Category: SPORTS

— From 2018-23, Gonzaga posted a 223-24 record, making the Sweet 16 in the last six NCAA Tournaments. Last time Gonzaga didn’t made the second weekend of the tournament? 2014.

But this year, Gonzaga is off to a 10-4 start, 4-3 vs top 100 teams, 0-3 vs top 50 clubs. Their bench is in the bottom 10 in the country in minutes played; they can’t afford any injuries.

The entire WCC is down this year, starting with BYU bolting to the Big X. So far this season, the WCC is:

0-6 SU vs the WAC, 0-6 ATS
6-18 SU vs Mountain West, 8-16 ATS.
4-10 SU vs Big West, 4-10 ATS
7-6 SU vs Pac-12, 6-7 ATS

St Mary’s was picked to win the WCC this year, but they’re 10-6, 2-5 against top 100 teams. There is no guarantee the WCC will get two teams in the NCAAs. 

— SEC teams are 18-12 SU against the ACC this season, 19-11 ATS.

— UConn 88, Butler 81
Butler led by 7 early in the second half.
UConn shot 69% inside the arc.
Huskies had a 33-24 edge on the boards.

— Fairfield 93, Siena 69
Brycen Goodine scored 40 points, made 8-12 on the arc.
Here’s the thing; Goodine didn’t start the game, still scored 40 points.
Siena is 2-12; they played one junior and no seniors.

— New Mexico lost 76-68 at Colorado State Tuesday; Lobos’ star Jaelen House played only 19:00 because of foul trouble. When House and Jamal Mashburn were on the court at the same time, Lobos were +13; they were minus-21 when one/both guys were on the bench.

— ESPN’s Seth Greenberg said he thinks Wake Forest has the best starting 5 in the ACC; so far this season, Demon Deacons are 10-3, winning their last eight games- four of those wins were against top 100 teams. 

Wake Forest’s bench ranks #323 in country in minutes played, something to remember when the ACC Tournament rolls around. Wake Forest is good, but not deep.

— Word of the Day: Opportunity- a set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something.

— Baseball Fact of the Day: Rockies C Elias Diaz won MVP of the All-Star Game last year; he was first National Leaguer to win that award since Melky Cabrera won it in 2012, as a member of the Giants.

— Seattle Mariners traded P Robbie Ray to the Giants, for OF Mitch Haniger, P Anthony DeSclafani. Unusual trade; all three players are over 30 years old.

Ray won the 2021 Cy Young while pitching for Toronto, then signed a 5-year deal with Seattle for $23M a year- he is under contract through the 2026 season and is owed $73M over that time. Ray had Tommy John surgery last year, is expected back in the second half of 2024.

Haniger previously played five years with Seattle; he hit 39 homers for the Mariners in 2021, but played total of only 118 games the last two years, hitting .209 for the Giants last year.

DeSclafani was 4-8, 4.88 in 18 starts for the Giants last year; he is 54-56 in his career.

— OF Michael Brantley retired Friday, ending a 15-year career; he hit .298 in his career, with a .794 OPS. He made five All-Star games, helped the Astros win the 2022 World Series.

— Los Angeles Lakers won the first-ever In-Season Tournament, beating the Pacers 123-109 on December 9th; since then, the Lakers are 3-9 and are hanging onto the last playoff spot in the West by a half-game.

Indiana went 2-6 in their first eight games after that loss to the Lakers, but now they’ve won five games in a row, are 19-14, the #5-seed in the East.

— Over/under total for Pacers-Hawks Friday was 262 points, the highest total for any NBA game in the last thirty years- Indiana has been involved with the three highest totals in the last thirty years.

— Former Cowboys’ tight end Jason Witten is now a high school coach in Texas; he coaches at Liberty Christian HS in Argyle, TX. Witten’s team won the state title this season, winning all their games by 28+ points- the last two years, Liberty Christian is 24-2.

— Baltimore Ravens are 13-3 this season; they’ve had the lead in the last 2:00 of all 16 games.

College basketball leagues, non-conference trends……..

Conference play has started up, so most of this stuff won’t matter again until March, but it is fun to think about, as far as which conferences are the better ones this season.

AAC- 22-25 ATS as an underdog.
5-2 ATS vs ACC teams.
2-7 ATS vs Sun Belt
6-8 ATS vs SEC.

ACC- 27-19 ATS as home favorite, 14-19 ATS as underdogs.
9-3 SU/ATS vs Big X
11-19 ATS vs SEC teams.

Atlantic 15- 28-17 ATS as home favorites, 6-12 as road dogs.
They’ve been beating up on northeastern mid-majors:
8-3 ATS vs MAAC
7-3 ATS vs MAC
8-5 ATS vs Ivy
10-7 ATS vs CAA
Mot so much against the MVC, they’re 1-7 ATS vs MVC.

Big 14- 9-21 ATS as an underdog, 33-31 as a favorite.
4-9 ATS vs SEC
6-3 ATS vs Pac-12

Big X- 38-18 ATS as home favorite, 18-27 ATS on road/neutral
5-12-1 ATS vs Big East
7-5 ATS vs SEC

Big East
15-20 ATS as home favorites
11-12 ATS as underdogs
14-11 ATS on neutral floors

Big Sky- 24-18 ATS as road underdogs.
0-10 SU/3-7 ATS vs Pac-12 (all double digit spreads)
6-7 ATS vs Summit

Big West- 16-19 ATS as favorite, 21-28 as an underdog
6-9 ATS vs both Pac-12/Mountain West
10-4 ATS vs WCC
7-4 ATS vs Summit

CAA
14-20 ATS as a favorite
5-13 ATS on neutral floors

Conference USA
20-27 ATS as an underdog
6-13 ATS as home favorite, 12-3 ATS as favorite in road/neutral games

Horizon
4-8 ATS vs MAC teams
8-5 ATS on neutral floors, 33-30 ATS as underdogs.

Ivy League
1-7 ATS as a home favorite
1-5 ATS vs MAAC

MAAC
23-18 ATS as road underdogs.

MAC- 18-26 ATS on the road
4-7 ATS vs MVC teams
11-7 ATS vs Sun Belt

MVC- 17-8 ATS as home favorites
9-5 ATS vs OVC teams
5-0 ATS vs Summit

Mountain West
9-20 ATS in road games, 17-11 on neutral floors
6-1 SU/4-3 ATS vs Pac-12

Ohio Valley- 22-33 ATS as a road underdog.

Pac-12
35-26 ATS as home favorites.
2-8 ATS in road games
17-21 ATS on neutral floors

SEC
11-3 ATS as road underdogs
SEC teams played 40 games on neutral floors (favorites are 26-14 ATS)

Southern
25-17 ATS as an underdog

Summit League
10-5 ATS as a home favorite
25-32 ATS as an underdog
4-11 ATS on neutral floors

Sun Belt
15-11 ATS at home
6-14 ATS on neutral floors

WAC
12-18 ATS as a favorite

WCC
10-21 ATS on road

20-30 ATS as a favorite
17-30 ATS as an underdog

— Week 18 in the NFL has some unusual QB matchups; there are at least five games where both QB’s starting this week are backups:

Steelers (Rudolph) @ Ravens (Hundley)
Browns (Driskel) @ Bengals (Browning)
Chiefs (Gabbert) @ Chargers (Stick)
Rams (Wentz) @ 49ers (Darnold)
Broncos (Stidham) @ Raiders (O’Connell)

Jeff Driskel will be the fifth quarterback to start a game for Cleveland this season.

— Jets cut RB Dalvin Cook, who went unclaimed on waivers; he then signed with the Baltimore Ravens, who’ve had injury issues in their backfield recently.

Cook carried the ball only 67 times for 214 yards for the Jets this season, after the Jets gave him a one-year, $7M contract in August.

— Tough time of year for football coaches whose teams didn’t win this year:

LSU fired four defensive assistant coaches.

Oklahoma fired its defensive coordinator.

North Carolina fired its offensive coordinator.

— It was reported couple weeks ago that Kansas State QB Will Howard was bolting from K-State to USC, but turns out he is going to Ohio State instead.

— Oklahoma State QB Alan Bowman was given a 7th year of eligibility by the NCAA; Bowman played three years at Texas Tech, two at Michigan, before playing for the Cowboys this past season. Bowman passed for 402 yards in OSU’s bowl win over Texas A&M.

— Atlanta Braves signed recently-acquired P Chris Sale to a 2-year, $38M contract; Sale was 6-5, 4.30 in 20 starts for Boston LY, which followed three injury-plagued seasons.

— Mets signed OF Harrison Bader, giving him $10.5M for one year; Bader hit .232 last year, splitting time between Bronx and Cincinnati.

— Movie of the Day: Solitary Man (2009)- A prolific car dealer watches his personal and professional life hit the skids because of his business and romantic indiscretions.

