Author: Armadillo Sports

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

Golfers, bring your scorecards:
If you played nine holes, 9% off your bill
If you played 18 holes, 18% off your bill

Tuesday- Live music, open auditions with The Troupe
Wednesday- they have 12 TV’s to watch games
Thursday- Open Mic night, Ravens-Dolphins on TV
Friday- Burlesque show, 8:00. Happy Halloween
Saturday- College football on TV, lot of music
Sunday- Watch NFL games, from 4:00-midnight

They have 12 TV’s and good food/drinks.
You can order food from them via Door Dash
Check it out, it’s a fun place

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Week 9 NFL info is posted

Thursday’s 6-pack:
— Blue Jays 6, Dodgers 1- Rookie Yesavage struck out 12 guys in 7 IP.
— First two batters of game homered for Toronto.
— Toronto heads home leading World Series, 3-2.
— Dallas 107, Indiana 105- Mavericks’ bench outscored Indiana’s, 64-43
— Denver 122, New Orleans 88- Jokic had 21 points, 12 boards, 10 assists, in 28:00
— Hawks 117-, Nets 112- Atlanta star Trae Young sprained his knee in first quarter.

Quote of the Day
“It shouldn’t be needed…I never wanted to miss a game, because it was an opportunity to prove — I want to impress that guy, way up in the top, who worked his ass off to come and watch me.”
Michael Jordan, talking about load management

Thursday’s quiz
Baltimore Ravens won the Super Bowl in 2012; who was their quarterback?

Wednesday’s quiz
In the movie Danny Collins, Al Pacino plays a famous singer who meets his son for the first time. Christopher Plummer played his agent in that movie. 

Tuesday’s quiz
Former Chargers’ kicker Rolf Benirschke was the host of Wheel of Fortune for six months, in 1989. 

NHL trends
(thru Tuesday’s games)
Anaheim (5-3-1)
Won three of last four games.
Over 3-1 last four games.

Boston (5-7)
Lost their last four road games.
Over 4-1 last five games.

Buffalo (4-4-2)
Won four of last five home games.
Last three games went over the total.

Calgary (2-8-1)
Lost nine of first 11 games.
Over 5-1 road games.

Carolina (6-3)
Lost three of last four games.
Over 3-0 home games. 

Chicago (5-3-2)
Won five of last seven games.
Under 6-2 last eight games.

Colorado (6-1-4)
Lost four of last five games.
Over four of last five games.

Columbus (5-4)
Won four of last five games.
Under 4-0 home games.

Dallas (6-3-1)
Won last three games, allowing 2-2-0 goals.
Last six games stayed under.

Detroit (7-3)
Won seven of last nine games.
Over 4-1 last five games.

Edmonton (5-4-2)
Lost five of last six road games.
Over 5-2 last seven games.

Florida (5-5-1)
4-2 at home, 1-4 on the road.
Under 5-2 last seven games.

Los Angeles (5-3-3)
Won four of last five games.
4-4 in OT/SO games.

Minnesota (3-5-3)
Lost seven of last eight games.
Over 5-0 home games.

Montreal (8-3)
Won eight of last 10 games.
Over 3-0 last three games.

Famous birthdays, October 30th:
Henry Winkler, 80
Phil Chenier, 75
Harry Hamlin, 74

Kevin Pollak, 68
Danny Tartabull, 63
Marco Scutaro, 50

Marcus Mariota, 32
Devin Booker, 29
Wenceel Perez, 26

Nashville (4-5-2)
Lost six of last eight games.
Under 3-1 road games.

New Jersey (8-2)
Won eight of last nine games.
Over 4-1 road games.

NY Islanders (4-4-1)
Won last three home games.
Over 8-1

NY Rangers (4-5-2)
Lost all five home games.
Under 4-1 home games.

Ottawa (5-5-1)
Won three of last four games.
Over 5-0 road games.

Philadelphia (5-3-1)
5- 1 at home, 0-3 on road.
Over 4-2 home games.

Pittsburgh (7-2-2)
Won five of last seven games.
Over 4-1 home games.

St Louis (3-6-1)
Lost last five games, outscored 26-14
Over last four games.

San Jose (2-6-2)
0-5 at home, outscored, 23-13
Over 4-1 last five games.

Seattle (5-2-3)
3-1 at home
Under 3-1 home games.

Tampa Bay (4-4-2)
Won last three games, allowing six goals.
Under 5-2 last seven games.

Toronto (5-4-1)
Lost both road games, 6-3/5-3
Over 5-0 last five games.

Utah (8-3)
Won seven of last eight games.
Over 4-1 last five games. 

Vancouver (5-6)
Lost four of last five games.
Over 4-1 home games. 

Vegas (6-1-3)
Won five of last seven games.
Over 3-1 home games.

Washington (6-4)
Lost last two games, scoring one goal.
Under 3-1 last four games.

Winnipeg (7-3)
Won all four road games.
Over 3-1 road games. 

College basketball games start Monday; here are some story lines I’ll be following as the games get underway:

— Over the last four NCAA Tournaments:
SEC teams have had 36 teams in the tournament; 12 made the Sweet 16 (2nd weekend)
Big 18 teams have had 31 teams in the tournament; nine made the Sweet 16.

Big X teams have had 28 teams in the tournament; ten made the Sweet 16
ACC teams have had 19 teams in the tournament; nine made the Sweet 16

Big East teams have had 19 teams in the tournament; eight made the Sweet 16
Mountain West teams have had 28 teams in the tournament; two made the Sweet 16

— 14 of the 16 SEC teams made it into the tournament last year; LSU, South Carolina didn’t.

Last three years, LSU is 14-40 in SEC games.
South Carolina has made made only two of last 20 NCAA Tournaments, though they did get to the Final Four in 2017.

— Florida won the national title LY; four of their six wins in the tournament were by 6 or fewer points. In three years under Todd Golden, Gators are 34-20 in SEC games. 

— Last Big 18 team to win a national title? Michigan State, in 2000.

Indiana fired alum, ex-NBA coach Mike Woodson last spring; in four years, Woodson was 82-53 with the Hoosiers, 41-39 in Big 18 games, but they missed the NCAA’s the last two years.. 

Darian DeVries comes in after coaching West Virginia for a year; he had previously gotten Drake to the tournament three times in four years.

— Last four years, Purdue is 116-31; last five years, they’re 72-27 in league games. Under Matt Painter, Boilermakers are 23-14 in NCAA Tourney games, but only made the Elite 8 twice in 14 tries- they lost the national title game two years ago. Purdue has high expectations this year.

— Nebraska finished 7-13 in the league LY, missed the conference tournament, then they went to Las Vegas and won the 16-team Crown tournament, an NIT-like event.

This year, the Cornhuskers have seven seniors, making them one of the older teams in the whole country, but only two of those seven guys played for Nebraska LY. Chemistry could be an issue.

— Josh Pastner is UNLV’s sixth coach in 12 years; he was 82-36 in league games at Memphis, only 53-78 at Georgia Tech. UNLV hasn’t made the NCAA’s since 2013; their last win in the tournament was 2008; they’ll be an interesting team to follow.

— Famous birthdays, October 29th:
Richard Dreyfuss, 78
Kate Jackson, 77
Danny Vranes, 67

Jesse Barfield, 66
Winona Ryder, 54
RA Dickey, 51

Keenan Burton, 41
Andy Dalton, 38
Ender Inciarte, 35

— Houston is one of the favorites to win the national title; over the last five years, they’re 160-24, 80-11 in conference games, 16-5 in NCAA Tourney games, getting to the last six Sweet 16’s, and two of last five Final Fours- they lost the national title game 65-63 last year.

Cougars have three starters back this year; a lot, in this day and age. They also brought in five new players.

— BYU brought in the country’s best recruiting class; last five years, they’re 112-54, 50-26 in conference games. BYU has won 20+ games 18 of last 20 years, but since 2012, they’re only 2-6 in the NCAA’s, going WWL in last year’s event.

— Big East has two head coaches named Pitino; Rick Pitino is 51-18 in two years at St John’s- they were a #2-seed LY. Richard Pitino moves from New Mexico to Xavier; he was 75-30 with the Lobos the last three seasons, making the NCAA’s the last two.

