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Bar Chat

11/20/2023

College Football...Florida State with a big injury...

Add-on posted early Tuesday p.m.

I was in a rush to post Sunday because I had some major Wake Forest events to follow, let alone my Jets game, and in my haste, I stupidly forgot the Chicago Bears have Carolina’s No. 1 draft pick (fellow Wake alum Dr. W. reminded me of my careless comment…though I would still rather have Caleb Williams than Bryce Young, an inference I was making).  Anyway….

Wake Forest was taking on LSU in hoops down in Charleston as I was posting.  I had written earlier that this was a critical game and Wake came up short, again, now 0-3 vs. Power Six schools, falling 86-80 in overtime.  Crap.  Our three guards, Hildreth, Sallis and Miller, combined for 59 points, but also committed 14 of 18 total turnovers.

So, in all three Power Six games thus far, Georgia, Utah and LSU, we were right there and could have won them all.  Again, these next two against Florida and Rutgers could easily be our season, before ACC play even begins.

To those who say November college hoops can be entertaining but really isn’t that meaningful, WRONG!  Case in point, the Deacs.

Right after the Wake hoops contest, as I was furiously flipping with the disastrous Jets game, Wake took on Indiana in the second round of the NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship and the freakin’ Deacs lost 3-2 in overtime.  And this was at home.  [What a dreadful four hours for my school.]

Yes, Wake soccer gets into the NCAA tournament more than any other school in the country, but we have one freakin’ title despite this extended period of success in the regular season.

And our last hoops Final Four was 1962!

And the football team hasn’t beaten an AP top five since 1946!

Thank God the Lady Deacs won last spring’s NCAA Golf title, and the baseball team had a nice run, but even here, we were the No. 1 seed and came up short.

By the way, No. 1 seed Marshall, No. 2 Notre Dame, and 3 North Carolina advanced into the Sweet 16 in soccer.

But James Madison upset 4-seed Georgetown 1-0, continuing JMU’s staggering sports success this fall, witness football and basketball.  Good for the Dukes!

College Football

--The CFP rankings will be revealed at 7:00 PM ET tonight, Tuesday, on ESPN.

There seems little doubt the CFP will jump Washington over Florida State, a la the AP this week.  Where Ohio State and Michigan line up is meaningless, given they are about to settle things on the field Saturday, noon, on FOX in “The Game.”

The other biggie in terms of the Final Four chase is Oregon State at 6 Oregon, Friday night, 8:30 ET, also on FOX.

Frankly, I hope this one is not in doubt come mid-third quarter because with this late start, I sure as hell am not staying up until midnight, or beyond!

--Florida State confirmed quarterback Jordan Travis is out for the season with a serious leg injury, college career over.

--Syracuse fired head coach Dino Babers, ending an eight-year tenure that consisted of one big season, and the rest bleh…41-55.

Massive final game Saturday in Syracuse, Wake Forest in town!  2:00 p.m. on the CW, so right after “The Game,” flip this one on for the ultimate in sports entertainment.

--Cam Rising said he will return to Utah after redshirting this season due to the knee injury he suffered in last January’s Rose Bowl.  His value is worthless in the NFL unless he comes back and proves he’s fine.

NFL

--It finally happened…Jets coach Robert Saleh benched Zach Wilson for Tim Boyle for Friday’s game against the Dolphins. 

Boyle, 0-3-0 in three starts with Detroit in 2021 (3 TDs / 6 INTs…3-9 for his career), gets the nod after picking up 33 yards on 14 passing attempts with an interception in relief of Wilson Sunday.

Trevor Siemian, 31, who was Denver’s primary starter 2016-17, is the backup to Boyle.

This of course is all on GM Joe Douglas.  Us fans were screaming for him to get a competent backup, my choice being Colt McCoy, once Aaron Rodgers went down, but Douglas did nothing…zero…until a few weeks ago when he put Siemian on the practice squad.

Totally inexcusable.

Meanwhile, Saleh has defended Wilson all season.  No longer.  Zach has very likely played his last snap for the Jets.  Good riddance. Saleh may not last the rest of the season himself.

As for Sunday’s game, the national lead-in to “60 Minutes,” the Jets were a disgrace, getting outgained by Buffalo 393-155 in a 32-6 beatdown, every NFL analyst giving New York a big fat ‘F’.

--Sunday night, Denver won its fourth-in-a-row…which is rather staggering…5-5 after a 1-5 start that had football fans, like moi, besmirching the franchise and coach Sean Payton.

But as I noted last week, Russell Wilson is playing really well, and he led the Broncos to a thrilling 21-20 win over the Vikings (5-6), connecting with Courtland Sutton on a beautiful 15-yard TD hookup with 1:03 to play for the lead.

Wilson, 27/35, 259, 1-0, 106.7, now has seven touchdown passes and zero interceptions in the 4-game winning streak,

--Monday night, the Eagles moved to 9-1 (the first time a team has started 9-1 for a second straight season since Peyton Manning’s Colts, 2005-06), with a 21-17 win in Kansas City (7-3).

Once again, the Eagles were hardly impressive on offense, Jalen Hurts just 14/22, 150, 0-1, 64.6, but two touchdowns rushing.  K.C. outgained Philadelphia 336-238.

But Hurts came through when it mattered most, the Eagles taking the lead on a fourth-quarter, 80-yard drive, highlighted by a beautiful 41-yarder to DeVonta Smith, down to the 1 – setting up the deciding TD.

Hurts has also now won 13 straight games against teams with winning records, the longest streak since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger.

Patrick Mahomes wasn’t exactly scintillating either, 24/43, 177, 2-1, 71.6, but he was victimized late when Marquez Valdes-Scantling dropped a long throw that was on the mark and would have taken Valdes-Scantling to the one-yard-line, or for a TD, with 1:42 left to play.

Mahomes’ receivers have sucked this year…an NFL-leading 26 drops.

--Pittsburgh fired offensive coordinator Matt Canada.  The Steelers have been outgained in all ten games this season, despite a 6-4 record.

