Is it the best weekend on the NFL calendar? Depends on whom you ask, naturally, but the divisional round of the league’s playoff format is pretty great – featuring the top seeds from both conferences along with six other teams that have earned their way to what is effectively the quarterfinal round with a wild-card victory in hand.

This year?

Well, the first game of the 2025 postseason’s quartet most certainly suggests we could be in for another frenetic weekend on the heels of a highly entertaining wild-card round – the Denver Broncos (sort of) surviving the Buffalo Bills 33-30 in overtime at the Mile High City. That game, which included the shocking postgame revelation that Broncos QB Bo Nix suffered a season-ending ankle injury, apparently sucked up all of Saturday’s drama − the Seattle Seahawks mopping up with a 41-6 defeat of the San Francisco 49ers in the night game.

Lots of winners and losers on this divisional weekend Saturday, and they are as follows:

WINNERS

NFL

This postseason has an early chance to be epic. Five of the first seven playoff games have been decided by four or fewer points.

Denver defense

As advertised … largely. Sure, the Broncos surrendered 449 yards to Buffalo, but they also bagged Bills QB Josh Allen three times. Far more important were the five takeaways, most notably Ja’Quan McMillian’s overtime interception of Allen that initiated Denver’s game-winning drive.

Kenneth Walker

Three touchdowns and 116 rushing yards in his playoff debut at Seattle’s Lumen Field. With backfield mate Zach Charbonnet leaving this game early with a knee injury, Walker could well have to shoulder another heavy burden next weekend with a trip to Super Bowl 60 on the line.

Marvin Mims

The Broncos receiver, who averaged just 2.5 catches per game during the regular season had a game-high eight receptions for 93 yards. His 26-yard TD catch in the final minute of the fourth quarter temporarily put Denver ahead, even as he appeared to hurt his back. Mims then drew the pass interference penalty on Bills CB Tre’Davious White in overtime that set up Wil Lutz’s 23-yard chip-shot field goal for the win.

Sean Payton

Now in his third season as the Broncos boss, his bid to become the first coach to win Super Bowls with different franchise remains alive for at least another week. Denver also broke a 10-year drought between playoff wins.

Sam Darnold

An oblique injury suffered in practice rendered Seattle’s Pro Bowl passer as questionable on the injury report ahead of Saturday’s contest, but Darnold was active … and efficient. He passed for 124 yards and a TD in the Seahawks’ obliteration of the Niners, his teammates’ heroics largely sparing him of having to do too much − Darnold throwing just 17 passes. Eight days between games should be quite a benefit going into the NFC title game, where Darnold will try to notch the second playoff win of his eight-year career.

No. 1 seeds

Four of the past six teams to earn home-field advantage and a first-round bye have gone on to play in the Super Bowl. The Seahawks and Broncos are each a win closer to the big game themselves after successfully leveraging their off week.

Hailee Steinfeld

Houston Texans? New England Patriots?

Whichever team wins Sunday’s second divisional round showdown will likely be a prohibitive favorite in the AFC championship game, regardless of the fact that it will be played in Denver, due to Nix’s demise.

Rashid Shaheed

Maybe he was the most important acquisition of this season’s trade deadline. The Seahawks’ multi-talented playmaker took the opening kickoff 95 yards to paydirt. The 49ers never recovered.

James Cook

In one regard, the NFL’s 2025 rushing champion was the best player on the field, amassing 141 yards from scrimmage.

Bo Nix

Denver’s second-year quarterback had a strong game, outplaying Allen overall with 279 yards and three TDs through the air − Nix’s third-quarter interception negated when Allen served up his own two plays later. Nix was in line to become one of the rare second-year passers − think Ben Roethlisberger or Russell Wilson − to win a Super Bowl, except …

LOSERS

Bo Nix

… he suffered a broken bone in his ankle that will end his dream of playing on Super Sunday this year. And maybe his team’s, too.

James Cook

In another regard, Cook’s second-quarter fumble was among Buffalo’s costliest, the only one directly leading to a Denver TD. The Bills’ record in games in which Cook had at least 100 total yards this season slipped to 11-2.

