Cnotes NL 2024-2025 Schedule, Best Bets, Opinons, News !

[Cnotes53]

Sunday’s 6-pack:
Some Super Bowl prop bets:
— Chiefs total yards: over/under 345.5
— Eagles total yards: over/under 355.5
— First downs by either team: over/under 20.5
— Rushing yards for Eagles: over/under 159.5
— How many Chiefs will have a rushing attempt: over/under 4.5
— Touchdowns in the game by the Chiefs: over/under 2.5

Quote of the Day
“Failure is good sometimes. Failure brings about an internal drive.”
Georgetown basketball coach Ed Cooley

Sunday’s quiz
Where did Danny Hurley coach, before he became the coach at UConn?

Saturday’s quiz
Hall of Fame OF Todd Helton was the QB for the Tennessee Vols just before Peyton Manning played QB for Tennessee.

Friday’s quiz
Other than the Chiefs, Colts are the only NFL team Patrick Mahomes hasn’t beaten in a regular season game; he did beat them in a playoff game.

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Sunday’s Den: Happy Groundhog Day, everyone…….​

— Big trade in the NBA after midnight; Lakers acquired Luka Doncic from Dallas, traded Anthony Davis to the Mavericks. Utah Jazz were involved in a minor way; there were some other players included, but Davis/Doncic caused ESPN to go off the rails late Saturday night.

— 11 of the top 25 college teams lost Saturday, a very upsetting day.

— Big X
Baylor 81, Kansas 70
Jayhawks led 40-21 at halftime.
Baylor was 25-28 on foul line, Kansas 12-19.
Baylor out-rebounded the Jayhawks, 40-27

Kansas State 80, Iowa State 61
K-State outscored Iowa State 43-26 in second half.
Loss snaps the Cyclones’ 29-game home winning streak.
Wildcats shot 10-20 on the arc.

Texas Tech 82, Houston 81 OT
Tech’s best rebounder/head coach were ejected 3:10 into the game.
Loss snaps Cougars’ 13-game winning streak.
Three of Houston’s four losses have come in overtime.
Arizona/Houston are tied for first, with 9-1 records.
Bracketology has 8 Big X teams in NCAA Tournament.

— SEC
Arkansas 89, Kentucky 79
John Calipari posts a big upset in his return to Lexington.
Razorbacks shot 13-25 on the arc.
Adou Thiero was 10-12 on foul line; Kentucky’s whole team was 9-18.

Auburn 92, Ole Miss 82
Auburn has won 13 in a row; their only loss was at Duke on December 4th
Tigers shot 14-28 on the arc, scored 1.31 points/possession.
Ole Miss lost four of last five games, after a 15-2 start.
Auburn leads Alabama by a game, Missouri by two games atop SEC standings.
Bracketology has 13 SEC teams in NCAA Tournament.

— ACC
Boston College 77, Florida State 76
Florida State led by 4 with 0:08 left in this game.
Eagles snap their six-game losing streak.
Seminoles have lost four games in a row.

Duke 87, North Carolina 70
Duke has won 15 in a row; their last loss was in November, to Kansas.
Blue Devils crushed UNC; they led 47-25 at halftime.
Tar Heels lost 4 of last 5 games, are 13-10, 6-5 in ACC.
Duke is 10-0 in the ACC for the first time since 2006.
Duke leads Clemson by a game, Louisville by 2 games atop ACC standings.
Bracketology has five ACC teams in NCAA Tournament.

— Big 18
USC 70, Michigan State 64
Loss snaps Michigan State’s 13-game win streak.
USC only played seven guys; two Trojans played whole 40:00.
Trojans won four of last six games, are 5-5 in Big 18.

Michigan 66, Rutgers 63
Michigan is shooting 60.1% inside arc (#5 in country)
Rutgers was 10-36 on the arc, 12-31 inside the arc.
Michigan is 16-5, 8-2 in Big 18; they were 8-24/3-17 last year.
Spartans still lead Big 18, by a game over Purdue/Michigan
Bracketology has nine Big 18 teams in NCAA Tournament.

— Big East
St John’s 68, Providence 66
Red Storm won its 8th game in a row.
St John’s hasn’t won an NCAA Tourney game since 2000; right now, Bracketology has St John’s as a #7 seed, so they’ll likely be favored in the first round of NCAA’s next month.

Creighton 62, Villanova 60
Bluejays won their 7th game in a row.
Villanova led by 5 with 6:42 left in the game.
Creighton shot 72% inside arc, 6-26 on the arc.
St John’s leads Big East, by game over Marquette/Creighton.
Bracketology has four Big East teams in NCAA Tournament.

— Upsets of the Day: (lot of upsets Saturday)
Texas- San Antonio (+15.5) 54, North Texas 50
Kansas State (+15.5) 80, Iowa State 61
Texas Tech (+11.5) 82, Houston 81 OT
IU Indy (+11.5) 84, Youngstown State 79
Arkansas (+10.5) 89. Kentucky 79
Georgia Tech (+8.5) 77, Louisville 70
Portland (+8.5) 84, Pepperdine 64
Indiana State (+7.5) 88, Ill-Chicago 83
Northern Kentucky (+7.5) 84, Oakland 75
Miami (+7.5) 63, Notre Dame 57
UConn (+7.5) 77, Marquette 69
Missouri (+6.5) 88, Mississippi State 61
North Dakota (+6.5) 80, South Dakota State 75

— Among conferences in the normal gambling rotation, these leagues plays the fastest-paced games: MAC, Ivy League, Summit League.
Leagues plays the slowest-paced games: Missouri Valley, MAAC, Big Sky

— Mountain West
San Diego State 63, Wyoming 61
Down 50-41, Aztecs went on a 20-0 run to grab control of the game.
Aztecs won their last four games, three of them by 3 or fewer points.
San Diego State has #7 eFG% defense in the country.
New Mexico won 82-63 at Utah State; they lead Utah State/Colorado State by a game atop the Mountain West standings.

— WCC
Saint Mary’s 62, Gonzaga 58
Saint Mary’s survived going 11-22 on the foul line.
Gonzaga was only 3-17 on the arc.
Mikey Lewis scored 16 points in 22:00; he didn’t start.
Saint Mary’s leads San Francisco/Gonzaga by three games in the WCC.

— Missouri Valley
Drake 75, Southern Illinois 65
Drake has four starters who played D2 ball last season.
Bulldogs are 20-2 this year, 126-33 the last five years, 69-19 in MVC games.
10-2 Drake, 9-2 Bradley are sitting atop the MVC.

— Famous birthdays, February 2nd:
Wayne Fontes, 85
John Tudor, 71
Christie Brinkley, 71
Kim Zimmer, 70
Pat Tabler, 67
Jason Kapono, 44
Matthew Boyd, 34
Adrian Houser, 32
Josh Lowe, 27

— American
Texas- San Antonio 54, North Texas 50
Roadrunners led 27-13 at halftime.
Teams combined to shoot 7-36 on the arc.
Loss snaps a six-game win streak for North Texas.
Memphis leads UAB/North Texas by game in loss column, atop AAC standings.

— Ivy League
Dartmouth 95, Columbia 89
Big Green is 3-3, in 4th place in Ivy; only top four teams in the league make their conference tournament, so this is a big deal.
6-0 Yale leads 5-1 Cornell stop the Ivy League standings.
Ivy League teams are shooting 38.5% on arc in league games, the best of any conference.

