Social media is a drain on time and energy with increasingly diminishing positive returns, but one thing it is still very good for is interrupting a casual scroll with an urgent message: You need to turn on this game.
It’s worked for me two nights in a row now, with a Sunday reminder to catch the wild conclusion to the Steelers’ win over the Ravens and then Monday with a high volume of people I follow insisting that the FCS title game between Montana State and Illinois State had turned into must-see-TV.
As I talked about on Tuesday’s Daily Delivery podcast, the finish didn’t just turn out to be a must-watch. It was a great reminder of why we watch sports in the first place.
That theme will show up multiple times in today’s 10 things to know:
- I turned on the FCS title game just in time to see a replay of Illinois State having a chip shot field goal blocked with about a minute left in a 28-28 game. Montana State returned the ball to near midfield, but their drive stalled from there and overtime ensued.
- Illinois State scored quickly in the extra session. But then somehow, improbably, the extra point was blocked just like the winning field goal attempt had been blocked. So it was 34-28 when Montana State took over for its overtime possession.
- Montana State was churning out yards on the ground, but then a suspect false start penalty put them into a passing situation. After a minimal gain and a drop (that would have given them a first down) which turned into a near-interception (that would have ended the game) it was 4th-and-10. But Montana State converted for a touchdown and made the extra point. Final score: 35-34, giving Montana State its first championship since 1984.
- More than just the drama, of which there was plenty, was this reminder: So much of our life in 2026 can feel scripted or predictable. We are constantly bombarded with data that tells us what should happen or hacks for optimizing this or that. Football has a script, but only before a play starts. Coaches can draw things up and players can know what they are supposed to do. But once the ball is put in play, nobody knows for sure what is going to happen. If you crave that feeling, you watch sports.
- Another reason fans watch, which gets lost in the constant echo chamber of hot takes, is to celebrate likeable players. I’m glad Andrew Krammer spent a few minutes during our final Vikings film review segment of the season on Tuesday’s podcast to take note of just how special Sunday’s tributes to Harrison Smith and C.J. Ham were for the Vikings and their fans.
- If you watched the FCS finish, you were rewarded. If you stayed up even later to watch the Wild (9:30 p.m. local start), you were not. They lost 4-2 to the Kings, their fifth loss in their last eight games after a seven-game winning streak.
- Uh-oh: Main Street Sports Group, which runs FanDuel Sports networks, reportedly missed its January payments to NBA teams. The Wolves and Wild could be headed for a different TV option soon.
- The college football transfer portal is wide open. The Gophers landed a couple of key players, while transfer QB Kenny Minchey changed his commitment to Kentucky one day after committing to Nebraska.
- Chip Scoggins and I will have plenty of Vikings and college football discussion on Wednesday’s podcast.
- An honor for the legend: Sid Hartman. Sid almost certainly would have wanted it pointed out that the kicker who made the game-winning extra point for Montana State, Myles Sansted, is from Alexandria.