49ers injuries

The dam finally broke. No George Kittle. No Nick Bosa. No Fred Warner. No Brandon Aiyuk. A damaged Christian McCaffrey in this game. And the defense, repeatedly put in bad positions by turnovers and failed fourth downs, could no longer keep up.

Buffalo mistakes

Maybe it’s not as simple as five Bills turnovers directly preceding 16 Denver points. But in an OT crusher? Pretty close.

Second-half Broncos

Payton said coming out of halftime that he expected his rested team to have an advantage – at altitude – in the second half. But the Broncos were outscored 20-10 in the third and fourth quarters and were lucky to escape with a victory.

Brandin Cooks

The Bills are the sixth different franchise he’s played for … and sixth with which he won’t win a ring, Cooks previously weathering Super Bowl losses with both the Patriots and Rams. But this playoff heartbreaker will likely be as painful as any for the 12th-year vet, whose inability to haul in an overtime rocket from Bills QB Josh Allen resulted in the game’s decisive turnover.

Sean McDermott

The Bills have made the playoffs in all but one of their head coach’s nine seasons. But he’s now 8-8 in postseason, that .500 ledger as average as it seems, Buffalo never able to string enough January victories together to reach the Super Sunday stage for the first time in three decades. McDermott seems quite likely to survive the postseason failures that bedeviled his college teammate at William & Mary, Mike Tomlin … but for how much longer?

Josh Allen

The narrative coming into the 2025 playoffs was that this should be the year for the reigning league MVP and his long-suffering franchise, famous/infamous for its four consecutive Super Bowl losses in the 1990s. (The Bills only championships occurred in the AFL days prior to the first Super Bowl.) After all, Allen and Co. didn’t have to contend with Patrick Mahomes’ Kansas City Chiefs, Joe Burrow’s Cincinnati Bengals – teams that had served more postseason heartbreak to Bills Mafia in recent years – or even Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens in their latest bid to bring Western New York its first Lombardi.

Unfortunately, not to be. Allen dropped to 0-7 all time in overtime games during his eight-year career − and is now 0-3 in overtime playoff games. And, though his numbers were largely good Saturday (283 yards and 3 TDs passing, 66 yards rushing), his four turnovers proved a collective mortal blow. His fumbles on either side of halftime led to two Broncos field goals, and his overtime interception sparked Denver’s game-winning drive. Allen also could have put the game away in regulation, but his overthrow of TE Dawson Knox with five seconds to go in the fourth quarter likely cost Buffalo a game-winning TD and forced the Bills to settle for a field goal and overtime.

Going to be another long, cold winter in Buffalo.

Venus Williams’ bid for her first Grand Slam singles victory since 2021 fell agonizingly short on Sunday, as Serbia’s Olga Danilovic rallied from a 4-0 deficit in the third set to defeat Williams in the opening round of the 2026 Australian Open.

Williams, 45, returned to tennis from a 16-month hiatus last season and, as the tournament opened Jan. 18 in Melbourne, became the oldest woman ever to compete in the main singles draw. She appeared to be on the way to notching her first victory in a major since Wimbledon in 2021, taking the first set in a tiebreaker and winning the first four games of the decisive third set.

But Danilovic won the next six games to advance to the second round.

‘At 4-0 I felt good,’ Williams said. ‘It’s the biggest lead I’ve had since I’ve been back. In a lot of ways I’m having to re-learn how to do things again.

‘It’s weird but it’s super exciting to have played that well and to get myself in that position and come very close.’

Danilovic, 24, wasn’t even born when Williams made her Australian Open debut in 1998.

‘These things don’t happen every day and playing against Venus Williams is something that I cannot take for granted, but there were a lot of nerves,’ Danilovic said. ‘I’m happy I managed to get this one but it was such a pleasure playing against a legend.’

Zeynep Sonmez comes to aid of ball girl

Turkish qualifier Zeynep Sonmez scored a first-round upset of 11th-seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova in Sunday’s first-round match, but may have scored even more points with the fans by her compassionate gesture during the second set.

