2017–18 NBB Cup
The 2017–18 NBB Cup (Dutch: 2017–18 NBB-Beker) was the 50th edition of the Netherlands' national basketball cup tournament. Donar was the defending champion. Donar successfully defended its title, after beating runners-up ZZ Leiden in the Final. The Final was played on 25 March 2018 in MartiniPlaza in Groningen.


2017–18 NBB Cup, Format
In the first, second and third round teams from the Dutch second, third and fourth division participate. From the fourth round, teams from the Dutch Basketball League (DBL) enter the competition. Quarter- and semi-finals are played in a two-legged format. When a team form a tier lower than the DBL played a DBL team, one win is sufficient for the latter to advance to the next round.


2017–18 NBB season
The 2017–18 NBB season was the 9th season of the Novo Basquete Brasil, the Brazilian basketball league. Once again this tournament was organized entirely by the Liga Nacional de Basquete (LNB). The NBB also qualified teams for international tournaments such as Liga Sudamericana and FIBA Americas League.


2017–18 NBB season
This season fifteen teams played each other in the regular season. At the end of the home and away matches round the top four teams qualified for the quarterfinals of the playoffs automatically, while the teams finishing in the 5th and 12th place participated in the first round of the playoffs to determine the other four teams in the quarterfinals, in a five-match series. This season maintained 16/17's playoff method of best of 5 games, played on the 1-2-1-1 format.


2017–18 NBB season
For this season, the last regular season placed team is relegated to the 2019 Liga Ouro, the NBB's second tier division. Also, only the 2018 Liga Ouro winner receives the right to play in the NBB 2019–20 season.


2017–18 NBB season, Regular season
The regular season began on Saturday, November 04, 2017 13:35 UTC−03:00 at Ginásio Antônio Prado Junior, home of Club Athletico Paulistano, who was defeated 72–71 by Sendi/Bauru Basket. The regular season ended on March 29, 2018.


2017–18 NBB season, Regular season, Standings
The standings are updated according to the LNB official website table.


2017–18 NBL (Czech Republic) season
The 2017–18 National Basketball League (Czech Republic) season is the 25th season of the Czech NBL.


2017–18 NBL (Czech Republic) season, Format
Teams in regular season play home and away against every other team in a round-robin tournament, before being split into two groups of six teams for playing again home and away against the teams from the same group.


2017–18 NBL (Czech Republic) season, Format
After the end of the stage after the first split, the six teams from to top group and the two first qualified teams from the bottom group joined the play-offs.


2017–18 NBL (Czech Republic) season, Format
The other four teams would play again home and away against themselves for avoiding the relegation.


2017–18 NBL (Czech Republic) season, Teams
Olomoucko replaced Ariete Prostějov, which was relegated from the previous season and was dissolved.


2017–18 NBL (Czech Republic) season, Playoffs
Seeded teams played at home games 1, 2, 5 and 7, while the third place game where played with a best-of-three format, playing the seeded team the matches 1 and 3 at home, and the finals in a double-legged one.


2017–18 NBL Canada season
The 2017–18 NBL Canada season is the seventh season of the National Basketball League of Canada (NBLC). The regular season ran November 18, 2017 to April 2, 2018.


2017–18 NBL Canada season, League changes
After two years as league commissioner, Dave Magley left the league to found North American Premier Basketball. He was replaced on an interim basis by London Lightning owner and league president Vito Frijia.


2017–18 NBL Canada season, League changes
After years of league ownership, the Moncton Miracles were folded to make way for an expansion team under new ownership called the Moncton Magic. The league also awarded expansion franchises in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Sudbury, Ontario. However, the Sudbury ownership group delayed their launch in the league until 2019. The Orangeville A's folded in the Central Division, leaving the league with six teams in the Atlantic region and four in the Central. As a result, the new St. John's Edge were scheduled to play in the Central Division.


2017–18 NBL Canada season, Draft
The 2017–18 NBL Canada Draft and Combine was held on October 20–22. The St. John's Edge selected Aaron Williams first.


2017–18 NBL season
The 2017–18 NBL season was the 40th season of the National Basketball League since its establishment in 1979. A total of eight teams contested the league. The regular season was played between October 2017 and February 2018, followed by a post-season featuring the top four in March 2018.


2017–18 NBL season
Australian broadcast rights to the season were held by Fox Sports, in the third year of a five-year deal, with two games per week simulcast on SBS. In New Zealand, Sky Sport were the official league broadcaster.


2017–18 NBL season
As Australia and New Zealand participated in 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualification, the league took a break during the newly created FIBA international windows of 20–28 November 2017 and 19–27 February 2018.


2017–18 NBL season, Pre-season, 2017 NBL Blitz
A pre-season tournament featuring all eight teams was held on 7–9 September 2017 in Traralgon, Victoria and on 10 September 2017 in Melbourne. The winners received the fifth annual Loggins-Bruton Cup.


2017–18 NBL season, Ladder
The NBL tie-breaker system as outlined in the NBL Rules and Regulations states that in the case of an identical win-loss record, the overall points percentage between the teams will determine order of seeding.


2017–18 NBL season, Finals Series
The 2017–18 National Basketball League Finals were played in March 2018, consisting of two best-of-three semi-final series and the best-of-five Grand Final series. In the semi-finals, the higher seed hosted the first and third games. In the Grand Final, the higher seed hosted the first, third and fifth games.


2017–18 NBL season, Finals Series, Playoff Seedings
The NBL tie-breaker system as outlined in the NBL Rules and Regulations states that in the case of an identical win-loss record, the overall points percentage will determine order of seeding.


2017–18 NC State Wolfpack men's basketball team
The 2017–18 NC State Wolfpack men's basketball team represented North Carolina State University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Wolfpack, led by first-year head coach Kevin Keatts, played its home games at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina and were members of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). They finished the season 21–12, 11–7 in ACC play to finish in a tie for third place. They lost in the second round of the ACC Tournament to Boston College. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament where they lost in the first round to Seton Hall.


2017–18 NC State Wolfpack men's basketball team, Previous season
The Wolfpack finished the 2016–17 season 15–17, 4–14 in ACC play to finish in 13th place. They lost to Clemson in the first round of the ACC Tournament.


2017–18 NC State Wolfpack women's basketball team
The 2017–18 NC State Wolfpack women's basketball team represented North Carolina State University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Wolfpack, led by fifth-year head coach Wes Moore, played their home games at Reynolds Coliseum and were members of the Atlantic Coast Conference. They finished the season 26–9, 11–5 in ACC play to finish in a tie for fourth place. They advanced to the semifinals of the ACC Women's Tournament where they lost to Louisville. They received at-large bid of the NCAA Women's Tournament where they defeated Elon and Maryland in the first and second rounds before losing to Mississippi State in the sweet sixteen.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal
The 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal is an ongoing corruption scandal, initially involving sportswear manufacturer Adidas as well as several college basketball programs associated with the brand but now involving many programs not affiliated with Adidas.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal
On September 27, 2017, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced the arrest of 10 individuals, including assistant coaches Anthony Bland, Chuck Person, Emanuel Richardson, and Lamont Evans and Adidas executive James Gatto, on various corruption and fraud charges including bribery, money laundering, and wire fraud. The schools implicated in the initial announcement were Arizona, Auburn, Louisville, Miami, Oklahoma State, South Carolina, and Southern California (USC). Emanuel Richardson had a six figure salary. However, he was going broke due to him allegedly paying players out of pocket.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal
The investigation has since spread beyond the individuals and teams initially implicated. Shortly afterwards, multiple media reports indicated that the Elite Youth Basketball League, the grassroots basketball division of Nike, was served with a subpoena by federal investigators. While Nike was not named in the initial documents, one of the 10 individuals arrested on September 26 was a former Nike executive who was working for Adidas when he was arrested.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal
On February 23, 2018, Yahoo! Sports published a report, based on "hundreds of pages of documents" obtained by the FBI from two agents and an agency implicated in the investigation, that named more than a dozen additional schools and over 25 current and former players as having been potentially implicated in the scandal. Still later, on April 10, Southern District prosecutors added extra criminal counts to the indictment of Gatto, with the added counts specifically naming Kansas and North Carolina State as well as Louisville and Miami.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Background
The discovery of corruption in basketball stemmed from an investigation of Pittsburgh-based financial planner Marty Blazer by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In 2016, the SEC charged Blazer with wire fraud and accused him of embezzling over $2 million from several professional athletes to invest in movie projects and finance Ponzi schemes. As part of a plea agreement with the Southern District U.S. Attorney's office, he agreed to become an FBI informant, and would later plead guilty to reduced charges. He has since stated that there were also payments made to players in efforts to attend the Penn State football program.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, First wave, Arizona
Emanuel "Book" Richardson, an Arizona assistant since 2009, was among the individuals arrested and indicted in 2017. He was alleged to have met with agent Christian Dawkins and others in June 2017, agreeing to accept a $5,000 bribe to steer Arizona players to Dawkins' sports management company, and was also charged with accepting an additional $15,000 in bribes and paying at least one recruit to commit to the university. Richardson was suspended on September 26, the day after his arrest, and formally fired on January 23, 2018.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, First wave, Arizona
Arizona lost one of its three-member 2018 recruiting class in the wake of the initial allegations. Five-star point guard Jahvon Quinerly reopened his recruitment in October, and eventually signed with Villanova. Nassir Little, also a five-star recruit, cited the investigation as his reason for deciding against attending Arizona. On a wiretap that was played during the trial Merl Code claims that Arizona offered $150,000 for Little.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, First wave, Auburn
Chuck Person, a former Auburn basketball star who went on to a long National Basketball Association career before going into coaching, was alleged by the FBI to have received over $90,000 in bribes from Rashan Michel, a former NBA and Southeastern Conference referee who ran a custom tailoring shop in Atlanta that had many professional athletes as clients. Person was accused of paying nearly $20,000 to the families of two active Auburn players. Auburn suspended Person without pay shortly after his arrest. Person was indicted by a federal grand jury and subsequently fired by Auburn on November 7, 2017. In the wake of the indictments, the university retained an outside law firm to launch an internal investigation into the program.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, First wave, Auburn
Before Auburn's exhibition game on November 2, 2017, the school announced that it would hold players Austin Wiley and Danjel Purifoy out of games indefinitely due to eligibility concerns raised over the FBI investigation. They would both be held out of action throughout the rest of the season, though they returned to play after the conclusion of that season.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, First wave, Auburn
On November 8, ESPN reported that head coach Bruce Pearl refused to cooperate with the school's internal investigation, and that university officials notified him that the refusal could lead to his firing. The university had been unable to determine whether Pearl had been involved in any violations of law or NCAA rules because the FBI had seized his computers and cell phones as part of its investigation.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, First wave, Auburn
On the same day that the initial arrests were announced, E. J. Montgomery, a highly touted forward in the 2018 recruiting class who had verbally committed to Auburn in September 2016, announced he would reopen his recruitment. Montgomery ultimately committed to Kentucky in April 2018.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, First wave, Louisville
Louisville was not named directly in the court documents, but the documents mentioned a "University-6" that was "a public research university located in Kentucky" with "approximately 22,640 students and over 7,000 faculty and staff members", and fielding "approximately 21 varsity sports teams in NCAA Division I competition." The state has only two public research universities—the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville—and the details cited in the documents match only Louisville. Gregory Postel, Louisville's interim president, confirmed hours after the FBI announcements that the school was indeed "University-6". At the time of the announcement, the Louisville men's basketball program was facing major NCAA sanctions stemming from an earlier sex scandal, which included vacating the 2013 national championship. The NCAA upheld those sanctions on February 20, 2018.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, First wave, Louisville
The documents also alluded to two Louisville coaches, identified only as "Coach-1" and "Coach-2", and a recruit who signed with Louisville identified as "Player-10". The documents allege that the coaches were involved in a scheme by which a "Company-1", later identified as Adidas, would funnel $100,000 to the family of "Player-10" in exchange for him coming to Louisville. About a month before the scandal broke, Louisville, which has been Adidas' flagship college athletic program since 2016, signed a 10-year, $160 million extension to its then-current apparel contract with the company. The documents indicate that Brad Augustine, a youth basketball coach in Florida who was among the individuals arrested, said the following about "Coach-2":


