Author: Armadillo Sports

Eagles 37, Bills 34 OT
— Eagles kicked 59-yard FG in rain on last play to force overtime.
— Eagles’ first seven drives: 28 plays, 93 yards, 7 points.
— Eagles last six drives: 37 plays, 281 yards, 30 points.
— Philly ran ball for 185 yards, was only 4-11 on third down.

— Buffalo led game 17-7 at halftime.
— Bills were 13-22 on third down; they outgained Eagles, 505-378.
— Bills are 2-6 in games decided by 6 or fewer points.
— Buffalo is 3-5 SU in its last eight games

Steelers 16, Bengals 10
— Steelers outgained an opponent for first time all season.
— Nine of eleven Steeler games stayed under the total.
— Last four games, Pittsburgh ran ball for 166-205-172-153 yards.
— Steelers won/covered five of their last seven games.

— Steelers in first half: 37 plays, 231 yards, 3 points.
— Steelers in 2nd half: 31 plays, 203 yards, 13 points.
— Cincy was 2-10 on third down, Pittsburgh 8-17.
— Bengals lost last three games, giving up 26.7 ppg.

Falcons 24, Saints 15
— Saints kicked five field goals, but didn’t score a TD.
— Just third loss for NO in last 14 games against the Falcons.
— Saints are 7-11-1 ATS in last 19 games with spread of 3 or less.
— New Orleans is 4-1 scoring 20+ points, 1-5 scoring less than 20.

— Falcons’ first TD was a 92-yard pick-6.
— Atlanta ran ball for 228 yards, but was outgained, 444-396.
— Last three games, Falcons are 21-40 on third down.
— Underdogs covered Atlanta’s last six games. 

Titans 17, Panthers 10
— Carolina is 0-6 SU/1-5 ATS on road this season.
— In five post-bye games, Panthers scored four TD’s on 46 drives.
— In five post-bye games, Carolina scored 15-13-13-10-10 points. 
— Last seven games, Panthers were outscored 119-52 in first half. 

— Tennessee’s first four drives: 24 plays, 124 yards, 14 points.
— Titans’ 2nd TD drive was 15 yards, after they recovered a fumble.
— Last six games, Tennessee converted 19-70 on third down.
— Tennessee is 4-0 SU at home TY, winning by 3-24-5-7 points.

Colts 27, Buccaneers 20
— Colts’ first three drives: 24 plays, 145 yards, 17 points.
— Indianapolis won its last three games, allowing 13-6-20 points.
— In its last three games, Colts are +5 in turnovers (7-2)
— Colts allowed 20 or less points in wins, 29+ in losses.

— Colts outgained Tampa Bay, 394-298.
— WR Evans caught six passes for 70 yards, two TD’s.
— Mayfield is 36-46 as an NFL starter
— Buccaneers lost six of their last seven games

Giants 10, Patriots 7
— Patriots missed a 35-yard field goal with 0:03 left.
— New England lost last two games, 10-6/10-7.
— Patriots lost seven of their last eight games (1-7 ATS).
— New England is minus-8 in turnovers this year.

— Giants won last two games, giving up 19-7 points.
— Giants’ only TD drive was 26 yards after an INT.
— Last eight games, Giants are +13 in turnovers.
— Last five weeks, Giants are 14-70 on third down. 

Jaguars 24, Texans 21
— QB Lawrence was 23-38/364 passing, with a TD.
— Jaguars won/covered seven of their last eight games.
— Under Pederson, Jaguars are 4-0 ATS as a road favorite.
— Jacksonville scored 9-17-3 points in losses, 20+ points in wins.

— Texans’ 58-yard FG attempt bounced off crossbar with 0:34 left.
— Only 2nd loss for Houston in their last 12 games vs Jaguars.
— Texans’ last five games were decided by 2-2-3-5-3 points.
— Houston is 5-9 ATS in last 14 AFC South home games.

Broncos 29, Browns 12
— Browns used two QB’s, completed 20-42 passes, for 190 yards.
— Cleveland converted only 2-13 third down plays.
— Browns are 11-17-1 ATS in last 28 games with spread of 3 or less points.
— under is 6-3 in last nine Cleveland games.

— Denver’s first three drives: 26 plays, 139 yards, 14 points.
— Last four games, Denver is +12 in turnovers (15-3).
— Broncos outscored last four opponents 61-33 in first half.
— Broncos won last four games, giving up 17-9-22-20 points.

Rams 37, Cardinals 14
— Rams win consecutive games for first time this season.
— LA scored TD on its first drive of game, first time in last six games.
— Rams ran ball for 228 yards, their most this season.
— LA is 4-0 giving up 16 or less points, 1-6 giving up 19+ points.

— First half yardage: Rams 287, Arizona 102.
— last four games, Cardinals are 13-50 on third down.
— Rams won 14 of last 16 games against the Cardinals.
— LA covered its last nine visits to Arizona.

Chiefs 31, Raiders 17
— Chiefs’ first two drives: 7 plays, 13 yards, no points.
— Chiefs’ next five drives: 39 plays, 305 yards, 28 points.
— Game was 14-14 at halftime; Chiefs scored 17 points in 2nd half.
— Chiefs are 11-5 ATS in last 16 games coming off a loss.

— Raiders’ first three drives: 25 plays, 221 yards, 14 points.
— Raiders rest of game: 35 plays, 137 yards, 3 points.
— Las Vegas is 3-17 in its last 20 games against Kansas City.
— Raiders are 12-18 ATS in last 30 games coming off a loss.

Ravens 20, Chargers 10
— Baltimore ran ball for 197 yards, was +4 in turnovers
— Ravens are 9-1 when they score 20+ points, 0-2 if they do not.
— Flowers had 37-yard run with 1:36 left to cover the spread.
— Ravens won six of last seven games (5-2 ATS).

— Chargers are 2-5 since their bye, with three losses by 3 points.
— under Staley, Chargers are 2-4-1 ATS as a home underdog.
— under is 7-1-1 in last eight Charger games.
— AFC West teams are 13-19 ATS outside the division.

Texas A&M 73, Iowa State 69
Cyclones led 35-14 late in first half. 
Teams combined to shoot 15-58 on the arc.

Stetson 85, Central Florida 82
ASUN’s Hatters trailed 21-8 early, made 13-30 on the arc.

VCU 86, Penn State 74
Penn State’s coach was VCU’s coach the last six years.

Florida Atlantic 84, Virginia Tech 50
Owls win tournament at Disney’s Wide World of Sports
They beat teams from Big East, Big X, ACC this weekend.

— Alabama 27, Auburn 24
Alabama threw a 31-yard TD pass on 4th-and-31 with 0:32 left for the win.
Auburn turned ball over three times, was 6-17/93 yards passing.
Crimson Tide plays Georgia in the SEC title game next week.

— Michigan 30, Ohio State 24
First time since 1997 that Michigan beat Buckeyes three years in a row.
Ryan Day is 56-7 at OSU with two Big Ten titles, but he is 1-3 vs Michigan.
Buckeyes outgained Michigan 378-338, but were minus-2 in turnovers.

— Washington 24, Washington State 21
Huskies kicked a 42-yard FG at the gun to finish 12-0 in regular season.
Coogs outgained Washington, 381-306 but had 10 penalties for 85 yards.
Wazzu lost seven of last eight games, after a 4-0 start. 

Kid who kicked the game-winning FG was put on scholarship after the game, which seems fair, seeing how Washington will likely make the playoffs for the national title now.

— Florida State 24, Florida 15
Gators led this game 12-7 at halftime; they finish season 5-7.
Neither starting QB played in this game; yardage was 232-226, Florida.
Seminoles finish regular season 12-0, play in ACC title game next week.

— Kentucky 38, Louisville 31
Cardinals led 10-7 at halftime, 24-14 with 2:00 left in 3rd quarter.
Kentucky had a 31-yard TD run with 1:02 left for the win.
Wildcats beat Louisville for fifth time in a row.

— Iowa State 42, Kansas State 35
Cyclones had touchdown PLAYS of 71-77-79-60-33-82 yards.
Iowa State averaged 19.2 yards per pass, 12.7 yards/run.
K-State led 20-14 at halftime, on a snowy night in the Little Apple.

— Upsets of the Week:
Iowa State (+10) 42, Kansas State 35
California (+9) 33, UCLA 7
Kentucky (+7.5) 38, Louisville 31
Texas State (+6.5) 52, South Alabama 44
Eastern Michigan (+6.5) 24, Buffalo 11
Northwestern (+5.5) 45, Illinois 43
San Diego State (+5) 33, Fresno State 18

— Word of the Day: Perseverence- persistence in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success.

