Baseball: Changes before this season
Basketball – NBA: Short week in the NBA after the ASG. Heats Pelicans ejections.
Basketball – NCAAM: So many upsets! Court storming gets more controversial after Duke/Wake game.
Football: CFP expansion again? Salary cap increase.
Golf: Mexico Open goes to a rookie. Kim back to the game of golf?
Olympic Sports: WYO swim & dive killed. Winter Cup results. UGA sprinter sets WR. Odermatt cant be caught.
Quick highlights: overall NCAA. Hockey. Soccer.
Baseball – MLB:
- Some changes before this season:
- MLB will be cracking down on obstructing the plate. If a player does not have the ball or is in action of fielding the ball, he cannot impede the progress of a runner.
- They also cut 2 more seconds off the pitch clock so now if there are men on base, the pitch clock will be down to 18 seconds.
- The first base path will be widened.
- Any pitcher who warms up at the start of an inning has to face one batter (unless injury occurs). Last season 24xs a pitcher warmed up but then was replaced. This added ~3 minutes of dead time.
- Mound visits will be reduced from 5xs to 4xs per game.
- The new Nike/Fanatic uniforms are lighter ‘performance jerseys’ but have faced resounding complaints from players that the pants are see-through.
Basketball – NBA:
- This week in the NBA: Remember it was a short week this week with no games on until Thursday after the ASG break. The Nets have their new coach, Kevin Ollie but they lost their first game with him as HC. They got upset by the Raptors 121-93. Ooof. Kyrie and Luka combined for 70 points for the Mavs in their win over the Suns on Thursday. The PHX and Dallas teams now have the same record at 33-23. Nuggets C Nikola Jokic put up a triple-double in their game against the Wizards to win by 20. The Warriors got the better of the Lakers this time around, winning by 18. On Friday, the Bucks upset the #1 team in the NW, the Timberwolves after outscoring them 23 points in the 3Q. The Knicks, who had been on a winning streak for a while, have had a come back down to earth streak. They did win their game against the 76ers but that is their only win in the last 6 games. The Celtics beat them easily at home on Saturday 116-102. The Kings had a big upset of the Clippers, winning by 16 over the favored team thanks to a triple-double by Sabonis. Speaking of triple-doubles: The Nuggets beat the Warriors on Sunday by 16. That’s not what was noteworthy. Jokic had his 3rd straight triple-double, which brings his career total of 139 in just 719 games. That surpasses LeBron James who sits at 138 from 1753 regular season and playoff games.
- On Friday during the Heat/Pelicans game, a foul on Zion Williamson spurred a bunch of ejections; Jimmy Butler included. Thomas Bryant, Jose Alvarado and Naji Marshall were also ejected. The whole thing started when Heat C Kevin Love put hands on Zion Williamson to block his layup and Williamson fell to the floor after the foul. After the scuffle, the Heat went on an 11-0 run to beat the Pelicans, ending their 4 game win streak.
Basketball – NCAAM:
- Losses in the Top 25: Monday started with a big one in the Big 12 with the two highest ranked team in the conference #2 Houston vs #6 Iowa State. Houston was leading going into half by 5 and continued to roll, ultimately winning by 8. Tuesday’s Big 12 ranked game was #11 Baylor vs #25 BYU and BYU came to play. The (other) Cougars also led at half by 5 and then added on to win by 7. Very similar stories just a day apart. We also had a ranked game in the Big East #1 UConn vs #15 Creighton. This one though wasn’t close. Creighton upset the Huskies, dominating in both halves to win by 19 points. This is Creighton’s first win over #1 in program history. Utah State upset #19 San Diego St due to their 1H performance. Both teams scored 37 apiece in the 2H. The Aggies are now #1 in the Mountain West after that win.
