Russia is "for the first time conceding that its officials carried out one of the biggest conspiracies in sports history: a far-reaching doping operation that implicated scores of Russian athletes, tainting" the '14 Sochi Games and the "entire Olympic movement." Anna Antseliovich, acting Dir of Russia’s national antidoping agency, said, “It was an institutional conspiracy.” A lab director "tampered with urine samples at the Olympics and provided cocktails" of PEDs. Members of Russia's Federal Security Service "broke into sample bottles holding urine," and a deputy sports minister "for years ordered cover-ups of top athletes' use of banned substances." Officials "continue to reject the accusation that the doping program was state-sponsored." The story appears on the N.Y. TIMES front page above the fold (N.Y. TIMES, 12/28).

The Bills announced that GM Doug Whaley "will lead the team's coaching search" to replace Rex Ryan, which "should put an end to any speculation about his job status." Whaley will be "involved in hiring his third head coach." Offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn will serve as interim coach for Sunday's season finale against the Jets, and he is "expected to be a strong candidate to get the permanent job after the season." Speculation "had swirled in recent weeks that such a move could be coming at head coach," and Owners Terry and Kim Pegula "acted swiftly" after Saturday's 34-31 OT loss to the Dolphins (BUFFALO NEWS, 12/28).

Ronda Rousey "will not appear" at today's Ultimate Media Day event ahead of her headlining UFC 207 fight against Amanda Nunes on Friday in Las Vegas. Also, the promotion "has eliminated its fight week news conference and public open workout." Rousey "negotiated the terms of her obligations directly" with UFC President Dana White in "advance of committing" to the fight (ESPN.com, 12/24). Despite this, "you can't miss Ronda Rousey's face amidst the neon of The Strip, with signage signaling her impending return" (USA TODAY, 12/28).

Conor McGregor was pulled from UFC 200 for "making the same demand," but he "had already signed a contract agreeing to attend all of the UFC’s media events" (FORBES.com, 12/23).

Meanwhile, a collection of Sager-themed pins will go on sale tomorrow at Foot Locker, with "all net proceeds benefiting the SagerStrong Foundation." The three-pin collection features a "colorful, Sager-style suit, a microphone and the SAGERSTRONG word mark." It will retail for $25 and will be available at "nearly 300 Foot Locker stores in New York, California, Texas, Pennsylvania, Florida and Georgia" (AP, 12/28).

The AdvoCare V100 Texas Bowl expects a crowd of about 65,000 at 71,795-seat NRG Stadium for tonight's Texas A&M-Kansas State matchup, "making it one of the best-attended bowl games of the year." A&M fans "may outnumber" KSU fans "three to one," as College Station is about 100 miles northwest of Houston (K.C. STAR, 12/28).

Meanwhile, Indiana and Utah were each allotted "barely 10 percent of the tickets" for tonight's Foster Farms Bowl at Levi's Stadium, and they "can’t even sell those." Each program was allotted 7,000 tickets, and as of late last week, Utah "had been able to sell (or 'give away') less than half." IU "had sold roughly one-third and was preparing to return thousands of tickets, hoping to break even financially," but "preparing to suffer a small loss" (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 12/27).

The announced attendance for yesterday's National Funding Holiday Bowl was 48,704, "though that was tickets sold" for the Minnesota-Washington State matchup at Qualcomm Stadium. There were "thousands fewer in the stadium than that." Minnesota won 17-12 (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 12/28). ESPN's telecast of the game "started with an extensive intro on the suspension of 10 Gophers players and the team's ensuing short-lived boycott" (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 12/28).

• The announced attendance for yesterday's Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl – in which Army beat North Texas 38-31 in OT – was 39,117, "exceeding the total of 38,380 from UNT's appearance in the same bowl at the end" of the '13 season (DALLASNEWS.com, 12/28).
• Wake Forest defeated Temple 34-26 in the Military Bowl "before an announced crowd of 26,656 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium" (Annapolis CAPITAL GAZETTE, 12/28). It was the lowest crowd since the game moved to Annapolis in '13 (THE DAILY).
• Baylor topped Boise State 31-12 "before 33,328 fans" last night in the Motel 6 Cactus Bowl at Chase Field (WACO TRIBUNE, 12/28). The attendance marked a new low in the bowl's 28-year history (THE DAILY).

Lakers President Jeanie Buss and Knicks President Phil Jackson "have called of their four-year engagement." Jackson "announced the decision by posting a joint statement with Buss on Twitter" (L.A. TIMES, 12/28).

Last night's Canada-Slovakia World Juniors hockey game drew a crowd of 12,694 at Air Canada Centre, "meaning about one-third of the arena was empty" for Canada's 5-0 win (TORONTO SUN, 12/28).

The Red Wings last night continued their farewell season at Joe Louis Arena by honoring 21 players from the '97 Stanley Cup championship team. Prior to the Sabres-Red Wings game, the former players "took to the ice to say good-bye to the site where they won Game 4" of the Final over the Flyers for a series sweep (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 12/28). 

Solid end to a great ceremony. Thank you @DetroitRedWings pic.twitter.com/dDIoOAQ1iy

— Aaron Ward (@NHL_AaronWard) December 28, 2016

"Jerry has proven to fans who may have been skeptical, cynical and critical that in the offseason, he made some great decisions that have gotten us into the playoffs" – NFL Giants Chair & Exec VP Steve Tisch, on Senior VP & GM Jerry Reese (N.Y. POST, 12/28).

"It is kind of unique because we are the only bowl game that has two top 10 media market population centers playing in the game" – AutoZone Liberty Bowl Exec Dir Steve Ehrhart, on Friday's game in Memphis featuring TCU and Georgia (BIZJOURNALS.com, 12/27).

The SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE notes the "Chiefs (11-4) are a red storm rising that will finish off a fourth consecutive winning season Sunday, versus the Chargers (5-10) at Qualcomm Stadium." The Chiefs’ "M.O. is foreign to how the Chargers have operated."

As Alabama and Washington prepare to met in the CFP semifinals, the AP notes radio broadcasters Eli Gold and Bob Rondeau "have chronicled the ups and downs, the good and the bad, of the Crimson Tide and Huskies, respectively, for the last three decades."

Also: 

• A look at the 16 people who defined the NFL in '16.
• Wake Forest coach Dave Clawson: focus on improvement, not leaks.
• Northwestern football team tours Wall Street ahead of Pinstripe Bowl.
• Golden Knights GM George McPhee on building NHL team from scratch.

Even if the Yorks do fire Baalke, GM candidates are going to know he'll always have a pipeline in there. Makes the job even less attractive.

— Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) December 28, 2016

Jeanie Buss and Phil Jackson giving up on love to steer two once-great franchises into the abyss of mediocrity. A Shakespearean tragedy.

— Hanif Abdurraqib (@NifMuhammad) December 28, 2016

Just wanna say @jeaniebuss is one of the absolute best people I've met in 20 years of sports journalism. Much love and respect. https://t.co/nK1KrptouX

— jeffpearlman (@jeffpearlman) December 28, 2016

Interesting: Mike Piazza had to wait 4 years to be elected into Hall because of PED suspicions,but Pudge Rodriguez could get in 1st ballot

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) December 28, 2016

The Univ. of New Mexico baseball program will unveil the R.D. & Joan Dale Hubbard Clubhouse in a 3:00pm MT ceremony outside the new facility near Santa Ana Star Field.

Last night’s “Final Jeopardy” category was “The Civil War.”

“Made from a boiler at a Mobile, Alabama machine shop, it was deemed a success, though it went down off Charleston three times.”

“What is the Hunley?”