Author: Armadillo Sports

I write this with a heavy heart; this weekend in Los Angeles, Rob Reiner and his wife were murdered in their home- their 32-year old son is being charged with the crime.

Rob Reiner was a film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and political activist; he was smart, decent, funny and very talented. We need more decent people in this world.

Our world is a lesser place today. RIP to the Reiners.

— Steelers 28, Dolphins 15
Pittsburgh won its 23rd straight Monday night home game.
Steelers are 8-6, lead AFC North by a game over the Ravens.
Steelers-Ravens play in Week 18 in Pittsburgh.
Rodgers was 23-27/224 passing, with two TD’s.

Dolphins in first 3 quarters on a cold night: 26 plays, 82 yards, 3 points.
Kicker Patterson booted a career-high 54-yard FG for an early 3-0 lead.
Miami only ran the ball 16 times, for 63 yards.
Miami is 5-11 ATS last 16 games as a road underdog.

— I’d like to see a breakdown of each quarterback’s interceptions:
Underthrows
Overthrows
Balls that bounced off of receivers’ hands
Deflected passes

Field position for the INT’s; think it would be interesting.

— First three picks in the 2024 NFL Draft:
Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye. All quarterbacks. 

If that draft was held tomorrow, would they still go in the same order?

— Atlanta Falcons committed 19 penalties for 125 yards last week, and they still won at Tampa Bay. Hard to win with that many penalties.

— Famous birthdays, December 16:
Joyce Bulifant, 88
Jan van Breda Kolff, 74
Bart Oates, 67
Jeff Ruland, 67

Jerry Gray, 63
William Perry, 63
Bill Ripken, 61
Pete Fairbanks, 32

— Why are Oklahoma/Oklahoma State in different leagues?
Same with Washington/Washington State, Oregon-Oregon State.

It is nonsensical.

— Arizona Wildcats are first college basketball team in the last 30 years to beat five top 25 teams in the first nine games of a season.

— Hofstra beat Syracuse 70-69 in the Carrier Dome Saturday; Hofstra made 12-18 shots on the arc, 6-6 on the foul line, 10 days after they lost to Columbia of the Ivy League.

— Movie of the Day: A Few Good Men (1992)- A military lawyer tries to prove that two US Marines charged with murdering a fellow Marine were only following their base commander’s orders. Tremendous movie, directed by Rob Reiner, written by Aaron Sorkin.

Excellent cast: Tom Cruise, Demi Moore, Kevin Pollak are the lawyers defending the Marines, Kevin Bacon is the opposing lawyer, Jack Nicholson is a Marine colonel- the scene when he is on the witness stand is one of the best scenes in movie history.

JT Walsh, Kiefer Sutherland, Noah Wyle, Joshua Malina are also in this movie, which you can see on BBC America these days.

Baseball transactions:
— Phillies signed OF Adolis Garcia for one year, $10M

— Twins signed 1B Josh Bell for one year, $7M

— Diamondbacks signed P Merrill Kelly for two years, $40M

— Mets signed IF/DH Jorge Polanco for two years, $40M

— Royals signed 3B Maikel Garcia for five years, $57.5M

— Blue Jays signed reliever Tyler Rogers for three years, $37M

— The guy that runs the Cardinals now, Chaim Bloom, is the guy who traded Mookie Betts to the Dodgers, when he was running the Red Sox. Yikes.

— Arizona 2B Ketel Marte’s no-trade list:
A’s
Pirates
Giants
Cardinals
Bronx

Bills 35, Patriots 31
New England led 21-0 3:00 before halftime.
Bills’ next six drives: 47 plays, 298 yards, 5 TD’s.
Buffalo is 9-0 when they score more than 20 points.
Bills won five of their last seven games.

Loss snaps New England’s 10-game winning streak.
Patriots still lead Buffalo by game in AFC East.
Patriots ran ball 25 times for 246 yards (9.8 yards/carry)
New England is 4-14-1 ATS last 19 games as a home underdog.

Broncos 34, Packers 26
Green Bay led 16-14 at halftime.
Denver first 4 drives in 2nd half: 30 plays, 202 yards, 21 points.
Broncos won their last 11 games, last six by 8 or fewer points.
Bo Nix threw for 302 yards, four TD’s.

Packers lost star LB Parsons (tore ACL) for the year.
Packers are 6-15-1 ATS last 22 games as a road favorite.
Green Bay was penalized 10 times for 75 yards.
Green Bay splits to the #7-seed in the NFC, last playoff spot. 

Seahawks 18, Colts 16
Seattle kicked a 56-yard FG with 0:18 left for the win.
Colts had kicked a 60-yard FG with 0:47 left to take 16-15 lead.
Seahawks had 10 drives, scored no TD’s, kicked six FG’s.
Seattle ran ball 22 times for 50 yards; they were 2-13 on third down.

44-year old Philip Rivers threw for 120 yards in his first game in five years.
Seahawks outgained Indianapolis, 314-215.
Colts are 7-3 ATS last ten games as a road underdog.
Colts are 8-0 scoring 29+ points (20-20-20-16-16 in losses)

Chargers 16, Chiefs 13
Chiefs will be out of the playoffs for first time since 2014.
QB Mahomes tore his ACL near the end of the game.
Kansas City led 13-10 at halftime.
Chiefs in second half: 27 plays, 113 yards, 2 punts, 2 INT’s.

Chargers won six of their last seven games.
Bolts are 6-1 in games decided by 7 or fewer points.
Chargers are 9-1 when they allow 21 or fewer points.
Chargers are currently the #5-seed in the AFC. 

Saints 20, Panthers 17
Carolina/Tampa Bay are both 7-7, tied for 1st in NFC South.
They play each other in two of the last three games.
Rookie K Smyth kicked 47-yard game-winning FG at the gun.
Carolina led 17-10 with 3:00 left in the game. 

Carolina is 5-1 when they score 27+ points, 2-6 when they don’t
Saints are 3-2 in last five games, after a 1-7 start.
New Orleans outgained the Panthers, 337-281.
Carolina was penalized 11 times for 103 yards.

Rams 41, Lions 34
Detroit led 24-17 at halftime.
Lions’ first three drives of 2nd half: 9 plays, 6 yards, 3 punts.
Rams’ first three drives of 2nd half: 22 plays, 179 yards, 17 points.
Former Ram Goff threw for 338 yards, three TD’s. 

Former Lion Stafford threw for 368 yards, two TD’s.
WR Nacua caught nine passes for 181 yards.
Rams won eight of their last nine games.
Rams are 19-9 ATS in last 28 games as a favorite.

Ravens 24, Bengals 0
Bengals were shut out for first time with Burrow at QB.
Cincinnati had four drives get into Raven territory, but didn’t score.
Bengals ran 71 plays, but were only 3-15 on third down.
Ravens scored on a 95-yard pick-6 in fourth quarter. 

Baltimore won its fourth straight road game.
RB Henry ran ball 11 times for 100 yards.
Ravens are 16-9 ATS last 25 games as a road favorite.
Ravens won six of last seven series games.

Famous birthdays, December 15th:
Art Howe, 79
Don Johnson, 76
Mo Vaughn, 58

Rodney Harrison, 53
Joey Bart, 29
Jonathan India, 29

Jaguars 48, Jets 20
QB Lawrence threw for 330 yards, five TD’s. 
Jaguars’ first three drives: 19 times, 161 yards, 21 points.
Jacksonville won their last five games, giving up 10.4 ppg 
Jaguars are 10-1 if they allow fewer than 31 points.

Jacksonville leads Houston by a game in AFC South.
Jaguars are 7-4 ATS last eleven games as a home favorite.
Jets are 0-9 when they score less than 27 points.
Undrafted rookie QB Cook threw for 176 yards in his first NFL start. 

Texans 40, Cardinals 20
QB Stroud threw for 260 yards, three TD’s.
Houston won its last six games, is right now #7-seed in AFC.
Houston’s first five drives: 34 plays, 213 yards, TD, three FG’s.
Texans led 23-7 at halftime. 

Cardinals lost six in row, 11 of last 12 games.
Last six games, Arizona gave up 37.8 ppg.
Last five games, Arizona ran ball for 36-55-95-51-72 yards.
Cardinals are 0-8 when they allow more than 22 points.

