Posted on December 4, 2023

Weekly Update December 4, 2023

Weekly Update

Basketball – NBA: Losing and winning streaks. LeBron played the most of anyone ever. Cuban selling Mavs.

Basketball – NCAAM: ACC/SEC Challenge and Big East-Big 12 Battle. Other upsets.

Football – NCAAF: CFP Final 4 announced and argued. Conference Champions Crowned.

Football – NFL: Some really boring games and some big upsets this week! Star Studded game in Lambo.

Golf: Scheffler wins Hero

Olympic Sports: FRA going for a Winter games now but so is SLC. Ledecky loses in USA. Swimmer house detention after Jan 6 riot. Luge and Bobsled sad/happy news.

Coming up this month:

Conference Championships 12/1-2, MLS Final 12/9, CFP Bowl season 12/11 – 1/9, NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship 12/14-17,

Basketball – NBA:

  • Some headlines in the NBA:
    • The Wizards won Monday night to snap their 9 game losing streak, beating the Pistons by 19. Magic get their 9th win straight Monday night. That streak would end in their next game vs the Nets on Saturday. In that game, Mikal Bridgers would outscore the entire Magic team by himself, putting up 26 points in the 1Q. the Magic only had 22. The Pistons would top that easily ending the week at 17 straight losses. They only have 2 wins all season.
    • LeBron hit another milestone on Monday. He became the player to have the most minutes played in the NBA, surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s mark which was set at 66,297 minutes (combined post and regular season). He happen to hit this during their game vs the 76ers where they suffered the worst loss of LeBron’s career. The Lakers lost by 44 points, which is the 5th worst loss in franchise history.
    • The Bucks lost in OT to the Bulls after a crazy back and forth game. The Bucks are now 5-5 away despite their 13-6 record. Despite scoring 30 unanswered points in the 4Q, the Mavs still lost against the Thunder by 6 on Saturday.
    • The most points scored this week by a player in a single game was Hawks star Trae Young with 45 in their narrow win against the Spurs on Thursday.

  • The in-season tournament quarterfinals will take place today and Tuesday. Then the Semifinals will be Thursday and the final on Saturday.
  • Mark Cuban is working on a deal to sell his majority stake in the Mavs. It looks like the deal is being finalize to the Adelson family aka the Las Vegas Sands Corp who was responsible for building the Venetian and Palazzo.

Basketball – NCAAM:

  • In the ACC/SEC Challenge was this weekend. There were 14 games. The conference only needed 8 wins to win the challenge but we finished exactly split 7-7. We started with a ranked match up #8 Miami vs #12 Kentucky and the bball blueblood won handily. Wildcats beat the Canes 95-73. SEC up 1. But unranked Georgia Tech upset #21 Mississippi St by 8. The ACC continued to roll as Clemson beat #23 Alabama after the Tigers put up 52 points in the 2H. The ACC led 7-4 with 3 games to go but Auburn, Georgia and Arkansas finished it out against their ACC opponents.

    • Arkansas handed #7 Duke their first loss of the week. After the Challenge was over, Duke also lost to ACC rival Georgia Tech. #17 UNC remained undefeated at home after upsetting #10 Tennessee in a close one. UNC scored 61 in the 1H and even though the Vols mounted a comeback, they fell 8 points short. #14 Texas A&M vs UVA was a low scoring game. The Aggies only scored 47 points in the entire game and lost to the Cavs.
  • Saint Joseph’s beat #18 Villanova by 13 in the Big 5 Classic. Nova then proceeded to lose to Drexel by 2 3 days later. #1 Purdue lost their first game of the entire season and it was the first game in the Big 10, to Northwestern. Northwestern rallied 2H to force OT with #1 and then beat them by 4.