Tremendous cast: Michael Douglas, Susan Sarandon, Danny DeVito, Mary-Louise Parker, Richard Schiff, Jenna Fischer, Bruce Altman.

The movie was written by the two guys who wrote the Showtime series Billions, which was an excellent show. This movie isn’t always pleasant, but it is interesting.

— Baseball Fact of the Day: In 2023, free agent P Blake Snell was the first pitcher since 1913 to lead the major leagues in both ERA and walks allowed.

— Oregon 76, Washington 74
Huskies were only 12-22 on the foul line, at home.

— Memphis 78, Tulsa 75
Memphis led by 14 at the half, needed a 3-pointer with 0:02 left for the win.
Penny Hardaway’s team is 12-2 against schedule #28; they’re #44 in experience, #343 in continuity, so they figure to improve as they play together more.

— Oakland 100, Milwaukee 95
Lot of whistles: Oakland was 30-39 on foul line, Milwaukee 26-35
Jack Gohlke is a senior G for Oakland; so far this year, he’s taken 167 shots- 52-162 on 3-point shots, 3-5 on 2-point shots.

— Cal-San Diego 79, Cal-Santa Barbara 72
Gauchos were expected to win the Big West, but they’re off to an 0-3 start in BW play.
When you shoot 10-17 on the arc at home and still lose, that isn’t good.

— Minnesota 73, Michigan 71
Michigan has lost three in row, eight of last eleven games.
Wolverines outscored Minnesota 17-5 on the foul line, still lost.

— James Madison 68, Louisiana 61
14-0 Dukes survived 19 turnovers and 5-22 shooting on the arc.
JMU started the season with OT wins at Michigan State, Kent State, but overall, they’ve played schedule #314 this season.

— There was an unusual scene they showed during the Colorado-Arizona game on ESPN; during the day, movie star Adam Sandler was playing in a half-court pickup game with the Arizona student managers. Sandler is a pretty good ballplayer for a guy in his late 50’s. 

NHL trends (thru January 3rd)
I’ll try to post this once a week……..

Anaheim 13-23-1
— lost five of last six games overall.
— 6-14-1 at home, 7-9 on road.
— over 8-4 last 12 home games

Arizona 19-15-2
— won six of their last eight games
— 12-6 at home, 7-9-2 on road.
— under 6-3 last nine games.

Boston 23-7-6
— won last four games, allowing seven goals
— 11-2-3 at home, 12-5-3 on road.
— under 5-2 last seven home games

Buffalo 15-19-4
— lost five of their last seven games.
— 8-9-1 at home, 7-10-3 on road.
— under 3-0 last three games

Calgary 16-16-5
— won five of their last seven games
— 9-7-1 at home, 7-9-4 on road.
— under 4-2 last six home games

Carolina 21-13-4
— won last four games, scoring 19 goals.
— 10-3-3 at home, 11-10-1 on road.
— over 8-2 last ten home games.

Chicago 11-24-2
— lost seven of their last ten games
— 7-9-1 at home, 4-15-1 on road.
— over 6-3 last nine games

Colorado 24-11-3
— won four of last five games
— 16-4 at home, 8-7-3 on road.
— over 8-5 last thirteen games

Columbus 12-19-8
— lost five of their last six games
— 8-11-3 at home, 4-8-5 on road.
— over 4-1 last five home games

Dallas 22-10-4
— won four of their last six games
— 12-6-1 at home, 10-4-3 on road.
— over 21-8 last 29 games

Detroit 18-16-4
— lost 10 of their last 14 games
— 10-7-3 at home, 8-9-3 on road.
— over 7-1 last eight games

Edmonton 19-15-1
— won their last six games.
— 10-6-1 at home, 9-9 on road.
— over 10-4 last 14 home games 

Florida 23-12-2
— won six of their last eight games.
— 12-5 at home, 11-7-2 on road.
— under 9-1 last ten games

Los Angeles 20-9-5
— lost last three games, scoring four goals.
— 7-7-4 at home, 13-2-1 on road.
— under 20-5 last 25 games

Minnesota 16-16-4
— lost last three games, scoring five goals.
— 10-6-2 at home, 6-10-2 on road.
— under 8-2 last ten home games 

Montreal 16-16-5
— haven’t played at home since December 16
— 1-3 in their last four games.
— 7-9-2 at home, 9-7-3 on road.
— over 5-1 last six games

Nashville 21-16-1
— 7-4 in their last 11 games.
— 12-9 at home, 9-7-1 on road.
— under 5-2 last seven home games

New Jersey 20-14-2
— won four of last five games
— 8-8-2 at home, 12-6 on road.
— over 5-1 last six games

NY Islanders 17-10-10
— lost six of last nine games. 
— 10-4-6 at home, 7-6-4 on road.
— over 17-6 last 23 games

NY Rangers 25-10-1
— split their last six games
— 12-5 at home, 13-5-1 on road.
— 9-1 after a loss this season.
— over 6-1 last seven games

Ottawa 14-19
— lost eight of their last 11 games.
— 10-10 at home, 4-9 on road.
— over 5-1 last six road games.

Philadelphia 19-13-5
— lost five of their last six games.
— 8-7-1 at home, 11-6-4 on road.
— over 4-2 last six home games

Pittsburgh 18-14-4
— won seven of their last ten games 
— 10-7-1 at home, 8-7-3 on road.
— over 6-3 last nine games

St Louis 18-17-1
— 5-3 in their last eight games.
— 11-6 at home, 7-11-1 on road.
— under 4-1 last five games

San Jose 9-26-3
— lost their last nine games
— 6-10-2 at home, 3-16-1 on road.
— over 7-3 last ten road games

Seattle 15-14-9
— won last five games, outscoring foes 12-5. 
— 8-8-3 at home, 7-6-6 on road. 
— under 8-2 last ten games

Tampa Bay 18-16-5
— lost three of last four games.
— 11-5-3 at home, 7-11-2 on road.
— under 4-1 last five games

Toronto 19-10-7
— 3-5 in their last eight games.
— 9-7-2 at home, 10-3-5 on road. 
— under 5-1 last six games

Vancouver 24-10-3
— 8-3 in their last eleven games. 
— 14-4-1 at home, 10-6-2 on road.
— over 5-1 last six games

Vegas 22-11-5
— lost their last five road games. 
— 13-3-2 at home, 9-8-3 on road.
— over 4-1 last five home games

Washington 18-12-6
— lost five of last six games.
— 9-5-4 at home, 9-7-2 on road.
— over 4-1 last five games.

Winnipeg 23-9-4
— 11-3 in their last 14 games.
— 13-5-2 at home, 10-4-2 on road.
— under 3-1 last four games

— College basketball refs travel a lot, and they bank a lot of $$$. 

Ref named Keith Kimble worked a game five of the last six nights:
Dec 28- UCLA @ Oregon State
Dec 29- Arizona @ California
Dec 30- Ohio State vs West Virginia, in Cleveland
Dec 31- Washington State @ Colorado
Jan 2- Chicago State @ Kansas State

Lot of NBA players don’t like playing games on back/back nights, but refs who are twice their age work five games in six nights, in five different states. 

Go figure.

— Colorado State 76, New Mexico 68
Two of the four best teams in the Mountain West met in the conference opener.
New Mexico star House was in foul trouble, only scored 14 points.
Colorado State was 18-21 on foul line, Lobos were 4-11.

— St John’s 86, Butler 70
Red Storm is off to a 10-4 start under Hall of Famer Rick Pitino.
St John’s has made the NCAA’s three times in the last 20 years (last time in 2019).
St John’s starts four seniors; they shot 59.6% inside the arc.

— Purdue 67, Maryland 53
Purdue is 13-1 against schedule #9, but they’re suspect until they win in March.
Boilermakers are shooting 38.9% on the arc (#14)
In last year’s NCAA’s loss to #16-seed FDU, Purdue was 5-26 on the arc.

— North Carolina 70, Pitt 57
This was first time in 70 years that UNC’s first true road game came in January.
Tar Heels have played a tough schedule (#18), but had five neutral court games.
Pitt was 5-29 on the arc; they’re 0-3 in the ACC, 0-5 vs top 100 teams.

— Wyoming 75, San Jose State 73
Visiting Spartans led by 17 in first half, 47-35 at halftime.
Wyoming was 23-25 on foul line, San Jose 9-12.
Wyoming is 8-0 giving up 73 or less points; they gave up 78+ points in all six losses.

— Bowling Green 92, Eastern Michigan 90 OT
EMU led by 14 points in first half.
Bowling Green star Hill was 13-17 on foul line; EMU’s whole team was 9-14.
Eastern Michigan only played seven guys, in an overtime game.

— Daily baseball trivia: Zack Greinke was the last pitcher to bat in a World Series but not hit 9th in the batting order; he hit 8th in Game 4 of the 2021 World Series. Greinke went 1-2- he was taken out after the 4th inning.

