2023 French Open

I caught almost none of the French this year and that's too bad. Grand Slam tennis is always good and without a clear female fave and no Nadal on the other side meant that this year's French was wide open and worth catching.  Oh well, I saw both Finals, so not a total loss.  

(1) Swiatek 6/5/6 - 2/7/4 (NR) Muchova

Swiatek is a hell of a player but, you know, she doesn't have any signature moves, there's no real transcendence to her game, she's just all-round good at everything. And as for Muchova, she played steady, whereas I was expecting her to be emotional, spotty, up and down, she really wasn't any of that. She was consistent and played hard and smart all the way through and it almost worked for her. Swiatek was the better player but she had moments of doubt and she was the one who had ups and downs. 

I hesitate to say Swiatek didn't play her best, I suspect this mostly good/but occasionally out of sorts is who she is. Muchova played well--really well--but just couldn't match Swiatek's best effort. Swiatek is an interesting champ because I feel like she can hang anywhere with anyone, but she can also fritter away her best chances and probably could be had by even an unranked no-name if she has an extended braindead period. That said, Swiatek is #1 for a reason and I could also see her dominating the women's game for a few more years. 

(3) Djokovic 7/6/7 - 6/3/5 (4) Ruud

Early on, I thought Djokovic looked a little rusty and when Ruud went up a break early in the 1st, I really felt like Ruud would hold it and take the set. But, it didn't happen. Ruud was good but just couldn't maintain his composure, I just kept waiting for Ruud to pull it together but when he let the 1st set get to a tiebreak, I knew it was probably over for him. Then in the 2nd set, felt like Ruud was gonna go full Richie Tannenbaum melt down and he just never got his fight back in him. 3rd set, too, I was wondering if Ruud would pull it together and he didn't. 

As for Djokovic, he was loose and free, playing with house money, nothing to lose, just went out there and played his game, kept the audience from cheering for the underdog and like your roommate's pet python, Djokovic slowly wrapped himself around anyone that might want some of the oxygen he was hoarding. 

Another great W for the GOAT (*), though I really felt like Ruud had a chance--not a big one, but the path to steal the first set was there and he couldn't stay on it. 

(*) Oh yeah, I made my peace with it a while ago, Djokovic is the all-time greatest tennis player of all-time (**). 

(**) Not a typo--he's that fucking great, dude!

2022-23 Champions League Final

Manchester City 1-0 Inter Milan

Very defensive game, not a lot of chances on goal for either team, got really chippy in the 2nd half. I thought the ref lost control in the 2nd half, let both sides get physical and he started making random foul calls instead of clamping down. But this was the right outcome. 

Coming in Man City was the better team, they had the better run and though Inter fought their way to the Final, I thought Man City would win in a tight one and they did. The goal was a bit of brilliance in a long stretch of weirdness in front of the goal, but man for that bullet shot to find its way through the crowd was amazing. 

Nobody dominated, there was no clear MVP and even saying Man City was the better team is pretty minimal. Inter's best chances came in the heavy-chaos time after Man City took the lead and it made for a fun watch but not a lot of goals. 

I kinda still think Real Madrid was (or should've been) the best team but Man City choked them out in the semifinals and that can't be ignored. So Man City was truly the best team throughout and this was the right result. Inter had a good run--and beating AC Milan along the way must've been a dream come true.

Great W for Manchester City, your 2022-23 champs. 

2022-23 NBA Finals

Game Seven: Heat 103-84 Celtics

Jaysun Tatum twisted his ankle on basically the first play of the game and never looked right after that. Jaylen Brown hit some shots but was mostly a turnover machine and no one else get buckets at all. The Heat were resolute and did what they needed to do, but honestly this game was pretty much over well before the end of the 1st quarter.

Last year the Celtics were a disaster for the first coupla months of the season, then the extremely loud teachings of Ime Udoka finally sank in and their defense was phenomenal for a good six months. They blasted their way through the playoffs and ran out of gas in the Finals against the Warriors, who were feeling it. 

In the off-season Coach Udoka was let go due to some kind of improper relationship (does anyone actually know anything about that?) and shortly before opening night, Joe Mazzulla was tabbed to be the head coach. The Celtics started the season strong and though there were doubts about Coach Joe and one bad stretch in March, the Celtics finished 2nd in the East, which is about right. Felt like the Bucks were better but no one else was and the course was set for a Bucks-Celtics East final. Even though the Celtics were sloppy at the ends of games all year long, they won enough to expect a deep run. And after the Bucks got knocked out, the Celtics became the clear favorite even though they dangerously fucked around with the Hawks (woefully outmanned) and the Sixers (Embiid but not much else). Then they fell down 3-0 to the Heat. Showed real grit in Game Four, had a bust out performance in Game Five, got lucky as hell in Game Six (though really were the better team for most of the game) and a historic comeback was well underway. But....didn't happen. The Celtics didn't show, Coach Joe had nothing and the Celtic fans lost interest quick. 

Which brings us to the Finals....

Let's recap the Nuggets' path. They dropped 1 game to the Wolves--a road game they weren't even trying to win and still took to overtime. They dropped 2 games to the Suns--both on the road and both sporting monster performances from Devin Booker and Kevin Durant. And they swept the Lakers--though to be fair, all 4 games were close and the Lakers had an amazing run of their own to get there. 

As for the Heat, they caught the Bucks not ready to play--the Bucks to me looked like they just expected to win regardless of their effort or skill. They quickly wore down the Knicks--a nice team on the rise but the 2nd round was as far as they were ever going to go. They caught the neurotic Celtics unable to consistently find a game plan. 

Do you see my point here? The Heat advanced because they were up against weak teams that weren't ready to win. That description does not fit the Nuggets. Yes, I picked against the Heat 3 straight times and I was wrong every time--but I was wrong about their opponents, not about the Heat. Each time I expected the other team to do more than than they were capable of doing and the Heat punished them (and me). Yeah, that ain't happening this time. Maybe I'm crazy for picking against the Heat again, but the Nuggets are better than all the teams in the East and they're balling like crazy. 

The Heat are shooting the ball out of their minds--can they improve? I don't see how. It'd be amazing if they continued what they were doing, but I don't see them getting better. Their chances of outscoring the Nuggets (especially in Denver) is very small. 

