Armadillo Sports

— Panthers 23, Buccaneers 20
Just 2nd win for Carolina in their last 12 games vs Tampa Bay. 
QB Young threw for 191 yards, two TD’s.
Panthers kicked a 48-yard FG with 2:20 left for the winning score.
Carolina now leads the NFC South by a game, with two weeks left.

Tampa Bay lost seven of its last nine games, after a 5-1 start.
Buccaneers lost their last three games by total of eight points.
Tampa Bay was 8-14 on third down, Carolina 6-12.
These teams play again in two weeks, in Tampa.

— Patriots 28, Ravens 24
New England has won 12 of last 13 games; they’re in playoffs.
Ravens led this game 24-13 in the fourth quarter.
QB Maye threw for 380 yards, two TD’s.
Patriots in 4th quarter: 22 plays, 181 yards, 14 points. 

QB Jackson hurt his back in the second quarter, didn’t return.
RB Henry ran for 128 yards, 2 TD’s, but only had 18 carries.
Patriots outgained Baltimore, 453-330.
Ravens need two wins and Steelers to lose to Cleveland to win AFC North. 

— Steelers 29, Lions 24
Detroit had two TD’s negated by offensive interference in last 0:30 of game.
Lions ran ball only 12 times, for 15 yards.
Steelers won their last three games, scoring 27-28-29 points.
Pittsburgh is 8-0 when it allows less than 25 points.

Steelers ran ball 27 times for 230 yards.
Game was 10-10 at half; Steelers got a safety in third quarter, led 12-10.
RB Warren carried ball 14 times for 143 yards, two TD’s.
Steelers WR Metcalf punched a fan in stands; he’ll hear from the league.

— Jaguars 34, Broncos 20
Jacksonville won their last six games, giving up 15.3 ppg.
Jaguars were 8-15 on third down, Denver 5-14.
QB Lawrence threw for 279 yards, 3 TD’s, also ran for a TD.
Right now, Jaguars are the #3-seed in the AFC.

Loss ends Denver’s 11-game winning streak.
QB Nix threw for 352 yards, but only one TD.
Broncos lead Chargers by a game in AFC West; they play in Week 18
Underdogs covered Denver’s last seven games.

— Titans 26, Chiefs 9
Backup QB Minshew tore his ACL, like Mahomes did last week.
#3 QB Oladokun was 11-16/111 passing, leading Chiefs to three FG’s.
Chiefs are 1-5 SU/ATS in last five road games.
Titans outgained Kansas City, 376-133.

Tennessee’s win snaps an 11-game home losing streak.
QB Ward threw for 228 yards and two TD’s.
Titans were 9-17 on third down, Kansas City 1-9.
Tennessee ran ball 40 times for 164 yards.

— Saints 29, Jets 6
Rookie QB Shough threw for 308 yards and a TD.
Saints are 4-2 in last six games, after a 1-8 start.
New Orleans outgained the Jets, 412-195.
Saints made 6 of 7 FG’s, scored two TD’s on 11 drives.

Jets first three drives: 18 plays, 88 yards, two FG’s.
Jets rest of game: 47 plays, 78 yards, two turnovers.
Jets lost their last three games, by 24-28-23 points.
Jets are 0-10 when they score less than 27 points.

— Famous birthdays, December 22nd:
Hector Elizondo, 89
Steve Carlton, 81
Dave Robisch, 76
Lonnie Smith, 70

Glenn Wilson, 67
Jason Lane, 49
Jacob Stallings, 36
Tyler Gilbert, 32

— Bills 23, Browns 20
Buffalo’s first three drives: 21 plays, 209 yards, 20 points.
Buffalo rest of the game: 30 plays, 48 yards, 3 points.
RB Cook ran for 117 yards, two TD’s.
Right now, Bills are the #6-seed in the AFC.

Cleveland turned ball over on three of its first six drives.
Cleveland was 8-14 on third down, Buffalo 2-8.
Cleveland lost four in row, 10 of its last 12 games.
Browns are 0-12 when they allow more than 10 points.

— Chargers 34, Cowboys 17
Chargers outgained Dallas 452-340, converted 7-11 on 3rd down.
QB Herbert threw for 300 yards, two TD’s.
Chargers won four in row, seven of their last eight games.
Chargers are 10-1 when they allow 21 or fewer points.

Dallas in first half: 32 plays, 216 yards, 17 points.
Dallas in second half: 25 plays, 131 yards, no points.
Cowboys lost their last three games, giving up 44-34-34 points.
Cowboys are 1-8 when they score less than 33 points. 

— Vikings 16, Giants 13
QB McCarthy hurt his right hand just before halftime, didn’t return.
Total yardage in an ugly game: Vikings 240, Giants 141
Minnesota won its last three games, giving up 13 ppg.
Vikings converted 7-12 on third down, Giants 141

Giants’ only TD was a defensive score 0:17 before halftime.
Giants had only 13 passing yards; their first 15 plays were runs.
Giants lost their last nine games (3-6 ATS)
Giants are 5-10 ATS last 15 games as a home underdog.