Bears 31, Browns 3
Cleveland’s first six drives: 21 plays, 57 yards, six punts.
Chicago led 14-0 at halftime.
Bears won six of seven, 10 of last 12 games.
Bears lead NFC North by half-game, are #2-seed in NFC.

Bears outgained Cleveland, 361-192.
Cleveland lost six of its last seven games.
Last four games, Browns are minus-7 in turnovers.
Browns are 0-11 when they allow more than 10 points.

Commanders 29, Giants 21
Washington snaps an eight-game losing skid.
Washington’s first four drives: 31 plays, 176 yards, 13 points.
Commanders led 22-7 at halftime.
QB Mariota threw for 211 yards and a TD.

Giants lost their last eight games (3-5 ATS)
Giants were favored for the first time this season.
Giants are 9-14 ATS in last 23 NFC East home games.
Eight of Giants’ last nine games went over the total.

Eagles 31, Raiders 0
Raiders in first half: 25 plays, 53 yards, no points.
Backup QB Pickett was 15-25/64 passing in his first start this year.
Eagles were 10-13 on third down, Raiders 3-12.
Raiders lost eight games in a row, and 12 of last 13.

Philadelphia led 17-0 at halftime.
Total yardage: Eagles 387, Raiders 75
Eagles lead NFC East by 2.5 games, are #3-seed in NFC.
Philly is 6-0 when they score more than 21 points.

49ers 37, Titans 24
49ers’ first five drives: 52 plays, 352 yards, 31 points.
San Francisco led 17-10 at halftime.
49ers were 9-15 on third down, Tennessee 3-9.
49ers won last four games, by 19-11-18-13 points.

Tennessee lost eight of its last nine games.
49ers outgained Tennessee, 430-306.
Titans are 8-17 ATS in last 25 games as an underdog.
Tennessee is 0-10 ATS last ten games coming off a win.

Vikings 34, Cowboys 26
Vikings averaged 10.4 yards per pass attempt.
McCarthy threw for 250 yards and two TD’s.
Vikings won last two games, scoring 31-34 points.
Minnesota is 5-0 when it scores 27+ points.

Dallas outgained Vikings 423-327, tried FG’s on 6 of last 7 drives.
Dallas is 5-0-1 scoring 33+ points, 1-7 scoring less than 33.
Cowboys were 2-12 on third down, Minnesota 2-9.
Over is 5-2 in their home games this year.

— Gonzaga 82, UCLA 72
UCLA led by a hoop with 11:46 left in the game.
Gonzaga shot 55% inside the arc.
Zags are 10-1, with six top 100 wins. 

— Kansas 77, NC State 76 OT
Council scored 36 points, including Jayhawks’ last 13 points in regulation.
Council shot 9-15 on the arc; rest of the Kansas team was 2-15.
Kansas freshman Peterson re-injured his hamstring late in this game.

— Arizona 96, Alabama 75
Alabama led this game 41-39 at halftime.
6-4 frosh Burries scored 28 points, had 7 rebounds.
Arizona had only 4 turnovers, Alabama 15.
Wildcats out-rebounded Alabama, 52-32

— Arkansas 93, Texas Tech 86
Tech led by 10 points late in the first half
Red Raiders only used six players in this game.
Arkansas shot 10-19 on the arch, scored 1.36 ppp.

— Butler 113, Providence 110, 2OT
6-7 senior Ajayi scored 28 points, had 15 rebounds.
Providence led by 8 early in the second half.
Butler is 8-2, with the #45 eFG% in the country.

— Basketball Upsets of the Day:
UMass (+11.5) 103, Florida State 95
Hofstra (+10.5) 70, Syracuse 69
Nebraska (+9.5) 83, Illinois 80

Western Illinois (+7.5) 69, North Dakota 66 OT
DePaul (+6.5) 61, Wichita State 58
Murray State (+6.5) 115, Akron 100

Ohio U (+5.5) 88, St Bonaventure 83 OT
North Dakota State (+5.5) 99, Drake 94
Georgia State (+5.5) 77, Jacksonville State 73

— Navy 17, Army 16
Navy drove 50 yards, scored game-winning TD with 6:37 left.
Navy was 11-18 on third down, Army 3-10.
Last 20 years, under is now 18-2 in this game.

— Washington 38, Boise State 10
Huskies led 24-3 at halftime.
Washington QB Williams threw for 214 yards, four TD’s.
Boise is 1-4 SU/0-5 ATS in its last five bowls.

— Mets signed IF Jorge Polanco for two years, $40M; Polanco hit 26 homers last year, had an .821 OPS. He’ll be 33 in July, is expected to play some 1B and also be a DH.

— St Louis Cardinals signed P Dustin May to a one-year contract; he was 7-11, 4.96 last year for the Red Sox/Dodgers, throwing a career-high 132 innings.

— Kansas City Royals traded lefty P Angel Zerpa to Milwaukee for OF Isaac Collins, P Nick Mears. Zerpa was 5-2, 4.18 in 69 IP last year, with only two starts and no saves in 69 games. Collins hit .263 in 130 games LY, with 16 stolen bases. Mears was 5-3, 3.49 in 63 games, with one save, no starts.

— Famous birthdays, December 14th:
Dee Wallace, 77
Tony Nathan, 69
Craig Biggio, 60
Eldridge Recasner, 58
Scott Hatteberg, 56

Vanessa Hudgens, 37
Adam Frazier, 34
Taylor Ward, 32
Ryan McMahon, 31
DK Metcalf, 28

— Kentucky 72, Indiana 60
First win for Kentucky in five games vs top 100 teams.
Hoosiers led 39-32 at halftime.
Indiana had 18 turnovers, Kentucky had 4.
Teams combined to shoot 7-39 on the arc.

— Arizona State 82, Santa Clara 79
Santa Clara led 55-38 at halftime.
ASU’s coach got thrown out when Sun Devils were down 19 early in 2nd half.
Arizona State shot 59.4% inside the arc.

— Ohio State 89, West Virginia 88, 2OT
Buckeyes were down 14 with 12:53 left in the game.
West Virginia was 12-26 on arc, Ohio State 4-21.
Four players on West Virginia played 40:00+.

— Nebraska 83, Illinois 80
Lawrence hit a 3-pointer with less than 0:01 left for the win.
Nebraska is 11-0, with six top 100 wins.
Only 63 possessions, slow pace; Cornhuskers scored 1.32 ppp.

— Michigan 101, Maryland 83
Maryland led by 9 early in the second half.
Michigan shot 59% inside arc, scored 1.44 ppp.
Wolverines are 10-0, with eight wins by 18+ points. 

Here’s a look at 10 of the better leagues in college basketball

— Big East
Rick Pitino is 56-21 in 2+ seasons at St John’s.
His son Richard is the new coach at Xavier, also in the Big East.
St John’s-Xavier play this year January 24/February 9

Right now, Big East is #5 league, their worst ranking in five years.
Big East has only 2 of top 35 teams in KenPom ratings. 

Seton Hall is 9-1, but they’ve played schedule #316
5-5 Marquette is ranked #92, their lowest ranking since 2016.

— SEC
SEC is #1 league right now, with 8 of the top 30 teams in country.
Vanderbilt is 9-0; only unbeaten team in SEC. Commodores have four top 100 wins, have the #4 eFG% in the country.
11 of 16 SEC teams are in the top 100 in experience.

Auburn is playing at tempo #176, their slowest tempo since 2012.
Texas A&M is #15 in experience, #339 in continuity; their subs play 8th-most minutes. New coach McMillan was 93-39 coaching Samford the last four years. 

Kentucky is a disappointing 6-4; their best win is over #198 Valparaiso.

— ACC
Ranked #4 league right now, their best ranking since 2020.
Duke is 10-0, with five top 100 wins; their eFG% defense is #1 in country. 

9-1 Virginia is playing #221 tempo, their fastest pace since 2009.

ACC has six of the top 30 teams in the country. 

ACC has six top 100 teams in continuity, four teams outside top 300 in continuity . 

— Big 18
7-3 Wisconsin is playing pace #57, their fastest pace this century; over half their shots from the floor this season have been 3’s (33.1%, #191)

Indiana is #1 in country in experience, #347 in continuity- they did lot of poaching.
Nebraska is 9-0, 5-0 vs top 100 foes; going back to last year, they’ve won 14 games in a row.
9-1 Purdue is #21 in experience, #7 in continuity; they’re 4-1 vs top 100 teams. 

Michigan is 9-0, with seven wins by 25+ points; Dusty May got Florida Atlantic to the Final Four three years ago, Florida freakin’ Atlantic. Wow.

— Mountain West
Right now, Mountain West is #6 league, their 6th year in a row in top 7.
8 of 12 teams in the league are outside the top 200 in continuity. 

Colorado State is 8-2, making 45.4% of their 3’s (#1 in country); half their shots this season have come from behind the arc. 

Utah State is 8-1; they’ve played only four home games. Jerrod Calhoun is their 6th coach win 12 years, with only one losing season during that time.

UNLV is 4-5; new coach, lot of new players (#335 in continuity); lot of their big guys have been hurt, but the Rebels have won at Memphis/at Stanford.

Famous birthdays, December 13th:
Dick Van Dyke, 100
Ferguson Jenkins, 83
Dave Hamilton, 78
Larry Kenon, 73

Phil Hubbard, 69
Richard Dent, 65
Gray Zimmerman, 64
Andre Turner, 61

Jamie Foxx, 58
Ricky Nolasco, 43
Taylor Swift, 36
Gleyber Torres, 29

— Big X
Big X is #2 league; last time Big X wasn’t in top 3 was 2011.
Big X has 5 of the top 20 teams in the country. 

West Virginia is #4 in experience, #347 in continuity; they’re 6-3 vs schedule #355, losing three of four games vs top 200 teams. 

9-1 Houston is playing tempo #357; they’re 9-1, 4-1 vs top 100 teams. Houston’s eFG% defenses #8 in the country.

10-0 Iowa State won by 23 at Purdue; they’re forcing turnovers 26.4% of time (#2).

— American
Right now, they’re #10 league; last year was first time they only got one team in NCAA’s.

Tulsa is 9-1, shooting 41.6% on arc; their only loss was 84-83 at Kansas State.

7-3 UAB is a top 20 rebounding team in country, but they’re shooting 25.7% on arc.

7-3 Tulane has played schedule #305; opponents are shooting 40.4% on arc.

South Florida is playing tempo #20; they’re 6-4, 1-3 vs top 100 teams. Bulls are #28 in country at forcing turnovers.

— Missouri Valley
Right now, they’re #9 league, their best ranking since 2018. 

Northern Iowa is 7-2, with the #26 eFG% defense; they’re #4 in continuity. Last two years, Panthers are 26-14 in Valley games. 

Last four years, MVC has been a one-bid league, making Arch Madness a bigger deal. Looks like this year will be the same; #75 Belmont is the highest-ranked team.

— Big West
Right now, they’re the #16 league; last year, they were #12, their best rating in years. 

Cal Poly. Fullerton. Northridge.
When any of these teams play each other, bet the over. Cal Poly is #2 in country in tempo, Fullerton is #4, Northridge #14.

Last three years, Cal-Irvine is 49-11 in conference games, but Anteaters haven’t made the NCAA’s since 2019. This year, Irvine is #295 in experience.

Long Beach State is 1-9 vs D-I teams; two of their last three losses were in overtime. 

Cal-San Diego is 8-1; they’ve got the #10 eFG% in the country.

— WCC
They’re #8 league; next year, with conference re-alignment, we won’t recognize the WCC. 

Gonzaga is 9-1, with six top 100 wins, but they lost by 40 to Michigan. Last year was the first time since 2014 that the Zags didn’t make the Sweet 16.

Last four years, Saint Mary’s is 58-7 in WCC games, but they haven’t made the Sweet 16 in the NCAA’s since 2010. This year, the Gaels 9-1, with the #16 eFG% defense. 

Santa Clara is 8-2, 3-2 vs top 100 teams; they’re #6 in country on offensive boards. 

— Falcons 29, Buccaneers 28
Atlanta drove 45 yards, kicked 43-yard field goal on the last play.
Falcons got a first down on that drive after they had a 3rd-and-28
Tampa Bay led 28-14 with 10:00 left in the game.
Loss drops Buccaneers to 7-7, half-game behind Carolina in NFC South.

Falcons’ last three drives: 26 plays, 178 yards, 15 points.
Kyle Pitts caught 11 passes for 166 yards, three TD’s for Atlanta.
Atlanta was penalized 19 times for 125 yards. Lot of penalties.
Kirk Cousins threw ball for 373 yards, three TD’s.

— Iowa State 66, Iowa 62
Hawkeyes led 33-25 at halftime.
Iowa State was 17-23 on foul line, Iowa 3-5.
Cyclones are 10-0, with six top 100 wins.

— Syracuse 71, St Joe’s 63
Tough for road team to shoot in a dome; St Joe’s was 5 for 26 on the arc.
Hawks out-rebounded Syracuse, 44-34.
Syracuse is 6-3, despite shooting 56.8% on foul line, worst in country.

— Cincinnati Bearcats have a basketball player, Kerr Kriisa, who has had an interesting journey thru college basketball.

2020-23- Arizona
2023-24- West Virginia
2024-25- Kentucky
2025-26- Cincinnati

Four teams in four years; he must be good at packing.

— Fresno State’s basketball team has seven foreign players who come from five countries.

— Over is 11-0 in LA Lakers’ home games this season.

Famous birthdays, December 12th:
Allan Lewis, 84
Ralph Garr, 80
Gorman Thomas, 75
Darleen Carr, 75

Rafael Septien, 72
Jennifer Connelly, 55
John Salmons, 47
Andrew Whitworth, 44

Ervin Santana, 43
Luis Castillo, 33
Cristopher Sanchez, 29
Cole Ragans, 28

Today was my uncle Roy’s birthday; he was a construction worker who was a good guy. He passed away while having one of the first-ever heart bypass operations. 

Frank Sinatra was born on December 12, 1915

— LSU is sending four assistant coaches back to Ole Miss to help the Rebels prepare for the college football playoff game against Tulane December 20- Rebels pounded Tulane 45-20 in September, will be interesting to see how they play after all the chaos they’ve had recently.

— Apparently the LA Bowl and the Bahamas Bowl are going under after this season; the way college/minor league football has gone off the rails, it figures there will be lot fewer bowl games in the coming years.

— Guy named Dave Logan played WR in the NFL for nine years from 1976-84; these days, he is a radio analyst on Denver Broncos’ games, but he also coached high school football for 24 years, during which time he won 13 state championships at four different schools.

— Denver Broncos/New England Patriots are both 11-2, but they’re both home underdogs this week, kind of unusual for this late in the season.

— Olympics are in Los Angeles in 2028; sounds like USC is going to play home football games that year in SoFi Stadium, because the LA Coliseum won’t be available.

— Pittsburgh Steelers’ star pass rusher TJ Watt is in the hospital for lung evaluation after he experienced discomfort at the team’s practice facility Wednesday.

— Carolina Panthers are only NFL team that has never won a game they trailed in by more than 17 points. 

— Atlanta Braves signed reliever Robert Suarez for three years, $45M; last two years, Suarez saved 76 games for the Padres. 

Lot of stuff going on this week…….

— Pete Alonso bolts from the Mets to Baltimore, getting a 5-year, $155M deal; Alonso hit 264 home runs in seven years with the Mets. He played in 152+ games in all six of his non-COVID years in New York. His career OPS is .857.

Unsure what is going on with the Mets; they traded Brandon Nimmo, and have lost Edwin Diaz and Alonso to free agency this week. GM David Stearns has a lot of work to do this winter, to get their roster back to where the Mets are a contending team.

If you were wondering, Alonso’s per game rate is $191,358.

— Atlanta Braves signed 35-year old OF Mike Yastrzemski for two years, $23M; he is a career .238 hitter who figures to take over in LF if free agent Marcell Ozuna goes to another team.

— If you’re into fantasy baseball, here’s a player recommendation; Washington OF Daylen Lile, who hit .299 in 91 games as a rookie last year. In the second half of the season, Lile hit .333 with a .956 OPS; he hit 7 triples, 6 home runs in September, the first big leaguer to hit 7+ triples, 6+ homers in a calendar month since Wille Mays, in 1957.

