Sophie Cunningham turned heads off the court before dominating Angel Reese, Spurs-Knicks ticket price & Saban!
We did it! We made it to another Friday. To the first weekend of June. Whew. Everyone can exhale now.
And hey! For June, we have a pretty loaded weekend on tap.
Honestly? It's not the worst lineup you'll see this summer. We're also experiencing a rare June cold front down here in Florida, which is nice. By "cold front," I mean it's 82 instead of 92, but that makes a big difference this time of year.
So, yeah, we're rolling right now. A lot of momentum. Let's pump out one final class this week and get on outta here.
Welcome to a Friday Nightcaps — the one where Sophie Cunningham and Caitlin Clark dominate Angel Reese and the Atlanta Dream, both on and off the court. You'll see.
What else? I've got the best of the rest from a loaded week of #content, Scottie ripping his caddie a new one after a water ball off the tee, and more Nick Saban talk in June.
HERE'S WHY NICK SABAN AND NOTRE DAME'S PETE BEVACQUA ARE WRONG ABOUT NIL RUINING COLLEGE FOOTBALL
OK, grab you a veggie burger for National Veggie Burger Day — throw it straight into the trash and get a Bubba Burger instead — and THEN settle in for a Friday 'Cap!
Let's spin the wheel and start with ... the WNBA! That's right.
Look, I normally wouldn't do it, but when Caitlin Clark, Sophie Cunningham and Angel Reese are all on the floor at the same time, I sort of have to. I'm nothing if not a sucker for the Google Algo.
The Fever won the first game of something called "The Commissioner's Cup" last night over Reese and the Dream. For those who don't know, that now makes Caitlin Clark 6-1 against Reese since the infamous finger-point in college, which I'm sure will delight most of you.
There were a few newsy moments from the game, most notably this little sequence in the first half that I reckon will now be used whenever an Angel Reese fan tries to say she's better than Caitlin Clark:
Lordy. Not great! Why is Angel Reese anywhere near the three-point line? Seems silly to me, but I admittedly ain't the biggest basketball fan.
The box score tells me that Reese finished with a double-double (11 points, 10 rebounds), while Clark finished with 17 but shot just 6 of 17 from the floor. For those interested in the +/- stat, Reese was a -2, while Caitlin was a +2.
They all paled in comparison to Sophie, who finished with eight points off the bench and a +11 on the court.
That's our girl! Remember where you met Sophie Cunningham first, boys and girls. Right here, in these spaces, last year.
She became famous last summer when she defended Clark after a hard foul, and it's been off to the races ever since.
Perhaps we should've known she was primed for a big game when she got to the arena dressed like someone ready to bash some skulls.
Choose your fighters, America:
Yeah, I mean ... it was curtains the second those two showed up looking like that. All is well in Fever Land. Phew. We can now move on with our lives and have a big weekend.
But first, let's recap a big week of #content that might've slipped through the cracks. First up? Let's head on back to 1994 and check in on OJ!
What a week. A solid, solllllllllllid, week of internet #content out of everyone. Well done.
A couple thoughts ...
Speaking of ... let's rapid-fire this Friday class into a big weekend. I know this happened yesterday, but, Lordy, it deserves a look in this class:
Goodness gracious. On one hand, it's relatable, because Lord knows if there's water to be found off a Par-3 tee shot, I will find it. Every single time. Without a doubt.
On the other hand, it's NOT relatable because I couldn't imagine talking to someone like that after a golf shot. Really, I couldn't imagine a world where I'm ever good enough to talk down to someone like that after a shot.
Scottie has seemed off to me all year. He just seems ... miserable. Right? He sounds like Brooks Koepka from 2023-25. That ain't a category you wanna be in.
Chin up, Scottie. It's golf. Let's have some fun!
Finally ... it appears everyone here agrees with Nick Saban after his latest Capitol Hill rant on the current state of NIL in college sports. The OutKick inbox is flooded with emails about it. Most of you are mad at Ian for attacking Saban, which I find funny.
Ian, by the way, is a good dude. Don't let his anti-SEC nonsense fool you!
From Owen K. in Arkansas!
I played football in the SWC/SEC in the late 80’s early 90’s (University of Arkansas) and my son just graduated from a BIG12 school (Kansas) where he also played. The college game has naturally changed over the decades, but the NIL has does something completely different. It has transformed it into a transactional business.
Coach Saban is stating the obvious, but he also benefited from having the best players at every position sometimes three deep. I don’t believe that was fair either.
My alma mater gave me the opportunity to get a degree and play football. I knew I always wanted to be a physician and my college experience opened those doors for me to become an orthopedic surgeon. It is not the Alabama’s of this world that are getting hurt by the NIL. They can cry me a river. It’s the Arkansas’s and Kansas’s that get hurt. The opportunity to win big is solely based on money now…not team chemistry, fortunate breaks, or 'diamonds’ in the rough that pan out. Those diamonds are scooped up by the big money teams now.
Thanks, Owen! Hard to argue with any of that. Recruiting is now a relic. It doesn't matter. It's all about how deep the pockets are at Booster Club HQ, and how deep they are willing to get. That's it.
Will I still watch on Saturdays? Hell yes. You betcha.
Will it feel the same? Not really. It is what it is.
By the way, 84 days till Week 0.
See you Monday.
OutKick Nightcaps is a daily column set to run Monday through Friday at 4 p.m. (roughly, we’re not robots).
Does watching college football still feel the same? Email me at Zach.Dean@OutKick.com.