Armadillo Sports

— 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)

49ers 26, Browns 8
49ers won their last three games, by 19-11-18 points.
49ers are 9-0 when they allow less than 26 points.
49ers were 11-17 on third down, Cleveland 3-11.
49ers are 5-0 ATS as a road favorite this year.

49ers led the Browns 10-8 at halftime.
Browns in 2nd half: 28 plays, 60 yards, no points.
Cleveland gained less than 280 yards in their last seven games.
Browns are 0-9 when they allow more than 10 points.

Jaguars 25, Titans 3
Jaguars scored TDs on 2 of  first 3 drives, led 15-3 early.
Jacksonville won last three games, scoring 35-27-25 points.
Jaguars held 9 of last 11 opponents under 100 yards rushing.
Jaguars are 8-3 ATS in last eleven AFC South road games.

Tennessee is 0-7 SU/3-4 ATS in last seven games.
Titans are 3-9 ATS in last 12 AFC South home games.
Tennessee is 5-16-1 ATS last 22 games coming off a loss.
Titans are 7-16 ATS in last 23 games as an underdog.

Texans 20, Colts 16
QB Stroud threw for 276 yards after missing last three games.
Texans were 6-13 on third down, Colts 3-10.
Houston won its last four games, by 7-3-4-4 points.
Texans are 6-0 when they score 20+ points.  

Colts’ first four drives: 18 plays, 71 yards, no points.
Houston led 10-6 at halftime.
Colts scored fewer than 20 points for first time this season.
Colts lost three of last four games, after a 7-1 start.

Dolphins 21, Saints 17
Miami won three of last four games, after a 1-6 start.
Down 19-11, Saints scored a TD with 1:17 left, but failed on 2-point try.
Saints recovered onside kick, got to Miami’s 36, but were stopped on downs.
De’Von Arcane ran ball for 134 yards and a TD. 

Saints lost five of their last six games.
New Orleans is 0-10 when it allows more than 14 points.
In seven of last eight games, Saints ran ball for less than 90 yards.
Saints are 0-4 in games decided by 7 or fewer points.

Jets 27, Falcons 24
Nick Folk kicked a 56-yard FG on last play to win on a rainy day.
Jets trailed 24-17, scored 10 points in last 1:53 of the game.
Jets are 3-2 in their last five games, after an 0-7 start.
WR Mitchell caught 8 passes for 102 yards and a TD. 

Game was tied 7-7 at halftime.
Atlanta lost six of its last seven games.
Falcons are 0-5 in games decided by 6 or fewer points.
Atlanta is 1-8 when it allows more than 14 points. 

Panthers 31, Rams 28
QB Young threw TD passes of 35-33-43 yards.
Carolina is 5-1 when they score 27+ points, 2-5 when they don’t
Panthers are 6-1 in games decided by 7 or fewer points.
Carolina is 5-0 ATS this year in games coming off a loss.

Rams were minus-3 in turnovers, throwing pick-6/INT in end zone.
LA allowed 33-26-31 points in their three losses.
Carolina was 7-15 on third down (3-3 on 4th), Rams 2-5.
7-6 Panthers are half-game behind Tampa Bay in NFC South.
 
Buccaneers 20, Cardinals 17
Buccaneers in first half: 34 plays, 147 yards, 10 points.
Tampa Bay led 10-3 at halftime.
Tampa Bay was 7-16 on third down, Arizona 3-8
Last eleven games, Tampa Bay is +9 in turnovers.

Cardinals are 0-7 in games decided by 4 or fewer points.
Arizona’s first five drives: 27 plays, 128 yards, 3 points.
Cardinals lost four in row, nine of last ten games.
Arizona is 1-8 when they allow more than 17 points. 

Famous birthdays, December 1st:
Bette Midler, 80
George Foster, 77
Larry Walker, 59
Steve Walsh, 59

DeSean Jackson, 39
Dan Straily, 37
Javier Baez, 33
Gary Payton II, 33

 Seahawks 26, Vikings 0
Vikings lost four in row, six of their last seven games.
Last four games, Minnesota is minus-11 in turnovers.
#3 QB Brosmer was overmatched, threw an 85-yard pick-6.
Minnesota was shut out for first time since 2007.