- Cont: Wednesday had 7 games with ranked teams playing and 5 had losses in the Top 25. The SEC showed us one of the best ranked games in a while. #13 Alabama and newly ranked #24 Florida went into OT thanks to the Tide comeback after trailing at half. They got the last laugh too, winning by 5. #12 Illinois came out hot, throwing 48 on the board in 1H, leading by 7 going into the locker room. But the Nittany Lions came back, making 3 free throws in the final seconds of the game to beat Illinois by 2. George Mason only scored 27 in the 1H but upset #16 Dayton. The Patriots stormed the court in celebration. Angel Reese was among the crowd that rushed the court after LSU had an epic comeback to beat #17 Kentucky at the buzzer. And to end the day, New Mexico and #22 Colorado St were tied at half but the Lobos get the W by 2.
- Cont: #4 Arizona hosted #21 Washington St in a close game. The Cougars get the upset by 3 points. This is the first time they have swept the AZ Wildcats since 2009 and the first time Wazzu has won 8 straight conference games since the end of WWII (1947). No ranked teams played on Friday.
- Cont: Saturday was busy! We had 21 ranked teams in action. Lets start with the ranked matchups. In the Big 12, #11 Baylor vs #2 Houston was a thriller. Houston came out hot putting up 41 points in the 1H, feeling cocky going into the locker room up 16. But Baylor isn’t ranked in the top 15 for nothing, they put up 44 in 2H coming all the way back to tie it up with just 4 seconds on the clock. But Houston wasn’t done, Jamal Shead ran down the court and threw up a beautiful 3 pointer that swooshes in as time expires. However after a closer look, Shead still had the ball when the buzzer went off so it doesn’t count and we go to OT. Houston did manage to hold off Baylor by 6 for the ultimate win but man it was a crazy finish. The SEC match up was not as good. #13 Alabama traveled to Lexington against #17 Kentucky and the Wildcats were underdogs but throttled the Tide. Kentucky put up 58 and 59 points in their 2 halves respectively to win by 22.
- Cont: There weren’t a ton of upsets until you got to the lower ranked teams. #21 Wazzu, who beat the Arizona Wildcats earlier in the week, fall to the other Arizona team, ASU by 12 on Saturday. #22 Colorado State lost by 6 in a low scoring game to UNLV. The total score was 126, more than 12 points under the O/U figure. 66-60 was the final score. #23 Texas Tech got beat in both halves to lost to UCF by 14. Unranked Kansas St beat #25 BYU after scoring 42 points in both halves, beating the Cougars by 10. Not a good day to be ranked 20+. The only team to escape was #24 Florida who did beat Vandy.
- Cont: On Sunday, there was only one upset. St. John’s came out ready to play, scoring 41 in the 1H against #15 Creighton. They would be closer in the 2H, only being separated by 1 point but the damage was done for the Blue jays. So after a big win against UConn, they have a let down game against St. Johns.
- There was another upset on Saturday that I didn’t cover in that part of the blog. #8 Duke lost to Wake Forest at Wake by 4. And while that is important to note, especially WF’s 69.6% shooting percentage in 2H, as Wake tried to make their claim for the tournament that’s not why you are seeing the clip everywhere. After the game, the buzzer had barely gone off before fans started storming the court. In the melee, Duke C Kyle Filipowski had a collision with a fan and was seen hobbling off the court. That scene has overshadowed the Demon Deacons win. It is bringing up the issue of banning court storming. This is the 2nd incident in recent weeks after Iowa star Caitlin Clark was knocked over by a fan in their upset.
Football:
- The CFP is talking about a 14 team playoff for 2026. Meetings were held in Dallas this week and the 12 team playoff is set to start this season with a 5-7 model. That means that the 5 highest ranked conference champions will be automatically included in the playoff along with the next 7 highest no matter what conference. It was originally 6+6 before the dissolving of the Pac12.
- NFL has raised their salary cap to $255.4MM, a 13.6% increase from $224.8MM. This is the largest increase Y/Y since the salary cap came into existence in 1994. 3 teams specifically were thought to be over the salary cap before this increase: 49ers, Packers and Seahawks. Now all 3 teams should be under that new number.
