Weekly Update November 27, 2023

Basketball – NBA: Headlines for the week. In Season group play is done.

Basketball – NCAAM: Maui Invite. Bad Boy Mowers Battle. Upsets all over the country. Purdue #1.

Football – NCAAF: Final week of the regular season did now have a lot of upsets but a lot of close calls. Coaching carousel.

Football – NFL: Thanksgiving games and more.

Motorsports: Verstappen wins final F1 race. Bagnaia wins MotoGP Championship.

Olympic Sports: Pistorius paroled. Shiffrin’s 90th.

Soccer: USA bid for 2027 WWC

Basketball – NBA:

• Some headlines in the NBA: We started the week with a huge upset of #1 in the East, the Celtics losing to 4-9 Hornets in OT. That was just the Celtics’ 3^rd loss so far this season. Similarly, the 76ers were behind and mounted an-almost successful comeback on the Cavs. They were down 9 going into the 4Q and managed to tie to force OT but they fell 3 points short of the W and get upset by the Cleveland team. LeBron scored his 39,000^th point during Tuesday’s game against the Jazz. This also helped the Lakers sweep their group play in the in-season tourney.

• The Pacers outlasted the Hawks in a game where 309 points were scored! The Pacers win and secure their spot in the Quarterfinals of the in-season tourney 157-152! The Hawks put up 45 points in the 1Q alone and Trae Young was responsible for 43 all game to beat the Nets in OT on Wed.

• Tempers ran high during the Clippers/Spurs game in San Antonio. So much so that Popovich, the President of the Spurs, grabbed the mic to tell the San Antonio crowd to stop booing Kawhi Leonard. The Clippers still won despite the boos 109-102.The Spurs did suffer their 12^th straight loss on Sunday. In director contrast, the Suns have now won 7 in a row after beating the Knicks in a close one at MSG. They may not be winning the West yet but they are certainly making a good case for it. The Bucks overcame the largest deficit seen so far this season. They were down 26 points in the 3Q against the Trail Blazers. The Milwaukee team outscored Portland 58-21. Giannis put the go-ahead point on the board with just 18 seconds remaining.
• The in-season tournament quarterfinals will take place next Monday!

Basketball – NCAAM:

• NCAAM: We started the week with some great games! #5 UConn scored 46 in 1H to win by 10 over the #15 Longhorns. Not a loss but it was damn close. Saint Joseph’s played their first game of the season and took #16 Kentucky to OT. The Wildcats still won but it was way closer than it should’ve been. Wrapping up a busy Monday, #24 UVA got their butts kicked by Wisconsin, losing by 24. Back state-side, #18 Colorado scored 30 each half but still went to OT with Florida St who got the better of them, winning 77-71.

• #20 Arkansas beat Stanford in 2OT after the Cardinal missed 2 different chances to tie the game in the Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis. In that series, #14 UNC and Villanova went to OT after a very (obviously) even game. Wildcats got the better of Jordan’s old team but barely only winning by 2. #3 Arizona remains undefeated, beating #21 Michigan State who has now lost 3 this season already. Colorado State also remains undefeated beating #8 Creighton handily 69-48. #20 Arkansas may have escaped earlier against Stanford but they couldn’t manage it against Memphis, who beat them by 5 on Thanksgiving. They would also lose to #14 UNC the next day too. #12 Texas A&M was on a hot streak before losing to #19 FAU in the ESPN Events Invitational. Ohio State may have gotten upset on the football field but they got the upset of #18 Alabama on the court, winning by 11 in the Emerald Coast Classic. Oklahoma got to take out some Lincoln Riley frustrations on #23 USC, winning at the buzzer. The Sooners remain undefeated.

• Maui Invitational: #2 Purdue beat #11 Gonzaga in the Allstate Maui Invitational by 10. Their 2H 43 points put the dagger in after Gonzaga was winning at the half. They would go on to beat #7 Tennessee and #4 Marquette all before EOD Wednesday. I don’t think we have any doubt on who will be #1 next week. The Maui Invite brought some great action on Tuesday, #2 Purdue continued to roll on, handing #7 Tennessee their first loss of the season. #4 Marquette pulled off a big upset, beating #1 Kansas 73-59. #1 Kansas bounced back after their loss to hand Tennessee their 2^nd loss of the season, winning by 9. Needless to say, the Purdue Boiler Makers came away as the Maui champs.

• Delaware will be joining Conference USA and leaving behind their FCS days on the football field. They would be eligible for playoffs for bball this year but not til 2025 for football. They are currently in the FCS playoffs this year, playing #2 Montana this weekend.
• La Salle’s HC Fran Dunphy is the 43^rd HC to hit 600 wins in the history of D1. He was previously at Penn and Temple before his time at La Salle (in the same city as Temple).

