The stories worth knowing before your coffee gets cold.

Good morning. Sometimes sports matter because of the final score and sometimes the game gives us a reason to remember something much bigger than sports.

Boston College gave us the latter last night, Ben Shelton became the last American standing at the U.S. Open, the MLB playoff race heats up, Nick Saban took shots at the B10, and we’ve got a full Saturday of college football ahead.

Here’s your Morning Shot.

01 | For Welles

There are college football traditions that are fun and then there are traditions that truly mean something.

Friday night, Boston College hosted Rutgers in its annual Red Bandanna Game, honoring former Boston College lacrosse player Welles Crowther, who died on September 11, 2001 after helping people escape from the South Tower of the World Trade Center.

This year’s game was different because, for the first time, Boston College played the Red Bandanna Game on September 11 itself—exactly 25 years after the attacks.

Crowther worked on the 104th floor of the South Tower. Survivors later described being led to safety by a man wearing a red bandanna. Crowther repeatedly returned to help others instead of escaping himself. He never made it out.

Boston College has carried his story forward through the Red Bandanna Game since 2014. Friday night, Eagles players again wore red-and-white paisley uniforms with “For Welles” across the back.

Rutgers joined the remembrance, honoring the 37 Rutgers alumni who died on 9/11 with special helmet decals and “Never Forget” on its uniforms. Then they played football.

Boston College held off Rutgers 28–21, with Mason McKenzie throwing a 78-yard touchdown pass and running for another score. Rutgers threatened late, but BC’s Anthony Palano intercepted AJ Surace with less than two minutes remaining to preserve the win. But it’s not the score that anyone should remember about this one; it’s the bravery and heroics of Welles and everyone else 25 years ago when the towers fell.

The takeaway: Twenty-five years later, most of the players on that field weren’t even alive on September 11, 2001. They know the name Welles Crowther and they’ve been given an important American history lesson.

For Welles. Never Forget. 🇺🇸

02 | Ben Shelton Is One Win Away

We knew before Friday night’s semifinal that an American man was finally going back to the U.S. Open final. Now we know which one.

Ben Shelton beat Frances Tiafoe 4–6, 6–3, 6–3, 7–5 in an all-American semifinal at Arthur Ashe Stadium to reach the first Grand Slam final of his career.

Tiafoe took the opening set, but Shelton took control from there. He finished with 20 aces, eventually breaking Tiafoe late in the fourth before closing out the match after a Tiafoe double fault.

Now we’ve reached an important milestone. An American man hasn’t won a Grand Slam singles title since Andy Roddick won the U.S. Open in 2003. Shelton gets the opportunity to end that drought Sunday against Alexander Zverev, who defeated Karen Khachanov 6–3, 7–6, 7–6 in the other semifinal.

There’s another piece of history here, too: Shelton becomes the first Black American man to reach the U.S. Open final since Arthur Ashe himself in 1972, and the first Black American man to reach any Grand Slam final since MaliVai Washington at Wimbledon in 1996.

The takeaway: We’ve spent several Morning Shots following the Americans through this tournament. Tiafoe’s ridiculous comeback, Shelton knocking out Alcaraz, and then the two of them finally meeting with a spot in the final on the line. There is now only one question left: Can Ben Shelton close out the U.S. Open as a champion?

Sunday. Shelton vs. Zverev. 2:00 p.m. EST. One final match for the U.S. Open championship.

03 | October Is Getting Awfully Close

We’re officially at the point in the baseball season where checking the standings every morning is starting to matter. Friday gave us our first two tickets to October.

The Tampa Bay Rays and Milwaukee Brewers became the first teams to clinch postseason berths. Tampa Bay did it dramatically, with Junior Caminero hitting a walk-off homer—his 40th of the season—to beat Houston 3–1. Milwaukee’s celebration was considerably less subtle: the Brewers beat Cincinnati 20–0.

Elsewhere, the Yankees beat the Mets 6–4 for their ninth win in 12 games, the Dodgers won their eighth straight, Cleveland strengthened its grip on the final AL Wild Card spot, and the NL Wild Card race remains particularly tight.

The Padres currently hold the final NL Wild Card position, with Arizona right behind them. In the American League, Cleveland holds the final spot with Toronto and Texas still within striking distance.

There are still a couple weeks of baseball left but we’ve officially reached scoreboard-watching season.

The takeaway: Two teams are in. Everyone else can start doing playoff math. Based on how close some of these races are, we may need a calculator for the next couple of weeks.

04 | The Border War Is Very Much Alive

Missouri and Kansas hadn’t played a football game in Lawrence since 2005 and it didn’t take particularly long to remember why these two schools don’t like each other.

