Armadillo Sports

September’s Too……..is a good bar
1165 Central Avenue in Colonie, just west of Osborne Road

Wednesday- Open for lunch at noon
Thursday-  Open Mike Night, 7:00
Friday- Karaoke with Dan Leto at 8:00
Saturday- Live music; The Dude Abides at 8:00…….
Sunday- Super Bowl Party, 4:00-midnight

You can order food from them via Door Dash
There’s a pool table, only 25 cents/game.
Check it out, it’s a fun place

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Tuesday’s 6-pack
Lowest over/under win totals for baseball this year:
51.5- Rockies
64.5- White Sox
65.5- Nationals
69.5- Angels
70.5- Cardinals
72.5- Marlins

Thought of the Day
“They continue to embody the standard of this franchise to compete for championships, consistently delivering a product that our fans and city can be proud of. Their collaboration embodies the ‘We Then Me’ ethos we seek in our players, coaches and staff, and we are thrilled they will be leading the Los Angeles Rams for years to come.”
Rams owner Stan Kroenke, on signing Sean McVay/Les Snead to contract extensions

Tuesday’s quiz
Since 2000, which NFL team has had the most head coaches? 

Monday’s quiz
In the movie Groundhog Day, Bill Murray’s character’s (Phil Connors) is a TV weatherman.

Sunday’s quiz
Near the end of the movie The Wedding Singer, Billy Idol appears in the scene on an airplane. 

— Good news for me and all Rams fans; the team re-signed coach Sean McVay, GM Les Snead to multi-year contract extensions. Since 2017, the Rams have a 92-57 regular-season record, which is the fifth best in the NFL; under McVay, they’re 10-6 in playoff games, 1-1 in Super Bowls.

— St Louis Cardinals traded 2B Brendan Donovan to Seattle Monday, in a 3-way trade:

Mariners get 2B Brendan Donovan

Tampa Bay gets 3B Ben Williamson

Cardinals get:
P Jurrangelo Clijnte (throws lefty and righty)

OF’s Tai Peete, Colton Ledbetter
Competitive balance Round B pick

— Some insurance companies won’t insure ballplayers who are scheduled to play in next month’s World Baseball Classic, so they aren’t going to play.

As many as eight players eligible to play for Puerto Rico haven’t been approved for insurance, including Francisco Lindor, and Puerto Rico is hosting some of the early round games.

Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa also won’t be playing in the WBC. Shohei Ohtani will be a DH, but he won’t be pitching.

— If you have a pitcher from the San Francisco Giants on your fantasy team, are you queasy that the right side of the Giants infield is going to be Rafael Devers/Luis Arraez? 

Very good hitters, shaky in the field.

— There are 28 days in February; this year was the first time since 2015 that February 1st was a Sunday, so on a regular calendar, the month fits perfectly into four rows.

This won’t happen again until 2037.

— Famous birthdays, February 3rd:
Fran Tarkenton, 86
Blythe Danner, 83
Bob Griese, 81
Bake McBride, 77
Morgan Fairchild, 76

Fred Lynn, 74
Maura Tierney, 61
Vlade Divac, 58
Skip Schumaker, 46
Tyler Huntley, 28

— International NFL games next fall:
3 games in London
One game in Australia
One game in Brazil
One game in Germany
One game in Spain

— Before this season, Seahawks were 50-1 to win the Super Bowl, Patriots 80-1.

— Florida State offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn retired from coaching Monday, ending his 35-year coaching career. Malzahn was 105-62 as a head coach at three schools. Florida State led the ACC in total offense this past season.

— In the NBA, 76ers star Paul George was suspended 25 games for taking ‘improper medication’ whatever that means. George misses out on $469,691.72 for each of the 25 games he will miss, a total loss of $11,742,293. Yikes.

— NBA players who have played for the most teams:
13- Ish Smith
12- Chucky Brown
Jim Jackson
Tony Massenburg
Joe Smith.

— Movie of the Day: Groundhog Day (1993)- A TV weatherman from Pittsburgh is sent to cover Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney, PA for the fourth year in a row; he isn’t happy about it, and makes no effort to hide it. He and his two co-workers get stuck because in Punxsutawney because of a snowstorm.

This is where it gets strange; when the weatherman wakes up the next day, it is Groundhog Day again, and he lives the same day, over and over, for the rest of the movie. 

I hadn’t seen this movie for probably 25 years; it is legitimately strange, but there are parts that are funny. Bill Murray is the weatherman, Andie McDowell/Chris Elliott are his co-workers.

— Since 2004, Gonzaga is 44-5 SU in the WCC Tournament. 

Last four years, NC-Greensboro was 48-24 in Southern Conference games, which is really good, but SoCon is a one-bid league, and in those four years, UNCG is 0-4 in the SoCon tournament.

No bueno.

— Last weekend. there was a boxing card at Madison Square Garden; in one of the bouts, a guy got punched so hard that his hairpiece popped upward from the front, revealing a large bald spot that covered most of his head.

Why was he wearing a hairpiece?
What were the odds that this would happen, and the guy would still win his fight? (He did)

— RIP to Catherine O’Hara, 71, a terrific actress who passed away over the weekend; she was part of the great TV show Second City TV, was the mom in Home Alone, and won an Emmy for her role in the TV show Schitt’s Creek. RIP, ma’am

— OF Austin Hays signed on with the White Sox for one year, $6M; last year, Hays hit .266 with a .765 OPS in 103 games with Cincinnati.

— The tractor trailer loaded with baseball equipment took off for Red Sox spring training in Fort Myers Monday; pitchers and catchers report a week from today. On the truck……

20,400 baseballs
200 batting gloves
200 batting helmets
1,100 bats
20 cases of bubble gum
60 cases of sunflower seeds

Spring training can’t start soon enough. 

— All the NFL’s head coaching vacancies have been filled; Arizona Cardinals hired Mike LaFleur as their new head coach- he had been offensive coordinator with the Rams. LaFleur’s brother Matt is the head coach in Green Bay- he hired ex-Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon as the Packers’ new DC last week.

— This signals that after the Super Bowl, Las Vegas Raiders will hire Seattle OC as its new coach; Klint Kubiak is the son of former Broncos’ QB/coach Gary Kubiak. Raiders interviewed 15 guys for this job.

— San Francisco 49ers hired former Falcons coach Raheem Morris as their new DC; Morris was DC for the Rams when they won the Super Bowl four years ago, now he is an assistant for their arch-rival. Morris will be the 49ers’ fifth DC in five years, after Robert Saleh left to become the head coach in Tennessee.

— Buffalo Bills hired Jim Leonhard as their new DC; Leonhard had been working as an assistant in Denver. He coached for several years in college, after a 10-year playing career in the NFL.

— In the last 11 Super Bowls where the spread was more than four points, the underdog was 10-1 against the spread. Right now, Seattle is favored by 4.5 points next Sunday.

— I know very little about business, but apparently the NFL now owns 10% of ESPN; in return, ESPN gets NFL Network, NFL Fantasy and the rights to distribute the RedZone channel to cable and satellite operators. Viewers are not expected to notice changes on NFL Network until April.

— San Francisco Giants signed IF Luis Arraez for one year, $12M; he is expected to play second base for the Giants. Arraez won a batting title three of last four years, but last year, he slumped to .292, with a .719 OPS.

— Cincinnati Reds signed 3B/DH Eugenio Suarez for one year, $15M; he is expected to mostly DH for the Reds, a team he hit 49 home runs for in 2019. Suarez homered 49 times last year for Arizona/Seattle, hitting .228.

— Famous birthdays, February 2nd:
Wayne Fontes, 86
Dave Casper, 74
John Tudor, 72
Pat Tabler, 68
Sean Elliott, 58

Scott Erickson, 58
Shakira Ripoli, 49
Matthew Boyd, 35
Adrian Houser, 33
Josh Lowe, 28

— Former Maryland coach Mark Turgeon will be the new coach at Kansas City next year; Turgeon played/coached at Kansas- he led Maryland to five NCAA tournament appearances, including a Sweet 16 run in 2016.

Last four years, Kangaroos are 22-37 in Summit League games

— Illinois 78, Nebraska 69
Nebraska led 39-33 at halftime.
Illini was 21-26 on foul line, Cornhuskers 4-5.
Second top 5 loss in row for Nebraska, after a 20-0 start.

