CNOTES 2024 2025 NHL NEWS BEST BETS AND OPINION !

[Udog]

NHL

Monday, December 23

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Trend Report
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NY Rangers vs New Jersey
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of NY Rangers's last 5 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of NY Rangers's last 7 games
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of New Jersey's last 5 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of New Jersey's last 5 games

Winnipeg vs Toronto
Winnipeg is 9-3 ATS in its last 12 games when playing on the road against Toronto
The total has gone UNDER in 9 of Winnipeg's last 12 games on the road
Toronto is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing Winnipeg
Toronto is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games when playing Winnipeg

Washington vs Boston
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Washington's last 6 games
Washington is 10-2 SU in its last 12 games on the road
Boston is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Boston's last 5 games when playing Washington

Montreal vs Columbus
Montreal is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing Columbus
Montreal is 6-1 ATS in its last 7 games when playing Columbus
The total has gone OVER in 8 of Columbus's last 10 games at home
Columbus is 13-5 ATS in its last 18 games at home

St. Louis vs Detroit
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of St. Louis's last 5 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of St. Louis's last 6 games when playing on the road against Detroit
Detroit is 8-1 ATS in its last 9 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Detroit's last 6 games when playing at home against St. Louis

Tampa Bay vs Florida
Tampa Bay is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games on the road
Tampa Bay is 7-1 ATS in its last 8 games
Florida is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing Tampa Bay
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Florida's last 5 games at home

Philadelphia vs Pittsburgh
Philadelphia is 7-2 ATS in its last 9 games on the road
Philadelphia is 6-2 ATS in its last 8 games when playing on the road against Pittsburgh
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Pittsburgh's last 7 games at home
Pittsburgh is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing at home against Philadelphia

Buffalo vs NY Islanders
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Buffalo's last 5 games when playing on the road against NY Islanders
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of Buffalo's last 8 games when playing NY Islanders
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of NY Islanders's last 5 games when playing at home against Buffalo
NY Islanders is 13-1 SU in its last 14 games when playing at home against Buffalo

Chicago vs Minnesota
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Chicago's last 5 games when playing Minnesota
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Chicago's last 5 games when playing on the road against Minnesota
Minnesota is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Chicago
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Minnesota's last 5 games when playing at home against Chicago

Carolina vs Nashville
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Carolina's last 5 games
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Carolina's last 5 games when playing Nashville
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Nashville's last 5 games when playing Carolina
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of Nashville's last 9 games at home

San Jose vs Vancouver
The total has gone OVER in 11 of San Jose's last 13 games when playing Vancouver
San Jose is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games
Vancouver is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing at home against San Jose
Vancouver is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against San Jose

Dallas vs Utah
Dallas is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing Utah
Dallas is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games when playing on the road against Utah
Utah is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games
The total has gone UNDER in 14 of Utah's last 20 games when playing at home against Dallas

Anaheim vs Vegas
Anaheim is 9-1 ATS in its last 10 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Anaheim's last 6 games when playing on the road against Vegas
Vegas is 7-1 ATS in its last 8 games
Vegas is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games


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[Udog]

 

[Udog]

NHL
Dunkel

Monday, December 23

 

[CNOTES]

MONDAY, DECEMBER 23​

Game	Time(ET)	Pick	Units
MON at CLB	07:00 PM	MON +117 U 6.5	+500 +500
TB at FLA	07:00 PM	FLA -145 O 6.5	+500 +500
STL at DET	07:00 PM	STL -108 U 5.5	+500 +500
WAS at BOS	07:00 PM	WAS +114 O 5.5	+500 +500
PHI at PIT	07:00 PM	PHI +102 O 6.5	+500 +500
BUF at NYI	07:30 PM	NYI -150 U 6.0	+500 +500
CHI at MIN	08:00 PM	CHI +189 U 5.5	+500 +500
CAR at NAS	08:00 PM	NAS +114 O 5.5	+500 +500
DAL at UTAH	09:00 PM	DAL -154 O 6.0	+500 +500
SJ at VAN	09:00 PM	SJ +205 U 6.0	+500 +500
ANA at VEG	10:00 PM	ANA +280 U 6.5	+500 +500

 

[CNOTES]

NHL BEST BETS FOR DECEMBER !!

