Armadillo Sports
Sunday?s 6-pack
Six best teams in defensive efficiency:
1) Texas Tech
2) San Diego State
3) Tennessee
4) VCU
5) LSU
6) Oklahoma State
List I posted Thursday was last year?s leaders; my mistake.
Quote of the Day
?Defensively, I thought that?s as good as we?ve played in awhile, especially in the first half. Obviously, I?ve got tremendous respect for Coach (Andy) Enfield and their program. Their projected seed is ridiculously low. That?s typical West Coast bias. I wish them all the best next week and hopefully we can all do what we did last year.?
UCLA coach Mick Cronin, after Friday?s win over USC
Sunday?s quiz
How many major league teams have spring training in Florida, how many train in Arizona?
Saturday?s quiz
Jim Harrick was UCLA?s basketball coach in 1995, last time they won the NCAA Tournament.
Friday?s quiz
Since 1999, Jason Campbell started the most games (52) for the Washington Redskins/Commanders; Robert Griffin III (35) started second-most.
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Sunday?s Den: Wrapping up a full sports Saturday??..
Lot of stuff going on this week; chances are, this will wind up rambling a bit, going back/forth between sports. Conference tournaments, NFL trades and baseball ramping up. Lot to think/talk about.
? Remember, only one of the last seven national champs won their conference tournament, so while this week is fun, next week is the serious business, unless you?re Tennessee and you beat Kentucky. Beating Kentucky is always a big deal.
? Tennessee 69, Kentucky 62? Vols haven?t won SEC hoop tournament since 1979; Tennessee has won 11 of its last 12 games. Kentucky went 2-20 on the arc, which is how upsets happen.
Not all coaches love the conference tournaments, especially the ones that end on Sunday. If you draw a Thursday game in first round of the NCAA?s, it cramps your prep time.
? Dallas Cowboys traded WR Amari Cooper to Cleveland for a 6th-round pick.
? Texas Rangers acquired C Mitch Garver from Minnesota, in exchange for Isiah Kiner-Falefa and a pitching prospect.
? Iowa 80, Indiana 77? Hawkeyes trailed 67-58 with 5:16 left in game; they made 14-32 on arc, scored 1.19 ppp. In three games this week, they?ve scored 112-84-80 points. Keegan Murray had 32 points, making 8-10 on the arc.
? Toronto Blue Jays gave lefty P Yusei Kikuchi $36M for three years. Unvaccinated players will not be able to play in games in Toronto this season, by the way.
? Yale 67, Penn 61? Penn has ball down 3 in last minute; their best player is Jordan Dingle, who had 28 points, but the Penn coach turns into Gene Hackman from Hoosiers and uses Dingle as a decoy? he finds a wide-open teammate for the game-tying shot, but the guy misses badly. Next time they have ball, same thing, and Cornell loses.
Here?s a hint: let your best player take big shots, especially in smaller leagues where the talent gap between stars/support players is greater.
? USC football coach Lincoln Riley bought a $17M house in Los Angeles that apparently has seven fireplaces. Why does a house in LA need a fireplace, much less seven of them?
? Baseball player on the Cal Bears hit a home run the other day, but was ruled out after he failed to touch home plate. Whoops. How do you miss home plate? Seriously?
? Surprising fact: Indiana hasn?t been in NCAA Tournament since 2016.
? LSU fired basketball coach Will Wade; assistant Kevin Nickelberry will coach the Tigers in the NCAA Tournament. LSU was nailed with five Level 1 violations by the NCAA; Wade went 108-54 at LSU, 56-33 in SEC games, but they?re headed for probation, which figures to hinder their search for a new coach.
? Houston Texans? QB Deshaun Watson got off the hook from criminal allegations against him; the civil lawsuits filed against him still hold, but trade discussions have apparently begun, and Carolina is listed as a team that is interested.
? Starting in 2023, the baseball schedule will have fewer divisional games; every team will play every other team at least one series a year.
? Saint Peter?s 60, Monmouth 54:
a) Peacocks make NCAA?s for first time in 11 years.
b) Saint Peter?s is good defensive team, but they?re 0-5 vs top 100 teams.
c) Monmouth is off to the CAA now, a big jump in leagues.
? I knew this was coming, but it still sucks; A?s are dismantling their team, and started by dealing P Chris Bassitt to the Mets for two prospects. Awesome.
At least one of the teams I root for tries to win; Rams had an awesome year, but the A?s are headed to the scrap heap in a big way. Why would people in Las Vegas want the A?s to move there? They don?t try to win!!!
? Chicago Bears traded LB Khalil Mack to the Chargers, for 2nd/6th round draft picks. When you hire a new coach, a new GM, players who are over 30 are likely to hit the road, which is what happened here.
? 2B Josh Harrison gets $5.5M from the White Sox (one year).
? SS Jose Iglesias signed with the Colorado Rockies.
? Kansas 74, Texas Tech 65? Two very good teams we could see in Final Four.
? Villanova 54, Creighton 46? Teams combined to shoot 11-61 on the arc.
? Arizona 84, UCLA 76? Wildcats outscored UCLA 49-36 in second half- they blocked 11 shots.
? Virginia Tech 82, Duke 67? Hokies made 10-22 on arc, scored 1.24 ppp- they won the ACC tournament for the first time, as the #7-seed.
? Boise State 53, San Diego State 52? Aztecs have been in Mountain West final the last five years, but went 2-3 in those five finals. Aztecs shot 31.1% inside arc.
? Akron 75, Kent State 55? Kent State had won 14 in a row coming in, but had four players suspended here, three for the first half, one for whole game, for off-court reasons- they posted some offensive video on social media Friday night. Not good.