  • The Big East-Big 12 Battle started with a big ranked matchup. #4 UConn and #5 Kansas was a great close game. But the Jayhawks prevailed by 4.
  • Wisconsin got off to a hot start scoring 46 in 1H against #3 Marquette. And even though they struggled in 2H, the Badgers managed to hold them off and win by 11. #12 Kentucky may’ve had a great start to the week taking out the Canes but they lost to UNC Wilmington by 7 on Saturday.
  • Sunday only had 1 upset. 2-6 Southern beat #21 Mississippi St by 1 point!

Football – NCAAF:

  • Conference Championship week:
    • Liberty won the CUSA and highest ranked Group of 5 team which means they get a New Year’s 6 bowl. Unranked SMU upset #22 Tulane for their first conference title since 1984 before the death penalty. They win the American Athletic Conference with a back up quarterback.

    • The Oregon versus Washington rematch was just as good as it was the first time, and it ended at the same result. 3rd straight 3 point win for Washington. The Huskies put up 10 in the first quarter. It then looks like it was going to get out of control with Washington being up 20 to 3 at one point. Oregon would score 3 straight touchdowns to go up 24-20 at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Then Washington scored two back-to-back touchdowns. Giving the ball back to the ducks with 2:44 to play. Bo Nix only needed two plays to score. And the ducks try the onside kick, but it was unsuccessful, and the huskies run out the clock. Washington is the final Pac 12 champ.
    • The Big 12 championship was not nearly as entertaining. Texas knew they needed style points to get into the final four and they made their statement. UT put up 21 points in the first quarter and 35 in the first half. The Longhorns were 19 point favorite, and that bet cashed as they won 49-21.

    • The chaos-will-reign result happened in the SEC championship game. Georgia had gone 29 straight games without a loss their last being in the SEC championship against Alabama. And the tide would end that streak. Georgia came out, swinging scoring on their first possession, and it looked easy. But clearly they were dealing with some injuries, and after that it was Bama’s night. Nick Saban’s team put up 17 straight points going in to halftime. We went score for score. But Alabama would not relinquish the lead. In the second half we would were TD-less until 11 minutes to go in the game then we had three straight on the next three possessions. Bama is SEC champions again 27-24.

    • The night games were less exciting. To no one’s surprise, Michigan shutout Iowa 26-0. They end their season at a perfect 13-0 like Washington. #4 Florida State found itself in a pickle with not only Jordan Travis out but also their backup Rodemaker out as well likely on concussion protocol. But it didn’t matter as #14 Louisville had their starter and didn’t score s TD. FSU would go undefeated and claim their ACC Championship 16-6.
    • Miami (OH) won the MAC in an exciting game, App State took the Sun Belt and Boise St won the Mountain West.

  • CFP Final 4: #1 Michigan, #2 Washington, #3 Texas and #4 Alabama leaves out undefeated Florida State. It has blown up the college football world. I’ll give you more details on the podcast!

  • Coaching carousel:
    • Indiana hired JMU HC Curt Cignetti. JMU went 11-1 this season, the most in the Sunbelt and a huge win during their transition year to the FBS.
    • Oregon State promoted their DC Trent Bray who will now be their new HC.
    • Boise St promoted their interim to HC Spencer Danielson after they win the Mountain West this weekend. Danielson is only 35 years old!
    • Syracuse hires Georgia’s DB’s coach Fran Brown hoping that brings some good recruits to Syracuse, NY.
    • Houston has hired Tulane’s Willy Fritz which is a great move as he has done a great job with that team, despite the loss to SMU over the weekend. You know what’s not a great move, leaking the story during conference championship warm ups… hopefully the players knew already.

  • Heisman Finalists were announced today: LSU Jaden Daniels, Oregon Bo Nix, Washington Michael Penix and Ohio State Henderson Jr. the MVP of the season award will be given this weekend.
  • Transfer Portal opens today thus why you are seeing all the announcements.

Football – NFL:

  • Finishing up last week. The Bears won MNF without scoring a single TD. The CHI beat the Vikings 12-10, yep 4 FGs. Painful – glad I didn’t watch.

