critical play call. Trailing by four in the game’s waning seconds and facing a second-and-goal from the 1-yard line, the Seahawks opted to throw the ball rather than give it to bulldozer running back Marshawn Lynch. It was a colossal mistake. Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler stepped in front of Ricardo Lockette and made a game-saving interception.
Super Bowl 52: Eagles 41, Patriots 33 — A backup quarterback taking down the G.O.A.T.? This high-scoring and action-packed Super Bowl had it all. While Brady dropped a pass thrown his way on a trick play, Nick Foles caught his for a touchdown on what would go down in lore as the ‘Philly Special.’ Brady had a Super Bowl-record 505 yards passing in a game that had a Super Bowl-record 1,151 combined yards of offense. In the end, though, it was a defensive play that sealed Philadelphia’s first Super Bowl win … a strip sack of Brady by Brandon Graham.
Super Bowl 36: Patriots 20, Rams 17 — It’s hard to believe after all that’s happened in the last quarter century, but this was a massive upset at the time. The ‘Greatest Show on Turf’ Rams were heavy favorites entering Brady’s first Super Bowl. Brady was just growing into stardom after the early-season injury to Drew Bledsoe. His Cinderella Patriots faced an offensive juggernaut led by 1999 and 2001 MVP Kurt Warner and 2000 MVP Marshall Faulk. Instead, the Patriots prevailed in the final seconds on a 48-yard field goal by Adam Vinatieri.
Super Bowl 38: Patriots 32, Panthers 29 — This was one of the wildest Super Bowls ever — and not just because of the halftime show. Despite no scores in the first and third quarters, the two teams combined for 61 points. Two years after the upset of the Rams, Brady led another game-winning drive late in the fourth quarter capped by a long field goal by Vinatieri.
Super Bowl 46: Giants 21, Patriots 17 — Eli Manning forever holds bragging rights over Brady: he never lost to TB12 in a Super Bowl. Like Super Bowl 42 before it, this Giants upset also featured an incredible catch. This time, it was Mario Manningham doing the honors with a 38-yard acrobatic catch along the sidelines that helped set up the winning touchdown.
Super Bowl 31: Packers 35, Patriots 21 — The Packers were a tour de force in 1996, becoming the first team to lead the league in both scoring offense and defense since the ’72 Dolphins. For a while, however, the Patriots made a game of it, holding the lead through one quarter of play after touchdowns from Keith Byars and Ben Coates. However, big plays by Antonio Freeman (a then-Super Bowl record 81-yard touchdown pass play) and Desmond Howard (99-yard kickoff return touchdown) assured Green Bay would be victorious in what was Bill Parcells’ final game as Patriots head coach.
Super Bowl 39: Patriots 24, Eagles 21 — This victory secured ‘dynasty’ status for the Patriots, who had won three Super Bowls in a four-season span (the second team to do so). What was a tightly contested contest throughout would be decided by four Eagles turnovers and some questionable late-game time management by Philly. Rodney Harrison made the game-sealing interception (his second pick of the game), and wide receiver Deion Branch was named MVP after an 11-catch, 133-yard performance.
Super Bowl 20: Bears 46, Patriots 10 — After a remarkable postseason run to reach the Super Bowl, the Patriots ran into the buzzsaw that was the 1985 Bears. The Patriots held an early 3-0 lead, but it was all downhill from there. As things were snowballing out of control for New England, starting quarterback Tony Eason was benched in favor of veteran Steve Grogan. It didn’t matter. The Bears were putting an emphatic cap on what was one of the greatest seasons in NFL history.
Super Bowl 53: Patriots 13, Rams 3 — This might have been the most dull Super Bowl of the last 30-plus years. There were nearly more punts (14) than points; the game was tied 3-3 entering the fourth quarter (exciting!). The Patriots matched the Steelers for the most Super Bowl wins with this victory, but it was an aesthetically unpleasing way to make history.

HOT READS

Bill Belichick: Hall of Fame snub. This was an unexpected development this week, as the coach with the most Super Bowl wins (eight total; six as head coach, two as an assistant) will not be a first-ballot entrant into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Of course, this development left people around the NFL mystified. Tom Brady, Belichick’s partner in league domination in New England, was shocked: ‘If he’s not a first-ballot Hall of Famer, there’s really no coach that should ever be a Hall of Famer.’

Seriously, how does this even happen? Jarrett Bell is a Hall of Fame voter and was stunned and embarrassed by the snub.

