NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL NOTES, NEWS OPINIONS AND BEST BETS THRU MARCH MADNESS !

[CNOTES]

TUESDAY, JANUARY 9​

Game	Time(ET)	Pick	Units
CLMB at COR	06:00 PM	COR -10.5 U 168.5	+500 +500
HALL at GTWN	06:30 PM	HALL -6.5 O 138.0	+500 +500
YALE at BRWN	07:00 PM	BRWN +7.0 U 136.0	+500 +500
HOU at ISU	07:00 PM	HOU -2.5 U 129.0	+500 +500
VCU at GMU	07:00 PM	GMU -4.0 U 140.0	+500 +500
TEX at CIN	07:00 PM	CIN -5.0 O 145.0	+500 +500
AKR at BALL	07:00 PM	AKR -7.0 O 138.0	+500 +500
KSU at WVU	07:00 PM	KSU -2.0 U 141.0	+500 +500
CMU at EMU	07:00 PM	EMU -4.5 U 138.5	+500 +500
TOL at KENT	07:00 PM	KENT -4.0 O 151.0	+500 +500
URI at DAV	07:00 PM	DAV -5.0 U 143.5	+500 +500
NIU at WMU	07:00 PM	WMU -2.5 O 152.0	+500 +500
MIZZ at UK	07:00 PM	UK -12.5 U 159.5	+500 +500
M-OH at BUFF	07:00 PM	BUFF -2.0 U 145.5	+500 +500
IND at RUTG	07:00 PM	RUTG -3.5 U 140.5	+500 +500
WAKE at FSU	07:00 PM	WAKE -3.0 O 148.5	+500 +500
SCAR at ALA	07:00 PM	ALA -11.5 U 152.5	+500 +500
OHIO at BGSU	07:00 PM	BGSU +1.0 O 153.5	+500 +500
SELA at NICH	07:30 PM	NICH -4.0 O 137.5	+500 +500
OKST at TTU	08:00 PM	TTU -8.0 O 135.5	+500 +500
RICH at L-IL	08:00 PM	L-IL -2.5 U 137.5	+500 +500
PUR at NEB	09:00 PM	PUR -7.5 U 150.0	+500 +500
TAM at AUB	09:00 PM	AUB -7.0 U 147.5	+500 +500
DUKE at PITT	09:00 PM	DUKE -5.0 U 146.5	+500 +500
BYU at BAY	09:00 PM	BAY -4.0 U 153.5	+500 +500
CREI at DEP	09:00 PM	CREI -15.5 O 142.0	+500 +500
VAN at LSU	09:00 PM	LSU -8.0 U 144.0	+500 +500
ND at GT	09:00 PM	ND +6.0 O 134.5	+500 +500
WYO at USU	09:00 PM	USU -15.0 U 150.0	+500 +500
CSU at BSU	09:00 PM	CSU -2.0 U 145.5	+500 +500
AFA at NEV	10:00 PM	AFA +15.0 O 132.5	+500 +500
UNM at UNLV	10:30 PM	UNM -2.0 U 151.0	+500 +500
SDSU at SJSU	11:00 PM	SJSU +10.0 O 139.0	+500 +500

 

[CNOTES]

COLLEGE BASKETBALL BEST BETS !

01/09/2024.................14 - 11......................56.00%....................+ 9.50
01/08/2024......................8 - 5......................61.53%....................+ 12.50
01/07/2024......................7 - 5......................58.33%.....................+ 7.50
01/06/2024....................41 - 33 ..................55.40%.....................+ 23.50
01/05/2024.......................8 - 8...................50.00%......................- 4.00
01/04/2024....................20 - 27...................42.55%.....................- 48.50
01/03/2024.......................0 - 2...................00.00%......................- 11.00
01/02/2024....................19 - 14...................57.57%.....................+ 18.00
01/01/2024.......................1 - 4...................20.00%.......................- 17.00

TOTALS.......................118 - 109...................51.98%......................- 9.50

 

[CNOTES]

Wednesday’s 6-pack:
Spreads for this week’s playoff games:
— Browns (-2.5, 44.5) @ Houston
— Dolphins @ Kansas City (-4, 44.5)
— Steelers @ Buffalo (-10, 36)
— Packers @ Dallas (-7.5, 50.5)
— Rams @ Detroit (-3, 51.5)
— Eagles (-3, 43.5) @ Tampa Bay

Quote of the Day
“I hear I had a good year. It’s the worst year of my life, though. That’s the reality of it. What happened this season can’t happen again.”
Jets’ WR Garrett Wilson

Wednesday’s quiz
Which Division I college basketball team is known as the Camels?