Sonmez, ranked No. 112 in the world, was preparing to serve when a ball girl positioned near the chair umpire suddenly fainted in the searing heat. As she stumbed to her feet, Sonmez stopped play and ran toward her.

With the crowd ​applauding, Sonmez put the girl’s arm over her ‍shoulder and guided her to a seat so medical staff could provide treatment.

Sonmez went on to win 7-5, 4-6, ‍6-4, and become the first woman from Turkey to reach the Aussie Open’s second round.

EdmontonOilers superstar Leon Draisaitl is taking a leave of absence from the team to attend to a family illness back in Germany, the team announced on Saturday, Jan. 17.

In the statement, the Oilers detailed that Draisaitl is expected to return to the team later next week. On behalf of Draisaitl, the club has asked for privacy for him and his family at this time.

With that, the 30-year-old center will be unavailable for Edmonton in the near future, including in all likelihood against the St. Louis Blues on Sunday, Jan. 18.

Later in the approaching week, the Oilers will take on the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday, Jan. 20, the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday, Jan. 22, and the Washington Capitals on Saturday, Jan. 24.

Draisaitl’s absence will be noticeable for the Oilers. He averages 22:05 of ice time per game this season, and has recorded 25 goals and 67 points in 48 appearances. He is one assist shy of reaching the 600 mark; only three players in Oilers history have reached that milestone.

Beyond the games for the upcoming weekend, Edmonton has a jam-packed schedule leading up to the Olympic break on Feb. 5.

With two weeks remaining in the month of January, the Oilers have eight games to play. As mentioned, they’ll be without Draisaitl, who is a former Hart Trophy, Rocket Richard Trophy, Art Ross Trophy and Ted Lindsay Trophy winner.

Going into this stretch, the Oilers are second in the Pacific Division with a 23-17-8 record, accumulating 54 points in 48 outings. In their last 10 games, the team is 4-4-2.

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Lindsey Vonn is in a groove.

Vonn made the podium for the seventh time this season, finishing second in the super-G in Tarvisio, Italy, on Sunday, Jan. 18. The 41-year-old has made the podium in all but one race this season.

Vonn is now in second place in the season super-G standings, 10 points behind good friend Sofia Goggia. Vonn leads the downhill standings, and is fourth in the overall race.

There are two more speed races, a downhill Jan. 30 and a super-G on Jan. 31, before the Milano Cortina Olympics. The women’s Alpine competition begins Feb. 8 with the downhill.

‘I was skiing better this summer in super-G than downhill. I was hoping super-G would have been better from the start, but I was a little bit inconsistent and a little bit conservative in my skiing,’ Vonn said. ‘If I can fight for the globe in super-G as well, that would be amazing. I feel really confident in downhill, but super-G could be a little better, so today was a good step in the right direction and gives me confidence going to Cortina.’

Vonn is one of the few skiers who was competing when the World Cup was last in Tarvisio 15 years ago, with two super-G wins here. But she dismissed the idea that gave her an advantage, saying after Saturday’s downhill that she didn’t remember the course.

What does give Vonn an advantage is that she’s really fast. And consistent. She has made the podium in her last five races, and the question now is not so much if she’ll be on the podium but in what place.

On Sunday, Vonn had a slight edge on Emma Aicher going into the last section of the course. But Vonn said she took a line that wound up not being the fastest, and she couldn’t match the furious push the German had made at the bottom of the course.

Vonn’s time of 1:14.31 was 0.27 seconds behind Aicher, who looked relieved to still be in first after Vonn crossed the finish line.

‘I’m a little disappointed in the way I skied the bottom,’ Vonn said. ‘In general, I’m happy with my skiing.’

It was a good day for the rest of the U.S. team, too. Keely Cashman was fifth, a career best, and four other women were in the top 30. Jackie Wiles and Allison Mollin were 19th and 20th, respectively, Breezy Johnson was 25th and Haley Cutler was 27th.

‘Lindsey gave me a great report and my coaches and I had a really good plan so I did my best to execute the plan the best I could,’ Cashman said. ‘I’m super happy with this result building into the Olympics and eager for more.’