— Florida 100, Alabama 77
Gators shot 56.9% inside arc, led 46-36 at halftime.
Alabama is 3-4 in its last seven games; they were out-rebounded, 44-33.

53.2% of Alabama’s shots this year have been 3-pointers; no team that won the national title has ever taken more than half their shots behind the arc.

— Tulsa 93, Wichita State 83
Tulsa shot 71.4% inside the arc.
Golden Hurricanes have won six in row, are 19-3, 7-2 in AAC play.
Tulsa is shooting 40.8% on the arc (#4 in country).

— Tulane 78, Memphis 76
Tulane snaps 5-game skid; they led by 15 midway thru first half
Memphis out-rebounded the Green Wave, 40-25.
Memphis is 10-11 this year, 5-4 in the AAC.

— Eastern Carolina 76, FAU 75
Florida Atlantic led by 12 midway thru first half.
Jordan Riley scored 35 points, had 9 rebounds, 5 assists.
Owls have lost three in row, after starting AAC play 6-1.

— Cleveland State 90, Milwaukee 88
Cleveland State led by 12 with 10:56 left, hung on for the win.
Vikings shot 70% inside the arc, scored 1.29 ppp.
Cleveland State has won four in row, after starting season 5-14.

— Colorado 87, TCU 61
Colorado shot 11-23 on arc, scored 1.32 ppp.
Win snapped Buffaloes’ six-game losing streak.
TCU has lost six of its last eight games. 

— Indiana 98, UCLA 97, 2OTs
Hoosiers led by 10 with 1:50 left in regulation.
Indiana shot 11-34 on the arc, 17-32 inside the arc.
6-10 senior Bailey scored 24 points in 28:00 off the bench.

— Kansas 90, BYU 82
Jayhawks shot 61.8% inside arc; they led 53-33 at halftime.
Freshman Peterson scored 18 points in 20:00, but didn’t play in last 16:00
Third loss in four games for BYU, after a 16-1 start.

— Kentucky 85, Arkansas 77
Kentucky has won six of its last seven games.
Wildcats got three technical fouls in a 0:39 span of 2nd half.
Arkansas led by 4 with 11:28 left in the game.

— Gonzaga 73, Saint Mary’s 65
Gaels led 38-34 at halftime.
Saint Mary’s had won 25 games in a row when they led at halftime.
Gonzaga has won 15 straight games; Graham Ike scored 30 points.

— Louisville 88, SMU 74
SMU led 19-7 early in the game.
Louisville outscored Mustangs 44-27 in second half.
Cardinals shot 75% inside arc.
Louisville was 16-23 on foul line, SMU 6-9

— Upsets of the Day:
Fordham (+11.5) 79, George Washington 65
California (+10.5) 86, Miami 85
Central Michigan (+8.5) 62, Bowling Green 59
Kentucky (+7.5) 85, Arkansas 77

Campbell (+7.5) 104, Wm & Mary 96
Western Kentucky (+7.5) 65, Middle Tennessee 60
Appalachian State (+7.5) 66, Troy 44
Southern Utah (+6.5) 79, Abilene Christian 76

— Central Florida 88, Texas Tech 80
UCF won its last three games, scoring 87.3 ppg.
Knights are shooting 38.2% on the arc (#18)
Tech lost despite scoring 76.9% inside the arc.

— Utah State 71, San Diego State 66
Aztecs led by 11 late in the first half.
Brickfest; teams combined to shoot 12-50 on the arc.
Both teams are now 9-2 in the Mountain West

— Xavier 68, DePaul 66
DePaul led by 16 with 10:01 left in the games.
Xavier was 16-19 on foul line, Blue Demons 0-1
Just third win in last nine games for the Musketeers.

— California 86, Miami 85
Miami led by 11 with 8:49 left in the game.
6-3 soph Pippen had 17 points, 8 assists.
Miami lost despite shooting 64.1% inside the arc.

— Famous birthdays, February 1st:
Dick Snyder, 82
Billy Mumy, 72
Mike Horan, 67

Wade Wilson, 67
Linus Roache, 62
Kent Mercker, 58

Brett Anderson, 38
Sean Manaea, 34
Jazz Chisholm, 28

— Miami OH 85, Northern Illinois 61
RedHawks are 22-0, 10-0 in the MAC, but against schedule #337.
NIU led this game by 5 with 15:00 left to play.
Miami shot 66.7% inside the arc.

— Arizona 87, Arizona State 74
Game was 38-38 at halftime.
Wildcats out-rebounded ASU, 47-32.
Arizona is 19-4 in its last 23 games against the Sun Devils.

— Illinois-Chicago 68, Southern Illinois 66
Salukis led by 18 early in the second half.
UIC out-rebounded Southern Illinois 44-24.
Flames have won eight games in a row, after a 5-10 start.

— George Mason 77, St Bonaventure 73
Bonnies led by 14 with 8:50 left in the game.
George Mason shot 74.3% inside the arc; they’re 20-2.
Patriots’ subs outscored St Bonaventure’s bench, 31-5

— College basketball ref Doug Sirmons has been busy the last week:
January 23- Ohio State @ Michigan
January 24- Maryland @ Michigan State
January 27- Purdue @ Indiana
January 28- Houston @ TCU
January 29- Colorado @ Iowa State
January 30- Dayton @ Saint Louis
January 31- BYU @ Kansas

— Turns out that Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen played his last four games with a broken bone in his right foot; he is expected to be healthy for Buffalo’s spring workouts. Allen threw for 3,668 yards and 25 TD’s this year.

Buffalo scored 12-35-27-30 points in splitting their last four games, with Allen playing hurt.

— NFL Films has always done a good job with the Hard Knocks series on HBO; an interesting show for next year would be a peak inside the Hall of Fame voting, which is controversial this year because Bill Belichick didn’t get voted in.

— Philadelphia Eagles named former NFL QB Sean Mannion their new OC; he played in the NFL as recently as 2021, was an assistant with Green Bay the last two years, after playing six years in the NFL, for the Rams/Vikings.

— Speaking of which, Vikings fired their GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah Friday; he had been the GM in Minnesota for four years, when the Vikings went 43-27, 0-2 in playoff games.

Last year, Minnesota went 14-3 with Darnold at QB, lost in the first round of the playoffs, and they let him walk; this year, Darnold has led Seattle to the Super Bowl, which apparently didn’t sit well with the Vikings, so now they need a new GM.

— Atlanta Falcons hired Ian Cunningham as their new general manager; he spent the last four years working with the Bears, and for five years before that, he worked in the Eagles’ front office.

— Baltimore Ravens hired 29-year old Declan Doyle as their new offensive coordinator; he’s the same age as Lamar Jackson. Doyle worked for the Bears last year, after previous jobs with the Broncos and New Orleans.

— Next week’s Super Bowl has two QBs who haven’t played in a Super Bowl, and two head coaches who haven’t coached in a Super Bowl. Last time that happened was 12 years ago, when the Harbaugh brothers coached against each other, with Joe Flacco leading the Ravens to a 34-31 win over Colin Kaepernick and the 49ers. 

— Famous birthdays, January 31st
Nolan Ryan, 79
Bob Apodaca, 76
Anthony LaPaglia, 67
Kelly Lynch, 67
Rod Higgins, 66

Minnie Driver, 56
Justin Timberlake, 45
Cole Irvin, 32
Donte DiVincenzo, 29
Zach Neto, 25

Missed a birthday yesterday; Michigan State hoop coach Tom Izzo turned 71.

— Sacramento/Las Vegas A’s signed SS Jacob Wilson to a 7-year, $70M contract extension, as the teams solidifies its nucleus two years before moving to Las Vegas.

Wilson hit .311 in 125 games for the A’s last year, with an OPS of .800.

— Minnesota Twins fired Derek Falvey, the team’s president of baseball and business operations (technically, they “mutually parted ways”). Falvey had been with the Twins since he was hired to run baseball operations in 2016.

Twins have a new primary owner now, so Falvey hits the bricks; under Falvey, Minnesota made the postseason four times, and in 2023, they won their first postseason series in 21 years with a Wild Card Series win against Toronto.

— Last four years for free agent IF Luis Arraez:
2022- hit .316 for the Twins, won a batting title
2023- hit .354 for the Marlins, won a batting title
2024- hit .314 for Marlins/Padres, won his 3rd straight batting title
2025- hit .292 with a .719 OPS for the Padres

Arraez is a 28-year old free agent; no one seems to want him. Why?

Colorado seemed like a logical landing spot, but the guy who was the Jonah Hill character in Moneyball runs the Rockies now, and Arraez doesn’t walk a lot, so that seems like a no-go.

Very curious to see where he winds up.

— Milwaukee Bucks are 3-13 this season without Giannis Antetokounmpo; he is also the only player on their team who was a first round draft pick. NBA trade deadline is Thursday; lot of people expect Milwaukee to trade him to a contender.

— At age 41, Lebron James is still the 14th highest-paid player in the NBA, making $52,627,153 this season. 

— Michigan 83, Michigan State 71
Wolverines led by 18 late in first half.
State led 59-57 with 6:55 left in the game.
Yaxel Lendeborg scored 26 points, grabbed 12 rebounds for Michigan.

— VCU 89, Loyola Chi 75
Loyola led 24-9 early on.
VCU’s subs outscored Loyola’s bench, 51-15
Rams have won five in row, nine of last 11 games. 

— Fairfield 71, Iona 70
Stags win in New Rochelle for first time since 2007.
Fairfield had 21 offensive boards, out-rebounded Gaels 42-31.
Braden Sparks shot 5-12 on arc, scored 27 points.

— Villanova 87, Providence 73
Villanova shot 13-29 on arc, scored 1.27 ppp.
Wildcats led 45-28 at halftime.
Providence has lost seven of its last eight games.

— Grand Canyon 86, Boise State 69
Antelopes shot 58.8% inside arc, scored 1.30 ppp.
Grand Canyon is 7-3 in its first year in Mountain West.
Loss snaps Boise State’s four-game winning streak. 

— Some leagues playing fastest-paced games:
1- Big West
4- Big 12
5- SEC
6- MAC

Some leagues playing slowest-paced games:
28- MAAC
27- Big 18
26- Conference USA
24- Southern Conference

— Some leagues with best offenses (eFG%):
2- Summit
3- Horizon
4- Southern Conference
5- MAC

Some leagues with worst offenses (eFG%):
31- Ohio Valley
30- MAAC
27- American
26- Sun Belt

— Leagues making the most foul shots:
76.5%- Ivy
76.4%- Big Sky
75.3%- Big 18
74.8%- Horizon

Leagues making the least foul shots:
70.5%- Ohio Valley
70.7%- Missouri Valley
70.8%- Conference USA
71.8%- CAA

— Some leagues making best %age of 3-pointers:
36.1%- Big Sky
35.9%- Conference USA
35.7%- Southern Conference
35.5%- Summit

Some leagues making worst %age of 3-pointers:
32.5%- Ohio Valley
32.8%- SEC
33%- MAAC
33.2%- Missouri Valley

— Some leagues with highest %age of close games:
33.9%- MAC
27.9%- Horizon
27.1%- Sun Belt
25.4%- CAA

Leagues with lowest %age of close games:
10.3%- Mountain West
13.6%- WCC
13.8%- WAC
14%- Atlantic 14

— Leagues where home teams have won the most:
69.5%- West Coast
69%- WAC
66.7%- Big Sky
66.7%- MAAC

Leagues where road teams have won the most:
56.6%- Atlantic 14
52.6%- Ivy
50%- Horizon
47.5%- ACC

— Some leagues with the fewest turnovers:
14.6% of possessions- Southern Conference
14.8%- SEC
14.8%- Ivy League
15.3%- Big 18

Some leagues with the most turnovers:
19.3%- WAC
18%- OVC
17.9%- Mountain West
17.6%- Big West

— Famous birthdays, January 30th:
Phil Collins, 76
Nolan Cromwell, 71
Michael Thompson, 71
Jalen Rose, 53

Christian Bale, 52
Lance Kendricks, 38
Kodai Senga, 33
Bryan Woo, 26

Some random trends for teams against the spread:
(All stats for conference games only)
— Michigan is 6-1 SU/0-7 ATS last seven games
UConn is 7-0 SU/0-7 ATS last seven games.

— ACC
Boston College/Duke are both 5-1 ATS last six games.
Clemson is 7-1 SU/ATS

Wake Forest is 2-6 SU/1-7 ATS
Syracuse is 0-4 SU/ATS last four games.

— American
Rice is 6-1 ATS last seven games.
Tulsa is 5-0 SU/4-1 ATS last five games.
Wichita State is 4-1 SU/ATS last five games. 

UAB is 1-5 ATS last six games.

— Atlantic 14
St Joe’s is 5-1 SU/6-0 ATS last six games.
Saint Louis is 8-0 SU/5-3 ATS

Davidson is 2-3 SU/1-4 ATS last five games.
Loyola Chi is 1-6 ATS last seven games.

— Big 18
Nebraska is 9-1 SU/8-2 ATS

Illinois/Washington both covered six of their last seven games.
Michigan State is 7-0 SU/5-2 ATS last seven games.
Rutgers is 6-2 ATS last eight games. 

USC/UCLA are both 5-1 ATS last six games. 

Maryland is 1-6 SU/ATS last seven games.
Minnesota is 0-6 SU/2-4 ATS last sis games.
Oregon is 0-7 SU/1-6 ATS last seven games.
Purdue is 0-7 ATS last seven games.

— Big X
Arizona is 8-0 SU/6-2 ATS
Iowa State/Kansas both won/covered last four games.
Texas Tech is 6-1 SU/5-2 ATS

Baylor is 1-7 SU/ATS
BYU is 3-2 SU/0-5 ATS last five games.
Kansas State is 1-7 SU/2-6 ATS

— Big East
DePaul is 4-6 SU/8-2 ATS
St John’s is 7-0 SU/5-2 ATS last seven games.
Xavier covered five of its last six games.

Creighton is 0-5 ATS last five games. 

— SEC
Favorites are 7-1 ATS in Arkansas games.
Florida covered six of its last seven games.
Texas A&M is 5-1 SU/6-0 ATS last six games.

Mississippi State/Missouri are both 1-5 ATS last six games.  

— Tennessee 86, Georgia 85 OT
Vols out-rebounded Georgia, 52-27
Tennessee has rebounded 44.7% of its missed shots, best in country.
Dawgs shot 66.7% inside the arc.

— Auburn 88, Texas 82
Longhorns led by 13 early, 42-34 at halftime.
Auburn shot 11-21 on arc, 29-39 on line, scored 1.38 ppp
Auburn won its last four games, scoring 78.3 ppg.

— Wisconsin 67, Minnesota 63
Gophers led this game by 20 late in first half.
Badgers shot 13-31 on the arc, only 6-17 inside the arc.
Minnesota has lost 6 in a row, 4 of them by 4 or less points, or in OT

— Iowa 73, USC 72
Hawkeyes led by 17 with 9:30 left in the game.
Kam Woods scored 33 for USC, 27 of them in the second half.
Iowa won its last three games, giving up 63.7 ppg.

— Belmont 78, Valparaiso 77
Belmont led by 10 late in first half.
Bruins have a 60.3 eFG%, best in the country.
Belmont has won 6 in a row; 4 of their last 5 wins were by 5 or fewer points.

— Drake 82, Evansville 78
Evansville led by 19 with 12:57 left in the game.
Drake was 28-38 on foul line, Purple Aces 7-12
Bulldogs won their last three games, scoring 86.3 ppg.

— Houston 79, TCU 70
Freshman G Flemings scored 27 points, had five assists.
Houston has won 12 of its last 13 games.
TCU is 2-5 in last seven games, after an 11-3 start. 

— Famous birthdays, January 29:
Katherine Ross, 86
Tom Selleck, 81
Terry Kinney, 72
Oprah Winfrey, 72

Tony Galbreath, 72
Steve Sax, 66
Mike Aldrete, 65
Andre Reed, 62

Aeneas Williams, 58
Heather Graham, 56
Jose Abreu, 39
Quentin Lake, 27

— It has been freakin’ cold here in upstate New York; had over a foot of snow over the weekend, so I wasn’t amused where the TV folks at the Australian Open tennis tournament were whining about how hot it is there. 95 degrees is better than paying people to plow your driveway (or doing it yourself when they don’t show up). Summer is better than winter!!!

— Was reading something last week where Robert Kraft said that eventually, the NFL is going to an 18-game regular season, where each team gets two bye weeks, and also, every team will play a game overseas every year.

That would place the Super Bowl on Sunday, Presidents Day weekend.

— Cleveland Browns hired Todd Monken as their new coach; Monken had been the OC for the Ravens, so now John Harbaugh needs a new OC in his new job with the Giants.

Monken turns 60 next week; he is the Browns’ 11th head coach since 1999. Only the Raiders (13) have had more during that time.

— New Jersey Jets fired offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand after only one year; they’ve now fired eight assistant coaches this year, but head coach Aaron Glenn remains.

— Eli Manning didn’t make the Hall of Fame this year; here are the resumes of two QB’s, neither of whom is in the Hall of Fame.

Player A: 72-72 regular season, 8-2 playoffs, won 2 Super Bowls. 164 TD’s, 198 INT’s
Player B: 117-117 regular season, 8-4 playoffs, won 2 Super Bowls. 365 TD’s, 244 INT’s

Player A is Jim Plunkett, Player B is Eli Manning.

— QB Darian Mensah made $10M the last two years at Duke; he’s now bolted to Miami, where he’ll make even more $$$. Mensah threw for 3,973 yards and 34 TD’s for Duke last year- they finished 9-5, winning their first ACC title since 1962.

— Fans are so fickle; only one team wins the Super Bowl every year, that doesn’t mean all the other teams are failures. People need to stay off social media with the “We’re with you, win or tie” mentality. 

— I‘m still trying to process this one; Bill Belichick didn’t get voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, in his first year of eligibility. Wow.

Belichick was 333-178 as an NFL head coach, won six Super Bowls, was an assistant coach with the Giants when they won two other Super Bowls. I figured this was a foregone conclusion, but off-field issues, like spying on opponents’ practices and filming opponents’ signals on the sidelines, are said to have been used against him in the voting.

Tom Brady gets into the Hall of Fame in 2028; will they make Belichick wait until then?

(By the way, I would’ve voted for him, as long as he let Ernie Adams introduce him in Canton).

— Buffalo Bills named offensive coordinator Joe Brady their new head coach; Brady has been with the Bills for four years, was OC the last two. Brady was an assistant coach at LSU when Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase were playing there.

Seven of nine candidates interviewed by Buffalo have a primarily offensive background.

— Denver Broncos fired their offensive coordinator and two other assistants Tuesday, two days after they lost the AFC title game 10-7 to New England. 

Let’s be real; Sean Payton is the head coach/offensive coordinator; Joe Lombardi worked for Payton for 15 years, and he gets fired? Oh by the way, Denver’s QB broke his ankle and didn’t play last week. Thats no one’s fault, just bad luck.

— Other coaching news:
LA Chargers named former Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel their new OC.
Detroit Lions hired former Giants assistant Mike Kafka as an offensive assistant.
Tennessee Titans hired former Giants head coach Brian Daboll as offensive coordinator.

— Former QB Matt Ryan calls the shots now for the Falcons; interesting that he hired a new coach (Kevin Stefanski) before he hired a new general manager.

— In baseball, San Francisco Giants signed OF Harrison Bader for two years, $20.5M; Bader hit .277 last year, with a .796 OPS for two teams. He is a very good defensive outfielder.

— Astros Jose Altuve/Carlos Correa are bypassing the World Baseball Classic, supposedly because they couldn’t get insurance on their contracts for the tournament.

Correa will make $31M this year, Altuve $33M. Three years ago, Altuve broke his thumb in the WBC, when he was hit by a pitch. He played in only 90 games that year.

— Famous birthdays, January 28th:
Alan Alda, 90
Larvell Blanks, 76
Harley Jane Kozak, 69
Michael Cage, 64

Tom Hodson, 59
Jermaine Dye, 52
Mark Madsen, 50
Daunte Culpepper, 49

Andre Iguodala, 42
Hunter Renfroe, 34
Ke’Bryan Hayes, 29
Payton Pritchard, 28

— Michigan 75, Nebraska 72
Michigan was 19-23 on foul line, Nebraska 3-4
Nebraska led by 7 with 8:10 left in the game.
Cornhuskers were missing two starters, still led most of the night.
First loss of season for Nebraska, after a 20-0 start.

— Arkansas 83, Oklahoma 79
Oklahoma led by 13 with 6:43 left in first half.
Hogs shot 71.7% inside arc, 2-17 outside arc.
Arkansas won seven of its last nine games.
Oklahoma has lost seven in a row, after an 11-3 start.

— Saint Louis 79, George Washington 76
GW led by 15 late in the first half.
Billikens won their last 14 games, are 8-0 in A-14.
Saint Louis won despite going 11-22 on foul line.

— Ill-Chicago 76, Indiana State 74
Ill-Chicago scored on steal/layup with 0:01.8 left for the win.
Indiana State led by a hoop with 0:16 left in game.
Flames have won seven in a row, after a 5-10 start.
Ill-Chicago was +10 in turnovers (21-11).

— Indiana 72, Purdue 67
Coach DeVries wins his first game against the Hoosiers’ in-state rival.
Indiana shot 12-33 on the arc, 11-17 inside arc.
Purdue lost its last three games, after a 17-1 start.

— Miami OH 86, UMass 84
Miami is 21-0, one of two unbeatens (Arizona) in country
UMass led this game by 10, late in first half.
RedHawks were 28-38 on foul line, UMass 13-17

Miami is 21-0; here are their last three games:
W105-102 OT vs Buffalo
W 107-101 OT @ Kent State
W 86-84 vs UMass………I don’t think they’d get an at-large bid to NCAA’s; their non-league strength of schedule is #363, 3rd-easiest in country.

— Virginia 100, Notre Dame 97, 2OT
Notre Dame led 39-20 in first half, by 6 with 2:13 left in regulation.
6-9 frosh DeRidder scored 32 points, had 8 rebounds.
Virginia has won 12 of its last 14 games. 

These are my favorite things in certain areas; we all have our own favorites, thats what makes life interesting. Make your own lists, see what you come up with.

13) Las Vegas hotels:
Westgate, MGM, SouthPoint, Vdara

12) TV shows:
Law & Order, Magnum PI, Odd Couple, CSI

11) Sports movies:
— American Underdog
— Moneyball
— Any Given Sunday
— The Rookie

10) Non-sports movies:
— A Star is Born
— Last Vegas
— The Bodyguard
— Rounders

9) Food:
Pizza, spaghetti/meatballs, scrambled eggs/bacon, chicken parm

8) Current college basketball coaches:
— John Calipari
— Mark Few
— Bill Self
— Dan Hurley

7) All-time college basketball coaches:
— John Wooden
— Dean Smith
— Mike Krzyzewski
— Jerry Tarkanian

— Famous birthdays, January 27th:
Mimi Rogers, 70
Cris Collinsworth, 67
Matt Stover, 58
Fred Taylor, 50

Julio Teheran, 35
Bryan Reynolds, 31
Jordan Addison, 24
Angel Martinez, 24

6) Actresses:
Gina Gershon, Mimi Rogers, Sela Ward, Susan Sarandon

5) Musicians:
Bob Seger, Billy Joel, Pat Benatar, Van Morrison

3) Best NFL coaches:
Chuck Noll, Bill Walsh, Bill Belichick, Tom Landry

4) Favorite NFL coaches:
Sean McVay, Dick Vermeil, John Robinson, Don Coryell

2) Events I saw, in person:
— 2000 NFC title game: Rams 11, Buccaneers 6
— 2008 World Series game: Rays @ Phillies
— Frank Sinatra concert in Albany, 1990
— 2008 Tennessee @ South Carolina football game

1) Bucket List:
— Spring training baseball, preferably in Arizona
— Be an extra in a TV show, maybe get in the credits at the end
— Rams’ game in SoFi Stadium
— LSU home football game, on a Saturday night

— Patriots 10, Broncos 7
Denver drove 59 yards for TD on their second drive, led 7-0
Broncos rest of game: 52 plays, 121 yards, no points.
New England is in Super Bowl for first time in seven years.

Second half of this game was played in snowy, windy weather.
Teams combined to miss a total of four field goals.
Total yardage: Patriots 206, Broncos 181

— Seahawks 31, Rams 27
QB Darnold threw for 346 yards, three TD’s.
Seattle took 24-13 lead on 17-yard drive after a fumbled punt.
Seahawks-Patriots is same Super Bowl matchup as 11 years ago.

QB Stafford threw for 374 yards, three TD’s.
Seattle was 7-13 on third down, Rams 1-8.
Rams finished 14-6 this year, 6-6 in games decided by 7 or less points.

— Opening line for the Super Bowl: Seahawks, -3.5, 46.5

— USC 73, Wisconsin 71
Badgers led by 12 with 12:00 left in the game.
Baker-Masera scored 29 points, had three assists.
Wisconsin shot 9-37 on arc, 14-37 inside arc.

— South Florida 89, Florida Atlantic 75
South Florida outscored Owls 56-39 in second half.
Bulls won five of last six games; they shot 56.1% inside arc.
Loss snaps Florida Atlantic’s five game win streak.

— Washington 72, Oregon 57
Washington led 34-19 at halftime.
Huskies shot 10-21 on the arc. 
Oregon has lost six in a row, is 1-8 in league games.

— Mercyhurst 61, Chicago State 59
2-19 Cougars lost 10th game in row; they led 28-26 at halftime.
Mercyhurst shot 10-25 on the arc.
Lakers won last three games, giving up 59 ppg.

Famous birthdays, January 26th
David Strathairn, 77
Jack Youngblood, 76
Brian Doyle, 72

Ellen DeGeneres, 68
Rick Schu, 64
Merril Hoge, 61

Vince Carter, 49
Joshua Dobbs, 31
Darius Garland, 26

Paul Newman was born on this day in 1925.
Bob Uecker was born on this day in 1934.

— It is common knowledge that Ted Williams is the last hitter to hit .406 for a season; until this week, I didn’t realize he hit .406 when he was only 22 years old.

The next year, Williams hit .356, then he missed the next three years because he was in the military. When he came back from serving in the military, Williams hit .342/.343 the next two seasons. His record is pretty amazing; he was actually underrated.

— Last week, there were three goals scored in a minute in a Penguins-Bruins game; it was the first NHL game since 1988 with three goals scored in less than a minute.

— Cleveland Guardians signed 3B Jose Ramirez to a 7-year contract extension worth $175M; Ramirez is 33; he hit .283 with 30 HR’s last year, an OPS of .863. He’s made the All-Star team the last five years, and seven of last nine years.

— Washington Nationals traded P MacKenzie Gore to Texas for five minor league prospects, as Washington’s new (and very young) front office starts another rebuild.

Gore was 5-15, 4.17 in 30 starts for Washington last year; he is 26-41, 4.19 in 102 major league starts, over four seasons.

— Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith is going to be the new OC at Ohio State.

— Former Arizona Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon is the new defensive coordinator for the Green Bay Packers; he replaces Jeff Hafley, the new head coach of the Dolphins.

— There are three unbeaten teams left in college basketball:
Arizona, Miami OH, Nebraska

— Big East
St John’s 88, Xavier 83
Rick Pitino gets his 900th win as a college coach.
He also won 198 games as an NBA coach.
Xavier led this game by 16 with 17:05 left to play.
St John’s has won six in a row, is 8-1 in the Big East.

UConn 75, Villanova 67 OT
Huskies have won 15 games in a row, are 9-0 in Big East.
UConn is 0-6 ATS in their last six games.
Villanova shot only 30.3% inside the arc.

Georgetown 81, Providence 78
Hoyas snapped a six-game losing skid.
Providence led 48-27 early in the second half.
Georgetown shot 62.2% inside the arc.
Friars lost 7 of last 9 games (8 of the 9 games were decided by 6 or fewer points)

DePaul 67, Seton Hall 60
Seton Hall has lost four in a row, after a 14-2 start.
DePaul was 25-34 on foul line, Pirates 10-17.
Blue Demons is 4-5 in Big East; last time they finished over .500 in Big East? 2007.

UConn is 9-0 in Big East, St John’s 8-1, Creighton/Villanova 6-3

— SEC
Missouri 88, Oklahoma 87 OT
Mizzou hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer for a walk-off win.
Sooners lost sixth game in a row, despite shooting 12-27 on arc.
Mizzou out-rebounded Oklahoma 41-29.

Auburn 76, Florida 67
Auburn won its third game in row, improves to 4-3 in SEC
Tigers led 43-28 at halftime.
Loss snaps Florida’s five-game winning streak; they’re 5-2 in SEC

Vanderbilt 88, Mississippi State 56
Vandy snaps the 3-game skid which followed their 16-0 start.
Commodores shot 67.5% inside the arc.
Vandy is #10 experience team in country.

Texas A&M leads SEC at 6-1; Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky are 5-2

— Big X
Texas Tech 90, Houston 86
Loss snaps Houston’s 11-game winning streak.
Houston led by 4 with 10:22 left in game.
Red Raiders won 9 of last 10 games, are 6-1 in Big X.
Tech out-rebounded the Cougars, 44-28

BYU 91, Utah 78
BYU won five in row, nine of last 10 games.
Freshman Dybantsa scored 43 points, had three assists.
Utah lost by 13, even though they shot 13-21 on the arc.

TCU 97, Baylor 90
TCU was 35-43 on foul line, Baylor 26-36. Lot of fouls.
Baylor shot 66.7% inside the arc, but fell to 1-6 in league.
First win for Horned Frogs this year in four true road games.

Arizona leads Big X at 7-0; Texas Tech is 6-1, Houston/BYU 5-1.

— Mountain West
New Mexico 80, Nevada 73
Lobos’ bench outscored Nevada’s subs, 26-6.
New Mexico shot 12-28 on arc, 35.3% inside arc.
Nevada split its last six games, after an 11-3 start.

San Diego State 80, UNLV 71
Miles Byrd scored 23 points, had five assists for San Diego State
Aztecs have won eight of their last nine games.
UNLV was only 12-22 on the foul line.

San Diego State is 8-1 in conference; Utah State, New Mexico are 7-2.

— Big 18
Illinois 88, Purdue 82
Illini shot 18-38 on arc, scored 1.39 ppp
Illini has won their last nine games, is 8-1 in league.
Frosh Wagler scored 46 points, made 9-11 on the arc.
He was one of five freshmen to score 30+ points Saturday.

Nebraska 76, Minnesota 57
Gophers led 36-30 at halftime.
Nebraska improves to 20-0, 9-0 in conference.
Nebraska has seven wins by less than nine points.
Minnesota lost its last five games, two of them in OT

Nebraska is 9-0 in conference; Michigan, Michigan St, Illinois are 8-1, Purdue 7-2

— Upsets of the Day:
Auburn (+9.5) 76, Florida 67
Florida International (+7.5) 81, New Mexico State 78
North Carolina A&T (+7.5) 80, Towson 73

North Carolina (+6.5) 85, Virginia 80
Green Bay (+6.5) 71, Robert Morris 67
Milwaukee (+6.5) 65, Youngstown State 64

Northern Arizona (+6.5) 81, Northern Colorado 77
Ill-Chicago (+6.5) 85, Bradley 71
Georgetown (+5.5) 81, Providence 78

— ACC
North Carolina 85, Virginia 80
Virginia led by 16 late in the first half.
Virginia out-rebounded Tar Heels, 44-28
In a 68-possession game, Tar Heels had only 4 turnovers (Virginia had 11)

Clemson 77, Georgia Tech 63
No Clemson player scored more than 13 points.
Tigers won for 10th time in their last 11 games.
Tech is shooting 45.4% inside arc in ACC games (last)

Duke is 7-0 in ACC, Clemson 7-1; Miami, NC State, Virginia are 5-2

— WCC
Gonzaga 68, San Francisco 66
Dons lose their 34th consecutive game at Gonzaga.
USF missed a 3-pointer, tip-in in last 0:05 in a near-miss.
Gonzaga has won 14 games in a row; their only loss was to Michigan.

Pacific 56, Seattle 54
Pacific never trailed, led by 16 in the first half.
Tigers won five of their last seven games.
Seattle is 3-6 in WCC, after an 11-2 pre-conference mark.

Saint Mary’s 75, Portland 69
Gaels won 10 of their last 11 games.
Gaels are 19-3, despite being #338 in country in experience.
Saint Mary’s is shooting 81.8% on foul line, best in country.

Gonzaga is 9-0 in WCC; Saint Mary’s/Santa Clara are 8-1.

— Missouri Valley
Ill-Chicago 85, Bradley 70
Flames have won six in a row, after starting season 5-10.
Ill-Chicago shot 12-24 on the arc.
Flames are forcing most turnovers in MVC games.

Northern Iowa 81, Murray State 76
6-4 senior Campbell scored 27 points, had five assists.
Panthers snap a five-game losing streak.
2nd loss in a row for Murray State, after 12-game win streak.

Belmont/Murray State are both 8-2. Bradley is 7-4.
MVC has been a one-bid league the last four years.

— Famous birthdays, January 25th:
Carl Eller, 84
Byron Beck, 81
Mark Duper, 67
Tim Kempton, 62

Mark Schlereth, 60
Chris Mills, 56
Scott Milanovich, 53
Patrick Willis, 41

— Atlantic 14
Rhode Island 74, George Mason 65
Loss snaps George Mason’s nine-game win streak.
George Mason is only team in country that has played a game this year where they didn’t commit any turnovers, New Year’s Eve they won 80-75 at LaSalle.

VCU 75, Davidson 69
Rams shot 65.7% inside the arc.
VCU has won three in row, eight of last ten games.
VCU is one of three A-14 teams (URI, Fordham) whose mascot is a Ram.

Saint Louis is 7-0, George Mason 6-1, VCU/Dayton 5-2
A-14 has been a one-bid league two of last three years; VCU could get an at-large TY.

— Sun Belt
Troy 83, Georgia Southern 78
Troy outscored Eagles 12-4 over the final 2:22 of game.
Trojans have won five in row, nine of last 10 games.
Troy is 3-2 in OT games; 1-0 in one OT, 2-1 in double OT, lost in triple OT at USC

Georgia State 82, Arkansas State 81
Panthers won their fourth straight game, making 12-27 on arc.
Arkansas State led 20-5 right off the bat.
Arkansas State out-rebounded the Panthers, 38-21

Troy is 8-1 in Sun Belt; Georgia State is 6-3, Marshall, South Alabama are 5-3.
Sun Belt has been a one-bid league the last 12 years.

— Big West
Cal-Santa Barbara 74, Long Beach State 71
Gauchos win their fourth game in a row.
UCSB led 44-29 at halftime, hung on for the win.
Gauchos are shooting 41.1% on arc in Big West games.

Cal-Irvine 61, Cal-San Diego 59
Irvine outscored Tritons 2-0 over final 3:30 of game.
Anteaters are 10-3 in their last thirteen games.
Brickfest; teams combined to shoot 13-49 on the arc.

Cal-Irvine is 7-2 in Big West; Hawai’i is 6-2, pending their late game Saturday. Santa Barbara is 6-3

— Southland
Stephen F Austin 88, Lamar 81
Lumberjacks have won five in a row, 10 of last 11 games.
Stephen F Austin shot 13-27 from arc, scored 1.31 ppp
6-1 senior Thompson scored 26 points, had 5 assists.

McNeese State 82, New Orleans 63
6-4 freshman Johnson scored 26 points, had five assists.
Cowboys won 10 of last 12 games; they have win at Rhode Island this year.
McNeese forces turnovers on 24.6% of possessions, most in country. 

Stephen F Austin is 10-1,  McNeese State 9-2; McNeese won first meeting, 66-64

— Horizon
Oakland 95, Detroit 87
Oakland shot 65% inside arc, scored 1.38 ppp.
5-11 senior Robinson played all 40:00, had 24 points, 10 assists
Grizzlies won six of their last eight games.

Green Bay 71, Robert Morris 67
Green Bay shot 60.6% inside the arc.
For season, Green Bay is shooting 59.1% inside arc in Horizon games.
Doug Gottlieb’s Phoenix has won six of its last eight games.

Wright State is 8-2, Oakland 8-3, Fort Wayne 7-3. Horizon has been a one-bid league every year since 2010. 

— East Carolina 63, North Texas 59
First win in seven AAC games for the Pirates.
East Carolina out-rebounded the Mean Green, 43-28
Pirates survived being minus-11 (18-7) in turnovers.

— Michigan 74, Ohio State 62
Michigan is 8-1 SU in league games; they’re 0-6 ATS last six games.
Buckeyes led by 6 early in the second half.
Wolverines shot shot 75.9% inside arc, had 36-27 edge on boards.

— Saint Louis 97, St Bonaventure 62
Billkens made 19 of 33 shots on the arc.
Saint Louis led 58-26 at halftime.
Saint Louis is the quietest 19-1 team in the country.

— Butler 87, Marquette 76
Butler was 23-31 on foul line, Marquette 9-14
Bulldogs led 66-65 with 6:04 left in the game.
Butler won its last three games, scoring 83.7 ppg.

— Furman 89, NC-Greensboro 66
Furman’s Tom House shot 7-10 behind the arc, scored 25 points.
Furman played only seven guys; they shot 14-27 behind the arc.
UNCG led by a point with 14:03 left in the game.

— UMass 68, Buffalo 67
UMass led 33-13 with 7:09 left in first half.
Buffalo led by 7 with 5:20 left in the game.
UMass won four of last five games, after starting 0-4 in the MAC.

— Utah State 65, Colorado State 61
Last game of the night; Utah State snaps a two-game losing skid.
Mike DeCourcy has Aggies as a 10-seed, if NCAA’s started today.
Colorado State led by 10 at halftime.
Utah State won first meeting this year, 100-58 in Logan. 

— Famous birthdays, January 24th:
Neil Diamond, 85
Michael Ontkean, 80
Tim Stoddard, 73
Atlee Hammaker, 68

Neil Allen, 68
Rob Dibble, 62
Matthew Lillard, 56
Ed Helms, 52

Scott Kazmir, 42
Sean McVay, 40
Jose Quintana, 37
Whit Merrifield, 37

— Movie of the Day: Weekend at Bernie’s (1989)- Two young employees tell their boss that someone is cooking the company’s books, but it is the boss that is doing it. He invites the two guys to his beach house so he can have them eliminated, but the mob kills the boss first, and no one seems to notice that the boss is dead.

Andrew McCarthy/Jonathan Silverman are the two employees, Terry Kiser is the boss in this funny movie that is more than a little weird.

— When Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza was in high school, he had no scholarship offers, he was going to go to Yale and play I-AA ball in the Ivy League. He sent his highlight reel to 100 different colleges but had no takers, until about a month before signing day, Cal Bears needed another body in the QB room so they offered Mendoza a scholarship.

Now he’s likely going to be the first pick in April’s NFL Draft. Go figure.

— Baltimore Ravens hired Jesse Minter as their new head coach; Minter was an assistant with the Ravens under John Harbaugh, from 2017-20, then he worked for Jim Harbaugh at both Michigan/Chargers the last four years. This is his first head coaching job.

— Eric Bieniemy is back in Kansas City as offensive coordinator of the Chiefs; he was with the Chiefs from 2013-22. He helped the Chiefs win two Super Bowls before moving on to other jobs.

— Former TCU coach Gary Patterson is the new defensive coordinator at USC; Patterson was 181-79 as the head coach of the Horned Frogs.

— Indianapolis Colts lost seven games this year that they left at halftime, the most of any team in the last 27 years.

Speaking of the Colts, their old QB Philip Rivers interviewed for the head coach’s job in Buffalo. Going from a high school head coach to an NFL head coach would be interesting, especially with him playing three games for the Colts in between there, at age 45.

— Tampa Bay Buccaneers hired Zac Robinson as their new offensive coordinator; next year will be Todd Bowles’ fifth year as Tampa’s head coach, Robinson will be his fifth OC.

— Los Angeles Chargers haven’t played a home playoff game since 2009. 

