Denver Nuggets v Oklahoma City Thunder - Game Seven
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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.


🥎 Good morning to all, but especially to ...

THE TEXAS TECH RED RAIDERS

The four-time reigning national champions are no more: Texas Tech is headed to the Women's College World Series championship after eliminating Oklahoma with a thrilling 3-2 victory.

The Sooners were down to their last strike when Abigale Dayton hit a game-tying two-run home run in the seventh inning. The Red Raiders were undeterred, though: With one out, Mihyia Davis singled, Hailey Toney doubled and Davis scored on Lauren Allred's sacrifice fly.

  • Texas Tech had lost 37 straight games to Oklahoma.
  • Texas Tech is the first team to make the WCWS Championship in its WCWS debut since Oklahoma in 2000.

Texas Tech will face Texas in the championship. Game 1 of the best-of-three series is tomorrow.

😃 Honorable mentions

🏈 And not such a good morning for ...

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THE DETROIT LIONS

In 1970, Joni Mitchell sang the iconic chorus to "Big Yellow Taxi": "Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone?"

Now, 55 years later, I imagine the Lions empathize with that sentiment all too well ... again. Frank Ragnow, the four-time Pro Bowl and three-time second-team All-Pro center who contributed massively -- and often anonymously -- to Detroit's rise, retired Monday at 29 years old. Ragnow cited his future health as the reason he retired.

Ragnow joins a long list of stars who retired earlier than expected, with Hall-of-Fame former Lions Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson also on there. Ragnow's name won't be as glorified as those two -- that's life as a center -- but his impact won't be forgotten and will be nearly impossible to replace.

Ragnow graded out as Pro Football Focus' top center in 2023 and the No. 2 center in 2024. Over those two years, the Lions had a 51.8% success rate with him on the field and a 45.9% success rate without him on the field, not including garbage time. That's the difference between the NFL's best offense and an average offense.

Remember, the Lions also lost coordinators Ben Johnson (Bears) and Aaron Glenn (Jets) to head-coaching positions and guard Kevin Zeitler to the Titans in free agency. There are significant changes ahead for Detroit's offense, and this is a big blow, Jared Dubin notes.

  • Dubin: "Jared Goff has long been one of the league's most susceptible quarterbacks to pressure. ... He's also always been more vulnerable to pressure up the middle and into his lap than from the edges, because he's much more comfortable stepping up and through the pocket than he is navigating side to side or scrambling outside the pocket. ... Ragnow was also a significant factor in the team's rushing attack, and over the last two years no team was more effective at running the ball up the middle."

😐 Not so honorable mentions

🏈 Saquon Barkley on cover of 'Madden 26': Does curse still exist?

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Saquon Barkley just received the honor of a lifetime. You'll forgive the Eagles and their fans if they're not thrilled in kind. Barkley is the cover athlete for "Madden 26," with his iconic backwards hurdle against the Jaguars as the featured image.

But "Madden cover" is always associated with "Madden Curse," with Christian McCaffrey's injury-riddled 2024 the latest example. Cody Benjamin looked at the history of the Madden Curse, and it turns out it hasn't been quite as prevalent recently.

Still, John Breech notes running backs have been particularly "cursed," -- Peyton Hillis, anyone? -- so every time Barkley takes an extra second to get up, we'll be holding our breath

🏀 How did the Thunder get this good?

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Let me give you four quick notes on the Thunder:

  • Youngest NBA Finals team since the 1976-77 Trail Blazers
  • Best regular-season points per game differential in NBA history (+12.9)
  • Most wins by 30+ in a single postseason (four)
  • 13 first-round picks between now and 2031

Young, dominant and no end in sight? Sounds like a dynasty in the making. But how did we get here? Jasmyn Wimbish broke down the three key summers that helped Oklahoma City get here, going all the way back to 2019.

  • Wimbish: "The return for Paul George was a gold mine. It wasn't just that they got a haul of future first-round picks from the Clippers, which they still haven't finished paying off (2026 will mark the final first-round pick L.A. owes OKC from this trade), but they got a then-20-year-old Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ... The Russell Westbrook trade to the Rockets wasn't as fruitful, but it got them Chris Paul, two first-round picks and two first-round pick swaps. ... Also around this time, the Thunder signed an undrafted forward from Arizona State named Luguentz Dort to a two-way contract."

🏀 Ultimate NBA summer trade guide, featuring 100(!) players

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Giannis Antetokounmpo. Kevin Durant. Trae Young. Literally anyone on the Pelicans. It's shaping up to be quite the offseason trade market, and Sam Quinn has the ultimate NBA trade guide with 100(!!!) players and 11(!!!) tiers.

Eight players fall in "the stars" tier, including ...

  • Quinn: "Jaylen Brown, Celtics ($53,124,264) -- The Celtics are currently looking at a $493 million payroll for next season, when they may not have Jayson Tatum at all. They are going to shed money, so everyone but Tatum is probably available here. Keeping Brown and Tatum means paying two stars supermax contracts. That might not be feasible in the new CBA world. Boston won't trade Brown without getting a haul back, but it would be naive to think he's not on the table."

You should bookmark this guide, because it's truly a second-to-none preview of what may happen in the coming months.

🏆 WNBA Power Rankings with Commissioner's Cup underway

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The WNBA's Commissioner's Cup got underway Sunday and continues tonight and throughout the next few weeks (full results, schedule and standings here).

In this year's event, each team plays every other team in its conference once, and the two top teams at the end of that will meet in the July 1 championship.

So, who's favored to bring home the trophy (and the money)? We can turn to Jack Maloney's WNBA Power Rankings to get a good idea.

  1. Liberty
  2. Lynx
  3. Mercury
  4. Dream
  5. Aces

📺 What we're watching Tuesday

🏀 Mystics at Fever, 7 p.m. on NBA TV
USWNT vs. Jamaica, 8 p.m. on TNT
Mets at Dodgers, 10:10 p.m. on TBS
🏀 Wings at Storm, 9:30 p.m. on ESPN