— Conference USA
Jacksonville State 72, Liberty 61
Gamecocks have won six in a row, after a 9-7 start.
Jax State was 25-46 inside arc, only 3-11 on arc; old-school ball.
Jacksonville State leads Middle Tennessee by a game, atop the C-USA standings.

— Big West
Northridge 88, Bakersfield 62
Matadors led 44-22 at halftime, coasted home from there.
I watched CSUN’s game Thursday; they’re very athletic, an impressive team in a league where Irvine/Cal-San Diego are thought to be head/shoulkders above everyone else.
Irvine leads Cal-San Diego by a game, but Riverside/CSUN are both surging.

— Big Sky
Northern Colorado 87, Northern Arizona 69
Bears have won 10 of their last 11 games.
Bears shot 14-30 on the arc in this game.
Northern Colorado is shooting 60.1% inside the arc (#6)
8-1 Northern Colorado leads 8-2 Montana by half a game.

 

[Cnotes53]

Monday’s 6-pack:
Since 2002, only seven QB’s have started a Super Bowl for AFC teams:
— Tom Brady
— Joe Burrow
— Joe Flacco
— Rich Gannon
— Patrick Mahomes
— Peyton Manning
— Ben Roethlisberger
Since 2002, 20 different QB’s have started a Super Bowl for NFC teams

Quote of the Day
“It’s difficult for most of us owners to be able to do the kind of things that they’re doing. Now, we’ll see if it pays off. They still have to have a season relatively injury-free for it to work out for them, and it’s a long season, as you know, and once you get to the postseason, anything can happen.”

Bronx owner Hal Steinbrenner, trying out a new comedy act by whining about the Dodgers spending a lot of $$$, while he groups himself with the owners of the Pirates, Marlins, A’s.

Monday’s quiz
Who was the Philadelphia Eagles’ QB, the first time they played in a Super Bowl?

Sunday’s quiz
Danny Hurley coached at Rhode Island, before he became the coach at UConn.

Saturday’s quiz
Hall of Fame OF Todd Helton was the QB for the Tennessee Vols just before Peyton Manning played QB for Tennessee.

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Monday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports weekend……..​

— P Jack Flaherty signed a 2-year deal with Detroit Sunday night, for $35M. Flaherty helped the Dodgers win the World Series last fall— he was 13-7, 3.18 in 28 starts for the Tigers/Dodgers last year.

— Seattle signed IF Jorge Polanco for one year, $7.75M; after playing for Minnesota for 10 years, Polanco hit .213 for Seattle LY, with a .651 OPS. His career OPS is .765.

— Illinois 87, Ohio State 79
Buckeyes led 42-36 at halftime.
Illini shot 68.4% inside arc, was 23-31 on foul line.
Ohio State shot only 32% inside the arc.

— Nebraska 77, Oregon 71
Nebraska shot 78.6% inside the arc.
Teams combined to shoot 9-43 on the arc.
Ducks lost four of their last five games, after a 15-2 start.

— Fort Wayne 81, Milwaukee 79
Fort Wayne has won six of its last eight games.
Mastodons shot 13-31 on the arc- they’re shooting 38.8% on arc TY (#9)
These two teams are tied for second in Horizon, 3 games behind Cleveland State.

— East Tennessee State 72, Furman 69
ETSU outscored the Paladins 12-2 over the final 3:21.
Furman led 27-13 midway thru first half.
Furman was only 7-13 on foul line; one player scored in double figures.

— Memphis 86, Rice 83
Memphis shot 56.4% inside arc, 11-21 on arc.
Memphis is shooting 40.1% on the arc, #1 in country.
Tigers have won five in a row, nine of last ten games.

— Famous birthdays, February 3rd:
Fran Tarkenton, 85
Blythe Danner, 82
Bob Griese, 80
Bake McBride, 76
Morgan Fairchild, 75
Fred Lynn, 73
Nathan Lane, 69
Maura Tierney, 60
Vlade Divac, 57
Skip Schumaker, 45
Lucas Duda, 39
Tyler Huntley, 27

— When I was in college, we played Utica College, which was trying to go Division I under coach Larry Costello, who was the original coach of the Milwaukee Bucks (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s first NBA coach).
One of Utica’s players was DJ Carstensen, who these days is a big-time college ref. I remember he came to Utica from Iowa, which seemed unusual. Anyway, 40+ years later, DJ Carstensen is a busy man. Here is his refereeing schedule from this past week:
Monday- Penn State @ Michigan
Tuesday- Oregon State @ Gonzaga
Wednesday- Saint Mary’s @ Santa Clara
Thursday- Oregon @ UCLA
Saturday- Arizona @ Arizona State
Sunday- Ohio State @ Illinois
So a guy in his early 60’s officiates six basketball games in seven nights, but NBA players in their 20’s often take the second night of a back/back off, for load management. Go figure.

— Las Vegas Raiders/Pete Carroll hired former Eagles/Oregon HC Chip Kelly as their new OC; Kelly just won a national title as Ohio State’s offensive coordinator.
Raiders will pay Kelly $6M next year; it has been eight years since the 49ers fired him as head coach after the 2016 season.

— Nebraska drew 60,000+ fans for their spring football game last year, but the week after the game, six of their players entered the transfer portal. Other schools scout these spring games and try to poach players; as a result of that, sounds like Nebraska isn’t going to have a spring game this year.

— Wanted to watch the Caribbean Series on TV this week, but MLB Network and YouTube TV don’t get along well, so no go there. Disappointing; it was snowing out tonight, would’ve been fun to watch some live baseball played in warm weather.
Baseball needs to market itself better; MLB Network needs to be on YouTube TV, plus I buy the MLB package every year- the Caribbean Series should at least be a part of that.
I’ve been watching regular YouTube on my TV; lot of fantasy baseball podcasts on there, as we all get ready for the upcoming season.

— January 31 is a strong day for baseball birthdays:
Nolan Ryan, Jackie Robinson, Ernie Banks. Three Hall of Famers.

— USC signed up recruit Alijah Arenas, son of former NBA G Gilbert Arenas, to play for the Trojans next season. Alijah Arenas is a 5-star recruit; good get for coach Eric Musselman.

— When the Lakers made the big Anthony Davis/Luka Doncic trade Saturday night, you think they consulted Lebron James first? Kind of a big deal, changing the roster that much; I’m just curious if he any input on the deal before it was made.

 

[Cnotes53]

Tuesday’s 6-pack:
Teams shooting the best %age on the foul line:
84.6%— Wisconsin
83.4%— Tex-San Antonio
81.3%— Cal-Irvine
80.4%— Richmond
80.3%— Michigan State
79.9%— Villanova

Quote of the Day
“Obviously, people have their thoughts on how it went down, and I understand the emotional aspect of it, but I’m happy for Liam. We all had a few choice words for him before we actually told him we were happy for him. I can’t be mad at that — as much as I would want to have him still here.”
Bucs’ QB Baker Mayfield, talking about Liam Coen becoming HC of the Jaguars

Tuesday’s quiz
Who played QB for the Rams, the first time they played in a Super Bowl?

Monday’s quiz
Ron Jaworski was the Philadelphia Eagles’ QB, the first time they played in a Super Bowl.

