by Zak Drapeau and Matt Hylen Sportz Nation - 7/24/2026 Photo Credits to UFC via ufc.com In our FN Du Plessis v Usman Predictions, which you can find here, Zak went 4-2 in picks with 3 methods for 7 points. Points To Date: Zak: 137 (91-51) Matt: 121 (79-57) *All odds courtesy of Caesar's Sportsbook on 7/23 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 1Magomed Ankalaev vs 10Bogdan Guskov (Ankalaev -550) Zak Drapeau - If Ankalaev was already a huge favorite against Rountree, he

By William Gilhooly Sportz Nation - 7/25/2026 Photo Credits to Imagn Images As the MLB trade deadline is less than 10 days away, most teams are finalizing their decisions to either buy or sell. With an unprecedented number of teams still in the wild-card chase, this deadline could be one of the most chaotic sellers market ever. Currently only the Angels, Athletics, Giants, Mets, and Reds are expected to be selling, giving us the potential for some off-the radar acquisitions.

Photo: Gary Vasquez-ImagnImages By this point, the NBA offseason is supposed to be winding down. Instead, we’re bleeding into August with unfinished business everywhere, major decisions still hanging in the balance and Hall of Fame talent somehow remaining in the job pool. Rosters are filling up, cap space is disappearing and training camp is much closer than it feels—but some of the league’s biggest available names still have no clear home. With so little time remaining and

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 7/21/2026 Photo Credits to Eddie Keogh/ The FA via Getty Images 10. Declan Rice England Center Mid From the historic Arsenal squad that finally won the Premier League after 22 years to England's 3rd place finish in the World Cup, Declan Rice has had quite a year. As England's Center Mid, he was the master of their set pieces and often times starter of their offense while controlling pacing with passes around the back. Say what you will about t

By William Gilhooly Sportz Nation- 7/21/2026 Photo Credits to Daniel Shirley/Getty Images As the gap between Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association's proposals continues to grow, MLB has shifted to a more aggressive public relations strategy. Debuting in July just before the All-Star break, Commissioner Rob Manfred and the league's owners approved the "Level the Playing Field" advertising campaign. The campaign centers on an advertisement that airs between inni

Photo: Dale Zanine-Getty The 2019 McDonald’s All-American Game represented the final chapter of an unforgettable decade in high school basketball. Twenty-four of the nation’s most celebrated prospects showed out with five-star rankings, viral mixtapes and the expectation of becoming a future star. Seven years later? The picture is polarizing. Some of these kids validated the hype in college and then developed into legitimate NBA stars. Others took longer, more complicated rou

by Zak Drapeau and Matt Hylen Sportz Nation - 7/20/2026 Photo by Jeff Bottarri via Zuffa LLC Dricus Du Plessis vs 1Khamzat Chimaev 2 DDP claimed that after a "performance like that", he deserves another title shot but I think it puts him perfectly even with Chimaev as the next contender after Imavov gets his title shot. Obviously, the first matchup between these two didn't quite go to DDP's plans so a rematch should be welcomed by him for redemption and in either man's case,

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 7/20/2026 Photo Credits to Carl Recine via Getty Images The 23rd World Cup Final between Spain and Argentina was something of a boring game but ultra-competitive and intense none the less. Coming into the game, Spain was the favorite and had won every game up to the Final with beautiful defense and teamwork and last night was a culmination of everything. The victors saved their finest game for last in what turned out to be the most dominant Worl

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 7/19/2026 30. Jared Goff Lions Quarterback Last Year's Rank: 55 Photo Credits to Peter Casey via Imagn Images Jared Goff had another outstanding season last year in Detroit in the midst of one of the worst teams Dan Campbell has ever produced and for that reason I'm seeing a LOT of people that are really underrating Goff this year. 4564-34-8 was his line last season and it was a statistical down year for him some how as he continues to show tha

by Zak Drapeau and Matt Hylen Sportz Nation - 7/17/2026 In our UFC 329, which you can find here: Zak went 4-3 in picks with 2 methods for 6 points. Matt went 3-4 in picks with 2 methods right for 5 points. Points To Date: Zak: 130 (87-49) Matt: 121 (79-57) *All odds courtesy of Caesar's Sportsbook on 7/16 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Graphic by UFC via wikipedia.org 2Dricus Du Plessis vs 9Kamaru Usman (Du Plessis -225) Zak Drapeau - Kamaru Usman may be the

