Armadillo Sports
Sunday’s 6-pack:
Six of the college basketball teams with the best roster continuity this year:
— Gonzaga 15-6, 6-2
— Towson State 11-9, 6-1
— Fort Wayne 15-7, 8-3
— Columbia 11-6, 0-4
— Santa Clara 14-8, 6-3
— Houston 16-3, 8-0
Quote of the Day
“Personally, this has been an exhausting conversation and negotiation. I mean, [Juan Soto’s negotiation] was tough. This is worse. A lot of it is, we’ve made a significant offer. I don’t like the structures that are being presented back to us. I think it’s highly asymmetric against us and I feel strongly about it.”
Mets owner Steve Cohen, talking about negotiations with 1B Pete Alonso
Sunday’s quiz
The last time the Chiefs didn’t play in the AFC Championship game, in 2018, who were the two QB’s?
Saturday’s quiz
UAlbany’s basketball team are known as the Great Danes.
Friday’s quiz
2018 Golden State Warriors were last team to repeat as NBA champs.
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Sunday’s Den: Wrapping up a college basketball Saturday………
— Big X
Houston 92, Kansas 86, 2OT
Kansas led 79-73 with 0:20 left in the first OT
Jayhawks also led by 10 midway thru second half.
Teams combined to shoot only 31-55 on foul line.
Houston has won 12 games in a row, is 8-0 in Big X.
Houston (8-0) leads the Big X by a game, over Iowa State/Arizona.
Big X home favorites are 22-18 ATS; home underdogs are 3-15 (favorites 37-21)
Bracketology had nine Big X teams in the NCAA Tournament.
— SEC
Texas 70, Texas A&M 69
Texas A&M led by 22 points in the second half.
Aggies shot 12-23 on foul line, only 3-8 on foul line.
Texas took lead with 0:03 left, their only lead of the game.
Auburn 53, Tennessee 51
Auburn outscored the Vols 6-1 over final 2:08.
Teams combined to shoot 7-42 on the arc.
Tennessee split its last six games, after a 14-0 start.
Auburn (6-0) leads Alabama by a game, Florida/Missouri by two games.
SEC home favorites are 23-17 ATS, home underdogs are 9-4
SEC teams are shooting 32.1% on arc (#28 of 31 leagues).
Bracketology has 13 SEC teams in the NCAA Tournament.
— Big East
Xavier 76, UConn 72
Musketeers won four of their last five games.
UConn shot 65.5% inside arc. 7-26 on the arc.
UConn is 2-3 in last five games, after an 8-0 run.
Marquette/St John’s lead the Big East at 8-1; Creighton is 7-2.
Big East home favorites are 15-18 ATS, home underdogs are 5-8.
There aren’t lot of fouls called in Big East games (#26 of 31 leagues in FT’s taken)
Bracketology has four Big East teams in the NCAA Tournament.
— Missouri Valley
Underdogs were 5-1 ATS in Valley games Saturday.
Drake 69, Missouri State 62 OT- 8-2 Drake beat the 0-10 Bears in overtime. Arch Madness is going to be excellent this year.
Drake led by 15 points early in the game.
Missouri State shot 57.1% inside the arc, but was minus-8 in turnovers.
Belmont 95, Murray State 77
Belmont led 55-37 at halftime.
Bruins scored 1.44 points/possession, a huge number.
Three subs scored in double figures for Belmont.
9-1 Bradley leads the Valley a game over 8-2 Drake, two games over Belmont, Northern Iowa.
MVC home favorites are 9-21 ATS, home underdogs are 7-4.
— Mountain West
New Mexico 75, UNLV 73
Lobos outscored UNLV 5-1 over the final 3:10.
Rebels’ PG Thomas is a really good pass-first point guard; when he Is the leading scorer for UNLV, that’s a bad thing. He led the Rebels in this game,, with 18 points.
9-1 New Mexico, 8-1 Utah State lead the Mountain West; Colorado State is 7-2.
Mountain West home favorites are 8-14 ATS, home underdogs are 8-8.
Bracketology has three Mountain West teams in the NCAA Tournament.
— Upsets of the Day:
Southern Illinois (+7.5) 89, Ill-Chicago 85
Evansville (+7.5) 78, Valparaiso 68
Campbell (+6.5) 69, Hofstra 67 OT
Northern Illinois (+6.5) 76, Ball State 66
Tennessee Tech (+5.5) 89, Tenn-Martin 85 OT
— Ivy League
Yale was the only one of four favorites to win Saturday.
Dartmouth 84, Brown 83
Dartmouth trailed by 13 early in second half.
Big Green shot 10-18 on the arc.
Brown lost by a point, was only 11-19 on the foul line.
4-0 Yale leads Cornell/Princeton by a game in the Ivy standings.
Ivy League home favorites are 3-7 ATS, home underdogs are 3-2.
Ivy League teams are shooting 38.2% on arc in league games, best in country.
— Big 18
Minnesota 77, Oregon 69
Minnesota led 26-9 early on, blew that lead, but won anyway.
Gophers shot 58.5% inside the arc.
Oregon missed 26 shots, had only four offensive rebounds.
Michigan State leads the Big 18 at 8-0; 8-2 Purdue/6-2 Michigan are next.
Big 18 home favorites are 28-20 ATS, home underdogs are 14-6.
Bracketology has ten Big 18 teams in the NCAA Tournament.
— Sun Belt
Arkansas State 80, Texas State 65
Red Wolves have won five in row, have #12 eFG% defense in country.
Arkansas State shot 11-25 on the arc.
Troy 65, South Alabama 55
Troy was 12-40 on the arc, 11-24 inside the arc.
Trojans had 20 offensive rebounds in this game.
Only one player scored in double figures for South Alabama.
Arkansas State leads the Sun Belt at 7-2; South Alabama is a half-game behind them.
Sun Belt home favorites are 20-10 ATS, home underdogs are 8-5.
Sun Belt teams have 2nd-worst eFG% of any league in the country; not sure if that is good defense or bad offense.
— American
Temple 82, Rice 71
Temple outscored Rice 46-34 in second half.
Temple won five of its last seven games.
Temple shot 61.9% inside arc, Rice 32%.
UAB, Memphis and North Texas are tied for first, at 5-1.
American home favorites are 9-17 ATS, home underdogs are 6-3.
— Famous birthdays, January 26th:
David Strathairn, 76
Jack Youngblood, 75
Ellen DeGeneres, 67
Rick Schu, 63
Merril Hoge, 60
Vince Carter, 48
Joshua Dobbs, 30
Travis Etienne, 26
Darius Garland, 25
Today would’ve been Paul Newman’s 100th birthday, Bob Uecker’s 91st birthday
— Metro Atlantic
Home teams were 0-6 ATS in Saturday’s games.
Iona 72, Siena 68
Iona led by 13 early in second half.
Dejour Reeves led the Gaels with 24 points.
Siena lost four of its last six games.
Marist, Merrimack and Quinnipiac are tied for first, at 8-1.
MAAC home favorites are 16-16 ATS, home underdogs are 7-7.
56.8% of baskets in MAAC games are assisted, most in the country.
— WCC
Saint Mary’s 80, Washington State 75
Saint Mary’s won its 8th game in a row.
Gaels are #2 team in country on the offensive boards.
Saint Mary’s has #29 eFG% defense in country.
8-0 Saint Mary’s leads Gonzaga by two games.
WCC home favorites are 16-14 ATS, home underdogs are 7-9.
WCC teams are shooting 53.2% inside are, 3rd-best of any league.
Bracketology has Gonzaga, Saint Mary’s in the NCAA Tournament.
— Big West
Big West is #12 league, highest they’ve been ranked at any time in the last 25 years,
Cal Poly 78, Long Beach State 69
Mustangs get their first win in nine conference games.
Cal Poly is playing #3 pace in country, but they’re turning ball over 22.4% of time (#355)
Long Beach never led in this game, turned ball over 23 times.
8-1 Cal-Irvine leads 7-2 Cal-San Diego by a game.
Big West home favorites are 15-11 ATS, home underdogs are 4-9.
Big West teams are shooting 76.6% on foul line, best of any league.
— Southern
Chattanooga 71, East Tennessee State 63
ETSU led by 12 points early in the game.
Chattanooga shot 57.9% inside the arc.
Mocs shot 57.9% inside arc, ETSU 33.3%.
7-1 Samford leads 6-2 NC-Greensboro by a game.
SoCon home favorites are 6-9 ATS, home underdogs are 6-4.
45.6% of shots taken in SoCon games are 3’s, most of any league.
— Summit
St Thomas 68, Kansas City 65
Kangaroos shot only 7-28 inside the arc.
St Thomas won 11 of its last 13 games.
Tommies are shooting 39% on the arc (#9)
7-0 Omaha leads 6-1 St Thomas by a game.
SoCon home favorites are 7-6 ATS, home underdogs are 3-6.
Summit League teams are shooting 54.2% inside arc, best in country.