Armadillo Sports
Wednesday’s 6-pack
Odds to win the Super Bowl
+400— Kansas City
+450— Buffalo
+600— Philadelphia
+625— San Francisco
+900— Dallas
+1400— Miami
Quote of the Day
“It’s going back to that quarterback fight. I look at it like Manning and Brady. You can’t stop them. It comes down to whoever excels and takes advantage of their opportunities and drives and scores points. These are the types of games that we have to take care of the football and not turn it over.”
Bengals WR Tyler Boyd, talking about the Mahomes-Burrow QB rivalry
Wednesday’s quiz
Kelsey Grammer played Frasier Crane on Cheers and also Frasier; in what city did Frasier take place?
Tuesday’s quiz
Aaron Rodgers played his college football at California.
Monday’s quiz
Ron Jaworski was the Philadelphia Eagles’ QB, the first time they played in a Super Bowl.
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Wednesday’s Den: Mid-week musings……..
— If you’re running the Green Bay Packers, what do you do with your 4-8 team?
Do you still play 38-year old Aaron Rodgers, who hurt his oblique Sunday night and is also playing with a broken bone in his hand?
Or do you do play 3rd-year QB Jordan Love, their first round pick in 2020? At some point, they need to decide whether to sign Love to a new contract; this is his third year. The decision has to be made after the 2023 season; the way Love played Sunday night in Philly, his services will be in demand when the time comes.
Interesting decision, when to say goodbye to a legend.
— Virginia 70, Michigan 68
Michigan led by 11 early in second half.
Slow-paced game, only 62 possessions.
Virginia was 12-19 on foul line, Michigan 8-10. In Ann Arbor.
— Marquette 96, Baylor 70
Impressive performance by the 5.5-point home underdog.
Marquette led 51-25 at halftime. 51-25.
Marquette scored 1.39 points/possession, shooting 12-25 on the arc.
— Clemson 101, Penn State 94, 2OT
Penn State led by 10 late in first half.
Clemson led by 10 with 7:22 left in game.
Clemson was 11-21 on the arc, Penn State 11-36.
— Missouri 88, Wichita State 84, OT
Wichita led by 10 with 5:15 left; they were 6-14 on foul line.
Shockers turned ball over 20 times, Missouri 8.
— Illinois 73, Syracuse 44
Syracuse is 3-4, with losses to Colgate/Bryant. Not good.
— Was going to post some notes about college quarterbacks transferring, but then I remembered that a lot of backup QB’s transfer. A twist of the old Garry Templeton line: “If I ain’t starting, then I’ll be departing”
Michigan has a shot at the national title this year, but backup QB Cade McNamara is gone to the transfer portal. He has two years of eligibility left; he is from Reno, would Nevada be an option?
— San Diego Toreros are 5-3 this year under new coach Steve Lavin, who went 226-133 in 12 years at UCLA/St John’s. He made the NCAA’s six times in seven years at UCLA, twice in five years at St John’s.
San Diego is a much tougher job; Toreros haven’t been in NCAA’s since 2008, but the weather is really nice. Lavin did a TV gig in between his coaching stops; I enjoyed his work- he seems like a genuinely nice person. Hope the Toreros win lot of games the next few years.
— Detroit Mercy guard Antoine Davis is in his fifth year of college ball; he’s scored 2,897 points in his career, is a lock to become the 11th player ever to score 3,000 points.
Odd fact: when he gets to #11 on the all-time list, it’ll mean that three of the top 11 scorers ever played for their father in college. Mike Davis coaches in Detroit; Pete Maravich and Doug McDermott also played for their dads in college, at LSU/Creighton.
— UAB is expected to hire former NFL QB Trent Dilfer as its new football coach; he spent the last four years coaching high school ball in Tennessee, going 38-8.
Dilfer played 14 years in the NFL for five different teams; he won a Super Bowl with the 2000 Ravens, later made a Pro Bowl with Tampa Bay. He worked as an analyst for ESPN and FOX before he took on the coaching gig in Nashville.
— San Francisco 49ers outscored their last four opponents 54-0 in the second half.
In their last eight games, Dallas Cowboys outscored opponents 130-45 in second half.
— Minnesota Timberwolves’ star Karl Anthony Towns is out 4-6 weeks with a calf injury.
— So far this season, there have been six times where a team played Lakers/Clippers back/back at the Crypto com Arena (Staples Center). Either back/back nights or two games in three nights.
First game, the visiting team is 4-2 ATS; all six games stayed under the total.
Second game, the visiting team is 1-5 ATS; five of the six games went over.
— Washington Nationals signed two free agents:
Jeimer Candelario, a 29-year old 3B who played seven years for Detroit.
Stone Garrett, a 27-year old OF who hit .276 in 27 games for Arizona LY.
— Hugh Freeze’s move to Auburn is vaguely similar to Ed Orgeron’s hiring by LSU.
Orgeron coached Ole Miss from 2005-07, going 10-25, 3-21 in SEC games.
Freeze coached Ole Miss from 2012-16, going 39-25, 19-21 SEC games.
Orgeron moved on to the Saints, Tennessee Vols, USC and finally to LSU; he went 6-2 as interim coach at USC, after Lane Kiffin was fired in 2013.
Freeze went off the grid for two years, then surfaced at Liberty, where he went 34-15 in four years, rehabilitating his career. His QB last year was Malik Willis, who is now a rookie with the Tennessee Titans.
Orgeron went 51-20 at LSU, 31-17 in SEC games; he won the national title in 2019, with Joe Burrow as his QB.
Will Freeze be able to match Orgeron’s success at his second SEC stop?
