Following Indiana football’s College Football Playoff national championship win over Miami on Monday, Jan. 19, the search engine verified his now-famous quote, ‘I win. Google me,’ for anyone who decides to look up the Hoosiers football coach.

Cignetti originally made the comment about Google at his introductory press conference for Indiana in 2023. His response was after a reporter asked him how he would about instilling his culture into his roster and sell his vision to potential recruits about playing for the Hoosiers.

“It’s pretty simple. I win. Google me,’ Cignetti said at the time.

He has of course backed up those words since taking over an Indiana program that had been the losingest in college football history.

Over the last two seasons, Indiana has a 27-2 record with a Big Ten Conference title and a national championship. The Hoosiers became the first program since 1984 Yale to go 16-0 for a season, in capturing the first national title in program history.

All Curt Cignetti does is win. Google him. You’ll find out that’s not an embellishment.

Curt Cignetti record at Indiana

Here’s a year-by-year breakdown of how Indiana has fared under Cignetti:

2024: 11-2 (CFP first-round loss)
2025: 15-0 (CFP Championship berth)

The New York Mets, just hours after introducing Bo Bichette in a press conference Wednesday afternoon in New York, pounced again and traded for Milwaukee Brewers ace Freddy Peralta.

The Brewers, who let teams know all winter that Peralta was available, but only at a steep price, finally got a team to meet their demand when the Mets sent prized pitching prospect Brandon Sproat and infield prospect Jett Williams to Milwaukee. The Mets also receive pitcher Tobias Myers.

Peralta, who’s eligible for free agency after the 2026 season, is coming off a career year in which he went an NL-leading 17-6 with a 2.70 ERA, helping lead the Brewers to an MLB-best 97 victories. Peralta, who finished fifth in the Cy Young balloting, also is one of the best bargains in baseball, earning just $8 million.

Just like that, in a winter in which they were chastised and ridiculed by their fan base for letting favorites Pete Alonso and Edwin Diaz leave in free agency, while trading away outfielder Brandon Nimmo, the Mets have rebounded with a flourish.

The Mets, who were left at the alter five days ago when outfielder Kyle Tucker rejected their four-year, $120 million offer and joined the Los Angeles Dodgers, have since signed Bichette to a three-year, $126 million contract, traded for Chicago White Sox center fielder Luis Robert, and now landed Peralta and Myers.

And just like that, the Chicago Cubs’ winter got a whole lot better, too, knowing that the Brewers’ ace is out of the NL Central.

The Brewers, who have previously traded away pitchers like Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes and relievers Josh Hader and Devin Williams before they hit free agency, now take another immediate hit, although it could be quite beneficial for the future.

While Peralta was a bargain at $8 million, this simply was a deal the Brewers thought too good to pass up. Williams is ranked as MLB’s 71st-best prospect, according to Baseball America, while Sproat is ranked 81st.

The Mets now believe they have the team again to compete for the NL East title after last year’s epic collapse left them sitting home all October.

They have dramatically changed the face of the organization with newcomers Marcus Semien, Jorge Polanco, Williams, Bichette, Robert and now Peralta and Myers.

“I’m not going to compare but what I’ll say is I really like how our group sets up right now on both sides of the ball,’’ David Stearns, Mets president of baseball operations, told reporters Wednesday at the Bichette press conference. ‘I think we’re going to score plenty of runs, and I also think we’ve probably gotten better defensively, especially up the middle.”

The starting rotation now has been fortified with Peralta, who is 70-42 with a 3.59 ERA the last eight seasons. He has made at least 30 starts with 200 strikeouts in each of the past three seasons. He leads a talented rotation that includes Nolan McLean, Clay Holmes, Sean Manaea, David Peterson, Kodai Senga and Jonah Tong.

The acquisition of Peralta most likely now takes the Mets out of the running for another front-line starter such as Framber Valdez and Zac Gallen, who are both on the free-agent market. The Baltimore Orioles are expected to land one of them, perhaps at a cheaper price than they envisioned.

