- Jan 1 20th Orange Bowl: #4 Oklahoma beats #1 Maryland, 7-0
- Jan 1 20th Sugar Bowl: #8 Georgia Tech beats #10 West Virginia, 42-19
- Jan 1 40th Rose Bowl: #3 Michigan State beats #5 UCLA, 28-20
- Jan 1 Rose & Cotton Bowl are 1st sport colorcasts
- Jan 9 Bert Olmstead of the Montreal Canadiens, ties NHL record of 8 points in game
4th NFL Pro Bowl
Jan 17 4th NFL Pro Bowl, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum: Eastern Conference beats Western Conference, 20-9; MVP: Chuck Bednarik, Philadelphia Eagles, LB
4th NBA All-Star Game
Jan 21 4th NBA All-Star Game, Madison Square Garden, NYC: East beats West, 98-93 (OT); MVP: Bob Cousy, Boston Celtics, PG
- Jan 21 First time in All-Star history, an overtime period is needed to decide a winner; Boston Celtics' guard Bob Cousy's 10-point OT scoring burst gave the East a 98-93 win; Cousy wins All-Star MVP honours
- Jan 23 Equal longest undefeated streak in Toronto Maple Leaf history ends - 18 games, 16 wins, 2 ties
Moore vs. Maxim
Jan 27 American boxer Archie Moore beats Joey Maxim in 15-round unanimous decision to retain his world light heavyweight title at the Orange Bowl, Miami; last of famous trilogy of fights, all won by Moore
- Jan 28 1954 NFL Draft: Bobby Garrett from University of Stanford first pick by Cleveland Browns
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