Author: Armadillo Sports

There is ton of college basketball being played this week, but when this week is over, will have enough information to process and start thinking about conference play, which actually starts (a little bit) next week. 

— I took a look at the last 10 Maui Classics that were actually played in Hawai’i (because of the pandemic, there were two that were not). Here is what I found out…….

Last 10 teams to win the Maui Classic in Maui, six of them made the Elite 8 in March. The last two years, Purdue/Auburn made the Final Four after winning a title in Maui. 

2023 Arizona Wildcats were only one of last 10 Maui champs to lose in NCAA first round. Notre Dame’s 2017 team won the Maui Classic, didn’t make it to the NCAA’s.

Last 10 teams to lose the Maui Classic in Maui, only two teams made the Elite 8 and both of them lost their Elite 8 game. 

Three of last 10 teams to lose the Maui Classic final in Maui also lost their first round NCAA game.

— Tennessee 76, Houston 73
Vols avenge their loss to Houston in last year’s Elite 8.
Houston led this game by 11, midway thru the first half.
Tennessee shot 55.9% inside the arc.
This was a very good game, seemed like a March game.

— USC 83, Seton Hall 81
Seton Hall led by 13 late in the first half.
USC was 31-38 on the foul line, Pirates 12-18.
Ezra Ausar was 15-19 on line; he took more FT’s than Seton Hall’s whole team.

— Arizona State 100, Washington State 94
Coogs led 48-42 at halftime, led by 11 early in second half.
ASU shot 66.7% inside arc, scored 1.41 points/possession.
Sun Devils play USC in the Maui Classic title game Wednesday.

— Cal 80, UCLA 72
Great win for a Golden Bears squad that has had eight straight losing seasons.
UCLA led this game 41-36 at halftime.
Cal made 11 of 22 shots on the arc
Cal is 7-1 this year, but this is only their second top 200 win, first top 100 win. 

— Gonzaga 100, Maryland 61
Zags are 7-0 already, with five wins over top 90 teams.
Clemson/Gonzaga apparently have the oldest rotations, chronologically.
Looks like Gonzaga-Michigan is a very interesting addition to Wednesday’s schedule.

— St John’s 96, Baylor 81
Johnnies scored 1.33 points/possession, shot 11-22 on the arc.
Baylor out-rebounded St John’s 48-34; Bears only played seven guys.
Both teams play Wednesday, but this Players’ Era tournament is weird, so they haven’t said who is playing who when.

— Michigan 102, Auburn 72
Wolverines scored 1.44 points/possession, led 59-31 at halftime.
Auburn shot only 31.6% inside the arc.
Michigan is 4-0, vs a difficult schedule (#33) early on.

— George Mason 74, Florida Atlantic 65
Patriots of the A-14 are 7-0 this year; they were 27-9 last year. So far this year, Mason has played schedule #309 at a slow pace (#334)- they have the #26 eFG% defense in country. They only play one top 100 team before New Year’s, when they visit Virginia Tech January 6th.

— Famous birthdays, November 26th:
Jan Stenerud, 83
Art Shell, 79
Roger Wehrli, 78
Richie Hebner, 78

Harry Carson, 72
Bob Walk, 69
Mike Moore, 66
Harold Reynolds, 65

Chuck Finley, 63
Mario Elie, 62
Shawn Kemp, 56
Cal Raleigh, 29

— St Louis Cardinals traded P Sonny Gray to the Red Sox Tuesday, for P Brandon Clarke and P Richard Fitts. Red Sox also get $20M to pay off some of Gray’s hefty contract.

36-year old Gray was 14-8 with a 4.28 ERA last year, making all his starts. He is guaranteed $41M over the next two seasons.

— Apparently there are two pro baseball leagues in Japan, but one of them still doesn’t use the DH- they’re going to, starting in 2027.

— Oklahoma State hired North Texas coach Eric Morris as its new football coach; Morris will stay with North Texas for the rest of the regular season as well as any appearances in the AAC title game and/or College Football Playoff.

Morris was 21-15 in three years at North Texas, 24-18 in three years before that at Incarnate Word. Oklahoma State won a lot under Mike Gundy, finishing in top 20 nine times, but the last two years, Cowboys lost their last 17 conference games.

— Hawai’i’s football team has a 26-year old kicker, a 29-year old punter. The kicker is from Japan; he taught himself how to kick by watching videos on YouTube.

— California fired football coach Justin Wilcox after he went 48-55 over nine years with the Golden Bears; Cal is 6-5 this year, bowl eligible for the third year in a row, but losing to Stanford earned him a pink slip.

Wilcox gets $10.9M as his parting gift.

— Former NBA player/current TV analyst Grant Hill not only owns part of the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks, he also owns part of the Baltimore Orioles. It must be fun to be really rich. 

— 49ers 20, Panthers 9
McCaffrey had 89 rushing yards, 53 receiving yards against his old team.
49ers were 7-13 on third down, Carolina 1-7
SF won even though Purdy threw 3 INTs on their first four drives.
49ers outgained Carolina, 340-230

Down 7-3, Carolina had ball on SF’s 1-yard line, but Young threw an INT
Carolina in first half: 30 plays, 52 yards, 3 points.
Panthers are 8-15-1 ATS last 24 games as a road underdog. 
Panthers are 2-5 when they score less or fewer points.

— Big baseball trade Sunday night; Mets traded OF Brandon Nimmo to Texas for 2B Marcus Semien, in an exchange of highly-paid veterans.

Semien is owed $72M over the next three years; he’s seen as a defensive upgrade at 2B. 

Nimmo is owed $101M over the next five years; Texas dumped Adolis Garcia last week. 

— Iowa State 83, St John’s 82
Really good game, seemed like a late March game.
Red Storm was 23-30 on foul line, Iowa State 20-25.
6-8 junior Momcilovic scored 23 points for the Cyclones. 

— Gonzaga 95, Alabama 85
Zags scored 1.23 points/possession, had 20 offensive rebounds.
Alabama shot only 9-29 on the arc.
6-9 senior Ike had 21 points, 11 boards for Gonzaga.

— Auburn 84, Oregon 73
Game was 37-37 at halftime.
Teams combined to shoot 14-56 on the arc.
Ducks out-rebounded Auburn 46-34.
Oregon turned ball over 18 times, Auburn had only six turnovers.

— Baylor 81, Creighton 74
Baylor had 22 offensive boards, out-rebounded Creighton 45-28.
Bears led by 12 in first half; game was tied with 8:46 left to play.
Baylor only played 7 guys (8th guy played 3:00); could be an issue Tuesday.

— Seton Hall 85, NC State 74
Pirates were 10-point dog; they shot 64.7% inside the arc.
This was Seton Hall’s first top 200 game; they’re #29 in experience.
NC State trailed 35-33 at halftime.

— Cal-San Diego 91, Temple 76
Tritons shot 71.9% inside arc, 12-24 on the arc (1.34 ppp)
Cal-San Diego was 30-5 last year; they’ve got #8 eFG% in country.
Temple is 0-2 vs teams in top 150, giving up 76-91 points.

— Houston 78, Syracuse 74 OT
Houston led by 11 with 3:06 in regulation.
Syracuse lost an OT game when they were 12-29 on foul line.
Cougars shot only 33.3% inside arc, Syracuse 59.4%.

— USC 70, Boise State 67
Trojans shot 11-23 on the arc.
Rodney Rice had 27 points; no other Trojan had more than 11.
USC is 5-0, winning last two games by a combined four points.

— Famous birthdays, November 25th:
John Larroquette, 78
Bernie Kosar, 62
Cris Carter, 60
Mark Whiten, 59 

Jill Hennessy, 57
Anthony Peeler, 56
Donovan McNabb, 49
Jerry Ferrera, 46

Nick Swisher, 45
Trevor Booker, 38
Alec Burleson, 27
Blake Corum, 25

— Las Vegas Raiders fired offensive coordinator Chip Kelly Sunday, 11 games into his first season with the Raiders. Raiders had previously fired their special teams coach a few weeks ago.

Las Vegas is:
tied for last in the NFL in points per game (15.0)
30th in total yards per game (268.9)
31st in rushing per game (79.5 yards)
30th in offensive EPA (minus-77.8)
28th in red zone efficiency (48.1%).

Kelly is making $6M this season. Maybe the Raiders should acquire a better QB. 

— New Jersey Giants fired defensive coordinator Shane Bowen; they’ve lost five road games this year that they led in by 10+ points. Giants have lost their last 12 road games- they fired head coach Brian Daboll a couple weeks ago. 