Tuesday’s quiz
Jets were the first AFL/AFC team to win a Super Bowl; they upset the Baltimore Colts 16-7 in Super Bowl III.

Monday’s quiz
Carson Wentz played his college football at North Dakota State.

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

Wednesday’s Den: Mid-week musings…….​

— Nebraska 88, Purdue 72
Cornhuskers made 14 of 23 shots on the arc.
Purdue took 33 3’s, only 24 2-point shots.

— Iowa State 57, Houston 53
Cyclones jumped out to a 14-0 lead, held on for dear life.
Houston was last unbeaten team in the country.

— Kentucky 90, Missouri 77
56 of Kentucky’s 90 points were scored by freshmen.
Senior big guy Mitchell had 20 points, 12 boards, played all 40:00.

— Western Michigan 95, Northern Illinois 90, OT
Broncos trailed by 17 in first half, by 9 with 4:16 left.
WMU was 25-47 on foul line, Northern Illinois was 18-24.

— Texas 74, Cincinnati 73
Texas outscored Cincinnati 4-0 over the last 0:59.
Bearcats were only 8-15 on the foul line.

— Auburn 66, Texas A&M 55
Auburn has won eight in a row, is now 13-2.
Teams combined to shoot 8-41 on the arc.

— This is Sub-Plot Weekend in the NFL playoffs:
Browns @ Houston- Deshaun Watson should be the TV analyst.
Dolphins @ Kansas City- Tyreek Hill against his old team.
Steelers @ Buffalo- The two head coaches were college roommates.
Packers @ Dallas- Mike McCarthy against his old team.
Rams @ Detroit- Stafford/Goff were traded for each other.
Eagles @ Bucs- Mayfield was Oklahoma’s QB in 2017, Hurts in 2019.

— Last six years, the #6-seeds are 9-3 SU in this round against #3-seeds, 6-0 in the NFC.
Last four years, home teams are 5-3 ATS in the #4-5 seed matchups.
Since 2012, #5-seeds who were road favorites at the #4-seeds are 5-2 ATS.

— LA Rams were the only NFL team this season that didn’t score a touchdown on defense or special teams.

— Only nine NFL quarterbacks started all 17 games for their team this season.

— Michigan 34, Washington 13
Wolverines win their first national title since 1997.
Michigan’s first three drives: 17 plays, 235 yards, 17 points.
Michigan ran for 303 yards, 174 in the first quarter.
Teams combined to convert 3 of 24 third down plays.

— Nike told Eldrick Woods to take a hike, after a 27-year partnership that had been paying Woods $20M a year.

— Baseball Fact of the Day: Bob Welch is the last major league pitcher to win 27+ games in a season; he went 27-6 for the 1990 A’s, who won the American League title.

— A quirk in Shohei Ohtani’s contract with the Dodgers, which has a ton of deferred money in it: should Ohtani move out of California after his contract is up in 2033 with the vast majority of payouts still to come, the tax hit for the state of California would amount to $98M.

— Word of the Day: Compete- strive to gain or win something by defeating or establishing superiority over others who are trying to do the same.
Competitions are the moments and events in your life that help you improvise so that you can put forward the best version of yourself.

— NFL coaching news:
Washington Commanders fired Ron Rivera
Atlanta Falcons fired Arthur Smith
Tennessee Titans fired Mike Vrabel.
New Jersey Giants defensive coordinator Wink Martindale “resigned”; the team fired two of his assistants, which prompted him to “resign”.

— Illinois basketball player Luke Goode is the nephew of former NFL QB Trent Green.

— UNLV QB Jayden Maiava transferred to Georgia; he’ll probably sit next year behind Carson Beck, then take over in 2025. As a freshman this year, Maiava led UNLV to a 9-5 record and its first bowl game in ten years.

— LSU hired defensive coordinator Blake Baker away from Missouri; he is going to make $2.5M a year, boatload of $$$ for an assistant coach.