12/23/2024.....................6 - 12 - 0.....................33.33%.....................- 32.30
12/22/2024......................4 - 3 - 1......................57.14%.....................+ 3.80
12/21/2024......................6 - 10 - 1....................37.50%.....................- 22.60
12/20/2024........................6 - 5 - 0....................54.54%.....................+ 2.20
12/19/2024..................... 2 - 11 - 0.....................15.38%....................- 53.75
12/18/2024........................5 - 2 - 0......................71.42%...................+ 17.05
12/17/2024........................7 - 9 - 0......................43.75%....................- 11.55
12/16/2024........................3 - 3 - 0......................50.00%....................- 4.10
12/15/2024........................2 - 5 - 0......................28.57%....................- 21.20
12/14/2024........................7 - 9 - 4.......................43.75%.....................- 20.00
12/13/2024........................1 - 1 - 0.......................50.00%.....................- 5.05
12/12/2024.......................9 - 13 - 0.......................40.90%....................- 19.70
12/11/2024........................1 - 2 - 1........................33.33%....................- 5.00
12/10/2024......................6 - 11 - 0........................35.29%.....................- 25.20
12/09/2024........................2 - 1 - 0........................66.66%....................+ 4.50
12/08/2024........................3 - 4 - 3........................42.85%.....................- 6.25
12/07/2024.........................5 - 9 - 0.......................35.71%.....................- 20.70
12/06/2024.........................3 - 5 - 0.......................37.50%......................- 11.50
12/05/2024..........................5- 9 - 0.......................35.71%......................- 21.65
12/04/2024.........................4 - 1 - 0.......................80.00%......................+ 14.50
12/03/2024.........................4 - 6 - 0.......................40.00%.......................- 6.35
12/02/2024.........................2 - 3 - 0.......................40.00%.......................- 5.50
12/01/2024.........................5 - 2 - 0.......................71.42%.......................+ 16.55

TOTALS.:........................98 - 136 - 0.......................41.88%...................... - 230.55

 

[CNOTES]

Tuesday’s 6-pack:
— Seattle 79, Washington 70- Redhawks of WAC are only 3-8 vs D-I teams.
— Oregon State 80, Oakland 74 OT- Beavers trailed by 12 with 4:32 left in regulation.
— Charleston 77, Loyola Chi 68- Cougars were 11-26 on arc, Loyola 6-24.
— Nebraska 69, Hawai’i 55- Nebraska-Oregon State is final at Diamond Head tourney
— Tennessee 82, Middle Tennessee 64- Blue Raiders led by 6 early in second half.
— North Dakota State 94, Bakersfield 60- Bison shot 70.8% inside the arc.

Quote of the Day
“First time seeing Beyonce perform and it’s at our game?! That’s dope. I’m gonna go out and watch, sorry Harbaugh, sorry. Sorry fellas.”
Ravens’ QB Lamar Jackson, who apparently won’t be listening to the half-time talk Wednesday

Tuesday’s quiz
When Rickey Henderson got his 3,000th career hit, who was he playing for?

Monday’s quiz
In 2008, Vikings’ coach Kevin O’Connell threw six passes in two games for New England.

Sunday’s quiz
Rickey Henderson finished his 25-year career with the Dodgers, in 2003.

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

Tuesday’s Den: Greetings from America’s favorite city…….​

— For the first time in six years, I’m spending Christmas in Las Vegas; been here for a few days already, things are quiet before Christmas. Has been fun watching games in the SuperBook at the Westgate Casino.
One of the best parts of being here is having conversations with total strangers in sportsbooks; we have more in common than what separates us.
Was talking to a guy Sunday who worked in the equipment room for the Cal Bears while Aaron Rodgers/Marshawn Lynch were playing there; he said Lynch was an awesome guy, talked to everyone. The guy’s brother had just won a ring in a WPT poker tournament; that was pretty cool to see.
Anyway, Las Vegas is fun; I’m waiting for everything to ramp back up Thursday; their great breakfast buffet and the NFL theater were shut down this weekend, though Sid’s Cafe is open, and that is also really good. Casinos do lot of repairs/renovations this time of year, when there are fewer guests around.

