We’ll have to wait one more day to learn who takes the NFC South crown.

The Buccaneers, losers of seven of their last eight coming into today, were able to piece together a tough, 16-14 win in bad weather against the Panthers. It was a calming three hours for the Bucs and their fans, who had seen their team go from theorized Super Bowl contender in the early months of the season to bottomless freefall.

Had the Panthers found a way to win today, the NFC South, and the #4 seed in the NFC, would have been determined. Instead, we’ll have to wait another day, as a matchup between the two NFC South rivals who are eliminated from the postseason entirely will now determine everything. Certainly ironic, but great for drama.

The New Orleans Saints travel to the Atlanta Falcons tomorrow to wrap up their respective seasons, and while they’re not playing for much more than pride, both the Buccaneers and Panthers will be watching with great interest. If the Falcons win, today will prove to be little more than a minor setback for Carolina, and they’ll win the division regardless.

However, should the Saints get the road upset, everything gets flipped. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who were seemingly skidding towards a shocking early offseason, would be awarded the division on tiebreakers. Their Week Eight 23-3 victory over New Orleans, at the time seemingly innocuous, would end up salvaging their playoff spot.

Both Atlanta and New Orleans are on hot runs right now, the Falcons winners of three straight and the Saints on a four game streak. It’s a surprisingly compelling game given that both teams are guaranteed losing records on the season.

And this is very relevant to the Seattle Seahawks, because depending on tonight’s result in San Francisco, the NFC South division winner will either possibly, or definitely, be the team they play in their first playoff game.

If Seattle prevails tonight and takes the top seed in the NFC, it is entirely possible that their Divisional Round opponent is whoever comes out on top here. As the top seed, they play the lowest remaining seed, which would be either Carolina or Tampa Bay if all three home teams win on Wild Card Weekend. I wouldn’t bet on it, but it’s entirely possible.

On the other hand, if the Seahawks drop their game tonight and end up the #5 seeded NFC squad, then they’re drawing the winner of the NFC South in the first round for sure. Seattle has already played both teams this year, dropping an early-season bout to Tampa Bay 38-35, and just last week handling Carolina 27-10.

Of course, the Buccaneers were a far better team in that Week Five matchup, and the Seahawks have changed radically over the last three months as well, so it’s a matter of debate which team Seattle matches up better with. I imagine most Seahawks fans would feel good about either opponent, but there’s probably a preference somewhere in there.

Regardless, we’ll be waiting one more day to find out who the opponent will be, by which Seattle will already know if they’re watching the first round of the playoffs on a bye, or facing off against the south’s winner on the road.

More Seahawks on SI stories

Rising Seattle Seahawks defender named team’s best building block

Multiple Seattle Seahawks execs pegged as potential GM candidates

Seahawks split between offense, defense in 2026 NFL mock draft 1.0

One stat shows Seattle defense well-equipped for postseason success

Eleven members of Point Loma High School sports are among the All-CIF honorees announced recently in the San Diego Section, including a Coach of the Year.

Here are the Pointers selected:

Football

First team

Romeo Carter, wide receiver, senior

Mateo Correa, linebacker, senior

Second team

Brandon Bartocci, defensive line, senior

Owen Ice, defensive back, senior

Teams are based on a vote of media members and the Coaches Advisory Committee.

Girls cross country

Coach of the Year

Keith DeLong

DeLong guided Point Loma’s girls team to its best finish in school history this past season, placing second at the CIF Division III State Championships after winning the San Diego Section Division III title.

First team

Isabella Ramos, senior

Second team

Kelly McIntire, junior

Nicole Witt, senior

Sara Geiszler, senior

Teams are based on finishes at the San Diego Section championships.

Boys cross country

Second team

Ethan Levine, senior

Teams are based on finishes at the San Diego Section championships.

Girls tennis

First team

Noel Allen, senior

Teams are chosen based on finishes in the San Diego Section individual championships.

— The San Diego Union-Tribune contributed to this report.