— Learned this week that billboards are prohibited in Hawai’i.

— Baseball stuff:
Mets signed P Sean Manaea to a 2-year, $28M contract.
Dodgers signed OF Teoscar Hernandez for one year, $23.5M.
Cubs signed P Shota Imanaga, who pitched 8 years in Japan.

 

[Udog]

 

[Udog]

NCAAB
Dunkel

Wednesday, January 10

 

[Udog]

NCAAB

Wednesday, January 10

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Trend Report
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[Udog]

NCAAB
Long Sheet

Wednesday, January 10

 

[Udog]

 

[Udog]

 

[CNOTES]

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 10​

Game	Time(ET)	Pick	Units
PFW at YSU	06:30 PM	YSU -3.0 O 154.5	+500 +500
PROV at SJU	06:30 PM	SJU -7.0 U 145.0	+500 +500
NW at PSU	06:30 PM	NW -1.5 O 144.0	+500 +500
JVST at LIB	07:00 PM	LIB -11.0 U 130.5	+500 +500
BUCK at LEH	07:00 PM	BUCK +5.5 O 139.0	+500 +500
UNCA at HP	07:00 PM	HP -6.0 O 152.5	+500 +500
TLSA at CHAR	07:00 PM	CHAR -7.5 O 134.0	+500 +500
ECU at TEM	07:00 PM	ECU +1.5 O 142.5	+500 +500
STJOE at SLU	07:00 PM	STJOE -4.5 U 150.0	+500 +500
WRST at RMU	07:00 PM	WRST -5.0 O 157.0	+500 +500
LAF at COLG	07:00 PM	LAF +14.0 O 130.5	+500 +500
AMER at BU	07:00 PM	AMER +1.0 O 133.0	+500 +500
LAS at MASS	07:00 PM	MASS -8.5 U 154.5	+500 +500
CHS at FDU	07:00 PM	FDU -2.5 O 147.5	+500 +500
KU at UCF	07:00 PM	KU -7.0 U 145.5	+500 +500
CHSO at WEBB	07:00 PM	WEBB -12.5 U 144.0	+500 +500
MER at WOF	07:00 PM	WOF -5.0 O 143.5	+500 +500
LOU at MIA	07:00 PM	MIA -16.0 O 156.5	+500 +500
WIN at PRE	07:00 PM	WIN -5.0 U 141.0	+500 +500
STET at KENN	07:00 PM	STET +4.0 O 159.5	+500 +500
CLEM at VT	07:00 PM	CLEM -2.0 U 143.5	+500 +500
NAVY at HC	07:00 PM	HC +4.0 O 134.5	+500 +500
NKU at OAK	07:00 PM	OAK -5.5 U 148.5	+500 +500
WCU at ETSU	07:00 PM	WCU -2.5 O 143.0	+500 +500
TENN at MSST	07:00 PM	TENN -2.0 U 137.5	+500 +500
FGCU at QNC	07:00 PM	QNC -2.0 O 151.0	+500 +500
GASO at MRSH	07:00 PM	MRSH -11.0 O 155.0	+500 +500
CIT at FUR	07:00 PM	FUR -11.5 O 149.5	+500 +500
WKU at SHSU	07:30 PM	WKU +2.0 O 156.5	+500 +500
ILST at BEL	07:30 PM	BEL -6.0 U 149.5	+500 +500
MURR at MOSU	08:00 PM	MOSU -5.0 U 147.0	+500 +500
UIC at UNI	08:00 PM	UNI -8.0 U 138.5	+500 +500
UTSA at MEM	08:00 PM	MEM -19.0 O 160.5	+500 +500
INST at DRKE	08:00 PM	INST +2.5 O 155.0	+500 +500
SIU at VALP	08:00 PM	SIU -9.5 U 137.0	+500 +500
EVAN at BRAD	08:00 PM	BRAD -13.0 U 143.5	+500 +500
UNC at NCST	08:00 PM	NCST +2.5 U 153.5	+500 +500
CONN at XAV	08:30 PM	CONN -4.5 U 149.5	+500 +500
WIS at OSU	08:30 PM	WIS +2.0 O 137.5	+500 +500
ULL at TROY	08:30 PM	ULL +2.5 O 146.5	+500 +500
OKLA at TCU	09:00 PM	TCU -5.0 U 148.5	+500 +500
BC at SYR	09:00 PM	BC +4.0 O 154.0	+500 +500
FLA at MISS	09:00 PM	FLA -2.5 U 157.0	+500 +500
ARK at UGA	09:00 PM	UGA -2.0 U 151.0	+500 +500
BUT at MARQ	09:00 PM	MARQ -12.0 U 154.5	+500 +500
WSU at USC	10:30 PM	WSU +6.5 O 145.5	+500 +500
COLO at CAL	11:00 PM	CAL +4.0 O 148.5	+500 +500

 

[CNOTES]

COLLEGE BASKETBALL BEST BETS !