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, First wave, Louisville
No one swings a bigger dick than Coach-2 at Company-1. . . . All [Coach-2] has to do is pick up the phone and call somebody [and say], 'These are my guys.' [ And then] they're taking care of us.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, First wave, Louisville
The day after the complaints were unsealed, CBS News, followed by many other media outlets, reported that "Coach-2" was Louisville head coach Rick Pitino. Shortly thereafter, media outlets identified "Player-10" as Brian Bowen, a top recruit who had unexpectedly signed with Louisville on June 3, 2017. Bowen most recently played for the Indiana Pacers on a two-way contract.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, First wave, Louisville
As a result of the scandal, on September 27, 2017, Louisville placed Pitino on unpaid administrative leave and athletic director Tom Jurich on paid administrative leave. Bowen was suspended from the team and withheld from all team activities. In addition, two five-star high school recruits who had verbally committed to join the Louisville program in 2018–19, Anfernee Simons and Courtney Ramey, rescinded their commitments and reopened their recruitment. Simons would try his luck with entering the 2018 NBA Draft as a high school postgraduate.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, First wave, Louisville
The Cardinals lost a third recruit on October 4 when David Johnson, a guard from the local Trinity High School who was rated as a top-50 prospect in the recruiting class of 2019 and had verbally committed to Louisville, rescinded his commitment (Johnson would re-commit to Louisville a year later). Two other five-star prospects for 2018 who had placed Louisville within their final choices, Moses Brown and Romeo Langford removed the Cardinals from their lists in the wake of the scandal.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, First wave, Louisville
On October 6 the University of Louisville placed associate head coach Kenny Johnson and assistant coach Jordan Fair on paid administrative leave, and Fair would be fired by Louisville on October 11.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, First wave, Louisville
The Louisville athletics board officially voted to fire Pitino on October 16. Two days later, the university's board of trustees voted 10–3 to fire Jurich with cause.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, First wave, Louisville
On November 8, the Southern District unsealed a new set of indictments against eight of the 10 individuals initially charged. On the same day, NBC News reported that these new documents directly linked Pitino to the alleged scheme to pay Bowen's family. The documents allege that Pitino met in July 2017 with Christian Dawkins, an agent who was formally indicted in both September and November. During that meeting, Dawkins was said to have asked Pitino to call Gatto and request the $100,000 payment to Bowen's family, and Pitino reportedly agreed to make the call to Gatto. The FBI revealed that phone records indicated that Pitino called Gatto three times before Bowen committed to Louisville.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, First wave, Louisville
The April 2018 indictments specifically charge Dawkins and Adidas consultant Merl Code with conspiring with Gatto to commit wire fraud and pay the aforementioned $100,000 to Bowen's family.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, First wave, Louisville
On May 18, 2018 the board of trustees agreed to a $4.5 million settlement with Jurich that cleared him of any wrong doing and phrased his termination as "retirement".


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, First wave, Miami
Like Louisville, the University of Miami was not directly identified in the court documents, but UM president Julio Frenk confirmed on September 27 that the school was the institution described in said documents as "University-7". The confirmation came the day after the attorney for UM head coach Jim Larrañaga said that the coach was unaware of any impropriety in the program.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, First wave, Miami
The documents allege that a UM coach identified only as "Coach-3" requested that Gatto arrange a $150,000 payment from Adidas to the family of a top high school player identified as "Player-12" in an attempt to keep him from signing with a "University-4" that was sponsored by a rival apparel company. This alleged $150,000 payment was also included in the April 2018 indictments.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, First wave, Oklahoma State and South Carolina
Lamont Evans, at the time an assistant at Oklahoma State, was one of the four coaches arrested on September 26. He was accused of taking at least $22,000 in bribes from two financial advisors, one of whom was acting as an FBI informant. The alleged bribes were offered over a five-year period that included Evans' former tenure as an assistant at South Carolina. Oklahoma State fired Evans on September 28.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, First wave, Oklahoma State and South Carolina
Oklahoma State lost one potential recruit due to the scandal. On the same day Evans was fired, Antwann Jones, a guard ranked by ESPN as one of the top 50 players in the recruiting class of 2018, rescinded a verbal commitment he had made to the program less than two weeks earlier.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, First wave, Oklahoma State and South Carolina
Evans was sentenced to three months in prison in June 2019 for his participation in the scheme, which he also conducted at the University of South Carolina.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, First wave, Oklahoma State and South Carolina
In June 2020, a press release by the NCAA announced that the men’s basketball team will be prohibited from participating in 2020-21 postseason competition and the university will self-impose a fine of $10,000 plus 1 percent of the men’s basketball program’s budget.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, First wave, Alabama
In the aftermath of the announcement of the FBI investigation, Alabama director of basketball operations Kobie Baker resigned following an internal investigation into the program. This resignation came after the school uncovered that Baker had accepted bribes to steer one of Alabama's incoming freshman players toward financial advisor Rashan Michel. Baker allegedly accepted a $5,000 payment for arranging a meeting between Michel and the father of the player, and an additional $10,000 for helping to steer the player toward Michel.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, First wave, Alabama
Before Alabama's exhibition game on November 6, 2017, the school announced that freshman point guard Collin Sexton would not play that game nor the first regular season game against Memphis due to eligibility concerns. Sexton would later be cleared to play for Alabama starting with their November 14 game against Lipscomb.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, First wave, USC
On September 26, federal prosecutors in New York announced charges of fraud and corruption against USC assistant coach Tony Bland. The charges allege that Bland and others allegedly received benefits from financial advisers and others to influence student-athletes to retain their services. Following the announcement, USC placed Bland on administrative leave and announced that it would conduct an internal investigation of the matter. After playing in only a few games in the 2017–18 season, on January 15, 2018, sophomore point guard De'Anthony Melton was indefinitely suspended as a result of the investigation.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, First wave, USC
Melton would later remove himself from the university on February 21, 2018, in order to enter the 2018 NBA Draft and begin training for it early, where he was selected 46th by the Houston Rockets and was later traded to the Phoenix Suns on August 31 before the upcoming NBA season began.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, First wave, USC
On Friday, December 13, 2019, USC received a notice of allegations from the NCAA in regards to the violations stemming from this investigation into the USC basketball department.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, Second wave, Arizona
On February 23, 2018, FBI wiretaps reportedly showed that head coach Sean Miller had discussed with Dawkins about paying Deandre Ayton $100,000 to facilitate Ayton's commitment to the University of Arizona, with the monetary situation being dealt with directly to him. Based on 247Sports which follows high school players and their recruitment, they had predicted 99% that Ayton would be attending University of Kansas the night of his commitment.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, Second wave, Arizona
If he were implicated in this case, it would have potentially hurt Ayton's chances of finishing out the rest of his season with Arizona, as well as result in him entering the 2018 NBA draft earlier than anticipated, similar to that of De'Anthony Melton. The following day, Miller notified the team that he would not coach in that night's game against Oregon, with associate coach Lorenzo Romar coaching the team instead and Ayton being allowed to play for Arizona that game.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, Second wave, Arizona
However, Ayton and his family have maintained they did not earn any monetary benefits to attend Arizona, with further information suggesting that Miller's calls to Dawkins were related to the recruitment of another player instead. This ultimately led to Ayton being cleared to finish out the season with Arizona. On March 1, Miller made his first public comments since the reporting on the wiretaps, in which he unequivocally denied any involvement in payments to players.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, Second wave, Arizona
ESPN reported that Miller would coach the team that night against Stanford, with Miller confirmed to remain the coach for Arizona throughout the rest of this season, as well as a bit further beyond that. (In part because of the continued corruption investigation, Miller would eventually be fired by Arizona in April 2021.)