By William Gilhooly Sportz Nation- 7/15/2026 Photo Credits to David Butler II/Imagn Images In a summer when America celebrated its 250th birthday, Boston’s baseball team had little to celebrate. To paraphrase Michael Scott: “Happy birthday, Boston. Sorry your party’s so lame.” On the first day of summer, the Red Sox sat at an abysmal 31-44, the third-worst record in the American League. The problems had been mounting long before the calendar turned. Boston fired manager Alex

Photo: Gordon Grant-AP This year's rookie class feels different. It starting to feel like we may have just received the most promising batch of young talent since 2003. Summer League performances should always be taken with a grain of salt—but some of these players are simply making it impossible not to believe the hype. This year’s action is so far delivering an exciting collection of top-tier rookies, undrafted prospects, and young players who look more than ready for the n

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 7/16/2026 Photo Credits to Martin Meissner via Associated Press Argentina is the reigning World Cup Champions after winning the tournament in 2022 and now, flash forward to 2026 and they have punched their ticket to another World Cup Final after defeating England 2-1 for a chance to go back-to-back. In the 96-year history of 23 World Cup tournaments, a nation has only won back-to-back World Cups twice; Italy in '34 and '38 and Brazil in '58 and

By William Gilhooly Sportz Nation - 7/14/2026 Photo Credits to Matt Rourke/Associated Press As Kyle Schwarber hit his seventh home run in the final round of the Home Run Derby, Phillies teammate Bryce Harper declared the contest "over." Those words came back to haunt him. Jordan Walker entered the final round needing five home runs in his final three swings just to tie Schwarber's total of 11. Instead, the St. Louis Cardinals outfielder delivered the improbable, launching six

Photo: Shane Smith-Getty The McDonald’s All-American Game. The premier showcase for the country’s best high school basketball players since 1978. Hall of Famers, generational superstars, high school legends and highly touted prospects who never quite reached expectations have all earned the honor. There's a good chance your favorite player once stepped onto this stage. Traditionally divided into East and West rosters, the event gives the nation’s most celebrated prospects one

by Zak Drapeau and Matt Hylen Sportz Nation - 7/13/2026 Photo Credits to Chris Unger via Zuffa LLC 4Max Holloway vs 4Jack Della Maddelena Matt Hylen - Unfortunately, there is not much to say about the performance of Max Holloway other than the fact that the fight as a whole was extremely anticlimactic. However, in his post-fight interviews, it seemed to me like Max Holloway wanted to see what he could do in the Welterweight division. Since he was not able to see that in this

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 7/12/2026 Photo Credits to Eric Hartline via Imagn Images 40. Cooper DeJean Eagles Defensive Back Last Year's Rank: N/A DeJean is one of the new school DB's that are all the rage now because of their versatility. DeJean could be a lockdown, boundary corner one play and a soul taking, Box Safety the next in the blink of an eye and the way he showed improvement from his rookie season to his sophomore makes me really excited for his 3rd. DeJean is

Photo: Bo Butler-BostonGlobe This year's free agency period has been one for the books—teams are changing the entire direction of their franchise in one fell swoop. As we know, one smart signing can fix a glaring weakness. One bold trade can turn a playoff hopeful into a legitimate threat. And one perfect offseason can convince the rest of the league that last season’s version of your team was a fluke. So far, these eight teams have absolutely nailed it. Whether it was adding

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 7/10/2026 Last night we saw France beat Norway and become the first team to make the 2026 World Cup Sem-Finals. With one more game today and two more on Saturday, we are getting very close to seeing how the final act of this play plays out. Photo Credits to Florencia Tan Jun via Getty Images Spain v Belgium Today's game is between Spain and Belgium at SoFi stadium in Los Angeles. The winner will be moving on to face France on Tuesday, July 14th

by Zak Drapeau and Matt Hylen Sportz Nation - 7/9/2026 Photo Credits to Steve Marcus via Getty Images In our FN Fiziev vs Torres Predictions, which you can find here: Zak went 5-1 in picks with 3 methods for 8 points. Matt went 3-3 in picks with 2 methods right for 5 points. Points To Date: Zak: 124 (83-46) Matt: 116 (76-53) All odds courtesy of Caesar's Sportsbook on 7/10 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Conor McGregor vs 4Max Holloway (Holloway -210) Zak Drapeau - It'