Month: December 2024

Lions 40, 49ers 34
Lions had eight drives; they scored five TD’s, kicked two field goals
Goff threw for 303 yards; Detroit was 9-14 on third down.
Detroit won 13 of its last 14 games (10-4 ATS).
Under Campbell, Detroit is 23-11 ATS as a favorite.
Under Campbell, Lions are 10-3 ATS as a road favorite. 

49ers led 21-13 at halftime.
49ers outgained Lions, 475-439
Purdy threw for 377 yards, but threw two INTs.
Purdy hurt his elbow near end of game, will have an MRI on it.
49ers lost six of last seven games, are 1-7 ATS since their bye.

— Missouri 27, Iowa 24
Iowa led 24-14 with 2:00 left in third quarter.
Mizzou kicked two field goals in 4th quarter, 51-56 yards.
Tigers outgained Iowa, 376-297.
QB Cook threw for 287 yards, ran for 54 more.

— One of the best parts of being in Las Vegas is the conversations I have with total strangers, mostly in sports books, but also at the bar while playing video poker.

Was talking to a guy named Mark from Orange County; he was giving me tips on video poker strategy; turns out he is a Rams’ fan too.

Watching NFL games here the last two weekends, I met a variety of people; one guy played a 25-team parlay that he said would’ve paid $63,000 if it hit— he lost two of the 25 bets. Not good.

There is a saying I like “We have more in common than what separates us” and for me, that is never more true than when I’m here. 

— If you run the Minnesota Vikings, do you sign QB Sam Darnold to a big contract and trade rookie JJ McCarthy, or do you let Darnold walk as a free agent and go forward with McCarthy/Daniel Jones as your quarterbacks?

Vikings are 14-2, are playing for the #1-seed in the NFC Sunday; if you saw the post-game celebration after the Green Bay game on social media, it is obvious that Darnold is beloved by his teammates. Going to be difficult to let him walk.

— Jets are going to interview Rex Ryan for their head coach opening, which is interesting; Ryan was 50-52 as Jets’ coach from 2009-14, then 15-16 as Buffalo’s coach in 2015-16. Jets haven’t made the playoffs since Ryan was coaching them, in 2010. 

Will be fascinating to see what happens; hopefully owner Woody Johnson’s teenage sons won’t have any say in who the team hires.

— Washington Nationals signed 32-year old P Trevor Williams, for two years, $14M.

Williams was 6-1, 2.03 last year, in an injury-plagued, 13-start season. He is 50-55, 4.30 in 161 career starts in his nine-year career, mostly with the Pirates.

— 3B Alex Bregman is still a free agent; he’s a good player, but this stat is a little odd, since Bregman is a right-handed hitter:

2023: Bregman hit .282 vs righties, .215 vs lefties.
2024: Bregman hit .274 vs righties, .224 vs lefties.

2023: His home OPS was .764, road OPS .840
2024: His home OPS was .784, road OPS .755
For his career, his home OPS is .846, road OPS .850.

Houston is a good hitters’ ballpark; Bregman is a good stick, no matter where he is hitting. Curious to see where he winds up.

— Famous birthdays, December 31st:
Ben Kingsley, 81
Tim Matheson, 77
Val Kilmer, 65

Rick Aguilera, 63
Brent Barry, 53
Heath Shuler, 53

Esteban Loaiza, 53
Jason Campbell, 43
Ryan Yarbrough, 33

— Gonzaga 89, Pepperdine 82
Zags led 52-32 with 19:51 left, but Pepperdine cut the lead to 2 points.
Gonzaga shot 66.7% inside the arc, Pepperdine 59%
6-5 frosh Olvera scored 27 for the Waves; I’m guessing bigger schools are already trying to poach him for next season.

— Kansas State 70, Cincinnati 67
K-State was 16-20 on foul line, Bearcats 4-7 in their first Big X road game.
Cincinnati is 10-2 vs schedule #245; they’re 2-2 vs top 100 teams.
K-State snapped a four-game skid; they’re 1-4 vs top 100 opponents.

— San Francisco 97, Santa Clara 94 OT
Both teams shot over 65% inside the arc.
6-5 senior Thomas scored 34 points, had 8 rebounds.
6-10 O’Neil scored 20 points off the bench for Santa Clara.

— Iowa State 79, Colorado 69
Cyclones were +10 in turnovers, had 20 offensive rebounds.
Colorado led 55-50 with 12:01 left in game.
Iowa State was 17-22 on foul line, Buffaloes 6-8

— Arizona 90, TCU 81
Arizona shot 72.2% inside the arc.
Wildcats’ lead was only 49-48 with 15:07 left in game.
6-4 senior Love scored 33 points, had seven assists.

— RIP to President Jimmy Carter, who passed away this weekend at age 100.

Carter was the 39th President of the United States, from 1976-80; he is the only President who graduated from the US Naval Academy. He was a peanut farmer before he got into politics.

His writings after his Presidential term include political memoirs, commentary on global affairs, and books of poetry. He was a decent man who was heavily involved in Habitat for Humanity, helping build many houses for less fortunate families.

We could use more decent people in public service. RIP, sir.

— RIP to actress Linda Lavin, 87 who passed away this week; she is best-known for the TV comedy show Alice. Lavin became a role model for working moms as Alice Hyatt, a widowed mother with a 12-year-old son working in a roadside diner outside Phoenix.

That was a good show, a funny show. She was an excellent actress. RIP, ma’am.

— Conference bowl records (SU/ATS)
AAC 6-1 SU/6-1 ATS
ACC 1-9 SU/1-9 ATS
Big 18 4-2 SU/5-1 ATS

Big X 3-2 SU/2-3 ATS
C-USA 1-3 SU/1-3 ATS
MAC 4-2 SU/4-1-1 ATS

M West 1-3 SU/1-3 ATS
SEC 4-3 SU/4-3 ATS
Sun Belt 3-3 SU/2-3-1 ATS

Favorites: 15-15-1 ATS
Totals: over 17-14  

Commanders 30, Falcons 24 OT
Washington drove 75 yards; TE Ertz caught game-winning TD in OT
Atlanta tied game on a 4th-and-13 TD pass with 1:19 left in regulation.
Commanders are in playoffs for first time since 2020.
Tampa Bay now leads NFC South by a game over Atlanta.
Falcons led game 17-7 at halftime. 

Washington’s first drive in 3rd quarter: 15 plays, 69 yards, 7:47, TD
Washington’s second drive in 3rd quarter: 14 plays, 70 yards, 7:03, TD
Commanders won last three games, scoring 42-20-36-30 points.
QB Daniels threw for 227 yards, 3 TDs, also ran for 127 yards.
Penalties: Atlanta 4-25 yards, Washington 13-108.

— I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that Washington’s win clinched the NFC West title for the Rams. 

Vikings 27, Packers 25
QB Darnold threw for 377 yards, three TD’s.
Vikings led 27-10 after third quarter, hung on for the win.
Minnesota won last nine games, scoring 29.8 ppg in last six.
Minnesota is 7-1 SU/6-2 ATS at home this season.
Vikings are 9-1 in games decided by 8 or fewer points.

Packers lost twice to Minnesota TY, 31-29/27-25.
Green Bay’s first 6 drives: 30 plays, 131 yards, 3 points.
Green Bay’s lsst 4 drives: 28 plays, 143 yards, 22 points.
Minnesota outgained the Packers, 441-271
Vikings @ Lions next week will decide #1 seed in NFC

Giants 45, Colts 33
So much for the Giants getting first pick in the ’25 Draft.
Giants snapped 10-game losing skid, won at home for first time TY.
WR Nabers caught 7 passes for 171 yards and two TD’s.
Giants’ first four drives: 20 plays, 205 yards, 21 points.
Giants were +3 in turnovers, their first ’24 game with positive TO ratio. 

With loss, Colts were eliminated from the playoff race.
RB Taylor carried ball 32 times for 125 yards, two TD’s.
QB Flacco threw for 330 yards, two TDs and two INTs.
Over is 6-1 in Colts last seven games.
Colts are 0-3 ATS as a road favorite TY.

— If the 2025 Draft were held today, New England would have the #1 pick. 

Raiders 25, Saints 10
Raiders won second game in row; they’re now #9 in the draft order.
Ameer Abdullah ran for 115 yards, his first 100-yard game in a 10-year career.
Daniel Carlson kicked four field goals, including a 54-yarder.
Las Vegas was 10-18 on third down, Saints 1-8.
Raiders didn’t get to their New Orleans hotel until less than 12 hours before kickoff.

Raiders led 13-10 at halftime.
Saints in second half: 33 plays, 68 yards, no points.
New Orleans is 2-11 when it scores less than 35 points. 
Under is 6-1 in their last seven games.
Las Vegas outgained the Saints, 388-269. 

Jaguars 20, Titans 13
Titans lost last five games, giving up 29.4 ppg.
Titans are 2-7 SU/ATS on the road this year. 
Tennessee is minus-16 in turnovers this season.
Right now, Tennessee would have the #3 pick in the ’25 Draft.
Titans are 2-14 ATS this year, first team in Super Bowl era to fail to cover the spread 14 games in a season.

WR Thomas caught seven passes for 91 yards and a TD.
Jacksonville is 6-3 ATS in its last nine games.
Four of their last five games stayed under the total.
Jaguars are 2-0 vs Tennessee this year, 2-12 vs everyone else.
This is only 4th time in 30 years Jaguars swept season series vs Titans. 

Bills 40, Jets 14
Jets are 2-10 SU/3-9 ATS in last 12 games.
Jets are 0-8 scoring less than 21 points.
Jets were outgained 348-281, were minus-3 in turnovers.
Jets are 11-21 ATS last 32 games as a road underdog.
Jets are 2-9 SU/3-8 ATS since their coaching change.

Bills clinched #2 seed in AFC with this win.
Bills won ten of their last eleven games (8-3 ATS)
Buffalo is +24 in turnovers, +9 in last five games.
Team total: over 13-3
Jets are 0-5 SU/0-4-1 ATS in last five visits to Buffalo.