As the NHL’s reigning back-to-back Stanley Cup champions, the Florida Panthers rightfully came into the season as the team to beat this year.

But that was before losing star forwards Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk to long-term injuries that have kept them out of action for the first four months. And although Florida has admirably tried to carry on without the services of two foundational players, we’re now at a point where the Panthers are drifting further and further from a playoff spot – and are in danger of missing out.

Indeed, Florida has gone 4-4-1 in their past nine games, and on Friday, Jan. 16, they were steamrolled by the Carolina Hurricanes by a whopping 9-1 score. The Panthers are now in 11th place in the Eastern Conference and in seventh place in the Atlantic Division with a 25-19-3 record. With half the season in the books, they’re only three points out of last place in the Atlantic and 15th place in the East. 

That’s about as worrying as it can get for Panthers fans.

And it’s not as if Florida is in a position to make the most of a non-playoff year by landing a top draft pick, as they don’t have their first-round pick this season. Panthers GM Bill Zito has spent much of his trade capital in previous seasons, and at the moment, he has only $237,293 in salary cap space. 

That being said, there is good news on the horizon. 

If the Panthers do fail to get into the postseason, they’d be the sixth team in NHL history to win a Cup one year, then miss out on the playoffs the following season. The most recent team to suffer that fate was the Los Angeles Kings in 2014-15.

That said, a team can only do so much when two of its top players aren’t available to play. And that’s where the Panthers have been this season. The injury bug has put them in a position they can’t claw out from. The next 10 games of their upcoming schedule features winnable games against the Winnipeg Jets (twice), Chicago Blackhawks, St. Louis Blues and Boston Bruins. If Florida can’t make the most of those games, securing a playoff spot is going to be nearly impossible.

The Panthers have a lot of obvious wear-and-tear that comes with playing many playoff games, and there’s a lack of urgency to their game right now that does not bode well for the rest of their season. You can never completely count out any team until they’re officially eliminated from playoff competition, but Florida very much looks like a group that doesn’t have enough horses to get them across the finish line.

And if the Panthers do miss out on postseason play, no one can say that they didn’t see it coming. As soon as Barkov and Tkachuk were sidelined for a long period of time, the Panthers had their backs to the wall. And while the rest of Florida’s roster has tried their best to keep the team competitive in the absence of its two best forwards, the cold reality is it’s looking like it’s not going to be enough to extend their year after the end of the regular season. 

Florida has been a powerhouse in recent years, but much of that power has been drained this season. And the house Zito has built doesn’t look like it’s able to withstand the impact of losing Barkov and Tkachuk.

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DENVER – This is how the Denver Broncos live.

Sweat it, then pull it out.

It happened again Saturday at Empower Field – and this time it punched a ticket to the AFC Championship Game.

The Broncos survived the Buffalo Bills for a 33-30 victory in overtime of the AFC divisional playoff, winning with Wil Lutz’s fourth field goal, a 24-yarder with 10 minutes, 16 seconds elapsed into OT. The game-winning kick was aided by two Bills defensive pass interference penalties after Denver gained possession with JaQuan McMillian’s interception.

But that’s not the only major drama enveloping Sean Payton’s team, which notched its NFL-high eighth victory this season after trailing in the fourth quarter.  

Bo Nix, Denver’s second-year quarterback, is done for the rest of the playoffs after suffering a fractured bone in his right ankle in the waning moments.

Now the Broncos have something else to sweat. Payton said Nix is scheduled to have surgery on Tuesday in Birmingham, Ala.

“This team all year has lost key players, and we’ll rise up for the next challenge and go from there,” the Broncos coach said after returning to the podium for a second press conference to break the news about Nix.

Next-man up: Jarrett Stidham, a seventh-year pro who hasn’t thrown a pass in an NFL game since 2023.

Said Payton, “Stiddy is ready to go.”

We’ll see. Yet even without Nix, the Broncos (15-3) can’t be counted out when considering the manner in which they have lived on the edge all season.

Broncos’ wild season teeters on the brink, where it’s been all year

That’s the identity this team has embraced. And it’s tough to blame them for that when they’ve won with pivotal plays from a wide cast of characters.