— NFL divisional trends:
AFC East
Underdogs 5-3 ATS divisional games
11-6 ATS non-divisional underdogs

AFC North
Home teams 5-0 ATS divisional games
13-21 ATS non-divisional games

AFC South
Home teams, favorites 4-1 ATS divisional games.
12-7 ATS non-divisional underdogs

AFC West
Home teams 3-1 ATS divisional games
4-10 ATS non-divisional road team

NFC East
Home teams 5-2 ATS divisional games
6-10 ATS non-divisional underdogs

NFC North
Favorites 4-1 ATS divisional games
11-9 ATS non-divisional favorite

NFC South
Underdogs 3-1 ATS divisional games
14-20 ATS non-divisional games

NFC West
Home teams 1-5 ATS divisional games
18-11 non-divisional games

— College football trends, conference games:
American
Road favorites 16-8 ATS
All favorites 30-19 ATS

ACC
Home favorites 16-21 ATS

Big 18
Home underdogs 16-13 ATS

Big X
Home favorites 26-18 ATS
Home underdogs 8-14 ATS
All favorites 40-26 ATS

Conference USA
Home teams 27-14 ATS

Mid-American
Home teams 29-17 ATS

Mountain West
Home favorites 15-13 ATS

SEC
Home favorites 22-17 ATS

Sun Belt
Home teams 28-22 ATS

Cowboys 24, Eagles 21
Eagles first three drives: 25 plays, 192 yards, 21 points.
Eagles rest of game: 33 plays, 147 yards, no points.
Cowboys’ first four drives: 25 plays, 120 yards, no points.
Cowboys rest of game: 43 plays, 353 yards, 24 points.

Last time the Eagles lost after leading by 21+ points? 1999.
Dallas is 12-3 ATS in last 15 NFC East home games.
Cowboys outgained Philadelphia, 473-339.
Eagles ran the ball 18 times for only 63 yards. 

Chiefs 23, Colts 20 OT 
Mahomes threw an INT on the Chiefs’ second play of the game.
Chiefs’ next three drives: 40 plays, 185 yards, three FG’s.
Colts led 14-9 at halftime.
Chiefs ran 91 plays for 494 yards; Indy 50 plays, 255 yards. 

Mahomes threw for 352 yards, but no TD’s.
WR Rice caught eight passes for 141 yards.
Chiefs are 6-1 giving up 20 or less points, 0-4 giving up 21+.
Under is 6-0 in last six Kansas City games.

Lions 31, Giants 24 OT
RB Gibbs ran 69 yards for a TD on first play of overtime.
Gibbs ran ball 15 times for 219 yards, two TD’s.
Detroit made a 59-yard FG with 0:28 left to force OT.
Goff threw for 279 yards, two TD’s. 

Giants led 27-17 early in the 4th quarter.
Winston threw for 366 yards, two TD’s, also caught a 33-yard TD pass.
Giants are 1-5 in games decided by 7 or fewer points.
Giants outgained Detroit, 517-494.

Bears 31, Steelers 28
Chicago’s first four drives: 18 plays, 70 yards, 7 points.
Chicago’s next three drives: 25 plays, 180 yards, 21 points.
Bears won four in row, eight of last nine games.
Bears are 6-0 scoring 25+ points, 2-3 otherwise.

Backup QB Rudolph threw for 171 yards and a TD.
Steelers in second half: 42 plays, 134 yards, 7 points.
Pittsburgh lost four of its last six games.
Steelers are 1-5 when they allow more than 21 points.

Patriots 26, Bengals 20
Bengals led 10-0 early in second quarter.
Patriots won their last nine games (7-2 ATS).
QB Maye passed for 294 yards and a TD.
TE Henry caught seven passes for 115 yards and a TD.

Both teams scored a defensive TD in the first half.
Last five games, Bengals allowed 33.4 ppg.
Bengals in second half: 31 plays, 152 yards, 7 points.
Bengals lost four in row, eight of last nine games.

Packers 23, Vikings 6
Green Bay outgained the Vikings, 288-145.
RB Wilson ran for 107 yards and two TD’s.
Vikings are 8-11-1 ATS in last 20 games coming off a loss.
Last five games, Vikings converted only 15 of 57 third down plays.

Minnesota in 2nd half: 16 plays, 4 yards, no points, 2 INT
Vikings lost five of their last six games.
Last seven games, Minnesota is minus-14 in turnovers.
4 of last 5 games, Minnesota gained less than 270 yards.

Famous birthdays, November 24th:
Oscar Robertson, 87
Steve Yeager, 77
Henry Bibby, 76
Randy Velarde, 63
Ben McDonald, 58

Katherine Heigl, 47
Ryan Fitzpatrick, 43
Jeimer Candelario, 32
Ben DiMucci, 29
Tyler Soderstrom, 24

Movie of the Day: Number One (1969)- Charlton Heston plays a washed-up NFL quarterback who struggles in the transition from being an athlete to the next chapter in his life. 

Jessica Walter, Diana Muldaur, Bruce Dern are in this movie. Lot of the real-life New Orleans Saints are also in the movie (one of them is Cooper Kupp’s grandfather)

If I said this was a good movie, I’d be lying; read once that when he was president of the Screen Actors’ Guild, Charlton Heston had the movie taken out of circulation- he didn’t like it much, but it does tell the story of how tough it can be for a pro athlete to move on in his life. 

Ravens 23, Jets 10
Jets are 0-7 when they score less than 27 points.  
Baltimore won its last five games, giving up 13.4 ppg
Last five games, Ravens are +7 in turnovers.
Last four weeks, opponents converted 11-51 third down plays.

Jets led this game 7-3 at halftime.
Ravens’ 1st three drives of 2nd half: 27 plays, 127 yards, 17 points.
Jets in 2nd half: 24 plays, 132 yards, 3 points, 2 turnovers.
Ravens won despite going 2-11 on 3rd down, and being outgained 282-241.

Seahawks 30, Titans 24
Seattle’s first five drives: 31 plays, 247 yards, 23 points.
Seattle led 30-10 midway thru third quarter and held on.
QB Darnold threw for 244 yards, two TD’s.
WR Smith-Njigba caught 8 passes for 167 yards. 

Seattle led 30-10 midway thru third quarter and held on.
Tennessee is 0-6 SU/3-3 ATS in last six games.
Titans were held under 300 TY in nine of 11 games.
Titans ran ball 22 times for only 64 yards. 

Jaguars 27, Cardinals 24 OT
Cardinals drove 64 yards, kicked FG to force OT with 0:06 left.
Cardinals lost eight of their last nine games.
Arizona is 2-6 in games decided by 7 or fewer points.
Jaguars won despite being minus-4 in turnovers.

QB Lawrence threw for 256 yards, with 3 TD’s, 3 INTs.
Jaguars held 8 of last 10 opponents under 100 yards rushing.
Jaguars are 7-0 when they run for 100 yards, 0-4 when they don’t.
Jacksonville K Little had a pair of 52-yard field goals. 

Browns 24, Raiders 10
Browns’ first four drives: 13 plays, 88 yards, two TD’s.
Cleveland led 14-0 after the first quarter.
In their three wins, Browns gave up 10-6-10 points.
Sanders is 42nd QB to start for Cleveland since 1999. 

Las Vegas ran the ball 21 times for only 60 yards.
Raiders lost five games in a row, eight of last nine.
Las Vegas OL has allowed 20 sacks in their last three games.
Raiders had 13 penalties for 109 yards. 

Falcons 24, Saints 10
Cousins threw for 199 yards, 2 TD’s; Falcons snapped a 5-game skid.
Atlanta is 8-6 ATS in last 14 NFC South road games.
Under is 6-3 in last nine series games.
Falcons are 3-0 when they allow less than 20 points, 1-8 otherwise. 

Only New Orleans TD was a pick-6 that cut Falcons’ lead to 10-7
Saints lost five of their last six games.
Saints missed field goals of 38-47 yards, in a dome.
New Orleans was 5-16 on third down, 2-5 on fourth down. 

Rams 34, Buccaneers 7
LA’s first drives: 16 plays, 217 yards, 21 points.
Rams won last six games, allowing 3-7-10-26-19-7 points.
Rams are 8-0 when they allow less than 26 points.
Last six games, Rams are +11 in turnovers.

Last seven games, Rams outscored foes 126-42 in first half.
Rams are 17-8 ATS in last 25 games as a favorite.
Buccaneers lost four of their last five games.
QB Mayfield hurt left shoulder; was in street clothes for 2nd half. 

— These football games were played Saturday:
Texas A&M 48, Samford 0
Auburn 62, Mercer 17
Alabama 56, Eastern Illinois 0
Clemson 45, Furman 10

Why the BLEEP are these schools playing I-AA opponents???? Do fans care that they have to pay to watch these beatings? At least play a MAC team or a Sun Belt team, a I-A opponent.