01/10/2024.................29 - 15......................65.90%....................+ 62.50
01/09/2024.................14 - 11......................56.00%....................+ 9.50
01/08/2024......................8 - 5......................61.53%....................+ 12.50
01/07/2024......................7 - 5......................58.33%.....................+ 7.50
01/06/2024....................41 - 33 ..................55.40%.....................+ 23.50
01/05/2024.......................8 - 8...................50.00%......................- 4.00
01/04/2024....................20 - 27...................42.55%.....................- 48.50
01/03/2024.......................0 - 2...................00.00%......................- 11.00
01/02/2024....................19 - 14...................57.57%.....................+ 18.00
01/01/2024.......................1 - 4...................20.00%.......................- 17.00

TOTALS.......................147 - 124...................54.24%......................+ 53.00

 

[CNOTES]

Thursday’s 6-pack:
Top six rated college basketball conferences:
1) Big X
2) Big East
3) SEC
4) Big 14
5) ACC
6) Pac-12

Quote of the Day
“It’s outrageous. What happened tonight, this is completely B.S.. This is shame. Shame for the referees. Shame for the league to allow this. Twenty-three free throws for them, and we get two free throws in the fourth quarter? Like, how to play the game? I understand respect for All-Stars and all that, but we have star players on our team as well.”
Toronto Raptors’ coach Darko Rajakovic

Thursday’s quiz
Who was the coach of the Seahawks, before Pete Carroll?

Wednesday’s quiz
Campbell’s basketball team is known as the Camels; they play in the CAA.

Tuesday’s quiz
Jets were the first AFL/AFC team to win a Super Bowl; they upset the Baltimore Colts 16-7 in Super Bowl III.

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

Thursday’s Den: Doing some thinking out loud…….​

Before we get into a busy news day, I’d like to thank the Big Dawg for picking NFL games on my blog this year; he went 30-23-1 (56.6%) against the spread. 17-5 over the last seven weeks!!! Lot of professional handicappers don’t do that well.
He’s had a winning season on this site in every year but one, and that ain’t easy to do.

— Seahawks fired Pete Carroll as head coach Wednesday; they tried to be nice about it, but Carroll had made it clear that he still wanted to be the coach. They say he’ll still be around as an advisor, but the guy went 147-98-1 with the Seahawks, 10-9 in playoff games, 1-1 in Super Bowls, and this is how they treat him?
Fact of the matter is, the last three years, Seattle went 25-26 in regular season, 0-1 in playoffs, and that wasn’t good enough. It ain’t easy being 72 years old in today’s world.

— Speaking of which, Nick Saban is out at Alabama, after 17 seasons; he went 206-29 with the Crimson Tide, 16-7 in bowl games.
Overall, Saban was 297-71-1 as a college coach with seven national titles (he won one at LSU); he also went 15-17 coaching the NFL’s Dolphins in 2005-06.
Good luck to the poor bastard that Alabama hires next; following the guy who might be the best college football coach ever is no easy task.

— Ever hear of Gene Bartow? Damn good coach, the guy went 491-253 as a college basketball coach, but he made the mistake of following John Wooden at UCLA. Wooden was/is the best college hoop coach ever; Bartow went 51-10 in two years at UCLA, but it wasn’t enough for the spoiled fan base/administration, so Bartow left Westwood after those two seasons.
Ironically, Bartow then moved to Alabama, where UAB was starting a new basketball program, and Bartow ran that team for 17 years, going 350-193 coaching the Blazers.

— Oh by the way, in 1980, Ohio State hired Nick Saban to be its defensive backs coach; the guy he replaced?
Pete Carroll.

