Cote’s Hot Button Top 10: Canes help CFP case, Fins in Madrid, Jai Lucas intro, more
GREG COTE’S HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (NOVEMBER 16): WHAT IN SPORTS HAS GRABBED US THIS WEEK: Hurricanes wallop N.C. State, Dolphins-Washington in Madrid, Inter Miami mustwin playoff, MLB awards,. Heat, Panthers, Jai Lucas’ national intro and more. Welcome to the 126th edition of HB10 -- back after a one-week hiatus -- bringing you what’s on our minds from a Miami lens and accentuating stuff that’s big, weird, damnable, funny or worth needling as the sports week past pivots to the week ahead:
1. HURRICANES: UM routs N.C. State in home finale, but CFP not yet a sure thing: No. 15 Canes are 8-2 after Saturday’s impressive, complete-game 41-7 home-finale rout of North Carolina State, but reaching the ACC Championship Game remains only a very remote possibility. Chances are better to still earn an invite to the 12-team College Football Playoff if UM wins out to finish 10-2. Miami could move up a couple of spots in the next CFP ranking afterSaturday losses by No. 4 Alabama and No. 10 Texas.
2. DOLPHINS: Fins, Commanders christen the NFL in Spain: What were the odds that Santiago Bernabéu, a Real Madrid soccer player who starred more than a century ago in the 1910s would have his name on the stadium in Madrid that in 2025, on Sunday morning (ET), would host Spain’s first-ever NFL game? Ain’t life grand!? The Dolphins play a home game 4,400 miles from Miami vs. Washington in a duel of 3-7 teams. But Fins have won two of past three to kindle hopes for a less-than-embarrassing finish that might save Mike McDaniel’s and Tua Tagovailoa’s tenuous futures with the team.
3. INTER MIAMI: MLS joins rest of world as Team Messi reconvenes for playoff must-win: MLS is shifting its calendar to align with world’s other top leagues starting in 2027. At last! Now MLS should reformat its playoffs, as it makes no sense to have best-of-3 series in first round and then a winner-take-all single game in conference semis. That’s what Lionel Messi and Inter Miami face in a win-or-done semi at FC Cincinnati next Sunday. Messi and six teammates spent the recent playoff-interrupting FIFA international window elsewhere, Messi with Argentina for friendly in Angola. While abroad he visited Barcelona’s Camp Nou, saying on Instagram, “I returned to a place that I miss with all my heart, where you made me feel a thousand times like the happiest person in the world. I hope one day I can return, and not just to say goodbye as a player, as I never got to do.”
4. MLB: Ohtani, Judge lead awards season with MVPs: Dodgers two-way star Shoehei Ohtani unanimously won NL MVP honors with all 30 first-place votes, while Yankee Aaron Judge edged Mariner Cal “Big Dumper” Raleigh 17-13 for the NL’s top award. The MVPs were Ohtani’s fourth and Judge’s third. Cy Youngs went to Pirates’ Paul Skenes unanimously and to Tigers’ Tarik Skubal with 26 top votes. Rookies of year were A’s Nick Kurtz (unanimous) and Braves’ Drake Baldwin, and top managers were Brewers’ Pat Murphy and Guardians’ Stephen Vogt.
5. HEAT: Fast, high-scoring, exciting ... and around .500: The new-look, fast-paced, high-scoring Heat is 7-6 after a pair of losses in a row with Friday’s 140-132 defeat at the Knicks despite Norman Powell’s 38 points. Cavalry is on the way, though, as Bam Adebayo should be back from injury any day and Tyler Herro, out all season, within a few weeks. Friday’s loss left Miami 1-1 in the dumb, in-season NBA Cup tournament. Heat is back on the wood at home Monday night again vs. the rival Knicks.
6. CANES HOOPS: Jai Lucas era gets its proper national intro tonight vs. Gators: After a 3-0 start with a soft-opening schedule, the unranked Miami Hurricanes’ men under heralded first-year coach Jai Lucas (from Duke) face their first big test tonight/Sunday vs. the No. 10-ranked Florida Gators in Jacksonville. UM women, also 3-0 and unranked, face their first ranked opponent next Saturday Nov. 22 vs. current No. 21 Iowa.