— Michigan State hired Oregon State coach Jonathan Smith as its new coach.
Smith was 34-35 in six seasons at Oregon State, his alma mater.
When a coach bolts a job at his alma mater, where he played QB, that stings.
Smith was 34-35 in Corvallis, but the last two years, Beavers were 18-7.
Oregon State is without a league right now, with Pac-12 out of business; they got left behind with Washington State in all the re-alignment.

— Northwestern 45, Illinois 43
Illinois threw an 80-yard TD pass with 0:55 left, but their 2-point play failed.
Northwestern is 7-5; they scored 14 or less points in all five losses.
In their last five games, Wildcats were +9 in turnovers.

— Old Dominion 25, Georgia State 24
Georgia State led 21-0 at halftime, 24-14 with 2:00 left in game.
Old Dominion scored on a 3-yard run on last play of the game for the win.
Monarchs became bowl eligible with the dramatic win.

— San Jose State 37, UNLV 31
Spartans led this game 20-10 at halftime. 

San Jose ran ball 40 times for 233 yards (5.8 yards/carry).
Mountain West ends in a 3-way tie; computer rankings will decide who plays in the MW championship game next weekend.

— West Virginia 34, Baylor 31
Baylor’s Richard Reese ran kickoffs back 96-93 yards, both for touchdowns.
West Virginia still led 27-14 at halftime.
Both teams averaged 10.8 yards/pass attempt.

— LSU 42, Texas A&M 30
Underdog Aggies led 17-14 at halftime; their 3rd-string QB played.
LSU QB Daniels was 16-24/235 yards passing, ran 11 times for 120 yards
A&M outgained the Bayou Bengals, 390-389.

— Oklahoma State 40, BYU 34 OT
BYU led 24-6 at halftime.
Cougars kicked a 48-yard FG at the gun to force OT.
Gordon ran ball 34 times for 166 yards and five TD’s for OSU. 

Packers 29, Lions 22
Packers won three of last four games, after an 0-4 skid.
Green Bay averaged 8.4 yards/pass attempt.
Last four games, Green Bay is 27-55 on third down.
Packers are 13-7-1 ATS in last 21 games as a road underdog.

Packers led 23-6 at halftime.
Green Bay ran fumble back for TD to take 20-6 lead.
Last two games, Lions turned ball over 7 times on 20 drives.
Detroit lost its last seven Thanksgiving games. 

Cowboys 45, Commanders 10
Cowboys’ first four drives: 26 plays, 263 yards, 3 TD’s.
Cowboys averaged 10.3 yards/pass attempt.
Dallas won its five home games TY by 20-35-23-32-35 points.
Dallas is 16-4 ATS in last 20 NFC East home games.

Dallas outscored Commanders 25-0 in second half.
Washington lost eight of last ten games SU (4-5-1 ATS)
Washington is 3-1 giving up 17 or less points, 1-7 giving up more than 17.
Opponents’ team total: over 9-3

49ers 31, Seahawks 13
49ers ran ball for 169 yards, led 24-3 at halftime.
SF outgained the Seahawks, 377-220.
49ers are 8-4-1 ATS in last 13 games NFC West road games.
SF scored 34-27-31 points in winning its three post-bye games.

Seattle’s only TD was a pick-6 in third quarter.
Seahawks are 0-5 when they score less than 20 points.
Last five games, Seattle converted only 17-64 third down plays.
Seahawks are 3-6 ATS in last nine NFC West home games.

Dolphins 34, Jets 13
Miami scored on a 99-yard pick-6 on last play of first half.
Dolphins were 11-16 on third down, Jets 5-14.
Favorites are 9-1 ATS in Miami’s last ten games.
Waddle had 114 receiving yards, Hill had 102.

Jets in first half: 19 plays, 37 yards, INT run back for a TD.
Miami outgained Gang Green, 395-159
Jets lost last four games, by combined 109-37.
Under Saleh, Jets are 15-22 ATS as an underdog

— Washington Commanders fired DC Jack Del Rio after Washington’s 45-10 loss in Dallas on Thursday. HC Ron Rivera is expected to call defensive signals the rest of the year.

— Jets’ WR Allen Lazard was a healthy scratch Friday; he is making $12M this year, after coming over from Green Bay.

Meanwhile, the Packers’ seven WR’s are earning a combined $7.5M this season.

— Word of the Day: Scapegoat- a person who is blamed for the wrongdoings, mistakes, or faults of others, to take the focus off the person/people who made the mistakes. 

— Ohio State 92, Alabama 81- Buckeyes start four sophomores, Alabama start four seniors; OSU shot 10-18 on the arc. Buckeye G Thornton scored 29 points (13-14 on foul line).

— Baylor 95, Florida 91- Bears shot 14-25 on the arc, scored 1.21 points/possession; game was 41-41 at halftime.

— Florida Atlantic 96, Texas A&M 89- Owls made 16-30 on the arc; their last two wins are over Big East/SEC teams. Not a lot of defense in this game; Aggies scored 1.33 points/possession, and they lost, which almost never happens.

— Villanova 79, Memphis 63- Wildcats were winning this game 44-14 at one point; Memphis outscored them 34-15 over the last 10:00, still lost by 16.

Villanova won its last four games, all against top 60 teams.

— Oklahoma 72, USC 70- Sooners tipped in a shot for the win with 0:01 left in game; they trailed by 8 with 17:29 left to play.

— Evansville 85, Chattanooga 77 OT- Mocs led by 20 with 11:40 left in game; they were 14-41 on the arc, 14-28 inside arc. Evansville is 5-0 this season vs schedule #322, forcing turnovers 24.3% of time (#11 in country).

— Indiana State 76, Toledo 74- Rockets led by 5 with 4:58 left, got outscored 14-7 rest of the way; Toledo has lost three games in a row, giving up 92-77-76 points.

— Movie of the Day: Less Than Zero (1987)- A college freshman returns to Los Angeles for the holidays at his ex-girlfriend’s request, but discovers that his former best friend has an out-of-control drug habit.

Andrew McCarthy/Robert Downey Jr are the friends, Jamie Gertz is girlfriend. This is a good movie, but not a very pleasant one, because the one character is so self-destructive.

In real life, Jamie Gertz has represented the Atlanta Hawks at the NBA Draft Lottery a couple times; she’s been married to Hawks’ owner Anthony Ressler since 1989.

— LSU’s football team won the 2019 national championship; 30 players from that team have played in the NFL. Thirty!!!!

— NFL needs to fix their onside kick rule; no one recovers onside kicks anymore, they need to go to the gimmick rule they use in one of the spring leagues.

Team A trails by 10 with 1:00 left, they score a TD, now trail by 3. Instead of an onside kick, Team A gets the ball on their own 30-yard line, 4th-and-15, and the teams play on from there. I’m telling you, this would make the end of close games a lot more interesting.

— In case you were wondering, the record for most pick-6’s in a career is Rod Woodson, with 12.

— BYU has a basketball player Spencer Johnson who is 26 years old; he’s older than Jayson Tatum, who has been in the NBA for seven years.

— Princeton Tigers are off to a 5-0 start; they’re first college basketball team in the last 15 years to start a season 5-0, with four true road wins. 

NBA trends (thru Thanksgiving)
I’ll try to post this once a week like the NHL trends…….

Hawks (7-7):
— lost three of their last four games.
— 0-6 ATS as a home favorite
— over 7-1 at home

Celtics (12-3):
— won seven of last eight games SU (0-4 ATS last four)
— 4-2 ATS as a home favorite.
— under 4-0 last four home games.

Nets (6-8):
— lost their last three games.
— 5-1 ATS at home, 5-2 on road.
— over 3-1 last four games.

Hornets (5-9):
— 2-8 ATS at home.
— 0-3 ATS as a favorite.
— over 5-0 on the road

Bulls (5-11)
— lost five of their last six games.
— 2-6 ATS as a favorite.
— under 5-1 last six games.

Cavaliers (8-7):
— won four of their last five games
— 2-5 ATS at home
— over 6-2 last eight games.

Mavericks (10-5):
— split last 8 games, after a 6-1 start.
— 6-3 ATS on the road.
— over 7-2 on road.

Nuggets (10-5):
— lost five of last six games (0-7 ATS last seven).
— 1-7 ATS as road favorites 
— under 6-2 on road.