Football – NCAAF:

• Top 25 Losses:
  • It was the game and it certainly lived up to the hype. It was a great defensive game to start and there were questions about the quality of both QBs but #3 Michigan scored first and that set the tone. we were briefly tied in the 3Q but Michigan scored on every possession they had in the 2H. Buckeyes QB McCord struggled only completing 60% of his passes and throwing 2 INT. Ohio State had also not allowed a td over 20 yards all year but they gave up 2 to Michigan. Harbaugh or not, Wolverines win and punch their ticket to the Big 10 championship game and likely the CFP.

• • 10 Louisville took on their sec rivals Kentucky. We were tied at 4 different points during the game. Good thing they’re already in the ACC Champ game, Louisville was leading 24-21 into the 4Q but KT came roaring back scoring 17 points in the 4Q to win by a TD. and hand the Cards their 2nd loss of the season.

• • This weekend was the final civil war for a while. That is the game of #6 Oregon vs #16 Oregon St. And it was extra special for DJ U, the Beavs QB as his younger brother played on Ducks D. 6 Oregon made a statement for their QB to be up for the Heisman beating the Beavs 31-7. This sets up a Oregon vs Wash rematch for the final Pac 12 title.
  • 21 K state was leading Iowa state at half in the snow but then the Cyclones turned it on putting up 2 scores every Q to win 42-35. Quite impressive considering K St had the ball for 42 minutes of the 60 in the entire game. 42 points is a lot in under 18m of game time.

• Other major storylines:
  • #1 Georgia looked not great against their in state rivals this week. They only beat GT by 8 winning 31-23.
  • The Apple Cup was crazy! #4 Washington could not build a lead against Wazzu to save their lives. They finally managed it in the 3Q but the Cougars came back in the 4Q to tie it up. Literally QB Penix couldn’t watch as the Huskies tried their 42 yard game winning FG. It was successful and Huskies escape and keep their playoff hopes alive.
  • #5 Florida St was without their Heisman candidate in the swamp against Florida but it didn’t matter. Although Florida made dumb decisions in the 4Q, literally only getting 2 positive yards the entire quarter! FSU wins 24-15. They win and they’re in IMO.
  • Dominations: #7 Texas destroyed Texas Tech on Friday night 57-7. Their K Auburn extended this made FG streak to 19 in a row. #9 Mizzou put up 41 straight points on the Razorbacks to beat Arkansas 48-14.

• • The Iron Bowl is always interesting even with Auburn losing to NM State last week. #8 Alabama was losing going into the 4Q and that was after Auburn had 2 turnovers including a muffed punt! That muffed punt was in the final 4 minutes of the game to give the ball back to Bama after they punted!! Bama was down to 4^th & goal (from the 31 yard line after penalties and loss of yardage). 43 seconds left down by 4 so they had to have it and sure enough, Alabama is Alabama for a reason. Milroe throws an amazingly beautiful ball into the endzone where Bond is waiting. Alabama escapes and wins by 3.
  • Texas A&M came out hot despite being on their 3^rd string QB, scoring 17 points in the 2Q alone. They were leading #14 LSU at half. But it was allllll Jaylen Daniels after that. LSU scored 21 in the 4Q to win 42-30.
  • #17 Iowa wins over Nebraska 13-10, hitting the under despite it only being set at 25.5! That also means that Nebraska will miss a bowl game against this year. It is now the longest streak of missing a bowl game amongst power 5 schools – 2016 was the last bowl game.

• • #24 Clemson didn’t score an offensive TD but it didn’t matter as the Tigers won 16-7 over South Carolina.
  • #13 Oklahoma scored 28 points in a single Q over TCU. It was 42-16 at half but the Sooners let the Horned Frogs back in a little bit in the 3Q. Hope you bet the over in this one (which was only set at 66.5) as the Sooners win 69-45.

• • In one of the craziest games I’ve seen all year, #20 Oklahoma State needed this win to make the Big 12 Championship game. The only thing I their way was BYU and their backup QB. But man the Cougs came out to play. BYU was up 24-6 at half. But OSU has been a tale of 2 teams all year and this game was no different. The first half was played by the team that got trounced by UCF and the 2H was the team that beat Oklahoma and K State. OSU came all the way back, taking the lead with 53 seconds left. That was a TD but they missed the PAT so they were only up by 3. BYU’s QB then went 4-4 on completions but got them to the 31 for a perfect 48 yard FG to go to OT. Both teams scored TDs in OT so we go to 2OT. OSU scored theirs and an unsuccessful 2-point conversion, so the door was open. BYU then turned it over trying to get into the endzone and that’s game. OSU vs TX in the Big 12 Championship game.
  • Newly ranked #22 NC St loved this one. They beat up on their in-state rivals, UNC winning 39-20. It was 26-7 at half! Easy W for the wolfpack.
• CFP Final 4 will be decided this week on Sunday!