7. PANTHERS: ack to back champs to ... average: Two-time Stanley Cup champ Florida Panthers are .500 at 9-9 after Saturday’s 3-1 home loss to rival Tampa Bay. Would not be in playoffs if they started today. The good news? Wingmen podcaster Matthew Tkachuk should be back on the ice by December. Cats continue a five-game homestand Monday vs Vancouver. Next Saturday they play their first game this season vs. Edmonton, the team they vanquished for the Cup.
8. TENNIS: Top-ranked Alcaraz in inaugural event at Marlins Park: No. 1-ranked Carlos Alcaraz will headline the inaugural Miami Invitational on Dec. 8 at Marlins Park, a one-day exhibition and the first-ever tennis event at the baseball park. No. 4 Amanda Anisimova is the featured women’s player. Event will include mixed doubles and women’s singles, and also feature No. 24-ranked Joao Fonseca and No. 29 Emma Raducanu.
9. GOLF: The Golden Bear strikes back. And wins: All-time majors winner Jack Nicklaus is 85 now but back in headlines. He won a $50 million defamation lawsuit ... against his own company. Nicklaus sued two executives of Nicklaus Companies for spreading false rumors that he’d negotiated a $750 million deal to join LIV Golf (the PGA Tour rival) and thus was unfit to manage his affairs. In a win mostly symbolic, jury ruled for Nicklaus but did not hold the two execs personally liable for financial damages.
10. BASEBALL (SORT OF): Sick of Savannah Bananas yet? Maybe soon: “Banana Ball” appeals to the easily amused who inexplicably like their baseball led by clowns. It’s a bit of a phenomenon, the way the Harlem Globetrotters used to be peddle faux-basketball. Now, the enterprise has announced inaugural season of the “Banana Ball Championship League” coming to 75 stadiums in 45 states in 2026. They’re also adding fifth and sixth teams. As a great man once said, “Oversaturation is the enemy of popularity.” Actually wasn’t a great man who said that. It was me, just now. But still.
THE LIST: NFL INTERNATIONAL SERIES: Sunday’s Dolphins-Commanders game in Spain will be the 56th NFL regular-season game played outside the U.S. since the first in 2007. The list, by nation, through 2025:
Country Games (Most recent)
United Kingdom 42 (10-19-25)
Germany 5 (11-9-25)
Mexico 5 (11-21-22)
Brazil 2 (9-5-25)
Ireland 1 (9-28-25)
Spain 1 (11-16-25)
Note: Future games scheduled are two in the U.K. in 2026 and again in ‘27, and one each in Australia, Brazil and Mexico in 2026. Teams with most international appearances are the Jaguars with 14; Dolphins 7 (including Sunday); Vikings with 6; and Patriots, Raiders and Rams 5 each.
Other select most recent stuff from me: Hurricanes swamp N.C. State 41-7 but CFP still no sure thing // NFL, Canes QB great Bernie Kosar in a fight for his life // NFL Week 11 picks // Updated Herald NFL QB Rankings // Previous HB10 // Diamond in a mud bog as Dolphins score 30-13 home upset of Bills // Canes crush Syracuse, but still a mountain to climb to CFP // Poll Dance: Can Tua make Dolphins champions? // Bags over heads, season dead, as Grier departure signals Dolphins reboot // How Miami project -- and forgiveness -- helped Marc Buoniconti turn tragedy to triumph // Beloved cast member leaving Dan Le Batard Show // Wounded, doubted but nobody’s underdog, champ Panthers win opener // Barkov lost for season a mortal blow to Panthers’ 3-peat bid // Dolphins owner Ross’ prior in-season firings hints McDaniel at risk // Super Bowl to Dolphins to dregs: My annual NFL Team Rankings! // Cristobal has ‘insatiable’ drive for new Hurricanes glory days, and he’s getting close // Cowboys owner Jerry Jones still chasing glory -- and attention // Heat getting 3-point ace Powell a pickpocket-win for Riley // Champion Panthers keep revving this summer while Heat stays quiet // Inter Miami falls to PSG but won big to reach Club World Cup final 16 // Major news on future of Dan Le Batard Show, Meadowlark Media, DraftKings // A tribute to Miami sports legend Jimmy Johnson as he retires from Fox TV // 15 years later, Dolphins Cancer Challenge is life-saving legacy of Jim Mandich // And my latest podcast:
