Weekly Update – Week of November 4th, 2019

Baseball – MLB: Nationals win first World Series.

Basketball – NBA: DraftKings official NBA betting operator.

Football – College: SMU goes down. CFP rankings tomorrow. FSU fires HC. #1 vs #2 this weekend.

Football – NFL: Pats lose. Dolphins win. Cleats had to be changed. Whitehead released.

Golf: Rory wins another WGC. Todd wins in Bermuda. Phil out of the Top 50.

Olympic Sports: RUS women sweeps the ice skating Grand Prix events. US Luge champions. Mexico baseball looks poised to qualify for Tokyo. Curry still wants to play in Tokyo.

Baseball – MLB:

• The Nationals won the World Series in game 7 in Houston 6-2, which means that the road team won every game – this had never been done before! So throw everything you’ve heard about home field advantage out the window. Pitcher Stephen Strasburg won the MVP. This is the first pennant for the franchise. The Nationals go to the White House today.
  • The Astros led almost the entire game and Grienke came out and played a killer start but it just wasn’t enough.
  • Washington DC has won a World Series but back in 1924 with the Senators.

Basketball – NBA:

• The NBA named DraftKings as official betting operator. This means that the league will work with DraftKings to maintain the integrity of the league.
• The Heat beat the Rockets 126-100 on Sunday but that’s not what was newsworthy. The 1^st quarter alone was 46-14 Miami. At one point the Heat were up 59-18 in the first half!
• Kawhi Leonard had a 18 point surge in the final 10 minutes of the game to help the Clippers beat the Jazz 105-94.
• Rockets will most likely rest Russell Westbrook in tonight’s game against the Grizzlies.
• NCAA basketball also debuts on Tuesday!! #3 vs #4 follows by #1 vs #2 starting at 6pm CT!

Football – College:

• With a slow week due to byes, there were only 3 losses in the top 25 but another undefeated team bites the dust. The SMU mustangs went down in a hard fought battle against Memphis. And Georgia looks poised to win the SEC East.

Losses in the Top 25
Visitor	Home	Day	Time (CT)	TV	Line	Score
8. Georgia	6. Florida	Sat 11/2	2:30 PM	CBS	-4.5	24-17
15. SMU	24. Memphis	Sat 11/2	6:30 PM	ABC	+5.5	48-54
GA Southern	20. Appalachian St	Thurs 10/31	7:00 PM	ESPNU	+15.5	24-21

• CFP Rankings are scheduled to start on November 5^th! This will be our first peak this year into how the committee views these teams. I broke down who was in my Top 25 before last week’s games. Lets see how close I will be to the committee…
• Florida St fired their coach Willie Taggart after just 21 games with the team. In Willie’s first year as HC, Florida St failed to make a bowl game for the first time since 1981 and to be bowl eligible this year they need to win 2 of their last 3 games. Odell Haggins will serve as interim HC for the time being, who also serves as interim after Jimbo Fisher left in 2017 (to Texas A&M).

Top 25
Week 11
Top Games of the Week
Visitor	Home	Day	Time (CT)	TV	Line
5. Penn St	13. Minnesota	Sat 11/9	11:00 AM	ABC	-6.5
11. Baylor	TCU	Sat 11/9	11:00 AM	FS1	-1
20. Kansas St	Texas	Sat 11/9	2:30 PM	ESPN	+5.5
22. Wake Forest	VTech	Sat 11/9	2:30 PM	ACC	-3
1. LSU	2. Alabama	Sat 11/9	2:30 PM	CBS	+6.5
18. Iowa	16. Wisconsin	Sat 11/9	3:00 PM	FOX	+9.5
15. Notre Dame	Duke	Sat 11/9	6:30 PM	ACC	-6
*GameDay indicated in bold*

• This weekend has 3 ranked matchups including the big showdown that will take down at least #1 or #2.
  • Gameday is at the #1 vs #2 matchup between LSU and Alabama. Obviously.