— Oregon 42, USC 27
QB Moore threw ball for 257 yards, two TD’s.
Ducks grabbed 21-14 lead on a 85-yard punt return in 2nd quarter.
10-1 Oregon ran ball 41 times for 179 yards (4.4 yards/carry)

— Pittsburgh 42, Georgia Tech 28
Pitt led 28-0 early, 28-14 at halftime.
LB Lovelace had a 100-yard pick-6 to make it 35-13 in third quarter.
Pitt is 8-3, has won six of its last seven games.

— Utah 51, Kansas State 47
Utes drove 70 yards, scored game-winning TD with 0:56 left.
K-State led 47-35 with 7:00 left in the game.
K-State ran ball 42 times for 472 yards and still lost; very unusual.

— Vanderbilt 45, Kentucky 17
QB Pavia threw for 484 yards, 5 TD’s. Does he have a shot at the Heisman?
Last time Vanderbilt won nine regular season games? 1915.
How does Vandy keep coach Lea? Someone will poach him, right?

— Tennessee 31, Florida 11
Vols had lost their previous ten visits to the Swamp.
Tennessee led this game 31-0 at halftime.
Vols converted 9-13 third down plays, Florida 2-9.

— College Football Upsets of the Week:
Tulsa (+10.5) 26, Army 25
Wisconsin (+7.5) 27, Illinois 10
Nevada (+7.5) 13, Wyoming 7
NC State (+5.5) 21, Florida State 11
Appalachian State (+5.5) 26, Marshall 24

— Iona 91, Oregon State 84 2OTs
Beavers led by 9 points with 2:18 left in regulation.
Oregon State was only 21-36 on the foul line.
Toby Harris was 5-12 from floor; all 12 shots were 3-pointers.

— Northern Iowa 70, Cal-Irvine 69 OT
Trey Campbell hit a foul shot with 0:00.8 left for the win.
MVC’s Panthers led 35-25 at halftime.
UNI was 11-32 on the arc, Irvine 3-11

— Cal-Fullerton 88, St Thomas 80
Titans were an 11-point underdog on a neutral floor in Portland.
St Thomas led by nine with 8:08 left in the game.
Teams combined to shoot 39-42 on the foul line.

— San Francisco 77, Minnesota 65
WCC’s Dons made 11-22 shots on the arc.
Gophers were only 15-30 on the foul line.
USF is shooting 41.6% on the arc (#17 in country).

— Famous birthdays, November 23rd:
Brook Jacoby, 66
Dale Sveum, 62
Steve Alford, 61
Vin Baker, 54
Jonathan Papelbon, 45

Justin Turner, 41
Casper Wells, 41
Ross Stripling, 36
Johnny Mundt, 31
Gavin Lux, 28

— New Mexico 20, Air Force 3
New Mexico has won five games in a row, is 8-3 this year.
Lobos had lost their previous 10 visits to Colorado Springs.
Lobos held Air Force to 161 yards on 59 plays.

— UConn 48, Florida Atlantic 45
Huskies drove 75 yards, scored game-winning TD with 0:26 left.
UConn, coached by Jim Mora Jr, finishes regular season 9-3.
UConn QB Fagnano threw for 446 yards, three TD’s.

— North Texas 56, Rice 24
QB Mestemaker threw for 469 yards, three TD’s.
WR Young caught eight passes for 295 yards, two TD’s.
North Texas is 10-1; their only loss was 63-36 to South Florida.

— Tulsa 26, Army 25
Tulsa drove 52 yards, kicked 27-yard FG with 0:12 left.
Army led 25-14 after the third quarter.
Tulsa QB Hayes threw for 267 yards and a TD.

— TCU 17, Houston 14
TCU QB Hoover passed for 293 yards, two TD’s.
Horned Frogs won despite committing four turnovers (minus-3)
Houston missed a 38-yard FG in the last minute. 

— Purdue 86, Texas Tech 56
Purdue had a 20-0 run, led 49-26 at halftime.
Boilers are 6-0, with four top 75 wins.
Purdue out-rebounded Tech 43-25.
Right now, November 22, Purdue is the best team in the country.

— Wake Forest 69, Memphis 68
Deacons ran the Bryce Drew play, hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer for a comeback win.
Memphis led 19-6 early, but they’re 1-4, their worst start in long time.
Memphis is #45 in experience, but #345 in continuity; they’re getting used to each other.

— Nebraska 86, Kansas State 85
Nebraska shot 25-29 (86.2%) inside arc, only 8-32 on arc.
Cornhuskers led by 10 at the half, trailed by 5 with 7:21 left to play.
Nebraska has won 10 in a row, longest win streak in country.

— Louisville 74, Cincinnati 64
Cincinnati led 32-28 at halftime.
Louisville was 24-28 on foul line, Bearcats 10-16.
Louisville is 5-0, with wins over Cincinnati, Kentucky.

— Clemson 70, West Virginia 67
WVU led by 11 points with 10:57 left in the game.
Clemson shot 56.7% inside the arc.
Clemson had five guys score in double figures, including two subs.

— Georgia 78, Xavier 77
Dawgs hit a 3-pointer with 0:11 left to pull out a win.
Georgia led by 14 early in second half.
Georgia’s subs played total of 63:00, Xavier’s only 31:00

— Seattle 77, Stanford 69
Stanford led by 13 with 10:55 left in the game.
Seattle was 20-24 on foul line, Cardinal 16-25.
Seattle is 4-1; they’re #10 in country in eFG%.

— Famous birthdays, November 22nd:
Rich McKinney, 79
Jack Reynolds, 78
Greg Luzinski, 75
Jamie Lee Curtis, 67

Mark Malone, 67
Hugh Millen, 62
Benoit Benjamin, 61

Eric Allen, 60
Mark Ruffalo, 58
Ricky Ledee, 52

Scarlett Johansson, 41
Adam Ottavino, 40
Brock Osweiler, 35
Griffin Jax, 31

Missed a birthday Friday; Earl Monroe, the great basketball player, turned 81 on Friday.

— Virginia 83, Northwestern 78
Cavaliers were 30-36 on foul line, Northwestern 17-24.
Virginia had 21 offensive boards, out-rebounded Wildcats 49-25.
Virginia is 5-0, scoring 89.2 ppg; Ryan Odom is an excellent coach.

— Butler 79, South Carolina 72
Butler out-rebounded the Gamecocks, 48-29.
South Carolina never led; they shot 7-26 on the arc.
Big East team over an SEC team has significance for both leagues.

— Utah State 96, Tulane 75
Aggies shot 12-23 on the arc, 68.6% inside arc; they scored 1.39 ppp.
Tulane shot 15-30 on the arc, still lost by 21. 

Utah State always seems to win, but with lot of different coaches:

1998-2015- Stew Morrill, 402-156
2015-18- Tim Duryea, 48-49
2018-21- Craig Smith, 74-24
2021-2023- Ryan Odom, 44-25
2023-24- Danny Sprinkle, 28-7
2024-26- Jerrod Calhoun, 31-8

— Kind of similar to VCU’s recent history:

2003-06- Jeff Capel, 79-41
2006-09- Anthony Grant, 76-25
2009-15- Shaka Smart, 161-56
2015-17- Will Wade, 51-20
2017-23- Mike Rhoades, 129-61
2024-26- Ryan Odom, 52-21
2025-26- Phil Martelli Jr, 2-2

— USC 107, Troy 106 3OT- This game was Thursday night
Troy led by 6 with 1:43 left in the third OT
USC led by 11 with 9:37 left in regulation.

This was Troy’s 4th game in seven nights in the Los Angeles area; they won in double OT at San Diego State Tuesday, then played this game in triple OT two nights later.

Five players fouled out of this game.
Four players played 47:00+ in this game. 

USC was 34-46 on the foul line, Troy 25-35.
USC subs were a combined 4-13 from the floor, Troy 2-11. 

One of the most interesting games I’ve watched in years. 

— USC 107, Troy 106 3OT
This was an amazing game, with a devastating ending for Troy, which led by six in the third overtime. I’ll post more about this game tomorrow.

This was Troy’s 4th game in seven days in SoCal….it ended after 1am, here in the East.

Friday- lost 74-63 at LMU
Sunday- lost 94-85 at Cal-Northridge
Tuesday- won 108-107 in 2 OT’s at San Diego State
Thursday- battle of Trojans at USC.

Troy is a good team; They don’t have a D-I home game until December 20th.

— Texans 23, Bills 19
Bills had ball on Houston 22-yard line on last drive, but didn’t score.
Texans were outgained 326-261, but were +3 in turnovers.
Houston is 6-2 in last eight games, after an 0-3 start.
Texans are 5-0 when they score 20+ points. 