  • This week in the NFL:
    • The only thing worse than last week’s MNF with no TDs is this week’s Chargers/Pats game which also had no TDs. Not only that, there was only 6 points scored in the entire game and it was 2 38 yard FGs by the Chargers in the 2Q. The stats for this game were almost identical. 28:50m vs 31:10m of possession. 13 1st downs a piece. 241 yards vs 257 yards. Snoozefest! Also the Jets didn’t managed to score a TD in their game against the Falcons either. Needless to say they lost 8-13.

    • Moving onto more exciting games as there were 7 within a TD. The Cowboys beat the Seahawks 41-35 on TNF in Dallas. This extends their home win streak to 14 although it was close with DAL trailing 35-27 in the 4Q

    • On Sunday, the Colts/Titans win probability chart changed teams it thought would win 25xs. This game was evenly matched with 2 turnovers a piece. The Titans scored the final TD with 2:31 to go in the game to tie it up and take it to OT. Then the TN team scored a FG but the Colts did one better going 75 yards in 5 plays to score a TD and win. The Lions came out hot, putting up 21 points in the 1Q and then all they had to do was hang on. They outlasted the Saints 33-28.
    • The Broncos were on a hot streak lately but so was Texas rookie QB CJ Stroud. Despite going 13 straight points to start the game, the Broncos were fighting back. The DEN team was driving, only down 5 with under 5m to go in the game and was on the Texans 8 when the Houston team came up with a HUGE game-saving INT. The Panthers put up a better than normal fight but still lose to the Bucs by 3.

    • Not so close games: the Cardinals are bouncing back nicely, winning another game 24-10 over the Steelers. The Dolphins rolled over the Commanders putting up 31 in the 1H to win by 30.

    • In a huge upset that wasn’t even close, the Eagles lost 42-19 to the 49ers. Brock Purdy threw 4 TDs and they put up 14 points in the final 3Qs. Eagles QB Jalen Hurts did go out of the game for a little bit but re-entered the game trying to get the Phili team back in it but Purdy and McCaffrey were not to be denied.

    • It was a star-studded event at Lambo Field for SNF with both Taylor Swift and Simone Biles in the house and cheering for opposite teams. The Chiefs looked a little off and Jordan Love did not, throwing 3 TDs. The Packers upset the Chiefs 27-19 to get back to .500. The KC team is now 8-4.

Golf:

  • The PGA Tour competed in the Hero Challenge which was hosted (and played) but Tiger woods in the Bahamas. Scottie Scheffler was in the lead early and really never gave it back. He won by 3 in his 7th title. This was his first win since the players in March then he was plagued by putting issues.

Hockey:

Olympic Sports:

  • FRA looks to have another Olympics awarded to it on the eve of the Summer Games. An united bid of the Alps is one of the top picks for the 2030 Winter Games, it’s main competition being Sweden and SUI. Salt Lake City is also in the running but is the solo bid for the 2034 Games. So don’t be surprised if there is a joint announcement like the Paris/LA summer one.
  • Here’s something we haven’t seen since 2012, Katie Ledecky has lost a 400m freestyle race in an American pool. CAN teen Summer McIntosh beat Katie by 3 seconds on Thursday at the US Open Championships. The last time she lost was at the London 2012 Olympic trials when she was 15! AUS Ariarne Titmus is the WR holder after breaking McIntosh’s new record which only stood for 3 months. Looks like this will be one of the hardest golds to win in Paris.
  • Sticking with swimming news, Klete Keller was found guilty of a felony charge and is now sentences to 6 months of home detention for storming the Capitol on Jan 6th. He was one of the men on the 4x200m Free relay in 2008 that helped Michael Phelps win the 8 golds.
  • Bobsled and luge news. Bobsled first, Kaillie Humphries will miss this season because she is having a baby, due in June. She and her husband are both bobsledders so watch out winter Olympics world. She still plans to be back for the 2026 Olympic Games. In sadder luge news, USA Chris Mazdzer is retiring. The 35 year old is hanging it up after 4 Olympics and being the first American to medal in men’s singles. This weekend at Lake Placid will be his final race.

