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CFP rankings

Late Field Goal Lifts Irish

January 9, 2025 by Digital Sports Desk

MIAMI GARDENS – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Notre Dame’s PK Mitch Jeter’s 41-yard field goal with seven seconds left lifted Notre Dame to a 27-24 comeback win over Penn State in the Orange Bowl — one of the College Football Playoff semifinals — on Thursday.

Embed from Getty Images

The seventh-seeded Fighting Irish (14-1) won their 13th game in a row and advanced to the CFP national championship game, which will be played January 20 in Atlanta. Their opponent will be the winner of tonight’s Cotton Bowl matchup between fifth-seeded Texas and eighth-seeded Ohio State.

It will be the first time Notre Dame has played for a national title since 2013 when it lost to Alabama in a game played in Miami Gardens.

Christian Gray’s diving interception of a pass from Penn State quarterback Drew Allar with 33 seconds left set up the Fighting Irish’s winning score.

Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard completed 15 of 23 passes for 223 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions and converted a key first down on the Fighting Irish’s final drive to set up Jeter’s game-winner.

On third-and-3, Leonard found Jaden Greathouse for 10 yards to the Penn State 25, and Leonard subsequently ran for 2 yards to make the attempt closer. Jeter, who is 7-for-8 on field-goal attempts in the playoffs, snuck the ball just inside the right upright.

Greathouse, who finished with a career-high 105 receiving yards, made his biggest catch when he hauled in a 54-yard touchdown pass from Leonard to level the score at 24 with 4:38 to go.

The Fighting Irish regained possession after forcing a Penn State punt. However, Notre Dame’s own ensuing drive fizzled at midfield when Leonard was sacked by Coziah Izzard, forcing a punt with 47 seconds left.

The sixth-seeded Nittany Lions (13-3) were looking for a shot at their first national title since 1986. They fell despite a stellar game from Nicholas Singleton, who tied an Orange Bowl record with three rushing touchdowns.

Filed Under: NCAA, NCAA Football Tagged With: CFP rankings, NCAAF, Notre Dame, Penn State

It’s Georgia and Ohio State as No. 1 and 2

November 21, 2023 by Digital Sports Desk

DALLAS – Ohio State overtook Michigan to capture the No. 2 spot in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, released Sunday, as the bitter rivals prepare to meet next weekend in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Embed from Getty Images

The Wolverines, without suspended coach Jim Harbaugh, earned their 1,000th program victory on Saturday against Maryland but dropped one spot to No. 3.

Georgia, which has sat atop the poll all season, remained No. 1 and earned 61 of 62 first-place votes, with the remaining vote going to the Buckeyes.

Washington, after a 22-20 win over then-No. 10 Oregon State, rose a spot to No. 4, trading places with No. 5 Florida State. The Seminoles defeated North Alabama on Saturday but lost their starting quarterback, Jordan Travis, to an apparently serious left leg injury.

Each of the teams in the top five is 11-0. The College Football Playoff committee, which ultimately determines the four teams that will contest for the national championship, will issue its updated rankings on Tuesday.

This week, the CFP had Georgia at No. 1, followed by Ohio State, Michigan, Florida State and Washington.

The AP Top 25 ranking for the No. 6 through 9 teams remained unchanged Sunday, with No. 6 Oregon followed by Texas, Alabama and Louisville — a quartet of 10-1 teams.

Oregon State (8-3) plummeted five spots to No. 15.

Moving up one spot to No. 10 was Missouri, followed by Penn State, Ole Miss and Oklahoma, all 8-2. LSU (9-3) stands at No. 14.

With losses Saturday, James Madison (10-1) plunged six spots to No. 24, with Tennessee falling four positions to No. 25.

Filed Under: NCAA, NCAA Football Tagged With: CFB Playoffs, CFP rankings, NCAAF

Georgia on CFP’s Mind

November 15, 2023 by Digital Sports Desk

DALLAS – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Two-time defending national champion Georgia is back in the role of favorite after becoming the top team in the College Football Playoff rankings.

The Bulldogs (10-0) jumped ahead of Ohio State (10-0) in the latest rankings unveiled Tuesday night from Grapevine, Texas.

No. 3 Michigan (10-0) and No. 4 Florida State (10-0) remained in their previous spots.

The Buckeyes were the No. 1 team in both of the first two Tuesday rankings. However, the 13-person committee decided this time around that Georgia is the nation’s top team.

CFP committee chairman Boo Corrigan, the athletic director at North Carolina State, cited Georgia’s strong showings the past two weeks as big factors. The Bulldogs beat Missouri 30-21 two Saturdays and Ole Miss 52-17 last weekend.