Bills only scored one offensive TD on 10 drives; they kicked two FG’s.
Buffalo led 16-13 after a 97-yard kick return for a TD.
Buffalo scored 28+ points in wins, 20-14-13-19 in losses.
Bills are 0-6 SU/1-5 ATS in last six visits to Houston.

— Cal Poly 92, Utah 85
Mustangs were a 14-point underdog.
Cal Poly shot 14-25 on the arc in a fast (84 possessions) game.
Mustangs are playing the #2 pace in country so far this month.
Cal Poly is 3-3; they don’t play a D-I home game until December 6th.

— Kansas State 98, Mississippi State 77
Wildcats made 14-30 on the arc, scored 1.31 ppp.
PJ Haggerty scored 37 points, had 8 assists.
K-State is 5-0, with top 100 wins over Miss State, Cal.

— Central Florida 77, Pittsburgh 67
Knights shot 60.5% inside the arc.
UCF is 5-1, with top 100 wins over Pitt, Texas A&M
Pittsburgh is 0-2 vs teams ranked in the top 150.

Baha Mar tournament
— Purdue 80, Memphis 71
Boilermakers shot 54.3% inside the arc, scored 1.18 ppp.
Memphis was 17-25 on foul line, Purdue 9-11
Purdue- Texas Tech is final of this tournament Friday night.

— Texas Tech 84, Wake Forest 83
Wake led by 7 with 13:16 left inn the game.
Deacons were only 13-22 on the foul line.
Tech is 4-1, with an 81-77 loss at Illinois.
Tech had 16 offensive boards, out-rebounded Wake 44-33.

— One of the quirks of the NIL era, especially in basketball, has to be team chemistry; Player A transferred in and got $2M to play, will Player B resent that money? Player C? 

Watching the games may be more critical than ever before; stats/numbers are important, but observing how teams work together can tell you a lot.

— These days, college basketball in November is about gathering knowledge, figuring out who is where, who did the best raiding the transfer portal. It has been suggested that coaches who have been junior college coaches have an advantage— JC coaches re-stock their rosters every year, that is the nature of the job at that level. More and more, D-I ball is becoming like that.

— Famous birthdays, November 21st:
Marlo Thomas, 88
Goldie Hawn, 80
Bill Almon, 73
Troy Aikman, 59
Ken Griffey Jr, 56

Michael Strahan, 54
Danny Kanell, 52
Stromile Swift, 46
Jena Malone, 41
Brice Turang, 26

— Louisiana 34, Arkansas State 30
Cajuns stopped Ark State on the 1-yard line on last play of the game.
Louisiana ran ball 46 times for 202 yards.
ULL had 11 penalties for 76 yards, Red Wolves 1 for 15.
Both teams need to win their last game to become bowl eligible.

— Sounds like the MLB.TV package is moving to the ESPN app; pretty soon we’ll need a scorecard to tell which leagues are televised on which channels.

— Phillies-Twins are going to play a Field of Dreams game in Iowa next summer.

— Astros traded utility guy Mauricio Dubon to Atlanta for SS Nick Allen; Dubon is versatile, Allen is a slick fielder who can’t hit a lick.

— Good program on Netflix; Last Chance U, about junior colleges and players who play there, trying to get scholarships to four-year schools. There is a football version and one for basketball that provide insight on what kids/coaches go through, behind the scenes.

— Ben DiNucci/Chase Daniel were both backup QB’s in NFL who have a presence on social media now; this week, they’ve both been talking about how backup QBs don’t get many practice reps with the first team offense, which makes it tougher for them when they become starters.

— Jay Bilas has gotten better (less annoying) as a TV analyst since Mike Krzyzewski retired as coach of Duke; less critiquing of refs, more normal analysis, but when he works a Duke game, like he did this week, it is still the basketball equivalent of fingernails on a chalkboard.

— There’s a chance I watch too much TV; there are an incredible amount of podcasts posted on YouTube, on a wide variety of subjects. You have to pick/choose to find the good ones, but once you do, there is good information to be had.

Late Tuesday night I watched a fantasy baseball draft; 15 teams, 23 rounds, was interesting to hear opinions about the 345 players who were drafted. 

— Arizona 71, UConn 67
Arizona out-rebounded the Huskies, 43-23.
Wildcats are rebounding 38.8% of their missed shots (#37)
UConn was 9-18 on foul line, 8-25 on the arc.

Arizona is 5-0, with three top 30 wins; none of those were in Tucson.

— Alabama 90, Illinois 86
Illinois led 19-10 early on, but that didn’t last.
Alabama was 13-36 on the arc, 17-30 inside arc; they scored 1.14 ppp. 

So far this month, 52% of Alabama’s shots have been 3’s.

Alabama has already played three top 20 games (2-1); they’re playing the #5 pace in the country. Fun team to watch.

— Oklahoma State 103, South Florida 95
USF led by 13 points late in the first half.
Bulls shot 15-39 on the arc, 15-25 inside the arc.
OSU is 5-0 with two top 100 wins, playing #3 pace in country.

— Dayton 77, Marquette 71 OT
Dayton led by 12 with 8:27 left in regulation.
Flyers had 25 turnovers, Marquette 20.
Marquette is 0-3 vs top 70 teams; they need PG Jones to get healthy.

— Famous birthdays, November 20:
Veronica Hamel, 82
Louie Dampier, 81
Rick Monday, 80
Richard Masur, 77

Bo Derek, 69
Dwight Stephenson, 68
Sean Young, 66
Callie Thorne, 56

JD Drew, 50
Carlos Boozer, 44
David Fry, 30
Tarik Skubal, 29

— Miami OH 37, Buffalo 20
Freshman QB Gotkowski was 13-23/185 passing in his first college start.
Miami was +3 in turnovers; they’re bowl eligible for fifth year in a row.
Buffalo QB Roberson threw for 303 yards, two TD’s.

— Central Michigan 28, Akron 16
Chippewas led 14-3 at halftime.
CMU had an 18-play, 75-yard TD drive in the first quarter.
Kent State’s first TD came on a 59-yard punt return.

— Akron 19, Bowling Green 16
Matthew Schramm kicked four FG’s, including a career-long 48-yarder.
Game was tied 6-6 at halftime.

Akron QB Finley threw a 75-yard TD pass; he played for three schools in his six years as a college QB, also playing for NC State and California.

— Western Michigan 35, Northern Illinois 19
Huskies led 10-0 after the first quarter.
RB Buckley ran for 133 yards, two TD’s.
Western Michigan ran ball 59 times for 361 yards (6.1 yards/attempt).

— Ohio U 42, UMass 14
RB Bangura ran for 196 yards, two TD’s.
Bobcats ran for 363 yards, threw only 8 passes.
UMass finishes the season a dismal 0-11.

— Movie of the Day: Forget Paris (1995)- An NBA referee travels to France to bury his father; he meets and becomes friends with an airline employee. Their story gets told in flashbacks by their friends, as they wait for the couple to show up at a restaurant.

Great cast: Billy Crystal is the ref, Debra Winger his friend. Joe Mantegna, John Spencer, Cathy Moriarty, Richard Masur are also in this movie, as well as a lot of NBA stars.

— South Alabama 71, Jacksonville State 65
Gamecocks led 26-11 early in the game.
Jaguars were 15-24 on foul line; Jax State, playing at home, was 1-4.

South Alabama is 6-0; only one of their five D-I wins was at home. They’re #307 team in the country in experience.

— Arkansas 84, Winthrop 83
Red flag game; SEC teams should beat Winthrop by more than one point, especially since they won their previous game 79-75 over Samford.

Arkansas has games with Duke/Louisville coming up soon, which will be interesting.

— In baseball, Orioles traded P Grayson Rodriguez to the Angels, for veteran hitter Taylor Ward. 

Rodriguez is 20-8, 4.11 in 43 big league starts, but he’s been hurt a lot; his last major league game was in July, 2024.

Ward hit 36 homers this year, knocked in 103 runs, but he’s a free agent after the ’26 season.

— RIP to former big league pitcher Randy Jones, who passed away at age 75.

Jones went 20-12/22-14 for the Padres in 1975-76, throwing 600 innings those two years, back when starting pitchers went deeper into games. Those Padre teams went 71-91/73-89, so he was ace for a cruddy team. He wasn’t a hard thrower, but he was very good.

RIP, sir.

— Someone asked me this summer; “Who are more important, coaches or players?”

I thought about it for a minute, then said how I think that no team can be great without great players. Players make the train roll down the tracks, coaches keep the train on the track. It is the truly great teams that have both, but given my choice, I’d rather have great players.