Pistons (2-13):
— lost their last nine games (4-5 ATS).
— 7-7 ATS as an underdog, 0-1 as a favorite.
— over 4-2 last six home games

Warriors (7-9):
— lost seven of last eight games SU
— 0-6 ATS as a home favorite
— over 6-1 last seven games.

Rockets (7-6):
— 7-1 SU at home, 0-5 on road
— 7-3 ATS as an underdog.
— under 6-1 last seven games.

Pacers (8-6):
— over 13-1
— 3-4 ATS as a home favorite.
— 3-0 ATS first night of back/back

Clippers (6-7):
— won last three games SU.
— 3-3 ATS in LA, 2-5 ATS on road. 
— under 7-1 last eight games.

Lakers (9-7):
— won six of their last eight games SU
— 3-6 ATS as a home favorite.
— under 5-0 last five games.

Grizzlies (3-11):
— 2-3 SU last five games, after a 1-8 start.
— 2-5 ATS as a favorite.  
— under 4-2 at home

Heat (10-5):
— won nine of last ten games SU.
— 1-4 ATS as a home favorite, 4-2 as road favorite.
— over 3-1 last four games.

Bucks (10-5):
— won four of last five games (5-0 ATS)
— 1-5-1 ATS as a home favorite.
— over 5-3 last eight home games.

Timberwolves (11-3)
— won 10 of last 11 games (7-4 ATS)
— 7-0 ATS at home, 1-6 on road.
— over 7-2 last nine games.

Pelicans (8-7):
— won four of last five games (5-0 ATS)
— 8-3 ATS as an underdog.
— under 3-1 last four games. 

Knicks (8-6):
— won/covered three of last four games
— 6-1 ATS as a favorite, 3-3-1 as an underdog
— over 5-2 last seven games

Thunder (11-4):
— won/covered their last six games.
— 6-2 ATS as a favorite, 6-1 as an underdog.
— three of last four games went over total.

Magic (10-5):
— won/covered their last five games.
— 5-1 ATS at home, 7-2 on road.
— over 3-0 last three games. 

76ers (10-5):
— 2-4 last six games, after an 8-1 start.  
— 8-3 ATS as a favorite, 1-3 as an underdog.
— over 5-1 last six home games.

Suns (9-6):
— won their last five games (3-2 ATS)
— 4-3 ATS as home favorite, 1-3 as road favorite.
— over 11-2 last 13 games

Trailblazers (4-11):
— lost seven of last eight games (1-5 ATS last six)
— 2-5 ATS as a home underdog.
— under 4-1 last five home games

Kings (8-6):
— lost last two games, after a 6-0 run.
— 4-0 ATS as an underdog. 
— under 6-2 last eight road games

Spurs (3-12):
— lost their last 10 games (2-8 ATS)
— 2-6 ATS as a home underdog.
— over 11-4

Raptors (7-8):
— 4-4 ATS at home, 4-3 on road.
— 2-4 ATS in game after a win, 5-3 after a loss.
— over 4-1 last five games.

Jazz (4-11):
— lost last four games SU, giving up 130.5 ppg.
— 2-6 ATS on the road
— over 6-1 at home

Wizards (2-12):
— lost last seven games (2-5 ATS).
— 1-5 ATS at home.
— over 4-1 last five home games.

— Purdue 78, Marquette 75- Big guy Zach Edey had 28 points, 15 rebounds as Purdue wins a very tough Maui Classic. Boilermakers hit 10-21 on the arc.

Tyler Kolek had 22 points, 6 assists for Marquette, which leaves Hawai’i with wins over UCLA and Kansas, so it was a good week for them, even though they lost this game.

— Kansas 69, Tennessee 60- Rough couple of days for the Vols, who scored 0.91/0.87 points per possession in losses to Purdue/Kansas— they shot 17-63 on the arc in those two games, but they have a good defensive team and figure to make the NCAA’s in March.

Hunter Dickinson scored 17 points, grabbed 20 rebounds for Kansas, which shot 57.5% inside the arc, after trailed by 7 early on.

— Gonzaga, 69, UCLA 65
Zags rebound from loss to Purdue with wins over Syracuse, UCLA
Antone Watson scored 32 points for the Zags.
Gonzaga has won its last four games with the Bruins.

— Arkansas 77, Stanford 74, 2OT
Brickfest: teams combined to shoot 14-49 on the arc.
Stanford led by 9 with 14:21 left in game.
Arkansas shot 30.3% from floor, 26-33 on foul line.

— Southern Illinois 81, New Mexico State 54- You don’t see this often; Aggies shot 31.9% from the floor, 0-9 on the arc. In this day and age, you almost never see a team go a whole game without making a 3-pointer.

— In the Horizon League, Oakland Grizzlies have a player Jack Gohlke; so far this season, he’s shooting 24-72 on the arc, 1-2 inside the arc. All the freakin’ guy does is shoot 3’s. Seems like a fun job to have.

— Word of the Day— Gratitude- the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.

— Movie of the Day- Class Action (1991)- An attorney representing a traumatized accident victim finds that his opponent is a very familiar defense attorney – his own daughter.

Gene Hackman is the lawyer, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio is his daughter. Laurence Fishburne, Fred Thompson, Jonathan Silverman, Joan McMurtrey and the guy who was the coroner on CSI are all in this movie- very good cast.

— In baseball, Seattle Mariners traded 3B Eugenio Suárez to Arizona, for C Seby Zavala and P Carlos Vargas; the move frees up $11,285,715 that Suarez will be paid next year. Luis Urias is expected to be the Mariners’ 3B next season.

— Bowling Green 34, Western Michigan 10
Falcons clinch their first winning season since 2015.
Bowling Green led 31-3 at halftime; they had a pick-6 to make score 17-0.
Falcons averaged 8.1 yards/pass attempt.

— Eastern Michigan 24, Buffalo 11
Underdog Eagles led 24-0 at halftime; they’re bowl eligible now.
EMU ran ball 46 times for 226 yards (4.9 yards/carry).
3-9 Buffalo lost three fumbles, completed only 12-28 passes.

— NFL stuff:
Jets are starting 3rd-string QB Tim Boyle against the Dolphins Friday; Boyle started three games for Detroit in 2021, lost ‘em all. He played college ball at UConn/Eastern Kentucky.

Falcons are going back to QB Desmond Ridder for their game against the Saints this week; they’re 4-6 overall this season, 4-4 in Ridder’s starts.

— Nebraska 89, Duquesne 79
Cornhuskers scored on their first 16 possessions of the second half; I can’t remember seeing a team do that before.

— Last 17 years, favorites are 15-2 ATS in Detroit Lions’ Thanksgiving Day games.

NHL trends (thru Tuesday, Nov 21)
I’ll try to post this once a week……..

Anaheim 9-9
— 1-5 in their last six games overall.
— won four of last five road tilts.
— under 5-2 last seven games

Arizona 8-8-2
— 1-7 after a win, 5-3 after a loss
— 4-3 at home, 4-5-2 on road.
— over 6-2 last eight road games

Boston 13-1-3
— 4-3 last seven games, after a 9-1 start
— 7-0-1 at home, 6-1-2 on road.
— over 4-1 last five games

Buffalo 8-9-1
— 1-6 after a win, 7-3 after a loss
— 4-5 at home, 4-4-1 on road.
— under 5-1 last six games

Calgary 7-8-3
— won three of last four games
— 3-3-1 at home, 4-5-2 on road.
— over 8-2 last ten games

Carolina 10-7
— won seven of last ten games
— 5-1 at home, 5-6 on road.
— under 9-2 last eleven games

Chicago 5-11
— lost five of their last six games
— 1-5 at home, 4-6 on road.
— under 3-0 last three games

Colorado 11-6
— won three of last four games
— 5-2 at home, 6-4 on road.
— over 7-1 last eight games

Columbus 4-11-4
— lost their last nine games
— 3-6-1 at home, 1-5-3 on road.
— over 7-1 last eight games

Dallas 10-3-1
— won five of last six games
— 5-3 at home, 7-1-1 on road.
— over 5-1 last six games
— 11-1 if they score more than two goals

Detroit 8-6-3
— lost 8 of their last 11 games
— 5-3-2 at home, 3-3-1 on road.
— over 3-1 last four road games

Edmonton 5-11-1
— lost six of last nine games
— 3-4-1 at home, 2-7 on road.
— over 3-0 last four games 