Seattle kicked FGs on four of their first seven drives.
Seattle is 4-1 ATS as a home favorite this year.
Seahawks won five of their last six games.
Seahawks held 8 of last 10 opponents under 300 TY.

Chargers 31, Raiders 14
Chargers outgained the Raiders, 341-156.
Chargers converted 12-17 on third down, Las Vegas 2-8
QB Herbert broke a bone in his left (non-throwing) hand.
Bolts are 8-3 ATS last 11 games as a home favorite.

Game was tied 7-7 at halftime.
Chargers in 2nd half: 31 plays, 199 yards, 24 points.
Raiders lost six games in a row, 10 of last 11.
Raiders are 11-18-2 ATS last 31 games as an underdog.  

Bills 26, Steelers 7
Pittsburgh led 7-3 at halftime.
Bills scored a defensive TD on first play of third quarter.
Steelers in 2nd half: 21 plays, 95 yards, zero points.
Pittsburgh lost five of its last seven games.

Buffalo outgained the Steelers, 372-166.
Bills ran ball 51 times for 249 yards (4.9 yards/carry).
Bills are 13-8 ATS in last 21 games coming off a loss.
Buffalo is 8-0 when they score more than 20 points.

Broncos 27, Commanders 26 OT
Both teams scored TD in OT; Washington went for 2 points/win, but failed.
Denver is 2-6 ATS last eight games as a road favorite.
Broncos won their last nine games, last four by 3-3-3-1 points.
Seven of their last eight wins were by 4 or fewer points.

Backup QB Mariota threw for 294 yards, two TD’s.
Commanders kicked FG at gun of regulation to force OT.
Washington is 0-7 SU/1-6 ATS in their last seven games.
Commanders are 0-5 in games decided by 9 or fewer points.

— College football coaching changes:
Lane Kiffin quits Ole Miss, bolts to LSU. He will not coach the Rebels in the college football playoff. 

Ole Miss named defensive coordinator Pete Golding its new head coach; he has never been a head coach before.

Florida hired former Tulane coach Jon Sumrall, who is 42-11 in four years as a HC.

Arkansas hired former Memphis coach Ryan Silverfield, who was 50-24 with the Tigers, 4-0 in bowl games.

Auburn hired former South Florida coach Alex Golesh, who was 23-15 in three years at USF, 2-0 in bowls.

Oklahoma State hired former North Texas coach Eric Morris, who was 22-15 in three years with the Mean Green.

Michigan State fired Jonathan Smith, who was 9-15 in two years at MSU, after going 25-13 his last three years at Oregon State. Spartans are expected to hire Pat Fitzgerald, who was 110-101 when he was coaching at Northwestern, his alma mater. 

— SMU 35, California 38
Golden Bears led 31-14 with 14:00 left in the game.
SMU rallied to take lead, but Cal scored game-winning TD with 0:43 left.
Mustangs missed a 52-yard field at the end that would’ve forced overtime.
Result puts 7-5 Duke in the ACC title game, against Virginia.

— Alabama 27, Auburn 20
Alabama drove 75 yards, scored game-winning TD with 3:50 left.
Alabama led this game 17-0 early in second quarter.
Alabama-Georgia is the SEC title game next Saturday. 

— Ohio State 27, Michigan 9
Buckeyes snap a four-game losing skid against their arch-rival.
Michigan scored on 3 of first 4 drives, but they kicked 3 field goals.
Rest of game, Michigan ran 18 plays for 39 yards, and no points.

— Troy 28, Southern Miss 18
Goose Crowder threw three TD passes for the 8-4 Trojans.
Troy outgained Southern Miss 428-304, overcame 11 penalties for 87 yards.
Troy will play James Madison in the Sun Belt title game next weekend.

