Weekly Update – December 5, 2022

Baseball-MLB: Verlander to the Mets.

Basketball-NBA: NBA loosening restrictions on high school recruits. AD MVP? Clippers have Leonard and George back. Nike ditching Irving.

Basketball-NCAAM: Top 25 Losses in week 4. 8 undefeated teams left in Top 25.

Football-NCAAF: Conference Championship results in Power 5. CFP decided. #1 GA vs #4 Ohio St. #2 Michigan vs #3 TCU. Heisman Trophy finalist.

Football-NFL: 7 games within 7 and a dreaded tie. NFL Standings.

Golf: Hovland won back-to-back Hero Challenge. LIV adds 3.

Olympic Sports: Boston Marathon VIP. Luge World Cups.

Soccer: World Cup updates. USA out.

Coming up this month:

FIFA World Cup continues through the 18^th (Final), Conference Championships for NCAAF were this past weekend. Heisman Trophy 12/10. Bowl games begin 12/16.

Baseball:

• 3x Cy Young award winner and Astro, Justin Verlander is moving to NYC to play with the Mets for $86MM for 2 years. Verlander joined the Astros in 2017 from the Tigers and proceeded to win 2 World Series with the Houston team.

Basketball-NCAA:

• NCAAM Week 4: #6 Baylor had a bad 1H to their game vs Marquette, getting outscored by double (25-51). Needless to say, the Bears lost that one.

• Things continued to spiral for #18 UNC, but at least this time they lost to a higher ranked team in #10 Indiana. That was not the case on Sunday, the Tar Heels also dropped a game to VTech. Rival #17 Duke bounced back nicely to beat #25 Ohio St. #20 Michigan St lost badly to Notre Dame 70-52 on Wed then lost to Northwestern on Sunday. In one of the big matchups of the week, #2 Texas came out strong and beat #7 Creighton. That started a bad trend as Creighton who then lost to Nebraska on Sunday as well. #4 Arizona lost to unranked Utah by 15. In a NCAA title rematch, #6 Baylor bounced back from their earlier loss in the week to beat #14 Gonzaga by 1. #22 Maryland made a statement beating #16 Illinois. Despite winning earlier in the week, #10 Indiana lost to Rutgers in a low scoring game 63-48.

• There are 8 teams in the Top 25 that are still undefeated: Houston, Texas, UVA, Purdue UConn, Auburn, Maryland and Mississippi St. UVA is the only team with both men and women still undefeated.

Basketball – NBA:

• The NBA is loosening restrictions on recruiting high school students. In the middle of this month, NBA teams will be allowed to attend several key high school tourneys. There are no plans to do away with the age limit for the draft which is that a player must be 1-year removed from graduating high school and turning 19 in the calendar year of the draft.
• Anthony Davis scored 55 points against the Lakers and was drawing MVP chants from fans. He not only had 55 points but also 17 rebounds and 3 blocks for the Wizard’s win over the Lakers. In contrast LeBron only scored 29 points.
• Exciting news for Clippers fans, both Kawahi Leonard and Paul George are set to return for their game Monday night against the Hornets. Leonard was out the previous 6 games while George missed the last 7 games.

• Nike has finally severed ties with Kyrie Irving. His deal was up Oct 1, 2023.

Football-NCAA:

• Conference Championship week: I went 4-1 in my Power 5 predictions. The only one I was wrong about was the first one.

• • Starting Friday in the Pac 12 championship, rematch of #4 USC vs #11 Utah. The Utes was the only thing standing between USC and the CFP. They were tied at half. But when SC QB Caleb Williams got injured, the Trojans were done. Utah scored 23 points in the 4Q alone and they won by that much. USC is out of the Playoff.

• • The big matchup in the Big 12 did not disappoint. Undefeated and #3 TCU was trailing before scoring a TD and two point conversion with 1:51 to take the game to OT. TCU got to the 1 yard line and had 2 plays to punch it in but fell short. #10 K St sealed the Championship with a FG. The Wildcats hand the Horned Frogs their first loss of the season.

• • I knew, you knew it, we all knew #14 LSU was going to lose to #1 Georgia and sure enough the Dawgs were winning 35-10 at half. Hope you took the Over bc the Final score was 50-30.
  • #18 Tulane put first 10 points on the board and never trailed. The Green Wave beat #22 UCF by 17 to capture their first American AC ever
  • #9 Clemson handled #23 UNC with ease. Things went downhill fast for the Tar Heels who went scoreless after half. Tigers win by 29.

• • Even though it is not a Top 25 loss, #2 Michigan beat Purdue 43-22 to capture their 2nd straight Big 10 title.

• As for the CFP: Our final four has been announced and despite losing TCU stayed #3. The Buckeyes became huge Utah fans on Friday as the loss of USC allowed Ohio St in at #4. So the Semis will be #1 GA vs 4 Ohio St and #2 Michigan vs #3 TCU on NYE. This is the first CFP without both Alabama and Clemson.

