Sunday’s 6-pack:
Power 6 college basketball teams that have played the hardest schedules:
6) Tennessee
8) Marquette
9) Texas A&M
11) Purdue
25) Kansas
28) Florida
Quote of the Day
“So you’re going to tell me somebody’s sitting in the committee room and doesn’t think that the Georgia team is not one of the best four teams? I’m not sure they’re in the right profession, because it’s a really good football team, it’s a really talented football team, it’s a really balanced football team. They have to make that decision. But it’s the best four teams, and that’s critical.”
Georgia coach Kirby Smart
Sunday’s quiz
Which NFL team did Nick Saban used to coach?
Saturday’s quiz
Jim Harbaugh coached the 49ers from 2011-14.
Friday’s quiz
Tampa Bay is the last team that beat the Cowboys in Dallas; they Dallas 19-3 in last year’s season opener.
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— I can’t process it yet, but next year, the Pac-12 will no longer exist; the greedy humans who run college sports are screwing things up royally.
Cal and Stanford in the ACC? The A in ACC stands for
Atlantic, as in ocean.
Creighton is in the Big East; it is also in Omaha, Nebraska, nowhere near the east.
Oregon State/Washington State got left behind; they’ll basically hook up with the Mountain West teams for scheduling purposes. Good luck to those coaches during recruiting season.
Gonzaga has now won 16 games in a row vs Pac-12 teams; they play Washington next week, possibly the last chance ever for that streak to end.
— It was a rough day for some favorites in college basketball:
NC-Wilmington 80,
Kentucky 73
Seahawks led by 14 in first half; Kentucky was up 6 with 12:51 left.
Kentucky played eight guys, including five freshmen and a sophomore.
Georgia Tech 72,
Duke 68
Duke lost two road games this week, by total of nine points.
Georgia Tech shot 66.7% inside the arc.
Wisconsin 75,
Marquette 64
Badgers beat their in-state rivals for third year in a row.
Marquette is 6-2; they’ve played the 8th-hardest schedule in the country.
Drexel 57,
Villanova 55
Villanova was 10-14 on foul line, Drexel 1-3, but Villanova never led.
Villanova is 0-3 vs other colleges in Philadelphia, 6-0 vs everyone else.
Bucknell 76,
Penn State 67
Bucknell is 3-7; they lost by 24 to freakin’ Marist.
Bucknell was 10-21 on the arc, Penn State 4-19.
There were some dramatic finishes Saturday:
Vermont 66,
Yale 65
Yale led 65-60 with 0:03.5 left in the game.
Vermont hit a 4-point play at the buzzer for an unlikely win.
LaSalle 93,
Penn 82 OT
LaSalle coach Dunphy coached Penn for 18 years.
Explorers hit a 3-pointer with 0:01 left for the dramatic win.
TCU 84,
Georgetown 83, OT
Horned Frogs hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer for the walk-off win.
TCU is 7-0, but they’ve played the easiest schedule in the whole country so far.
— Word of the Day: Fustercluck- a euphemism for a similar word, which means a complete failure and mismanaged situation.
I was thinking about college football when that word came to mind.
Liberty 49,
New Mexico State 35
Game was 35-35 after three quarters.
Liberty gained 712 yards on 71 plays, over 10 yards/play.
Flames ran ball 45 times for 393 yards.
Liberty is 13-0 SU/9-4 ATS this season.
Washington 34,
Oregon 31
Washington beat Oregon twice this season, 36-33/34-31.
Washington outgained the Ducks, 482-363
Huskies were 10-15 on third down, Oregon 3-10
Huskies’ last four wins were by 7-2-3-3 points.
Texas 49,
Oklahoma State 21
First four Texas drives: 24 plays, 292 yards, 28 points.
Longhorns led 35-14 at halftime.
Texas was 10-16 on third down, OSU 3-10
Total yardage: Texas 662, Cowboys 281
Miami OH 23,
Toledo 14
Miami OH led 10-8 at halftime.
Red Hawks are 9-0 if they score 23+ points.
Miami covered nine of its last 11 games.
Toledo’s 11-game winning streak comes to an end.
Boise State 44,
UNLV 20
Boise State wins Mountain West, 19 days after they fired their coach.
Broncos’ first six drives: 29 plays, 297 yards, 31 points.
Boise ran ball 51 times for 301 yards.
UNLV is still headed to its first bowl since 2013.
Alabama 27,
Georgia 24
Georgia’s 29-game winning streak comes to an end.
Alabama is 8-1 in its last nine games against the Dawgs.
Georgia ran the ball 31 times for only 78 yards.
The big question? Do both of these teams get in the 4-team playoff?
SMU 26,
Tulane 14
SMU turned ball over on three of its first five drives.
Mustangs kicked a field goal on four of last five drives.
SMU won its last nine games overall; they’re 8-1 in last nine vs Tulane.
Tulane coach Fritz is rumored to be bolting to the Houston Cougars.
Troy 49,
Appalachian State 23
Troy led 21-17 after three quarters.
Troy’s first three drives: 18 plays, 49 yards, 3 punts.
Troy’s last eight drives: 42 plays, 414 yards, 42 points.
Trojans win Sun Belt title for second year in a row.
Michigan 26,
Iowa 0
A Cedar Rapids golf simulator/bar offered free beer until Iowa scored a point during this game, which means their patrons got to drink for free for over three hours.
Michigan won/covered last four meetings with Iowa, by total of 105-20.
Wolverines won the Big 14 title for the third year in a row.
Florida State 16,
Louisville 6
Florida State played its #3 quarterback in this game (8-21/55 passing).
Seminoles are now 5-1 in ACC championship games.
In its previous four games, Louisville had scored 33.5 ppg.
Florida State/Washington were both underdogs this weekend, despite being 12-0, and they both won SU.
—
Some quick NFL notes:
Arizona Cardinals have lost the field position battle in every game. No bueno.
Minnesota Vikings have won the field position battle in only one game.
Rams have won the field position battle in only two games, the two vs Arizona.
In their last four games, Carolina Panthers have scored only 3 TD’s on 35 drives; they’ve got a minus-6 turnover ratio in those games, with zero takeaways. Panthers did score a TD on a punt return.
Joe Flacco will be the Browns’ 4th different starting QB Sunday, in their 12th game.
Houston Texans are 6-3 in their last nine games, with losses by 2-2-3 points.
In their last three games, Detroit Lions have allowed 12 TD’s on 29 drives.