That’s for the Orioles to worry about.

The Mets have a division title to win.

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Texas coach Vic Schaefer’s reaction when asked about the NCAA changes to the college basketball transfer portal window was hardly surprising given his team’s success.

“Fired up,” he said with a grin.

At the NCAA’s annual convention in Washington, D.C., last week, the Division I cabinet approved sweeping alterations to the transfer portal window for men’s and women’s basketball. After being open for 30 days beginning after the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season, now players can’t enter the portal until the day after the national championship game. The window to enter is also shrinking to 15 days.

But some coaches aren’t thrilled with this version of the transfer portal. Louisville’s Jeff Walz is one of them, he believes a 15-day window is too long.

“I’m not a fan of it. I think it’s terrible. That’s just my two cents and I’ve made that known,” Walz said. “I think you should have seven days to go into the portal once your season’s over. Once it’s over, you either know you want to transfer or you don’t.”

To sum up the collective thoughts of several women’s college basketball coaches around the country, this rule change solves one transfer portal problem — keeping the window closed while games are still being played — but leaves other issues unaddressed.

What moving the opening date of the portal does, some coaches argue, is it puts everyone on a level playing field when it comes to juggling the portal and the postseason. In previous years, many coaches had to balance preparing their team for play in the NCAA Tournament while trying to build their roster for the next season.

“Moving the transfer portal window to after the Final Four helps keep the focus on the postseason and avoids the distractions that come with mid-March roster changes,” Oklahoma State coach Jacie Hoyt told USA Today Sports. “It allows players to stay locked-in on the postseason experience, and coaches to focus on coaching and competing instead of dealing with roster uncertainty during the most important and enjoyable part of the season.”

Under the former structure, teams that weren’t competing deep into the postseason had an edge because those coaches could focus on recruiting instead of game prep. Last week, after the changes to the portal were announced, two coaches who competed in last season’s Final Four made the arguments for fairness.

“Last year, we’re in the Elite Eight and my conscience won’t allow me to go start recruiting kids when my juice and energy and focus needs to be on (my team),” Schaefer said. “We had a team in (the SEC), I think they recruited their entire — what is now four of their starting five — before we ever got done playing. So, I think it’s a great decision, and it’s just fair.”

UConn coach Geno Auriemma echoed Schaefer’s comments in his own way.

“They shouldn’t be allowed to do anything until after the Final Four, because it’s unfair,” Auriemma said. “And, yeah, it’s unfair for four teams — who gives a hell?”

He added: “The thing that was harmful to a lot of teams was the ability to have players on your campus on official visits while you’re getting ready to play (in the NCAA Tournament)… It’d be like having free agency during the NBA playoffs.”

Making the portal fair for all teams, and putting the blue bloods of the sport on a level playing field with the last-place team in the Mountain West or MEAC, was something deeply discussed among the members of the committee that helped shape this new structure. Seton Hall coach Tony Bozzella was part of many of those conversations.

“It’s not something that we took lightly,” Bozzella told USA Today Sports. “There’s no right answer… If we did the portal during the season, like some people suggested, we were going to have a problem there too because, is it fair that you’ve had a successful season and now you’re getting punished because of it? That’s the crux.”

Duke coach Kara Lawson didn’t have an extreme reaction one way or the other regarding the changes to the transfer portal window, but — without directly saying it — acknowledged the key issue facing coaches now: tampering.

“I don’t know that it changes things too much. I guess it is later than it was before, and you won’t have people playing during the time of it, but, you know, it’s not like the communication is starting then,” Lawson said. “It’s happening all year, and that’s the unfortunate part of the environment we’re in right now. That’s how some people already know where they’re going on the first day of the portal.”

