Coming up this month – Feb edition.
Basketball – NBA: Updates from the week. Kobe statues.
Basketball – NCAAM: Many upsets this week.
Football – NCAAF:
Football – NFL: Super Bowl LVIII
Golf: WM open. LIV in Las Vegas.
Olympic Sports: Gut-Behrami overtakes Shiffrin in WC. Paris Olympic medals are special. Swimming Worlds.
Quick highlights: Baseball, Hockey and Soccer
Coming up this month:
Swimming World Championships Feb 2-18, Pro Bowl Feb 4, Super Bowl LVIII Feb 11, Daytona 5000 Feb 18, NBA All Star game Feb 18, CONCACAF Women’s Gold Cup Feb 20- March 10, MLB Spring Training games begins Feb 22, F1 season begins 2/29,
Basketball – NBA:
- This week in the NBA: The Warriors had a slow start on Monday against the Nets but they came back big time in the 3rd. It helps that Nic Claxton was ejected for his 2nd flagrant foul in the 4Q. He had a career-high 7 blocked shots. Ultimately GS won by 11. The Cavs have won 16 of their last 17 games. Due to that run, they are now 2ns in the East, tied with the Bucks. Mitchell put up 40 points in Wednesday’s game and then they went on a 21-0 run to start their 2H against the Nets on Thursday.
- The Pistons had a big upset beating the Kings on the road also on Wed. PG Ivey put up 37 points and they won by 13 points. Speaking of putting up points, Steph Curry had himself a day on Thursday throwing up 42 points in their win over the Pacers. They destroyed the IN team by 22. The Pistons took the Trail Blazers to OT, despite trailing by 15 at half. Portland’s SF Grant put up 49 points to get his team there. But they fell short in OT and the DET team gets another big win this week. They now sit at 8 on the season.
- The Lakers/Pelicans game on Friday was a high scoring one. The teams had a combo of 161 points in the first half, Lakers led 87-74. Overall, the Lakers got the best of the NOLA team 139-122. The Bulls Magic game on Saturday was back and forth and ended up going into OT before the Magic got the W 114-108.
- If you’re like hmmm I feel like we haven’t heard about Embiid for a while, there’s a good reason for that. The MVP candidate has gone through surgery on his left meniscus. He will miss multiple games (no specific timeline was given) but most likely he will miss the required minimum for MVP.
- The Lakers unveiled one of the 3 Kobe Bryant statues.
Basketball – NCAAM:
- NCAAM: We started the week with a doozy. The Sunflower showdown took to the basketball court on Monday. The Jayhawks might be ranked #4 but this battle was close the whole time and ended in OT. The K State Wildcats nearly doubled KU’s score in OT to upset the top 5 team. That is Kansas State’s 6th OT win, which ties a D1 record. Also (and neither were the in top 25 but it’s still noteworthy), Miami only managed to put up 38 points in their game against UVA. That is the lowest score ever by a college team since 1985. The Cavaliers scored 60 to hold onto their 23rd straight home win, which leads the NCAA this season. The next day, #3 UNC went down to unranked Clemson in a close game as well. Oklahoma may be unranked now but they handily beat #21 BYU by 16. #22 Utah State also lost by 14 to Nevada.
- The Big 12 ranked showdown was a great one. #23 Texas Tech and #13 Baylor. The teams were separated by 1 point at half. But after that, Baylor pulled away, beating the Red Raiders by 6. Michigan is 8-15 on the season but managed to beat #11 Wisconsin. Providence had a killer comeback in the 2H to take #19 Creighton to OT. Then the Friars got the last laugh winning by 4. There was an SEC showdown and rematch of the Iron Bowl on Wednesday. #12 Auburn put the beat down on #16 Alabama by 18. Both ranked games on Thursday went into OT. Utah only scored 25 points in the 1H but then came back scoring 51 points to take #8 Arizona into OT. It took til 3OT to finally get a result and Arizona escapes! #20 FAU was not so lucky. UAB won by 4. Both ranked games on Friday ended up upset. #18 Dayton lost to VCU in a low scoring game losing 49-47. Then #24 San Diego State lost to Nevada after going into OT. Nevada beat two ranked teams back to back this week and they have another against #25 New Mexico tomorrow. Saturday was painful for the teams ranked in the middle of the Top 25.