“You look at the win last week over Missouri and the Mississippi game was tied 14-all and they go out on a 38-3 run and showed their dominance both on offense and defense,” Corrigan said. “Looking at the resume and everything combined, we thought Georgia was the best team this week.”

Washington (10-0) remains on the outside at No. 5 despite owning the nation’s second-longest winning streak at 17 games. Only Georgia (27) has reeled off more consecutive victories.

“Washington continues to win and had a really good defensive second half against Utah.” Corrigan said, referencing the Huskies’ 35-28 win. “But as we looked at it and evaluated … we ended up with Florida State at 4 and Washington at 5.”

Oregon (9-1) again checked in at No. 6 as its October loss to Washington remains the team’s lone blemish. The Ducks and Huskies could meet again in next month’s Pac-12 title game.

Texas (9-1) was again No. 7, just ahead of Alabama (9-1). The Longhorns defeated the Crimson Tide in September. Both teams need some of the teams ahead of them to lose contests.

Alabama will face Georgia in next month’s Southeastern Conference Championship Game, and a victory over the Bulldogs would greatly enhance the Crimson Tide’s resume.

Missouri (8-2) and Louisville (9-1) round out the top 10.

No. 11 Oregon State (8-2) is a real long shot but could create havoc if it upsets visiting Washington this Saturday.

Also this week, Georgia visits No. 18 Tennessee and Ohio State hosts Minnesota.

Michigan, without suspended coach Jim Harbaugh, will visit Maryland. Florida State hosts North Alabama of the FCS ranks.

Oregon visits Arizona State, Texas travels to Iowa State and Alabama will host FCS foe Chattanooga.

Tulane (9-1) of the American Athletic Conference is the only ranked team from a non-power league.

Penn State (8-2) is No. 12, followed by Ole Miss (8-2), Oklahoma (8-2) and LSU (7-3).

Iowa (8-2) sits at No. 16, followed by Arizona (7-3). Notre Dame (7-3) is No. 19, just ahead of North Carolina (8-2).

At No. 21 is Kansas State (7-3), ahead of Utah (7-3) and Oklahoma State (7-3). Kansas (7-3) is No. 25.

–Field Level Media

Filed Under: NCAA, NCAA Football Tagged With: CFB Playoffs, CFP rankings, Georgia

CFP Polls: Florida State Remains No. 4

November 9, 2023 by Digital Sports Desk

INDIANAPOLIS – Florida State remained No. 4 in the second College Football Playoff rankings released Tuesday night, but oddsmakers see the Seminoles with the easiest path to the final four.

The top eight teams remained unchanged from the initial CFP rankings released last week, including Florida State being fourth behind Ohio State, Georgia and Michigan.

However, the Seminoles have already clinched a spot in the ACC championship game. Their likely opponent is No. 11 Louisville, which has remaining regular-season games against Virginia, Miami and Kentucky.

Florida State has -320 odds to reach the CFP at DraftKings, where Georgia is -240 and Michigan is -160. Interestingly, Ohio State is +110 behind even No. 6 Oregon (-110), with the Buckeyes staring at a Nov. 25 road showdown against the Wolverines to close the regular season.

The Ducks, who are working toward a rematch against No. 5 Washington in a potential Pac-12 title game, are being offered at -140 ahead of the Huskies at +155 to win the conference.

While Florida State has the shortest odds to reach the CFP, the Seminoles are not the title favorites.

That honor currently belongs to Michigan at +220, followed by Georgia (+260) and then Florida State (+600). Ohio State is being offered at +700 ahead of Alabama at +800 and Oregon at +1000. Washington is +1200 to win the title.

The most title money at the book has supported Michigan, with the Wolverines drawing 14 percent of the total bets and money wagered. Next are Ohio State at 14 percent and 13 percent, respectively, and Alabama at 11 percent and 9 percent, respectively.

CFP RANKINGS
1. Ohio State
2. Georgia
3. Michigan
4. Florida State
5. Washington
6. Oregon
7. Texas
8. Alabama
9. Ole Miss
10. Penn State
11. Louisville
12. Oregon State
13. Tennessee
14. Missouri
15. Oklahoma State
16. Kansas
17. Oklahoma
18. Utah
19. LSU
20. Notre Dame
21. Arizona
22. Iowa
23. Tulane
24. North Carolina
25. Kansas State

–Field Level Media

Filed Under: NCAA Football Tagged With: CFP rankings, College Football

TL’s Sunday Sports Notebook | Dec 4

December 4, 2022 by Digital Sports Desk

By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – USC lost and TCU lost!

USC is OUT while TCU is in.

The Georgia Bulldogs smoked LSU, 50- 30, to take the SEC championship and lock the No. 1 seed in the upcoming College Football Playoffs while the Purdue Boilermakers vs. Michigan Wolverines Big Ten Championship game was underway as this missive posted its “Bulldog” edition, the Wolverines with a 14-13 lead at the half.

