Winners Club: Fantasy Football Playoff Preparation

Plus, World Cup Semifinals get underway, a new No. 1 in college hoops and more.

Week 14 of the NFL season has come and gone, and what a week it was.

As the NFL regular season winds down and the playoff race heats up in both conferences, the fantasy playoffs kick off Thursday in Seattle with 49ers-Seahawks.

We’ll get to all that and more, but first, I wanted to share Ross Dellenger’s remembrance of Mississippi State coach Mike Leach, who died Monday night. He was 61.

In today’s Winners Club, you’ll find:

• Players to pick up for the playoffs
• Toughest fantasy playoff schedules
• Updated NFL power rankings
• CRO-ARG, MAR-FRA World Cup previews
• A new No. 1 in the CBB AP Top 25

Welcome to the Fantasy Football Playoffs

If you made it this far in your fantasy season, congratulations! Let’s keep it going and bring home a championship. And if you fell short of the postseason, don’t worry—there’s always DFS!

For those who made the cut, as always, Jen Piacenti has some recommended free agent pickups. But with no teams on bye this week, she cautions managers to not make too many roster tweaks. Rather, use the waiver wire this week to beef up your contending team: Add an extra defense, pick up a handcuff and perhaps a backup quarterback.

No surprise, Evan Engram, Jerick McKinnon and D.J. Chark are among the top adds after their huge performances in Week 14. Dive a bit deeper and see who else to put a claim in for.

Eric Christian Smith/AP

Craig Ellenport broke down the hardest remaining schedules for each fantasy skill position. In some instances, a tough matchup isn’t going to scare you off starting a star, but matchups do matter, so keep that in mind as you look ahead, especially if you earned a bye week.

Five Toughest Fantasy Football Playoff Schedules

Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end

Lon Horwedel/USA TODAY Sports

Matt De Lima has waiver wire advice for IDP leagues, Michael Fabiano shared his 10 fantasy takeaways from Week 14, Ellenport wrote about Atlanta’s move to Desmond Ridder at quarterback in his fantasy fallout and three of the top four teams in Conor Orr’s latest NFL power rankings reside in the NFC.

You can also take a look ahead to the Week 15 NFL betting slate and review the AFC and NFC stat leaders through 14 games.

More news of note: Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray left Monday night’s game early with what’s believed to be a serious knee injury, 49ers receiver Deebo Samuel has a chance to return in the regular season from an MCL sprain and ankle sprain, 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy is day-to-day with an oblique injury, Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson entered concussion protocol on Sunday and his status for Week 15 is unclear, the Cowboys signed veteran receiver TY Hilton to a contract for the remainder of the season and the Commanders activated quarterback Carson Wentz off injured reserve Monday.

World Cup Semifinals Begin Today

It’s underdogs against favorites in the penultimate round of the World Cup.

Croatia beat Brazil in penalty kicks to set up a semifinals match this afternoon against Argentina, which knocked out the Netherlands in penalties. If Croatia—once again a heavy underdog—can win, it will appear in its second consecutive Cup final.

France, the favorite, defeated England, 2-1, to advance to Wednesday’s semifinal against Morocco, which made history as the first African nation to reach the semifinals after it beat Portugal in the quarterfinals. France is going for its second Cup win in a row after it beat Croatia in the 2018 final.

Avi Creditor ranked the four potential final matchups and Matt Ehalt broke down the best games to bet on as the tournament winds down.

Dec. 13, 2 p.m. ET (Fox): Croatia vs. Argentina (-120)

CRO-ARG Betting Preview

Martin Meissner/AP

Dec. 14, 2 p.m. ET (Fox): Morocco vs. France (-188)

MAR-FRA Betting Preview

In Other News

Purdue Takes No. 1 Spot in AP Top 25: The Boilermakers are off to a 10–0 start after beginning the season unranked. Alabama defeated Houston to knock the Cougars out of the top spot and Purdue beat out Virginia and UConn for the most points in the Week 6 poll.

Nets Rise, Hawks Fall in NBA Power Rankings: Brooklyn went 3–0 last week to move into the top 10, while Atlanta dropped out of the top 10 after going 0–4. The Pelicans also took the Suns’ spot at No. 3 after beating them twice.

Predictions for the Best Remaining MLB Free Agents: All-Star shortstops Dansby Swanson and Carlos Correa headline the list of the best available players on the market. See where they will sign, along with potential landing spots for other top free agents.

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Thanks for reading Winners Club! I’ll be back in your inbox Thursday morning. Until then.