A Georgia player has won an estimated $980 million Mega Millions jackpot on Friday, the eighth-largest prize in the game’s history, according to the lottery.

The winning ticket matched all six winning numbers: 1, 8, 11, 12, 57, and Mega Ball 7.

The win ends a 40-drawing streak without a jackpot winner, making it the first time since June that the top prize has been claimed. In that previous drawing, a Virginia ticket won $348 million.

The winner can choose to receive the $980 million in annual payments over 30 years, or a lump-sum cash payout of $452.2 million, all before taxes.

The winning ticket was sold at a Publix supermarket in Newnan, a city roughly 40 miles southwest of Atlanta, according to the lottery. The store will receive a $50,000 retailer bonus from the Georgia Lottery for selling the jackpot ticket, the lottery said.

“We are thrilled to congratulate the largest winner in our state’s history,” Georgia Lottery President and CEO Gretchen Corbin said in the news release.

This is the largest Mega Millions prize since the game’s overhaul in April, which raised ticket prices to $5 and increased the starting jackpot to $50 million. Under the new system, the odds of winning the jackpot are now 1 in 290 million, according to the lottery.

In the latest drawing, a ticket sold in Michigan won $3 million by matching all five white balls and the 3X multiplier, the lottery said. Another 22 tickets matched four white balls and the Mega Ball, winning $20,000.

The Mega Millions’ record jackpot stands at $1.6 billion, claimed by a single ticket sold in Florida in August 2023.

The leader of the Prosecuting Attorneys Council of Georgia says that he will step in to replace Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in the Georgia election interference case against President Trump and others.

PAC Executive Director Peter J. Skandalakis made the announcement on Friday, which was the deadline set by the judge overseeing the case to find Willis’s replacement.

In his announcement, Skandalakis said that he will take up the case after his organization was unable to find another prosecutor by Friday.

“Several prosecutors were contacted and, while all were respectful and professional, each declined the appointment,” he wrote. “Out of respect for their privacy and professional discretion, I will not identify those prosecutors or disclose.”

Skandalakis said that he chose to lead the prosecution due to his familiarity with some of the immense case file, which he described as more than 100 banker boxes of documents and an 8-terabyte hard drive. Though he attempted to examine the evidence and interviews in the time the judge allotted him, he said he was not able to complete a full review.

“With Judge McAfee’s deadline now upon us and my review still ongoing, I have determined that the best course of action is to appoint myself to the case,” Skandalakis wrote. “This will allow me to complete a comprehensive review and make an informed decision regarding how best to proceed.”

With Skandalakis as the prosecutor, he now has the choice whether to continue the path Willis had taken, pursue only some charges, or dismiss the case entirely.

While it is unlikely that any action against Mr. Trump could proceed while he is the sitting president, there are 14 other people still facing charges in the case, including former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and former New York mayor and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani.

In a statement to CBS News, attorney Steve Sadow, who is representing Mr. Trump in the case, said that the “politically charged prosecution has come to an end.”

“We remain confident that a fair and impartial review will lead to a dismissal of the case against President Trump,” Sadow said.

How Georgia’s Trump election case began

Willis announced the indictment against Trump and 18 others in August 2023, using Georgia’s anti-racketeering law to accuse them of participating in a scheme to overturn Trump’s narrow 2020 election loss to Joe Biden in Georgia.

The alleged plot included Trump’s call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, urging him to “find” enough votes to reverse the outcome. Four defendants: attorneys Sidney Powell, Jenna Ellis, Kenneth Chesebro, and bail bondsman Scott Hall have pleaded guilty.

Willis was disqualified from prosecuting the case after revelations that she had a romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor she hired to lead the investigation.

Defense attorneys alleged that Willis and Wade benefited from their relationship, saying Wade used his earnings from the case to pay for trips they took together. Willis and Wade acknowledged the relationship but said it began after he was hired.