Best teams….

AFC

Baltimore 8-3
Miami 7-3
Cleveland 7-3
Jacksonville 7-3
Kansas City 7-3

NFC

Philadelphia 9-1
Detroit 8-2
San Francisco 7-3

In the 49ers’ 27-14 win over the Bucs (4-6), Brock Purdy pitched the first perfect game (158.3 passer rating) in franchise history since Joe Montana in 1989, Purdy 21/25, 333, 3-0.

After throwing five interceptions during San Fran’s shocking 3-game losing streak, Purdy has back-to-back three touchdown, zero interceptions efforts.

--Back to the topic of the 2024 Draft Order…revised current order…

1. Chicago (from CAR)
2. Arizona
3. New England
4. Chicago
5. New York Giants
6. Tennessee
7. Washington
8. Atlanta
9. Green Bay
10. Tampa Bay
11. New York Jets

I was looking at Mel Kiper’s list of quarterbacks for the draft; Caleb Williams No. 1, Drake Maye No. 2.

But he has Shedeur Sanders at 3, ahead of Jayden Daniels (4), J.J. McCarthy (5) and Bo Nix (6).

No way he’s third.

It looks like as of now, Nix and McCarthy could be second-round selections.  Someone will get a steal with Nix in particular.

College Basketball

--New AP Poll, records thru Sunday….

1. Kansas (52) 3-0
2. Purdue (5) 3-0
3. Arizona (3) 5-0
4. Marquette 3-0
5. UConn (1) 4-0
6. Houston 6-0
7. Tennessee 3-0
8. Creighton 4-0
9. Duke 3-1
10. Miami 5-0
11. Gonzaga 2-0
14. North Carolina 3-0
18. Colorado 3-0
22. James Madison 4-0

Well, Monday, 2 Purdue beat 11 Gonzaga 73-63 in the outstanding Maui Invitational.  Zach Edey had 25 points and 14 rebounds for the Boilermakers, but the starting five was 1 of 12 from three, so watch out come March…FDU, FDU!

Tonight, in the Maui Invitational, what a doubleheader, though you’ll have to stay up rather on the East Coast to catch both.

8:00 PM ET…7 Tennessee vs. 2 Purdue

10:30…1 Kansas vs. 4 Marquette

MLB

--The Phillies agreed to a seven-year, $172 million contract with Aaron Nola, bringing back the homegrown talent who has become as durable and reliable a starter as there is in the game, at least 180 innings the last five full seasons, 32+ starts.  Very similar to teammate Zack Wheeler, a solid 1-2 in the rotation.

I wish we had the two, mused the Mets fan, 2-hours up the Turnpike.

But c’mon, Mets, let’s sign Yoshinobu Yamamoto!  If the Yankees do, I’m committing hari-kari (Ken. P. noted the other day, ‘Again?’).

Yamamoto is now “posted,” so the negotiations will be fast and furious.

--San Diego is hiring former Cardinals manager Mike Shildt to be their new manager, replacing Bob Melvin, who left the team for San Francisco.

Golf Balls

--At first, I was a bit surprised that NBC decided not to renew Paul Azinger’s contract to be the lead analyst, ending his five years with the network.

But then after reading a slew of comments from golf writers, the consensus is Zinger was woefully unprepared.  What I liked was he wasn’t afraid to say anything or criticize a player, a la Johnny Miller, who looking back, was generally outstanding.

NBC has now parted ways with three of its most notable voices in the last calendar year – Azinger, Gary Koch and Roger Maltbie.

Curt Byrum is taking over for Zinger at the Hero World Challenge.   No word on beyond that as yet.

--Jordan Spieth has been elected to fill Rory McIlroy’s vacated spot on the PGA Tour Policy Board, joining Tiger Woods, Patrick “Dick” Cantlay, Webb Simpson, Peter Malnati and Charley Hoffman, for the term running through 2024.

--Speaking of Tiger, the TGL, the Tiger, Rory-led mixed-reality circuit previously scheduled to launch in five weeks, will now be delayed a year following extensive damage to the league’s arena.

Last week the air-supported dome of TGL’s SoFi Center in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., collapsed due to what TGL officials cite as a power failure.  “At this time, while we assess the damage, it is too early to determine the impact on our timelines,” a TGL spokesperson said in a statement.  “There were no injuries, and no technology was impacted.  Other work on site is continuing.”

However, the league is now expected to be pushed back to 2025.

Postponing for just weeks or months wasn’t an option, because ESPN, which is set to present the league on its networks, could not adjust to the shift in schedule for its broadcast windows.

The six-team league was set to begin play on Jan. 9.

The SoFi center is 250,000 square feet and will accommodate about 2,000 spectators. 

--Brooks Koepka went on Instagram, to LIV Golf’s official account, and left two public comments sarcastically alluding to the fact LIV has no schedule for 2024, one post having been deleted.

Only one event in Adelaide is officially scheduled thus far.

--Bob Harig of SI.com said no deal is imminent between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, with a Dec. 31 deadline looming.

But Harig does say the Tour has been talking with various private equity firms who have shown considerable interest in investing in a new for-profit venture called PGA Tour Enterprises that – under the framework agreement – would bring the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour and the PIF together.

What wouldn’t be good is no deal whatsoever, because then PIF can continue to pump more into LIV and the PGA Tour risks losing more marquee names.  And that just weakens the game, which is in terrific shape otherwise with all the young guns coming in.

At the same time, PIF’s Yasir Al-Rumayyan wants to be part of the big table, everyone knows that.

Harig concludes, however, that what seems likely is the deadline is simply extended, but it can’t be extended that long, because then it begins to impact 2025.

Stuff

--Sotheby’s is set to auction off six shirts worn by Lionel Messi during Argentina’s winning run at last year’s World Cup in Qatar and thinks they could become the most valuable collection of sports memorabilia ever sold at potentially more than $10 million.

