Will the reigning national champion Hoosiers bounce back after their loss to Ohio State with a Week 8 win over Michigan? 

Can Texas find its footing against Ole Miss after dropping two consecutive matchups?

Here are the five must-watch games for college football Week 8 (odds via DraftKings Sportsbook as of Oct. 22).

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Spread: Indiana -7.5
Moneyline: Indiana -278; Michigan +225
O/U: 41.5

What To Know: Last weekend, Indiana lost its first game since 2024, falling 19-15 to Ohio State. Now the reigning national champions get a chance to right the ship against Michigan. The Wolverines are 4-2 straight up (SU), but they’re 2-4 against the spread (ATS). They also started their season off with a controversial 13-12 win against Western Michigan — the precursor to Blue not covering. Indiana, at 1-6 ATS, is even worse in that spot. But the Hoosiers are 6-1 SU on the season and are still fifth on the board at +750 to win the College Football Playoff. “The Hoosiers have never lost back-to-back games under Curt Cignetti and that won’t start now,” FOX Sports college football writer Laken Litman noted.

Spread: BYU -6.5
Moneyline: BYU -258; UCF +210
O/U: 43.5

What To Know: BYU’s 28-24 upset over Notre Dame in Week 7 helped move the Cougars to No. 2 in the national rankings. But they’re still relative long shots at +4400 to win the title. Can BYU keep rolling two weeks in a row and get a win over UCF one week after an emotional victory over the Irish? Well, the Knights are 3-3 SU but are 4-2 ATS, so bettors eyeing this game might want to keep that in mind.

Spread: UCLA -14.5
Moneyline: UCLA -700; Michigan State +500
O/U: 43.5

What To Know: The UCLA Bruins are one of the most surprising betting stories of this college football season. They’re without their starting quarterback, yet they’re 6-0 under the leadership of first-year head coach Bob Chesney. In their Week 7 win over Wisconsin, the Bruins’ backup QB Ty Dieffenbach went 22 of 33 passing for 264 yards. It was his first start for UCLA. Michigan State’s season has taken a completely different trajectory, as the Spartans are 2-5 SU. State’s record ATS is 4-2-1.

Spread: Texas -3.5
Moneyline: Texas -162; Ole Miss +136
O/U: 54.5

What To Know: In Week 7, by a score of 31-3, Ole Miss dismantled Missouri — a team with one of the top rushing offenses in the country. In that contest, Heisman contender Trinidad Chambliss passed for 241 yards and three touchdowns. Ole Miss now heads into hostile territory to face a Texas team that’s desperate for a win after losing two straight to Oklahoma and Florida. The Longhorns’ 4-2 SU record is disappointing, considering they were once near the top of the oddsboard to win the CFP. Now, they’re +135 to even make the 12-team field. Can Texas, at 1-5 ATS, win and cover at home in Week 8? According to FOX Sports college football analyst Joel Klatt, the answer is no. “I think Ole Miss wins this outright, 28-21. I’ll take the -3.5 and take Ole Miss.”

Spread: Utah -6.5
Moneyline: Utah -250; Houston +205
O/U: 56.5

What To Know: With a 6-0 record overall, Utah has climbed its way into the top 10. In fact, this is the hottest start the Utes have had in 12 years. Against Colorado, Utah QB Devon Dampier had 278 passing yards and three touchdowns. As a team, the Utes had 409 total yards in the 27-24 win. Houston, with its 6-1 record, comes into the weekend on the heels of a close victory over Oklahoma State. The Cougars got past the Cowboys 35-32 in a contest where QB Connor Weigman threw for 343 yards and five touchdowns. And FOX Sports college sports writer Ben Portnoy is backing the Cougs. “[Head coach] Willie Fritz has the Cougars riding high after last week’s huge victory over Oklahoma State,” he explained. “That momentum carries them in this one.”

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What a difference a year makes.

