Armadillo Sports
Saturday’s 6-pack:
— Padres 10, Arizona 8- Arizona scored 6 in top of 9th, Padres scored 3 in bottom.
— Dodgers 8, Brewers 5- Will Smith hit three home runs for the Dodgers.
— Astros 13, Twins 12- Minnesota scored 7 runs in bottom of 9th, fell just short.
— White Sox 3, Marlins 2- Rookie P Thorpe allowed one run in 6.1 IP.
— Mariners 2, Blue Jays 1- Luis Castillo allowed two hits in 6.2 IP.
— Red Sox 5, New York 3 (10)- Yoshida tied game with 9th inning homer.
Quote of the Day
“It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. The hard… is what makes it great.”
Tom Hanks in A League of Their Own
Saturday’s quiz
Which NBA team drafted Kobe Bryant?
Friday’s quiz
Corey Seager is the only player to win World Series MVP for teams in both leagues.
Thursday’s quiz
Max Scherzer pitches for Texas, but the Mets are paying him the highest %age of his salary this season.
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Saturday’s Den: Mountain West football preview…….
Mountain West football preview
— Air Force
Air Force lost 4 of last 5 games LY, after an 8-0 start.
Falcons are 29-10 last three years, 3-0 in bowl games.
Air Force has 2 starters back on offense, 4 on defense.
Falcons have no returning starts on the offensive line; they had that in 2021, but led the country in rushing.
Last three years, Air Force is 8-3 ATS as a road favorite.
Last ten years, Falcons are 15-23-1 ATS coming off a loss.
Under Calhoun, Air Force is 12-8 ATS as a home underdog.
Falcons won their last five bowls, scoring 37.6 ppg.
— Boise State
Broncos fired their coach LY after a 5-5 start, won 4 of last 5 games.
Boise has 6 starters back on offense, all 11 on defense.
Broncos have 66 starts returning on the offensive line.
Soph QB Madsen (132 pass attempts LY) or USC transfer Nelson will start at QB
Last two years, Broncos are 8-4 ATS as a home favorite.
Boise is 11-2-1 ATS in last 14 games coming off a loss.
Broncos are 4-3 SU in their last seven bowls.
Boise is 2-7-1 ATS in last eight non-conference games.
— Colorado State
CSU was 4-1 LY when they scored 30+ points, 1-6 when they didn’t.
Rams have 7 starters back on offense, 7 on defense.
CSU has 94 starts returning on the offensive line.
Rams’ soph QB has 11 starts; he threw 22 TD’s, 16 INT’s last year.
Rams have had six consecutive losing seasons.
Since 2017, CSU is 5-14 ATS as a home favorite.
In his career, Norvell is 26-18 ATS as an underdog.
CSU lost their last four bowls; their last bowl win was in 2013.
— Fresno State
Bulldogs lost three of last four games LY, after an 8-1 start.
Fresno has 8 starters back on offense, 5 on defense.
Bulldogs have 106 starts returning on OL (8 of 10 starters).
Soph QB started 11 games LY, threw 24 TD’s, 10 INTs.
Fresno is 29-11 last three years, 3-0 in bowl games, scoring 32.3 ppg.
Since 2019, Bulldogs are 9-14 ATS as a home favorite.
Since 2016, Fresno is 7-0-1 ATS as a home underdog.
Bulldogs won their last five bowls, scoring 32.2 ppg.
— Hawai’i
Rainbows were 0-7 LY when they allowed 35+ points, 5-0 when they allowed less than 35.
Hawai’i has 8 starters back on offense, 7 on defense.
Bulldogs have 47 starts returning on offensive line.
Senior QB Schrager started 26 games the last two years.
Hawai’i has two winning seasons (2018-19) over the last decade.
Over last decade, Rainbows are 11-27-2 ATS as a favorite, 8-22-2 at home.
Over last decade, Hawai’i is 26-42-3 ATS coming off a loss.
Last three years, Rainbows are 14-9-1 ATS in Mountain West games.