Trends for conference games this season…….
ACC
Home favorites 10-22 ATS
Home underdogs 10-13 ATS

Boston College covered 4 of last 5 games.
Clemson is 6-1 SU/ATS
Duke is 6-0 SU/3-3 ATS
Florida State is 1-5 SU/4-2 ATS
Road team is 5-1 ATS in Georgia Tech games.
Road team is 5-1 ATS in Louisville games.
Road team is 5-1 ATS in Miami games.

North Carolina is 3-3 SU/1-5 ATS, all as a favorite.
Notre Dame is 0-4 SU/ATS in last four games.
Pitt is 1-5 SU/2-4 ATS
Virginia won/covered its last five games.
Virginia Tech is 3-0 ATS as a road underdog.
Wake Forest is 2-4 SU/1-5 ATS, 0-3 ATS as a favorite.

Atlantic 14
Home favorites 9-17 ATS
Home underdogs 9-7 ATS

Davidson won 4 of last 5 games SU (road team 6-0 ATS)
Dayton is 5-1 SU/3-3 ATS
Road team is 6-1 ATS in Fordham games (0-3 ATS as home dog).
George Mason is 6-0 SU/4-2 ATS
Favorites are 5-1 ATS in George Washington games.
LaSalle is 4-1 ATS in last five games; they’re 4-0 ATS as a home dog.

Loyola Chi lost its last six games (2-4 ATS)
Road team is 5-1 ATS in Rhode Island games.
St Bonaventure is 1-5 SU/2-4 ATS
St Joe’s is 3-1 SU/4-0 ATS last four games.
Saint Louis is 6-0 SU/4-2 ATS
VCU is 4-2 SU/1-5 ATS

Big 18
Home favorites 23-21 ATS
Home underdogs 14-13 ATS

Illinois won last six games, covered last five.
Indiana lost last four games (1-3 ATS)
Maryland is 1-7 SU/2-6 ATS
Michigan is 7-1 SU; they’re 0-5 ATS last five games.
Michigan State won its last five games (4-1 ATS)

Minnesota lost last four games (1-3 ATS)
Nebraska is 8-0 SU/6-2 ATS
Northwestern is 1-7 SU/2-6 ATS
Oregon lost its last five games (1-4 ATS)
Penn State is 0-8 SU/4-4 ATS

Purdue is 7-1 SU; they’re 0-5 ATS last five games.
Rutgers covered five of last six games.
Home team is 7-1 ATS in UCLA games.
Washington is 2-6 SU/6-2 ATS
Wisconsin is 5-0 SU/4-1 ATS last five games. 

Big X
Home favorites 15-14 ATS
Home underdogs 9-8 ATS

Arizona is 6-0 SU/4-2 ATS
Arizona State is 1-5 SU/2-4 ATS
Baylor is 1-5 SU/ATS, 0-3 as home dog
BYU is 4-1 SU/2-3 ATS
Cincinnati is 1-5 SU/3-3 ATS
Colorado lost its last four games (0-3 ATS/last three)
Houston is 5-0 SU; they covered last three games.

Iowa State is 5-1 SU/4-2 ATS
Kansas won/covered its last three games.
Kansas State is 1-5 SU/ATS
Road team is 5-1 ATS in TCU games.
Texas Tech is 5-1 SU/4-2 ATS
Utah is 1-5 SU, 3-1 ATS in last four.
West Virginia won/covered four of last five games. 

Big East
Home favorites 7-23 ATS
Home underdogs 7-8 ATS

Butler is 3-5 SU/2-6 ATS
UConn is 8-0 SU, 0-5 ATS in last five.
Road team is 7-2 ATS in Creighton games.
DePaul is 3-5 SU/7-1 ATS
Georgetown lost its last seven games (2-5 ATS)

Marquette is 2-7 SU/ATS
Underdogs are 7-1 ATS in Providence games.
St John’s won its last five games (4-1 ATS)
Road team is 7-1 ATS in Seton Hall games.
Road team is 6-2 ATS in Villanova games.
Xavier covered its last four games. 

MAC
Home favorites 6-19 ATS
Home underdogs 9-12 ATS

Akron won its last five games (3-1 ATS last four)
Ball State covered its last four games.
Road team is 6-1 ATS in Bowling Green games.
Buffalo lost its last four games (1-3 ATS)
Central Michigan is 1-6 SU/4-3 ATS)

Eastern Michigan covered five of last six games.
Kent State is 5-2 SU/2-5 ATS
UMass is 1-5 ATS as a favorite.
Miami is 8-0 SU/6-2 ATS; their last two wins were in OT
Toledo is 1-4 SU/4-1 ATS in last five games.
Road team is 6-1 ATS in Western Michigan games.

Famous birthdays, January 23rd:
Kurt Bevacqua, 79
Pat Haden, 73
Gail O’Grady, 63

Mariska Hargitay, 62
Mark Wohlers, 56
Erubiel Durazo, 52

Phil Dawson, 51
Larry Hughes, 47
Jeff Samardzija, 41

Missouri Valley
Home favorites 14-17 ATS
Home underdogs 11-8 ATS

Belmont won last four games; they’re 2-6 ATS as a favorite.
Bradley won 4 of last 5 games (2-7 ATS in last nine)
Evansville is 1-8 SU/5-4 ATS
Ill-Chicago won/covered its last five games.

Indiana State is 2-5 SU/6-1 ATS last seven games.
Northern Iowa lost its last five games (1-4 ATS)
Southern Illinois is 0-4 SU/ATS last four games.
Valparaiso covered six of last seven games. 

Mountain West
Home favorites 12-14 ATS
Home underdogs 8-8 ATS

Air Force is 0-8 SU/4-4 ATS
Colorado State is 1-3 ATS as an underdog.
Fresno State covered six of its last seven games.
Grand Canyon is 4-1 ATS as an underdog.
Nevada is 7-1 SU/5-3 ATS

UNLV is 5-2 SU/ATS
New Mexico is 6-2 SU/ATS
Road team is 6-2 ATS in San Diego State games.
San Jose State is 1-7 SU/2-6 ATS
Wyoming is 2-6 SU/1-7 ATS

SEC
Home favorites 16-17 ATS
Home underdogs 6-7 ATS

Favorites are 6-0 ATS in Arkansas games.
Underdogs are 5-1 ATS in Auburn games.
Florida won/covered its last five games.
LSU is 1-5/4-2 ATS
Ole Miss won/covered three of last four games.
Miss State is 0-4 SU/ATS last four games.

Home team is 5-1 ATS in Missouri games.
Oklahoma is 0-5 SU/1-4 ATS last five games.
Tennessee is 2-3 SU/1-4 ATS
Underdogs are 5-1 ATS in Texas games.
Texas A&M is 4-1 SU/5-0 ATS last five games.
Vanderbilt lost its last three games, after a 16-0 start. 

— Nebraska 76, Washington 66
Nebraska is 19-0 in basketball.
Indiana won the national title in football; the world is upside down.
Nebraska is shooting 60.2% inside the arc (#11).
Cornhuskers are in top 30 in eFG%, both in offense/defense.

— Creighton 94, Xavier 93
Bluejays rebounded their own missed foul shot and scored a hoop at the buzzer
Xavier scored 1.28 ppp and still lost; unusual.
Creighton shot 13-24 on the arc, Xavier was 12-24

— Florida Atlantic 79, Tulane 74
Owls are 14-6, lead the AAC with a 6-1 record.
FAU has won five games in a row (3 wins by 6 or fewer points)
FAU is impressive because they’re #347 in country in experience.

— Kentucky 85, Texas 80
Game was 40-40 at halftime.
Kentucky was 30-35 on foul line, Texas 18-20
Brickfest; teams combined to shoot 7-36 on the arc.
Kentucky won its last four games, scoring 83 ppg.

— IU Indy 103, Oakland 85
Oakland was favored by 14.5 points.
IU Indy scored 103 points, only took 3 foul shots (2-3)
Jaguars shot 64.2% inside the arc.

— Citadel 77, Furman 75 OT
Furman was favored by 10.5 points.
Paladins led by 19 with 10:50 left in the game
Teams combined to shoot 12-57 on the arc.

— Gonzaga 84, Pepperdine 60
Zags have beaten Pepperdine 51 games in a row. Fifty-one.
Only streak that was longer; from 1961-86, UCLA beat Cal 52 times in a row.
Gonzaga has won its last 13 games, is 20-1 this season.

