Weekly Update October 30, 2023

Baseball: Game 7s first then the World Series Game 1 & Game 2.

Basketball: NBA in-season tournaments new courts. NCAAM begins Nov 7th.

Football – NCAAF: 5 Losses in Top 25. Other headlines. Top 25 this week. CFP Rankings Tuesday! Michigan sign stealing.

Football – NFL: This week in the NFL. Panthers finally get a W! Vikings win but lose their QB.

Golf: Annika in at Augusta. KF Tour players caught sports betting.

Hockey: Frozen Frenzy was Tuesday.

Olympic Sports: New 20km Race Walk WR…not. PanAm Games results. World Cup skiing.

Baseball – MLB:

• Championship Series Game 7s
  • Starting with the Texas ALCS. It was all Rangers, all day. They started with a HR and 2 other runs in the 1^st and just kept adding on. They wouldn’t go two consecutive innings with no score. By the end of the 4^th they were up 8-2. Ultimately, the Rangers hitting game was too much for the Stros who lose 4-11 and go home. The Rangers make their first World Series since 2011. They have never won it all, although they have appeared 2xs.
    • The first appearance was 2010 when they lost 4-1 to the Giants. The very next year they went again against the Cardinals. 2xs they were 1 strike away from the championship but they couldn’t close and lose Game 6 to make it a winner-take-all Game 7 situation and they lose that too.
  • NLDS: This game was not one sided like the ALCS was. The Diamondbacks scored in the first inning but then the Phillies HR’d in the 2^nd. We’re tied. Then the Phillies score in the 4^th to go up by 1. But the Dbacks answer in the 5^th with 2, AZ up 1. Even at this point, the Philies were still favored to win (probability was still >50% at 65.2%). The Phillies pitching game looked good and like they were going to keep themselves in the game. But AZ tacked another on in the 7^th of a sacrifice fly and that would be it to win 4-2. Diamondbacks go to the WS.
    • The only other time the Arizona team has gone to the WS, they won the whole thing. Just 4 years after they became a team in 2001, they played the Yankees in the World Series. At that time, the Yankees were 3x defending champions. They beat them in 7 games and had to score 2 runs in the 9^th to do it but with that they became the fastest expansion team in a major league history to win the World Series and still the only Arizona team to win a championship.

• We are only 2 games into the World Series and it’s already crazy. We are tied 1-1 btw.
  • Game 1 went into extra innings! The rangers drew first blood with 2 runs in the 1^st. But the Diamondbacks started to roll scoring in the 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th innigs to take the 5-3 lead. It looked like that was going to be the game until the 9^th when the Rangers Seager hit a 2-run HR to tie it up. We go to the 10^th, nothing. Then in the bottom of the 11^th, Garcia HR’d for the Rangers to win 6-5.
  • Game 2 was the opposite. Dbacks got 2 runs in the 4^th to score first. And even though the Rangers put one up in the 5^th, it was all the Arizona team after that. The Diamondbacks put up 2, 3 and 2 in the final 3 innings to add insult to injury. AZ ties up the series winning 9-1.

Basketball:

• NCAAM season starts Nov 7 but you will see some of the games will be on TV for preseason.
• This season there are in-season tournaments – one of which begins Friday and will continue through early December. New designs were released today of what the home courts will look like for said tournaments. The big change? There will be no visible wood look.

Football – NCAAF:

• It was a slower week with only 5 losses in the Top 25. But one hurts my heart.
  • #6 Oklahoma traveler to Kansas who hadn’t beat the Sooners since 1997. It was a crazy game with 2 muffed punts/kicks and 2 Kansas turnovers in the 4 Q when the Jayhawks had the lead. And it looked like Dillon Gabriel and the sooners would have another final minute TD game saving drive. But this time Sooners fell short and lose their first game of the season. Kansas beats top 10 team at home for first time since 1984.
  • We had a back and forth kinda slow game between #11 Oregon State and Arizona with a score of 13-10 going into the until the 4q. Then both teams offenses turned it on scoring 14 a piece. But Bears eat Beavers… Bear Down takes down the Beavs. 

• • #8 Oregon handled #13 Utah who suffered a bad loss at home. Utah’s home field advantage is supposedly one of the best in college football. Not today as Oregon looked like the better team on both sides of the ball, not letting the Utes in the end zone for first time since 2018. Ducks win 35-6. This was also Oregon’s 700th program win. 