There will be tons of speculation and reasoning for the CFP committee to toss-around the virtues of Ohio State, Alabama, and TCU to decide the final two teams to qualify. Ohio State and Alabama are probably the best two teams of the five, but TCU’s season-long resume might qualify the Horned Frogs to No. 3 as ‘Bama, Tennessee, Clemson and Penn State seem to blend into one, as in one short. USC finished 11-2 in the Pac-12, but lost to Utah twice in the season, once on October 16th, and again in the conference championship game Friday night, thumped 47-24. That places USC as a solid No. 8 or No. 9 at best.

Taking it all in, it might be easier to assign TCU and USC to the January 2nd Rose Bowl and let Georgia and Michigan play the final on January 9 and call it a season. That would make either the Fiesta Bowl or the Peach Bowl pretty annoyed.

By Sunday morning, the decisions were made:

College Football Playoffs 2022-23:

  1. Georgia
  2. Michigan
  3. TCU
  4. Ohio St.

Outside looking in?

  1. Alabama
  2. Tennessee

On the flip-side, let’s all celebrate the fact Miami (Ohio) and the University ofAlabama-Birmingham – their friends call ‘em UAB – will kick-off Bowl season with berths in the Bahamas Bowl on December 16th – just 12 days away. On Christmas Eve, Middle Tennessee and San Diego State will travel to Honolulu for the annual Hawaii Bowl on December 24th and enjoy a “Mele Kalikimaka” on a bright, Hawaiian Christmas Day, December 25th.


HERE NOW THE NOTES: The Boston Celtics are 18-5 to date, 11-2 at the TD Boston Garden. That amazing start was good enough for the NBA to recognize head coach Joe Mazzulla as the NBA Eastern Conference Coach of the Month for games played in October and November. It marked the Celtics 16th overall NBA Coach of the Month honor since the award’s inception during the 1982-83 season. Boston leads the league in points per game (121.9), field goal percentage (49.8), three-point field goal percentage (40.8), free throw percentage (85.3), while also ranking sixth in assists (27.5). … For the first time in franchise history, the Celtics averaged at least 123.0 points and shot over 50.0 percent from the field during one calendar month (min. 10 games) for games played in November when they posted a 14-2 record.

Not to be forgotten, Celtics forward Jayson Tatum was named the Kia NBA Eastern Conference Player of the Month for October/November. Tatum earned his second career NBA Player of the Month award and now holds the third-most monthly honors in Celtics history behind Larry Bird (7) and Paul Pierce (3). This season, Tatum has appeared in 21 games (all starts) and is averaging career-highs of 31.6 points on 48.8 percent shooting from the field and 87.3 percent from the line, along with 7.8 rebounds, and 4.5 assists in 36.7 minutes per game.

BOSTON BREWIN’ – The Boston Bruins, the Celtics’ neighbors at TD Garden and their respective practice sites, are 20-3 for the season and 14-0 at home after Saturday night’s victory over the highly competitive Colorado Avalanche by the score of 5-1. … The Bruins and the red hot New Jersey Devils are 1 and 1A in the NHL power rankings. This column will delve into that full list in depth next weekend.

KNAPP MEMORIAL FUND: Eight NFL teams and up to 50 NFL coaches will participate in different ways to support the first-ever Coach Knapp fundraiser this December, which will benefit The Coach Knapp Memorial Fund. The fund was created this year to educate drivers on the dangers of distracted driving, reduce the number of distracted driving-related deaths, and promote distracted driving awareness reform in the United States. … Knapp’s wife, Charlotte, and his close friend and agent, Jeff Sperbeck, created the fund to honor the legacy of Greg Knapp who was killed after being hit by a distracted driver while he was bicycling in July 2021. Coach Knapp was known for climbing the stadium stairs before every single NFL game he coached over his 25 season career…. Stadium stair climbs and other fundraising activities will play a part of the tribute. … At the time of his passing, Knapp was previously named Passing Game Coordinator for the New York Jets under head coach Robert Saleh.