Buccaneers 48, Panthers 14
Bucs now lead NFC South by a game; they host the Saints next week.
Tampa Bay outgained Panthers, 551-204.
Bucs were 10-14 on third down, Carolina 2-9.
Bucs are 5-1 since their bye, scoring 32.5 ppg.
Mayfield threw for 359 yards, five TD’s.

Tampa Bay led 27-14 at halftime.
Panthers in second half: 24 plays, 43 yards, no points.
Carolina lost five of last six games, is 6-2 ATS in last eight.
Carolina is 10-20-1 ATS last 31 games as a road underdog
Over is 12-4 in Carolina games this year.
 
Eagles 41, Cowboys 7
Eagles are 11-1 SU/8-4 ATS in their last dozen games.
Backup QB Pickett was 10-15/143 passing; he broke some ribs.
RB Barkley ran for 167 yards, went over 2,000 yards for season.
Last six weeks, Eagles ran ball for 201.3 yards/game.
Cowboys are 1-5 SU/ATS in last six visits to Philly.

Dallas drove 70 yards for a TD on its second drive.
After that, Dallas ran 42 plays for 158 yards, 3 turnovers.
Cowboys are 2-9 when they allow more than 20 points.
Opponents’ team total: over 8-3 last eleven games
Eagles beat Dallas twice this year, by a combined 75-13. 

Dolphins 20, Browns 3
Dolphins (7-8)
Backup QB Huntley was 22-26/225 passing, with no turnovers.
Dolphins are 6-2 in their last eight games.
Miami is 1-7 when it gives up 20+ points, 6-2 if they allow less than 20.
Under is 7-1 in their road games this year.
To make playoffs, Miami needs to beat Jets next week, have Chiefs win in Denver

Browns lost seven of last eight games, giving up 26.8 ppg
#3 QB Thompson-Robinson is 1-3 as an NFL starter 
Cleveland is 1-12 when they score less than 24 points.
Browns’ last seven losses were all by 9+ points.
Browns are minus-15 in turnovers the last six games.

— Famous birthdays, December 30:
Sandy Koufax, 89
Tracey Ullman, 65
Kerry Collins, 52
A.J. Pierzynski, 48
Grant Balfour, 47

Kenyon Martin, 47
Lebron James, 40
Tyler Anderson, 35
Carson Wentz, 32
Drew Waters, 26

— Buffalo QB Josh Allen has started the Bills’ last 114 games; during that same time, their division rival Jets have started nine different quarterbacks.

— Former NFL QB Ryan Leaf worked 13 football games for ESPN this year; he posted online how much he got paid for each game.

Turns out, less than I thought— 13 games, for a total of $45,250.

— Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell is an impressive 26-9 in one-score games.

— 1B Josh Bell signed a one-year deal for $6M with Washington, his old team.

Bell played for the Nationals in 2021-22; he hit .249 for Miami/Arizona last year, with 19 HR’s, 71 RBI and a .729 OPS.

— Conference bowl records (SU/ATS)
AAC 6-1 SU/6-1 ATS
ACC 1-9 SU/1-9 ATS
Big 18 4-2 SU/5-1 ATS

Big X 3-2 SU/2-3 ATS
C-USA 1-3 SU/1-3 ATS
MAC 4-2 SU/4-1-1 ATS

M West 1-3 SU/1-3 ATS
SEC 4-3 SU/4-3 ATS
Sun Belt 3-3 SU/2-3-1 ATS

Favorites: 14-15-1 ATS
Totals: over 16-14 (under 6-2 Saturday)

Rams 13, Cardinals 9
Ahkello Witherspoon picked off a pass in end zone with 0:37 left.
Arizona outgained the Rams, 396-257.
McBride caught 12 passes for 123 yards and a TD.
Arizona is 1-5 since its bye; they lost five of last six on road.
Arizona is 6-2 scoring 24+ points, 1-7 scoring less than 24. 

Rams have won five in a row, last three by 12-6/19-9/13-9 scores.
Nucua caught 10 passes for 129 yards.
Rams blocked the PAT after the Cardinals’ only TD.
Rams are 8-12 ATS in their last 20 games as a home favorite.
Rams won nine of their last eleven games, after a 1-4 start.

Chargers 40, Patriots 7
Chargers clinched their 4th playoff spot in last 15 years.
QB Herbert threw for 281 yards, 3 TD’s.
LA is 7-0 scoring 24+ points, 3-6 scoring 23 or fewer points.
Chargers are 5-1 ATS this season as road favorites.
Bolts outgained new England, 428-181. 

Patriots are 0-6 SU/2-4 ATS in last five games.
Chargers were 10-17 on third down, Patriots 2-10.
NE is 12-24-1 ATS in last 37 games as an underdog.
Patriots are 32-52 SU since Tom Brady left town.
New England is 1-12 SU when it allows more than 10 points.

Bengals 30, Broncos 24 OT
Denver forced OT on a 25-yard TD pass to Mims with 0:08 left.
Bengals scored TD with 1:08 left in OT to keep their season alive.
Broncos could’ve clinched a playoff spot with a tie.
Cincinnati missed a 33-yard FG in the overtime.
Broncos are 1-6 in games decided by 7 or fewer points.

QB Burrow threw for 412 yards, three TD’s.
Higgins caught 11 passes for 131 yards, three TD’s.
Bengals’ first two drives: 28 plays, 116 yards, lost ball twice on downs
Bengals’ next three drives: 29 plays, 194 yards, 17 points.
Cincinnati was 7-13 on third down, Broncos 4-12.

— UCLA 65, Gonzaga 62
Zags led by 4 with 7:27 left to play.
Gonzaga was 7-24 on arc, UCLA 12-24
Zags are 1-4 in last five games vs top 100 teams.

— Utah State 67, San Diego State 66
Aztecs led by 18 in first half, by 7 with 1:56 left in game.
Utah State shot 63.6% inside the arc.
Utah State is 12-1, 2-0 in Mountain West games.

— Boise State 73, Fresno State 71
Spartans led by 11 early in second half.
Boise State shot 57.9% inside the arc.
6-8 senior Degenhart had 26 points, 7 rebounds.

— Famous birthdays, December 29:
Ted Danson, 77
Sean Payton, 61
Chad Dukes, 53

Richie Sexson, 50
Kate Moennig, 47
Clint Stoerner, 47

Jack Wilson, 47
Dustin Fowler, 30
Julio Rodriguez, 24

— Iowa State 42, Miami FL 41
Cyclones scored game-winning TD with 0:56 left.
Miami QB Ward declined to play in the second half, after he set the record for most career TD passes, previously held by Case Keenum.
Miami lost its sixth straight bowl game.
Miami ran 39 times for 308 yards, but was minus-3 in turnovers.

— East Carolina 26, NC State 21
RB Harris ran 86 yards for a TD with 1:33 left for the winning score.
ECU led 20-7 after three quarters; NC State scored two TD’s in 3:15 span to take 21-20 lead.
ECU finishes season 8-5, after a 2-4 start.
Eight players were ejected after a fight late in the game.

— UConn 27, North Carolina 14
This is UConn’s first bowl win since 2010.
Huskies were 8-16 on third down, Carolina 0-9.
UConn outgained the Tar Heels, 361-206
UNC’s first touchdown was a 95-yard kickoff return.

— Nebraska 20, Boston College 15
Cornhuskers get their first bowl win since 2015.
Nebraska led 20-2 after three quarters, held on for dear life.
BC ran ball 26 times for only 47 yards.
ACC teams are 1-9 in bowl games this month; no bueno.

— BYU 36, Colorado 14
BYU ran ball 42 times for 180 yards; Colorado 19 times for 2 yards.
Cougars led 20-0 at half-time.
BYU was 8-14 on third down, Colorado 3-9.
WR Hunter caught four passes for 106 yards for Colorado.

— TCU 34, Louisiana 3
QB Hoover passed for 252 yards, four TD’s.
TCU’s first four drives: 40 plays, 228 yards, 20 points.
Louisiana in first half: 22 plays, 43 yards, no points.

— Miami OH 43, Colorado State 17
Miami’s lead was only 9-3 at halftime.
Rams outgained Miami 462-401, but turned ball over four times.
Miami ran ball 34 times for 217 yards (6.4 yards/carry)

— Army 27, Louisiana Tech 6
QB Daily scored three TD’s, breaking I-A record for TD’s in a season by a QB.
Army ran ball 64 times for 321 yards (5 yards/carry)
Army outgained Tech 386-216; they finish an excellent season 12-2.

— Conference bowl records (SU/ATS)
AAC 6-1 SU/6-1 ATS
ACC 1-9 SU/1-9 ATS
Big 18 4-2 SU/5-1 ATS

Big X 3-2 SU/2-3 ATS
C-USA 1-3 SU/1-3 ATS
MAC 4-2 SU/4-1-1 ATS

M West 1-3 SU/1-3 ATS
SEC 4-3 SU/4-3 ATS
Sun Belt 3-3 SU/2-3-1 ATS

Favorites: 14-15-1 ATS
Totals: over 16-14 (under 6-2 Saturday)

— Arizona Diamondbacks made some noise late Friday night, signed P Corbin Burnes to a six-year, $210M contract. Burnes is 60-36, 3.19 in 138 career starts; he was 15-9, 2.92 in 32 starts for the Orioles last year.

— Detroit Tigers signed IF Gleyber Torres for one year, $15M; Torres hit 15 homers for Bronx LY, after hitting a combined 49 taters the previous two seasons.

Torres is expected to play 2B in Detroit, with Colt Keith moving to first base.

— OF Teoscar Hernandez re-signed with the Dodgers for three years, $66M; he hit 33 HR’s, knocked in 99 runs for the World Champs last year, going 7-20 in the World Series.

— Seahawks beat the Bears 6-3 Thursday; there was a 120-1 prop bet that there wouldn’t be any touchdowns in the game. Circa Casino said they sold eight “no TD” tickets.

— RIP to Greg Gumbel, who passed away from cancer at age 78; he spent 50+ years in sports broadcasting. He was really good at his job, no matter what sport he worked.

In an industry that is increasingly being filled with arrogant jerks, Gumbel seemed like a really good guy, in addition to being excellent at his job, and reactions to his passing have confirmed that.

RIP, sir.