- In the Big 12 we had a huge match up between #13 Baylor and #4 Kansas. The Jayhawks weren’t losing twice in one week. Although it was a close one. Baylor missed 2 tying 3-pointers in the final seconds to give the Jayhawks the W at home by 3. Texas A&M then came out hot in their game, scoring 40+ in both halves to put away the #6 Tennessee Volunteers by 16 points. We then had a nasty streak. #10 Illinois fell to Michigan State who had exactly even halves with 44s in both and winning by 8. #11 Wisconsin got destroyed because they only put up 56 total, falling to Rutgers by 23. That is their 4th straight loss! #12 Auburn also lost handily to unranked Florida by 16. #17 Kentucky tried to mount a comeback after being down 10 at half and they almost managed it but the Gonzaga dogs were too much. That is the Wildcats’ 3rd loss at home in a row! #25 New Mexico lost to UNLV and now have to go on to play a Nevada team tomorrow who keeps taking down ranked opponents. #20 FAU escaped Wichita State whose current record is 10-14. They took the Owls into OT though before getting smoked.
- NCAAW: Caitlin Clark is just 8 points away from the NCAA scoring record. We thought she would get it against Nebraska has she only needed 8 going into the 4Q but failed to score a single point. Nebraska also got the better of the Hawkeyes in a huge upset.
- Indiana State broke into this week’s Top 25 rankings for the first time since 1979, which was when Larry Bird played for them! The Big 12 leads the conferences with the most teams ranked sitting at 6.
- A Kansas student hits the halfcourt shot for $19k on GameDay.
Football – NCAAF:
- I finally feel like the coaching carousel is starting to slow down. Maybe?
- Boston College has hired their new HC stealing Bill O’Brien from Ohio State. O’Brien has been HC for Penn State and the Texans.
- Ohio State then hired UCLA HC Chip Kelly as their new OC. This now leaves UCLA open.
- UCLA has hired former Bruins star and assistant coach DeShaun Foster as they enter the Big 10 next year. Foster originally took the Raiders’ RB coach earlier this month before reneging that offer and heading home to UCLA.
- Harvard hired Rutgers assist coach Andrew Aurich as their new HC.
- Furman DT Bryce Stanfield died on Friday, just 2 days after passing out during a workout. He was taken to the hospital and placed on life support.
Football – NFL:
- Ok so Super Bowl 58 was a rematch from 2019 between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers. The last time these two met the Chiefs got the better of the San Francisco team by 11. Their last Sb win was 1994. But despite that they were 1.5 point favorites.
- The game started off slow, but in the 49ers favor. The 49ers were driving on their first drive of the game when they fumbled the ball giving it back to the Chiefs and not scoring on their side of the field. The Chiefs then do nothing with that going three and out. The first scoring was in the second quarter when the 49ers kicker Moody broke the longest field-goal record in NFL history with a 55 yarder. The next drive, the Chiefs fumbled the ball inside the red zone and a first and goal. But no points off that for the niners. But the California team was the first to score a touchdown in the final five minutes of the half on a beautiful trick play.. Just as the announcers were saying that no team who was shut out in the first half had ever won a Super Bowl (0-13) Chiefs drive down the field and have a first and 10 at the 13-ish but the 49ers get a sack on third down so they go for a field goal. We go to the usher halftime show Niners up by 7.