• The Heisman finalists have been announced and they’re all QBs: Georgia Stetson Bennett, TCU Max Duggan, Ohio St CJ Stroud, USC Caleb Williams.

• With the final game of the regular season, prepare yourself for all the transfer portal alerts, coaching changes and draft declarations.
  • To Transfer: Clemson QB DJ,

• • Coaching changes: Deion Sanders has accepted the Colorado job! Scott Satterfield has accepted the job at Cincinnati (vacated by Fickle) and is therefore leaving Louisville.
  • Draft Declarations: Ohio St JSN, Florida QB Anthony Richardson,

Football – NFL:

• Week 13: 7 games were close and we even had a hated tie.
  • We saw the return to football for DeShaun Watson for the Browns against his former team, the Texans. The Browns took the W but not a ton of thanks to the offense. 3 TDs were scored without the offense taking the field and they won by 13… The Steelers beat the Falcons by 3. The Packers stopped their losing streak beating the Bears by 9.

• • The Lions destroyed the Jags, putting up 40 on them. The Vikings got to 10 wins after winning against the Jets by 5. But man the Commanders (who had won 6 of their last 7 games) and the Giants ended in a tie. Meaning that we went to OT and neither team scored in the 10 minutes of extra time. Both had at least 2 possessions and the Giants missed a 58 yrd FG at the end of time. The Ravens won in a low scoring game against the Broncos 10-9 but lost their QB Lamar during the game. The Bengals have had the Chiefs number over the last few seasons and this one was no different. Joe Burrow led the 10 point charge in the 4^th to win by 3. In an upset, the Raiders beat the Chargers by a TD.

• • The Cowboys tied their franchise record of points in one quarter with 33 in the 4^th to annihilate the Colts 54-19. 5 turnovers also help!

• NFL Standings: As we get close to the end of the season, we are starting to get some drama in the post season picture. The Texans and the Bears have already been eliminated from playoffs.
  • In the NFC, we have the Eagles leading the way with 11 wins followed by the Vikings at 10. The Cowboys sit at 3^rd with 9 wins.
  • The AFC has a tight race near the top with the Bills and the Chiefs at 9 wins a piece and 3 other teams at 8 behind them (Ravens, Bengals and Dolphins). The Bills have the tie breaker head-to-head win over the Chiefs for the first round bye if this remains the same.
• 49ers QB Jimmy Groppolo is out for the season with a broken foot.

Golf:

• Viktor Hovland has won back-to-back Hero World Challenge; the only other back-to-back winner is Tiger Woods. Masters champion, Scottie Scheffler made a nice play at the lead and was tied with Hovland for about 4 minutes when he chipped in for Eagle. Hovland then made birdie on the next hole and Scheffler proceeded to give some strokes back. It did come down to the final hole though when Hovland had to take a penalty drop in an effort to save bogey. He holes out from 20 feet to win by 2.
• The LIV Tour is adding 3 events next year: Mexico, Singapore and Spain. This with the addition of Australia already previously introduced keeps upping the stakes for next year.

Olympic Sports:

• Exciting news for the Boston Marathon, 2x Olympic gold medalist Eliud Kipchoge will make his debut for the race in 2023. Its scheduled for 4/17/23. Kipchoge has said he wants to compete in all the major marathons and Boston will be 5/6. NY will be his 6^th and final but no date set yet for that one.
• GER has swept the 4-man World Cup race and the reigning Olympic gold medalist, Friedrich is undefeated (4 for 4) this season. AUT also is having a good time in World Cup races. They are a perfect 8 for 8 on gold medals. This obviously did not include a 4-man.

Soccer:

• Team USA:
  • Well we had to win on Tuesday against Iran and we managed a close 1-0. I think it took years off my life. So they went onto the Round of 16 for just the 7^th time to play the NED.

• • However that game did not go well. Although we had a killer shot on goal withing the first 2 minutes and the NED changed goalies, we trailed 2-0 at half. We then tried to mount a comeback, scoring a goal and were in control for a while. But the NED struck on every chance they got. Team USA falls to NED 3-1. USA and NED were two of 5 teams to be unbeaten after group play.
• Other teams:
  • GER and MEX out in the group stage was a big upset.
  • FRA lost to TUN and still made it out of the group and won their group
  • JPN vs CRO is the first game to go to PKs after being tied 1-1 after ET. CRO wins 3-1

• UCLA is back-to-back women’s NCAA national Champions. They beat UNC On Monday in 2OT 3-2.