What to watch this week

Basketball – NBA:

  • Mon 12/4
    • NBA In-Season tournament: Celtics at Pacers @ 6:30pm on TNT
    • NBA In-Season tournament: Pelicans at Kings @ 9pm on TNT
  • Tues 12/5
    • NBA In-Season tournament: Knicks at Bucks @ 6:30pm on TNT
    • NBA In-Season tournament: Suns at Lakers @ 9pm on TNT
  • Wed 12/6
    • Spurs at Timberwolves @ 6:30pm on ESPN
    • Nuggets at Clippers @ 9pm on ESPN
  • Thurs 12/7
    • NBA In-Season tournament: TBD vs TBD @ 4pm on ESPN
    • NBA In-Season tournament: TBD vs TBD @ 8pm on TNT
  • Fri 12/8
    • Clippers at Jazz @ 9pm on ESPN
  • Sat 12/9
    • NBA In-Season tournament: TBD at TBD @ 7:30pm on ABC
  • Sun 12/10 – no games scheduled

Basketball – NCAAM:

  • Mon 12/4
    • Iowa at 1. Purdue @ 6pm on BTN
    • Arkansas St at 23. Alabama @ 7pm on SEC
  • Tues 12/5
    • George Mason at 10. Tennessee @ 5:30pm on ESPN+
    • Jimmy V Classic: 13. FAU at 24. Illinois @ 5:30pm on ESPN
    • Big East-Big 12 Battle: 18. Villanova at Kansas St @ 6pm on ESPN2
    • Big East-Big 12 Battle: Providence at 25. Oklahoma @ 6pm on ESPNU
    • Kansas City at 5. Kansas @ 7pm
    • Jimmy V Classic: 17. UNC at 4. UConn @ 8pm on ESPN
    • Big East-Big 12 Battle: Seton Hall at 9. Baylor @ 8pm on ESPN2
    • Arkansas-Pine Bluff at 11. Gonzaga @ 8p on ESPN+
    • Evansville at 19. BYU @ 8pm on ESPN+
  • Wed 12/6
    • Long Island University at 8. Miami @ 6p on ESPN+
    • Big East-Big 12 Battle: 16. Texas at 3. Marquette @ 7pm on FS1
    • Rice at 6. Houston @ 7pm on ESPN+
    • DePaul ay 14. Texas A&M @ 8pn on SEC
    • Denver at 20. Colorado St @ 8pm
  • Sat 12/9
    • Tulane at 21. Mississippi St @ 10:30am on SEC
    • Arkansas-Pine Bluff at 4. UConn @ 11am on FS2
    • 24. Illinois at 10. Tennessee @ 11am on CBS
    • 12. Kentucky at UPenn @ 11am on ESPN2
    • HoF Series: 23. Alabama at 1. Purdue @ 12:30pm on FOX
    • Central Michigan at 15. Creighton @ 1p on FS2
    • Charlotte at 7. Duke @ 1:15p
    • Houston Christian at 16. Texas @ 2pm on LHN
    • Wisconsin at 2. Arizona @ 2:15p on ESPN
    • Jackson St at 6. Houston @ 3pm on ESPN+
    • Arkansas at 25. Oklahoma @ 3pm on ESPN2
    • Mizzou at 5. Kansas @ 4:15pm on ESPN
    • Saint Mary’s at 20. Colorado St @ 5:30pm on CBSSN
    • UCLA at 18. Villanova @ 6pm on FOX
    • 19. BYU at Utah @ 6pm
    • 22. JMU at Old Dominion @ 6pm on ESPN+
    • Notre Dame at 3. Marquette @ 8pm on FOX
    • 11. Gonzaga at Washington @ 10pm on ESPN2
  • Sun 12/10
    • NABC Brooklyn Showcase: Colorado at 8. Miami @ 1pm on ESPN2
    • Memphis at 14. Texas A&M @ 3pm on ESPN2