The auction house said Monday it will put up for sale in New York six of the seven first-half jerseys Messi wore in Qatar, including the one he donned in the dramatic win in the final game against France.

So if you have ample coin lying around (personally, I don’t), it seems the auction will be between Nov. 30 and Dec. 14.

I gotta say, the valuation makes total sense.  It will be some emir in Qatar who grabs ‘em all.

Next Bar Chat, Sunday p.m.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

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[Posted early Sunday p.m., ahead of late NFL games….]

Pac-12 Football Quiz: As we bid adieu…the Pac-12 had its inception for football in 1916, though of course it was far from the Pac-12 then.  1) What four schools have 15 or more conference titles?  2) Name the four coaches with six or more titles?  [You get the initials of one old-time coach, H.J.]  3) What year did the conference go from Pac-8 to Pac-10 with the addition of Arizona and Arizona State?  4) What year did it become the Pac-12 with the addition of Colorado and Utah? Answers below.

College Football Review

Comments made prior to release of new AP Poll…new CPF rankings Tuesday….

CFP rankings used below….

Just a reminder of the changes the CFP made in its rankings, now concurring with the AP on the top spot.

CFP

1. Georgia
2. Ohio State
3. Michigan
4. Florida State

AP

1. Georgia
2. Michigan
3. Ohio State
4. Florida State

Both polls concur on….

5. Washington
6. Oregon
7. Texas
8. Alabama

--The University of Michigan and the Big Ten settled on Thursday, Michigan and coach Jim Harbaugh giving up his fight against the Big Ten’s three-game suspension Thursday, meaning the Big Ten’s investigation is over, and there was no tussle Friday morning in court as previously scheduled.

But the NCAA’s investigation into Michigan’s sign-stealing continues, and Friday, the Wolverines fired linebackers coach Chris Partridge.

No reason was given by Michigan for the firing, but Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger tweeted that “Michigan leaders were presented new evidence this week in the NCAA’s investigation into its advance scouting scheme.”

The new evidence “presumably” led Michigan to stop fighting discipline so forcefully, Dellenger wrote.

It is unclear what new evidence the NCAA uncovered, but Michigan said in its statement: “The Conference has confirmed that it is not aware of any information suggesting Coach Harbaugh’s involvement in the allegations.”

So then 3 Michigan had a most unimpressive win Saturday at Maryland (6-5), 31-24, the Terrapins’ defense holding the Wolverines to just 291 yards, but Taulia Tagovailoa coughed it up three times at QB for Maryland and that was the game, a fumble of his returned for a TD.  Michigan 11-0 and now…

…of course, it’s all about next week’s game against 2 Ohio State (11-0) 37-3 victors over Minnesota (5-6).  TreVeyon Henderson rumbled for 146 yards on just 15 carries and two touchdowns, including a 75-yard scamper for a score.

No. 1 Georgia (11-0) cruised again, this time at 18 Tennessee (7-4) 38-10, the Vols not taking advantage of Dolly Parton singing Rocky Top.

For the Bulldogs, the ever-improving Carson Beck was surgical, 24/30, 298, 3-0, as he makes a late bid for the Heisman stage in New York in a few weeks.

Which brings us to the disaster down in Tallahassee.  In 4 Florida State’s (11-0) 58-13 win over North Alabama, who actually led 13-0 after the first, Heisman candidate Jordan Travis suffered an apparently severe leg injury and as I go to post, we assume he is clearly out for the season.

Just a devastating blow, with huge CFP implications.  [Tate Rodemaker did step in for Travis and play well.]

FSU is locked into the ACC championship game with 10 Louisville (10-1), 38-31 victors on the road at Miami (6-5), the Hurricanes with a last-second Hail Mary just falling short.

So what will the selection committee do this week?  Knowing FSU’s star is out the rest of the way, do they elevate 5 Washington (11-0) to clear a path for the Huskies?  Washington had a big 22-20 win at cold and rainy 11 Oregon State (8-3).  The Beaver defense smothered Washington in the second half, after the Huskies took a 22-10 halftime lead, but it wasn’t enough.

Meanwhile, the team playing as well as anyone in the nation, 6 Oregon, is 10-1 (the only loss to Washington) following a 49-13 win at Arizona State, as one of the two clear favorites for the Heisman, Bo Nix, was 24/29, 404, 6-0…all six touchdown passes in the first half.

Nix now has 35 TD passes and just two interceptions!

Just to jump ahead, the other Heisman co-contender, 15 LSU’s Jayden Daniels, accounted for eight…eight…touchdowns in a 56-14 win over Georgia State (6-5).  [Daniels tied Joe Burrow, who accounted for eight TDs against Oklahoma back in 2019.]

Daniels was 25/30, 413, 6-0, through the air, and 10-98-2 on the ground.

Yes, you know how I feel about Daniels, virtually all season, but I still put Nix ahead because of Oregon’s overall success.

Continuing with the top ten…7 Texas (10-1) stayed CFP relevant with a 26-16 win at Iowa State (6-5).

8 Alabama is 10-1 after a 66-10 win over Chattanooga (7-4), football fans eagerly awaiting the SEC championship game.

9 Missouri (9-2) stayed in the New Year’s Six hunt, barely, with a 33-31 win over Florida (5-60, as Harrison Nevis booted a 30-yard field goal with 0:05 left.  The Gators had taken a 31-30 lead with just 1:36 to play, but Brady Cook led the Tigers 62 yards to get to the Florida 13 for the winning kick.

In other games of note….

12 Penn State (9-2) kept alive its New Year’s Six hopes with a boring 27-6 win over Rutgers (6-5), the Nittany Lions outgaining the Scarlet Knights 322-229, Rutgers’ Gavin Wimsatt with three turnovers.

13 Ole Miss is 9-2 with a 35-3 triumph over UL Monroe (2-9), Jaxson Dart throwing for 310 yards and three touchdowns after a slow start.

By the way…what is ULM’s nickname?  Answer below.