— Vanderbilt 45, Tennessee 24
QB Pavia threw for 268 yards, ran for 165 more.
Game was tied 21-21 at halftime.
First time ever Vanderbilt won 10+ games in the regular season.

— Upsets of the Week:
California (+13.5) 38, SMU 35
Georgia Southern (+9.5) 24, Marshall 19
UAB (+7.5) 31, Tulsa 24
Army (+7.5) 27, Tex-San Antonio 24

Troy (+6.5) 28, Southern Miss 18
Kent State (+5.5) 35, Northern Illinois 31
Navy (+5.5) 28, Memphis 17
Middle Tennessee (+4.5) 31, New Mexico State 24 OT

— Baltimore Orioles signed reliever Ryan Helsley to a 2-year, $28M contract; Helsley had 21 saves for St Louis last year, but they traded him to the Mets at the trade deadline and he didn’t do well in New York, posting a 7.20 ERA in 22 games as a set-up man.

— Stanford Cardinal hired Washington Commanders QB coach Tavita Pritchard as its new football coach. Pritchard is a former Stanford quarterback who was also an assistant coach there from 2010-22.

— Texas A&M is 11-1 after getting upset Friday; they’ve beaten four teams who fired their coach during the season.

— Lions/Cowboys both play every year on Thanksgiving; how do they do the next week, with the little mini-bye built into their schedules? 

Last 11 years, Dallas is 7-4 ATS in their game after Thanksgiving.
Last five years, Detroit is 4-1 in their game after Thanksgiving.

— Famous birthdays, November 30th:
Jim Chones, 76
Bob Tewksbury, 65
Bo Jackson, 63
Ben Stiller, 60
Shane Victorino, 45

Rich Harden, 44
Elisha Cuthbert, 42
Kaley Cuoco, 40
Chase Anderson, 38
Daylen Lile, 23

— Drake 84, Georgia Tech 74
Bad loss for ACC, losing to an MVC team that is outside the top 100.
Drake was 20-2y on foul line, Tech was 7-18.
Tech is 5-3, but 0-3 vs top 200 teams.

— Cal-Santa Barbara 74, Seattle 71
Seattle led by 8 early in the second half.
Seattle was +8 in turnovers, but got out-rebounded 33-18
Gauchos were 22-25 on foul line, Seattle 14-22.

— Penn 73, LaSalle 71
LaSalle led by 15 early in the second half.
Penn was 10-20 on the arc; they got out-rebounded 40-31.
6-9 junior Power played all 40:00, scored 29 points for Penn.

— LSU 96, DePaul 63
Tigers led 50-22 at halftime.
7-0 LSU has played schedule #328 so far.
It gets tougher now; next 3 games: @ Boston College, vs Texas Tech, SMU

— Some teams with worst continuity coming into the year:
Xavier
Baylor
Central Florida
Indiana
Maryland
Memphis
Miami FL
West Virginia

— Bears 24, Eagles 15
Chicago ran ball 47 times for 281 yards (6.0 yards/carry)
Bears won five in row, nine of last ten games
Chicago was 10-17 on third down, Eagles 4-12.
Bears are 9-3, 6-1 in games decided by 5 or fewer points.

Eagles’ first six drives: 23 plays, 63 yards, 3 points.
Philly ran for less than 100 yards in seven of last ten games.
AJ Brown caught 10 passes for 132 yards.
Last four games, RB Barkley has run ball for only 54.3 yards/game.

— Vanderbilt 96, Saint Mary’s 71
Gaels beat Vandy 59-56 last year, in NCAA Tourney game (59 possessions)
Vandy gets revenge here, in much faster game (72 possessions)
Commodores scored 1.33 ppp, led 51-34 at halftime.
Vandy is 8-0, with three top 100 wins, and the #5 eFG% in country.

— Stanford 78, Saint Louis 77
Billikens led by 15 midway thru the first half.
Stanford trailed Minnesota by 10 in Thursday’s win.
Stanford shot 29.7% inside arc, 13-27 outside arc.