— Famous birthdays, January 22nd
Lester Hayes, 71
Jeff Rutledge, 69
Vince Newsome, 65
Diane Lane, 61
Gabriel Macht, 54

Chone Figgins, 48
Carlos Ruiz, 47
Tyrone Taylor, 32
Davis Webb, 31
Dillon Brooks, 30

— Cody Bellinger re-signed with the Bronx Bombers, will get $32.5M/year for five years; he hit 29 homers last year, had 98 RBI, an OPS of .813.

— It is January 22, it is freakin’ freezing out, and I’m watching podcasts trying to figure out where three of the guys on my fantasy baseball team are going to play this year:

Zac Gallen/Luis Arraez are free agents, Freddie Peralta is likely to be traded. Spring training starts in three weeks; time to figure it out, fellas.

As I typed this, Peralta got traded to the Mets:

Mets get Peralta, P Tobias Myers
Milwaukee gets P Brandon Sproat, SS/OF Jett Williams.

— It is kind of funny to listen to these podcasts and listen to nerdy analysts shredding guys who didn’t help their fantasy teams last year. I mean, I’m nerdy too, but if your team wasn’t good, it was your fault, not some guy who is banking million$$ of dollar$$ playing ball.

— There was a 7-year stretch when Indiana coach Curt Cignetti was a QB coach, for three years at Rice, then four years at Temple, not exactly football factories.

In 1998, Rice went 0-11; the whole staff got fired, then Temple went 11-33 the next four years, so if you told Cignetti in 1993 that he would wind up making $12M/year, he probably would’ve laughed at you.

— Before Indiana hired Cignetti away from James Madison, he applied for the head coaching job at Mississippi State, but he didn’t get an interview.

Whoops.

— In Kevin Stefanski’s six years coaching the Cleveland Browns, he started 13 different QB’s; he just hired Bill Callahan as his OL coach in Atlanta, brought OC Tommy Rees with him from the Browns, so if he starts Kirk Cousins, he should have more success with the Falcons.

— Best wishes to Kansas basketball coach Bill Self, who missed the Jayhawks’ game at Colorado Tuesday night; he has atrial fibrillation and was dehydrated.

He had two stents inserted into his heart back in July and also missed the NCAA Tournament and Big 12 Tournament in 2023 after undergoing a heart procedure.

— Over the last six years, the Buffalo Bills:
had the best record
went 8-6 in playoff games
scored the most points
allowed the fewest points
were +902 in point differential; during that time, no other team is over +600.

But they fired coach Sean McDermott Monday, while giving GM Brandon Beane a promotion to president of football operations. Pretty big slap in the face to McDermott, who didn’t get Buffalo to a Super Bowl, but he did just about everything else. 

Very curious to see who they hire to be the next coach.

— When I was a kid, Rams had a coach named Chuck Knox who won five division titles in his first five years as coach- they went 54-15-1 in regular season, but only 3-5 in playoff games (too bad the Vikings didn’t have a dome back then) and the owner fired him, a situation that was kind of like Buffalo’s current thing.

Be careful what you ask for; change isn’t always a good thing.

— Tennessee Titans hired former Jets coach Robert Saleh as their new coach; Saleh was 20-36 in 3+ years coaching the Jets (2012-24). He was the 49ers’ defensive coordinator this year.

— Some successful coaches have gotten the boot this year:
Mike Tomlin (201-126-2, won a Super Bowl)
John Harbaugh (193-124, won a Super Bowl)
Pete Carroll (184-145-1, won a Super Bowl)

— Little weird that backup QB Jarrett Stidham will start for Denver in the AFC title game this week, against New England.

Stidham has started four NFL games (1-3), last of which was two years ago; he was a backup for the Patriots in 2019-20, throwing 48 passes in eight relief appearances. He is the first QB in the Super Bowl who will start a conference title game, without having thrown a pass that season.

Roger Staubach once started an NFC title game without having started a game that year, but he did play some in relief that season (1972) throwing 20 passes in four games.

— When Indiana Hoosiers won the national title Monday night, coach Curt Cignetti banked a $2M bonus. He’s having a very good year.

— Famous birthdays, January 21st:
Gary Garrison, 82
Mike Kurkow, 74
Geena Davis, 70
Robby Benson, 70
Hakeem Olajuwon, 63

Detlef Schrempf, 63
Dalton Hilliard, 62
Jake Diekman, 39
Brandon Crawford, 39
Jake Cronenworth, 32

— Mets acquired OF Luis Robert from the White Sox Tuesday, for two prospects; Robert hit 38 homers for Chicago in 2023, but his OPS last two years was .657/.661.

— RIP Wilbur Wood, the knuckleball pitcher for the White Sox who passed away Saturday at age 84. Wood pitched in the majors for 17 years, winning 164 games, mostly for the White Sox. From 1972-74, he went 64-56, starting 137 games over three years.

In 1973, Wood went 24-20, 3.46 in 48 starts; he started both games of a doubleheader in New York. Because he threw a knuckleball, he could pitch more often that normal pitchers.

RIP, sir.

— Congrats to Carlos Beltran, Andruw Jones on being voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame; one voter gave Rick Porcello a vote, not really sure why.

Porcello was 150-125 in a 12-year career; he had one great season, going 22-4 for the Red Sox in 2016, but kind of hard for a guy who was never an All-Star to get into the Hall of Fame, though he did win the Cy Young Award in 2016.

— Golden State Warriors star, 36-year old Jimmy Butler tore the ACL in his right knee and is out for the year. He is making $54.1M this year, will make $56.8M next year, the last year of his current contract. Golden State is 12-5 in last 17 games after Tuesday’s loss to Toronto,

— Apparently Bucs’ QB Baker Mayfield wasn’t happy with how he left the Browns; he took a swipe at Kevin Stefanski on social media Tuesday night. Stefanski is the new coach in Atlanta, a division rival of Tampa Bay, so they’ll play each other twice a year going forward.

Mayfield was 30-31 as QB in Cleveland; since they got rid of him, the Browns are 26-43.  

— Movie of the Day: One on One (1977)- A small-town high school basketball star gets a scholarship to a big school, but struggles once he gets there, both on and off the court.

Robbie Benson is the star (today is his 70th birthday, which makes me feel old), Annette O’Toole is his tutor, GD Spradlin is his college coach, Melanie Griffith has a small role at the start of the movie. The movie hasn’t aged very well, but the game scenes were filmed in Colorado State’s gym, the one they still use. 

I was in high school when this movie come out; I really liked it.

— UNLV 86, Utah State 76
Aggies led 58-44 with 12:44 left in the game.
UNLV is off to a 5-2 start in Mountain West games.
First time in ten years the Rebels won at Utah State
6-1 junior G Gibbs-Lawhorn is a really point guard.

— UCLA 69, Purdue 67
Loss snaps Purdue’s nine-game winning streak.
Bruins were only 2-3 on foul line, Purdue 6-7.
Both teams shot over 60% inside the arc.
Purdue’s subs played 56:00; UCLA’s bench played 20.

— Georgia 74, Missouri 72
Dawgs scored the winning hoop with 0:05.5 left.
74 points are the fewest Georgia has scored this season.
Mizzou is 5-6 in its last 11 games, after an 8-0 start.

— Miami OH 107, Kent State 101, OT
20-0 Miami is first team in country to get to 20 wins.
RedHawks have scored 87+ points in each of their last five games.
Their last two wins were both in overtime.
Miami shot 74.4% inside arc, only 22-34 on foul line.

— NC State 80, Clemson 76 OT
Loss ends Clemson’s nine-game winning streak.
Wolfpack led by 11 late in the first half.
NC State coach Will Wade is a Clemson alum, was a basketball manager.

— St John’s 65, Seton Hall 62
Seton Hall led by 15 early in the second half.
Pirates shot only 37.9% from the floor.
Fifth straight win for the Red Storm (14-5, 7-1 in Big East).

— Michigan State 68, Oregon 52
Oregon led by 3 with 14:00 left.
Spartans shot 72.4% inside the arc.
Fifth straight loss for the injury-riddled 8-11 Ducks.