Basketball – NBA: Lillard hits 20k points. Updates from the week.
Basketball – NCAAM: Pac 2’s bball fate. Slow week for losses in Top 25.
Football – NCAAF: Florida St suing to leave ACC. Bowl games this week.
Football – NFL: 7 close games. 3 Christmas games. Standings updates.
Olympic Sports: Ski updates both M and W.
Basketball – NBA:
- Damian Lillard scored his season high 40 points on Tuesday against the Spurs. But that wasn’t the noteworthy part of the game, especially as San Antonio was without Wemby (sore ankle). Those 40 points put him over the 20,000 point milestone in his career. He is the 51st NBA player to reach 20,000, the 8th active player. This was Lillard’s 794th career game, he is the 17th fastest player to reach the 20k.
- This week in the NBA: We started the week with some great and high scoring games. The Rockets/Cavaliers went into OT. The Cleveland team got the better of Houston winning by 5. The Rockets are now 2-10 away. The Clippers put up 151 points in their win over the pacers. Harden scored 18 straight points in the 4Q. 76ers Embiid has scored 40 points in 3 straight games and 14th 30-point game, including a 51-point game on Wed. Although it wasn’t enough to beat the Bulls on Monday. Ja Morant returned to the court on Tuesday for the Grizzlies game against the Pelicans. Good thing too because he had an amazing game winning buzzer beater and they went 3-0 since his return. The Warriors upset the Celtics in OT. Curry hit a clutch 3-pointer in OT to beat them by 6. The Clippers won their 9th straight game on Wed after beating the Mavericks in Dallas. They then lost the next two games. Curry put up 8 3s and 30 points in just the 27th minute. The Lakers ended their 4 game losing streak after LeBron scored 40 points on Saturday. The Pistons now sit at 26 straight losses. They play the Nets tonight who they last lost to 126-115.
- Luka Doncic put up his first 50-point game this season and only the 4th of the year in the league. His point total has now eclipsed 10,000 points; he’s the fastest player to reach that mark since MJ. That helped his Dallas team beat the Suns 128-114 on Christmas day.
Basketball – NCAAM:
- Pac 2’s Oregon St and Washington St have partnered with West Coast Conference in several different sports including basketball. This agreement is for 2 years and does not include baseball. College football was announced earlier in the month that they reached an agreement with the Mountain West to play 6 opponents. Oregon State has announced that the gymnastics, wrestling, T&F and rowing will stay in the Pac 12 for now.
- Houston, JMU and Ole Miss are still undefeated. Everyone else has suffered at least one loss. #7 FAU is the highest the Owls have ever been ranked in program history.
- NCAAM: We started the week on Tuesday of ranked teams in action and game 1 was a big upset. #6 Marquette played unranked Providence and got their ass kicked by them. The Friars won 72-57. #23 Memphis continued their winning streak against ranked teams, this time beating #22 UVA handily, winning by 23 points. That’s their 3rd in a row. #5 UConn was upset by Seton Hall. They only scored 60 points the entire game. Seton Hall scored 75. We then had big ranked vs ranked matchups. In the jumpman invitational, #11 UNC beat #7 Oklahoma after the Sooners started slow. That is the Sooners’ first loss of the season and it was a big one, 81-69.
- #21 Duke then had a nice bounce back to beat #10 Baylor by 8. #12 Creighton started off well against Villanova, up by 10 at half time but the Wildcats came back to tie it up and we went into OT. Nova scored 10 to Creighton’s 8. Now the Bluejays are 0-1 in Big East. We then had no upsets on Thursday or Friday despite 14 teams being in action. Saturday only had one Top 25 loss but it was a great game. #14 FAU vs #4 Arizona. Arizona started off well but FAU closed with a 42 point half. We then went into OT, still ended tied then we went to 2OT. FAU gets the better of the Wildcats by 1!
Football – NCAAF:
- Florida State is suing the ACC over their grant of rights and $130MM exit fee. Basically what this boils down to is the school is looking to exit the conference in the future. They are doing this on the basis of failure to perform, citing the $30MM disparity per school in media right deals with Big 10 and the SEC. FSU also argues the distribution of revenue is also not performing. This has never happened before so there is no precedent.
