Tuesday’s 6-pack:
Teams shooting the best %age on the foul line:
84.6%— Wisconsin
83.4%— Tex-San Antonio
81.3%— Cal-Irvine
80.4%— Richmond
80.3%— Michigan State
79.9%— Villanova
Quote of the Day
“Obviously, people have their thoughts on how it went down, and I understand the emotional aspect of it, but I’m happy for Liam. We all had a few choice words for him before we actually told him we were happy for him. I can’t be mad at that — as much as I would want to have him still here.”
Bucs’ QB Baker Mayfield, talking about Liam Coen becoming HC of the Jaguars
Tuesday’s quiz
Who played QB for the Rams, the first time they played in a Super Bowl?
Monday’s quiz
Ron Jaworski was the Philadelphia Eagles’ QB, the first time they played in a Super Bowl.
Sunday’s quiz
Danny Hurley coached at Rhode Island, before he became the coach at UConn.
***********************************
Tuesday’s Den: College basketball trends, by conference…….
We’re roughly at the halfway point of the conference season.
Following stats are for conference games only:
— SEC
8-0 Auburn leads 8-1 Alabama by a game.
Missouri is 7-1 ATS in SEC games.
Tennessee is 4-1 ATS as an SEC home favorite.
SEC has the 2nd-highest %age of offensive rebounds.
40.4% of shots in this league are 3-point shots (#6 of 31 leagues)
— Big 18
9-1 Michigan State is in first, just ahead of 9-2 Purdue, 8-2 Michigan State
Oregon is 1-4 ATS as a Big 18 home favorite.
Wisconsin is 8-2 ATS in its last ten games.
Big 18 games have the 5th-fastest tempo of any league.
Teams are making 52.5% of their 2-point shots (#6)
— Big X
Houston/Arizona are 9-1, tied for first, game ahead of Texas Tech.
BYU is 5-1 SU/6-0 ATS in its last six games.
Colorado is 0-10 SU/1-9 ATS in its conference games.
Big X teams are shooting 50% inside arc (#25)
Big X games have the #20 tempo out of 31 leagues.
— Big East
10-1 St John’s leads Marquette/Creighton by a game.
UConn is 0-5 ATS as a Big East home favorite.
Creighton won its last seven games, covered its last eight.
31.3% of Big East games have been decided by 4 or less points, or in OT (#3)
Not lot of fouls called here; Big East games have #27 rate in foul shots taken.
— ACC
11-0 Duke leads 10-1 Clemson by a game, 9-2 Louisville by two games.
North Carolina is 2-4 SU/1-5 ATS in ACC road games.
Louisville is 9-1 SU/8-2 ATS in its last ten games.
ACC games have been played at a slow pace, #26 of 31 leagues.
ACC teams are shooting 75.4% on the foul line (#2)
— Mountain West
10-1 New Mexico leads 9-2 Utah State, 8-2 Colorado State atop the standings.
San Jose State is 4-7 SU, but 10-1 ATS in conference games.
Underdogs are 5-0 ATS in UNLV’s home games.
40.4% of shots in Mountain West games are 3’s (#7)
28.3% of MW games were decided by 4 or fewer points or in OT (#4)
— West Coast
10-0 Saint Mary’s has a 3-game lead 8-3 San Francisco, 7-3 Gonzaga.
Gonzaga is 3-7 ATS as a WCC favorite, 1-4 at home.
Oregon State won/covered its last four home games.
36.2% of WCC games so far were decided by 20+ points (#1 of 31 leagues)
WCC teams are shooting 52.6% inside the arc (#5)
— Famous birthdays, February 4th:
John Schuck, 85
Steve O’Neal, 79
Keith Krepfle, 73
Lawrence Taylor, 66
Vern Fleming, 63
Dan Plesac, 63
Gabrielle Anwar, 55
Rob Corddry, 54
George Kirby, 27
— Atlantic 15
8-1 George Mason leads 7-2 VCU by a game, 6-3 Saint Louis by two games.
Dayton is 2-7 ATS in A-15 games, 0-4 as a home favorite.
VCU is 7-1 SU/6-2 ATS in its last eight games.
A-15 teams are shooting 32.6% on the arc (#27 of 31 leagues)
Home teams are winning 67.2% of games SU (#5)
— Conference USA
7-2 Jacksonville State leads Middle Tennessee State by a game.
Western Kentucky won/covered its last three games.
Sam Houston State is 1-8 ATS in conference games.
C-USA teams are shooting 31.2% on arc (#31 of 31)
Home teams are winning 64.4% of games SU (#6)
— American
8-1 Memphis leads UAB, North Texas by a game.
South Florida is 0-6 ATS in its last six games.
UAB is 7-2 ATS in its conference games.
AAC teams are shooting 35% on the arc (#9)
24.1% of AAC games were decided by 4 or fewer points or in OT (#7)
— Missouri Valley
10-2 Drake leads Bradley by a game, Northern Iowa by two games.
Bradley is 1-5 ATS as an MVC home favorite.
Southern Illinois is 6-2 ATS in its last eight games.
MVC teams are shooting 53.3% inside the arc (#3)
41.2% of shots in MVC games are 3’s (#5); they’re shooting 35.2% on arc (#5)
— Big West
10-1 Cal-Irvine leads Cal-San Diego, Cal-Riverside atop the standings.
Bakersfield is 1-5 SU/0-6 ATS on Big West road.
Riverside is 5-1 SU/ATS in its last six games.
Big West teams are shooting 76.4% on foul line (#1)
Big West games are being played at #6 tempo out of 31 leagues.
— Southern
8-2 Southern leads Chattanooga, NC-Greensboro by a game.
VMI is 5-5 SU/9-1 ATS in conference games.
Wofford is 1-4 ATS as a SoCon home favorite.
45.4% of SoCon shots are 3’s, #1 %age of any league
SoCon teams are making 35.1% of those 3’s (#7)
— WAC
7-1 Grand Canyon/Utah Valley are tied for first place.
Tex-Arlington is 4-4 SU/2-6 ATS in WAC games.
Utah Valley is 4-0 SU/ATS in WAC home games.
WAC teams have a 48.7% eFG%, 2nd-worst of any league.
WAC home teams are 25-9 SU, #2 of the 31 leagues.