Sunday’s quiz
Danny Hurley coached at Rhode Island, before he became the coach at UConn.

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Tuesday’s Den: College basketball trends, by conference…….​

We’re roughly at the halfway point of the conference season.
Following stats are for conference games only:

— SEC
8-0 Auburn leads 8-1 Alabama by a game.
Missouri is 7-1 ATS in SEC games.
Tennessee is 4-1 ATS as an SEC home favorite.
SEC has the 2nd-highest %age of offensive rebounds.
40.4% of shots in this league are 3-point shots (#6 of 31 leagues)

— Big 18
9-1 Michigan State is in first, just ahead of 9-2 Purdue, 8-2 Michigan State
Oregon is 1-4 ATS as a Big 18 home favorite.
Wisconsin is 8-2 ATS in its last ten games.
Big 18 games have the 5th-fastest tempo of any league.
Teams are making 52.5% of their 2-point shots (#6)

— Big X
Houston/Arizona are 9-1, tied for first, game ahead of Texas Tech.
BYU is 5-1 SU/6-0 ATS in its last six games.
Colorado is 0-10 SU/1-9 ATS in its conference games.
Big X teams are shooting 50% inside arc (#25)
Big X games have the #20 tempo out of 31 leagues.

— Big East
10-1 St John’s leads Marquette/Creighton by a game.
UConn is 0-5 ATS as a Big East home favorite.
Creighton won its last seven games, covered its last eight.
31.3% of Big East games have been decided by 4 or less points, or in OT (#3)
Not lot of fouls called here; Big East games have #27 rate in foul shots taken.

— ACC
11-0 Duke leads 10-1 Clemson by a game, 9-2 Louisville by two games.
North Carolina is 2-4 SU/1-5 ATS in ACC road games.
Louisville is 9-1 SU/8-2 ATS in its last ten games.
ACC games have been played at a slow pace, #26 of 31 leagues.
ACC teams are shooting 75.4% on the foul line (#2)

— Mountain West
10-1 New Mexico leads 9-2 Utah State, 8-2 Colorado State atop the standings.
San Jose State is 4-7 SU, but 10-1 ATS in conference games.
Underdogs are 5-0 ATS in UNLV’s home games.
40.4% of shots in Mountain West games are 3’s (#7)
28.3% of MW games were decided by 4 or fewer points or in OT (#4)

— West Coast
10-0 Saint Mary’s has a 3-game lead 8-3 San Francisco, 7-3 Gonzaga.
Gonzaga is 3-7 ATS as a WCC favorite, 1-4 at home.
Oregon State won/covered its last four home games.
36.2% of WCC games so far were decided by 20+ points (#1 of 31 leagues)
WCC teams are shooting 52.6% inside the arc (#5)

— Famous birthdays, February 4th:
John Schuck, 85
Steve O’Neal, 79
Keith Krepfle, 73
Lawrence Taylor, 66
Vern Fleming, 63
Dan Plesac, 63
Gabrielle Anwar, 55
Rob Corddry, 54
George Kirby, 27

— Atlantic 15
8-1 George Mason leads 7-2 VCU by a game, 6-3 Saint Louis by two games.
Dayton is 2-7 ATS in A-15 games, 0-4 as a home favorite.
VCU is 7-1 SU/6-2 ATS in its last eight games.
A-15 teams are shooting 32.6% on the arc (#27 of 31 leagues)
Home teams are winning 67.2% of games SU (#5)

— Conference USA
7-2 Jacksonville State leads Middle Tennessee State by a game.
Western Kentucky won/covered its last three games.
Sam Houston State is 1-8 ATS in conference games.
C-USA teams are shooting 31.2% on arc (#31 of 31)
Home teams are winning 64.4% of games SU (#6)

— American
8-1 Memphis leads UAB, North Texas by a game.
South Florida is 0-6 ATS in its last six games.
UAB is 7-2 ATS in its conference games.
AAC teams are shooting 35% on the arc (#9)
24.1% of AAC games were decided by 4 or fewer points or in OT (#7)

— Missouri Valley
10-2 Drake leads Bradley by a game, Northern Iowa by two games.
Bradley is 1-5 ATS as an MVC home favorite.
Southern Illinois is 6-2 ATS in its last eight games.
MVC teams are shooting 53.3% inside the arc (#3)
41.2% of shots in MVC games are 3’s (#5); they’re shooting 35.2% on arc (#5)

— Big West
10-1 Cal-Irvine leads Cal-San Diego, Cal-Riverside atop the standings.
Bakersfield is 1-5 SU/0-6 ATS on Big West road.
Riverside is 5-1 SU/ATS in its last six games.
Big West teams are shooting 76.4% on foul line (#1)
Big West games are being played at #6 tempo out of 31 leagues.

— Southern
8-2 Southern leads Chattanooga, NC-Greensboro by a game.
VMI is 5-5 SU/9-1 ATS in conference games.
Wofford is 1-4 ATS as a SoCon home favorite.
45.4% of SoCon shots are 3’s, #1 %age of any league
SoCon teams are making 35.1% of those 3’s (#7)

— WAC
7-1 Grand Canyon/Utah Valley are tied for first place.
Tex-Arlington is 4-4 SU/2-6 ATS in WAC games.
Utah Valley is 4-0 SU/ATS in WAC home games.
WAC teams have a 48.7% eFG%, 2nd-worst of any league.
WAC home teams are 25-9 SU, #2 of the 31 leagues.

 

[Cnotes53]

Wednesday’s 6-pack:
Players who took the most called 3rd strikes last year:
65- Elly De La Cruz, Cin (29.8% of his K’s)
54- Michael Busch, Cubs (33.3%)
53- Christopher Morel, Cubs/TB (33.3%)
53- Lane Thomas Wsh/Clev (38.7%)
52- Marcell Ozuna, Atl (30.6%)
51- Corbin Carroll, Ariz (39.2%)

Quote of the Day
“I enjoy being around the guys. I enjoy the football games. You can’t put in the hours that we do and not enjoy it. So, I really love the game.”
Chiefs coach Andy Reid

Wednesday’s quiz
Which team did Anthony Davis break into the NBA with?

Tuesday’s quiz
Vince Ferragamo played QB for the Rams, the first time they played in a Super Bowl.

Monday’s quiz
Ron Jaworski was the Philadelphia Eagles’ QB, the first time they played in a Super Bowl.

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Wednesday’s Den: Clearing out a cluttered mind……..​

— NBA has taken over the headlines this week, with the trade deadline this Thursday; the Doncic-Davis trade was unusual, on several levels:
Doncic is 25; Davis will be 32 next month. Why trade a 25-year old star?
Last year was the first time since 2018 that Davis played more than 62 games in a season.
Lakers are 29-19, are the #5-seed in the West right now; Dallas is 26-26, just outside the playoff picture. Neither team seems like a serious threat to win this year’s championship.

— Mark Cuban doesn’t have any input with the Mavericks anymore; he is still a minority owner, but the majority owners/decision makers are the Adelson family from Las Vegas- they run the Sands casino company.
There is a conspiracy theory out there that says the Mavericks are quietly tanking so they can move the team to Las Vegas, then when the NBA expands in a couple years, Dallas would get one of the two new franchises (Seattle would probably get the other one).
Trading the popular Doncic would soften the blow if/when the team tries to move.