Basketball – NCAAW: (only reporting ranked vs ranked)

  • Sun 12/10
    • HoF Showcase: 2. UCLA at 15. Florida St @ 11am on ESPN2
    • HoF Showcase: 12. Utah at 1. South Carolina @ 1:30pm on ESPN
    • HoF Showcase: 24. UNC at 11. UConn @ 4pm on ESPN

Football-NCAAF:

  • Sat 12/9
    • Army at Navy @ 2pm on CBS
    • Heisman Trophy Ceremony @ 7pm on ESPN

Football-NFL:

  • Mon 12/4
    • Bengals at Jags @ 7:15pm on ABC and ESPN
  • Thurs 12/7
    • Patriots at Steelers @ 7:15pm on Prime
  • Sun 12/10
    • 7 games @ 12pm on CBS/FOX
      • CBS: Bucs at Falcons, Colts at Bengals, Jags at Browns, Texans at Jets
      • FOX: Lions at Bears, Panthers at Saints, Rams at Ravens
    • Vikings at Raiders – or – Seahawks at 49ers @ 3:05pm on FOX
    • Bills at Chiefs – or – Broncos at Chargers @ 3:25pm on CBS
    • Eagles at Cowboys @ 7:20pm on NBC
  • Mon 12/11
    • Titans at Dolphins @ 7:15pm on ESPN
    • Packers at Giants @ 7:15pm on ABC

Golf:

  • Fri 12/8
    • Grant Thornton Invitational – Round 1 @ 12pm on Golf Channel
  • Sat 12/9
    • Grant Thornton Invitational – Round 2
      • @ 1pm on Golf Channel
      • @ 2pm on NBC
  • Sun 12/10
    • Grant Thornton Invitational – Final Round
      • @ 12pm on Golf Channel
      • @ 1pm on NBC

Hockey:

  • Tues 12/5
    • Red Wings at Sabres @ 6:30pn on hulu
  • Wed 12/6
    • Stars at Panthers @ 6pm on TNT
    • Hurricanes at Oilers @ 8:30pm on TNT
  • Thurs 12/7
    • Stars at Capitals @ 7pm on ESPN
    • Devils at Kraken @ 9:30pm on ESPN

Olympic Sports:

  • Sat 12/9
    • US Open Swimming @ 4pm on NBC
  • Sun 12/10
    • Figure Skating: ISU GP Final (CHN) @ 3pm on NBC

Soccer:

  • Mon 12/4
    • NCAAW: Florida St at Stanford @ 5pm on ESPNU
  • Tues 12/5
    • International Friendly: USA vs CHN @ 7pm on truTV
  • Wed 12/6
    • Premier League: Fulham vs Nottingham @ 1:30pm on USA
  • Thurs 12/7
    • Premier League: Tottenham vs West Ham @ 2:15pm on USA
  • Fri 12/8
    • NCAAM: West Virginia vs Clemson @ 5pm on ESPNU
    • NCAAM: Notre Dame vs Oregon St @ 7:45p on ESPNU
  • Sat 12/9
    • Premier League: Crystal Palace vs Liverpool @ 6:30am on USA
    • Premier League: Brighton vs Burnley @ 9am on USA
    • German Bundesliga: Borussia Dortmund vs RB Leipzig @ 11:30am on ABC
    • Premier League: Aston Villa vs Arsenal @ 11:30am on NBC
    • MLS Final: Columbus vs LAFC @ 3pm on FOX
  • Sun 12/10
    • Premier League: Everton vs Chelsea @ 8am on USA
    • Premier League: Tottenham vs Newcastle @ 10:30am on USA

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