The Heat really only have one chance: if their defense can figure out how to bottle up Jokic, then they might have a chance. Of course, if Jokic is bottled, the Nuggets will still have other scorers and playmakers that can step up. And overplaying on defense will basically remove Bam Adebayo from the offense and/or run down Max Strus, so is that really even a good thing? The Nuggets don't stay cold for very long, so I just don't see anything the Heat can do to win games. 

I might've given the Celtics a puncher's chance in Game One at home, but I give no such chance to the Heat on the road. In fact, I give them no chance in Game Two either. The Heat can perhaps steal a game back home, but after 4 games I expect the Nuggets to be up 3-1 heading back to Denver for Game Five, which I do not expect the Heat to win.

I picked the Celtics over the Heat but I was lukewarm on that pick before the series and gave up on it even after the Celtics won 3 straight to get to Game Seven. The Heat have been great all post-season long, Jimmy Butler and Caleb Martin have both been great, Bam Adebayo and Max Strus and Gabe Vincent and Duncan Robinson have been very good, Kyle Lowry has had effective moments, even Heywood Highsmith had some nice run. They'll be getting Tyler Herro back, but outside of a potential burst in Games Three and/or Four, I don't see how he changes much. 

I haven't said much about the Nuggets because I don't have to. They've been the best team in the league pretty much all season long, Nikola Jokic is the best player in the NBA right now, Jamal Murray is ballin', Micheal Porter is playing the best ball of his life, Kentavius Caldwell-Pope and Jeff Green are the perfect complementary vets and Bruce Brown is arguably the best free agent signing of last summer. Coach Malone has long been under appreciated and he is about to get his due and Denver itself is arguably the single greatest home court advantage in all of American sports. The Heat have been great but the run ends here, all the sad sappy suckers are gone from the schedule. Nuggets in 5.

2022-23 NBA Playoffs (1st Round, 4 games in)

East

Heat 3-1 Bucks

Uh oh! The Bucks dropped Game One when Giannis went out after a thud to the floor and the Heat shot the lights out. In Game Two without Giannis, the Bucks handled their business and easily thumped the Heat. The Heat got their revenge in Game Three (the L everyone expected the Bucks to give up on their way to the gentleman's sweep) and then blitzed the Bucks in the 4th quarter of Game Four to put the Bucks in a tight spot. Now, look: the Bucks are a good squad with the best player in the East and the Heat are a so-so sloppy shooting squad with Jimmy Butler and not much else. This is a serious mismatch--so much so that as of now I still expect the Bucks to win three straight and advance. But, man, Jimmy Butler smells blood like no one in the game right now and if the Bucks show even the slighest hint of weakness, hesitance or fatigue, Butler will steal their lunch money. So, yes, I said it, I still expect the Bucks to move on but they better get their shit together or they will get bounced. (Get the popcorn!) 

Hawks 1-3 Celtics

Yeah, this is about right. The Hawks had one really good shooting performance in them, the Celtics had one dud in them and both coincided in Game Three. Dejounte Murray even got suspended for the next game, so it's the Trae show in Game Five--is it possible that Trae goes off and drags this series back to Atlanta? Ehh, I suppose it's possible, but I don't see it happening. I expected this series to end in 5 and I still do.  

Nets 0-4 Sixers

Yeah, the Nets have no offense, man. I like their collection of talent, they are a supporting cast in need of a star, but they just can't keep up with the Sixers (who haven't really played particularly well yet). If only the Nets could find the perfect star for this roster...a big guy, great defender, good ball handler that makes plays for the rangy roster, someone that could get to the basket with ease....if only they had a player that on their roster....you know someone like Ben Simmons (but not the actual Ben Simmons, who has apparently given up on playing basketball). The Sixers, though they have breezed through the opening round, haven't gotten themselves in order (they still don't look like a cohesive squad) and I don't see them being much of a challenge to the Celtics, who are a much fuller, richer squad. 

Knicks 3-1 Cavs

The Cavs are in my blackout zone so I've only seen them a handful of times this year. I expected their depth and their scoring to be more impressive than what I've seen in this series. The Knicks are a wild card, got nothing to lose, and even though Julius Randle has not been great (which doomed them in the playoffs 2 years ago), the rest of the cast (Jalen Brunson and Mitchell Robinson, especially) have been kinda great. And since Donovan Mitchell has been underwhelming to say the least and their twin towers front line hasn't made much difference at either end, I don't see how the Cavs make any kind of run here. The Knicks are playing better right now and unless Mitchell just goes off, I think this series is over, probably in 6.

West

Wolves 1-3 Nuggets

Hey, the Wolves didn't get swept. Good for them. Although they almost blew Game Four, having to scramble to save it in OT, so not exactly a resounding performance. The Nuggets are really good--arguably best in the league all season long--and the Wolves are a dumpster fire that kinda pulled it together late in the season. Point being: I expected Nuggets in 5 and that's what this looks like. 

Lakers 3-1 Grizzlies

Weird series. Ja Morant went down with a wrist injury in Game One and the Grizzlies just straight imploded from there and really gave away the opening match. They re-grouped (w/out Ja, though they win without him pretty regularly) in Game Two and laid a beatdown, but then got stomped (STOMPED! Don't buy the late burst that made the game seem kinda close--it was never close) in Game Three and then frittered away a winnable Game Four in OT (Jimmy Butler's heroics over the Bucks got all the headlines but Lebron was pretty heroic down the stretch against the Grizz that night, too). The Grizzlies came into this series without Steven Adams or Brandon Clarke, while not necessarily devastating losses, missing these two really dings their depth (that is 12 fouls to throw at Anthony Davis, if nothing else), especially factoring in a game and a half without Ja, so being down to Lebron and co. shouldn't be too shocking. But they really could've won One and Four and played truly awful in Three, so this series is closer than you think. The Lakers are a nice team but Rui Hachimura and Austin Reaves have really stepped up and the Grizz don't seem to have an answer. Is the series over? Well, it doesn't look good, but if anyone could win three straight on the Lakers....well, it probably is not the Grizzlies. Gotta go Lakers from here (though they still have some pain ahead of them, I reckon). 