— Word of the Day– Precarious- dependent on chance circumstances, unknown conditions, or uncertain developments. 

The fates of most NFL teams are precarious; there’s a fine line between winning/losing. 

— Summit League/Big Sky Conference are having a basketball challenge this weekend; best game of the lot appears to be South Dakota State at Weber State. Good mid-major basketball, will be interesting to see which league comes out on top.

— When ESPN first started up 40+ years ago, one of the first leagues that let them show their games was the Sun Belt Conference. These days, the Sun Belt is still a decent league; they are the #17 league this year, partially because they have 14 teams now and the bottom teams have been dragging the league’s rating down some- they were the #14 league three of the last five years.

ESPN would be wise to set aside two hours a week to show a weekly Sun Belt game; their games are on ESPN+, but putting them on ESPNU would thank the league for helping ESPN get off their feet 40 years ago.

— Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper was fined $300,000 by the NFL after he threw a drink at Jaguar fans after the Panthers lost 26-0 in Jacksonville Sunday.

Tepper is the wealthiest owner in the NFL, worth over $16B; fining hm $300,000 is like fining me $3.

— 2024 NFL Draft has lot of interesting quarterbacks in it; one of the TV networks needs to get Jon Gruden out of retirement to do those pre-draft interviews he did with the QB prospects- he is he best at that kind of stuff. 

— Hard to believe that in lot of states, high school basketball still doesn’t have a shot clock; five starts are adding the shot clock next season. Basketball without a shot clock is a totally different game, often a lot less fun to watch.

— They drew 47,313 fans in Seattle Monday for the outdoor hockey game between the Kraken and the Vegas Golden Knights. NHL has struck gold with its stadium series games.

— In the college football national title game Monday night, Michigan is favored by 4.5 points over Washington, with a total of 55.5. 

Michigan 27, Alabama 20 OT
Michigan drove 85 yards, scored TD with 1:34 left that forced overtime.
Total yardage: Michigan 351, Alabama 288
Teams combined to convert 5 of 24 third down plays.
This is only 2nd win for Michigan in their last six bowl games.

SEC went 4-2 against the Big 14 in bowl games this season.

Washington 37, Texas 31
Washington QB Penix was 29-38/430 passing, with two TD’s.
Game was 21-21 at half; Huskies outscored Texas 10-0 in 3rd quarter.
Texas had ball on the Washington 13-yard line when game ended.
Total yardage: Washington 532, Texas 498

— Second half of the Texas game started at 11:05 pm here in the East; doesn’t matter much to me, since I’m a night owl, but they have to lose lot of viewers in this part of the country.

— Early betting line on the college football national title game:
Michigan opened as a 4.5-point favorite vs Washington.

LSU 35, Wisconsin 31
LSU drove 98 yards, scored game-winning TD with 3:08 left.
Badgers led 14-0 in first quarter.
Wisconsin was 6-15 on third down, LSU 3-9
Total yardage: 506-492, Wisconsin

Tennessee 35, Iowa 0
Iowa was 9-4; in their losses, they scored 0-10-0-0 points.
Iowa WON four games that they scored 15 or fewer points in.
Total yardage: Tennessee 383, Iowa 173
Vols’ freshman QB Iamaleava was 12-19/151 passing in his first college start.

Oregon 45, Liberty 6
Liberty led 6-3 after the first quarter.
Oregon led 31-6 after the second quarter.
Total yardage: 584-294, Oregon
Oregon QB Nix, in his 61st college start, was 28-35/363 passing, with 5 TD’s.

Elsewhere………
— Tampa Bay Rays’ SS Wander Franco was arrested in the Dominican Republic Monday, for his failure to appear at a summons last week; Franco is the subject of an ongoing investigation into his alleged inappropriate relationships with multiple minors.

In November of 2021, Franco signed an 11-year contract extension worth $182M with Tampa Bay; he got paid all of last season, even though he didn’t play after August 12.

— Daily baseball trivia: Babe Ruth threw 29.2 consecutive scoreless innings for the Red Sox in 1918, an MLB record that stood until Whitey Ford broke it in 1961.

— Word of the Day– Ubitquitous- things that seem or encountered everywhere, whether they actually are or not.

For example, smartphones are now a ubiquitous technology; almost everyone has one.

— If you like college basketball, Highly recommend getting ESPN+; they have tons of games on from all over the country. Nothing like watching Big West games on the tube at 2am.

— NFL announced their Week 18 schedule Sunday night:

Saturday doubleheader is:
Steelers @ Baltimore, then Texans @ Indianapolis.
Sunday night game is Buffalo at Miami, with the AFC East title on the line.

— Bill Cowher said on TV Sunday that if he was coaching the Ravens, Lamar Jackson wouldn’t play this week- the game means nothing to Baltimore, it means everything to Pittsburgh, No sense risking an injury to your star QB.

Reader named Conquistador sent me a good note: Sunday was Jackson’s second NFL game with a perfect passing rating; the first one was in 2019, also against Miami.

— In case you were wondering, AFC beat the NFC 46-34 head-to-head this season. Every game in Week 18 in a divisional game, so the only inter-conference game left is the Super Bowl.

— Rams changed kickers again Monday; they brought back Brett Maher, who was 17-23 on field goals for the Rams earlier this season.

— If you’re a Lions’ fan, you have to love coach Dan Campbell; he led Detroit to its first division title in 30 years this season, but jeez, some of his game management decisions are interesting.

Saturday night, after the sketchy penalty call negated a Lions’ 2-point conversion, Detroit had the ball on the 8-yard line. Instead of just kicking the PAT to go to overtime, Campbell went for two from the 8 and the Lions lost the game, 20-19. Why?

Did Campbell not want his players playing an overtime, and risk injury? The game wasn’t life-or-death for Detroit, but it could’ve helped their seeding and given them home field for the second round of the playoffs, if they get that far.

— USFL/XFL have merged into an 8-team league called the UFL; their season begins March 30. San Antonio Brahmas announced Monday that Wade Phillips is their coach.

— QB DJ Uiagalelei started his college career at Clemson, he started for two years there, then transferred to Oregon State this year, but after the Beavers’ coach bolted to Michigan State, Uiagalelei packed his bags and will play next season at Florida State.

— UNLV freshman QB Jayden Maiava hit the transfer portal, really bad news for a UNLV program that played in its first bowl game in 10 years this season.

Maiava threw for 3,085 yards with 17 TD’s; he also ran for 277 yards and three TD’s. Big loss for the Rebels, who went 9-5 this season. 

Saints 23, Buccaneers 13
Saints/Bucs are tied for first in NFC South, with 8-8 records.
New Orleans led 17-0 at halftime.
Saints were 8-18 on third down, Tampa Bay 2-8.
since 2018, New Orleans is 14-5 ATS as a road underdog.

Buccaneers in first half: 18 plays, 45 yards, no points.
Buccaneers in second half: 31 plays, 295 yards, 13 points.
Tampa Bay turned ball over four times on their 11 drives.
Bucs are 2-7 when they allow more than 18 points.

Cardinals 35, Eagles 31
Eagles’ loss clinches #1 seed in NFC for the 49ers.
Eagles took 14-3 lead on a 99-yard pick-6 by Brown.
Philadelphia led 21-6 at halftime.
Eagles are 1-4 SU/0-5 ATS in last five games.

Cardinals drove 70 yards, scored game-winning TD with 0:32 left.
Arizona ran ball for 221 yards, threw it for 228 yards.
Cardinals outgained Philadelphia, 449-275.
Arizona in sec0nd half: 4 drives, 34 plays, 270 yards, 29 points.

Rams 26, Giants 25
Rams are 6-1 SU/5-2 ATS last seven games, scoring 31.3 ppg in last six.
Williams ran ball for 87 yards and three TD’s.
Rams converted only 2-8 third down plays.
Rams are 8-3 when they run ball for 92+ yards, 1-4 when they don’t.

Giants had an 80-yard TD pass, 94-yard punt return for a TD.
Giants failed on 2-point play to take lead with 3:27 left.
Crosby missed 54-yard FG with 0:30 left.
Giants lost last three games, giving up 24-33-26 points.

Ravens 56, Dolphins 19
Ravens won five in row, nine of last ten games.
Baltimore scored 8 touchdowns on 11 drives.
Ravens ran 55 plays, only seven of them on third down.
Last nine games, Baltimore scored 32 TD’s on 92 drives.

Dolphins-Bills play next week for AFC East title.
Miami is 1-4 SU vs teams that have a winning record.
Baltimore averaged 14.4 yards/pass attempt.
Ravens scored a TD on five of first six drives. 

Bills 27, Patriots 21
Patriots ran opening kick back 98 yards for a TD.
In first half, Patriots turned ball over four times on six drives.
Five of NE’s last six losses were by six or fewer points.
New England is minus-10 in turnovers this year (+38 from 2019-22).