• • #17 UNC lost their second straight game this time to Georgia tech. Yikes! That is the 2nd ranked team GT has knocked off. But UNCis getting last year vibes where they made the ACC title game and then lost the next 4 consecutive games. GT wins by 4
  • #18 Louisville faced #20 Duke and Riley Leonard did play. He also got sacked 4xs. This was basically to see who would make the ACC championship game. Didn’t matter though as the blue devils put up 0 points. Cardinals win 23-0. First shutout against a top 25 ranked team.

• Other major storylines:
  • The Gators allowed 36 straight points after going up 7-0 on #1 Georgia. Georgia put up the most points against Florida since 1982. Dawgs beat Florida getting a lot of their first place votes back in the polls 43-20.
  • Stanford was 1 trick play away from beating #5 Washington. But they dropped the ball. Washington was a 27-point favorite and they escape with a narrow win… again. This time 42-33 which looks way closer than it was.
  • #10 Penn St struggled with Indiana. Their QB threw his first interception of the season. The Hoosiers actually took the lead in the 2Q and tied it up again in the 4^th with just 2:58 to go in the game. But the Nittany Lions only needed 3 plays to go 78 yards for a TD to put them up. They also got a last minute safety for good measure. Penn St escapes and def don’t cover.
  • #14 ND debuted their first female leprechaun and she had to do a lot of pushups as ND beat Pitt 58-7.

• • #21 Tennessee played Kentucky and it was a great game. TN went up early but it never got too far out of Kentucky’s hands. The Wildcast were within 2 points going into the 4Q. But the Vols get the win here 33-27.
  • #22 Tulane played a close one with Rice. The Owls only lost by 2.
  • #24 USC was on the verge of losing their 3rd game in a row but Cal had 4 turnovers. It was still super close. Cal scored with 58 seconds left and chose to go for the win with a 2-point conversion. But it fails. USC escaped.

• • What has happened to Clemson?! It’s the drama of being on CW brings the drama. First time since 2011 to lose 2 regular season games in a row! They are now 4-4 and they play ND next. That wasn’t the only drama from this game. HC of NC St, Dave Doran gave some sassy comments back to the guest picker after the NFL star called NC St a basketball school. Curse words were used and the hC fiercely defended his kids.
  • KState has the most 40 point shutouts in Big 12 history at 15. They shutout Houston 41-0 on Saturday. The K State defense has not allowed a TD in 9 quarters but they play the Horns this weekend.

• Top 25 this week: No real change in the Top 10 except that Oklahoma fell to #10 duh. Oregon also jumped Texas after beating Utah so handily at home. Oregon St and Utah both lost but remain ranked, both falling 5 places. UNC and Duke have fallen out. 2 Big 12 teams made their way in this week, Kansas St re-enters the ranks before they play Texas and Kansas gets the benefit of their big win this weekend coming in at #22. Another Big 12 team, Oklahoma St is first out at #26. But CFP rankings come out tomorrow. This is the first one of the season so TBD on how much that will change as they will have the human factor of if those teams deserve to be ranked there, not just ‘they haven’t lost, better keep them up there.’ Some teams should be scared on Halloween!

• Ok so by now I’m sure you have heard a little something about Michigan stealing signs. So let’s go over some of the facts and reactions to keep you updates. Michigan offensive analyst, Connor Stalion bought tickets to 12 other big 10 schools and 4 schools that were supposed to be CFP contenders and the 2021 and 2022 SEC title games. All in all his tickets totaled 35 games in 17 stadiums – and that’s just what we have the paper trail for. He or someone using his tickets would literally wear a Michigan shirt and sit behind the Coordinators and record their signs on video. Now we have also heard that Michigan has rescinded their contract extension for HC Jim Harbaugh as this is not the first time this year that Michigan has been in the news for negative things. Things are getting crazy as more rumors come up, TCU supposedly used dummy signals during their CFP game last year because they were warned about Michigan’s sign stealing.

Football – NFL:

• This week in the NFL: TNF saw QB Josh Allen and the Bills beat the Bucs 24-18, 8 of the Bucs’ points coming in 4Q aka garbage time so there was no real threat to the NY team. The Cowboys started fast putting up 33 points in the 1H against the Rams. Thanks CeeDee Lamb for all of those fantasy points. They ultimately won 43-20. The Titans scored 7 points every single Q to beat the Falcons by 5. The Dolphins got back on track, putting the Patriots back on the losing side by 14 points. The Battle for NY went into OT between the Jets and Giants. With only 10 points per side, the Jets had their game-tying FG as time expired to get into OT then did the same thing again (literally just 2 yards different) in OT to get the win.