— Then there are the Utah Jazz, the third team involved in the trade; Danny Ainge runs the Jazz- he didn’t know the details of the whole deal until an hour before it was announced.
Ainge used to play for the Celtics, the Lakers’ rival; apparently he wasn’t very happy when he found out the magnitude of the trade, but by that point, it was too late to back out of the deal.
The next couple days should be pretty interesting.

— Mavericks have offered refunds to fans who canceled season tickets because they’re mad about the trade.

— Florida State basketball coach Leonard Hamilton will retire after the season, after 23 years coaching the Seminoles. The 76-year old Hamilton got FSU to the NCAA’s eight times, to the Sweet 16 four times.

— Major League Baseball fired umpire Pat Hoberg for “sharing” legal sports betting accounts with a friend who bet on baseball. The friend, who is apparently a professional poker player,

Hoberg adamantly denied betting on baseball directly or indirectly; MLB even said that there is “no evidence” that Hoberg directly bet on games or manipulated the outcomes of any games in any way, but he was reckless in having a friend bet on baseball using his account.
The strange part of all this is that Hoberg was probably the best balls/strikes umpire in the big leagues; he had a couple games where his ball/strike calls were prefect, which is unusual.
He can re-apply for his job in 2026; will be interesting to see what happens then.

— Random stat: underdogs are 11-5 ATS in the last sixteen Super Bowls.

— Famous birthdays, February 5th
Roger Staubach, 83
Craig Morton, 82
Vic Correll, 79
Barbara Hershey, 77
Mike Heath, 70
Roberto Alomar, 57
Terrence Ross, 34
Nick Lodolo, 27

— UCLA 63, Michigan State 61
UCLA was +13 in turnovers (16-3)
Bruins have won six in a row, are 8-4 in the Big 18.
Famous alums Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson were at the game.

— Georgia Tech 89, Clemson 86 3OT
Tech survived going 12-25 on the foul line.
Yellow Jackets had 24 offensive boards, out-rebounded Clemson 56-46
Tech’s Nathan George had 28 points, seven assists.

— St John’s 70, Marquette 64
Red Storm has won nine games in a row.
St John’s is 11-1 in Big East, despite shooting 23.8% on arc in those games.
St John’s out-rebounded Marquette, 50-28

— Ole Miss 98, Kentucky 84
Ole Miss scored 1.38 points/possession, a huge number.
Rebels led 54-31 at halftime.
Kentucky lost four of last five games, after a 14-3 start.

— Texas Tech 73, Baylor 59
Red Raiders are the quietest 18-4 team in America.
Baylor shot 33.9% from the floor.
Tech has #24 eFG% offense, #34 eFG% defense in country.

— Drake 55, Murray State 45
Very, very slow game, a 49-possession game.
Drake has won nine in a row, is 21-2 this season.
Murray State lost six of its last seven games.

— Upsets of the Night:
Georgia Tech (+13.5) 89, Clemson 86 3OT
Minnesota (+8.5) 69, Penn State 61
Kansas State (+3.5) 71, Arizona State 70

 

[Cnotes53]

Thursday’s 6-pack:
Patrick Mahomes betting props for the Super Bowl:
Passing yards— 254.4
Completions— 24.5
Rushing yards— 28.5
Longest run— 12.5 yards
Longest pass completion— 35.5 yards
Passing TD’s— 1.5

Quote of the Day
“There’s nothing you have to know, you just have to work. I’m never not working on material. Every second of my existence, I’m thinking, could I do something with that?”
Jerry Seinfeld

Thursday’s quiz
Which NBA team drafted Kevin Durant?

Wednesday’s quiz
Anthony Davis broke into the NBA with the New Orleans Hornets, in 2012.

Tuesday’s quiz
Vince Ferragamo played QB for the Rams, the first time they played in a Super Bowl.

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Thursday’s Den: My list of the best 13 NFL QB’s of the Super Bowl era​

I screwed this up the first time I posted this..….here is the updated list.
Here is my list of the 13 best QBs of the Super Bowl era; I left Johnny Unitas out, because he was at the end of his career when I saw him play, couldn’t really evaluate him. Otto Graham was also really, really good, but he retired five years before I was born.
Make your own list; this was harder than I’d thought it would be, to get them ranked where I think they should be.

13) Kurt Warner
Started three Super Bowls for two different teams……
Before the Rams won the Super Bowl 25 years ago, in Warner’s first year as an NFL starter, they hadn’t made the playoffs in ten years.
Warner led the Cardinals to the Super Bowl in the 2008 season; before that year, Arizona also hadn’t made the playoffs in ten years.
Not only did he lead two franchises to a Super Bowl, he transformed two losing franchises into conference champions. Thats why he’s a Hall of Famer.

12) Terry Bradshaw
121-56 as an NFL starter, 14-5 in playoff games; was the underrated field general for a Steeler team that won four Super Bowls in a six-year span.
He played when teams ran ball more and threw less, but his TD pass to Franco Harris in a 1972 playoff game (the Immaculate Reception) is one of the most famous plays in NFL history.
Bradshaw won and he won a lot; he parlayed that winning into a TV career that is still going on.
Bradshaw played in college at Louisiana Tech; the QB at Tech before him was Phil Robertson, the father on the TV show Duck Dynasty.

11) Jim Kelly
110-67 as an NFL starter, won four consecutive AFC titles. Was 9-8 in playoff games, albeit 0-4 in Super Bowls. His teams were great fun to watch.
He also went 23-15 with the USFL’s Houston Gamblers.
He threw for 35,467 yards in the NFL, 237 TD’s.

10) Matthew Stafford
The two greatest seasons by a receiver, in terms of yardage, in NFL history:
1,964 yards- Calvin Johnson, 2012 Lions
1,947 yards- Cooper Kupp, 2021 Rams
The common thread between those two seasons? Stafford was the QB both years.
From 2014-18, Lions were 36-28 with Stafford at QB under coach Jim Caldwell, but he got fired and they stupidly hired Matt Patricia as coach, because he worked with Belichick/Brady in New England. Matt Millen was the GM then; he wasn’t good at his job.
Three years later, Detroit traded Stafford to the Rams; he is 5-2 in playoff games with LA, with a Super Bowl title, and he ain’t done yet.

9) Drew Brees
Played five years for the Chargers, 15 years for the Saints; he was 181-123 as a starter, 9-9 in the playoffs, winning a Super Bowl for New Orleans 15 years ago.
As a rookie, Brees backed up Doug Flutie as the Chargers’ QB.
In 2005, Brees tore up his shoulder, when he was hit by John Lynch, who is now GM of the 49ers; a free agent, Saints/Dolphins were interested in signing him.
Miami’s doctors wouldn’t endorse signing Brees, because of his injured shoulder, so Miami signed Daunte Culpepper instead, and Brees signed with the Saints.
Dolphins went 6-10 that next year; their coach quit and went back to a college job, where he became arguably the greatest college coach ever.
Drew Brees’ shoulder is why Nick Saban became the coach at Alabama.

8) Dan Marino
He was 155-103 as a starter, 8-10 in playoff games.
Marino threw for 61,361 yards, 420 TD’s. Tremendous passer.
Somehow, he was the 27th pick of the 1983 draft, the sixth (6th!!!) QB taken that year. Three of those six QB’s are in the Hall of Fame.