Even with the graduation of Paige Bueckers, the UConn women’s basketball program was sailing right along as another national title was well within the grasp of a team led by eventual No. 1 overall WNBA pick Azzi Fudd and AP Player of the Year Sarah Strong.

It all came crashing down with a loss to South Carolina in the national semifinals. The 48 points scored were the fewest for UConn in an NCAA Tournament game in 34 years.

However, that was not what is most remembered from South Carolina’s Final Four win. UConn coach Geno Auriemma confronted South Carolina coach Dawn Staley over what he felt was a lack of protocol regarding a customary handshake between the two coaches. He later lamented why he “couldn’t keep it in for five more seconds.”

“People that call me the best coach who ever lived for winning in 2025 to the worst person who ever lived,” Auriemma said. “You don’t believe them when they call you either one of those things. You learn something every day.

“If you were to ask people whether it was (former LSU and Alabama football coach Nick) Saban or anybody else who has coached a very long time, anybody who has been in the public eye a long time, what’s their rationale for not wanting to do it anymore — that’s it right there.”

Video of the exchange between Auriemma and Staley is sure to become front-page news again when the teams meet at Mohegan Sun Arena on Nov. 24. However, that is not on Auriemma’s radar right now.

Strong leads the list of returning players for UConn, along with veteran guards KK Arnold and Ashlynn Shade and last year’s top freshman Blanca Quiñonez.

Auriemma and the Huskies, the No. 2 team in the AP preseason poll, approached this offseason much like any other in his Hall of Fame career.

Auriemma guided the Huskies to three titles in a row with Diana Taurasi leading the way in the early 2000s. Breanna Stewart powered UConn to four consecutive national titles from 2012-13 to the 2015-16 seasons.

There have also been crushing Final Four losses when the Huskies looked good enough to add to their collection of national titles.

“Going into last year’s Final Four and I think it started to show up even during the NCAA Tournament, we had some deficiencies that we have been able to hide for a long, long time (being) 38-0,” Auriemma said. “But we would go to practice each and every day, and our coaching staff would go, ′Do you think we can hide this for one more weekend?’ Unfortunately, we couldn’t. So when it ended, I think we as coaches understood that there were just some things that we knew if they happened, there wasn’t much we could do about it.”

With Fudd and Serah Williams off to the WNBA, it won’t be the same team. However, this could be a deeper team. Freshman Jovana Popovic – who has played for the Serbian national team – was one of UConn’s best players in exhibition games against Syracuse and Texas. Center Olivia Vukosa – a member of Croatia’s national team since 2023, and the No. 2 recruit last year – and Marine Dursus – a guard with France’s youth national team since 2021 – are other freshmen ready to contribute. Sophomore Gandy Malou-Mamel, who spent her freshman season almost entirely on the bench, played with Ireland’s basketball team in the 2024 FIBA U20 EuroBasket Division B tournament, and is expected to play more post-Williams. Guard Morgan Cheli is back on the court after missing the 2025-26 season recovering from ankle surgery.

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Guards Allie Ziebell and Kayleigh Heckel, as well as center Jana El Alfy, averaged more than 10 minutes per game last season. This returning squad, combined with the freshmen class, explain why UConn didn’t utilize the transfer portal even after losing two players to the WNBA.

“When you come off winning a title, obviously it is a great feeling,” Shade said. You don’t have that crushing feeling like when you don’t win it. It definitely is different and the way the South Carolina game went for us this past year, that played a factor in how we are coming back. When you get beat up that much and feel that defeated, you want to do everything you can when you get back, in preseason and in every workout, just to try to be better”.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Way back on March 25, when the MLB regular season began, you could’ve made one or both of the following bets on World Series futures odds at DraftKings Sportsbook: Rays +8000 to win the World Series or Brewers +3500 to win the World Series.

Imagine having a hundred bucks on either right now. Or better still, both, locking in a minimum $3,400 profit and a max profit of $7,900. 

