Kirk Cousins' reunion with Vikings headlines NFL trade deadline; Georgia tops CFP Top 25 rankings

Plus winners and losers from the first Celtics vs. 76ers showdown since their blockbuster trade Nov 11, 2026 at 8:46 am ET • 8 min read This is an article version of the CBS Sports HQ AM Newsletter, the ultimate guide to every day in sports. You can sign up to get it in your inbox every weekday morning here. 🤝 Five things to know Wednesday Kirk Cousins reuniting with the Vikings defined a hectic NFL trade deadline. You like that?! Cousins is headed back to Minnesota as a saving grace for a woeful offense and a spark plug for a potential Super Bowl run. The real winner here might be the Raiders, though. They landed a top-100 pick in return and are ready to hand Fernando Mendoza the keys to the offense. NFL history suggests the No. 1 pick could be in for a boom-or-bust second half of the season, but either way, Las Vegas should feel good about its future prospects. The Cousins deal was the biggest move of deadline day and came in just ahead of the 4 p.m. ET cutoff. Once it was all said and done, there were 18 in-season trades this year, which matches the fourth-highest total in league history. Just as noteworthy as the players on the move are the ones who are not. The Colts drove a hard bargain for Jonathan Taylor and made him the top trade candidate to stay put.Georgia jumped atop the College Football Playoff rankings. Every single team in the selection committee's top 25 moved at least one spot ahead of Week 11. Georgia is on top, and Utah, Alabama and UCLA round out the top four of the refreshed rankings. Those four teams would own first-round byes if the season ended today, and in building out the projected bracket, Kentucky would be the last at-large team in the field. The biggest surprise this week might be the historic slide Indiana took during its bye week. The committee dropped the Hoosiers five spots, which is the biggest drop for an idle team in CFP history. We're heading towards a world where a three-loss team gets into the bracket, but which squad will that be? There are a handful of realistic contenders.Jayson Tatum outdueled Jaylen Brown in their first head-to-head meeting. All of the drama and fallout from this summer's blockbuster trade led to this moment: The Celtics' 123-101 win over the 76ers in their first matchup since the Brown-Paul George deal. In a zero-sum game that offered a first look at two former teammates in the wake of their breakup, Tatum was the winner and Brown was the loser. There was an even bigger winner involved, however. Paul George racked up 36 points and hit six 3-pointers against his old team and further proved that the Celtics did far better in the trade than anyone initially gave them credit for.Michigan State and Kansas dominated in the Champions Classic. The annual two-game slate between four of college basketball's top teams delivered a couple of one-sided affairs. The Spartans went wire-to-wire on Duke in a 79-73 victory to open the night and taught us two things in the process: Jeremy Fears Jr. is the rightful early-season frontrunner for National Player of the Year, and it might be time to recalibrate expectations for the Blue Devils. Shortly after that top-five showdown, Kansas downed Kentucky in an 89-69 rout. Tre White was phenomenal in the first 30-point outing of his career, and the Jayhawks had their way with the Wildcats on both ends of the floor in building a 22-0 edge in points off turnovers. In other college hoops action, Texas Tech was one of the top winners of the night when it built a commanding lead over Illinois and held on for a 74-68 triumph.Audric Estime is the top priority on the Week 10 fantasy football waiver wire. Reverberations from the trade deadline reached the fantasy football world, but they mostly impacted players who are already widely rostered. This week's top waiver targets are largely unaffected. That includes Estime, who is the No. 1 player to add if Travis Etienne Jr. remains on injured reserve. Other running backs to target include Corey Kiner and Zonovan Knight, while Tank Dell is the name to know at wide receiver following his extravagant return from a devastating knee injury. Looking to make some trades of your own? Use Dave Richard's Week 10 Trade Chart and let your inner general manager shine. 