Bills took 20-7 lead on 40-yard pick-6 by Douglas.
Buffalo visits Miami next week, playing for AFC East crown.
Bills are 5-1 SU/4-2 ATS in last six games.
Buffalo scored 28.0 ppg in six games since firing their OC.

Bears 37, Falcons 17
Chicago won/covered five of last seven games.
Bears’ first four drives: 30 plays, 214 yards, 21 points.
Last two games, Bears ran ball for 250-192 yards.
Chicago outgained the Falcons, 432-307.

Falcons threw four INT’s, missed two field goals.
Atlanta is 7-15-2 ATS in last 24 games coming off a win.
Falcons are 3-10-1 ATS in last 14 games with spread of 3 or less points.
Atlanta completed only 13 of their 33 passes (4.9 yards/attempt).

Colts 23, Raiders 20
WR Adams caught 13 passes for 126 yards and two TD’s.
Adams went over 1,000 receiving yards for fourth year in a row.
Raiders are 5-2-1 ATS TY in games with spread of 3 or less.
With the loss, Las Vegas is eliminated from the playoff race.

Colts are 6-2 SU/5-3 ATS in last eight games.
Colts are 0-7 giving up 29+ points, 9-0 allowing 28 or fewer points.
Colts averaged 9.0 yards/pass attempt.
RB Taylor ran ball 21 times for 96 yards and a TD. 

49ers 27, Commanders 10
SF is 7-1 since its bye week (5-3 ATS), scoring 31.6 ppg.
With Eagles’ loss, 49ers clinched #1 seed in NFC.
49ers scored 27+ points in wins, 17-17-17-19 in losses.
SF is 6-2-1 ATS as a road favorite this season.

49ers outscored Washington 14-0 in second half.
Washington lost seven in row, 12 of last 14 games (3-7 ATS last ten)
Last eight games, Commanders are minus-9 in turnovers (5-14).
Washington is 11-17 ATS last 28 games coming off a loss.  

Jaguars 26, Panthers 0
Of 16 AFC QB’s who started in Week 1, only five of them started this week.
Jaguars are in a 3-way tie atop AFC South, with one week left.
Carolina’s loss clinches #1 pick in 2024 Draft for the Bears.
Carolina was 2-7 ATS as a road underdog this year.

On its first series, Carolina was stopped on downs at Jaguars’ 31.
Panthers went 3/out on their next six drives.
Jaguars kicked FGs on 3 of first 4 drives, led 9-0 at halftime.
Carolina was outgained 317-124; they were 1-13 on third down.

Texans 26, Titans 3
Two teams combined to convert only 4 of 23 third down plays.
Houston outgained the Titans, 312-187.
Titans lost seven of their last nine games. 
Tennessee is 1-10 this year when they score 17 or fewer points.

Texans took 17-0 lead on sack/fumble/TD in second quarter.
Last six games, Texans are +6 in turnovers (9-3).
Houston is 5-2 ATS this year in games coming off a loss.
Houston visits Indianapolis next week; they’re in 3-way tie atop AFC South. 

Steelers 30, Seahawks 24
Steelers ran ball for 202 yards, averaged 10.6 yards/pass attempt.
Last two weeks, with Rudolph at QB, Pittsburgh scored 34-30 points.
Steelers are 15-10 ATS in last 25 games as a road underdog
QB Rudolph is now 7-4-1 as an NFL starter.

Steelers were 6-13 on third down, Seattle 3-9.
Loss eliminates Seattle from the playoff race.
Seahawks are 6-0 if they run for 100+ yards, 2-8 if they don’t.
Seahawks are 5-10-1 ATS in its last 16 games as a home favorite.

Broncos 16, Chargers 9
Chargers lost seven of their last eight games.
Chargers were 2-11 on 3rd down, Denver 7-17
Bolts are 1-6 ATS in last seven games as an underdog.
Under is 10-3-1 in last fourteen Charger games. 

Denver swept the Chargers this year, 24-7/16-9.
Chargers are 0-4-1 ATS in last five visits to Denver.
Eight of last eleven Bronco games stayed under the total.
QB Stidham was 20-32/224 passing in his first Denver start.

Chiefs 25, Bengals 17
Chiefs outscored Cincinnati 12-0 in second half.
KC only scored one TD; Butker kicked six field goals.
Under is 8-3-1 in Kansas City’s last dozen games.
Chiefs held 11 of last 13 foes under 5.7 yards/pass attempt.

Bengals’ first three drives: 34 plays, 158 yards, 17 points.
Bengals rest of game: 38 plays, 124 yards, no points.
Cincinnati was 8-16 on third down, Chiefs 3-12.
Bengals are 6-1 giving up 20 or less points, 2-7 allowing more than 2o.

Packers 33, Vikings 10
Green Bay outgained the Vikings, 470-211.
Green Bay was 9-14 on third down, Minnesota 3-10
Last six games, Packers are +6 in turnovers (9-3)
Packers are 14-7 ATS last 21 games as a road underdog

Green Bay makes the playoffs if they beat Chicago next week.
Vikings lost five of their last six games (the win was 3-0).
Vikings are 4-8 ATS in last dozen NFC North home games. 
Minnesota lost seven of last ten games against the Packers. 

— Cowboys 20, Lions 19
Detroit scored TD with 0:23 left, went for two points but failed.
Lions in first half: 35 plays, 168 yards, 3 points.
Lions in second half: 34 plays, 232 yards, 16 points.
Under Campbell, Lions are 34-15-1 ATS overall.

Prescott threw a 92-yard TD pass on the Cowboys’ second series.
Dallas was 7-14 on third down, Detroit 4-13.
CeeDee Lamb caught 13 passes for 227 yards and a TD.
Cowboys only ran the ball 21 times for 60 yards.

— Cowboys inducted Jimmy Johnson into their Ring of Honor at halftime and ESPN showed the whole thing. Not really sure why, they never show other ceremonies.

— Ole Miss 38, Penn State 25
Ole Miss QB Dart threw for 379 yards, three TD’s.
Both teams had 500+ yards of total offense.
Rebels outscored Penn State 11-0 in third quarter.

— Maryland 31, Auburn 13
Terrapins led 21-0 after the first quarter.
Maryland’s first three drives: 19 plays, 226 yards, 21 points.
Maryland won its third straight bowl game.

— Wyoming 16, Toledo 15
Wyoming kicked a 24-yard FG at the gun for the win.
Toledo led 15-6 after the third quarter.
Last game for Cowboys’ coach Bohl, retiring after 42 years as a coach.
Wyoming has won four of its last five bowl games.

— Georgia 63, Florida State 3
College football has a problem; they need concrete rules for who makes the playoff.
At least 12 Florida State players opted out of this game; who would watch it? 

— Five of the ten college football leagues have finished their bowl games:
AAC- 3-3 SU, 3-3 ATS
ACC- 5-6 SU, 4-7 ATS
MAC- 2-4 SU, 4-2 ATS
Mountain West- 3-4 SU, 2-5 ATS
Sun Belt- 5-7 SU, 4-7-1 ATS

— Word of the Day: Reckless- without thinking or caring about the consequences of an action.

Going for a 2-point conversion from the 8-yard line when a kicked PAT would tie the game is an example of reckless coaching.

— Marquette 72, Creighton 67
Bluejays led by 11 early in game.
Marquette won despite going 9-31 on the arc.

— Michigan State 87, Indiana State 75- This is the first time these teams met since 1979, when Magic Johnson/Larry Bird shared the spotlight. Sycamores led this game by 5 with 10:38 left to play, but got outscored 26-11 over the final 10:00. 

— Oregon 64, UCLA 59
UCLA is 6-7; their 7-man rotation doesn’t have a senior in it.
Oregon is 10-3, 2-0 in Pac-12; they shot 10-25 on the arc.

— Cal-Northridge 84, Long Beach State 68
Matadors are 11-3, with this win and a win at UCLA.
Last winning season for Northridge was a 17-14 season in 2009.
Long Beach was minus-10 on boards; they shot 2-22 on the arc.

— South Alabama 61, Old Dominion 59
Old Dominion led 49-27 with 14:08 left in game.

— Florida Gulf Coast 72, Florida Atlantic 68
This loss won’t help FAU’s at-large chances in March.

— Pistons 129, Raptors 127
Pistons snap their 28-game losing streak.
Cade Cunningham scored 30 points, had 12 assists. 

— Thought of the Day: Just before midnight tonight, stand up and raise your left leg; that way, you’ll be sure to start off 2024 on the right foot.

Happy New Year, everyone. 

— Browns 37, Jets 20
Browns’ first two drives were both 7 plays, 75 yards and a TD.
Cleveland led 34-17 at halftime.
Flacco threw for 309 yards and three more TD’s.
Cleveland won/covered its last four games, winning by 4-3-14-17 points.