January 24/February 9 are the two meetings this year

— Last three years, UConn is 92-22, 45-15 in league games, winning two national titles; this year, Huskies have 62% of their scoring back from LY, plus they poached a couple of point guards in the transfer portal. 

Last year, UConn committed 76 more fouls than their opponents, going 24-11 and getting an #8-seed; they need to even out that number this season.

— Will Wade is NC State’s new coach; he’s having an interesting career:

40-25 @ Chattanooga
51-20 @ VCU
108-54 @ LSU
58-11 @ McNeese State

Wolfpack was in the Final Four two years ago, under Kevin Keatts, but the world has gone crazy so Keatts got fired last spring. We’ll see how Wade does in the shadow of Duke/North Carolina.

— This is Gonzaga’s last season in the WCC; they missed the Sweet 16 last year, the first time since 2014 they missed the Sweet 16. Tyon Grant-Foster just became eligible to play for Gonzaga this year, which makes the Zags’ roster loaded- he was WAC Player of the Year at Grand Canyon last year.

Gonzaga is 28-10 in its last 38 NCAA Tournament games.

— Last four years, Saint Mary’s is 58-7 in conference games, but only 3-4 in NCAA Tourney tilts, despite being a #7 or better seed all four years. 

— Dodgers 6, Blue Jays  5 (18)
It is 2:52am right now; Freddie Freeman just hit a walk-off homer in the 18th inning.
Tied for the longest game in World Series history.

Dodgers lead series, 2-1; Game 3 starts in like……17 hours.

Shohei Ohtani homered twice, hit two doubles, then was walked intentionally four times and kind of intentionally a fifth time

Ohtani is in Barry Bonds territory now; never pitch to him in a big situation, unless you absolutely have to. Never.

When Bo Bichette played 2B for Toronto in Game 1, it was the first time in his then-755 major league games that he played second base. 

— Chiefs 28, Commanders 7
Mahomes threw for 299 yards, three TD’s.
For first time in his career, he threw INT’s on KC’s first two drives.
Chiefs’ next five drives: 43 plays, 336 yards, four TD’s.
Chiefs won/covered four of their last five games.

Washington lost four of its last five games. 
Commanders in 2nd half: 20 plays, 81 yards, no points.
Under Quinn, Commanders are 2-6 ATS as a road underdog.
Commanders allowed 354+ yards in six of last seven games.

— In Week 8, AFC teams were 7-1 SU against NFC teams, but for the season, NFC teams still lead, 26-18.

— Vikings’ QB Carson Wentz had a shoulder operation, is out for the year; he had been playing through a dislocated shoulder that included a torn labrum and fractured socket, all of which apparently happened October 5th.

— NFL divisional trends:
AFC East
Home teams 2-4 ATS divisional games
13-9 ATS non-divisional games

AFC North
Home teams 4-0 ATS divisional games
7-15 ATS non-divisional games

AFC South
4-2 ATS non-divisional favorite
7-8 ATS non-divisional underdog.

AFC West
8-5 ATS non-divisional home games
3-7 ATS non-divisional road games

NFC East
6-5 ATS non-divisional favorite
4-5 ATS non-divisional underdog

NFC North
5-2 ATS non-divisional home favorite
2-4 ATS non-divisional road favorite

NFC South
12-14 ATS non-divisional games

NFC West
13-7 non-divisional games

— College football trends, conference games:

American
Favorites 19-11 ATS

ACC
Road teams 22-17 ATS
Home favorites 10-12 ATS

Big 18
Underdogs 24-19 ATS

Big X
Home teams 23-15 ATS
Favorites 24-15 ATS

Conference USA
Home teams 12-7 ATS

Mid-American
Home teams 21-6 ATS

Mountain West
Home teams 11-10 ATS

SEC
Home teams 20-16 ATS
Home favorites 13-10 ATS

Sun Belt
Home teams 18-10 ATS

Famous birthdays, October 28th:
Lenny Wilkens, 88
Dennis Franz, 81
Annie Potts, 73
Randy Wittman, 66
Bob Melvin, 64

Jami Gertz, 60
Steve Atwater, 59
Julia Roberts, 58
Terrell Davis, 53
Jarrett Jack, 42

— New Mexico Lobos are 4-0 at home for the first time since 1962.

— Good news: Vanderbilt’s football team is in the top 10 for the first time since 1941.

Bad news: big $$$ teams are going to be coming after coach Clark Lea, much like they did for James Franklin back when he was winning at Vanderbilt.

— Lakers’ start Luka Doncic is out at least a week; he has a left finger sprain and a lower left leg contusion. He scored 92 points in his first two games this season, but now he is hurt.

— Baltimore Orioles hired Craig Albernaz as their new manager; he was associate manager for the Cleveland Guardians the last couple years. Albernaz managed two years in the low minor leagues, after a nine-year career as a minor league catcher, mostly with Tampa Bay.

— Los Angeles Angels only gave their new manager Kurt Suzuki a one-year contract; there is speculation that there may not be a 2027 season because of labor issues, so if that happens, will be interesting to see if they take care of Suzuki for 2027, or let him go elsewhere. 

— RIP to the great actress June Lockhart, who passed away over the weekend, at age 100.

Best known for starring roles in Lassie and Lost In Space, she also appeared in one of the better episodes of Magnum PI in that show’s first season, with Jose Ferrer. Overall, she had 179 acting credits.

RIP, ma’am.

Jets 39, Bengals 38
Bengals led 31-16 after the third quarter.
Jets in 4th quarter: 20 plays, 184 yards, 23 points.
RB Hall ran for 133 yards, 2 TD’s, also threw the game-winning TD.
Six of Jets’ eight games were decided by 7 or fewer points.

Bengals lost five of their last six games.
Cincinnati scored 29.7 ppg in Flacco’s three starts.
Bengals converted 17-38 3rd down plays with Flacco at QB.
Over is 4-0 in Cincinnati home games.

Ravens 30, Bears 16
Ravens ran the ball 35 times for 177 yards.
Ravens’ 1st 5 drives: 45 plays, 256 yards, but only 16 points.
Baltimore led 10-6 at the half, 16-6 after three quarters.
Ravens in 4th quarter: 16 plays, 87 yards, 14 points. 

Chicago had their 4-game winning streak snapped.
Chicago is 8-14-1 ATS in last 23 games coming off a win.
Bears committed 11 penalties for 79 yards
Chicago is 13-23-2 ATS last 37 games as a road underdog.

Dolphins 34, Falcons 10
Dolphins outgained Atlanta, 338-213.
Tagovailoa threw 4 TD’s, to four different receivers.
Dolphins were 6-13 on third down, Atlanta 2-11.
Miami is 11-7-1 ATS in last 19 games coming off a loss.

Dolphins led 24-3 after the third quarter.
Falcons ran ball only 17 times for 45 yards.
Atlanta is 3-0 if its scores 22+ points, 0-4 if it doesn’t.
Atlanta is 7-17-1 ATS last 25 games as a home favorite.

Bills 40, Panthers 9
James Cook ran for 216 yards, most by Buffalo RB since OJ Simpson in 1976.
Bills’ first eight drives: 51 plays, 374 yards, 5 TD’s, 2 FG’s.
Buffalo scored 41-30-31-31-40 points in its four wins.
Bills are +6 in turnovers in their wins, minus-4 in losses.

Bills coach McDermott is 9-0 coming off a bye.
Buffalo outgained Carolina, 410-244.
Panthers’ first six drives: 36 plays, 164 yards, 3 points.
Carolina had won three in a row overall, was 3-0 at home. 

Texans 26, 49ers 15
QB Stroud threw for 318 yards, two TD’s.
Houston outgained the 49ers, 475-223.
Texans gained 353-417-475 yards in wins, 271 or fewer yards in losses.
Texans in first half: 48 plays, 271 yards, only 16 points. 

49ers’ first five drives: 17 plays, 57 yards, 7 points.
SF ran ball for less than 85 yards in six of last seven games.
Houston was 9-16 on third down, 49ers 3-9.
49ers are 1-11 ATS last 12 games coming off a win.