PGA TOUR BRUNCH: The six-days a week missive, known to you all as PGA TOURBRUNCH is right around the corner with the first issue of 2023 planned for Wednesday, January 4 with the Sentry Tournament of Champions scheduled to take place January 5-8 in Kapalua, on The Valley Isle of Maui in Hawai‘i. … After a wrap-up column on January 9th, PGA Tour Brunch returns January 11th with a preview of the first full-field event of 2023 when the PGA Tour pros tee-off for the SONY Open in Honolulu. You might’ve read it before, but PGA TOUR BRUNCH is the perfect gift for your favorite golf fan (maybe fans). It’s a gift that keeps on giving all season long, and up to the Tour Championship in late August 2023. … Why Brunch? Well, it is sent in advance of each round of golf and – with the tournaments played in different time zones throughout the season, the time can change a bit. Ideally, it pops-up in your inbox at 12 Noon (ET), at a time when you have a minute – over LUNCH or BRUNCH to relax, grab your mobile device and take-in a screen or two or three of the most important information on the tournament being played each week. Some basic stuff, yes! Tee Times, Leaderboard, what time the TV and Radio broadcasts will be for the day/week and just a few links to surf to get deeper information. … It saves time, as we’ve done the groundwork to put forth what you NEED to read to follow the Tour. For a limited time (Today through Dec 31, 2022), we’re offering a 20% discount as a Special Holiday Greetings and Gift idea. Click HERE

PGA TOUR BRUNCH is the “sister publication” to the missive you’re reading now – While We’re Young (Ideas) aka TL’s Sunday Sports Notes. Both are available for subscription via Substack and both are sent to your device by email and they’re archived on the Substack App and our home sites. Similar to PGA TOUR BRUNCH, you can gift a subscription to WHILE WE’RE YOUNG (Ideas) – before Dec. 31, 2022 by visiting HERE.

WORLD CUP: The hopes of the United States advancing in the 2022 World Cup soccer tournament came to an abrupt end Saturday, much to the 3-1 ear-slapping at the hands of The Netherlands. Although the FOX, USA-loving broadcast teams and studio commentators made excuses of “what an experience” and “too much youth,” stating, “we should be proud” cliches, and emphasizing on the incredibly un-professional use of the word “we,” the truth be told, the USA got their asses kicked.

Maybe some Kipling – from his Poem, “If” might fit the sitch:

“If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;

If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim,

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster.

And treat those two impostors just the same.”

See you in: (USA sites) – New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, Boston, Atlanta, Miami, Houston, Dallas, Kansas City, Seattle, San Francisco/Bay Area, Los Angeles; Vancouver and Toronto for Canada and Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey for Mexico in the truly North American World Cup of 2026.

  • The Triumph* clip is NOT for office consumption and it dates back to a Conan show during the Rio World Cup.

WORLD CUP TID-BITS: Jennie Taft made the FOX and FOX Sports 1 studio shows work. Why, oh, why did they mover her to pitch-side reporter? … Has anyone ever seen NBA/ABA great Rick Barry at the same phone booth as former USA soccer player turned broadcaster Alexi Lalas? … Buried in the personal memory bank was a 1990 trip to London to see the likes of Tears for Fears, Elton John, Eric Clapton, a Genesisreunion with Tony Banks (piano), Mike Rutherford (guitar) and Phil Collins (drums, vocals) at Knebworth. The trip coincided with a World Cup quarterfinal win for England over Cameroon (3-2, on the 1st of July) and a (1-1) tie vs Germany which resulted in England losing 4-3 in the shoot-out on the 4th of July. England had several chances to win and a goal recalled for being off-sides to further the disappointment. The image embedded was a gentleman, sitting on the curb just outside an upscale pub near the JW Marriott Grosvenor House. He had his head in his hands for 10+ minutes, not moving a muscle otherwise. It was then, and only then, I could understand the meaning of World Cup soccer to the English, the Europeans and the world as a whole. Of course, I was thinking about MLB scores back home and the fact Pink Floyd headlined Knebworth, a notch above Paul McCartney and Wings. … Sadly, I think the excitement of the USA qualifying and advancing to the Round of 16 in this, the 2022 World Cup, will mean little to NOTHING for the MLS or television coverage for the sport of soccer in the USA. … FOX Sports commentators admitted to the lack of size, strength and depth for the USA team. Excuse the basketball reference, here, but the USA needs to develop a more “Jordan Rules” mentality and to utilize the Chuck Daly/Isiah Thomas invented strategy to bang, crack and hit anything that moved as it made its way in front of the rim (USA goal and especially the goal-keeper). I’m not talking about drawing yellow cards or penalties (allowing shots at point blank range), but I am very much aware of what the Detroit Pistons – via Bill Laimbeer, RickMahorn, Dennis Rodman and the rest of the “Bad Boys” – did to the mighty Chicago Bulls and its stars who took it to the rim. Additionally, the Hall of Fame coach Pat Riley did the same in the 1991-95 era of New York Knicks/NBA basketball. Riley convinced the Knicks that they were capable of winning and advancing in the playoffs if they played rough and tough. He convinced the likes of Charles Oakley, Anthony Mason and John Starks that they could win if they played very physical basketball. Team USA needs to hit the weight room or do some recruiting.