Warriors 2-2 Kings

Fun series! I thought the home team would dominate this series and so far that has come to pass. The Warriors were okay but not good enough in the first two games, then blew the doors off the visiting Kings in Game Three (w/out Draymond, who had been suspended for....I dunno...whatever unnecessary dumb shit he did) and then eked out Game Four at home, where a Harrison Barnes game winner was in the air (and clanked) at the buzzer. Now the buzz is that DeAron Fox has a broken finger, which could be devastating for the Kings, but we'll see. The Kings have yet to play their best basketball, Domantis Sabonis has been okay at best (seems hesitant after a season of knowing exactly what to do) and their defense is truly awful (my god, you could land a helicopter in the lane on them!) and if Fox is hobbled, they could be in real trouble. But the Warriors haven't exactly pulled it together, Steph Curry has, of course, been awesome but the rest of the supporting cast hasn't really rounded into shape yet. If the Kings can't pull it out, then the Warriors suddenly look dangerous all over again (and Steph v Lebron in the 2nd round does look kinda tasty). I'll stick with the home-team thing and the Kings in 7.

Clippers 1-3 Suns

Kawhi looked so great in the first two games, did not play the next two games and there is no timetable for his return--nor is there any timetable for Paul George, who hasn't played in this series. The Suns are getting W's and Devin Booker is playing great right now, but they are vulnerable as they are trying to get too many minutes out KD, Chris Paul, Booker and Deandre Ayton. The Clippers have countered by unleashing Russell Westbrook, who has reclaimed the believers, though I don't know why: he has always played hard and is still far from perfect right now, but the conventional wisdom had gotten so low on him that his mere presence is exciting people. If I was Steve Ballmer, I'd be really fucking grumpy that I paid so much for Kawhi and PG and have gotten so little from them in return. The Clippers could be winning this series right now, if they were at full strength it seems apparent that they could/should overwhelm the skimpy Suns roster. Oh well, looks like the Suns will escape but I don't have high hopes for them going forward because they are quickly burning through their personnel already. If the Clippers could pull out a miracle, they could still win this series, but it doesn't feel like the miracle is coming. 

2022-23 NFL Playoffs (Conference Championships)

Division Round

Jags 20-27 Chiefs

In the 1st half, QB Mahomes suffered an ankle injury that looked pretty gnarly and from that point on the Jags' strategies became apparent: on defense blow up the Chiefs O-Line on every play, every situation and on offense do whatever it takes to get the next 1st down. Well, the Jags just couldn't pull it off as their offense kinda floundered (impressive performance from the Chiefs D) and though the mighty Chief offense wasn't so mighty, it did enough survive (with and without Mahomes). This was a winnable game for the Jags and they just couldn't get there. Another sneaky good Chiefs W. 

Giants 7-38 Eagles

Yeah, this one was over quick. The Eagles did whatever they wanted on offense and the defense ably handled the Giant attack that had looked so good the week earlier in Minnesota. The Eagles showed definitively that they are better than the Giants and the Vikings on both sides of the ball. This match was just a warmup for the Niners. 

Bengals 27-10 Bills

Man, looking back on this game: the Bengals only scored 27 points? Really? Man, it felt like they got a 1st down every time they touched the ball. The post-game chatter was a lot about Josh Allen and while he wasn't great, he wasn't awful either; he was--gasp--irrelevant in this game. It was the inability of the Bills D to get stops at all that doomed the Bills. My theory for this game would be that the Bills would absolutely need Allen's hero ball antics to win and while that may have been true, the hero ball never appeared largely the Bengals used up all the clock and put way more points on the scoreboard. A disappointing L for the Bills but the Bengals were easily the better team on this day (seriously, only 27 points? Felt like waaaaaaay more). Great W for the Bengals, they're getting hot at just the right time. 

Cowboys 12-19 Niners

Clusterfuck of a game, neither team dominated though I thought the Niners were better on both sides. Good W for QB Purdy, still not sure what to make of him but he beat a really good Cowboys defense in the playoffs, so far so good. People complained about Dak Prescott and it would've been nice if he could've done more, but I didn't think he was the problem, the inability to move the ball on the Niners was a team effort (the Niners' effort was better). 

Conference Championships

Niners @ Eagles (-2.5) (o/u 45)

Ahhh, this is the match we all wanted in the NFC, these are the two best teams, the two best defenses with two really good coaches that know what they're doing. The game is a coin flip, I would be shocked if one team blew out the other but either team in a close game seems perfectly possible. The Eagles are at home and they don't have a rookie QB, so I'll say Eagles 24-21 (Eagles and the under).

Bengals @ Chiefs (-2) (o/u 47.5)

Mahomes' ankle is troubling but let me be clear: I think the Bengals are the better team regardless of Mahomes' ankle. The Bengals have beaten the Chiefs three straight, not afraid of going on the road in the playoffs and their offense is humming right now. The Chiefs (not unlike the Bills actually) have been good but not great all season long, the offense is solid but doesn't seem quite as unbeatable without Tyreke Hill and the defense is savvy but I don't think they're gonna slow down the Bengals. I think the Bengals are the better team in every way and I'm surprised to say this but I'd be kinda shocked if the Chiefs won. I'll say Bengals 31-21 (Bengals and the over). 

2022-23 NFL Playoffs (Division Round)

Wild Card Round

Seahawks 23-41 Niners

I thought the Niners would dominate the 1st half, then the Seahawks would get some garbage time action to make the score look respectable. Well, the Niners were fine in the 1st half, moved the ball well, put points on the board; but somehow based on one good drive, one unexpected big play that caught the Niners napping and a nice final 2-minute drive to steal an FG, somehow the Seahawks were up 17-16 at the half. Then the Niners D stepped up, the Seahawks couldn't convert at all and once the Niners started scoring, it felt like they were never going to stop. So in the end, a dominant Niners W (and one last valiant effort from the overachieving Seahawks) but not the commanding performance I expected. 