Eagles 38, Giants 20
Barkley ran 65 yards for a TD on second play of the game.
Philly ran for 276 yards, 1st time in six games they ran for more than 88 yards.
Eagles led 17-10 at halftime.
Eagles’ first three drives in 2nd half: 24 plays, 199 yards, 17 points. 

Eagles outgained the Giants, 427-247.
Giants lost RB Skattebo (dislocated ankle)
Giants are 8-12 ATS last 20 games as a road underdog
Giants are 0-13 SU/6-7 ATS last 13 visits to Philadelphia.

Famous birthdays, October 27th:
John Cleese, 86
Pete Vuckovich, 73
Matt Cavanaugh, 69
Rick Carlisle, 66
Timm Rosenbach, 59

Brad Radke, 53
Brady Quinn, 41
Jon Niese, 39
Mark Barron, 36
Lonzo Ball, 28

Patriots 32, Browns 13
Patriots won/covered their last five games.
New England led 9-7 at halftime.
Patriots in third quarter: 15 plays, 164 yards, 21 points.
New England is 5-0 when it scores more than 14 points. 

Browns in 3rd quarter: 11 plays, 15 yards, 2 INT’s, a punt.
Browns are 0-4 on road, losing by 24-24-14-19 points.
Cleveland is 8-19-1 ATS last 28 games as a road underdog.
Browns have scored 17 or fewer points in seven of eight games.

Buccaneers 23, Saints 3
Buccaneers led 7-3 at halftime; only TD was a pick-6.
Tampa Bay’s 1st four 2nd half drives: 28 plays, 115 yards, 16 points.
Buccaneers are 12-3-1 ATS in last 16 games coming off a loss.
Buccaneers won/covered last four visits to Bourbon Street.

Saints outgained Tampa 275-212, but had 4 turnovers (minus-3)
Saints’ first five drives: 23 plays, 113 yards, no points, 3 turnovers.
Rookie QB Shough was 17-30/128 passing in relief of benched starter Rattler.
Saints are 6-16 ATS last 22 games as a home underdog.

Colts 38, Titans 14
RB Taylor ran for 153 yards, 2 TD’s, including an 80-yard run.
Under Steichen, Indy is 9-2 ATS as a home favorite.
Colts are 5-0 SU/4-1 ATS at home this season.
Colts’ team total: over 7-1

Tennessee is 1-7 SU/ATS, with six losses by 10+ points.
WR Dike caught seven passes for 93 yards.
Titans are 4-15 ATS in last 19 games as an underdog.
Johnny Hekker had his 1,000th career punt in this game. 

Broncos 44, Cowboys 24
Denver won its fifth game in a row.
QB Nix threw for 247 yards, four TD’s.
Broncos led 27-10 at halftime.
Only 8 of Denver’s 57 plays came on third down.

Dallas is 1-3 on the road; only win was over the 0-7 Jets.
Dallas is 0-4 when they score less than 37 points.
Cowboys are 3-6 ATS last nine games coming off a win.
Over is 4-1 in last five Dallas games.

Packers 35, Steelers 25
Pittsburgh led 16-7 at halftime.
Packers in second half: 36 plays, 279 yards, 28 points.
Steelers in 2nd half: 27 plays, 102 yards, nine points.
At one point, Jordan Love completed 20 consecutive passes. 

Green Bay is 5-0-1 when it scores 27+ points.
Steelers allowed 32-31-35 points in their three losses.
Green Bay was 5-12 on third down, Pittsburgh 1-10.
Packers outgained the Steelers, 454-295. 

— LSU fired football coach Brian Kelly, because college/minor league sports is off its rocker; Kelly was 34-14 at LSU, but lost three of his last four games. LSU expected to compete for a national title this season; now they’re a complete train wreck.

Kelly is owed just more than $54M in buyout money. million, with an M

Frank Wilson, LSU’s associate head coach and running backs coach, will take over the team as interim head coach. LSU’s next game is against Alabama November 8th; that should go well.

Couple weeks ago, Penn State paid coach James Franklin $49M to take a hike, and now this; who the hell has $100M laying around to give away? Franklin was 104-45 at Penn State and he got fired.

Yikes. 

— Dodgers 5, Blue Jays 1
Smith, Muncy hit solo homers in 7th inning.
Yamamoto got his second consecutive complete game win.
World Series is tied, 1-1.
Game 3 is in Los Angeles Monday night.

— Ole Miss 34, Oklahoma 26
Ole Miss outscored Oklahoma 9-0 in fourth quarter.
QB Chambliss threw for 315 yards and a TD, also ran for 53 yards.
Rebels were 9-21 on third down, Oklahoma 4-14.

— Alabama 29, South Carolina 22
Alabama scored 15 points in the last 2:16 for the win.
Crimson Tide drove 38 yards, scored winning TD with 0:34 left.
Gamecocks led 15-14 after the third quarter.
South Carolina has lost five of its last six games.

— Texas 45, Mississippi State 38 OT
Miss State led 38-21 with 10:00 left in the game.
Texas returned a punt 79 yards for a TD with 1:47 left to force OT.
Miss State outgained Texas, 445-428.
Bulldogs have now lost their last 16 SEC games.

— Memphis 34, South Florida 31
Tigers outscored USF 17-0 in the 4th quarter.
Memphis drove 70 yards, scored winning TD with 1:07 left.
USF lost, even though they ran ball 38 times for 295 yards.
Memphis QB Lewis threw for 307 yards, two TD’s. 

— Upsets of the Week:
Rice (+9.5) 37, UConn 34 OT
Akron (+8.5) 24, Buffalo 16
Kent State (+8.5) 24, Bowling Green 21
Houston (+7.5) 24, Arizona State 16
Memphis (+4.5) 34, South Florida 31
Ole Miss (+4.5) 34, Oklahoma 26
Kansas State (+3.5) 42, Kansas 17

— Vanderbilt 17, Missouri 10
Vanderbilt is 7-1 for the first time since 1941.
Game was tied 3-3 at halftime.
Vandy scored winning TD with 1:52 left.
Mizzou caught Hail Mary pass on last play, was half-yard short of a TD.

— Virginia 17, North Carolina 16 OT
Tar Heels scored TD in OT, but went for 2 points and failed.
Virginia has won six in a row, last three by total of six points.
In 1st quarter, North Carolina lost fumble on Virginia’s one-yard line.
North Carolina has lost four in a row, is 2-5 this year.

— BYU 41, Iowa State 27
BYU outscored the Cyclones 24-3 in the second half.
BYU’s 40-yard pick-6 with 13:40 left broke the game open.
BYU is 8-0 for the second year in a row.
Iowa State has lost three in row, for first time since 2022. 

— Famous birthdays, October 26th:
Mike Hargrove, 76
Chuck Foreman, 75
Rita Wilson, 69
Dylan McDermott, 64

Tony Casillas, 62
Mark Sweeney, 56
Bert Emanuel, 55
Antonio Pierce, 47

Nick Collison, 45
Francisco Liriano, 42
Parker Messick, 25
Chase Dollander, 24

— Rice 37, UConn 34 OT
Owls ran ball 56 times for 300 yards.
UConn QB Fagnano threw for 344 yards, three TD’s.
Quinton Jackson had a 73-yard TD run, caught a 75-yard TD pass.

— Temple 38, Tulsa 37 OT
Temple QB Simon has thrown 21 TD’s this year, no INTs
Tulsa scored TD in OT, went for 2 points/win, but failed.
In this game, Simon threw for 267 yards, five TD’s.

— Wake Forest 13, SMU 12
Deacons kicked a 50-yard FG on last play for a walk-off win.
SMU had won its previous 20 regular season conference games.
Wake Forest won despite turning ball over five times (minus-2)

— Rutgers 27, Purdue 24
Rutgers kicked a 30-yard FG on last play for a walk-off win.
Scarlet Knights were 4-14 on third down, Purdue 1-9.
Rutgers QB Kaliakmanis threw for 359 yards (13.3 yards/attempt)

— Texas A&M 49, LSU 25
LSU led this game 18-14 at halftime.
A&M QB Reed threw for 202 yards, 2 TD’s, ran for 108 yards, 2 more TD’s
A&M outgained the Tigers, 426-278
LSU is 5-3; the natives have to be restless, but coach Kelly’s buyout is $53M. Not sure the natives are THAT restless. 