— Bill Belichick is a polarizing figure, but no doubt he is a Hall of Fame coach, with six Super Bowl rings as a head coach (333-178 record), two more as an assistant coach with the Giants.

Upon further review, this is his record:

1991-95 Cleveland 37-45
2000-23 New England 296-133

In New England when Tom Brady started at QB, he was 249-75
In New England, when someone else started, he was 47-58.

Overall, his NFL record without Brady: 84-103 (also 4-6 in college this year)

— Other QB’s records when starting under Belichick:

Testaverde 16-15………Kosar 14-22………….Zeier 1-3
Cassel 10-5………………Mac Jones 18-24…..Hoyer 0-2
Garoppolo 2-0…………Bledsoe 5-13…………Brissett 1-1
Rypien 2-1………………Newton 7-8…………..Philcox 2-3
Tomczak 4-4…………..Zappe 4-4

— I posted those numbers on Twitter over the weekend; that post had 10 times more activity than anything else I ever posted there, so I decided to research a few more coaches.

— QB’s who started under Bill Walsh:
Joe Montana 88-40
Steve Young 4-2
DeBerg 6-18
Cavanaugh 2-0
Kemp 3-2-1
Gagliano 1-0

— QB’s who started under Chuck Noll:
Terry Bradshaw 121-56………Kruczek 6-0…….Bono 2-1
Bubby Brister 26-27………….Gilliam 4-2-1……Blackledge 2-3
Mark Malone 21-24…………..Woodley 7-6…….SCampbell 0-2
Hanratty 6-11…………………..O’Donnell 2-6…..Shiner 1-8
Stoudt 9-7

— QB’s who started under Joe Gibbs
Joe Theismann 53-23……..Brunell 16-19……..TCollins 3-0
Mark Rypien 47-22………..JCampbell 8-12…..Rutledge 0-1
Jay Schroder 24-7………….Ramsey 4-4………..Rubbert 3-0
Doug Williams 5-9…………Humphries 3-2

— QB’s who started under Don Coryell:
Dan Fouts 72-53…….Luther 2-7………..Harris 0-2
Jim Hart 41-28………Herrmann 1-4…..Keithley 1-1

Famous birthdays, November 19th:
Bob Boone, 78
Ahmad Rashad, 76
Allison Janney, 66
Meg Ryan, 64
Ryan Howard, 46

Adam Driver, 42
Framber Valdez, 32
Joey Gallo, 32
Poona Ford, 30
Zach Collins, 28

— Apparently Florida Gators have offered Ole Miss football coach Lane Kiffin a six-year deal worth $81M; had to be awkward over the weekend, when the Rebels beat Florida, 34-24.

— Best wishes to former NFL quarterback Bernie Kosar, who underwent a liver transplant a few days ago. He says he feels good after the surgery, which is excellent news.

— Dallas Cowboys TE Jake Ferguson is the grandson of longtime Wisconsin coach/AD Barry Alvarez; Ferguson has caught 60 passes for 400 yards so far this season.

— Michigan State 83, Kentucky 66
Spartans shot 11-22 on the arc, Kentucky 7-30.
Michigan State out-rebounded Kentucky, 42-28
Kentucky is 3-2, but 0-2 vs teams ranked in the top 250.

— Duke 78, Kansas 66
Duke shot 62.5% inside arc; they only played one senior.
Kansas PG Peterson (hamstring) didn’t play.
Teams combined to shoot 11-47 on the arc.

— Florida State 87, Tenn-Martin 73
Skyhawks turned ball over 26 times, FSU only six times.
Tenn-Martin has turned ball over 27.3% of time in its D-I games.
Tenn-Martin has also covered the spread in all three D-I games.

— Texas A&M 86, Montana 81
Aggies led by 14 at half, shot 71% inside the arc.
Montana made 16-31 on arc, covered after trailing by 19.
Montana shot 59.3% inside arc in its four D-I games.

— Fresno State 80, Stephen F Austin 78
Lumberjacks led by 7 with 3:55 left to play.
Bulldogs were 11-19 on foul line, SF Austin 3-6.
Fresno State shot 64.3% inside the arc.

— Troy 108, San Diego State 107 2OT
Kid on San Diego State hit a half-court shot at the buzzer to force OT.
6-8 junior Dowd scored 25 points, had 19 rebounds for Troy.
Aztecs were 34-48 on foul line, Troy 32-43.

Pretty good week for Troy, with four games in seven days in SoCal, playing LMU, Northridge, this game and USC Thursday night. 

— Cowboys 33, Raiders 16
Dak Prescott threw for 268 yards, four TD’s.
At one point, Dallas scored TD’s on four consecutive drives.
Cowboys outgained the Raiders, 381-236
Dallas is 12-7 ATS last 19 games as a road favorite.

Raiders lost four in a row, eight of last nine games.
Last five games, Raiders ran the ball for only 49.2 yards/game.
Las Vegas averaged only 4.9 yards/pass attempt.
QB Geno Smith is 42-52 as an NFL starter.

— Bengals WR Ja’Maar Chase was suspended one game without pay for spitting on Steelers’ DB Jalen Ramsey Sunday. Chase has caught 79 passes for 861 passes this year, even with Bemgals’ QB Joe Burrow missing most of the season.

Chase is appealing the suspension, which would cost Chase his weekly paycheck of $448,333 along with a $58,823 per game active bonus.

— Atlanta Falcons QB Michael Penix hurt his knee Sunday, is expected to miss the rest of the season. Penix is 4-8 as an NFL starter; he has thrown for 1,982 yards this season, with nine TD’s, three INT’s.

— Eagles’ RT Lane Johnson hurt his foot/ankle Sunday night, is expected to miss 4-6 weeks for an 8-2 Eagles squad that leads the NFC East by 3.5 games.

— Jets are going back to Tyrod Taylor at QB this week, after throwing for a combined 147 yards in their last two games, with Justin Fields at QB.

— NFL divisional trends:
AFC East
17-10 ATS non-divisional games

AFC North
Home teams 5-0 ATS divisional games
8-19 ATS non-divisional games

AFC South
Home teams 4-1 ATS divisional games
9-7 ATS non-divisional underdog

AFC West
7-4 ATS non-divisional home favorite
1-7 ATS non-divisional road favorite

NFC East
5-10 ATS non-divisional underdog
Home teams 4-2 ATS divisional games

NFC North
3-6 ATS non-divisional underdog

NFC South
14-18 ATS non-divisional games
6-10 ATS non-divisional home games

NFC West
8-0 non-divisional road games
home teams 1-5 ATS divisional games

— College football trends, conference games:
American
Favorites 27-17 ATS

ACC
Road teams 19-11 ATS

Big 18
Home favorites 15-20 ATS
Home underdogs 10-12 ATS

Big X
Home favorites 18-20 ATS
Home underdogs 15-11 ATS

Conference USA
Home teams 23-13 ATS
Home favorites 11-8 ATS
Home underdogs 12-5 ATS

Mid-American
Home teams 28-12 ATS

Mountain West
Home favorites 12-11 ATS
Home underdogs 6-5 ATS

SEC
Home favorites 19-17 ATS
Home underdogs 8-8 ATS

Sun Belt
Home favorites 14-10 ATS
Home underdogs 11-9 ATS

— Famous birthdays, November 18th:
Kevin Nealon, 72
Warren Moon, 69
Elizabeth Perkins, 65
Jamie Moyer, 63

Dante Bichette, 62
Gary Sheffield, 57
Owen Wilson, 57

Romany Malco, 57
Sam Cassell, 56
David Ortiz, 50

Cory Littleton, 32
Logan Webb, 29
Shea Langliers, 28
Caleb Williams, 24

— 1B Josh Naylor re-signed with the Seattle Mariners, inking a five-year deal with $92.5M; Naylor hit .299 in 54 games with Seattle LY, with an OPS of .831, as he helped Seattle get to Game 7 of the ALCS. He also stole a career-high 30 bases last year. 

He is a career. 269 hitter, with a .777 OPS.

— Virginia Tech hired James Franklin as its new football coach; Franklin was 104-45 as coach at Penn State, but was fired after starting this season 3-3. He was previously 24-15 in three years at Vanderbilt; he has a career record of 8-7 in bowl games.

— North Texas is ranked #22 in this week’s football top 25, only the second time the Mean Green has ever been ranked, the first time since 1959.

— Saskatchewan Roughriders won the Grey Cup Sunday, 25-17 over Montreal, the fifth time they’ve won the CFL title, first time since 2013.

— New Orleans Pelicans fired coach Willie Green after starting the season 2-10; Pelicans were 49-33 two years ago, but got swept in first round of the playoffs, then went 21-61 last year. 