— Pittsburgh 67, Ohio State 66
Demarco Miner scored 18 points, hit 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Pitt played seven guys, and the 7th guy only played 7:00.
Buckeyes led by 5 with 4:12 left in the game.

— UConn 74, Illinois 61
UConn never trailed; Illinois shot only 6-29 on the arc.
Huskies are 6-1, with #10 eFG% defense in country.
Illinois is 6-2, losing both their games away from Evanston.

— SMU 87, Mississippi State 81 OT
Miss State led by 9 with 7:36 left in the game.
SMU is 8-0, with top 100 wins over Butler (87-85) and this game.
Mustangs start four seniors; they had a 50-40 edge on the boards.

Top 5 experience teams in country:
1) Indiana
2) SMU
3) Liberty
4) Gonzaga
5) Texas

— Famous birthdays, November 29th:
Mike Easler, 75
Kim Delaney, 67
Howard Johnson, 65
Andrew McCarthy, 63

Don Cheadle, 61
TJ Rubley, 57
Mariano Rivera, 56
Jamal Mashburn, 53

Anna Faris, 49
Russell Wilson, 37
Stefan Diggs, 32
Julius Randle, 31

— BYU 83, Dayton 79
Dayton led 36-30 at halftime.
Richie Saunders scored 29 points for BYU.
Dayton lost, despite shooting 15-33 on the arc.
This was a high-level game.

— BYU’s Saunders is the grandson of the guy who founded frozen foods company Ore-Ida- they invented Tater Tots. Saunders has an NIL deal with Ore-Ida, which makes sense. 

— Oklahoma 75, Marquette 74
Oklahoma shot 11-28 on arc; Nijel Pack scored 24 points.
Marquette is 0-4 vs top 100 teams; they led by 12 with 13:19 left to play

— VCU 86, Virginia Tech 68
VCU shot 11-21 on the arc, led 45-35 at halftime.
Rams are 5-3; five of their eight games were against top 100 teams.

— Some teams who’ve played the hardest schedules so far:
1) Oakland
2) Alabama
6) Rider
8) Morehead State
9) Michigan

— Western Kentucky 75, Wichita State 70
Wichita led by 9 with 13:24 left to play.
Hilltoppers went 1-2 in Atlantis tourney; games were decided by 5-6-5 points.
Only six guys scored for WKU, only four of them had more than 5 points.

— Top five teams in country, via KenPom’s ratings:
1) Michigan
2) Purdue
3) Duke
4) Iowa State
5) Gonzaga

— Packers 31, Lions 24
Packers’ first six drives: 47 plays, 320 yards, 31 points.
Jordan Love threw for 234 yards, four TD’s.
Green Bay is 8-0-1 when it scores 23+ points
Since 2019, Packers are 18-8-1 ATS as a road underdog.

Detroit is 3-4 in its last seven games, after a 4-1 start.
Lions are 1-5 when they score less than 34 points.
WR Williams caught seven passes for 144 yards and a TD.
Detroit was 8-13 on third down, Green Bay 6-12.

— Cowboys 31, Chiefs 28
Dallas won its last three games, scoring 33-24-31 points.
Cowboys were 9-16 on third down, outgained Chiefs 457-362.
WR Lamb caught seven passes for 112 yards and a TD.
Cowboys are 13-6 ATS last 19 games as a home underdog.

Chiefs’ first two drives: 14 plays, 109 yards, 14 points.
Chiefs’ next four drives: 25 plays, 94 yards, four punts.
Chiefs lost their last four road games, by 3-7-3-3 points.
Chiefs committed 5 pass interference penalties, most of any team in last 35 years.

— Bengals 32, Ravens 14
Ravens turned ball over five times on 12 drives.
Ravens are 0-5 when they allow more than 19 points.
QB Burrow threw for 261 yards, two TD’s.
Bengals were 8-19 on third down, Baltimore 3-10.

