Greg Cote’s Hot Button Top 10: NFL sets Super Bowl matchup, pouting Butler ends latest Heat ban & more

GREG COTE’S HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (JANUARY 26): WHAT IN SPORTS HAS GRABBED US THIS WEEK: Our Sunday Hot Button Top 10 notes column brings you what’s on our minds, locally and nationally but from a Miami perspective and accentuating stuff that’s big, weird, damnable, funny or otherwise worth needling, as the sports week just past pivots to the week ahead. Welcome to the 91st edition of your HB10:

1. NFL: Super Bowl awaits, and America should be rooting for these 2 teams: It’s Bills at Chiefs and Commanders at Eagles Sunday, and America should be rooting for Buffalo and Washington. Sorry, Kansas City, but you’ve won two in a row. Sorry, Philly, but you won in 2017 and reached the SB in 2020. Washington hasn’t reached or won a Super Bowl since 1991, and Buffalo has never won and last came a win away in 1993. Bills-Comms!

2. HEAT: Miami wins; malcontent Butler eligible to play Monday: Miami leveled at 22-22 with Saturday 106-97 win at sad Brooklyn behind Tyler Herro’s 25 points, ending a skid of two straight losses and five of six. Saturday ended malcontent Jimmy Butler’s second team suspension and he’s eligible to be back on the court when team hosts Orlando Monday night. Might we expected a frosty reception from Heat fans. Butler has earned one.

3. TENNIS: American Keys wins Aussie Open for first major title: Madison Keys from Orlando by way of Illinois won the Australian Open women’s singles title Saturday for her first Grand Slam victory three weeks shy of her 30th birthday. It was a stunner as the 19th-seeded Keys beat No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, 6-2, 2-6, 7-5. Sunday’s men’s final is Jannik Skinner vs. Alexander Zverez in a duel of the top two men’s seeds. Skinner advanced in straight sets and Zverez by default when Novak Djokovic retired with a hamstring injury and was roundly booed.

4. COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Ohio State kills the championship parade: To the dismay of many in Columbus, the Buckeyes will not celebrate their CFP national championship win over Notre Dame with a traditional downtown parade. Instead Ohio State will state a celebration inside on Sunday/today at Ohio Stadium. Bor-ing.. If it ain’t a parade with cheering fans lined thick on either side of a street, your championship is incomplete.

5. PANTHERS: Cats quiet on trade front as they prep for 4 Nations: Stanley Cup champ Panthers are 29-21 after Saturday’s 7-2 rout-win at San Jose. Florida has been quiet in the trade market ahead of NHL’s March 7 deadline. Cats have seven games left starting tonight in Vegas before the league’s February break for the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament being held in Montreal and Boston. Eight Panthers will be competing and rep each nation: Four for Finland, two for Canada and one each for Sweden and the U.S.

6. INTER MIAMI: Team Messi continues preseason tour with trip to Peru: Miami, 1-0 in its five-game “The Americas” preseason tour, is in Peru next for a match this Wednesday vs. Universitario de Deportes, followed by a game in Panama next Sunday vs. Sporting San Miguelito. Preseason runs through Valentine’s Day, followed quickly by a CONCACAF Champions Cup match and then the MLS regular season opener. This is expected to be Miami’s final season with Lionel Messi and also the last season before the move from Fort Lauderdale to the new Miami Freedom Park.

7. HURRICANES: UM disrespected for ‘25 despite adding QB Beck: Miami isn’t getting much early poll love entering 2025 despite adding QB Carson Beck through the portal. The late-season collapse -- 9-0 ending 10-3 -- is taking its toll. First evidence: UM is No. 23 in ESPN’s crazy-early initial next-season poll. Meanwhile the Canes’ season and home opener (and Beck unveiling) vs. Notre Dame was set for Sunday, Aug. 31 at 7:30 p.m. on ABC, a showcase prime-time launch of Mario Cistobal Year 4 against the team that reached the CFP championship game.

8. MARLINS: Fish middling in NL East on top-prospects list: As spring training nears, Miami lands three players on MLB Pipeline’s 2025 Top Prospects ranking, but stands only third in the five-team NL East -- despite the usual offseason of trading away veterans for prospects to save money. Marlins have the No. 41 overall in LHP Thomas White, No. 81 in SS Starlyn Caba and No. 85 in RHP Noble Meyer, all three pegged for 2026 or ‘27 callups. Phillies have four prospects led by No. 8 and Nationals have three led by No. 4. Mets and Braves have two apiece.

9. NFL: Carroll sets old-coach record with hiring by Raiders: Pete Carroll, newly hired by the Las Vegas Raiders and turning 74 in September, will be the oldest head coach in modern NFL history next season. Record was 73 years, 199 days by former Houston Texans interim coach Romeo Crennel. Oldest active coach currently is the Chiefs’ Andy Reid at 66. For perspective, Miami’s Don Shula on the date of his final NFL game was five days shy of his 66th birthday.

10. MEMORABILIA: 11-year-old kid turns down Pirates offer for rare card: The 11-year-old from the Los Angeles who scored a one-of-a-kind baseball card featuring NL rookie of the year Paul Skenes turned down a trade offer from the Pittsburgh Pirates. Instead the kid will put the card -- which includes Skenes’ autograph and a patch from a game-worn jersey -- up for auction. Pirates had put together a package that included 30 years’ worth of season tickets at PNC Park ... like there’s any kid from L.A. dreaming of attending three decades of Pirates games!

THE LIST: NFL FINAL FOUR IN SUPER BOWL: The Super Bowl-era track record of the four NFL teams playing Sunday to return there:

Team Record in Super Bowls Championship seasons (SB losses)

Kansas City Chiefs 4-2 1969, 2019, 2022, 2023 (1966, 2020)

Washington Commanders 3-2 1982, 1987, 1991 (1972, 1983)

Philadelphia Eagles 1-3 2017 (1980, 2004, 2022)

Buffalo Bills 0-4 None (1990, 1991, 1992, 1993)

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