Coaches are beginning to publicly grapple with their rosters changing every year because of the transfer portal and players getting paid via NIL and revenue sharing. This has indeed become college basketball’s version of free agency. Coaches are also coming to terms with dealing with agents — some professionals and some amateurs — influencing players’ decisions.

Multiple women’s college basketball coaches told USA Today Sports they’re already hearing from agents and handlers now — in mid-January — about players who intend to enter the portal in April. It puts those coaches in difficult situations.

“Several challenges remain in managing the transfer portal, with agent involvement among the most significant,” Fairfield coach Carly Thibault-DuDonis told USA Today Sports. “Agents are frequently facilitating early contact to gauge interest. In professional sports, such activity would constitute tampering and carry meaningful consequences. In the collegiate space, however, this behavior exists in a gray area that allows transfer-related communication to occur before the portal officially opens.”

Bozzella recognizes the issue posed by amateur agents or handlers, who might be a high school coach or family member of the player. And he understands Walz’s point too that, once March comes, most players already know whether they’re staying with their team or planning to look elsewhere.

“It’s so hard,” Bozzella said. “Basically, what you’re doing is now we’re giving the kids 45 days to shop around and make their own deals, and then come to you on the 45th day and be like, ‘Yeah, I’m staying now’ or ‘I’m going.’”

Thibault-DuDonis, who has guided Fairfield to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments, has a prediction for what will happen in the weeks leading up to the portal officially opening.

“Agents will continue to reach out while coaches remain constrained by restrictions that prohibit communication until a student-athlete is officially in the portal,” she said. “This dynamic creates significant challenges, particularly for the approximately 350 programs not competing in the final weekend of the season.”

Walz has a concern rule-bending is going to get worse under the new structure.

“Wait until that day when everybody goes in the portal and seven kids commit on the same day (the portal opens),’ Walz said. ‘Now, how in the hell did that happen if coaches aren’t talking to players? (The players) already know what they’re going to do.

‘The trickledown effect is going to be massive, and nobody’s even thought about it. … This (expletive) goes on all the time.”

For agents and coaches engaging in tampering, there’s little chance of being caught or punished. Most coaches are unwilling to call out their colleagues publicly for breaking the rules, and the NCAA has no current mechanism to certify agents or police them the way that professional leagues like the NFL and NBA do.

Undoubtedly, this won’t be the final change to the transfer portal. When the next window shift comes, when more rules or regulations are enforced, coaches have to be ready to adapt. For now, some of them are celebrating a small victory while rooting for more change.

“It will be good to know, obviously, when that 15-day period is up, then at least you know your roster from a retention standpoint. You at least know who’s staying,” Lawson said. “It’s all changing all the time. So, it’s kind of hard to be like, ‘OK, now it’s this and we’ll do this.’ You can’t really gain any traction on anything and you just have to be flexible.”

The NBA trade deadline is exactly two weeks away, so it’s time to take stock of the rumors that are out there.

It’s important to note that not everything that’s leaked this time of the year can be believed, at least not without appropriate skepticism. Whenever a report bubbles up that cites anonymous sources, it bears asking why one party — from the player side or from the team — would want that information to go public. Put another way: this is the time of year when posturing and negotiation can happen through the press.

Still, there has only been one trade executed thus far, when the Atlanta Hawks moved Trae Young to the Washington Wizards Jan. 7 for CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert.

Here’s everything you need to know about the latest NBA trade rumors and what they mean ahead of the Feb. 5 deadline:

NBA trade rumors

Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks

Like most trade markets, this one is waiting for resolution of its biggest domino.

The teams that might otherwise be hesitant to make smaller moves will be closely watching what happens with the Bucks, who have lost 20 of their last 30 games. Antetokounmpo has made it clear he’s not entirely happy in Milwaukee, though he also made it clear he won’t ask for a trade, at least publicly.

