Sunday’s 6-pack:
— Nuggets 127, Lakers 102- Jokic had 34 points, 13 rebounds, 8 assists.
— Bucks 125, Hornets 119- Antetokounmpo had 32 points, 11 rebounds.
— Trail Blazers 104, Rockets 98- Portland was a 12.5-point underdog.
— Spurs 104, Warriors 94- Spurs outscored Golden State 33-13 in 4th quarter.
— Grizzlies 142, Bulls 131- Scotty Pippen Jr had 30 points, 10 assists.
— Jazz 121, Knicks 106- Utah was +30 with Markkanen on court, minus-15 in the 15:00 he sat out.
Quote of the Day
“How do you tell when you’re out of invisible ink?”
Steven Wright
Sunday’s quiz
When was the last time Alabama lost 3+ football games in a season?
Saturday’s quiz
Other than the Chiefs (won last two titles), the 2021 Rams are the last team to win a Super Bowl- they beat Cincinnati 23-20 in that game.
Friday’s quiz
Last time the Cleveland Browns played in a playoff game, Joe Flacco was their QB.
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As I’m typing this, there is a car race going on thru the streets of Las Vegas. Weird.
I can’t process that Cal-Stanford is an ACC game, USC-UCLA is a Big 18 game.
— Oklahoma 24, Alabama 3
Last spring, Alabama poached Miami OH’s kicker; his FG was the Tide’s only score.
Oklahoma had lost its last four I-A games.
Alabama completed only 11-27 passes, threw 3 INTs.
Alabama is 8-3; Miami OH is 7-4; would be messed up if they met in a bowl game.
— Florida 24, Ole Miss 17
Underdogs are 30-15 ATS in SEC games this season.
Rebels outgained Florida, 464-344, but were minus-2 in turnovers.
Gators beat LSU/Ole Miss last two weeks, they’re 6-5/bowl eligible.
— USC 19, UCLA 13
Trojans outscored UCLA 10-0 in fourth quarter.
USC’s only TD of game was the decisive score, with 6:55 left.
Trojans are 6-5, are now bowl eligible. UCLA won’t go bowling.
USC has led in the 4th quarter in all five of their losses.
— Arizona State 28, BYU 23
ASU is 9-2, having a great year, but coach Dillingham over-thought the end of this game so badly he damn near committed coaching malpractice. Seriously.
Sun Devils led 28-23 and had the ball deep in BYU territory with 1:04 left; they tried this weird stuff to kill the clock that failed, running backwards a couple times to kill time, but BYU wound up with one play to run a Hail Mary from its own 49-yard line.
Hail Mary failed, but I’d be curious to know what coach Dillingham think about all that now.
ASU led this game 28-9 late in third quarter, held on for dear life; they’ve won four in a row.
— Auburn 43, Texas A&M 41 OT
Auburn led this game 21-0 with 5:00 left before halftime.
Auburn tied the game on a 20-yard FG with 0:05 left.
A&M was 10-19 on third down, Auburn 5-14.
The overtime system is strange; once they hit the 3rd overtime, teams alternate plays from the 2-yard line, like a shootout in the NHL. Not a great system.
— Texas Tech 56, Oklahoma State 48
Mike Gundy is a good coach, but Cowboys are 0-8 in conference games.
Oklahoma State gave up 38+ points in each of its last seven games.
Texas Tech was 14-22 on third down, Cowboys were 2-9.
— Kansas 37, Colorado 21
Kansas punter Damon Greaves’ family made the trip from Australia to Kansas City for this game; problem is, the Jayhawks didn’t punt in this game. Not once.
Kansas is 5-6; five of their six losses are by 6 or fewer points. They need a win at Baylor next week to become bowl eligible.
— Upsets of the Week:
Georgia State (+21) 52, Texas State 44
Oklahoma (+14) 24, Alabama 3
Florida (+12) 24, Ole Miss 17
Kennesaw State (+9) 27, FIU 26
Appalachian State (+7.5) 34, James Madison 20
UAB (+7) 40, Rice 14
Central Michigan (+5.5) 16, Western Michigan 14
Saturday’s college basketball notes:
— Fresno State 72, Long Beach State 69
Bulldogs outscored Long Beach 14-0 over the final 2:48.
Fresno was 30-44 on foul line, Long Beach 3-4. AT Long Beach!!!!
— UNLV 72, New Mexico State 65
Rebels were 30-42 on foul line; PG Thomas was 13-19.
New Mexico State shot 31.3% from floor, had 21 offensive boards.
Game was 62-62 with 4:25 left to play.
