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Transition Metals offers investors exposure to discovery-driven upside across critical and precious metals through a proven project generator model, a diversified Canadian asset portfolio, and a capital-efficient strategy designed to minimize dilution while retaining meaningful discovery and monetization leverage.

Overview

Transition Metals (TSXV:XTM) is a Canada-based, multi-commodity exploration company focused on the discovery of critical and precious metals exclusively within Canada’s most prospective and stable mining jurisdictions. The company has assembled a diversified portfolio of exploration projects spanning platinum group metals, nickel, copper, gold, silver and uranium, providing broad exposure to commodities central to electrification, decarbonization and long-term resource security.

Operating under a disciplined project generator model, Transition advances early-stage assets through geoscience-driven exploration before strategically bringing in partners to participate in funding drilling and development. This approach allows the company to preserve capital, limit shareholder dilution and retain upside through royalties, milestone payments and equity interests, while maintaining operatorship and technical control during key exploration phases.

Transition’s portfolio includes flagship assets such as the Saturday Night/Sunday Lake PGM projects near Thunder Bay, the Gowganda Gold project in Ontario and the Pike Warden polymetallic system in Yukon, alongside a pipeline of additional opportunities across Ontario, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories. Led by an award-winning technical team with a proven discovery record, the company is positioned to create shareholder value through discovery, disciplined capital management and strategic asset monetization within a secure, Canada-focused footprint.

Company Highlights

  • Multi-commodity exploration company with a portfolio of projects and royalties, covering gold, nickel, copper, platinum group metals (PGM), cobalt, tungsten and more located in mining-friendly jurisdictions across Canada
  • Flagship PGM exposure at the Saturday Night/Sunday Lake projects in the Thunder Bay region
  • Discovery-focused project generator model designed to minimize shareholder dilution while maximizing exploration leverage
  • Strong treasury position complemented by marketable securities, milestone payments and royalty interests
  • Proven management team with multiple industry discovery awards and a long track record of value creation
  • Exposure to critical metals themes supported by government funding, flow-through incentives and secure jurisdictions

Key Projects

Saturday Night / Sunday Lake (Ontario)

The Saturday Night and adjacent Sunday Lake projects form one of the most compelling emerging PGM exploration stories in the Thunder Bay region. The properties are associated with early-stage Midcontinent Rift-related mafic-ultramafic intrusions, analogous in age and style to major North American PGM-Ni-Cu deposits such as Eagle (Michigan), Tamarack (Minnesota) and Thunder Bay North (Ontario). Sunday Lake hosts thick, laterally extensive zones of PGM mineralization, while drilling at Saturday Night has confirmed a large rift-related intrusion with basal PGM-Ni-Cu mineralization. Ongoing and planned drilling is focused on expanding the mineralized footprint and testing the basal contact geometry, positioning the project as a potential district-scale PGM system.

Gowganda (Ontario)

Gowganda is a 100-percent-owned, 87 sq km gold project in the historic Gowganda silver-cobalt camp, where Transition reports it made a gold discovery in 2010 less than 1 km from a paved highway. The company describes a widespread gold mineralized system over ~1.25 km of strike, with “visible gold at surface” and highlights including 97 grams per ton (g/t) gold over 40 cm (channel sample) and drill highlights including 2.4 g/t gold over 7.1 m and 82.5 g/t gold over 0.4 m (within 35 m of surface).

Dessert Lake (Northwest Territories)

Dessert Lake is a strategic uranium exploration opportunity in a large, underexplored basin that shares geological similarities with the Athabasca Basin, which hosts a significant portion of the world’s high-grade uranium deposits. Transition holds the exclusive right to stake claims and is seeking a partner to advance the district-scale opportunity, noting prospective settings along the Wopmay fault and along the basal unconformity/crustal fault intersections.

Pike Warden (Yukon)

Pike Warden is a large polymetallic project situated on the northern margin of the Bennett Lake Caldera, one of the largest collapsed caldera complexes in Canada. Pike Warden is an emerging epithermal gold-silver/porphyry copper system near the Yukon–BC border, ~70 km southwest of Whitehorse, where Transition retains the option to earn 100% of the 41 sq km property. Transition reports 25+ zones of gold-silver-copper-molybdenum-lead mineralization identified to date and sampling highlights up to 48.1 g/t gold, 11,270 g/t silver, 7.49 percent copper, 2.37 percent molybdenum and 59.6 percent lead, with recent work and targeting supported by geophysics and systematic sampling.