Florida 9-4-1
— won seven of last eight games.
— 7-1 at home, 5-4-1 on road.
— over 7-2 last nine games

Los Angeles 8-3-3
— won nine of last 12 games.
— 3-3-3 at home, 8-0 on road.
— under 8-1 last nine games

Minnesota 5-8-4
— lost last five games, last two in SO/OT
— 3-3-2 at home, 2-5-2 on road.
— over 6-0 last six home games 

Montreal 7-9-2
— lost last four games, giving up 18 goals
— 5-6 at home, 2-3-2 on road.
— over 6-2 last eight home games

Nashville 7-10
— 6-0 allow two or fewer goals, 1-10 allow 3+ goals
— 5-4 at home, 2-6 on road.
— over 5-2 last seven games

New Jersey 8-7-1
— lost four of last five games
— 3-4-1 at home, 5-3 on road.
— over 13-3

NY Islanders 6-6-5
— lost seven of last eight games. 
— 3-3-3 at home, 3-3-2 on road.
— over 4-1 last five road games

NY Rangers 12-3-1
— won 10 of last 12 games
— 5-1 at home, 7-2-1 on road.
— over 5-1 last six games

Ottawa 8-7
— won last three games, giving up six goals
— 6-5 at home, 2-2 on road.
— over 7-2 at home
— 7-2 scoring 4+ goals, 1-5 scoring less than 4.

Philadelphia 9-7-1
— won their last five games.
— 5-4 at home, 4-3-1 on road.
— under 4-1 last five road games

Pittsburgh 7-8
— won seven of last nine games
— 4-5 at home, 5-3 on road.
— over 4-1 last five road games

St Louis 9-7-1
— won six of last nine games
— 6-2 at home, 3-5-1 on road.
— under 5-1 last six games

San Jose 3-14-1
— 3-4 last seven games, after an 0-11 start
— 3-6-1 at home, 0-8 on road.
— under 6-1 last seven games.

Seattle 7-8-5
— lost six of last nine games
— 3-5-1 at home, 4-3-4 on road. 
— over 4-0 last four games

Tampa Bay 9-6-4
— won last three games, scoring 15 goals
— 6-2-2 at home, 3-4-2 on road.
— over 4-1 last five home games
— 1-4 in OT/SO

Toronto 10-5-2
— won five of last six games.
— 5-4 at home, 5-1-2 on road. 
— over 6-1 last seven games
— 9-1 scoring 4+ goals, 1-6 scoring 3 or less. 

Vancouver 13-5-1
— split their last six games
— 7-1-1 at home, 6-4 on road.
— over 10-2 last 12 games

Vegas 13-4-2
— lost 5 of last 7 games, after an 11-1 start.
— 8-1-1 at home, 5-3-1 on road.
— under 7-3 at home

Washington 9-4-2
— won five of last six games
— 6-3-1 at home, 3-1-1 on road.
— under 11-4

Winnipeg 10-5-2
— won six of last seven games
— 6-3-1 at home, 4-2-1 on road.
— over 6-2 last eight games

— Maui Classic:
Purdue 71, Tennessee 67- Purdue was 29-48 on foul line in a very physical game.
Marquette 73, Kansas 59- Marquette shot 59% inside arc.

championship game is 5:00 Wednesday.

— Florida State 77, Colorado 71 OT
Seminoles have won their last 14 overtime games, which apparently is a record.
Colorado had 20 turnovers, shot 38.5% inside arc.

— James Madison 82, Southern Illinois 76- JMU is 5-0 for the first time since 1982.

— So far this season, teams from the WCC (Gonzaga/Saint Mary’s league) are 2-10 against the spread as a favorite. It is possible the league is a little bit down this season.

— This is modern college basketball- UNLV has 14 guys on its basketball team; three freshmen, and 11 guys who transferred into UNLV. Handicapping early season basketball is a crapshoot.

November is about coaches figuring out who/what they have, and what they want to do with it. Teams with excellent continuity have a big advantage right now.

— Teams with most continuity right now:
Florida Atlantic
Columbia
Marquette
Drexel
Cal-Davis
North Dakota State

— Teams with least continuity right now:
New Mexico State
Iona
Utah State
Idaho
Notre Dane
Southern Utah

— Jackson State doesn’t have a home game until January 6th; they play 11 road games, two more on neutral floors before that. After an 0-5 start, they upset Missouri Sunday.

All the road games pay the tab for their program: trips to San Diego, Memphis, Mizzou, Los Angeles, Houston, Georgetown, Northwestern- lot of guarantee games. Winning is a bonus.

— Pretty sure I watched Bill Vinovich officiate an NFL game Sunday, then late Monday night, he was a ref at the Cal-UTEP basketball game, somewhere near Los Angeles. Vinovich turns 63 years old next week; he is officiating on back/back days, but lot of guys in the NBA who are half his age and are making a boatload of $$$ can’t play on back/back nights. Go figure.

— Good to see former Memphis/Georgia Tech coach Josh Pastner working on ESPN; long time ago, I crossed paths with coach Pastner on the AAU circuit couple of times, once in Florida, once in Las Vegas. We were watching games, and I was asking him lot of questions, picking his brain.

He had no reason to be nice to me, but he was, both times. Hope he enjoys his time in the TV studio, and then gets himself another coaching job next season.

— Word of the Day: Rejuvenate- giving new energy or vigor to something.

— St Louis Cardinals signed two starting pitchers this week:
Lance Lynn was 7-2, 4.36 in 11 starts for the Dodgers LY, after they acquired him from the White Sox, where he was 6-9, 6.47 in 21 starts. Lynn started his career in St Louis (2011-17).

Kyle Gibson was 15-9, 4.73 in 33 starts for Baltimore LY.

Cardinals are rebuilding after a dismal 71-91 season this past year.

— San Diego Padres hired Mike Shildt as their new manager; he went 252-199 managing the Cardinals, was surprisingly fired after a 90-72 season in 2021.

— Odd stat: the last 12 years, Dallas Cowboys are 5-7 SU/1-11 ATS on Thanksgiving Day.

— Pittsburgh Steelers fired offensive coordinator Matt Canada, despite their 6-4 record; this is the first time the Steelers have made a midseason change at head coach or coordinator since 1941- they’ve only had three head coaches since 1969.

Steelers missed the playoffs three of last five years; they haven’t won a playoff game since 2016.

— Over their last three games, Denver Broncos are +9 in turnovers; they were minus-4 in their first seven games.

— Carolina Panthers are 1-9 this season, playing a rookie QB on a team that has an offensive coordinator in his first year in that job. I’m not sure what the point of playing QB Bryce Young is right now; maybe sitting back and watching veteran Andy Dalton would be beneficial, in the long run.

Dalton started one game this year; Carolina lost 37-27 in Seattle, but they scored 27 points. In their last four games, they scored 15-13-13-10 points. 

Patrick Mahomes didn’t start a game until the last game of his rookie year; sometimes the old way of doing things is still the better way.

— Random NBA trends:
Golden State is 0-6 ATS as a home favorite
Minnesota is 6-0 ATS at home.
Over is 12-1 in Indiana Pacer games.

Speaking of which……….

— Indiana 157, Atlanta 152
Hawks led 86-73 at halftime, this was like an old ABA game.
Atlanta led by 20 points in the first half.
Tyrese Haliburton scored 37 points, dished out 16 assists.

— Happy 79th birthday to Earl (the Pearl) Monroe, one of the best basketball players ever; he was a great player for the Baltimore Bullets, then got traded to the Knicks, where he helped them win the 1973 NBA title, their second (and last) NBA title.

Happy birthday, sir. 

— There were lot of upsets Friday:
Long Beach State (+15) 94, Michigan 86
NC-Greensboro (+14.5) 78, Arkansas 72
Lindenwood (+9.5) 72, Neb-Omaha 70
Tenn-Martin (+8.5) 80, Eastern Kentucky 74
Notre Dame (+7.5) 66, Oklahoma State 64 OT
East Tennessee State (+6.5) 70, Davidson 68

— Myrtle Beach tournament:
Vermont 78, Saint Louis 68
Liberty 83, Wichita State 66

Sunday’s final is Vermont-Liberty, two solid mid-majors.

— Charleston Classic:
Dayton 88, St John’s 81
Houston 76, Utah 66

Sunday’s final is Dayton-Houston, which will feel like March.

— Bad Beat of the Night: Wm & Mary (+7.5) lost 80-71 in overtime to Air Force.