— Pittsburgh Pirates signed lefty reliever Gregory Soto to a one-year, $7.75M deal; Soto had a 4.18 ERA last year, the Orioles/Mets.

— Joe Buck will be getting the Ford Frick Award at the Hall of Fame next summer, joining his father Jack in the broadcasting area of the Hall of Fame.

— Right now, San Diego Padres manager Craig Stammen is the only major league manager who was a pitcher in his playing days.

— This week is the 60th anniversary of one of the worst trades in MLB history, the Reds dealing Frank Robinson for Milt Pappas. The trade was so one-sided it gets referenced at the start of the movie Bull Durham (“bad trades are a part of baseball”). 

Robinson had a .944 OPS in six years for the Orioles, who played in four World Series during those six years. Pappas was 30-29, 4.04 in 75 starts over three years for the Reds.

Famous birthdays, December 11th:
Rita Moreno, 94
Jay Bell, 60
Gary Dourdan, 59
Derek Bell, 57

Willie McGinest, 54
Robert Holcombe, 50
Joe Blanton, 45
Roy Hibbert, 39

Jacoby Brissett, 33
Malcolm Brogdon, 33
Hailee Steinfeld, 29
Mark Vientos, 26

— New Mexico 81, VCU 78
VCU led 46-41 at halftime.
Lobos have won five in a row, are 8-2, 3-1 vs top 100 teams.
VCU is 6-4, but 0-4 when they allow 80+ points.

— St Bonaventure 85, Colgate 77
Colgate led 47-34 at halftime.
Bonnies shot 58.7% inside the arc.
St Bonaventure is 10-1, with only loss to North Carolina.

— Merrimack 59, Princeton 56
Merrimack won last four games, giving up 61.3 ppg.
Princeton out-rebounded the Warriors, 45-26
Princeton has had six winning years in a row, but they’re 3-10 this year.

— Cal-Northridge 89, Fresno State 87
5-5 CSUN led 47-37 at halftime.
Matadors start four seniors; they scored 87+ points in their wins.
Fresno lost despite shooting 13-29 on arc, scoring 1.23 ppp.

— UMass 76, Boston College 74
UMass won despite going 13-24 on the foul line.
BC led 63-56 with 6:05 left in the game.
Could be a rough year for BC; they’re 1-5 vs top 200 teams. 

— Movie of the Day: The Natural (1984)- A middle-aged unknown comes seemingly out of nowhere to become a legendary baseball player who can really hit. 

Robert Redford is the ballplayer, Wilford Brimley is the team’s manager, Kim Basinger, Glenn Close, Robert Duvall, Barbara Hershey and Joe Don Baker are also in this well-known movie.

The baseball scenes were filmed in Buffalo, in the stadium where the Bills played before they built Rich Stadium.

— Michigan fired football coach Sherrone Moore with cause Wednesday, meaning they won’t have to pay him the $12M he had left on his contract.

He got fired for off-field reasons; Biff Poggi is the Wolverines’ interim coach. 

— South Florida QB Byrum Brown is opting out of the Bulls’ bowl game against Old Dominion next week; Brown has thrown for 2,883 yards this year, with 24 TD’s, 7 INT’s.

I know I’m an older guy with older ideas, but if I was an NFL executive scouting players for the draft, I’d frown upon any QB who bailed out on his teammates before a season was over.

— 10 teams have opted out of bowl games, five of them from the Big X.

— South Carolina is hiring Kendal Briles as their new offensive coordinator; Briles comes from TCU, but he’s also coached at Arkansas, FAU. Baylor and Houston.

— New Jersey Jets are the first team ever with no interceptions in their first 13 games of a season, which adds up to 809 plays.

— Denver Broncos’ practice squad QB Sam Ehlinger got an offer from the Colts to return to their team, but Ehlinger turned them down, preferring to stay on Denver’s practice squad, Yikes. 

— DH/OF Kyle Schwarber re-signed with the Phillies, getting a contract worth $150M over five years. 32-year old Schwarber hit 187 home runs for the Phillies the last four years- he hit 56 HR’s last year, knocked in 132 runs.

— Los Angeles Dodgers signed closer Edwin Diaz, giving him $69M for the next three years. Diaz will be 31 in March; he had 28 saves for the Mets last year.

— Chicago White Sox won the #1 pick in the 2026 amateur draft, Tampa Bay got the #2 pick. White Sox lost 121-102 games the last two years. 

— 44-year old Philip Rivers has un-retired, signed with the Indianapolis Colts’ practice squad; Rivers coaches a high school team in Alabama. He hasn’t played since 2020.

Right now, Brett Rypien is the Colts’ only healthy QB; Riley Leonard is banged up, Daniel Jones is out for the year, Anthony Richardson is on IR.

— NFL divisional trends:
AFC East
12-6 ATS non-divisional underdog

AFC North
Home teams 5-2 ATS divisional games
13-24 ATS non-divisional games
7-15 ATS non-divisional underdog

AFC South
Home teams 5-3 ATS divisional games
14-7 ATS non-divisional underdog

AFC West
Home teams 5-1 ATS divisional games
1-9 ATS non-divisional road favorite

NFC East
Home teams 4-2 ATS divisional games
8-12 ATS non-divisional underdog

NFC North
Favorites 5-2 ATS divisional games
8-5 ATS non-divisional home favorite

NFC South
Home teams 1-4 ATS divisional games
3-7 ATS non-divisional favorites

NFC West
Home teams 1-6 ATS divisional games
22-12 ATS non-divisional games

Famous birthdays, December 10th:
Susan Dey, 73
Mark Aguirre, 66
Paul Assenmacher, 65
Luis Polonia, 62
Bryant Stith, 55

Will Myers, 35
Carlos Rodon, 33
Sheldon Neuse, 31
Nestor Cortes, 31
Joe Burrow, 29

— BYU 67, Clemson 64
Clemson led 44-22 early in the second half.
BYU frosh Dybantsa scored 28 points, had 9 rebounds, 6 assists.
BYU is 8-1 now; they’ve played schedule #11.

— Illinois 88, Ohio State 80
Illjni was 29-32 on foul line, scored 1.26 points/possession.
Buckeyes’ G Thornton scored 34 points, had six assists.
Illinois is 8-2, 3-2 vs top 100 opponents.

— Michigan 89, Villanova 61
Wolverines shot 66.7% inside arc, had 53-33 edge on boards.
Michigan led this game 53-23 at halftime.
Michigan is 9-0, with six top 100 wins (schedule #8)

— UConn 77, Florida 73
Huskies are 9-1, with four top 100 wins (schedule #44)
Gators out-rebounded UConn, 40-28.
Florida is 5-4, losing by 6-4-1-4 points.

— McNeese State 66, Rhode Island 64
6-1 G Archie scored 18 points in 24:00 off the bench.
Teams combined to shoot 11-39 on the arc.
McNeese is 8-2; last three years, they’re 66-13.

— San Jose State 89, Long Beach State 83 OT
Long Beach led by 9 with 2:57 left in regulation.
San Jose shot 61.8% inside the arc.
Long Beach slips to 2-9, 1-9 against Division I teams.

— USC 94, San Diego 81
Game was 38-38 at halftime.
USC shot 64.5% inside arc, 27-35 on the foul line.
Trojans are getting 25.7% of their points on foul line (#17 in country)

— Chargers 22, Eagles 19 OT
Total of two TD’s, nine field goals in this game.
Chargers drove 80 yards for a TD on their first drive.
Eagles’ only TD was Barkley’s 52-yard run early in 4th quarter.
There was a play in this game with a total of 3 turnovers; unusual.

Eagles lost their last three games, by 3-9-3 points.
Hurts threw for 240 yards, but had four INT’s.
QB Herbert broke his left hand LW, ran for 66 yards, passed for 139.
Chargers won five of their last six games. 

— If the Cleveland Browns cut QB Deshaun Watson before June 1st, his $130M cap hit would cripple Cleveland’s 2026 salary cap, so that ain’t happening. They’ll probably re-structure the contract and push the cap damage down the road a little. 

— Indianapolis Colts have QB injury issues, big ones; they’re actually bringing 44-year old Philip Rivers in for a workout Tuesday. He hasn’t played in the NFL since 2020; he will be on next year’s ballot for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but if he plays this year, that pushes his Hall of Fame induction back a few years.

