— Estimated payrolls of the 12 teams in this year’s baseball playoffs:
$336,065,016- Mets
$324,976,209- Dodgers
$302,491,525- Bronx
$247,792,033- Phillies
$244,010,307- Astros
$231,937,258- Braves
$168,878,991- Padres
$116,328,391- Brewers
$113,530,985- Royals
$103,584,429- Tigers
$102,525,167- Guardians
$102,511,257- Orioles
— Tigers 3, Guardians 0
Underdog Tigers grab a 2-1 series lead.
Cleveland didn’t score a run in last two games.
Six Detroit pitchers combined to pitch a shutout.
— Mets 4, Phillies 1
Francisco Lindor hit a grand slam in the 6th inning.
Jose Quintana allowed an unearned run in 5 IP.
Phillies scored only three runs the last two games.
— New York 3, Royals 2
Giancarlo Stanton hit the game-winning HR in 8th inning.
New York bullpen threw 4.1 scoreless IP.
Game 4 is tonight in Kansas City.
— Dodgers 8, Padres 0
Eight pitchers combined to throw a shutout.
Padres started Dylan Cease on short rest; it didn’t go well.
Game 5 is at Dodger Stadium Friday night.
With college basketball approaching, some notes on ACC teams
— Boston College
Three years under Grant, BC is 23-37 in ACC games.
Eagles haven’t made the NCAA’s since 2009.
— California
Had a losing record in Pac-12 games the last seven years.
Haven’t been to NCAA’s since 2016
— Clemson
Last two years, Tigers are 47-23, 25-15 in ACC play.
Last year, Clemson made the Elite 8 as a 6-seed.
— Duke
Last two years, Duke is 54-18, 29-11 in ACC play.
Have slowed down under Scheyer (#298/#253 in tempo)
— Florida State
Last three years, Seminoles are 27-33 in ACC play.
Made the NCAA’s every year from 2017-21, but not since.
— Georgia Tech
Last three years, Yellow Jackets are 18-42 in ACC play.
Have made NCAA’s once since 2010 (2021).
— Louisville
Last three years, they’re 11-49 in ACC play.
Pat Kelsey will be Cardinals’ third coach in four years.
Louisville’s last NCAA Tournament win: 2017.
— Miami
Made NCAA’s two of last three years, went 7-2 in tournaments.
Slipped to 15-17, 6-14 LY (#353 in FT’s taken)
— North Carolina
Three years under Davis, UNC is 43-17 in ACC play.
They’re 7-2 in NCAA Tournament under Davis.
— NC State
Went 9-11 in ACC last year, then went 9-1 in ACC tourney/NCAA’s.
Made NCAA’s twice in last five years, both times as an 11-seed.
— Notre Dame
Last two years, they’re 24-41, 10-30 in ACC play.
They’ve made NCAA’s once in last six NCAA Tournaments.
— Pittsburgh
Last two years, they’re 26-14 in ACC play.
Have made only one of last seven NCAA Tournaments.
— Stanford
Cardinal hasn’t made the NCAA’s since 2014.
Last three years, Stanford was 23-37 in Pac-12 play.
— Syracuse
Orange was #39 in tempo LY (#144 or lower previous 8 years)
Syracuse has made one of last five NCAA Tournaments.
Last six years, Syracuse is 59-55 in ACC games.
— Virginia
Last seven years, Cavaliers are 111-32 in ACC play.
Virginia has played in nine of last ten NCAA Tournaments.
Last 14 years, Cavaliers have been #336 or slower in tempo.
— Virginia Tech
Under Young, Hokies are 45-48 in ACC play.
Tech has made NCAA’s twice under Young (0-2, as 11/10 seeds)
— Wake Forest
Last three years, Wake was 34-26 in ACC play, only 2-3 in ACC tourney.
Deacons haven’t made the NCAA’s since 2017.
Friday’s 6-pack:
Last six World Series champs:
2023— Rangers
2022— Astros
2021— Braves
2020— Dodgers
2019— Nationals
2018— Red Sox
Quote of the Day
“He specialized in recovery across time zones. How the body can recover under duress. It was very informative. We were there with all the head coaches. A lot of great information was shared. The bottom line is we’ll come out during conference play, we’ll come out either two days early or one day early, depending on the academic workload.”
Cal basketball coach Mark Madsen, talking about long road trips in the ACC
Friday’s quiz
Where did Geno Smith play his college football?
Thursday’s quiz
Kansas City Royals came into existence in 1969; the A’s left Kansas City for Oakland, after the 1967 season.
Wednesday’s quiz
Don Mattingly was the Dodgers’ manager, last time they missed the playoffs.
— 49ers 36, Seahawks 24
First six drives, SF scored two TD’s, kicked three FG’s.
Seattle’s first four drives: 18 plays, 69 yards, no points.
San Francisco led 16-3 at halftime.
49ers outscored last four opponents 73-23 in first half.
49ers won their last six games vs Seattle (5-1 ATS)
49ers ran ball for 228 yards, threw for 255 more.
Seattle lost last three games, giving up 42-29-36 points.
Seahawks are 3-7 ATS in last ten NFC West home games.
— Guardians 5, Tigers 4
David Fry came off bench, drove in Cleveland’s last three runs.
Guardians had lost their previous 11 postseason elimination games.
Decisive Game 5 is Saturday night in Cleveland.
— New York 3, Royals 1
Gerrit Cole allowed one run in 7 IP.
Royals scored total of five runs in last three games of the series.
New York will host Games 1-2 of the ALCS, starting Monday.
— James Madison 39, Coastal Carolina 7
JMU ran ball for 222 yards, outgained Coastal 421-181.
JMU scored two TD’s 70 seconds apart early in second quarter.
Dukes led 29-7 at halftime; they’re 5-1 now.
— Western Kentucky 44, Texas-El Paso 17
Hilltoppers led 27-7 at halftime.
WKU ran ball for 218 yards, threw for 264 more.
UTEP was outgained 482-330; they slip to 0-6.
— Louisiana Tech 48, Middle Tennessee 21
Frosh QB Bullock threw TD passes on four straight drives early in game.
Bulldogs led 34-14 at halftime; they’re 2-3 now.
Tech converted 12 of 16 third down plays.
— Jacksonville State 54, New Mexico State 13
Gamecocks won third straight game, scoring 44-63-54 points.
Jax State led 33-6 at halftime.
Jax State ran ball 49 times for 334 yards (6.8 yards/carry).
— Famous birthdays, October 11th:
Daryl Hall, 78
Mark Goodman, 72
David Morse, 71
Norm Nixon, 69
Chris Spielman, 59
Mike Conley, 37
Gio Urshela, 33
TJ Watt, 30
Brian Allen, 29
— Jets demoted OC Nathaniel Hackett, tabbed Todd Downing to run the offense going forward. Jets are ranked 27th in yards/game; Downing used to be the Titans’ offensive coordinator.
— Las Vegas Raiders are starting QB Aidan O’Connell this week, replacing Gardner Minshew after the team’s 2-3 start. Raiders were 5-5 with O’Connell under center last year.
— New Orleans Saints are starting rookie QB Spencer Rattler vs Tampa Bay Sunday, with #1 QB Derek Carr out injured (oblique). Rattler played college ball at Oklahoma/South Carolina; Las Vegas drafted him in the 5th round last spring.
— New England Patriots are starting rookie QB Drake Maye this week, at home vs Houston, after they started season 1-4. Patriots lost their last four games, scored a total of 26 points in their last three.
— Pohlad family bought the Minnesota Twins for $44M in 1984; they’re worth around $1.5B now, and now they’re looking to sell the team.
Twins put out a statement:
”After months of thoughtful consideration, our family reached a decision this summer to explore selling the Twins. As we enter the next phase of this process, the time is right to make this decision public.”
Only three teams have been under the same ownership for longer than the Twins; White Sox, the Phillies and Bronx.
— Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes apparently owns 1% of the Kansas City Royals; his dad was a major league pitcher. From what I can tell, his share of the team is worth $12-15M
— Scary to see the damage to Tropicana Field in St Petersburg, where the Tampa Bay Rays call home; what used to be a domed stadium isn’t right now. The hurricane tore the roof off the place. You wonder how quickly the damage to the facility and some spring training facilities around Florida will be fixed. Will it affect spring training four months from now?
They had 18 inches of rain in St Petersburg in one day, 5 INCHES IN AN HOUR!!!!
Saturday’s 6-pack:
Extra-inning games played the last six full seasons:
2024— 216 extra-inning games
2023— 201
2022— 216
2021— 216
2019— 208
2018— 216
Same exact amount four of the last six full seasons; that is unusual.
Quote of the Day
“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.”
Albert Einstein
Saturday’s quiz
Last time Detroit Tigers made it to the World Series (2012), who was their manager?
Friday’s quiz
Geno Smith played his college football at West Virginia.
Thursday’s quiz
Kansas City Royals came into existence in 1969; the A’s left Kansas City for Oakland, after the 1967 season.
— The other night in Las Vegas, at 2:30am out there, they imploded the Tropicana hotel, to make room for the A’s new baseball stadium. Quite a production, lot of fireworks and all before the two buildings came down.
Imagine staying across the street at the MGM? Must’ve been quite a view.
— Today’s Game 5 between Tigers-Guardians was moved up from 8:00 to 1:00, because it is supposed to rain in Cleveland Saturday night. Winner starts the ALCS in the Bronx Monday.
— Famous birthdays, October 12th:
Jack Marin, 80
Chris Wallace, 77
Susan Anton, 74
Sid Fernandez, 62
Chris Chandler, 59
Hugh Jackman, 56
Leon Lett, 56
Charlie Ward, 54
Ketel Marte, 31
Notes on Big East basketball teams: — Butler
Last four years, Butler is 27-51 in conference games.
Bulldogs made the NCAA’s six times in seven years, the last seven years before they joined the Big East. They’ve been in NCAA’s four times in the 10 years they’ve been in Big East.
— UConn
UConn won last two national titles, first team since Florida Gators in 2006/2007.
Last four years, Huskies have been in top 12 in country on offensive rebounding.
— Creighton
Last four years, Bluejays are 94-44, 54-25 in Big East tilts, 8-4 in NCAA tourney.
Last two years, Creighton was in bottom five in country in forcing turnovers.
— DePaul
DePaul hasn’t been over .500 in Big East games since 2007.
Blue Demons haven’t been in NCAA’s since 2004.
Last year, DePaul was 3-29, 0-20; their last win was December 30th.
— Georgetown
Last three years, Hoyas are 22-73, 4-55 in conference games.
Last year, Ed Cooley’s first year there, Georgetown was #358 in field goal defense.
— Marquette
Three years under Shaka Smart: 75-30, 42-17 in Big East, 3-3 in NCAA’s.
Last two years, Marquette was #4, #13 in 2-point field goal %age.
Marquette was a 2-seed LY; they lost 67-58 to NC State in Sweet 16.
— Providence
Last three years, Friars are 69-32, 37-20 in Big East games, 2-2 in NCAA’s.
Last year, first year under Kim English, Providence was #18 in country in defense.
— St John’s
St John’s hasn’t won an NCAA Tournament game since 2000.
Johnnies were 11-9 in Big East LY, just second time in last nine years they were over .500 in conference games.
— Seton Hall
Pirates were 25-12, 13-7 last year; they won the NIT.
Since 2006, Seton Hall is 1-6 in NCAA Tournament.
Two years under Holloway, they’re 42-28, 23-17 in Big East games.
— Villanova
In two years since Jay Wright retired, Villanova is 35-23, 20-20 in Big East tilts.
Villanova made the Final Four in Wright’s last season.
In two years under Neptune, Wildcats ranked #347, #333 in tempo.
— Xavier
Chris Mack left Xavier in 2018, having made NCAA’s five years in a row,
Since then, Xavier has made only one of five NCAA Tournaments.
Sunday’s 6-pack:
QBs who played for the Jets under Robert Saleh:
13-21 W-L record— Zach Wilson
2-6— Mike White
1-6— Joe Flacco
3-3— Aaron Rodgers
2-3— Trevor Siemian
0-3— Tim Boyle
Quote of the Day
“Another game down to the wire. We’re kind of getting accustomed to those. There’s some things that we can do to make sure it doesn’t get to that point. But we always talk about finding a way to win. As many times as it looked like we weren’t, we did.”
Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer
Sunday’s quiz
Of the 32 starting QB’s in NFL, which two have fathers who played major league baseball?
Saturday’s quiz
Last time Detroit Tigers made it to the World Series (2012), Hall of Famer Jim Leyland was their manager.
Friday’s quiz
Geno Smith played his college football at West Virginia.
— Oregon 32, Ohio State 31
Ducks drove 74 yards, kicked game-winning FG with 1:47 left.
Oregon outgained the Buckeyes, 496-467.
Ducks’ QB Gabriel was 23-34/341 passing, and 2 TD’s.