• Coaching carousel:
  • Duke HC Mike Elko has officially accepted the HC job at Texas A&M. He was the DC for the Aggies before he was scooped up by Duke 2 years ago. Since he got to Durham, Duke has made both bowl games and the first year he took a team that was 3-9 the prior year to 9-3 the next. This year Duke was 4-0 before losing to Notre Dame and losing their starting QB. They are now 7-5. He has a 6-year contract for $7MM salary with a lot of performance incentives – no duh!
    • This was after Kentucky Mark Stoops came out and said he was staying in Kentucky. It wasn’t clear what job he was talking about when he said he wasn’t going anywhere but seems pretty certain it was the Aggies.
    • This now opens Duke’s HC.

• • Oregon St HC Jonathan Smith is making the trip to Lansing as he has accepted the HC job at Michigan St. Smith actually went to Oregon State and was 34-35 in his 6 seasons as HC, but 18-7 since 2022.
  • Oklahoma OC Jeff Lebby is now the Mississippi St HC job. Before OU, Lebby was also OC at Ole Miss and UCF (and Baylor under Briles) – he is known for the high powered high tempo offense. Former coach Mike Leech was known for that so not too surprising that the Bulldogs go back to that.
  • Firings: Houston fired their HC Dana Holgerson. He spent 5 years with the Cougs after WV. His overall record at UH was 31-28. Indiana fired their HC Tom Allen, whose record was 33-49.
  • SMU has extended their contract with Rhett Lashlee ahead of their move to the ACC. This is important as the Mustangs are #25 and he would undoubtedly be up for head coaching jobs.

Football – NFL:

• Finishing up last week. The Super Bowl rematch was awesome. The Chiefs look to have it in hand, leading 17-7 at half. I stopped watching. So I was surprised the next morning when I woke up to hear that the Eagles won. The Chiefs didn’t score at all in the 2H while Jalen Hurts and his team rallied scoring 14 to win by 3.

• This week in the NFL: we had 3 games on Thanksgiving and 1 on Friday for Prime. 7 games were close this weekend.
  • Thanksgiving games: The Lions and Cowboys always play on turkey day. The Packers put up 20 points in the 1Q alone and that carried them to a big upset of the Lions on 29-20. The Cowboys game was not that entertaining at least by the score. The Dallas team destroyed the Commanders 45-10, with all of Washington’s points coming in the 2Q. Dallas added insult to injury as they were leading 25-10 going into the 4Q when they tacked on 25 unanswered points. This is the Cowboys 13^th straight win at home. The 49ers had a great 1H, leading 24-3. They are leading the NFC West for a reason. The Niners win 31-13.

• • Friday’s game was on Prime as I’m sure they weren’t happy that their Thursday slot was taken. The Dolphins faced off with the Jets and got the better of the NY team, winning 34-13. The huge takeaway here was that both QBs had 2 INT and one of those was off a last second 1H Hail Mary when Jevon Hill ran it 99 yards back for a Pick 6. You don’t hear that everyday.

• • Not so close games: The Cardinals only put up 14 points the entire game, losing to the Rams handily 37-14. The Chiefs had a nice bounce back win against the Raiders, putting them away 31-17. The Broncos have now won 5 in a row, upsetting the Browns 29-12. They started the season 1-5. They are now back above .500. SNF was the Ravens beating the Chargers by 10 although that score looked better than it was as the Ravens had their last TD in the final 2 min of the game.

• • Close games: The Titans put up all their 17 points in the 1H and that was enough to beat the Panthers by a TD. The Bucs/Colts game was back and forth but the Colts got a costly fumble in the final 2 min to seal the win by a TD as well. The Giants escaped after the Patriots missed a game tying 33-yard FG. That game was so low scoring with NY winning 10-7; 14 drives ended in a punt. Sticking with missed FGs, the Texans put up 7 in the final 3Qs but that wasn’t enough against the 7-3 Jags. They missed a game-tying 58 yard FG after it doinked off the bottom crossbar to lose 24-21. But no game was as good or as close as the Eagles/Bills game. The Bills went up big in the 1H, leading 17-7. It looked like the Buffalo team would hand the Eagles their 2^nd loss of the season being up 24-14 into the 4Q. But the Phili team went 3-for-3 on their next drives with TDs, putting up 17 points to tie the game and go to OT. Bills got a FG but the Eagles got a TD on a QB run by Jalen Hurts to win.

