Sunday’s 6-pack:
Top-6 rated college basketball conferences in the country:
1- SEC
2- Big 18
3- Big X
4- Big East
5- ACC
6- Mountain West
Quote of the Day
“I’ve been saying this for years: Rickey (Henderson) wasn’t just great. That doesn’t say enough for me. He’s one of the top 10 to 12 players of all time. That’s how good Rickey was.”
Reggie Jackson
Sunday’s quiz
What team did Rickey Henderson finish his 25-year career with?
Saturday’s quiz
Patrick Mahomes played his college football at Texas Tech.
Friday’s quiz
The Liberty Bowl football game played in Memphis.
************************************
— We lead off today with sad news; Hall of Fame OF Rickey Henderson has passed away, at age 65- he would’ve been 66 on Christmas Day. Rickey Henderson was an awesome ballplayer.
He was the greatest lead-off hitter of all time:
Most runs scored, ever
Most stolen bases, ever
10-time All-Star
Played for two World Series champs, including the ’89 Oakland A’s
MVP of American League in 1990
3-time Silver Slugger
first-ballot Hall of Famer
played 25 years in the majors, for nine teams
He stole 66 bases when he was 39 years old.
RIP, sir.
Chiefs 27,
Texans 19
Chiefs’ first four drives: 32 plays, 169 yards, 17 points.
Kansas City led 17-10 at halftime.
WR Worthy caught seven passes for 65 yards and a TD.
Chiefs are now 2-7 ATS in their last nine games.
AFC West favorites are 16-6 ATS in non-divisional games.
Both teams converted 7-13 third down plays.
Houston is 2-6 when it gives up more than 20 points.
Houston is 8-12 ATS in last 20 games coming off a win.
Under is now 6-2 in Texans’ road games.
WR Dell caught six passes for 98 yards, but suffered what looked like a severe leg injury on his touchdown catch.
Ravens 34,
Steelers 17
Humphrey broke game open with pick-6 that made score 31-17.
Ravens ran for 220 yards, outgained Steelers, 418-315.
Baltimore clinched a playoff berth with the win.
Baltimore is 10-0 if they score 27+ points, 0-5 if they score less than 27
Over is 12-3 in Baltimore’s games this year.
Just 2nd win for Ravens in last ten games in this rivalry
Teams are now tied for first in AFC North.
Last two games, Steelers gave up 401-418 yards.
Pittsburgh is 1-4 when it scores less than 20 points.
Steelers entered game +18 in turnovers; they were minus-1 in this game.
— It was a
really good day for home teams in college football:
Penn State 38, SMU 10
SMU’s QB threw three INT’s on their first six drives.
Two of those three INT’s were pick-6’s.
Penn State led 28-0 at halftime.
Nittany Lions advance to play Boise State in next round of playoff.
— Texas 38, Clemson 24
First three Texas drives: 23 plays, 222 yards, 21 points.
Longhorns led 28-10 at halftime.
Texas ran ball for 292 yards (6.1 yards/carry)
Texas advances to play Arizona State in next round.
— Ohio State 42, Tennessee 17
Buckeyes’ first three drives: 17 plays, 201 yards; they led 21-0.
Tennessee’s first three drives: 13 plays, 11 yards, 3 punts.
Buckeyes outgained the Vols, 473-256.
Ohio State advances to play Oregon in the next round.
—
Pointspreads for the next round of the college playoff:
Penn State (-10, 52.5) vs Boise State
Texas (-13.5, 52.5) vs Arizona State
Ohio State (-1.5, 53.5) vs Oregon
Notre Dame vs Georgia (-1.5, 44.5)
—
Conference bowl records (SU/ATS)
AAC 1-1 SU/1-1 ATS
ACC 0-3 SU/0-3 ATS
Big 18 2-1 SU/2-1 ATS
Big X 0-1 SU/0-1 ATS
C-USA 1-2 SU/1-2 ATS
MAC 1-1 SU/1-0-1 ATS
M West 1-0 SU/1-0 ATS
SEC 2-1 SU/2-1 ATS
Sun Belt 2-1 SU/1-1-1 ATS
Favorites: 7-3-1 ATS
Totals: under 6-5
—
Famous birthdays, December 22nd:
Hector Elizondo, 88
Steve Carlton, 80
Dave Robisch, 75
Glenn Wilson, 66
Jacob Stallings, 35
Taylor Rapp, 27
— Auburn 87, Purdue 69
Tigers led this game 72-39 with 7:01 left to play.
Auburn shot 65% inside arc, also had 12 offensive boards.
Auburn is shooting 61.5% inside the arc (#3)
— North Carolina 76, UCLA 74
UCLA led 59-43 with 12:50 left in the game.
Tar Heels were 24-35 on foul line, UCLA 13-22.
Frosh Jackson scored 24 for UNC; he didn’t start.
— Marquette 72, Xavier 70
Marquette led by 15 with 7:11 left in game, then held on.
Golden Eagles shot 55% inside the arc.
Marquette is forcing turnovers 23% of time (#11)
Xavier lost five of its last seven games.
— UConn 78, Butler 74
7:00 into the game, UConn led 25-9.
Huskies shot 11-24 on the arc, Butler 5-15
UConn is 6-0 since their 0-3 trip to Maui.
— Princeton 83, Rutgers 82
Princeton had 19 offensive rebounds.
Tigers also shot 55.8% inside the arc.
Rutgers is 3-5 in their last eight games.
— Mt St Mary’s 78, Miami 74
Miami has now lost eight of its last nine games.
Hurricanes led by 10 at halftime.
Miami has #290 eFG% defense in country.
— Bronx baseball team signed 1B Paul Goldschmidt for one year, $12.5M; 37-year old Goldschmidt hit .245 with a .716 OPS last year, career-low numbers.
— Cleveland Guardians traded 1B Josh Naylor to Arizona, for P Slade Cecconi and a draft pick; Guardians then brought back an old friend, 1B Carlos Santana for one year, $12M.
Santana will be 39 in April; he hit .238 for Minnesota LY, with a .749 OPS, plus he won a Gold Glove at first base.