Jolly (Ontario)

Jolly Gold is a large, 100-percent-owned and optioned land package covering the western extension of the Beardmore–Geraldton greenstone belt, with multiple undrilled occurrences of high-grade gold mineralization. The company highlights major and splay structures intersecting favourable stratigraphy, describing the target as a camp-scale exploration opportunity.

Cryderman (Ontario)

Cryderman is a gold project in the Shining Tree West camp located along the Ridout Deformation Zone and sits 55 km east of IAMGOLS’s Côté gold project and 16 km west of Aris Gold’s Juby gold project. It is a gold-mineralized system over ~500 m of strike hosted in N–S trending, multi-phase quartz-carbonate veins. The company reports channel sample highlights including 9.15 g/t gold over 1.07 m (with additional high-grade sub-intervals).

Maude Lake (Ontario)

The Maud Lake project is a high-tenor nickel-copper-cobalt-PGM magmatic sulphide system located ~10 km north of Schreiber, Ontario. Transition reports surface sampling up to 6.23 percent nickel, 0.719 percent copper, 0.085 percent cobalt, and 1.042 g/t PGM (platinum+palladium+gold), and notes drilling that intersected a semi-continuous zone of magmatic sulphides near the base of a gabbroic intrusion including 20.01 m averaging 0.33 percent nickel and 0.28 percent copper (including 4 m averaging 0.61 percent nickel and 0.52 percent copper).

Homathko (British Columbia)

Homathko is a high-grade, drill-ready gold prospect exposed by receding glaciers in British Columbia, with an interpreted lode gold system traced along ~1.5 km of strike and grab sample highlights up to 87 g/t gold.

Island Copper (Ontario)

Island Copper is an IOCG (iron oxide copper-gold) opportunity north of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, with Transition reporting two separate mineralized showings along Highway 556. Recent samples and historical drill holes returned values up to 9 percent copper.

Wollaston (Saskatchewan)

Wollaston Copper is a >30 sq km property in north-central Saskatchewan south of the Athabasca Basin, where Transition describes two sediment-hosted base metal target opportunities. The company cites historic drilling by Noranda (1990) including 10.82 m grading 0.25 percent copper and 7.4 m grading 0.49 percent copper (both within 40 m of surface), and a separate zinc showing with 17.0 m grading 2.52 percent zinc and 4.0 m grading 7.18 percent zinc, within the Wollaston Supergroup.

Pipestone (Ontario)

Pipestone is a 33 sq km gold project in the Porcupine camp ~25 km north of Timmins, covering ~13 km of interpreted strike extension of the Pipestone structure (one of two main structural breaks recognized in the Timmins camp). The property is subject to a participating joint venture with Gowest Gold, with provisions for dilution to a 2 percent NSR (with a 1 percent buyback for $1 million).

Bancroft (Ontario)

Bancroft is a southern Ontario nickel-coper-cobalt-PGM greenfield land package that has benefited from ~$5 million in exploration expenditures and includes drilling intersections of 5.05 m averaging 1.98 g/t PGM and 60 m of 1.34 g/t PGM. It comprises 2,789 hectares of mining claims and is located less than a 2-hour drive from Toronto.

Management Team

Scott McLean – President, CEO and Co-founder

Scott McLean has over 30 years of experience in mineral exploration and corporate leadership. He spent 23 years with Falconbridge Limited where he was involved in the discovery of the Nickel Rim South deposit in Sudbury, Ontario. For this work, he was named Prospector of the Year (2004) by the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada. McLean is responsible for corporate vision, capital structure, governance and investor relations, and also serves as an executive director of SPC Nickel Corp.

Greg Collins – Chief Operating Officer and Co-founder

Greg Collins is a professional geologist with more than 25 years of experience across gold and base metals exploration, resource estimation, mine planning, operations and management. His career spans Canada and international jurisdictions. Collins is a founding partner and COO of Transition Metals and is also CEO of Canadian Gold Miner.

Carmelo Marrelli – Chief Financial Officer

Carmelo Marrelli is a chartered professional accountant and principal of The Marrelli Group of Companies. He acts as CFO for a number of public issuers on the TSX, TSX Venture Exchange and CSE, bringing financial, governance and regulatory expertise. Marrelli holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Toronto and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators.