14 Oklahoma is 9-2 following a 31-24 win at BYU (5-6).

16 Iowa (9-2) is headed to the Big Ten championship game, 15-13 winners over Illinois (5-6).

17 Arizona (8-3) continued to surge with an impressive 42-18 win over 22 Utah (7-4).

19 Notre Dame (8-3) wishes it were still New Year’s Six eligible, but unlikely, despite a 45-7 win over Wake Forest (4-7).  Sam Hartman had four touchdown passes versus his former teammates in an emotional day for him, and Wake coach Dave Clawson, who remains rightfully bitter about the exit, and how Wake just can’t compete in the NIL game.  It sucks.  It’s the only reason Hartman left, and obviously the Deacs are an entirely different team if he had opted to play his final season in Winston-Salem instead.

This talk of Hartman looking to improve his NFL standing by playing in an NFL offense is bunk.

Meanwhile, Hartman now has 132 career touchdown passes, 4th in NCAA Div. I history.

20 North Carolina (8-3) fell to Clemson (7-4), 31-20 in Death Valley, as the Tigers’ late-season surge, and a possible significant bowl contest, continues.  Will Shipley rushed for 126 yards and a TD for Clemson.  The supposed future NFL star, Drake Maye, sucked for the Tar Heels, 16/36, 209, 1-1.

21 Kansas State (8-3) had a stirring 31-27 win over 25 Kansas (7-4).

24 Tulane (10-1) stayed atop the Group of Five, New Year’s Six chase with a 24-8 win over Florida Atlantic (4-7).  More in a second.

Yale (7-3) beat Harvard (8-2) 23-18 for the Ivy League title, the two tied at 5-2, along with Dartmouth, but Yale had beaten Dartmouth as well.

Pete M.’s Colgate Red Raiders finished over .500, 6-5, with a 21-14 win over Michael C.’s  Fordham, which also finishes 6-5.

Thursday night, Pitt (3-8) had a nice win over Boston College (6-5) 24-16.  Much needed for the Panthers, who like Wake Forest, need to ‘figure it all out’ quickly or 2024 will be another disaster.

And out West, UCLA improved to 7-4, 38-20 victors over crosstown rival USC (7-5), the Trojans completing an incredibly disappointing, and dreadful season.

What’s so ironic is that ahead of this game, UCLA’s Chip Kelly was looking at a probable firing at season’s end, the Bruins with a last game against California, but this might have saved his job.

On the other hand, Lincoln Riley just wasted a full season with Caleb Williams (384 yards passing yesterday), and the defense never improved all season.  It was horrid!

--Friday night, Colorado was dismantled by Washington State (5-6), 56-14, Coach Prime’s boys falling to 4-7.  No bowl game.  And his son, quarterback Shedeur Sanders, was knocked out of the game after being sacked four times in his first 10 plays, including a brutal hit that appeared to injure his right throwing arm in the first quarter.

Sanders returned to throw a 45-yard touchdown pass to receiver Travis Hunter, but he came out of the game after a fumbled snap in the second quarter, Colorado trailing 28-7, and that was it for Shedeur.

Sanders had been sacked a whopping 48 times coming into the game, often needing painkiller injections to finish off the game.  But he did set Colorado’s single season record with 3,230 passing yards, eclipsing Sefo Liufau in 2014 (3,200).

As for Coach Prime and the talk he could go elsewhere after the season, when asked a question such as ‘What would you tell a recruit and his parents…’, Deion told reporters the other day: “I tell them what I told them when I came here: I’m here, I’m here.  I tell ‘em my mother’s here. My sister’s here. My dog is here.  My daughter’s here.  Three of my sons are here… I’m too honest with parents. I’m gonna tell ‘em the truth.”

Which really isn’t saying anything. Last week a high school recruit in Florida withdrew his commitment to Colorado for 2025 out of concern Sanders might not be around.

I say there is no way he leaves.  It’s not about the money, he has enough of that.  He has to stay one more year to continue the progress made this season, despite the disappointing record, or his legacy is tarnished…in my humble opinion.

--The NCAA Division I Board Administration Committee denied James Madison’s second waiver attempt for full bowl eligibility Wednesday.

JMU is a second-year FCS-FBS transition team, meaning it is not eligible for the postseason this year, unless there aren’t enough 6-6 bowl teams, and it’s very possible JMU will get a game.  The  Dukes are not eligible for the CFP rankings nor eligible for the Sun Belt championship game, per conference policy, the former aspect I admit I was confused about vs. the AP poll.

At first, a few weeks ago, I thought it was wrong JMU was denied, but now I get it.  It is all about setting precedent, and JMU knew the rules when it made the move.

The classification rules have come up frequently in basketball. Fairleigh Dickinson only upset No. 1 seed Purdue in this past spring’s NCAA men’s basketball tournament because Northeast Conference champion Merrimack was not eligible for the tournament as a transitioning Division II school. That jump is a four-year process.

The point in having such a delay, as the Administrative Committee said in part, “is to ensure schools are properly evaluating their long-term sustainability in the subdivision.  Sponsoring sports at this level requires increased scholarships, expanded athletics compliance efforts, and additional academic and mental health support for student-athletes, and the transition period is intended to give members time to adjust to those increased requirements to position student-athletes at those schools for long-term success.”

Remember UAB football?  No one is talking about this, but it’s the perfect example of what the NCAA is trying to prevent.  UAB was in Conference USA and then shelved the program, 2015-16, because of financial/sustainability issues.

JMU hosted College Game Day as the Dukes hosted Appalachian State.

And before we all give up hope that we can see this JMU edition in a bowl contest, it is possible that JMU could match up against Liberty.

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Well, a funny thing happened on the way to dreams of an undefeated season.  Appalachian State (7-4) upset the Dukes, 26-23 in overtime, JMU falling to 10-1.

Also in the Sun Belt, J. Mac’s Coastal Carolina (7-4) lost at Army (5-6) 28-21.  Bad loss for the Chanticleers.