The other QB’s picked in the first round that year:
John Elway
Todd Blackledge
Jim Kelly
Tony Eason
Ken O’Brien
Dan Marino…….every team in the AFC East picked a QB that year.

— Famous birthdays, February 6th
Mike Farrell, 86
Richie Zisk, 76
John Dutton, 74
Tom Tupa, 59
Kris Humphries, 40
Pavin Smith, 29
Kevon Looney, 29
Adley Rutschman, 27

7) Bart Starr
Won five NFL titles, including the first two Super Bowls.
Was 9-1 in playoff games, back when there weren’t as many playoff games.
Green Bay was 105-35 with Vince Lombardi as coach; Starr was his field general.
His only playoff loss was 17-13 to the Eagles in the 1960 NFL title game.
I decided not to mention that he ruined my 8th birthday party, but he did, when Green Bay beat the Rams 28-7 in the playoffs. There is a chance I was a weird kid.

6) Peyton Manning
200-92 as an NFL starter, 14-13 in playoff games. He threw for 71,940 yards, 539 TD’s.
He won Super Bowls for the Colts/Broncos; he and Tom Brady are the only guys on this list who won a Super Bowl for multiple teams.
He also threw for 11,201 yards, 89 TD’s in college at Tennessee; the QB at Tennessee before him was baseball Hall of Famer Todd Helton. As excellent as Manning was, the Vols won a national title the year after he left, with Tee Martin under center.
Manning was 32-32 in his first four years as a starter, but then he won 10+ games the next 12 years he played. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2021, the first year he was eligible.

5) Roger Staubach
96-35 as an NFL starter, 11-6 in playoff games.
Played at the Naval Academy, served four years in the Navy after that; he didn’t play in the NFL until he was 27 years old, didn’t become a full-time starter until he was 31. Dallas was 45-14 in his starts his last four years in the NFL.
He won two Super Bowls for the Cowboys (1971/1977 seasons); he was so universally respected, thought that if he had wanted to become President, he would’ve been.
Today (Wednesday) is his 83rd birthday.

4) Joe Montana
Won four Super Bowls with the 49ers, one of them before they had the great WR Jerry Rice.
Why is the NFL Draft awesome? Montana was a 3rd round draft pick, the 82nd player taken in the 1979 draft. Go figure.
Montana ruined a lot of my Sunday afternoons; he won back/back titles in 1988/89, but lost the NFC Championship Game 15-13 to the Giants in 1990, when they were trying to three-peat, like the Chiefs are trying to do Sunday.

3) Patrick Mahomes
When I do this list ten years from now, chances are Mahomes will be #1 on the list.
He is 17-3 in playoff games, winning three Super Bowls, and he is only 29. His career record is 106-26; before he got the Chiefs, from 1994-2016, the Chiefs were 1-8 in playoff games.
Why is the NFL Draft awesome? Mahomes was the 10th player taken in the 2017 draft; he didn’t play until the last game of his rookie season. He’s made up for it since.
By the way, Bears had the #3 pick in 2017; they traded two extra draft picks to the 49ers to move up to the #2 spot, so they could draft QB Mitch Trubisky.
Whoops.

2) Tom Brady
Brady has accomplished the most of any NFL QB ever, winning seven Super Bowls. He was 286-65 as an NFL starter, 35-13 in playoff games.
He threw for 89,214 yards, 649 TD’s. Not bad for a 6th round draft pick. He’s become pretty good as a TV analyst, too.
That said, if we were choosing up sides on the playground and I had the first pick of any QB ever, I’d choose the last guy on this list.

1) John Elway
Elway was 162-89-1 as an NFL starter, 14-7 in playoff games; he won the Super Bowl the last two years he played in the NFL. He was mobile, he was clutch, throwing for 51,475 yards, 300 TD’s in his career. He also played pro baseball for a year, in the NY-Penn League.
Baltimore Colts drafted Elway with the first pick of the 1983 draft; they traded him to Denver, four years before the Colts moved to Indianapolis. Mike Pagel/Art Schlichter played QB for the Colts after that, a big part of why the Colts wound up moving.
Remember the Stanford Band play in 1982, when Stanford led 20-19 with 0:04 left, but Cal ran the kickoff back for TD, while the Stanford Band marched on the field before the game was over?
That was John Elway’s last college game; the loss prevented Stanford from going to a bowl that year. Elway never played in a bowl (they were a lot fewer back then) other than the Super Bowl.

 

[Cnotes53]

Friday’s 6-pack:
Teams with the most stolen bases last year:
233— Nationals
217— Brewers
207— Reds
178— Rays
148— Phillies, Guardians
144— Red Sox

Quote of the Day
“It’s been a pretty quiet offseason, and I think that’s reflective of a team that didn’t have a whole lot of holes to fill. And you know we we feel great about our farm system, we feel great about the stability in our team, and we feel like our offense doesn’t get enough credit for the things that they do well.”
Seattle Mariners GM Jerry DiPoto

Friday’s quiz
When was the last time the Golden State Warriors finished a season under .500?

Thursday’s quiz
Seattle SuperSonics drafted Kevin Durant in 2007, the year before they moved the franchise to Oklahoma City.

Wednesday’s quiz
Anthony Davis broke into the NBA with the New Orleans Hornets, in 2012.

****************************************

Friday’s Den: Random stuff with the weekend here……..​

— NBA trade deadline passed Thursday; Miami finally unloaded Jimmy Butler to Golden State, getting four players and a draft pick in return. Miami had suspended Butler for a total of 11 games as the inevitable divorce became hostile at the end- they got a lot for him, considering they really didn’t have much leverage to unload a disgruntled star player.

— One of the players who wound up on Miami was Dennis Schröder, who is now on his fourth team this season, though he never played for Utah.
In 2021, Schröder turned down an $84M contract extension with the Lakers; Miami will be his 8th NBA team since he turned down that extension. He’s made roughly $48M since then.

— Speaking of the Lakers/trades/contracts, the Doncic/Davis trade will cost Luka Doncic over $100M; he’s moving from Texas to California, a disaster tax-wise, and Doncic is not going to be eligible for a super max extension, which could have netted him $346M for five years.
Instead, Doncic will be eligible for a 5-year, $229M deal, so his family will still be able to eat, but that is big difference in $$$.

— It is kind of amazing how much Lakers’ general manager Rob Pelinka looks like Rob Lowe, the actor. Rob Lowe is seven years older, but they could be brothers.

— One result of the trade deadline: Charlotte Hornets now have 11 first round draft picks over the next seven years.

— Andy Reid will be back coaching the Chiefs next year, good news for Kansas City fans. Reid has been the Chiefs’ coach since 2013, going 161-60, 18-7 in playoff games.
In their last 18 playoff games, Chiefs haven’t allowed any player to run the ball for 100+ yards; will be interesting to see how Saquon Barkley does Sunday night.

— Las Vegas Raiders announced that their new offensive line coach will be Brennan Carroll, son of Raiders’ coach Pete Carroll. Brennan Carroll was offensive coordinator for the Washington Huskies this past season.

— Famous birthdays, February 7th:
Burt Hooton, 75
Rolf Benirschke, 70
Carney Lansford, 68
Mike O’Koren, 67
James Spader, 65
Rick Neuheisel, 64
Chris Rock, 60
Billy Joe Tolliver, 59
Juwan Howard, 52
Steve Nash, 51
Ashton Kutcher, 47
Matthew Stafford, 37

— San Francisco 65, Saint Mary’s 64
USF snaps an 11-game losing skid against the Gaels.
Saint Mary’s led by 11 with 9:32 left to play.
Gaels were 3-23 on arc, 9-16 on foul line, lost by a point.