But those tickets are few and far between, as very few bettors envisioned a Tampa Bay vs. Milwaukee Fall Classic.

“There are not a ton of customers holding tickets from Opening Day on either of these clubs,” DraftKings director of sportsbook operations Johnny Avello said. “But after two straight seasons in which the favorite won it all, this matchup gives long-shot backers something to root for.”

Avello helps break down World Series futures betting and how customers are wagering this week, now that the matchup is set, with Game 1 at 8 p.m. ET Friday on FOX.

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  Unexpected Matchup

Much of this season, the usual suspects — the Dodgers and Yankees — took the lion’s share of action in World Series odds, especially Los Angeles, the two-time defending champion.

But the Brewers — who had the majors’ best regular-season record at 103-59 — stunningly swept the Dodgers in the best-of-seven NLCS.

The Rays, meanwhile, had the AL’s best record at 98-64 and swept the Yanks 3-0 in the ALDS. Then Tampa Bay took the ALCS over Cleveland in six games.

“You can’t take anything away from these two teams,” Avello said. “The best teams got to the World Series, and both were remarkable at home and good on the road.”

Still, neither oddsmakers nor bettors saw Tampa getting this far, demonstrated by those Opening Day 80/1 odds.

“The Rays weren’t expected to do this well,” Avello said. “They didn’t take the action of the bigger-market teams. Bettors had many chances to bet the Rays at a longer price.”

Bettors didn’t take advantage of it. 

The Brewers weren’t quite as long a shot, and as such got a little more action from March to August. But Milwaukee didn’t really attract attention until later in the season.

“It’s not like the Brewers weren’t played. But it was a steady flow of action the last three weeks of the regular season,” Avello said. “And once the playoffs started, customers continued to play the Brewers.”

If you’d just taken a shot on either team when the playoffs began, then you still could’ve gotten +800 on the Rays and +550 on the Brew Crew.

  Where Are They Now

On Thursday afternoon, just more than 24 hours before first pitch, the Brewers are the -165 favorite in DraftKings’ World Series odds. The Rays, on the road for Games 1 and 2, are the +145 underdog.

And no surprise, the favorite is seeing the bulk of activity to win the best-of-seven series.

“Bettors like Milwaukee. They’re laying the price with the Brewers,” Avello said. “And Game 1 is kind of like a mirror of that — they’re betting the Brewers.”

In fact, Avello pointed out that odds to win the series are nearly identical to Game 1 odds. The Brewers are -166 and the Rays +137 in Friday’s opener.

“Since the Brewers have their No. 1 guy going, those prices are pretty equivalent,” Avello said.

That would be 24-year-old ace Jacob Misiorowski, who went 16-5 with a sparkling 1.80 ERA in the regular season. Misiorowski didn’t get credited with the win in either of his postseason starts so far, but Milwaukee won both games — 3-2 in the NLDS opener vs. the Padres, and 2-1 in NLCS Game 1 vs. the Dodgers.

  MVP Money

Brewers left fielder Jackson Chourio is the +600 favorite in World Series MVP odds at DraftKings. That’s just ahead of Brewers catcher William Contreras, the +650 second choice.

Then comes Rays third baseman Junior Caminero at +750, followed by Misiorowski at +800.

But DraftKings customers are looking down the board a little further, hoping for a better payday.

“They’re betting Christian Yelich at 25/1, both tickets and money,” Avello said.

Yelich, the 2018 NL MVP, is the Brewers’ designated hitter in the World Series.

He’s certainly got an attractive price. A $100 bet on Yelich would profit $2,500, if he hoists the MVP trophy at the close of the World Series.

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Baker Mayfield expects to return from a thumb injury and play when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers face the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.

The two-time Pro Bowl quarterback dislocated his right thumb when his throwing hand hit Vikings linebacker Blake Cashman on a desperation pass on fourth down that was intercepted late in the fourth quarter of a 23-16 loss in Week 3.