— Packers 34, Saints 0
This was the first shutout in the NFL this season.
Packers’ first three drives: 33 plays, 226 yards, 21 points.
Green Bay led 21-0 at the half; they clinched a playoff spot.
Packers won nine of last 11 games (5-0 ATS last five).
Green Bay is 10-0 when they allow less than 24 points.
Saints were outgained 404-196.
New Orleans is 3-3 SU/ATS since their coaching change.
Saints are 0-9 when they give up 20+ points.
#2 QB Rattler is 0-5 as a starter this year.
Saints are 1-3 SU/0-4 ATS in outdoor games this year.

— Myrtle Beach Bowl
Tex-San Antonio 44, Coastal Carolina 15
Coastal looked like Wily Coyote chasing the Roadrunners around.
UTSA ran ball for 257 yards (8.3 yards/carry)
Roadrunners won four of their last five games.
Chanticleers lost six of their last eight games, after a 4-1 start.
Favorites are 4-1 ATS in this bowl.

— Idaho Potato Bowl
Northern Illinois 28, Fresno State 20 OT
Fresno State led 13-3 at halftime.
Both teams played backup QB’s in this game.
Huskies are 6-0 if they score 24+ points, 2-5 if they don’t.
Fresno lost four of its last five games.
Loss snaps Fresno’s 5-bowl winning streak.

— Fresno State’s QB this year, Mikey Keene, didn’t play in the bowl game Monday because he has bolted to Michigan. Keene has thrown for 8,245 career yards and 65 TDs in a college career; he played for Central Florida and Fresno.

— Conference bowl records (SU/ATS)
AAC 2-1 SU/2-1 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 2-1 SU/2-0-1 ATS

M West 1-1 SU/1-1 ATS

SEC 2-1 SU/2-1 ATS

Sun Belt 2-2 SU/1-2-1 ATS

Favorites: 9-3-1 ATS
Totals: over 7-6

— Jets’ owner Woody Johnson is 77 years old; he has two teenage sons, because there are really rich guys out there with much younger, attractive wives- go figure.
Jets were trying to make a trade with Denver for WR Jerry Jeudy, but Woody Johnson put the kibosh on the deal, apparently because Jeudy’s ranking in the Madden video game wasn’t high enough— that knowledge came from Johnson’s 18-year old son, who is a freshman in college.
Denver traded Jeudy to the Browns instead; he’s caught 72 passes for 1,072 yards this year.
If you’re wondering why the Jets haven’t been in the playoffs since 2010, look no further than a team having to get its trades approved by an 18-year old who plays video games.
Oy.

— Famous birthdays, December 24:
John D’Acquisto, 73
Paul Pressey, 66
Matt Passmore, 51
Ryan Seacrest, 50
Kevin Millwood, 50
Davante Adams, 32
William Contreras, 27
Masaya Nakamura, the guy who invented Pac-Man, would’ve turned 99 years old today.
I missed a birthday yesterday; Georgia football coach Kirby Smart turned 49.

— P Walker Buehler signed a one-year deal with the Red Sox for $21.05M; Buehler has made only 28 starts the last three years, but he helped the Dodgers win the World Series last season.
He is 30 years old, has a career record of 37-22, 3.27 in 122 career starts.

— OF Joc Pederson signed 2-year deal with the Texas Rangers for $37M; Pederson has already played for five teams in his 11-year career- he hit .275 for Arizona last year, with 23 home runs and a .908 OPS.

— Pittsburgh Pirates re-signed OF Andrew McCutchen for one year, $5M; 11 of his 16 MLB seasons for Pittsburgh. He hit .232 last year, with a .739 OPS. His OPS hasn’t been over .800 since 2019.

— Tampa Bay Rays signed OF Eloy Jimenez to a minor league deal; it would be stunning if he didn’t make the big club this spring. Jimenez made $31M playing for the White Sox the last three years, but he only hit .238 with a .626 OPS last year, so he has to prove himself next year before he starts making the big bucks again.

— When they give NFL stats on TV, time of possession isn’t as important as plays run. If a team runs a no-huddle offense, their time of possession won’t be as good, but they’re putting more pressure on the opposing defense by not allowing them to huddle between plays.