There’s another big name who won’t be part of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2026: Eli Manning. This is the second straight year that the engineer of two Super Bowl upsets of Belichick’s Patriots missed out on enshrinement. Those two Super Bowls are the highlights, but some of Manning’s numbers (117-117 record as a starter, 244 career interceptions, 84.1 career passer rating) don’t help his cause.

Eight of the 10 NFL head-coaching vacancies have been filled following the Cleveland Browns’ hiring of Todd Monken. Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz ranks the head coach hirings so far. Spoiler alert: Browns-Monken does not rate high.

ON THIS DAY IN NFL HISTORY

32 years ago today, on Jan. 30, 1994, the Dallas Cowboys defeated the Buffalo Bills, 30-13, in Super Bowl 28 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. While it was back-to-back championships for Dallas, Buffalo suffered its fourth consecutive Super Bowl defeat. The two teams also met in the previous season’s Super Bowl, in which Dallas dominated, 52-17.

Super Bowl 28 also is notable for being the last game that Jimmy Johnson was head coach of the Cowboys. The Netflix documentary ‘America’s Team: The Gambler and His Cowboys’ does a deep into the resentment that was growing between Johnson and team owner Jerry Jones. In March 1994, the two agreed to part ways. It took decades for Johnson and Jones to patch things up.

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Every Super Bowl features a special patch for each team on their jerseys to commemorate the title game. That will be no different for Super Bowl 60 between the New England Patriots and New England Patriots – with an added flair.

Both the Patriots and Seahawks will wear a patch with ‘USA 250’ on it commemorating the U.S.’s semiquincentennial, or 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

The jerseys will feature the USA 250 patch on the right chest area for both teams.

The patches are piling up for the Seahawks as the franchise celebrated its 50th season this year. They’ve had a patch commemorating that all season and have one for the Super Bowl logo as well.

The NFL began celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in Week 18.

‘The NFL is proud to participate in celebrating America’s 250th anniversary,’ NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement in November. ‘The story of the NFL reflects the story of America, and the American spirit of resilience, innovation and teamwork has helped football grow into a cultural pastime that unites us all. We are excited to honor our country’s history and celebrate our collective future.’

Get your New England Patriots Super Bowl 60 gear here Get your Seattle Seahawks Super Bowl 60 gear here

The primary footballs used during games in 2026 include an ‘America 250’ logo and there’s a similar graphic stenciled on the sidelines at games, too. The coin used for the Super Bowl coin toss will have that logo as well.

This isn’t something entirely new for the league. The NFL did something similar in 1976, celebrating 200 years of the U.S. with special helmet decals and jersey patches.

According to a release from Fanatics, the USA 250 patches will also be featured during other marquee sporting events, including the NBA Finals, July 4 MLB games, Stanley Cup Final, WrestleMania 42 and the UFC event planned at the White House.

Still looking for Super Bowl tickets? Check out your options here

The Tampa Bay Lightning are hosting an outdoor game for the first time on Sunday, Feb. 1 against the Boston Bruins.

But team owner Jeff Vinik won’t be able to attend the game that he helped bring to Raymond James Stadium because of a serious injury.

The Lightning announced Friday that Vinik had suffered a ‘major leg fracture’ when he had a snowmobiling accident while on a recent vacation with his children.

‘He is currently under the care of exceptional medical professionals and is expected to make a full recovery. While we are grateful he is doing well, the extent of the injury means he will unfortunately be unable to attend the Stadium Series game on Sunday,’ the team said in a statement.

‘As an organization, we are deeply thankful for his resilience and dedication and although we are heartbroken we will miss this historic moment for the Tampa Bay Lightning, we know he will be watching and taking immense pride in what Team Tampa Bay has accomplished.’

The game, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET, will be the second this season in Florida. The New York Rangers beat the Florida Panthers on Jan. 2 in the Winter Classic.

Sunday’s game, though in Florida, is expected to have temperatures in the 40s.

The Lightning are 1-0 in outdoor games, beating the Predators in Nashville in the 2022 Stadium Series game. The Bruins are 4-1 in outdoor games.

If U.S. Olympic bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor had to sum up traveling the world with two young children in one word, the five-time Olympic medalist would describe it as ‘chaotic.’

Flying overseas is enough to make anyone’s head spin, but adding sports equipment and baby gear to the mix presents another set of challenges. These are the logistics Taylor, fellow U.S. bobsledder Kaillie Humphries and other mothers competing at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics consider when packing for the Games.