“It’s been feeling slowly better and better. That’s the frustrating part with an injury like that,” Mayfield said Thursday.

Buccaneers’ QB Baker Mayfield was injured against the Minnesota Vikings on September 27, and hasn’t made his way back to the field yet. (Photo by Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Mayfield has worn a special glove in practice and plans to use it in the game.

Undrafted rookie Jalon Daniels started the past three games, going 1-2. The Buccaneers (1-5) are last in the NFC South entering the game at Carolina (3-2).

Mayfield said he was aiming to return to face Pittsburgh last week but wasn’t ready. The Bucs wasted a 16-3 lead in the fourth quarter and lost 26-19 in overtime. Daniels threw two picks in the fourth quarter that led to a pair of field goals.

“Anytime you dislocate something there’s gonna be ligament damage. It just didn’t happen to be ligaments and tendons that I needed surgery on,” Mayfield said. “So just give them time to heal, do as much as possible, come back stronger and work on that. And yeah, it’s football. If something like that happens, that’s the nature of the game, unfortunately. But we’ve got into a place where it’s strong enough to (play).”

Mayfield, who signed a $165 million, three-year contract extension before the season, hadn’t missed a start since joining the Buccaneers in 2023. He played through various injuries throughout his career, which began in Cleveland after the Browns selected him with the No. 1 pick in 2018.

The Buccaneers got off to their worst start since 2014, going 0-3 with Mayfield. He struggled behind an offensive line that was woeful at the time. He has two touchdown passes and two interceptions, has lost three fumbles and has been sacked 13 times.

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Daniels didn’t fare much better but led an impressive win at Dallas on Oct. 8. Daniel has three touchdowns, five picks and a 63.4 rating.

“We weren’t doing the little things right,” Mayfield said. “Whether it’s guys overthinking. … I don’t think we have dumb guys on this football team. It’s guys overthinking, just not doing the Day 1 stuff the right way. And so when you have that, guys flying around, you hesitate at quarterback or your eyes are in the right spot quarterback and you’re trusting a guy to be there, you need to understand that you build this system based on timing, the rhythm of your feet, so it’s really important to do that. Our O-line is playing a lot better, and we need to take advantage of it. We need to be on the same page.”

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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“Billy, of the 20,000 notable players for us to consider, l believe that there’s a championship team of 25 [now 26] people that we can afford because everyone else in baseball undervalues them like an island of misfit toys.”

Peter Brand’s logic in “Moneyball” can be applied to the 2026 Tampa Bay Rays.

Yes, the team that won an American League-best 98 games and reached the 2026 World Series is a roster made up primarily of players who either weren’t drafted or weren’t signed as an international free agent by the Rays. By the way, the Rays are 28th in MLB this year with a $95.6 million payroll.

Here are 10 of Tampa Bay’s most critical players (there are much more than just 10 players in this boat!) and their respective career paths to the 2026 World Series:

Note: Players are mentioned in alphabetical order.

Bryan Baker Stats (2026 Regular Season): 1.44 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 63 strikeouts, 41 saves, 2.9 wins above replacement and a 295 ERA+ across 62 ⅓ innings (65 appearances)

Baker was selected by the Colorado Rockies in the 11th round of the 2016 MLB Draft, but he wouldn’t make his MLB debut until 2021 with the Toronto Blue Jays. The right-handed reliever would then spend three-plus seasons with the Baltimore Orioles (2022-25), with whom he held his own, before being acquired by the Rays during the 2025 season.

How did Baker fare in his first full season with the Rays? He established himself as Tampa Bay’s closer, while leading the AL in saves and earning his first career All-Star nod.

Junior Caminero Stats (2026 Regular Season): 170 hits, 42 home runs, 101 RBIs, 5.7 wins above replacement, a 144 OPS+ and a .276/.360/.524 slash line (702 plate appearances)

Yes, the face of the Rays technically didn’t begin his professional career with the franchise. While Caminero made his MLB debut with Tampa Bay in 2023, he was originally signed by the Cleveland Guardians, who Tampa Bay defeated in the 2026 AL Championship Series, as an international free agent in 2019 and later traded to the Rays in 2022.