— In the NBA, LA Clippers signed Kawhi Leonard to a three-year, $152.4M contract; do the math, and over an 82-game season, Leonard will make $61,951 per game over the length of that contract.

— Toronto Raptors lost 132-131 to the Lakers Tuesday night in LA; the Lakers shot 28-36 on the foul line, Toronto 8-13. Lakers took 23 of those foul shots in the decisive 4th quarter.
After the game, Raptors’ coach Darko Rajakovic wasn’t happy; he went on a tirade, slapping a table for emphasis while he ripped the officials and the NBA. Losing isn’t fun.

— I mentioned Tuesday that UNLV QB Jayden Maiava transferred to Georgia, but he changed his mind and is now transferring to USC. College football has gotten crazy.

— Baseball Fact of the Day: Babe Ruth holds the record for most innings pitched in a World Series game; he threw a 14-inning complete game in a 2-1 win in the 1916 World Series, and he also knocked in one of the runs his team scored.

— Movie of the Day: Blue Chips (1994)- A college basketball coach chooses to break the rules in order to recruit the players he needs to stay competitive.
Nick Nolte is great as the coach of fictional Western U; Bob Cousy is the athletic director of the school, Penny Hardaway and Shaquille O’Neal are two of his players. JT Walsh plays a wealthy booster, Alfre Woodard plays Penny Hardaway’s mom. Excellent cast.
I mention the movie today because Wednesday night, FS1 had their mike in a St John’s huddle, with Rick Pitino coaching his team; it is almost exactly the same as a scene in Blue Chips, when Pitino’s team is coaching against Western U, and Pitino is instructing his players.
That was 30 years ago, and Pitino is still an awesome coach.

— Central Florida 65, Kansas 60
UCF posts the upset in its first-ever Big X home game.
Kansas led by 16 in first half, 37-29 at halftime.

— St John’s 75, Providence 73
St John’s is 4-0 in Big East for first time since 2001.
Friars lost last three games, after an 11-2 start.

— Butler 69, Marquette 62
Marquette led 30-19 early on; they went 5-31 on the arc.
Last two games, Tyler Kolek is 2-19 from the floor.

— Memphis 107, Texas-San Antonio 101, OT
Roadrunners led by 4 with 1:16 left in regulation.
Memphis was 30-43 on foul line, UTSA 16-21.

— Saint Louis 88, St Joe’s 85
Billikens trailed 39-19 with 5:20 left in first half.
Saint Louis made 14-26 shots on the arc.

— California 82, Colorado 78
Buffaloes led by 20 with 1:38 left in first half.
Cal posted its 2nd straight upset; they were 10-23 on arc.

— Louisville 80, Miami 75
Cardinals were a 16.5-point underdog.
Miami led by 9 with 14:10 left in game.

— North Carolina 67, NC State 54
Last three games, Tar Heels allowed 57-55-54 points, all on the road.
Wolfpack shot 26.1% from floor, 2-21 on the arc.

— You don’t think the NFL Draft is a fascinating process?
Rams’ WR Puka Nucua just set the all-time receiving yardage record for a rookie, and he was the 20th receiver taken in the ’23 Draft.

— We’re starting something a little different today; on the college basketball page, I’ll post info on five of every day’s most interesting games.

 

[Udog]

 

[Udog]

NCAAB
Dunkel

Thursday, January 11

 

[Udog]

NCAAB
Armadillo's Write-Up

Thursday, January 11

Thursday’s 5 interesting games

Michigan State @ Illinois (-3.5)
Michigan State (9-6, 1-3)
KenPom rating: 19
Tempo: 283
Experience: 86
Continuity: 27
Michigan State won five of its last six games.
Spartans are 0-2 in true road games, losing by 7-14 points.
MSU is 3-6 vs top 100 teams.
In Big 14 games, Spartans are getting to foul line less than any team in league.


Illinois (11-3, 2-1)
KenPom rating: 9
Tempo: 76
Experience: 15
Continuity: 159
Illini won four of its last five games.
Illinois has #4 eFG% defense in country.
Illini is grabbing 37.2% of its missed shots (#14)
Illinois is 3-3 vs top 100 teams.


