Titles on the line
Happy Friday, and happy Halloween weekend! 🎃 The World Series may be over, but October still has some championships left to hand out. On Saturday night, for instance, the WNBA Finals will provide the best two words in sports: Game 7. (Probably better than having the champ celebrate awkwardly on a Thursday afternoon.) We’ll break down the stylistic tug-of-war that could decide the winner-take-all season finale below. Plus, Kimi Antonelli can become the youngest ever F1 champion on Sunday, while Kyle Larson is closing in on a NASCAR title of his own, and a jam-packed football weekend brings Florida-Georgia, Ohio State-USC, Vikings-Lions, Chiefs-Broncos and the beleaguered Eagles having a TV time-slot all to themselves again (this time on SNF against Washington). Here’s what we’re watching this weekend:
The Main Events
All listed times are Eastern. 🚨= Elimination game
Friday (10/30)
🏀🏆 WNBA Finals: No games. (Off-day)
🏀🏆 WNBA title check-in: Valkyries 52% to win
🏈 CFB: Baylor (53%) at UCF (47%) - 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)
🏈🏆 College Football Playoff check-in: Georgia 20% to win the national title
🏀 NBA: Knicks (53%) at 76ers (47%) - 7:30 p.m. (Prime Video)
🏀 NBA: Lakers (56%) at Warriors (44%) - 10 p.m. (Prime Video)
🏀🏆 NBA title check-in: Spurs 23% to win🏒 NHL: Devils (48%) at Golden Knights (52%) - 6 p.m. (NHLN)
🏒 NHL: Jets (32%) at Panthers (68%) - 7 p.m.
🏒🏆 Stanley Cup check-in: Avalanche/Oilers/Hurricanes 11% to win
⚽ La Liga: Espanyol (14%) at Villarreal (70%) - 4 p.m. (ESPN+ / ESPN Deportes)
⚽🏆 Champions League check-in: FC Barcelona 23% to win
⚽🏆 Europa League check-in: SL Benfica 18% to win
⛳ PGA Tour: VidantaWorld Mexico Open, Round 2 (Golf Channel) - Ben Griffin 11% to win
Saturday (10/31) - Happy Halloween! 🎃
🏀🏆 WNBA Finals: Dream (48%) at Valkyries (52%), Game 7 (Series tied 3-3) - 8 p.m. (Peacock) 🚨
🏈 CFB: No. 22 Arizona (38%) at No. 13 Texas Tech (62%) - 12 p.m. (ESPN)
🏈 CFB: No. 17 Florida (20%) vs. No. 3 Georgia (80%) (in Atlanta) - 3:30 p.m. (ABC)
🏈 CFB: No. 1 Miami (85%) at North Carolina (15%) - 7:30 p.m. (ABC) - Belichick vs. the #1 team
🏈 CFB: No. 2 Ohio State (69%) at USC (31%) - 7:30 p.m. (NBC / Peacock)
🏀 NBA: 76ers (52%) at Hornets (48%) - 6 p.m. (NBA TV)
🏀 NBA: Thunder (44%) at Rockets (56%) - 8:30 p.m. (NBA TV)
🏒 NHL: Lightning at Predators - 2 p.m.
🏒 NHL: Maple Leafs at Canucks - 7 p.m. (CBC / Sportsnet)
⚽ Premier League: Chelsea (52%) at Manchester United (24%) - 8:30 a.m. (TNT Sports / HBO Max)
⚽🏆 Premier League title check-in: Arsenal FC 67% to win
⚽🏆 MLS title check-in: Nashville SC 20% to win MLS Cup
⚽🏆 NWSL title check-in: San Diego Wave FC 27% to win
⛳ PGA Tour: VidantaWorld Mexico Open, Round 3 (Golf Channel)
🥊 UFC Fight Night: Renato Moicano (54%) vs. Tom Nolan (46%) - 8 p.m. (Paramount+) - Lightweight Main Event
🥊 Boxing: Canelo Alvarez (73%) vs. Christian Mbilli (27%) - 2 p.m. (DAZN PPV) - WBC Super Middleweight Title
Sunday (11/1)
🏈 NFL: Ravens (38%) at Bills (62%) - 1 p.m. (CBS)
🏈 NFL: Vikings (38%) at Lions (62%) - 1 p.m. (FOX)
🏈 NFL: Browns (35%) at Steelers (65%) - 1 p.m. (CBS)
🏈 NFL: Chiefs (52%) at Broncos (48%) - 4:25 p.m. (CBS)
🏈 Sunday Night Football: Eagles (29%) at Commanders (71%) - 8:20 p.m. (NBC)
🏈🏆 Super Bowl check-in: 49ers 16% to win the NFL title
🏀 NBA: Celtics at Magic - 3:30 p.m.
