- Jan 1 45th Orange Bowl: #4 Oklahoma beats #6 Nebraska, 31-24
- Jan 1 45th Sugar Bowl: #2 Alabama beats #1 Penn State, 14-7
- Jan 1 65th Rose Bowl: #3 Southern California beats #5 Michigan, 17-10
- Jan 1 John Y. Brown attends his first game as owner of the Boston Celtics NBA franchise after trading the Buffalo Braves to previous Celtics owner, Irving H. Levin
- Jan 2 Australian Open Women's Tennis: unseeded Australian Christine O'Neil wins her first and only Grand Slam event; beats American Betsy Nagelsen 6-3, 7-6
Vilas Defeats Marks
Jan 3 Australian Open Men's Tennis: Guillermo Vilas of Argentina wins 3rd Grand Slam title; beats Australian John Marks 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
- Jan 7 AFC Championship, Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh Steelers beat Houston Oilers, 34-5
- Jan 7 NFC Championship, LA Memorial Coliseum Dallas Cowboys beat Los Angeles Rams, 28-0
McEnroe's 1st ATP
Jan 14 John McEnroe wins his first of 3 season-ending ATP Masters Grand Prix tennis titles 6–7, 6–3, 7–5 against fellow American Arthur Ashe at Madison Square Garden, NYC
Benitez vs. Palomino
Jan 14 Puerto Rican boxer Wilfred Benitez beats WBC welterweight champion Carlos Palomino of Mexico in a 15-round split decision in San Juan, Puerto Rico; becomes two-division champion at the age of 20
- Jan 21 Super Bowl XIII, Miami Orange Bowl, Miami, FL: Pittsburgh Steelers beat Dallas Cowboys, 35-31; MVP: Terry Bradshaw, Pittsburgh, QB
Mays Elected
Jan 23 NY/SF Giants / New York Mets center fielder Willie Mays elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
Baseball Players
Basketball Stars
Boxers
Footballers
NFL Stars
Tennis Champions