Browns averaged 10 yards per pass attempt.
Each team scored on a pick-6 in first half.
Under Saleh, Jets are 5-11 ATS in games coming off a win.
This season, Jets are 1-4 ATS as a road underdog.

— Cleveland’s win clinches that they’ll finish ahead of the Steelers this season, the first time they’ve done that since 1989. Browns also clinched a playoff spot Thursday, the third time they’ve made the playoffs since re-booting in 1999.

The fact that Cleveland’s season has been saved by QB Joe Flacco coming out of nowhere is one of the NFL’s best stories this season. Flacco has thrown for 1,616 yards and 13 TD’s and will lead the Browns into the playoffs. Pretty unlikely.

— When the Saints play at Tampa Bay Sunday, it’ll be their first game outdoors since Week 5 at New England. New Orleans is 2-1 outdoors this season.

— Texans rookie QB CJ Stroud is going to start Sunday against Tennessee; Stroud missed the last two games with concussion problems.

Vikings are switching QB’s again; rookie Jaren Hall will get his second start when Minnesota hosts Green Bay Sunday night. Hall started a game in Atlanta in Week 9, but got KO’d in the first quarter with a concussion.

Jaguars will start backup CJ Beathard at QB this week; Trevor Lawrence has several injuries, so Jacksonville is sitting him out. Beathard is 2-10 as an NFL starter; his last start was in 2020.

— ESPN’s play-by-play guy on the Pop Tarts Bowl Thursday admitted on air that he had never had a Pop Tart in his life, so he had his first one on camera- got to keep the sponsors happy.

I’m oblivious about certain things, having forgotten that Pop Tarts can be toasted; I’ve had more than my share of Pop Tarts, but never had one toasted. 

— OF Kevin Kiermaier re-upped with the Toronto Blue Jays, getting $10.5M for one year; he hit .265 last year, with a .741 OPS, his best OPS since 2017. His biggest strength is his defense.

— P Lucas Giolito signed on with the Red Sox, for two years, $38.5M; last year, he was 8-15, 4.88 in 33 starts for three different teams, but he was 2-9, 6.96 in 12 starts after the White Sox traded him.

In 2021-22, Giolito was 22-18, 4.18 in 62 starts for Chicago.

— Word of the Day: Analytics- Information resulting from the systematic analysis of data or statistics.

— Boston College 23, SMU 14
Hometown Eagles outscored SMU 13-0 in second half.
Boston College blocked a punt and a field goal.
Eagles ran the ball 41 times for 262 yards.

— Rutgers 31, Miami 24
Rutgers took lead for good with a blocked punt TD in 3rd quarter.
I’m sure the boosters at Miami will be thrilled with their 7-6 season.
Hurricanes have now lost five now games in a row.

— Kansas State 28, NC State 19
Freshman QB Johnson threw for 178 yards, two TD’s.
RB Giddens ran ball 28 times for 152 yards and a TD.
Favorites covered Pop Tarts Bowl seven of last eight years.

— Arizona 38, Oklahoma 24
Oklahoma turned ball over six times on 15 drives.
Arizona’s first four drives: 28 plays, 182 yards, 13 points.
Arizona’s freshman QB Fifita threw for 354 yards, two TD’s.

— Clemson 38, Kentucky 35
Clemson drove 63 yards, scored game-winning TD with 0:17 left.
Kentucky led 21-10 after the third quarter.
Clemson won its last five games, after a 4-4 start.

— Notre Dame 40, Oregon State 8
Neither starting QB played in this game.
Notre Dame outgained the Beavers, 476-197
Notre Dame was 9-14 on third down, Oregon State 1-9

— Memphis 36, Iowa State 26
Memphis had TD plays of 51-70-11 yards in first quarter, led 19-0.
Memphis QB Henigan threw for 364 yards, four TD’s.
Underdogs are 7-1 ATS in last eight Liberty Bowls.

— Missouri 14, Ohio State 3
Buckeyes led 3-0 at halftime.
Mizzou outgained the Buckeyes, 331-203.
Missouri’s two TD drives were 95, 91 yards.

— Celtics 128, Pistons 122, OT
Detroit led by 19 at the half; game was tied after three quarters.
Pistons have now lost 28 games in a row.
Detroit starters were a combined +9, their subs minus-39. 

Playoff trends for NFL teams……..
Baltimore– won Super Bowl 11 years ago; since then, they’re 2-5 in playoff games, 0-2 at home.
Lamar Jackson is 1-3 in playoff games; Ravens scored 13 ppg in those games.

Buffalo– Buffalo lost four straight Super Bowls (1990-93)
from 1994-2019, Bills were 1-6 in playoff games.
Last three years, Bills are 4-3 in playoff games. 

Cleveland (the original Browns are the Ravens now)
Since their rebirth in 1999, Browns are 1-2 in playoff games.
Browns’ one playoff win: 48-37 at Pittsburgh, in 2020.
Last time there was a playoff game in Cleveland? 1989.

Dallas– 28 years ago, Cowboys won their 5th Super Bowl.
Since then, Dallas is 5-12 in playoff games (3-3 in last six at home).

Detroit– are in playoffs this year, for first time since 2016.
In entire Super Bowl era, Lions are 1-12 in playoff games (only win, 1991)
Haven’t played a home playoff game since 1993.

Green Bay– won their last Super Bowl in 2010.
Since then, Packers are 7-9 in playoff games, with two OT losses.

Houston– haven’t made playoff since 2019.
In their history, Texans are 4-2 in home playoff games, 0-4 on road.

Indianapolis– haven’t made playoffs since 2020.
Since Peyton Manning last played for Colts in 2010, there 4-5 in playoff games,

Jacksonville– have an 8-8 record in playoff games, 4-1 at home.
1-4 vs New England in playoff games, 7-4 vs everyone else.

Kansas City– from 2019-22, they’re 10-2 in playoff games, winning two Super Bowls.
From 1994-2018, were 2-11 in playoff games.

LA Rams– under Sean McVay, Rams are 7-3 in playoff games.
Before McVay came to LA in 2017, Rams’ last playoff game was in 2004.

Miami– Dolphins haven’t won a playoff game since 2000 (0-4).
From 1970-84, Miami was 13-8 in playoffs; since 1985, they’re 6-13.

Minnesota– from 1969-76, Vikings went 0-4 in Super Bowls.
Since 1989, Minnesota is 9-16 in the playoffs, 2-5 since 2012.

New Orleans– won their only Super Bowl 14 years ago, beating Colts 31-17.
Since then, Saints are 4-7 in playoff games, losing last three at home.
New Orleans hasn’t made the playoffs since 2020.

Philadelphia– since 2017, Eagles are 6-4 in playoff games.
Andy Reid was 10-9 in playoff games for Eagles, from 1999-2012.

Pittsburgh– haven’t won a playoff game since 2016.
Lost last four playoff games, giving up 36-45-48-42 points.

San Francisco– 49ers haven’t won a Super Bowl since 1994.
Since 2012, 49ers are 10-5 in playoff games, 0-2 in Super Bowls.

Seattle– won Super Bowl in 2014, lost it the next season.
Since then, Seahawks are 3-6 in playoff games.

Tampa Bay– won two Super Bowls, in 2002/2020.
Other than those two years, Buccaneers are 4-11 in playoff games.

Arizona- since 2010, they’re 1-3 in playoff games.
in last 50 years, they’re 4-0 in home playoff games.

Atlanta- haven’t made playoffs since 2017
since 1998, they made playoffs 9 times, went 6-3 in first playoff game that year

Carolina- haven’t made playoffs since 2017
Lost Super Bowl eight years ago; since then, they’re 0-1 in playoff games.

Chicago- since 2011, Bears are 0-2 in playoff games.
haven’t won a road playoff game since 1999
3-4 in last seven home playoff games.

Cincinnati- from 1991-2020, Bengals were 0-7 in playoff games
Last two years, Bengals were 5-2 in playoff games (both losses 23-20 on road).

Denver- won Super Bowl in 2015, haven’t made the playoffs since.
Haven’t played a road playoff game since 2011.
Since 1997, they’re 9-3 in home playoff games.

Las Vegas- 21 years ago, they lost Super Bowl 48-21 to Jon Gruden’s Buccaneers.
in 21 years since then, Raiders are 0-2 in playoff games.

LA Chargers- haven’t played a home playoff game since 2009.
in Super Bowl era: 5-6 in home playoff games, 6-8 on road, 0-1 in Super Bowl

New England- Patriots went 30-11 in playoffs with Tom Brady at QB.
In nine years as a HC without Brady on his team, Bill Belichick is 1-2 in playoff games- the only win was against New England, when Belichick was coaching the Browns.

NJ Giants- won their 4th Super Bowl 12 years ago; since then, they’re 1-2 in playoff games.
Giants are 6-2 in their last eight road playoff games.