But back to the Group of Five, New Year’s Six contest, SMU is 9-2, 7-0, following a 38-34 win over Memphis (8-3).  SMU’s two losses are to Oklahoma and TCU.  But it didn’t play Tulane in the regular season, though is now headed towards the American Conference title game against, get this, either Tulane or UTSA, also 7-0 in the conference, and Tulane plays UTSA in a biggie on Friday.  Huh.  Ergo, this will all take care of itself in the next two weeks.

But then there’s still Liberty, 11-0 after a 49-25 win over UMass (3-8).

--Oregon coach Dan Lanning said Monday that there is “zero chance” he will leave to coach Texas A&M.  I still think it will be Duke coach Mike Elko.

--Mississippi State fired coach Zach Arnett after just 11 games this week.  He took over the program after the death of coach Mike Leach in 2022 and was in the first year of a four-year contract that paid him $3 million annually.

--San Diego State coach Brady Hoke announced he is retiring at the end of the season.  The Aztecs are a disappointing 3-8 and not eligible for a bowl game for the first time since 2009.  Hoke, 65, is 39-31 over two stints at SDSU and led the Aztecs to a program-record 12 wins in 2021, but they’ve gone just 10-14 since.

--UL Monroe’s nickname is the Warhawks.

And now the new AP Poll….Washington jumped FSU, OSU jumped Mich. …

1. Georgia (61) 11-0
2. Ohio State (1) 11-0
3. Michigan 11-0
4. Washington 11-0
5. Florida State 11-0
6. Oregon 10-1
7. Texas 10-1
8. Alabama 10-1
9. Louisville 10-1
10. Missouri 9-2
11. Penn State 9-2
12. Ole Miss 9-2
13. Oklahoma 9-2
14. LSU 8-3…formula for New Year’s Six doesn’t work, unfortunately…
15. Oregon State 8-3
16. Arizona 8-3
17. Notre Dame 8-3
18. Tulane 10-1
19. Kansas State 8-3
20. Iowa 9-2
21. Oklahoma State 8-3
22. Liberty 11-0
23. Toledo 10-1…huh, haven’t been thinking of them…
24. James Madison 10-1
25. Tennessee 7-4…why are they still in?  They blow…

The CFP will follow suit on Tuesday and place Washington ahead of FSU.  Which is better for Oregon if the Ducks then beat Washington in the Pac-12 title game.

But first, the Ducks need to have their way with the No. 15 Beavers in Eugene next Friday night.

Ohio State at Michigan is Saturday at noon.  Wish it was 3:30.

NFL

--Last Thursday night’s Ravens win over the Bengals (5-5), 34-20, proved to be most costly, for both teams.

Cincinnati’s season is over, as they lost quarterback Joe Burrow for the season with a torn ligament in his right wrist.  The injury, which came during the first half, is at the center of an NFL investigation.

The League is looking into Burrow’s absence from the week’s injury reports and a since-deleted video posted to X showing him wearing what appeared to be a brace on his hand.

Jake Browning, who played adequately in place of Burrow, will be the starter for now.

Meanwhile, the Ravens, 8-3, are back in control, Lamar Jackson returning to form, 264 yards passing, 54 rushing.

Gus Edwards had two touchdowns on the ground for Baltimore, and now has nine in the his last five games.

Odell Beckham Jr. had 116 yards on four receptions, his biggest game in four years, but he hurt his shoulder and had to leave the game late.

But the Ravens lost star tight end Mark Andrews for the season with an ankle injury. A massive blow.

--Earlier in the week, the Browns learned quarterback Deshaun Watson will miss the rest of the season due to a shoulder fracture that requires surgery.  The news came just three days after Watson played a magnificent second half to rally Cleveland to a 33-31 victory over the Ravens, improving the Browns to 6-3.

Watson suffered the injury in the second half, making his performance all the more remarkable: 14 of 14 passing for 134 yards and a touchdown, plus 18 yards on the ground.  It was his best performance of the season, and against the outstanding Ravens’ defense.

But now Cleveland’s $230 million QB is out.

The Browns are moving forward with rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson as their starter, with P.J. Walker in reserve.

Can Cleveland’s elite defense step up even more?

…it did…Cleveland beating Pittsburgh on a last-second 34-yard field goal by Dustin Hopkins, 13-10, as Dorian Thompson-Robinson engineered a final drive to get into field position.  Job done.  Cleveland 7-3, the Steelers 6-4.

--The Jaguars are 7-3 following a 34-14 win over the Titans (3-7), Trevor Lawrence with a solid game, 24/32, 262, 2-0, 119.5, plus two touchdowns rushing.  Jags fan Steve G. no doubt partying hard in Nashville.

--The Texans are 6-4, 21-16 over the Cardinals (2-9) as Houston survived three interceptions by C.J. Stroud, though he did throw for 336 yards and two scores.

--The Lions (8-2) trailed 26-14 with 4:15 left in the game against the Bears, Jared Goff having thrown three interceptions, but Goff and Detroit rallied back for two touchdowns, and a final safety, to pull out a stunning 31-26 win over Chicago (3-8).  On to Turkey Day against the Packers.

--Speaking of Green Bay, they beat the Chargers 23-20, both teams now 4-6.

--Dallas is 7-3 after a 33-10 win over Carolina (1-9).  Will Caleb Williams want to go to Charlotte?  I’m sure Jayden Daniels would.

Dak Prescott only threw for 189 yards, so CeeDee Lamb’s stretch of 150-yard games is over, 6 receptions, just 38 yards.

--Miami is 7-3 with a 20-13 win over the Raiders (5-6), Tyreek Hill with 10 receptions for 146 yards and a score.

--And the Giants probably took themselves out of the Caleb Williams sweepstakes with a 31-19 win over the Commanders (4-7), New York 3-8.  Tommy DeVito did just fine at QB, like real fine…18/26, 246, 3-0, 137.7!

Saquon Barkley, aside from 83 yards on the ground, had two TD receptions.

