It's the calm before the storm. 

The football season is just around the corner and teams are starting to either get very excited or extremely nervous about their personnel. One AFC West team has a true conundrum on their hands as they wait for their star player to arrive.

Elsewhere around the U.S. sports spectrum, two sisters meet once again, an NBA star expands his horizons, a champion flexes his muscles, and the eyes of the country are upon college football.

Here's a recap of the past seven days around the American sports landscape.


1. Khalil Mack extends holdout

The 2016 NFL Defensive Player of the Year still has not shown up to the Oakland Raiders' facilities as he continues to hold out for a better contract. Mack is in the final year of his rookie deal and scheduled to make $13.8 million this season.

But he is searching for much, much more and he is willing to be fined to get it. Mack was reportedly fined $814K for simply not showing up at camp before Oakland's first preseason game.

He clearly knows what he wants and will be patient to get it, but while Mack waits, other teams are looking into acquiring the man who has 40.5 sacks in 64 career games. Four teams are supposedly interested in making what would be a blockbuster trade.

NFL Network reported Oakland is looking for two first-round picks in return for the 2014 fifth overall selection, but at the same time have no interest in dealing him.

The Raiders are in a tough spot as they clearly want to keep Mack, but they have to do something to avoid losing him entirely in free agency for nothing next year.


2. Williams sisters set for another matchup

There may be no more iconic sibling duo in all of sports than Serena and Venus Williams. 

The two sisters have combined to win 30 grand slam titles, and 14 together as doubles partners. 

This week, they will meet again in the third round of the US Open, with Friday's encounter at Arthur Ashe stadium marking the 30th contest between the two.

Serena leads 17-12 in the head-to-head matchups.

3. LeBron James' "The Shop" premieres on HBO

In the show, James spoke about many topics with athletes from across the spectrum including Odell Beckham Jr. of the New York Giants, Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors and Candace Parker of the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks.

This show has been in the works for a while and simply adds to an already impressive resume of James, who also helped fund a school for underpriveledged students in Ohio this year. He has also spent time in acting as he took on a role in Amy Schumer's comedy "Trainwreck."

4. Astros back on top in American League West

Defending MLB champions the Houston Astros have kind of flown under the radar in recent weeks as they fell into a tie with the Oakland Athletics for first place in the American League West. 

But the Astros got Jose Altuve and George Springer back from injury this week, allowing manager A.J. Hinch to put together a lineup featuring Springer, Carlos Correa and Altuve for the first time since June.

That helped them earn a series win over the Athletics in midweek - Oakland's first series loss since July. Tyler White's walk-off home run Wednesday sealed a 5-4 victory and the series win.

Houston now have a 2.5 game lead over the A's in the AL West as they head into a matchup with the Los Angeles Angels this weekend.

Oakland will face off with the Seattle Mariners in a three-game series between the teams in second and third in the AL wild-card race.

5. Buildup to College Football

The college football season officially started last week when North Carolina A&T faced off with Jacksonville State, before Central Florida routed Connecticut on Thursday.

But the marquee games get going on Saturday. The weekend will feature top-15 matchups between No. 6 Washington and No. 9 Auburn and No. 14 Michigan and No. 12 Notre Dame.

There is no rest for anyone this season in their non-conference schedule as every team from the elite 'Power 5' conferences will try to earn a statement win before getting to conference play.

The two games above are perfect opportunities to do just that and No. 8 Miami will attempt to do the same when they face off with SEC stalwarts LSU.

There's no turning back after this weekend, college football will be in full swing and there will be no stopping it.