NJ Jets- haven’t been in the playoffs since 2010, longest current drought in NFL.
are 5-5 in road playoff games since their last home playoff game, in 2002. 

Tennessee- lost their last three home playoff games.
have played in four overtime playoff games, going 2-2.
Titans are 4-8 in playoffs since they lost Super Bowl XXXIV to the Rams. 

Washington- Commanders haven’t won a playoff game since 2005.
Washington won 3 Super Bowls with 3 different QB’s: Theismann, Williams, Rypien. 

— NFL divisional trends………
NFC East
Divisional home favorites 4-2 ATS
Non-divisional road underdogs 7-9 ATS
Non-divisional road favorites 5-4 ATS

NFC North
Divisional home teams 1-8 ATS (0-4 F, 1-3 U)
Non-divisional home favorites 7-4 ATS
Non-divisional home underdogs 5-2 ATS

NFC South
Underdogs 6-3 ATS in divisional games.
Non-divisional home favorites 3-6 ATS
Non-divisional home underdogs 3-6 ATS

NFC West
Divisional home underdogs 0-3-1 ATS
Non-divisional home underdogs 5-2 ATS
Non-divisional road teams 12-8-1 ATS

AFC East
Divisional favorites 7-2 ATS, 4-0 at home
Non-divisional home favorites 6-8 ATS
Non-divisional underdogs 7-13-1 ATS

AFC North
Divisional favorites 3-7 ATS, 1-4 on road
Non-divisional home favorites 13-6 ATS
Non-divisional road underdogs 5-3-1 ATS

AFC South
Divisional road teams 6-3 ATS
Non-divisional favorites 8-6 ATS
Non-divisional road underdogs 6-7 ATS

AFC West
Divisional home favorites 4-3 ATS
Non-divisional home favorites 6-8 ATS
Non-divisional road teams 8-12 ATS

— starting QB decisions for this week:
Washington will start Jacoby Brissett (18-30 as a starter) vs San Francisco

Giants will start Tyrod Taylor (27-28-1 as a starter) against the Rams

Broncos will start Jarrett Stidham (0-2 as a starter) against the Chargers.

— So Denver is benching Russell Wilson for the last two games; are they trying to get out of his contract?

Wilson is 35; he is currently signed through 2028, but he’s only guaranteed money through 2024. His entire 2025 salary ($37M) is guaranteed if he is still on the Broncos’ roster at the start of the next league year (March 17, 2024).

Put it this way; Denver’s options (trades) remain open, as long as Wilson stays healthy, which is probably why they’re sitting him out the last two games, since their playoff chances for this year are almost nil.

— Movie of the Day- One More Time (2015)- An aging New York City crooner plots his comeback. Christopher Walken plays the singer, Amber Heard is one of his daughters, Oliver Platt is his manager.

— current head coaches/managers who played in the big leagues:

19 of 30 major league managers played in the majors.
8 of 32 NFL head coaches played in the NFL
12 of 30 NBA head coaches played in the NBA.

— USC 42, Louisville 28
3rd-string QB Moss threw for 372 yards, 6 TD’s in his first college start.
First two drives, Trojans punted/missed FG.
On their next seven drives, they scored six touchdowns.
For the game, USC averaged 8.6 yards per play.

— Virginia Tech 41, Tulane 20
Hokies led 17-10 at halftime.
Tulane’s only first half touchdown was scored by their defense.
Tech was 7-14 on third down, Tulane 2-10 on a rainy day.
Hokies ran ball 50 times for 362 yards, 7.2 yards/carry.

— West Virginia 30, North Carolina 10
West Virginia threw a 75-yard TD pass on first play of the game.
West Virginia ran for 164 yards, were +2 in turnovers.
WVU outscored the Tar Heels 13-0 in second half.
Mountaineers won five of last six games, after a 4-3 start.

— Oklahoma State 31, Texas A&M 23
Cowboys led 24-6 at halftime, gaining 345 yards.
QB Bowman threw for 402 yards, two TD’s.
Oklahoma State was 5-2 ATS as an underdog this year.
Texas A&M finishes season 7-6.

— When Kansas beat UNLV 49-36 Tuesday night, they did something I’m not sure I’ve seen before; Jayhawks scored 49 points alright, averaging 16 yards/pass attempt, but they also had 18 penalties for 216 yards. 

216 penalty yards in one game; not sure I’ve seen that before.

— Tennessee QB Joe Milton isn’t playing in the Vols’ bowl game: freshman Nico Iamaleava will get his first college start, against the staunch Iowa defense.

— NBA’s Atlanta Hawks are 7-30 against the spread this year, the worst ATS start by any NBA team in the last thirty years. 

— Denver Nuggets F Aaron Gordon needed 21 stitches after his face and right (shooting) hand were cut while being bitten by a family dog on Christmas. Gordon is averaging 13.6 points and 6.9 rebounds this season.

— Hitting in the major leagues is harder than it used to be, in large part because hitters don’t see pitchers as many times as they used to. 

Victor Martinez played 16 years in the major leagues, hit .295 with an .815 OPS; the most times he faced one pitcher? He faced James Shields 62 times in his career. There are three pitchers that he faced 50+ times, not a lot.

Joe Torre played 18 years in the major leagues, hit .297 with an .817 OPS; he faced 15 different pitchers a minimum of 75 times each. You see the same pitcher over and over, hitting is easier.

— How college football conferences are doing in the bowls:
AAC- 2-2 in bowls; all four games were decided by 18+ points.
ACC- 3-3 SU in bowls; underdogs covered four of the six games.
Big 14- 2-0 SU/ATS in first two bowls, winning 14-7/30-24.
Big X- 4-1 SU/ATS in first five bowls, scoring 32.2 ppg.
C-USA- 2-1 SU/ATS in first three bowls, with both wins in OT.

MAC- 2-3 SU/3-2 ATS in first five bowls- they were underdog in all five.
Mountain West- 2-4 SU/ATS in first six bowls (over 4-2).
Pac-12- 2-2 SU/ATS in first four bowls (over 2-2).
SEC- Texas A&M’s 31-23 (-2.5) loss is only SEC bowl so far.

Sun Belt- They had 12 bowls, the most of any league:
Sun Belt teams went 1-7 SU/0-8 ATS in first eight bowls.
Sun Belt teams won/covered their last four bowls. 

— When the Raiders won in Kansas City Monday, they didn’t complete a pass after the first quarter, the first NFL team to do that since the 2000 Bengals, who beat Denver 31-21 that day, when Cincy QB’s Akili Smith and Scott Mitchell were a combined 2-14/34 passing. That day, RB Corey Dillon ran the ball for 278 yards.

Monday, the Raiders scored two defensive TD’s in a 0:07 span of the third quarter, and that was enough to win.

— Baltimore Ravens are 12-3 this season, with seven wins by 14+ points; all seven of those teams came against teams with winning records.

No team in NFL history has had more than five regular season wins by 14+ points against teams with winning records.

— Chicago Bears signed kicker Cairo Santos for four years, $16M, which is little unusual. Lot of teams don’t like to pay kickers, especially teams with salary cap issues.

— Miami Dolphins haven’t won a playoff game since 2000.

Detroit Lions haven’t won one since 1991. 

Since starting up again in 1999 after the original Cleveland Browns moved to Baltimore and became the Ravens, Cleveland is 1-2 in playoff games, with the lone win in 2020.  

— Florida State QB Jordan Travis is hurt, won’t be playing in the Semnoles’ bowl game vs Georgia; backup QB Tate Rodemaker is now in the transfer portal, which leaves #3 QB Brock Glenn, a freshman who threw for 55 yards in the Seminoles’ 16-6 win over Louisville in the ACC Championship game.

Five other Seminoles have also hit the transfer portal, not counting Travis, who is also expected to skip town next spring.

— In the last eight Holiday Bowls, Pac-12 teams are 0-8 against the spread. 

— In the last six Pinstripe Bowls, Big 14 teams are 6-0 against ACC opponents.

— Arizona Wildcats have won six games in a row, they’re 9-3 and are favored over Oklahoma in their bowl game. Quite a turnaround led by coach Jedd Fisch; from 2018-22, the Wildcats were 14-38. 

— Word of the Day: Bibliophile- someone who loves reading books.

— I’m amused that if I leave my house without my phone, my car will tell me about a half-mile down the road, then I turn around and go get my phone.

It would be better if a message came up on my dashboard: “Hey stupid, you forgot your phone!!!”

— Seattle Mariners signed DH/C Mitch Garver for two years, $24M; Garver hit 19 homers and had an .870 OPS for Texas last year- he also won a World Series ring.

— Reliever Joe Kelly wore #17 for the Dodgers last year; his wife suggested that he offer #17 to free agent star Shohei Ohtani. After Ohtani signed with the Dodgers, a Porsche was delivered to the Kelly’s home, for Mrs Kelly, from Ohtani.