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, Second wave, Arizona
Arizona, which had already lost one of its three-member 2018 recruiting class after the initial allegations, initially lost its remaining two 2018 recruits after the new revelations. Power forward Shareef O'Neal, son of Hall of Fame player Shaquille O'Neal and rated as a top-30 prospect, announced on February 24 that he was rescinding a commitment he had made in April 2017 to play at Arizona.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, Second wave, Arizona
Because the younger O'Neal signed a nonbinding financial aid agreement instead of a formal letter of intent, he did not need a release from Arizona to choose a new destination, and he would commit to UCLA three days later. Arizona's only remaining recruit at the time in the 2018 class, point guard Brandon Williams, also did not sign a letter of intent, giving him the option to reopen his recruitment, and he chose to do so on March 2. However, unlike Shareef O'Neal, Williams decided to recommit to Arizona on May 5, 2018.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, Second wave, NC State
According to the documents viewed by Yahoo! Sports, former NC State and current NBA player Dennis Smith Jr. had received $43,500 from ASM Sports, an agency run by reported cooperating government witness Andy Miller, before enrolling at the school. Another document said that Smith had received over $70,000 in loans, with the document also including notes about "how to recoup the money" after Smith chose not to sign with ASM Sports.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, Second wave, NC State
The April 2018 indictments specifically charge that Gatto was involved in a scheme to funnel $40,000 to Smith's family in October 2015 in exchange for signing with NC State. Adidas had a well-established relationship with both Smith and NC State, as Smith was playing for an Adidas-sponsored AAU team at the time, and NC State was then (as now) an Adidas-backed program. The indictment also claimed that an NC State coach identified only as "Coach-4" was the conduit for this payment. Smith would sign a financial aid agreement with the school in December of that year.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, Second wave, Seton Hall
The ASM documents also claim that current NBA player Isaiah Whitehead received at least $26,000 from ASM while at Seton Hall. He signed with ASM after leaving for the 2016 NBA draft, but later moved to Roc Nation.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, Second wave, LSU
Former LSU player Tim Quarterman allegedly received at least $16,000 from ASM while at the school.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, Second wave, Maryland
Diamond Stone, who played at Maryland in the 2015–16 season, allegedly received over $14,000 from ASM. The school launched an internal investigation into possible ties with the scandal, with head coach Mark Turgeon denying that he or any of his staff members had any involvement with the agency.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, Second wave, Maryland
The April 2018 indictments peripherally linked Maryland and its current apparel provider, Under Armour, to the scandal in a completely separate context, although neither was explicitly named in those documents. The FBI alleged that Gatto and a co-conspirator identified in the documents as "CC-3" agreed to make payments to the guardian of a 2017 recruit who was identified by media as Silvio De Sousa. According to the documents, the guardian told "CC-3" that he had received illicit payments from individuals connected with Under Armour in exchange for De Sousa's commitment to Maryland.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, Second wave, Maryland
The guardian also indicated that De Sousa preferred to go to Kansas, but that he would need to repay the illicit payments to facilitate the player's wishes. Gatto and "CC-3" then allegedly paid the guardian $20,000. De Sousa, who had been considered by most recruiting experts as a virtual lock to attend Maryland, committed to Kansas on August 30, 2017. It should also be noted that shortly after the 2018 indictments were unsealed, De Sousa's guardian denied accepting any illicit payments.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, Second wave, Kentucky
A spreadsheet in the documents viewed by Yahoo! Sports listed a $12,000 payment to a prospect identified as "BAM". A later note in the document identifies this individual as Bam Adebayo, who played only one season at Kentucky in 2016–17. Other documents claim that Adebayo received $36,500 in loans. Additionally, then-current Wildcats player Kevin Knox was listed among several players who had met or dined with Dawkins, or whose families had done so.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, Second wave, Washington
Markelle Fultz, who played a season at Washington before leaving to become the top pick in the 2017 NBA draft, allegedly received $10,000 from ASM.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, Second wave, USC
Melton would ultimately not be the only USC player implicated. The ASM documents claim that two other current USC players, or individuals closely associated with them, had received payments from the company.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, Second wave, Utah
Kyle Kuzma, a 2017 first-round NBA draft pick, was listed in the ASM documents as having received $9,500 from the agency while at Utah.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, Second wave, Xavier
Former Xavier star Edmond Sumner and his father reportedly received at least $7,000 in advances from ASM during the younger Sumner's college career.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, Second wave, South Carolina
After being withheld from play by Louisville amid questions regarding his eligibility stemming from the original revelations, Brian Bowen withdrew from the school and eventually enrolled at South Carolina, though he would not be eligible to play for the Gamecocks' basketball program until January 2019. However, the ASM documents raise more questions about his NCAA eligibility, allegedly listing at least $7,000 in benefits to him and his family during his high school career. That would result in him later rescinding his collegiate entry altogether, instead opting to begin a professional basketball career early, starting with the Sydney Kings in Australia. In addition, P. J. Dozier, a star on South Carolina's 2017 Final Four team, was alleged to have received over $6,000 while at the school.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, Second wave, Kansas
The mother of former Kansas (KU) star Josh Jackson, Apples Jones, reportedly received $2,700 from ASM during Jackson's college career.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, Second wave, Kansas
The April 2018 indictments raised more serious issues surrounding the Kansas program, which is also sponsored by Adidas. Gatto and the coach of an Adidas-sponsored AAU team were alleged to have given at least $90,000 to the mother of a KU recruit between October 2016 and November 2017 in exchange for the player's commitment to the school. Sources close to the investigation told Yahoo! Sports that this player was Billy Preston, who committed to KU in November 2016 and enrolled at the school in 2017.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, Second wave, Kansas
He played in two exhibition games, but the school did not allow him to play during the beginning 2017–18 season and then left school after questions were raised about his ownership of a car which he was driving at the time of an auto accident. Another member of KU's 2017 recruiting class, Silvio De Sousa, was linked to illicit payments in the 2018 indictments. The University attempted a plea deal acknowledging the payment to De Sousa was used to cover an online class. In April 2019, the University submitted their formal appeal to have De Sousa be re-instated for the 2019–2020 season.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, Second wave, Texas
Then-current Texas player Eric Davis Jr. allegedly received $1,500 from ASM. Texas held him out of the team's February 24 game against Oklahoma State. In addition, former Longhorns player Prince Ibeh was found in Dawkins' list of players and/or families who had met with or dined with Dawkins while in high school or college.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, Second wave, San Diego State
Then-current San Diego State player Malik Pope allegedly received $1,400 from ASM. Pope was withheld from the team's February 24 game against San Jose State while the school launched an internal investigation into the allegations. San Diego State cleared Pope to play prior to the Aztecs' February 27 game against Boise State, determining that there was no credible evidence that Pope had received any impermissible benefits.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, Second wave, Clemson
Former Clemson star Jaron Blossomgame reportedly received a payment of $1,100 while at the school.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, Second wave, Wichita State
The ASM documents allege that former Wichita State star Fred VanVleet received at least $1,000 while playing for the school.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, Second wave, Michigan State
The mother of then-current Michigan State star Miles Bridges reportedly received several hundred dollars in advances from ASM. An internal Michigan State investigation found that allegations that Bridges' mother had received about $400 in cash from Dawkins were false, but confirmed that Dawkins had paid slightly over $70 for a dinner with Bridges family members (though without the player present). Bridges was temporarily ruled ineligible because of the dinner, but his eligibility was restored on February 24, just in time to play for the Spartans' regular season finale at Wisconsin. Bridges made a $40 contribution (the approximate value of his family members' meals at the Dawkins meeting) to a charity of his choice as part of the reinstatement process.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, Programs affected, Second wave, Other players potentially implicated
The ASM documents also indicated that several players, or their family members, had either met or dined with Dawkins while the players were in high school or college. According to a lawyer involved with NCAA compliance issues who was interviewed in the Yahoo! Sports report, merely meeting with an agent is not an NCAA violation, but if the agent pays for a player's or family member's meal, the meal can be considered an "extra benefit" under NCAA rules. In addition to the aforementioned Knox and Ibeh, the following then-current and former NCAA players were listed in the ASM documents in this context:


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings
Two human polls make up the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings, the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll, in addition to various publications' preseason polls.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings, USA Today Coaches Poll
The Coaches Poll is the second oldest poll still in use after the AP Poll. It is compiled by a rotating group of 31 college Division I head coaches. The Poll operates by Borda count. Each voting member ranks teams from 1 to 25. Each team then receives points for their ranking in reverse order: Number 1 earns 25 points, number 2 earns 24 points, and so forth. The points are then combined and the team with the highest points is then ranked No. 1; second highest is ranked No. 2 and so forth. Only the top 25 teams with points are ranked, with teams receiving first place votes noted the quantity next to their name. The maximum points a single team can earn is 775.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
The 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 10, 2017. The first tournament was the 2K Sports Classic and the season ended with the Final Four in San Antonio on April 2, 2018. Practices officially began on September 29, 2017.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, Rule changes
The following rule changes were proposed for the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season:


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, Rule changes
The NCAA approved a number of experimental rule changes for use in the 2018 postseason NIT:


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, Conference membership changes
In addition to the schools changing conferences, the 2017–18 season was the last for four schools in their then-current conferences.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, Arenas, Temporary arenas
Three Division I men's teams played the 2017–18 season in temporary homes due to renovation of their current venues. A fourth team moved its home schedule to what is normally an alternate home for the same reason. One additional team is playing in two temporary venues while its previous venue is being replaced by a completely new structure at the same site.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, Season outlook, Pre–season polls
The top 25 from the AP and USA Today Coaches Polls.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, Regular season, Upsets
An upset is a victory by an underdog team. In the context of NCAA Division I Men's Basketball, this generally constitutes an unranked team defeating a team currently ranked in the Top 25. This list will highlight those upsets of ranked teams by unranked teams as well as upsets of #1 teams. Rankings are from the AP poll.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, Regular season, Upsets
Bold type indicates winning teams in "true road games"—i.e., those played on an opponent's home court (including secondary homes, such as Intrust Bank Arena for Wichita State).