— Stanford 71, Santa Clara 69
Cardinal trailed 67-59 with 3:29 left in game.
7-1 senior Reynaud had 32 points, 16 rebounds.
Stanford survived shooting 10-21 on the foul line.
— Milwaukee 76, Wofford 74
Panthers were 19-33 on foul line, Wofford 8-15.
Wofford led by 8 with 14:08 left to play.
Teams combined to shoot 11-41 on the arc.
— Famous birthdays, November 24:
Oscar Robertson, 86
Dave Bing, 81
Rudy Tomjanovich, 76
Steve Yeager, 76
Henry Bibby, 75
Katherine Heigl, 46
Ryan Fitzpatrick, 42
Jeimer Candelario, 31
Tyler Soderstrom, 23
More college football…….
— Nebraska 44, Wisconsin 25
Cornhuskers snap 4-game skid, are bowl eligible for first time since 2016.
Dylan Raiola threw for 293 yards and a TD.
Wisconsin had beaten Nebraska nine times in a row.
— Cal 24, Stanford 21
Stanford led 21-7 with 1:00 left in third quarter.
Mendoza’s third TD pass of day with 2:40 left was a game-winner.
Golden Bears have beaten their arch-rival four years in a row.
— Illinois 38, Rutgers 31
Illini threw a 40-yard TD pass with 0:04 left for the win.
Rutgers had taken the lead on a TD with 1:08 left.
Scarlet Knights led 17-15 after the third quarter.
Illinois is very quietly 8-3.
— Marshall 42, Old Dominion 35
Marshall QB Braxton threw for 210 yards, ran for 140 more.
Thundering Herd scored game-winning TD with 4:03 left.
Monarchs outgained Marshall, 513-469.
— Penn State 26, Minnesota 25
Nittany Lions were 1-11 on third down, 3-4 on fourth down.
Minnesota led 10-0 early in second quarter.
Penn State is 5-0 on the road for the first time since 1985.
— Ohio State 38, Indiana 15
Game was 7-7 late in first half when Indiana’s punter fumbled a snap, and Ohio State had a short TD drive because of that. Things unraveled from the there for the 10-1 Hoosiers.
Buckeyes outgained Indiana 316-151; Hoosiers completed only 8-18 passes- their QB was sacked six times.
— Nuggets 127, Lakers 102- Jokic had 34 points, 13 rebounds, 8 assists.
— Bucks 125, Hornets 119- Antetokounmpo had 32 points, 11 rebounds.
— Trail Blazers 104, Rockets 98- Portland was a 12.5-point underdog.
— Spurs 104, Warriors 94- Spurs outscored Golden State 33-13 in 4th quarter.
— Grizzlies 142, Bulls 131- Scotty Pippen Jr had 30 points, 10 assists.
— Jazz 121, Knicks 106- Utah was +30 with Markkanen on court, minus-15 in the 15:00 he sat out.
Quote of the Day
“How do you tell when you’re out of invisible ink?”
Steven Wright
Sunday’s quiz
When was the last time Alabama lost 3+ football games in a season?
Saturday’s quiz
Other than the Chiefs (won last two titles), the 2021 Rams are the last team to win a Super Bowl- they beat Cincinnati 23-20 in that game.
Friday’s quiz
Last time the Cleveland Browns played in a playoff game, Joe Flacco was their QB.
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Sunday’s Den: Wrapping up a college sports Saturday……..
Seven top 25 teams lost Saturday.As I’m typing this, there is a car race going on thru the streets of Las Vegas. Weird.
I can’t process that Cal-Stanford is an ACC game, USC-UCLA is a Big 18 game.
— Oklahoma 24, Alabama 3
Last spring, Alabama poached Miami OH’s kicker; his FG was the Tide’s only score.
Oklahoma had lost its last four I-A games.
Alabama completed only 11-27 passes, threw 3 INTs.
Alabama is 8-3; Miami OH is 7-4; would be messed up if they met in a bowl game.
— Florida 24, Ole Miss 17
Underdogs are 30-15 ATS in SEC games this season.
Rebels outgained Florida, 464-344, but were minus-2 in turnovers.
Gators beat LSU/Ole Miss last two weeks, they’re 6-5/bowl eligible.
— USC 19, UCLA 13
Trojans outscored UCLA 10-0 in fourth quarter.
USC’s only TD of game was the decisive score, with 6:55 left.
Trojans are 6-5, are now bowl eligible. UCLA won’t go bowling.
USC has led in the 4th quarter in all five of their losses.