On Saturday, they won with a season-high five takeaways by the defense – including two Josh Allen interceptions and two fumbles by the star quarterback – that set up the Nix-led offense for another crunch time rally.

“People think you can’t win that way in the league. And you can,” Garett Bolles, Denver’s all-pro left tackle, told USA TODAY Sports. “Because it’s the belief.

“You know, there’s a meter that goes back and forth in football. Sometimes, it gets away from you and you’ve got to pull it back. The great teams find a way to win. And we have that type of culture, the love that we have for each other, that we don’t want to let each other down.”

McMillan’s interception was one in a series of turnovers to impact the game, yet it also fueled controversy as he wrestled the football away as Brandin Cooks tried to haul in a deep pass from Allen, as both players tumbled to the turf. It set up the drive that positioned Denver to win – aided by pass interference penalties on Taron Johnson and Tre’Davious White that set up Lutz’s chip-shot game-winner.

The game-ending sequence added up to another measure of heartbreak for Buffalo, which advanced to at least the divisional round of the AFC playoffs for the sixth consecutive season but has been unable to break through to a Super Bowl.

Fueled by home crowd, Denver’s defense feasts on turnovers

And what a difference a year makes. Last season, the Broncos season ended with a convincing, 31-7 loss at Buffalo in the wild-card round. Now they earned the right to get Buffalo – and any other AFC challengers – on their own turf after claiming the No. 1 seed.

“It’s just different,” Broncos linebacker Jonathan Cooper told USA TODAY Sports. “Last year was our first time going into the playoffs. We weren’t used to the atmosphere. We weren’t at home. It was just a different type of environment. Now that we have a year of experiencing that, we knew what to expect, how to prepare and everybody was ready for.”

That covers a lot of ground. As Cooper spoke, he pointed to his locker mate, Nick Bonitto, and proclaimed, “This is my favorite teammate of all time.”

Bonitto surely provided reason for glowing compliments. He produced two of the takeaways, chasing Allen from behind on a scramble during the final seconds before halftime, which set up a 50-yard field goal from Lutz. On the opening possession of the second half, Bonitto sacked Allen and forced another fumble that set up another Lutz field goal.

Another big play came from Alex Singleton, whose hat-on-ball hit on James Cook shifted early momentum fueled by Buffalo’s running attack. Later, safety P.J. Locke made a spectacular interception to snuff out a scoring threat.

On the other side, Marvin Mims, Jr. and Lil’ Jordan Humphrey snagged sure-handed TD catches.

Then there was Frank Crum, the backup lineman. He scored Denver’s first touchdown in the second quarter, with a seven-yard reception on a tackle-eligible play. It was the first TD Crum has ever had an any level of competition. It was also representative of Payton’s creativity – borrowed from the Detroit Lions playbook with Taylor Decker.

Payton, mindful of the wide range of contributors, said he gave out five game balls during the postgame locker room celebration. He could have given out more, given all there was to unpack from the triumph that marked the franchise’s first home playoff game in a decade.

Regardless, they can breathe a sigh of relief. Denver collected five turnovers and still nearly lost.

The Bills forced overtime with a 50-yard Matt Prater field goal with five seconds on the clock. That game-tying boot answered for Nix’s 26-yard TD pass to Mims, with 55 seconds left on the fourth-quarter clock.

It was that kind of flow.

Denver scored 13 consecutive points late in the first half and early in the second half – aided by two Buffalo turnovers – to seize momentum. Buffalo scored 10 straight points early in the fourth quarter to flip momentum.

And now the momentum is all in Denver’s hands along with the drama – at least for another week.

Contact Jarrett Bell at jbell@usatoday.com or follow on X: @JarrettBell

SEATTLE – The Seattle Seahawks illustrated what it looks like to win a game in all three phases in a dominant 41-6 rout of the San Francisco 49ers.

Special teams.

Offense.

Running back Kenneth Walker III registered 145 yards from scrimmage and three touchdowns. 

Defense.

Linebacker Ernest Jones produced a forced fumble and one interception and defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence had two forced fumbles. The defense tallied three takeaways and caused San Francisco to turn the ball over on downs three times.

