- Jan 1 26th Fiesta Bowl: #7 Penn State beats #20 Texas, 38-15
- Jan 1 83rd Rose Bowl: #4 Ohio State beats #2 Arizona State, 20-17
- Jan 2 63rd Sugar Bowl: #3 Florida beats #1 Florida State, 52-20
- Jan 3 Texas-El Paso head basketball coach Don Haskins becomes 10th coach in NCAA Division I history to record 700 career wins when the Miners edge SMU, 66-64
- Jan 3 Zimbabwe cricket fast bowler Eddo Brandes takes ODI hat-trick as home team scores another upset against England, winning by 131 runs and sweeping series, 3-0 in Harare
- Jan 4 Hopman Cup Tennis, Perth: Justin Gimelstob & Chanda Rubin clinch first title for the US; beat South African pair Wayne Ferreira & Amanda Coetzer 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 for a 2-1 victory
- Jan 12 AFC Championship, Foxborough Stadium: New England Patriots beat Jacksonville Jaguars, 20-6
- Jan 12 Ladies' figure skating star Oksana Baiul injured slightly while driving intoxicated in Bloomfield, Connecticut
- Jan 12 NFC Championship, Lambeau Field, Green Bay: Green Bay Packers beat Carolina Panthers, 30-13
Rodman Kicks Cameraman
Jan 15 Controversial Chicago Bulls' forward Dennis Rodman kicks cameraman Eugene Amos in the groin during a game against Minnesota Timberwolves; ultimately pays Amos $200,000 settlement, and is suspended for 11 games without pay
- Jan 15 San Francisco head coach George Seifert announces his resignation after 8 highly-successful NFL seasons with the 49ers: winningest coach in team history at 108-35; 2 Super Bowl titles
- Jan 15 Seattle's Sam Perkins ties Jeff Hornacek's NBA single-game record by connecting on 8 straight 3-point field goals during Sonics' 122-78 win over visiting Toronto; Seattle also sets an NBA steals record with 27
- Jan 17 NBA suspends Dennis Rodman indefinitely for kicking cameraman
- Jan 18 47th NHL All-Star Game, San Jose Arena, San Jose, CA: East beats West, 11-7; Mark Recchi, Montreal, RW
- Jan 25 In a high profile NHL trade, San Jose obtain future Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender Ed Belfour from Chicago in exchange for goaltender Chris Terreri, Ulf Dahlen, Michal Sykora and a conditional pick in 1998 Entry Draft
Sampras Defeats Moyá
Jan 26 Australian Open Men's Tennis: Pete Sampras wins his 2nd and last Australian title; beats Carlos Moyá of Spain 6-2, 6-3, 6-3
Hingis Defeats Pierce
Jan 26 Australian Open Women's Tennis: Martina Hingis becomes first Swiss player – male or female – to win a Grand Slam singles title; beats Mary Pierce of France 6-2, 6-2
Lemieux Ties Record
Jan 26 Mario Lemieux ties NHL record with 4 goals in the 3rd period as Pittsburgh wins, 5-2 at Montreal; 39th career hat trick and 13th 4-goal game, tying NHL record shared by Wayne Gretzky & Mike Bossy
- Jan 26 Super Bowl XXXI, Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, LA: Green Bay Packers beat New England Patriots, 35-21; MVP: Desmond Howard, Green Bay KR
- Jan 31 San Antonio forward Dominique Wilkins scores 27 points in the Spurs' 97-95 loss to Minnesota; gives him 26,009 career points; only the 6th NBA player to reach the 26k milestone
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