— NC State 85, VCU 79
Wolfpack led 63-62 with 9:53 left to play.
Wolfpack was 27-33 on foul line, VCU 12-18
State out-rebounded VCU, 45-31. 

— Kansas State 84, Tulsa 83
Tulsa led by 5 with 0:48 left in the game.
K-State was a 13-point favorite.
PJ Haggerty scored 31 points, had 10 rebounds.

— LMU 78, Cal-Santa Barbara 74 OT
Gauchos led by 14 with 12:30 left in regulation.
LMU won despite shooting only 15-29 on foul line.
UCSB was +8 in turnovers (6-14).
Lions are off to a 6-0 start.

— Drake 71, Charleston 62
Drake’s bench outscored Charleston’s subs, 25-10
Bulldogs put five players in double figures.
Only two guys on Charleston scored more than 7 points. 

Bears 19, Vikings 17
Chicago kicked a 48-yard FG at the gun for the win.
Bears won seven of their last eight games.
In wins, Chicago is +19 in turnovers; minus-3 in losses.
Bears are 6-0 when they allow less than 27 points.

Vikings scored TD with 0:50 left to take lead; Bears ran kickoff back 56 yards.
Both QBs completed 16 of 32 passes, in a domed stadium. Oy.
Vikings lost four of their last five games.
Last seven games, Minnesota is minus-11 in turnovers.

Dolphins 16, Commanders 13 OT
Miami won three of last four games, after a 1-6 start.
Dolphins drove 52-56 yards on first two drives, kicked two FG’s
Miami’s only TD came with 12:36 left, after a 53-yard drive.
Dolphins kicked a 29-yard FG after an INT for the walk-off win. 

Commanders lost last six games, giving up 32.5 points/game.
Washington outgained Miami 379-311, but were minus-2 in turnovers.
Commanders are 0-4 in games decided by 9 or fewer points.
Commanders are 3-8 ATS in last eleven games as an underdog.

Panthers 30, Falcons 27 OT
Panthers QB Young threw for 448 yards, three TD’s.
Atlanta tied game on 45-yard FG with 0:16 left.
Carolina won five of its last seven games.
Panthers are 4-1 when they score more than 13 points.

Atlanta has lost five games in a row, giving up 27.8 ppg.
Falcons’ first four drives: 26 plays, 228 yards, 21 points.
Atlanta rest of game: 43 plays, 108 yards, 6 points.
Falcons led 21-10 at halftime. 

Bills 44, Buccaneers 32
Bills’ drives in first half: INT-TD-TD-INT-TD
Buffalo led 21-20 at halftime.
QB Allen threw for 317 yards, 3 TD’s, ran for 40 yards, 3 more TD’s
Buffalo scored 28+ points in wins, 20-14-13 in losses.

Buffalo threw for 317 yards (10.6 yards/attempt)
Tampa Bay ran ball for 202 yards (5.2 yards/attempt)
RB Tucker ran ball for 106 yards, two TD’s.
Bucs are 4-0 giving up less than 24 points, 2-4 giving up 24+.

Texans 16, Titans 13
Texans drove 48 yards, kicked 35-yard FG for a walk-off win.
Tennessee had tied game on a TD with 1:35 left.
Houston is 5-2 in last seven games, after an 0-3 start.
Since 2016, Texans are 4-11-2 ATS as a road favorite.

Houston in first half: 37 plays, 127 yards, no points. (trailed 3-0 @ half)
Houston in second half: 36 plays, 199 yards, 16 points.
Titans ran ball 17 times for only 58 yards.
Houston won seven of last nine games vs Tennessee.

Rams 21, Seahawks 19
Rams won last five games, allowing 3-7-10-26-19 points.
Rams are 7-0 when they allow less than 26 points.
RB Williams ran for 91 yards and a TD.
Rams’ win snaps Seattle’s 10-game road winning streak.

Seattle’s three losses were by 3-4-2 points.
Seahawks outgained Rams 414-249, but Darnold threw 4 INT’s.
Seattle’s first five drives: INT-FG-FG-FG-INT
Seahawks missed a 61-yard FG on last play of the game. 

Packers 27, Giants 20
Game was tied 13-13 at halftime.
Packers drove 65 yards, scored game-winning TD with 4:02 left.
Packers converted 7-11 third down plays.
Green Bay is 6-0-1 when it scores 27+ points, 0-3 otherwise.

Giants lost last five games, giving up 31.2 ppg.
QB Winston 19-29/201 passing, in his first start for the Giants.
Giants went over their team total in six of last eight games.
Giants are +4 in turnovers in wins, minus-11 in losses.

Steelers 34, Bengals 12
Steelers lost QB Rodgers (broken bone in left wrist in 2nd quarter)
Steelers scored two defensive TD’s in the second half.
Steelers are 5-0 when they allow less than 25 points.
Pittsburgh is +14 in turnovers in its wins, minus-6 in losses.

Pittsburgh led 10-6 at halftime.
Bengals in 2nd half: 38 plays, 205 yards, outscored 24-6.
Bengals lost seven of their last eight games.
Cincinnati is 2-6 ATS in last eight AFC North road games.

Jaguars 35, Chargers 6
Jaguars outgained the Chargers, 345-135.
Jacksonville led 14-6 at halftime.
Jaguars’ first 3 drives in 2nd half: 29 plays, 154 yards, 21 points,
Jaguars are 6-2 ATS last eight games as a home underdog.

Chargers’ first four drives: 24 plays, 52 yards, six points.
Chargers rest of game: 17 plays, 83 yards, no points.
Jaguars didn’t punt once the whole game.
Chargers are 1-3 when they allow more than 21 points. 

49ers 41, Cardinals 22
49ers ran opening kickoff back 98 yards, scored on next play.
49ers in first half: 26 plays, 197 yards, 25 points.
San Francisco led 25-10 at halftime.
McCaffrey ran for 81 yards, two TD’s, caught five passes, scored another TD

Arizona committed 17 penalties for 130 yards.
Cardinals lost seven of their last eight games.
Cardinals are 6-14 ATS in last 20 NFC West home games.
Brissett was 47-57/452 passing; 47 completions is an NFL record. 

Ravens 23, Browns 16
Cleveland led this game 16-10 after three quarters.
Ravens drove 44 yards, scored game-winning TD with 2:31 left.
Baltimore won its last four games, scoring 30-28-27-23 points. 
Last five games, Ravens allowed 17-16-6-19-16 points.

Ravens outgained Cleveland 351-187
Browns QB Gabriel (concussion) sat out the second half.
Backup QB Sanders was 4-16/47 passing, with an INT.
Home teams are 9-0 ATS in Cleveland games this year.

Broncos 22, Chiefs 19
Denver drove 58 yards, kicked 35-yard FG for a walk-off win.
Broncos won their last eight games (5-3 ATS)
Six of their last seven wins were by 4 or fewer points.
Denver is 10-6-1 ATS in last 17 AFC West home games.

Kansas City is 5-5 for the first time since 2015.
Chiefs are 0-5 TY in one-score games (were 12-0 LY)
Chiefs in first half: 37 plays, 157 yards, 6 points (was 6-6 at half)
Chiefs in 2nd half: 26 plays, 203 yards, 13 points

Eagles 16, Lions 9
Eagles led 13-6 at the half; not much happened after halftime.
Philly is 14-6 ATS in last 20 games coming off a win.
Last three weeks, opponents ran ball for only 82.7 yards/game.
Eagles lead the NFC East by 3.5 games, a big lead. 

Goff completed only 14-37 passes, playing with a glove on right hand.
Detroit converted 3-13 third down plays, 0-5 on fourth down.
Lions are 5-0 when they score 34+ points, 1-4 when they don’t.
Detroit missed PAT after their only TD; WR Williams got 15-yard penalty for gloating, and the kicker missed the 48-yard PAT on a windy night. 

— Texas A&M 31, South Carolina 30
South Carolina led this game 30-3 at halftime.
A&M QB Reed threw for 439 yards, three TD’s.
Aggies are 10-0 for the first time since 1992.
Since 2004, SEC teams had lost 286 consecutive games when trailing by 27+ points.

— Oklahoma 23, Alabama 21
Sooners’ first TD came on an 87-yard pick-6.
Crimson Tide outgained Oklahoma, 406-212, but they had 3 turnovers.
Alabama also missed a 36-yard field goal, allowed a 46-yard punt return.
Alabama had its 17-game home winning streak snapped.