- Chiefs get the ball to start the second half and immediately throw an interception. That was his first in 218 pass attempts in post season. Then it’s a lot of defense with 4 straight 3&outs. Finally the chiefs set it up for a new NFL sb record 57 yard Fg. Now that’s the new record. Hope the SF kicker enjoyed that record for 25min of game time. Chiefs down by 4. Two more 3&outs but then the chiefs finally catch a break. On the punt return, the ball hits a niners players shoe so the niners don’t get a good hand on it and muff the punt. Chiefs scored on the next play. Chiefs up by 3. It was like that was the kick in the butt they needed, because all of a sudden the 49ers start charging down the field. They go for it on fourth and 3. And TE kittle comes up, clutch with his first reception of the night. They would score a touchdown on the next play. Niners up by three after a missed extra point. Mahomes and company make it to the 3 before getting stopped. Chiefs FG. Tied game. Then niners kick a 53 yard FG which is good to go up 3. Chiefs get the ball with 1:53 left. They drive down the field again inside the red zone but can’t break in so a FG ties it and we head to OT. The 49ers win the coin toss, but decide to start with the ball, which is a very odd decision in my opinion. They take a lot of time off the clock (7m) and ultimately end up with a field goal from the nine. Then it gets back at Mahomes’ hands, and even I was scared. The 49ers defense played extremely well keeping the Chiefs to a seven minute drive. And outside the red zone until the final two plays when Mahomes throws a perfect pass to Hardman. And they win the Super Bowl. This was the 7th longest SB. And the Chiefs win their second Super Bowl in a row, the first repeat since Patriots in 2003-04. The team has absolutely made it known that a 3-peat is always on the table and I believe them, considering this was their down year. Kansas City will be around for a long time.
- Best commercials, so far Dunkin’ Donuts, M&Ms and Uber Eats.
- Lamar Jackson won the NFL MVP with just 1 vote short of being unanimously. He is just one of 11 players to win multiple times so he joins an elite club.
- Amazon has been awarded with a NFL postseason game next year. This year the AFC wildcard game of the Chiefs and Dolphins was on Peacock.
Golf:
- Waste Management which is usually considered one of the biggest parties in the sports world had to close its gates due to over crowding and alcohol sales were stopped. A fan was hurt after falling from the stands and multiple golfers were upset by the rowdy crowd. The tournament was also majorly delayed due to a huge amount of rain. So the players had to have marathon days to finish on Sunday before the Super Bowl. But let’s get to the actual golf. Nick Taylor started the week with a course-record tying 60. Then Scottie Scheffler shot himself into contention during the 3rd round with a 66, putting him 2 shots behind the leaders. Scheffler was going for the first 3-peat on the PGA Tour since Steve Stricker did it at the John Deere Classic 2009-2011. Charly Hoffman was leading by 3 with just 4 holes to play for the final group and it seemed fitting as was sponsored by the name sake WM. But then Nick Taylor birdied 3 of the final 4 of regulation to force a playoff with Hoffman who was in the clubhouse waiting. And then Taylor continued the streak, birdying both playoff holes as well to win on the 2nd.
- The LIV Tour is back and like the Super Bowl it was in Las Vegas. Dustin Johnson wins his third LIV event by one stroke. Although DJ won individually, Smash won the team event by 7.
- The Korn Ferry Tour has been on a roll lately with 2 sub-60 rounds in a week. CHI Cristobal Del Solar set the KF Tour record with a 57 on Thursday. The very next day, RSA Aldrich Potgieter shot a 59 in the Astara Golf Championship to take the lead. Potgieter birdied the final 3 holes to do it. He is now the youngest person to complete a sub-60 round at the age of 19 years (4m 27d).
Olympic Sports:
- SIU Lara Gut-Behrami won the giant slalom by .01 second to overtake Mikaela Shiffrin in the WC overall standings. Remember Shiffrin is out with an injury after a crash. Her return is unclear. USA Hurt finished 3rd for her first GS podium.
- It is World Championships for Swimming. On the first day, CHN won the 4x100m freestyle relay which isn’t super noteworthy but the first leg was swam by 19 year old Pan Zhanle was the fastest ever in a pool. It is legal for the first leg of a relay to count towards WRs. CAN Summer McIntosh broke Katie Ledecky’s 13 year undefeated streak in 800m. McIntosh came in 6 seconds ahead of Ledecky. Ledecky is still the favorite for the Paris Olympics after winning the London, Rio and Tokyo Olympic gold medals in that event. CHN currently leads the medal count with 17 golds and 25 total. GBR is in 2nd place with 11 but only 1 gold and AUS is 3rd with 10 (3G). USA has 2G/2S/3B for 7.
- The Paris Olympic medals contain a piece of history. It always means a lot when you win an Olympic medal but to quote the SEC, this one just means more. Every Olympic medal contains a piece of the Eiffel Tour. The pieces were cut from girders and other pieces that have been swapped out during renovations over the years.