An All-Star in each of the last two seasons (2025-26), Caminero has averaged 43.5 home runs per year over that span, while finishing in the 95th percentile of MLB in average exit velocity this year (92.7 mph, per Statcast) and posting five defensive runs saved at third base. Caminero is a star not yet in his prime who both consistently flaunts overwhelming power from the right side of the plate and flashes leather at the hot corner. 

Yandy Díaz Stats (2026 Regular Season): 180 hits, 22 home runs, 85 RBIs, 2.4 wins above replacement, a 124 OPS+ and a .293/.359/.446 slash line (686 plate appearances)

Sticking with the Guardians, the Rays acquired Díaz from Cleveland in the 2018-19 offseason; the Guardians signed Díaz as an international free agent in 2013.

Díaz proceeded to become an integral part of the Rays’ operation, consistently displaying an elite ability to drive the ball to the opposite field and get on base via both contact and power hitting. Díaz won the 2023 batting title, earned All-Star nods in 2023 and 2026 and led the AL in hits this season.

Liam Hicks Stats (2026 Regular Season): 36 hits, four home runs, 20 RBIs, 0.7 wins above replacement, a 129 OPS+ and a .288/.379/.440 slash line (145 plate appearances after being acquired from the Miami Marlins in July)

Hicks was selected by the Texas Rangers in the ninth round of the 2021 MLB Draft, but he was traded to the Detroit Tigers in 2024 and later selected by the Marlins in the Rule 5 draft. Following a 2025 rookie campaign that saw Hicks appear in 119 games, the catcher/first baseman/designated hitter emerged as one of the better contact-hitting backstops in the sport this season, and it got him traded to a contending Rays team, with whom he has provided an oomph to the order.

In all, Hicks had more walks (56) than strikeouts (55) and was tied for second among catchers in batting average (.284) across his split 2026 regular season with the Rays and Marlins.

Nick Martinez Stats (2026 Regular Season): 3.10 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 109 strikeouts, 3.9 wins above replacement and a 137 ERA+ across 180.0 innings (31 starts)

Martinez was an 18th round pick by the Rangers in the 2011 MLB Draft and would go on to embark on a distinct professional career.

After primarily serving as a starting pitcher for Texas from 2014-17, Martinez pitched four seasons in the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) league (2018-21) and returned to MLB as a reliever with the San Diego Padres (2022-23) and Cincinnati Reds (2024-25). Last offseason, after making 26 starts across 40 appearances altogether with the Reds in 2025, the Rays signed Martinez to a one-year, $13 million deal to be part of their starting rotation, and the right-hander earned his first career All-Star honor. 

Víctor Mesa Jr. Stats (2026 Regular Season): 61 hits, 14 home runs, 34 RBIs, 2.9 wins above replacement, a 127 OPS+ and a .260/.327/.498 slash line (262 plate appearances)

Mesa signed with the Marlins as an international free agent in 2018 and ultimately wouldn’t reach the big leagues until 2025. After just 16 games with the big-league club in 2025, Miami traded Mesa to Tampa Bay in February, and the outfielder has since become a key ingredient to manager Kevin Cash’s depth chart.

Slugging at a high rate, cranking out production at a highly efficient clip and playing all three outfield positions (mostly right field), Mesa has provided the Rays with both an effective, left-handed bat and a versatile outfielder.

Richie Palacios Stats (2026 Regular Season): 81 hits, 10 home runs, 57 RBIs, 1.8 wins above replacement, a 97 OPS+ and a .235/.330/.374 slash line (399 plate appearances)

“No … there is another!”

And that is in reference to another member of the Rays’ lineup formerly being part of the Guardians. In this case, Palacios was selected by Cleveland in the third round of the 2018 MLB Draft, debuted in the big leagues in 2022, was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in 2023 and then acquired by the Rays in 2024.