Former Oregon coach Chip Kelly is Ohio State’s offensive coordinator.
— Penn State 33, USC 30 OT
Trojans led 20-6 at halftime.
PSU QB Allar threw for 391 yards, two TD’s.
PSU TE Warren caught 17 passes for 224 yards.
Dating back to last year, USC is 5-8 in its last 13 games.
— Alabama 27, South Carolina 25
Alabama led 14-0 with 2:00 left in first half.
Gamecocks led 19-14 after the third quarter.
Trailing 27-19, Carolina scored TD with 0:43 left- 2-point play failed.
Gamecocks recovered the onside kick, but didn’t come close to scoring again.
Alabama still hasn’t lost consecutive regular season games since 2007.
— LSU 29, Ole Miss 26, OT
Nussmeier threw a 25-yard TD pass on their first play of OT.
Ole Miss kicked a 57-yard FG on their first possession of OT
LSU forced OT by scoring a TD with 0:27 left in regulation.
Rebels were 11-22 on third down, LSU 6-16.
— Vanderbilt 20, Kentucky 13
Commodores (+14) posted another huge upset, this one on road.
Vandy converted 8-13 on third down, Kentucky 4-9.
Wildcats had 12 penalties for 105 yards.
— Illinois 50, Purdue 49 OT
Illinois led 24-3 at halftime.
Purdue went ahead 43-40 on a 13-yard TD pass with 0:46 left.
Illini forced OT with a 38-yard FG at the gun.
Purdue scored 40 points in 2nd half, averaged 9.2 yards/play but still lost.
— Famous birthdays, October 13th:
Paul Simon, 83
Rich Kotite, 82
Randy Moffitt, 76
Reggie Theus, 67
Marie Osmond, 65
Doc Rivers, 63
Jerry Rice, 62
Trevor Hoffman, 57
Nancy Kerrigan, 55
Paul Pierce, 47
Quincy Carter, 4
Brian Hoyer, 39
— Tennessee 23, Florida 17 OT
Florida led this game 10-0 with 4:00 left in third quarter.
Gators tied game on a TD with 0:29 left in regulation.
Florida outgained Tennessee, 361-312.
This was Tennessee’s first OT game since 1998, their 2nd one ever.
— Georgia Southern 24, Marshall 23
Thundering Herd led 23-3 after the third quarter.
Georgia Southern threw a 34-yard TD with 1:00 left for the comeback win.
Marshall ran for 200 yards, but turned ball over three times.
— Army 44, UAB 10
Army ran ball 56 times for 413 yards (7.4 yards/carry)
Army only completed three passes; one of them was a 50-yard TD.
Black Knights are 6-0, have won ten games in a row.
— Guardians 7, Tigers 3
July 29, Washington traded Lane Thomas to Guardians, for 3 minor leaguers.
Saturday, Thomas hit a 5th inning grand slam, the big hit of this game.
Guardians advance to the ALCS Monday in the Bronx.
— Upsets of the Week:
Vanderbilt (+14) 20, Kentucky 13
Northwestern (+10) 37, Maryland 10
Buffalo (+9.5) 30, Toledo 15
Rice (+6.5) 29, Tex-San Antonio 27
Arizona State 27 (+6.5), Utah 19
Nevada (+4.5) 42, Oregon State 37
— Pitt 17, California 15
Pitt is 6-0 for the first time since 1982.
Cal missed a 40-yard, go-ahead FG with 1:54 left.
Cal is 0-3 in ACC games, losing by 5-1-2 points.
— San Diego State 27, Wyoming 24
Aztecs outscored Wyoming 10-0 over the final 14:00 of game.
San Diego State’s first TD was a 43-yard pick-6.
Wyoming completed only 12 of 31 passes, with two INTs.
— Ball State 37, Kent State 35
Cardinals led 20-7 at halftime, hung on for dear life.
Kent QB Ulatowski was 17-36/394 passing, with four TD’s.
Kent State is 0-6; they outgained Ball State 461-406.
Golden Flashes threw a 57-yard TD pass with 0:30 left for a backdoor cover.
— Rice 29, Tex-San Antonio 27
EJ Warner threw an 18-yard TD pass with 0:04 left for the win.
Roadrunners had taken a 27-23 lead on a TD with 2:06 left.
Warner (Kurt Warner’s son) was 25-39/347 passing, with 2 TD’s.
UTSA had 16 penalties for 146 yards, Rice 11 for 93.
— Georgia Tech 41, North Carolina 34
RB Haynes ran 68 yards for game-winning TD with 0:16 left.
Carolina had tied game on a 44-yard FG with 0:44 left.
If you had the Tar Heels +3.5, it was a very bad beat.
— Louisville 24, Virginia 20
Cardinals drove 67 yards, scored game-winning TD with 1:55 left.
Louisville had lost its previous two games, both by 7 points.
Virginia outgained the Cardinals, 449-408; game was 7-7 at halftime.
Ravens 30, Commanders 23
Baltimore won last four games, scoring 28-35-41-30 points.
Ravens’ first 3 drives: 17 plays, 79 yards, 3 points.
Ravens rest of game: 51 plays, 405 yards, 27 points.
Ravens are 7-3 ATS in last ten games as a home favorite.
Over is 5-1 in Baltimore’s games this year.
Ravens ran ball 37 times for 176 yards.
Washington ran ball 18 times for 52 yards.
Baltimore was 6-10 on third down, Commanders 4-12.
Washington’s team total: over 5-1
Over is 5-1 in Washington games this year.
Bears 35, Jaguars 16
Bears’ first two drives: six plays, 7 yards, two punts.
Bears’ next six drives: 45 plays, 353 yards, 35 points.
Last three games, Chicago scored 13 TD’s on 29 drives.
Opponents’ team total: under 6-0
Jaguars in first half: 25 plays, 112 yards, 3 punts, 3 points.
Last five games, Jaguars were outscored 88-35 in first half.
Bears outgained Jacksonville, 373-278.
Jaguars are 12-20 ATS last 32 games with spread of 3 or fewer points.
Texans 41, Patriots 21
Texans’ first two drives: 19 plays, 100 yards, 14 points.
Houston ran ball 28 times for 192 yards.
2nd-year QB Stroud is 15-8 as an NFL starter.
Houston had four takeaways (+3); they didn’t have any in previous 3 games.
New England lost last five games, outscored 68-33 in first half.
Patriots are 14-53 on third down in their last four games.
NE is 1-10-1 ATS in last dozen games as a home underdog.
Patriots are 30-44 since Tom Brady left town.
Eagles 20, Browns 16
Cleveland’s only TD was on a blocked field goal late in first half.
Cleveland scored 17-18-15-16-13-16 points in its 1-5 start.
Browns are 15-78 on 3rd down so far, 10-16 on 4th down.
Browns have gained 230-297-217-152-215-244 yards so far.
Browns are 5-11-1 ATS last 17 games as a road underdog.
On their last five drives, Browns were 3-4 on field goals; no TD’s.
Eagles outgained Cleveland, 372-244.
Under Sirianni, Eagles are 12-8-1 ATS as a home favorite.
QB Hurts is 39-22 as an NFL starter.
Packers 34, Cardinals 13
Packers’ first five drives: 34 plays, 251 yards, 24 points.
Cardinals’ first four drives: 14 plays, 34 yards, four punts.
QB Murray is 30-41-1 SU as an NFL starter.
Last four games, Arizona opponents are 28-47 on third down.
Green Bay led 24-10 at halftime.
QB Love was 22-32/258 passing, with four TD’s.
Packers have 17 takeaways in six games (+9 turnovers)
Green Bay is 27-16-1 ATS in last 44 home games.
Buccaneers 51, Saints 27
Tampa Bay led 17-0 after the first quarter.
Mayfield threw 3 INTs in 2nd quarter; Saints led 27-24 at half.
Bucs’ last five drives: 31 plays, 299 yards, 27 points.
Buccaneers scored 33-30-51 points in their last three games (7 TD’s/19 drives).
Tampa Bay is 12-9-2 in last 23 games with spread of 3 or fewer points.
Saints in 2nd half: 32 plays, 107 yards, outscored 27-0.
New Orleans lost its last four games, by 3-2-13-24 points.
Rookie QB Rattler was 22-40/243 passing in his first NFL start.
Saints are 9-12-2 ATS in last 23 games with spread of 3 or fewer points,
Colts (-1) @ Titans
Colts are 10-3 SU/ATS in last 13 visits to Nashville.
Colts are 8-5 ATS in last 13 games as a road favorite.
Under Steichen, Colts are 10-5-1 ATS in games with spread of 3 or less points.
All six Colts games were decided by 6 or fewer points.
Colts were 7-15 on third down, Tennessee 4-11.
Tennessee is 0-6 ATS in last six games coming off a win.
Titans have averaged 5.3/5.3/4.9/4.6/3.5 yards/pass attempt.
QB Levis is 4-10 as an NFL starter.
Famous birthdays, October 14th:
Al Oliver, 78
Charlie Joiner, 77
Brent Strom, 76
Lori Petty, 61
Joe Girardi, 60
PJ Brown, 55
Jim Jackson, 54
Merrill Kelly, 36
Jared Goff, 30
Chargers 23, Broncos 16
Chargers in first half: 46 plays, 247 yards, 20 points.
Chargers had 20-play, 69-yard drive that took 10:29- they kicked FG.
Denver in first half: 20 plays, 61 yards, 2 turnovers, no points.
Chargers are 7-3-2 ATS last 11 games as road favorites.
Dobbins ran ball 25 times for 96 yards and a TD.
Chargers led 20-0 at halftime.
Denver is only 20-80 on third down conversions (3-11 this game)
Broncos outscored last five opponents 59-17 in second half.
Broncos are 10-17 ATS in last 27 games coming off a win.
Chargers had lost their last five visits to Colorado.
Steelers 32, Raiders 13
Steelers ran ball 35 times for 183 yards (5.2 yards/carry)
Steelers allowed 10-6-10-13 points in wins, 27-20 in losses.
Opponents’ team total: under 5-1
Steelers are 15-8-1 ATS in last 24 games with spread of 3 or less points.
Raiders drove 70 yards for a TD on their first drive.
Next eight drives: 36 plays, 130 yards, no points.
Raiders have 12 turnovers in six games (minus-10).
Raiders’ two wins were by 3-4 points, losses by 12-14-16-19 points.
Lions 47, Cowboys 9
Detroit had 10 drives: 5 touchdowns, 4 field goals on first nine.
Goff was 18-25/315 passing, with three TD’s.
Detroit ran ball 36 times for 184 yards.
Lions outscored last three opponents 73-23 in first half.
Star DE Aidan Hutchinson appeared to break his leg
Dallas is 0-3 at home this year, losing by 25-3-36 points.
Cowboys gave up 17-15-17 points in wins, 44-28-47 in losses.
Dallas allowed 14.2/12.1/10.3 yards/pass attempt in their losses.
Cowboys turned ball over on each of their last four possessions.
Falcons 38, Panthers 20
Falcons ran the ball 38 times for 198 yards.
Falcons scored a TD on three of their first five drives.
Atlanta is 12-6 ATS in last 18 NFC South road games.
Falcons scored 22-26-36-38 points in wins, 10-17 in losses.
Panthers trailed this game 22-17 at halftime.
Carolina’s five losses are by 37-23-10-26-18 points.
Carolina is 0-3 SU at home (26-3 Chargers, 34-24 Bengals)
Panthers are 3-7-1 ATS in last 11 games as a home underdog.
Carolina opponents’ team total: over 5-1
Bengals 17, Giants 7
QB Burrow ran 47 yards for a TD on Cincy’s first drive.
RB Brown put game away with a 30-yard TD run with 1:52 left.
Bengals had allowed 10+ points in 75 consecutive games.
Bengals are 11-6 ATS in last 17 games as a road favorite.
Cincinnati is 20-11-1 ATS in last 32 games coming off a loss
Giants are 0-3 at home (28-6 Vikings, 20-15 Cowboys)
Giants were 5-15 on third down, 3-5 on fourth down.
Giants have one TD on 29 drives in their three home games.
Five of their six games stayed under the total.
QB Jones is 25-41-1 as an NFL starter.
Dodgers 9, Mets 0
Jack Flaherty allowed four baserunners in 7 scoreless IP.
Dodgers have now thrown 33 consecutive scoreless IP.
Mookie Betts knocked in three runs; Ohtani scored twice.
Dodgers grab a 1-0 series lead; Game 2 is today at 5:00.
Quote of the Day
“In practice I think we can get up and down more. I think so often as coaches in modern-day NBA, the league’s gotten so soft, everybody’s afraid to condition and run. We have to.”
Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone
Tuesday’s quiz
In the football movie Any Given Sunday, where Al Pacino coaches the Miami Sharks, what well known actress plays the owner of the Sharks?
Monday’s quiz
Jared Goff played his college football for the Cal Bears.
Sunday’s quiz
NFL QB’s Jared Goff, Patrick Mahomes have fathers who played major league baseball.