🏀 NBA: Clippers at Warriors - 8:30 p.m. (FanDuel Sports Network / NBA League Pass)
🏒 NHL: Hurricanes at Jets - 1 p.m. (NHLN)
🏒 NHL: Oilers at Rangers - 6 p.m. (NHLN)
⚽ Premier League: Arsenal (41%) at Liverpool (32%) - 11:30 a.m. (Peacock / NBCSN / Telemundo)
🏁 NASCAR Cup Series: Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway - 2 p.m. (NBC) - Ryan Blaney 17% to win
🏁🏆 NASCAR Cup title check-in: Kyle Larson 90% to win
🏁 F1: Mexican Grand Prix at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez - 3 p.m. (Apple TV) - Kimi Antonelli 38% to win
🏁🏆 F1 title check-in: Kimi Antonelli 99% to win (Driver’s) / Mercedes 98% to win (Constructor’s)
⛳ PGA Tour: VidantaWorld Mexico Open, Final Round (Golf Channel)
The seventh game
With a chance to clinch the 2026 WNBA title in a weirdo matinee time-slot on Thursday afternoon, the Golden State Valkyries instead came out flat, fell behind 32-15 after a quarter, and ultimately lost 80-69 to the Atlanta Dream — forcing a winner-take-all Game 7 on Saturday. (Don’t worry, it’s at a normal time: 8 p.m. ET.)
What are we to make of this series as we head into the clincher? Golden State is the very slight trading favorite, about 52-48 in the prediction markets — but a lot of the outcome rides on what type of game it is. In the three highest-scoring games of the series so far — with combined scoring of 144, 168 and 149 points — the Dream won each of them; in the three lowest-scoring ones — with 132, 129 and 119 total points — the Valkyries rode to the victory.
This makes sense, given what we knew about these teams going into the Finals — Golden State had the league’s best defense by a mile during the regular season, while Atlanta was more reliant on its offense with the four-headed attack of Rhyne Howard, Allisha Gray, Jordin Canada and Angel Reese. And a lot of it also has to do with pace of play as well: Games 2 and 3 were Atlanta wins at 79.3 and 80.7 possessions per team, as was Game 6 at 77.1. Meanwhile, Games 4 and 5 were both Golden State wins, at 70.2 and 69.3 possessions respectively.
So the uglier of a grind the game it is, the prettier the result will likely be for the Valkyries.
Another important, perhaps related, bellwether: How Reese is playing. In Dream wins this series, Reese is averaging 22.0 points and 14.0 rebounds per game on 47.8% shooting with 3.3 turnovers and an average Game Score of 19.0… and in Valkyries wins, she’s averaging 9.7 points, 12.0 rebounds, 29.0% shooting, 4.3 turnovers and an average Game Score of 5.9.
In terms of splits for star players, it’s hard to imagine a starker gap in performance between wins and losses.
And finally, a key for Atlanta might be its ability to win different games depending on the conditions for how points get scored. In their three wins so far, they’ve shown off three different versions of how to win a basketball game: In Game 2, their entire advantage literally came from a 30-16 edge on points from the free throw line. In Game 3, they overwhelmed Golden State 50-24 on 2-point scoring alone. And in Game 6, they used a 39-21 edge on 3-pointers — Howard and Gray combined for 9, and even the famously poor long-distance-shooting Reese made 2 — to compensate for losing 48-41 on twos and free throws.
So if the Dream are going to finish the job Saturday, they’ll probably need to do what they’ve done all series: Speed the game up, get a big performance from Reese, and find whichever scoring avenue Golden State seems least-equipped to take away. And the Valkyries, meanwhile, will be trying to drag Game 7 into the mud.
Baby champ
Kimi Antonelli enters this weekend’s Mexico City Grand Prix on the verge of making Formula 1 history. The 20-year-old Mercedes driver has put himself in position to clinch the 2026 World Drivers' Championship Sunday, which would make him easily the youngest champ the sport has ever seen. Sebastian Vettel has held that distinction since winning the 2010 title at 23 years and 134 days old; Antonelli, meanwhile, would be just 20 years and 68 days old on Nov. 1 — so he might not only break a record that has stood for 16 years, but totally obliterate it. All he needs is 2 points to clinch, meaning 9th place would be enough… and there are also scenarios where he gets it even if he scores 0 points, depending on what George Russell and Lewis Hamilton do.
What else we’re reading
Smart, short reads we liked while building today’s odds.
🏈 “How Miami Forever Changed College Football” by Michael Weinreb
🏈 “Why Quarterbacks Have To Be Boring” by Joon Lee
🏁 “Kyle Larson reaffirmed clutch performances are the essence of The Chase” by Nate Ryan
⚾ “The Enigmatic Dominance of the 2026 Postseason’s Starters” by ritmica
🎨 “Todd Radom Creates Timeless Logos For The Biggest Brands In Sports” by Beauty of a Game
Next on deck…
Monday (11/2)
🏈 Monday Night Football: Bears at Seahawks
🏀 NBA: Celtics at Rockets
🏒 NHL: Golden Knights at Bruins
⚽ Premier League: Newcastle United at Everton
Tuesday (11/3)
🏈 CFB: Buffalo at Miami (OH)
🏀 NBA: No games. (Election Day) 🗳️
🏒 NHL: Oilers at Devils
⚽ Champions League: Atlético Madrid vs. Bayern Munich
Wednesday (11/4)
🏈 CFB: Central Michigan at Eastern Michigan
🏀 NBA: Timberwolves at Rockets
🏒 NHL: Blackhawks at Panthers
⚽ Champions League: RB Leipzig vs. Manchester City