- Bowl games this week. UTSA scored 21 points alone in the 2Q, which was enough to beat Marshall. The thundering Herd had the leading passer, rusher and receiver in the game but still lost 35-17. Syracuse looked like a dead team walking. They put up 0 points and South Florida had a field day, putting up 45 points. Georgia Tech and UCF was a good game although it was tough to tell who was who as they have similar colors. We were tied 17-17 at half but after that, it was all the Yellow Jackets. GT wins 30-17 in the Gasparilla bowl. Troy may have been favored in the 76 Birmingham Bowl by quite a bit but they were upset by Duke 17-10. NIU brought out all the trick plays including a fake kick which worked and the kicker ran for a 32 yard TD. The Huskies beat the Red Wolves 21-19. Boy was I wrong about this next one. JMU got the opportunity to play in a bowl game after there were not enough 6-6 teams to make bowl games. So naturally I thought they would be stoked to be playing in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl. But Air Force also came to play. AF was up 21-7 at half and finished up 10 points although the Dukes tried to mount a comeback. Q1 of the Idaho Potato Bowl was exciting with a lot of points scored. We were 21-14 after the Q1. Georgia St then continued to pile on, beating Utah St 45-22. South Alabama was double digit favorite in the 68 Ventures Bowl and for good reason. The Jaguars put up 59 points in Eastern Michigan and won 59-10. That is South Alabama’s first bowl win ever! Northwestern made their 2nd bowl game since 2018 but their first under HC David Braun. The Wildcats beat the Utes in a low scoring game 14-7. I don’t think the teams were super focused on football in the Hawaii bowl but Coastal Carolina got the better of San Jose St 24-14.
Football – NFL:
- Finishing up last week. The Seahawks had the leading passer, rusher and receiver so it should not be a surprise that they beat the Eagles. The Eagles were leading going into the 4Q. Then things started to unravel. The Seattle team scored a FG then Phili threw an INT. Seahawks did nothing with it. They went 3 & out. The Eagles then punt it back. Seattle then goes 92 yards in just 10 plays to score the go-ahead TD with 28 seconds remaining. The Eagles were then driving but Hurts threw another INT and that sealed the game. That is the Eagles 3rd loss in a row.
- TNF’s game was the Saints vs the Rams, who both sat at 7-7. The Rams were leading 27-7 going into the 4Q. They held off the Saints despite the NOLA team coming back to score 15 in the 4Q.
- Saturday had 2 games. The Steelers shut down the Bengals in the 1H, leading 24-0 going into the locker room. Needless to say, they ended up winning 34-11. That breaks their 3-game losing streak. Then we had the Bills playing in LA against the Chargers, which should’ve been an easy game. The Chargers are 5-9 and the Bills were 8-6. The LA team put up a good fight but fell 2 points short of the upset. Bills escape.
- There were 7 close games this week. The Seahawks took until the 4Q to score a TD (and they got 2 in that Q), they needed it too to beat the Titans by 3. The Lions played a close game in Minnesota only beating the Vikings by 6. That clinches the NFC North for the DET team. The Jets/Commanders game was basically over by half. The Jets led 27-7 but the Washington team worked their way back into the game, scoring the go-ahead TD with just 4:52 left in the game. But the Jets kicked a 54-yard game-winning FG with 5 seconds left to take the W away. The Panthers tied up the game with the Packers in the final 4 minutes of the game. The Packers then got a 32-yard FG to go up 3. The Panthers were driving with 19 seconds left but was not quick enough on the spike after a completion stayed in bounds. Time ran out for the Carolina team who would’ve had their 3rd win of the season and 2nd in a row. Alas it was not meant to be. The Dolphins handed Dallas their 2nd consecutive loss as they kicked a FG as time expired to win by 2. Both teams were 10-4 and in the running for their division. With this win, Miami clinches the AFC East. Speaking of final second FGs, the Patriots scored 20 points in the 3Q to be up 23-7 going into the 4Q. But Russell Wilson tied it up with just 2:53 to go. Pats K Chad Ryland nailed a 56 yard FG though to upset Denver.
- The not-so-close games. QB Trevor Lawrence left the game against the Bucs and it was apparent. Tampa Bay put away Jacksonville easily 30-12. They didn’t even score in the 2H. The Falcons destroyed the Colts 29-10. The Browns led by their 38 year old QB, Joe Flacco put the beat down on the Texans 36-22. That score looks better than it was as the Texans scored 15 in garbage time. The Houston team was also without their starting QB CJ Stroud for concussion protocol. The Bears beat the Cardinals 27-16.
- We had 3 games on Monday aka Christmas. The first one was the Raiders/Chiefs and it was a surprise. KC was favored by 11.5 points but 2 turnovers don’t help. The Raiders scored 2 defensive TDs to win 20-14. The Chiefs are now 9-6.
- The Eagles bounced back after their 3 losses to beat their hated rivals, the Giants. The Phili team won 33-25. Jalen Hurts rushed for his 15th TD, the most of any NFL QB in one season ever. The Giants tried to mount a comeback but threw an INT to end the game.
- Then MNF was the Ravens vs 49ers, both at the top of their divisions and both 11-3 going into this game. Niners QB Brock Purdy threw 4 INT so not too surprising that the Ravens won. Final score was 33-19.