— Bills 23, Jets 20
Buffalo had 11 penalties for 94 yards.
Jets had 11 penalties for 110 yards; refs threw too many flags.
Buffalo led this game 20-17 at halftime.
Jets missed field goals of 32, 43 yards; Bills missed a PAT.
Jets threw a 52-yard Hail Mary TD on last play of first half.
Rodgers was 23-35/294 passing, with 2 INTs and an INT.
Jets are 17-28 ATS last 45 games as an underdog.
Jets are 9-14 ATS in last 23 games as a home underdog.
Bills scored TD’s on three of their first four drives.
Buffalo is 16-5-1 ATS in last 22 games with spread of 3 or fewer points.
Buffalo won eight of last ten series games.
— Mets 7, Dodgers 3
Mark Vientos broke the game open with a 2nd inning grand slam.
Mets bullpen didn’t allow a run in 4 IP.
Series heads to New York, tied 1-1.
Modern baseball: When the Dodgers threw three consecutive shutouts the last few days, they still made 13 pitching changes in those games.
— New York 5, Guardians 2
Soto, Stanton both homered for New York.
Carlos Rodon allowed 3 baserunners, one run in 6 IP.
Alex Cobb started on mound for Cleveland, only his 5th start all season.
This season, Cleveland OF Steven Kwan had a .988 OPS in Guardians’ wins, .565 in the Guardians’ losses.
— Week 6 was a big week for NFL road favorites; they were 7-0 ATS this week.
— So far this season, NFC North teams are 17-4 ATS in non-divisional games.
— Imagine being coach of the Dallas Cowboys, playing a game on your boss’s (Jerry Jones) 82nd birthday, and losing 47-9, heading onto a bye week? Not great.
— Today is October 15, Week 7 is looming, and the Detroit Lions still haven’t played a game outdoors this season.
Famous birthdays, October 15th:
Linda Lavin, 87
Jim Palmer, 79
Joe Klecko, 71
Vanessa Marcil, 55
Fred Hoiberg, 52
Connor Barwin, 38
Blaine Gabbert, 35
Teoscar Hernandez, 32
Jack Flaherty, 29
Brandon Pfaadt, 26
Movie of the Day: Before We Go (2014)- Two strangers stuck in Manhattan for the night become good friends when a lot of unexpected things happen in one very long evening.
Nick is a musician trying to catch his one big break in the business, while also trying to avoid an old girlfriend. Brooke is a woman trying to find the right way to dump her husband, who has been cheating on her.
Good movie; I’ve never heard of one person who was in this movie, but it was well done and fun to watch. It is on Tubi, which has several good movies.
— Best college football teams against spread this year:
Army, BYU, both 6-0 ATS
Worst college football teams against spread this year:
0-6- Air Force, Kansas
0-6-1- North Carolina, NC State
— Florida Gators QB Graham Mertz (torn ACL) is out for the year.
— Kentucky is ranked #23 in the preseason college basketball top 25, their lowest rank in the preseason since 2009,
Kentucky alum Mark Pope is the new basketball coach at Kentucky; this past weekend, his coach with the Wildcats, Rick Pitino, was back in Lexington. Pitino has served as a mentor for Pope since he replaced John Calipari as Kentucky’s coach this spring, but it is an unusual situation, seeing how Pitino coaches St John’s now.
Not often do you see a big-time coach helping prop up a different top 25 program. Pitino wore a Kentucky pullover Friday, but had St John’s gear on Saturday.
— Cleveland Browns are first NFL team in 10 years to score less than 20 points in each of their first six games of a season.
— Louisiana-Monroe’s football team is off to a 5-1 start; Warhawks went a combined 10-36 the last four years. Good start this season for first-year head coach Bryant Vincent.
— Wealthiest owners in the NFL:
$94.3B- Rob Walton, Broncos
$21.3B- David Tepper, Panthers
$17B- Stephen Ross, Dolphins
$16.9B- Stan Kroenke, Rams
$15.2B- Jerry Jones, Cowboys
Sunday’s 6-pack:
Last six NBA champions:
2024— Boston Celtics
2023— Denver Nuggets
2022— Golden State Warriors
2021— Milwaukee Bucks
2020— Los Angeles Lakers
2019— Toronto Raptors
Quote of the Day
“Our kicking game is atrocious. If you can kick and you’re at Arizona State, e-mail me. We’re going to have kicking tryouts on Monday … I’m dead serious.”
Arizona State football coach Kenny Dillingham
Sunday’s quiz
Barry Bonds was walked intentionally 120 times in 2004, the most of any player ever; other than Bonds, Willie McCovey (1969) has received the most intentional walks in a season. How many did he have that year?
Saturday’s quiz
John Adams was the first Vice President of the United States.
Friday’s quiz
Of all the active major league players, Jose Altuve (27) has hit the most postseason home runs.
— Georgia 30, Texas 15
Dawgs led #1-ranked Texas 23-0 at halftime.
Longhorns benched QB Ewers in first half, put him back in later
Texas ran ball 27 times for only 29 times.
Georgia turned ball over three times, Longhorns four times.
— Tennessee 24, Alabama 17
Vols ran ball 43 times for 214 yards (5.0 yards/carry).
Alabama has lost two of its last three games.
Last three games, Tennessee has been outscored 13-0 in first half.
Alabama had 15 penalties for 115 yards, Tennessee 11 for 95.
— Iowa State 38, Central Florida 35
UCF led 28-14 with 9:00 left in third quarter.
Cyclones scored game-winning TD with 0:30 left.
Iowa State is 7-0 for the first time since 1938.
UCF lost despite running ball 39 times for 354 yards.
— Miami 52, Louisville 45
Miami QB Ward threw for 319 yards, four TD’s.
Hurricanes are 7-0 for first time since 2017.
Louisville ran a kickoff back 100 yards for a TD.
Miami scored a defensive TD to make score 24-14 in 2nd quarter.
— Indiana 56, Nebraska 7
7-0 Hoosiers have yet to trail in a game this season.
Indiana QB Rourke hurt his thumb, didn’t play in 2nd half.
Hoosiers are off to their best start since 1967.
Only 9 of Indiana’s 63 plays came on third down.
— Famous birthdays, October 20th:
Juan Marichal, 87
Noland Smith, 81
Isaac Curtis, 74
Dave Collins, 72
Keith Hernandez, 71
Dave Krieg, 66
Herman Moore, 55
Calvin Broadus, 53 (better known as Snoop Dogg)
— Military schools kept on rolling:
Navy 51, Charlotte 17- Middies had pick-6’s of 61, 84 yards.
Army 45, East Carolina 28- QB Daily ran ball 31 times for 171 yards, 5 TDs
Army is 7-0, Navy is 6-0; they play each other December 14th.
— Duke 23, Florida State 16
Duke had been 0-22 against the Seminoles.
This was first time Duke was favored over Florida State.
Duke was +4 in turnovers; they were outgained 291-180.
— Missouri 21, Auburn 17
Auburn led 17-6 after the third quarter.
Mizzou QB Cook went to hospital for an MRI on his ankle, came back to lead two 4th quarter TD drives.
6-1 Mizzou scored game-winning TD with 0:46 left.
— Illinois 21, Michigan 7
Illini ended a 6-game losing skid against Michigan.
Wolverines outgained Illinois 322-267, but were minus-3 in turnovers.
4-3 Michigan is off to its worst start in ten years.
— UNLV 33, Oregon State 25
Beavers led this game 17-16 at halftime.
Oregon State was on UNLV’s 6-yard line when game ended.
UNLV is 6-1 and bowl eligible for second year in a row.
Rebels ran ball 40 times for 188 yards.
— Upsets of the Week:
New Mexico State (+12.5) 33, Louisiana Tech 30 OT
NC State (+10) 24, California 23
Old Dominion (+10) 24, Texas State 10
Georgia Southern (+9.5) 28, James Madison 14
Texas-El Paso (+7) 30, Florida International 21
Maryland (+7) 29, USC 28
Baylor (+6.5) 59, Texas Tech 35
Michigan State (+6.5) 32, Iowa 20
— Eastern Michigan 38, Central Michigan 34
Chippewas led 34-16 with 12:00 left in game.
EMU scored game-winning TD with 1:42 left.
Central lost despite running ball 45 times for 285 yards.
— SMU 40, Stanford 10
SMU threw TD passes of 87-45-38 yards in first quarter.
Bowl-eligible Mustangs have won eight straight road games.
Stanford has lost 11 home games in a row to I-A teams.
— South Carolina 35, Oklahoma 9
Gamecocks scored two defensive TD’s in the first quarter.
South Carolina had nine sacks, four takeaways (+4 TO’s)
Oklahoma is 4-3, 1-3 in its first season in the SEC.
— Maryland 29, USC 28
USC led this game 21-7 at halftime, 28-14 with 11:00 left.
Maryland scored game-winning TD with 0:53 left.
Terps were only 2-13 on third down; they were 3-6 on 4th down.
Trojans have lost four of last five games; they’re 5-9 in last 14 games.
— Cincinnati 24, Arizona State 14
Down by 10 points, ASU missed field goals of 48-41 yards in 4th quarter.
Sun Devils have having open tryouts for kicker on campus Monday.
Both teams are now 5-2.
Quote of the Day
“We’ve been good enough to have the lead to win them all — we just haven’t been good enough to separate. So we’ve put ourselves in that position. … There’s not a magic remedy, right? You go back to work, you keep identifying the things we’re not doing well, keep trying to emphasize and maximize the things that we are, and trying to be 1-0 next week.”
USC coach Lincoln Riley. Trojans are 6-9 in their last 15 games.
Monday’s quiz
Green Bay Packers are a publicly-owned team; of the other 31 NFL owners, who is least wealthy of the group?
Sunday’s quiz
Barry Bonds was walked intentionally 120 times in 2004, the most of any player ever; other than Bonds, Willie McCovey (1969) has received the most intentional walks in a season. He had 45 intentional walks that year.
Saturday’s quiz
John Adams was the first Vice President of the United States.
Chiefs 28, 49ers 18
Kansas City is 6-0, last unbeaten team in the NFL.
Chiefs ran ball for 184 yards on 39 carries (4.7/carry)
Chiefs are 11-5 ATS in last 16 games with spread of 3 or fewer points.
Since 2017, Kansas City is 13-4 ATS as an underdog.
Chiefs were 8-14 on third down, San Francisco 2-11.
49ers scored 32-30-36 points in wins, 17-24-23-18 in losses.
49ers are 0-3 when they gain less than 400 total yards (310 this game)
Chiefs have won five in a row vs 49ers, including two Super Bowls.
Lions 31, Vikings 29
Lions’ first three drives: 10 plays, 30 yards, no points.
Lions’ next four drives: 28 plays, 299 yards, 28 points.
WR St Brown caught 8 passes for 112 yards and a TD.
Detroit scored 42-47-31 points last three games (15 TDs on 30 drives).
Lions drove 44 yards, kicked game-winning 44-yard FG with 0:19 left.
Vikings had taken 29-28 lead on a defensive TD with 5:50 left.
Minnesota is 1-6 ATS in last seven NFC North home games
Over is 8-1-1 in last their last ten games with Detroit.
Packers 24, Texans 22
Green Bay drove 39 yards, kicked 45-yard FG at the gun for the win.
Packers are 5-0 when they allow less than 30 points.
Green Bay outscored last five opponents 66-22 in second half.
Packers survived being minus-3 in turnovers (+9 first six games).
Texans led 19-14 at halftime.
Houston in 2nd half: 30 plays, 76 yards, 3 points.
Stroud was only 10-21/86 passing (2.2 yards/attempt)
Texans are 10-4-1 ATS in last 15 games as a road underdog
Eagles 28, Giants 3
RB Barkley ran ball 17 times for 176 yards against his old team.
Philly led 14-3 at half, outgained the Giants, 339-119.
Overall, Eagles ran ball 45 times for 269 yards.
Eagles are 14-3 in last 17 games against the Giants.
Giants’ first six drives: 23 plays, 32 yards, six punts.
Giants’ QB’s threw for 105 yards, were sacked 8 times for 62 yards.
In four home games TY, Giants have one TD on 41 drives.
Under is 6-1 in Big Blue games this season.
Jaguars 32, Patriots 16
New England lost its last six games, outscored 90-43 in first half.
Last three weeks, Patriots gave up 193-192-171 rushing yards.
Patriots are 30-45 since Tom Brady left town.
NE is 7-20-1 ATS in last 28 games as an underdog.
Patriots led 10-0 early in 2nd quarter; Jaguars led 22-10 at half.
Washington ran a punt back 96 yards for a Jaguar TD.
Jaguars outgained New England 364-295.
Jacksonville is 4-2 in their last six games in England.
Bills 34, Titans 10
Buffalo in first half: 20 plays, 90 yards, 5 punts, 7 points.
Tennessee led 10-7 at halftime.
