Weekly Update – Week of December 6, 2021

Basketball: NCAAM update. Grizzlies beat Thunder by NBA record. NBA standings.

Football-NCAAF: CFP is set: 1. Alabama, 2. Michigan, 3. Georgia, 4. Cincinnati. Coaching carousel updates – Oregon open, OU closed.

Football-NFL: Lions win!! ADP moves to 10 in TD list.

Golf: Hovland wins Hero. Morikawa chokes. Spieth penalized.

Olympic Sports: WC in luge & speedskating. Team USA breaks WR.

Basketball:

• NCAAM season. Just days after being ranked #1, Duke lost to Ohio St on Tuesday 71-66, despite winning by 13 at half. Their second half went cold with the blue devils getting outscored 41-23. Unranked Oklahoma handed #14 Florida its first loss of the season 74-67. #12 BYU lost to Utah Valley in OT. #16 Alabama went on a hot streak to beat #3 Gonzaga 91-82in the Battle in Seattle. #18 Memphis has lost 3 games in a row to Iowa St, Georgia and Ole Miss. The Washington Arizona game was set for Thursday got postponed and then Washington have to forfeit on Sunday. The Huskies were forced to take the forfeit due to COVID issues on the team. It’s the first one of the season but I’m sure it won’t be the last.
• Maryland’s HC Turgeon is stepping down after 10+ seasons with the team. This comes as a surprise due to the fact that he signed a contract extension earlier this year that was supposed to keep him until 2026. The terps were ranked in the Top 25 in the preseason but have since gone 5-3 to start the season. Turgeon’s overall record was 226-116 and has taken the team to the NCAA tournament 5xs in the last 7 years.

• The Grizzlies scored a massive 152 points, winning over the Thunder by a NBA record 73 points. The Hornets beat the Hawks 130-127 on Sunday despite being down 4 players. Those 4 players will be out for at least 10 days. They also had their best 3-point shooting game of the season so far.
• LeBron is not happy (shocker) about how his covid testing was handled after thanksgiving, causing him to miss the game against the Kings. He tested negative initially on Monday then positive on Tuesday. But he said no immediate other test was done (like is customary when a player tests positive). He was cleared on Thursday after his 2nd test in 24 hours came back negative.
• Standings
  • East: Nets & Bulls tied at 16 wins
  • West: Warriors & Suns tied at 19 wins

Football-NCAAF:

• CFP is set! Alabama will play Cincinnati in the Cotton Bowl and Michigan will play Georgia in the Orange Bowl on NYE with the national championship to be played in Indianapolis on Jan 10th. The final rankings came out yesterday and are now updated on the page.
• There were 7 losses in the Top 25. #1 Georgia was not ready for the Crimson Tide and QB Bryce Young had a Heisman day. He was the favorite for the award going into the conference championship weekend and it looks like he locked it up! Georgia was looking to finally turn the tide (see what I did there?) and win the SEC Championship and potentially the natty. Guess they’ll have to wait until Jan 10th to get their revenge. #2 Michigan trounced #13 Iowa, to no one’s surprise. The final score was 42-3 but realistically the game was over in the 1st quarter. #4 Cincinnati did their job winning over #21 Houston 35-20. The 3rd quarter was the key to the Bearcats success, outscoring the Cougs 21-0. #9 Baylor was literally inches from losing the Big 12 championship as the #5 Cowpokes tried to comeback but couldn’t get it done with 4 downs inside the redzone. #10 Oregon had deja-vu losing to #17 Utah by well a lot 38-10 (hey its a FG more than last time – just 2 weeks prior the Ducks lost 38-7).
  • Some drama in the Pitt game. QB Kenny Pickett faked a slide, causing defenders to pause before breaking away for 40 yards and a TD. This has caused some discussions around if this should be allowed.
  • Loses: #1 Georgia, #5 Oklahoma St, #10 Oregon, #13 Iowa, #16 Wake Forest, #19 San Diego St, #21 Houston

•  Hirings:
  • News broke on Monday night. LSU has a new HC and it’s Brian Kelly (HC at Notre Dame). This one was a shock! The culture fit is an interesting choice but this just proves that Kelly is ready to win a championship before retiring.
  • Oklahoma looks to have found their new HC in Clemson DC Brent Venables! Also coming to Norman is the Ole Miss OC Jeff Lebby. Both men spent time at OU in their careers. Venables was the DC at OU from 2004-2011 before heading to Clemson. Venables turned down the Auburn HC job last year. Rumors are swirling that Venables will hire Ole Miss OC Jeff Lebby as their OC. Lebby also spent time at OU and has been a semifinalist for the Broyles Award the last 2 seasons.

• • Miami is reportedly in discussions with Oregon HC Mario Cristobal to jump ship and become their new HC but the Canes hadn’t fired their current coach, Manny Diaz yet. News broke just 2 hours later that Diaz is out and Cristobal is in!
  • Colorado St has hired Nevada HC Jay Norvell. Novell was 33-26 at Nevada but 8-4 this year.
  • VTech hired Penn St DC Brent Pry as their new HC. Pry was apart of the coaching staff under Frank Beamer in the 90s.
  • Duke’s HC David Cutcliffe is out after being with the Blue Devils since 2008. The team allowed 11.6 yards/passing attempt this year which was the highest in the NCAA. Cutcliffe had spent time at Tennessee, Ole Miss and Duke.
  • Open: Oregon, Louisiana, Nevada & Duke
• Last regular season game this weekend with Army vs Navy. Bowl games start on 12/17 with the Bahamas Bowl.
• Conference Champions:
  • AAC: Cincinnati
  • ACC: Pitt
  • Big 10: Michigan
  • Big 12: Baylor
  • CUSA: UTSA
  • MAC: N IL
  • MW: Utah St
  • Pac 12: Utah
  • SEC: Alabama
  • Sun Belt: Louisiana

Football-NFL:

• Week 13 recap: It finally happened! The Lions have won their first game! The Lions finally were on the right side of the last minute comeback. Trailing 27-23, the Lions scored a TD on the final play of the game (4 seconds left) on a 4th & 2 play. The Cowboys got the W on TNF despite not having their HC due to COVID. The Colts shutout the Texans 31-0. The Cardinals continue to roll beating the Bears 33-22. Fear the stache – Garner Minshew led the Eagles to the win over the Jets after QB Jalen Hurts got hurt. There weren’t a ton of games that were close this week. Only 4 games were within a score. The Ravens bobbled a 2-point conversion to lose the game by 1.
  • The Lions dedicated their first win of the season to the Oxford shooting victims. #42 Jalen Elliott even wore a jersey with the Tate Myre’s name on it (they shared the same #).
  • RB Adrian Peterson has moved up a spot on the NFL’s all-time TD list. Peterson is tied at 10th with legendary Jim Brown. If he scores 2 more, he will move to 9th.
• Let’s do another check in on the standings:
  • AFC (all are at 8 wins)
    • East: Patriots
    • North: Ravens
    • South: Titans
    • West: Chiefs
  • NFC
    • East: Cowboys
    • North: Packers
    • South: Buccaneers
    • West: Cardinals

Golf:

• Viktor Hovland had a ridiculous Sunday to come back to win the Hero World Challenge. He had back-to-back eagles on 14 and 15 during on Sunday to take the lead. This event is Tiger Wood’s event and is technically not on the PGA Tour but featured some of the biggest names in golf including Brooks Koepka, Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas.
  • Case of the Monday’s: Jordan Spieth and Henrik Stenson were docked 2 strokes after teeing off from the wrong tee. They were playing the 9th hole during the final round but teed off from the 17th tee.
  • Colin Morikawa got engaged this week in the Bahamas. However he was leading by 5 shots going into the final round before he gave it all back, shooting +4 to finish T5. Hovland’s final score of the tournament, -18, was what Colin started Sunday with. It’s the curse…

Olympic Sports:

• US Pres Biden is expected to announce the diplomatic boycott of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Games today. Remember that just means officials wont be there.
• USA Summer Britcher won the silver at the World Cup luge races in RUS this weekend. This was the best individual finish in ~ 2 years. Britcher split 2 GER. GER Julia Taubitz won both the sprint race and the women’s race (2 runs).
• Team USA set a new WR in M team pursuit in the speedskating world cup on Sunday with a time of 3:34.47, dropping the old record by 0.21. The old mark was hekld by NED but don’t feel too sorry for them. The NED swept the M 1000m event.
• Golden Knights goalie Robin Lehner will not be wearing a SWE jersey in the Beijing 2022 games. The Swede has cited health reasons for skipping the Games. The favorite for the team now is the Flames goalie Jacob Markstrom.

What to watch this week

Basketball-NBA:

• Tues 12/7
  • Nets at Mavericks @ 6:30pm on TNT
  • Celtics at Lakers @ 9pm on TNT
• Wed 12/8
  • Bucks at Heat @ 6:30pm on ESPN
• Fri 12/10
  • Nets at Hawks @ 6:30pm on ESPN
  • Celtics at Suns @ 9pm on ESPN

Basketball – NCAAM: Only Top 25 on TV are listed

• Tues 12/7
  • Southern at 9. Kentucky @ 6pm on SEC
  • Texas Tech at 13. Tennessee @ 6pm on ESPN
  • 24. Michigan at Nebraska @ 6pm on ESPN2
  • 6. Villanova at Syracuse @ 8pm on ESPN
  • Charlotte at 19. Arkansas @ 8pm on SEC
• Wed 12/8
  • N. Florida at 14. Florida @ 6pm on SEC
  • 17. UConn at West Virginia @ 6pm on ESPN2
• Thurs 12/9
  • 7. Texas at 25 Seton Hall @ 5:30pm on FS1
  • Iowa at 19. Iowa St @ 8pm on ESPN2
• Sat 12/11
  • Nebraska at 21.Auburn @ 10:30am on ESPN2
  • Mizzou at 8. Kansas @ 2:15pm on ESPN
  • St. Bonaventure at 17. UConn @ 2:30pm on ESPN2
  • UNC Greensboro at 13. Tennessee @ 3:30pm on SEC
  • 9. Kentucky at Notre Dame @ 4:15pm on ESPN
  • 15. Houston at 16. Alabama @ 9pm on ESPN2
• Sun 12/12
  • 6. Villanova at 4. Baylor @ 2pm on ABC
  • Washington at 3. Gonzaga @ 4pm on ESPN
  • Rutgers at 25. Seton Hall @ 6:30pm on FS1

Football- NCAAF:

• Sat 12/11
  • Army at Navy @ 2pm on CBS

Football-NFL:

• Mon 12/6
  • Patriots at Bills @ 7:15pm on ESPN
• Thurs 12/9
  • Steelers at Vikings @ 7:20pm on FOX
• Sun 12/12
  • 7 games on @ 12pm depending on location on CBS/FOX
    • FOX:
      • Seahawks at Texans
      • Cowboys at Washington
      • Falcons at Panthers
    • CBS:
      • Ravens at Browns
      • Jaguars at Titans
      • Raiders at Chiefs
      • Saints at Jets
  • Lions at Broncos – or – Giants at Chargers @ 3:05pm on FOX
  • 49ers at Bengals – or – Bills at Buccaneers @ 3:25pm on CBS
  • Bears at Packers @ 7:20pm on NBC
• Mon 12/13
  • Rams at Cardinals @ 7:15pm on ESPN

Hockey:

• Wed 12/8
  • Stars at Golden Knights @ 9pm on TNT

Motorsports:

• Sun 12/12
  • Formula 1 – Abu Dhabi GP @ 7am on ESPN2

Olympic Sports:

• Mon 12/6
  • Swimming: Toyota US Open @ 10pm on NBCSN
• Tues 12/7
  • Biathlon: World Cup M 12.5km Pursuit @ 12am on NBCSN
  • Skiing: M Downhill World Cup @ 2:30pm on NBCSN
• Thurs 12/9
  • Triathlon: Clash Daytona @ 7pm on NBCSN
• Fri 12/10
  • Skiing: World Cup Halfpipe @ 8:30pm on NBCSN
• Sat 12/11
  • Skiing: W Super G @ 11:30am on NBCSN
  • Skiing: Halfpipe @ 1pm on NBCSN
  • Biathlon: M Sprint
  • Biathlon: M 12.5km Pursuit @ 10pm on NBCSN
• Sun 12/12
  • Skiing: W Super G @ 3:30pm on NBCSN
  • Biathlon: M 4×7.5km Relay & W 10km Pursuit & W 7.5km Sprint @ 4:30pm on NBCSN
  • Speedskating: ISU World Cup @ 8pm on NBCSN
  • Biathlon: W 4x6km Relay @ 10pm on NBCSN

Soccer:

• Mon 16/6
  • Premier League: Everton vs Arsenal @ 1:55pm on NBCSN
• Fri 12/10
  • Premier League: Brentford vs Watford @ 1:55pm on NBCSN
• Sat 12/11
  • Premier League: Manchester City vs Wolverhampton Wanderers @ 6:25am on NBCSN
  • Premier League: Teams TBA @ 8:55am on NBCSN
• Sun 12/12
  • Premier League: Brighton & Hove Albion vs Tottenham Hotspur @ 7:55am on NBCSN
  • Premier League: Crystal Palace vs Everton @ 10:25am on NBCSN