“(Saturday) was one of our most complete games, for sure,’ Seahawks defensive lineman Leonard Williams said postgame. ‘Shaheed starting the game off like that, setting the tone and scoring on special teams. The defense out there getting a stop. Offense capitalizing off that and scoring.

‘You want to be a complete team that can win on all three phases. I think this is truly one of the only times I’ve ever been on a team where we are good on all three phases.”

Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald called the divisional playoff win the most “complementary” game the team’s played all season. The 35-point win matched Seattle’s largest margin of victory in a postseason game.

Seattle’s performance made Sam Darnold’s oblique injury an afterthought. The quarterback started his pregame warmup routine in the locker room. Darnold waited until he was in full pads to warm up on the field in an effort to only warm up once, he said.

By the time Darnold took the field for live-game action, it was already advantage Seahawks, 7-0. After the opening kickoff, Darnold didn’t have to do much strenuous work as Seattle’s defense and Walker shined.

“Really good team win from the first snap. Kickoff, (Shaheed) taking it to the house, man, that was special,” Darnold said. “Our defense doing their thing, and as an offense, too. Like ball control. I feel like that was huge for us all game and finishing in the red zone. … We just controlled the football and finished in the red zone. That was the story.”

Darnold completed 12-of-17 passes for 124 yards and a touchdown. He said he felt “really good.”

Players in the locker room said there was never a doubt about Darnold’s availability. Darnold’s 4-yard touchdown toss to wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, where he rolled out and torqued his body to deliver the football, served as validation.

“He was telling me he was good, and apparently he ain’t lie to me,” Smith-Njigba said. “He played great.”

Darnold played within himself, managed the game and didn’t commit a turnover in what was his first career playoff win. Darnold admitted he’s going to have to manage his oblique injury for the duration of the playoffs. But if the Seahawks perform in all three phases like they did on Saturday night, Darnold doesn’t have to do much. Just manage the game, take care of the football and make timely throws. Let Walker, the defense and special teams do the rest.

Seattle found its recipe for success as it gears up to host the NFC championship game.

Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Tyler Dragon on X @TheTylerDragon.

The UCLA women’s basketball team advanced to the 2025 Final Four with national title aspirations but fell a game short of the championship.

UConn coach Geno Auriemma and the Huskies beat UCLA in the semifinals, 85-51, before defeating South Carolina for the program’s 12th championship. Bruins head coach Cori Close recently revealed to USA TODAY Sports that after the Bruins lost, she felt like she failed as a leader.

‘Last year, we were No. 1 in the country for 14 straight weeks, but there was a lot of heaviness of expectation,’ Close said while promoting her partnership with Wescom Foundation, which has a relief initiative dedicated to erasing debt for those impacted by the 2025 California wildfires.’It was the first time we were in this situation. Then, you add the fires and how many of our people that were involved in our program were really hurting, and then, we actually just ― keeping it real ― had six players leave our program in an offseason. It was hard. Our players said you would have never have known that we had the best year in UCLA history in women’s basketball.’

The Bruins went 30-2 in the regular season, winning 30 games for the first time in program history. UCLA also won its first Big Ten championship, defeating USC and guard JuJu Watkins, 72-67. The Bruins then earned the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, another program first. UCLA beat Southern University, Richmond and Ole Miss before meeting LSU in the Elite Eight. Close and the Bruins withstood a fourth-quarter surge from the Tigers before punching their ticket to the Final Four.

However, that’s where their season ended. The Huskies, led by guard Paige Bueckers, overwhelmed UCLA with sweltering defense and punishing shots. By halftime, UConn had a 20-point lead, and a push from center Lauren Betts, who finished with 26 points, wasn’t enough. Close says, despite the gut-wrenching end to the season, she’s since encouraged the current roster to find the right balance between struggle and joy.

‘The hard is good. The hard helps us grow. Nobody grows in their comfort zone,’ said Close, whose No. 3 Bruins host No. 12 Maryland on Sunday (4 p.m. ET, NBC). ‘It’s not a happiness that depends on your happenings. Joy is a choice. Joy has a depth to it. Joy is not determined by the circumstances around you.’

