One final Panthers clunker, All-Star Aho and a controversial champion in the sports moments of the week

By Clark Gerber, WRAL Sports contributor

The internet is a big place. Unless you're 100% plugged in all the time (and let's be clear, that is NOT recommended), you're going to miss some stuff.

Let us do that work. You can be a well-adjusted human being and still catch all the best sports moments of the week, with a quick review...

An appropriate end to the Panthers season

The NFL regular season wrapped up on Sunday which means, mercifully, we don't have to watch the Carolina Panthers play football again for another 7 or 8 months (depending on how you feel about the preseason).

One of the worst teams in franchise history went out pretty much as you'd expect -- with a loss. In fact, after going 21 seasons without getting shutout once, this year's squad managed to do it in back-to-back weeks as they fell 9-0 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Carolina is the first team since the 2008 Cleveland Browns to be blanked in back-to-back games. The Browns, coincidentally, also did it in the final two games of the season.

Sunday afternoon featured a Panthers touchdown negated by penalty (followed immediately by a turnover) and a missed field goal, but no one play summed things up better than a goal line fumble by DJ Chark that turned a would-be Panthers lead into a touchback for the Buccaneers.

Ladies and gentlemen, your 2023 Carolina Panthers!

One thing Panthers fans did seem pretty happy about was the ouster of general manager Scott Fitterer, who was fired early Monday morning. That means Carolina will be on the hunt for a new head coach and GM this offseason.

The team confirmed it has already requested to interview several candidates for each position.

The head coaching list features Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik and Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson (who seems to be the early favorite).

Bill Belichick and Jim Harbaugh were not included in the team's official release, but there has been some smoke about both being candidates too. Stay tuned.

And while we're here, one more note about the Panthers, specifically defensive tackle Derrick Brown. Brown, as you are probably aware, became the first defensive lineman in recorded NFL history to tally 100 tackles in a single season.

He also led the entire league in run block win rate (48%).

Yet, when the Pro Bowl rosters were announced last Wednesday, DB was listed as an alternate. I don't have to say anything because Panthers fans have already done it for me, but it needed to be acknowledged. That is all.

All-Star Aho

One player who did not get snubbed was Carolina Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho, who was selected to his third career All-Star Game this week.

"Fishy" is by far the Canes' points leader this season. He is on pace to set a new career high and has a real chance to be the team's first 100-point scorer since Eric Staal in the '05-'06 Stanley Cup season.

On tap of that, he's been as hot as anybody in the NHL over the last couple of weeks, as Carolina has turned its season around and finally looks like one of the best in the league (as many expected).

Over the last 13 games, Aho has 7 goals and a whopping 17 assists. Not surprisingly, the Canes are 8-1-4 in those games, including a 6-1 demolition, on the road, of the division-leading Rangers last Tuesday.

After being out of the playoff picture entirely just a couple weeks ago, Carolina now trails New York by only 5 points in the Metropolitan Division standings.

They owe a lot of that to Aho. His is a well-deserved all-star selection.

Cheaters never win?

The Michigan Wolverines are your new college football national champions after they defeated Washington 34-13 on Monday night in Houston.

Michigan was much the better team in this matchup, racking up 303 rushing yards to Washington's 46. They also held Heisman runner-up Michael Penix Jr. to one touchdown and two interceptions as they claimed their first "natty" since a shared title in 1997.

And yet, if you weren't cheering the Maize and Blue on Monday, the legitimacy of this National Championship is probably somewhat in question, given that Michigan was caught breaking NCAA rules earlier this season.

You remember that whole thing? So do the people on social media, who had a field day firing off Connor Stalions jokes. They also noticed the irony of the game happening in Houston, home of a certain other tainted champion.

Only one other topic seemed to garner the same fervor online, and that is the official trailer (or lack thereof) of the reborn NCAA Football video game.

There was a rumor that EA Sports -- the maker of the popular franchise who discontinued it in 2013 for legal reasons -- would air a commercial in Monday's broadcast, with further details about the game's highly-anticipated release.

It never happened, leaving fans everywhere devastated.