Hockey:

• Predators scored 8 goals in game against Blues on Friday, which was just one goal short of the franchise record.

Motorsports:

• Verstappen won the final F1 race of the year this weekend in Abu Dhabi. That put his total for the season at 19 victories out of the 23 races. Also because of that and the success of his teammate, Red Bull secured the constructor’s championship back in September. In the MotoGP world, it was also the final race of the season in Valencia. Although Jorge Martin made it a very interesting championship season, especially after winning the sprint on Saturday. He got antsy in the main race and crashed out making his way back up to the front. That secured that Francesco Bagnaia defended his World title.

Olympic Sports:

• Oscar Pistorius has been granted parole after 10 years in prison after killing his gf through a bathroom door in his home. He was convicted of murder but only sentenced to 13.5 years in prison. He will be on parole for 5 years.
• Mikaela Shiffrin extends her record to 90 WC titles after winning the slalom on Sunday. She was fastest in both runs beating Vlhova by 0.33 seconds. Shiffrin finished 3^rd in the giant slalom on Saturday. SUI Lara Gut-Behrami is currently 2-for-2 on GS WC titles.

Soccer:

• USA is up for another World Cup, this time the Women’s in a joint bid with Mexico for 2027. The US/MEX bid is one of only 3 remaining. The other two are BRA and BEL/GER joint.

What to watch this week

Basketball – NBA:

• Tues 11/28
  • Bucks at Heat @ 6:30pm on TNT
  • Warriors at Kings @ 9pm on TNT
• Fri 12/1
  • 76ers at Celtics @ 6:30pm on ESPN
  • Nuggets at Suns @ 9pm on ESPN
• Sun 12/3 – no games at all
• Mon 12/4 – Quarterfinals of In-Season tournament

Basketball – NCAAM:

• Mon 11/27
  • New Hampshire at 4. UConn @ 6pm on CBSSN
• Tues 11/28
  • ACC/SEC Challenge: 21. Mississippi St at Georgia Tech @ 6pm on ACC
  • ACC/SEC Challenge: 8. Miami at 12. Kentucky @ 6:30pm on ESPN
• Wed 11/29
  • Saint Joseph’s at 18. Villanova @ 5:30pn on FS1
  • Buffalo at 22. JMU @ 6pm on ESPN+
  • ACC/SEC Challenge: 14. Texas A&M at UVA @ 6:15pm on ESPN2
  • ACC/SEC Challenge: 10. Tennessee at 17. UNC @ 6:15pm on ESPN
  • Colorado at 20. Colorado St @ 8pm on CBSSN
  • ACC/SEC Challenge: 7. Duke at Arkansas @ 8:15pm on ESPN
• Thurs 11/30
  • Field 68 Tipp Off: Liberty at 13. FAU @ 5pm on ESPNU
  • Arkansas Pine Bluff at 25. Oklahoma @ 7pm on ESPN+
  • Big East vs Big 12 Battle: 15. Creighton at Oklahoma St @ 8pm on ESPN2
  • Texas St at 16. Texas @ 8pm on LHN
• Fri 12/1
  • Big East vs Big 12 Battle: 6. Houston at Xavier @ 5:30pm on FS1
  • 1. Purdue at Northwestern @ 8pm on BTN
  • Big East vs Big 12 Battle: 4. UConn at 5. Kansas @ 8pm on ESPN2
  • Fresno St at 19. BYU @ 8pm on ESPN+
• Sat 12/2
  • Notre Dame at 8. Miami @ 11am on CW
  • 3. Marquette at Wisconsin @ 11:30am on FOX
  • Florida St at 17. UNC @ 1pm on ACC
  • 7. Duke at Georgia Tech @ 1:15pm
  • Colgate at 2. Arizona @ 2pm on PAC12
  • UNC Wilmington at 12. Kentucky @ 3pm on SEC
  • 24. Illinois at Rutgers @ 3pm on BTN
  • NW St at 9. Baylor @ 5pm on ESPN+
  • Field of 68 Tip Off: Charleston at 13. FAU @ 5pm on ESPNU
  • Las Vegas Invite: 20. Colorado St at Washington @ 6pm on CBSSN
  • Las Vegas Invite: USC at 11. Gonzaga @ 9pm on ESPN
• Sun 12/3
  • Keystone at 22. JMU @ 12pm on ESPN+
  • Creighton at Nebraska @ 3pm on FS1
  • Southern at 21. Mississippi St @ 3pm on ESPN+