Bill Stormont – Business Development

Bill Stormont is a capital markets executive with experience in institutional equity (buy-side, sell-side and fund management), investor relations and stakeholder engagement. He has served in equity analyst and institutional sales roles, worked as a European equity fund manager, and supports business development, partnerships and strategic communications for Transition Metals. Stormont holds an MBA from the University of British Columbia.

Tom Hart – Chief Geologist

Tom Hart is an award-winning geologist with over 40 years of exploration experience across government and industry, including Inco and the Ontario Geological Survey. He specializes in lode gold and base metal systems and has expertise in soil, till and rock analytical methods. Hart was co-recipient of the Northwestern Ontario Prospectors Association’s Discovery of the Year Award (2004).

Benjamin Williams – Exploration Manager Geologist

Benjamin Williams has more than 10 years of geological experience and has been with Transition Metals since 2018. He obtained a BSc with Honours in Geology from Saint Mary;s University, Halifax, followed by Graduate work at Carleton University in Ottawa, where his work focused on igneous petrology and isotope geochemistry. Prior to joining Transition Metals, Mr. Williams worked in collaboration with the Northwest Territories Geological Survey, as a Senior Mapping and Research Assistant, where he conducted various value-added mapping and isotopic research programs on Neoarchean volcanic belts within the Slave Craton, with a focus on VMS-style mineralization.

Sarah Reese – Project Geologist

Sarah Reese is a geological engineer with a Bachelor of Applied Science in Geological Engineering from Queen’s University. She contributes to field programs and geological interpretation, while developing her professional expertise through ongoing education and field experience.

This post appeared first on investingnews.com

Investor Insight

Sun Summit Minerals is targeting the delineation of a multi-million-ounce gold-silver resource at its flagship JD project. With strategic positioning in an emerging consolidation hotspot, compelling valuation metrics, and a track record of discovery, Sun Summit is primed to deliver substantial value creation in the coming quarters.

Overview

Sun Summit Minerals (TSXV:SMN,OTCQB:SMREF) is a Canadian mineral exploration company focused on developing its district-scale gold and copper projects in British Columbia.

The company has completed its 2025 exploration programs at the flagship JD Project and its inaugural exploration program at the Theory Project, located in the Toodoggone District.

Complementing JD and Theory is the company’s Buck project, a large, bulk-tonnage gold-silver system near Houston, BC, with an initial NI 43-101 resource estimate and significant exploration upside.

With capital in hand, a five-year exploration permit secured, and a camp established at JD, Sun Summit is executing a focused strategy to build scale, unlock resource potential and drive shareholder value. Under the leadership of its new CEO, the company has re-focused its strategy with a sharpened vision, a strengthened technical and leadership team, and a portfolio of high-quality, strategically located assets positioned to drive long-term shareholder value.

Company Highlights

  • Tiered Exploration Strategy: Sun Summit Minerals is advancing a focused portfolio in British Columbia with its flagship JD Project in the Toodoggone District as the primary discovery driver, supported by early-stage exploration at the nearby Theory Project, and complemented by the Buck Project in central BC, a strategic asset with a published mineral resource estimate.
  • Strategic Location: Sun Summit’s assets are located in well-established and mining-friendly regions of British Columbia. The flagship JD project and early-stage Theory Project are situated in the prolific Toodoggone district—home to Thesis Gold and Centerra’s Kemess Mine, while Buck lies in Central BC near the Blackwater, Huckleberry, and Equity Silver mines.
  • Potential for Multiple Expansion: Trading at approximately US$38/oz gold equivalent (EV/oz) based on Buck alone, with no value currently ascribed to the JD Project, the company represents a deep value opportunity compared to its next-door neighbour, Thesis Gold, which trades at approximately US$136/oz. Success at the drill bit from ongoing exploration at JD could support a higher valuation over time.
  • Experienced, Capital Markets-Savvy Leadership: CEO Niel Marotta brings 30 years of capital markets acumen, including experience from Fidelity and Orezone. The broader team includes senior geologists and advisors with decades of success in gold discoveries and mine development in BC.
  • Positioned for Consolidation: With majors like Freeport, Centerra, and Skeena investing heavily in adjacent properties, Sun Summit’s flagship JD Project is strategically located and advancing at the right time in the Lassonde Curve to benefit from industry-wide M&A and consolidation trends.