Football – NFL:

• DeSean Jackson is out for 6 weeks and will require surgery for a core muscle injury. Get your waiver wires ready people!
• Patriots suffer their first loss to the Ravens (37-20), their first loss since December 2018. This leaves the 49ers as the only undefeated team left in the league. Lamar Jackson also got some major MVP buzz for his performance in this game.
• Dolphins get 1^st win against the Jets on Sunday, breaking their 10 game losing streak. They also did so against their former coach, Adam Gase which adds some nice revenge to the win.
• Odell and Landry were made to change their cleats at halftime due to color restrictions. Players may wear black, white or team colored shoes. Odell had on white cleats with a Joker face on them while Landry wore gold cleats with orange Nike swoosh. Apparently these were not cleared with the NFL beforehand like the players thought they were.
• Browns’ S Jermaine Whitehead went ballistic and threatened a guy on twitter after he read a tweet about blown coverage during Sunday’s game. So much so that the Browns released him. Whitehead came to the Browns after being released from the Packers I 2018 for slapping an opponent’s face mask. For what the tweet said, check out the ESPN article
• Now that we are into week 9, its time for the standings in each division
  • AFC-East: Patriots
  • AFC-North: Ravens
  • AFC-South: Texans
  • AFC-West: Chiefs
  • NFC- East: Cowboys and Eagles are sorta tied
    • The Cowboys lead by win percentage and the Eagles sin by actual # of wins
  • NFC-North: Packers
  • NFC-South: Saints
  • NFC-West: 49ers

Golf:

• Rory McIlroy won the World Golf Championship – HSBC tournament this weekend in China. Barely. Xander Schauffele (shoff-lay) forced a playoff on his 18^th hole but ultimately lost to Rory in the playoff. McIlroy won for the 4^th time this year and seems to be on a roll lately. This was his 3^rd WGC win. The Irishman played bogey free for the final 39 holes and remains 2^nd in the world golf rankings.

• Brendon Todd won the Bermuda Championship on Sunday which was his 2^nd PGA title. He ended Sunday with a 62, shooting 9 under. His other PGA title was back in 2014 at the Byron Nelson. Todd regained his tour card in the Korn Ferry Tour Finals and now has his PGA card secured for a couple of years.
• Phil Mickelson is in the news but not for a good reason. For the first time since 1993, Phil is out of the Top 50 in the Official World Golf Rankings. To put that in perspective, I was 2 years old, Michael Jordan had just retired from the NBA, Bill Clinton had just become president and Jon Rahm wasn’t born yet.
• The PGA Tour takes a break this week before heading to Mexico.

Olympic Sports:

• RUS Alena Kostornaia, who is only 16, and USA Nathan Chen won the women’s and men’s Internationaux de France on Saturday. 3 Russian skaters swept the women’s Grand Prix, making them a powerful force to overcome for the US women’s team. Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron (FRA) won the ice dance events in front of their home crowd.
• Jonny Gustafson and Summer Britcher won the men’s and women’s US luge national championships. Reigning Olympic champion, Chris Mazdzer withdrew due to injuries.
• Mexico beat the USA 8-2 in an Olympic baseball qualifying tournament group play last night. If they beat the Dutch (who is currently winless) in group play tomorrow, they will be the top team from Group A in the tournament. The top finisher from the Americas goes to the 2020 Olympics and the next 2 highest qualify for a tournament in March or April.
• Steph Curry still plans on playing at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics despite being injured right now and for the next 3 months.

What to Watch This Week

Basketball – NBA:

• Tues 11/5

• • Duke vs Kansas @ 6pm on ESPN
  • Michigan St vs Kentucky @ 8pm (estimated) on ESPN

• Wed 11/6
  • Warriors at Rockets @ 6:30pm on ESPN
  • Bucks at Clippers @ 9pm on ESPN
• Thurs 11/7
  • Celtics at Hornets @ 7pm on TNT
  • Trail Blazers at Clippers @ 9:30pm on TNT
• Fri 11/8 – Cavaliers at Pacers @ 6pm on ESPN
• Sat 11/9 – NCAA: Iona at La Salle @ 4pm on NBCSN

Football – NCAA:

Top 25
Week 11
Top Games of the Week
Visitor	Home	Day	Time (CT)	TV	Line
5. Penn St	13. Minnesota	Sat 11/9	11:00 AM	ABC	-6.5
11. Baylor	TCU	Sat 11/9	11:00 AM	FS1	-1
20. Kansas St	Texas	Sat 11/9	2:30 PM	ESPN	+5.5
22. Wake Forest	VTech	Sat 11/9	2:30 PM	ACC	-3
1. LSU	2. Alabama	Sat 11/9	2:30 PM	CBS	+6.5
18. Iowa	16. Wisconsin	Sat 11/9	3:00 PM	FOX	+9.5
15. Notre Dame	Duke	Sat 11/9	6:30 PM	ACC	-6
*GameDay indicated in bold*

Football – NFL:

• Mon 11/4 – Cowboys ay Giants @ 7:15pm on ESPN
• Thurs 11/7 – Chargers at Raiders @ 7:20pm on FOX
• Sun 11/10
  • 7 games at 12pm on CBS and Fox
    • Lions at Bears (oh my!)
    • Ravens at Bengals
    • Bills at Browns
    • Chiefs at Titans
    • Falcons at Saints
    • Giants at Jets
    • Cardinals at Buccaneers
  • Dolphins at Colts @ 3:05pm on CBS
  • Panthers at Packers – or – Rams at Steelers @ 3:25pm on FOX
  • Vikings at Cowboys @ 7:20pm on NBC
• Mon 11/11 – Seahawks at 49ers @ 7:15pm on ESPN

Hockey:

• Tues 11/5
  • Bruins at Canadiens @ 6:30pm on NBCSN
  • Blackhawks at Sharks @ 9pm on NBCSN
• Wed 11/6
  • Redwings at Rangers @ 7pm on NBCSN
  • Blues at Oilers @ 7:30pm on RSN
• Fri 11/8
  • Lightening at Sabres @ 1pm on NBCSN
  • NCAA: Ohio St at Notre Dame @ 8pm on NBCSN
• Sat 11/9 – Blues at Flames @ 9pm on RSN
• Sun 11/10 – Maple Leafs at Blackhawks @ 6pm on RSN

Olympic Sports:

• Fri 11/8 – Swimming: TYR Pro Swim Series Day 2 @ 10:30pm on NBCSN
• Sat 11/9 – Swimming: TYR Pro Swim Series Day 3 @ 6pm on NBCSN

Soccer:

• Tues 11/5
  • NCAAW: 8. South Carolina vs Georgia @ 2:30pm on SEC
  • NCAAW: 6. Arkansas vs Ole Miss @ 5pm on SEC
  • NCAAW: 17. Texas A&M vs Florida @ 7:30pm on SEC
• Wed 11/6 – NCAAM: 25. Louisville vs 22. VTech @ 3pm on ACC
• Fri 11/8
  • NCAAW: 5. Florida St vs 1. UVA @ 1:30pm on ACC
  • NCAAW: 3. UNC vs NC St @ 4pm on ACC
• Sat 11/9
  • Premiere League: Chelsea vs Crystal Palace @ 7:25am on NBCSN
  • Premiere League: Tottenham Hotspur vs Scheffield United @ 9:55am on NBCSN
• Sun 11/10
  • Premiere League: ManU vs Brighton & Hove Albion @ 8:55am on NBCSN
  • Italian Serie A: Parma vs AS Roma @ 11am on ESPNNEWS
  • Premiere League: Liverpool FC vs Manchester City @ 11:25am on NBCSN
  • Women’s International Friendly: USA vs Costa Rica @ 7:08pm on ESPN2