Palacios has dabbled at both corner outfield positions in his time with the Rays, but he has been Tampa Bay’s primary second baseman this year, while posing a respectable threat on the basepath (17 stolen bases in the 2026 regular season) and effectively putting the ball in play.

Freddy Peralta Stats (2026 Regular Season): 3.25 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 43 strikeouts, 1.2 wins above replacement and a 131 ERA+ across 55 ⅓ innings (10 starts with the Rays after being acquired from the New York Mets in July)

Ironically, Peralta spent the first eight seasons of his MLB career with the Brewers (2018-25), highlighted by a pair of All-Star seasons in 2021 and 2025. He was originally signed as an international free agent by the Seattle Mariners in 2013 and later traded to the Brewers in 2015.

Peralta was traded to the Mets last offseason, but he got off to a disappointing start this season, posting a 4.99 ERA over 22 starts. Then, he was traded to the Rays and is back to being the dominant, top-of-the-rotation force that the right-hander was in Milwaukee. Through 16 ⅔ innings pitched in the 2026 AL playoffs, Peralta has posted a 1.08 ERA.

Drew Rasmussen Stats (2026 Regular Season): 2.67 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 174 strikeouts, 4.7 wins above replacement and a 159 ERA+ across 172.0 innings (30 starts)

The Rays’ ace and likely 2026 AL Cy Young Award finalist was actually drafted by both these teams. Rasmussen turned down Tampa Bay after being selected with the No. 31 pick in the 2017 MLB Draft, instead staying at Oregon State for one more year, which came after also turning down the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2014. Rasmussen was later selected by Milwaukee in the sixth round of the 2018 MLB Draft despite having Tommy John surgery beforehand.

After coming out of the Brewers’ bullpen from 2020-21, the Rays acquired Rasmussen during the 2021 season, eventually made him a full-time starting pitcher and the right-hander became a force to be reckoned with.

An All-Star in each of the last two years (2025-26), Rasmussen boasts a career 2.71 ERA with the Rays. He led the AL in WHIP this year and continues to find success with a consistent, four-pitch arsenal: cutter, four-seamer, sinker and changeup. Rasmussen was four outs away from a no-hitter against the New York Yankees in Game 1 of the AL Division Series.

Ryan Vilade Stats (2026 Regular Season): 60 hits, 11 home runs, 43 RBIs, 0.8 wins above replacement, a 108 OPS+ and a .245/.321/.429 slash line (278 plate appearances)

Selected by the Rockies in the second round of the 2017 MLB Draft, Vilade reached the MLB scene in 2021, but he wasn’t able to stick. In fact, he wouldn’t appear in an MLB game again until 2024 and entered the 2026 MLB season with just 28 appearances in a big-league game.

And then Vilade was traded to the Rays.

Vilade has been a jack of all trades for Tampa Bay this season, starting games in right field, left field, first base and second base. Meanwhile, he hit a solo home run in the Rays’ closeout Game 3 ALDS win over the Yankees.

In summation: The Rays are the cleaner from “Toy Story 2.” They get players to tap into their potential, get back on track and pretty much anything in-between. But of course, “You can’t rush art!”

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In its first competitive matches since the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the U.S. men’s soccer team will play its two-legged fixture against Haiti next month without having to leave home.

On Thursday, Concacaf announced that the USA will open the “away” leg of the two-game, total-goals-wins encounter in the quarterfinals of its 2026-27 Nations League tournament against Haiti Nov. 14 at Nu Stadium in Miami. The decisive rematch follows three days later at Cincinnati’s TQL Park, with the series winner advancing to the four-team Nations League finals in Los Angeles next March. 