Golf:
- Drama in Mexico this week. PGA Tour rookie Jake Knapp looked to have his first title in hand leading by 4 shots on the final day. But he lost that lead in just 7 holes, tying FIN Valimaki. He then hung on long enough to get par 71 final round and win by 2 over the Fin golfer. Knapp won just his 5th start on the PGA Tour and now gets to play in the Masters along with taking home $1.458MM for the win.
- The LIV tour signed Anthony Kim as a wildcard entry in the LIV event in Jeddah next week. Anthony Kim was a star in the golf world. Literally his first PGA Tour tournament, he finished T-2. He won his first PGA Tour event in 2008 at the Wachovia Championship and then proceeded to win again on Tour, making him the first American under 25 year old to win twice on PGA Tour since Tiger Woods. He was an integral part of the USA win in the Ryder Cup in 2008, upsetting some big names shooting him into stardom even more. He would win another PGA Tour title and place 3rd at the Masters in 2010 before getting injured and that’s where things fell apart around 2011. Then it was rumored that he wasn’t even playing golf recreationally and he fell off the face of the golf world. He is almost a golf folk hero/prodigal son vibes. He shone so brightly setting a record at the Masters for the most birdies ever (11) in one round and became the 5th PGA Tour player to win 3xs under 25, joining some names that you would absolutely know. But he burned out and has barely been seen since so I think it’s the intrigue that makes his story so appealing.
Olympic Sports:
- 3 Wyoming swim & dive team members were killed in a car accident on Thursday; 2 others were injured. The SUV swerved off the road and rolled multiple times. No official word yet on what caused the crash. This brings the total of Wyoming student killed to 15 in recent years. In 2001, 8 CC team members were killed after a drunk student hit their SUV head on. In 2010, a football player was killed after his truck drifted off the highway. In 2021, 3 students were killed after their car slid on ice into another vehicle. The same 30 mile stretch where the 2021 and this new crash occurred has had 570 crashes in the last 5 years including 15 fatal wrecks. That’s an above-average crash rate which makes it a great candidate for safety improvements.
- The first big competition of the gymnastics season was this weekend, the Winter Cup. Kayla DiCello won the All-Around by 2.2 points over Skye Blakely and Hezly Rivera. Other names you might recognize at the meet was Trinity Thomas, the star from FL and 2022 NCAA champ finished fourth. Suni Lee, the reigning Olympic All-Around gold medalist fell twice on her signature event, the uneven bars. Gabby Douglas was also supposed to return at this meet but that was delayed after she tested positive for COVID.
- Sticking with gymnastics, ULCA and Utah met for the final time in the regular conference season as both are moving conferences next year. These two are so dominant in the Pac 12 that no other school has won a conference title since 2013. Utah got the last word on this rivalry though beating the Bruins by 0.325 points. Oklahoma remains #1 and undefeated.
- UGA Sophomore sprinter Christopher Morales Williams set the WR for the indoor 400m at SEC Championships. Not good news for the US as he reigns from CAN. He beat the former mark set by Kerron Clement in 2005 of 44.57 by .08, besting his PR by almost a full second. The Arkansas men and women’s teams won the SEC titles. NCAAs will be in 2 weeks.
- SUI Marco Odermatt won his 3rd straight WC title by winning the giant slalom, his 10th in that discipline consecutively. He has been so dominant that he is already guaranteed the crystal globe with 10 races still left on the skiing calendar.
Some Quick Highlights:
- College Sports:
- Pac 12 hired Teresa Gould to be their new commissioner. She is the first woman to be commissioner of a Power 5 conference. Yes the Pac 12 still technically exists with the 2 schools, Washington St and Oregon St, who both have a deal to compete against the Mountain West in 12 sports.