— Famous birthdays, December 28:
Ray Knight, 72
Denzel Washington, 70
James Brooks, 66
Keith Lee, 62

Mel Stottlemyre, Jr, 61
Seth Meyers, 51
John Henson, 34
Dylan Cease, 29

— Eagles QB Jalen Hurts has concussion issues, isn’t expected to play against the Cowboys Sunday. Backup QB Kenny Pickett has a 14-10 record as an NFL starter.

— North Carolina has a bowl game in Fenway Park today, but Bill Belichick isn’t supposed to be there; am guessing he’ll do a TV segment during the game, for recruiting and all.

— Boise State hasn’t had a losing football season since 1997.

— Navy 21, Oklahoma 20
Down 20-14, Sooners scored TD with 0:06 left; they went for 2 points but failed.
Oklahoma led 14-0 with 5:00 left before halftime.
Navy QB Horvath tied game 14-14 with a 95-yard TD run.

— USC 35, Texas A&M 31
Trojans drove 80 yards, scored game-winning TD with 0:05 left.
Aggies led 24-7 with 4:00 left in third quarter.
USC WR Lane caught seven passes for 127 yards, three TD’s.

— Vanderbilt 35, Georgia Tech 27
Tech outgained Vandy 394-306, but they were minus-2 in turnovers.
QB Pavia threw for 160 yards, 3 TD’s, ran for 84 yards, 2 more TD’s.
This is Vandy’s bowl win since 2013.

— Arkansas 39, Texas Tech 26
QB Green was 11-21 passing, for a whopping 341 yards (31 yards/completion)
Total yardage: Arkansas 559, Tech 497
Razorbacks led 24-19 at halftime.

— Syracuse 52, Washington State 35
Wazzu is decimated; their coach/QB both bolted to greener pa$ture$.
That said, Coogs fought hard; it was 35-28 with 2:00 left in third quarter.
Syracuse QB McCord threw for 453 yards and five TD’s.

— Conference bowl records (SU/ATS)
AAC 4-1 SU/4-1 ATS
ACC 1-5 SU/1-5 ATS
Big 18 3-2 SU/4-1 ATS

Big X 1-2 SU/0-3 ATS
C-USA 1-2 SU/1-2 ATS
MAC 3-2 SU/3-1-1 ATS

M West 1-2 SU/1-2 ATS
SEC 4-3 SU/4-3 ATS
Sun Belt 3-2 SU/2-2-1 ATS

Favorites: 10-11-1 ATS
Totals: over 14-8

Seahawks 6, Bears 3
This was the worst NFL game I’ve ever seen. Ever.
Total yardage: Seattle 265, Chicago 179
Seahawks kicked a FG on their first drive.
After the first drive, they ran 41 plays for 180 yards.
Seattle gained less than 300 yards in five or last seven games.

Bears are 0-10 SU/3-7 ATS in their last ten games.
Bears averaged 2.2 yards/pass attempt; Williams was sacked 7 times.
Chicago has scored 45 points in four games since Eberflus got fired.
Bears are 0-10 when they score less than 24 points.
Under is 7-3 in Chicago’s last ten games.

Chiefs 29, Steelers 10
Chiefs won their last six games, covered last three.
Chiefs’ first two drives: 15 plays, 121 yards, 13 points.
Last three games, Kansas City is +10 in turnovers.
Mahomes threw for 320 yards, three TD’s.
Win clinches the #1 seed in AFC for Kansas City.

Steelers ran for 202 yards, but were minus-2 in turnovers.
Pittsburgh was 8-16 on third down, Chiefs 3-10.
Steelers averaged only 3.9 yards/pass attempt.
Steelers lost their last three games, after a 7-1 run.
Last three games, Pittsburgh allowed 402.7 yards/game.

Ravens 31, Texans 2
Baltimore won its two post-bye games, scoring 35-34-31 points.
Ravens’ first two drives: 15 plays, 111 yards, 10 points.
Baltimore is 11-0 if they score 27+ points, 0-5 if they score less than 27
QB Jackson put game out of reach with a 48-yard TD run.
Ravens are 6-2 ATS as a road favorite this year.

Ravens outgained Houston, 432-211
Texans had only ten first downs the whole game.
Houston is 2-7 when it gives up more than 20 points.
Under is 7-1 in Texans home games.
This was first-ever NFL game with a halftime score of 17-2.

— Toledo 48, Pittsburgh 46 OT
Toledo kicked a 51-yard FG with 1:45 left to force OT
Rockets scored two TD’s in a 0:14 span in the second quarter.
Toledo led 20-12 at halftime.
Pitt ran ball 66 times for 301 yards, but lost.
This game had six overtime innings, the longest bowl game ever.

— Kansas State 44, Rutgers 41
Rutgers led 27-17 at halftime, 34-17 with 6:00 left in 3rd quarter.
Dylan Edwards ran 18 times for 196 yards and two TD’s.
K-State ran ball 42 times for 347 yards (8.3 yards/carry).
Rutgers gained 319 yards in first half, only 82 after halftime.

— Arkansas State 38, Bowling Green 31
Ark State took a 10-0 lead on a 60-yard punt return for a TD.
Then, Falcons’ #3 QB threw a 43-yard TD pass on a fake punt.
Bowling Green outgained Ark State, 479-360
Ark State QB Raynor threw for 221 yards and two TD’s.

— South Florida 41, San Jose State 39 OT
USF led 21-7 after a 93-yard kick return in second quarter.
Bulls kicked a 41-yard FG with 0:02 left in regulation to force OT.
San Jose outgained South Florida, 441-291.

— Famous birthdays, December 27:
Tovah Feldshuh, 72
Mark Budaska, 72
Craig Reynolds, 72

Kent Benson, 70
Donald Igwebuike, 64
Eva LaRue, 58

Kevin Ollie, 52
Carson Palmer, 45
Cole Hamels, 41

Greg Zuerlein, 37
Jordan Montgomery, 32
Brock Purdy, 25

— 75-year old Jim Larrañaga is no longer Miami’s basketball coach; whether he got fired or quit isn’t relevant (no one quits those jobs unless it is health-related).

Larrañaga won 744 games as a college coach; he had Miami in the freakin’ Final Four two years ago, but the Hurricanes are 4-8 this season, after ending last year on an 0-10 skid. Our society has become very fickle, especially towards older people, so Larrañaga is gone now.

— Speaking of which, there are murmurs that 73-year old Pete Carroll has interest in being the next coach of the Chicago Bears, who need all the coaching they can get.

Carroll has a 181-131-1 record as an NFL head coach, winning a Super Bowl with Seattle; he was also 97-19 as USC’s coach.

— Teddy Bridgewater was an NFL QB for nine years, for six different teams; he was Detroit’s backup QB last year, then retired so he could coach high school ball at Miami Northwestern HS, his alma mater. Miami Northwestern won a state title this past season and now Bridgewater has un-retired, to go back to the Lions as a backup.

— Nebraska 78, Oregon State 66
Cornhuskers win the Diamond Head Classic; they’re 10-2 this season.
Nebraska was 38-44 on the foul line in the 3-game tournament.
Cornhuskers are forcing turnovers 21% of time (#49)

— The fiercest game in those 8-team tournaments is the 7th place game, when two teams that are 0-2 in the event fight like hell not to go home to the mainland 0-3.

Murray State beat Loyola Chi 71-68 in the 7th place game at Diamond Head; Racers were 22-33 on the foul line, Loyola 14-21. Ramblers led by 11 early in second half, but went home 0-3.

— QB Fernando Mendoza has transferred from the Cal Bears to Indiana; he threw for 3,004 yards this year, with 16 TD passes, six INT’s.

— QB Darian Mensah bolted from Tulane to Duke after leading the Green Wave to a 9-4 regular season record. Word came out on the Interweb this week that Mensah signed a 2-year deal worth $8M to play for Duke!!!! 4 million freakin’ dollars a year!!!!

By way of comparison, Jimmy Garoppolo is the Rams’ backup QB, in the NFL. He’s making $3,044,305 this season.

Go figure. 

— SEC
Right now, ESPN has 13 of 16 SEC teams getting into the NCAA Tournament.
South Carolina is 9-3, #65 on kenpom.com they’re the lowest-rated SEC team.
John Calipari’s first Arkansas team is 10-2, but against schedule #233.
Kentucky, in Mark Pope’s first season, is 10-2 against schedule #65.

Conference play hasn’t started yet, so once teams start losing, things will change, but right now, this is far and away the best league in the country. 

— There are four unbeaten teams left: Florida, Oklahoma, Tennessee from the SEC and Drake from the MVC.

Bracketology has Drake as an 11-seed, meaning they better win Arch Madness to get into the NCAA Tournament, but not bad for a team with four starters who were playing for a D-2 team last season.

— Big X
Arizona is 6-5; 0-5 vs top 100 teams, 6-0 vs everyone else; they’ve played schedule #53.
Bracketology has 8 of 16 teams in the Field of 68.
Cincinnati is 10-1, with the #5 eFG% defense, but against schedule #299.
Iowa State’s only loss was 83-81 to Auburn; they’re shooting 60.5% inside the arc.

— Big 18
UCLA and USC are in the same league as Rutgers and Maryland; the over-educated morons who run college sports have outdone themselves with all this shuffling.

Bracketology has 10 of 18 Big 18 teams getting in the NCAAs; KenPom has six of their teams in the top 25.

All 18 teams have played two conference games already; 12 of the 18 teams split their games. It isn’t obvious who the best teams are, unlike the SEC, where Auburn, Florida, Tennessee have stood out so far.

— Big East
Seton Hall, Villanova seem to be down; Georgetown is better. UConn, Marquette and St John’s look like the three best teams, at this early point in the season.

ESPN has only three Big East teams in the Tournament; they had only three in last year’s event, their lowest amount in the last 25 years.

— ACC
KenPom has ACC as the #5 conference; they haven’t finished higher than 5th since 2020.
There are 18 teams in ACC now, with Cal,Stanford, SMU joining; lot of long road trips.
North Carolina is off to a 7-5 start, 2-5 vs top 100 teams.
Duke is 10-2, losing to Kansas/Kentucky; their best player is a freshman.

Right now, ESPN has five teams in the field of 68.

— Mountain West
San Diego State is 8-2, Utah State 11-1; they appear to be the best teams so far.
Decent depth though; Boise State, New Mexico, UNLV and Colorado State are capable.