— Bengals 45, Dolphins 21
QB Burrow threw for 309 yards, four TD’s.
Cincinnati led 17-14 at halftime.
Bengals’ first 4 drives in second half: 21 plays, 174 yards, 28 points.
Cincinnati was 6-12 on third down, +3 in turnovers.

Miami turned ball over on 3 of first 4 drives in third quarter.
Rookie QB Ewers threw for 260 yards with two INTs in his first NFL start.
Dolphins are 0-9 when they allow 27+ points.
Miami is minus-16 in turnovers in losses, +11 in wins. 

— Falcons 26, Cardinals 19
RB Robinson ran ball for 76 yards, had 92 receiving yards.
Robinson is first Falcon since 1999 with 2,000+ yards from scrimmage,
Atlanta is 3-2 in last five games, after a 3-7 start.
QB Cousins is 87-80-2 as an NFL starter, 10-10 with Falcons.

Arizona led this game 10-0 late in first quarter.
Cardinals lost seven in row, 12 of last 13 games.
Arizona is 0-9 when they allow more than 22 points.
Cardinals are 1-4 ATS as a home underdog TY. 

— Texans 23, Raiders 21
Houston won its last seven games (5-2 ATS)
Texans are game behind Jacksonville in AFC South.
Right now, Texans are #7-seed in the AFC.
Houston is 9-0 when they score 20+ points.

First score of day was a 31-yard pick-6 by Texans 4:17 into game.
Raiders outgained Houston 315-270; they ran ball for 145 yards,
Raiders have lost nine games in a row, 13 of last 14.
RB Jeanty ran ball for 128 yards and a TD. 

Was wondering if there are any trends that could identify teams that will win March Madness this year, so I broke down the last 13 teams that won the national title.

— 10 of the last 13 national champs were #1 seeds:
Exceptions:
2014 UConn was a 7-seed
2016 Villanova was a 2-seed
2023 UConn was a 4-seed

— National champs come from the elite leagues:
5- Big East
3- ACC
2- SEC
2- Big X
1- AAC (UConn in 2014)
0- Big 18

— National champs come from big leagues; they generally play cheesy non-conference schedules. Five of last six national champs played a non-conference slate outside the top 200.

— Making shots seems like a big deal; 10 of the last 13 national champs were in the top 40 in eFG% (eFG% is FG%, only 3-pointers count as 1.5 baskets made).

Defense seems important; 9 of the last 13 national champs were in the top 50 in eFG% defense.

— 9 of the last 13 national champs were in the top 40 in offensive rebounding %age.

— The last 13 national champs all won the first game in their conference tournament; however, 5 of the 13 national champs went WL in their conference tournament.

5 of the also 13 national champs won their conference tournament.

— Only 3 of the last 13 national champs played a tempo in top 100; 6 of 13 were outside top 200 

— Stats that don’t seem to matter much:
None of the last 11 national champs were in the top 100 in % of points scored on foul line; there are fewer fouls called in the NCAA’s, you have to be able to play through contact.

— Only 2 of the last 13 national champs were in the top 200 in bench minutes; last one was North Carolina in 2017. TV timeouts are longer in NCAA’s, fewer fouls are cools, making depth less important.

— We’ll tuck this away until March, then identify teams we think fit the bill of a champ.

— Famous birthdays, December 18th:
Steven Spielberg, 79
Brad Pitt, 62
Charles Oakley, 62
Don Beebe, 61

Rachel Griffiths, 58
Christina Aguilera, 45
Chris Carter, 39
Byron Buxton, 32

Ronald Acuna, 28
Brandon Marsh, 28
Joey Cantillo, 26
Jayden Daniels, 25

— NFL divisional trends:
AFC East
Non-divisional underdogs 12-8 ATS
Non-divisional favorites 9-7 ATS

AFC North
Non-divisional underdogs 8-15 ATS
Non-divisional favorites 7-10 ATS

AFC South
Non-divisional underdogs 15-8 ATS
Non-divisional favorites 7-5 ATS

AFC West
Non-divisional underdogs 8-6 ATS
Non-divisional road favorites 1-9 ATS

NFC East
Home teams 5-2 ATS divisional games
Non-divisional underdogs 8-12 ATS

NFC North
Non-divisional home favorites 11-5 ATS
Non-divisional underdogs 5-8 ATS

NFC South
Underdogs 8-1 ATS divisional games
Non-divisional favorites 3-7 ATS

NFC West
Non-divisional favorites 19-8 ATS
Divisional home underdogs 0-4 ATS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This is a very good movie. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wilcox gets $10.9M as his parting gift.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ACC
Home favorites 16-21 ATS

Big 18
Home underdogs 16-13 ATS

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

Conference USA
Home teams 27-14 ATS

Mid-American
Home teams 29-17 ATS

Mountain West
Home favorites 15-13 ATS

SEC
Home favorites 22-17 ATS

Sun Belt
Home teams 28-22 ATS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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