Key Projects

JD & Theory Projects

The JD & Theory projects span more than 25,000 hectares in the heart of the Toodoggone mining district in north-central BC, one of Canada’s most prospective belts for epithermal gold-silver and porphyry copper-gold systems. The district is home to Thesis Gold’s Ranch and Lawyers deposits (4.6 Moz gold equivalent, C$700 million market cap), Centerra’s Kemess underground development, and TDG Gold’s Shasta-Baker project. Infrastructure around the project includes hydroelectric grid access, the nearby Sturdee airstrip and all-season roads.

Results from the 2025 drill campaign at Creek Zone

The JD project hosts a 4.5 km mineralized corridor, known as Creek-Finn, with multiple underexplored targets showing evidence of both high-grade veins and broad disseminated gold systems. Historic and recent drill highlights include:

  • 2.1 grams per ton (g/t) gold over 122.5 m including 121 g/t gold over 1.5 m (CZ-24-004)
  • 11.7 g/t gold over 22 m including 61.2 g/t gold over 4 m (CZ97-008)
  • 7.3 g/t gold over 35.7 m including 215.4 g/t gold over 1 m (JD95-0472)

The Creek Zone features high-grade epithermal veins within broader disseminated zones, supported by strong IP anomalies and gold-in-soil results up to 12.2 g/t gold. The Finn Zone hosts near-surface mineralization with extensive historical drilling (~270 holes) and is open in all directions. Other targets include McClair (porphyry copper), East McClair (copper-gold skarn) and Moosehorn.

Sun Summit Minerals has completed its 2025 21-hole, 6,864 -meter drill program, successfully intersecting gold mineralization in all holes. The results have defined a northwest-trending, structurally controlled zone measuring approximately 750 meters by 300 meters and extending to a vertical depth of around 150 meters. The zone remains open both along strike and at depth, highlighting significant potential for further expansion. A five-year permit secured in April 2025 provides exploration continuity through 2030.

Sun Summit can earn 100 percent of the JD project by making staged cash/share payments and completing work commitments through 2029. Following the completion of its 2025 exploration program, the company closed an $11.5 million financing on December 23, 2025, fully funding the 2026 exploration program and strengthening its ability to advance the earn-in without near-term dilution.

Buck Project

The 100 percent owned Buck project spans 52,000 hectares and is located near key deposits, including Artemis Gold’s Blackwater (8 Moz gold), Imperial’s Huckleberry copper mine, and Newmont’s historic Equity Silver mine. Buck features near-surface bulk-tonnage gold-silver mineralization with porphyry copper-molybdenum potential at depth.

In February 2025, Sun Summit published its inaugural NI 43-101 mineral resource:

  • Indicated: 1.15 Mt @ 0.519 g/t gold equivalent (19,100 oz)
  • Inferred: 52.2 Mt @ 0.489 g/t gold equivalent (820,400 oz)

Mineralization remains open in all directions.

Buck is considered a strategic asset providing leverage to rising gold prices and future transaction potential, but currently receives minimal capital allocation as JD is prioritized.

Sun Summit can earn 100 percent of the JD project by making staged cash/share payments and completing work commitments through 2029. With ~C$6 million earmarked for the project this year alone, Sun Summit is expected to fulfill its 2025 and 2026 earn-in obligations without additional equity raises.

Management Team

Niel Marotta – Chief Executive Officer and Director

Niel Marotta has three decades of capital markets experience, including a successful tenure at Fidelity (FMRCo.), where he managed the top-performing Select Gold Fund and oversaw >$1 billion in AUM. He was previously VP at Orezone Resources, where he helped lead its C$350 million acquisition by IAMGOLD. Marotta has raised over $1 billion in financing and is driving Sun Summit’s transition from a legacy explorer to a discovery-focused value generator.

Brian Lock – Executive Chairman

A veteran of the mining industry with 40+ years of executive experience, Brian Lock has led multiple public companies, including Castle Peak Mining and Scorpio Gold. His expertise spans project development, M&A and corporate governance.

Waseem Javed – Chief Financial Officer

A seasoned mining CFO, Waseem Javed ensures disciplined capital deployment and financial controls. His experience spans junior explorers and mid-tier producers across Canada and the US.