Rivers turned 44 Monday; he’s been a high school coach in Alabama the last five years, where he has posted a 44-16 record, losing in the state semi-finals the last two seasons.

— When the Dolphins beat the Jets on a cold day in New Jersey Sunday, it was Tua Tagovailoa’s first career win in eight games when the temperature was less than 47 degrees.

— Arizona Cardinals’ QB Kyler Murray is out for the year with a foot injury; it is doubtful if Murray ever play for the Cardinals again, but his contract is an issue.

Murray’s contract the next three years:
2026- $42.5M
2027- $36.3M
2028- $46.35M

— Eight of the last 11 years, the team that won March Madness was still unbeaten on December 6th. Since 2008, every national champ was ranked in the top 12 of the AP poll in Week 6.

Here is this week’s top 12 in the AP poll:

Arizona-Michigan-Duke-Iowa State
UConn-Purdue-Houston-Gonzaga
Michigan State-BYU-Louisville-Alabama

Famous birthdays, December 9th:
Darold Knowles, 84
Beau Bridges, 84
Michael Nouri, 80
Doc Medich, 77
John Malkovich, 72

Jim Haslett, 70
Otis Birdsong, 70
Richard Brooks, 63
Todd Van Poppel, 54
David Akers, 51

— If you don’t think Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti is a great freakin’ coach, think again. Here is Indiana’s 2023 season, the year before Cignetti went to the Hoosiers.

Indiana went 3-9
One of the wins was against Akron, in 4 overtimes.
Hoosiers lost four games by 17+ points.
Indiana’s last three losses were by 3-3-4 points. 

In two years under Cignetti, Indiana is 24-2. 

— College/minor league sports are off the rails; several teams declined invitations to bowl games. You’d think players would enjoy going to bowls, but some schools are queasy that bigger $$$ teams are going to scout their players, then poach them for next year.

Then there is Notre Dame, which is whining because they got left out of the playoffs; starting next year, if they’re ranked in the top 12 at this time, they’ll automatically be in the playoff. 

— Georgia Southern is going bowling; seven teams declined a chance to play the Eagles in a bowl. Finally, Sun Belt rival Appalachian State signed up to play the Eagles in the Birmingham Bowl December 29th.

Georgia Southern won 25-23 at Appalachian State November 6th.

— Aside from that game between Sun Belt rivals, Sun Belt has eight other teams are going to bowls; they don’t get on national TV much. Five of those eight games will be a Sun Belt team against an opponent from Conference USA.

— Big X fined both Iowa State/Kansas State $500,000 for declining bowl bids; both teams had their coach leave (one bolted, one retired).

— 11 SEC teams are going bowling; Oklahoma-Alabama is a first round matchup in the 12-team playoff. Seven of the other nine SEC teams in bowls will be favored in their game.

— Eight Big X teams are going bowling; seven of them will be favored in their game.

— Virginia Tech hired their former head coach Brent Pry to be their new defensive coordinator, which saves the school a lot of $$$ and Pry doesn’t have to move his family. Fry was 16-24 as Tech’s head coach.

— Memphis is hiring Southern Miss coach Charles Huff as its new coach; Huff was 32-20 in four years at Marshall, 7-5 in his one year at Southern Miss.

— Arizona State QB Sam Leavitt is entering the transfer portal; someone is going to pay him mucho dinero next year. 

Packers 28, Bears 21
Green Bay picked off a pass in end zone with 0:22 to preserve the win.
Packers converted 8-12 third down plays; Chicago was 8-16.
Green Bay is 9-0-1 when it scores 23+ points, 0-3 otherwise.
As a head coach, Matt LaFleur is 12-1 against Chicago. 

Chicago in first half: 29 plays, 76 yards, 3 points.
Bears’ 1st 3 drives in 2nd half: 34 plays, 184 yards, 17 points.
Chicago is 0-3 when they score less than 24 points.
With the loss, Bears slipped from #1 seed in NFC to #7 seed. 

Bills 39, Bengals 34
Bengals led 28-18 with 8:00 left in the game.
Buffalo took lead for good on a pick-6 with 5:25 left.
Bills in second half: 35 plays, 240 yards, 21 points.
Cincinnati was 10-12 on third down, Bills 6-11. 

Cincinnati lost nine of its last 12 games.
Bengals covered four of last five games as an underdog.
Buffalo is 9-0 when they score 26+ points, 0-4 when they don’t.
QB Allen threw for 251 yards, 3 TD’s on a snowy day. 

Texans 20, Chiefs 10
Houston won five in row, 8 of last 10 games.
Texans are 7-0 when they score 20+ points.
Houston is 14-9 ATS last 23 games as an underdog.
Last ten games, Texans are +15 in turnovers.

Chiefs in first half: 27 plays, 113 yards, zero points.
Under is 7-1 in last eight Kansas City games.
Kansas City has lost four of its last five games.
Chiefs are 6-7, their worst record thru 13 games since 2012. 

Titans 31, Browns 29
Titans led 31-17 with 5:00 left in the game.
Browns then scored two TD’s, but went 0-2 on 2-point conversions.
Tennessee ran ball 35 times for 184 yards.
Titans scored TD on their first drive for first time this year. 

Browns’ QB Sanders threw for 364 yards, three TD’s.
Browns outgained Tennessee 412-292.
Cleveland lost five of its last six games.
Browns are 0-10 when they allow more than 10 points.

Steelers 27, Ravens 22
7-6 Steelers led 17-9 at half, took over first place in AFC North.
Rodgers threw for 284 yards and a TD, also ran for a TD.
Pittsburgh is 6-2 when it allows less than 31 points.
Since 2018, Pittsburgh is 41-21-1 ATS as an underdog.

Ravens outgained Pittsburgh, 420-318.
Baltimore is 0-6 when they allow more than 19 points.
Ravens are minus-14 in turnovers in losses, +9 in wins.
Ravens are 5-10 ATS in last 15 AFC North home games.

Saints 24, Buccaneers 20
Tampa Bay led 10-7 at halftime.
Saints’ first three drives in 2nd half: 23 plays, 153 yards, 17 points.
Saints won five of their last seven visits to Tampa.
Saints are 15-4-1 ATS in last 20 NFC South road games.

Buccaneers were 2-7 on 4th down conversions in this game.
Tampa Bay is 1-6 when they allow 24+ points.
Tampa Bay lost four of its last five games.
7-6 Buccaneers are tied with Carolina atop NFC South.

Famous birthdays, December 8th:
Gus Otto, 82
Kim Basinger, 72
Steve Dils, 70
George Rogers, 67

Wendell Pierce, 62
Teri Hatcher, 61
Jeff George, 58
Mike Mussina, 57

Vernon Wells, 47
Philip Rivers, 44
Josh Donaldson, 40
Dwight Howard, 40

Rams 45, Cardinals 17
Rams’ first drive: 10 plays, 60 yards, FG.
Rams’ second drive: 6 plays, 74 yards, TD.
Rams’ third drive: 10 plays, 65 yards, TD.
Rams’ last drive in 1st half: 7 plays, 92 yards, TD.

WR Nukua caught 7 passes for 167 yards, 2 TD’s.
Rams won seven of their last eight games.
Cardinals lost five in row, 10 of last 11 games.
Cardinals are 0-7 when they allow more than 22 points.

Dolphins 34, Jets 10
Dolphins’ first three drives: 15 plays, 178 yards, 21 points.
Miami won its last four games, giving up 13.3 ppg.
Dolphins ran ball 41 times for 239 yards (5.8 yards/carry)
Miami is 14-6 ATS in last 20 AFC East road games.

Undrafted rookie QB Cook played most of game, his NFL debut.
Jets were outgained 358-207, were minus-3 in turnovers.
Jets are 0-8 when they score less than 27 points.  
Last five games, Jets gained 169-245-282-269-207 total yards.

Jaguars 36, Colts 19
Jaguars had short TD drives, of 21-28 yards.
Indy QB Jones tore his achilles, is out for the year.
Jacksonville won five of last six games, scoring 30.3 ppg 
Jaguars are 9-1 if they allow fewer than 31 points.