- The Ohio Casino Control Commission has now banned NCAA player prop bets. Their reasoning is that these bets open up student-athletes to harassment from bettors, insider information being solicited and manipulation of smaller school events.
- Hockey: Jean-Guy Talbot, former Canadiens defensemen and 7x Stanley Cup winner has died at age 91. He sits 9th on the most Staley Cup wins of all time (most 11). The Canadiens won the Stanley Cup 5xs in a row while he played for them 1956-1960.
- Soccer: ESP beat NED in the UEFA semis on Friday to qualify for the first ever Olympics. Spain won 3-0 with a goal by Jenni Hermoso. If that name sounds familiar, its because she was the player who was kissed by the previous Spanish soccer federation president without her consent. They will play FRA in the final on Wednesday.
What to watch this week
Baseball/Softball-NCAA:
- Sat 3/2
- Baseball: 4. Florida vs Miami @ 2pm on ACC
Basketball – NBA:
- Tues 2/27
- 76ers at Celtics @ 6:30pm on TNT
- Rockets at Thunder @ 9pm on TNT
- Wed 2/28
- Pelicans at Pacers @ 6:30pm on ESPN
- Lakers at Clippers @ 9pm on ESPN
- Thurs 2/29
- Warriors at Knicks @ 6:30pm on TNT
- Heat at Nuggets @ 9pm on TNT
- Fri 3/1
- Mavericks at Celtics @ 6:30pm on ESPN
- Bucks at Bulls @ 9pm on ESPN
- Sat 3/2
- Nuggets at Lakers @ 7:30pm on ABC
- Sun 3/3
- 76ers at Mavericks @ 12pm on ABC
- Warriors at Celtics @ 2:30pm on ABC
- Knicks at Cavaliers @ 6pm on ESPN
- Thunder at Suns @ 8:30pm on ESPN
Basketball – NCAAM:
- Mon 2/26
- Miami at 9. UNC @ 6pm on ESPN
- 15. Baylor at TCU @ 8pm on ESPN
- Tues 2/27
- Cincinnati at 1. Houston @ 6pm on ESPN
- Davidson at 21. Dayton @ 6pm on CBSSN
- 16. Kentucky at Mississippi St @ 6pm on ESPN
- BYU at 7. Kansas @ 7pm on ESPN+
- 22. Utah St at Fresno St @ 9pm
- San Jose St at 20. San Diego St @ 10pm on CBSSN
- Wed 2/28
- Mizzou at 24. Florida @ 5:30pm on SEC
- 11. Auburn at 4. Tennessee @ 6pm on ESPN2
- Providence at 5. Marquette @ 6pm on FS1
- Louisville at 10. Duke @ 6pm on ACC
- Oklahoma at 8. Iowa ST @ 7pm on ESPN+
- 18. South Carolina at Texas A&M @ 7:30pm on SEC
- Seton Hall at 12. Creighton @ 8pm on FS1
- Minnesota at 13. Illinois @ 8pm on BTN
- 14. Alabama at Ole Miss @ 8pm on ESPN2
- 6. Arizona at Arizona St @ 9pm on PAC12
- Thurs 2/29
- USC at 19. Washington St @ 9:30pm on PAC12
- 17. Saint Mary’s at Pepperdine @ 10pm on CBSSN
- 23. Gonzaga at San Francisco @ 10pm on ESPN+
- Fri 3/1
- 21. Dayton at Loyola-Chicago @ 8pm on ESPN2
- Air Force at 22. Utah ST @ 10pm on FS1
- Sat 3/2
- 24. Florida at 18. South Carolina @ 11am on ESPN
- 7. Kansas at 15. Baylor @ 12pm on ABC