With Haiti unable to host the game on home soil because of ongoing security concerns in the country, the first match between the USMNT and Les Grenadiers was originally scheduled for the same Saturday in Kingston, Jamaica. Following an appeal from the Haitian Football Federation, Concacaf — the sport’s governing body in North and Central America and the Caribbean — granted the FHF an exemption to host the match in South Florida, home to the largest Haitian expat population in the United States.

vs. Haiti (1st Leg)	Nov. 14	Nu Stadium (Miami)
vs. Haiti (2nd Leg)	Nov. 17	TQL Park (Cincinnati)

Under FIFA rules, competitive two-leg international contests normally can’t be played entirely within the borders of one of the competing nations. Concacaf pointed to the unique challenges in Haiti in explaining the rationale for its decision in a press release. 

“Under this exceptional arrangement, the FHF may be permitted to play its designated home matches in Concacaf-sanctioned competitions in the territory of its opponents, rather than being limited to the Caribbean region as required under the current regulations,” it read. “This flexibility will remain in place for as long as the security situation in Haiti persists.”

Nu Stadium, the sparkling $1 billion home of Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami, opened earlier this year. The Stars and Stripes will meet a Haitian side there that is coming off its first appearance at the FIFA World Cup in more than half a century. Drawn into a group containing Scotland, 2022 semifinalists Morocco and five-time champion Brazil, Les Grenadiers lost all three games. 

Yet FIFA’s 84th-ranked country has never been an easy opponent for the No. 16 U.S. While the USA has won each of the last three meetings between the teams — including during the first round of the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup — each was by a single goal.

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Max Ashton could not believe what he’d just witnessed.

The Washington Commanders had managed to squander their attempt to beat the New York Giants in overtime because, to put it as kindly as I can, they failed to execute a professional two-minute drill. The game ended in a rather deflating 27-27 tie.

Ashton, 20, left that game unconvinced that Commanders coach Dan Quinn or quarterback Jayden Daniels were incapable, but rather wondering if running a two-minute drill in the NFL or at the highest levels of college football might be one of the more difficult tasks in team sports.

At class on Monday at the University of Tennessee, seeing classmates pass time playing mobile games, Ashton had an idea: What if he just made a game, an app, that allowed for people to simulate a two-minute offense and defense?

So he built one. It’s called Two-Minute Drill, and it’s as addictive as it is fun to play. I had already upgraded my account to Pro before Ashton and I began discussing his web browser game.

Max Ashton with his parents, Brent and Robin Ashton, at a Tennessee football game. (Photo courtesy of Brent Ashton)

A Clear Vision

“There were two aspects to the game,” Ashton told me by phone. “I wanted to make the game fun, and I did not want to overwhelm users with a bunch of numbers and data. I knew I wanted them to see player ratings, the percentages for how successful a play might be involving a run or a pass and a specific player. But I didn’t want to give people a math lesson.”

Ashton wanted to give football fans a chance to test themselves against play-callers or head coaches of their favorite teams. For me, the thrill of seeing I’d defeated Nick Saban or graded out with a 91 as a play-caller was enough for me to spend hours playing through the game over and over again. Ashton, who majors in business analytics, also made the game as an application he hopes NFL franchises might take advantage of. And why not? It’s good, and it’s free.

“Two-minute [drills are] where games get decided a lot,” Ashton said. “I mean, you’ve got seconds to make a call that swings the outcome and I think this app could potentially help some NFL front offices just decide those last two minutes if they don’t have that data.”

Alabama-Tennessee. Tie game. What do you do?

At its core, football is a game of strategy. It’s not played against a computer or analytics, but people. And people are fallible, make mistakes and blunder all the time.

Those blunders and brilliant moves are also what makes playing against each other so much fun. That’s the reason Ashton has plans to roll out a multiplayer game with a running play clock. He had resisted adding those components to the first iteration of Two-Minute Drill.

“I wanted the game to be fun and casual, and two-minute drills are not fun or casual,” Ashton said. “So it’s hard to balance the game by adding the actual pressure of the moment, and I hope multiplayer will bring a good balance to making the moment feel a little more intense, but still fun.”