Indy lost four of last five games, after a 7-1 start.
Colts’ QB’s now: rookie Leonard, journeyman Brett Rypien.
Colts are 0-5 when they score less than 29 points.
Indy has lost its last ten visits to Jacksonville. 

Seahawks 37, Falcons 9
Seattle kicked 48-yard FG with 0:04 left to tie game 6-6 at the half.
Shaheed ran back opening kick of 3rd quarter 100 yards for a TD.
Seahawks in second half: 33 plays, 259 yards, 24 points.
Seahawks won seven of their last eight games.

Falcons in second half: 31 plays, 163 yards, 3 turnovers, 3 points.
Falcons were 1-13 on third down, committed 3 turnovers.
Atlanta lost seven of its last eight games.
Atlanta is 1-9 when it allows more than 14 points.

Vikings 31, Commanders 0
Vikings’ first two drives: 26 plays, 159 yards, 14 points.
Vikings were +3 in turnovers; they were minus-15 coming into game.
Minnesota ran ball for 162 yards; they were 6-11 on third down.
Last five Minnesota games stayed under the total.

Commanders are 0-8 SU/1-7 ATS in their last eight games.
Washington is 0-9 when it allows more than 24 points.
QB Daniels re-injured his left (non-throwing) elbow.
Last eight games, Washington is minus-11 in turnovers.

Broncos 24, Raiders 17
Broncos won their last 10 games, last four by 3-3-3-1-7 points.
First game this season that Denver never trailed in.
Denver is 2-7 ATS last nine games as a road favorite.
Broncos outgained Las Vegas 356-229.

Denver was 7-12 on third down, Raiders 3-9.
Raiders lost seven games in a row, 11 of last 12.
Last eight games, Raiders ran the ball for only 47.8 yards/game.
QB Smith got hurt; Kenny Pickett/Aidan O’Connell are the backups. 

— Iowa State 81, Purdue 58
Cyclones shot 11-23 on arc, scored 1.25 ppp
Iowa State outscored Purdue 46-27 in second half.
First loss for 8-1 Purdue, which has played schedule #26.

— Duke 66, Michigan State 60
Michigan State shot only 29.5% inside the arc.
First loss for 8-1 Spartans, who have played schedule #35.
Duke is 10-0, with five top 100 wins.

— Washington 84, USC 76
Trojans led 48-30 at halftime.
Huskies out-rebounded USC, 45-31.
First loss for 8-1 USC, which has five wins by 5 or fewer points.

— Louisville 87, Indiana 78
Cardinals led 41-27 at halftime.
Louisville shot 13-31 on the arc, 12-23 inside the arc.

Ryan Conwell is a senior G for Louisville. His college career:
2022-23- South Florida- coach got fired after 14-18 season
2023-24- Indiana State- coach bolted to Saint Louis after a 32-7 season
2024-25- Xavier- coach bolted to Texas after a 22-12 season
2025-26- Louisville

— Memphis 78, Baylor 71
Memphis subs outscored Baylor’s thin bench, 37-15
Baylor’s subs play #356 minutes in country, bottom 10 figure.
Bears shot only 33.3% inside arc in this game.

— Basketball Upsets of the Day:
Omaha (+8.5) 60, Portland State 55
SE Missouri State (+6.5) 74, Chattanooga 70
Western Michigan (+6.5) 83, SIU-Edwardsville 73
NC-Greensboro (+6.5) 82, East Carolina 78
Iowa State (+5.5) 81, Purdue 58
Boise State (+5.5) 77, Butler 68
Cal-Riverside (+5.5) 88, Cal Poly 84

— Georgia 28, Alabama 7
Alabama ran the ball 16 times, for minus-3 yards.
Just 2nd win For Georgia in last 12 games vs Alabama.
Alabama is on the bubble now to get into the 12-team playoff.

— Indiana 13, Ohio State 10
Down 13-10, Buckeyes missed a 27-yard field goal with 2:48 left.
Indiana wins its first league title since 1967.
Ohio State ran ball 26 times for only 58 yards. 

— Duke 27, Virginia 20 OT
Virginia scored 10 points in last 4:00 to force overtime.
Duke scored TD in OT on a 4th down pass play.
8-5 Duke wins ACC title; will ACC have team in the playoff? 

— Texas Tech 34, BYU 7
BYU drove 90 yards for a TD on their first drive.
Rest of game, BYU ran 45 plays for 110 yards.
Texss Tech likely gets a first-round bye in the playoff.

— Western Michigan 23, Miami OH 13
Broncos had a 67-yard TD run 1:27 into the game.
WMU ran ball 56 times for 286 yards (5.1 yards/carry)
Western Michigan is 9-3-1 against spread this year.

— Famous birthdays, December 7th:
Ellen Burstyn, 93
Al Woodall, 80
Johnny Bench, 78
Larry Bird, 69

Mel Owens, 67
C Thomas Howell, 59
Eric Chavez, 48
Lou Amundson, 43

Jake McQuaide, 38
Kyle Hendricks, 36
Pete Alonso, 31
Hunter Henry, 31

One of my favorites, the late Ted Knight, was born on this day in 1923.

— Illinois 75, Tennessee 62
Tennessee led 32-30 at halftime.
Illinois shot 11-28 on arc, scored 1.21 points/possession.
Tennessee lost its last three gams, after a 7-0 start.

— New Hampshire 88, Boston U 82 OT
Terriers led 65-40 with 10:42 left in the game.
New Hampshire had been 0-7 vs Division I opponents.

— Oral Roberts 72, Montana State 68
Bobcats led 42-22 at halftime.
Oral Roberts was 24-26 on foul line, Montana State 9-13.
Ty Harper was 14-16 on foul line; took more FT’s than the other team. 

— Arizona 97, Auburn 68
Arizona led 44-32 at halftime.
Arizona is 8-0, with four top 40 wins.
Auburn is 7-3, 3-3 vs top 100 opponents. 

— Tulane 34, North Texas 21
UNT outgained Tulane 415-344, but was minus-5 in turnovers.
Green Wave led 24-6 at halftime; they’ll probably be in the 12-team playoff.
Both head coaches in this game are moving on to bigger $$$ jobs.

North Texas freshman QB Mestamaker has led the Mean Green to an 11-2 record; he didn’t start any games when he was in high school. Kind of amazing.

— James Madison 31, Troy 14
12-1 Dukes ran the ball 42 times for 318 yards (7.6 yards/carry)
JMU outgained the Trojans, 411-177.
Dukes led 17-14 at halftime.
JMU’s last TD was a defensive score that salted the game away.

— Kennesaw State 19, Jacksonville State 15
Owls win Conference USA in their first year as a I-A team.
Kennesaw drove 75 yards, scored game-winning TD with 0:51 left.
Owls led 12-0 after three quarters, but Jax State led 15-12 with 4:00 left.

— Boise State 38, UNLV 21
Broncos win their third straight Mountain West title.
Next year, Boise is joining the revamped Pac-12.
Boise led 21-0 midway thru the second quarter.
Broncos are likely going to play Washington in the LA Bowl.

— Gonzaga 94, Kentucky 59
Gonzaga crushed the Wildcats; they led 43-20 at halftime.
Zags lost their previous game, nine days ago, 101-61 to Michigan.
Kentucky is 5-4, 0-4 vs top 100 teams, 0-4 when they allow 60+ points.

— Xavier 79, Cincinnati 74
Crosstown rivalry game was 37-37 at halftime.
Xavier shot 66.7% inside arc, only 6-28 on the arc.
In a 74-possession game, Xavier had only four turnovers.

— Notre Dame 87, TCU 85 OT
Horned Frogs led by 11 late in the first half.
Notre Dame won despite going 9-20 on the foul line.
Notre Dame shot 61.8% inside arc, made 12-26 on the arc.

— UAB 74, Drake 69
Blazers out-rebounded Drake, 44-30.
Drake led by 5 early in the second half.
UAB was 21-28 on foul line, Bulldogs 12-16.

— Famous birthdays, December 6th:
Larry Bowa, 80
Steven Wright, 70
Lindsay Scott, 65
Lance Blankenship, 62
Kevin Appier, 58

Sarah Rafferty, 58
Kevin Cash, 48
Adam Eaton, 37
Johnny Manziel, 33
Giannis Antetokounmpo, 31

— Penn State hit the jackpot with their coaching search, hiring former Iowa State coach Matt Campbell as their new football coach.