Both teams lost their last game.
Illinois won last three series games, by 1-5-9 points.
Spartans lost three of last four visits to Champaign.
Big 14 home favorites of 7 or less points are 7-4 ATS


UCLA @ Utah (-9.5)
UCLA (6-9, 1-3)
KenPom rating: 108
Tempo: 327
Experience: 321
Continuity: 290
UCLA lost seven of its last eight games.
UCLA’s Pac-12 losses are by 5-6-9 points.
Bruins have the #332 eFG% in country.
UCLA is 0-7 against top 100 teams.
Bruins’ best win: 69-62 at #158 Oregon State


Utah (11-4, 2-2)
KenPom rating: 31
Tempo: 63
Experience: 53
Continuity: 77
Utes got swept by the Arizona schools last weekend.
Utah is 5-4 vs teams in top 125.
Utes are shooting 37.4% on the arc (#33)
Utah is 6-1 vs teams ranked outside the top 100.


UCLA won last seven series games.
Bruins won their last four visits to Utah.
Pac-12 home favorites of 5+ points are 4-9 ATS


Gonzaga (-9.5) @ Santa Clara
Gonzaga (11-4, 2-0)
KenPom rating: 23
Tempo: 65
Experience: 150
Continuity: 215
Gonzaga won its first two WCC games, by 26-27 points.
Zags lost their only true road game, 78-73 at Washington.
Zags are 8-0 vs teams ranked outside top 100 (7 of 8 wins by 15+ points)
Gonzaga rebounds 36.3% of its missed shots (#25)


Santa Clara (11-6, 2-0)
KenPom rating: 114
Tempo: 84
Experience: 170
Continuity: 322
Santa Clara won its first two WCC games, by 11-6 points.
Broncos are 4-4 ATS as an underdog this year.
Santa Clara is 3-3 against top 100 teams.
Broncos’ last three losses were by 2-3-8 points.


Gonzaga is 43-2 in last 45 series games, winning last 26 in a row.
Five of their last six wins at Santa Clara were by 15+ points.
WCC home underdogs are 3-1 ATS


Long Beach State @ Cal-San Diego (-4.5)
Long Beach State (11-5, 3-1)
KenPom rating: 151
Tempo: 10
Experience: 66
Continuity: 7
Long Beach is 3-1 in Big West, losing 84-68 to Northridge.
In its 4 Big West games, Long Beach is shooting 19.3% on arc.
Long Beach is 3-3 vs teams ranked in top 200.
Long Beach is grabbing 33.8% of its missed shots (#55)


Cal-San Diego (9-6, 3-0)
KenPom rating: 134
Tempo: 319
Experience: 213
Continuity: 115
Tritons are 3-0 in Big West, scoring 77 ppg.
UCSD is 1-4 vs teams ranked in top 200.
In its three Big West games, UCSD shot 62.4% inside arc.
Tritons are #233 team in country on defensive boards.


Long Beach won three of four series games.
Long Beach won 112-110 in triple OT, in LY’s visit here.
Both of last year’s meetings (1-1) were by decided by 2 points.
Big West home favorites are 3-7 ATS


Arizona State @ Washington (-6.5)
Arizona State (10-5, 4-0)
KenPom rating: 101
Tempo: 71
Experience: 99
Continuity: 259
ASU’s Pac-12 wins are by 3-2-12-3 points.
Sun Devils are 5-4 vs top 100 teams.
ASU split its four road games.
Sun Devils are 5-1 in games decided by 5 or fewer points.


Washington (9-6, 1-3)
KenPom rating: 55
Tempo: 57
Experience: 2
Continuity: 231
Washington’s Pac-12 losses are by 4-5-2 points.
Huskies are 2-6 vs teams ranked in top 125
Huskies are #254 team in country on defensive boards.
Their last seven games were all decided by 7 or less points.


Home team won last five series games.
Sun Devils lost three of last four visits to Seattle.
Pac-12 home favorites of 5+ points are 4-9 ATS

 

[Udog]

NCAAB

Thursday, January 11

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Trend Report
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[Udog]

NCAAB
Long Sheet

Thursday, January 11

 

[Udog]

 

[Udog]

 

[CNOTES]

Friday’s 6-pack:
Quarterbacks who started for Mike Vrabel with the Titans:
41-27— Ryan Tannehill
30-33— Marcus Mariota
3-6— Will Levis
2-1— Blaine Gabbert
1-2— Malik Willis
0-2— Joshua Dobbs

Quote of the Day
“We all know that college football is changing like crazy right now and we’re ahead of the curve. We’ve got a plan. We’ve got great support. If there’s something I need, I can go ask for it.”
Oregon football coach Dan Lanning, who is staying with the Ducks

Friday’s quiz
Jets were the first AFL/AFC team to win a Super Bowl; they upset the Baltimore Colts 16-7 in Super Bowl III.