— Michigan 24, Northwestern 22
Michigan drove 50 yards, kicked 31-yard field goal at the gun.
Wolverines led 21-9 after three quarters, but blew that lead.
Michigan was 9-14 on third down, Northwestern 2-12.
This game was played at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

— USC 26, Iowa 21
Iowa led 21-7 with 2:00 left in first half, on a rainy day in LA.
WR Lemon caught ten passes for 153 yards and a TD.
Trojans are 7-2, 7-0 when they allow less than 34 points.
Iowa’s four losses this year are by a total of 15 points.

— Georgia Tech 36, Boston College 34
Tech drove 68 yards, kicked a 23-yard FG with 0:11 left for the win.
Boston College led 28-17 after three quarters.
Tech QB King threw for 371 yards and a TD.
Boston College ran for 257 yards, but lost their 10 game in a row.

— Arizona State 25, West Virginia 23
Sun Devils kicked a 49-yard FG with 2:44 left for the winning score.
ASU led this game 22-10 at halftime.
QB Sims threw for 207 yards, three TD’s, ran for 81 more yards.
West Virginia threw for 353 yards (11.4 yards/attempt)

— LSU 23, Arkansas 22
Tigers drove 92 yards, scored game-winning TD with 7:53 left.
Arkansas led 14-0 after the first quarter.
LSU was 8-17 on third down, Arkansas 2-11.
Razorbacks have lost eight games in a row, six of them by 6 or fewer points.

— Football Upsets of the Week:
Navy (+10.5) 41, South Florida 38
Nevada (+9.5) 55, San Jose State 10
Arizona (+6.5) 30, Cincinnati 24
Oklahoma (+6.5) 23, Alabama 21
Kent State (+6.5) 42, Akron 35, OT
Virginia (+5.5) 34, Duke 17

— Famous birthdays, November 16th:
Don Hahn, 77
Herb Washington, 73
Marg Helgenberger, 67
Dwight Gooden, 61

Maggie Gyllenhaal, 48
Amare Stoudemire, 43
Pete Davidson, 32
Jason Sanders, 30

— UConn 86, BYU 84
Huskies had three players score 21 points each.
UConn led 43-32 at halftime.
Both teams shot over 60% inside the arc.

— Nebraska 105, Oklahoma 99
Oklahoma led by 16 with 6:00 left in first half.
Nebraska made 15-27 shots on the arc.
Cornhuskers scored 1.46 points/possession, ridiculously high.

— SMU 87, Butler 85
Butler led 38-29 with 3:56 left in the first half.
SMU shot 63% inside the arc
Butler was only 14-23 on the foul line.

— Georgetown 79, Clemson 74
Hoyas are 4-0, with wins over Tigers, Maryland.
6-4 junior Lewis scored 26 points (11-14 on foul line)
Clemson led by 7 with 9:07 left in first half.

— Maryland 89, Marquette 82
Maryland shot 63.6% inside the arc
Marquette shot 11-40 on the arc, 17-36 inside the arc.
Game was tied 42-42 at halftime.

— East Tennessee State 78, North Alabama 74
North Alabama led by 9 with 4:37 left in the game.
ETSU shot 57.1% inside the arc.
Buccaneers are 3-1, but against schedule #276.

— Santa Clara 98, Nevada 83
Santa Clara shot 72.2% inside the arc.
Broncos made 12-25 on the arc, scored 1.40 points/possession.
Santa Clara is 4-0; they led 48-34 at halftime. 

— Arizona 69, UCLA 65
UCLA led by 8 with 7:18 left in the game.
Bruins shot only 39% inside the arc.
Arizona is 4-0, with wins over Florida/UCLA.

It is ridiculous that these teams aren’t in the same league anymore.

— Gonzaga 77, Arizona State 65
Graham Ike scored 20 points, had nine rebounds.
Gonzaga out-rebounded the Sun Devils, 45-31

ASU coach Bobby Hurley continues to be a jerk where refs are concerned; he never stops bitching at the officials. Gonzaga was 27-35 on the foul line, because Arizona State commits a lot of fouls. Ike was 12-15 on the foul line, ASU’s whole team was 13-23.

— Central Florida 86, Texas A&M 74
Aggies led by 13 points with 9:25 left to play.
UCF outscored A&M 40-15 in the last 10:00 of the game.
Knights are shooting 52.4% behind the arc, #2 in the country.

— Michigan 67, TCU 63
TCU led by six with 11:30 left in the game.
Michigan out-rebounded the Horned Frogs, 44-23
Wolverines are 3-0; they won last two games, by total of five points.

— Colorado 97, Providence 88
Colorado outscored Providence 58-50 in the second half.
Buffs’ subs outscored Providence’s bench, 45-20.
Colorado out-rebounded the Friars, 43-32.

— Washington 81, Washington State 69
Huskies shot 60% inside the arc.
Wazzu’s subs scored 37 points, their starters 32.
Why aren’t these teams in the same league? College sports have gone crazy.

— Georgia 92, Georgia Tech 87
Dawgs were 32-44 on foul line, Tech 17-28.
Yellow Jackets led by 8 with 14:01 left in the game.
6-1 soph Wilkinson scored 18 points in 24:00 off the bench.

— Famous birthdays, November 15th:
Sam Waterston, 85
Bob Dandridge, 78
Beverly D’Angelo, 74
Greg Anthony, 58

Ethan Westbrooks, 35
Trevor Story, 33
Karl-Anthony Towns, 30
Wyatt Langford, 24

— Clemson 20, Louisville 19
Clemson drove 56 yards, scored game-winning TD with 7:16 left
Louisville missed a PAT and a 46-yard field goal.
Cardinals outgained Clemson 385-308, but had 84 penalty yards.

— Oregon 42, Minnesota 13
Oregon QB Moore was 27-30/306 passing, with two TD’s.
Ducks outgained Minnesota 510-200.
Only nine of Oregon’s 63 plays were on third down (6-9).

— Warriors 109, Spurs 108
Seth Curry scored 49 points, was 9-17 on the arc.

— Knicks 140, Heat 132
Karl-Anthony Towns scored 39 points, Landry Shamet 36

— Rockets 140, Trail Blazers 116
Houston has won eight of its last nine games.

— Lakers 118, Pelicans 104
Lakers are 9-4 and Lebron James hasn’t played yet.

— Clippers 133, Mavericks 127, 2OT
James Harden scored 41 points, had 14 rebounds, 11 assists. 

— Patriots 27, Jets 14
Jets drove 72 plays on 14 plays on first drive, led 7-0.
Jets’ next four drives: 15 plays, 25 yards, four punts.
Jets averaged only 3.6 yards/pass attempt.
QB Fields is 16-37 as an NFL starter.

Patriots won their last eight games (7-1 ATS).
New England outgained the Jets, 336-245.
New England won 18 of last 20 series games.
Jets are 1-10 SU/2-8-1 ATS in last 11 visits to Foxboro.

— Old Dominion 33, Troy 0
QB Joseph threw for 147 yards and a TD, ran for 90 yards, 2 TD’s
7-3 Old Dominion ran ball 47 times for 351 yards (7.5 yards/carry).
Monarchs outgained Troy, 503-138.

— Purdue 87, Alabama 80
Alabama led by 4 with 11:34 left in the game.
Crimson Tide shot 16-44 on the arc, 12-22 inside the arc.
Senior G Smith scored 29 points for Purdue.

— West Virginia 71, Pittsburgh 49
Solid win for the Big X against an ACC team.
4-0 Mountaineers led 34-25 at halftime.
Pitt shot just 5-20 on the arc, was only 4-6 on foul line.

— Wednesday night at Oregon State, Beavers were tied 64-64 vs North Texas with 0:05 left; UNT had the ball- they called timeout, but they didn’t have a timeout, so Oregon State made the foul shots and won a game they trailed 59-46 with 7:11 left, 64-57 with 2:10 left.

Oregon State is 3-0, with wins by 2-3-2 points. 

— Kansas State 99, California 96
Cal lost despite shooting 15-28 on the arc.
K-State shot 70.7% inside the arc, scored 1.27 points/possession.
Thru three games, 3-0 K-State is shooting 37-68 (54.4%) on the arc.

— Tennessee-Martin is off to a 3-0 start, with wins at UNLV, Bradley.

Skyhawks were a 16-point underdog at UNLV
Skyhawks were a 15-point underdog at Bradley

All five of Tennessee-Martin’s starters are from eastern Europe; their poster has guys from 11 different countries. The NIL era has made college ball more appealing to foreign players.

— Louisville beat Kentucky 96-88 the other night; Cardinals are 3-0 this season and in 1+ years under Pat Kelsey, Louisville is 30-8, after going 25-71 the three years before Kelsey was hired.

Louisville is playing #26 pace so far this year, shooting 68.8% inside the arc (#6). ACC teams are a combined 49-6 so far this season; it is still early, but ACC looks like a much-improved league.

