Basketball – NBA: Paul’s ref retaliation. Davis 4th 50. Hayward to return today.
Football – College: Championship week and CFP final rankings. We know who’s in.
Football – NFL: Vinatieri done for good? Refs actually blew the game for the Patriots? Chiefs clinch AFC-West.
Golf: Hero Challenge. Presidents Cup week.
Olympic Sports: Russia banned for 4 years. Skiing news.
Basketball – NBA:
- Thunder PG Chris Paul claimed that the refs ‘got him back’ in Sunday’s game against the Trail Blazers. During Friday’s game against the Timberwolves, Paul pushed to have a 2nd delay-of-game violation late in the game which helped change the score and outcome of the game. On Sunday, the officiating crew assessed Paul and the Thunder with 2 delay-of-game violations in the 1st The team is still trying to figure out if it was in retaliation but there is no doubt in Paul’s mind.
- Anthony Davis scored 50 points alone in the Lakers 142-125 win over the Timberwolves on Sunday. He had 27 at half when Avery Bradley suggested to go for 5o then 2 other players joined in. This is a season high for Davis and his 4th time to score over 50 points.
- Celtics Forward Gordon Hayward should return today after breaking his hand in a game against the Spurs on 11/9.
- Chris Paul voiced that he was shocked when he was traded to the Thunder from the Rockets last summer in the deal for Westbrook. No ill feelings but shock. Carmelo Anthony had told him previously to be careful after he was unceremoniously traded from the Rockets to the Bulls after just 10 games last season.
Football – College:
- It was Championship week and all were decided along with the CFP playoff picture. Conference champions are outlined in bold.
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Top 25 |
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Championship Week |
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Championships |
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| Championship | Visitor | Home | Where | Day | Time (CT) | TV | Line |
Score |
| Pac 12 Championship | 5. Utah | 13. Oregon | Levi’s Stadium (CA) | Fri 12/6 | 7:00 PM | ABC | -6.5 | 15-37 |
| Big 12 Championship | 8. Baylor | 6. Oklahoma | AT&T Stadium (TX) | Sat 12/7 | 11:00 AM | ABC | +9.5 | 23-30 OT |
| Sun Belt Championship | Louisiana | 20. Appalachian St | Kidd Brewer Field (NC) | Sat 12/7 | 11:00 AM | ESPN | +6 | 38-45 |
| MAC Championship | Miami (OH) | Central Michigan | Ford Field (MI) | Sat 12/7 | 11:00 AM | ESPN2 | +6.5 | 26-21 |
| Conference USA Championship | UAB | Florida Atlantic | FAU Football Stadium (FL) | Sat 12/7 | 12:30 PM | CBSSN | +7.5 | 6-49 |
| American Athletic Championship | 21. Cincinnati | 16. Memphis | Liberty Bowl (TN) | Sat 12/7 | 2:30 PM | ABC | +10 | 24-29 |
| SEC Championship | 4. Georgia | 1. LSU | Mercedes-Benz Stadium (GA) | Sat 12/7 | 3:00 PM | CBS | +7 | 10-37 |
| Mountain West Championship | Hawaii | 19. Boise St | Albertsons Stadium (ID) | Sat 12/7 | 3:00 PM | ESPN | +15 | 10-31 |
| ACC Championship | 22. UVA | 3. Clemson | BoA Stadium (NC) | Sat 12/7 | 6:30 PM | ABC | +28.5 | 17-62 |
| Big 10 Championship | 2. Ohio St | 10. Wisconsin | Lucas Oil Stadium (IN) | Sat 12/7 | 7:00 PM | FOX | -17.5 | 34-21 |
- The CFP committee has spoken. The top 4 teams in are: LSU, Ohio St, Clemson and Oklahoma. LSU is the only newcomer to the playoff this year and for the first year in the CFP era, Alabama is not in the final 4. Oklahoma and Clemson now also join Alabama as the top teams to make the most CFP with a total of 4.
- LSU regained the top spot thanks to their showing against Georgia winning by a dominant 37-10. The game never felt in jeopardy either. Also expect this team to get a Heisman trophy before the national championship bid. The Tigers hope you avoid the Heisman curse and win another National Championship at the Sugar Bowl (which would basically be a home game for them). Not a highlight reel but still so funny
- Ohio St. Ohio St has looked like the ‘most complete team’ all season. But it wasn’t enough to top the Tigers in the rankings after LSU blew out #4 Georgia. Ohio St was also trailing Wisconsin until 2:23 to go in the 3rd quarter (losing 21-7 at halftime). However the Buckeyes scored 27 unanswered points to win the game. Now they will play Clemson in the Fiesta Bowl.
- Clemson is a bit of a mystery to football fans and Ohio St will have to figure out quickly just how good the Tigers are. Clemson went undefeated through its season but also played only 2 ranked teams (only 1 is still ranked in the Top 25 final rankings). After their almost loss to UNC (Tarheels missed a 2 point conversion for the win), Clemson definitely turned the heat up with the next closest win being a margin of 31 points. Clemson started off 2 point favorites against the Buckeyes and come into the CFP as reigning National Champions.
- Oklahoma needed 3 things to happen to make sure they got into the CFP this year. They needed Alabama to lose (check), Oregon to beat Utah (check) and to win against Baylor in the Big 12 Championship game (check but barely). Although Oklahoma looked dominant over Baylor during the game, the Bears still took the Sooners into OT. Believe it or not the Oklahoma defense carried the Sooners to victory in this Big 12 battle while the offense had 2 turnovers.
- In other football news:
- South Florida looks like they will high Clemson’s co-OC Jeff Scott to be their new HC. The deal is being finalized today.
- App St’s HC Eliah Drinkwitz has been poached by the Mizzou Tigers. That deal is also expected to become final today. This will make Eli the 2nd youngest HC in the Power 5 (after OU’s Lincoln Riley).
- The Razorbacks have fired Sam Pittman as their HC who was previously Georgia’s OLine coach.
- There is only one game left before the bowl games start. Army vs #23 Navy at 2pm on CBS in Phili. Bow games start on 12/20. I will have the full schedule out for yall next week!
Football – NFL:
- Colts’s Kicker Adam Vinatieri will go into surgery on his left knee which will end his season. This is noteworthy because it ends his 24th season in the NFL and likely his career. Vinatieri is the oldest active player in the league at 46 and made his career low of 68% of his FG attempts.
- If you have Patriot fans in the office, you’re likely hearing how the refs blew the game for them. Wellllll this time, they might be right. The Patriots lost to the Chiefs 23-16 and were down 20-7 at half time. A couple of bad calls definitely helped – not saying the outcome would’ve been different but I watched them myself and they are pretty bad.
- At the end of the 3rd quarter, Travis Kelce was ruled down before the ball was fumbled, whistle was blown, play dead. But a Patriot player recovered it was in the process of running down the field when he stopped because whistles were blown. Pat’s coach, Belichick, used his last challenge of the game to review, it got overturned but because the runner stopped the Patriots only got the ball on their own 43 instead of a TD.
- Belichick had already used his challenges allotted for the game and therefore couldn’t challenge when Harry’s TD was called out of bounds. He is clearly inside the green. This is with 13:22 to go in the game.
- The last bad call was a no PI call against Chiefs CB Fuller who clearly had contact before the ball reached the Pat’s WR Dorsett on 3rd and 6. This should’ve been a 1st and goal on te 6 and instead of 4th down. Caveat here: The Pats did end up getting a 1st down on the 4th down play. They eventually got to the 5 yrd line but at 4th & 3. So this call, while incorrect was not as controversial as the others.
- The Chiefs have clinched the AFC-West after a win over the Patriots last night. However QB Mahomes is having X-rays on his passing hand today so don’t get too excited yet. He still played the whole game and threw for 283 yrds
- Here is how the division stands so far. We’re getting down to the wire so teams are starting to clinch their playoff spots.
- AFC-East: Patriots
- AFC-North: Ravens (clinched playoff berth)
- AFC-South: Texans
- AFC-West: Chiefs (clinched division)
- NFC- East: Cowboys
- NFC-North: Packers
- NFC-South: Saints(clinched division)
- NFC-West: 49ers
Golf:
- Henrik Stenson won the Hero World Challenge, hosted by Tiger Woods in the Bahamas over the weekend. This is Stenson’s first win since Aug 2017. 5 players had a chance to win the tournament in the final hour including the man himself, Tiger Woods and European Tour POY Jon Rahm.
- Patrick Reed also made the news during this tournament for improving his line of play in a waste area. He did eventually get a 2 shot penalty for that action on Friday, which was where he finished off the winner. Sand was clearly being removed with the club from behind the ball so there was no dispute of the penalty awarded. This could make for a long week for Reed going to AUS.
- This week is the President’s Cup. Think of it the same as the Ryder Cup but instead of being America vs Europe, its now America vs the World (except Europe). The US leads the overall President’s Cup record with 10-1-1 as it is held every 2 years in non-Ryder Cup years. Over 4 days the players will compete as a team for alternate shot and better ball for 3 days followed by Sunday’s single play. If it ends in a tie, the teams share the Cup. Need more info?
Olympic Sports:
- Russia banned from Tokyo 2020 Olympics after a ruling from the World Anit-Doping Agency. Russia cannot use its name, anthem or flag at the Olympics or any other major sporting events for that matter for 4 years (this includes 2022 Olympics, any world championships and the 2022 World Cup). Russia cannot put in a bid for the 2032 Olympics and no government rep can attend any of these events either. However, Russian athletes can participate but under a neutral flag, as was done in the 2018 Olympics. Russia does have 21 days to appeal the decision.
- Mikalea Shiffrin is on the podium again but this time in the downhill, taking silver at Lake Louise. As if her competitors didn’t have enough to worry about, Shiffrin is def getting more and more comfortable at faster speeds although she is usually seen as a tech specialist. AUT’s Nicole Schmidhofer took the gold in her favorite downhill course.
- Still staying with skiing news, American Tommy Ford won his first World Cup title in the Birds of Prey giant slalom this weekend with NOR’s Kristoffersen getting unexpected silver.
What to Watch this Week:
Basketball – NBA:
- Tues 12/10
- Nuggets at 76ers @ 7pm on TNT
- Wed 12/11
- Clippers at Raptors @ 6pm on ESPN
- Pelicans at Bucks @ 8:30pm on ESPN
- Thurs 12/12
- 76ers at Celtics @ 7pm on TNT
- Trail Blazers at Nuggets @ 9:30pm on TNT
- Fri 12/13
- Lakers at Heat @ 6pm on ESPN
- Clippers at Timberwolves @ 8:30pm on ESPN
Basketball – NCAA:
- Tues 12/10
- Texas Tech vs 1. Louisville @ 6pm on ESPN
- Maryland at Penn St @ 6pm on ESPN2
- Butler at 18. Baylor @ 8pm on ESPN2
- Iowa at 20. Colorado @ 8pm on PAC12
- Wed 12/11
- Omaha at 12. Arizona @ 7pm on PAC12
- Michigan at Illinois @ 8pm on BTN
- Fri 12/13 – 24. Colorado at Colorado St @ 7pm on CBSSN
- Sat 12/14
- Kentucky at 1. Louisville @ 11am on ACC
- Oregon at 5. Michigan @ 11am on CBS
- Michigan St at Oakland @ 11am on ESPN2
- Delaware at 20. Villanova @ 1pm on ESPN2
- Memphis at 19. Tennessee @ 2pm on ESPN
- Saint Louis at 12. Auburn @ 3pm on ESPN2
- Seton Hall at Rutgers @ 3pm on BTN
- Xavier at Wake Forest @ 3pm on ACC
- Georgia Tech at 8. Kentucky @ 4pm on ESPN
- Gonzaga at 15. Arizona @ 9pm on ESPN2
- Sun 12/15
- Wofford at 17. UNC @ 3pm on ACC
- Ohio St at Minnesota @ 5:30pm on BTN
Football – NCAA:
- Sat 12/15 – Army vs #23 Navy at 2pm on CBS in Phili.
Football – NFL:
- Mon 12/9 – Giants at Eagles @ 7:15pm on ESPN
- Thurs 12/12 – Jets at Ravens @ 7:20pm on FOX
- Sun 12/15
- 8 games at 12pm on CBS and Fox
- Patriots at Bengals
- Buccaneers at Lions
- Bears at Packers
- Texans at Titans
- Broncos at Chiefs
- Dolphins at Giants
- Eagles at Redskins
- Seahawks at Panthers
- Jaguars at Raiders – or – Vikings at Chargers @ 3:05pm on CBS
- Rams at Cowboys – or – Falcons at 49ers @ 3:25pm on Fox
- Bills at Steelers @ 7:20pm on NBC
- 8 games at 12pm on CBS and Fox
- Mon 12/16 – Colts at Saints @ 7:15pm on ESPN
Hockey:
- Mon 12/9
- Blue Jackets at Capitals @ 6pm on RSNE
- Tues 12/10 – Blues at Sabres @ 6:30pm on NBCSN
- Wed 12/11
- Bruins at Capitals @ 6pm on NBCSN
- Senators at Maple Leafs @ 6:30pm on RSN
- Flyers at Avalanche @ 8:30pm on NBCSN
- Sat 12/14
- Blue Jackets at Senators @ 12pm on RSN
- Women’s Hockey: Canada at USA @ 7pm on NBCSN
- Canucks at Sharks @ 9pm on RSN
- Sun 12/15 – Canucks at Golden Knights @ 7pm on RSN
Golf:
- Wed 12/11 – President’s Cup Day 1 @ 4:30pm – 11pm on Golf Channel
- Thurs 12/12 – President’s Cup Day 2 @ 6pm – 11pm on Golf Channel
- Fri 12/13 – President’s Cup Day 3 @ 2pm-1am on Golf Channel
- Sat 12/14 – President’s Cup Day 4 @ 5pm – 11pm on Golf Channel
Olympic Sports:
- Wed 12/11 – Triathlon: Ironman World Championships @ 3pm on NBCSN
- Fri 12/13 – Skiing: FIS Freestyle US Grand Prix: Halfpipe @ 1:30pm on NBCSN
- Sat 12/14
- Skiing: FIS Freestyle US Grand Prix: Halfpipe @ 2:30pm on NBCSN
- FIS World Cup: Women’s Super G @ 9:30pm on NBCSN
- FIS Snowboarding World Cup: Big Air @ 10:30pm on NBCSN
- Bobsledding & Skeleton: IBSF World Cup: Women’s Bobsled @ 11:30pm on NBCSN
- Sun 12/15
- Skiing: FIS World Cup: Women’s Parallel Slalom @ 8pm on NBCSN
- FIS Snowboarding World Cup: Big Air @ 9pm on NBCSN
- Luge FIL World Cup @ 10pm on NBCSN
Soccer:
- Mon 12/9 – Premier League: West Ham United vs Arsenal @ 2:55pm on NBCSN
- Fri 12/13
- NCAAM: UVA at Wake Forest @ 5pm on ESPNU
- NCAAM: Georgetown at Stanford @ 7:30pm on ESPNU
- Sat 12/14
- Premier League: Liverpool vs Watford @ 7:25am on NBCSN
- Premier League: Teams TBA @ 9:55am on NBCSN
- Sun 12/15
- Premier League: Wolverhampton Wanderers at Tottenham Hotspur @ 8:55am on NBCSN
- Premier League: Arsenal vs Manchester City @ 11:25am on NBCSN