Buffalo in second half: 36 plays, 299 yards, 27 points.
Bills averaged 9.3 yards/pass attempt (Cooper 4 catches, 66 yards)
1-5 Titans scored 17 or fewer points in their losses; their win was 31-12.
Tennessee is minus-9 in turnovers, has had two punts blocked.
Tennessee is 3-7 ATS in last ten games as a road underdog.
Titans has trailed in only one of their six games at halftime.
Famous birthdays, October 21st
Manfred Mann, 84
Zack Grienke, 41
Shelden Williams, 41
Ricky Rubio, 34
Greg Robinson, 32
Davis Mills, 26
— New York 5, Cleveland 2 (10)
Juan Soto hit a 3-run homer in 10th inning.
Stanton hit 2-run HR to tie game 2-2 in 6th inning.
New York advances to World Series for first time since 2009
Dodgers 10, Mets 5
Tommy Edman batted cleanup, drove in four runs.
Dodgers led this game 6-1 in third inning.
World Series starts Friday; the #2 and #3 payroll teams in baseball.
Someone needs to tell the FOX TV guys that the Mets were #1 payroll team in the major leagues this season, not exactly a Cinderella story.
Seahawks 34, Falcons 14
Seahawks threw 31-yard TD pass with 0:04 left in first half to go up, 17-7
Up 24-14, Seattle salted game way with a defensive TD with 12:46 left.
Seahawks are 17-10-1 ATS last 28 games as a road underdog.
Seattle’s team total: over 7-0
Atlanta is 5-15-1 ATS last 21 games as a home favorite.
Atlanta was 8-15 on third down, but turned ball over three times.
Falcons were held to 10-17-14 points in their three losses.
Falcons are 5-14 ATS in last 19 games with spread of 3 or fewer points.
Bengals 21, Browns 14
Bengals ran opening kick of game back 100 yards for a TD.
Bengals rest of first half: 24 plays, 86 yards, no points.
Cincinnati led 7-6 at half; Browns missed PAT after a TD.
Bengals first three drives of second half: 12 plays, 113 yards, 14 points.
Browns had 2 of their 3 QB’s knocked out of this game.
Looked like QB Watson tore his achilles; he is out for the year,
Cleveland scored 17-18-15-16-13-16-14 points in its 1-6 start.
Browns were 8-19 on third down, Cincinnati 2-13.
Colts 16, Dolphins 10
Miami scored a TD on its second drive (11 plays, 58 yards)
Dolphins rest of game: 56 plays, 280 yards, 3 points.
Down 13-10, Miami clanked 54-yard FG off upright with 5:14 left.
Last four games, Dolphins have four touchdowns on 55 drives.
Dolphins’ team total: under 6-0
Colts QB Richardson completed only 10-24 passes for 129 yards.
Indy won four of its last five games (4-0-1 ATS)
All seven Colts games (4-3) were decided by 6 or fewer points.
Under Steichen, Colts are 4-1 ATS as a home favorite.
Commanders 40, Panthers 7
Carolina’s six losses are by 37-23-10-26-18-33 points.
Carolina is 2-10-1 ATS last 13 games as a road underdog.
Panthers gave up 20+ points in first half in six of seven games.
Carolina is 4-14-2 ATS in last 19 games coming off a loss.
Rookie QB Daniels (ribs) left early in game, after a 46-yard run.
Veteran backup Mariota was 18-23/205 passing, with 2 TD’s.
Washington’s first score was a 67-yard pick-6 by Fowler.
Commanders won/covered five of their last six games.
Last six games, Commanders scored 19 TD’s, kicked 20 FG’s on 51 drives.
Rams 20, Raiders 15
LA allowed 17 TD’s in first five games; Raiders had no TD’s, 5 FG’s.
Rams had 4 takeaways (+3); their TD drives were 47-26 yards.
Rams are +4 in turnovers in their wins, minus-3 in losses.
RB Williams ran ball 21 times for 76 yards, two TD’s.
First time this season Rams led after the three quarters.
QB O’Connell hurt his thumb; Minshew was 15-34/154 passing (3 INTs)
Raiders have 16 turnovers in seven games (minus-13).
Since 2019, Raiders are 20-13 ATS as a road underdog.
Opponents have converted only 24 of 83 third down plays.
Rookie TE Bowers caught 10 passes for 93 yards.
Steelers 30, Jets 15
Jets led 15-6 with 5:00 left in first half.
Jets lost last four games, by 1-6-3-15 points.
Jets scored 24-24 points in wins, 19-9-17-20-15 in losses.
Jets are 5-12-1 ATS in last 18 games with spread of 3 or fewer points.
Steelers in 2nd half: 4 drives- 36 plays, 227 yards, 24 points.
QB Wilson was 16-29/264 passing, 2 TDs in his first Pittsburgh start.
Steelers are 13-5-2 ATS last 20 games as a home underdog.
Steelers allowed 10-6-10-13-15 points in wins, 27-20 in losses.
Steelers are 16-8-1 ATS in last 25 games with spread of 3 or less points.
Tuesday’s 6-pack:
Interesting spreads, Week 8
— Bills (-3) @ Seattle
— Bears (-3) @ Washington
— Panthers @ Denver (-7.5)
— Chiefs (-10) @ Las Vegas
— Cowboys @ San Francisco (-4.5)
— Giants @ Pittsburgh (-6)
Quote of the Day
“We’re all going to be dead soon, and it really doesn’t matter anymore. So there’s zero pressure. You have an opportunity to carry the organization forward, to double down on the tradition and history of what this organization has. And what else would you expect than someone expecting you to win all the time?”
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla, talking about Boston repeating as NBA champs
Tuesday’s quiz
Arizona Cardinals have played in one Super Bowl; who was their QB in that game?
Monday’s quiz
Green Bay Packers are a publicly-owned team; of the other 31 NFL owners, Bengals owner Mike Brown is the least wealthy.
Sunday’s quiz
Barry Bonds was walked intentionally 120 times in 2004, the most of any player ever; other than Bonds, Willie McCovey (1969) has received the most intentional walks in a season. He had 45 intentional walks that year.
— Ravens 41, Buccaneers 31
Baltimore won/covered last five games, scoring 28-35-41-30-41 points.
First seven drives, Ravens ran 40 plays for 379 yards, 34 points.
RB Henry carried ball 15 times for 169 yards.
Ravens are 10-4 ATS in last 14 games as a road favorite.
Over is 6-1 in Baltimore’s games this year.
Both of Buccaneers’ star WR’s (Evans/Godwin) left with injuries.
Tampa Bay led 10-0 after the first quarter.
Buccaneers scored 33-30-51-31 points in last four games.
Tampa Bay is 2-5 ATS last seven games as a home underdog.
Buccaneers are 4-9 ATS in last 13 games vs AFC teams.
— Cardinals 17, Chargers 15
On their first drive, Chargers fumbled on Arizona’s 2-yard line.
Chargers wound up kicking five field goals on their eight drives.
Last four games, on 17 2nd half drives, Chargers have no TD’s, 4 FG’s.
Chargers scored 22-26-23 points in wins, 10-10-15 in losses.
Chargers are 3-12 ATS in last 15 games with spread of 3 or less points.
Arizona drove 56 yards, kicked game-winning FG at the gun.
Cardinals are 17-12 ATS last 29 games coming off a loss.
Chargers were 6-14 on third down, Arizona 2-7
Murray’s 44-yard TD run put Cardinals ahead 14-9.
Cardinals are 8-5 ATS last 13 games as a home underdog.
— OK, let’s say you’re voting for who gets into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Let’s take a look at the blind resume for two candidates (both QB’s):
Player A: 117-117 regular season W-L, 8-4 playoffs.
Won two Super Bowls
Player B: 72-72 regular season W-L, 8-2 playoffs.
Won two Super Bowls
Who gets in? Both? Neither? Just Player A? Just Player B?
Both won two Super Bowls, with a .500 regular season record. Seems logical that both of them should get in, or neither one, right?
— Cleveland Browns are planning on building a domed stadium in suburban Brook Park, which apparently will be privately funded.
— Giants’ QB Daniel Jones is the only starting QB since 2000 with no passing TD’s in six consecutive home games.
— When the Lions play in Green Bay on November 3rd, it’ll be their first game outdoors this season, their eighth game this year.
— Famous birthdays, October 22:
Christopher Lloyd, 86
Wilbur Wood, 83
Jeff Goldblum, 72
Jamie Quirk, 70
Luis Zendejas, 63
Ichiro Suzuki, 51
Carmen Ejogo, 50
Robinson Cano, 42
Corbin Burnes, 30
There will be scapegoats:
— Oklahoma has lost three of its last four games, is 132nd in the country in offense; they fired offensive coordinator Seth Littrell Sunday.
Littrell was North Texas’ head coach from 2016-22; he was an analyst at Oklahoma last year, was promoted to OC this year when Jeff Lebby left to become Mississippi State’s head coach.
— Oklahoma is an underdog of 20.5 points vs Ole Miss this week; it would be the first time since 1997 that the Sooners were an underdog of 20+ points- 348 games ago.
— Utah Utes offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig resigned (was fired) Sunday; Utah lost its last three games, scoring a total of 36 points. Mike Bajakian was promoted to QB coach/offensive coordinator (on an interim basis).
Bajakian joined Utah this year as an analyst after spending four seasons as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Northwestern, a school exactly known for offense, but he was also a QB coach for the Tampa Bay Bucs from 2015-18.
— East Carolina fired football coach Mike Houston after their 3-4 start; Houston was 27-38 in 5+ seasons coaching the Pirates, getting to bowl games in 2021, 2022, but ECU lost its last two games, giving up 100 points to Charlotte/Army. Not good.
— USC has led in the 4th quarter of all their games this season, but they’re 3-4; over the last 20 years, only one other team has led in the 4th quarter of their first seven games, and been under .500 (Utah State in 2011).
— Movie of the Day: One on One (1977)- A small-town basketball star goes to college and tries to impress his tutor, teammates, and coach.
Robby Benson is the star; lot has changed since this movie was made (I was in high school, for example) but some of it still holds up. Annette O’Toole is his tutor and a very young Melanie Griffith has a cameo at the start of the movie. One on One was filmed at Colorado State; I think they still use that arena.
— In September, parlays accounted for 32.3% of sports bets in New Jersey, 72.5% of their gross revenue. Parlays are a casino’s very good friend.
— Do NFL coaches get drug tested? I’m wondering this because Detroit coach Dan Campbell does some weird stuff— he takes chances, reckless chances at times.
First possession Sunday, Lions tried a fake punt in Minnesota; it failed badly, but the Lions were good enough to win anyway, kicking a field goal at the end. Couple of years ago against the Rams, Detroit tried an onside kick/fake punt in the first half….of the same game!!!
— 2016 Atlanta Falcons had five coaches on their staff who are currently NFL head coaches:
Dan Quinn, Washington
Raheem Morris, Atlanta
Mike McDaniel, Miami
Jeff Ulbrich, Jets
Kyle Shanahan, San Francisco
— Oh, by the way, the two quarterbacks up above?
Player B is Jim Plunkett
Player A in Eli Manning
— Celtics 132, Knicks 109
Celtics led 74-55 at halftime.
Boston shot 29-61 on the arc, and they missed their last 14.
Jayson Tatum scored 37 points.
— Lakers 110, Timberwolves 103
Anthony Davis scored 36 points, grabbed 16 rebounds.
Lebron/Bronny James are first father/son to play in same NBA game.
Lakers had lost their last six season openers.
— Sam Houston 10, Florida International 7
Game was scoreless at halftime.
Sam Houston kicked a 20-yard FG with 1:57 left for the road win.
Bearkats are bowl eligible for the first time as a I-A team.
— Louisiana Tech 14, Texas-El Paso 10
Tech was 6-17 on third down, Miners 1-14.
Bulldogs ran ball 30 times for 7 yards, UTEP 47 times for 166 yards.
Tech has won 11 of its last 12 games against UTEP.
— All 32 NHL teams played Tuesday; the over/under on goals scored for all 32 teams was 101.5. Night ended with 98 goals being scored.
— American League teams won last two World Series; leagues split the last 12 Fall Classics.
— When the Rams won Sunday, Sean McVay tied John Robinson for the most wins (79) by a coach in franchise history.
— Famous birthdays, October 23rd:
Weird Al Yankovic, 65
Doug Flutie, 62
Mike Tomczak, 62
Keith Van Horn, 49
Ryan Reynolds, 48
Kyle Gibson, 37
Nick Bosa, 27
Dylan Carlson, 26
— Random fact that is kind of amazing; Pittsburgh Steelers have had only three head coaches since 1969- Chick Noll, Bill Cowher, Mike Tomlin.
Steelers are only NFL team that hasn’t played a divisional game yet.
— Indiana Hoosiers QB Kurtis Rourke had surgery on his right (passing) thumb, is out for a while. Indiana, off to its best start since 1967, hosts Washington Saturday.