• Continued: The Jags were favored and the win probability chart never took a dip to the Steelers. Only 2 TDs were scored in the entire game Jags win 20-10. The Commanders/Eagles game was a battle of QBs. Both Jalen Hurts (Bama and OU) and Sam Howell (UNC) threw for 4 TDs. Hurts was even hurt so he couldn’t run like he normally does. The 4Q was all offense with 35 cumulative points scored but the Phili team gets the W by 7. The Cardinals have not had a good season, only winning 1 game so far and falling to their bird foes the Ravens this weekend. It was closer though as the Arizona team scored 17 points in the 4Q after trailing 24-7 early in the 4Q. The Chargers beat the Bears thanks to 2 INT, winning 30-13. It was 24-7 at half. But we had to end with the biggest shocks of the day. The Chiefs traveled to Denver to play the Broncos where they got their asses kicked. The Broncos won that game 24-9. The Chiefs had 5 turnovers, giving the Broncos great field position multiple times (3 on their side of the field). In 2H, the Chiefs had only had the ball one time (punt) in the entire 2H with only 10:30m left to go in the game! The other huge upset of the day was in the Bengals/49ers game. The 49ers had won 11 straight games at home until Sunday. Helps when QB Joe Burrow had one of the best games of his career after a bad start to the season. The Cincinnati team is now back to .500 with this 31-17 win.

• The Panthers are no longer winless! They beat the Texans in a close one on Sunday. Literally they needed a walk-off FG to do it. Luckily it was a chip shot at 23 yards as they had missed a PAT earlier in the game. Congrats to the Carolina team!

• The Vikings beat the Packers 24-10 but lost their starting QB Kirk Cousins. He tore his Achilles in that game as he is the leader in the league in TD passes (16) and 2^nd in passing yards. This is a big loss for the MN team as the trade deadline approaches.

Golf:

• Annika Sorenstam became member of Augusta National.
• Two Korn ferry Tour players were suspended as they bet on PGA Tour competitions. They were suspended for 3 and 6 months and neither of them were in the tournaments they bet on. This comes on the heels of the Senators player, Shane Pinto, who was suspended for 41 games on Thursday. He also supposedly didn’t bet on NHL games but the league did not elaborate. Clearly that is a different line as WR Calvin Ridley was suspended for the entirety of the 2022 season after he bet on games in the league. This is becoming a bigger deal in the sports world.

Hockey:

• This past week on Tuesday was called the Frozen Frenzy – where we had all of he NHL teams in action on one night! Nothing like starting the season off with a bang – eh? 102 goals were scored and 2 games went into OT.

Olympic Sports:

• You’re having a better day than this organizer – PER Kimberly Garcia thought she set the WR in the 20km race walk at the PanAm Games. She finished in 1:12.26 when the current WR was set at 1:23.49. Well that’s because apparently, organizers had the course 3km shorter than it was supposed to be – Oops!

• The PanAm Games have been a breeding ground for young Olympic talent for a while. Here is one to watch out for. Kaliya Lincoln from Frisco (oh hey!) won gold on the floor after being coached by Gabby Douglas. Black Girl magic is being passed around the gymnastics gym lately! BRA Rebecca Andrade did not compete in the event after taking gold in the balance beam earlier in the week. Biles won gold on vault Tuesday.
• World Cup skiing is back! Well the women’s got to start but the men’s first race was canceled for winds. The women’s race wasn’t without drama though. NOR Ragnhild Mowinckel was DQ’d because she used a forbidden wax on her skis. She is a 2xs Olympic silver medalist but she is the first to be DQ’d for the fluorinated wax she used. This is a new rule this year after much debate due to the harm it causes to health and the environment. It has been used for years in both disciplines of skiing (CC and alpine) as it creates a layer on the skis that repels moisture and dirt, which makes the skis faster due to less friction. SUI Lara Gut-Behrami won the first Giant Slalom WC event. Shiffrin took 6^th.

• Boston College suspended their swim team back in September after it had repeated reports of hazing from the team. There were 37 member of both the men’s and women’s teams that were suing BC so they could continue to practice and compete. They dropped the lawsuit this week after a MA judge wouldn’t allow them an injunction to compete and practice – which the athletes said in a statement was the entire reason why they were suing.

Soccer:

• This year’s Ballon d’Or award goes to Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmati and Miami’s Lionel Messi!