Chargers 30-31 Jaguars

The Chargers jumped out to a 27-0 lead largely because Trevor Lawrence couldn't help but give the ball away. But once Lawrence stopped making it easy for the Chargers, the Chargers just didn't know what to do anymore and squandered a mighty lead as the Jags just kept coming. Disappointing performance by the Chargers, how that coach still has his job is a mystery (he is one of the only people in all of celebrity-dom where I openly applaud the slings and arrows he suffers--he deserves them because he makes it harder for his team to win, which is the most unforgivable sin in all of sports), but somehow not unexpected. The Jags have been playing well for the last 8 weeks or so, the coach-QB combo is really starting to look like a winner. Hard to see how they hang with either the Chiefs, Bills and/or Bengals, but they look good to go for next fall and that's not bad. 

Dolphins 31-34 Bills

The Bills have had the problem all season of dominating the 1st half, then taking the 2nd half off. Here they played well in the 1st and 3rd quarters, while fighting the refs in the 2nd (can't recall one team having so many flukey reviewable-ish plays in a row) and just kinda holding on in the 4th. Not an inspiring performance, but this team can put up 34 points and win a playoff game while playing not very good for most of it. Is this their wake up call or do they think they're ready to take out the Bengals? The Dolphins made the most of the lackadaisical Bills play and had moments of wicked D and passable offense; but, honestly, how they scored 31 points is an enigma. This team was not near its best coming into the game and didn't play particularly well (Waddle dropped a big play ball that hit him in the chest on the very first pass of the game--this team did not bring its best effort), so how they managed to make this a game deep into the 4th quarter is something the Bills really ought to take a look at. (Or we can just notch it up to being a division game with all the idiosyncrasy that suggests)

Giants 31-24 Vikings

I poo-poohed the notion that because the Vikings were good in one-score games this year that that automatically meant they would lose their next one-score game, which was the sharp play last week. I stand by my reasoning (and continue throwing poo at the opposite reasoning) but I failed to acknowledge how good that Giant offense actually is. They moved the ball with confidence throughout and really put it on a mediocre (at best) Vikings defense. That said, the Vikings hung around and had their chances late but just couldn't get the ball to Justin Jefferson (seems like he was the one dimension of their one-dimensional offense), so they were still in play to steal it. But kudos to the Giants for bringing the offensive game plan that ate up clock and the defensive good sense to lock up Jefferson. Good W for the Giants, another tough playoff L for the Vikings. 

Ravens 17-24 Bengals

Felt like it was gonna be a sludgefest, but the Bengals scored on their first two drives, felt like they had unlocked the Ravens. But then it steady became the sludgefest we expected. Late in the 4th, tied at 17, the Ravens were at the 2-yard line (not the 1-yard line, mind you), when QB Huntley tried to dive over the pile on the sneak, waved the ball ahead of him, did not get it to the goalline but did get it knocked away, which went right to LB Hubbard, who ran it 98 yards for the go-ahead score. The Ravens had another chance but it was over, the momentum was irretrievable, and the Bengals were able to salt it away. (Huntley, my man, if you score that TD, your whole career is different) The Ravens were able to hang even with a backup QB, they didn't dominate but they didn't get dominated by the Bengals, and they really could've won. Good game, memorable game, and like the Bills above, is this the wake up call the Bengals needed or a harbinger of slippage?

Cowboys 31-14 Bucs

Yeah, this game was every bit as lame as I expected it to be. The Bucs just weren't good this year, they've pretty much sucked since September and only made it this far by being in the worst division in the league. The Cowboys were the better team in every way and while there was the possibility that they would gack it up in Tampa, the Bucs just didn't give them anything to gack on. I expect Tom Brady to play next year but not with the Bucs (how come no one is talking Commanders? Pretty good squad that just needs a QB, right?). As for the Cowboys, well, they did what they were supposed to do, now they're on to San Francisco. 

Division Round

Jaguars @ Chiefs (-9.5) (o/u 52.5)

The Jags play hard and after last week's furious comeback, I expect them to play hard right to the end and make the most of this found money. And the Chiefs all year long have played close games, allowing lesser teams to hang around. Is there a chance the Chiefs overthink this and let this game get away? Uh, yeah, that can happen. I like the Jags to play them close (whether its the Chiefs winning it late or the Jags scoring in garbage time) but I expect the Chiefs to put more points on the board. The Chiefs are still really good, Mahomes is still the man and all that, but they're hardly unbeatable (just ask the Bengals). I don't think it catches up to the Chiefs this week, but I still say they don't cover. I'll say Chiefs 31-27 (Jags and the Over)

Giants @ Eagles (-8) (o/u 48)

The Giants won't be afraid of the Eagles and if they can do to Philly what they did to Minnesota, then they could eat enough clock to steal a W. The Eagles haven't played well in a while, the curse of the dominant division winner, so is playing a familiar opponent a good or bad thing? Well, I think the Eagles will be just fine, I like their offense to adapt to the Giants and I know Philly's D is better than Minnesota's, so I'd be surprised if the Giants can control the ball the way they did last week. I was going to say that I like the Giants to keep the game close and I don't think it will be a high scoring game, but now I think the Giants offense will be whipped by the 4th quarter, so the Eagles might finish this off before it gets to the 2-minute drill. I was gonna go Giants but now I'm thinking Eagles. I'll say Eagles 28-17 (Eagles and the Under)

Bengals @ Bills (-6) (o/u 49)

Okay, game of the year, the game we were expecting a coupla weeks ago (before Damar Hamlin decided we needed a Monday thinking of things more important than football). The Bengals have won 9 straight (oh, the Bills have won 8 straight) and are playing really well, but injuries to the OL could be a sticky wicket for them; the Bills overpowered 14 of their 17 opponents this season (hmmm, honestly you could say that the Jets were the only team to hang a for-real L on this squad this year) but we're down to the quarterfinals now and the Bills defense just isn't up to snuff compared to the remaining teams. That requires Josh Allen to be perfect from here on out and if he's up to it, the Bills can still be the best team; but if he falters at all and he makes it easy on the opposing defense, that's gonna put more pressure on the Bills D that it can bear. The Bengals might be the better team but I'm not totally convinced. I think this is a FG game, the last team to score will likely be the winner. Bills are at home, they got the Hamlin vibe and the big play offense is capable of hanging with anyone. That said, -6 is too damn high--it opened at 3.5, which was too high even then! Gotta take the Bengals to cover. I'll say Bills 34-31 (Bengals and the Over)