The game was sealed on a 54-yard pick six by Isaiah Simmons off Sam Howell, who had three interceptions on the day.

MLB

--We closed out awards week on Thursday with Shohei Ohtani and Ronald Acuna Jr. both winning the MVP trophy unanimously, all 30 first-place votes, the first time both were decided unanimously.

Acuna, 41 home runs, 106 RBI and 73 steals, was the first 40-home run, 70-steal season in MLB history.  Before this year, the most home runs in a 70-steal season was 28 (Rickey Henderson, 1986), and the most steals in a 40-home run season was 46 (Alex Rodriguez, 1998).

Ohtani became the first to win the MVP award unanimously on two occasions, the other in 2021.

Shohei led the AL in home runs (44) and the majors in OPS (1.066), while adding 20 steals.  In 23 starts on the mound, he went 10-5 with a 3.14 ERA, striking out 167 in 132 innings.

Corey Seager finished second in the AL voting, Mookie Betts second in the NL.

I thought the NL vote would be closer, Betts with all 30 second-place votes, but he had a poor September after a white-hot August, while Acuna had a super September.  So, I’m backing up my comment to, err, Aug. 31.  [This is a neat little ‘editor’ trick I learned at the International Web Site Association school in Kazakhstan.]

But now it’s about Ohtani’s free-agency and who gives him up to $500 million, despite his recent Tommy John surgery.  Ohtani said through his interpreter Thursday that the rehab was “going really great so far.”

[It’s also all about the Yoshinobu Yamamoto Sweepstakes, the Mets and Yankees seemingly the two main bidders for the Japanese superstar.]

--Meanwhile, Wednesday, Gerrit Cole finally won his first Cy Young Award, after going 15-4 with a 2.63 ERA this season for the Yankees.  He was a unanimous selection as well.  Cole had been runner-up twice before.

In the NL, Blake Snell of the Padres joined some exclusive company with his own Cy Young hardware, having been a winner in 2018 with the Rays, Snell thus becoming just the seventh player to win the award in both leagues.

Snell, 14-9, with an MLB-leading 2.25 ERA, received 28 of 30 first-place votes, Logan Webb (second) and Zac Gallen (third) the other two.

Snell became a free agent after the World Series and rejected a $20,325,000 qualifying offer from the Padres on Tuesday to pursue something more lucrative.

--Tuesday, Baltimore’s Brandon Hyde and Miami’s Skip Schumaker won AL and NL Manager of the Year awards, respectively.

--The Oakland A’s move to Las Vegas was unanimously approved Thursday by MLB team owners, cementing the sport’s first relocation since 2005 (Montreal to Washington).  A 75% vote of the 30 teams was necessary to make the move, which was endorsed by Commissioner Rob Manfred.

After years of complaints about the Oakland Coliseum and an inability to gain government assistance for a new ballpark in the Bay area, the A’s plan to move to a stadium to be built on the Las Vegas Strip, but this won’t be open until 2027 at the earliest.

The A’s lease at the Coliseum expires after the 2024 season and it remains unclear where the team will play before a new ballpark is available, but it’s assumed at the current Triple A park in Vegas, which would need a quick upgrade, no doubt.  [The Las Vegas Aviators did draw nearly 6,800 a game, just about 3,000 less than the Big Boy A’s did.]

--The average game time dipped from 3:04 in 2022 to 2:40 in 2023, with the advent of the pitch clock.  It was funny how early in the season there was much more of a difference, over 30 minutes, but over the campaign, batters, in particular, learned how to better manipulate the clock and almost every hitter seemed to take the allotted time out during an at-bat.  But fans could tell the difference.

There were just six four-hour games this season, with all of them going 12 or more innings.  So not one 4-hour nine-inning game. That’s down from 39 two years ago and 19 in 2022.

There were 232 nine-inning games that lasted at least 3:30 in 2022, and this year, nine!

The shift ban also worked. The game didn’t change much, but it became more watchable.  And left-handed hitters enjoyed much more success on hard-hit balls through the right side.

Steals were way up, with 51 players stealing 20 or more bases last year, the most since 1989.

--Padres owner Peter Seidler, who spent hundreds of millions of dollars trying to bring a long-elusive World Series championship to San Diego, died on Tuesday, the team announced.  He was just 63.

Seidler, who grew up around the game as a third-generation member of the O’Malley family that used to own the Dodgers, was a two-time cancer survivor. The team announced in mid-September that Seidler had an unspecified medical procedure in August and wouldn’t be back at the ballpark the rest of the year.

Seidler, who spent big on players like Manny Machado and Xander Bogaerts, scoffed at the notion that San Diego was a small market.  He viewed it as a unique city where the Padres were the only major sports franchise after the Chargers left for Los Angeles in 2017.  Fans packed Petco Park last year, where the Padres set a franchise attendance record of 3,232,310 in 79 games, including 59 sellouts.  The Padres were the home team in two games against San Francisco in Mexico City.

Seidler’s death comes at a critical point, as they look for a manager to replace Bob Melvin, and debate whether to keep or trade Juan Soto, who is under control for just one more season.

NBA

--The Knicks had a terrific week, with road wins Wed., Friday, and Saturday, at Atlanta, Washington, and Charlotte, to get to 8-5.  Julius Randle with 29, 22, and 21 points in the three, and solid play all around; Jalen Brunson with back-to-back 32-point efforts Friday and Saturday, and even Donte DiVincenzo having 25 against the Hornets, 7-of-10 from three.

--Oklahoma City is the NBA’s “fun team to watch” early on, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leading the way.  But while rookie Victor Wembanyama gets all the publicity among first-year players, the Thunder’s Chet Holmgren could end up as Rookie of the Year!

You remember him…maybe.  The 7’1”, 195-pound string bean out of Gonzaga sat out all last season with an injury, what should have been his rookie campaign.

Well, he’s playing now and Saturday, in OKC’s 130-123 road win at Golden State (6-8), Holmgren had 36 points and 10 rebounds for the now 9-4 Thunder, Gilgeous-Alexander with 40.