- Conrad Avondale Mainwaring has been sentenced to 11 years in prison. He pleaded guilty to 14 counts of indecent assault and battery of young boys back in the 1970s. 2 of those boys were under 14. He was originally accused of sexually abusing more than 50 boys. He competed in the 1976 Olympics and then was a coach and camp counselor.
Some quick highlights:
- Baseball: Clayton Kershaw will return to the Dodgers and so will the Jose Altuve with the Astros. Those are two all stars returning to their home cities. Bobby Witt agreed to a deal with the Royals for 11 years for $288mm.
- Hockey: On Tuesday, the Edmonton Oilers lost their first game after 16 straight wins. That win streak dated back to December. The league record was 17 wins dating back to 1992-3 so the Oilers fall just 1 win short.
- Olympics: Team USA has the first team to qualify for the synchronized swimming competition since the Beijing games (2008).
- Soccer: NJ is set for the World Cup final!
What to watch this week
Baseball/Softball-NCAA:
- Thurs 2/15
- Softball: 3. Stanford at GT @ 9am on ESPNU
- Softball: Wisconsin at Georgia @ 12pm on SEC
- Softball: 15. LSU at GT @ 1pm on ACC
- Softball: 3. Stanford at 4. Florida St @ 3pm on ESPNU
- Fri 2/16
- Softball: 6. Georgia at 11. Oklahoma St @ 9am on ESPNU
- Softball: 25. Northwestern at 15. LSU @ 11am on SEC
- Softball: 4. Florida St at 8. UCLA @ 12pm on ESPNU
- Softball: 2. Tennessee at 3. Stanford @ 2pm on ESPN2
- Softball: 3. Stanford at 5. Texas @ 8pm on ESPN2
- Sat 2/17
- Softball: 25. Northwestern at GT @ 8am on ACC
- Softball: 6. Georgia at 4. Florida St @ 9am on ESPN2
- Softball: 11. Oklahoma St at 15. LSU @ 9:30am on SEC
- Softball: 8. UCLA vs 2. Tennessee @ 3pm on ESPNU
- Sun 2/18
- Softball: 5. Texas at 25. Northwestern @ 8:30am on ESPN2
- Softball: 10. Washington at UNC @ 8:30am on ACC
- Softball: UCF at 8. UCLA @ 5pm on ESPN
- Softball: 4. Florida St at 2. Tennessee @ 7pm on ESPN
Basketball – NBA:
- Tues 2/13
- Thunder at Magic @ 6:30pm on TNT
- Kings at Suns @ 9pm on TNT
- Wed 2/14
- Bulls at Cavaliers @ 6:30pm on ESPN
- Clippers at Warriors @ 9pm on ESPN
- Thurs 2/15
- Bucks at Grizzlies @ 7:30pm on TNT
- Sun 2/18
- NBA All Star Game: West vs East @ 7pm on TNT
Basketball – NCAAM:
- Mon 2/12
- Wake Forest at 9. Duke @ 6pm on ESPN
- 4. Kansas at 23. Texas Tech @ 8pm on ESPN
- Tues 2/13
- 4. Marquette at Butler @ 5:30pm on FS1
- 7. UNC at Syracuse @ 6pm on ESPN
- Michigan at 14. Illinois @ 6pm on Peacock
- 10. Iowa State at Cincinnati @ 6pm on ESPN2
- Duquesne at 16. Dayton @ 6pm on ESPN+
- Pitt at 21. UVA @ 6pm on ACC
- Illinois St at 23. Indiana St @ 6pm on ESPN+
- Georgetown at 17. Creighton @ 7:30pm on FS1
- Ohio State ay 20. Wisconsin @ 8pm on Peacock
- 25. Oklahoma at 12. Baylor @ 8pm on ESPN2
- UCF at 19. BYU @ 8pm on ESPN+
- Ole Miss at 22. Kentucky @ 8pm on ESPN
- Wed 2/14