Cowboys @ Niners (-4) (o/u 46.5)

I like the Cowboys, at their best they can move the ball and get stops; at their worst, though, the offense stalls and the defense has to do too much. I think the Niners have the better offense and probably the better defense, too. At home, I expect them to get all the luck and that's all just too much for the Cowboys. The Cowboys are nice but not great, but this Niners team might be really really good (yes, even with Brock Purdy!). I gotta go Niners 28-13 (Niners and the Under)

2022-23 NCAA Football Finals

Fiesta Bowl: (3) Texas Christian 51-48 (2) Michigan

Peach Bowl: (4) Ohio State 41-42 (1) Georgia

Nat'l Championship: (3) Texas Christian 7-62 (1) Georgia

The highlights tell the tale: TCU was able to pull off the shocker on Michigan, but Ohio State was not quite able to pull off the shocker on Georgia, then Georgia pounded TCU like the Department of Justice going after missing top secret documents. 

I would've preferred putting Ohio State ahead of TCU, which might've given them a better shot to beat Georgia (or maybe not), and would've guaranteed another Buckeye-Wolverine rematch, which would've been the best possible matchup of these four teams. But we got Michigan faltering to TCU's surprisingly good team speed and Ohio State failing to nail the coffin on UGA. As for the championship, I was hanging with a friend and we agreed to commit to the 1st half and then regroup at halftime. Needless to say, the night was pretty much over by the re-grouping. 

Good W for Georgia, they weren't as dominant as last season but they were clearly better than everyone else all year long and you can't front on that. Not sure why Stetson Bennett isn't getting more NFL draft attention, he just won back to back championships (and I'm not particularly impressed with this year's QB group, so why not try to talk the fan base into Stetson? Lovable guy, proven winner, what's not to like (or at least try to like)?

Will UGA be back next year? Well, they'll be working with a new QB and what with Alabama finishing #5 this season, I think we can expect the Tide to be furious next year. Also, I would expect Southern Cal to make a jump, Louisiana State to make a jump, Michigan and Ohio State to be top ten at least, we'll see if Tennessee can be similarly strong or what Notre Dame does (don't sleep on South Bend) and no one knows what to expect of Clemson or the Big 12 in general. So while Georgia will probably be in the top 3 pre-season, I don't think next season will be as easy as this season was. 

For the first time in a while, I expect college football to be a real jumble next year. Could be a vibrant top ten all season long. 

2022-23 NFL (Weeks 11, 12 & 13)

Week 11

Games I watched (some of):

Titans 27-17 Packers

The Packers tried to make a game of it, but the Titans ground out a solid W in Lambeau. I'm starting to like the Titans, their combo of strong running game and good pass rush will keep them in games and I like the coach. The Packers better get going now if they're planning on making the playoffs.

Browns 23-31 Bills

The Bills this season have dominated the 1st halves of games and sucked in the 2nd; here they kinda mixed up the formula: the Browns were good early on and late in the game, while the Bills kinda killed them in the 2nd and 3rd quarters. Okay, well, at least the Bills have changed up their routine. The Browns have a nice running game and could be really good, but I think they're softer on defense than they want to admit (easy to blame the QB but I think he's fine). The Bills still have a ways to go to get back to the top tier. 

Bengals 37-30 Steelers

Fun games but a sloppy game, too. The Bengals weren't exactly great but somehow it never felt like the Steelers were gonna win (although their offense looked better than it had in weeks). 

Chiefs 30-27 Chargers

Fun game. I thought the Chargers were gonna do it, but Mahomes-to-Kelce is still the most reliable hookup in the league and down the stretch they made the plays they needed to make. The Chargers have two tough L's to KC this year; the Chiefs are still the team to beat in the AFC. 

The rest of the slate:

Bears 24-27 Falcons. Wow, people must've actually watched this game. Can you imagine?

Eagles 17-16 Colts. Eagles scrambled late to steal the W from the Colts (who did beat the Chiefs this year, if you will recall). This would've been a bad L for the Eagles, they did well to right the ship in time. 

Jets 3-10 Patriots. Punt return TD at the buzzer to win the game; impressive defenses, unimpressive offenses.

Rams 20-27 Saints. The Rams just don't care this season. Nice W for the Saints. 

Lions 31-18 Giants. Not a shocker, the Lions have a good offense and the Giants have been due for a bad game for a while now. 

Panthers 3-13 Ravens. Looks like a dull game. The Ravens have yet to play a complete game all season long. 

Commanders 23-10 Texans. The Texans are bad, the Commanders are less bad. 

Raiders 22-16 Broncos. Somebody had to win this one, I guess. The Raiders are starting to play a little better lately. 

Cowboys 40-3 Vikings. Ooof! The Vikings were ready for a letdown but this was well more than that. The Cowboys kinda dominated both sides of the ball. 

Niners 38-10 Cards. Yeah, the Cards suck and when the Niners bring their offense they're pretty good. 

Week 12

Games I watched (some of):

Bills 28-25 Lions

Not the most impressive Bills performance this year but they did what they needed to do to get the W and that's what matters. I'd love to see a complete game from the Bills instead of just a good 1st half and a desperate scramble late, haven't seen it yet. 

Giants 20-28 Cowboys

Good methodical win for the Cowboys, I thought. Not an overwhelming performance but a confident one and a winning one. 

Pats 26-33 Vikings

Fun game. More action than I would've thought but somehow it was still pretty even. The Vikings are not a great team but they are a pretty good one and they've got more talent than the Pats and that's what won out. 

The rest of the slate:

Bucs 17-23 (OT) Browns. Bucs, man, how are you not better than this?

Bengals 20-16 Titans. Strong performance by the Bengals, they needed this more than the Titans and they went and got the W. Good work. 

Texans 15-30 Dolphins. Texans suck, Dolphins are okay.

Bears 10-31 Jets. The Bears without QB Fields are possibly the worst team in the league; meanwhile, NYJ is kinda rolling.