In closing, there’s one other important detail, call it another fact. The Netherlands was a better Futbol team. They out-played the USA, fair and square. In addition to The Netherlands, there are at least xx other teams better than the USA team and they include: Argentina, Brazil, England, France, Spain and Portugal, for sure. Add to the probably better teams of Switzerland, Poland, S. Korea, Japan, and Croatia. In other words, if you ranked the Round of 16, the USA was arguably 16th, maybe 15th or 14th.

Filed Under: Boston Sports, While We're Young Ideas Tagged With: Boston Bruins, Boston Celtics, CFP rankings, Georgia, PGA Tour Brunch, TL's Sunday Sports Notes, While We're Young Ideas

College Hoops Fans, It’s Christmas Day

November 9, 2021 by Terry Lyons

“When it’s not always raining there’ll be days like this
When there’s no one complaining there’ll be days like this
When everything falls into place like the flick of a switch
Well my mama told me there’ll be days like this.”

  • Van Morrison, Days Like This
YouTube player

 

By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – If you aren’t paying attention to the sports calendar, a day like this might slip right on by. There are plenty of examples for great and underrated days in sports. One, The Breeders’ Cup, just passed by – seven World Series games in one day of horse racing – gone.

A few others?

  • The Army vs Navy Game
  • NCAA Tournament Thursday
  • NFL Championship Sunday (Monday is the MLK, Jr holiday, too)
  • Patriots’ Day in Boston (Boston Marathon in the morning and running all day; The Sox at 11am at Fenway)
  • Iron Bowl – Auburn vs Alabama in NCAAF (November 27 this season)
  • El Clásico – Real Madrid vs Barcelona (Every time they play)

We’ll take you through Opening Evening/Night for College Basketball 2021-22. (All times Eastern Standard):

4:30pm – The broadcast begins with some Bad News with some Good News. The Bad: FS-1 starts its broadcast and our minds immediately think, “John Tesh wants his song back,” as Roundball Rock, the NBA on NBC intro theme, seems SO out of place as has been the case with FOX/FS-1 coverage of the BIG EAST. The Good: The wonderful and familiar voice of Bill Raftery rises from the TV’s speakers like the smell of fine wine or aged single malt Scotch – as in Raftery’s favorite phrase – “Just One More.” Raftery is such a great asset for college hoops and seemingly every fan looks forward to listening to “Raft” all the way until March Madness.

“ONIONS!”

4:31pm – By the time everyone looks up, Villanova is up 7-0 on Mount St. Mary’s or is it Mt. Saint Mary’s. One thing is for sure, it’s NOT St. Mary’s.

4:42pm – Raftery gives us the very first “ball screen” reference of the new season.

4:50pm – A break in the action and the endless stream of Insurance ads allows time to check the TV schedule for the rest of the evening. There are dozens of games, but these stand out and will be included in this running story as the night goes on with an obvious BIG EAST theme.

  • 6pm – Akron at Ohio State … a little early in the season to give Akron 16.5 points, eh?
  • 6:30pm – Central Connecticut at UConn … They’re Back, if you dare drive to Storrs.
  • 6:45pm – (The alphabet games begin with … IUPUI at Butler (That is Indiana University Purdue U Indianapolis)
  • 7pm – BIG BOY Game No. 1 – Kansas vs Michigan State in Game 1 of Champions Classic at The Garden
  • 7:30pm – Alpha 2 … UMBC at UMass (University of Maryland – Baltimore County for you alphabet fans)
  • 8pm – More alpha … UAPB at Creighton … University of Arkansas Pine Bluff! Be there.
  • 8:30pm – A tough one: SIUE (Southern Illinois University Edwardsville) at Marquette
  • 9pm – The various ‘college networks all tip-off vs each other with a TV remote challenge:
    • Houston Baptist at Texas (Longhorn Network)
    • Louisiana Tech at Alabama (SEC Network)
    • Navy at Virginia (ACC Network)
  • 9:30pm – BIG BOY Game 2 with Duke vs Kentucky at MSG
  • 10pm – Longwood at Iowa (Big Ten Network) – might be with Ernie, Chuck, Kenny and Shaq by then?

5:25 pm – Villanova heads to the lockers with a halftime lead, 45-21, over Mount St. Mary’s. “All ‘Nova,” they say. Collin Gillespie, a 6-3 senior guard for Villanova QBs the team while scoring seven points. From Kyle Lowry to Scottie Reynolds to Ryan Arcidiacono to Donte DiVincenzo to Jalen Brunson, Villanova recruits solid point guards and two position guards with the best of them. Nova Coach Jay Wright recruits to his system and it works, year-after-year.