ESPN has only two Mountain West teams in the field of 68.

— Famous birthdays, December 26
Carlton Fisk, 77
Chris Chambliss, 76
Ozzie Smith, 70
Storm Davis, 63

Tim Legler, 58
Omar Infante, 43
Trevor Siemian, 33
Hogan Harris, 28

— West Coast
Addition of Oregon State/Washington State for this year/next year will help this league, then the bottom will fall out when Gonzaga bolts in two years, and Beavers/Coogs go back to the Pac-12.

This year, Gonzaga/Saint Mary’s are two best teams, with San Francisco, Oregon State, Santa Clara and Wazzu adding quality depth.

Bottom of the league isn’t so great right now; ESPN has Gonzaga/Saint Mary’s in the NCAA’s, but that could change.

— Atlantic 15
Dayton, VCU and St Bonaventure appear to be the best teams. Richmond/UMass are down, Loyola Chicago just had a rough 0-3 trip to Hawai’i.

Archie Miller has Rhode Island at 11-1, but they’ve played schedule #323.

A-15 could be a one-bid league for second time in three years; last time they had more than two teams in NCAAs was 2018.

— Charlotte 94, Murray State 90, 2OT
This game, played very late Monday night, ended around 12:45am Tuesday here in Las Vegas, which means if I was home, it would’ve been almost 4am, which is awesome, kind of like the old ESPN Basketball Marathon they used to have in November every year. 

Two ordinary teams played their butts off for three hours; fun to watch
Charlotte was 34-36 on the foul line.
Murray State led by 10 with 6:19 left in regulation.
Five players fouled out.

— Missouri Valley
Only once since 2016 has the Valley not been a one-bid league; Arch Madness is what matters.
KenPom.com has #72 Bradley as the highest-ranked team right now.

That said, ESPN has two MVC teams in the field of 68 right now, because Drake is 11-0- they have Indiana State as the other team in right now.

It is still December; a lot will change between now and Selection Sunday.

— It needs to be said here that the transfer portal has made the sport more top-heavy; every kid at a mid-major who makes two layups in a row thinks he belongs in the NBA. The rich steal from the not-rich, just like baseball. Can’t be a lot of fun being a mid-major head coach.

— Big West
Cal-San Diego is 11-2, including beating three eastern mid-majors at a tournament in Florida; the Tritons are forcing turnovers 24.4% of the time, #4 in country.

Since 2014, Cal-Irvine is 140-41 in Big West games, but they’ve only made the NCAA’s twice during that time- they upset K-State in the first round in 2019. Anteaters always play good defense; success in the conference tournament has been more challenging.

— Southern
Furman is ranked #113 by KenPom; they’re highest-ranked team in SoCon right now, two years after upsetting Virginia in the NCAAs.

10-3 Samford seems like their biggest challenger right now; they’re shooting 39.6% on the arc (#18) getting 42% of their points on the arc (#8)

NBA trends (thru Tuesday, December 24)

Hawks (15-15):
— 1-3 SU in their last four games.
— 1-4 ATS as a road favorite, 6-4 as a road dog.
— Over 6-2 last eight home games

Celtics (22-7):
— 13-4 last 17 games SU. 
— 4-11 ATS last fifteen games.
— under 5-0 last five games.

Nets (11-18):
— lost eight of their last ten games SU.
— 2-8 ATS last ten games.
— under 6-3 last nine games

Hornets (7-22):
— lost 13 of last 14 games SU.
— 2-7 ATS last nine games.
— under 5-2 last seven games.

Bulls (13-17)
— 3-4 SU in last seven games.
— 4-7 ATS as a home underdog.
— under 5-1 last six home games
— 1-5 ATS if they played the night before.

Cavaliers (26-4):
— 9-1 SU last ten games.
— 14-4 ATS as a home favorite, 4-0 as a road underdog.
— over 5-1 last six games.
— 4-1 ATS if they played the night before.

Mavericks (19-10):
— 14-3 last 17 games SU.
— 6-1 ATS last seven home games.
— under 8-4 last 12 home games
— 4-0 ATS if they played the night before.

Nuggets (16-11):
— 5-1 SU last six games
— 1-7 ATS as a road favorite.
— 5-2 ATS as a road underdog.
— over 6-2 last eight games.
— 3-1 ATS if they played the night before.

Pistons (13-17):
— 4-2 last six games SU.
— 7-4 ATS as road underdogs.
— 0-4 ATS as home favorite
— over 7-1 last eight road games

Warriors (15-13):
— 3-10 last thirteen games SU.
— 9-5 ATS as an underdog
— under 8-0 last eight road games

Rockets (20-9):
— 5-1 last six games SU
— 8-3 ATS as a home favorite, 5-3 as an underdog.
— over 5-3 last eight road games

Pacers (15-15):
— won/covered their last five games.
— 4-12-1 ATS as a favorite.
— under 7-1-1 last nine games.

Clippers (17-13):
— 3-1 last four games SU
— 10-6 ATS at home.
— 7-2 ATS as a favorite
— under 6-0 last six road games.

Lakers (16-13):
— 4-2 SU last six games
— 1-5 ATS last six games as a home favorite
— 5-2 ATS last seven games overall.
— under 8-2 last ten road games.

Grizzlies (20-10):
— 12-3 last fifteen games SU.
— 10-5 ATS as a home favorite.  
— 4-0 ATS if they played the night before.
— over 6-2 last eight road games

Heat (14-13):
— 1-3 SU last four games.
— 6-2 ATS last eight games as a home favorite
— 4-2 ATS as a road underdog.
— under 3-0 last three home games.

Famous birthdays, December 25th:
Howard Twilley, 81
Gary Sandy, 79
Larry Csonka, 78

Sissy Spacek, 75
Manny Trillo, 74
Jillie Mack, 67

Erik Hiljus, 52
Eric Gordon, 36
Garrett Cooper, 34

Rickey Henderson would’ve turned 66 today
Rod Serling would’ve turned 100. 

Bucks (16-12):
— 5-1 last six games SU.
— 6-8-1 ATS at home.
— under 3-1 last four games.
— 1-4-1 ATS if they played the night before

Timberwolves (14-14)
— 0-3 SU last three games, giving up 121 ppg.
— 4-10 ATS as a home favorite.
— 1-3 ATS if they played the night before
— under 8-2 last ten games.

Pelicans (5-25):
— 3-25 last 28 games SU
— 3-12 ATS on the road (8-6 at home).
— over 6-3 last nine games. 

Knicks (19-10):
— won/covered their last four games.
— 6-2 ATS last eight as a home favorite.
— over 7-3 last ten home games. 

Thunder (23-5):
— 12-1 last thirteen games SU
— 9-5 ATS on road.
— under 4-1 last five games

Magic (19-12):
— 4-5 last nine games SU.
— 10-1 ATS as home favorite, 3-6 as road underdog.  
— under 3-1 last four games. 

76ers (10-17):
— 5-2 SU last seven games 
— 4-10 ATS at home
— under 6-2 last eight road games

Suns (14-14):
— 6-12 SU last 18 games.
— 4-11 ATS at home.
— 1-4 ATS if they played the night before
— over 7-2 last nine road games

Trailblazers (9-20):
— 3-12 SU last fifteen games.
— 8-4 ATS as a home underdog.
— over 4-0 last four home games

Kings (13-17):
— 0-4 SU/ATS last four games
— 5-13 ATS at home
— under 5-1 last six road games

Spurs (15-14):
— 4-2 SU in last six games
— 3-5 ATS as a road underdog.
— under 3-1 last four games

Raptors (7-23):
— lost last eight games SU (4-3-1 ATS)
— 11-3-1 ATS as home dog, 8-6 as road dog.
— under 8-3 last eleven road games

Jazz (7-21):
— 3-9 SU last 12 games.
— 9-7 ATS as a road underdog.
— over 7-1 last eight games.

Wizards (4-23):
— 2-21 SU/7-14-2 ATS last 23 games
— 5-9 ATS as home dog, 5-7-2 as road dog
— under 5-1 last six home games.

— For the first time in six years, I’m spending Christmas in Las Vegas; been here for a few days already, things are quiet before Christmas. Has been fun watching games in the SuperBook at the Westgate Casino.

One of the best parts of being here is having conversations with total strangers in sportsbooks; we have more in common than what separates us.

Was talking to a guy Sunday who worked in the equipment room for the Cal Bears while Aaron Rodgers/Marshawn Lynch were playing there; he said Lynch was an awesome guy, talked to everyone. The guy’s brother had just won a ring in a WPT poker tournament; that was pretty cool to see.

Anyway, Las Vegas is fun; I’m waiting for everything to ramp back up Thursday; their great breakfast buffet and the NFL theater were shut down this weekend, though Sid’s Cafe is open, and that is also really good. Casinos do lot of repairs/renovations this time of year, when there are fewer guests around.

— Packers 34, Saints 0
This was the first shutout in the NFL this season.
Packers’ first three drives: 33 plays, 226 yards, 21 points.
Green Bay led 21-0 at the half; they clinched a playoff spot.
Packers won nine of last 11 games (5-0 ATS last five).
Green Bay is 10-0 when they allow less than 24 points.

Saints were outgained 404-196.
New Orleans is 3-3 SU/ATS since their coaching change.
Saints are 0-9 when they give up 20+ points.
#2 QB Rattler is 0-5 as a starter this year.
Saints are 1-3 SU/0-4 ATS in outdoor games this year. 

— Myrtle Beach Bowl
Tex-San Antonio 44, Coastal Carolina 15
Coastal looked like Wily Coyote chasing the Roadrunners around.
UTSA ran ball for 257 yards (8.3 yards/carry)
Roadrunners won four of their last five games.
Chanticleers lost six of their last eight games, after a 4-1 start.
Favorites are 4-1 ATS in this bowl.

— Idaho Potato Bowl
Northern Illinois 28, Fresno State 20 OT
Fresno State led 13-3 at halftime.
Both teams played backup QB’s in this game.
Huskies are 6-0 if they score 24+ points, 2-5 if they don’t.
Fresno lost four of its last five games.
Loss snaps Fresno’s 5-bowl winning streak.