Ken MacDonald – VP Exploration

Ken MacDonald is a registered professional geologist with over 30 years in mineral exploration and permitting in BC. Formerly with the BC Mines Branch and multiple juniors, he leads Sun Summit’s technical programs and NI 43-101 compliance.

Christopher Leslie – Technical Advisor

An expert in porphyry and epithermal systems, Christopher Leslie led the discovery of the 8 Moz Blackwater deposit while at Richfield Ventures, and later served as VP exploration for Tower Resources. He was instrumental in advancing the JD-Theory project during its prior ownership.

Robert D. Willis – Senior Advisor

Founder of several successful exploration companies, including Pioneer Metals and Manhattan Minerals, Robert Willis has 35+ years of technical and executive experience across North and South America.

Terry Salman – Strategic Advisor

Founder of Salman Partners and one of Canada’s most influential mining financiers, Terry Salman has backed dozens of successful juniors over a 40-year career in mining investment banking.

This post appeared first on investingnews.com

(TheNewswire)

 

Vancouver, B.C. January 19, 2026 TheNewswire – Armory Mining Corp. (CSE: ARMY) (OTC: RMRYF) (FRA: 2JS) (the ‘Company’ or ‘Armory’) a resource exploration company focused on the discovery and development of minerals critical to the energy, security and defense sectors, is pleased to provide an update on exploration activity scheduled through Q2, 2026.

 

Ammo Gold-Antimony Project

 

In December 2025 the Company announced it has engaged Castello Q Exploration Corp to carry out an initial phase one work program at its 100% owned Ammo Antimony-Gold project, located in Nova Scotia, Canada.

 

Ammo is 3,092-hectare exploration package that completely surrounds and is contiguous to the historical West Gore antimony-gold mine.  West Gore produced both antimony and gold in the years leading up to World War I.  The ground has since changed hands multiple times, and is currently held by Military Metals Corp.

 

West Gore was a significant producer during World War One, with production shipped to England.  Records document nearly 32,000 metric tons of production between 1914-1917, yielding over 7,000 metric tons of antimony concentrate grading 46%.
Total gold recovered up to 1917 was 6,861 ounces. Limited work was conducted in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1980s by several companies along with the Nova Scotia government*.


Click Image To View Full Size

Figure 1: Map showing Armory’s Ammo Project surrounding the historical West Gore antimony-gold mine

 

The initial work program is expected to consist of data compilation, prospecting and reconnaissance, to identify favorable geology, followed by detailed surface sampling and geophysics to determine priority drill targets. The Company plans to budget up to $656,000 CDN for the initial phase of exploration.  

 

Preliminary work is underway regarding data collection and analysis.  The Company will provide an update on the proposed work programs over the next few weeks.

* Source: NI 43-101 Technical Report, Battery Metals Corp, Mark S. King, P. Geo., Michael C. Corey, P. Geo., May 25, 2021

 

Note: The Company considers historical data at West Gore to be relevant. Readers are cautioned that the Company has not independently verified the information, and notes that the mineralization on this property may not be indicative of the mineralization on the Company’s property.

 

Candela II Lithium Deposit

 

The Company also issued an update in early December 2025, regarding its Candela II lithium brine project located in the Incahuasi Salar, Salta Province, Argentina.

 

The Company is moving forward on a scoping study which will enhance development of the Candela II project.  A scoping study will evaluate both technical viability and economic potential of the deposit.  The project has been advanced by the Company with exploration drilling and has an inferred resource of 457,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate in-situ. This resource estimate was completed by WSP Australia*.  

 

The current lithium carbonate price is up 30% since the start of the year to a new two-year high, which brings the significance of the project into focus, and priority, for Armory.

 

The location of the project is within what is referred to as the ‘Lithium Triangle’, a section of South America that stretches among Bolivia, Chile and Argentina. Ganfeng Lithium, China’s largest producer of the battery metal, has the adjacent concession to Candela II, and a production well approximately 9.8km away.  Rio Tinto and Power Minerals (PNN) are also located nearby.

 

*The Candela II Lithium Brine Project contains a National Instrument 43-101 mineral resource estimate (‘MRE’) completed by WSP Australia Pty. Ltd. (see Spey Resources Corp. news dated September 26th, 2023).   