— Villanova 57, Maryland 40
Terps are off to a dismal 1-3 start, shooting 21.6% on the arc.
Villanova led this game 39-15 at halftime. 
It is early in season, but Maryland is turning ball over 21.3% of time (#290).

— Statistical Oddity of the Day:
San Antonio Spurs lost 129-120 at home to Sacramento Friday, so obviously, they were minus-9 for the game.

When Zach Collins was on the floor, the Spurs were +19 (minus-28 without him)
When Victor Wembanyama was on the floor, the Spurs were minus-31 (+22 without him)

For two teammates to have a plus/minus 50 points different in the same game is really, really unusual.

— Word of the Day: continuity- something happening over a period of time without being changed or stopped.

Teams who have the same players over a period of time have an advantage over teams with a lot of new players, as long as the talent levels are similar.

On the college basketball page, I’ll mention continuity a lot; it is important in this era, where kids transfer at the drop of a hat. 

— Bengals’ QB Joe Burrow tore ligaments in his thumb Thursday night, is out for the year, very bad news for 5-5 Cincinnati.

— Last three years, Rams are 0-9 in November; two years ago, they were 0-3 in November, then won the Super Bowl.

— NHL is playing some games in Sweden this week:
Ottawa 5, Detroit 4 OT- Senators blew a 4-0 lead, then won with 0:02 left in OT.
Toronto 3, Detroit 2- William Nylander has 25 points in Detroit’s 16 games. 

They have two more games in Sweden this weekend. 

— San Diego State 79, Saint Mary’s 54
Surprisingly one-sided game.
Aztecs led 34-33 at halftime.
Gaels also lost previous game, at home to Weber State; they were picked to win the WCC, but if they’re better than Gonzaga, WCC might be down a little this year, especially with BYU off to the Big X.

— Grand Canyon 76, San Francisco 72
Entertaining game between two good mid-majors.

— I’m watching the UNLV-Pepperdine game on ESPN+, and there is a commercial for a lawyer in Los Angeles, a younger guy who claims “I put the LIT in litigation!!!”

Very unusual commercial.

— UNLV 82, Pepperdine 68
UNLV has made at least one 3-point shot in their last 1,195 games, every game since the NCAA made the 3-point shot a real thing, 37 years ago. Princeton is the only other team to have a 3-pointer in every game since then; they’ve played fewer games than the Rebels. 

“On November 13, Felix Unger was asked to leave his place of residence; that request came from his wife……..”

So began one of the funniest TV shows ever, The Odd Couple, which ran on TV from 1970-75, then for many, many years on re-runs.

Spent many an hour watching re-runs of Felix and Oscar when I was a teenager; my dad would come home from work and would roll his eyes at how much I enjoyed The Odd Couple and M*A*S*H re-runs, but he would laugh at those shows, too.

So happy Felix Unger Day and remember, there’s no such thing as a sure thing, that’s why they call it gambling. 

Lions 41, Chargers 38
— Lions drove 53 yards, kicked 41-yard FG to win game with 0:02 left.
— Under Campbell, Lions are 30-12-1 ATS overall.
— Lions won/covered six of its last seven games.
— Goff is 63-50-1 as an NFL starter, 19-19-1 with the Lions. 

— Chargers’ first four drives: 16 plays, 60 yards, 3 points.
— Chargers’ last five drives: 53 plays, 385 yards, 35 points.
— Detroit outgained the Chargers, 533-445.
— This year, Bolts are 0-4 in games decided by 3 or fewer points.

Cardinals 25, Falcons 23
— Falcons lost four of their last five games (underdogs 5-0 ATS)
— Falcons were 7-14 on third down, Arizona 3-12.
— since 2017, Atlanta is 5-10 ATS as a road favorite
— Last two games, Atlanta was 17-32 on third down.

— Cardinals drove 70 yards, kicked game-winning FG with 0:02 left.
— QB Murray was 19-32/249 passing in his first start in 11 months.
— Arizona is 4-1 ATS as a home underdog this year.
— Murray is now 26-32-1 as an NFL starter; Arizona was 1-13 in his absence.

Seahawks 29, Commanders 26 OT
— Washington tied game on 35-yard TD pass with 0:52 left. 
— Seattle drove 50 yards, kicked GW 43-yard FG with 0:03 left.
— Commanders are 5-0 ATS as a road underdog this year.
— Washington team total: 7-3 over; opponents’ team total: over 7-3

— Seattle is 6-0 if it scores 20+ points, 0-3 if it doesn’t.
— Seahawks’ first seven drives: 46 plays, 216 yards, 9 points.
— Seahawks’ last five drives: 33 plays, 258 yards, 20 points.
— Seattle is 17-23-3 ATS in last 43 games as a home favorite (2-2-1 TY)

Browns 33, Ravens 31
— Ravens led 31-17 with 10:00 left in game.
— Browns’ last three drives: 35 plays, 199 yards, 16 points.
— Browns’ team total: over 7-1-1.
— Browns are 4-1 SU since their bye week.

— Cleveland was 8-16 on third down, Ravens 2-8.
— Both QB’s threw a pick-6; Watson’s was on 3rd play of game.
— Baltimore is 1-6 ATS in last seven AFC North home games.
— Last seven games, Ravens outscored foes 125-28 in first half.

Texans 30, Bengals 27
— Texans kicked 38-yard FG with 0:05 left for the win.
— Rookie QB Stroud threw for 356 yards (8.9 yards/attempt)
— Houston won five of its last seven games (5-2 ATS)
— Texans are 8-4-1 ATS in last 13 games as a road underdog. 

— Houston outgained the Bengals, 544-380.
— Cincy trailed 27-17, tied game 27-27 on FG with 1:37 left.
— Loss snaps Cincinnati’s 4-game winning streak.
— Last five games, Bengals are +8 in turnovers. (13-5)

Colts 10, Patriots 6
— Colts drove 75 yards for TD on their opening drive, game’s only TD.
— Indy is 11-6 ATS last 17 games as an underdog away from home.
— Colts won/covered four of their five road games TY.  
— Colts allowed 20 or less points in wins, 29+ in losses.

— 3rd game this year New England didn’t score a TD on offense.
— Patriots lost six of their last seven games (1-6 ATS). 
— NE is 1-11 ATS in its last 12 games as an underdog.
— In his career, Belichick is 82-98 without Brady.

49ers 34, Jaguars 3
— 49ers scored 30+ points in all six of their wins.
— 49ers outgained Jacksonville, 437-221.
— 2nd-year QB Purdy is 13-4 as NFL starter.
— Under is 4-1 in their last five games.
 
— Jaguars’ first four drives: 16 plays, 33 yards, 3 punts, one fumble
— San Francisco led 13-3 at halftime.
— Jags’ first 3 drives in 2nd half: 19 plays, 101 yards, 3 turnovers.
— Jaguars are 0-3 when they score less than 20 points. 

Vikings 27, Saints 19
— Minnesota outgained the Saints, 388-280.
— New Orleans averaged only 4.7 yards/pass attempt.
— Last six weeks, Saints outscored foes 77-30 in second half.
— New Orleans is 4-1 scoring 20+ points, 1-4 scoring less than 20.

— Vikings led 24-3 at halftime.
— Vikings’ first six drives: 45 plays, 331 yards, 27 points.
— Minnesota has 11 takeaways in last five games (+6)
— Minnesota won/covered last five games, scoring 19-22-24-31-27 points.

Steelers 23, Packers 19
— Green Bay’s first three drives: 20 plays, 151 yards, 13 points.
— Last six games, Packers were outscored 93-29 in first half.
— Green Bay is 1-7 ATS TY in games with spread of 3 or less points.
— Green Bay has 12 giveaways in last six games (minus-7).

— Steelers have been outgained in every game, but they’re 6-3.
— Steelers won/covered four of their last five games.
— Pittsburgh is 6-0 when it scores 17+ points.
— Pitt is 31-16-1 ATS in last 48 games when spread was 3 or fewer points.

Buccaneers 20, Titans 6
— Titans lost four of their last five games.
— Tennessee is 0-5 SU/1-4 ATS in true road games.
— Titans are 0-6 scoring less than 27 points.
— Tampa Bay outgained the Titans, 340-209.

— Bucs’ first three drives: 12 plays, 39 yards, no points.
— Bucs’ next five drives: 44 plays, 304 yards, 20 points.
— Tampa’s two TD’s were on TD passes of 43-22 yards.
— Under is 7-2 in Tampa Bay’s games this season.