— Nevada
Nevada went 2-10/2-10 last two years; the coach got fired.
Wolf Pack has 6 starters back on offense, 6 on defense.
Nevada has 70 starts returning on offensive line.
New HC was a defensive assistant at Texas the last three years.
Junior QB Lewis started ten games last season.
Last two years, Wolf Pack was 1-9 ATS at home.
Last three years, Nevada is 10-4 ATS as a road underdog.
Wolf Pack is 3-2 SU/ATS in last five bowls; last bowl was 2021.
— Famous birthdays for July 6th:
Fred Dryer, 78
Sylvester Stallone, 78
Willie Randolph, 70
Kelly Stouffer, 60
Pau Gasol, 44
Jae Crowder, 34
Manny Machado, 32
Andrew Benintendi, 30
Zion Williamson, 24
— UNLV
Rebels lost last three games LY, after a 9-2 start.
UNLV has 5 starters back on offense, 6 on defense.
Rebels have 79 starts returning on offensive line.
Their QB bolted to USC; they brought in two I-AA QB’s, also have Friel, who started eight games for UNLV in 2021.
Last year was UNLV’s first bowl since 2013.
In his career, Odom is 17-11 ATS as a home favorite.
Over last ten years, UNLV is 11-19 ATS as a home underdog.
Last three years, Rebels are 11-3 ATS as a road underdog.
— New Mexico
Lobos were 19-60 last 7 years; their last winning season was 2016.
New Mexico has 3 starters back on offense, 6 on defense.
Lobos’ whole offensive line graduated; they brought in 8 transfers.
Soph QB started once LY; he is a pass/run threat.
Since 2015, Lobos are 5-18 ATS as a home favorite.
Since 2017, Lobos are 9-15-1 ATS as a home underdog.
Since 2018, New Mexico is 17-32-1 ATS as an underdog.
New Mexico hasn’t played in a bowl game since 2016.
— San Diego State
Aztecs were 4-8 last year, their worst season since 2009.
San Diego State has 6 starters back on offense, 4 on defense.
Aztecs have 67 starts returning on offensive line.
Soph QB is a transfer from Florida State.
New coach Lewis was 24-31 at Kent State (2018-22), making two bowls.
Last three years, Aztecs were 3-9 ATS as a home favorite.
Since 2017, San Diego State is 11-5-1 ATS as a road underdog.
Aztecs are 2-3 SU in last five bowls (were favored in 4 of 5 games).
— San Jose State
Spartans are 26-19 last 4 years; coach bolted to Arizona
New coach Niumatalolo was 109-83 in 15 years at Navy,
San Jose has 3 starters back on offense, 4 on defense.
Spartans have only 20 starts returning on offensive line.
San Jose won 6 of its last 7 games LY, after a 1-5 start.
San Jose was 7-5/7-6 last two years, thanks to +11/+11 turnover ratios.
Since 2018, Spartans are 29-18 ATS in conference games.
Spartans lost last three bowls; their last bowl win was in 2015.
— Utah State
Utah State just fired their coach last week; they’ll have an interim coach.
Aggies have 8 starters back on offense, 7 on defense.
Aggies have 69 starts returning on offensive line.
Senior QB started 31 games at Iowa.
Aggies were 6-7 LY, 5-1 when they allowed less than 35 points.
Since 2016, Utah State is 6-13 ATS as a home underdog.
Last four years, Aggies are 7-12 ATS in games coming off a loss.
Utah State lost three of its last four bowl games.
— Wyoming
Wyoming went 9-4 last year, but their coach retired.
Cowboys have 6 starters back on offense, 7 on defense.
Wyoming has 68 starts returning on offensive line.
Junior QB started one game last year, was 23-38 passing for season.
Wyoming is 14-9-2 ATS in its last 25 games as a home favorite.
Since 2016, Cowboys are 16-6 ATS as a home underdog.
Since 2016, Wyoming is 37-26 ATS in Mountain West games.
Cowboys won four of their last five bowl games.