--Draymond Green is paying the price for his latest on-court antics.  The NBA suspended  Green for five games for putting a chokehold on T’Wolves big man Rudy Gobert.

“The length of the suspension is based in part on Green’s history of unsportsmanlike acts,” the NBA said in a statement.

Draymond Green is such a dirtball, a real thug.  Into the December file he goes.

College Basketball

--Going back to Tuesday, after I posted my Add-on, No. 1 Kansas beat 17 Kentucky 89-84, as the biggest transfer in the portal this past offseason, 7’2” center Hunter Dickinson (formerly at Michigan) scored 27 points and gathered 21 rebounds; the only player with a 20-20 game against Kentucky in the last 25 seasons.

--There haven’t been any huge upsets, top tens going down, since the James Madison upset early on against then-No. 4 Michigan State, but on Friday, UNC-Greensboro defeated 14 Arkansas in Fayetteville, 78-72.

--Which brings me to Wake Forest, and while it’s early, and like every team Coach Steve Forbes is figuring out a rotation, with two key transfers, solid guards Hunter Sallis (Gonzaga) and Boopie Miller (Central Michigan), and some important freshmen, and what we had returning, I’m confident we’ll be good come January.

But assuming we finished say, seventh, in the ACC, will that be enough to get us into March Madness?

Last season we were hurt by a weak out of conference schedule.  This year Wake beefed it up and, unfortunately, we have lost our first two Power Six encounters to Georgia, 80-77, and the other day to Utah, 77-70.  Friday night, in a tournament in Charleston, S.C., where we had lost to the Utes, we beat Towson, 71-61, Sallis and Miller combining for 49, but we were outrebounded 45-26, Towson with 22 offensive boards!

Granted, Wake was missing 7-footer Matthew Marsh (concussion), and we have a 7-footer from Gonzaga awaiting an NCAA waiver, Efton Reid, but that’s a troubling statistic.

Anyway, here’s the deal.  We have three other big non-conference games coming up, LSU (Sun.), Florida and Rutgers.  We must win 2 of 3 or the NCAA selection committee, come March, will be looking at us, saying these guys went 1-4 in these games.  They don’t deserve to be in.

Golf Balls

--The final event of the Fall Season, the attempt to secure one’s Tour card for 2024, a top 125 finish on the season-long points list necessary to accomplish this.

So heading into the final round of the RSM Classic at St. Simons Island, Georgia…

Ludvig Aberg -20
Eric Cole -19
Mackenzie Hughes -18
Tyler Duncan -17

T8 Ryan Moore -13
T8 Alex Noren -13

And Ludvig Aberg bags his first career win!  Four shots over Mackenzie Hughes.  You talk about a rising star.  Remember, this guy was in the Ryder Cup, and then set out to get his Tour card on the fall circuit and ended up with four straight top-13 performances.

Aberg also jumped into the top-60 in the final standings, meaning he plays in two big Signature events with the massive purses, the Genesis and the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, let alone the Masters…a tradition unlike any other on CBS…and all the other accoutrements coming his way.

Ryan Moore, in finishing T8, jumped from 128 to 118 and earns his 2024 Tour card.  Great stuff.

Alex Noren, T23, failed in his bid to get into the top-60.

--Rory McIlroy unexpectedly resigned as a player director on the PGA Tour’s policy board on Tuesday.  In a letter to the entire board, Rory stated that “professional and personal commitments” caused him to step down.

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said in a memo sent to players: “Given the extraordinary time and effort that Rory – and all of his fellow player directors – have invested in the tour during this unprecedented, transformational period in our history, we certainly understand and respect his decision to step down in order to focus on his game and his family.”

McIlroy’s decision came one day after the board met to mull over alternate investment options since the Tour has yet to finalize a deal with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which finances LIV Golf.

By the way, the other players on the policy board now are Tiger, Patrick Cantlay, Charley Hoffman, Peter Malnati and Webb Simpson.

That’s right, Cantlay, the player Rory recently called a “dick.”

I’m kind of surprised no one I’ve read brings this up.  It has to be a small factor, at least, in Rory’s decision making.  But I also think, aside from his frustrations over the negotiations with the PIF and other potential investors like the Fenway Group dragging on and on, he wants to focus on golf and the majors.

--Lastly, Tiger Woods has committed to playing in his Hero World Challenge at Albany in the Bahamas in a few weeks.  This is huge.  He has to walk four rounds. This will be interesting.

Premier League

--We had European Championship qualifying play this weekend, so no PL action.  But there was some big news.

--Everton was handed the biggest sporting sanction in the Premier League’s 31-year history on Friday for breaching the competition’s financial rules, with a deduction of 10 points dropping the team into next-to-last place in the standings and threatening its 70-year status in the top division.

The club was found by an independent commission to have made a loss of 124.5 million pounds ($155 million) over three years up to the end of the 2021-22 season. The league’s profit and financial sustainability rules allow clubs to lose a maximum of 105 million pounds ($130 million) over a three-year period or face sanctions.

The punishment means Everton falls from 14 points to four with immediate effect.

“The club believes that the commission has imposed a wholly disproportionate and unjust sporting sanction,” Everton said.

Everton has been in the top division since 1954.

Both Manchester City and Chelseas have been accused by the league of various breaches of regulations.  City was accused by the league in February of providing misleading information about its finances from 2009-18, covering 115 alleged breaches.

--Manchester United is selling a 25% stake to British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe.  While the hated Glazer family, who owns the Tampa Bay Bucs as well as other sports properties, retains control, Ratcliffe will have a major say in the club’s operations, a step forward for Man U fans.

Stuff

--Max Verstappen won his 18th Formula One race of the season in Las Vegas, and despite everyone dumping on the event, and sometimes with good cause, such as the mishap with the exposed drain cover in the first practice, it ended up being an exciting race and the drivers really liked the course.

Seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton, who finished seventh, said the circuit “provided a better race than most of the tracks we go to.”

