Weekend In Review – Super Bowl LIV Will Feature 49ers And Chiefs, Plus College Basketball, And More

The Super Bowl is upon us The San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs will play for the NFL championship Feb. 2 in Miami Gardens, Florida, in Super Bowl...

(Photo Credit: Associated Press and Getty Images)

The Super Bowl is upon us

The San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs will play for the NFL championship Feb. 2 in Miami Gardens, Florida, in Super Bowl LIV.

At stake: A sixth Super Bowl victory for the NFC’s 49ers and a first title for the AFC Chiefs since 1969.

The 49ers crushed the Green Bay Packers 37-20 Sunday in Santa Clara, California, with unheralded Raheem Mostert rushing for 220 yards and four touchdowns. Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo threw only eight passes. Mostert’s rushing yards were the second-most in postseason history and set a 49ers record. His four touchdowns were the second-most by an individual in a playoff game.

The Chiefs earned their first visit to the title game in 50 years by defeating the Tennessee Titans 35-24. The Chiefs trailed 10-0 and 17-7 before clamping down defensively and turning loose quarterback Patrick Mahomes. He passed for 294 yards and three touchdowns.

The Chiefs are a 1-point favorite over the Niners in the Super Bowl.

College Basketball:
Saturday was unkind to ranked teams, especially among the top five. Your losers – No. 2 Duke, No. 4 Auburn, No. 5 Butler, No. 12 West Virginia, No. 16 Wichita State, No. 20 Colorado and No. 21 Ohio State. Monday’s poll will certainly not look like last week’s.

Vanderbilt, which had made at least one 3-point basket in 1,080 consecutive games, saw that streak end in its 66-45 loss to Tennessee. Vanderbilt missed all 25 of its 3-point shots.

Elsewhere:
Jeison Rosario upset Julian Williams to take Williams’ unified middleweight (154 pounds) boxing title on Saturday night in Philadelphia. Rosario knocked Williams down in the fifth round and the fight was stopped shortly thereafter.

The Houston Rockets lost their third straight game and fourth in five when they fell 124-115 to the Los Angeles Lakers at home Saturday night.

Andrew Landry finished with consecutive birdies to take The American Express title in LaQuinta, California. It was his second PGA Tour victory. Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals passed Mario Lemieux and tied Steve Yzerman on the NHL goals list Saturday, scoring three in a 6-4 win over the New York Islanders.

Ovechkin’s 692 goals tie Yzerman for ninth place. He passed Lemieux (690) for 10th and is two goals shy of Mark Messier (694) for eighth. The Florida Panthers won a season-high fourth straight game, beating the Detroit Red Wings 4-1.

 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman