Wednesday’s 6-pack
Odds for the Masters next week:
8-1— Dustin Johnson
9-1— Bryson DeChambeau
11-1— Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas
14-1— Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth
20-1— Xander Schauffele, Brooks Koepka
22-1— Patrick Cantlay
Americans who have died from COVID-19: 550,903
PLEASE wear a mask (over your nose/mouth) when you go out.
Quote of the Day
“A thief is a thief, whether he steals a diamond or a cucumber.”
Old Indian proverb
Wednesday’s quiz
When was last time three #1-seeds made the Final Four?
Tuesday’s quiz
Last time Kelvin Sampson made it to the Final Four, he was coaching Oklahoma.
Monday’s quiz
Washington’s Bradley Beal is leading the NBA in scoring this season, at 31.3 ppg.
*************************
Wednesday’s Den: Mid-week musings……..
13) UCLA 51, Michigan 49:
— UCLA lost their last four games before the NCAA’s; they were down 5 with 1:27 left in the play-in game, against Michigan State.
— Michigan was 6-11 on foul line in a 2-point loss.
— Bruins have played six OT games this year; two of them were in the NCAA’s.
— Here’s the thing: if Mick Cronin’s relatives filled out brackets, no way they picked the Bruins.
12) Baylor 81, Arkansas 72:
— Bears are 9-2 since their 21-day COVID pause in February.
— Baylor never trailed, led 29-11 right off the bat, made 8-15 on the arc.
— Bears are diverse; they force ton of turnovers, are best in country shooting on the arc.
11) Houston 67, Oregon State 61:
— Each region has teams seeds from #1-16: Houston beat seeds #15-10-11-12
— Cougars have won 11 games in a row.
— Houston shot only 32.3% from floor, but had 19 offensive rebounds.
10) Gonzaga 85, USC 66:
— Gonzaga is 30-0, with ONE WIN by less than 10 points.
— Zags never trailed in this game, led 49-30 at halftime.
— USC has #7 eFG% defense in country; Zags shot 57.8% inside arc.
9) Tip of the cap to Oral Roberts sophomore Max Abmas, who led ORU to a Summit League title, then two wins in the NCAA Tournament. Kid led the country in scoring, at 24.2 ppg.
In Oral Roberts’ six postseason games, the Summit/NCAAs, Abmas NEVER came out of the game, played the whole 245:00 (one game went OT). In those six games, Abmas:
— shot 32-57 inside arc
— shot 13-45 on the arc
— shot 40-46 on foul line
— also had 34 assists
— 23.8 ppg, 5-1 record on the biggest stage. Good for him.
Next question is, unfortunately, how many phone calls has the kid gotten about transferring to a higher-profile program? Come on, kids who are way worse than Abmas have bolted low or mid-majors to be role players for the $$$ teams. Loyalty is becoming obsolete.
We’ll see what happens.
8) Speaking of which, Kentucky poached grad transfer Kellen Grady away from Davidson; Grady 2,000 points+ in his Davidson career and is a career 36.6% 3-point shooter.
Three years ago, Grady scored 16 points against Kentucky in an NCAA tourney game.
7) NFL is upgrading its schedule to 17 games next season; AFC teams will all get the extra home game next year, then NFC teams get the extra home game in even-numbered years.
The extra game will pit division vs division; for 2021:
— NFC West vs AFC North
— NFC East vs AFC East
— NFC North vs AFC West
— NFC South vs AFC South
6) Here is how the length of NFL schedules have worked over the years:
1947-60— 12 games
1961-77— 14 games; from 1966-77, 14 games in 15 weeks
1978-89— 16 games/season
1990-2020— 16 games in 17 weeks.
5) Final Four is set:
— two #1-seeds, a #2-seed and a #11-seed
— 7th year in a row, a team seeded #5 or lower wins a region.
— Third time in five years a double-digit seed goes to the Final Four.
4) This year was first time since 2001 that the Pac-12 had three teams in Elite 8.
3) Pac-12 has done so well in the NCAA tournament that the Washington Huskies have moved up 43 spots in the kenpom.com rankings, since they played their last game.
2) I can’t help it, every time I see Dick Vitale’s GEICO commercial, I laugh/smile; the guy dumps a cooler of water over his head— he is 81 years old. The commercial has been on TV a lot, but it never stops being funny. Hope I live as long as Coach Vitale, and would love to have his energy.
1) Was watching Daily Wager on ESPN2; good program, but they’re talking about betting NFL futures already and it is freakin’ March 30. Too early.
— Haven’t had the draft yet.
— Trading may not be over yet.
— The freakin’ schedule hasn’t been released yet.
— How can you wager on things when so much is still unknown?
