Hello everyone, it's Shanna McCarriston, back to deliver the newsletter today. I told you guys I'd be back eventually and here I am happily updating you on all the biggest stories. For those new to the newsletter, I am a trending writer for CBS Sports and occasionally take over the email. I am from Boston, which means I am a little obnoxious, but I promise to have no Boston sports bias here.

Now to the news.

We saw another interesting day of football, with a ton of underdogs winning. At this point I've just come to expect multiple top teams to have shocking losses every week. We have NFL news and a lot more to get to today.

Let's get started.

Good morning to everyone but especially to...

THE COLTS AND JONATHAN TAYLOR

That's right. The Indianapolis Colts defeated the Buffalo Bills by a very convincing score of 41-15. With the win, the Colts improved to 6-5 and remain second in the AFC South. The Bills fell to 6-4 and are now second in the AFC East behind the 7-4 New England Patriots.

The player of the game was undoubtedly Colts running back Jonathan Taylor, who had a franchise record five touchdowns on the day (he had four scores on the ground and one receiving touchdown.) To add to his exceptional day, Taylor had 185 yards rushing. With that, he became the first running back this season to record 1,000 yards rushing.

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Not being able to stop Taylor was one issue the Bills had, but another was Josh Allen not playing at his usual level. Allen had two interceptions with many other close calls.

Here's our NFL writer Tyler Sullivan on why the Bills lost:

  • Sullivan: "Not only did Buffalo's defense come out flat against an aggressive Colts ground game, but the offense wasn't able to make much of anything going on that side of the ball either. Josh Allen's early turnover and Isaiah McKenize's fumble before the half both resulted in points for the opposition and that led to Indy going on a 38-7 run to begin the game and effectively put the game out of reach as early as the second quarter."

Honorable mentions:

LeBron James ejected after hitting Isaiah Stewart in the eye 🏀

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There was some series drama last night when the Los Angeles Lakers played the Detroit Pistons. LeBron James was ejected after hitting Detroit Pistons' center Isaiah Stewart in the eye, which left the big man's face bloody. 

  • The incident took place in the third quarter, as Jerami Grant was shooting a free throw
  • James and Stewart were battling for the rebounding position
  • James then took a swing with a closed fist, backwards, which resulted in Stewart's injury
  • Stewart, bleeding from his face, was quite upset. He was held back by his team as he was tryied to head towards James and other members of the Lakers

After things calmed down a bit, James received a Flagrant-2 and was ejected from the game. Stewart was also ejected from the game -- he was called for a loose ball foul and assessed two technical fouls for his reaction to the punch. The situation ended with Russell Westbrook also receiving a technical foul. 

This was James' second ejection of his career and, as our NBA scribe Brad Botkin explained, history shows he could get a 2-3 game suspension for his actions. 

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  • Botkin: "How long will LeBron's suspension be? Based on precedent, my best guess would be two to three games, and I would lean toward the two. You can at least argue LeBron didn't fully intend to hit Stewart in the face (though I'm not sure what he thought was going to happen swinging that high within that proximity)."

Who will be the next football coach at Florida? 🏈

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So long, Dan Mullen. Florida fired their football coach after four seasons with the team and now the Gators in search for their next leader. Florida was doing well, but the emphasis is on the word "was." They went from being in the top 10 less than two months ago to needing to mend many aspects of their team. 

There is no clear answer on who should replace Mullen, but there are some options that might work. 

Here are some of their options, according to our Dennis Dodd:

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  • Bob Stoops, Fox analyst, former Oklahoma coach
  • Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss coach
  • Billy Napier, Louisiana coach
  • Dave Clawson, Wake Forest coach
  • Dave Aranda, Baylor coach
  • Luke Fickell, Cincinnati coach
  • Matt Campbell, Iowa State coach
  • Mark Stoops, Kentucky coach
  • Mike Elko, Texas A&M defensive coordinator
  • Jeff Hafley, Boston College coach

The latest college football Top 25 🏈

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Let's continue the college football talk for a minute. The AP Top 25 poll is out for Week 12, and there was some serious movement following a week that saw two top 10 teams lose.

Ohio State made a jump from No. 5 to No. 2, while Georgia remains the unanimous No. 1. With the Buckeyes moving up, Alabama and Cincinnati each moved down a spot, at No. 3 and No. 4, respectively.

One of the biggest drops of the week was Oregon falling seven spots to now sit at No. 11 after a loss to Utah. Michigan State is another team that saw a drop after a loss to Ohio State. Michigan State is down five spots to No. 12.

Here is a look at the AP top 10:

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  • No. 1: Georgia (62 first-place votes)
  • No. 2: Ohio State 
  • No. 3: Alabama
  • No. 4: Cincinnati 
  • No. 5: Notre Dame
  • No. 6: Michigan 
  • No. 7: Oklahoma State 
  • No. 8: Ole Miss 
  • No. 9: Baylor
  • No. 10: Oklahoma

Check out the full top 25 list here and you can also peek at our latest bowl projections here.

What we're watching Monday 📺

  • Giants vs. Buccaneers, 8:15 p.m. | TB -11 | TV: ESPN | Tom Brady faces a team that he has some history against.

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