 

Technical information in this news release regarding Candela II has been previously published and was reviewed and approved at the time by Phillip Thomas, BSc Geol MBM, FAusIMM (CPVal), MAIG who is a Qualified Person under the definitions established by the National Instrument 43-101.

About Armory Mining Corp

Armory Mining Corp. is a Canadian exploration company focused on minerals critical to the energy, security and defense sectors. The Company controls an 80% interest in the Candela II lithium brine project located in the Incahuasi Salar, Salta Province, Argentina. In addition, the Company controls 100% interest in both the Ammo antimony-gold project located in Nova Scotia and the Riley Creek antimony-gold project located in British Columbia.

 

Qualified Person

 

Harrison Cookenboo, Ph.D., P. Geo., an independent Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, has reviewed and approved the technical contents of this news release.

 

Contact Information

 

Alex Klenman

CEO & Director

alex@armorymining.com

 

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as the term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy of accuracy of this news release.   This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of any of the Company’s securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful, including any of the securities in the United States of America. The Company’s securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the ‘1933 Act’) or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for account or benefit of, U.S. Persons (as defined in Regulation S under the  1933 Act) unless registered under the  1933 Act  and applicable  state  securities  laws, or an exemption from such registration requirements is available.

 

Forward-looking statements:

 

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the intended use of funds. The words ‘expects,’ ‘anticipates,’ ‘believes,’ ‘intends,’ ‘plans,’ ‘will,’ ‘may,’ and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that its expectations as reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, such statements involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements due to various factors, including, but not limited to, political and regulatory risks in Canada, operational and exploration risks, market conditions, and the availability of financing. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which are made as of the date of this release. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws.

Copyright (c) 2026 TheNewswire – All rights reserved.

News Provided by TheNewsWire via QuoteMedia

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Blue and white smoke is finally emanating from East Rutherford, New Jersey.

The New York Giants and John Harbaugh have finally completed a five-year deal to make him the team’s next head coach, per multiple reports, days after Harbaugh and the club had agreed to join forces. His package is expected to be worth in the neighborhood of $100 million, according to multiple reports.

“This is the New York Giants,” Harbaugh told ESPN. “I’m proud and honored to the head coach of this historic franchise, and especially excited to work with the Mara and Tisch families. But most of all, I can’t wait to get started with the great players on this football team to see what we can accomplish together.”

Per NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, a news conference is expected to occur Tuesday. Harbaugh and general manager Joe Schoen, who retained his job despite Brian Daboll’s firing during the just completed season, are expected to have a ‘cooperative setup.’

Schoen led the coaching search that quickly led the organization to Harbaugh.

Harbaugh led the Baltimore Ravens to 12 playoff berths, AFC North titles and one Super Bowl victory in his 18 seasons in Charm City. His record, including postseason, is 193-124.

The Giants have made the playoffs just twice, winning one wild-card game under Daboll, since winning Super Bowl 46 nearly 14 years ago.

This post appeared first on USA TODAY

The divisional round of the NFL playoffs is regarded as the best weekend of the season by some fans. Four games over two days, two of them including the regular season’s best teams − insomuch as one might regard the No. 1 postseason seeds as the best squads.

Saturday, the Denver Broncos, the top seed in the AFC, will host the Buffalo Bills in a rematch from the 2024 wild-card round − Josh Allen and Co. cruising best then-rookie Bo Nix and the Broncos 31-7. In the NFC, the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks will meet for the third time (and second in three weeks) − the ‘Hawks returning to action at Lumen Field following their bye.

Sunday afternoon, the New England Patriots will try to advance to their first AFC championship game in seven years − by beating a red-hot Houston Texans squad hoping to get that for for the first time. Ever. The final matchup of the weekend quartet will pair the Los Angeles Rams and Chicago Bears, who will square off in the postseason for the first time in 40 years − since the legendary ’85 Bears shut out the Rams at Soldier Field.

Which teams will qualify for the NFL’s version of the Final Four? Our experts make their selections:

(Odds provided by BetMGM)

Divisional round picks, predictions, odds

  • Bills at Broncos
  • 49ers at Seahawks
  • Texans at Patriots
  • Rams at Bears
This post appeared first on USA TODAY

  • Alberto Mendoza is the backup quarterback for Indiana, behind his Heisman-winning brother Fernando.
  • Indiana recently signed transfer quarterback Josh Hoover, signaling a challenge for Alberto’s future starting role.
  • Alberto Mendoza intends to compete for the starting job rather than transfer from Indiana.