— Blue Jays 11, Dodgers 4
Game was tied 2-2 after five innings.
Toronto scored nine runs in the bottom of the 6th.
Addison Barger hit a pinch-hit grand slam.
Game 2: Yamamoto vs Gausman Saturday night.

— Kind of cool that Toronto bench coach Don Mattingly is in his first World Series. Mattingly was a really good player who hit .307 in his 14-year career with 222 home runs, but he never played in a World Series. He also managed the Dodgers and Marlins.

— Virginia Tech 42, California 34 OT
Golden Bears led 20-10 at halftime.
Tech ran ball 58 times for 357 yards (6.2 yards/carry)
Hokies improve to 3-5; California is 5-3.

— North Texas 54, Charlotte 20
QB Mestemaker threw for 608 yards, four TD’s. 608 yards!!!!
Game was tied 17-17 at halftime.
North Texas was minus-2 in turnovers, but they gained 754 yards.

— Chargers 37, Vikings 10
Chargers outgained Minnesota, 419-164.
Chargers in first half: 38 plays, 282 yards, 24 points
Vikings in first half: 26 plays, 83 yards, 3 points
Minnesota only ran the ball 11 times, for 34 yards.

— So far this season, NFC teams are 25-12 SU against AFC teams.

— NFL replay challenges, thru seven games, the last five years:
2021- 46 challenges, 16 overturns 34.9%
2022- 51 challenges, 18 overturns 35.3%
2023- 55 challenges, 24 overturns 42.9%
2024- 53 challenges, 21 overturns 39.6%
2025- 60 challenges, 36 overturns 60%

Coaches have access to better technology in the booth this year, which is allowing them to make better challenges..

— Vikings’ QB Carson Wentz has had an unusual career:
2016-20- Eagles 35-33-1
2021- Colts 9-8
2022- Redskins 2-5
2023- Rams 1-0
2024- Chiefs 0-1
2025- Vikings 2-3

Six different teams the last six years.

— Famous birthdays, October 25:
Marion Ross, 97
Dan Issel, 77
Gifford Nielsen, 71
Danny Darwin, 70

Marc Vlasic, 62
Pat Swilling, 61
Mike Harkey, 59
Terrell Lowery, 55

Pedro Martinez, 54
Katy Perry, 41
Chandler Parsons, 37
Juan Soto, 27

— Oklahoma City Thunder is the first NBA team EVER whose first two games of a season both went to double overtime. Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander played 92:00 in those two games, scoring a total of 90 points.

— Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat G Terry Rozier were indicted this week on charges that involved illegal sports betting and rigged poker games. Two separate cases that have some overlap, but they are separate cases.

I don’t want to say a whole lot about this; I’m not a lawyer and this process is likely to drag out a while, but I’ll say this:

Rozier has earned $135,085,373 in his career, was scheduled to earn another $26,643,031 this season.

Billups earned $107,227,720 in a playing career that ended 12 years ago; he’s been coaching since then, which is still good money.

Why the BLEEP would these guys be involved in a mess like this?

— Tiago Splitter is the interim coach in Portland; he was the coach of Paris Basketball Club during the 2024-25 season, where he led the team to a French Basketball Cup championship.

Four of Portland’s six assistant coaches this season are new to the team.

Splitter played seven years in the NBA, most of which came with the Spurs after being drafted 28th overall in the 2007 Draft. He was a key player in San Antonio’s 2014 championship run and also had a long international basketball career.

— Have been reading thru college basketball stuff, getting ready for the season; reading up on the WCC, I was getting a headache. Just about every team has a mostly-new roster, think one team had as many as two starters back. Players don’t stay anywhere anymore. 

On teams that do well, players get bought up by bigger $$$ teams; on teams that do poorly, teams clean house and poach players from other schools, as well as add freshmen.

Used to be fun handicapping games in November; the teams with more continuity usually did pretty well. These days, no one has continuity; we have to learn on the fly.

— Louisville, Santa Clara have recently signed players who have played in the G League, which seems to defy the NCAA’s previous amateurism/eligibility rules, which barred any players who had previously competed for money at a professional level from playing Division I basketball.

Coaches around the country are confused by this. Does the NCAA know what its doing? 

— Was surprised to see that Mike Trout wound up this season as the #56 outfielder in fantasy baseball, then you read that he testified in court this week in a civil trial brought by the family of former Angels P Tyler Skaggs, who died in 2019 of an accidental drug overdose- the family is suing the Angels for $118M.

Messy situation, has to be a huge distraction to people who were with the Angels back then.

— Watching YouTube late at night this week, I found an 11-minute clip about the old TV show The White Shadow, about a retired NBA player who gets a job coaching basketball in urban Los Angeles. It was a really good show that was on when I was in college (late 70’s); the guy who wrote it was Bruce Paltrow, Gwyneth Paltrow’s father.

We used to joke that one of the characters, Salami was a hacker; he fouled a lot. They said in this show that Timothy Van Patten, who played Salami, had been a high school wrestler in real life and was the only player on the Carver High team who had no actual basketball experience, so at least we were right about that.

— Gonzaga
Gonzaga is bolting to the Pac-12 next season.
Zags haven’t missed the NCAA’s since 1998.
LY, Zags lost in 2nd round of NCAA’s, earliest exit since 2014.
Gonzaga was a #8 seed LY, its lowest seed since 2016.
Senior G Miller is playing at his 4th school (Illinois, LSU, Arizona State)

— Loyola Marymount
Lions haven’t been in the NCAA’s since their great run in 1990.
In five years under coach Johnson, LMU is 32-45 in the WCC.
LMU is deeper this year, but not as experienced.

— Oregon State
Beavers head back to the Pac-12 next year, which will help, but that’s next year.
Oregon State last made NCAA’s in 2021; they went to the Elite 8.
Last year’s starters have bolted for greener pa$ture$ ($4M worth)
Beavers are rebuilding (again); LY, they had #49 eFG% in country.

— Pacific
Haven’t been to the NCAA’s since 2013.
Last four years, they’re 14-50 in the WCC.
Their point guard was a sub at national champ Florida LY.
Coach Smart used to coach at Carleton in Canada; Pacific has six Canadians.
Tigers are expected to be much deeper this year.

— Pepperdine
Haven’t been to the NCAA’s since 2002.
Last four years, they’re 12-54 in the WCC.
LY, Waves won three games in WCC tourney, lost in semi-finals.
Waves lost 91.7% of LY’s scoring; they added seven D-I transfers.

— Portland
Haven’t been to the NCAA’s since 1996.
Last three years, they’re 17-33 in the WCC.
Brought in 8 new players, should be deeper this year.
Timo George Jr is a promising 6-8 forward.

— Famous birthdays, October 24th:
Kevin Kline, 78
Chester Marcol, 76
Ron Gardenhire, 68
Mark Grant, 62
Corey Dillon, 51

Eric Hosmer, 36
Jalen Ramsey, 31
Rafael Devers, 29
Jaylen Brown, 29
Amon-Ra St. Brown, 26

Wednesday would’ve been the great Johnny Carson’s 100th birthday.

— Saint Mary’s
Made the NCAA’s last four years, going 3-4 in tournament.
Last four years, Gaels are 56-7 in WCC play.
Lost three seniors from LY, two of whom were 5-year players.
Gaels have only one senior this season.
Coach Bennett is unclear who the new point guard will be.

— San Diego
School opened a $35M basketball performance center last spring.
Toreros haven’t been to the NCAA’s since 2008.
Three years under Steve Lavin, they’re 13-37 in the WCC.
PG Johnson has played at Louisville, Wake Forest.
San Diego’s backcourt appears to be improved this year.

— San Francisco
Last time they were in the NCAA’s: 2022.
Last four years, they’re 41-25 in the WCC.
Last two years, Dons are 25-3 in WCC, other than Zags/St Mary’s.
Have 2 starters back TY, which in this day/age, is a lot.
Have high expectations; the pre-conference schedule is hard. 