No. 23 Missouri beat Kansas 38–21 Friday night in the 122nd edition of the Border War, improving to 2–0 and extending its winning streak over Kansas to five games.

The game was tied 14–14 at halftime before Missouri’s defense changed everything.

Robert Woodyard Jr. created back-to-back Kansas turnovers in the second half, and Missouri turned the first into the go-ahead touchdown. Quarterback Austin Simmons finished with 292 passing yards and three touchdowns, while Jamal Roberts ran for 125 yards and a score. This is exactly why I’m glad these rivalry games are coming back.

Conference realignment can move schools around on a map. It can change schedules. It can create matchups nobody asked for. But Missouri and Kansas can go 15 years without playing and still dislike each other just fine.

The takeaway: College football is better when teams play the schools they actually hate. Please schedule accordingly.

05 | Nick Saban Has Thoughts About the Big Ten

Nick Saban is retired from coaching but he has not retired from SEC–Big Ten arguments.

Appearing on The Pat McAfee Show Friday, Saban was discussing the SEC’s depth when he offered this assessment:

“It’s not like the Big Ten where there’s three good teams at the top and then nothing.”

Well then. Tell us what you really think, Nick.

Saban’s argument is that the SEC currently has considerably more depth among ranked teams. After an ugly Week 1 for several Big Ten programs—including Wisconsin’s blowout loss to Notre Dame, Oregon’s close call with Boise State and Michigan’s extremely controversial escape against Western Michigan—he has some ammunition.

There is, however, one inconvenient piece of information for the SEC side of this argument:

The Big Ten has won the last three national championships. And not with the same dominant program, either. Michigan, Ohio State and Indiana won them consecutively.

We don’t have to spend all season arguing about this one. The conferences get several opportunities to settle it on the field today—including the biggest game in college football kicking off in Austin tonight.

The takeaway: Three consecutive national championships with three different schools feels like a strange definition of “three good teams and then nothing.” All that being said, Nick Saban has successfully accomplished his real objective: We’re all arguing about the SEC and Big Ten as we gear up for a very big game tonight that can help provide compelling evidence for one side or the other.

---

ONE TO WATCH | Clear Your Saturday

There isn’t one game to watch today. There is a full slate beginning at Noon.

1 | No. 1 Ohio State at No. 4 Texas

7:30 p.m. ET | ABC

This is the one to watch. And I’ll get to do it live from Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium.

No. 1 Ohio State. No. 4 Texas. Austin. Prime time. These programs know each other extremely well at this point.

Ohio State beat Texas in the College Football Playoff semifinal following the 2024 season and then beat the Longhorns again in the 2025 season opener. Now Texas gets the Buckeyes at home with Arch Manning and Julian Sayin established at quarterback and legitimate national-title expectations on both sides.

It’s also difficult to imagine better timing after Nick Saban’s comments.

SEC vs. Big Ten. No. 1 vs. No. 4.

The three-time defending national-championship conference against one of the SEC’s best teams. It doesn’t get any better than this.

A win against a top-5 non-conference team still matters to the CFP committee and I’m betting on the Longhorns at home in the heat and humidity tonight. My prediction: 21-17. Let’s go, Horns!

The takeaway: Nick Saban spent Friday telling us the SEC is deeper than the Big Ten. Ohio State and Texas can begin settling the argument tonight.

2 | Oklahoma at Michigan

Noon ET | FOX

Speaking of Big Ten vs. SEC…

Michigan gets a chance to change the conversation after last week’s bizarre 13–12 escape against Western Michigan. This time the Wolverines get Oklahoma.

Michigan needs considerably less controversy and considerably more convincing football. Oklahoma gets an opportunity to walk into the Big House and give the SEC another very useful data point in this increasingly entertaining conference argument. The game kicks at noon on FOX.

The takeaway: Michigan technically entered today 1–0. If you watched last week’s game, you understand why “technically” feels necessary.

3 | Arizona State at No. 10 Texas A&M

Noon ET | ABC

Don’t overlook the early game in College Station. No. 10 Texas A&M has playoff expectations after looking like one of the country’s best teams for much of last season, while Arizona State has become exactly the kind of team nobody should particularly enjoy seeing on the schedule.

The Aggies are supposed to win. Which, historically speaking, is exactly when being a Texas A&M fan becomes stressful.

The takeaway: Texas A&M wants to be treated like a legitimate playoff contender and this is the kind of game legitimate playoff contenders don’t lose.

---

Five stories. A few minutes. Now you can pretend you spent all morning following sports.