— Fresno State’s QB this year, Mikey Keene, didn’t play in the bowl game Monday because he has bolted to Michigan. Keene has thrown for 8,245 career yards and 65 TDs in a college career; he played for Central Florida and Fresno.

— Conference bowl records (SU/ATS)
AAC 2-1 SU/2-1 ATS
ACC 0-3 SU/0-3 ATS
Big 18 2-1 SU/2-1 ATS

Big X 0-1 SU/0-1 ATS
C-USA 1-2 SU/1-2 ATS
MAC 2-1 SU/2-0-1 ATS

M West 1-1 SU/1-1 ATS
SEC 2-1 SU/2-1 ATS
Sun Belt 2-2 SU/1-2-1 ATS

Favorites: 9-3-1 ATS
Totals: over 7-6

— Jets’ owner Woody Johnson is 77 years old; he has two teenage sons, because there are really rich guys out there with much younger, attractive wives- go figure.

Jets were trying to make a trade with Denver for WR Jerry Jeudy, but Woody Johnson put the kibosh on the deal, apparently because Jeudy’s ranking in the Madden video game wasn’t high enough— that knowledge came from Johnson’s 18-year old son, who is a freshman in college. 

Denver traded Jeudy to the Browns instead; he’s caught 72 passes for 1,072 yards this year.

If you’re wondering why the Jets haven’t been in the playoffs since 2010, look no further than a team having to get its trades approved by an 18-year old who plays video games.

Oy.

— Famous birthdays, December 24:
John D’Acquisto, 73
Paul Pressey, 66
Matt Passmore, 51
Ryan Seacrest, 50
Kevin Millwood, 50
Davante Adams, 32
William Contreras, 27

Masaya Nakamura, the guy who invented Pac-Man, would’ve turned 99 years old today.

I missed a birthday yesterday; Georgia football coach Kirby Smart turned 49.

— P Walker Buehler signed a one-year deal with the Red Sox for $21.05M; Buehler has made only 28 starts the last three years, but he helped the Dodgers win the World Series last season.

He is 30 years old, has a career record of 37-22, 3.27 in 122 career starts.

— OF Joc Pederson signed 2-year deal with the Texas Rangers for $37M; Pederson has already played for five teams in his 11-year career- he hit .275 for Arizona last year, with 23 home runs and a .908 OPS.

— Pittsburgh Pirates re-signed OF Andrew McCutchen for one year, $5M; 11 of his 16 MLB seasons for Pittsburgh. He hit .232 last year, with a .739 OPS. His OPS hasn’t been over .800 since 2019.

— Tampa Bay Rays signed OF Eloy Jimenez to a minor league deal; it would be stunning if he didn’t make the big club this spring. Jimenez made $31M playing for the White Sox the last three years, but he only hit .238 with a .626 OPS last year, so he has to prove himself next year before he starts making the big bucks again.

— When they give NFL stats on TV, time of possession isn’t as important as plays run. If a team runs a no-huddle offense, their time of possession won’t be as good, but they’re putting more pressure on the opposing defense by not allowing them to huddle between plays.

— When they announce the 2025 inductees for the 2025 Baseball Hall of Fame next month, I sure as hell hope Ichiro Suzuki is a unanimous pick- he deserves it.

There has been only one unanimous pick ever (Mariano Rivera) which is ludicrous; think about all the great ballplayers— Aaron, Mays, Ted Williams, Gibson, Mantle, Rickey Henderson- they also should’ve been unanimous choices, so we’ll see. 

Vikings 27, Seahawks 24
Darnold threw 39-yard TD pass to Jefferson with 3:51 left for winning score.
Vikings won last eight games, scoring 30.4 ppg in last five. 
Vikings are 8-1 in games decided by 8 or fewer points.
Minnesota is 7-1 SU/5-2-1 ATS on road this season.
Last four games, Vikings are +6 in turnovers.

Seahawks outgained Minnesota, 361-298
Seattle allowed 26+ points in losses, 21 or less in wins.
Seahawks are 15-21-3 ATS in last 38 games coming off a win.
Seattle is minus-11 in turnovers in losses, +4 in wins.
Teams combined to convert 5-22 third down plays. 

Commanders 36, Eagles 33
Commanders drove 57 yards, scored game-winning TD with 0:06 left
Rookie QB Daniels was 24-39/258 passing, with 5 TDs, 2 INTs.
Washington won last three games, scoring 32.7 ppg.
Commanders’ first 3 drives: 8 plays, 8 yards, no points.
Commanders’ last 4 drives: 30 plays, 210 yards, 22 points. 

Eagles’ first four drives: 20 plays, 183 yards, 21 points.
Philly led 21-7 after the first quarter.
QB Hurts got concussion in first quarter, didn’t return.
Backup QB Pickett was 14-24/143 passing, with a TD and an INT
Loss snaps Eagles’ 10-game winning streak. 

Panthers 36, Cardinals 30 OT
Arizona kicked 58-yard FG at gun in 4th quarter to force OT
Carolina drove 49 yards; Hubbard ran 21 yards for walk-off TD.
Panthers’ first three drives: 25 plays, 151 yards, 20 points.
Over is 11-4 in Carolina games this year.
Six of last seven Carolina games were decided by 6 or fewer points.

Panthers led this game 20-3 in second quarter.
Both teams ran ball for 200+ yards; unusual for an NFL game.
Loss eliminated the Cardinals from playoff contention.
Arizona is 1-4 since its bye; they lost four of last five on road. 
Cardinals are 2-5 SU on road; both wins were by one point. 

Rams 19, Jets 9
Rams’ first two drives: 21 plays, 84 yards, no points.
Rams’ last five drives: 28 plays, 162 yards, 19 points.
Rams won/covered their last five road games.
LA won last two weeks 12-6/19-9; the defense has improved.
Rams won/covered their last five road games.

Both teams missed the PAT after their first touchdown.
Jets led 9-6 after the third quarter.
Rams’ two TD drives were short: 33-21 yards.
Jets are 2-10 SU/3-9 ATS in last 12 games.
This is Jets’ sixth loss this year that they led game at halftime. 

Falcons 34, Giants 7
Lock threw two pick-6’s, one when Giants led 7-3 in 2nd quarter.
Giants are 0-10 SU/1-9 ATS in last ten games.
Giants ran ball only 13 times for 45 yards.
Giants haven’t had a positive turnover ratio in any games TY.
Giants’ last eight drives: 25 plays, 55 yards, outscored 14-0 by Atlanta defense.

Atlanta was 8-14 on third down, Giants 3-9
Rookie QB Penix was 18-27/202 passing in his first NFL start.
Seven of Falcons’ last nine games stayed under the total.
Robinson carried ball 22 times for 94 yards, two TDs.
Atlanta scored 22+ points in seven of its eight wins.

Bengals 24, Browns 6
Browns drove 76 yards on first drive, fumbled on 1-yard line.
Browns’ next four drives after that: 14 plays, 10 yards, four punts.
Cleveland is 1-11 when they score less than 24 points.
Browns lost six of last seven games, giving up 27.7 ppg
Browns are 11-19-1 in last 31 games as a road underdog.

Bengals won last three games, scoring 27-37-24 points, after a 1-4 skid.
Burrow was 23-30/252 passing, with 3 TD’s.
Bengals are 6-1 if they allow 24 or fewer points, 1-7 if they allow more than 24.
Bengals are 11-7-2 ATS last 20 games as a home fave (2-4 TY).
Under is 4-1-1 in last six Cincinnati games.

Famous birthdays, December 23rd:
Jerry Koosman, 82
Susan Lucci, 78
Jack Ham, 76

Rod Phillips, 72
Joan Severance, 66
Jim Harbaugh, 61

Joe Jurevicius, 50
Victor Martinez, 46
Mitch Haniger, 34

Colts 38, Titans 30
Colts led 38-7 with 3:30 left in third quarter.
Indy’s first seven drives: 34 plays, 344 yards, 31 points.
RB Taylor ran for 218 yards, three TD’s.
Colts are 5-1 ATS last six games as a home favorite.
Colts outgained Tennessee, 458-307

Titans lost four in row, six of last seven games.
Tennessee is 4-11 ATS in last 15 games as a road underdog.
Tennessee is minus-15 in turnovers this season.
Opponents’ team total: over 8-4-3
Titans are 2-9 ATS as an underdog this season.

Lions 34, Bears 17
Detroit’s first five drives: 36 plays, 308 yards, 27 points.
Lions won 12 of their last 13 games (9-4 ATS).
Detroit is 7-0 SU/6-1 ATS on road this season.
Under Campbell, Lions are 9-3 ATS as a road favorite.
Under Campbell, Detroit is 8-1 ATS in NFC North road games.

This was only second outdoor game for Detroit this year.
WR Williams caught five passes for 143 yards and a TD.
Bears are 0-9 SU/2-7 ATS in last nine games.
Chicago has been outscored 102-42 in three games without Eberflus.
Bears are 0-10 when they score less than 24 points. 

Bills 24, Patriots 21
Patriots’ first two drives: 22 plays, 141 yards, 14 points.
Patriots led 14-0 early in second quarter.
Patriots’ last eight drives: 46 plays, 226 yards, 7 points.
New England outgained Buffalo, 379-324
Patriots were 7-12 on third down, Bills 4-11

Bills won nine of their last ten games (7-3 ATS)
Buffalo is 9-0 when it allows less than 23 points, 0-3 if it allows 23+
RB Cook ran ball 11 times for 100 yards and a TD.
Patriots are 1-5 SU/4-2 ATS in last six visits to Buffalo.
Bills had 13 penalties for 78 yards, but had 3 takeaways.

Raiders 19, Jaguars 14
Raiders snapped their 10-game losing skid.
Las Vegas was +2 in turnovers (now minus-17 for season)
Rookie TE Bowers caught 11 passes for 99 yards.
Under is 4-0 in Raiders’ last four games.

Jaguars lost six of their last seven games (5-2 ATS).
WR Thomas caught 9 passes for 132 yards and a TD.
Last five games, Jaguars are minus-8 in turnovers.
Backup QB Jones is 19-29 as an NFL starter.