Just second win in last ten games for the Bengals.
Loss snaps the Ravens’ five-game winning streak.
Evan McPherson kicked six field goals for Cincinnati.
6-5 Steelers are atop AFC North, by half-game over 6-6 Baltimore.

— Navy 28, Memphis 17
9-2 Navy clinches at least a tie for AAC regular season title.
Middies ran ball 60 times for 200 yards.
Navy was 8-15 on third down, Memphis 4-12.
Memphis led this game 17-14 at halftime.

— South Florida 97, Western Kentucky 91 OT
Hilltoppers led 50-33 late in first half, by 6 with 1:14 left in regulation.
6-5 freshman Nyorha scored 11 points in 11:00 off the bench for USF.
South Florida shot 13-36 on arc; they’re 4-3, 0-3 vs top 100 teams.

— TCU 84, Florida 80
Gators led 44-39 at halftime.
6-5 soph Posey scored 21 points in 21:00 off the bench for TCU
Florida had 19 turnovers, Horned Frogs only nine.
Florida is 4-2, vs schedule #48.

— Michigan State 74, North Carolina 58
Spartans were 5-10 on arc, North Carolina was 4-23.
7-0 Michigan State is #49 in continuity, 6-1 UNC is #310.
Spartans have 3 top 40 wins (Arkansas-Kentuckyp-UNC)

— Famous birthdays, November 28th:
Ed Harris, 75
S. Epatha Merkerson, 73
Sixto Lezcano, 72
Preston Dennard, 70

George Andrews, 70
Dave Righetti, 67
Judd Nelson, 66

Jon Stewart, 63
Johnny Newman, 62
Matt Williams, 60

Pedro Astacio, 57
Robb Nen, 56
Leandro Barbosa, 43
Jarvis Landry, 33

— Indianapolis Colts’ QB Daniel Jones is dealing with a fractured fibula, a nice way of saying he will try to play through having a broken leg. Jones threw for 181 yards vs Kansas City in an OT loss last week, but ran the ball only three times.

Colts are 8-3, lead the AFC South by a game; they host Houston Sunday. 

— Missouri Tigers signed football coach Eli Drinkwitz to a six-year contract extension, worth roughly $10.7M/year. Mizzou is 28-9 the last three years, and has played in a bowl game the last six years under Drinkwitz’s tutelage. There were rumors that Penn State was interested inn hiring him, which is part of why he had a lot more to be thankful for Thursday.

— Colorado Rockies named interim manager Warren Schaeffer their full-time manager for 2026. Schaeffer was the Rockies’ 3rd base coach during their 7-33 start last year, but was named interim manager when Colorado fired Bud Black- their front office was terrible.

Schaeffer has been a member of the Rockies organization for over a decade and becomes the eighth full-time manager in club history. Paul DePodesta is Colorado’s new front office boss; he is the Jonah Hill character in Moneyball, so the Rockies are becoming analytics-driven.

— Vanderbilt 89, VCU 74
Lot of fouls; Vandy was 24-33 on foul line, VCU 27-35.
7-0 Vandy has a 61.6 eFG%, 5th-best in the country.
Vandy is #7 in country experience; they play Saint Mary’s Friday.

— Saint Mary’s 77, Virginia Tech 66
8-0 Gaels never trailed, shot 59.5% inside the arc.
For season, Gaels are shooting 40.4% on arc (#22), 81.7% on foul line (#8)
Saint Mary’s has #9 eFG% defense; they beat Wichita/Va Tech last two days, both top 100 teams.

— Saint Louis 71, Santa Clara 70
Santa Clara led by 9 early in second half.
This was first top 100 win for Billikens, who are shooting 63.6% inside arc (#8)
First loss for Santa Clara, which has top 100 wins over Xavier/McNeese State

— Houston Rockets are only NBA team that hasn’t played on back/back nights yet this season. Warriors have done it five times, 76ers four times, most in the league so far. 

Hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving; thanks for reading every day (you do read this every day, right???) Hope you all enjoy the day.