5:35pm – A quick check of the entire NCAAB scoreboard shows that Manhattan defeated Manhattanville, 99-42, meaning Manhattanville is in for a very long season. Also, when looking at the Columbia at Fordham pregame, the odds show the Fordham Rams favored by 9.5 over Columbia U, an IVY League school on the sidelines since March 2020.

5:41pm – One game in and I can’t believe I’m looking forward to the Akron vs Ohio State game.

5:45pm – FS-1 having “technical problems” and Bill Raftery is pressed into solo play-by-play and commentator action before Jimmy Jackson joins the broadcast from FOX Sports Studios. Play-x-Play man Aaron Goldsmith does not return.

Where Have You Gone Aaron Goldsmith @FS1 – Our Nation Turns It’s Lonely 👀 to YOU. @NovaMBB

— DigitalSportsDesk 🏆 (@DigSportsDesk) November 9, 2021

 

Editor’s Note: (This will be updated many times tonight, no more than 30 minutes between updates ideally).

5:50pm – During another lengthy FS-1 timeout, it allowed time to check the Mississippi Valley State at St. John’s pregame notes. A stop on ESPN dot com also showed fans are selling tickets online from $3 to $68. The problem? The $3 seats were better located than the $68 seats.

5:55pm – Bill Raftery informs us – with the score 65-40 – that “the next 10 minutes are important for The Mount.” They taught Raft that line at Nielsen TV Ratings school.

6pm – It’s off to the Akron at Ohio State game. We are soon reminded that Jerry Lucas, John Havlicek and Nate Thurmond once played ball at Ohio State but LeBron James grew-up and played high school ball in Akron, Ohio.  Score? 8-6, Akron early.

For some reason, it bothers me that Ohio State has a big map of Ohio on their court, copying Indiana. Shouldn’t Ohio have the rights to the map? It’s not like Indiana State has a map of Terre Haute.

6:17pm – It has become apparent that college basketball will be played this season in front of fans and indoors, of course. Not a mask will be seen or worn by students (and fans) in the stands, all packed-in like sardines and screaming their brains out. That leads to the very obvious prediction that there will be COVID+ outbreaks in college hoops this season. … If the Ottawa Senators (of the NHL) can have five guys break-out with COVID+ with some pretty serious NHL protocols, including the glass and boards as a barrier for the team benches, then college hoops – with the crowd on top of the players and benches could be in big trouble. Good Luck.

6:22pm – It also looks as though College Basketball coaches will dress down, much like their NBA counterparts. Gotta wonder if Rick Pitino, head coach of Iona, will wear cuff links with his sweats?

6:24pm – Technical difficulties will be the buzzword for Opening Tip-Off night of College Hoops 2021-22. ESPN2 lost video for only a few seconds and switched to remote side-by-side of the announce team, sitting in their home studios. What the COVID pandemic taught the networks is that they can save money and NOT send their broadcasters to the games. Airfare, hotel accommodations, meals and per diem all saved by networks. The fans lose as it’s not like you’re getting any discount on ESPN channels for the less than in-depth coverage with commentators staring at TV monitors instead of getting the first-hand knowledge, interactions, experiences and insights from courtside on-site. Boo.

6:30pm – ESPN breaks away at the 8:00 minute mark with Ohio State leading Akron, 20-17. (Reminder: The line was Akron +16.5). Now, it’s decision time. Do we watch five more ESPN2 commercials or do we flip for tip of the Central Connecticuit vs UConn game? With Villanova winning, 91-51, ‘Nova’s Justin Moore leading the team in scoring with an impressive opening-eve 27, it’s time to head back to FS-1.

6:33pm – The ball is tipped at Gampel Pavillion in beautiful Storrs. Full house. The Huskies are described as “an NBA team disguised as a UConn team,” by former NBA and UConn player Donny Marshall, a better than average TV commentator. He’s right, as UConn opens up a 15-5 lead at the first break (15:43 left in 1st Half).

6:55pm – It’s time for the alphabet game portion of the night to begin as IUPUI and Butler give it a run at historic Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.  Quick thought: Wouldn’t it be cool if the PxP guy said Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis instead of IUPUI every time down the court?  One problem. It’s four minutes into the first half and IUPUI has yet to score. (But they trail by only three points).

7pm – It’s time to head to the Varsity game and it’s great to see Dan Shulman and Jay Bilas do their pregame stand-up for Michigan State vs Kansas from courtside at Madison Square Garden with Holly Rowe adding to the broadcast from courtside, too. Bilas is the best in the business, as he notes “the energy (in The Garden) is amazing.” Pretty good for neutral court. No anti-COVID+ masks at MSG either, by the way.