Dolphins 29, 49ers 17
49ers lost five of last six games, are 1-6 ATS since their bye.
49ers are 1-8 when they score less than 30 points.
Last six weeks, 49ers are minus-9 in turnovers.
49ers are 0-8 when they gain less than 400 yards. 
49ers are 9-12 ATS in last 21 games with spread of 3 or less points.

Miami had a TD, four FG’s on its first six drives.
Dolphins K Sanders made those four FG’s, including a 54-yarder.
Dolphins won last four home games, scoring 34-34-32-29 points. 
Over is 6-0 in their last six home games.
Miami ran ball for 166 yards, their best since Week 6. 

Cowboys 26, Buccaneers 24
First seven Dallas drives: 43 plays, 263 yards, 26 points.
Cowboys led 23-14 at halftime.
Loss drops Tampa Bay into first-place with Atlanta in NFC South.
Over is 9-3 in last 12 games for both teams.

Tampa Bay outgained Dallas 410-317, but was minus-2 in turnovers.
Cowboys ran ball 20 times for only 31 yards.
Aubrey made three field goals: 58-58-53 yards.
Dallas won four of its last five games.

— Conference bowl records (SU/ATS)
AAC 1-1 SU/1-1 ATS
ACC 0-3 SU/0-3 ATS
Big 18 2-1 SU/2-1 ATS

Big X 0-1 SU/0-1 ATS
C-USA 1-2 SU/1-2 ATS
MAC 1-1 SU/1-0-1 ATS

M West 1-0 SU/1-0 ATS
SEC 2-1 SU/2-1 ATS
Sun Belt 2-1 SU/1-1-1 ATS

Favorites: 7-3-1 ATS
Totals: under 6-5

— In baseball, Washington Nationals acquired 1B Nathaniel Lowe from Texas, for lefty reliever Robert Garcia. Lowe hit .265 for Texas LY, with a .762 OPS.

— Mets re-signed lefty P Sean Manaea for three years, $75M; he was 12-6, 3.47 in 32 starts last year, has a career record of 77-62, 4.00 in 198 career starts.

— Phillies acquired lefty P Jesus Luzardo from the Marlins in a 4-player trade; the other three guys involved are all minor leaguers.

My lasting memory of Luzardo will always be when he was on the A’s, he was playing video games in the clubhouse, and broke his hand when he punched a table in anger because his video game didn’t go well. Not ideal. 

— We lead off today with sad news; Hall of Fame OF Rickey Henderson has passed away, at age 65- he would’ve been 66 on Christmas Day. Rickey Henderson was an awesome ballplayer.

He was the greatest lead-off hitter of all time:
Most runs scored, ever
Most stolen bases, ever
10-time All-Star
Played for two World Series champs, including the ’89 Oakland A’s

MVP of American League in 1990
3-time Silver Slugger
first-ballot Hall of Famer
played 25 years in the majors, for nine teams

He stole 66 bases when he was 39 years old.

RIP, sir.

Chiefs 27, Texans 19
Chiefs’ first four drives: 32 plays, 169 yards, 17 points.
Kansas City led 17-10 at halftime.
WR Worthy caught seven passes for 65 yards and a TD.
Chiefs are now 2-7 ATS in their last nine games.
AFC West favorites are 16-6 ATS in non-divisional games.

Both teams converted 7-13 third down plays.
Houston is 2-6 when it gives up more than 20 points.
Houston is 8-12 ATS in last 20 games coming off a win.
Under is now 6-2 in Texans’ road games.
WR Dell caught six passes for 98 yards, but suffered what looked like a severe leg injury on his touchdown catch. 

Ravens 34, Steelers 17
Humphrey broke game open with pick-6 that made score 31-17.
Ravens ran for 220 yards, outgained Steelers, 418-315.
Baltimore clinched a playoff berth with the win.
Baltimore is 10-0 if they score 27+ points, 0-5 if they score less than 27
Over is 12-3 in Baltimore’s games this year.

Just 2nd win for Ravens in last ten games in this rivalry
Teams are now tied for first in AFC North.
Last two games, Steelers gave up 401-418 yards.
Pittsburgh is 1-4 when it scores less than 20 points.
Steelers entered game +18 in turnovers; they were minus-1 in this game.

— It was a really good day for home teams in college football:

Penn State 38, SMU 10
SMU’s QB threw three INT’s on their first six drives.
Two of those three INT’s were pick-6’s.
Penn State led 28-0 at halftime.
Nittany Lions advance to play Boise State in next round of playoff.

— Texas 38, Clemson 24
First three Texas drives: 23 plays, 222 yards, 21 points.
Longhorns led 28-10 at halftime.
Texas ran ball for 292 yards (6.1 yards/carry)
Texas advances to play Arizona State in next round.

— Ohio State 42, Tennessee 17
Buckeyes’ first three drives: 17 plays, 201 yards; they led 21-0.
Tennessee’s first three drives: 13 plays, 11 yards, 3 punts.
Buckeyes outgained the Vols, 473-256.
Ohio State advances to play Oregon in the next round.

— Pointspreads for the next round of the college playoff:
Penn State (-10, 52.5) vs Boise State
Texas (-13.5, 52.5) vs Arizona State
Ohio State (-1.5, 53.5) vs Oregon
Notre Dame vs Georgia (-1.5, 44.5)

— Conference bowl records (SU/ATS)

AAC 1-1 SU/1-1 ATS
ACC 0-3 SU/0-3 ATS
Big 18 2-1 SU/2-1 ATS

Big X 0-1 SU/0-1 ATS
C-USA 1-2 SU/1-2 ATS
MAC 1-1 SU/1-0-1 ATS

M West 1-0 SU/1-0 ATS
SEC 2-1 SU/2-1 ATS
Sun Belt 2-1 SU/1-1-1 ATS

Favorites: 7-3-1 ATS
Totals: under 6-5

— Famous birthdays, December 22nd:
Hector Elizondo, 88
Steve Carlton, 80
Dave Robisch, 75

Glenn Wilson, 66
Jacob Stallings, 35
Taylor Rapp, 27

— Auburn 87, Purdue 69
Tigers led this game 72-39 with 7:01 left to play.
Auburn shot 65% inside arc, also had 12 offensive boards.
Auburn is shooting 61.5% inside the arc (#3)

— North Carolina 76, UCLA 74
UCLA led 59-43 with 12:50 left in the game.
Tar Heels were 24-35 on foul line, UCLA 13-22.
Frosh Jackson scored 24 for UNC; he didn’t start.

— Marquette 72, Xavier 70
Marquette led by 15 with 7:11 left in game, then held on.
Golden Eagles shot 55% inside the arc.
Marquette is forcing turnovers 23% of time (#11)
Xavier lost five of its last seven games.

— UConn 78, Butler 74
7:00 into the game, UConn led 25-9.
Huskies shot 11-24 on the arc, Butler 5-15
UConn is 6-0 since their 0-3 trip to Maui. 

— Princeton 83, Rutgers 82
Princeton had 19 offensive rebounds.
Tigers also shot 55.8% inside the arc.
Rutgers is 3-5 in their last eight games.

— Mt St Mary’s 78, Miami 74
Miami has now lost eight of its last nine games.
Hurricanes led by 10 at halftime.
Miami has #290 eFG% defense in country.

— Bronx baseball team signed 1B Paul Goldschmidt for one year, $12.5M; 37-year old Goldschmidt hit .245 with a .716 OPS last year, career-low numbers.

— Cleveland Guardians traded 1B Josh Naylor to Arizona, for P Slade Cecconi and a draft pick; Guardians then brought back an old friend, 1B Carlos Santana for one year, $12M. 

Santana will be 39 in April; he hit .238 for Minnesota LY, with a .749 OPS, plus he won a Gold Glove at first base. 

— Notre Dame 27, Indiana 17
Indiana scored two TD’s in last 2:00; final score is misleading.
Notre Dame scored on a 98-yard TD run on their second series.
Notre Dame was 7-13 on third down, Indiana 4-12
Notre Dame plays Georgia in the Elite 8 next week.

— Florida 33, Tulane 8
Tulane’s QB bolted to Duke; his backup didn’t play well.
Florida’s lead was only 6-0 at halftime.
Gators ran for 224 yards; they outgained Tulane, 529-194

— Ohio 30, Jacksonville State 27
Ohio U led this game 27-7 at halftime.
Ohio QB Navarro ran for 3 TDs, threw a 4th TD, all in first half.
Both head coaches in this game have bolted to bigger $$$ jobs.

— Indiana had 13 players who played for James Madison last year; despite that, JMU went 9-4 this year and won their bowl game. Lot of talent out there.

— Conference bowl records (SU/ATS)
AAC 1-1 SU/1-1 ATS
ACC 0-1 SU/0-1 ATS
Big 18 0-1 SU/0-1 ATS

Big X 0-1 SU/0-1 ATS
C-USA 1-2 SU/1-2 ATS
MAC 1-1 SU/1-0-1 ATS

M West 1-0 SU/1-0 ATS
SEC 1-0 SU/1-0 ATS
Sun Belt 2-1 SU/1-1-1 ATS

Favorites: 4-3-1 ATS
Totals: under 5-3

— St John’s 72, Providence 70
Friars led 42-29 at halftime.
Red Storm survived going 11-26 on the foul line.
Providence lost six of its last eight games.

— Cincinnati 66, Dayton 59
Bearcats never trailed, led 16-4 midway thru first half.
Dayton shot 39.2% from floor.
9-1 Cincinnati has #6 eFG% defense in country.

— Famous birthdays, December 21st:
Dave Kingman, 76
Samuel L  Jackson, 76
Ray Romano, 67
Andy Van Slyke, 64
Kiefer Sutherland, 58

LaTroy Hawkins, 52
Mike Alstott, 51
Chris Davis, 37
Kendall Graveman, 34
Mike Clevinger, 34

— Houston Astros signed 1B Christian Walker to a 3-year, $60M contract; 33-year old Walker hit 26 homers for Arizona last year, with an .803 OPS.

— A record nine MLB teams were over the luxury tax threshold for 2024, which resulted in $311M in penalties, with the Dodgers ($103,016,896), Mets ($97,115,609) and Bronx ($62,512,111) paying the biggest penalties.