— Hawai’i is joining the Mountain West on a full-time basis in two years, which figures to hurt their basketball program. Hawaii is 34-21 in Big West games the last three years, but moving up to the Mountain West is a big step up, just ask UNLV.
— If you have a son who is athletic and kind of tall, get him a basketball and send him outside to practice……..a lot
Denver Nuggets signed Aaron Gordon to a 4-year, $133M contract extension.
Washington Wizards signed Corey Kispert to a 4-year, $54M contract extension.
Atlanta Hawks signed Jalen Johnson to a 5-year, $150M contract extension.
Golden State Warriors signed Moses Moody to a 3-year, $39M contract extension.
Houston Rockets signed Alperen Sengun to a 5-year, $185M contract extension.
Minnesota Timberwolves signed Rudy Gobert to a 3-year, $110M contract extension.
It is really, really hard to make it to the NBA, but if you do, it pays off handsomely.
— Fernando Valenzuela, the great Dodger pitcher, passed away Tuesday at age 63.
In 1981, Valenzuela won the NL Rookie of the Year and Cy Young awards as a 20-year-old by going 13-7 with a 2.48 ERA.
Valenzuela went to six consecutive All-Star Games from 1981-86 and also finished in the top five of the Cy Young voting in 1982, 1985, and 1986.
June 19, 1990, Valenzuela pitched a no-hitter against St Louis, the same night Dave Stewart also threw a no-hitter, the only time two no-hitters happened on the same day.
Valenzuela had a 173-153 record in the majors, then was 5-1, 1.98 in eight playoff games.
RIP, sir.
College basketball starts in 10 days…..some stuff to think about
— UConn won the last two national titles; last team to win three in a row was UCLA, way back from 1971-73. Last spring, Danny Hurley turned down a chance to coach the Lakers; he lost four starters from last year, but his Huskies are still a preseason top 10 team.
— TV/radio personality Doug Gottlieb is the new coach at Green Bay; he’s making $215,000 this year coaching, as well as continuing as host of his national radio show during the week. He was a really good TV analyst on game broadcasts.
Gottlieb played point guard at Notre Dame/Oklahoma State; his late father was a coach, and his brother is still coaching. This should be interesting to follow.
— 6-3 guard PJ Haggerty scored 21.2 ppg last year for Tulsa, more than any freshman in the country; he then bolted to Memphi$, because that’s what happens in college sports now. Rooting for smaller college teams is like rooting for the A’s or the Pirates- your best players are bolting for $$$.
— No Pac-12 this year; it’ll be back down the road, but there is one less automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament this year, and one more at-large bid. Oregon State, Washington State are playing in the WCC this year, Gonzaga’s league.
— 15 of the 18 ACC teams will be in the ACC Tournament……10 of the 13 teams in the MAAC will be in their tournament. In the past, the whole league played in their conference tournaments.
— Since 2015, six ACC teams have made it to a Final Four:
Duke, Miami, North Carolina, NC State, Syracuse, Virginia
— College sports has gone mad; realignment of leagues has been to maximize $$$ from football, and basketball (and other sports) are suffering as a result.
Stanford/Cal are in the ATLANTIC Coast Conference; they’ll take two-game road trips this winter. January 15, 18th Stanford plays at Wake Forest/North Carolina; this makes no sense, and must cost schools a ton of dollar$.
— Famous birthdays, October 24th:
Kevin Kline, 77
Chester Marcol, 75
Omar Moreno, 72
Jay Novacek, 62
Corey Dillon, 50
Eric Hosmer, 35
Jalen Ramsey, 30
Rafael Devers, 28
Jaylen Brown, 28
Amon-Ra St. Brown, 25
— David Patrick is a coach who has now quit as a head coach twice, to become an assistant coach somewhere else, an unusual career move.
From 2018-20, Patrick was coach at Cal-Riverside; they went 10-23/17-15 at UCR, improving from 4-12 to 7-9 in the Big West in his second year, but then he bolted to Arkansas, where he was an assistant for Eric Musselman.
The last two years, Patrick was an assistant at Sacramento State in the Big Sky, where he went 14-18/10-24 in two years. Last spring, Patrick moved on and is now an assistant at LSU.
— Only three Big East teams made the NCAA Tournament last year, the fewest amount of teams since the league re-booted in 2014. One of those teams won the national title, but St John’s and Seton Hall getting squeezed out of at-large bids was surprising.
— Eric Musselman is going to win big (eventually) at USC; he’s added 10 transfers this season, eight of them seniors. There is only one kid on USC’s team who was a Trojan last year, and he only scored 2.3 ppg last year.
— Last seven years, seven different teams have won the C0nference USA conference tournament; last 11 years, eight different teams have won the Big West tournament.
— Steve Lutz is the new coach at Oklahoma State; he was 22-12 in his one year at Western Kentucky last year, after he was 47-23, 21-11 in two years at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
Oklahoma State was 21-9 in the one year Cade Cunningham played for them, but in the three years since, Cowboys went 8-10, 4-14. 4-14 in Big X games.
— Utah State is on its sixth head coach in 11 years, which is weird because during that time, they’ve had only one losing season.
— Since 2010, Ivy League teams are a surprisingly good 8-14 in the NCAA Tournament.
— Coaching carousel was in full gear this past spring:
Rob Lanier went from SMU to Rice
Andy Enfield went from USC to SMU
Eric Musselman went from Arkansas to USC
John Calipari went from Kentucky to Arkansas
Mark Pope went from BYU to Kentucky.
Kyle Smith went from Washington State to Stanford
Danny Sprinkle went from Utah State to Washington
Dusty May went from Florida Atlantic to Michigan
Pat Kelsey went from Charleston to Louisville
Former Louisville coach Chris Mack went to Charleston.
Should be a very interesting season; enjoy!!!
Friday’s 6-pack:
Best ERA’s for starting pitchers with 20+ career playoff starts:
2.51— Jon Lester (22 starts)
2.67— John Smoltz (27)
2.71— Whitey Ford (22)
2.98— Gerrit Cole (20)
3.27— Greg Maddux (30)
3.30— Tom Glavine (35)
Quote of the Day
“All of these kids that move around in the portal, none of them are pros. There are no pros in the portal. If they were pros, they wouldn’t be in the portal. They’re all college guys looking to improve.”
Houston basketball coach Kelvin Sampson
Friday’s quiz
Oklahoma City Thunder starting playing in Oklahoma in 2008-09; before that, where did the team call home?
Thursday’s quiz
In the old TV show Magnum PI, Magnum always spent the 4th of July by himself; that was the day his father passed away, when Magnum was five years old.
Wednesday’s quiz
Last two times the New York Knicks won the NBA title, they beat the Lakers in the Finals both times.
— Wednesday night, Miami Heat named their home court after longtime coach/team president Pat Riley; this is his 30th year with the Miami franchise.
Riley is 1,381-805 as an NBA coach, winning five NBA titles (4 with Lakers, one with the Heat, in 2006). He also led the Knicks to the NBA Finals in 1994.
Miami has won two NBA titles with Riley as team president and Erik Spoelstra as coach; Riley was inducted into the basketball Hall of Fame in 2008.
Coach Riley is from Schenectady, NY; he went to Linton High School, in 1992, Linton merged with Mont Pleasant HS to form Schenectady High School, which is located in the former Linton facility. Coach Riley gave the school a lot of money to help refurbish the gym/locker room. The gym at Schenectady is named after him.
Long time ago (1993-2001), I spent eight years as an assistant basketball coach at Schenectady High; I was the analytics/numbers guy, the geeky coach/scout. This was the most interesting thing I’ve ever done in my life, and one of the most fun.
I was lucky to work for great people and we had really, really good players; we won state titles in 1998 and 2001. When we won the state titles, coach Riley sent us all gifts to commemorate our efforts- I’m looking at them in my living room as I type this.
Congratulations to you Coach Riley, on one of the best careers anyone has ever had. It was an honor to spend eight years working in your gym.
— Rams 30, Vikings 20
Stafford was 25-34/279 passing, with four TD’s. (helps to have Kupp/Nacua healthy)
Rams outgained Minnesota, 386-276.
LA was 4-10 on third down, Vikings 2-7.
Rams scored 27-20-30 points in their wins, 20-10-18-19 in losses.
Rams are 6-3-1 ATS last ten games as a home underdog.
Vikings’ first two drives: 18 plays, 140 yards, 14 points.
Vikings’ last six drives: 30 plays, 125 yards, 2 FGs and a safety
Minnesota ran for only 64 yards; they were 2-7 on 3rd down.
WR Jefferson caught eight passes for 115 yards.
Minnesota is 4-8-1 ATS in last 13 games coming off a loss.
— Pitt 41, Syracuse 13
Panthers are 7-0 for the first time since 1982.
Pitt scored three defensive TD’s in the first half, led 31-0 at halftime.
Syracuse ran ball for only six yards on 29 carries; they threw 5 INTs in all.
— Old Dominion 47, Georgia Southern 19
Monarchs led 30-7 at half; QB Jospeh threw 4 first half TD passes.
ODU outgained Georgia Southern, 560-416.
Monarchs ran ball 41 times for 256 yards.
— Kennesaw State 27, Liberty 24
1-6 Owls were a 27-point underdog; Liberty came into the game 5-0.
This is Kennesaw State’s first-ever win as a I-A program.
Liberty had nine penalties for 100 yards.
— Jacksonville State 42, Middle Tennessee 20
QB Huff threw for 137 yards and TD, ran for 151 yards and 2 TD’s.
Gamecocks have won four games in a row for first time since 2020.
Jax State outgained the Blue Raiders, 577-365
— There was very sad news Thursday; South Florida basketball coach Amir Abdur-Rahim passed away at age 43.
Abdur-Rahim was undergoing a medical procedure at a Tampa-area hospital when he died due to complications that arose during the procedure. He is survived by his wife and three children.
Abdur-Rahim was a rising star in coaching; he built the Kennesaw State program from the ground up, going 26-9 two years ago, making the NCAAs as a 14-seed.
He then moved on to South Florida last year, went 25-8, 16-2 in the AAC.
Very sad news. RIP, sir.
— Famous birthdays, October 25:
Dan Issel, 76
Dave Cowens, 76
Gifford Nielsen, 70
Mark Vlasic, 61
Pat Swilling, 60
Mike Harkey, 58
Terrell Lowery, 54
Pedro Martinez, 53
Juan Soto, 26
— Dallas Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey missed practice Wednesday for jury duty; he got a letter from the court and was selected as a juror for a felony case. In order to be removed from the jury, both sides and the judge would have to sign off and install an alternate juror.
Cowboys travel to San Francisco Saturday afternoon for their game against the 49ers; they return to Dallas early Monday morning.
— NBA has an in-season tournament starting November 12, kind of an admission that interest in the league is weak before Christmas.
Last year, the Lakers won the tournament; they raised a banner in their arena, but showed their true colors when they fired coach Davin Ham after a 47-35 season and a first-round exit from the playoffs.
If the in-season tournament had any meaning at all, no way does the coach get fired.
— Speaking of the Lakers, the G-League starts November 8; hopefully they’ll send Bronny James to play there, so the young man can play a lot and get the experience he needs.
Lebron/Bronny played a few minutes together the other night, becoming the first father/son to play on same team, but Bronny only played one year at USC— he isn’t as good as his dad, and likely never will be (who is???). He needs to play a lot to progress into an NBA-level player.
— Watching the Phoenix Suns should be fun this winter; 22 of their first 32 shots the other night were 3-pointers. Coach Mike Budenholzer likes a wide-open style, for to watch.
— Congrats to Atlanta Hawks radio announcer Steve Holman, who recently broadcast his 3,000th consecutive game for the Hawks.
— NC State QB Grayson McCall is retiring from football, after he had a concussion in a game earlier this month. He is 23 years old, played six years of college football. We wish him well.
— Carolina Panthers’ QB Andy Dalton got banged up in a car accident this week; he won’t start this week, when the 1-6 Panthers visit Denver.
2nd-year QB Bryce Young will start this week; Carolina lost 47-10/26-3 in the two games he started earlier this season, in Weeks 1-2.
— There are 134 I-A college football teams; Florida State is the only one that hasn’t scored more than 21 points in a game this season.
Saturday’s 6-pack:
NBA players who earned most $$$ last year (salary + endorsements)
$155.8M— Steph Curry
$133.7M— Lebron James
$103.7M— Giannis Antetokounmpo
$97.9M— Kevin Durant
$66.8M— Damian Lillard
$59.4M— Joel Embiid/Nikola Jokic
Quote of the Day
“Definitely every player wants to be happy where they’re at. And at the end of the day, whenever you win, you’re going to be really happy. So wherever you are that you have a chance to win a championship, you’re going to be excited to play for them. I think that’s the biggest thing.”
Free agent-to-be Juan Soto
Saturday’s quiz
What was the last team to win a World Series four games to none?