— Santa Clara
Haven’t been to the NCAA’s since 1996 (Steve Nash was there).
Last four years, they’re 43-22 in the WCC.
64.4% of LY’s scoring, 49.8% of rebounding, 58.7% of assists are gone.
Five players transferred last spring, including two starters.
Broncos added three transfers, four freshmen this year.

— Seattle
First year in WCC; last four years, they were 44-28 in the WAC.
Haven’t been to the NCAA’s since 1969.
Redhawks have pretty good guards; they need to shoot better.
Big guy Junseok Yeo is a transfer from Gonzaga.

— Washington State
Coogs head back to the Pac-12 next year; they were 8-10 in WCC LY.
3 starters from LY’s team bolted to greener pa$ture$.
Riley can coach; Wazzu was #6 in country LY in 2-point FG%.
Wazzu could help its power rating with a good showing at Maui Classic. 

— San Francisco Giants hired former Tennessee Vols coach Tony Vitelloas their new skipper, the first time a big league team has hired a manager directly from a college program without any experience as a professional coach. Vitello won the College World Series with the Vols in 2024.

Giants have missed the playoffs the last four years; they went 81-81 this past season.

— Sounds like there will be two Japanese sluggers moving to the major leagues next year.

Munetaka Murakami is a 3B/1B who has hit 246 home runs in 892 games for the Yakult Swallows, including a 56-homer season in 2022.

1B/3B Kazuma Okamoto has hit 248 home runs for the Yomiuri Giants, hitting 30+ homers six years in a row, from 2018-23. Okamoto hit two homers, had 7 RBI when Japan won the World Baseball Classic in 2023.

— Freddie Freeman has homered in six of his last seven World Series games.

— Baseball is expected to expand by two teams in the next four years; MLB hasn’t expanded since 1998 (Arizona/Tampa Bay). When the expansion happens, will realignment happen too?

Geographic realignment would cut down on travel costs, and probably raise attendance with more games between regional rivals.

— Washington Commanders QB Jayden Daniels (hamstring) won’t play when the Commanders play in Kansas City Monday night. Backup Marcus Mariota will start his third game this year.

— NFL coaches’ instant replay challenges have succeeded 60% of time this year, compared to 39.6% at this time last year.

This season, coaches and club staffers in the coaching booth can watch the same camera feed as the replay official at the game, which has helped them make better decisions. 

— Miami Dolphins won consecutive Super Bowls in the early 70’s; when they beat the Vikings 24-7 in the Super Bowl after the 1973 season, their QB, Bob Greise, threw only seven passes the whole game. Griese was 6-7/73 passing. Total yardage in the game was 259-238, Miami.

Football sure has changed a lot.

— Famous birthdays, October 23rd:
Weird Al Yankovic, 66
Doug Flutie, 63
Mike Tomczak, 63

Keith Van Horn, 50
Ryan Reynolds, 49
John Lackey, 47

Kyle Gibson, 38
Jordan Crawford, 37
Dylan Carlson, 27

— Delaware 31, Middle Tennessee 28
QB Minicucci threw for 276 yards, four TD’s.
Blue Hens led 24-14 at halftime.
Delaware improves to 4-3 in its first year as a I-A team.

— Missouri State 24, New Mexico State 17 OT
NM State scored TD with 1:49 left to force overtime.
Missouri State outgained Aggies, 409-289.
Bears won despite committing 12 penalties for 110 yards..

— 76ers 117, Celtics 116
VJ Edgecombe scored 34 points in his debut, the most points anyone scored in his first NBA game since Wilt Chamberlain scored 43, in 1959.

Tyrese Maxey scored 40 points to lead the 76ers.
76ers were +18 in the 32:00 Quentin Grimes played.

— Spurs 125, Mavericks 92
Victor Wembanyama scored 40 points, had 15 rebounds.
Spurs outscored Dallas 65-41 in the second half.
Dallas was minus-29 with rookie Cooper Flagg on the floor.

ESPN’s announcers wouldn’t shut up about Flagg, who shot 4-13 “He’s done nothing but win”; the kid played one year in college and Duke didn’t win the national title. Let him play some before you induct him into the Hall of Fame.

— Knicks 119, Cavaliers 111
OG Anunoby had 24 points, 14 rebounds.
Knicks led 65-50 at halftime.
Knicks were 31-36 on the foul line, Cleveland 12-18.

— Jazz 129, Clippers 108
10-point underdog Utah led 43-19 after first quarter, 78-47 at half.
Walker Kessler had 22 points, nine rebounds.
Jazz made 17 of 44 3-point shots.

— Timberwolves 118, Trail Blazers 114
Minnesota outscored Portland 30-19 in the fourth quarter.
Anthony Edwards scored 41 points, had one assist (his job is to score points)
Timberwolves made 15 of 30 shots on the arc. 

October 22 has been a memorable day for me:

Flash back to October 22, 1972; I was 12 years old, the A’s were playing Game 7 of the World Series in Cincinnati. Big day; when Joe Rudi caught a fly ball in left field for the last out, the A’s had won their first of three consecutive World Series. 12-year old me was very happy.

Some stuff about that game:

— Game 7 of that World Series started at 1:00 on a Sunday afternoon; things have changed. All seven games in this year’s World Series will start at 8:00- none of the games are on a Sunday. 

— Rollie Fingers got the last six outs for the save; back then, closers often got more than three outs to get a save. So when you hear people describe Mariano Rivera as “the best closer ever” remember that he almost always got three outs per game. Guys like Fingers and Bruce Sutter did more than that.

— Hall of Famer Catfish Hunter got eight outs and the win in Game 7, two days after he started Game 5; he was 7-2, 2.55 in 14 playoff games with the A’s. He threw a perfect game in May 1968.

So the A’s won the World Series, then the 4:00 NFL games came on TV; Rams wound up beating the Bengals 15-12 on a last-second field goal. All in all, October 22, 1972 was a very good day.

12-year old me was really, really happy.

Flash forward to October 22, 2019; on October 12, the retina in my right eye detached while I was in Las Vegas. I knew it was bad, but I had no idea what the problem was; I saw a few doctors when I got home, and on October 22, Dr Mallick fixed my retina.

Thanks for my cousins for driving me to the hospital that day.

I am forever grateful to Dr Mallick and Dr Lemanski (she did my cataract surgery 10 months later) for fixing my eye. Must be a cool job, helping people to see again.

Anyway, that is why October 22 stands out on the calendar for me.

— Famous birthdays, October 22nd:
Christopher Lloyd, 87
Wilbur Wood, 84
Jeff Goldblum, 73
Jamie Quirk, 71

Bob Odenkirk, 63
Carmen Ejogo, 52
Ichiro Suzuki, 52
Jeff McInnis, 51

Leonard Marshall, 44
Robinson Cano, 43
Corbin Burnes, 31
Geraldo Perdomo, 26

— Thunder 125, Rockets 124, 2 OTs
Gilgeous-Alexander had 5 points at halftime, wound up with 35.
Thunder shot 13-52 on the src, 33-52 inside the arc.
Houston had 21 turnovers, Thunder only 11.
Alperen Sengun scored 39 points for Houston

— Kennesaw State 45, Florida International 26
Owls led 24-14 at half, snapped a 13-game road losing streak.
Both teams ran ball for 200+ yards.
Kennesaw played two QB’s, averaged 16.7 yards/pass attempt
QB Jenkins threw for 296 yards and a TD for FIU

— Western Kentucky 28, Louisiana Tech 27 OT
WKU scored TD, then scored on a 2-point conversion for the OT win.
Hilltoppers led 20-7 at halftime.
Tech outgained WKU 449-340; they were 10-19 on third down.
WKU is 6-2 and is now bowl eligible. 

— Los Angeles Angels hired Kurt Suzuki as their new manager; Suzuki hit .255 in his 16-year career as a catcher, for five different teams. He was with the Washington Nationals when they won the 2019 World Series.

Suzuki has no professional coaching experience; the Angels have the longest playoff drought in the major leagues- they last made the postseason in 2014. Suzuki is the Angels’ fifth manager in eight years.