Some questions for this week’s NFL games:
— Steelers lead the Ravens by a game in AFC North; they visit Baltimore Sunday. Pittsburgh has won eight of its last nine games against the Ravens, including an 18-16 win in Week 11..

— Lions @ Bears- December 22 and this is Detroit’s 2nd game outdoors all season; should be a bit nippy in Chicago for this one. Lions won their first outdoor game 24-14 in Green Bay.

— Giants @ Atlanta- Falcons are favored by 8.5 points; they’re playing a QB making his first-ever NFL start. Atlanta lost four of its last five games; Giants have lost nine in a row.

— Jaguars @ Raiders
Jacksonville lost six of its last seven games.
Las Vegas lost its last 10 games; their last win was September 29.

Please don’t bet on this game, but if you do, play the total.

— Patriots @ Bills- Weird scheduling— it is Week 16 and these division rivals haven’t met yet this season- they play again in two weeks.

— Vikings @ Seahawks- Both teams are scrambling for playoff position; Vikings have a short week after their win against the Bears Monday night. Minnesota is 7-1 this year in games decided by 7 or fewer points.

— Chargers 34, Broncos 27
Broncos’ first three drives: 28 plays, 212 yards, 21 points.
Denver led 21-13 at halftime.
Broncos last seven drives: 37 plays, 124 yards, 3 points.
Broncos are 1-5 in games decided by 7 or fewer points.
Denver’s team total: over 10-4-1

QB Herbert threw for 284 yards and two TD’s.
Chargers are 6-0 scoring 24+ points, 3-6 scoring 23 or fewer points.
Over is 5-0 in their last five home games.
Chargers are 5-1 ATS this season as home favorites.
Bolts are 8-4 ATS in last 12 AFC West home games. 

Chargers got a 57-yard field goal at the end of the first half on a free kick after a fair catch by the punt returner; the last time that happened in the NFL was 1976. 

— Sam Houston 31, Georgia Southern 26
Sam Houston scored on a pick-6 2:58 into the game.
Georgia Southern ran for 181 yards, outgained Bearkats 393-267.
Problem is, Sam Houston was +4 in turnovers (5-1)

Bearkats win their first-ever I-A bowl game.
Sam Houston still has 10 guys who were on 2021 team that won the 2021 national title at the I-AA level.

— When the Detroit Lions play in Chicago Sunday, it’ll be their second outdoor game this year, on freakin’ December 22. Very unusual. 

Lions won their first outdoor game 24-14 at Green Bay in Week 9, but they were outgained 411-261. Detroit scored 34-42 points in their last two games, but those were both at home.

— Cardinals’ 3B Nolan Arenado vetoed a trade to Houston; at this point, the best St Louis can probably get for Arenado is most likely a mid-level prospect and for the other team to take on some of his salary (he will make $59M the next two years).

Does this mean Alex Bregman is leaving the Astros? Boston is rumored to be interested in him, as well as the Tigers.

— Sacramento A’s signed 33-year old IF Gio Urshela Thursday; he hit .250 last year, with nine homers, 52 RBI in a season split between Detroit/Atlanta.

— 31-year old Max Kepler signed a one-year, $10M deal with the Phillies; he’s played for the Twins the last 10 years, and was hampered by injuries LY, playing in only 105 games. Kepler is expected to play left field for Philadelphia.

— Washington Nationals signed P Mike Soroka for one year, $9M; Soroka was 17-8, 3.32 in 43 starts for Atlanta from 2018-23, but was 0-10, 4.74 in 25 games (nine starts) for a dreadful White Sox team last year. He is expected to be a starter again for Washington.

— Famous birthdays, December 20th:
Dick Wolf, 78 (executive producer, Law and Order)
Cecil Cooper, 75
Jenny Agutter, 72
Trent Tucker, 65

Tom Newberry, 62
Rich Gannon, 59
David DeJesus, 45
James Shields, 43

Jonah Hill, 41
Calvin Ridley, 30
Bryce Perkins, 28
De’Aaron Fox, 27

Friday would’ve been John Hillerman’s 92nd birthday.

— Cal-Irvine 92, Belmont 84
Anteaters were down 13 with 12:20 left to play.
Irvine scored 40 points in the last 10:00 of the game.
Anteaters were 24-26 on foul line, Belmont 5-8; game was at Belmont.
It is December 20; Irvine already has four true road wins. Impressive.

— How much does Patrick Mahomes’ status effect the pointspread?

When it was thought he was sitting Saturday’s game out, Houston was favored by 2.5 points. 

Now that Mahomes is going to play, Kansas City is favored by 3.5 points.

— Duke QB Maalik Murphy bolted to Oregon State, which probably means the Beavers gave him a lot more $$$$ than Duke was. On the surface, bolting from the ACC to the Mountain West isn’t a brilliant move. Duke is 9-3 this year; Murphy threw 26 TD’s, 12 INTs before he bolted. 

Washington State QB John Mateer is bolting to Oklahoma, where he will reunite with his old offensive coordinator, Ben Arbuckle, and quarterbacks coach John Kuceyesk from Wazzu.

Coogs are 8-4 this year, losing their last three games; Mateer threw 29 TD’s, 7 INT’s. It is safe to assume that Oklahoma gave him a boatload of $$$, too.

— NBA franchises that are worth the most $$$$:
Golden State $9.14B
NY Knicks $8.3B
LA Lakers $8.07B
Brooklyn $5.7B
LA Clippers $5.68B

— Steph Curry is getting paid $55,761,216 this season: he is expected to make another $90M or so off the floor, in endorsements. Same thing for Lebron James, who the Lakers are paying $48,728,845 this year (plus another $2M or so to his son). 

Basketball is big business, but if the TV ratings keep tanking, will be interesting to see where the salary cap winds up the next few years. 

— JJ Redick gave up the TV booth this year to coach Lebron and the Lakers, who are 15-12 as we speak, the #7-seed in the West. Redick had never coached before; they fired last year’s coach Darvin Ham even after the Lakers won the in-season tournament, which is probably an indictment of that event. 

Would seem that coaching a big-market team with two big stars wouldn’t be an entry-level position, but this year, it is.

— Random stat: Los Angeles Chargers have lost their last 11 games that were decided by 3 or fewer points; the longest losing streak ever in that category is 13 (Buffalo, from 2001-06).

— Looks like Georgia Bulldogs QB Carson Beck is exploring surgery options on his injured throwing elbow; he isn’t expected to play in Georgia’s playoff games. Sophomore Gunner Stockton is expected to take his place- he was 12-16 for 71 yards in the SEC title game against Texas, which the Dawgs won 22-19 in overtime. 

— James Madison 27, Western Kentucky 17
Dukes get their first-ever I-A bowl win.
Hilltoppers led 14-7 at halftime.
JMU ran ball for 212 yards, outgained WKU 394-318

— UNLV 24, California 13
Rebels get their first bowl win since 2000.
UNLV won despite completing only 6-19 passes.
Cal’s QB bolted; they used two backups in this game.

— Conference bowl records (SU/ATS)
AAC 1-0 SU/0-1 ATS
ACC 0-1 SU/0-1 ATS
Big X 0-1 SU/1-0 ATS
C-USA 0-1 SU/0-1 ATS
MAC 0-1 SU/0-1 ATS
MWest 1-0 SU/1-0 ATS
Sun Belt 2-0 SU/2-0 ATS

Favorites: 2-2 ATS
Totals: under 3-1

— UConn 94, Xavier 89 OT
Xavier shot 13-24 on arc; they led by 5 with 5:16 left.
UConn shot 55.6% inside the arc.

— Oklahoma 87, Michigan 86
11-0 Sooners were down 11 with 9:55 left to play.
Oklahoma was 12-25 on arc, Wolverines 4-28

— Memphis 64, Virginia 62
Virginia led by 11 early in second half.
PJ Haggerty played all 40:00, scored 27 points for 9-2 Memphis

— New Mexico 78, VCU 71
Donovan Dent scored 40 points for the Lobos.
VCU was only 13-24 on the foul line.

— Atlanta Falcons added kicker Riley Patterson to replace Younghoe Koo, who is on IR and is done for the regular season.

— As we speak, the Chicago White Sox win total for 2025 in 49.5, the lowest in recent memory. Last year, the A’s were supposed to suck; their win total was 57.5. White Sox were 41-121, an incredibly terrible season. The 2024 A’s wound up 69-93, by the way.

— Famous birthdays, December 19:
Tim Reid, 80
Kevin McHale, 67
Bill Wegman, 62
Jennifer Beals, 61
Arvydas Sabonis, 60

Joe Slusarski, 58
Tom Gugliotta, 55
Alyssa Milano, 52
Warren Sapp, 52
Jake Plummer, 50

— When the Carolina Panthers were favored over the Cowboys Sunday, it was the first time in 34 games that the Panthers were favored to win. It didn’t go well.

— Former NFL QB Michael Vick is the new football coach at Norfolk State, which went 3-8/4-8 the last two years at the I-AA level.

Vick is 44 years old; he last played in the NFL in 2015 for Pittsburgh. He has no formal coaching experience, but he played QB in the NFL for 13 years and was a coaching intern for the Chiefs five years ago. He’ll need to hire experienced assistant coaches.

— Quarterback TJ Finley should write a book someday; he recently transferred to Tulane, which will be his fifth college team. He’’ll be 23 in March.

2020— started five games for LSU (2-3)
2021-22— started six games for Auburn (2-4)
2023— started the whole season at Texas State (8-5)
2024— started three games for Western Kentucky (2-1)
2025— Tulane.

— Wake Forest hired former Washington State coach Jake Dickert as its new football coach; he replaces Dave Clawson, who is a really good coach, but Wake Forest doesn’t have the resources that its competitors have, so Clawson resigned.

Dickert was 23-20 in three years at Wazzu, 8-4 this season. Washington State wasn’t in a league this year; they’ll eventually be in the re-configured Pac-12 with a lot of Mountain West teams. 

— Vanderbilt QB Diego Pavia was granted eligibility for the 2025 season, very good news for the Commodores; he’s been arguing that junior college seasons should not count against NCAA eligibility, which could open up a whole new can of worms.

— Modern college football: Alabama poached the long snapper from the Cal Bears.

— In his excellent career, NBA star James Harden has scored 40+ points in 103 games. 