- 11. South Carolina at 13. Auburn @ 7:30pm on SEC
- 1. UConn at DePaul @ 8pm on CBSSN
- 8. Tennessee at Arkansas @ 8pm on ESPN2
- Thurs 2/15
- Temple at 24. FAU @ 6pm on ESPN2
- Minnesota at 2. Purdue @ 7:30pm on BTN
- Pepperdine at 18. Saint Mary’s @ 10pm on CBSSN
- Sat 2/17
- Texas Tech at 10. Iowa St @ 11am on ESPN+
- Texas A&M at 15. Alabama @ 11am
- Wake Forest at 21. UVA @ 11am on ESPN2
- 17. Creighton at Butler @ 11:30am on FOX
- Texas at 3. Houston @ 12pm on CBS
- Fordham at 16. Dayton @ 12:30pm on CBSSN
- Vtech at 7. UNC @ 1pm on ACC
- 9. Duke at Florida St @ 1pm on ESPN
- 19. BYU at Oklahoma St @ 1pm on ESPN+
- 20. Wisconsin at Iowa @ 1:15pm on BTN
- 4. Marquette at 1. UConn @ 2pm on FOX
- LSU at 11. South Carolina @ 2:30pm on SEC
- 6. Kansas at 25. Oklahoma @ 3pm on ESPN
- 14. Illinois at Maryland @ 4:30pm on FOX
- Vanderbilt at 6. Tennessee @ 5pm on SEC
- 22. Kentucky at 13. Auburn @ 5pm on ESPN
- 12. Baylor at West Virginia @ 5pm on ESPN2
- 23. Indiana St at Southern Illinois @ 6pm on ESPN+
- Arizona St at 5. Arizona @ 8:30pm
- Sun 2/18
- 24. FAU at South Florida @ 11am on ESPN
- 2. Purdue at Ohio St @ 12pm on CBS
Basketball – NCAAW: (only reporting ranked vs ranked)
- Wed 2/14
- 21. Baylor at 23. Oklahoma @ 6pm on ESPN+
- Thurs 2/15
- 6. NC State at 16. Notre Dame @ 5pm on ACC
- Fri 2/16
- 8. Colorado at 22. Utah @ 7pm on PAC12
- 9. UCLA at 11. Oregon St @ 9pm
- Sat 2/17
- 23. Oklahoma at 24. West Virginia @ 12pm on ESPN+
- Sun 2/18
- 12. Vtech at 18. Louisville @ 1pm on ESPN
- 10. USC at 11. Oregon St @ 2pm on PAC12
Golf:
- Thurs 2/15
- Genesis Invitational – Round 1 @ 2pm on Golf Channel
- Fri 2/16
- Genesis Invitational – Round 2 @ 2pm on Golf Channel
- Sat 2/17
- Genesis Invitational – Round 3
- @ 12pm on Golf Channel
- @ 2pm on CBS
- @ 6pm on Golf Channel
- Genesis Invitational – Round 3
- Sun 2/18
- Genesis Invitational – Final Round
- @ 12pm on Golf Channel
- @ 2pm on CBS
- @ 5:30pm on Golf Channel
- Genesis Invitational – Final Round
Hockey:
- Wed 2/14
- Panthers at Penguins @ 6:30pm on TNT
- Thurs 2/15
- Stars at Predators @ 7pm on hulu
- Sat 2/17
- Kings at Bruins @ 11:30am on ABC
- Oilers at Stars @ 2pm on ABC
- Flyers at Devils @ 7pm on ABC
- Sun 2/18
- Rangers at Islanders @ 2pm on ABC
Olympic Sports:
- Fri 2/16
- Gymnastics: NCAAW – Florida vs Mizzou @ 6pm on SEC
- Gymnastics: NCAAW – Pitt vs UNC @ 6pm on ACC
- Gymnastics: NCAAW – Auburn vs LSU @ 8pm on SEC
- Sat 2/17
- Track & Field: USATF Indoor Championships @ 3pm on NBC
- Sun 2/18
- Cross Country Skiing: FIS World Cup @ 3pm on NBC
Soccer:
- Mon 2/12
- Premier League: Crystal Palace vs Chelsea @ 2pm on USA
- Wed 2/14
- CONCACAF: Guadalajara vs Forge FC @ 3am on FS1
- Sat 2/17
- Premier League: Brentford vs Liverpool @ 6:30am on US
- Premier League: Burnley vs Arsenal @ 9am on USA
- Premier League: Teams TBA @ 11:30am on NBC