Basketball – NCAAW: (only reporting ranked vs ranked)

• Wed 11/29
  • ACC/SEC Challenge: 18. Notre Dame at 20. Tennessee @ 4pm on ESPN2
  • ACC/SEC Challenge: 22. Louisville at 19. Ole Miss @ 8:15pm on ESPNU
• Thurs 11/30
  • ACC/SEC Challenge: 1. South Carolina at 24. UNC @ 6pm on ESPN
  • ACC/SEC Challenge: 9. VTech at 7. LSU @ 8pm on ESPN
• Sun 12/3
  • Jimmy V Women’s Classic: 11. UConn at 10. Texas @ 2pm on ABC
  • Jimmy V Women’s Classic: 16. Ohio St at 20. Tennessee @ 4pm on ESPN

Football-NCAAF:

Week 14 – Championship Week
Conference	Visitor	Home	Day	Time (CT)	TV	Stadium	Line
Conference USA Championship	NM St	20. Liberty	Fri 12/1	6:00 PM	CBSSN	Williams (VA)	+10
Pac 12 Championship	5. Oregon	3. Washington	Fri 12/1	7:00 PM	ABC	Allegiant (NV)	-9.5
Big 12 Championship	19. Oklahoma St	7. Texas	Sat 12/2	11:00 AM	ABC	AT&T (TX)	+14.5
MAC Championship	Miami (OH)	23. Toledo	Sat 12/2	11:00 AM	ESPN	Ford Field (MI)	+7.5
Mountain West Championship	Boise St	UNLV	Sat 12/2	2:00 PM	FOX	Allegiant (NV)	-2
SEC Championship	1. Georgia	8. Alabama	Sat 12/2	3:00 PM	CBS	Mercedes-Benz (GA)	-6
American Athletic Championship	25. SMU	17. Tulane	Sat 12/2	3:00 PM	ABC	Yulman (NOLA)	+5.5
Sun Belt Championship	App St	Troy	Sat 12/2	3:00 PM	ESPN	Veterans Memorial (AL)	+6.5
Big 10 Championship	2. Michigan	18. Iowa	Sat 12/2	7:00 PM	FOX	Lucas Oil (IN)	-23
ACC Championship	15. Louisville	4. Florida St	Sat 12/2	7:00 PM	ABC	BofA (NC)	+2.5

• Tues 11/28
  • CFP Ranking @ 6pm on ESPN
• Sun 12/3
  • CFP Selection Show @ 11am on ESPN

Football-NFL:

• Mon 11/27
  • Bears at Vikings @ 7:15pm on ABC/ESPN
• Thurs 11/30
  • Seahawks at Cowboys @ 7:15pm on Prime

• Sun 12/3
  • 7 games @ 12pm on CBS/FOX
    • CBS: Colts at Titans, Chargers at Patriots, Cardinals at Steelers, Broncos at Texans
    • FOX: Lions at Saints, Falcons at Jets, Dolphins at Commanders
  • Panthers at Bucs @ 3:05pm on CBS
  • Browns at Rams – or – 49ers at Eagles @ 3:25pm on FOX
  • Chiefs at Packers @ 7:20pm on NBC
• Mon 12/4
  • Bengals at Jags @ 7:15pm on ABC and ESPN

Golf:

• Thurs 11/30
  • Hero Challenge – Round 1 @ 12:30pm on Golf Channel
• Fri 12/1
  • Hero Challenge – Round 2 @ 12:30pm on Golf Channel
• Sat 12/2
  • Hero Challenge – Round 3
    • @ 11am on Golf Channel
    • @ 1:30pm on NBC
• Sun 12/3
  • Hero Challenge – Final Round
    • @ 10am on Golf Channel
    • @ 12:30pm on NBC

Hockey:

• Tues 11/28
  • Hurricanes at Flyers @ 6:30pm om hulu
• Wed 11/29
  • Red Wings at Rangers @ 6:30pm on TNT
• Thurs 11/30
  • Islanders at Hurricanes @ 6:30pm on hulu

Soccer:

• Mon 11/27
  • Premier League: Fulham vs Wolves @ 2pm on USA
• Sat 12/2
  • FIFA U17 World Cup Final @ 5:5am on FS1
  • Premier League: Arsenal at Wolves @ 9am on USA
  • Premier League: NewcastleU vs ManU @ 2pm on USA
• Sun 12/3
  • Premier League: Chelsea at Brighton @ 8am on USA