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, Regular season, Conference winners and tournaments
Each of the 32 Division I athletic conferences ends its regular season with a single-elimination tournament. The team with the best regular-season record in each conference is given the number one seed in each tournament, with tiebreakers used as needed in the case of ties for the top seeding. The winners of these tournaments receive automatic invitations to the 2018 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, Postseason, NCAA Tournament, Tournament upsets
For this list, an "upset" is defined as a win by a team seeded 7 or more spots below its defeated opponent.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, Postseason, National Invitation Tournament
After the NCAA Tournament field was announced, the NCAA invited 32 teams to participate in the National Invitation Tournament. The tournament began on March 13, 2018 with all games prior to the semifinals being played at campus sites.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, Postseason, National Invitation Tournament, NIT Semifinals and Final
Played at Madison Square Garden in New York City on March 27 and 29


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, Postseason, College Basketball Invitational
The eleventh College Basketball Invitational (CBI) Tournament began on March 13, 2018. This tournament features 16 teams who were left out of the NCAA Tournament and NIT.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, Postseason, CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament
The eighth CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament began on March 12, 2018 and ended with the championship game on March 30. This tournament places an emphasis on selecting successful teams from "mid-major" conferences who were left out of the NCAA Tournament and NIT. 26 teams participate in this tournament.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey rankings
Two human polls made up the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey rankings, the USCHO.com/CBS College Sports poll and the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll. As the 2017–18 season progressed, rankings were updated weekly.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season
The 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season began in October 2017 and ended with the Frozen Four in April 2018. This was the 71st season in which an NCAA ice hockey championship was held, and US college hockey's 123rd year overall.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season, Player stats, Scoring leaders
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season, Player stats, Leading goaltenders
The following goaltenders lead the NCAA in goals against average while playing at least 33% of their team's total minutes.


2017–18 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season, Player stats, Leading goaltenders
GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average


2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings
Two human polls make up the 2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings, the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll, in addition to various publications' preseason polls.


2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings, Notable events
Stanford failed to be in the top 25 in the AP Poll released December 25, 2017. They had been in the top 25 for the prior 312 consecutive weeks, tied with Duke for the third longest streak in the top 25. The longest streak (not currently active) is 565 weeks (32 seasons) held by Tennessee between February 17, 1985, and February 15, 2016. The second longest streak, and longest active streak is held by Connecticut, and currently active as of December 25, 2017, at 458 weeks, starting with the Preseason 1993-94 poll.


2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings, USA Today Coaches Poll
The Coaches Poll is the second oldest poll still in use after the AP Poll. It is compiled by a rotating group of 31 college Division I head coaches. The Poll operates by Borda count. Each voting member ranks teams from 1 to 25. Each team then receives points for their ranking in reverse order: Number 1 earns 25 points, number 2 earns 24 points, and so forth. The points are then combined and the team with the highest points is then ranked No. 1; second highest is ranked No. 2 and so forth. Only the top 25 teams with points are ranked, with teams receiving first place votes noted the quantity next to their name. The maximum points a single team can earn is 775.


2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball season
The 2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball season began on November 10, 2017 and ended with the Final Four title game at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio on April 1, 2018. Practices officially began in September 29, 2017.


2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball season, Conference membership changes
In addition to the schools changing conferences, the 2017–18 season was the last for four schools in their then-current conferences:


2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball season, Arenas, Temporary arenas
Four Division I women's teams played the 2017–18 season in temporary homes due to renovation of their current venues. A fifth played in a temporary home following the demolition of its previous venue to accommodate a new arena.


2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball season, Preseason polls
The top 25 from the AP and USA Today Coaches Polls.


2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball season, Regular season, Early preseason tournament, Tournament upsets
For this list, an "upset" is defined as a win by a team seeded 7 or more spots below its defeated opponent.


2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball season, Regular season, Conference winners and tournaments
Each of the 32 Division I athletic conferences ends its regular season with a single-elimination tournament. The team with the best regular-season record in each conference is given the number one seed in each tournament, with tiebreakers used as needed in the case of ties for the top seeding. The winners of these tournaments receive automatic invitations to the 2018 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament.


2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball season, Award winners, All-America teams
The NCAA has never recognized a consensus All-America team in women's basketball. This differs from the practice in men's basketball, in which the NCAA uses a combination of selections by the Associated Press (AP), the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), the Sporting News, and the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) to determine a consensus All-America team. The selection of a consensus team is possible because all four organizations select at least a first and second team, with only the USBWA not selecting a third team.


2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball season, Award winners, All-America teams
Of the major selectors in women's basketball, the AP and USBWA divide their selections into separate teams, but the 2017–18 season was the first in which the USBWA did so. The women's counterpart to the NABC, the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA), continues the USBWA's former practice of selecting a single 10-member (plus ties) team. The NCAA does not recognize Sporting News as an All-America selector in women's basketball.


2017–18 NCAA Division I women's ice hockey rankings
Two polls make up the 2017–18 NCAA Division I women's ice hockey rankings, the USCHO.com poll and the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll. As the 2017–18 season progresses, rankings are updated weekly.


2017–18 NCAA Division I women's ice hockey season
The 2017–18 NCAA Division I women's ice hockey season began in September 2017 and ended with the 2018 NCAA Division I women's ice hockey tournament's championship game.


2017–18 NCAA Division I women's ice hockey season, Pre-season polls
The top 10 from USCHO.com and the top 10 from USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine, First place votes are in parentheses.


2017–18 NCAA Division II men's ice hockey season
The 2017–18 NCAA Division II men's ice hockey season began on October 27, 2017 and concluded on March 3 of the following year. This was the 36th season of second-tier college ice hockey.


2017–18 NCAA Division III men's ice hockey season
The 2017–18 NCAA Division III men's ice hockey season began on October 21, 2017, and concluded on March 24, 2018. This was the 45th season of Division III college ice hockey.


2017–18 NCAA Division III men's ice hockey season
The two Division II schools, (Saint Anselm and Saint Michael's) that had played in the New England Hockey Conference for years, formally left the league and began playing a full Northeast-10 Conference schedule.


2017–18 NCAA Division III men's ice hockey season
As had been announced in 2016, seven members of ECAC West, the last remaining ECAC conference at the Division III level, left to form the United Collegiate Hockey Conference along with two new men's programs. The remaining school, Hobart, joined the NEHC.


2017–18 NCAA football bowl games
The 2017–18 NCAA football bowl games was a series of college football bowl games which completed the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The games began on December 16, 2017, and aside from the all-star games ended with the 2018 College Football Playoff National Championship which was played on January 8, 2018.


2017–18 NCAA football bowl games
The total of 40 team-competitive bowls in FBS, including the national championship game, was one less than the previous year, with the folding of the Poinsettia Bowl. To fill the 78 available bowl slots, a total of 15 teams (19% of all participants) with non-winning (6–6) seasons participated in bowl games. This marks only the second time in seven years that no teams with losing seasons (6–7 or 5–7) had to be invited to fill available bowl berths.


2017–18 NCAA football bowl games, Schedule
The schedule for the 2017–18 bowl games is below. All times are EST (UTC−5).


2017–18 NCAA football bowl games, Schedule, College Football Playoff and Championship Game
The College Football Playoff system was used to determine a national champion of Division I FBS college football. A 13-member committee of experts ranked the top 25 teams in the nation after each of the last seven weeks of the 2017 season. The top four teams in the final ranking played a single-elimination semifinal round, with the winners advancing to the National Championship game.


2017–18 NCAA football bowl games, Schedule, College Football Playoff and Championship Game
The semifinal games were the Rose Bowl and the Sugar Bowl. Both were played on New Year's Day, as part of a yearly rotation of three pairs of six bowls, commonly referred to as the CFP New Year's Six bowl games. Their winners advanced to the 2018 College Football Playoff National Championship at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, on January 8, 2018.


2017–18 NCAA football bowl games, Schedule, Non-CFP bowl games
On April 11, 2016, the NCAA announced a freeze on new bowl games until after the 2019 season. While bowl games had been the purview of only the very best teams for nearly a century, the NCAA had to lower its postseason eligibility criteria repeatedly (2006, 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2013), eventually allowing teams with losing seasons (5–7) to participate in bowls due to there being not enough bowl-eligible teams, while also having to allow teams from the same conference to meet in the 2015 Arizona Bowl due to the lack of eligible teams to meet its other tie-ins. For the 2017–18 bowl season, 62% of the 130 teams playing in Division I FBS were deemed eligible to participate in a bowl game, with 60% actually receiving invites to fill the 78 available slots.


2017–18 NCAA football bowl games, Schedule, Non-CFP bowl games
For the 2017–18 bowl season, changes from the prior season's bowl games include the relocation of the Miami Beach Bowl to Frisco, Texas as the Frisco Bowl, and the discontinuation of the Poinsettia Bowl. The Russel Athletic Bowl was renamed the Camping World Bowl under a new sponsorship, and after going without a sponsor for two years, the St. Petersburg Bowl was renamed the Gasparilla Bowl (a name that pays homage to Tampa Bay's Gasparilla Pirate Festival).


2017–18 NCAA football bowl games, Schedule, FCS bowl game
The FCS has one bowl game; they also have a championship bracket that began on November 25 and ended on January 6.


2017–18 NCAA football bowl games, Selection of the teams, CFP top 25 teams
On December 3, 2017, the College Football Playoff selection committee announced their final team rankings for the year.


2017–18 NCAA football bowl games, Selection of the teams, CFP top 25 teams
In the fourth year of the College Football Playoff era, this was the first time that two of the four semifinalists  were from the same conference (Georgia and Alabama of the SEC).


2017–18 NCAA football bowl games, Selection of the teams, Conference champions' bowl games
Three bowls featured two conference champions playing against each other—the Dollar General Bowl, Cotton Bowl Classic, and Rose Bowl. Rankings are per the above CFP standings.


2017–18 NCAA football bowl games, Selection of the teams, Bowl-eligible teams
In mid-December multiple media sources reported that Florida State might not have met its bowl eligibility requirements. The team had a record of 6–6, with one of the wins – their 77–6 victory over Delaware State – against an FCS team. For such a game to count towards bowl eligibility, the FCS opponent must have used at least 90 percent of its allotted scholarships, and it was not clear that Delaware State had done so. But a few days later the Florida State administration issued a statement saying that Delaware State did in fact meet that threshold, once non-athletic scholarship funds were factored in.