‘I packed a bunch of boxes of diapers in with my bobsled,’ Humphries told USA TODAY Sports in December. ‘It’s just like bags and bags and a crib and more bags. Literally just stuff everywhere of what I need and what (my son Aulden) needs. I could show you my (hotel) room right now, but it very much looks like a bomb exploded.’

2026 MILANO CORTINA: Here’s the complete 2026 Winter Olympics competition schedule

Packing for three a ‘learning curve’

Humphries has got packing down to a science over the years after competing in five Olympic Games. The three-time Olympic gold medalist has been ‘doing it for so long that it’s easy,’ but Humphries’ preparations look a little different this time around. The Milano Cortina Games will mark her first as a mother after welcoming Aulden in June 2024.

The most daunting part of traveling with a little one is ‘trying to balance all the stuff you have to bring,’ she admitted. This year added an extra challenge because it requires Humphries, Aulden and her husband Travis Armbruster, who she affectionately calls a ‘stay-on-tour dad,’ to live out of a suitcase from Oct. 15 through February 26th as the family of three travels across Europe for the World Cup circuit and Olympics.

Passport? Check. Bobsled and helmet? Check. Enough diapers to last for five months? Fingers crossed.

‘Aulden likes a certain diaper that doesn’t react to his skin and you can’t get them in Europe. So I had to try and pack and think of, OK, how many diapers is five months worth? How do I bring it?’ Humphries said. ‘As a mom, you’re always thinking of what’s coming, which bobsled has served me well for… I’ve definitely learned how to compartmentalize a lot better, how to organize my schedule a lot better and what’s really important.’

Anticipating the needs of her 19-month-old son requires the same level of dedication that helped her climb the standings in bobsled. She said she packed clothes that normally fit 3-year-olds, along with two different-sized shoes that are just now starting to fit her son, because she ‘knew he was going to outgrow stuff’ on the road. But no matter how prepared you feel, Humphries said the ‘what-ifs’ still creep into the back of her mind.

‘If (he) gets diaper rash, how do you handle that, especially when you’re in a foreign country?’ Humphries, 40, asked aloud. ‘What would happen if he gets sick? What happens in regards to a hospital?’

Her concerns have eased with the assistance and support of the USOPC’s Elite Athlete Health Insurance Program (EAHI). Humphries added Aulden to her insurance plan, which carries international coverage for them both. Humphries’ monthly enrollment is covered in full by the USOPC, while she pays out of pocket for Aulden. It’s a small price for peace of mind.

‘It’s been a process and a learning curve, but I’m pretty lucky he travels well. I’m just grateful that I get to have this experience with him, especially within our sport,’ added Humphries, who said Aulden has traveled to 10 countries alone in the first 15 months of his life. ‘I could not do this if they weren’t able to come with me.’

Traveling with kids is ‘absolute chaos’

Ensuring everything is packed is only half the battle. Next comes the actual traveling, which features hours-long flights after you’ve made it through TSA.

Like Humphries, Meyers Taylor’s two sons, Nico, 5, and Noah, 3, are with her full-time on the World Cup circuit and will attend the Olympics. Her husband Nic Taylor, a former U.S. bobsledder that now works as a chiropractor and a strength and conditioning coach for the Sacramento Kings, ‘pops in and out’ as his work schedule permits.

That means Meyers Taylor is sometimes on her own ‘figuring it out day in and day out.’ She often travels with a nanny for an extra hand, but as her sons’ mobility and curiosity grow with age, the balancing act has become even more demanding. Especially with her youngest son Noah, ‘the most athletic person in my family’ she joked.

‘I thought it would get much easier as they got older and it has not,’ Meyers Taylor, 41, said at the USOPC media summit in October. ‘Bigger children, bigger problems. Now that they’re both walking, they’re both up. They don’t want to sit on planes, they don’t want to stay still. They don’t want to sit for meals or anything like that. So it is absolute chaos.’

Meyers Taylor said her children’s disabilities — both of her sons are deaf and Nico has Down syndrome — have created some ‘unique challenges’ on the road. Nico experiences sensory overload at times and becomes overwhelmed, she said. The boys don’t particularly sleep well on planes and then there’s keeping up with their specialized treatments and medical equipment while on tour.

‘(I’m) hoping we don’t lose a cochlear implant on a plane,’ Meyers Taylor said. ‘One time we lost it in St. Moritz. I thought it was in a toilet. There’s all kinds of things going on… but at the end of the day, I haven’t met a single person that isn’t willing to help a mother struggling with two kids.’