Cowboys 49, Giants 17
— Dallas beat the Giants twice this year, 40-0/49-17.
— Cowboys are 14-5 ATS in last 19 games as a home favorite (4-0 TY)
— Prescott was 26-35/404 passing, with 4 TD passes.
— Six Dallas wins are by a combined score of 171-50 (37-11 average).

— Giants’ first seven drives: 24 plays, 20 yards, no points.
— Giants were 0-12 on third down, Dallas 6-12.
— Giants are averaging only 259.1 yards/game this season.
— Giants are 1-7 SU/2-5-1 ATS in last eight games, scoring 10.8 ppg.

Raiders 16, Jets 12
— Jets’ first three drives: 25 plays, 103 yards, three field goals.
— Jets rest of game: 38 plays, 262 yards, one field goal.
— Jets’ 6.1 yards/pass attempt was their best this season.
— Jets are 5-10-1 ATS in last 16 games with spread of 3 or less points.

— Las Vegas won last four home games, giving up 13-17-6-12 points.
— Raiders’ team total: under 9-1; opponents’ team total: under 7-3
— Last four games, Las Vegas is 14-47 on third down.
— Under is 8-2 in Raider games this season.

— Brook Lopez plays for the Milwaukee Bucks; he is 35 years old, has been in the NBA for 16 years now. What makes him interesting is how he re-invented his skill set in the middle of his career.

In the first eight years of his career, the 7-foot tall Lopez stayed close to the basket- he was a combined 3 for 31 on 3-pointers.

I’ll repeat that: in years 1-8 of his career, he was 3-31 on the arc.

Then he decided to re-invent himself; since then, Lopez is 791-2,264 on the arc. This is truly remarkable, how an 8-year NBA veteran totally changed his game so he could stay in the NBA.

For his career, Lopez is averaging 16.3 ppg. Shooting is marketable; he is a 79.6% career shooter on the foul line, 34.6% on the arc, 53% inside the arc.

Lopez will earn $25M this year, $23M next year, which will put him over $221M in career earnings. He’s worked very hard to sharpen and increase his skill set. Good for him.

— Here’s a stat for you: NHL teams that have played consecutive nights on road:
6-5 the first night
3-8 the second night

— and another interesting stat: NBA road teams who played the night before are 2-8 ATS:
2-3 if they played on the road the previous night
0-5 if they played at home the previous night

— best NFL teams in the red zone:
5.50 points/drive- Ravens (34 drives)
5.46- Chargers (24 drives)
5.43- Rams (only 21 drives)
5.34- Bills (32 drives)
5.23- Bears (only 22 drives)

— worst NFL teams in the red zone:
2.81- Giants (gave up a TD on defense and a blocked FG TD)
3.78- Vikings (23 drives)
3.95- Jets (only 19 drives)
4.09- Titans (23 drives)
4.15- Jaguars (only 20 drives)

— most TD plays of 20+ yards:
13- Dolphins
10- Lions
8- Vikings, Jaguars
7- Colts
6- Eagles, Bears
5- Commanders

— fewest TD plays of 20+ yards:
0- Ravens, Falcons
1- Panthers, Bengals, Raiders, Giants, Seahawks
2- Browns, Packers, Patriots

— Word of the Day: gimmick— a trick or device intended to attract attention, business and/or publicity.

The NBA’s in-season tournament is most definitely a gimmick.

— Place I usually go to for lunch was closed Friday; they had fire in the kitchen or something like that, so I went somewhere else, a place I used to go to a lot 20 years ago, when I lived near there.

Walk in, and the waitress is arguing with a guy who was eating chicken wings with peanut butter on them. Turns out the guy also works there, but it was funny listening to them argue. She was actually yelling at him; it did look a little gross, but he said he liked it.

There was Harry Chapin music playing when I walked in, a pleasant surprise.

I passed on the chicken wings/peanut butter combo- not my thing.

— Sounds like Deshaun Watson will start at QB for Cleveland Sunday, while rookie Clayton Tune gets his first NFL start for the Cardinals. 

Can’t remember an NFL season with this many unsettled QB situations; teams are playing young QB’s before they’re ready; several other QB’s have gotten hurt. Very difficult year for picking games; they’re all tough, but this season teams seem to be a lot more fragile than usual.

— Dodgers P Clayton Kershaw had shoulder surgery this week, hopes to pitch at some point in 2024, but he is a free agent. Will teams wait until next summer to pursue him? Kershaw is 35 years old; he signed one-year contracts the last two years.

— College basketball starts Monday; how will Purdue bounce back from being only the second #1-seed to lose a first round NCAA Tournament game?

In 2018, Virginia was 31-2, a #1-seed when they got upset 74-54 by UMBC in the first round; not only were they the first #1 seed to lose, they lost by 20. It was stunning, but the Cavaliers came back the next season and won the national title, also as a #1-seed.

Purdue big man Zach Edey is surprisingly still in college, so the Boilermakers should be really good again this year. Maybe this time, his teammates will give him the ball in March.

— From 2018-22, Sean Lewis was the football coach at Kent State; he inherited a 2-10 team, went 2-10 his first season, but then the next four years, he went 22-21— he did a really good job there, making the Golden Flashes competitive.

This season, Lewis resigned at Kent State to become the offensive coordinator at Colorado, an odd decision, but he probably makes a lot more $$$ now. 

Colorado was 1-11 last year, averaging 15.4 points/game; they made a splash in the off-season and hired Deion Sanders as head coach— he had been at I-AA Jackson State. Sanders hired Lewis as his OC, to mentor the Buffs’ quarterback, Sanders’ son Shedeur.

This season, Colorado is 4-4, scoring 32.1 ppg. They’ve lost four of their last five games, but Rome wasn’t built in a day; they’re vastly improved over last year.

Then word comes out this week that Colorado basically demoted Lewis, promoting former NFL head coach Pat Shurmur to co-offensive coordinator— he will work with the offensive line, and presumably, Colorado will run the ball more now. 

The previous OL coach came to Colorado from Kent State with Lewis. It’ll be interesting to see next month, when the regular season ends, if coach Lewis goes back to being a head coach, since his work at Colorado doesn’t seem to be appreciated very much. 

One of my favorite movies was on today, Searching for Bobby Fischer; Joe Mantegna is a sportswriter who is surprised to find out that his 11-year old son is a chess prodigy. It is a great movie: Mantegna, Ben Kingsley, Lawrence Fishburne, William H Macy.

Anyway, when I was in 8th grade 50 years ago, chess was a big deal. Bobby Fischer was a quirky chess grandmaster who was playing Russian Boris Spassky for the world title, and it got a ton of attention— for a couple years in the early 70’s, chess was a big deal.

A friend of my parents had taught me how to play; in May of 1973, there was a tournament of all the Catholic grade schools in Albany County, probably 50 or so kids on a Saturday morning. Two kids from our school went; I had never beaten the other kid. Ever.

So our 8th grade teacher picks us up at the other kid’s house to go to the tournament, but we played a game before he got there, and I beat him. This had never happened before.

We get to the tournament, played in a ratty old gym, and the games begin. I won my first game, but the other kid, who seriously was a much better player than me, he got beat and just like that, he was eliminated. He very rarely played sports as a kid, and the competition apparently wasn’t his thing. I sucked at sports, but enjoyed playing.

Thinking about it, it was a lot like the scenes in this movie; just a bunch of nerdy kids hunched over chess boards, studying their moves.

While my parents’ friend taught me how to play chess, I had my own ideas, which weren’t better ideas, but I was incapable of grinding out moves, playing patterns, the way great players do.

I just played fast, got my queen out as quickly as possible, tried to do damage with the queen, and it often got people off their games, because it was different.

So I win two more games, and now there are a lot fewer kids in the gym; my 4th game, the board is set up with plastic chess pieces. My opponent requests that we switch to a wooden chess set, a classic Bobby Fischer mind game move, which I had no idea of at the time.

He crushed me, not even close and my teacher took the two of us home. I was happy that at least I won a few games— had never played in a tournament before.

The phone rings in our house and it is a nun from the chess tournament; I had lost, but I wasn’t done playing yet, there were still games to be played to determine who won the championship, so my father drove me back to the gym and he had to sit there watching his nerdy kid play chess.

I won two more games, and the whole event came down to this: I was playing this girl in the last game of the tournament. If she won, she won the championship and I finished 3rd.