For what it's worth, the game is still expected to be released sometime this summer. Hang in there, college football fans!

Kitley clips Wolfpack at the buzzer

North Carolina native Elizabeth Kitley (and Georgia Amoore) is still playing basketball at Virginia Tech, which means the Hokies are still a dangerous team in the ACC.

NC State got a harsh reminder of that on Sunday, as Kitley scored a clutch buzzer-beating layup that ended the Wolfpack's undefeated start to the campaign.

The fifth-year senior (are we sure its not her sixth or seventh year?) was dominant all game long, finishing with a game-high 27 points and 12 rebounds.

The Hokies jumped two spots to No. 11 in the latest AP Top 25 poll, while the Wolfpack dropped three places to No. 6. And that's okay.

Excluding Madison Hayes, who had a team-high 21 points, NC State didn't shoot well at all on Sunday, but were still in position to win until the final seconds.

They are remarkably balanced, with six different players averaging double figures, and are very much in the mix to grab another No. 1 seed in March.

Hat tip to Kitley and the Hokies. The rematch in Raleigh on Thursday, February 8th will be a must watch.

"Love" the outfit!

With the calendar now turned to January, college basketball is ready to step into the spotlight with March Madness just two short months away!

All four North Carolina teams are at or near the top of the men's ACC standings thus far, but it was former Tar Heel Caleb Love who delivered the highlight of the week.

Love, who now plays for 8th ranked Arizona, showed off some incredible bounce in the Wildcats' blowout win over Utah on Saturday and delivered a surefire Dunk of the Year candidate.

LSU women's head coach Kim Mulkey is one of the most .... shall we say "outlandish" figures in college hoops. Both when it comes to her interview quotes and her gameday attire.

The folks in Baton Rouge had a little fun with the latter on Thursday, as the held the first-ever "Dress Like Kim Mulkey Night," with the winner taking home one of the coach's game-worn jackets.

Interesting choice for a grand prize, but the Tigers fans did not disappoint.

Jameis and the Saints go rogue

Back to football, where the NFC South's most heated rivalry is alive and well.

The Saints blew out the Falcons 48-17 on Sunday, ending the Atlanta's playoff hopes and temporarily keeping New Orleans alive.

In the final two minutes, Saints head coach Dennis Allen called for "victory formation" near the goal line. But instead of taking a knee, quarterback Jameis Winston handed off to Jamaal Williams, who plunged into the end zone to expand the lead.

For context, Williams led the NFL in touchdowns last season for the Lions, but did not have any this year for the Saints until this play. That was of little consolation to Falcons' head coach Arthur Smith, who chewed out Allen in the postgame handshake.

WARNING - NSFW language in the following video.

Backup quarterback Jameis Winston was incredibly candid in the postgame locker room, telling reporters it was a "team decision" to go against Allen's call to take a knee and go for the touchdown instead.

The play, and explanation, drew some very strong reactions, including from Hall of Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe, who called for Winston's (and Allen's) jobs.

While I have no problem with a rival running up the score on another rival, I do agree with Sharpe that doing it out of victory formation is bush league.

I also think, fair or not, he's probably right about both guys needing to part ways with the Saints. It's great that Jameis and others wanted to get Williams a touchdown, but openly rebelling against a head coach's play call is a bad look for both parties.

It does show that Allen doesn't have the kind of respect from his players that he should. And the Saints also can't condone this open rebellion (well-intentioned or not) by keeping Jameis on the team.

Just my two cents.

TAYLOR SWIFT UPDATE

Travis Kelce didn't suit up for the Chiefs on Sunday since they had already locked up the 3-seed, which means we didn't get to see Taylor Swift at the game.

We did see her at the Golden Globes (solo, sadly), where she was a nominee for a new category -- Cinematic and Box Office Achievement.

She didn't win the trophy, but our girl Taylor may have won the night with a viral, unamused reaction to host Jo Koy's (pretty lame) joke about her. Koy, by all accounts, did not have a great show.

Swift and Kelce also made news earlier in the week, with an Entertainment Tonight report that their families have "never seen them so happy."

Now that's just adorable.

We'll see you next week.