Bobsled moms lean on village of teammates

Humphries and Meyers Taylor finished first and second respectively in the inaugural women’s monobob event at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Although the race features a single athlete racing down a fast, icy track, there’s a whole team of coaches and trainers behind them. It takes a similar village to care for children on tour.

‘The whole team is helping raise (Aulden),’ Humphries told USA TODAY Sports. ‘They’re always willing to help. And we have quite a few parents on our team within bobsled and skeleton, which is great. Some kids travel on tours, some don’t … If I’m like, I need to go get food, (my teammates will say), ‘I’ll watch him. Don’t worry.”

Asking for help doesn’t come easy to Meyers Taylor, who admitted she’s a ‘stubborn person’ by nature. But she’s been surprised by the ‘kindness in strangers’ as she’s juggled motherhood on the road.

‘There’ve been so many people that’ll help us on and off planes, help us get our bags off planes. Flight attendants helping my kids,’ she said. ‘We have unique challenges, but we haven’t been unable to deal with them because of the great people we’re surrounded with.’

Despite the obstacles of traveling with a child, Humphries said having her son on tour brings some normalcy and has helped her separate her identity from the sport. Now, she goes to work just like anyone else. Her husband, Travis, cares for their son full-time on the road, allowing Humphries to focus fully on racing at the track. After her day of training or competing is over, Humphries transitions back into mom, her favorite role so far.

‘I was Kaillie Humphries, the Olympic gold medalist, and now I get to just be mom and the sport is what I do,’ Humphries said. ‘I slide down icy hills for fun, and then I get home. And regardless of the result, I have a little boy who just wants to be held and wants to be cuddled. And it doesn’t matter if I win or if I lose, a good day or a bad day… it’s something that I’m loving.’

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The old joke in SEC coaching circles goes something like this: Jeremy Pruitt got caught cheating at Tennessee because he had more than one bagman. 

Now it looks like Pete Golding could be staring at a visit from the NCAA — whatever that means/is worth — because he didn’t use any go-between. 

He’s — allegedly — doing the dirty work himself. 

Multiple coaches have now accused Golding of tampering with signed players, a move that’s against NCAA rules — even though the coaching community isn’t sure if it will ever be enforced. 

Which is to say, it has no teeth. At least not yet. 

Some in the coaching community want tampering changed to a Level I violation, and have specific sanctions and fines for each event. A loss of scholarships, or more damning: a coach suspension. 

For each event. 

In other words, if what Clemson and Fresno State coaches allege is true and Golding tampered with signed players, he’d have to serve a two-game suspension in the upcoming season. 

He’d serve one game for allegedly sending texts to former Clemson (and now Ole Miss) linebacker Luke Ferrelli, and another game for alleged illegal contact with Fresno State wide receiver Josiah Freeman.

Or the NCAA could go even stronger, all but daring coaches to tamper with other rosters. The first violation is 10% of the season (one game), the second violation is 50% of the season (six games) and the third violation is a season-long suspension.    

If the goal is to truly eliminate this nonsense, there must be teeth to the rule.

No more soft playing it, no more declarations of investigations only to find out months (or years) down the road the coach was given one year of probation and wasn’t allowed to contact recruits for the first two days of the transfer portal opening. 

Or some other do-nothing sanction. 

Want to make coaches think twice about tampering? Hit them where it hurts most: Take away their ability to coach games.

Despite the drastic changes to its roster in the offseason, two things still seemed certain about Notre Dame entering this women’s college basketball season: The Fighting Irish would make the NCAA Tournament and Hannah Hidalgo would win ACC Player of the Year.

Both of those things now seem to be in jeopardy after Notre Dame lost for the fourth time in five games on Thursday night, falling on the road to Cal 80-69.

Coach Niele Ivey’s team is now 13-8 on the season and 5-5 in ACC play. In USA Today Sports’ latest bracketology released on Wednesday, the Irish were projected to be a No. 8 seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament. But the loss to the Golden Bears has impacted many of Notre Dame’s key metrics considered by the selection committee, with its NET falling to 32 and its WAB rank decreasing to 41. Notre Dame also took a dip in ratings by Her Hoop Stats and Bart Torvik.

An updated projection by USA Today Sports now has Notre Dame as a No. 9 seed, four spots above the “Last Four Byes” section of the NCAA Tournament. ESPN agrees, slotting the Irish in as a No. 9 seed in its latest bracketology.

Simply put, the Fighting Irish playing in March Madness is no longer a guarantee this season. Ivey’s team can’t afford any bad losses, and Sunday’s showdown at Stanford is looking like a must-win. Of the seven games remaining on Notre Dame’s schedule after they face the Cardinal, four of them are against teams projected to make the NCAA Tournament: Virginia Tech, NC State, Syracuse and Louisville.