— Ohio State 73, Maryland 70
Maryland led by 17 late in the first half.
Junior G Thornton played all 40:00, scored 31 points, had six assists.
Ohio State has won four of its last five games.

— South Florida 100, Temple 91, 2OT
USF shot 59.1% inside the arc.
USF big man Reynolds had 25 points, 12 boards; he didn’t start.
Third straight overtime game for Temple.

— Fairfield 59, Marist 56
Kid on Fairfield drained a 60-footer for the walk-off win.
Fairfield was 21-26 on foul line, Red Foxes 7-13.
Stags survived a taunting technical and missed dunk in second half.

— Montana 86, Northern Colorado 78
Both teams are now 9-2, tied for first in Big Sky.
Montana was 10-16 on arc, Bears were 13-27.
Montana has won five games in a row.

— Albany 68, Bryant 63
First loss in nine America East games for Bulldogs.
Albany led led 41-28 at halftime.
Bryant shot only 39.5% inside the arc.

— South Dakota State 102, St Thomas 86
Jackrabbits shot 10-19 on the arc.
South Dakota State scored 1.34 points/possession.
6-2 frosh Larson scored 22 points, had 10 rebounds.

 

[Cnotes53]

Saturday’s 6-pack:
Pitchers who had the most called 3rd strikes last year:
71- Zack Wheeler, Phil
63- Brandon Pfaadt, Ariz
60- Michael King, SD
Tarik Skubal, Det
59- Chris Bassitt, Tor
Mitch Keller, Pitt
Ranger Suarez, Phil

Quote of the Day
“It’s the most remarkable thing and it’s not hyperbole: He has probably taught more people about the game of basketball than anybody that’s ever lived.”
ESPN’s Mike Breen, talking about 91-year old Hubie Brown, who will broadcast his last game on TV Sunday

Saturday’s quiz
Hubie Brown went 121-72 coaching which team in the last two years of the ABA?

Friday’s quiz
2019-20 was the last time the Golden State Warriors finished a season under .500; they went 15-50, but won their 4th championship in eight years in 2022.

Thursday’s quiz
Seattle SuperSonics drafted Kevin Durant in 2007, the year before they moved the franchise to Oklahoma City.

**********************************************

Saturday’s Den: Nobody asked me, but……..​

— St John’s 68, UConn 62
UConn led 26-12 early in the game.
St John’s was +15 in turnovers (22-7)
St John’s has won 10 in a row, 16 of last 17 games.
Red Storm is 12-1 in Big East, despite shooting 23.4% on arc in those games.

— VCU 73, Dayton 68
Dayton led 59-54 with 3:39 left to play.
Rams have won nine of their last ten games.
VCU had 23 offensive boards, out-rebounded Flyers 44-34.

— Purdue 90, USC 72
Purdue has won 11 of its last 12 games.
Purdue shot 67.5% inside the arc.
Boilers out-rebounded USC, 48-31.

— Former Panthers/Redskins coach Ron Rivera is going back to work for the Cal Bears, where he went to college and was an All-American linebacker.
Rivera’s role will primarily be administrative, and he would be involved in oversight of the program and its big-picture needs, including budget, coaching staff and the student-athlete experience.
Rivera played nine years for the Chicago Bears, was on their 1985 championship team; he was an NFL assistant/head coach from 1997-2023.

— Ohio State football coach Ryan Day signed a 7-year contract worth $12.5M/year; Day is 70-10 coaching the Buckeyes, winning the national title last month.

— Georgia Southern signed football coach Clay Helton to a 3-year deal with $1M/year; Helton has gone 20-19 in three years with the Eagles, going to bowl games all three years.
Helton had previously gone 46-24 as coach at USC, winning the Rose Bowl in 2016.

— Mid-American Conference and Sun Belt Conference have a basketball challenge Saturday; 12 games between the two leagues, designed to help the teams’ non-conference resumes.
Sun Belt is the #18-ranked league, MAC is #24.

— Famous birthdays, February 8th
Nick Nolte, 84
Mary Steenburgen, 72
Marques Johnson, 69
Mary McCormack, 56
Alonzo Mourning, 55
Jamie Martin, 55
Susan Misner, 54
Aaron Cook, 46
Johnny Hekker, 35
Klay Thompson, 35
Saturday would’ve been Jack Lemmon’s 100th birthday.

— There must be a boatload of $$$$ in hosting fantasy baseball/football leagues; with spring training starting next week, I’ve been listening to 2-3 podcasts every night, trying to learn stuff.
There are a lot of podcasts out there; some of them are bad, guys sitting in their cellars trying to get attention by yelling instead of talking.
There will be a lot more information out there next week, once pitchers/catchers report.

— Pittsburgh Pirates signed OF Tommy Pham to a one-year deal with $4M; Pham will be 37 a month from today- he hit .248 last year with 9 home runs for three different teams. Pittsburgh will be his 10th major league team in 12 seasons.

— Minnesota Twins signed OF Harrison Bader to a one-year, $6.25M deal; Bader hit .236 for the Mets last year. Minnesota will be Bader’s fifth team in a nine-year career.

— Los Angeles Angels signed IF Yoan Moncada to a one-year, $5M deal; Moncada only played in 12 games for the White Sox last year- he’s hit .275 with a .756 OPS in his nine-year career.

— Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shahid Khan has his 400-foot yacht in New Orleans for the Super Bowl this week; the yacht is worth $360M, has a crew of 37 people, sleeps 12 guests.
Not sure why a boat would have three pools and four fireplaces, but Khan’s yacht has them.

— Pittsburgh Steelers are playing a game in Ireland next year; there will be six international NFL games next year- three in London, one each in Ireland, Germany and Spain.

— Curious which NFL team will be featured on HBO’s Hard Knocks leading up to the NFL Draft; there are four teams eligible- Atlanta, Carolina, Seattle, Tennessee.
Titans have the first pick in the draft, so it would be logical for them to be the team NFL Films follows for the draft, with one of the other three teams to be followed during training camp.
Teams are exempt from being in Hard Knocks, if:
1) They’ve appeared on Hard Knocks in the last 10 years.
2) They have a first-year head coach
3) They made the playoffs in either of the previous two seasons.

 

[Udog]

NFL
Weather Report

Sunday, February 9

NFL
Armadillo's Write-up

Championship

Super Bowl (@ New Orleans)
Eagles vs Chiefs (-1.5)
Eagles (17-3)
Eagles won 15 of their last 16 games (11-4 ATS last 15)
Last six games, Philly is +18 in turnovers.
QB Hurts is 51-23 as an NFL starter, 5-3 in playoff games.
Sirianni is 53-23 as an NFL coach, 5-3 in playoff games.
In their three losses. Eagles allowed 22-33-36 points.
Last two games, Eagles ran ball for 285-229 yards.


Philly is 7-2 SU away from home this season
Eagles are 7-2 in games decided by 6 or fewer points.
Eagles are 6-1 ATS in games with spread of 3 or fewer points.
Over is 4-2 in their last six games.
Since they won Super Bowl in 2017, Eagles are 6-5 SU in playoffs.
Eagles’ only loss since September: 36-33 @ Washington in Week 16.