Friday’s quiz
Oklahoma City Thunder starting playing in Oklahoma in 2008-09; before that, they were the Seattle SuperSonics.
Thursday’s quiz
In the old TV show Magnum PI, Magnum always spent the 4th of July by himself; that was the day his father passed away, when Magnum was five years old.
— Quite a night in Los Angeles Friday:
Game 1, World Series
Suns-Lakers
Rutgers-USC
East LA Classic at SoFi Stadium (HS football)
Bosco at Mater Dei at Santa Ana Stadium (HS football)
Concert at the Intuit Dome
— Famous birthdays, October 25:
Jaclyn Smith, 79
Pat Sajak, 78
Toby Harrah, 76
Mike Hargrove, 75
Rita Wilson, 68
Dylan McDermott, 63
Nick Collison, 44
Francisco Liriano, 41
Monta Ellis, 39
— Minnesota Vikings LT Christian Darrisaw tore up his knee Thursday night, is out for the year. He got hurt on the last play of the first half.
— The longest TD pass in Detroit Lions history happened in 1966, Karl Sweetan to Pat Studstill for 99 yards in a 45-14 loss to the Baltimore Colts. Sweetan/Studstill later wound up as teammates on the Rams in 1969-70.
Studstill wound up having a brief career as an actor; he was in four episodes of The Dukes of Hazzard and an episode of Magnum PI. All in all, he has 12 acting credits on IMDB.
— 6-8 F Guerschon Yabusele plays for the 76ers; he’s scored 19 points in their first two games this season.
From 2017-19, Yabusele played in 74 games for the Celtics, scoring 2.3 ppg in 6.6 minutes/game; he spent the next five years playing pro ball, in China, France, Spain.
My point in this; it is REALLY HARD to make it onto an NBA roster. Lot of really good players make six-figure salaries playing overseas.
— Last season, every team in the NBA took at least 35% of their shots behind the 3-point arc; as recently as ten years ago, no NBA team took 35% of their shots behind the arc.
— NFL teams take out insurance policies on player contracts; if Browns QB Deshaun Watson can’t play next year because of his achilles injury, that $46M is almost entirely insured. On his salary this year, only $13.9M of it appears to be insured.
— Movie of the Day: Random Hearts (1999)- A police sergeant and U.S. Representative both lose their spouses in a plane crash, and they soon discover that their spouses were having an affair with each other.
Harrison Ford is the policeman, Kristin Scott Thomas is the politician; this is a very good movie but obviously it is sad too, since two people dying also uncovered their chicanery.
Several good character actors (Paul Guilfoyle from CSI, for one) are also in the movie.
— You know you’re watching an old movie when a guy goes in a bar and asks the bartender for change of a dollar, so he can go use a pay phone.
— Arkansas visits Kentucky February 1st; should be good theater, with John Calipari going back to the arena where he made four Final 4’s and won a national title.
— Top 7 mid-major college basketball teams:
Gonzaga
Memphis
Boise State
Virginia Commonwealth
Dayton
Saint Mary’s
Grand Canyon
— I’m debating buying the NBA TV package, so I can watch any game I want; it isn’t expensive, it isn’t that, it just that it bugs me that guys who are making over $500,000/game aren’t going to play both ends of a back/back. Not that difficult, just play ball.
I also prefer college ball to the NBA, so once that starts my attention will be there; college kids play in conference tournaments- they don’t take games off when they play on consecutive days.
— 20 years ago, Iowa actually won a football game 6-4 at Penn State; Hawkeyes outgained the Nittany Lions, 168-147; they were +3 in turnovers. Teams combined to go 10-36 on third down, and each team punted seven times.
Penn State scored two safeties; the second one was intentional, with 8:11 left.
Quote of the Day
“Buy some time and don’t throw the ball out of bounds.”
Washington QB Jayden Daniels, on what he was thinking before he threw a football 64 yards for the game-winning Hail Mary TD pass on the last play Sunday.
Monday’s quiz
Who was the Jets’ coach the last time they made the playoffs?
Sunday’s quiz
2019 was last time World Series went to seven games, when the Nationals beat Houston.
Saturday’s quiz
2012 San Francisco Giants were last team to win a World Series four games to none.
Commanders 18, Bears 15
Washington led 9-0 at halftime.
Bears scored a TD with 0:27 left to take a 15-12 lead.
Washington threw a 52-yard Hail Mary TD on last play of the game.
This was first game since 1977 where both teams scored go-ahead TD in last 0:30 of play.
Bears’ first seven drives: 36 plays, 93 yards, six punts.
Bears’ last four drives: 24 plays, 200 yards, 15 points.
Chicago scored 24-24-36-35 points in their wins, 13-16-15 in losses.
Chicago’s three losses are by 6-5-3 points.
Patriots 25, Jets 23
Patriots drove 70 yards, scored game-winning TD with 0:22 left.
Backup QB Brissett came off bench, won game in relief of injured starter Maye.
Patriots are 24-4 in last 28 games against the Jets.
Jets are 1-8 SU/2-7 ATS in last nine visits to Foxboro.
Jets are 0-5 SU/ATS in last five games.
Jets gave up 23-37-25 points in three games since coaching change.
Jets are 2-8-1 ATS last 11 games as a road favorite.
Last three weeks, Jets were outscored 45-12 in 2nd half.
Eagles 37, Bengals 17
Eagles had eight drives: 4 TD’s, 3 field goals and a punt.
Philly averaged 11.8 yards/pass attempt.
Eagles won four of their last five games.
Eagles are 7-2-1 ATS last ten games with spread of 3 or fewer points.
Bengals are 0-4 at home, losing by 6-5-3-20 points.
Game was 10-10 at halftime.
Bengals first two drives: 28 plays, 131 yards, TD/FG
Bengals rest of game: 6 drives- 30 plays, 150 yards, 7 points.
Packers 30, Jaguars 27
Packers drove 64 yards, kicked game-winning FG at gun.
Green Bay had short TD drives of 28, 5 yards.
Packers won six of their last seven games.
Green Bay is 3-11-1 ATS in last 15 games as a road favorite.
Jaguars drove 87 yards, tied game 27-27 on TD with 1:48 left.
Both teams averaged over 9.0 yards/pass attempt.
Five of their last six games went over the total.
Under Pederson, Jaguars are 5-3 ATS as a home underdog.
Lions 52, Titans 14
Detroit scored 3 TDs in 2nd quarter, all on short drives: 25-12-22 yards.
Lions scored 52 points; QB Goff threw for only 85 yards.
Lions’ Kalif Raymond had a 90-yard punt return for a TD, a 72-yard kickoff return and another punt return for 64 yards.
Under Campbell, Lions are 12-5 ATS as a home favorite.
Tennessee is minus-13 in turnovers; their special teams have sucked.
Tennessee is 3-8 ATS in last 11 games as a road underdog.
Titans have been outscored 111-43 in second half.
Misleading stat: Titans outgained Detroit 416-225.
Falcons 31, Buccaneers 26
Cousins was 23-29/276 passing, with four TD’s.
Atlanta won four of its last five games SU.
Four of Falcons’ last five games went over the total.
Atlanta is 3-0 SU on road, scoring 22-38-31 points.
Last five games, Bucs 33-30-51-31-26 points, only went 2-3.
Tampa Bay has eight turnovers in last three games (minus-4)
Since 2021, Bucs are 2-6 ATS as a home underdog.
Tampa Bay’s last five games went over the total.
Cardinals 28, Dolphins 27
Cardinals in first half: 23 plays, 112 yards, 7 points.
Cardinals in second half: 38 plays, 278 yards, 20 points.
Arizona is 17-9 ATS last 26 games as a road underdog.
Last six games, opponents are 45-76 (59.2%) on third down.
Arizona drove 72 yards, kicked game-winning FG with 0:01 left.
Dolphins led 20-10 with 6:30 left in third quarter.
Miami allowed 17-10 points in its wins, 31-24-16-31-28 in losses.
Dolphins are 8-13 ATS in last 21 games with spread of 3 or fewer points.
Browns 29, Ravens 24
Browns in first half: 31 plays, 152 yards, 6 points.
Browns in second half: 37 plays, 250 yards, 23 points.
Winston threw 38-yard TD pass with 0:59 left for the win.
Cleveland is 13-5-1 ATS in last 19 games coming off a loss.
On first drive, Ravens were stopped on downs on 10-yard line.
On last drive, Ravens were on Cleveland 25, but couldn’t score TD.
Cleveland was 8-15 on third down, Ravens were 2-10
Over is 7-1 in Baltimore’s games this year.
Texans 23, Colts 20
Houston led 17-10 at halftime.
In first half, QB Richardson was 2-15 passing, for 81 yards.
All eight Colts games were decided by 6 or fewer points.
Colts are 4-1-1 ATS last six AFC South road games.
Indy won four of its last six games (5-0-1 ATS)
Houston beat Colts twice this year, 29-27/23-20.
Texans have five wins by 6 or fewer points.
Texans are 5-14 ATS in last 19 games as a home favorite
Mixon ran ball 25 times for 102 yards and a TD.
Famous birthdays, October 28th:
Lenny Wilkens, 87
Dennis Franz, 80
Annie Potts, 72
Randy Wittman, 65
Bob Melvin, 63
Jami Gertz, 59
Steve Atwater, 58
Julia Roberts, 57
Brad Paisley, 52
Terrell Davis, 52
Jarrett Jack, 41
Spencer Strider, 26
Chargers 26, Saints 8
Saints’ first five drives: 20 plays, 90 yards, five punts.
New Orleans lost its last six games, last four by 13-24-13-18 points.
Saints are 1-5 against spread in last six games.
Last four games, New Orleans was outscored 71-13 in second half.
Chargers led 9-5 at halftime.
Bolts in second half: 28 plays, 207 yards, 17 points.
Chargers scored 22-26-23-26 points in wins, 10-10-15 in losses.
Under is 6-1 in their first seven games.
Bills 31, Seahawks 10
Bills ran for 164 yards, outgained Seattle 445-233.
Buffalo is 5-0 when it allows less than 23 points.
Buffalo outscored last four opponents 64-16 in second half.
Buffalo is 17-5-1 ATS last 23 games with spread of 3 or fewer points.
Seahawks were 1-7 on third down, Buffalo 8-15.
Last four games, Seattle gave up 180.5 rushing yards/game.
Seahawks are 0-4 when they give up more than 20 points.
Seahawks are 12-21-3 ATS last 36 games coming off a win.
Broncos 28, Panthers 14
Panthers lost Young’s three starts: 47-10, 26-3, 28-14.
Carolina’s seven losses are all by 14+ points.
Carolina is 2-11-1 ATS last 14 games as a road underdog.
Panthers gave up 20+ points in first half in seven of eight games.
Denver won/covered five of its last six games.
Broncos’ first two drives: 12 plays, 47 yards, no points.
Broncos’ next three drives: 24 plays, 195 yards, 21 points.
QB Nix was 28-37/284 passing, with three TD’s.
Chiefs 27, Raiders 20
Chiefs converted 12-16 third down plays, led 17-10 at half.
Last five games, Chiefs are 41-74 on third down.
Chiefs won their first seven games (4-3 ATS), by 7-1-5-7-13-10-7 points.
Kansas City is 7-0 despite being minus-5 in turnovers.
Raiders’ first two drives: 22 plays, 120 yards, 10 points.
Raiders’ last six drives: 35 plays, 89 yards, 10 points.
Kansas City won 16 of last 19 series games.
Raiders are 15-7 ATS in last 22 AFC West home games.
49ers 30, Cowboys 24
Dallas led 10-6 at halftime.
49ers’ 1st 3 drives of 3rd quarter: 21 plays, 167 yards, 21 points.
Cowboys gave up 17-15-17 points in wins, 44-28-47-30 in losses.
Cowboys allowed 14.2/12.1/10.3/8.8 yards/pass attempt in losses.
Purdy threw ball for 260 yards, ran for 56 more.
49ers are 13-8 ATS last 21 games as a home favorite.
49ers scored 32-30-36-30 points in wins, 17-24-23-18 in losses.
San Francisco is 12-7 ATS last 19 games coming off a loss.
Tuesday’s 6-pack:
Interesting college football spreads this week…….
— Arizona @ Central Florida (-5)
— Ole Miss (-4) @ Arkansas
— USC @ Washington (even)
— Wisconsin @ Iowa (-4)
— Texas A&M (-4) @ South Carolina
— Ohio State (-3) @ Penn State
Quote of the Day
“A little song, a little dance……a little seltzer down your pants.”
Chuckles the Clown, from The Mary Tyler Moore Show; the episode about Chuckles’ funeral aired 49 years ago this week, in 1975.
Tuesday’s quiz
Where did Daniel Jones play his college football?
Monday’s quiz
Rex Ryan was the Jets’ coach the last time they made the playoffs, in 2010.