— Dodgers are -210 to win the World Series; Blue Jays are +175.

— Toronto P Trey Yesavage started this season in Class A ball; he threw 98 IP for four different minor league teams this year, then pitched 14 innings for Toronto in the regular season and has now thrown 15 more innings in the playoffs. Impressive season for the 21-year old.

— Blue Jays OF Vladimir Guerrero Jr is hitting .442 in this year’s playoffs, with 12 RBI in 11 games. 

— Blue Jays 4, Mariners 3
George Springer hit a 3-run homer in the 7th inning.
Toronto’s bullpen got 16 outs, allowed only one hit.
Blue Jays are in the World Series for first time since 1993.
Game 1 of the World Series is Friday night

— Lions 24, Buccaneers 9
Jahmyr Gibbs had 20 touches for 218 yards, two TD’s.
Lions outgained Tampa Bay, 379-251.
Detroit has won five of its last six games.
Lions are 17-8 ATS last 25 games as a home favorite.

Bucs’ first seven drives: 20 plays, 54 yards, 5 punts, 2 turnovers.
Tampa Bay lost WR Evans (broken collarbone)
Bucs ran the ball only 12 times for 41 yards.
Previous four games, Tampa Bay had scored 30.5 points/game.

— Seahawks 27, Texans 19
Seattle’s first 3 drives: 18 plays, 133 yards, 14 points.
Seattle scored 17 points on 3 drives that started in Seattle territory.
Seahawks held last four foes to 66 rushing yards/game.
Texans had 10 penalties for 105 yards, Seattle 12 for 93

Houston’s first four drives: 18 plays, 19 yards, 4 punts.
Texans ran the ball only 17 times for 56 yards.
Houston was 2-15 on 3rd down, 1-4 on 4th down.
Texans were +3 in turnovers and still lost; unusual. 

— NFL divisional trends:
AFC East
Home teams 12-4 ATS divisional games
8-9 ATS non-divisional games

AFC North
Home teams 4-0 ATS divisional games
6-13 ATS non-divisional games

AFC South
4-2 ATS non-divisional favorite

AFC West
4-9 ATS non-divisional favorite

NFC East
Home teams 4-2 ATS divisional games
10-8 ATS non-divisional games

NFC North
5-2 ATS non-divisional home favorite

NFC South
12-11 ATS non-divisional games

NFC West
13-6 non-divisional games

— College football trends, conference games:

American
Favorites 17-8 ATS

ACC
Road teams 19-11 ATS

Big 18
Underdogs 21-15 ATS

Big X
Favorites 18-13 ATS

Conference USA
Home teams 9-6 ATS

Mid-American
Home teams 16-5 ATS

Mountain West
Home teams 8-9 ATS

SEC
Home teams 18-11 ATS

Sun Belt
Home teams 14-8 ATS

— Famous birthdays, October 21st:
Bill Curry, 83
Bill Russell, 77 (Dodgers’ SS)
Franklin Stubbs, 65

Zack Greinke, 42
Ricky Rubio, 35
Greg Robinson, 33

— 10 college football head coaches have been fired already this season; Florida, Colorado State are the most recent schools to tell their coach to take a hike.

— Florida State has lost its last nine ACC games, but coach Mike Norvell’s buyout is $54M, so he ain’t going anywhere until that number comes down a little.

— Texas A&M’s football team is 7-0 for the first time since 1994. 

— Arkansas has lost five games in a row, only one by more than six points.

— I’d like to thank the NFL for doing such a lousy job designing the coaches’ baseball caps this season; saves me $40. Ugly hats, hard to even see the logos.

— NFC is 25-12 SU against the AFC so far this season. 

— Blue Jays 6, Mariners 2
Addison Barger went 2-for-3 with a homer, three RBI
Trey Yesavage allowed two runs, got 17 outs.
Blue Jays led 4-0 in third inning, coasted home from there.
Winner-take-all Game 7 for the AL title is Monday night at 8:00.

— Broncos 33, Giants 32
Giants led 26-8 with 6:00 left in the game.
Denver is first 3 quarters: 42 plays, 112 yards, no points.
Denver in 4th quarter: 35 plays, 295 yards, 33 points.
Broncos kicked a 39-yard FG at the gun for a walk-off win.

Giants drove 65 yards, scored TD to take 32:30 lead with 0:37 left.
Giants missed two extra points, which proved costly.
Rookie QB Dart threw for 283 yards and three TD’s.
Denver survived committing 12 penalties for 127 yards. 

— Packers 27, Cardinals 23
Cardinals led 20-13 after the third quarter.
Packers had TD drives of 67-48 yards in the 4th quarter.
Packers are 4-14-1 ATS last 19 games as a road favorite.
Green Bay is 4-0-1 SU when it scores 27+ points.

Cardinals lost last five games by total of 13 points.
Under Gannon, Arizona is 19-10 ATS as an underdog.
Last four games, Cardinals converted 29-59 third down plays.
TE McBride caught 10 passes for 74 yards, two TD’s.

— Eagles 28, Vikings 22
DeVonta Smith caught nine passes for 183 yards and a TD.
Eagles are 5-2, but have been outgained in all seven games.
Eagles are 13-2-1 ATS in last 16 games with spread of 3 or fewer points
Last four games, Philly was held to 86-88-45-73-45 rushing yards.

Minnesota was in red zone six times: one TD, five FG’s.
Vikings were 7-15 on third down, Eagles 3-10.
Vikings in first half: 31 plays, 127 yards, six points.
Vikings in second half: 42 plays, 214 yards, 16 points.

— Famous birthdays, October 20:
Juan Marichal, 88
Isaac Curtis, 75
Dave Collins, 73
Dave Krieg, 67

Herman Moore, 56
Eddie Jones, 54
Calvin Broadus, 54 (Snoop Dogg)
Jose Soriano, 27

Today would’ve been the great actor Jerry Orbach’s 90th birthday. 

— Rams 35, Jaguars 7
Stafford threw 5 TD passes; Davante Adams caught 3 of them.
Rams first four drives: 27 plays, 199 yards, 21 points.
Jaguars’ first four drives: 23 plays, 58 yards, mo points.
Rams allowed 9-19-20-3-7 points in wins, 33-26 in losses.

Rams are 5-0 SU/ATS vs AFC teams this season.
Rams are 14-7 ATS in last 21 games as a favorite.
Jaguars committed 13 penalties for 119 yards.
Jaguars are +7 in turnovers in their wins, only plus-1 in losses.

— Panthers 13, Jets 6
Panthers are over .500 this late in year for first time since 2019.
QB Young left late in 3rd quarter with a sprained ankle.
Panthers were only 5-17 on third down, but 3-4 on fourth down.
Carolina won its last three games, by 3-3-7 points.

Jets lost first seven games, five of them by 7 or fewer points.
Last two weeks, Jets lost 13-11/13-6.
In those games, Jets were outgained 548-302.
Fields threw for 46 yards in first half; Taylor threw for 126 yards in 2nd half. 

— Colts 38, Chargers 24
Colts led 23-3 at halftime, improved to 6-1.
Colts’ first seven drives: 49 plays, 368 yards, 38 points (5 TDs/FG).
Indy scored 29+ points in all six of its wins.
Colts are 15-6 ATS in last 21 games with spread of 3 or fewer points.

Herbert threw INTs on two of Chargers’ first four drives.
Bolts ran ball 16 times for only 54 yards.
Chargers’ first three drives of 2nd half: 27 plays, 222 yards, 21 points.
Last three games, Chargers allowed 27-27-38 points. 

— Chiefs 31, Raiders 0
Chiefs in first half: 48 plays, 270 yards, 21 points.
Raiders in first half: 14 plays, 39 yards, no points.
For game, KC ran 77 plays for 434 yards, Raiders 30 for 95 yards
Raiders have run for 106 or fewer yards in six of seven games.

Chiefs won/covered four of their last five games.
Last five games, Kansas City is +6 in turnovers.
Chiefs converted 31 of last 64 third down plays.
Last 4 games, Chiefs threw ball for 264/318/248/282 yards.