— NFL teams who get the highest %age of their first downs on 3rd down plays:
33.3%- Chiefs
30.4%- Dolphins
29.4%- Broncos
28.8%- Eagles
28.5%- Steelers

— NFL teams who get the lowest %age of their first downs on 3rd down plays:
20.6%- Packers
22.0%- Browns
22.0%- Falcons
22.9%- Lions
23.1%- Vikings

— NFL screwed around with the Week 17 (next week) schedule, moving some games:
Saturday December 28:
Chargers @ Patriots, 1:00
Broncos @ Bengals, 4:00
Cardinals @ Rams, 8:00

Sunday, December 29:
Falcons @ Commanders, 8:20

— Minnesota Vikings are 12-2, having a great year; are they really going to let QB Sam Darnold walk next spring? The franchise tag for a QB figures to be around $41M next year, which would be a crimp in Minnesota’s salary cap, but quarterbacks are really important, and Darnold is leading a 12-2 team this season.

Rookie JJ McCarthy hasn’t played yet; he’s already had two knee procedures. Will Minnesota really let Darnold walk and let McCarthy take over, with Giants’ reject Daniel Jones as the #2 quarterback? Tough decision they’ll have to face after the season.

— Falcons are benching QB Kirk Cousins, will start rookie Michael Penix this week against the Giants, giving the rookie QB his first NFL start.

Tennessee Titans are benching QB Will Levis; Mason Rudolph is the likely starter- Trevor Siemian is their other QB. Rudolph has a 9-6-1 record as an NFL starter, mostly with Pittsburgh.

Cleveland Browns are benching QB Jameis Winston, will start #3 QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson against Cincinnati. Bailey Zappe is Cleveland’s other QB. Thompson-Robinson was 1-2 as a starter for Cleveland last year.

— Memphis 42, West Virginia 37
Tigers led 28-17 at halftime.
West Virginia outgained Memphis, 534-474
Mountaineers ran ball for 206 yards, but were minus-2 in turnovers.

Memphis threw an 89-yard pass that wasn’t a TD; it was the longest pass play in the country this year that didn’t result in a touchdown.

— Ohio U is playing Jacksonville State in a bowl game in Orlando Friday; both teams have had really good years, so good that both head coaches have already bolted to greener pa$ture$.

Famous birthdays, December 18th:
Steven Spielberg, 78
Bobby Jones, 73 (basketball player)
Roy Howell, 71
Brad Pitt, 61
Charles Oakley, 61

Don Beebe, 60
Dan McGwire, 57
Byron Buxton, 31
Ronald Acuna, 27
Jayden Daniels, 24

— Chicago Cubs traded OF/1B Cody Bellinger to New York Tuesday, in exchange for P Cody Poteet- the Cubs are dumping most of Bellinger’s salary. Chicago will send $5M to New York as part of the deal, but Bellinger is going to make $52.5M the next two years, so the Cubs dump $47.5M in salary.

Bellinger hit 18 homers LY with a .751 OPS; his numbers figure to go up with the short right field fence in the Bronx.

— Baltimore Orioles signed P Tomoyuki Sugano to one-year, $13M deal; the 35-year old Sugano had a 1.67 ERA in 24 starts LY in Japan, but had only 111 strikeouts in 156.2 IP. Sugano has spent his entire 12-year pro career with the Yomiuri Giants.

— Bucks 97, Thunder 81
Milwaukee wins the NBA Cup championship; not sure what that means.
Lakers won its last year; they fired their coach after the season.
Bucks have won 11 of their last 13 games.

— WCC (Gonzaga’s league) is ranked #7 this year; this is the highest the league has been ranked in the last 25 years, partly because having Washington State/Oregon State for this year only has provided a boost.

Oregon State is 12-6, ranked #65; Wazzu is 11-7, ranked #72; they give the WCC more depth than it has had in quite a while.

Of course, Gonzaga is off to the Mountain West in a couple years, and Coogs/Beavers will be back in the Pac-12 then, so the WCC has darker days ahead.

— Florida 90, North Carolina 83
11-0 Gators outscored Carolina 13-3 over the final 4:03
Tar Heels were only 5-28 behind the arc.
SEC is 28-3 against the ACC this year, which is pretty amazing.

— South Carolina 91, Clemson 88 OT
Gamecocks led by 14 in first half; they shot 56% inside the arc.
Clemson led 69-67 with 5:09 left in the game.
Carolina has won five games in a row, after a 3-3 start.

— Drake 73, Kansas State 70 OT
Drake was up 29-9 in first half of this game.
K-State was up by a hoop with 1:19 left to play.
Drake is 10-0, with four starters who were playing D-2 ball last season.

— Dayton 66, UNLV 65
UNLV led 62-58 with 1:25 left in the game.
Dayton shot 63.3% inside the arc.

— Cal-San Diego 75, Utah State 73/
Tritons of Big West have won eight in a row, are 10-2.
Cal-San Diego shot 70% inside arc; they were 23-27 on foul line.

— Conference bowl records (SU/ATS)
AAC 1-0 SU/0-1 ATS
Big X 0-1 SU/1-0 ATS
MAC. 0-1 SU/0-1 ATS
Sun Belt 1-0 SU/1-0 ATS

Favorites: 1-1 ATS
Totals: under 1-1

Vikings 30, Bears 12
Chicago in first half: 28 plays, 107 yards, trailed 13-0.
Bears are 0-8 SU/2-6 ATS in their last eight games.
Bears are 8-15-1 ATS last 24 games as a road underdog.
Bears scored 24+ points in their wins (0-9 score less than 24)

Vikings’ first four drives: 37 plays, 175 yards, only 13 points.
Minnesota was 7-14 on third down, Chicago 1-12.
Minnesota won last seven games, scoring 31.3 ppg in last four.
Vikings are 6-1 SU/5-2 ATS at home this season.

Falcons 15, Raiders 9
Falcons snap a four-game losing skid.
Atlanta blocked a punt and an extra point.
Atlanta is 7-5 ATS in last 12 games as a road favorite.
Six of Falcons’ last eight games stayed under the total.

Raiders are 0-10 SU/3-7 ATS in last ten games.
Raiders are 2-11 SU, need three more losses to clinch #1 pick in ’25 Draft.
Falcons ran ball 37 times for 168 yards.
Las Vegas has 28 turnovers in 14 games (minus-19).

— Wake Forest football coach Dave Clawson has resigned, bad news for college football and college sports in general.

Clawson was 67-69 at Wake Forest, 5-2 in bowl games; Wake is the smallest of the Power 5 football schools. Clawson will stay at Wake Forest and work as a fundraiser, which these days is really important, since the players are getting paid (legally) now.

Clawson led Wake Forest to seven consecutive bowl games and had the Deacons in the top 10 in 2021/2022, the highest they’ve ever been ranked, but when QB Sam Hartman bolted Wake Forest for Notre Dame’s big $$$, the Deacons went 4-8/4-8 the last two years.

— Quarterback coming/goings:
Former Oklahoma QB Jackson Arnold bolted from the Sooners to Auburn
Former USC QB Miller Moss bolted from USC to Louisville.
Former Texas/Duke QB Maalik Murphy is in the transfer portal. Again.

Murphy threw for a school-record 26 TD passes in leading Duke to a 9-3 record, but he’s quit on his teammates before their bowl game.

Duke will replace Murphy with former Tulane QB Darian Mensah.

Oy.

— Former NFL QB Teddy Bridgewater won a state championship in his first season as coach at his alma mater, Miami Northwestern High- he led the Bulls to the Florida Class 3A state title with a 41-0 win Saturday.

Bridgewater was a backup QB for the Lions last year; now he has joined the growing list of former NFL Players who have become high school coaches- Carson Palmer is on that list now, also.

— Marshall dropped out of their Independence Bowl game against Army in Shreveport, because a bunch of Marshall players entered the transfer portal after Thundering Herd coach Charles Huff bolted to Southern Mississippi.

Louisiana Tech will now play Army in the December 28th game.

Famous birthdays, December 17th:
Eugene Levy, 78
Bill Pullman, 71
Albert King, 65

Claire Forlani, 53
Chase Utley, 46
Daniel Vogelbach, 32

Buddy Hield, 32
Ryan Weathers, 25
Caden Dana, 21

— Was watching the Gonzaga-UConn game Saturday night that was played in Madison Square Garden; Jason Benetti mentioned that this week was the 46th anniversary of Billy Joel’s first concert at MSG. He’s now done 100 concerts at MSG.

— Tampa Bay Bucs WR Mike Evans had a big game against the Chargers Sunday; back when he was in high school in Galveston HS, the other receiver on the school’s football team was Nick Williams, who wound up playing five years in the major leagues as an outfielder.

Must’ve been fun coaching a team with two big league athletes playing receiver.

— SEC has 8 of the 25 teams in this week’s AP Top 25 basketball poll.

— Cal-Davis is bolting the Big West for the Mountain West in 2026, in all sports but football.

UTEP< Hawai’i, Grand Canyon and Cal-Davis are the four new teams in the league; Grand Canyon doesn’t have a football team- the Cal-Davis football team will stay at the I-AA level. 

— When Colts RB Jonathan Taylor dropped the ball before he got to the goal line in Denver Sunday, it rolled out of the end zone for a Broncos touchback. Not only did the Colts get outscored 24-0 the rest of the way, you wonder how many people won/lost their fantasy league playoff games because of that blunder.

— It must be fun to be really, really rich; Phoenix Suns minority owner Justin Ishbia, and the brother of Suns majority owner Mat Ishbia, is interested in buying the Minnesota Twins, who are said to be worth $1.5B and $2B. Justin Ishbia has a net worth of $5B.

— A’s will be playing in Sacramento the next three years; they added another starting pitcher last week, acquiring Jeffrey Springs from Tampa Bay. He was 9-5, 2.46 in 25 starts in 2022, then was off to a great start in ’23, before he got hurt and missed a year.

With Springs and Luis Severino in the rotation, the A’s figure to be improved in 2025.

— Conference bowl records (SU/ATS)
Sun Belt 1-0 SU/1-0 ATS
MAC. 0-1 SU/0-1 ATS

Favorites: 1-0 ATS
Totals: under 1-0