7:16pm – ESPN wastes NO TIME with a classy video taped message montage and best wishes salute to Hall-of-Fame basketball contributor Dick Vitale who is battling lymphoma with a weekly chemotherapy sessions. Vitale has put so much time, effort and money behind the ESPN-led “V Foundation” in memory of Coach Jimmy Valvano, it’s now time for everyone in the college and worldwide basketball community to stand-up to support Dickie V. Donate $ HERE.

7:23pm – A break in the action of the Michigan State vs Kansas game allows some time to look at the Bracketology work on ESPN.com and predictions for the March Brackets and NCAA Tournament teams.  It’s a LONG way off and very difficult to predict in November, but here’s a look-see. Digital Sports Desk will do a bracket for While We’re Young (Ideas) either this weekend or next. See Joe Lunardi‘s first crack at it HERE.

Hey Joe? St. John’s is a “last four in,” eh? See you in Dayton!

7:35pm – At the three HOUR mark for this column and the College Basketball season is well underway across this nation. With the three hour mark came the first bathroom break of the evening and, with that, I broke out my favorite book, the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook – a must for these early season games. I plugged this in a Sunday Sports Notebook but, it’s worth another plug to purchase it HERE. Spring for the Spiral bound version and the digital edition for travel and easy storage as a PDF on your computer or IUPUIPad.

7:45pm – As the games play, a thought comes and I can’t say it’s the first season that this thought has come along. When you see the likes of Kansas and Michigan State competing against each other at The Garden, it’s very apparent that they are playing at an entirely different level than the rest of the pack. With 2:59 left in the first half, Kansas leads Michigan State, 32-31.

Meanwhile, ESPN is promoting its halftime show and the next rankings of the NCAA Football Top 25. ESPN’s Rece Davis and Kirk Herbstreit are at The Garden for the upcoming halftime show, previewing the 9pm EST reveal of the CFP rankings. Everyone likes Georgia, many like undefeated Oklahoma, but after that?

Back to College Hoops. Amazing! Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski will accept an award from Champions Classic, and its sponsor, State Farm. Of course, Coach K has been a $tate Farm guy forever. Talking heads are debating whether Coach K (five NCAA titles) or John Wooden (10 NCAA titles) is the best college basketball coach of all time.

Duke’s Coach K starts the 2021-22 season, announced to be his last, with a career record of  1,170–361. Wooden went 664–162 in his basketball coaching career, although there were fewer games played overall and the NCAA Tournament was limited to 16 teams when the Wizard of Westwood coached at UCLA.

8pm – ESPN is going full throttle as Rece Davis is joined by LaPhonzo Ellis and Seth Greenberg on the set (on MSG’s floor). You can’t help but wonder why ESPN gets its college coverage so finely tuned while its NBA coverage struggles annually, outside of key play-by-play man Mike Breen.

8:10pm – A quick flip back to ESPN2 and a tune-in at Columbus, Ohio shows Akron going up by a point (66-65) after 6-8 sophomore forward Ali Ali hit a three-point FG and converted the free throw after he was fouled on the play. With 0:06 remaining, Ohio State’s 6-8 sophomore forward Zed Key took a feed from Malachi Branham and scored the game-winner with less than 0:01 on the clock. The win marked the first “barn-burner” and “buzzer-beater” of the new college hoops season. As noted above, Akron and its (+16.5) covered quite easily, but lost a heart-breaker.

8:35pm – Kansas’ 6-5 senior guard Ochai Agbaji drains a three-pointer to make it 61-50 Jayhawks. It continues to look as though the teams at The Garden are playing a different sport than the rank and file early season games elsewhere in college hoops.

8:50pm – With Kansas in control, there’s time to start surfing a few of the other games. The first three clicks were greeted by more insurance commercials, but a stop at New England’s NESN+ brought about the UMBC at UMass game, a close 48-44 affair with 10:55 left. With a tip from the announce team, we see UMBC is 3-20 from three-point range while UMass is 0-10 from downtown. Note to NCAA Basketball: It might be time to bag the three-point shot. (Kansas won 87-74).

9:00pm – In other A-10-related action, St. Bonnies is drilling Siena (22-10 in second half) and Davidson is up by 27 over Delaware. Meanwhile, out in Western Massachusetts, the Minute People finally hit a “3” and were leading 54-46 when the channel surfing headed to the various Sports Nets.

9:01pm – FS1, aka the BIG EAST Network, went to split screen for Fairfield at Providence and Niagara at Xavier.  On FS2, Marquette was holding a slim lead over Southern Illinois -Edwardsville. Long way to go. Coach Shaka Smart is in his first year at Marquette and brought a few of his Texas recruits along with him. By the way, NYC soccer fans might note, the “Special Assistant to the Head Coach” at Marquette is Nevada Smith.