‘Prove It With My New App’

Ashton built and launched Two-Minute Drill in two days. It’s a remarkable feat, and one his father, Brent Ashton, marveled at.

“I’ll be honest. It’s very crazy,” Brent told me over the phone. “Back when I was his age, you couldn’t do this. To build a video game would have taken years. I’m sure he put in some sleepless nights. He’s a very persistent kid. For him to be able to pull this off is really cool, and it’s been a little surreal ever since then.”

Brent was referring to last week, when Ashton launched the app and promoted it with a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

As of Wednesday afternoon, that post has been viewed more than 16 million times, reposted nearly 5,000 times and liked more than 33,000 times. The game is a hit.

“I think about 700,000 people played it on the first day,” Max said. “When there’s that many people playing the game, there’s going to be quite a few bugs and things to fix. And so I did not really get much sleep last week or weekend. 

“I want to make the best product for the people who enjoy it, and I will say the overwhelming amount of positivity from everyone I’ve gotten about this game has been the best part of it.”

No one in Max’s life told him he couldn’t do it. Not his older brothers Bennet or Blake. And certainly not his parents.

Tennessee student Max Ashton built his game, Two-Minute Drill, in just a couple days before it took off.

“I give him credit,” Brent said. “I think he deliberately chooses to do a little bit more on his own than maybe most kids do. I don’t think he wants to prove to me, but to the world that he can do this, and I don’t necessarily need my dad stepping in to help.”

In a matter of days, Max turned a miserable NFL game ending into a video game enjoyed by thousands — all while attending college full-time in Knoxville. It’s an impressive display of drive, and somehow, not even his most impressive accomplishment.

‘It Has Made Him Appreciate Life’

Max beat cancer.

The youngest of Brent and Robin Ashton’s three boys, Max was diagnosed with leukemia at age nine.

“Seeing your kid go through that is really, really tough,” Brent told me, “It was a big shock when he got diagnosed, and, honestly, I don’t remember a whole lot about that day.”

Max received treatment at Children’s Minnesota-Minneapolis Hospital for three years. He was diagnosed with leukemia at 9 and entered remission at 14.

Max Ashton in 3rd grade, the fall before he was diagnosed with Leukemia. (Photo courtesy of Brent Ashton)

“He battled through it,” Brent said. “Had some ups, had some downs. I think I learned a lot about him from it. I think it has made him appreciate life.”

Max’s obsession with sports went beyond the playing field. Watching games with him as a boy, Brent told me Max could get out a player’s rating or analytical metric of note before most broadcasters. When he was diagnosed with cancer, none of that changed, even when doctors told him he could not play tackle football because he had a port implanted in his chest to deliver medication. 

But there was always baseball — until there wasn’t.

At 11 years old, Max was put on blood thinners, meaning a blow to the head from a baseball could cause a potentially fatal bleed. Brent knew Max needed baseball in his life. 

“I knew if he had to stop playing baseball he was going to get into a bad mental state,” he said.

Max as a child playing first base. As his dad, Brent, told me, it’s one of his favorite photos because you can see the look in his eyes staring at the ball and stretched out as far as he can. (Photo courtesy of Brent Ashton)

Wearing a batting helmet at every position was unusual in Little League, and not everyone understood why Max did it. During one game, an opposing first-base coach noticed Max wearing his helmet at first base and told him he’d forgotten to take it off.

“Max totally ignored him,” Brent said. “Didn’t even give the guy the time of day. Would not acknowledge it.”

Eventually, one of Max’s coaches politely asked the opposing first base coach to knock it off, but that story sticks in Brent’s mind as formative for his son.

“That was just him,” Brent said.

“Fast-forward to today,” Brent said, “and I think he’s a little more open about his [cancer diagnosis]. He’s made some money from [Two-Minute Drill] and the first thing he did was give back to Children’s Minnesota, which was actually really cool to see.”

For me, too, Brent.

For all of us.

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