— Browns 31, Dolphins 6
Cleveland led 17-6 at halftime.
Tagovailoa threw a pick-6 on first drive of third quarter.
Dolphins in 2nd half: 33 plays, 109 yards, 3 turnovers.
Miami was 1-13 on 3rd down, had 11 penalties for 103 yards.

RB Judkins ran ball 25 times for 84 yards and three TD’s.
Browns’ first four drives: 29 plays, 193 yards, 17 points.
Cleveland is 7-2 ATS last nine games as a home favorite.
Home teams are 7-0 ATS in Cleveland games this year.

— Movie of the Day: American Underdog (2021)- The true story of NFL QB Kurt Warner, who went from playing Arena Football and working in a supermarket, to being the Super Bowl MVP, and later getting inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. 

Zach Levi, Anna Paquin, Dennis Quaid, Bruce McGill are in the cast; this movie is better than Moneyball because…….well, the good guys win in the end. 

— Patriots 31, Titans 13
NE outgained Tennessee 387-255 in Vrabel’s return to Nashville.
New England outscored the Titans 17-0 in the second half.
Patriots won last four games, scoring 42-23-25-31 points.
Patriots are 8-3-1 ATS last 12 games as a road favorite.

Tennessee is 1-6 SU/ATS, losing by 8-14-21-26-10-18 points.
Titans in second half: 24 plays, 60 yards, two turnovers.
Tennessee only ran the ball 12 times for 39 yards.
Titans have five TD’s, 14 FG’s on their 67 drives.

— Bears 26, Saints 14
Bears won their last four games, scoring 31-25-25-26 points.
RB Swift ran ball 19 times for 124 yards and a TD.
Bears have forced 3+ turnovers in their last four games.
Chicago is 9-4-1 ATS last 14 games as a home favorite.

Saints ran the ball 17 times for only 44 yards.
Saints lost their three road games, 44-13/31-19/26-14. 
New Orleans has been outscored 140-72 in first half of games.
Saints are 4-11 ATS in last 15 games coming off a loss.

— Cowboys 44, Commanders 22
First four Dallas drives: 12 plays, 170 yards; 2 TD’s, FG, safety
Prescott threw for 264 yards and three TD’s.
Lamb caught five passes for 110 yards, including a 74-yard TD.
DaRon Bland scored on a 68-yard pick-6. 

Cowboys led 27-15 at halftime.
Washington’s foes’ over/under total: over 5-1 last six games.
QB Daniels hurt his hamstring, left late in third quarter.
Commanders are 2-8 SU/ATS in last ten visits to Dallas.

— 49ers 20, Falcons 10
49ers ran the ball 39 times for 174 yards.
McCaffrey ran ball for 129 yards, also had 72 receiving yards.
San Francisco led 10-3 at halftime.
49ers allowed 26-30 points in losses, 23 or less in wins.

Falcons’ only TD drive was 48 yards, on first drive of 3rd quarter.
Atlanta ran ball 20 times for only 62 yards.
Under is 5-1 in Falcons’ games this season.
Atlanta scored 22-34-24 points in its wins, 20-0 in losses.

— Vanderbilt 31, LSU 24
Commodores are 6-1 for the first time since 1950.
Vandy ran ball 45 times for 239 yards (5.3 yards/carry)
Commodores snapped a 10-game losing skid vs LSU.

— Georgia 43, Ole Miss 35
QB Stockton threw for 289 yards, four TD’s.
Georgia outscored the Rebels 17-0 in fourth quarter.
Dawgs ran 80 plays for 510 yards, had 34 first downs.

— Arizona State 26, Texas Tech 22
Sun Devils drove 75 yards, scored game-winning TD with 0:34 left.
First loss of year for Tech, who played without starting QB Morton.
WR Tyson caught 10 passes for 105 yards and a TD for ASU.

— UCLA 20, Maryland 17
Bruins kicked a 23-yard FG with 0:02 left for the comeback win.
Maryland had tied the game on a TD with 0:40 left.
UCLA is 3-0 since they fired their coach after an 0-4 start.

— Missouri 23, Auburn 17 OT
Mizzou led 10-7 at halftime.
Auburn RB Cobb ran ball 19 times for 111 yards.
Auburn is 0-4 in SEC, scoring 17-10-10-17 points.

— Upsets of the Week:
UAB (+20.5) 31, Memphis 24
Stanford (+17) 20, Florida State 13
Coastal Carolina (+10.5) 45, Appalachian State 37

Louisville (+10.5) 24, Miami 21
Arizona State (+9.5) 26, Texas Tech 22
Florida International (+9.5) 25, Western Kentucky 6

Minnesota (+8.5) 24, Nebraska 6
Arkansas State (+8.5) 15, South Alabama 14
SMU (+5.5) 35, Clemson 24

— Indiana 38, Michigan State 13
Five highest-paid coaches in college football:

$13M/year- Kirby Smart, Georgia
$12.5M- Ryan Day, Ohio State
$11.6M- Curt Cignetti, Indiana
$11.5M- Lincoln Riley, USC
$11.3M- Dabo Swinney, Clemson

— UAB 31, Memphis 24
Blazers fired their coach this week, then pulled biggest upset of the day.
UAB had good balance; ran ball for 219 yards, threw it for 251.
Blazers covered 9-13 third down plays, 6-1 Memphis 5-11.

— Georgia Tech 27, Duke 18
Tech had a 95-yard fumble return for TD in first quarter.
Game was tied 10-10 after the third quarter.
Tech was outgained 441-376; they’re quietest 7-0 team in country.

— California 21, North Carolina 18
TE on North Carolina fumbled on 1-yard line with 3:48 left.
Tar Heels are 1-4 vs I-A teams; the win was over 1-6 Charlotte.
Cal barely won, despite being +3 in turnovers.

— Famous birthdays, October 19th:
John Lithgow, 80
Lynn Dickey, 76
Lionel Hollins, 72
David Palmer, 68

Brad Daugherty, 60
Keith Foulke, 53
Leonard Little, 51
Michael Young, 49

Rajai Davis, 45
JA Happ, 43
Anthony Santander, 31
Zack Gelof, 26

— Houston 31, Arizona 28
Houston kicked a 41-yard FG at the gun, improved to 6-1.
Cougars ran ball 45 times for 232 yards.
Arizona was first team to score TD Saturday; they were 50-1 to do that at the South Point Casino in Las Vegas.

— Marshall 40, Texas State 37 OT
Bobcats lost in overtime for the second week in a row.
Texas State QB Jackson threw for 44 yards, 2 TD’s in a losing cause.
Bobcats turned ball over three times, had 12 penalties for 80 yards.

— Tulane 24, Army 17
6-1 Green Wave scored two TD’s in last 1:54 for the comeback win.
Total yardage: Tulane 402, Army 358
Army ran ball 63 times for 233 yards.

— Alabama 37, Tennessee 20
Vols QB Aguilar threw a 99-yard pick-6 on last play of first half.
If Tennessee had kicked FG there, they would’ve trailed 16-10 at the half.
Vols outgained Alabama 409-373, but had 10 penalties for 67 yards.

— Texas 16, Kentucky 13 OT
Longhorns led 7-0 at halftime.
Kentucky kicked a 45-yard FG with 0:09 left to force OT.
In OT, Wildcats went for it on 4th-and-goal from the 1-yard line, but failed. 

— Mariners 6, Blue Jays 2
Eugenio Suarez hit a grand slam in the bottom of the 8th
Cal Raleigh also homered in 8th to tie game, 2-2.
Mariners took their starting P out after only 56 PT
Seattle leads series, 3-2; Game 6 is in Toronto Sunday.

— Dodgers 5, Brewers 1
Ohtani threw six shutout IP, also hit three home runs.
Milwaukee had five hits, was 0-8 with RISP.
Dodgers sweep Milwaukee 4-0; Brewers scored one run in every game.

— Bengals 33, Steelers 31
Bengals drove 52 yards, kicked 36-yard FG with 0:07 left for the win.
Flacco threw for 342 yards, three TD’s
WR Chase had 23 targets; he caught 16 passes for 161 yards.
Bengals were 7-14 on third down, Pittsburgh 7-10.