9:05pm – A look at the ACC Network put forth an early Upset Alert 🚨 as Navy led No. 25 Virginia 5-0. The lead floated out to sea seconds later and Virginia led 7-5 when it was time to look elsewhere. Remember, colleges play an exhibition or two but there’s no “real” preseason games. It is evident tonight. Navy would prevail 66-58 for the ONLY upset of the first night for the Top 25 teams. Virginia is sure to drop out of that elite group.

9:15pm – Bonus programming! A look at the YES Network from New York showed a Southern U. vs Louisville billboard but the fans of college hoops were being treated to Oklahoma hosting Northwestern State (that of Natchitoches, Louisiana). OK was up 45-33 upon tune-in and we noted 6-8, 275 lbs center Larry Owens along with two players from Athens, (Greece, not Georgia), one from Tbilisi, (Country of and not State of Georgia), and one player from Israel. Can you imagine the culture shock upon arriving from Athens to Natchitoches? And, just how did that happen? NWSU head coach Mike McConathy is in his 23rd year, so go figure?

Meanwhile, in between games at The Garden, ESPN has turned it back over to the College Football Playoff rankings.

9:25pm – The College Game Day crew (football) finally gets around to the Top 10. They reveal in reverse order and here ya go, ICYMI.

  1. Georgia
  2. Alabama
  3. Oregon
  4. Ohio State
  5. Cincinnati
  6. Michigan
  7. Michigan State
  8. Oklahoma
  9. Notre Dame
  10. Oklahoma State

The CFP Show had some serious arguing over rankings that don’t mean a thing on November 9th.

9:32pm – When in doubt, back to the BIG EAST as Creighton and Arkansas Pine Bluff are battling it out (63-57 upon tune-in time with 12:42 left in the 2nd half). Arkansas Pine Bluff led 47-38 at the half but a little 29-7 run did that lead in. Creighton is very tough at home and any BIG EAST team to go on the road to Omaha and come back with a “W” is fortunate.

9:37pm – The FS1 producers switched to a live look-in for the end of the Niagara at Xavier game as Niagara missed a shot down the stretch that could’ve put the pressure on Xavier in a big way. X ended up winning 63-60 after Marcus Hammond hit a full court heave-ho for three at the buzzer. Xavier was favored by 17 points.

9:45pm – Yes, it was time to check in at TNT where Milwaukee was leading Philadelphia, 118-109,

9:50pm – It’s time to settle in for the final game of the night, with all due respect to that Longwood vs Iowa game on the Big Ten Network. No. 9 Duke and No. 10 Kentucky playing in front of a packed house at Madison Square Garden (18,132) is “the” way to put an exclamation point on the first night of the NCAA Basketball Season.

ESPN is making it clear the entire season will be a tribute to Coach K, and rightfully so. Coming out of a break, ESPN rolled old photos and footage of Coach K at Army and getting a couple important victories – including No. 1,000 at The Garden against St. John’s, by the way.

Speaking of St. John’s, they drilled Mississippi Valley State, 119-61.

10:10pm – ESPN catches a very incognito Bruce Springsteen amongst the crowd at MSG. The Boss was  joining his daughter, Jessica, a 2014 Duke grad and 2020-21 USA Equestrian team silver medalist at the Tokyo Games.

10:13pm – Game score going back and forth between Duke and UK as the first half develops into a decent game, albeit somewhat physical.

10:25pm – The refs give each team a talking to, as the game got “chippy” and there was some jawing. Duke led 29-25 with 4:00 remaining in the 1st half.

10:40pm – At the half, Duke led 39-35 as the Kentucky team and head coach John Caliperi headed to the lockers. Coach Cal said on the TV interview with Holly Rowe, “we almost lost two exhibition games.”

11:00pm – Kentucky comes out hot in the 2nd half and it becomes quite apparent that this game is likely to go down to the wire.

11:10pm – Direct TV: Serena v. Wonder Woman; Serena …Wonder Woman.

11:12pm – Players, competing at high speed and rate, are cramping up a sign of not being in “game shape” as of yet.

11:45pm – Duke’s young team, despite four players cramping-up, close-out the Kentucky Wildcats, 79-71. Freshman Trevor Keels led the way for the Blue Devils with 25 points. Duke’s 6-10 freshman forward Paulo Banchero added 25 points.

Later in the night: Both Gonzaga and UCLA both won big over their opponents. The Zags taking Dixie State (Utah, by the way), 97-63 and UCLA – who Jay Bilas touted as the No. 1 team in the country – defeated Cal-Bakersfield, 95-58.

Filed Under: Big East, NCAA, NCAA Basketball Tagged With: Akron, Butler, CFP, CFP rankings, College Basketball, Dick Vitale, ESPN, FS1, IUPUI, March Madness, NCAAB, Ohio State, V Foundation, Villanova

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