Antetokounmpo seemingly wants to preserve optics and doesn’t want to be the bad guy in this scenario. But Antetokounmpo, 31, is the best player in the Eastern Conference and a legitimate MVP threat when fully healthy. It’s more likely that the Bucks will look to be buyers — hello, Ja Morant? — to try to appease Antetokounmpo, who’s under contract through the 2026-27 season, with a player option the following year.

The reality here is that the Bucks — even if they did want to move Antetokounmpo to rebuild and recoup assets — have no incentive to do so now.

While there is the pressure of the deadline, prospective trading partners are limited in the players and draft capital they can offer. That changes over the offseason, once teams like the Lakers, Heat, Warriors and others are able to deploy further future draft capital to entice Milwaukee.

For Antetokounmpo to be on a different team Feb. 6, he would have to make it ugly and demand a deal. This one, at least right now, seems unlikely to happen.

Come the offseason, however, that may be a very different story.

Karl-Anthony Towns, New York Knicks

And while the temptation is to think Towns can be the centerpiece in a trade for Antetokounmpo, it’s an odd fit, and the Bucks would almost certainly be interested in New York’s wings. For one, Milwaukee just signed Myles Turner, who has a similar skill set to Towns. For another, Towns has been criticized recently — most notably from his own head coach — for his lack of effort during a game against the Kings.

The Knicks, though, made their first conference finals in 25 seasons last year. They clearly have the roster to compete in the East. Team owner James Dolan made it clear when he fired Tom Thibodeau in June, that it was NBA Finals or bust. He also has said that this build has enough to win a championship.

Similar to Milwaukee, New York is probably more likely to package some of its depth for another role player than it is to trade Towns.

Anthony Davis, Dallas Mavericks

Given his massive salary, age, and health issues, his value is as low as it has ever been. That’s the frustrating part for the Mavericks; Davis is averaging 20.4 points and 11.1 rebounds when he’s on the floor. He was the headliner in the infamous trade that sent Luka Dončić to the Lakers.

It’s challenging to see any team being comfortable with the prospect of shipping real assets for Davis, who may not align with the team’s timeline. Still, a young team that has shown improvement like the Hornets, who would likely love a veteran presence, may be an intriguing option.

Could the Warriors, who have sorely lacked a consistent offensive threat in the paint and who just lost Jimmy Butler to a torn anterior cruciate ligament, be another potential fit? Golden State is desperate to make use of the window with Stephen Curry and does have Jonathan Kuminga to dangle in a deal.

Ja Morant, Memphis Grizzlies

This is where the reports get interesting. NBA insider Chris Haynes reported that the Grizzlies are very comfortable with the idea of keeping Morant. The read here appears to be that Memphis hasn’t been blown away by the market for Morant and is trying to build leverage.

NBA insider Marc Stein also reported that Morant doesn’t want to be dealt. Yet the Grizzlies are currently outside of the play-in picture in the West and will likely continue to listen to any offers that come their way. This appears to be a case where Memphis needs to feel that the offer presents suitable value.

One thing helping a potential deal: in the two games since Morant returned from a right calf contusion, he has combined to score 47 points and dish 25 assists. That type of play could entice teams like the Timberwolves or Warriors to push for a deal.

Michael Porter Jr., Brooklyn Nets

This feels like a deal that will get done, though a knee sprain has seemingly slowed Porter, who has nonetheless been a positive for Brooklyn this year.

But the Nets are going nowhere and Porter’s value has never been higher. Brooklyn has been loading up on draft capital, so this could present the best chance to leverage Porter’s play into more picks.

The Pistons, Warriors, Lakers and Bucks could be potential fits.

Jonathan Kuminga, Golden State Warriors

This is another one that seems inevitable. Kuminga became eligible for a trade Jan. 15, and he simply has not been a fit on Steve Kerr’s team — even with the injury to Jimmy Butler.

Kuminga is more of an athletic slasher, whereas Golden State thrives best when its role players are spot-up shooters. Kuminga’s defense is also suspect, and given that the Warriors are undersized, they cannot afford to have a weak link on that side of the floor.