In March 2024, Judge McAfee rebuked Willis for a “tremendous lapse in judgment” but said there was no conflict of interest that would disqualify her. He ruled she could stay on the case if Wade resigned, which he did hours later.

The defense attorneys appealed, and in December, the Georgia Court of Appeals removed Willis from the case, citing an “appearance of impropriety.” The state’s high court declined to hear Willis’ appeal in September, placing the case in the hands of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council.

While Trump announced pardons for people accused of backing his efforts to overturn the results of that election earlier this week — including those charged in Georgia — that doesn’t affect state charges.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

There’s no question that Texas-Georgia and Rams-Seahawks will be two of the most wagered upon sporting events this weekend in Las Vegas.

All four teams have marquee names at the quarterback position and three of the four squads have lived up to the preseason hype. And while Texas still has a chance to make the College Football Playoff, the Longhorns haven’t matched the summer billing of national title favorite.

One Vegas bookmaker has slid the Horns’ rating quite a bit.

“I’m down seven points since the opener,” Westgate SuperBook vice president of risk Ed Salmons told me from Las Vegas.

“Every time I watch Texas, I come to the same conclusion: When the offense plays well, the defense sucks, and when the defense plays well, the offense sucks. They are what they are at this point.”

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The SuperBook opened Georgia -6.

“I opened a little lower,” Salmons admitted. “People we respect have been betting these ‘dogs off bye weeks and Texas fits that trend this week. Then somebody we respect laid the points.

“Georgia really ran the ball like old-school Georgia last week for the first time in a long time. It’s a team I really didn’t like early, but the more I watch, the more impressed I am with the offense. The defense is the weakness.”

Yours truly is invested in the Horns at +6.5. It’s rare to get a team with that caliber of defensive speed catching almost a touchdown.

Less than 24 hours after Texas and Georgia kick, the Rams and Seahawks meet in a massive showdown with big-time divisional and conference implications. Matthew Stafford and Sam Darnold are legit MVP candidates and both teams have stingy defenses and brilliant head coaches.

“I think these two teams are identical,” Salmons said.

“The spread should be 2.5, but it’s a little inflated because we’re expecting Rams money. The public is just enthralled with the Rams.”

Are people sleeping on Seattle?  

“I really liked Seattle coming into the year,” Salmons said. “I think highly of [head coach Mike Macdonald]. He’s really prepared, and he knows what he’s doing. And for the first six or seven weeks, the Seahawks were playing without half their secondary and kept winning games.

“Darnold has played great, and their No. 1 receiver has just been phenomenal. I think they’re the real deal.”

It’s been a treat watching Darnold and Stafford sling touchdowns, though I’ll be the first one to admit, I didn’t envision Stafford sitting at 25 touchdowns with just two interceptions in mid-November. Especially not considering all the rumors about Stafford’s ailing back we heard all summer long.

“There was a lot of professional money in the summer on the Rams missing the playoffs and ‘Under’ on wins,” Salmons reported. “Respected guys believed in the Stafford back rumors. That was a real thing.

“He doesn’t get hit a lot. We haven’t seen that yet.”

Finally, I saw a segment on “First Things First” this week in which the hosts debated which team at the top of the AFC standings could be trusted in the playoffs — the Indianapolis Colts, Denver Broncos or New England Patriots.

I think the answer is none of ‘em. Just wait ‘til we get the No. 5 seed Buffalo Bills and No. 7 seed Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship.

“It wouldn’t be surprising at all,” Salmons cracked.

“When Kansas City beats Denver this week, they’re gonna run a bunch of wins off. Look at their schedule. Denver is so beat up coming into this game, too. And it’s Andy Reid off the bye. We all know what’s gonna happen.”

Sam Panayotovich is a sports betting analyst for FOX Sports and the BetMGM Network. He previously worked for WGN Radio, NBC Sports and VSiN. Watch him on FOX Sports’ Bear Bets and follow him on X @spshoot.

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