Artificial intelligence is driving a revolution in the economy and culture of the United States and other countries. Alaska is being pitched as the next frontier for one of the most energy-intensive industries: data centers, with their primary purpose of advancing AI, socially disruptive to a degree as yet unknown.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy, the state’s biggest promoter, has invited more than a dozen high-tech firms, including affiliates of Microsoft, Facebook and Amazon, to establish “data farms” in Alaska. He has personally toured executives around potential sites in the Anchorage and Fairbanks areas. The Alaska Legislature has been a bit more circumspect, though its House Concurrent Resolution 3 (HCR 3) states that “the development and use of artificial intelligence and the establishment of data centers in the state could stimulate economic growth, create job opportunities and position the state as a leader in technological innovation.” True, however, the resolution makes no mention of drawbacks stemming from data center development.

The Northern Alaska Environmental Center (NAEC), based in Fairbanks, is examining the known and potential benefits, costs and risks of data center growth in the state. It urges a well-informed, unhurried, transparent and cautious approach.

First, though, what are data centers? They are facilities that house the servers, storage, networking and other computing infrastructure needed to support AI and other digital services, along with their associated electrical and cooling infrastructure.

Generally speaking, there are two categories of data centers. One is the massive hyperscale facility, typically operating at multi-megawatt scale and designed to scale much higher. An example is the proposed Far North Digital (FND) Prudhoe Bay Data Center. It would start with a capacity of 120 megawatts with “significant expansion potential.” Natural gas would power it.

The other kind is the micro or microgrid data center. A good example is Cordova’s Greensparc Corp/Cordova Electric Cooperative 150-kilowatt facility. It is powered by 100% renewable energy from the nearby hydroelectric plant. We concur with the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Alaska Center for Energy and Power (ACEP) analysis that contends that such smaller and sustainable data centers, sometimes integrated into existing microgrids, are more feasible for Alaska, particularly in underserved or remote communities.

The main problem with data centers is their high to huge energy demands, especially hyperscale ones that can consume as much electricity as 100,000 homes. Cooling can account for about 40% of a facility’s energy use, though it varies. While Alaska’s cold climate is an environmental advantage, reducing the need for energy-intensive mechanical cooling systems, cooling still requires a lot of water. The NAEC advocates that any new data centers be required to minimize use and thermal pollution of waters and reuse waste heat for local heating.

The Railbelt grid already faces constraints and expensive upgrade needs. The NAEC believes that if new data centers are developed, regulatory safeguards must be in place to ensure they do not exacerbate grid shortages and raise household electricity costs.

Most electricity powering data centers still comes from fossil fuels, even as operators sign renewable contracts and add clean generation. Building fossil fuel-powered data centers would lock in high-emissions infrastructure for decades, contradicting global decarbonization efforts. NAEC suggests that any new data center be required to build or contract for an equivalent amount of clean energy generation (wind, solar, hydro or geothermal) to match its consumption.

There are many other concerns that need to be addressed when considering data centers and AI development. One is the problem of electronic waste, or e-waste. Needed upgrades to data centers result in e-waste, which contains hazardous materials. Given Alaska’s remote potential sites and limited recycling infrastructure, the cost of appropriately dealing with e-waste should be factored into data center decisions.

In their haste to recruit data centers, several states have granted substantial tax abatements and subsidies, often with limited public benefit. Alaska must learn from the mistakes made elsewhere. Before considering approval of any new data centers, legislation should be in place that ensures that the corporations that will profit do not get discounted power rates or tax breaks and pass additional costs to ratepayers, including costs for needed upgrades.

Yes, data centers provide some much-needed diversification to Alaska’s economy, but not much. They are highly capital intensive and employ many in the construction phase, but few for operation. Companies should be required to train and hire local residents to the degree practical.

Then there is the profound but scarcely recognized issue that transcends energy, economics and the environment. Data centers expand the compute available for increasingly capable AI systems. Some researchers and industry leaders argue this could accelerate progress toward AI that matches or exceeds human capabilities, along with new risks. Ultimately, the greatest cost of data centers and AI may be the changes wrought to our humanity and society, for which we are woefully unprepared.

Roger Kaye is a freelance writer based in Fairbanks and the author of “Last Great Wilderness: The Campaign to Establish the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.” He sits on the Issues Committee of the Northern Alaska Environmental Center.

• • •

The Anchorage Daily News welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary(at)adn.com. Send submissions shorter than 200 words to letters@adn.com or click here to submit via any web browser. Read our full guidelines for letters and commentaries here.