If I won, the jerk who beat me won the championship and I finished 2nd. (don’t ask, I can’t remember how/why they ran the tournament like this, but they did)

Seriously, I didn’t like that kid after he beat me; I went over to look at the 2nd/3rd place prizes. If the 3rd place prize was good, I was considering losing on purpose so he wouldn’t win the tournament, but the 3rd place prize was cruddy, and the 2nd place prize was this small plastic scroll that at least looked like a trophy, so I tried to win.

(This is where I realize that I was an over-thinker, even at age 13)

Anyway, we sit down and play the last game; my opponent was very nervous; her hand was shaking when she moved her chess pieces. It didn’t take long to beat her, and the jerk won the championship trophy.

50 years later, the small plastic scroll is still hanging in my living room. That was a fun day. 

— Florida Atlantic made a miraculous run to the Final Four last year, then somehow kept both their head coach and all their players, as they move up from Conference USA to the AAC.

AAC lost three teams to the Big X, added six other teams. 

Tulsa went 5-25 last year, then cleaned house; they have only one scholarship player returning.

— San Diego State beat FAU 72-71 in national semi-final, then lost to UConn in the national title game; they lost five 5th-year players from last year’s team, but re-tooled with some transfers and still figure to be prominent in the Mountain West race.

San Jose State had their first winning season since 2011.

Only new coach in Mountain West is Utah State’s Danny Sprinkle, who takes over from Ryan Odom, who bolted to Virginia Commonwealth.

— Atlantic 15 was #13 conference LY, tied for their worst ranking ever- they only got one team into the NCAA’s. VCU had won nine in a row heading into March Madness, but lost 63-51 to Saint Mary’s in their first round game. 

VCU coach Rhoades jumped from VCU to Penn State, a strange decision (Penn State will have an almost all-new roster this year). Penn State is a football school; VCU is a basketball school, you’d think a basketball coach would much rather be there.

— Big 14 hasn’t won a national championship since 2000, when Michigan State won; they didn’t have a team in the Elite 8 the last two years, had only four Sweet 16 teams the last three years. 

Purdue gets big man Zach Edey back; they figure to be very good again.

— Since 2015, five of the 15 ACC basketball teams have made it to a Final Four.

— CAA is now the Coastal Athletic Association, not the Colonial; last year they slipped from the #14 league to the #26 league- they had seven of their teams finish outside the top 300. There is a new CAA team this year; the Campbell Camels.

— Word of the Day: Continuity— the unbroken and consistent existence or operation of something over a period of time.

— BYU has bolted from the WCC to the Big 12, leaving the WCC with nine teams (for now).

Last year, Portland Pilots had players from eight different countries.

— Big X had seven teams in the NCAA’s last year; they add four new teams this year, the year before Texas/Oklahoma bolt to the SEC, then they’ll have 16 teams next year, when lot of the old Pac-12 teams join the league. 

Josh Eilert is interim coach at West Virginia, replacing Hall of Famer Bob Huggins; he’ll try to win enough games to get the interim tag removed.

— Big West was the #15 league LY; after being the #30 league in 2020, they’ve been #15-19-15 the three years since then.

Cal-Northridge hired Andy Newman, the league’s only new coach this year.

Cal-Davis player Drew Carter used to be a quarterback at Colorado; he threw 12 passes for the Buffaloes in 2021. I’m told that Colorado has a new football coach now, and his son is the QB, so Carter is at Cal-Davis playing basketball now.

— Princeton got to the Sweet 16 last year, upsetting Arizona/Missouri; they were the 4th Ivy League team to make the Sweet 16, the first since Cornell in 2010.

When Magic Johnson/Larry Bird played in the Final Four in 1979, one of the other two teams in the Final Four that year was the Penn Quakers.

— Rick Pitino is the new coach at St John’s; he overhauled the roster, with nine players hitting the road, as Pitino added 10 new players, including two guys from the Ivy League.

St John’s hasn’t made the NCAA’s since 2019; they’ve made it twice since 2011, it would be really surprising if Pitino doesn’t make them a perennial top 25 team.

— Tobin Anderson replaced Pitino at Iona; he led Fairleigh Dickinson to the NCAA’s LY, where they upset Purdue.

Iona has been in six of the last seven NCAA Tournaments, so there are big expectations in New Rochelle, but they have only one player back from last year- they added 12 new players. 

Today we’re looking at how NFL offenses do on their first drive of each half; four games for each team, so eight drives for everyone.

First drive of a game:
Who game plans best during the week?
— 49ers have three TD’s and FG on their first drive of a game, 24 points (41 plays, 255 yards).

Denver has three TD’s on their first drives (35 plays, 236 yards)

Rams have two TD’s, two FG’s on their first drive (44 plays, 248 yards)

— Miami is averaging 10.8 yards/play on its opening drives (28 plays, 302 yards); they’ve scored two TD’s and field goal on those drives.

— Minnesota’s offense has run 21 plays for 129 yards on opening drives, but the opponents’ defense has outscored the Viking offense, 7-0, thanks to a 99-yard pick-6. Not good.

— Giants/Browns have both been outscored 7-3 on their first drives. Giants gave up a blocked FG for a TD, Browns gave up a defensive TD.

— In their four games, Jets have run 14 plays for 32 yards on their first drive.
Steelers have run 17 plays for 24 yards.
Jaguars have run 22 plays for 71 yards.

None of those teams have scored on an opening drive.

First drive of second half:
Who makes the best offensive adjustments at halftime?
— Green Bay has three TD’s on their first drive of 2nd half (29 plays, 222 yards)
Eagles have two TDs, two FG’s on their first drive of 2nd half (34 plays, 160 yards)

— Dallas has run 45 plays for 234 yards on their first drive of 3rd quarter, but scored only one TD- they kicked three FG’s, too.

— Surprisingly, Arizona has run 33 plays for 227 yards, scoring 18 points, part of why they’re 3-1 against the spread already.

— Buffalo has run 36 plays for 208 yards, but only has a TD and a FG to show for it.

— Detroit has run only 10 plays for 12 yards on its first 3rd quarter drive; three 3/outs and a lost fumble. They only gained 84 yards on 16 plays on their first drive of the game, surprising.

— There are four teams who haven’t scored on their first drive of third quarter:
Denver 20 plays, 129 yards
Detroit 10 plays, 12 yards
Houston 19 plays, 14 yards
Las Vegas 23 plays, 79 yards, 2 INT’s.

First drive of all eight halves:
— Rams/Eagles play each other this week; they also share the NFL lead with 33 points scored on their first drive of a half.

Dolphins, Packers, 49ers are next, with 31 points each.

— Dallas has gained 446 yards on 79 plays (29 points) on their first drive of a half, the most yards of any team, followed by the Rams (77 plays, 438 yards), Eagles (76 plays, 425 yards)

— Giants have run 71 plays for 320 yards, good for 10 points, but they also gave up a TD on a blocked FG, so they’re only +3 in points on first drives.

— Vikings have run 47 plays for 236 yards, scoring a TD, giving up a TD to the defense.

— Houston Texans have run total of 41 plays for only 83 yards on their first drive of a half, fewest yards in the league. 

Detroit, surprisingly, has run 26 plays for only 96 yards.

NFL games are relatively short (nine or so drives per team); the first drive of each half makes up maybe 20-25% of all drives, which is significant.

Tomorrow, we’ll look at which defenses do best/worst in this situation. 

— Its been 20 years since a team won consecutive Super Bowls; can the Chiefs go back/back this season? They’ve been in three of last four Super Bowls, winning twice.

— Eric Bieniemy was the offensive coordinator for those teams, but now he’s moved on to the same job with the Washington Commanders- they are rumors that Bieniemy/Patrick Mahomes didn’t get along too well, and we know who wins those battles. 

So now Bieniemy is the OC for a team with a 2nd-year QB who started one game last year- Sam Howell. Howell made his first career start in the last game of his rookie year, just like Patrick Mahomes did.

— Since 1995, only one time has the Super Bowl loser gotten back to the Super Bowl the next season; can the Philadelphia Eagles break that cold spell?

By the way, the last 20 years, the Super Bowl loser is 4-16 ATS in Week 1 the next year. 

— Three teams (Colts, Panthers, Texans) are expected to start rookie QB’s this week; two of those three teams also have rookie head coaches, the third head coach (Frank Reich) is in his first year with that team. 