— Famous birthdays, November 14th:
Jack Sikma, 70
Patrick Warburton, 61
Curt Schilling, 59
Josh Duhamel, 53
Aaron Taylor, 53

Xavier Nady, 47
Matt LaFleur, 46
Kyle Orton, 43
Francisco Lindor, 32
DeVonta Smith, 27

— Cal Raleigh hit 60 home runs this year as a switch-hitting catcher, playing home games in a ballpark that is a lousy hitter’s park, but he didn’t win MVP, Aaron Judge did.

Judge is a great player, no doubt, but Raleigh led Seattle to its first division title in over 20 years; if he did what he did in New York, he might’ve been a unanimous MVP.

— Dodgers have won the last two World Series; they have $87M coming off their payroll this winter, which will allow them to re-stock the shelves with some more good players, and they generally get whoever they want in free agency.

— There were 54 relief pitchers this season with 5+ saves.

— Free agent Kyle Schwarber is going to break the bank this winter; he hit 23 home runs against lefty pitchers this season, the most homers EVER by a lefty hitter against lefty pitchers.

— The family of the late San Diego Padres owner Peter Seidler is looking into selling the team; Padres have made the playoffs three times in the last four years and won 90+ games in back-to-back seasons- they drew 3M+ fans the last three years.

— Stephen Curry and sneaker company Under Armour are parting ways and ending their long-standing partnership; Curry left Nike and signed with Under Armour in 2013. Curry’s new brand, Curry Brand, will move forward independently- he’ll be a sneaker free agent.

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

So began every episode of The Odd Couple, one of the funniest TV shows ever, about a finicky photographer sharing an apartment in New York City with a sloppy sportswriter.

I spent countless hours watching re-runs on Odd Couple reruns on TV; the show is still out there on TV, on Paramount+ or Prime Video. Great stuff.

Happy Felix Unger Day!!!!

By the way, the late Garry Marshall was one of the creators of The Odd Couple; November 13 was his birthday.

— Jameis Winston is starting at QB for the Giants this week, when they host Green Bay in their first game under interim coach Mike Kafka. 

Winston has a 36-51 record as an NFL starter; he was 2-5 starting for Cleveland last year.

— Cardinals’ WR Marvin Harrison Jr had an appendectomy, is out for a few weeks; Harrison has caught 31 passes for 492 yards and three TD’s.

— You think about the NFL games in Europe that start at 9:30am here in New York, then think about the poor souls that work in Las Vegas sports books. Those games start at 6:30am out there, so the people who take the bets probably have to be there at 5:30 or so. Not great; the casinos are open 24 hours a day, the sports books are not.

— Famous birthdays, November 13th:
Wes Parker, 86
Joe Mantegna, 78
Chris Noth, 71
Whoopi Goldberg, 70

Rex Linn, 69
Jimmy Kimmel, 58
Pat Hentgen, 57
Gerard Butler, 56

Ron Artest, 46
Asdrubal Cabrera, 40
Trevor Rogers, 28
Brett Baty, 26

— Central Michigan 38, Buffalo 19
Chippewas scored two defensive touchdowns.
Buffalo gained 398 yards, but turned ball over five times.
Central Michigan is bowl eligible for first time in four years. 

— Northern Illinois 45, UMass 3
Huskies led 31-0 at halftime.
NIU outgained UMass, 433-262.
Huskies ran for 318 yards, only threw 8 passes the whole game.

— Toledo 24, Miami 3
Both teams turned ball over three times.
With the win, Toledo is bowl eligible.
Miami was 5-16 on third down, 2-6 on fourth down. 

— Kent State 42, Akron 35 OT
Kent State led this game 35-17 in the 4th quarter.
Akron forced OT, scoring a TD with 1:59 left in regulation.
Kent QB DeShields threw for 317 yards, five TD’s. 

— Western Michigan 17, Ohio U 13
Western Michigan becomes bowl eligible with the win.
Both teams ran ball for over 200 yards.
Teams combined to convert only 3-19 third down plays. 

— Movie of the Day: PS I Love You (2007)- A young widow discovers that her late husband left her ten messages intended to help ease her pain, and to help her start a new life. 

Gerard Butler plays the husband, Hillary Swank the widow; also in the cast: Gina Gershon, Lisa Kudrow, Kathy Bates, Harry Connick Jr. Very good movie.

— Michigan-Northwestern have a football game at Wrigley Field this week; Northwestern’s home stadium is being renovated this year. Wildcats are 5-4 right now, Michigan 7-2.

— Dallas Mavericks fired GM Nico Harrison after the team started out 3-8; Dallas traded star Luka Doncic to the Lakers last year, then went 39-43, aggravating a lot of the fanbase; they won the draft lottery and took Cooper Flagg this year, but the team is off to another rough start.

— NBA trends, dealing with teams playing back/back nights:
Home teams who played on road night before are 1-8 ATS
Home teams who played at home night before are 15-9 ATS

Road teams who played at home night before are 5-3 ATS
Road teams who played on road night before are 11-10 ATS

— Michigan 85, Wake Forest 84
Deacons led 77-70, missed nine of last 10 shots from floor.
Michigan was 25-37 on foul line, Wake 16-21
Michigan big man Mara had 18 points, 13 rebounds, six assists.
Watching this game, it felt a lot like March. Excellent game. 

— Illinois 81, Texas Tech 77
Stojakovic scored 23 points in 26:00 off the bench.
JT Toppin scored 35 points for Tech
Illinois was 16-23 on foul line, Red Raiders 3-4

— Gonzaga 90, Creighton 63
Zags outscored Creighton 46-25 in second half.

Rough start to season for Big East:
DePaul lost to Buffalo
Xavier lost to Santa Clara
Marquette lost by 23 to Indiana
St John’s lost to Arizona, giving up 103 points.
Villanova lost to BYU.
Providence lost to Virginia Tech

— Florida 78, Florida State 76
Gators were favored by 16.5 points.
Florida out-rebounded the Seminoles, 58-36
Florida shot 57.6% inside the arc, was minus-8 in turnovers. 

— Louisville 96, Kentucky 88
Louisville had only six turnovers, shot 62.1% inside the arc.
Cardinals were 13-40 on the arc, 18-29 inside the arc.
Louisville led 53-46 at halftime.

— Cincinnati 74, Dayton 62
Dayton shot 2-26 behind the arc.
Cincinnati led 27-11 early, turned ball over 24 times (minus-11)

— Ole Miss 83, Memphis 77
Ole Miss made 8 of their 13 3-point shots.
Rebels were 21-33 on foul line, Memphis 14-20.

— Cal-Santa Barbara 92, Sacramento State 87
Gauchos shot 13-27 on arc, scored 1.26 points/possession.
Thru three games, UCSB’s eFG% is 62.6% (#17 in country)

— Arkansas State 86, Missouri State 85
Missouri State led by 16 late in the first half.
Arkansas State scored 33 points in 1st half, 53 in 2nd half. 

— Central Connecticut 60, Boston College 59
Eagles have already lost to FAU and now this game. Not good for a program that hasn’t had a winning record in the ACC since 2011. BC led this game by 11 early in the second half. 

— Famous birthdays, November 12th:
Al Michaels, 81
Neil Young, 80
Jody Davis, 69
Ryan Gosling, 45

Anne Hathaway, 43
Charlie Morton, 42
Russell Westbrook, 37
Marcell Ozuna, 35

Dexter Lawrence, 28
Terrell Burgess, 27
Addison Barger, 26
Paolo Banchero, 23

— New Jersey Jets are the only team since 1950 with zero or one takeaway in their first nine games of a season.

Since 1950, fewest takeaways in first nine games:
1- Jets, 2025
3- Jets, 2014
4- Falcons, 2019
4- Steelers 2011

— Tampa Bay Bucs’ rookie WR Emeka Egbuka was the 2011 national champion in the Pitch, Hit and Run baseball competition, when he was 10 years old.

— When the Houston Texans rallied to beat the Jaguars 36-29 Sunday, it was the first-ever NFL game that ended with a 36-29 score.

— LSU fired football coach Brian Kelly when he had $54M left on his contract; now the school is trying to weasel out of paying Kelly what they owe him, A lawyer who is familiar with cases like this says that when all is said and done, it is highly unlikely that Kelly won’t get all that money.

— Listening to lot of early season college basketball games, have already heard 3-4 guys say that this is the best freshman class in college basketball in the last 20 years..

— St John’s is expected to be a Top 5/Top 10 team this year, but they only have one player from New York City, which is unusual for them.

— ESPN is putting out Bracketology already, predicting the 68-team brackets for the NCAA Tournament, which starts more than four months from now. Give it a rest guys, let the kids play some games before projecting the tournament.