5-at-10: Sports biggest 2025 star, UT’s sour note in Music City, Fab 4 New Year’s Eve bowl picks

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Year that was

Who was the biggest star in sports in 2025?

Sure, we have discussed the hard-to-fathom year in athletics that stars with Chattanooga ties had.

And Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was the star among those stars, winning the NBA MVP and leading OKC to the NBA title.

Crazy stat alert: SGA has scored 20 or more points in 100 consecutive game, a streak that ranks second all-time. He’s within striking distance of Wilt Chamberlain’s record of 126 consecutive games.

Patrick Mahomes is always a consideration in this conversation, but this feels like his worst season as a pro.

Scottie Scheffler continued his PGA domination, too. But again, no.

All this leads us to the biggest unicorn in sports.

Shohei Ohtani claimed another MVP — his fourth in the last five years — and led the Dodgers to a second straight World Series title.

He’s the athlete of 2025.

And beyond, friends.

UT’s final sour note

The Music City Bowl was fun to watch.

The teams cared, and the teams competed. At least those in uniform, that is.

Illinois beat Tennessee with a walk-off field goal for a 30-28 final.

Tennessee finished the season 8-5 with some highs and some significant lows.

And moreover, the questions about Josh Heupel’s job security are growing beyond hushed whispers.

To be clear, I’m 100% a believer in Heupel considering what he inherited in Knoxville and leading the program to a place where 8-5 is a cause for consternation.

In the macro, this is where we are for college football power programs.

You either love your guy or you wonder if he is the guy, or in the case of Alabama and Kalen DeBoer, you can be some of each.

That’s where Heupel finds himself this morning.

It’s been a surreal 10 months for everything UT football.

Coming off a college football playoff invite, UT looked poised to return.

Then Nico Iamaleava forced a sign-and-trade to UCLA, which meant UT lured Joey Aguilar back east.

There was the Boo Carter mess. The defense underwhelmed, which led to the firing of DC Tim Banks, who was a Broyles Award finalist in 2024.

And there are signs that the relationship between Heupel and UT AD Danny White is not the best.

To add to the frustration of the Big Orange Nation, UT athletics has openly passed the ever-growing NIL needs along to a devoted fan base that is desperate for better than 8-5.

That’s understandable and to be expected.

Which leads us to the critical word — expectations.

And Tennessee’s are lofty, as they should be. And those expectations become even more disappointing with the eliteness of Georgia over the last decade and Alabama over the last two decades.

Believe me, I know the realness of that fact. I went to Auburn.

And that matters, because of the importance of those 12 Saturdays in the fall. And the slivers that define good and bad, success and failure, joy and frustration.

Don’t think so? Answer this: Is 9-4 a great deal different than 8-5? Not so much, right?

Well, what if UT defended a fourth-quarter 4th-and-6 on the second Saturday in September, and that one win difference was flipping the overtime loss to Georgia?

That’s where we are in college football.

The stakes are higher. The money is multiplied exponentially. The patience — be it new coaches or familiar ones — is ever shrinking. The rewards are greater as is the angst.

But the passion remains, and whether you bleed orange or are like MC and cringe at the sight of it, no can even hint that UT fans are lacking in that area.

And that as much as anything is why the questions about Josh Heupel are real and meaningful.

Thoughts?

Fab 4 picks

Yeah, last week we went with Fab 4 picks on a Friday. It was Christmas, after all. We’ll have the BFBOBGS (Bowler Optional) update Friday. Deal? Deal.

But we have a slew of bowl games today, including a playoff game. So let’s pick, right?

Right?!?!

› Vandy minus-4.5 over Iowa and Vandy over 26.5 team points. Yeah, this feels like a double-middle-finger moment for Pavia to the Heisman voters (not Paschall, of course; Paschall and Pavia are cool) and Vandy to the committee.

› Duke minus-3 over Arizona State. The Sun Devils are without their two best players, and Duke’s QB1 is dynamic.

› Texas-Michigan over 48.5. Michigan’s two best defensive players have opted out. Seven of Texas’ 11 defensive starters have opted out. Now know that two of the most-coveted QB recruits of the last half-decade — UM’s Bryce Underwood and UT’s Arch Manning — are playing in this game and coming back in 2026. Points, people.

› Nebraska plus-14.5 against Utah. The Utes have a new coach and are without four of their top interior linemen, including star DE John Henry Daley. This is just too many points, even for a Nebraska team that lost its five-star QB and fired three assistants in the last month.

› Miami-THE Ohio State over 40.5. This total feels entirely too low for two teams with total game-changers in Malachi Toney and Jeremiah Smith. It’s math, people.

Last week: 3-2 against the spread (60%)

This season: 46-50 against the spread (47.9%)

This and that

> The more you know: Here’s The Athletic’s round-up of notable sports deaths in 2025. From George Foreman to Ryne Sandberg to beloved announcer Bob Uecker to former SEC commissioner (and the godfather of conference championship games) Roy Kramer, the list will make you remember.

> Rules, friends. Here’s Paschall on the Vols’ Music City loss to Illinois.

> One more thing about the Music City Bowl. Jordan Rodgers, be better, sir. And please know there is one Illinois, it is not plural. It’s Illinoy, not Illinoise. Thanks.

> Here’s the list of top local stories as voted by the TFP readers for 2025.

> Tough day for the Diggs brothers. Pats WR Stefon Diggs was charged with felony strangulation and assault. Dallas released CB Trevon Diggs. Side note: Dig Dug was an underrated old-school video game. So there’s that.

> NCAA president Charlie Baker responded to the recent Baylor University addition of James Nnaji, who has played the last couple of seasons professionally in Europe. This could be the one — and the subsequent lawsuits that will come challenging that stance — that drastically changes the entire structure, friends.

> Another day, another former five-star at AU entering the portal. Deuce Knight is the next to enter the portal, and he ranks as the No. 9 overall prospect looking for his next stop when the window opens Friday. Knight is No. 9 on the 247sports.com portal ranking.

Today’s questions

Which way Wednesday starts this way:

Which athlete was the best in 2025?

Which story was the biggest in Chattanooga in 2025?

Which word would you use to describe UT football in 2025?

You know the drill: Answer some WWWs; ask some WWWs.

As for today, the final day of 2025, let’s review.

Some acting heavyweights celebrate birthdays today. Sir Anthony Hopkins is 88. Ben Kingsley is 82. Val Kilmer would have been 66. Wow.

Rushmore of “Val” and be creative. Go and be safe out there, friends.

Happy new year.