The Precedent Daily: Thursday, October 29, 2026

A winless team topples the NBA's No. 2, Houston keeps rolling, Vancouver climbs to second in MLS and Kennesaw State pulls off the night's biggest college upset.

Wednesday's top five

1. Miami knocked Atlanta out of the NBA's top two. The Heat came in 0-4 and 27th in The Precedent's Rating and won 129-117 in Atlanta. They led by 13 at halftime and were ahead after every quarter. Giannis Antetokounmpo had 24 points and 18 rebounds in his first win with Miami. Atlanta, second yesterday, fell to 14th: it lost, and the teams it had played have a .625 winning percentage now, down from .800.
2. Houston is 5-0 and still first. The Rockets won 132-100 at Milwaukee. They outscored the Bucks 34-14 in the second quarter and were never threatened after it. Fred VanVleet scored 24 points and Amen Thompson 23. Houston is the NBA's only 5-0 team.
3. Dallas handed Oklahoma City its first loss. The Mavericks beat the Thunder 120-96 and climbed from 12th to sixth. Dallas led at halftime and pulled away in the second half. Cooper Flagg had 26 points and eight assists. Oklahoma City fell from third to fifth.
4. Vancouver is second in MLS. The Whitecaps beat San Diego FC 4-1 and moved from fourth to second, behind Nashville SC, which drew 0-0 with Philadelphia. The draw clinched the Union a playoff spot. FC Dallas, second yesterday, lost 2-0 at home to Columbus and fell to fifth.
5. Kennesaw State won at Middle Tennessee. The Owls came in 131st in college football's Rating and won 44-28 at No. 75 Middle Tennessee, the biggest upset of the night by Rating. Kennesaw State led by seven after three quarters and pulled away with 17 points in the fourth. Middle Tennessee fell to 95th.

NBA

Detroit made the biggest climb in the top 10, from eighth to second, after beating Charlotte 97-89. The Pistons trailed by seven at halftime and took over in the third quarter. Their own win counted, and so did wins by Miami, Philadelphia and New York, three teams Detroit had already played; the winning percentage of its schedule rose from .438 to .542.

Golden State won 119-114 at Minnesota and moved from 22nd to 13th. The Warriors led by 16 at halftime and held off a Timberwolves second half. Philadelphia trailed Indiana by 13 after three quarters, then scored 39 points in the fourth to win 114-109 and moved up to fourth. San Antonio beat Utah 117-111 in overtime.

Not every winner moved up. Toronto beat Orlando 129-99 and still fell from sixth to 10th, because three teams it had played lost and its schedule's winning percentage dropped from .500 to .368. Chicago and Indiana sit 12 places lower in the Rating than their records rank them.

Wednesday's results

Ranks are The Precedent's Rating, yesterday → today.

Biggest upsets by Rating

Rating Top 5

Teams tied on Rating share a rank. SOS = average Rating of the opponents played.

Full NBA Ratings →

Biggest risers

Biggest fallers

Rating vs record

Record rank is by winning percentage. The gap comes from the records of the teams each has played.

Full NBA standings →

MLS

Nashville SC stayed first in The Precedent's Rating after its scoreless draw with Philadelphia and has 71 points. New England beat Red Bull New York 3-2 and moved from fifth to third. Columbus won 2-0 at FC Dallas, the biggest upset of the night by Rating, and climbed from 26th to 22nd. Portland won 3-2 at St. Louis CITY SC, the night's other upset.

Two Eastern Conference games turned late. Orlando City was two goals up at Chicago at halftime, and the Fire came back for a draw. FC Cincinnati scored twice in the second half to lead at Inter Miami, which tied it 2-2. Charlotte FC beat CF Montréal 4-0.

The playoff line is tight in both conferences. Columbus is ninth in the East with 41 points, two ahead of Red Bull New York and Toronto FC. In the West, Real Salt Lake won 2-1 at Austin and is ninth with 42 points, one ahead of the LA Galaxy and two ahead of Portland.

Wednesday's results

Ranks are The Precedent's Rating, yesterday → today.

Biggest upsets by Rating

Rating Top 5

Teams tied on Rating share a rank. SOS = average Rating of the opponents played.

Full MLS Ratings →

Biggest risers

Biggest fallers

Rating vs record

Record rank is by winning percentage. The gap comes from the records of the teams each has played.

Full MLS standings →

NHL

Colorado beat New Jersey 5-2 and climbed from 21st to 17th, the biggest upset of the night by Rating. The game was tied 1-1 after two periods before the Avalanche scored four in the third.

Edmonton shut out Calgary 4-0 and moved up to fourth. Washington beat Philadelphia 5-2 and stayed second, now tied there with Boston, which didn't play. Seattle led Toronto by two after two periods and held on 5-4; Toronto fell from 13th to 16th.

Utah is still first in The Precedent's Rating at 8-5, seven places higher than its record ranks it. Carolina, the league's best record at 10-4, is eighth.

Wednesday's results

Ranks are The Precedent's Rating, yesterday → today. In The Precedent's Rating, an overtime or shootout winner gets a win and the other team a loss, so records here are W-L.

Biggest upsets by Rating

Rating Top 5

Teams tied on Rating share a rank. SOS = average Rating of the opponents played.

Full NHL Ratings →

Biggest risers

Biggest fallers

Rating vs record

Record rank is by winning percentage. The gap comes from the records of the teams each has played.

Full NHL standings and playoff picture →

College Football

Two games on Wednesday night. Jacksonville State shut out New Mexico State 24-0 and moved from 46th to 44th. Kennesaw State's win at Middle Tennessee was the other, and the teams the Owls had already played felt it: Liberty climbed from 66th to 57th and Georgia State from 105th to 98th without playing.

Texas, Miami (FL) and Indiana remain the top three. Miami (FL), Utah and UCLA are still unbeaten at 7-0.

Biggest upsets by Rating

Rating Top 5

Teams tied on Rating share a rank. SOS = average Rating of the opponents played.

Full College Football Ratings →

Biggest risers

Biggest fallers

Unbeaten tracker

Full College Football standings →

Coming up today

College Football · 1 game with a top-25 team

No. 14 James Madison, 7-1, hosts Troy at 6:30 PM on ESPN2.

NFL · 1 game

Thursday night has Carolina, 16th at 3-3, at Green Bay, 11th at 4-3, at 7:15 PM on Prime Video.

NHL · 11 games

No. 1 Utah plays at Pittsburgh at 6:00 PM. Both teams tied for second are on the road at 7:00 PM, Boston at St. Louis and Washington at Nashville, and No. 13 Montreal visits No. 12 Dallas at the same time.

NBA · 3 games

Two unbeaten teams meet in Portland at 9:00 PM: Memphis is 4-0 and the Trail Blazers, third in The Precedent's Rating, are 3-0. Cleveland, seventh, visits Atlanta at 7:00 PM.