MIAMI — He sat on a aluminum bleacher with the rest of the forgotten, a full-blown feeding frenzy unloading in front of him.

Everyone wanted a piece of Alberto Mendoza. 

Meanwhile, a larger hoard of media — one not seen at College Football Playoff media day in maybe ever — was hovering around Fernando Mendoza while he sat surrounded at a podium for the elite.

You know him. 

Heisman Trophy winner. Star quarterback. The key to Indiana completing the greatest turnaround in sports history Monday night against Miami in the College Football Playoff championship game. As pure and true since a guy named Tebow.

And the older brother of Alberto, Indiana’s backup quarterback. The guy hanging with the other backups in the bleachers.

This is where the story begins, where a brother trying to find his own way in a sport he loves, dutifully and unflinchingly sitting for an hour — an hour! —  and answering questions about the one player in college football everyone can’t get enough of.

Is Fernando really as perfect as he looks? 

Was Fernando always great at sports? 

If Fernando were an animal in the jungle, what would he be?

But while the deeply vacuous wondered and wandered aloud in the annual menagerie that is CFP media day, an important thing happened to Alberto a couple of weeks ago. 

Indiana coach Curt Cignetti signed TCU quarterback Josh Hoover from the transfer portal for the 2026 season. About as clear a statement as can be made about the future of Alberto. 

The Hoosiers aren’t paying Hoover millions to leave TCU so he can decide a year from now if Alberto is a Tiger or Lion in the jungle. And it’s here where we find the cold, hard truth of the sport. 

There’s a finite clock for starting quarterbacks in the NIL era. Teams and coaches don’t have time to invest two or three years of development.

High-value contracts are made for now, not when it all finally comes together. 

“I get it,” Alberto says. “It’s a business.” 

That doesn’t make it any easier to swallow the reality that he’s a play away from critical minutes against Miami — and who knows how long from becoming the Indiana starter.

He already convinced one NIL gun for hire (see: Fernando) to skip in line ahead of him. He’s not sitting around and letting it happen a second time — or worse, leaving town because of it.  

Mendoza says he will compete with Hoover for the starting job, and says Fernando told him to go win the job instead of waiting. Force Indiana and Cignetti into a difficult decision.

Cignetti, meanwhile, understands the complexities of the situation. It’s a small and growing sample size of the undeniable: inexperienced quarterbacks rarely work in the NIL era. 

The surest, safest way to efficient play from the most important position on the field has quickly become the transfer portal.

Doesn’t matter that Alberto led Christopher Columbus High School in Miami to back-to-back state titles once Fernando left. Doesn’t matter that Alberto brings something different to the offense — his ability to stress defenses with his legs — and has shown rare dual-threat ability in limited backup action this season.

All that matters is the here and now. There’s a reason more than 200 Bowl Subdivision (and another 100 Championship Subdivision) quarterbacks hit the transfer portal when it opened on January 2.

It’s all about the quick fix, with the least amount of the unknown. 

“We’ll see what happens,” Cignetti said. “I like (Alberto) a lot as a player. We’ll see what the future holds.”

There was a moment last month, in what was then the biggest game of the season, that we nearly saw what Indiana had with Alberto. Fernando was drilled by Ohio State edge Caden Curry on the first play of the Big Ten championship game, and Alberto replaced him for a play. 

His first significant snap of the season, and Alberto handed off. But it’s not like he hasn’t shown it this season. 

His numbers are high level, even in mop up time. He plays the part well, with five touchdown passes and runs of 59, 53 and 39 yards. 

He’s not just a guy with clipboard. 

“You get me out there, I can rip it,” Alberto says. “I’m very confident in my ability.”

Meanwhile, back at the circus, the bobblehead bunch is busy asking about six-seven, and if Alberto and Fernando fought as kids. 

Last one from me! Wait, what was I going to ask you again? Oh yeah, social media is ablaze with 2016. What were you doing in 2016?!

“I was, like, 12,” Alberto says.

And just for the record, yeah, they did fight as kids. And yeah, there were times when Alberto got the better of Fernando playing sports.