— Charlotte Hornets are the only NBA team that has never played on Christmas Day.

— Nets 118, Pistons 112
Detroit loses its 27th consecutive game.
Pistons starters were combined +34; subs were minus-64
Detroit coach Monty Williams makes $13.1M/year, 7th-most of any pro coach in country.

— Minnesota 30, Bowling Green 24
Gophers win their 7th straight bowl game.
Bowling Green led 10-9 at halftime.
RB Taylor ran ball 35 times for 209 yards and a TD.
Gophers ran for 255 yards, threw for only 26. 

— Texas State 45, Rice 21
This was Texas State’s first-ever bowl game.
Bobcats outscored Rice 21-0 in second half.
Texas State outgained Rice, 300-197.
Bobcats had good balance; 148 rushing yards, 152 passing.

— Kansas 49, UNLV 36
Kansas in first half: 31 plays, 333 yards, 28 points.
Jayhawks averaged 15.4 yards/pass attempt.
Bean was 19-28/449 passing, with 6 TD’s, 3 INTs.
This was UNLV’s first bowl since 2013. 

Ravens 33, 49ers 19
— 49ers got a safety on Ravens’ 2nd drive, took a 5-0 lead.
— Ravens’ next 7 drives after that: 49 plays, 322 yards, 33 points.
— Baltimore won nine of its last ten games (7-3 ATS).
— QB Jackson threw for 252 yards and two TD’s.

— Purdy threw 4 INT’s, three on 49ers’ first four drives.
— 49ers turned ball over five times, had 102 penalty yards.
— Ravens outscored San Francisco 17-0 in third quarter.
— 49ers scored 27+ points in their wins, 17-17-17-19 in losses.

Raiders 20, Chiefs 14
— Raiders scored two defensive TD’s 0:07 apart in second quarter.
— Not often an NFL team has 48 passing yards and wins, but the Raiders did.
— Last two games, Raiders have scored four defensive TD’s.
— Under is 11-4 in Raider games this season.

— Chiefs are 3-5 in their last eight games, after a 6-1 start.
— In those eight games, Chiefs are minus-9 in turnovers (5-14)
— Chiefs’ first three drives: 11 plays, minus-10 yards, three punts.
— Kansas City lost its last three home games SU.

Eagles 33, Giants 25
— Eagles led this game 20-3 at halftime.
— Giants scored defensive TD late in 3rd quarter to make score 20-18.
— Eagles’ last three drives: 24 plays, 172 yards, 13 points.
— Under Sirianni, Eagles are 5-8 ATS coming off a loss.

— Giants changed QB’s at half; Tyrod Taylor was 7-16/133 in 2nd half.
— Eagles outgained Big Blue, 465-292.
— Giants were held under 300 TY in seven of last eight games.  
— Giants are 13-5 ATS in their last 18 NFC East road games.

Lions 30, Vikings 24
— Lions clinch their first division title since 1993.
— Detroit led 17-14 at halftime.
— Lions’ first two drives of 2nd half: 27 plays, 163 yards, two TD’s.
— Detroit is 5-1 ATS as a road favorite this season.

— Vikings lost four of their last five games (the win was 3-0).
— Minnesota only ran the ball 11 times, for 17 yards.
— Mullens threw for 411 yards, but also threw four INT’s.
— Minnesota is 6-8 in one-score games this year (11-0 LY)

Seahawks 20, Titans 17
— Seattle drove 53 yards, scored game-winning TD with 0:57 left.
— Seattle in first half: 27 plays, 93 yards, 3 punts, 3 points.
— Seattle in second half: 34 plays, 180 yards, no punts, 17 points.
— Second week in row Seahawks scored game-winning TD in last 1:00.

— Titans lost six of their last eight games. 
— Tennessee averaged only 3.8 yards/pass attempt.
— Titans are 4-1 scoring 27+ points, 1-8 scoring 17 or less.
— Under is 9-4 in Tennessee’s last 13 games.

Packers 33, Panthers 30
— Packers drove 61 yards, kicked game-winning FG with 0:22 left.
— Packers first 4 drives: 32 plays, 243 yards, no punts, 23 points.
— Packers in second half: 27 plays, 126 yards, 3 punts, 10 points.
— Green Bay outscored last five foes 82-42 in first half.

— Green Bay led 30-16 with 8:00 left in game.
— Panthers had TD drives of 63-70 yards, tied game with 4:15 left.
— Rookie QB Young was 23-35/312 passing, with two TD’s.
— Carolina’s 8.1 yards/pass attempt was by far their best this season.

Jets 30, Commanders 28
— Zuerlein kicked 54-yard FG with 0:10 left for the win.
— Jets’ first three drives: 10 plays, 68 yards, 17 points.
— Jets’ first three drives all started in Washington territory.
— Jets are 3-9 ATS in last 12 games as a home favorite.

— Washington lost six in row, 11 of last 13 games (3-6 ATS last nine)
— QB Brissett was 10-13/100 passing off bench, with one TD pass.
— Washington is 3-1 giving up 17 or less points, 1-10 giving up more than 17. 
— Last five games, Commanders allowed 35.8 ppg.

Falcons 29, Colts 10
— Colts drove 62 yards for a touchdown on their first drive.
— Rest of game, Colts ran 55 plays, gained 201 yards, scored 3 points.
— Colts are 0-6 giving up 29+ points, 8-0 allowing 28 or fewer points.
— Favorite covered the Colts’ last eight games.

— Atlanta scored two TD’s, kicked five FG’s on its drives.
— Falcons ran for 177 yards, outgained Colts 406-262.
— Atlanta scored 28-23-29 points in Heinicke’s three starts.
— Under is 4-1 in last five Atlanta games.

Browns 36, Texans 22
— Flacco threw for 368 yards and three more TD’s.
— WR Cooper caught 11 passes for 265 yards and two TD’s.
— Cleveland won/covered six of last eight games.
— Browns are 6-0 giving up less than 24 points, 3-5 allowing 24+. 

— Houston’s first TD was a 98-yard kickoff return by Pierce.
— Texans in first half: 28 plays, 75 yards, 5 punts and an INT.
— Cleveland led the game 22-7 at halftime.
— Texans are 13-16-1 ATS in last 30 games as a home underdog.

Buccaneers 30, Jaguars 12
— Bucs’ first six drives: 56 plays, 289 yards, 30 points.
— Tampa was 10-19 on third down, Jaguars were 3-9.
— Bucs won their last four games, scoring 21-29-34-30 points.
— Tampa Bay covered seven of its last nine games.

— Jacksonville lost its last four games, giving up 34-31-23-30 points.
— Jaguars turned ball over four times, ran for only 37 yards.
— Last five weeks, Jaguars ran ball for only 64.4 yards/game.
— QB Lawrence was already banged up; he hurt his shoulder today.

Bears 27, Cardinals 16
— Bears’ first four drives: 29 plays, 236 yards, 21 points.
— Chicago won/covered four of last six games.
— QB Fields threw for 170 yards, ran for 97 more.
— Bears converted 8-15 third down plays.

— Arizona is 2-10 SU/4-8 ATS in its last dozen games
— Arizona’s first three drives: 15 plays, 36 yards, three punts.
— Last two games, Cardinals are 24-49 on third down.
— Cardinals are 0-10 SU when they score less than 25 points.

Dolphins 22, Cowboys 20
— Miami drove 64 yards, kicked 29-yard FG with 0:02 left.
— Miami scored only one TD; Sanders kicked five FGs, three of them 50+ yards.
— Dolphins won six of last eight games SU, clinched a playoff spot.
— Last five games, Miami converted 34-70 third down plays.

— On their first series, Dallas lost a fumble on the 1-yard line.
— Cowboys have scored 37.2 ppg in wins, 15.8 ppg in losses.
— Cowboys are 6-10 ATS last 16 games as a road dog (0-4 TY).
— Dallas lost five of its last seven road games SU.

Patriots 26, Broncos 23
— New England kicked a 56-yard FG with 0:02 left for the win.
— Patriots scored two TD’s in a 0:06 span of the third quarter.
— Teams combined to convert 7-26 third down plays.
— Zappe is now 4-2 as an NFL starting QB.

— Denver trailed 23-7 in 4th quarter, tied game on TD drives of 83-88 yards.
— Patriots won/covered four of last five visits to Denver.
— Broncos are 2-8-1 ATS last 11 games as a home favorite (1-5 TY).
— Last five weeks, Denver converted only 20-67 on third down.

Sunday’s college basketball:
Temple 55, Portland 54
Owls outscored Portland 15-6 over the final 6:31.
Temple was 10-18 on foul line, Pilots were 4-9.
Owls were +11 in turnovers (7-18)

UMass 87, Old Dominion 65
UMass shot 59.6% inside the arc.
Minutemen are grabbing 36.3% of their missed shots (#26)
Old Dominion lost five of its last six games.