2017–18 NCAA football bowl games, Selection of the teams, Bowl-eligible teams that did not receive a berth
As there are more bowl-eligible teams than bowl berths, three bowl-eligible teams did not receive a bowl berth:


2017–18 NFL playoffs
The 2017–18 NFL playoffs began on January 6, 2018, after the 2017 season, and concluded with Super Bowl LII on February 4, 2018, when the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the New England Patriots at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota.


2017–18 NFL playoffs
Several teams broke long playoff droughts, as the Buffalo Bills, Los Angeles Rams, Jacksonville Jaguars and Tennessee Titans each qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 1999, 2004, 2007 and 2008, respectively.


2017–18 NFL playoffs
The playoffs were also notable for the Patriots reaching a seventh consecutive AFC Championship Game, extending their own NFL record, and the Eagles snapping a 57-year championship drought and claiming their first in the Super Bowl era.


2017–18 NFL playoffs
For the first time since 2013–14, no games went to overtime.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Participants
Within each conference, the four division winners and the two wild card teams (the top two non-division winners with the best overall regular season records) qualified for the playoffs. The four division winners are seeded 1 through 4 based on their overall won-lost-tied record, and the wild card teams are seeded 5 and 6. The NFL does not use a fixed bracket playoff system, and there are no restrictions regarding teams from the same division matching up in any round.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Participants
In the first round, dubbed the wild-card playoffs or wild-card weekend, the third-seeded division winner hosts the sixth seed wild card, and the fourth seed hosts the fifth. The 1 and 2 seeds from each conference then receive a bye in the first round. In the second round, the divisional playoffs, the number 1 seed hosts the worst surviving seed from the first round (seed 4, 5, or 6), while the number 2 seed will play the other team (seed 3, 4, or 5).