Thursday’s quiz
Jim Mora Jr was the coach of the Seahawks, before Pete Carroll. He is now the coach at UConn.

Wednesday’s quiz
Campbell’s basketball team is known as the Camels; they play in the CAA.

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

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

— “What have you done for me lately?”
14 NFL teams made the playoffs this year; of the other 18 teams, eight have fired their coach, including Bill Belichick/Pete Carroll, who are Hall of Fame-level coaches.
Strange times we live in.

— In the NBA, Miami Heat signed coach Eric Spoelstra to an 8-year, $120M contract extension; he’s been Miami’s coach for 16 years, winning 59% of his games, and two NBA titles.

— Knicks recently traded for OG Anunoby; in his first six games for New York, Anunoby is +124, meaning the Knicks have outscored opponents by 124 points (20.7 points/game) with Anunoby on the floor. You don’t see numbers like that very often.

— QB Casey Thompson will finish his college career at Oklahoma next year; it’ll be his 7th year of college football. Thompson, whose father was a good QB for the Sooners, has previously played for Texas, Nebraska and Florida Atlantic.

— Bronx Bombers signed P Marcus Stroman to a 2-year, $37M deal; Stroman is from Long Island- he was 10-9, 3.95 in 25 starts for the Cubs last year.

— USC basketball star Isaiah Collier hurt his hand, is out 4-6 weeks; Trojans were already struggling at 8-8, 2-3 in Pac-12. Now it figures to get worse.

— NFL’s Washington Commanders hired former Golden State Warriors GM Bob Myers, to give owner Josh Harris objective advice on who should lead Washington into a new era- the two know each other because Harris owns the Philadelphia 76ers, and their paths crossed in NBA circles. Will be interesting to see who the Commanders’ new coach will be.

— Baseball Fact of the Day: First baseball game Vin Scully broadcasted was a Dodgers-Phillies game on April 18, 1950; seven Hall of Famers played in that game.

— Word of the Day: Transition- a change from one thing to the next, either in action or state of being.

— Santa Clara 77, Gonzaga 76
Broncos end a 26-game losing streak against Gonzaga.
Watson/Nembhard were 23-37 from floor; rest of Zags were 9-30.
Santa Clara out-rebounded Gonzaga 44-31.

— Florida Atlantic 85, Tulane 84
FAU’s Martin got fouled shooting a 3 with 0:00.4 left, made 2 of 3 foul shots.
Owls are 2-2 since their double OT win over Arizona.
Four of Tulane’s five starters played 38+ minutes.

— Utah 90, UCLA 44
Bruins went in tank, got outscored 57-21 in second half.
UCLA lost 10 of its last 12 Division I games.
Bruins are shooting 44.9% inside arc (#328), 27.9% on arc (#341)

— Illinois 71, Michigan State 68
Spartans fall to 9-7, 1-4 in conference games.
Illinois was 18-22 on foul line, Michigan State was 5-7.
Illini played only seven guys, and the 7th guy played 5:00.

— Rio Grande Valley 81, Seattle 80 OT
First win in five WAC games for the Vaqueros.
Seattle shot 62% inside arc; they led by 4 in overtime.
Three of Seattle’s last six games went to overtime.

— Georgia State 77, Old Dominion 70
Monarchs led 41-21 with 3:21 left in first half.
Georgia State had a 47-34 edge on backboards.
ODU slips to 4-12, 0-4 in Sun Belt games.

— Green Bay is a mid-major team to watch in the Horizon League; they’re 5-2 SU/7-0 ATS in Horizon games this season, after 14-46 in Horizon games the last three years.
Green Bay is the #348 experience team, #342 continuity team; they’re turning ball over 21% of time (#333) while playing a slower tempo, but they’re shooting 53.8% inside arc (#67).

— We’re starting something a little different this week; on the college basketball page, I’ll post info on five of every day’s most interesting games.