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Pro Picks: Eagles will cruise past the Commanders and Seahawks will upset the Vikings

The setup for two Christmas Day games means two games on Saturday in Week 16. They’ll be potential playoff previews. Patrick Mahomes and the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs host C.J. Stroud and the AFC South champion Texans in the first game Saturday. Then, it’s Russell Wilson and the Steelers visiting Lamar Jackson and the Ravens in a battle for the AFC North. Pro Picks likes the favorites in both matchups.

Friedkin Group completes purchase of Everton and becomes 10th US owner in Premier League

The Texas-based Friedkin Group has completed its 98.8% purchase of Everton. Friedkin has added the storied Premier League club on Thursday to its wide-ranging portfolio of investments that includes Italian team Roma. It ends a long period of huge uncertainty at Everton. It is a nine-time English champion which has been an ever-present in the top division since 1954 but is without a major trophy since 1995. Fronted by Dan Friedkin and his son, Ryan, the group has investments in the automotive industry, entertainment, hospitality and sports. The Friedkins made a fortune distributing Toyotas in Texas. They take over from Everton’s majority shareholder, Farhad Moshiri.

Lindsey Vonn hits back at critics who think she’s crazy to return to ski racing at age 40

ST. MORITZ, Switzerland (AP) — Lindsey Vonn didn’t just pop into the hospital one day for a new titanium knee and then decide on the way out that she wanted to return to downhill ski racing. It’s been a long and calculated process involving several minor and some major knee surgeries with careful vetting of the medical issues involved. So she’s getting fed up with how several of her fellow skiing champions are questioning why she would return to the sport’s most dangerous disciplines at such an advanced age. The 40-year-old Vonn says she’s “getting pretty tired of people predicting negative things about my future.”

AP Exclusive: Pro tennis player Jenson Brooksby talks about living with autism

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — American professional tennis player Jenson Brooksby tells The Associated Press he was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder when he was nonverbal at about 2 1/2 years old. Brooksby is getting ready to get back on the tennis tour next month after missing nearly two full years because of injuries, operations and a suspension connected to missed drug tests. He is planning to make his Grand Slam return at the Australian Open, which starts Jan. 12. That was the last tournament he played, back in January 2023, when he upset three-time major finalist Casper Ruud. Brooksby was ranked No. 33 at age 21 in 2022.

Usyk vs. Fury 2: How to watch, betting odds and more about heavyweight title rematch

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — The rematch is days away. Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury will go at it again on Saturday night in Saudi Arabia. Usyk won a split decision the first time and became boxing’s first undisputed heavyweight champion in 24 years. Since then, Usyk gave up the IBF title now held by Daniel Dubois. So, Usyk’s WBC, WBA and WBO belts will be on the line at Kingdom Arena — the same Riyadh venue that hosted the first meeting in May.

Brr! Winter adds an old-school challenge to the CFP. Visiting teams insist it’s ‘snow’ problem

Besides first-round games at on-campus sites, the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff also serves up something now for this postseason: cold-weather northern venues as opposed to bowl games in warm, sunny climates. Whether that provides a home-field advantage for sixth-seeded Penn State, No. 7 seed Notre Dame and No. 8 Ohio State remains to be seen, but it’s a factor southern schools such No. 11 SMU and No. 9 Tennessee must prepare for. Tenth-seeded Indiana only has to travel a couple hundred miles north to South Bend but December football will be new to the Hoosiers, especially at No. 7 seed Notre Dame.

IOC publishes manifestos of 7 candidates running to be president and lead Olympics

GENEVA (AP) — The International Olympic Committee has published manifestos of the seven candidates running to be its next president. One contender offers to take just half of the eight-year mandate and stand again in 2029. World Athletics president Sebastian Coe pledges to embed “transformative change” then seek re-election ahead of schedule. IOC members elect their president at a March 18-21 meeting in Greece. IOC executive board members Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr. and Prince Feisal al Hussein also want to empower the 111 members and restore their role in choosing Olympic host cities. Also standing are Kirsty Coventry, Johan Eliasch, David Lappartient and Morinari Watanabe.

Notre Dame and Indiana get 1st taste of playoff football under the Friday night lights

Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman and Indiana coach Curt Cignetti are football junkies at heart. They enjoy studying film, game prep and Saturday afternoons. They’re also deeply fond of playing underneath the Friday night lights. They’ll get a chance to relive that memory this week when the 10th-seeded Hoosiers visit the seventh-seeded Fighting Irish in the first Friday night game ever played at Notre Dame Stadium. Freeman will be making his playoff debut as a head coach. Cignetti has playoff experience at different college levels but is making his first appearance in the College Football Playoff.

College Football Playoff picks: SMU, Clemson, Vols, Hoosiers beware as CFP opens on campus

SMU could face the biggest adjustment playing in the cold in the College Football Playoff. A 10- to 15-mph northwest wind will make temperatures in the 20s feel like it’s in the mid teens in State College, Pennsylvania, on Saturday for SMU’s game against Penn State. Cold weather also is in the forecast for Indiana at Notre Dame and Tennessee at Ohio State. Temperatures in the 60s are expected for Clemson’s game at Texas. For SMU, its game could be its coldest ever. The lowest temperature at kickoff for the Mustangs was 24 degrees for games in 2013 and 1983.