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Participants
The two surviving teams from each conference's divisional playoff games then meet in the respective AFC and NFC Conference Championship games, hosted by the higher seed. Although the Super Bowl, the fourth and final round of the playoffs, is played at a neutral site, the designated home team is based on an annual rotation by conference.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Wild card playoffs, Saturday, January 6, 2018, AFC: Tennessee Titans 22, Kansas City Chiefs 21
The Tennessee Titans overcame an 18-point halftime deficit to defeat the Kansas City Chiefs 22–21 and won their first playoff game since the 2003 season.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Wild card playoffs, Saturday, January 6, 2018, AFC: Tennessee Titans 22, Kansas City Chiefs 21
Kansas City opened the scoring on their second possession of the game. After Alex Smith connected with Tyreek Hill for 45 yards and Travis Kelce for a 27-yard completion, Kareem Hunt ran in for a one-yard touchdown. On their next drive the Chiefs drove 76 yards in five plays, with Smith completing a 26-yard pass to Hill and an 18-yard pass to receiver Albert Wilson. Following an 18-yard run by Hunt, Smith hit Kelce for a 13-yard touchdown. Smith finished the quarter with 154 passing yards, a career high.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Wild card playoffs, Saturday, January 6, 2018, AFC: Tennessee Titans 22, Kansas City Chiefs 21
In the second quarter, Tennessee advanced to Kansas City's 21-yard line before Marcus Mariota was intercepted by Marcus Peters, who returned the ball 28 yards to the Chiefs' 37-yard line. Following a punt, tight end Delanie Walker's 22-yard reception sparked a drive to the Chiefs' 22-yard line; however, on third-and-4, linebacker Derrick Johnson sacked Mariota and forced the team to settle for a 49-yard Ryan Succop field goal.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Wild card playoffs, Saturday, January 6, 2018, AFC: Tennessee Titans 22, Kansas City Chiefs 21
The Chiefs increased their lead to 18 points by the end of the half, however, with a nine-play, 79-yard drive that culminated in a 14-yard scoring pass from Smith to Demarcus Robinson with three seconds left in the half. Kansas City went into halftime with a 21–3 lead, with more total yards (284 to 127) and more first downs (16 to 3). However, Kelce suffered a game-ending injury while catching a 12-yard pass on the final drive.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Wild card playoffs, Saturday, January 6, 2018, AFC: Tennessee Titans 22, Kansas City Chiefs 21
Tennessee opened the second half with a 15-play, 91-yard drive that consumed 8:29 off the clock. On a third-down play from the Kansas City 6-yard line, Mariota attempted a pass, which was deflected by Darrelle Revis, back to Mariota, who ran it in for a touchdown, making him the first quarterback to complete a touchdown pass to himself in a postseason game. The Chiefs were forced to punt on their next drive, but Adoree' Jackson muffed the catch and Keith Reaser recovered for Kansas City.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Wild card playoffs, Saturday, January 6, 2018, AFC: Tennessee Titans 22, Kansas City Chiefs 21
They were unable to capitalize on the turnover, however, as they lost two yards over their next three plays and Harrison Butker hit the upright from a 48-yard field goal attempt. Tennessee took the ball back and drove 62 yards in six plays, scoring on a 35-yard run by Derrick Henry on the second play of the fourth quarter to cut the score to 21–16 after a failed two-point conversion.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Wild card playoffs, Saturday, January 6, 2018, AFC: Tennessee Titans 22, Kansas City Chiefs 21
Again forcing a Kansas City punt, Tennessee drove 81 yards in 11 plays to take their first lead of the game. Mariota converted three third downs on the drive, completing a 9-yard pass to Walker on third-and-3, scrambling 17 yards for a first down on third-and-8, and then connecting a 10-yard pass to tight end Jonnu Smith on third-and-2. Eventually, Mariota finished the drive by throwing to Eric Decker for a 22-yard touchdown, giving Tennessee a 22–21 lead following another failed two-point conversion with 6:06 remaining.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Wild card playoffs, Saturday, January 6, 2018, AFC: Tennessee Titans 22, Kansas City Chiefs 21
Kansas City then drove into Tennessee territory, but Alex Smith was sacked on third down by Derrick Morgan and then missed a pass to Wilson on fourth down with 2:09 left. On the second play of Tennessee's drive, Johnson recovered a Henry fumble and returned it 56 yards for a touchdown, but Henry was ruled down by contact upon review. One play later, Kansas City had one last chance to get the ball back on a third-and-10 situation.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Wild card playoffs, Saturday, January 6, 2018, AFC: Tennessee Titans 22, Kansas City Chiefs 21
Mariota handed the ball off to Henry, who started to run to the middle, but then switched direction and ran to the left. Aided by a key block from Mariota against linebacker Frank Zombo, Henry raced 22 yards down the left sideline for a game-clinching first down, and the Titans ran out the rest of the clock, having held the Chiefs to 41 yards and three first downs in the second half.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Wild card playoffs, Saturday, January 6, 2018, AFC: Tennessee Titans 22, Kansas City Chiefs 21
Alex Smith finished as the leading passer with 264 yards and two touchdowns, but only 110 yards after the first quarter. Mariota threw for 205 yards, two touchdowns and an interception in his first playoff start; his self-caught touchdown pass made him the first player since at least 1950 to throw and catch a touchdown pass in the same playoff game. Henry gained 156 yards on 23 carries and 191 total yards from scrimmage, while Hunt, the league's leading rusher during the regular season, gained just 42 yards on 11 carries. Chiefs coach Andy Reid faced criticism for not relying on Hunt to protect their lead in the second half, as Hunt only carried the ball five times after halftime.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Wild card playoffs, Saturday, January 6, 2018, AFC: Tennessee Titans 22, Kansas City Chiefs 21
Tennessee became the first road team to erase an 18-point deficit to win a postseason game since the 1972 playoffs. The loss was Kansas City's sixth consecutive home playoff loss, extending a league record.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Wild card playoffs, Saturday, January 6, 2018, NFC: Atlanta Falcons 26, Los Angeles Rams 13
In the first playoff game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum since the 1993 NFL season, and the first Rams playoff hosted at the venue since the 1978 NFL season, Matt Ryan threw for 218 yards and a touchdown, and kicker Matt Bryant kicked four field goals to beat the Rams.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Wild card playoffs, Saturday, January 6, 2018, NFC: Atlanta Falcons 26, Los Angeles Rams 13
Atlanta got an early scoring opportunity when Blake Countess muffed a punt that Falcons linebacker LaRoy Reynolds recovered on the Rams' 17-yard line, leading to Matt Bryant's 29-yard field goal. Then, after a punt, Atlanta receiver Julio Jones caught a 27-yard pass and rushed for 13 yards on an end-around play as the team drove 57 yards in nine plays to go up 6–0 on Bryant's 51-yard field goal. Damontae Kazee forced a fumble from Pharoh Cooper on the ensuing kickoff, which Kemal Ishmael recovered for Atlanta on the Rams' 32-yard line. This time, the Falcons were able to take the ball to the end zone, scoring on a 3-yard touchdown run by Devonta Freeman as a result of center Alex Mack literally dragging him across the goal line.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Wild card playoffs, Saturday, January 6, 2018, NFC: Atlanta Falcons 26, Los Angeles Rams 13
Late in the second quarter, the Rams finally managed to get on the board, sparked by a 26-yard run by Todd Gurley. Jared Goff finished the drive with passes to Cooper Kupp, the first for 15 yards and the second a 14-yard touchdown completion that made the score 13–7. The next time they had the ball, only 1:15 remained in the half, but they were able to convert a 38-yard completion from Goff to Robert Woods into a 35-yard Sam Ficken field goal, making the score 13–10 at halftime.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Wild card playoffs, Saturday, January 6, 2018, NFC: Atlanta Falcons 26, Los Angeles Rams 13
The Falcons took up more than half the third quarter with their opening drive, moving the ball 76 yards in 16 plays. Freeman carried the ball six times for 42 yards, while quarterback Matt Ryan converted a fourth-and-1 with a 1-yard sneak. Bryant finished the possession with his third field goal, this one from 25 yards, increasing their lead to 16–10. After a Rams punt, Ryan's completions to Jones for gains of 12 and 16 yards set up Bryant's fourth field goal, a 51-yard kick, to put the team up 19–10.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Wild card playoffs, Saturday, January 6, 2018, NFC: Atlanta Falcons 26, Los Angeles Rams 13
The Rams quickly struck back, with Gurley rushing twice for gains of 14 and 33 yards, along with Goff completing an 18-yard pass to Woods. Ficken's 32-yard field goal at the end of the drive cut the deficit to 19–13 with just over 10 minutes left. However, Atlanta came back with an eight-play, 83-yard drive featuring a 52-yard completion from Ryan to Mohamed Sanu. On the last play, Ryan's 8-yard touchdown pass to Jones put his team up 26–13.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Wild card playoffs, Saturday, January 6, 2018, NFC: Atlanta Falcons 26, Los Angeles Rams 13
The Rams responded with one last drive to try and get back in the game, moving the ball to a third-and-goal situation on Atlanta's 5-yard line. Goff then threw a touchdown pass to tight end Tyler Higbee, but the call was reversed by a review, as replays showed the ball hit the ground as Higbee was going to the turf. On the next play, Goff threw an incomplete pass, causing a turnover on downs with 2:05 left. The Rams received the ball one more time, but this resulted in another turnover on downs.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Wild card playoffs, Saturday, January 6, 2018, NFC: Atlanta Falcons 26, Los Angeles Rams 13
Ryan completed 21 of 30 passes for 213 yards and a touchdown, while Jones caught nine passes for 94 yards and a touchdown. Goff finished the day 24-for-45 for 259 yards and a touchdown. His top target was Woods, who caught nine passes for 142 yards. Gurley was the game's top rusher with 101 yards on 14 carries, while also catching four passes for 10 yards.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Wild card playoffs, Sunday, January 7, 2018, AFC: Jacksonville Jaguars 10, Buffalo Bills 3
In the Jaguars' first playoff appearance since 2007 and the lowest scoring NFL postseason game since the 1997 season, Jacksonville's 15-play, 86-yard touchdown drive in the third quarter was enough to propel them to victory.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Wild card playoffs, Sunday, January 7, 2018, AFC: Jacksonville Jaguars 10, Buffalo Bills 3
Every drive in the first quarter ended in a punt. Early in the second quarter, Jacksonville got a chance to score when Aaron Colvin intercepted a pass from Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor on the Buffalo 35-yard line. However, the team lost three yards over the next three plays and decided to punt rather than risk a long field goal. From there, Buffalo took up nearly all the remaining time in the quarter, driving all the way to the Jaguars' 1-yard line.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Wild card playoffs, Sunday, January 7, 2018, AFC: Jacksonville Jaguars 10, Buffalo Bills 3
However, an offensive pass interference penalty against receiver Kelvin Benjamin pushed them back 10 yards and they ended up settling for a 31-yard Steven Hauschka field goal to take a 3–0 lead with 1:49 left in the half. After an exchange of punts, Jacksonville got the ball on their own 47-yard line with 40 seconds left and quarterback Blake Bortles scrambled twice for gains of 20 and 12 yards to set up Josh Lambo's 44-yard field goal, tying the score at halftime.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Wild card playoffs, Sunday, January 7, 2018, AFC: Jacksonville Jaguars 10, Buffalo Bills 3
On the Jaguars' second possession of the second half, they drove 86 yards in 15 plays to take a 10–3 lead. The key player of the drive was running back Leonard Fournette, who carried the ball eight times for 33 yards and caught a pass for 12 yards. Eventually the team faced fourth-and-goal on the 1-yard line and decided to go for the touchdown; the decision paid off as Bortles threw a pass to tight end Ben Koyack for the score with 42 seconds left in the third quarter. Jacksonville's defense then locked the Bills down in the fourth quarter, forcing three punts and an interception by Jalen Ramsey on the Jaguars' 48-yard line with 26 seconds left.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Wild card playoffs, Sunday, January 7, 2018, AFC: Jacksonville Jaguars 10, Buffalo Bills 3
Bortles completed only 12 of 23 passes for 87 yards and a touchdown, but was also the game's leading rusher with 88 yards on the ground. Bills running back LeSean McCoy rushed for 75 yards and caught six passes for 44 yards.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Wild card playoffs, Sunday, January 7, 2018, NFC: New Orleans Saints 31, Carolina Panthers 26
This was the first postseason meeting between the Panthers and Saints.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Wild card playoffs, Sunday, January 7, 2018, NFC: New Orleans Saints 31, Carolina Panthers 26
Carolina had a chance to score on their second possession of the game, driving to a third-and-goal on the Saints' 7-yard line. But over the next two plays, Kaelin Clay dropped a potential touchdown catch in the end zone and then Graham Gano missed a 25-yard field goal attempt. On the second play after the missed field goal, New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees threw a deep pass down the middle of the field to Ted Ginn Jr., who evaded a tackle attempt by James Bradberry and ran all the way to the end zone for an 80-yard touchdown reception. This gave New Orleans a 7–0 lead with less than two minutes left in the first quarter.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Wild card playoffs, Sunday, January 7, 2018, NFC: New Orleans Saints 31, Carolina Panthers 26
Carolina responded on their next drive, converting a 22-yard completion from Cam Newton to Greg Olsen and a 39-yard pass interference penalty against defensive back Ken Crawley into a 27-yard Gano field goal that cut the score to 7–3. However, New Orleans responded immediately, with Brees completing passes to Michael Thomas for gains of 19, 8 and 13 yards, as well as passes to running backs Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara for gains of 13 and 10 yards.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Wild card playoffs, Sunday, January 7, 2018, NFC: New Orleans Saints 31, Carolina Panthers 26
On the last play of the drive, Brees put the Saints up 14–3 with a 9-yard touchdown pass to tight end Josh Hill. Carolina struck back, with Newton completing a 19-yard pass to Brenton Bersin and converting a fourth-and-1 with a quarterback sneak. Gano finished the 54-yard drive with a 39-yard field goal to make the score 14–6 with 2:47 left in the half. Brees responded by completing 4 of 6 passes for 67 yards on the way to a 1-yard touchdown run by fullback Zach Line, increasing the Saints' lead to 21–6.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Wild card playoffs, Sunday, January 7, 2018, NFC: New Orleans Saints 31, Carolina Panthers 26
Taking the ball back with just over 40 seconds left, Newton completed a 24-yard pass to Devin Funchess. A few more plays moved the ball to the Saints' 40-yard line, where Gano barely managed to squeeze a 58-yard field goal inside the left upright, tying the NFL record for the longest field goal in postseason history.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Wild card playoffs, Sunday, January 7, 2018, NFC: New Orleans Saints 31, Carolina Panthers 26
The Panthers continued to chip away at their deficit with their first drive of the second half, as they moved the ball 64 yards in nine plays on a possession that featured a 29-yard run by Jonathan Stewart. Gano finished the drive with his fourth field goal, making the score 21–12. But New Orleans was able to respond, with Ginn catching two passes for 30 yards on a 36-yard drive that ended with Wil Lutz kicking a 57-yard field goal, bringing their lead back up to 24–12. With less than two minutes left in the third quarter, the Panthers started a 68-yard drive in which Olsen caught three passes for 54 total yards, the last one a 14-yard touchdown catch that cut the score to 24–19.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Wild card playoffs, Sunday, January 7, 2018, NFC: New Orleans Saints 31, Carolina Panthers 26