Falcons 13-19 Commanders. The Commanders aren't great but they aren't bad and that's better than the Falcons. 

Broncos 10-23 Panthers. Man, the Broncos offense is so bad that its hard to truly appreciate how damn good their defense is. But, this doesn't do anything for the Panthers--that's how lame this L was for the Broncos!

Ravens 27-28 Jags. The Ravens are allergic to playing a complete 60 minute game. If they figure it out, they're still good enough to win it all. The Jags are still a plucky bunch of youngsters, nice W for them.

Chargers 25-24 Cards. The Chargers would be more impressive if they just went out and got wins instead of just farting around out there. The Cards are not particularly good, this is the kind of game the Chargers should win comfortably. 

Raiders 40-34 (OT) Seahawks. The Raiders have been better lately, the Seahawks are ready for a storm to weather, no?

Rams 10-26 Chiefs. Yawn. The Rams have not played football all year long. The Chiefs fucked around and handled this with ease. 

Saints 0-13 Niners. So is the Niners defense that good or has the Saints offense completely gone away?

Packers 33-40 Eagles. Back and forth action, one of those games where I'm more impressed with the loser than the winner. 

Steelers 24-17 Colts. The Colts are terrible--they've managed to not lose five games and that is an amazing overachievement for this horrible team. Yeah, the Steelers suck, too, but slightly less than the Colts. 

Week 13

Bills 24-10 Patriots

Ahhh, watching the Bills beat the Pats never gets old (especially when it's still so new). A glorious thing, though. Not a dominating performance but the Bills were the better side throughout. 

Chiefs 24-27 Bengals

The Bengals are balling right now, rounding into shape at the right time. The Chiefs are weird: they're still the team to beat but they do look mortal against the Bills and the Bengals--the two teams they need to beat! The top 3 in the AFC (hell, throw in the Titans, too) are gonna be tough to beat, only they can beat each other. 

The rest of the slate: 

Steelers 19-16 Falcons. Man, I'm glad I didn't watch this. 

Packers 28-19 Bears. Felt like the Bears were finally gonna get one against the Packers but, no, Rodgers did the discount double check and that was that. 

Jags 14-40 Lions. Not a shock: the Lions can score, the Jags can get rolled at a moment's notice. 

Jets 22-27 Vikings. Fun game! Felt like the Jets were better but left points on the table, some good defensive stands for the Vikings. After all this time, I'm still not sure what I think of the Vikings, but if this was an impressive performance for the Jets in an L, it must mean I like the Vikings...right?

Commanders 20-20 Giants. Ha!

Titans 10-35 Eagles. Good, impressive W for the Eagles. They passed the ball at will, Hurts was kinda amazing.

Broncos 9-10 Ravens. Ugh! Lamar Jackson got early on, the Ravens had to struggle against a good defense. 

Browns 27-14 Texans. The Texans are not good. The Brown aren't either, but they easily stomped the Texans. 

Seahawks 27-23 Rams. Good W for the Seahawks. They are the better team but division games on the road are always dicey. 

Dolphins 17-33 Niners. The Dolphins were due for a bad performance; the Niners lost Jimmy G, but they didn't seem to miss him today (shade of Nick Foles?).

Chargers 20-27 Raiders. The Chargers really should be winning the games that they should win. 

Colts 19-54 Cowboys. Nice bust out for the Cowboys. 

Saints 16-17 Bucs. The Bucs really tried to give this game away but Tom Brady wouldn't let them. Another game I'm glad I missed. 

(*) Dude, Germany played Spain--you think I'm watching the fuckin' Browns this week?!?

2022-23 NCAA Football (Championship Week)

(11) Utah 47-24 (4) Southern Cal

I thought Utah would be a problem for USC and that turned out to be the case. USC went up 17-3, then got outscored 44-7. Yipes! Southern Cal is set up for next year (I assume they'll be pre-season top 5), but, man, if Utah could've gotten it done against Florida way back in week 1, they'd be on their way to the playoff right now. USC is out of the playoff and deservedly so, if they'd won this game I'd be cool with them in but losing twice to Utah puts Ohio State back in play. 

(10) Kansas State 31-28 (OT) (3) Texas Christian

Only caught snippets of this game, looked incredibly even to my eye. Neither team took the upper hand until K State was able to stop TCU on the goalline in OT, which pretty much doomed the Horned Frogs. Good W for Kansas State, but not a bad enough L to knock TCU out of the playoff, which is the correct move (though I would've moved the Buckeyes to #3 to set up a Michigan-Ohio State rematch). Georgia is not unbeatable but TCU will need to bring their best offense to keep up. 

(14) Louisiana State 50-30 (1) Georgia

It was not unthinkable that LSU would put together the right game plan and that UGA would just have a dud performance. I thought LSU mostly was pretty good, but UGA did not have a dud game and the Bulldogs just ran over LSU, which was not unexpected. UGA is good, that D is almost as good as last year but the offense is capable of grinding to a halt, so as solid as UGA has looked all year, this playoff should be plenty competitive. 

(22) Central Florida 28-45 (18) Tulane

Looks like Tulane did whatever they wanted on offense. Tulane had a solid season, won their conference (regular season and tourney style) and deserved a better ranking than their final #16. 

(9) Clemson 39-10 (23) North Carolina

Yawn. Clemson finally brought their offense, good for them. UNC was a rickety ship all season long but especially down the stretch they just weren't a very good squad. As annoying as the ACC teams were this year, I gotta say Clemson is actually underrated in the final poll. 

Purdue 22-43 (2) Michigan

Yeah, that's about right. Time for the Big 10 to give up the divisions, right? Purdue was never even ranked in the top 25 all year long, they were clearly just an afterthought going into the championship. Michigan was the better team from beginning to end. 