🔠 Do not miss this: NFL trade deadline report card CBS Sports design The trade deadline is all about the deals that actually get done, but what about the ones that never cross the finish line? The Bengals learned a hard lesson about the compensatory pick formula on Tuesday and called off a trade because of it. They were in agreement with the Eagles on a swap that would send Arnold Ebiketie to Cincinnati in return for a 2027 sixth-round pick but backed out when they realized the ramifications. Our Jordan Dajani explained the bizarre situation when he labeled the Bengals as the deadline's biggest losers. Dajani: "Nick Korte of Over The Cap pointed out that Ebiketie was signed as a compensatory free agent by the Eagles. The Bengals lost three compensatory free agents and signed two, with Cordell Volson not qualifying as a CFA lost since he hasn't played a snap this year. So, adding Ebiketie means the Bengals would lose a 2027 compensatory third-round pick that was coming after Trey Hendrickson signed with the Ravens."That's an example of what not to do if you're inside an NFL front office. But as we shift our focus back to the trades that did come to fruition, we have to recognize the masterclass the 49ers put on. They landed Keenan Allen on Tuesday to add to a haul that already included DeForest Buckner. In securing much-needed wide receiver help, they became one of four teams to receive an "A" grade on our trade deadline report card. For context, here's a look at the rest of the NFC West: Cardinals: B-Rams: D49ers: ASeahawks: B+Defensive players are important, too! In fact, many of the splashiest moves included defensive linemen and defensive backs. Take Amani Hooker, for instance. The Bills gave up a second-round pick to land the NFL's interception leader in one of the top five deals of the deadline. It's hard to say that any team got better than the Jaguars (they made three splashes and boosted an already prolific defense), but the Chiefs also upgraded significantly. Josh Downs is the newest member of their wide receiver group by way of a win-win trade with the Colts. 📈📉 Pete Prisco's Week 10 NFL Power Rankings Kim O'Reilly, CBS Sports Pete Prisco finalized his latest set of NFL Power Rankings before the last-minute hustle of trade deadline moves, so the dip the Vikings took ahead of Week 10 emphasizes just how important it was for them to add Kirk Cousins. Minnesota was the biggest faller of the week, down five spots to No. 11. Most teams' trades (or lack thereof) were already factored into the equation, though, so it should not come as a surprise to see the deadline's most active franchises check in at the top of the pecking order. Each of the top six teams made at least one trade. A little further down, the Packers jumped into the top 10 without adding to their roster. A certain superstar edge rusher should return to action by the end of the month, though. Prisco: "Jordan Love and the passing game get a lot of the attention, but that defense has really impressed. When they get Micah Parsons back, look out."Only three other teams moved up multiple spots: 18. Cowboys (↑4) 19. Texans (↑4) 23. Saints (↑3) 👍👎 The best (and not-so-best) of the rest Getty Images The 2026 MLB Manager of the Year winners are here. One of them is the first to win the award in three consecutive seasons.Our first batch of NFL Week 10 picks are in.Tarik Skubal has his first meeting scheduled with one of his prospective teams.Cooper Flagg reached a major milestone that not even LeBron James could match.A bad season got worse for the Dolphins with Zach Sieler lost for the season due to a biceps injury.Despite a 2-7 record, Greg Schiano will return to Rutgers in 2027. The cost of retaining him could prove greater than the price of his buyout, though.Get to know Duke freshman sensation Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje -- and why he is ineligible for the 2027 NBA Draft.Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins responded to Anthony Santander's "extremely disappointing" anti-Muslim social media posts.UCLA's Nikola Kusturica leads this week's college basketball freshman rankings.Nearly a year removed from competitive golf, Tiger Woods opened up about where he stands in his training.Collective bargaining in college sports? Tennessee basketball players experimented with the revolutionary concept.The USMNT has to fend off another high-profile suitor for coach Mauricio Pochettino.Justė Jocytė's WNBA future could be in doubt after calling out the Valkyries in an explosive interview.The baseball world mourns the loss of Bob Boone: A World Series champion and the father of Yankees manager Aaron Boone. 📺 What we're watching Wednesday ⚽ UEFA Women's Champions League: HB Køge at OH Leuven, 12:45 p.m. on CBS Sports Golazo Network/Paramount+ ⚽ UEFA Women's Champions League: OL Lyonnes at Juventus, 3 p.m. on CBS Sports Golazo Network/Paramount+ 🏀 Cavaliers at Knicks, 7 p.m. on ESPN 🏀 (W) South Dakota State at No. 6 Texas, 7 p.m. on SEC Network 🏒 Lightning at Sabres, 7 p.m. on TNT 🏈 Buffalo at Ball State, 7:30 p.m. on ESPN2 🏈 Sacramento State at Central Michigan, 7:30 p.m. on ESPNU 🏈 UMass at Toledo, 7:30 p.m. on CBS Sports Network 🏀 (W) Western Kentucky at No. 8 Vanderbilt, 7:30 p.m. on SEC Network+ 🏀 (M) Jacksonville State at No. 8 Houston, 8 p.m. on ESPN+ 🏀 Warriors at Rockets, 9:30 p.m. on ESPN 🏒 Mammoth at Golden Knights, 9:30 p.m. on TNT