What to watch this week

Baseball – MLB:

• Mon 10/30
  • World Series – Game 3: Rangers at Diamondbacks @ 7:03pm on FOX
    • Scherzer vs Pfaadt
• Tues 10/31
  • World Series – Game 4: Rangers at Diamondbacks @ 7:03pm on FOX
• Wed 11/1
  • World Series – Game 5: Rangers at Diamondbacks @ 7:03pm on FOX
• Fri 11/3
  • World Series – Game 6: Diamondbacks at Ranges @ 7:03pm on FOX
    • If necessary
• Sat 11/4
  • World Series – Game 7: Diamondbacks at Ranges @ 7:03pm on FOX
    • If necessary

Basketball – NBA:

• Tues 10/31
  • Knicks at Cavaliers @ 6:30pm on TNT
  • Spurs at Suns @ 9pm on TNT
• Wed 11/1
  • Pelicans at Thunder @ 6:30pm on ESPN
  • Clippers at Lakers @ 9pm on ESPN
• Fri 11/3
  • Knicks at Bucks @ 6:30pm on ESPN
  • Mavericks at Nuggets @ 9pm on ESPN

Football-NCAAF:

• Tues 10/31
  • CFP Ranking Show @ 7pm on ESPN

Top 25
Week 10
Top 25 Games
Visitor	Home	Day	Time (CT)	TV	Line
25. Kansas St	7. Texas	Sat 11/4	11:00 AM	FOX	+4
14. Mizzou	1. Georgia	Sat 11/4	2:30 PM	CBS	+15.5
22. Kansas	Iowa St	Sat 11/4	6:00 PM	ESPN	+2.5
5. Washington	24. USC	Sat 11/4	6:30 PM	ABC	-3.5
13. LSU	8. Alabama	Sat 11/4	6:45 PM	CBS	+3
20. UCLA	Arizona	Sat 11/4	9:30 PM	FS1	-2.5
*GameDay indicated in bold*

Football-NFL:

• Mon 10/30
  • Raiders at Lions @ 7:15pm on ESPN and ABC
• Thurs 11/2
  • Titans at Steelers @ 7:15pm on Prime
• Sun 11/5
  • Dolphins at Chiefs @ 8:30am on NFL in GER
  • 7 games @ 12pm on CBS/FOX
    • CBS: Cardinals at browns, Bears at Saints, Seahawks at Ravens, Bucs at Texans
    • FOX: Rams at Packers, Commanders at Patriots, Vikings at Falcons
  • Colts at Panthers @ 3:05pm on CBS
  • Giants at Raiders or Cowboys at Eagles @ 3:25pm on FOX
  • Bills at Bengals @ 7:20pm on NBC
• Mon 11/6
  • Chargers at Jets @ 7:15pm on ABC or ESPN

Golf:

• Thurs 11/2
  • WWT Championship – Round 1 @ 3:30pm on Golf Channel
• Fri 11/3
  • WWT Championship – Round 2 @ 3:30pm on Golf Channel
• Sat 11/4
  • WWT Championship – Round 3 @ 3:30pm on Golf Channel
• Sun 11/5
  • WWT Championship – Final Round @ 2pm on Golf Channel

Hockey:

• Tues 10/31
  • Kings at Maple Leafs @ 7pm on ESPN
• Wed 11/1
  • Savres at Flyers @ 6pm on TNT
  • Blues at Avalanche @ 8:30pm on TNT
• Thurs 11/2
  • Maple Leafs at Bruins @ 6:30pm on hulu

Motorsports:

• Sun 11/5
  • Brazilian GP @ 11am on ESPN

Olympic Sports:

• Sat 11/4
  • Figure Skating @ 10am on NBC
• Sun 11/5
  • Figure Skating @ 10am on NBC

Soccer:

• Mon 10/30
  • MLS Playoff: Orlando City vs Nashville SC @ 6pm on FS1
  • MLS Playoff: Seattle Sounders vs FC Dallas @ 8pm on FS1
• Wed 11/1
  • MLS Playoff: Columbus Crew vs Atlanta United @ 6:30pm on FS1
• Sat 11/4
  • Premier League: Fulham vs ManU @ 7:30am on USA
  • Premier League: Manchester City vs Bournemouth @ 10am on USA
  • Premier League: Teams TBA @ 11:30am on NBC
• Sun 11/5
  • Premier League: Nottingham Forest vs Aston Villa @ 8am on USA
  • Premier League: Luton Town vs Liverpool @ 10:30am on USA
  • NCAAW: Big East Championship @ 12:20pm on FS1
  • MLS Playoff: Vancouver Whitecaps FC vs LA FC @ 6:30pm on FS1