— Michigan 101, Gonzaga 61
Wolverines were awesome this week, winning by 40-30-40 points.
All three of those wins were against top 50 teams.
Michigan shot 69.7% inside arc, shot 13-27 on arc.

— USC 88, Arizona State 75
Trojans shot 73.5% inside arc, win the Maui Classic.
One of USC’s best players, Rodney Rice, didn’t play in this game (shoulder)
Trojans are 7-0, with three wins by 3 or fewer points.

— Texas 102, NC State 97
Texas shot 16-32 on the arc, scored 1.42 points/possession.
NC State scored 1.35 points/possession but lost; unusual.
Texas is #5 experience team that is 6-2 vs schedule #312.

— Baylor 91, San Diego State 81
Baylor led 40-36 at halftime, pulled away in second half.
Bears improve to 5-1, with three top 60 wins.
Shaky start for the Mountain West; they’re only 51-30 SU this month, 7-15 against teams in the top 100.

— Kansas 81, Tennessee 76
Tennessee led this game 41-34 at halftime.
Kansas was 26-30 on foul line, Vols 17-22.
Kansas is 6-2, against schedule #26. 

Jayhawks went 3-0 in Las Vegas this week, even though star freshman Peterson (hamstring) didn’t play in any of the games.

— Famous birthdays, November 27th:
Don Strock, 75
Curtis Armstrong, 72
AJ Duhe, 70
Mike Scioscia, 67

Ken O’Brien, 65
Michael Rispoli, 55
Brooke Langton, 55
Nick Van Exel, 54

Ivan Rodriguez, 54
Adam Archuleta, 48
Jimmy Rollins, 47
Brendan Haywood, 46

— Toronto Blue Jays signed P Dylan Cease to a 7-year, $210M contract; Cease has started 32 or 33 games each of the last five years. He was 8-12, 4.55 for San Diego last year; for his career, he is 65-58, 3.88 in 188 starts.

— The baseball they use in the major leagues is slightly bigger than they one they use in the pro leagues in Japan, which may be why Japanese pitchers sometimes take a while to adjust to pitching in this country.

— Jim Mora Jr is the new football coach at Colorado State, which moves to the revived Pac-12 next season. Mora coached at UConn the last four years, going 18-7 the last two seasons. He was previously 46-30 in six years coaching UCLA, 31-33 in four years as an NFL head coach.

Colorado State has had only one winning season the last eight years, going 8-5 last year- they haven’t won a bowl game since 2013, losing their last five bowls.

— Baylor is the only college basketball team that, over the last five years, has had a player taken in the first 19 picks of the NBA Draft.

— Movie of the Day: Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993)- A sportswriter discovers that his grade school-aged son is a chess prodigy. 

Joe Mantegna is the sportswriter, Joan Allen is his wife. Ben Kingsley/Laurence Fishburne are chess experts who try and influence how the kid plays the game, in vastly different ways.

This is a very good movie. 

— Auburn 85, St John’s 74
St John’s led 39-30 at halftime.
Auburn shot 59% inside the arc.
St John’s is 4-3, with only one top 100 win (Baylor).

— Saint Mary’s 70, Wichita State 65
Gaels outscored Wichita 6-0 over the last 1:16 of the game.
Brickfest; teams combined to shoot 6-30 on the arc.
Saint Mary’s is 7-0, but this was their first top 100 game.

— Wagner 103, Manhattan 101 OT
Jaspers led by 19 late in the first half.
Manhattan led 56-43 at halftime.
1-5 Wagner gets its first win; they shot 58.3% inside arc, 9-16 on arc.

— Virginia Tech 66, Colorado State 64
Tech is 6-0, with two top 100 wins (Providence, Colorado State)
Hokies were 13-16 on foul line, Colorado State 6-8.
Virginia Tech-Saint Mary’s is an interesting game Thursday

— VCU 78, South Florida 66
VCU was 23-32 on foul line, South Florida 12-20
Teams combined to shoot 9-37 on the arc.
VCU is 4-2, but this was their first top 300 win (lost to Utah State/NC State)

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.