— Last seven years, Indianapolis Colts have started a different QB every year in Week 1:
2017— Scott Tolzien
2018— Andrew Luck
2019— Jacoby Brissett
2020— Philip Rivers (he started against them in Week 1, 2019)
2021— Carson Wentz
2022— Matt Ryan
2023— Anthony Richardson

Colts haven’t won in Week 1 since 2013; they tied Houston LY, as 7-point favorites.

— Detroit Lions are favored to win the NFL North; they’ve been in the playoffs three times in this century, with last time in 2016. Lions haven’t won a playoff game since 1991. Last time Detroit won this division was 1993; would you bet on them this year?

— Sean Payton is the new coach in Denver, where his #1 project is to revive Russell Wilson’s career. Broncos’ QB coach is Davis Webb, who seven months ago was the #3 QB for the Giants- they started him the last regular season game last year, then he retired. 

So the most valuable player on your team is being coached by a 28-year old first time coach, who started one NFL game. This should be interesting.

— Dallas Cowboys told OC Kellen Moore to take a hike, after going 13-6 LY; HC Mike McCarthy will call plays now. About 10 minutes after Dallas fired Moore, the Chargers hired him as their new OC (actually it was the next day), 

Chargers’ OC last year was Joe Lombardi, who now works for Denver; Charger-Bronco games figure to be interesting this year.

— Word of the Day— Mentor— an experienced and trusted adviser.

— NFL Trend of the Day— Over last 10 years, Cincinnati Bengals are 45-30-6 ATS as an underdog.

— Jordan Love is the new QB in Green Bay; since 1992, the Packers’ starting QB has been either Brett Favre or Aaron Rodgers. No pressure there, following those two Hall of Famers.

Think about the contrast:
Packers have had two #1 QB’s the last 31 years.
Colts have had seven #1 QB’s the last seven years.

— You may have heard; Aaron Rodgers has moved on to the Jets, who haven’t made the playoffs since 2010. Jets already have a good defense; this should be interesting.

— Los Angeles Rams are taking their salary cap medicine this year; their defense may be the youngest one in the NFL this century. They still have Aaron Donald on the line, but this is a very young defense.

Did they fix the offensive line? If so, they can run the ball enough to take the pressure off that defense, or Matthew Stafford can try to outscore teams.

— New England went 8-9 LY, playing a 2nd-year QB; Patriots’ offensive coaches were terrible. Matt Patricia, Joe Judge; are you kidding me? This year, New England brought Bill O’Brien back to be Jones’ QB guru; Patriots haven’t won a playoff game (0-1) since tom Brady left town. 

Hmmm……..

— Lamar Jackson got a boatload of $$$ from the Ravens, and they changed OC’s, to find a more explosive offensive for Jackson to run; now he has to be available in December. 

In 2021, Jackson didn’t play after Week 13.
Last year, Jackson didn’t play after Week 12.

One of the most important abilities is availability; Ravens are 1-3 in his playoff starts, scoring 13 ppg. Now is the time for Jackson to produce and earn all that $$$. 

— Arizona Cardinals have an over/under win total of 3.5 this year; no other team has a win total under 6.5 wins- they’ve already traded a couple players away, for draft picks. Kyler Murray won’t be ready to start the season; Joshua Dobbs (0-2 as an NFL starter) gets the nod this week for the Redbirds, against Washington. 

— NFL Sunday Ticket switches from DirecTV to YouTube TV; I made the switch myself back in January, so I’m looking forward to seeing how they do it. Apparently, four games on one screen will be their thing. Baseball package on YouTube has been fine, so I’m optimistic. 

— There is a hurricane headed towards southern California Sunday/Monday, so MLB has moved three of Sunday’s games, and turned them into day/night doubleheaders on Saturday.

Marlins-Dodgers, Arizona-Padres and Rays-Angels are the series affected by the changes.

— By my count, there are 68 college football teams in the Power 5 conferences. Of those 68 teams, 36 of them are slated to start a QB this season who began his college career somewhere else, then transferred to that school (not counting junior college transfers).

Information is courtesy of the Phil Steele college football magazine, an excellent resource:

SEC
Alabama— Buchner, 3 starts at Notre Dame
Auburn— Thorne, 25 starts at Michigan State
Florida— Mertz, 32 starts at Wisconsin
Kentucky— Leary, 26 starts at NC State.
LSU— Daniels, 29 starts at Arizona State
Ole Miss— Dart, 6 games at USC
South Carolina— Rattler, 17 starts at Oklahoma
Tennessee— Milton, 16 games at Michigan.

Big 14
Illinois— Altmyer, one start at Ole Miss
Indiana— Jackson, 3 games at Tennessee
Iowa— McNamara, 16 starts at Michigan
Nebraska— Sims, 23 starts at Georgia Tech
Northwestern— Bryant, 11 starts at Cincinnati
Purdue— Card, 5 starts at Texas
Wisconsin— Mordecai, 24 starts at SMU

ACC
Georgia Tech— King, 7 starts at Texas A&M
Louisville— Plummer, 12 starts at Cal
NC State— Armstrong, 30 starts at Virginia
Pitt— Jurkovec, 24 starts at Boston College
Virginia— Muskett, 23 starts at I-AA Monmouth
Virginia Tech— Drones, 5 games at Baylor

Big X
BYU— Slovis, 38 starts at USC/Pitt.
UCF— Plumlee, 9 starts at Ole Miss
Cincinnati— Jones, 7 starts at Arizona State
Houston— Smith, 8 starts at Texas Tech
Oklahoma— Gabriel, 26 starts at UCF
Oklahoma State— Bowman, 26 games at Texas Tech/Michigan
Texas Tech— Shough, 7 starts at Oregon.

Pac-12
Arizona— DeLaura, 15 starts at Washington State
Arizona State— Pyne, 10 starts at Notre Dame
California— Jackson, 7 games at TCU
Oregon— Nix, 34 starts at Auburn
Oregon State— Uiagalelei, 28 starts at Clemson
USC— Williams, 7 starts at Oklahoma
Washington— Penix, 17 starts at Indiana.

— Movie of the Day— The Natural (1984)— An unknown ballplayer in his 30’s comes seemingly out of nowhere to become a big-time major leaguer.

Robert Redford plays Roy Hobbs, Wilford Brimley is manager of the New York Knights, Robert Duvall is a sportswriter trying to uncover Hobbs’ past. Kim Basinger, Darren McGavin, Barbara Hershey, Glenn Close are also in the movie— excellent cast.

Baseball scenes were filmed at War Memorial Stadium in Buffalo, where the Bills played before they built Rich Stadium in Orchard Park. 

— NFL Trend of the Day— Last three years, over is 16-6-1 in Raiders’ home games.

— White Sox SS Tim Anderson got into a fight with Cleveland on August 5; MLB suspended him for six games, but he didn’t start serving the suspension until Friday night. Why wait so long? Appeals should be the next morning, via Zoom.

— San Diego Padres this season:
6-19 in one-run games.
13-15 in two-run games.
39-30 in games decided by 3+ runs.

— Washington Commanders named Sam Howell their starting QB for Week 1 against Arizona; Howell started the last game last season, his rookie year— he started for three years in college at North Carolina.

Last seven years, Washington will now have started seven different QB’s in Week 1.

— Indiana Hoosiers basketball coach Mike Woodson got a $1M raise; he will now make $4.2M a year, ranking him behind Tom Izzo/Brad Underwood amongst Big 14 coaches. 

— Rays 9, Angels 6 (10)
Angels led 5-1 after three innings.
Rays had runners on 1st/3rd, no one out in top of 9th, in a 6-6 game, but then hit into a weird triple play and didn’t score.
Raley got the game-winning hit; he struck out his first four times before that.

— Nationals 8, Phillies 7
Lorenzen no-hit Washington last week; he gave up 7 runs in 3.1 IP in this game.

— Braves 4, Giants 0— Atlanta hasn’t given up a run since the 9th inning Monday night.

— Padres 4, Arizona 0— Game was scoreless until San Diego scored four runs in bottom of the 8th; Kim got the go-ahead hit, then Machado added a 2-run tater.

— Marlins 11, Dodgers 3— Sandy Alcantara ends the Dodgers’ 11-game win streak.

— Seattle 2, Astros 0— Mariners win despite going 0-17 with runners in scoring position; they got solo homers from Rodriguez, Ford.

— Reds 1, Toronto 0— Rookie Christian Encarnacion-Strand homered in the 9th inning; not many games with a total of 10.5 end 1-0.