Baseball: This weeks updates. Who’s in playoffs and out? Lots more updates there. Acuna 40-60.
Football – NCAAF: 6 Losses in the Top 25 this week. Other major headlines.
Football – NFL: This weeks updates. Not a lot of close games and some impressive performances.
Golf: Solheim Cup stays in EU.
Olympic Sports: Assefa sets W WR. Nesty named US Olympic HC. US T&F trials in Eugene. World Tri titles.
Baseball – MLB:
- This week’s updates: The Astros had a bad week, losing all but 1 game. The Orioles nipped them in the 9th with a 3-run homer to win by 1 on Monday. They would split the next two games. Then they got swept by the already eliminated Royals – Yikes! But that wasn’t the only team that Kansas City swept this week. They also had a clean sweep of the Guardians. That puts them at 6 straight wins – if they win tonight that will tie their longest streak this season. Brewers P Wainwright got his 200th win against the Cardinals Monday 1-0. The Red Sox finally broke their 4-game lose streak with a win over the Rangers 4-2. That would be the Texas team’s last loss of the week as they went on to win the next 5 and swept the Mariners. George Springer hit his 57th leadoff HR on his 34th b-day to win over the Yankees. Padres P Snell pitched a 7-inning hitless game and got 10 Ks to put away the Rockies 2-0. The Dodgers beat the Tigers 3-2 with a score in the 9th to extend their winning streak to 5 games but it would end there as they lost to the Detroit team the very next day. Also on Wed, Diamondbacks LF Carroll hit his 25h HR and stole his 50th base to help his team beat the Giants 7-1. The Cubs were on a bad slump losing 7 of their last 8 games before they turned it around to at least sweep the Rockies in 3 straight wins to end the week.
- Weekly Updates Continued: On Friday, the Brewers clinched their playoff berth with a 16-1 win over the Marlins. Saturday, the Pirates overcame a 9-run deficit for the first time ever (team has been around since 1882) to beat the Reds 13-12. In one of the only extra inning games all week, the Cardinals won 5-2 which put the San Diego team as 0-12 in extra innings. That bad of a record hasn’t been done since 1969 (Montreal Expos). Blue Jays star Springer had another great game on Sunday with a inside-the-park HR and some great defensive moves to help the Toronto team get the W over the Rays 9-5. The only other extra innings game was the Dodgers/Giants Sunday night which went into the 10th before the Dodgers pulled it out 3-2.
- Friday, Braves OF Acuna Jr has now reached the 40-60 mark, the first ever to do so. 40 HRs and 60 stolen bases. Remember this does help that the rules have changed so now we have bigger bags and limited pickoff attempts. Acuna is in a hot competition for NL MVP with Dodgers RF Mookie Betts, who has the slight advantage in defensive stats.
- The Twins have clinched the AL Central while everyone else in that division was eliminated. The AL West is still open being led by the Rangers (87 wins) and the Astros and Mariners close behind (85 and 84, respectively). Previously clinched division titles: Braves and Dodgers. The Brewers were the only ones to have clinched a playoff berth without a title this week in the NL Central. They have 88 wins and the Cubs and Reds are fighting for 2nd with 82 and 80, respectively. Previously clinched playoff berth: Orioles, Rays,
- Eliminated: (NL) Mets*, Nationals*, Pirates*, Cardinals*, Rockies and (AL) Yankees* (first time missing since 2016), Red Sox*, Guardians*, Angels, White Sox, Royals and A’s
Football – NCAAF:
- There were 6 ranked vs ranked matchups this week which means we were guaranteed 6 losses so that’s what we got:
- #9 ND thought they had the game in the bag when they were leading 14-10 until literally the final second when #6 Ohio state punched it in. The fighting Irish did get to kick it off but couldn’t get it done in 1 second. Turns out they were short a DL as well.
- We had 3 ranked vs ranked matchups in the Pac 12. #21 Washington St had already beaten another top 25 team this season and they continued this week beating #14 Oregon St. It was a great close game. The Beavs tried to mount a comeback scoring 21 in the final Q but ultimately came up 3 points short. Wazzu wins 38-35.
- We all know #13 Bama has had some QB issues so it looked like the perfect time for HC Lane Kiffin and #15 Ole Miss to pounce. But Saban isn’t the goat for nothing. Despite the slow start and no Bama TDs in the first half, the Tide rolls 24-10.
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- The Cinderella story has come to an end. And I said that line to my friend before Dan Lanning said it. Because #10 Oregon put the beat down on #19 Colorado winning 42-6. And that only TD from Colorado came in the final 3 minutes of the game.
- #11 Utah was still without their starting QB Cam Rising but it didn’t matter against #22 UCLA. It started exciting with a pick 6 in the first 12 seconds. Then It was a slug fest with only 2 offensive TDs all game. Utah wins 14-7.
- #7 Penn St shutout #24 Iowa 31-0. That puts their HC in a bigger hole of trying to score an average 25 points a game. That just went up since they had a goose egg this week. Doesn’t help that the Hawkeyes had 4 turnovers.
- Other major storylines:
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- #2 Michigan had Harbaugh back on the sidelines but the conservative play continued. The Wolverines beat Rutgers 31-7.
- #4 Florida State hadn’t beaten Clemson in the last 7 matchups. This year looked ripe for the picking as FSU is ranked inside the Top 5 and Clemson is unranked. But it was still a tough game. It was a back and forth and stats even game (maybe sway Clemson on stats) game, the Noles were leading 14-10 at half. Clemson scored in the 3Q, Florida St blind sided the Clemson QB, causing a pick-6, tying the game at 24-24. Clemson drove the ball down at the end of the 4Q to kick a game-winning FG with 1:45 left on the clock but misses. But eventually the combo of QB Jordan Travis and WR Keon Coleman was too much, scoring the TD in OT. Noles win for the first time since 2014.
- #12 LSU had a scare there in a funny-if game. Arkansas was up at half and it didn’t stop there. You kept thinking LSU would pull away. They kinda did leading 24-16 at the end of 3Q but the Razorbacks scored 15 points in the 4Q to catchup. LSU did manage to kick a game-winning FG though and escape at home!
- Playing with its food award goes to #5 USC which let a bad Arizona State team score 28 on them. They still won 42-28 but did not cover. #16 Oklahoma also didn’t cover, only beating Cincinnati (who lost to in-state rival Ohio last week) 20-6.
- Top 25 this week. We had 3 newcomers: Mizzou, Kansas and Fresno St. Just in time for KU to play Texas on Saturday. Because USC played with its food, they got dropped 3 spots. LSU and Florida St only dropped 1 for doing so. Oregon St and Ole Miss both lost but in close games so they are still ranked and both fell 5 spots. Notre Dame only fell 2 given how close their game is. K St is the first time out.
Football – NFL:
- This week in the NFL: There were only 5 games within a TD of each other. The 49ers are on a roll, beating the Giants 30-12 winning their 13th straight regular season game. That puts them at 3-0 this season but let’s see how far they can make it. The Texans got their first win beating the Jags 37-17. The Texans hadn’t scored 37 point since Dec 2021 when they beat the Chargers with 41 points. This was the Houston team’s first win last year too (Jags). The Packers came back from a 17 point deficit, scoring 18 points in the 4th Q to win by 1 over the Saints. Chargers QB Herbert had a good day with 405 yards passing and 3 TDs to give them the narrow win over the Vikings 28-24. The Jets almost completed a successful hail mary on the final play but alas fell short and lost to the Patriots 15-10. The Steelers solidified the W with their 3rd INT of the game to beat the Raiders 23-18. The Colts handed Baltimore its first loss of the season in OT, winning with a FG 22-19. The Cowboys had looked hot in their first two games of the season but Sunday they gave the Cardinals their first win of the season 28-16. Taylor Swift was in the audience for the Chiefs game, where her rumored man scored a TD. It was a good day to be a Chiefs fan as they beat the winless Bears 41-10. The Bills put the beat down n the Commanders, not letting them score a TD and winning 37-3. But no one dominated more than the Dolphins, who scored 70 points on the Broncos to win by 50! That is the 3rd highest point total in an NFL game ever. The most is 72 by the 1966 Redskins. The Dolphins were just 2 points shy and 3 points shy of highest scoring Q ever (24 vs their 21).
Golf:
- Europe won the Solheim Cup.
Olympic Sports:
- ETH Tigst Assefa broke the WR in the women’s marathon at Berlin on Sunday. She broke the old mark set in 2019 by more than 2 minutes, running 2:11.53 seconds. She beat the field by 6 minutes! KEN Eliud Kipchoge won on the men’s side for the 5th time.
- Anthony Nesty has been names the head US men’s swim coach ahead of the Paris Olympics (he was the HC at worlds recently). He is the first black HC for the USA at the games ever! He is the current HC at Florida and trains powerhouse swimmers like Katie Ledecky, Bobby Finke and Caeleb Dressel. No big deal but last Olympics, Florida had a Gator in every freestyle event under the Open swim! Nesty was the first black male swimmer to win an Olympic gold when he won at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games in the 100m Fly. Remember in Budapest, the Americans brought home a record 45 medals, surpassing the previous mark of most ever by 1 country of 38. The team will have trials in June in Indy (for the first time).
- US Olympic T&F trials will officially be held at Hayward Field in Eugene, ORE. No surprise there but its official. This will be the 5th straight time.
- FRA Dorian Coninx won the World Triathlon Championship and GBR Beth Potter won the women’s.
What to watch this week
Baseball – MLB:
- Mon 9/25
- Padres at Giants @ 8:45pm on FS1
- Snell vs Webb
- Padres at Giants @ 8:45pm on FS1
- Tues 9/26
- Cubs at Braves @ 6:20pm on TBS
- Steele vs Elder
- Astros at Mariners @ 9:05pm on TBS
- Cubs at Braves @ 6:20pm on TBS
- Sat 9/30
- Red Sox at Orioles – or – Rangers at Mariners @ 6:15pm on FOX
Football-NCAAF:
| Top 25 | |||||
| Week 5 | |||||
| Top 25 Games | |||||
| Visitor | Home | Day | Time (CT) | TV | Line |
| 10. Utah | 19. Oregon St | Fri 9/29 | 8:00 PM | FS1 | +3 |
| 8. USC | Colorado | Sat 9/30 | 11:00 AM | FOX | -21.5 |
| 24. Kansas | 3. Texas | Sat 9/30 | 2:30 PM | ABC | +17 |
| 13. LSU | 20. Ole Miss | Sat 9/30 | 5:00 PM | ESPN | -2.5 |
| 11. Notre Dame | 17. Duke | Sat 9/30 | 6:30 PM | ABC | -5.5 |
| *GameDay indicated in bold* | |||||
Football-NFL:
- Mon 9/25
- Eagles at Bucs @ 6:15pm on ABC
- Rams at Bengals @ 7:15pm on ESPN & ESPN2
- Thurs 9/28
- Lions at Packers @ 7:15pm on Prime
- Sun 10/1
- Falcons at Jaguars @ 8:30am on ESPN+ in London
- 9 games @ 12pm on CBS/Fox
- CBS: Dolphins at Bills – or – Broncos at Bears – or – Ravens at Browns – or – Steelers at Texans
- FOX: Bengals at Titans – or – Rams at Colts – or – Bucs at Saints – or – Commanders at Eagles – or – Vikings at Panthers
- Raiders at Chargers @ 3:05pm on CBS
- Patriots at Cowboys – or – Cardinals at 49ers @ 3:35pm on FOX
- Chiefs at Jets @ 7:20pm on NBC
- Mon 10/2
- Seahawks at Giants @ 7:15pm on ABC and ESPN
Golf:
- Fri 9/29
- Ryder Cup: Day 1
- @ 12:30am on USA
- @ 6am on USA
- Ryder Cup: Day 1
- Sat 9/30
- Ryder Cup: Day 2
- @ 12:30am on USA
- @ 2am on NBC
- @ 11am on NBC
- Ryder Cup: Day 2
- Sun 10/1
- Ryder Cup: Day 3 – Single Matches @ 4:30am on NBC
Olympic Sports:
- Thurs 9/28
- Volleyball: W NCAA: BYU at Texas @ 8pm on FS1
- Sat 9/30
- Sailing: FRA GP – Saint Tropez @ 1pm on CBS
- Sun 10/1
- Sport Climbing: Euro Qualifiers – Speed @ 6:30am on FS1
Soccer:
- Sat 9/30
- Premier League: ManU vs Crystal Palace @ 9am on USA
- Premier League: Tottenham vs Liverpool @ 11:30am on USA
- Sun 10/1
- Premier League: Nottingham Forest vs Brentford @ 8am on USA
- MLS: LA FC vs Real Salt Lake @ 7pm on FS1