My top 12:

1) Georgia (yup, best pretty much all season long)

2) Michigan (won all their games, including at Ohio State and the B-10 championship)

3) Ohio State (bad loss to Michigan is the only blemish on their record)

4) Texas Christian (didn't take the Big 12 Championship but otherwise weathered all the ups and downs of their conference, they had a great season and totally deserve to be in the playoff)

5) Utah (they came closer than you think of being a top 4 team and beating Southern Cal twice is pretty impressive; yes, three L's but all to ranked teams on the road, I just think they were a much better team than you realize)

6) Alabama (yeah, finishing #5 is time to panic in Tuscaloosa, let's hope they drive themselves straight to mediocrity, just as Florida State and Nebraska shot themselves in the foot back in the day)

7) Clemson (I have them ahead of Tennessee, because their brutal loss to South Carolina wasn't as bad as Tennessee's; don't get me wrong: I think Clemson's offense is not very good and the ACC was annoying at best, but Clemson righted the ship after an embarrassing L and won their championship, which is more than I can say for UT)

8) Kansas State (a sneaky good team all year long, their 3 L's are all disappointing but not unforgivable; up against Bama in the bowl game and I'm curious to see if they can hang)

9) Tennessee (good season, beat Alabama and LSU, but couldn't hang with Georgia and then got smoked by South Carolina which is actually kinda lame; nice team but they were at best the 3rd best team in the SEC, how great was that this year?)

10) Southern Cal (they should probably be higher but the fact that they had the playoff on their plate and couldn't figure out how to stop Utah brings them a bit lower; good season, set for a great return next year)

11) Penn State (well, they got clocked by Michigan and Ohio State, but they easily handled everyone else they played; curious to see how they match up with Utah)

12) Tulane (hey, man, they've got some nice W's on their resume this year and they won their conference season and tourney and that's impressive; good offense, they'll be a tough out for somebody in a bowl)

2022-23 NCAA Football (Week 13)

Games I watched (some of):

(3) Michigan 45-23 (2) Ohio State

Michigan made big plays while Ohio State struggled on 3rd down. Felt like the Buckeyes were a little stunned by the best team they've played all year. My gut is that Ohio State is still the third best team and I suppose it is possible for them to sneak back into the final four but I seriously doubt it. The Wolverines played well, struck big, got stops on defense and looked like a really good team (if they lose to Purdue next week it would be one of the great upsets of the last few decades). Michigan cemented their way into the playoff with this big big win. 

(15) Notre Dame 27-38 (6) Southern Cal

I wouldn't call this a dominant win, Southern Cal was just better. They moved the ball, they scored points, mostly kept the Irish bottled up and got the big turnover late to seal it. To top it off Notre Dame's best quality, their pass rush, was mostly fustigated by QB Williams's (future #1 pick) ability to make plays with his feet. This was Notre Dame's last big chance to make some noise but USC was just too much for them. I expect the Trojans to finish off Utah next week and then--thanks to A&M finally putting a good game together and knocking off LSU--a trip to the final four...? 

Top 25

Handled their business

(1) Georgia, (3) Michigan, (4) Texas Christian, (6) Southern Cal, (7) Alabama, (10) Tennessee, (11) Penn State, (12) Kansas State, (13) Washington, (14) Utah, (16) Florida State, (18) UCLA, (19) Tulane, (21) Oregon State, (22) Central Florida, (23) Texas

Bad beat

(15) Notre Dame. The Irish had some stumbles this season but all in all they played hard to the end but this week they were up against a really good USC side.

(24) Cincinnati. Tulane looks pretty solid this year, better than Cincy anyway. 

Not so good

(5) Louisiana State. Weird year for the Tigers: early troubles doomed their season and folks were already grousing about their new savior, Coach Kelly; but then they beat Alabama and snuck their way into the top 10 and suddenly the Tigers were in play again....until they got smoked by Texas A&M. Now they're still in the SEC championship but their chances of beating UGA seem slight, so....they're kinda zombie-ing their way to the finish line. Weird downs and ups and downs this season. All in all, a really good season, ahead of schedule in a way but still bittersweet somehow.

(8) Clemson. I've been suspicious of Clemson all year long (well, all decade long, really), but I figured they'd finish off so-so South Carolina and be in position to rise as others fall. But, no. They got kinda blown out in the 2nd half by QB Rattler (are we sure he's not the #1 pick?) and the suddenly eye-opening Gamecocks (no, wait, they're the Washington Commanders now....what are they called?). Not a good finish to a weird season for Clemson. 

(9) Oregon. Got stomped pretty hard in the 4th quarter of their grudge match game against Oregon State (AKA the one team in the PAC that actually plays defense). Oregon has had moments of looking pretty good this season but this L is not a good way to go and play their shot at playing in the PAC championship. Disappointing L. 

(17) North Carolina. Gotta win the grudge match games and while NC State was mostly overrated all season long, felt like UNC was gonna finish strong. Well, the Wolfpack got the better of the Tar Heels this week. UNC is still on their way to the ACC Championship against Clemson--both teams need to bounce back from their respective letdowns. 

(20) Mississippi. I kinda liked Ole Miss this year but losing to Alabama (a game they could've won), really took the wind out of their sails and they've been listing ever since. Should've been better than the grudge match Bulldogs but they didn't get it done.

(25) Louisville. Not a particularly noteworthy season for the Cards but they had enough solid W's to sneak into the top 25, but that won't last long. I thought they'd beat Kentucky but the Wildcats showed up and got it done. 

Next week: Conference Championships

PAC: (12) Utah - (4) Southern Cal (don't count out Utah, they're already responsible for USC's 1 loss)

Big 12: (13) Kansas State - (3) Texas Christian (TCU is rolling but so is K State, should be a good one)

SEC: (11) Louisiana State - (1) Georgia (LSU has had a weird year: while making the SEC championship is wildly unexpected, getting slaughtered by UGA is gonna feel like a real downer; I suppose the Tigers can keep the game close but I can't see them winning)

American: (22) Central Florida - (18) Tulane (I dunno, Tulane has avoided dumb losses better than UCF has, I assume that makes them the big favorite)

Big 10: Purdue - (2) Michigan (jeez, can't sneak Purdue into the top 25 at all? Michigan struggled against Illinois just two weeks ago, any chance that Purdue can shock the world? (I doubt it))

ACC: (10) Clemson - (24) North Carolina (two teams backing their way into the conference finals; I guess I'd have to say Clemson is the better team but I haven't been particularly impressed by them all season long)

Just for giggles, my top 12 going into Championship Week:

(1) Georgia, (2) Michigan, (3) TCU, (4) Ohio State, (5) Southern Cal, (6) Alabama, (7) Tennessee (*), (8) Penn State, (9) Louisiana State, (10) Utah, (11) Kansas State, (12) Tulane

(Sorry, Clemson, I just never bought into that offense this year. Sorry, Washington, not sure how you got so high in the rankings but Tulane needs to be here. Good run Florida State, just outside of my rankings. Notre Dame had an underappreciated season. And South Carolina ended up with two W's over top 10 squads (seriously: tell me why Shane Rattler isn't the #1 pick in the draft right now?).