Sunday’s quiz
2019 was last time World Series went to seven games, when the Nationals beat Houston.
— YouTubeTV is very good; had the NFL game and the World Series on same screen last night, which was very good. Easier that watching the second game on my laptop.
— Steelers 26, Giants 18
Steelers’ first TD was a 73-yard punt return by Austin in 3rd quarter.
Austin scored Steelers’ other TD, a 29-yard TD pass.
Steelers averaged 8.7/8.1 yards/pass attempt in Wilson’s first two starts.
Over is 4-1 in their last five games.
Steelers have won their last 22 Monday night home games.
Game was 9-9 at halftime; six field goals.
Giants ran the ball for 157 yards (6.3 yards/carry)
Giants had 11 penalties for only 65 yards.
QB Jones is 25-43-1 as an NFL starter, 1-15 in night games.
— Random facts:
Steelers have had three head coaches since 1969.
Michigan State has had two basketball coaches since 1976.
— Dodgers 4, New York 2
Freeman hit a 2-run homer in first inning.
Buehler threw five shutout IP, on 76 pitches.
Six relievers combined to get the last 12 outs.
Dodgers lead series, 3-0.
— The baseball Shohei Ohtani hit for his 50th home run this season apparently sold for $4,392,000 at a recent auction.
— P Yoshinobu Yamamoto was 7-2, 3.00 in 18 starts for the Dodgers this year; he signed a 12-year contract worth $325M ($27.1M/year). In his last three playoff starts, Yamamoto gave up only 3 runs in 15.2 IP (5 runs in 5 IP in his first one).
Cubs gave P Shota Imanaga $22.5M for two years (plus team options for 2026-28); he was 15-3, 2.91 in 29 starts this year, which bodes very well for other Asian pitchers who want to come over here for the big bucks.
— Famous birthdays, October 29
Richard Dreyfuss, 77
Kate Jackson, 76
Danny Vranes, 66
Jesse Barfield, 65
RA Dickey, 50
Keenan Burton, 4o
Andy Dalton, 37
Ender Inciarte, 34
Evan Fournier, 32
— How would you like to be the guy that bet $120,000 on the Bears Sunday, only to lose on the Hail Mary on the last play? It was posted on Twitter that the person made the bet at Caeser’s.
— At the SouthPoint casino in Las Vegas, you can bet on which NFL team will score the first touchdown every Sunday. Atlanta Falcons (12-1) were Sunday’s winner.
— Washington State’s football team is 7-1, their best start since 2018, when a Gardner Minshew-led Coog squad was 7-1 under coach Mike Leach. Wazzu has three wins by 5 or fewer points so far this season.
— There are college basketball scrimmages going on; some of them have surfaced on TV, which has been fun to see. Season starts for real next Monday November 4.
— Last three games, USC’s football team has given up 518, 429, 434 total yards. No bueno.
— There are 11 college basketball players this season who used to play for New Mexico, but transferred out of Albuquerque.
— Rice fired football coach Mike Bloomgren after the Owls started this season 2-6; Rice hasn’t had a winning season since 2014, but they play in bowls the last two years, losing both of them.
Bloomgren was 24-52 at Rice; the school owes him around $900,000.
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While some of the biggest storylines in college basketball have centered around the star power coming back and new faces arriving, there are dozens of returning players who will elevate their game and become a household name this season.
The term "breakout star" is loosely used and there are many different ways to draw the line, but we're going to identify players who were under the radar and weren't in the top 75 of the CBS Sports Top 100 And 1 Players rankings, but could be by the end of the season.
Someone like Iowa'sOwen Freeman, who won Big Ten Freshman of the Year last season, could emerge as one of the best players in the country but isn't on this list because of what he already accomplished his freshman season. The same can be said about new Georgetown guard Malik Mack, who had a standout season at Harvard and was routinely ranked in the top 10 of CBS Sports' "Frosh Watch." Caleb Foster, who was the No. 83 player in our rankings, is the lone member of Duke's 2023 recruiting class still with the program. The Blue Devils' second-ranked recruiting class saw Jared McCain depart to the NBA and Sean Stewart (Ohio State) and TJ Power (Virginia) transfer. Sticking to the Tobacco Road theme, North Carolina guard Elliot Cadeau — our No.85 player and a former five-star in the 2023 recruiting class — should see his role grow next to returning All-American RJ Davis as the Tar Heels look to repeat as ACC regular-season champions.
Here are eight players poised to have a breakout season and will elevate their profile to "star" status.
Caleb Foster | G | Duke
2023-24 stats: 7.7 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 2.1 apg
With McCain off to the NBA, Foster will have an opportunity to log more minutes. Duke's starters haven't been confirmed, but two of Sion James, Tyrese Proctor and Foster should be in the lineup on opening night. Foster showed flashes of what made him a highly touted recruit last season. The expanded role Foster will play on a national championship contender makes him an easy candidate to become a household name. Foster ranked No. 83 on the CBS Sports Top 100 And 1 Player list released last week.
Stevenson went through the NBA Draft process this past summer before (wisely) returning to school. Stevenson is a former blue-chip recruit who reclassified up to join the Crimson Tide a year early. He was the hero of the Elite Eight victory vs. Clemson - coming off the bench to score 19 points to help Alabama advance to its first Final Four in program history. Stevenson is a natural stretch-4 who should play more minutes this season in a backup role behind Grant Nelson and Rutgers transfer Clifford Omoruyi. Alabama has one of the best (and deepest rosters) in the country, and role players like Stevenson will be pivotal in making another deep tournament run.
Biliew was the No. 13 overall player in the 2023 recruiting class by 247Sports and barely saw the floor during his freshman season at Iowa State - averaging 7.4 minutes in 20 appearances. Biliew is going to a program with a history of unlocking the most out of former blue-chip recruits. Look no further than Hunter Sallis, who went from averaging 15 minutes at Gonzaga during his first two years to starting all 34 games and averaging 18 points in his first season at Wake Forest. In Wake Forest's exhibition game against Alabama, Biliew scored 15 points and grabbed four rebounds — a potential sign for good signs to come.
Bradley, ranked No. 99 in our Top 100 And 1, might be my favorite breakout candidate on this list because his role will be expanding with former starting point guard Kylan Boswell no longer with the program. Bradley is exceptional at getting to the rim and is an efficient (and low-volume) 3-point shooter. He should produce some highlight-level plays and average double-digit points for an Arizona team looking to make noise in the new-look Big 12. Buy all the stock you can now.
Bradshaw ranked as the No. 5 overall recruit in the 2023 recruiting cycle by 247Sports and played sparingly as a freshman at Kentucky. Bradshaw missed the start of last season with an injury and never found a clear-cut role with the Wildcats, as he averaged just under 14 minutes. Bradshaw should have a chance to shine under first-year coach Jake Diebler. He should be in the running to start at PF or center — depending on how the starting lineup shakes out. When in doubt, bet on talent and upside to produce.
Cadeau started 31 of 37 games for a North Carolina team that won the ACC regular-season title and reached the Sweet 16. Cadeau returns next to Davis to solidify one of the best backcourts in the conference. Cadeau's greatest strength is his passing, but where he is poised to improve the most is his 3-point shooting. Cadeau shot an abysmal 18.9% on 1.4 attempts from beyond the arc, and part of the game plan opposing teams would instill (see the game against Alabama as an example) was to leave him open to shoot. His passing remains his greatest strength, but improving his shooting from beyond the arc will go a long way in his draft stock soaring.
The son of NBA legend Peja Stojaković has a similar archetype as his father. Stojaković is good at getting to his spots in the mid-range area and can stretch the floor from beyond the arc when needed. Stojaković shot 33.3% on 3.3 attempts from beyond the arc, which isn't eye-popping by any means, but his overall volume will increase because he will be more of a focal point in the offense. The fit at Cal under coach Mark Madsen makes him a prime candidate to have a breakout season.
Wagner started 28 of 29 games for John Calipari at Kentucky last season, and when his coach left the Bluegrass State for Arkansas, he followed suit. Wagner showed glimpses during his freshman season of why he was projected as a lottery pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. In Arkansas' exhibition game against Kansas last week, Wagner scored a game-high 24 points and shot 8 of 12 from the floor. That performance should foreshadow a sign of good things to come for Arkansas and Wagner.
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Transfer rankings go out the door once everyone steps onto campus, but it's clear as day that the hits (and misses) from the bonkers 2024 portal cycle will make or break numerous clubs that have championship expectations.
Let's dive into 100 and 1 transfers to know this season. Factors like talent (duh), fit into the new roster and the scheme that they will be playing were heavily weighed.
Transfer from: Seton Hall
Richmond might never be a knockdown catch-and-shoot sniper, but his positional size is a cheat card on both ends of the floor. St. John's has the bones of an excellent defensive club with Richmond's nastiness and versatility at the forefront. Richmond, a 6-foot-6, 205-pound bowling ball, put up enormous numbers (15.7 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 5.1 apg) in a slow-paced, Seton Hall system last season. Rick Pitino is going to ramp up the tempo to lightning-strike levels, so Richmond is in an eruption spot.
Transfer from: Florida Atlantic
From Derrick Rose to Rob Dillingham and numerous ballers in between, John Calipari annually hands the keys to a lead guard and lets 'em cook. That formula won't change in Arkansas. Davis is poised to be the Razorbacks' new alpha. The Florida Atlantic transfer is armed to score with every tool in the shed. Ball screens, post-ups, transition, drives or handoffs? You name it, Davis can get buckets with it.
The 6-7, 210-pound forward is an elite three-level scorer. DeVries is truly a big guard. He makes high-difficulty shots look way too easy from the midrange and downtown. DeVries' off-movement shooting sets up everything about his game. He's so big and can create space so effortlessly. But he can also use his frame as a bootyball weapon in post-ups. He didn't get to the rim a ton, but he shot over 67% when he got there. DeVries is just an all-around star who passes it well, rebounds well, plays defense and gets to the free throw line religiously. He was a star for his dad, Darian, at Drake. He'll be a star for his dad at West Virginia.
Storr would carry Wisconsin and occasionally, shoot the Badgers out of games. He'd terrify both coaching staffs. But his strengths are so obvious. The big, explosive wing is a brutally tough cover when he gets the rock on an empty side, rips it and gets downhill. Storr can put anybody on a poster, even Mount Edey. Storr has the most juice of anybody in Kansas' wing corps. If Storr embraces cutting with a purpose, Bill Self could spoon-feed him four points a game with brilliant halfcourt sets. If he embraces running the floor hard in transition, that's another easy six points a game with Dajuan Harris or Hunter Dickinson whipping bullet, look-ahead passes. Storr could saunter to 20-point nights in this scheme without breaking a sweat. If it coalesces properly, Storr could be Kansas' best player and an All-American candidate.
Roach-to-Baylor is one of the rare high-floor, high-ceiling additions in the 2024 portal cycle. The Duke transfer will waltz into Baylor's starting lineup and give Scott Drew a veteran who has played a variety of roles over the years. He can be a go-to scorer. He can be an initiating point guard. He can be a spot-up shooter. Baylor is also getting the best version of Roach. He shot 43% from 3-point range, 40% on midrange jumpers and 56% at the rim last season. Baylor can lean on Roach to go create a bucket for himself or others in late-clock situations. Maybe most importantly, Roach doesn't block any of Baylor's talented freshmen. If intriguing freshman point guard Rob Wright III is ready to go, Roach can slide to an off-ball role. If five-star VJ Edgecombe is ready to be a freshman sensation, Roach can shift to a secondary role, but Roach is a sleeper Big 12 Player of the Year candidate in this scheme.
Few bigs are as skilled as Avila. The former Indiana State star smartly stuck with his guy, Josh Schertz, who took the Saint Louis job. Schertz helped turn Avila into a star, and the duo should be up to their old tricks again in the Atlantic 10. Avila has established himself as one of the best small-ball bigs in the country. His skill is off the charts, both as a passer, low-post threat and a true floor-stretching big man. Saint Louis smartly added athletic forwards like Kalu Anya and AJ Casey to cover up some of Avila's deficiencies on the defensive end. He's not a shot-blocker, but Avila is a cheat code offensively, so that makes up for it. Cue the Cream Abdul-Jabbar or Larry Nerd jokes.
Playing with a ridiculous motor can make up for a lot. Omier, a 6-7, 240-pound forward, doesn't have elite height, but he plays so hard. Omier has turned himself into one of the best players in the country. Omier eats rebounds for breakfast, lunch and dinner. He will sprint the floor whether he's getting the ball or not. He sets good screens and plays with toughness and physicality. The little stuff is a constant. The intangibles are glorious. But Omier added an extra layer to his game with his 3-ball. Omier shot 35% on 68 attempts from downtown last season. Omier at the 5 will be a cheat code for a Baylor offense that didn't need much help. Five-shooter lineups will be a staple and the paint will be cleared for Baylor's guards to get to the tin. Baylor's offense has been awesome without a five-out option. Now it has one. Look out.
