— Handicapping Week 18 of the NFL is tougher than normal; some teams aren’t playing their starters because they’re in playoffs next week. Eagles are sitting Jalen Hurts and some of their other starters, Chargers are sitting Justin Herbert, Jordan Love is sitting out for Green Bay.
— Houston Astros made a splash in free agency Thursday, signing P Tatsuya Imai to a three-year contract worth $54M, plus some other incentives. He replaces free agent Framber Valdez, who won 57 games for the Astros the last four years.
— Ole Miss 39, Georgia 34
Georgia led this game 21-12 at halftime.
Ole Miss QB Chambliss threw for 362 yards, two TD’s.
Total yardage: Ole Miss 473, Georgia 343
Rebels move on to play Miami in the next round of the playoff.
Ole Miss QB Trinidad Chambliss played for D-II Ferris State last year, leading them to a national title. How was somebody this good playing Division II ball?
— Indiana 38, Alabama 3
Hoosiers win their first bowl game since 1991.
Indiana outgained Alabama, 407-193.
Alabama ran the ball 17 times for only 23 yards.
Indiana moves on to play Oregon next; they beat the Ducks 30-20 in October.
Alabama was a 7,5-point underdog, the biggest underdog they’ve been since 2008.
— Oregon 23, Texas Tech 0
Tech came into this game scoring 42.5 ppg.
Oregon led this game 6-0 at halftime.
Tech gained only 215 yards, had four turnovers.
Ducks move on to play Indiana in the next round.
— Miami Dolphins hired Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman as a consultant in their search for a new general manager, which is a little odd, seeing how Dan Marino already works for the team. He is an advisor; this isn’t a permanent job.
Dolphins haven’t won a playoff game since 2000; ownership wanted a voice from the outside to provide a different perspective.
— Famous birthdays, January 2nd:
Calvin Hill, 79
Mike Newlin, 77
Jim Essian, 74
Edgar Martinez, 62
David Cone, 62
Christy Turlington, 57
Dax Shepard, 51
Kirk Hinrich, 46
Kate Bosworth, 43
Kyle Stowers, 27
Aaron Wiggins, 27
Fernando Tatis Jr, 26
— College conferences’ bowl records SU/ATS:
AAC- 4-3/3-4
ACC- 6-4/4-6
Big X- 5-1/5-1
Big 18- 9-4/8-5
Conference USA- 4-3/4-3
MAC- 2-3/3-2
Mountain West- 2-5/3-4
SEC- 4-8/4-8
Sun Belt 3-6/4-5
— NCAA Tournament is still a couple months away, but ESPN’s Bracketology has these teams as the #1-4 seeds, if the tournament were this week:
#1-seeds: Michigan, UConn, Arizona, Iowa State
#2-seeds: Vanderbilt, Duke, Gonzaga, Purdue
#3-seeds: Houston, Michigan State, Alabama, BYU
#4-seeds: Louisville, Kansas, Illinois, Nebraska
— Vanderbilt guard Frankie Collins torn a meniscus in his knee and is out indefinitely; he is a senior who is scoring 7.8 ppg and 4.7 assists/game.
— ESPN’s fantasy football posted the players who were on the highest %age of teams that won their league’s championship this year:
29.1%- Puka Nucua
25.2%- Jaxon Smith-Njigba
23.8%- Bijan Robinson
22.4%- Trey McBride
20.1%- Christian McCaffrey
— Before the Cotton Bowl, Ohio State practiced in an indoor practice facility at Highland Park High School, where Matthew Stafford/Clayton Kershaw went to school.
You read that right; a high school in Texas has an indoor practice facility for its football team.
— Last five years, number of pitchers who started 30+ games:
2021- 41
2022- 43
2023- 44
2024- 51
2025- 53
— New Orleans Saints have won four games in a row, for the first time since 2020.