Chiefs (17-2)
QB Mahomes is 106-26 as an NFL starter, 17-3 in playoff games.
Chiefs won eight of last nine games (4-2 ATS last six games)
Mahomes didn’t play in their last loss.
Last six games, Kansas City is +9 in turnovers.
Chiefs are 12-0 in games decided by 8 or fewer points.


Chiefs won the last two Super Bowls.
Since 2019, Chiefs are 16-2 SU in playoff games.
Kansas City is 5-1 ATS in games with spread of 3 or fewer points.
Under is 6-2 in Chiefs’ last eight games.
Chiefs ran for less than 100 yards in seven of last eleven games.
In their last 18 playoff games, no RB has run ball for 100+ yards vs Chiefs.


Chiefs won four of last five series games.
Chiefs beat Eagles 38-35 in Super Bowl two years ago.
Eagles beat Chiefs at Arrowhead 21-17 last year.
AFC teams are 7-3 in last ten Super Bowls.
Underdogs are 11-5 ATS in last 16 Super Bowls.




NFL
Dunkel

Championship

NFL

Championship

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kansas City vs Philadelphia
Kansas City is 23-2 SU in its last 25 games
Kansas City is 11-2 SU in its last 13 games on the road
Philadelphia is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
Philadelphia is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[Cnotes53]

Sunday’s 6-pack:
Teams who get highest %age of their points on foul shots:
26.6%— Cal State-Fullerton (6-18)
26%— Charlotte (9-15)
25.2%— Cal-Davis (13-10)
25.2%— Tarleton State (10-15)
24.6%— Temple (14-9)
24.5%— Grand Canyon (17-6)

Quote of the Day
“I remember saying, ‘Patrick, there is no future in football. You are a baseball player.’ Man, am I glad he didn’t listen to me.”
Alex Rodriguez, who advised Patrick Mahomes to play baseball instead of football.

Sunday’s quiz
How many NFL teams have never played in a Super Bowl?

Saturday’s quiz
Hubie Brown went 121-72 coaching the Kentucky Colonels in the last two years of the ABA.

Friday’s quiz
2019-20 was the last time the Golden State Warriors finished a season under .500; they went 15-50 that year, but won their 4th championship in eight years in 2022.

**************************************

Sunday’s Den: Wrapping a full day of college basketball​

Two quick notes:
Top two teams in the college basketball top 25 lost Saturday
Sunday is Saquon Barkley’s 28th birthday.

— SEC
Florida 90, Auburn 81
Gators shot 58.1% inside the arc.
Auburn led 15-5 early, but trailed 48-38 at halftime.
Loss snaps Auburn’s 14-game winning streak.

Mississippi State 76, Georgia 75
Miss State survived going 6-18 on the foul line. 6 for 18. Oy.
Miss State came into the game on a 2-5 skid.
Miss State shot 68.4% inside the arc.

Ole Miss 72, LSU 70
Rebels outscored LSU 13-0 over the last 3:15 of this game.
LSU was 12-25 on foul line, Ole Miss 20-29.
Bitter loss was LSU’s sixth in a row.
Auburn/Alabama are tied for first, two games ahead of Florida/Texas A&M
Bracketology has 13 SEC teams in the NCAA tournament.

— ACC
Clemson 77, Duke 71
Duke led 41-35 at halftime.
Duke’s star Flagg was only 6-17 from the floor.
Clemson shot 58.8% inside the arc.
It was very excellent that 85-year old Dick Vitale was one of the TV analysts for this game; it was the first TV appearance in two years for the coach Vitale. Glad he is feeling better.

Syracuse 95, Boston College 86, 3 OT’s
Really bad beat if you had Boston College +6.5
BC led by seven points in the second OT.
Syracuse led by 11 with 12:12 left in the game.
12-1 Duke leads Louisville/Clemson by a game atop the ACC.
Bracketology has four ACC teams in the NCAA tournament.

— Big X
Arizona 82, Texas Tech 73
Texas Tech shot only 37.7% from the floor.
Arizona out-rebounded the Red Raiders, 42-29.
Arizona played only 7 guys; their two subs both scored 15 points.

Kansas State 81, Kansas 73
Third straight year the Jayhawks lost in the Little Apple.
Kansas is 3-5 in its last eight games; they’re only 7-5 in Big X.
K-State shot 56.4% inside the arc.
Arizona/Houston are tied for first place, two games ahead of Texas Tech.
Bracketology has eight Big X teams in the NCAA tournament.

— Big 18
Michigan State 86, Oregon 74
Tom Izzo won his 353rd Big 18 game, tied for the most ever.
Ducks led 50-36 at halftime.
Oregon has lost five in a row, after a 16-3 start.

Michigan 70. Indiana 67
Wolverines won their 4th game in a row, all by 4 or fewer points.
Michigan led this game 43-27 at halftime.
Wolverines shot 57.6% inside the arc.
11-2 Purdue leads Michigan/Michigan State by a half-game atop the Big 18.
Bracketology has ten Big 18 teams in the NCAA tournament.

— Upsets of the Day:
Stony Brook (+12.5) 80, Hofstra 75
Niagara (+11.5) 76, Quinnipiac 75
Virginia Tech (+9.5) 65, Notre Dame 63
Florida (+8.5) 90, Auburn 81
Louisiana (+8.5) 66, Northern Illinois 64
Clemson (+7.5) 77, Duke 71
Hampton (+5.5) 84, Northeastern 75
Cal Baptist (+5.5) 85, Grand Canyon 71
Appalachian State (+4.5) 72, Ohio U 59

— Big East
Creighton 77, Marquette 67
Bluejays won their ninth game in a row.
Creighton shot 69.6% inside the arc.
Marquette has lost three games in row, for first time in three years,

Butler 82, Providence 81
Butler led by 13 with 9:2 left, hung on for dear life.
Bulldogs won consecutive games for first time since December 3rd.
Providence lost its last three games, giving up 76.7 ppg.
12-1 St John’s leads Creighton by a game atop the Big East standings.
Bracketology has four Big East teams in the NCAA tournament.

— Missouri Valley
Drake 85, Indiana State 81 OT
Drake led 49-33 with 14:58 left in the game.
Drake has won 10 in a row, is 12-2 in the MVC.
Bulldogs are 3-0 in overtime games this season.

Northern Iowa 68, Illinois State 65
Illinois State led by 8 with 4:21 left in the game.
Panthers shot 62.2% inside the arc.
Northern Iowa won five of its last six games.
12-2 Drake leads Northern Iowa by two games in the MVC.

— Conference USA
Jacksonville State 85, Western Kentucky 83
Hilltoppers led 35-16 midway thru the first half.
WKU shot 12-24 on the arc; Jax State shot 60% inside the arc.
Gamecocks won their eighth game in a row.
9-2 Jacksonville State leads Liberty/Middle Tennessee by two games.

— Summit
Omaha 85, North Dakota 74
Mavericks have won 11 of their last 12 D-I games.
Omaha shot 15-28 on the arc, North Dakota 14-33.

St Thomas 79, Denver 76
Denver led by 7 with 6:47 left in the game.
Tommies shot 60% inside arc, 9-17 on arc, scored 1.23 points/possession.
St Thomas won nine of its last 11 games.
10-1 Omaha leads St Thomas by a game atop Summit standings.