Kansas State paid up to win the Coleman Hawkins sweepstakes, and Jerome Tang's next priority is getting the Dug McDaniel-Hawkins, pick-and-pop game humming right away. McDaniels' speed and Hawkins' deep range should open the floor up for Kansas State's offense, but Hawkins, the creator, might be more important than Hawkins, the shooter. His ability to carve up defenses as a passer and a handler will be a wrinkle that few other big men possess. Tang is also one of the best defensive coaches in the sport, and a now-healthy Hawkins gives Tang so much lineup versatility because he can switch onto guards and pester big wings. Hawkins has some of the best hands in the country. He should be a deflection machine for a K-State defense that usually wants to take the ball away.
Danny Sprinkle is bringing Osobor with him again to a new job. This time with way more fanfare and a whole lot more NIL money. Osobor is one of the best small-ball centers in the portal who may have to downshift to the 4 if Franck Kepnang can ever get healthy. You would feel that duo. Osobor can play with anybody thanks to his rim pressure and playmaking. He flirted with some triple-doubles last season at Utah State, and Washington will need him to make great decisions if it wants to compete in a gauntlet of a Big Ten. There's optimism that Osobor can expand his jumper out to the perimeter but that hasn't happened yet. He's a career 64% free throw shooter. Sprinkle would be overjoyed if he can crack the 70% range because he could lead the Big Ten in free throw attempts next season.
Myles Rice could provide the spark Indiana has been missing for, the guard position. USATSI
Indiana's pitiful pick-and-roll offense needed a life raft, and Rice will team up with Stanford transfer Kanaan Carlyle to be the solution. The vibrant point guard waltzes into a new-look backcourt with a real chance to be The Man. Rice is a jitterbug with the ball in his hands. An explosive first step helps Rice navigate into the paint left and right. Washington State played two non-shooting bigs so often last season, so IU's crowded paint won't be anything new to Rice. He's a capable shooter but he wasn't efficient last season because he was often Washington State's late-clock, bail-out guy. He makes up for it with a barrage of finishes and proficient reads in the ball-screen game. Rice is also an awesome point-of-attack defender who more than held his own for a Washington State defense that finished second in the Pac-12 in league play. Rice, simply, refuses to get screened. That's a skill. Rice can be a first-team, All-Big Ten player next season.
Aidoo was one of the few no-brainers in the portal. Aidoo is a plug-and-play big man who can do it all. He can protect the rim, uncork soft-touch jumpers, post up, run the floor, pass a little bit and convert his free throws. There's just so much to like about his game, and the table is set for Aidoo to be a top-two option at Arkansas. He'll be the outlet for Arkansas' electric backcourt. If his engine is revving non-stop, Aidoo can be one of the best big men in the country.
Alabama's rim defense went from a major strength in 2022-23 to a major weakness last season. Omoruyi's presence should single-handedly make Alabama a vicious rim defense again. The Rutgers transfer is an excellent drop-coverage defender who has an insane wingspan that he uses on both ends. The offensive ecosystem at Alabama is so much better than it was last season at Rutgers. Omoruyi as a legit lob threat who can loom in the dunker spot will be more effective than heavy post-up reps. Omoruyi is also one of the best raw athletes in the country. His dunks will shake the rim for days.
Johnson is expected to be a massive piece of this UCLA team. He's one of the best all-around defenders in the country, and under Mick Cronin's guidance, he could transform into a Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year frontrunner. Playing with a point guard like Isaiah Collier was supposed to help Johnson's offensive game, but he regressed big-time as a shooter. There's still plenty of reason for cautious optimism of a bounceback in that regard. Johnson's slashing and defense give him such a high floor. He doesn't have to be a star for the Bruins, but fresh scenery could unlock his full bag. Johnson-to-UCLA is pound-for-pound as good a fit as anyone in the portal.
Mitchell was a piece for Duke, but he will be the piece for Mizzou. It's an excellent bet by both sides. Mitchell could give Dennis Gates a Kobe Brown-like, jumbo initiator who can be the centerpiece of an offense. His drives can be nasty, especially when an opposing center is guarding him. A top dawg role at Missouri should help him play with more confidence and assertiveness, two attributes that started to dissipate at Duke down the stretch. Mitchell can be a terrific two-way piece for the Tigers, and he's positioned to put up career-best numbers in his new home.
A hint of familiarity is just so huge for a new coach. Robinson had a breakout season under Mark Pope at BYU, and he smartly chose to run it back. This time he'll don the Kentucky threads. Robinson demands so much attention because he's a legit 6-7 shooter who never stops moving and can elevate over just about every defender. Robinson was also one of the top transition scorers in college basketball last season, despite only shooting 28% on his transition 3s. Some positive regression is coming in that department. As he continues to grow as an on-ball creator, Robinson's game will reach new heights. But he's a darn good college basketball player right now and could lead the SEC in 3-point shooting.
Mahaney is the only player on this UConn roster who has been the No. 1 option on the scouting report in college. That'll be invaluable. The 6-foot-3 junior guard has all the qualities that Hurley wants. He's tough. He's a winner. He's reliable. He's smart. Oh, and he can shoot it. Mahaney shot 38% on his catch-and-shoot 3-pointers as a sophomore and 46% as a freshman. Per Synergy, no high-major team generated a higher percentage of open catch-and-shoot 3-pointers last season than … UConn. Mahaney should fit like a glove in this backcourt, and he's a killer in late-clock scenarios. UConn should maximize his strengths and cover up the warts in his game.
Small and DeVries give West Virginia a 1-2 punch that can play with anybody. Small was one of the top pick-and-roll scorers in the portal, but playing next to a stud scorer like DeVries should open up more spot-up opportunities for Small. That should be money in the bank. Small was a bad catch-and-shoot weapon at East Carolina, but he worked tirelessly to make it a strength. He splashed 47% of his catch-and-shoot 3-pointers last season at Oklahoma State. Small was a good No. 1 option for Oklahoma State last season. He should be a great No. 2 option for WVU in 2024-25.
Xavier scored the fifth-most points off handoffs last season, per Synergy. It added one of the best shooters in the portal who excelled on … handoffs. Only 15 players in the country made more 3-pointers off handoffs than Conwell last season. Conwell's shot profile is all 3-pointers or stuff at the rim. Conwell splashed over 42% of his catch-and-shoot triples and also shot over 62% at the rim. He was one of the best shooting guards in the country last season, and he's going to a scheme that excels at letting snipers cook. Conwell only has one season under his belt where he was a plus-shooter, but if that sticks (as expected), he can be one of the best players in the Big East.
New Michigan coach Dusty May did not get his entire FAU band to follow him to Michigan, but he did land maybe the most important one. Goldin can be one of the Big Ten's best big men next season. He's a complete load in the paint, but his improved mobility and touch around the basket has helped him become a much better target in the ball-screen game. Goldin isn't super fluid but he's so powerful. When he stays under control, he's a monster. Goldin is not some Nikola Jokic-like distributor, but he'll make the simple reads if he's doubled or on the short roll. He has real high-major size, so Michigan can play him one-on-one against just about anybody defensively. Goldin should be highly productive at Michigan.
Indiana's rebounding was not a strength last season, but Ballo can single-handedly raise that floor significantly. The 7-foot, 260-pound center is impossible to move, and he's become one of the best rebounders in the sport, period. Ballo is an outstanding play-finisher in pick-and-rolls and should set bone-crushing screens for IU's ball-handlers. Ballo will seal his man and finish in the paint efficiently with post-ups. He also offers a solid interior defense. Arizona's top-10 defense was fantastic with Ballo on the floor, but he's pretty much limited to just drop coverage and teams will try to exploit that. Big men like Ballo are usually a cheat code for regular-season success, but he needs to get fully healthy.
No one scored more points in pick-and-rolls last season than McDaniel. Now, he's headed to the Octagon of Doom where short kings like Markquis Nowell (and Tylor Perry to a lesser extent) have put up numbers. McDaniel has legit defensive questions, but he's such a tough cover due to his speed, deep jumper and nifty floater. Kansas State's funkily-built roster is dependent on McDaniel being a superstar. His usage rate should be ridiculously high. He will put up numbers. Will it impact winning?
St.John's Deivon Smith was a triple-double machine at Utah. USATSI
Smith's speed, competitiveness, defense and court vision should be everything Pitino craves from his point guards. The fit between Richmond and Smith has been questioned from the start. Both high-usage guards aren't high-volume, 3-point shooters. But Richmond is more of a halfcourt hub and Smith is awesome in transition. That push-pull should add some diversity to St. John's profile. Smith's ability to bend defenses and create long closeouts for Richmond to attack is the way for this duo to thrive together.
Pedulla is just an all-around great player. The 6-1 guard is a flamethrower shooter who gets to the free-throw line and is very unselfish. His efficiency numbers might have been better without numerous late-clock heaves that litter his Virginia Tech tape, but Pedulla is a real three-level scorer. He quickly assimilated to various roles at Virginia Tech, and that should pop up in a more-talented Ole Miss roster. If Ole Miss needs Pedulla to score, he will. If Ole Miss needs Pedulla to be a pass-first guy on some night, he'll do that, too. Pedulla's ability to play on or off the ball gives Chris Beard real flexibility with his lineup construction blueprints.
Texas Tech is a haven for former Mountain West Freshman of the Year winners. Last season, it was Darrion Williams. This year, it's Toppin. The 6-foot-9, 210-pound big man should slot in as Texas Tech's starting 4-man, and he can be one of the most impactful defenders on the roster. Toppin can slide those puppies on the perimeter while offering legitimate rim protection. Toppin was a stocks (steals and blocks) machine last season at New Mexico, and he's a junkyard dawg on the glass. Toppin has to grow as a shooter, both from downtown and from the free throw line, but Elijah Hawkins should generate so many open looks for Toppin to eat around the rim.
Claude is the best addition for new USC coach Eric Musselman. The 6-foot-6, 207-pound guard will be the No. 1 option for this Trojans' club. Claude will be an impact defender from the jump, but USC will rely on him to be a late-game closer, too. Claude has outstanding positional size, and Xavier put him in a ton of ball screens. Expect more of the same at USC. Claude should take another step as a shooter which could help him become a true three-level scorer. If that happens, he can be one of the best players in the Big Ten. Don't be stunned if he flirts with some triple-doubles eventually. Jumbo-sized initiators have thrived under Musselman in the past. Claude is up next.
The fifth-year senior is an utter deadeye on catch-and-shoot 3-pointers. Youngblood drained 40% of his treys for three straight years. Why would that change next year in one of the best offensive systems in the country? But Youngblood shouldn't be painted as just a specialist. The South Florida transfer was well-coached into a well-rounded hooper. He's a broad-shouldered, thick veteran who isn't afraid to post up against smaller guards and rack up fouls. It's a good strategy when you're a career 82% free throw shooter. His pull-up jumper is so, so silky. Youngblood-to-Alabama is one of the best fits in the transfer portal.
Mack is a shifty point guard who can break down defenses left and right and uncork two-handed, frozen ropes or one-handed, live-dribble whips to shooters. The sophomore's playmaking is why he's the jewel of this Georgetown transfer haul. Mack has all the physical tools to be one of the better point guards in the Big East.
Lanier was one of the coveted guards in this transfer cycle because of his silky-smooth jumper that he can get to off the catch or off the bounce. His mechanics are a little funky. Sometimes his knees nearly touch the basketball on his gather and load, but he's able to get it off. Tennessee will likely play him off the ball and run him off a ton of floppy actions for 3-pointers, similar to what it did with Dalton Knecht. Tennessee's horde of nasty defenders should cover up some of Lanier's perceived deficiencies on that end.
Uzan is a plug-and-play starting point guard for Kelvin Sampson who will provide an outstanding feel for the game and get the ball where it needs to go. Uzan finished with a two-to-one, assist-to-turnover ratio last season, but it can be way better at Houston. Uzan has loads of outstanding play-finishers that he can find along with two absolute net-shredders like LJ Cryer and Emanuel Sharp to keep the floor spaced properly. Uzan can manipulate the defense and find cutters or shooters at the very last second, and he's a willing, active defender. The jumper will be the swing skill set. Uzan can shoot it. He proved that as a freshman when he shot over 38% from downtown in Big 12 play. But he regressed last season. If he can get back to the mid-to-high 30s to go along with his fabulous floater, terrific court-mapping and well-rounded defense, Uzan can be a massive piece for a Houston club that has its sights set on a national championship run.
Tyson was such a necessary addition to a UNC offense that so badly needed a big, rangy shooter. Tyson does not create much offense for himself off the bounce, but that could be another wrinkle to add to his game this offseason. Being able to attack smaller matchups with post-ups (similar to what Harrison Ingram did) would be a huge boost for Tyson's NBA stock. At minimum, Tyson is a plug-and-play sniper who was efficient from downtown, the midrange and at the rim, but Tyson is far from a finished product.