- Standings: In the AFC, the Dolphins and Ravens have clinched a playoff berth. Whole in the NFC, the Eagles and Cowboys have secured their spot. The Lions won the NFC North and the 49ers have won the NFC West.
- Eliminated: AFC: Jets, Pats, Titans, Chargers; NFC: Panthers, Giants, Commanders, Cardinals.
Olympic Sports:
- Petra Vlhova edged out Mikaela Shiffrin in a rainy/foggy slalom race in FRA. Shiffrin had the lead after run 1 but she made up the .17 second difference in run 2. Now both stars have 2 slalom wins this season. On the men’s side, AUT Marco Schwarz is leading the standings over Marco Odermatt. Schwarz won the night race in ITA on Friday and has put a lot of effort into changing from a slalom specialist to all-round skier.
What to watch this week
Basketball – NBA:
- None! All are on NBA TV
Basketball – NCAAM:
- Thurs 12/28
- Central Arkansas at 12. Oklahoma @ 5pm on ESPN+
- Fri 12/29
- Eastern Kentucky at 1. Purdue @ 6pm on BTN
- Illinois St at 8. Kentucky @ 6pm on SEC
- Radford at 18. Clemson @ 6pm on ACCX
- Charleston Southern at 9. UNC @ 7pm on ACC
- UNC Greensboro at 21. Texas @ 7pm on LHN
- Fairleigh Dickinson at 11. Illinois @ 8pm on BTN
- San Diego St at 13. Gonzaga @ 8pm on ESPN2
- Adams St at 15. Colorado St @ 8pm
- 4. Arizona at Cal @ 9:30pm on PAC12
- Sat 12/30
- 22. Creighton at 10. Marquette @ 1pm on CBS
- Queens at 16. Duke @ 1pm on CW
- Texas St at 20. JMU @ 1pm on ESPN+
- Wichita St at 2. Kansas @ 3pm on ESPN2
- Wyoming at 14. BYU @ 5pm on ESPN+
- UPenn at 3. Houston @ 6pm on ESPN+
- 7. FAU at Florida Gulf Coast @ 6pm on ESPN+
- Austin Peay at 19. Memphis @ 6pm on ESPN+
- Sun 12/31
- Monmouth at 12. Oklahoma @ 2pm on ESPN+
- 4. Arizona at Stanford @ 3pm on Pac12
- Bryant at 24. Ole Miss @ 3pm on SEC
- Mon 1/1
- UTA at 21. Texas @ 1pm on LHN
Basketball – NCAAW: (only reporting ranked vs ranked)
- Sat 12/30
- 10. Baylor at 5. Texas @ 1pm on FOX
- 12. Utah at 8. Colorado @ 2pm on PAC12
- 6. USC at 2. UCLA @ 7pm on PAC12
- Sun 12/31
- 18. Marquette at 15. UConn @ 12pm
Football-NCAAF:
Football-NFL:
- Thurs 12/28
- Jets at Browns @ 7:15pm on Prime
- Sat 12/30
- Lions at Cowboys @ 7:15pm on ABC & ESPN
- Sun 12/31
- 10 games @ 12pm on CBS/FOX
- CBS: Patriots at Bills, Falcons at Bears, Raiders at Colts, Panthers at Jags, Dolphins at Ravens
- FOX: Rams at Giants, Cardinals at Eagles, Saints at Bucs, 49ers at Commanders, Titans at Texans
- Steelers at Seahawks @ 3:05pm on FOX
- Chargers at Broncos – or – Bengals at Chiefs @ 3:25pm on CBS
- Packers at Vikings @ 7:20pm on NBC
- 10 games @ 12pm on CBS/FOX
Hockey:
- Wed 12/27
- Bruins at Sabres @ 6:30pm on TNT
- Mon 1/1
- Golden Knights at Kraken @ 2pm on truTV and TNT
Olympic Sports:
- None
Soccer:
- Tues 12/26
- Premier League: Newcastle vs Nottingham Forest @ 6:30am on USA
- Premier League: Burnley vs Liverpool @ 11:30am on USA
- Premier League: ManU vs Aston Villa @ 2pm on USA
- Wed 12/27
- Premier League: Everton vs Manchester City @ 2:15pm on USA
- Thurs 12/28
- Premier League: Brighton vs Tottenham @ 1:30pm on USA
- Sat 12/30
- Premier League: Luton Town vs Chelsea @ 6:30am on USA
- Premier League: Wolves vs Everton @ 9am on USA
- Premier League: Nottingham Forest vs ManU @ 11:30am on NBC
- Sun 12/31
- Premier League: Tottenham vs Bournemouth @ 8am on USA
- Mon 1/1
- Premier League: Liverpool vs Newcastle @ 2pm on USA