Since 1996, Notre Dame has missed the NCAA Tournament just once. In 2021, Ivey’s first season following Muffet McGraw, the Irish were left out of the field of 68 after going 10-10 overall and 8-7 in ACC play. But that was a young team that played in a year where COVID-19 impacted the sport, tightening schedules and forcing players to miss games. That squad also wasn’t equipped with Hidalgo, a two-time All-American and reigning ACC Player of the Year.

Even if Notre Dame makes the NCAA Tournament, it doesn’t look like a team capable of making the second weekend. The last 14 times the Irish made the draw, they made the Sweet 16 — a run that dates back to 2010.

How did one of the sport’s iconic blue bloods fall into this situation? The Irish have two big problems.

The first is an issue of roster construction and management. Notre Dame saw three of its starters from last year’s team get drafted by WNBA teams: Sonia Citron, Maddy Westbeld and Liatu King. A fourth starter, Olivia Miles, transferred and is now playing at an All-American level at TCU. Another key contributor, center Kate Koval, transferred to LSU.

And Notre Dame failed to replace their collective production. Ivey brought in a handful of transfers — Malaya Cowles from Wake Forest, Vanessa de Jesus from Duke, Iyana Moore from Vanderbilt, and Gisela Sanchez from Kansas State — but none of them have matched the talent or production of the players lost. A highly touted freshman recruit, Leah Macy, is redshirting this season due to an injury. She was the only freshman added to the team. The Irish’s pool of talent was even further depleted when KK Bransford went down with a lower body injury in December.

Ivey also seemingly doesn’t believe that the four players at the end of her bench are capable of helping the Irish in ACC games. Kelly Ratigan, Bella Tehrani, Jordyn Smith and Luci Jensen are collectively averaging 4.75 minutes a game and each has multiple DNPs on their game logs.

One might argue Notre Dame’s academic standards and admission rates have hindered Ivey in landing talented players through the transfer portal, but that hasn’t stopped the Irish’s football team from being a consistent contender for the College Football Playoff. Schools like Vanderbilt, Duke and Michigan also have similar constraints, and their women’s basketball teams are locks to make the NCAA Tournament this season.

With the roster Ivey has assembled, one thing is obvious: Notre Dame’s defense isn’t good. The Irish rank 314th out of 363 Division I teams in shooting defense, allowing opponents to make 42.9% of their shots from the floor. The Irish are also 275th in 3-point defense (32.1%) and points allowed per scoring attempt (1.01). Notre Dame is also 273rd in defensive rebounding, grabbing just 23.7 of their opponent’s misses per game.

Even with all of this, junior guard Hannah Hidalgo is putting up superstar stats, averaging 24.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 5.6 steals per game. She does everything for Notre Dame and is second nationally in scoring and first in steals.

But will she retain her ACC Player of the Year award?

In a year where Notre Dame was living up to its long established standards, this wouldn’t be a question. However, history shows individual awards for the ACC are typically rewarded to a player whose team is successful.

Since the ACC started handing out a Player of the Year award for women’s basketball in 1984, it has given that award to a player whose team didn’t finish in the top four of the league standings just twice: fifth-place NC State’s Summer Erb in 1999 and sixth-place Syracuse’s Alexis Peterson in 2017.

Entering this weekend, the Irish are ninth in the ACC standings. If Notre Dame’s inconsistency continues, Hidalgo could come up empty on some key accolades in March and the Irish might be watching the NCAA Tournament from home.

Lou Holtz, the College Football Hall of Fame coach who led Notre Dame to the 1988 national title, has entered hospice care, according to ABC57 and other reports.

The South Bend, Indiana, TV station said a ‘source close to the family confirmed’ the news.

Holtz, 89, was at the helm for the Fighting Irish from 1986 to 1996, leading the team to a perfect 12-0 season and the national championship in 1988.

Holtz compiled a 249-132-7 college record (.651 win percentage) during 33 years as a coach. He finished his career with a 12-8-2 bowl record. He also coached at William & Mary (1969-71), North Carolina State (1972-75), Arkansas (1977-83) and Minnesota (1984-85). He also served as the New York Jets coach in 1976.

He took two years off after coaching at Notre Dame before taking his final coaching job at South Carolina (1999-2004).

Holtz would go on to serve as a college football analyst for ESPN from 2004 to 2015.

The coaching icon was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008 and honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Donald Trump in 2020.