— When they announce the 2025 inductees for the 2025 Baseball Hall of Fame next month, I sure as hell hope Ichiro Suzuki is a unanimous pick- he deserves it.
There has been only one unanimous pick ever (Mariano Rivera) which is ludicrous; think about all the great ballplayers— Aaron, Mays, Ted Williams, Gibson, Mantle, Rickey Henderson- they also should’ve been unanimous choices, so we’ll see.

 

[Udog]

No games today. Play resumes Friday.

 

[CNOTES]

Wednesday’s 6-pack:
Some teams getting highest %age of points on 3’s:
48.3% of points— North Dakota State
45.8%— DePaul
43.5%— IU Indy
43.2%— Tennessee Tech
42.2%— Akron
42.0%— Samford

Quote of the Day
“Christmas Day is Christmas Day, and it doesn’t wait around for what day it’s on. We want to be there on Christmas Day. I would think the future is whatever day it’s on, we’re going to be there on Christmas.”
Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones

Wednesday’s quiz
Who was coach of the Golden State Warriors, before Steve Kerr?

Tuesday’s quiz
When Rickey Henderson got his 3,000th career hit, he was playing for the San Diego Padres.

Monday’s quiz
In 2008, Vikings’ coach Kevin O’Connell threw six passes in two games for New England.

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

Wednesday’s Den: NBA trends for Christmas Day…….​

NBA trends (thru Tuesday, December 24)

Hawks (15-15):
— 1-3 SU in their last four games.
— 1-4 ATS as a road favorite, 6-4 as a road dog.
— Over 6-2 last eight home games

Celtics (22-7):
— 13-4 last 17 games SU.
— 4-11 ATS last fifteen games.
— under 5-0 last five games.

Nets (11-18):
— lost eight of their last ten games SU.
— 2-8 ATS last ten games.
— under 6-3 last nine games

Hornets (7-22):
— lost 13 of last 14 games SU.
— 2-7 ATS last nine games.
— under 5-2 last seven games.

Bulls (13-17)
— 3-4 SU in last seven games.
— 4-7 ATS as a home underdog.
— under 5-1 last six home games
— 1-5 ATS if they played the night before.

Cavaliers (26-4):
— 9-1 SU last ten games.
— 14-4 ATS as a home favorite, 4-0 as a road underdog.
— over 5-1 last six games.
— 4-1 ATS if they played the night before.

Mavericks (19-10):
— 14-3 last 17 games SU.
— 6-1 ATS last seven home games.
— under 8-4 last 12 home games
— 4-0 ATS if they played the night before.
Nuggets (16-11):

— 5-1 SU last six games
— 1-7 ATS as a road favorite.
— 5-2 ATS as a road underdog.
— over 6-2 last eight games.
— 3-1 ATS if they played the night before.

Pistons (13-17):
— 4-2 last six games SU.
— 7-4 ATS as road underdogs.
— 0-4 ATS as home favorite
— over 7-1 last eight road games

Warriors (15-13):
— 3-10 last thirteen games SU.
— 9-5 ATS as an underdog
— under 8-0 last eight road games

Rockets (20-9):
— 5-1 last six games SU
— 8-3 ATS as a home favorite, 5-3 as an underdog.
— over 5-3 last eight road games

Pacers (15-15):
— won/covered their last five games.
— 4-12-1 ATS as a favorite.
— under 7-1-1 last nine games.

Clippers (17-13):
— 3-1 last four games SU
— 10-6 ATS at home.
— 7-2 ATS as a favorite
— under 6-0 last six road games.

Lakers (16-13):
— 4-2 SU last six games
— 1-5 ATS last six games as a home favorite
— 5-2 ATS last seven games overall.
— under 8-2 last ten road games.

Grizzlies (20-10):
— 12-3 last fifteen games SU.
— 10-5 ATS as a home favorite.
— 4-0 ATS if they played the night before.
— over 6-2 last eight road games

Heat (14-13):
— 1-3 SU last four games.
— 6-2 ATS last eight games as a home favorite
— 4-2 ATS as a road underdog.
— under 3-0 last three home games.

Famous birthdays, December 25th:
Howard Twilley, 81
Gary Sandy, 79
Larry Csonka, 78
Sissy Spacek, 75
Manny Trillo, 74
Jillie Mack, 67
Erik Hiljus, 52
Eric Gordon, 36
Garrett Cooper, 34
Rickey Henderson would’ve turned 66 today
Rod Serling would’ve turned 100.

Bucks (16-12):
— 5-1 last six games SU.
— 6-8-1 ATS at home.
— under 3-1 last four games.
— 1-4-1 ATS if they played the night before

Timberwolves (14-14)
— 0-3 SU last three games, giving up 121 ppg.
— 4-10 ATS as a home favorite.
— 1-3 ATS if they played the night before
— under 8-2 last ten games.

Pelicans (5-25):
— 3-25 last 28 games SU
— 3-12 ATS on the road (8-6 at home).
— over 6-3 last nine games.

Knicks (19-10):
— won/covered their last four games.
— 6-2 ATS last eight as a home favorite.
— over 7-3 last ten home games.

Thunder (23-5):
— 12-1 last thirteen games SU
— 9-5 ATS on road.
— under 4-1 last five games

Magic (19-12):
— 4-5 last nine games SU.
— 10-1 ATS as home favorite, 3-6 as road underdog.
— under 3-1 last four games.

76ers (10-17):
— 5-2 SU last seven games
— 4-10 ATS at home
— under 6-2 last eight road games

Suns (14-14):
— 6-12 SU last 18 games.
— 4-11 ATS at home.
— 1-4 ATS if they played the night before
— over 7-2 last nine road games

Trailblazers (9-20):
— 3-12 SU last fifteen games.
— 8-4 ATS as a home underdog.
— over 4-0 last four home games

Kings (13-17):
— 0-4 SU/ATS last four games
— 5-13 ATS at home
— under 5-1 last six road games

Spurs (15-14):
— 4-2 SU in last six games
— 3-5 ATS as a road underdog.
— under 3-1 last four games

Raptors (7-23):
— lost last eight games SU (4-3-1 ATS)
— 11-3-1 ATS as home dog, 8-6 as road dog.
— under 8-3 last eleven road games

Jazz (7-21):
— 3-9 SU last 12 games.
— 9-7 ATS as a road underdog.
— over 7-1 last eight games.

Wizards (4-23):
— 2-21 SU/7-14-2 ATS last 23 games
— 5-9 ATS as home dog, 5-7-2 as road dog
— under 5-1 last six home games.

 

[Udog]

No games today. Play resumes Friday.

 

[Udog]

Merry Christmas!

 

[CNOTES]

Thursday’s 6-pack:
Some teams getting highest %age of points on foul shots:
28.7% of points— Charlotte
26.7%— Rice
26.5%— Seattle
26.1%— NC-Wilmington
26.0%— Butler
25.9%— Cal-Davis

Quote of the Day
“That sucked, to be blunt.”
Steelers’ coach Mike Tomlin, after their 29-10 loss to Kansas City.

Thursday’s quiz
Which three NFL teams has Pete Carroll coached?

Wednesday’s quiz
Mark Jackson was coach of the Golden State Warriors, before Steve Kerr.

Tuesday’s quiz
When Rickey Henderson got his 3,000th career hit, he was playing for the San Diego Padres.

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

Thursday’s Den: College Basketball thoughts, on a winter day​

— SEC
Right now, ESPN has 13 of 16 SEC teams getting into the NCAA Tournament.
South Carolina is 9-3, #65 on kenpom.com they’re the lowest-rated SEC team.
John Calipari’s first Arkansas team is 10-2, but against #233.
Kentucky, in Mark Pope’s first season, is 10-2 against schedule #65.
Conference play hasn’t started yet, so once teams start losing, things will change, but right now, this is far and away the best league in the country.

— There are four unbeaten teams left: Florida, Oklahoma, Tennessee from the SEC and Drake from the MVC.
Bracketology has Drake as an 11-seed, meaning they better win Arch Madness to get into the NCAA Tournament, but not bad for a team with four starters who were playing for a D-2 team last season.

— Big X
Arizona is 6-5; 0-5 vs top 100 teams, 6-0 vs everyone else; they’ve played schedule #53.
Bracketology has 8 of 16 teams in the Field of 68.
Cincinnati is 10-1, with the #5 eFG% defense, but against schedule #299.
Iowa State’s only loss was 83-81 to Auburn; they’re shooting 60.5% inside the arc.

— Big 18
UCLA and USC are in the same league as Rutgers and Maryland; the over-educated morons who run college sports have outdone themselves with all this shuffling.
Bracketology has 10 of 18 Big 18 teams getting in the NCAAs; KenPom has six of their teams in the top 25.
All 18 teams have played two conference games already; 12 of the 18 teams split their games. It isn’t obvious who the best teams are, unlike the SEC, where Auburn, Florida, Tennessee have stood out so far.

— Big East
Seton Hall, Villanova seem to be down; Georgetown is better. UConn, Marquette and St John’s look like the three best teams, at this early point in the season.
ESPN has only three Big East teams in the Tournament; they had only three in last year’s event, their lowest amount in the last 25 years.

— ACC
KenPom has ACC as the #5 conference; they haven’t finished higher than 5th since 2020.
There are 18 teams in ACC now, with Cal,Stanford, SMU joining; lot of long road trips.
North Carolina is off to a 7-5 start, 2-5 vs top 100 teams.
Duke is 10-2, losing to Kansas/Kentucky; their best player is a freshman.
Right now, ESPN has five teams in the field of 68.

— Mountain West
San Diego State is 8-2, Utah State 11-1; they appear to be the best teams so far.
Decent depth though; Boise State, New Mexico, UNLV and Colorado State are capable.
ESPN has only two Mountain West teams in the field of 68.

— Famous birthdays, December 26
Carlton Fisk, 77
Chris Chambliss, 76
Ozzie Smith, 70
Storm Davis, 63
Tim Legler, 58
Omar Infante, 43
Trevor Siemian, 33
Hogan Harris, 28

— West Coast
Addition of Oregon State/Washington State for this year/next year will help this league, then the bottom will fall out when Gonzaga bolts in two years, and Beavers/Coogs go back to the Pac-12.
This year, Gonzaga/Saint Mary’s are two best teams, with San Francisco, Oregon State, Santa Clara and Wazzu adding quality depth.
Bottom of the league isn’t so great right now; ESPN has Gonzaga/Saint Mary’s in the NCAA’s, but that could change.

— Atlantic 15
Dayton, VCU and St Bonaventure appear to be the best teams. Richmond/UMass are down, Loyola Chicago just had a rough 0-3 trip to Hawai’i.
Archie Miller has Rhode Island at 11-1, but they’ve played schedule #323.
A-15 could be a one-bid league for second time in three years; last time they had more than two teams in NCAAs was 2018.

— Charlotte 94, Murray State 90, 2OT
This game, played very late Monday night, ended around 12:45am Tuesday here in Las Vegas, which means if I was home, it would’ve been almost 4am, which is awesome, kind of like the old ESPN Basketball Marathon they used to have in November every year.
Two ordinary teams played their butts off for three hours; fun to watch
Charlotte was 34-36 on the foul line.
Murray State led by 10 with 6:19 left in regulation.
Five players fouled out.

— Missouri Valley
Only once since 2016 has the Valley not been a one-bid league; Arch Madness is what matters.
KenPom.com has #72 Bradley as the highest-ranked team right now.
That said, ESPN has two MVC teams in the field of 68 right now, because Drake is 11-0- they have Indiana State as the other team in right now.
It is still December; a lot will change between now and Selection Sunday.

— It needs to be said here that the transfer portal has made the sport more top-heavy; every kid at a mid-major who makes two layups in a row thinks he belongs in the NBA. The rich steal from the not-rich, just like baseball. Can’t be a lot of fun being a mid-major head coach.

— Big West
Cal-San Diego is 11-2, including beating three eastern mid-majors at a tournament in Florida; the Tritons are forcing turnovers 24.4% of the time, #4 in country.
Since 2014, Cal-Irvine is 140-41 in Big West games, but they’ve only made the NCAA’s twice during that time- they upset K-State in the first round in 2019. Anteaters always play good defense; success in the conference tournament has been more challenging.

— Southern
Furman is ranked #113 by KenPom; they’re highest-ranked team in SoCon right now, two years after upsetting Virginia in the NCAAs.
10-3 Samford seems like their biggest challenger right now; they’re shooting 39.6% on the arc (#18) getting 42% of their points on the arc (#8)

 

[Udog]

No games today. Play resumes Friday.