Campbell was 35-15 in four years at Toledo, then went to Iowa State and was 72-55 in ten years coaching the Cyclones. Iowa State is tough place to win; Campbell is a very good coach.

— Iowa State is replacing Campbell with Washington State coach Jimmy Rogers, who led the Coogs to a 6-6 record this year, despite not being in a league. Next year, Wazzu will have its third head coach in three years, but at least they’ll back in a league. 

— Kansas State changed football coaches this week; Chris Klieman retired after going 54-34 in the Little Apple, an impressive run. There were reports that the players voted to skip going to a bowl game this year, after a 6-6 regular season, but K-State alum Collin Klein is the new coach, and whole bowl thing was still up in the air late Friday night.

— Random fact: 17 NFL teams play their home games on artificial turf fields, 15 play on natural grass.

— Dallas Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey kicked five field goals Thursday night, making kicks from 55-57-63 yards; he is the first kicker EVER to make three FG’s of 55+ yards in the same game.

— If you like college basketball, you should have ESPN+; they show ton of games on there, and you can watch replays of games all night, including teams from smaller leagues. 

— Lions 44, Cowboys 30
Lions had 11 drives: 5 TD’s, 3-4 on FG’s, 2 punts.
Goff threw for 309 yards and a TD.
Detroit is 11-1 ATS last 12 games coming off a loss.
Last 12 games, Lions are +9 in turnovers.

Lions are 18-11 ATS last 29 games as a home favorite.
Detroit has six wins this year by 13+ points.
Prescott threw for 376 yards, but threw two INTs.
Dallas is 5-0-1 scoring 33+ points, 1-6 scoring less than 33.

Big West started conference play Thursday:
— Cal-Santa Barbara 84, Long Beach State 77 OT
Gauchos were 32-38 on foul line, Long Beach 19-24.
Aidan Mahaney played 40:00, scored 26 points for UCSB.
UCSB is 8-2, but 1-2 vs teams ranked in top 150.

— Cal Poly 94, Fullerton 91
Cal Poly plays #2 tempo in country; they shot 18-37 on the arc.
Peter Bandelj scored 37 points for the Mustangs.
Fullerton’s bench outscored Cal Poly’s subs, 55-18.

— Cal-Irvine 73, Cal-Riverside 60
Both teams shot under 40% inside the arc.
Anteaters shot 10-18 on the arc; unusual for them.
Right now, Irvine has the #4 eFG% defense in the country.

— Cal-Northridge 87, Cal-Bakersfield 66
Matadors shot 65.1% inside the arc- they need to get layups.
Northridge is shooting 27.1% on arc (#335), 66.5% on line (#298)
Roadrunners are 1-5 vs teams ranked in the top 250.

— Robert Morris 80, Green Bay 78
Colonials outscored Green Bay 15-2 over the final 2:53.
Green Bay shot 63.3% inside arc, was 25-31 on foul line.
Robert Morris is off to 7-3 start; they were 26-9 last year.

— Merrimack 68, Rider 66
Merrimack shot 56% inside arc; they’re shooting 45.4% for year (#324)
6-2 frosh Kennedy played all 40:00, scored 19 points.
Merrimack is #363 team in country on defensive boards. 

— Famous birthdays, December 5th:
Jeroen Krabbe, 81
Jim Plunkett, 78
Bill Simpson, 74

Babe Laufenberg, 66
Charlie Batch, 51
LeGarrette Blount, 39

— If you had Boston College +7.5 Wednesday night at home vs LSU, you had a very bad beat; game went to overtime, and LSU won by nine, 78-69. Three of BC’s top four scorers were guys who didn’t start.

— Chris Paul is in his 21st season in the NBA, but the LA Clippers sent him home this week and he is no longer on the team, a surprising event. Clippers are 5-16, have lost 14 of their last 16 games. 

He’s made $403M in salary in his Hall of Fame career

— San Francisco Giants hired former big league manager Ron Washington as infield coach; Washington had heart bypass surgery this past summer, he is 73 years old. Giants have a new manager this coming year, former Tennessee Vols manager Tony Vitello.

— Some bowl matchups have been set:
Cure Bowl- South Florida vs Old Dominion
Xbox Bowl- Arkansas State vs Missouri State
Hawai’i Bowl- California @ Hawai’i 

— James Madison hired former Florida coach Billy Napier as its new football coach; Napier was 40-12 in four years at Louisiana, 22-23 in four years with the Gators- he got fired this year when Florida started the season 3-4.
James Madison is 101-21 since 2016, as they moved up to the I-A level.

— Red Sox-Pirates made a trade Thursday:
Pirates acquired:
OF Jhostynxon Garcia
P Jesus Travieso

Red Sox acquired:
P Johan Oviedo
P Tyler Samaniego
C Adonys Guzman

— One of the surprising things that has happened the last year or so is the amount of time I spend watching podcasts on YouTube, whether it is college basketball or fantasy baseball. 

Not all of the podcasts are great, you have to decide that for yourself, but it is good to learn from smart people and I think it helps in making this blog better. Usually if the podcast has BetMGM as a sponsor, that’s a good sign.

That said, there are some podcasts that are comically bad, like a guy sitting in his mom’s basement running his mouth about whatever. You need to avoid those.

— Arkansas 89, Louisville 80
Louisville never led, was 8-37 on the arc.
Arkansas was 27-35 on foul line, Cardinals 14-18
Arkansas is 6-2, 1-2 against top 100 teams. 

Coming into this game, Louisville…….
was shooting 37.3% on the arc
was getting 41.2% of their points on 3’s
54.5% of their shots were 3’s

— Minnesota 73, Indiana 64
Gophers snap three-game skid, win Big 18 opener under coach Medved.
Minnesota used only three subs, who played total of only 21:00.
First loss for 7-1 Indiana; it was also their first true road game.

— Alabama 90, Clemson 84
Alabama led 45-30 at halftime.
Clemson led by 2 with 2:41 left in the game.
Alabama is 6-2 against the toughest schedule in the country so far.

— LSU 78, Boston College 69 OT
LSU played three starters 39:00+.
Boston College shot 36.8% inside the arc.
Tigers are 8-0 vs schedule #294; their last 3 opponents are in top 125.

— Auburn 83, NC State 73
Auburn shot 12-22 on arc, shot 63.6% inside arc.
That good shooting overcame 20 Auburn turnovers.
Auburn is 7-2 vs schedule #52, they’re 3-2 vs top 100 teams.

— SEC won their challenge against the ACC 9-7, winning six of seven games Wednesday; last year, SEC was 14-2 in the challenge.

— Big Sky won their challenge against the Summit League, 6-3.

— Furman 97, Elon 88
Elon led by 18 midway thru the first half.
Furman shot 74% inside the arc, scored 1.35 points/possession.
Furman is #24 continuity team; they’re 5-4 vs schedule #88.

— North Alabama 65, San Francisco 63
USF led 24-6 out of the gate; this is an ugly loss.
North Alabama out-rebounded the Dons, 46-31
Teams combined to shoot 12-46 on the arc. 

— Famous birthdays, December 4th:
Jeff Bridges, 76
Bernard King, 69
Lee Smith, 68
Frank Reich, 64

Stan Gelbaugh, 63
Marisa Tomei, 61
Jeff Blake, 55
Tyra Banks, 52

Blake Snell, 33
Joe Musgrove, 33
Paul Blackburn, 32
Jackson Holliday, 22

— Something I’ve never typed before: Five-star QB Jared Curtis, the #5 recruit in this year’s class, flipped his commitment from Georgia to Vanderbilt. The kid lives in Nashville, but not many elite players choose the Commodores over blue-blood programs like Georgia.

— These schools have hired new football coaches in the last few days:
South Florida hired Ohio State OC Brian Hartline

Kansas State is hiring Texas A&M OC Collin Klein, a former Wildcat QB

North Texas hired Texas assistant Neal Brown; he was 35-16 coaching Troy State, 37.35 at West Virginia.

UCLA is hiring former James Madison coach Bob Chesney, who has a 131-51 career record, coming up thru the small college ranks. He was 20-5 in two years at James Madison.