But Golden State also hasn’t done a good job of propping Kuminga’s value up, eventually removing him from the rotation; in a loss Tuesday, Jan. 20 against the Raptors, Kuminga scored 20 points on an efficient 7-of-10 shooting and hauled in 5 rebounds in 21 minutes. It was his first action since Dec. 18.

Kuminga is still only 23 and is on a one-year deal (with a club option for next season), so a team that deals for him may want more than a short-term rental.

The Kings, Mavericks, Lakers, Bucks and Nets may be potential destinations.

U.S. women’s national team head coach Emma Hayes has provided an update on star duo Sophia Wilson and Mallory Swanson as they work to return from giving birth last year.

Swanson and Wilson both sat out all of 2025 on maternity leave. When healthy, the forwards make up two-thirds of the USWNT’s vaunted ‘Triple Espresso’ front three along with Trinity Rodman.

According to Hayes, both players are working on returning to the field but Wilson is farther along in the process.

Wilson and her husband, Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Michael Wilson, announced the birth of their daughter Gianna in September.

‘So I think the most important thing for Soph is preseason. I think if she gets that under her belt, then she can absolutely be in consideration for SheBelieves, but she has to get a solid preseason at her club.’

Wilson, 25, has tallied 24 goals and 11 assists in 58 caps with the USWNT.

Swanson and her husband, Chicago Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson, welcomed daughter Josie James Swanson in November.

The Chicago Stars have said they anticipate having Swanson back some time in 2026, but Hayes wasn’t ready to put any kind of a timeline on the forward’s return.

‘When it comes to Mal, she is further away than Soph and still in the very early stages of post-pregnancy,’ Hayes said.

‘I don’t know her timeline to be exact, but I do think it will be behind Soph’s. I’m sure when she’s ready and with the support she’s got at Chicago, she’ll be back when she’s fit and able.’

Swanson, 27, has 103 caps with the USWNT, scoring 38 goals including the game-winner in the 2024 Olympic gold medal game against Brazil.

San Francisco Giants outfielder Jung Hoo Lee was detained at the Los Angeles International Airport on Wednesday night due to a paperwork issue but was later released from custody, agent Scott Boras and the team confirmed.

Boras said Lee’s detainment was ‘not anything political or anything like that’ and the outfielder was released Wednesday evening, the Giants confirmed in a statement.

‘Earlier today, Jung Hoo Lee experienced a brief travel issue at LAX due to a paperwork issue,’ the club said. ‘The matter was quickly clarified with the appropriate authorities, and he has since been cleared to continue his travel. We appreciate the professionalism of all parties involved.’

Lee was arriving back in California from South Korea ahead of a Giants fan event set to be held on Saturday.

The 27-year-old is entering the third season of a six-year, $113 million deal he signed with the Giants prior to 2024. Lee played 150 games in 2025, batting .266 with 51 extra-base hits as San Francisco missed the playoffs for the fourth year in a row.

When the USC men’s basketball team ran back into the locker room after pregame warmups, Alijah Arenas lingered on the court for a few more seconds to get some extra shots up before running back into the tunnel, smile on his face, to join his teammates.

The team came back out a few minutes later, and Arenas dapped up as many people sitting courtside at Galen Center as he could. ‘TV off’ by Kendrick Lamar blared over the speakers as Arenas’ name was announced over the PA.

The crowd roared and gave the freshman a long standing ovation moments before he made his collegiate debut for the Trojans, starting in a 74-68 loss to Northwestern on Wednesday, Jan. 21. And while he had his struggles, most of it was to be expected.

‘When you do this long enough and you inject a super talented player, the results are not so shocking to me,’ head coach Eric Musselman said postgame. ‘When you put someone in and he goes three-for-15 from the field, that’s a lot of shots in his minutes, but he can create his own shot. And you know, he should be a high school senior who reclassified, missed an entire summer, and then you’re throwing him in the middle of Big Ten play so he doesn’t have non-conference play and all that stuff, just based on injury.