Following a few punts, Brees' 46-yard completion to Thomas gave the Saints a first down on the Carolina 5-yard line, where they went on to score with Kamara's 2-yard touchdown run and go up 31–19 with 5:08 left. On the third play of the Panthers' next drive, Newton completed a short pass to running back Christian McCaffrey, who raced 56 yards for a touchdown, cutting the score to 31–26. New Orleans took the ball back and drove to a fourth-and-2 situation on the 47-yard line at the two-minute warning.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Wild card playoffs, Sunday, January 7, 2018, NFC: New Orleans Saints 31, Carolina Panthers 26
Deciding to go for the first down, Brees threw a pass that was intercepted by safety Mike Adams, giving the ball back to the Panthers, though Adams' decision to intercept the ball instead of knocking the pass down ended up costing his team 16 yards. Carolina then drove to the Saints' 21-yard line. On second down, Newton was flagged for intentional grounding while throwing a pass to avoid a sack, bringing up third-and-23. Then after an incompletion, safety Vonn Bell sacked Newton, forcing a turnover on downs with four seconds left.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Wild card playoffs, Sunday, January 7, 2018, NFC: New Orleans Saints 31, Carolina Panthers 26
Newton finished the game 24-of-40 for 349 yards and two touchdowns, along with 37 yards on the ground. His top target was Olsen (eight receptions for 107 yards and a touchdown), who was one of four players in this game to have over 100 receiving yards. The others were McCaffrey (six for 101 yards and a touchdown), Thomas (eight receptions for 131 yards) and Ginn (four receptions for 115 yards and a touchdown). Brees was 23-of-33 for 376 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Bell had nine tackles – seven solo – and a sack.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Saturday, January 13, 2018, NFC: Philadelphia Eagles 15, Atlanta Falcons 10
Philadelphia's defense recorded three sacks, held Atlanta to 281 yards – 83 below their season average – and stopped the Falcons on four consecutive plays after a first-and-goal on their own 9-yard line in the final minutes to preserve a 15–10 win.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Saturday, January 13, 2018, NFC: Philadelphia Eagles 15, Atlanta Falcons 10
The Eagles seemed primed to score on their opening drive when a 42-yard pass interference penalty on Falcons defensive back Brian Poole gave them the ball on the Falcons' 33-yard line. But on the next play, Ricardo Allen forced a fumble from Jay Ajayi that was recovered by safety Keanu Neal. Atlanta then drove 59 yards in 12 plays to score on Matt Bryant's 33-yard field goal, giving them a 3–0 lead.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Saturday, January 13, 2018, NFC: Philadelphia Eagles 15, Atlanta Falcons 10
After the teams exchanged punts, Ajayi rushed four times for 26 yards and receiver Nelson Agholor ran for 21 yards on an end-around play as the team drove to a fourth-and-goal on the Atlanta 1-yard line. On the next play, LeGarrette Blount finished the 86-yard drive with a rush for the touchdown, putting the team up 6–3 with 10:28 left in the half after Jake Elliott hit the upright on his extra point attempt.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Saturday, January 13, 2018, NFC: Philadelphia Eagles 15, Atlanta Falcons 10
Atlanta had to punt on their next drive, but the ball bounced into Eagles blocker Bryan Braman and was recovered by Falcons linebacker LaRoy Reynolds on the Philadelphia 18-yard line, where they went on to go up 10–6 with Matt Ryan's six-yard touchdown pass to running back Devonta Freeman. Following a punt from each team, Philadelphia got the ball on their own 28-yard line with 46 seconds left in the half. Quarterback Nick Foles then completed passes to Corey Clement, Torrey Smith and Alshon Jeffery for gains of 7, 20 and 15 yards, setting up Elliott's 53-yard field goal, which cut the score to 10–9 at halftime.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Saturday, January 13, 2018, NFC: Philadelphia Eagles 15, Atlanta Falcons 10
With just under six minutes left in the third quarter, the Eagles got the ball on their own 7-yard line due to a 39-yard punt by Matt Bosher. From there, Foles completed 5 of 7 passes for 70 yards – Jeffery caught three of them for 46 – on a 74-yard, 12-play drive to take the lead at 12–10 with Elliott's 37-yard field goal. Elliott's ensuing kickoff went out of bounds, giving Atlanta good field position on their own 40-yard line.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Saturday, January 13, 2018, NFC: Philadelphia Eagles 15, Atlanta Falcons 10
On the next play, the last of the third quarter, Ryan was sacked for a 10-yard loss by safety Rodney McLeod. The Falcons ended up going three-and-out and their defense was soon back on the field trying to contain another long Eagles drive. This one went for 14 plays and 80 yards, 32 of them on a reception by Ajayi, taking 7:57 off the clock. Desmond Trufant managed to end the drive on the Falcons' 3-yard line by tackling Clement a yard short of a first down on third-and-3.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Saturday, January 13, 2018, NFC: Philadelphia Eagles 15, Atlanta Falcons 10
However, Elliott kicked his third field goal on the next play, giving Philadelphia a 15–10 lead with 6:02 remaining. Atlanta took the ball back and drove to a first down on the Eagles' 9-yard line, featuring a 20-yard reception by Julio Jones on fourth-and-6. After throwing incomplete passes on the next two plays, Ryan threw a seven-yard pass to Jones on the 2-yard line. Then with 1:05 left, Ryan tried to connect with Jones in the end zone, but the pass went just through his hands, enabling the Eagles to get the ball and run out the clock.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Saturday, January 13, 2018, NFC: Philadelphia Eagles 15, Atlanta Falcons 10
Filling in for injured starter Carson Wentz, Foles completed 23 of 30 passes for 246 yards. Ajayi rushed for 54 yards and caught three passes for 44 yards. Ryan completed 22 of 36 passes for 210 yards and a touchdown. Jones caught nine passes for 101 yards and rushed for 21 yards, while Tevin Coleman was the top rusher of the game with 10 carries for 79 yards, while also catching a pass for 14 yards.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Saturday, January 13, 2018, NFC: Philadelphia Eagles 15, Atlanta Falcons 10
With the win, the Eagles won their first playoff game and advanced to their first NFC Championship appearance since 2008, and their first at home since 2004.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Saturday, January 13, 2018, AFC: New England Patriots 35, Tennessee Titans 14
New England racked up 438 yards of offense, 31 first downs and eight sacks as they advanced to their seventh consecutive AFC Championship game.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Saturday, January 13, 2018, AFC: New England Patriots 35, Tennessee Titans 14
Midway through the first quarter, Tennessee drove 95 yards in 11 plays, featuring a 36-yard completion from Marcus Mariota to tight end Delanie Walker. Mariota finished the drive with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Corey Davis, who made a running one-handed catch in the back corner of the end zone to put the Titans up 7–0. However, the Patriots stormed right back, with Tom Brady completing five consecutive passes for 67 yards, the longest a 32-yard completion to Dion Lewis and the last a five-yard shovel pass to James White for a touchdown that tied the score. After a Tennessee punt, Brady completed three consecutive passes for 28 yards as the team drove 48 yards in six plays to go up 14–7 on White's six-yard touchdown run with 9:20 left in the half.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Saturday, January 13, 2018, AFC: New England Patriots 35, Tennessee Titans 14
The next time New England got the ball, they had to punt after three plays, but a neutral zone infraction penalty on Titans defensive back Brynden Trawick gave them a first down. Taking advantage of their second chance, they ended up driving 91 yards in 16 plays to take a 21–7 lead on Brady's six-yard touchdown pass to Chris Hogan. Tennessee then drove to the Patriots' 46-yard line; on fourth-and-1, Derrick Henry tried to run for a first down, but defensive backs Malcolm Butler and Stephon Gilmore tackled him for no gain. With 17 seconds left, the Patriots were able to get to the Titans' 35-yard line with time remaining, but Stephen Gostkowski missed a 53-yard field goal attempt as time expired. In the first half alone, Brady completed 21 of 31 passes for 206 yards and two touchdowns.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Saturday, January 13, 2018, AFC: New England Patriots 35, Tennessee Titans 14
In the third quarter, Brett Kern's 40-yard punt from his own 16-yard line gave the Patriots good field position on their 44-yard line. On the next play, Brady completed a 27-yard pass to tight end Rob Gronkowski and the team went on to increase their lead to 28–7 with Brandon Bolden's two-yard touchdown run. The next time New England got the ball, they went on a 15-play, 90-yard drive in which they only faced two third downs.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Saturday, January 13, 2018, AFC: New England Patriots 35, Tennessee Titans 14
Brady completed seven passes for 78 yards on the drive, the longest a 25-yard throw to Danny Amendola, and finished it off with a four-yard touchdown toss to Gronkowski, making the score 35–7 with 10:22 left. Before the end of the quarter, the Titans were able to make it 35–14 with Mariota's 11-yard touchdown pass to Davis on fourth down at the end of an 80-yard, 16-play drive.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Saturday, January 13, 2018, AFC: New England Patriots 35, Tennessee Titans 14
At 40 years, 163 days, Brady became the oldest quarterback to lead his team to victory in a postseason game, finishing the day 35-of-53 for 337 yards and three touchdowns. Amendola caught 11 passes for 112 yards, while also returning three punts for 18 yards. Lewis rushed for 62 yards, caught nine passes for 79 yards and returned a kickoff for 27 yards. Linebacker Geneo Grissom and defensive tackle Deatrich Wise Jr. each had two sacks for New England. Mariota completed 22 of 37 passes for 225 yards and two touchdowns.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Saturday, January 13, 2018, AFC: New England Patriots 35, Tennessee Titans 14
This game set the NFL postseason record for the largest age difference between opposing quarterbacks: Brady was 40 and Mariota was 24.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Sunday, January 14, 2018, AFC: Jacksonville Jaguars 45, Pittsburgh Steelers 42
Jacksonville built up a 28–7 first-half lead and held off a second-half Steelers comeback to win the fourth-highest-scoring NFL playoff game. It was a rematch of a regular season game in Week 5, which the Jags won 30–9 thanks to their defense intercepting Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger 5 times.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Sunday, January 14, 2018, AFC: Jacksonville Jaguars 45, Pittsburgh Steelers 42
The Jaguars drove 66 yards in eight plays on their opening drive, with Blake Bortles completing passes to tight ends Ben Koyack and James O'Shaughnessy for gains of 21 and 19 yards on the way to a one-yard fourth-down touchdown run by Leonard Fournette. Later in the first quarter, linebacker Myles Jack intercepted a pass from Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger on the Pittsburgh 18-yard line and Fournette increased Jacksonville's lead to 14–0 with a touchdown run on the next play.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Sunday, January 14, 2018, AFC: Jacksonville Jaguars 45, Pittsburgh Steelers 42
The Steelers responded with a drive to the Jacksonville 21-yard line, but on fourth-and-1, running back Le'Veon Bell was tackled by Jalen Ramsey and Malik Jackson for a four-yard loss. The Jaguars then drove 75 yards in 11 plays and scored on T. J. Yeldon's 4-yard touchdown run, increasing their lead to 21–0 with just over 11 minutes left in the half.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Sunday, January 14, 2018, AFC: Jacksonville Jaguars 45, Pittsburgh Steelers 42
This time, the Steelers responded with a 64-yard scoring drive, featuring a 21-yard run by Bell and ending on Roethlisberger's 23-yard touchdown pass to Antonio Brown. But the next time Pittsburgh got the ball, Roethlisberger lost a fumble while being sacked by Yannick Ngakoue. Linebacker Telvin Smith recovered the ball and returned it 50 yards for a touchdown, making the score 28–7 with less than two minutes left until halftime. However, the Jaguars were penalized 15 yards for excessive celebration, before Cameron Sutton returned the ensuing kickoff 22 yards to the Jacksonville 49-yard line. Pittsburgh went on to drive 51 yards and cut their deficit to 28–14 on Roethlisberger's 36-yard touchdown completion to Martavis Bryant with 25 seconds remaining.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Sunday, January 14, 2018, AFC: Jacksonville Jaguars 45, Pittsburgh Steelers 42
The Steelers drove 77 yards in 10 plays on their opening drive of the second half, cutting their deficit to 28–21 with Roethlisberger's 19-yard touchdown pass to Bell. Early in the final period, the Steelers got the ball on the Jaguars' 48-yard line due to a deflected punt, but ended up turning the ball over with an incomplete pass on fourth-and-1. On the ensuing Jacksonville drive, Bortles' 45-yard completion to Keelan Cole put them on the Steelers' 3-yard line and Fournette ran the ball in for a touchdown on the next play, giving the Jaguars a 35–21 lead.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Sunday, January 14, 2018, AFC: Jacksonville Jaguars 45, Pittsburgh Steelers 42
This was the start of a scoring run from both teams, cumulatively totaling 38 points in the fourth quarter. After Fournette's score, Roethlisberger started the next drive with a 21-yard completion to Brown and eventually ended it with a 43-yard touchdown pass to Brown that cut the score to 35–28. Jacksonville stormed right back, moving the ball 75 yards in eight plays, one of them a 40-yard completion from Bortles to Yeldon on third-and-5. Fullback Tommy Bohanon caught a 14-yard touchdown pass from Bortles with 4:19 left, giving the Jaguars a 42–28 lead.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Sunday, January 14, 2018, AFC: Jacksonville Jaguars 45, Pittsburgh Steelers 42
The Steelers responded by moving the ball 75 yards in 12 plays, the longest a 22-yard reception from Bell. Bell finished the drive with an eight-yard touchdown run, reducing his team's deficit to 42–35 with 2:19 to play. However, Pittsburgh failed to recover their ensuing onside kick attempt, resulting in Jacksonville getting the ball back on the Steelers' 36-yard line and leading to a 45-yard Josh Lambo field goal that put the Jaguars up 45–35. Pittsburgh then drove 75 yards in 10 plays, including a 42-yard completion from Roethlisberger to Brown. He ended up throwing a four-yard touchdown pass to JuJu Smith-Schuster, but by then, one second remained.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Sunday, January 14, 2018, AFC: Jacksonville Jaguars 45, Pittsburgh Steelers 42
Bortles completed 14 of 26 passes for 214 yards and a touchdown. Fournette was the top rusher of the game with 25 carries for 109 yards and three touchdowns, along with two receptions for 10 yards. Setting several franchise playoff records, Roethlisberger completed 37 of 58 passes for 469 yards – the second highest total in NFL postseason history, behind Bernie Kosar's 489-yard tally, from January 1987 – with five touchdowns and an interception.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Sunday, January 14, 2018, AFC: Jacksonville Jaguars 45, Pittsburgh Steelers 42
Bell rushed for 67 yards and a touchdown, while also catching nine passes for 88 yards, while Brown caught seven passes for 132 yards and two touchdowns. Tight end Vance McDonald also went over 100 yards receiving, making 10 receptions for 112 yards. The Steelers lost despite gaining 545 yards of total offense, the most yards gained by a losing team in a playoff game (this record was later surpassed by the Patriots in Super Bowl LII). Ben Roethlisberger became the first NFL quarterback in a playoff game to throw for five touchdowns in a losing effort.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Sunday, January 14, 2018, AFC: Jacksonville Jaguars 45, Pittsburgh Steelers 42
He was the first NFL quarterback to do this in any game since Tony Romo in 2013 against the Denver Broncos. Following the game, the Steelers were criticized by their fans and the media for looking past the Jaguars to the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game, which, had the Steelers won, would have been the second consecutive AFC Championship meeting between the two teams. This was also the last game that running back Le'Veon Bell played for the Steelers, as he sat out the 2018 season due to a contract dispute, then sign with the New York Jets once he became a free agent at the start of 2019.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Sunday, January 14, 2018, NFC: Minnesota Vikings 29, New Orleans Saints 24
Vikings quarterback Case Keenum's 61-yard touchdown pass to Stefon Diggs on the game's final play sent them to the NFC title game for the first time since the 2009 season and marked the first time in the NFL postseason that a game was won with a touchdown on the final play of regulation. The game has been referred to as the "Minneapolis Miracle".