— Head coaches at BYU, Texas Tech got raises/contract extensions for staying where they are.

— WR Adam Thielen got asked for/got his release from the Vikings, hooked up with the Steelers, as he tries to make the playoffs in his last NFL season. Thielen is 35; Steelers have the #24 passing game in the NFL right now, so they can use the help.

— Former Orioles manager Brandon Hyde has signed on with the Tampa Bay Rays as senior adviser of baseball operations. Hyde managed Baltimore for six years, going 421-497- they were 0-5 in the playoffs, in 2023/2024.

— Former Orioles’ OF Cedric Mullins signed on with Tampa Bay, for one year, $7M; Mullins was a 30-30 guy back in 2021, but hit under .240 the last three years. 

Conference play started in the Big 18 Tuesday night…….
— USC 82, Oregon 77
Ducks led by 10 late in the first half.
4-4 Oregon lost its last four games, all vs top 100 teams.
8-0 Trojans shot 58.8% inside the arc.
USC is 4-0 in games decided by 5 or fewer points. 

— Purdue 81, Rutgers 65
Rutgers is 0-3 vs top 100 teams, losing by 25-5-16 points.
Rutgers is shooting 46.1% inside arc (#307 in country)
Purdue is 8-0, and they’ve played schedule #57 so far.

— Michigan State 71, Iowa 52
8-0 Spartans shot 58.8% inside arc, out-rebounded Iowa 37-18.
Michigan State led 35-21 at halftime.
Spartans have four top 100 wins; they’ve got #26 eFG% defense in country.

— Famous birthdays, December 3rd:
Tom Woodeshick, 84
Wayne Garrett, 78
Julianne Moore, 65

Daryl Hannah, 65
Gene Nelson, 65
Paul Byrd, 55

Lindsey Hunter, 55
James Laurinaitis, 39
Troy Melton, 25

— UConn 61, Kansas 56
Kansas led 33-29 at halftime.
UConn is 7-1, with three top 100 wins (schedule #56)
Jayhawks star freshman (hamstring) missed his 7th straight game.

— Marquette 75, Valparaiso 72 OT
Valparaiso led by 8 with 7:02 left to play.
Marquette was 27-32 on foul line, Valpo 8-12.
Marquette is 5-4 vs schedule #231 (0-4 vs top 100 teams); junior PG Jones missed his sixth game in a row. 

ACC-SEC challenge started Tuesday night…….
— Duke 67, Florida 66
Duke hit a 3-pointer with 0:19 left for the win.
Blue Devils led by 15 late in the first half.
Gators out-rebounded Duke, 44-33. 

Duke doesn’t play many non-conference road games:
This year: W114-59 @ Army
Dec 6th @ Michigan State
2024-25: W69-55 @ Arizona
2023-24: L75-80 @ Arkansas
2022-23: none
2021-22: L66-71 @ Ohio State
2020-21: none
2019-20: W87-75 @ Michigan State

— North Carolina 67, Kentucky 64
Kentucky led by six with 5:50 left in the game.
Wildcats were 17-22 on foul line, Tar Heels 9-15.
North Carolina had a 41-30 edge on the boards.

— Texas A&M 81, Pittsburgh 73
Pitt led by 4 with 6:23 left in the game.
Aggies are 7-2, forcing turnovers 22.7% of time (#14)
A&M has #43 eFG% in country under new coach McMillan, who went 93-39 the last four years at Samford in the Southern Conference. 

— Virginia Tech 86, South Carolina 83 OT
Hokies shot 58.7% inside arc; they had 37-28 edge on boards.
6-8 junior Hansberry had 22 points, 14 rebounds for Tech.
Tech is 7-2, 3-2 vs top 100 teams (schedule #96).

— Syracuse 62, Tennessee 60
4th straight top 20 game for Syracuse, which lost previous three.
Tennessee shot 4-13 on arc, 8-15 on foul line.
6-8 junior Carey scored 22 points in 23:00 off the bench for the Vols.

— Miami 75, Ole Miss 66
Miami had 45-29 edge on boards; they led 42-26 at halftime.
Ole Miss was only 12-40 (30%) inside the arc.
Miami is 7-2; they’ve got #37 eFG% defense.

— Georgia 107, Florida State 73
Dawgs shot 72.5% inside the arc.
8-1 Georgia led 49-30 at halftime.
5-3 Seminoles lost last two games, by 36-34 points.

— Notre Dame 76, Missouri 71
Missouri led by 12 points late in first half.
First loss for 8-1 Mizzou, which had played schedule #364 before this game.
First top 100 win in four tries for Notre Dame.

— Oklahoma 86, Wake Forest 68
Sooners outscored Wake Forest 49-33 in second half.
Oklahoma out-rebounded the Deacons, 42-24.
Oklahoma is off to a 6-2 start, 2-2 vs top 100 teams. 

— Patriots 33, Giants 15
Patriots in first half: 35 plays, 259 yards, 23 points.
New England also ran a punt back 94 yards for a TD; they led 30-7 at the half.
Patriots won their last ten games (8-2 ATS).
Over is 5-2 in their last seven games.

Giants in first half: 25 plays, 89 yards, 7 points.
Giants have lost their last seven games (3-3 ATS)
Down 17-7, Giants’ kicker fell down when he was trying a FG. Just fell down, never actually kicked the ball.
Giants also fumbled a kickoff in first half; rough night for their special teams.

— New York Mets signed reliever Devin Williams for three years, $51M. Williams had a career-worst 4.79 ERA over 67 appearances for Bronx last year; he is insurance for the Mets if they do not bring Edwin Diaz back in 2026.

— Kentucky fired football coach Mark Stoops, paid him $37.7M to take a hike, after he went 82-80 in 13 years coaching the Wildcats (4-4 in bowls). They replaced him with Will Stein, the offensive coordinator at Oregon, who grew up in Kentucky.

— NC State-Virginia will play a football game in Brazil next August, the first college football game in South America. The game will be played in a 44,661-seat stadium that helped host the 2016 Summer Olympics.

— Missouri recently became the 40th state to have legalized sports betting. 

— Denver Broncos are 10-2, but they’ve been behind in every game; they’re the only team ever to win that many games when they trailed in all of them. Next-best record was the 1978 Houston Oilers, who were 8-4 thru 12 games.

— Famous birthdays, December 2nd:
Steven Bauer, 69
OJ McDuffie, 56
Mark Kotsay, 50

Britney Spears, 44
Aaron Rodgers, 42
Daniela Ruah, 42

Matt McGloin, 36
Brandon Knight, 34
Ashton Jeanty, 22

— NFL divisional trends
AFC East
Underdogs 5-3 ATS divisional games
12-6 ATS non-divisional underdogs

AFC North
Home teams 5-1 ATS divisional games
18-24 ATS non-divisional games

AFC South
Home teams, favorites 5-2 ATS divisional games.
12-8 ATS non-divisional underdogs

AFC West
Home teams 4-1 ATS divisional games
4-10 ATS non-divisional road team
8-15 non-divisional favorite.

NFC East
Home teams 5-2 ATS divisional games
6-11 ATS non-divisional underdogs

NFC North
Favorites 4-2 ATS divisional games
11-9 ATS non-divisional favorite

NFC South
Underdogs 3-1 ATS divisional games
16-20 ATS non-divisional games

NFC West
Home teams 1-5 ATS divisional games
16-7 non-divisional favorites

— Middle Tennessee 76, UAB 61
UAB led by a point at halftime.
Blue Raiders are 3-0 vs teams ranked outside top 100
UAB is shooting 26% on the arc this year. (#345)

— Colorado 78, Cal Baptist 70
8-0 Buffs trailed 23-9 midway thru the first half.
Colorado already has three top 100 wins.
Frosh guard Johnson scored 17 points in 27:00 off the bench.

— Bowling Green 82, Kansas State 66
Underdog Falcons never trailed, shot 12-26 on the arc.
Ugly loss for K-State, which shot 12-22 on foul line, 6-23 on arc.
Wildcats have lost three in a row, giving up 86-86-82 points. 

— Villanova 74, Temple 56
Villanova led 29-28 at halftime, in this inner-city rivalry.
Wildcats out-rebounded Temple 43-24.
Villanova is 6-1, but lost their only top 100 game (BYU)