The last thing he’s going to do is let a high-dollar mercenary run him out of Bloomington. So here’s a better question for the wandering, vacuous masses: 

What if Alberto wins the job, and a multi-million dollar contract sits on the bench? 

Guess who then becomes the story of college football?

For all the right reasons. 

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Anthony Edwards produced a career-high night for the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday. Still, it didn’t result in a successful outing as they suffered a 126-123 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on the road.

Edwards reached 54 points after nailing a 3-point shot in the corner to make it a one-point game with 9.8 seconds left in regulation. He added one more free throw and finished the game with 55 points, a new career high.

The Timberwolves star scored 26 points in the fourth quarter after scoring 29 points through the first three quarters of play.

Victor Wembanyama led the way for the Spurs with 39 points.

Anthony Edwards stats vs. San Antonio Spurs

  • Points: 55
  • FG: 19-for-33
  • 3PT: 9-for-16
  • Free Throws: 8-for-10
  • Rebounds: 4
  • Assists: 3
  • Steals: 0
  • Blocks: 0
  • Turnovers: 2
  • Fouls: 4
  • Minutes: 40

Anthony Edwards, Timberwolves vs. Spurs highlights

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The Denver Broncos return to the AFC championship game for the first time in 10 years in an exceedingly difficult spot.

Starting quarterback Bo Nix will miss the remainder of the season after suffering a broken bone in his ankle in Saturday’s divisional playoff win over the Buffalo Bills, Broncos coach Sean Payton announced.

That leaves Jarrett Stidham to take the reins to the Broncos’ offense for the tilt against either the New England Patriots or the Houston Texans with a trip to Super Bowl 60 on the line.

Here’s what we know about the outlook for Stidham and the Broncos:

Who is Jarrett Stidham?

A seventh-year veteran, Stidham is about to command a spotlight far more intense than he’s ever experienced.

The 2019 fourth-round pick out of Auburn began his NFL career as Tom Brady’s backup on the Patriots. His chance to become Brady’s successor never fully materialized, however, and he was traded to the Las Vegas Raiders in 2022.

All four starts in Stidham’s career came as teams were pivoting away from marquee veteran passers. First, he stepped in for the final two games of the Raiders’ 2022 season when Derek Carr was benched. Then, he did the same for the Broncos in 2023 as Payton and Co. sat Russell Wilson.

But even with Denver bringing on Bo Nix the following year to step in as the starter, Stidham hung around as a trusted backup for Payton. In March, Stidham re-signed to the team on a two-year, $12 million deal that included $7 million guaranteed.

“We’re excited Jarrett’s back,” Payton said at the NFL league meetings this spring. “He brings a veteran presence, but also a young presence about him. And I know how he feels about his own abilities. … I think the experience from Jarrett is helpful to Bo.”

Jarrett Stidham stats

  • Completions: 117
  • Passing attempts: 197
  • Completion percentage: 59.4%
  • Passing yards: 1,422
  • Touchdown passes: 8
  • Interceptions: 8

Broncos QB depth chart

  • Bo Nix
  • Jarrett Stidham
  • Sam Ehlinger
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The Sacramento Kings could see the return of their All-Star power forward Jan. 16 in their Friday night game against the Washington Wizards.

Kings forward Domantas Sabonis is officially listed as questionable on the NBA’s Injury Report, but the team expects that he will suit up and play against the Wizards, according to ESPN.

Sabonis, a three-time All-Star, has missed the previous 27 games for the Kings with a partially torn meniscus.

He only appeared in 11 games so far this season, averaging 17.2 points and 12.3 rebounds.

In recent days, Sabonis was seen participating in shootaround during practices. Signs indicate he’ll rejoin the court with the Kings soon. And at a good time, too.

Sacramento has been rolling on a three-game winning streak at home, knocking off the Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks.

They’ll also get back Dennis Schroder, who missed that three-game stretch of wins after being suspended by the league for an altercation with Lakers’ star Luka Doncic after a Dec. 28 game at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

Sabonis trade market, contract status

Sabonis, in his 10th NBA season and year five in Sacramento, could be on the trade market.

Sabonis’ remaining contract includes three years and $136.3 million.

He signed a four-year, $186 million contract extension with Sacramento as part of a renegotiation-and-extend on July 6, 2023.

Domantas Sabonis highlights

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