Bengals’ first two drives: 13 plays, 53 yards, two punts.
Bengals rest of game: 63 plays, 416 yards, 33 points.
Steelers led 10-0 early in second quarter.
Pittsburgh has allowed 369+ yards in five of six games.

— Louisville 24, Miami 21
Louisville had four INT’s, was +3 in turnovers.
Louisville led 14-10 at halftime.
Miami ran the ball 24 times for only 63 yards.
Cardinals were a 10.5-point underdog.

— Minnesota 24, Nebraska 6
Minnesota outscored Nebraska 17-0 in second half.
Gophers sacked Nebraska’s QB nine times.
Gophers outgained the Cornhuskers, 339-213.
Both teams are 5-2.

— Utah State 30, San Jose State 25
Utah State kicked 44-yard FG with 1:58 left for the win.
Aggies threw a 74-yard TD pass in 3rd quarter; they led 17-9.
San Jose State outgained the Agues, 534-461.
Spartans were 9-17 on third down, Utah State 5-15

— Famous birthdays, October 18th:
Mike Ditka, 86
George Hendrick, 76
Pam Dawber, 74
Alex Cora, 50

Yoenis Cespedes, 40
Zac Efron, 38
Osvaldo Bido, 30
Terance Mann, 29

— Most starting pitchers used, last two years:
31- White Sox, Marlins
27- Dodgers, Brewers
24- Angels, Mets, Giants
23- Braves, Red Sox

— Fewest starting pitchers used, last two years:
10- Mariners
12- Cardinals
14- Bronx, Nationals
16- Rockies, Royals, Phillies

— Dodgers-Brewers, Blue Jays-Mariners. This year’s Final Four

Only one player ever has played for all four of those teams: Henry Blanco, who played 16 years in the big leagues, for 11 different teams.

— Dolphins-Browns Sunday will have two lefty QB’s starting, first time that has happened in the NFL since 2006, an Atlanta-Tampa Bay game (Vick-Chris Simms)

By the way, this game could have winds as high as 60 MPH, with a 94% chance of rain. 

— Since 2016, there have been 16 college football teams that started a season 0-6 ATS; those teams went 5-10-1 ATS in their 7th game. Penn State fits that bill this week.

Since 2020, there have been eight teams that started a season 6-0 ATS; those teams went 2-6 ATS in their 7th game. Memphis, Texas Tech fit the bill this week. 

Things to think about, with college/minor league basketball around the corner…….

— This will sound weird, but Sacramento State is going to be fascinating to follow this year; the Hornets haven’t had a winning season in Big Sky games since 2015, they’re on their fifth head coach in six years, but they’re going to be fun to watch this season.

The new coach is Mike Bibby, who played 14 years in the NBA, scoring 14.7 ppg; one of his new players is 6-8 F Shaqir O’Neal, whose father is Shaquille O’Neal. 

Shaquille O’Neal is the new general manager for Sacramento State, which means we’re going to be seeing some Big Sky games on TV this season. Shaq is good at generating publicity.

Mikey Williams is a Hornet now; he was a big prospect a couple years ago, ran into some issues off the court, but he’s in Sacramento now, and is a key to Sacramento State’s season.

— Next year will be a dizzying year, with more teams changing leagues. There are a few teams changing leagues this year, but not that many.

Grand Canyon moves from the WAC to the Mountain West; Antelopes won 103 games the last four years, have been in four of last five NCAA Tournaments. Last year, Grand Canyon had the #29 eFG% in the country; they got 24% of their points on the foul line (#9 in country). Will they still get as many calls in their new, tougher league?

WAC was the #15 league last year; Mountain West was #6.

— Seattle is also bolting the WAC, which only has seven teams left; Redhawks are moving to the WCC, which won’t look the same at this time next year, with Gonzaga bolting to the Mountain West.

Seattle was 23-14 two years ago, but 14-18 last year; they were a terrible shooting team last year (#334 eFG%). Last four years, Redhawks were 44-28 in the WAC and they’ve got three starters back, but they need to make more shots. 

WAC was the #15 league last year; WCC was #7 league.

— UMass bolted from the Atlantic 15 to the MAC, a huge help to their basketball program; MAC was the #23 league LY, A-15 was the #8 league— the move was football-based, but it should make life simpler on the hardwood.

UMass is 47-47 in three years under Frank Martin, was 24-30 in A-15 games. Minutemen have not been in the NCAA’s since 2014- they’ve brought in 10 new players after last year’s 12-20 season, when they shot 28% on the arc, 2nd-worst in the country.

— Two teams bolted to Conference USA, for football reasons…….

Delaware was in the NCAA’s in 2022, going 22-13, but they went 23-31 in CAA games since then.

Blue Hens were 16-20 LY, 5-13 in CAA, but they won four games in the CAA tourney and lost in the final, 76-72 to NC-Wilmington, playing for the fifth night in a row.

Delaware was #324 in defensive efficiency LY; CAA was #20 league last year, C-USA was #9, so this is a step up for the Blue Hens.

— Missouri State bolts to C-USA from the Missouri Valley, the #10 league; Bears were 9-23/2-19 last year, a dismal team that turned the ball over 20.7% of the time (#346).

Missouri State has had some good teams recently, but they haven’t been to the NCAA’s since Steve Alford led them there, in 1999. They’ve had seven 20-win seasons since then, but haven’t made it back to March Madness.

— Famous birthdays, October 17
Michael McKean, 78
Mike Bratz, 70
Dan Pasqua, 64
Jay Humphries, 63
Danny Ferry, 59
John Mabry, 55
Myles Straw, 31

— SEC had 14 of its 16 teams in the NCAA’s last year, which seems excessive; Florida was the first SEC team to win a national title since Kentucky in 2012.

Texas/Oklahoma both went 6-12 in SEC games, tied for 13th; if you finish tied for 13th in your league, you shouldn’t make the NCAA’s.

— Kentucky’s NIL budget/payroll is $22M this season; consensus is that nationally, top 10 teams have an average payroll of $10M or so. High expectations for coach Mark Pope.

Wildcats were 24-12 LY, making their first Sweet 16 since 2019; teams shot 53.9% inside the arc vs Kentucky (#295). Hopefully they spent some of that $22M on big guys who can defend.

— Auburn was 32-6, 15-3 in SEC, made the Final Four for the second time in seven years under Bruce Pearl, but last month, Pearl abruptly quit, so his son Steven could take his place. Bruce Pearl is going into the TV studio this season.

Auburn will play six top 40 teams before Christmas, as they prepare for the rigors on of SEC play, which worked for them LY, when they played the #19 non-conference schedule.

— Last five years, the ACC ranked #5-5-7-5-5 nationally, a downturn from 2014-19, when the ACC was a top 3 league every year. Only four ACC teams made the NCAA’s LY, but couple of new coaches figure to re-vitalize their programs.

Will Wade went 58-11 at McNeese State, made the NCAA’s five of six years before that at LSU, VCU. In the NIL era, Wade seems like a good man for the job.

Ryan Odom is the new coach at Virginia; his teams at VCU/Utah State were 78-30 the last three years. In 2018, he coached #16-seed UMBC to the first #16-seed over #1-seed upset in, when his Retrievers upset………Virginia.

— Four of the top 11 teams in the preseason top 25 are from the Big 18, a league that hasn’t won a national title since Michigan State in 2000.

— BYU signed AJ Dybantsa, the best recruit in the country; Cougars also bring back last year’s leading scorer, Richie Saunders- they’ve added four guards in the transfer portal.

Last year, BYU had the #7 eFG% in the country; 47.6% of their shots were 3’s- they made 36.8% of those. Cougars went 26-10, winning their first NCAA Tournament game since 2011.

— Last five years, Cal-Irvine went 68-23 in Big West games, but was 4-5 in their conference tournament- they surprisingly haven’t been to the NCAA’s since 2019.

Last year, Anteaters were 32-7; they lost the NIT final in overtime. This year, they get G Derin Saran back; he went to Stanford LY, but it didn’t work out well, so he is back in Irvine, where hopefully the Anteaters will fare better in the conference tournament.