The First Smallball of 2026 š£
Weāre 13 days into the new yearā¦ has anything interesting happened so far?
Presenting: The 12 Days of Christmas Smallball.
Hereās everything you need to know across college football, the NBA, and the NFL in 2026.
Bonus points if you sing out loud to your family. š¶
On the first day of Smallball the sports world gave to meā¦
The quarterfinals of the CFP!
The winners?
Miami over Ohio State, so the defending champs are out.
Oregon over Texas Tech in a blowout, 23-0.
Indiana over Alabama in an even bigger blowout, 38-3.
š„ And in the best game of the quarterfinalsā¦
Ole Miss over Georgia.
On the second day of Smallball the sports world gave to meā¦
Alright, alright. I was kidding. Weāre not doing the whole song. But we do have one update per day!
And on January 2ndā¦
š„ Watch what Giannis did in the final seconds against Charlotte!
On January 3rd, the spotlight was on LA, where the Clippers hosted the Boston Celtics.
But it wasnāt Kawhi Leonard or James Harden who stole the showā¦
š„ Because Bostonās Jaylen Brown dropped 50!
On the 4th, the Suns played the Thunder.
Nobody scored 50ā¦ or 40ā¦ or even 30. Devin Booker led both teams with 24 points.
š„ But youāve got to see his last three!
On day five, all five of the Nuggetsā regular starters were out due to injury.
Surely the 76ers blew them out, right? Right?
š„ Not so fast!
How about a game-winner on a goal-tending?!?
On the 6th, the best highlight wasnāt a play that happened during a gameā¦
š„ Watch this all the way to the end!
Yes, that was Victor Wembanyama KICKING. A. BALL. OUT. OF. THE. NET.
An NBA rim is 10 feet tall. And the bottom of the net is just below that. So, he had his foot higher off the ground than most of us can reach with our hands on our highest jump!
We made it to January 7th without talking about Steph Curry?
Letās fix that.
š„ Check out Giannis and the Bucks vs. Steph and the Warriors!
Giannis scored 34 and Steph scored 31.
But more importantly: Warriors 120, Bucks 113.
Need a quick basketball break?
Thursday, January 8: the College Football Playoff semifinals.
Miami vs. Ole Miss. Final five minutes. Ole Miss leading by two.
š„ Watch what happened!
On the 9th, Indiana and Oregon played in the second semifinal.
It was a rematch from October 2025, when Indiana won 30-20.
This timeā¦
BLOWOUT!
So, while we wait for the championship game this coming Monday, should we watch the Bucks vs. Lakers ending instead?
On to January 10th and our first NFL update!
Itās playoff time, and on Saturdayā¦
š„ The Rams beat the Seahawks thanks to this epic catch by tight end Colby Parkinson!
Later that night, the Bears trailed the Packers, 21-3, at halftime. But they came back to win, 31-27.
š„ This 4th-down conversion from Caleb Williams to Rome Odunze was key!
Then, on Sunday (the 11th)ā¦
The Patriots stomped the Chargers, 16-3.
The 49ers outlasted the Eagles, 23-19, so the defending champs are out in the NFL, too.
And the Bills and Jaguarsā¦
š„ Well, see for yourself! (Jump ahead to 9:33.)
That means next week, the Bills go to Denver to play the Broncos!
Almost there!
Monday Night Football. January 12th. The last NFL playoff game from round 1.
Texans vs. Steelers. Winner plays the Patriots next week.
And the winner isā¦
WAIT! Letās play a quick game!
Hereās what happened:
Texans QB CJ Stroud fumbled 5 times (the Steelers recovered 2 of them) and he threw an interception
Steelers QB Aaron Rodgers fumbled 2 times (the Texans recovered one) and he threw an interception
But the Texans still won, 30-6.
It sure helped that Houstonās defense scored two touchdowns!
Hereās a fumble return for a touchdown!
And hereās a pick-six!
Oh, and Stroud?
He became just the second quarterback in the last 35 years to win a game after fumbling at least five times.
Not the best kind of history to makeā¦ but a winās a win.
Thatās it! Youāre all caught up.
Now good luck trying to get The Twelve Days of Christmas back out of your head.
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Now 2026 can officially begin! Thanks Smallball!
Glad you're back!