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Sunday, January 14, 2018, NFC: Minnesota Vikings 29, New Orleans Saints 24
Minnesota dominated the first half, building up a 17–0 lead. The Saints had to punt on their opening drive and Marcus Sherels returned the ball 19 yards to the Vikings' 45-yard line before being tackled by punter Thomas Morstead. The Vikings then drove 55 yards in eight plays, including a 22-yard catch by Jarius Wright on third-and-3, to score on Jerick McKinnon's 14-yard touchdown run.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Sunday, January 14, 2018, NFC: Minnesota Vikings 29, New Orleans Saints 24
The next time they got the ball, two pass interference penalties on defensive back Ken Crawley gave the Vikings 54 yards on a 79-yard drive that ended with Kai Forbath's 20-yard field goal, increasing their lead to 10–0. Following two more possessions, Vikings safety Andrew Sendejo intercepted a pass from Drew Brees, giving Minnesota the ball on their own 42-yard line with 1:06 left in the first quarter. Keenum went 5-of-7 for 54 yards on a 58-yard drive that ended with Latavius Murray's one-yard touchdown run, giving the Vikings a 17–0 lead.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Sunday, January 14, 2018, NFC: Minnesota Vikings 29, New Orleans Saints 24
New Orleans responded with a drive to the Vikings' 14-yard line, but lost their chance to score when Brees threw a pass that was tipped at the line by Everson Griffen and intercepted by linebacker Anthony Barr. Then after a punt, Brees led the team to the Minnesota 30-yard line. But after two incompletions, Brees was sacked by safety Harrison Smith for a 10-yard loss and Wil Lutz missed a 58-yard field goal attempt with 26 seconds left in the half. The Vikings also got a field goal try before halftime, which resulted in Forbath missing from 49 yards out.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Sunday, January 14, 2018, NFC: Minnesota Vikings 29, New Orleans Saints 24
Minnesota took the opening kickoff and drove to the Saints' 30-yard line. However, in what turned out to be a crucial turning point, Keenum was sacked by Sheldon Rankins for a 10-yard loss on third down, pushing the team out of field goal range. New Orleans took the ball back and drove 80 yards in 12 plays, featuring a 23-yard reception by receiver Michael Thomas. Brees finished the drive with a 14-yard touchdown pass to Thomas, putting New Orleans on the board at 17–7.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Sunday, January 14, 2018, NFC: Minnesota Vikings 29, New Orleans Saints 24
Then on the first play after the kickoff, Keenum threw a pass that was intercepted by rookie safety Marcus Williams, who returned it 12 yards to the Vikings' 30-yard line. New Orleans then drove for another touchdown, scoring on Brees' three-yard pass to Thomas that narrowed the gap to 17–14 with 13:09 left in the game.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Sunday, January 14, 2018, NFC: Minnesota Vikings 29, New Orleans Saints 24
Minnesota responded with a seven-play, 44-yard drive that included a 27-yard completion from Keenum to Wright and ended on Forbath's 49-yard field goal that increased the Vikings' lead to 20–14. Furthermore, Saints coach Sean Payton lost two timeouts on the drive as a result of failed replay challenges. After forcing the Saints to punt, the Vikings ran the clock under six minutes before having to kick the ball back to New Orleans. Saints lineman George Johnson blocked the punt, enabling his team to take over on the Vikings' 40-yard line.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Sunday, January 14, 2018, NFC: Minnesota Vikings 29, New Orleans Saints 24
From there, Brees completed four consecutive passes, the last one a 14-yard touchdown completion to running back Alvin Kamara, giving them their first lead of the game at 21–20 with 3:01 left. Undaunted, the Vikings stormed back, mainly on the strength of a 24-yard Adam Thielen reception, moving the ball to the Saints 35-yard line, where Forbath made a 53-yard field goal that gave the team a 23–21 lead with 1:29 remaining. Brees was able to answer, throwing an 18-yard pass to tight end Josh Hill, an 11-yard pass to Ted Ginn Jr. and a 13-yard completion to Willie Snead on fourth-and-10. Minnesota eventually halted the drive on their own 25-yard line, where Lutz kicked a 43-yard field goal.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Sunday, January 14, 2018, NFC: Minnesota Vikings 29, New Orleans Saints 24
The Vikings were now down 24–23 with 25 seconds and one timeout left. After a touchback and a false start penalty put the ball on the 20-yard line, Keenum completed a 19-yard pass to Diggs on the 39-yard line, where the team promptly called their last timeout. Following two incomplete passes, they faced third-and-10 with 10 seconds left. On the next play, Keenum threw a deep pass near the right sideline to Diggs, who made a leaping catch near the Saints' 35-yard line.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Sunday, January 14, 2018, NFC: Minnesota Vikings 29, New Orleans Saints 24
Williams was in front of Diggs when he made the catch, but while trying to make a tackle, he completely missed Diggs and instead collided with Crawley (his own teammate and the other defender in range), leaving the receiver with no one around him. Diggs nearly fell over at this point, but was able to stay on his feet by using his off-hand and stay in bounds as he ran all the way to the end zone for a 61-yard touchdown completion to give the Vikings a 29–24 win. After several minutes of pandemonium, the Vikings knelt on the extra point try to close out the victory.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Sunday, January 14, 2018, NFC: Minnesota Vikings 29, New Orleans Saints 24
Keenum completed 25 of 40 passes for 318 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Diggs was the game's leading receiver with six receptions for 137 yards and a touchdown. Like Keenum, Brees also finished the game 25-of-40, but for 294 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. Kamara rushed for 43 yards, while also catching six passes for 72 yards and a touchdown.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Conference Championships, Sunday, January 21, 2018, AFC: New England Patriots 24, Jacksonville Jaguars 20
This was the first conference championship game to feature a team from Florida in 15 years (the Super Bowl XXXVII champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers won the 2002 NFC championship Game). New England overcame a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter to earn the franchise's 10th Super Bowl appearance.


2017–18 NFL playoffs, Conference Championships, Sunday, January 21, 2018, AFC: New England Patriots 24, Jacksonville Jaguars 20
On the opening drive of the game, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady completed a 31-yard pass to Brandin Cooks and a 20-yard pass to wide receiver Danny Amendola on fourth-and-1 as the team drove 62 yards in 10 plays to score on Stephen Gostkowski's 31-yard field goal. Following a pair of punts, Jacksonville quarterback Blake Bortles completed two passes to running back Corey Grant for 44 total yards as the team drove 76 yards in seven plays to take a 7–3 lead on a four-yard touchdown pass to tight end Marcedes Lewis on the second play of the second quarter. The next time they got the ball, Bortles completed all four pass attempts for 47 yards, one of them a 27-yard completion to Allen Hurns, as the team drove 77 yards in 10 plays to score on Leonard Fournette's four-yard touchdown run, increasing their lead to 14–3.