--Charissa Thompson is Public Enemy Number One among the sideline reporter profession.

“I’ve said this before, so I haven’t been fired for saying it, but I’ll say it again.  I would make up the report sometimes,” Thompson said in a recent interview on ‘Pardon My Take,’ “because, A, the coach wouldn’t come out at halftime, or it was too late and…I didn’t want to screw up the report, so I was like, ‘I’m just going to make this up.”

Thomspon was excoriated on social media, and for good reason.

Molly McGrath, a college football sideline reporter for ESPN and ABC wrote on X: “Young reporters: This is not normal or ethical. Coaches and players trust us with sensitive information, and if they know that you’re dishonest and don’t take your role seriously, you’ve lost all trust and credibility.”

CBS sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson wrote on X: “This is absolutely not OK, not the norm and upsetting on so many levels. I take my job very seriously, I hold myself accountable for all I say, I build trust with coaches and never make something up. I know my fellow reporters do the same.”

Christine Brennan / USA TODAY

“A day after creating quite the sports media firestorm and significantly harming the reputations and credibility of hundreds of sideline reporters, both women and men, sports broadcaster Charissa Thompson has finally apologized.

“In an Instagram story Friday morning, the Fox Sports and Amazon Prime Video host tried to explain what she intended to say. It turns out that ‘I would make up the report sometimes’ really meant ‘In the absence of a coach providing any information that could further my report, I would use information that I learned and saw during the first half to create my report.’

“Wrote Thompson: ‘Working in media I understand how important words are and I chose the wrong words to describe the situation.  I’m sorry.’

“While her new somber words now retract her old flippant words, their timing was way off.

“On Thursday night, Thompson had the great honor of being on national television as host of Amazon Prime’s NFL game in Baltimore. She knew full well by then that she was being pummeled around the sports-media landscape, rightly so, for saying she made things up and then reported those made-up things as facts.  That’s a fireable offense in every newsroom and sports department in the country.

“That was her moment: Thursday night, before the game, before her colleague, sideline reporter Kaylee Hartung, had to go out and do the job that Thompson had now so fully discredited.

“But no. Thompson failed miserably in the moment. She said nothing. She let every viewer watching at home wonder if Hartung too was making things up. For that alone, Thompson should be suspended. She won’t be, but she should be.

“Instead, she waited another 12 hours before finally trying to clean up the spectacular mess she had created.

“This Thompson fiasco was not good – not good at all – but some good has most definitely come from it.  There now can be no doubt about how seriously members of the sports media take the ethical aspects of sports journalism. The sports media establishment spoke as one Thursday and Friday.  The outrage was so tremendous that Thompson had to respond.  This is good.

“ ‘What this entire episode hopefully reminds all of us is that truth and accuracy are at the heart of every job in sports media,’ Hall of Fame sports broadcaster Lesley Visser said Friday morning in a phone interview.

“Because many, but far from all, of the sports TV sideline jobs are held by women, there has been a natural inclination to turn this controversy into a conversation about women in sports media. Some have also decided to make it about the value of sideline reporting in general.

“Let’s stop that right here. This was not a sportscaster problem. This was not a female sportscaster problem, or a male sportscaster problem.

“This was a Charissa Thompson problem.”

[Thompson apparently is no saying she “never lied.”]

--A man was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter and subsequently bailed following the death of hockey player Adam Johnson in Sheffield, England last month.

Johnson died after being cut in the neck by a skate during a game against the Sheffield Steelers on October 28, in what his club, the Nottingham Panthers, described as a “freak accident.”

South Yorkshire Police had opened an investigation and said on Tuesday that a man, who has not been named, had been arrested.

It was confirmed Wednesday a man had been held and then released on bail with the investigation continuing.

But no details.

--On a better hockey note, my New York Rangers beat New Jersey 5-3 on Saturday, the Rangers off to the best 15-game getaway in franchise history at 12-2-1.

--Taylor Swift postponed an Eras Tour concert in Rio de Janeiro Saturday after a 23-year-old fan died during her Friday night show.  I wrote in my last Week in Review (the column I sign), of the extreme temperatures in Brazil and Swift and her team were well aware of this, and did their best to make water available, but this is a HUGE issue in Brazil.

It’s funny how Taylor has been on one of the greatest ‘rolls’ in history; music, sports, politics, you name it.  But you never know when something will conspire to at least put up a roadblock.

That said, no one should be able to overcome it better than her.

Top 3 songs for the week 11/25/78:  #1 “MacArthur Park” (Donna Summer…at least not as awful as the Richard Harris’ version…but close…)  #2 “Double Vision” (Foreigner)  #3 “How Much I Feel” (Ambrosia)…and…#4 “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers” (Barbra & Neil… ‘You Don’t Bring Me Coors Light…’)  #5 “You Needed Me” (Anne Murray)  #6 “Le Freak” (Chic)  #7 “I Just Wanna Stop” (Gino Vannelli…big at Wake at the time…)  #8 “I Love The Nightlife” (Alicia Bridges)  #9 “Time Passages” (Al Stewart)  #10 “You Never Done It Like That” (Captain & Tennille…D+ week…speaking of poor grades, I was rallying back some from my disastrous sophomore year to at least get back above the Mendoza line…)

Pac-12 Football Quiz Answers: 1) Most conference titles…USC 37, Washington 17, UCLA 17, Stanford 15.  [Cal 14, Oregon 13, Oregon State 5, and Washington State only four!]  2) Coaches: John McKay 9, Pete Carroll 7, Howard Jones (USC) 7, Don James 6.  [Terry Donahue, John Robinson and Andy Smith (Cal) had 5.]  3) Conference went from Pac-8 to Pac-10 in 1978. 4) From Pac-10 to Pac-12 in 2011.

It's easy to forget how good Don James was at Washington…150-60-2, 10-4 in bowl games (4-2 in the Rose Bowl).

Brief Add-on up top by early Tuesday evening.

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