- 13. Illinois at Wisconsin @ 12pm on BTN
- Arkansas at 16. Kentucky @ 12:30pm on CBS
- Oregon at 6. Arizona @ 1pm
- 5. Marquette at 12. Creighton @ 1:30pm on FOX
- 8. Iowa St at UCF @ 3pm on ESPN+
- NC St at 9. UNC @ 3pm on ESPN
- Mississippi St at 11. Auburn @ 3pm on ESPN2
- 25. South Florida at Charlotte @ 3pm on ESPN+
- UVA at 10. Duke @ 5pm on ESPN
- UCLA at 19. Washington St @ 6pm on PAC12
- 1. Houston at Oklahoma @ 7pm on ESPN2
- Michigan St at 2. Purdue @ 7pm on FOX
- 4. Tennessee at 14. Alabama @ 7pm on ESPN
- 23. Gonzaga at 17. Saint Mary’s @ 9pm on ESPN
- Sun 3/3
- Seton Hall at 3. UConn @ 11am on CBS
Basketball – NCAAW: (only reporting ranked vs ranked)
- Mon 2/26
- 13. Colorado at 8. UCLA @ 8pm on ESPN2
- Wed 2/28
- 3. Texas at 20. Oklahoma @ 6pm on ESPN+
- Thurs 2/29
- 5. VTech at 17. Notre Dame @ 6pm on ESPN
- 19. Syracuse at 12. NC St @ 6pm on ACCX
- 4. Stanford at 11. Oregon ST @ 9pm
- Sun 3/3
- 2. Ohio St at 6. Iowa @ 12pm on FOX
- 22. Louisville at 17. Notre Dame @ 1pm on ESPN
Golf:
- Thurs 2/29
- Cognizant Classic at the Palm Beaches – Round 1 @ 1pm on Golf Channel
- Fri 3/1
- Cognizant Classic at the Palm Beaches – Round 2 @ 1pm on Golf Channel
- Sat 3/2
- LIV: Jeddah – 2nd Round @ 11:30am on CW
- PGA Tour: Cognizant Classic at the Palm Beaches – Round 3
- @ 12pm on Golf Channel
- @ 2pm on NBC
- Sun 3/3
- LIV: Jeddah – 3rd and final Round @ 12pm on CW
- PGA Tour: Cognizant Classic at the Palm Beaches – Final Round
- @ 12pm on Golf Channel
- @ 2pm on NBC
Hockey:
- Tues 2/27
- Sabres at Panthers @ 6pm on hulu
- Stars at Avalanche @ 8:30pm on hulu
- Wed 2/28
- Blues at Oilers @ 7:30pm on TNT
- Thurs 2/29
- Hurricanes at Blue Jackets @ 6pm on hulu
- Avalanche at Blackhawks @ 8pm on ESPN
- Sat 3/2
- Panthers at Red Wings @ 2pm on ABC
- Golden Knights at Sabres @ 6pm on hulu
- Sun 3/3
- Devils at Kings @ 2:30pm on TNT
- Sat 3/2
- F1: Gulf Air Bahrain GP @ 9am on ESPN
Olympic Sports:
- Fri 3/1
- Gymnastics: NCAAW – Alabama vs LSU @ 5pm on ESPN2
- Gymnastics: NCAAW – Auburn vs Georgia @ 6pm on SEC
- Gymnastics: NCAAW – Michigan vs Oklahoma @ 6:30pm on ESPN2
- Sat 3/2
- Skiing: FIS World Cup @ 1pm on NBC
- Sun 3/3
- Skiing: FIS World Cup @ 12:30pm on NBC
- Gymnastics: NCAAW – Florida vs Kentucky @ 1pm on ESPN2
- Gymnastics: NCAAW – Arkansas vs Mizzou @ 5pm on SEC
Soccer:
- Mon 2/26
- Premier League: West Ham vs Brentford @ 2pm on USA
- Sat 3/2
- Premier League: Everton vs West Ham @ 9am on USA
- Premier League: Luton Town vs Aston Villa @ 11:30am on USA
- MLS: Inter Miami vs Orlando City @ 3:30pm on FOX
- Sun 3/3
- Premier League: Burnley vs Bournemouth @ 7am on USA