‘It’s a difficult thing for any super talented player to go through.’

Arenas scored eight points while shooting just 20% from the floor in 29 minutes, taking on a much bigger role than Musselman originally envisioned after Chad Baker-Mazara fouled out after playing just 13 minutes.

Just a few months ago, this night – just getting on the court – seemed far away for Arenas.

In the early morning hours on April 24, 2025, Arenas – son of three-time NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas – was involved in a serious car accident that put him in a medically induced coma. His Tesla Cybertruck malfunctioned and lost control before striking a fire hydrant and a tree. Gilbert later recounted on the All the Smoke podcast that his son was trapped in the vehicle for 10 minutes, unable to break the car’s bulletproof windows, as the engine caught fire.

Arenas had no major injuries from the crash and made a full recovery within a few days. Another setback for the incoming five-star came three months later however, when he tore his right meniscus in practice and required surgery. With an original recovery timeline of six-to-eight months, there was a real possibility that Arenas could have missed the entire 2025-26 season.

But here Arenas was, exactly six months later and just over a month after returning to full practices with the team, being thrown right into the fire.

Early in the first half, Arenas showed exactly why he was a highly coveted five-star recruit. Getting the ball in transition, the freshman took Max Green’s ankles, sending the Northwestern guard diving onto the floor. Arenas slashed towards the hoop, took off and did a Jamal Murray-esque spin in mid-air to avoid Wildcats big man Arrinten Page for a layup on the second bucket of his college career to give USC a five-point lead.

Plays like that made it easy to see why the Galen Center crowd held its breath every time Arenas touched the ball, waiting for him to do something amazing.

It didn’t always pay off – like towards the end of the first half when Arenas spun his way through the Northwestern defense into the paint and tried to lay it up, only for the ball to jam against the rim on its way up. Arenas still played like a freshman in his first game for the most part, but he didn’t hesitate to let the ball fly.

‘I’ve seen him play a lot in high school and marveled at his talent, size, athleticism, shot making ability,’ Northwestern head coach Chris Collins said. ‘I mean, he’s going to be playing basketball for a long, long time. Anytime you come off with a late injury, there’s going to be some rust. But … he is a big time player. The more he plays, he’s just going to keep getting better.’

The Trojans entered the second half trailing by three after going ice cold offensively down the stretch in the first. They spent the rest of the night playing catch up. They came within one of the Wildcats twice in the final five minutes, but each time they were called for a foul on a made shot. Both times, Northwestern converted the and-one.

Jordan Marsh led the USC rally with a game-high 19 points, all of which came in the second half. Baker-Mazara had 14 points before fouling out. Jacob Cofie led the game in rebounds with 12.

At one point in the second half, Arenas was fouled and had to exit the game briefly due to what appeared to be bleeding from his left knee. He emerged from the tunnel minutes later with a sleeve over his knee and re-entered the game.

While Arenas’ presence is certainly a positive for the Trojans, it wasn’t enough to stop the team from continuing to flounder, losing for the fourth time in six games. With games against No. 2 Michigan, No. 10 Michigan State and No. 4 Purdue, this was expected to be a tough part of the schedule for USC. But faltering down the stretch against a Northwestern team that was winless in Big Ten play entering Wednesday was not in the cards.

‘Extremely concerned,’ Musselman said. ‘Critical, critical loss tonight. Brutal.’

The Trojans now find themselves at an impasse in the season, with five conference losses and over a month left to go in the season. Arenas showed flashes of what he can be in his debut, but there might be some growing pains to be expected along the way.

Alijah Arenas stats vs. Northwestern

Points: 8
FG: 3-for-15 (0-for-6 from 3-point line)
Free Throws: 2-for-6
Rebounds: 2
Assists: 2
Steals: 0
Blocks: 0
Turnovers: 1
Fouls: 2
Minutes: 29