Surely you want even more of it, right?
asserted
you → want → it
We'll get into the problems with a 24-team College Football Playoff (CFP), then talk about the NBA's new betting restrictions, and close with thoughts about President Donald Trump's new government golf course plans.
asserted
We → get → plans
And just in case you don't make it to the end, here's a shortcut to our survey on who you're rooting for in the World Series.
asserted
you → make → Series
Perhaps Gary can keep going and challenge Primetime Paulie Rothrock's 13-game winning streak from last season.
asserted
Gary → keep → season
Both teams in the WNBA Finals left the court for the National Anthem—unclear if this was a protest or just part of the pregame routine.
uncertain
this → leave → routine
WNBA policy doesn't require teams to be on the court for the anthem, but does require a "dignified posture" if they are.
asserted
they → require → posture
- "Inside ESPN's tangled ties to the Protect College Sports Act"
- Bars around Dodger Stadium used a big bet against the Dodgers on Kalshi to hedge the revenue lost because of the Dodgers' playoff exit.
asserted
Bars → use → exit
- American cities that want to host matches for the 2031 Women's World Cup have learned from this summer's hosting experience and are negotiating with FIFA to limit taxpayer obligations.
- In the thick of a playoff race, three Zambian women's soccer players are separated from their National Women's Soccer League teams because they played in Uganda, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a three-week restriction on reentry due to Ebola.
asserted
Centers → want → Ebola
- Elsewhere in Reason: "Be Prepared for Elizabeth Warren's Reign of Economic Error"
- This is the kind of excessively nerdy fantasy football content I live for.
asserted
I → live → content
(Yahoo remains the best fantasy sports system.
asserted
Yahoo → remain → ?
ESPN's is trash, relying on name recognition to get by.)
asserted
ESPN → rely → recognition
I figured out how ESPN calculates fantasy football win percentage, it's bad!
asserted
it → figure → percentage
ESPN made a stats 101 error when calculating their win percentage which leads to horribly miscalibrated numbers.
asserted
which → make → numbers
— Will (@will_j_5) October 18, 2026
Watering Down College Football Is a Mistake
Saturday was one of the best days of college football ever—or perhaps it could have been, if we thought any of the five top-10 teams who took a loss were now certainly out of playoff contention.
uncertain
who → water → contention
Today was one of the craziest days in college football history:
- First time ever five teams ranked in the top 7 lose in a single week
- First time the No. 1-ranked team loses to an unranked team in consecutive weeks since 1990
- First time Texas, Alabama, and Georgia all lose… pic.twitter.com/psVRoM5s5b— Bobby Football (@Rob__Paul) October 18, 2026
asserted
Texas → rank → 1990
Next year, the playoff is almost officially set to balloon to 24 teams, making the chaos of a day like Saturday matter even less.
asserted
chaos → set → Saturday
Fans will always celebrate a huge upset or major rivalry win, of course—Tennessee fans don't need playoff stakes as an excuse to get drunk when they beat Alabama.
asserted
they → celebrate → Alabama
But the joy of a rivalry win in the past was always bigger because of the off-field stakes, too—the first loss for your rival meant they probably wouldn't be national champions, the second meant they'd be out of the Rose Bowl, a third meant you could be proud your team sent them packing for the Alamo Bowl.
uncertain
team → mean → Bowl
Winning is great; ruining your rival's season is even better.
asserted
ruining → ruin → season
With 24 teams in the playoff, the joy is a bit diminished because it will take four or possibly five losses to knock a powerhouse program out of the CFP (Iowa, at 8–4, was ranked 23rd by the committee before last year's playoffs).
uncertain
Iowa → take → playoffs
It'll be a bit like a rivalry win in college basketball—we win, you suck, congrats on getting a slightly worse NCAA Tournament seed.
asserted
you → win → seed
In the business of sports, more inventory for TV is king, and the powers that be think more teams playing more playoff games will make more money.
asserted
teams → think → money
At Free Agent, we don't begrudge institutions for trying to make more money—we all do the same every day.
asserted
we → begrudge → same
But it's not clear abandoning conference championship games will be the answer, especially when the Big Ten and SEC championships apparently outdraw many playoff games.
asserted
championships → abandon → games
ESPN and the power conferences know fans aren't happy about it—just look at all the chatter online, and how the crowd at BYU reacted when College GameDay discussed expansion on Saturday (especially when BYU would probably benefit from expansion!).
asserted
BYU → know → expansion
They're betting enough people will watch to make the expansion profitable anyway.
asserted
expansion → bet → ?
The last hope is that fans get loud enough to bully them into abandoning expansion—which only occasionally works, sometimes on things small (putting the trophy logo on the court for the NBA Finals) and large (soccer's European Super League).
asserted
which → get → Finals
If any powerhouse considers going independent, that might shock leaders into a rethink too.
uncertain
that → consider → rethink
Almost every sport I know is adding more: more teams, bigger playoffs, more for TV.
asserted
I → know → TV
As fans, we still eat it up, of course—much to the excitement of the TV executives who are selling commercial time to the people trying to reach us, the viewing public.
asserted
who → eat → us
(The only counterexample is the MLB proposal to cut eight games from the regular season—I'd love to see each sport I follow cut its season by about 25 percent to make regular season games matter more, so I'm interested to see how this goes.
asserted
this → cut → percent
Perhaps I'm biased because my favorite team, Michigan State, is a dumpster fire—they could expand the playoff to 64 teams and the Spartans still wouldn't deserve a bid.
uncertain
Spartans → expand → bid
I personally don't have a whole lot at stake in the playoff format now or anytime soon.
asserted
I → have → format
But as a neutral, the chaos of Saturday might have been viewed with my full attention in the past—instead, this year I just had it on in the background while I played video games.
uncertain
I → view → games
Sports Are Regulating Bets Without Politicians, Part 3
After last year's major betting scandal, the NBA asked sportsbooks late last week to stop offering certain types of potentially problematic bets.
asserted
NBA → regulate → bets
The sportsbooks, which the NBA says handle roughly 99 percent of the U.S. betting market, agreed.
asserted
NBA → say → market
No politician or regulation was necessary to solve the problem.
asserted
politician → solve → problem
No longer can bettors bet on unders for a bit player who likely won't get more than 12 minutes of playtime.
asserted
who → bet → playtime
Bettors also can't wager on the opening tip or on players to miss specific shots.
asserted
Bettors → wager → shots
Parlays that string together under bets on the same player's statistics are also out (this one seems a bit harsh—if you just want to bet on a certain major player to have an off night, you can bet on stats separately, but not in a big multiplier parlay).
asserted
you → string → parlay
…and 29 more, not listed.
The Aporia