Odds for the Masters next week:
8-1— Dustin Johnson
9-1— Bryson DeChambeau
11-1— Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas
14-1— Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth
20-1— Xander Schauffele, Brooks Koepka
22-1— Patrick Cantlay
Americans who have died from COVID-19: 550,903
PLEASE wear a mask (over your nose/mouth) when you go out.
Quote of the Day
“A thief is a thief, whether he steals a diamond or a cucumber.”
Old Indian proverb
Wednesday’s quiz
When was last time three #1-seeds made the Final Four?
Tuesday’s quiz
Last time Kelvin Sampson made it to the Final Four, he was coaching Oklahoma.
Monday’s quiz
Washington’s Bradley Beal is leading the NBA in scoring this season, at 31.3 ppg.
*************************
Wednesday’s Den: Mid-week musings……..
13) UCLA 51, Michigan 49:
— UCLA lost their last four games before the NCAA’s; they were down 5 with 1:27 left in the play-in game, against Michigan State.
— Michigan was 6-11 on foul line in a 2-point loss.
— Bruins have played six OT games this year; two of them were in the NCAA’s.
— Here’s the thing: if Mick Cronin’s relatives filled out brackets, no way they picked the Bruins.
12) Baylor 81, Arkansas 72:
— Bears are 9-2 since their 21-day COVID pause in February.
— Baylor never trailed, led 29-11 right off the bat, made 8-15 on the arc.
— Bears are diverse; they force ton of turnovers, are best in country shooting on the arc.
11) Houston 67, Oregon State 61:
— Each region has teams seeds from #1-16: Houston beat seeds #15-10-11-12
— Cougars have won 11 games in a row.
— Houston shot only 32.3% from floor, but had 19 offensive rebounds.
10) Gonzaga 85, USC 66:
— Gonzaga is 30-0, with ONE WIN by less than 10 points.
— Zags never trailed in this game, led 49-30 at halftime.
— USC has #7 eFG% defense in country; Zags shot 57.8% inside arc.
9) Tip of the cap to Oral Roberts sophomore Max Abmas, who led ORU to a Summit League title, then two wins in the NCAA Tournament. Kid led the country in scoring, at 24.2 ppg.
In Oral Roberts’ six postseason games, the Summit/NCAAs, Abmas NEVER came out of the game, played the whole 245:00 (one game went OT). In those six games, Abmas:
— shot 32-57 inside arc
— shot 13-45 on the arc
— shot 40-46 on foul line
— also had 34 assists
— 23.8 ppg, 5-1 record on the biggest stage. Good for him.
Next question is, unfortunately, how many phone calls has the kid gotten about transferring to a higher-profile program? Come on, kids who are way worse than Abmas have bolted low or mid-majors to be role players for the $$$ teams. Loyalty is becoming obsolete.
We’ll see what happens.
8) Speaking of which, Kentucky poached grad transfer Kellen Grady away from Davidson; Grady 2,000 points+ in his Davidson career and is a career 36.6% 3-point shooter.
Three years ago, Grady scored 16 points against Kentucky in an NCAA tourney game.
7) NFL is upgrading its schedule to 17 games next season; AFC teams will all get the extra home game next year, then NFC teams get the extra home game in even-numbered years.
The extra game will pit division vs division; for 2021:
— NFC West vs AFC North
— NFC East vs AFC East
— NFC North vs AFC West
— NFC South vs AFC South
6) Here is how the length of NFL schedules have worked over the years:
1947-60— 12 games
1961-77— 14 games; from 1966-77, 14 games in 15 weeks
1978-89— 16 games/season
1990-2020— 16 games in 17 weeks.
5) Final Four is set:
— two #1-seeds, a #2-seed and a #11-seed
— 7th year in a row, a team seeded #5 or lower wins a region.
— Third time in five years a double-digit seed goes to the Final Four.
4) This year was first time since 2001 that the Pac-12 had three teams in Elite 8.
3) Pac-12 has done so well in the NCAA tournament that the Washington Huskies have moved up 43 spots in the kenpom.com rankings, since they played their last game.
2) I can’t help it, every time I see Dick Vitale’s GEICO commercial, I laugh/smile; the guy dumps a cooler of water over his head— he is 81 years old. The commercial has been on TV a lot, but it never stops being funny. Hope I live as long as Coach Vitale, and would love to have his energy.
1) Was watching Daily Wager on ESPN2; good program, but they’re talking about betting NFL futures already and it is freakin’ March 30. Too early.
— Haven’t had the draft yet.
— Trading may not be over yet.
— The freakin’ schedule hasn’t been released yet.
— How can you wager on things when so much is still unknown?