What to watch this week

Basketball – NBA:

• Tues 12/6
  • Lakers at Cavaliers @ 6:30pm on TNT
  • Mavericks at Nuggets @ 9pm on TNT
• Wed 12/7
  • Hawks at Knicks @ 6:30pm on ESPN
  • Celtics at Suns @ 9pm on ESPN – top of league?
• Fri 12/9
  • Lakers at 76ers @ 6:30pm on ESPN
  • Bucks at Mavericks @ 9pm on ESPN
• Sat 12/10
  • Celtics at Warriors @ 7:30pm on ABC

Basketball – NCAA:

• Tues 12/6
  • Illinois at 2. Texas @ 6pm on ESPN
  • UNC Greensboro at 9. Arkansas @ 6pm on SEC
  • James Madison at 3. UVA @ 7pm on ACC
  • Maryland at Wisconsin @ 8pm on ESPN2
  • Iowa at 15. Duke @ 8:30pm on ESPN
• Wed 12/7
  • Eastern Kentucky at 7. Tennessee @ 6pm on SEC
  • Nebraska at 14. Indiana @ 7:30pm on BTN
  • UConn at Florida @ 8pm on ESPN2
• Thurs 12/8
  • Rutgers at 25. Ohio St @ 6pmon ESPN2
  • Iowa St at Iowa @ 7pm on FS1
• Sat 12/10
  • Penn St at 17. Illinois @ 11am on BTN
  • Long Island U at 5. UConn @ 11:30am on FS1
  • Arkansas Pine-Bluff at 2. Texas @ 12pm on LGHN
  • Oklahoma at 9. Arkansas @ 12pm on ESPN2
  • Yale at 16. Kentucky @ 12pm on SEC
  • Purdue at Nebraska @ 1:15pm on BTN
  • Alabama at 1. Houston @ 2pm on ABC
  • Denver at 19. UCLA @ 2pm on PAC12
  • Auburn at Memphis @ 4pm on ESPN2
  • Kansas at Mizzou @ 4:15pm on ESPN
  • Maryland-Eastern Shore at 15. Duke @ 4:30pm on ACC
  • Arizona at 14. Indiana @ 6:30pm on FOX
  • Creighton at BYU @ 9pm on FS1
  • TCU at SMU @ 9pm on ESPN2
• Sun 12/11
  • Maryland at 7. Tennessee @ 3:30pm on FS1
  • Mississippi St at Minnesota @ 7:30pm on BTN

Football-NCAAF:

• Sat 12/10
  • Navy at Army @ 2pm on CBS
  • Heisman Trophy Presentation @ 7pm on ESPN

As a note, these rankings are from the AP poll as the CFP does not come out until Tuesday night. You can find a full list of the Top 25 games every week with updated rankings on Wednesday morning, HERE.

Football – NFL:

• Mon 12/5
  • Saints at Buccaneers @ 7:15pm on ESPN
• Thurs 12/8
  • Raiders at Rams @ 7:15pm on Prime
• Sun 12/11
  • 7 games at 12pm on FOX/CBS
    • FOX:
      • Texans at Cowboys
      • Vikings at Lions
      • Eagles at Giants
    • CBS:
      • Jets at Bills
      • Browns at Bengals
      • Jaguars at Titans
      • Ravens at Steelers
  • Chiefs at Broncos @ 3:05pm on CBS
  • Buccaneers at 49ers – or – Panthers at Seahawks @ 3:25pm on FOX
  • Dolphins at Chargers @ 7:20pm on NBC
• Mon 12/12
  • Patriots at Cardinals @ 7:15pm on ESPN

Golf:

• Fri 12/9
  • QBE Shootout – Round 1 @ 12pm on Golf Channel
• Sat 12/10
  • QBE Shootout – Round 2
    • @ 12:30pm on Golf Channel
    • @ 1:30pm on NBC
• Sun 12/11
  • QBE Shootout – Final Round
    • @ 12pm on Golf Channel
    • @ 1pm on NBC

Hockey:

• Tues 12/6
  • Maple Leafs at Stars @ 7:30pm on hulu
• Wed 12/7
  • Sabres at Capitals @ 6:30pm on TNT
  • Rangers at Golden Knights @ 9pm on TNT
• Thurs 12/8
  • Red Wings at Panthers @ 6:30pm on hulu
• Fri 12/9
  • Sharks at Ducks @ 9pm on hulu
• Sun 12/11
  • Avalanche at Blues @ 2pm on ESPN

Olympic Sports:

• Sat 12/10
  • Swimming: NC @ 3:30pm on NBC
• Sun 12/11
  • Figure Skating: ITA @ 3pm on NBC

Soccer – World Cup:

• Mon 12/5
  • Group E Winner vs Group F Runner Up @ 9am on FOX
    • JPN vs CRO
  • Group G Winner vs Group H Runner Up @ 1pm on FOX
    • BRA vs KOR
  • NCAAW: National Championship – UNC vs UCLA @ 5pm on ESPNU
• Tues 12/6
  • Group F Winner vs Group E Runner Up @ 9am on FOX
    • MOR vs ESP
  • Group H Winner vs Group G Runner Up @ 1pm on FOX
    • POR vs SUI
• Fri 12/9
  • Quarterfinals: CRO vs BRA @ 9am on FOX
  • Quarterfinals: NED vs ARG @ 1pm on FOX
• Sat 12/10
  • Winner of (MOR vs ESP) vs Winner of (POR vs SUI) @ 9am on FOX
  • ENG vs FRA @ 1pm on FOX