— Arizona State 28, BYU 23
ASU is 9-2, having a great year, but coach Dillingham over-thought the end of this game so badly he damn near committed coaching malpractice. Seriously.
Sun Devils led 28-23 and had the ball deep in BYU territory with 1:04 left; they tried this weird stuff to kill the clock that failed, running backwards a couple times to kill time, but BYU wound up with one play to run a Hail Mary from its own 49-yard line.
Hail Mary failed, but I’d be curious to know what coach Dillingham think about all that now.
ASU led this game 28-9 late in third quarter, held on for dear life; they’ve won four in a row.
— Auburn 43, Texas A&M 41 OT
Auburn led this game 21-0 with 5:00 left before halftime.
Auburn tied the game on a 20-yard FG with 0:05 left.
A&M was 10-19 on third down, Auburn 5-14.
The overtime system is strange; once they hit the 3rd overtime, teams alternate plays from the 2-yard line, like a shootout in the NHL. Not a great system.
— Texas Tech 56, Oklahoma State 48
Mike Gundy is a good coach, but Cowboys are 0-8 in conference games.
Oklahoma State gave up 38+ points in each of its last seven games.
Texas Tech was 14-22 on third down, Cowboys were 2-9.
— Kansas 37, Colorado 21
Kansas punter Damon Greaves’ family made the trip from Australia to Kansas City for this game; problem is, the Jayhawks didn’t punt in this game. Not once.
Kansas is 5-6; five of their six losses are by 6 or fewer points. They need a win at Baylor next week to become bowl eligible.
— Upsets of the Week:
Georgia State (+21) 52, Texas State 44
Oklahoma (+14) 24, Alabama 3
Florida (+12) 24, Ole Miss 17
Kennesaw State (+9) 27, FIU 26
Appalachian State (+7.5) 34, James Madison 20
UAB (+7) 40, Rice 14
Central Michigan (+5.5) 16, Western Michigan 14
Saturday’s college basketball notes:
— Fresno State 72, Long Beach State 69
Bulldogs outscored Long Beach 14-0 over the final 2:48.
Fresno was 30-44 on foul line, Long Beach 3-4. AT Long Beach!!!!
— UNLV 72, New Mexico State 65
Rebels were 30-42 on foul line; PG Thomas was 13-19.
New Mexico State shot 31.3% from floor, had 21 offensive boards.
Game was 62-62 with 4:25 left to play.
— Stanford 71, Santa Clara 69
Cardinal trailed 67-59 with 3:29 left in game.
7-1 senior Reynaud had 32 points, 16 rebounds.
Stanford survived shooting 10-21 on the foul line.
— Milwaukee 76, Wofford 74
Panthers were 19-33 on foul line, Wofford 8-15.
Wofford led by 8 with 14:08 left to play.
Teams combined to shoot 11-41 on the arc.
— Famous birthdays, November 24:
Oscar Robertson, 86
Dave Bing, 81
Rudy Tomjanovich, 76
Steve Yeager, 76
Henry Bibby, 75
Katherine Heigl, 46
Ryan Fitzpatrick, 42
Jeimer Candelario, 31
Tyler Soderstrom, 23
More college football…….
— Nebraska 44, Wisconsin 25
Cornhuskers snap 4-game skid, are bowl eligible for first time since 2016.
Dylan Raiola threw for 293 yards and a TD.
Wisconsin had beaten Nebraska nine times in a row.
— Cal 24, Stanford 21
Stanford led 21-7 with 1:00 left in third quarter.
Mendoza’s third TD pass of day with 2:40 left was a game-winner.
Golden Bears have beaten their arch-rival four years in a row.
— Illinois 38, Rutgers 31
Illini threw a 40-yard TD pass with 0:04 left for the win.
Rutgers had taken the lead on a TD with 1:08 left.
Scarlet Knights led 17-15 after the third quarter.
Illinois is very quietly 8-3.
— Marshall 42, Old Dominion 35
Marshall QB Braxton threw for 210 yards, ran for 140 more.
Thundering Herd scored game-winning TD with 4:03 left.
Monarchs outgained Marshall, 513-469.
— Penn State 26, Minnesota 25
Nittany Lions were 1-11 on third down, 3-4 on fourth down.
Minnesota led 10-0 early in second quarter.
Penn State is 5-0 on the road for the first time since 1985.
— Ohio State 38, Indiana 15
Game was 7-7 late in first half when Indiana’s punter fumbled a snap, and Ohio State had a short TD drive because of that. Things unraveled from the there for the 10-1 Hoosiers.
Buckeyes outgained Indiana 316-151; Hoosiers completed only 8-18 passes- their QB was sacked six times.
