Michigan fires Sherrone Moore, begins coaching search; Pete Alonso signs with Orioles

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Good morning, sports fans! It’s Austin Nivison on the keyboard this fine Thursday morning. Between Michigan firing Sherrone Moore, Pete Alonso finding a new team and the Thunder stacking another win for another record and a spot in the NBA Cup semifinals, we have a lot of ground to cover. I don’t want to take anymore of your precious time, so let’s dive right into the biggest stories of the day.

🔥 Five things to know Thursday

1. Sherrone Moore was fired by Michigan, and then hours later was detained by police. In a stunning set of developments, the Wolverines announced that they were firing Moore — with cause — due to an inappropriate relationship with a staff member. Just hours later, reports came out that Moore had been detained by police in Saline, Michigan. Because Michigan fired Moore with cause, the school may not have to pay a cent of his $13.89 million buyout. With Moore out after two seasons and a 16-8 record, Michigan has to find its next coach quickly. More on that below.
2. Thunder, Spurs roll to big victories in NBA Cup quarterfinals. The NBA Cup’s final four is set. The Thunder steamrolled the Suns, 138-89, as eight different players scored at least nine points for Oklahoma City. The 49-point victory leaves OKC at 24-1, which ties the 2015-16 Warriors for the NBA’s best start of all-time through 25 games. Later, the Spurs used their speed and quickness to race past the Lakers, 132-119. Stephon Castle led San Antonio with 30 points and 10 rebounds. On Saturday in Las Vegas, the Thunder will face the Spurs after the Knicks take on the Magic. Jack Maloney has a list of winners and losers from the NBA Cup’s quarterfinals.
3. Pete Alonso signed a five-year, $155 million contract with the Orioles. After weeks of speculation about Alonso’s future, the slugger wound up with an AL East team, and it wasn’t the Red Sox. Instead, Alonso got a massive deal from Baltimore, a team trying to get back to the playoffs following a disappointing campaign. After hammering 38 home runs and totaling 126 RBI, Alonso could put up gaudy numbers at Camden Yards. Sluggers like Alonso were among the biggest winners at this year’s Winter Meetings. The Mets have to be considered a loser, so where do they go from here?
4. Commanders QB Jayden Daniels has been ruled out for Week 15. The string of atrocious injury luck for the Commanders won’t come to an end this weekend. Dan Quinn has ruled out Daniels for this weekend’s game against the Giants due to an elbow injury. Daniels has now been limited to six games in what has become a lost season for Washington after a thrilling rookie campaign that ended in the NFC Championship. Veteran Marcus Mariota will get another start in Daniels’ place.
5. Tennessee is expected to hire veteran DC Jim Knowles after firing Tim Banks. Following a blowout loss to Vanderbilt inside Neyland Stadium, Josh Heupel decided to make a big change on the defensive side of the ball. Just days after firing defensive coordinator Tim Banks, the Volunteers are closing in on a deal with the journeyman Knowles. Just one year ago, Knowles’ Ohio State defense stifled Tennessee’s offense to kickstart a College Football Playoff run that resulted in a national championship.

🏈 Do not miss this: Michigan coaching candidates

Just when we thought the coaching carousel was slowing down, Michigan enters the market and has it moving at a dizzying pace again. The Wolverines have the money, the brand and the pedigree to attract a legitimate star in the coaching world, so things may get very interesting as this search unfolds.

Robby Kalland put together a list of potential candidates, and it features some big names. Let’s go down to Tuscaloosa to address the elephant in the room — Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer does make some sense based on what Michigan has to offer.

• Kalland: “The Wolverines have tons of financial resources, an elite young quarterback in Bryce Underwood and plenty of desire to close the gap on their hated rivals in Columbus. DeBoer is a midwest guy and might view Michigan as a better long-term fit on a personal level. When he was at Washington, Michigan was always regarded as a spot where DeBoer could jump. Alabama came open first, and here we are.”

Consulting with the oddsmakers at SportsLine, DeBoer has the fourth-best odds to get the job at +500. The only college coach ahead of DeBoer on that list is Arizona State‘s Kenny Dillingham, who led his team to the College Football Playoff in 2024.

Whoever Michigan hires will have a two-fold task on their hands. First, and most obviously, winning is the priority in Ann Arbor. Second, the new coach must be capable of polishing what has become a tarnished reputation in Ann Arbor.

🏀 Celtics soaring upward in NBA Power Rankings

It’s been impossible for any team to keep pace with the one-loss Thunder, but the Celtics have been doing their best lately. Even without Jayson Tatum in the mix, Boston has been shredding some quality competition and is now up to No. 2 in our latest NBA Power Rankings.

• Botkin: “Boston has won five straight and 10 of its last 12 with six of those victims being the Magic, Pistons, Cavaliers, Knicks, Lakers and Raptors. That is probably the best run of wins any team has put together this season. The offense is humming behind a league-leading 16 3-pointers per game and absolutely incendiary mid-range campaigns from Jaylen Brown and Payton Pritchard.”

Since I’m feeling generous, here is the full top five from this week’s rankings:

1. Thunder (–)
2. Celtics (+7)
3. Nuggets (+1)
4. Rockets (-2)
5. Knicks (+7)

🌟 CBS Sports’ college football All-American team

Our team of college football experts cast their ballots for the CBS Sports All-American team, which was released in full on Wednesday. There were a lot of interesting results, but football is a quarterback-driven sport, so let’s look there.

Vanderbilt star Diego Pavia (not the only All-American Commodore) beat out fellow Heisman Trophy finalist Fernando Mendoza for first-team honors. The difference was simply that Pavia — in addition to cashing checks he wrote in the offseason — did it all for Vanderbilt.

• Cody Nagel: “More than just a quarterback, Pavia is the face of Vanderbilt football. And he’s backed up all that off-field talk with jaw-dropping production on the field. He’s the only FBS quarterback to rank in the top 15 in passing yards (3,192) and the top 10 in rushing yards (892), combining for 36 total touchdowns while completing 71.2% of his passes.”

Be sure to check out the full first- and second-teams, as well as a breakdown of players by conference.

👍👎 The best (and not-so-best) of the rest

📺 What we’re watching Thursday

We’ll be watching the UEFA Europa League on Paramount+ all day.

⚽ AS Roma at Celtic, 3 p.m. on CBS Sports Network
🏒 Golden Knights at Flyers, 7 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 Iowa at Iowa State (M), 8 p.m. on FS1
🏈 Falcons at Buccaneers, 8:15 p.m. on Prime Video
🏒 Panthers at Avalanche, 9:30 p.m. on ESPN