Before the 2025-2026 season, UCLA lost six players from its Final Four team, including forwards Timea Gardiner and Janiah Barker and guard Londynn Jones. Gardiner, who has been dealing with a knee injury, has yet to return this season. Barker transferred to Tennessee and Jones to USC. As the Bruins reloaded for another championship push, Close brought in Betts’ sister, Sienna, a 6-foot-4 freshman forward ranked No. 2 overall in the class of 2025.

Back in the national title conversation this season, the UCLA coach says her team is focused on ‘selflessness.’ Close and her staff have challenged players not to put themselves above the team. The staff wants the roster to be hungry and have a growth mindset while shutting out any outside noise. Players are also being pushed to add value and bring energy. Close says she often asks her players if their energy is ‘worth being caught’ and ‘is it helping us grow or is it having us go back?’

The Bruins coach believes she has ‘the most talented roster in the country’ with ‘the highest ceiling.’ To the California native’s point, UCLA is led by six seniors ― Betts, guard Kiki Rice, guard Gianna Kneepkens, guard Gabriela Jaquez and guard Charlisse Leger-Walker, plus forward Angela Dugalić ― who could all be picked in the 2026 WNBA draft. Close calls having so many pro prospects ‘craziness.’ She wants to help her players master their craft to help them find success after UCLA.

‘It’s my great joy because I believe in them as people, I believe in their work ethic. I believe in what they’ve earned,’ she told USA TODAY. ‘I believe in the kind of teammates they’ve chosen to be ― to be able to talk to these agents and these [general managers] and to these head coaches and say, ‘You want them on your roster.’

‘This program is not about us. It’s about serving them. For me to facilitate a transition they’ve dreamt of their whole life, how lucky am I?’

While the Bruins continue their national title push, they’ve made it a point to not only lean on their seniors but also the entire team and the staff. UCLA holds regular lunches to connect with one another on a deeper level. After practice, they gather on a nearby patio and eat together. No phones are allowed as they focus on strengthening their relationships. According to Close, it’s paid off. The team has spent so much time together that she’s had to shut down the gym because ‘they don’t rest enough.’

What’s more, the connections have spurred new adventures like Leger-Walker’s ongoing TikTok series, where she is teaching Kneepkens how to dance. Close joked with USA TODAY that she wonders when Leger-Walker would help her with her moves. Yet, there’s something a bit deeper than team lunches or dancing lessons hidden behind Close’s efforts to make UCLA more connected.

‘Maybe what we went through last year, a little bit, and what I wanted to do, I just didn’t want to miss the moments this year. I wanted to really enjoy it,’ Close said. ‘Coach [John] Wooden used to say, ‘You know, Cori, you’re not coaching people’s jump shots. You’re coaching people’s hearts.’ But if you coach their hearts really well, usually, their jump shots end up pretty good, too.’

The first game of the NFL divisional playoffs provided plenty of excitement in the Mile High City. The top-seeded Denver Broncos needed overtime to take care of business against the Buffalo Bills and earn their first postseason win since Super Bowl 50.

A week after coming up with many big plays to beat the Jacksonville Jaguars on the road, reigning NFL MVP Josh Allen committed four turnovers in the loss to Denver. That’s a career-high in the postseason.

Allen was emotional after the loss.

‘That’s extremely difficult,’ he said after the game. ‘Feel like I let my teammates down tonight.’

‘It’s been a long season,’ he said. ‘Hate how it ended. It’s going to stick with me for a long time.’

Allen finished the night 25-of-39 passing (64.1%) for 283 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. He added 66 yards on the ground as well in the loss.

‘Can’t win with five turnovers,’ he said. ‘Fumbled twice, threw two [interceptions]. When you shoot yourself in the foot like that, you don’t deserve to win football games.

We were battle-tested all year, down two scores at halftime. Come out, sack fumble, hold them to three [points], find ourselves leading that game… if one or two plays go our way, it’s a different story.’

The Bills have made the divisional round of the playoffs six years in a row with Allen and coach Sean McDermott. They are 2-4 in those games.