TCU 65, Hawai’i 51
Rainbows shot 33.3% from floor, turned ball over 19 times.
TCU’s three subs all played 20+ minutes.
Horned Frogs improve their record to 10-2. 

Nevada 72, Georgia Tech 64
Wolf Pack shoots 61% inside arc, wins the Diamond Head Classic.
Nevada starts four seniors, Georgia Tech doesn’t start any.
Wolf Pack is 12-1; they’ve got the #35 eFG% defense in country. 

Nothing says Merry Christmas like a full helping of NBA trends…….
NBA trends (thru Sunday)
Hawks (12-17):
— gave up 122+ points in last five games (1-4 ATS).
— 0-9 ATS as a home favorite
— over 10-2 at home

Celtics (22-6):
— won nine of last 11 games SU (3-1 ATS last four)
— 8-5 ATS as a home favorite.
— over 8-2 last 10 games.

Nets (14-15):
— lost five of their last six games.
— 8-1 ATS as home favorite.
— under 5-2 last seven games.

Hornets (7-20):
— lost their last seven games SU.
— 1-7 ATS last eight games as road underdog.
— under 3-1 last four games.

Bulls (13-18)
— 10-2 ATS in their last 12 games.
— 4-6 ATS as a home favorite.
— over 4-1 last five games.

Cavaliers (17-13):
— 9-2 ATS in their last 11 games
— won/covered four of last five home games.
— over 5-0 last five home games.

Mavericks (17-12):
— lost four of their last six games.
— 6-1 ATS as road favorites.
— over 8-5 home games.

Nuggets (21-10):
— won 7 of last 8 games (6-2 ATS)
— 5-9 ATS as a road favorite  
— under 5-1 last six games.

Pistons (2-27):
— lost their last 26 games (7-19 ATS).
— 4-8 ATS as a home underdog, 6-9 as a road dog.
— over 6-2 last eight road games

Warriors (15-14):
— won last five games SU (3-2 ATS)
— 3-9 ATS as a home favorite
— 6-2 ATS as a road underdog.

Rockets (15-12):
— won seven of last nine games SU
— 18-5 ATS last 23 games overall.
— under 4-1 last five road games.

Pacers (14-14):
— 2-6 SU since the in-season tournament
— under 4-2 last six games
— 3-7 ATS as a road underdog.

Clippers (17-12):
— lost last two games, giving up 134-145 points. 
— 1-6 ATS as an underdog. 
— over 5-1 last six games.

Lakers (16-14):
— 2-5 SU since they won the in-season tournament.
— 7-13 ATS as a favorite.
— over 8-0 last eight road games.

Grizzlies (9-19):
— 3-0 SU/ATS since Ja Morant came back.
— 4-9 ATS at home.  
— under 4-1 last five games

Heat (17-12):
— won five of last seven games SU.
— 4-10 ATS at home.
— over 9-3 last twelve games.

Bucks (22-7):
— won their last nine games SU (6-3 ATS)
— 6-1 ATS last seven road games.
— over 9-2 last eleven games.

Timberwolves (22-6)
— won five of last six games SU (4-2 ATS)
— 9-4 ATS at home.
— over 5-2 last seven road games.

Pelicans (17-13):
— won six of last eight games (5-3 ATS)
— 10-4 ATS as an underdog.
— over 6-0 last six road games. 

Knicks (16-12):
— split their last ten games SU
— 9-4 ATS as a favorite, 7-7-1 as an underdog
— under 3-0 last three games

Thunder (18-9):
— 5-2 SU their last seven games.
— 11-5 ATS as a favorite, 8-3 as an underdog.
— over 6-1 last seven home games

Magic (17-11):
— lost four of last five games SU.
— 9-3 ATS at home.
— under 3-0 last three road games. 

76ers (20-8):
— 8-1 last nine games SU.  
— 17-5 ATS as a favorite, 3-3 as an underdog.
— over 5-1 last six road games.

Suns (14-14):
— 3-8 SU last eleven games (1-10 ATS)
— 6-14 ATS as a favorite.
— under 6-2 last eight games

Trailblazers (7-21):
— 1-9 SU in last ten games (4-6 ATS)
— 4-9 ATS at home
— under 3-1 last four games

Kings (17-11):
— 6-3 SU last nine games (1-3 ATS last four)
— 6-2 ATS as an underdog. 
— over 8-3 last eleven home games

Spurs (4-24):
— lost 22 of their last 23 games (1-3 ATS last four)
— 5-9 ATS as a home underdog, 5-9 as a road dog.
— over 5-1 last six games.

Raptors (11-18):
— lost 10 of last 13 games SU
— 7-10 ATS as an underdog.
— over 3-0 last three road games.

Jazz (12-18):
— won/covered five of last seven games. 
— 10-3 ATS at home
— 4-11 ATS as a road underdog.

Wizards (3-17):
— covered last five games (2-3 SU).
— 3-6 ATS as a home underdog.
— under 4-1 last five games.

Steelers 34, Bengals 11
QB Rudolph threw an 86-yard TD pass on the Steelers’ 2nd play of game.
WR Pickens caught four passes for 195 yards, two TD’s.
Steelers in first half: 33 plays, 263 yards; they led 24-0 at the half.
since 2018, Steelers are 10-3-1 ATS as a home underdog.

Bengals are 0-5 SU vs AFC North rivals, 8-2 vs everyone else.
Cincinnati turned ball over twice on its first four drives.
Bengals’ only TD was 80-yard pass to Higgins on first play of third quarter.
Six of Bengals’ last seven games went over the total.

Bills 24, Chargers 22
Buffalo kicked a 29-yard FG with 0:28 left for the win.
Bills were 5-10 on third down, Chargers 4-14.
Buffalo scored 28.2 ppg in five games since firing their OC.
Buffalo won/covered four of those five games.  

Chargers lost despite being +3 in turnovers.
Bolts scored six times, but it was 5 field goals, only one TD.
Chargers have only six TD’s on their last 56 drives.
Chargers lost six of their last seven games.

— Florida Atlantic 96, Arizona 95 2OT
Arizona led 19-5 early on.
Owls shot 58.3% inside the arc.
FAU is 10-2 this season, vs schedule #28.
Arizona out-rebounded FAU, 52-39.

— Providence 75, Butler 65 OT
Friars led 15-0 out of the box, but……..
…….Friars forced OT on a 3-point shot with 0:02 left.
Seven players in this game played 39+ minutes.

— UConn 69, St John’s 65
Red Storm led 32-26 at halftime.
Teams combined to shoot 9-36 on the arc.
Newton scored 15 points, had 9 rebounds, 6 assists for UConn.

— Memphis 77, Vanderbilt 75
Vandy led by 8 points with 7:56 left in game.
Vandy’s team was 17-22 on the foul line.
Memphis star Jones was 12-18 on foul line, scored 28 points.
Vanderbilt is 1-8 vs teams ranked in top 200.

— Nets 126, Pistons 115
Detroit has lost 26 games in a row (7-19 ATS)
Pistons were +6 in the 35:00 with PG Ivey on the floor.

— Word of the Day: Continuity- when something keep happening or existing, with no great changes or interruptions.

College basketball teams with better continuity have an advantage; they’re used to playing together.

— Duke 17, Troy 10
Duke has now won/covered its last five bowl games.
Blue Devils led this game 14-0 at halftime.
Troy ran ball 26 times for only 89 yards.
Both head coaches had already bolted to bigger $$$ jobs.

— Northern Illinois 21, Arkansas State 19
Ark State scored a TD with 1:14 left, but 2-point conversion failed.
NIU’s first four drives: 30 plays, 220 yards, 21 points.
NIU rest of game: 44 plays, 201 yards, no points.
Huskies snapped a 7-game losing streak in bowl games.

— Air Force 31, James Madison 21
Falcons ran ball 63 times for 351 yards.
Air Force led 21-7 at half; they threw 5 passes the whole game.
Eight of Air Force’s nine I-A wins were by 10+ points.
Falcons won their last five bowl games, scoring 33.6 ppg.

— Georgia State 45, Utah State 22
Georgia State in first half: 40 plays, 396 yards, 31 points.
QB Grainger was 19-22/257 passing, with three TD’s.
Panthers outgained Utah State, 643-347.
RB Brock carried ball 24 times for 276 yards and a TD.
 
— South Alabama 59, Eastern Michigan 10
Jaguars led 38-3 at halftime.
USA’s first six drives: 36 plays, 296 yards, 31 points.
Freshman QB Lopez threw for 192 yards, ran for 88 more.
This was South Alabama’s first win in four bowl games.

— Northwestern 14, Utah 7
Northwestern drove 53 yards, scored game-winning TD with 6:19 left.
Wildcats finish season on a 4-game winning streak.
Utah is 6-12-1 ATS in last 19 non-league games.
Utah lost its last five bowls, after Whittingham started out 11-1 in bowls.