— West Coast
Washington State 87, Pepperdine 86
Pepperdine led by 12 with 6:17 left, by 7 with 1:30 left.
Coogs’ win snaps their five-game losing skid.
Wazzu shot 57.1% inside the arc.

Saint Mary’s 63, Oregon State 49
Oregon State shot 36.5% from the floor.
Saint Mary’s shot 60.6% inside the arc.
Oregon State has players from nine different countries.
Saint Mary’s leads Gonzaga/San Francisco by two games.

— Famous birthdays, February 9th:
Joe Pesci, 82
Jim Nash, 80
Judith Light, 76
Danny White, 73
Mookie Wilson, 69
John Kruk, 64
Todd Lyght, 56
Vladimir Guerrero Sr, 50
Jameer Nelson, 43
Saquon Barkley, 28
Cobie Durant, 27
Logan O’Hoppe, 25

— Ivy League
Yale 103, Cornell 88
Bulldogs ended first half on a 14-0 run.
Yale led 54-44 at halftime
Yale shot 69.8% inside arc, scored a ridiculous 1.37 points/possession.
Yale leads Cornell/Princeton by two games. Dartmouth is in 4th place; top four teams get in the conference tournament.

— Big West
Cal-San Diego 85, Cal-Irvine 67
Tritons shot 16-31 on the arc, scored 1.23 points/possession.
Irvine turned ball over 18 times (minus-6)
Anteaters were 23-28 on foul line, UCSD 11-14.
These teams are both 10-2, two games ahead of Northridge/Riverside.

— Southern
East Tennessee State 66, Samford 59
Both teams took more 3’s than 2’s.
ETSU was 21-27 on foul line; Samford was 9-18.

UNC-Greensboro/Samford/Chattanooga are tied for first, a game ahead of ETSU. This conference tournament should be excellent.

— MAC/Sun Belt had a two-day challenge this season, with total of 24 games played between the two leagues. Nothing was decided; each league won 12 of the games.

Kent State 76, Arkansas State 75
Ark State led by 5 with 4:37 left to play.
Kent was 25-28 on foul line. Red Wolves 15-18.
Ark State lost its second game in a row, after a 7-0 run.

Toledo 72, James Madison 69
JMU led 32-16 midway thru the first half.
Dukes lost despite shooting 13-24 on the arc.
Toledo has won five in row, nine of last 11 games.

 

[Cnotes53]

Monday’s 6-pack:
All-time passing yardage leaders for the Philadelphia Eagles:
32,873— Donovan McNabb
26,963— Ron Jaworski
22,877— Randall Cunningham
16,811— Carson Wentz
15,672— Norm Snead
14,667— Jalen Hurts

Quote of the Day
“Guys it’s been hard, but I got a lot of love and a lot of people believing in me. I’m happy to be here.”
Former NFL WR Randy Moss, who was back on TV Sunday after missing two months because he was getting treatments to battle cancer

Monday’s quiz
When ABA folded after the 1975-76 season, which four teams got absorbed into the NBA?

Sunday’s quiz
Four NFL teams have never played in a Super Bowl; Browns, Lions, Texans, Jaguars.

Saturday’s quiz
Hubie Brown went 121-72 coaching the Kentucky Colonels in the last two years of the ABA.

**************************************

Monday’s Den: Wrapping up a less-than-Super Sunday​

— Eagles 40, Chiefs 22
Chiefs in first half: 20 plays, 13 yards, trailed 24-0 at halftime
Eagles in first half: 40 plays, 187 yards, plus a pick-6 by the defense.
QB Hurts threw for 221 yards, ran for 72 more.
Eagles will be the home team on Thursday night in Week 1 next season.
Teams with a pick-6 in the Super Bowl are now 13-1.

— So it turns out that Division II college basketball must be pretty good; there are two teams, Drake and Cal-San Diego, who are 22-2 and 20-4 this year; their rotations are stocked mainly with guys who were playing Division II ball last year.
Go figure.

— Bucks 135, 76ers 127— Sunday was the last game on TV for 91-year old Hubie Brown, who was an outstanding coach and an even better broadcaster.40 years ago, I met coach Brown when he was coaching the Knicks- they played an exhibition game in Glens Falls, about an hour north of where I live. Knicks-Bulls; Chicago had a rookie named Jordan, who turned out to be a pretty good player.

The day of the game, a Monday, friend of mine and I drove to Glens Falls and went into the Civic Center, where the Knicks were having their walk-through. We went down and sat on the bench and watched the practice- no one stopped us or threw us out.
After the practice, I talked to coach Brown for a few minutes about basketball statistics; I was an assistant high school coach at the time, dealing in analytics before analytics was a thing.

He was great to talk to and for decades after that, he was great to listen to. Learned a ton about basketball from listening to him. He will be missed on TV.

— Hubie Brown won an ABA championship coaching the Kentucky Colonels in 1975, the 2nd-to-last year of the ABA. Back then, ABA teams played an 84-game regular season schedule, with a 10-man roster. Lot of three games in four nights, not much load management in the ABA.

— Mike Woodson is out as Indiana’s basketball coach; Hoosiers are 14-10, 5-8 this season, after they went 63-40, 31-29 in Woodson’s first three years. Woodson was an outstanding player with the Hoosiers, played 11 years in the NBA, wound up as a head coach in the NBA for another nine years.
The rich boosters who fund the NIL stuff aren’t patient, which is why Woodson is gone now.
Am curious where Indiana will look for their next coach; firing an alum with extensive NBA experience makes it seem like a less-than-elite job. In any event, Indiana isn’t as good a job as it used to be; someone needs to tell them that.

— Famous birthdays, February 10th:
Robert Wagner, 95
Tom LaGarde, 70
Lenny Dykstra, 62
Wayne Gandy, 54
Elizabeth Banks, 51
Lance Berkman, 49
Paul Millsap, 40
Liam Hendriks, 36
Travis d’Arnaud, 36
Max Kepler, 32
Cal Quantrill, 30
Bobby Portis, 30

— Eagles’ offensive coordinator Kellen Moore is going to be the new coach of the New Orleans Saints; coordinators from winning teams get better jobs.

— Memphis 90, Temple 82
Game was 35-35 at halftime.
Memphis shot 63.2% inside the arc.
Temple shot 11-22 on the arc; they’re 5-0 ATS as an AAC underdog.

— Nebraska 79, Ohio State 71
Nebraska outscored Buckeyes 45-32 in second half.
Cornhuskers shot 64.5% inside the arc.
Nebraska won its fourth game in a row.

— Villanova 80, Xavier 68
Xavier led by 6 with 12:38 left in the game.
Villanova shot 12-24 on the arc, scored 1.25 points/possession.
Both of these teams seem headed to the NIT.

— Oklahoma State 86, Arizona State 73
Arizona State shot 33.3% from the floor.
Sun Devils have lost three in row, eight of last ten games.
Oklahoma State is 4-0 ATS as a Big X home favorite.

— Wichita State 75, South Florida 70
Just third win in last ten games for Wichita.
Shockers out-rebounded USF, 42-22.
Teams combined to shoot 6-30 on the arc.

— Maryland 90, Rutgers 81
Derik Queen scored 29 points, was 11-13 on foul line.
Maryland won five of its last six games.
Rutgers lost four of its last six games.