(*) If the Vols had their QB I'd put them ahead of Bama, but without him I still have them ahead of Penn State.

2022-23 NFL (Midway through the season)

10 weeks is a little more than halfway for most teams, now seems like the time to give an overview of the season so far. The main reason I'm doing this is because the World Cup is in the Autumn this year, normally that interrupts my baseball watching but this year it's gonna interrupt NFL and NBA. Thought I'd do a mid-season accounting before I disappear for a while. 

AFC

Playoff teams: Chiefs, Titans

The Chiefs are still the team to beat. The Titans can run the ball and play defense (and they're in a brutally awful division). 

2nd tier: Ravens, Bills 

The Ravens and Bills both have the same problem: neither of them play a complete game. They look dominant for a while, then they coast their way to a loss. Both should still win their divisions but they're both quite capable of blowing it, too. I think they're both gonna be in the post-season but they need to tighten up their game plans. 

Playoff-ish: Jets, Dolphins, Chargers, Bengals, Patriots

I like the Jets better than most, I think that D is for real, the running game just keeps getting it done and I even like the QB and I still say they are the Bills' biggest competition in the AFC East. Yes, I'm still bearish on the Dolphins, I like the offense but I see their QB spot as still in flux and I suspect they'll be closing the season on a down note (we'll see). The Chargers should be awesome but they're not...wait, that's been true like a decade now. The Bengals can still get their offense going and get W's but they need to get going right now. The Pats for now are stuck behind the Jets and Dolphins, but I think they will capitalize on one or both of them (and still might make the playoffs anyway). 

Slight step up from truly awful: Jags, Broncos, Browns

Yeah, I had the Jags winning their division (at 8-9) but that seems like a foolish thought now; the Jags have moments of looking promising but not a lot of moments like that, they mostly look pretty bad. The Broncos have yet to get their offense going, their season seems done but beware: they are still good enough to play spoiler. I kinda thought the Browns could be good this year but their D isn't as good as they think it is and the running game can't hide the lack of passing attack; will Deshaun Watson play this year? If so, why bother? 

Truly awful: Steelers, Texans, Raiders, Colts

The Steelers have a veteran defense but an offense that is not built to outscore anyone. The Texans have no talent but they play hard, they'll get a few more W's but they're on their way to a top five pick. Not sure what's up the Raiders but they suck on both sides of the ball; feels like its time to draft a QB (but I'm not a fan of this QB class, so...they'll be flailing all through the off-season, too). The Colts are horrible--the fact that they've got 4 W's is a staggering overachievement. 

NFC

Playoff teams: Eagles, Vikings

1-Loss each, they are both getting wins but neither seem like some kind of all-time great squad. The Eagles are good (not great) on both sides of the ball and while I think they are a for-real good team, there's no pedigree here for the winning, so it could come to a halt rather suddenly, no? The Vikings are a hedgehog team that plods along and (for some reason) this year that is translating into W's. 

2nd tier: Cowboys, Giants, Seahawks, Niners

Cowboys defense is fierce, the offense is nice, seems like there's still room for this team to get better, I think they're clearly a playoff team. The Giants have been over performing but I do think they've got some magic to them and the running game + pass rush equation is working big for them now; everyone assumes they will flail by year's end, but the NFC isn't some powerhouse, feels to me like the Giants can survive into the post-season. The Seahawks, too, are taking everyone by surprise but they've got a good coach, solid defense and reliable if not overly flashy offense; I think they're good and unless the Niners really turn it on, I think Seattle can win their division. I have the Niners 4th out of these four but if they can their offense properly fine tuned, they could be way better; not sure why this offense is such a sputter machine, but its not nearly as good as it should be, the Niners have the most variance of any team in the NFC: they could be first or they could be out of the playoffs.

Playoff-ish: Bucs, Packers

The Bucs have struggled on both sides of the ball all season long, but they are starting to show signs that they're coming together; if they can just be okay down the stretch, they can still easily win that division and be a tough out in the playoffs. The Packers have kinda sucked all year long, but the NFC is soft and there is still time for them to find their form and get some W's; the defense has been pretty terrible and the offense is unreliable but there is still time for them to get it together and be a problem in the playoffs. 

Slight step up from truly awful: Commanders, Saints, Falcons, Cards

I dunno, the Commanders aren't that bad but I can't see them making the playoffs, so this is the tier for them. The Saints and Falcons both have decent talent but not in the proper array to get W's, both teams will probably have a coupla shocking W's this season, but neither will get enough to make any real difference in the standings. The Cards have turned Kyler Murray into Eli Manning: he wins with bad teams and loses with good teams; the upside is all the losses suggest that the team is better than you think (which is good, right?).

Truly awful: Rams, Panthers, Lions, Bears

The Rams simply have no interest in football this year, they mortgaged their future, won a Super Bowl, they maxed out their possibilities and now they're just basking in the glow of last year's awesomeness. The Panthers are just bad all around, no idea who they are or what they want out of life. The Lions can sling it around be fun but they're not win games doing that. Yes, I know the Bears have been playing better lately and everyone loves Fields again: but I was never out on Fields and their offensive success merely brings them to the level of the Lions (and that ain't good); Fields is good, the rest of the team stinks, they're not making the playoffs this season. 

2022-23 NFL (Week 10)

Games I saw (some of):

Falcons 15-25 Panthers

Ugh! I was watching this at a friend's house, it was late, I was ready to go, we were both tired of watching this brutally fucking awful football game...but...there was a non-trivial chance that the Panthers were going to find a way to lose this game right up to the end. Dude, the last five minutes of this game had so many near-interceptions--like, pick-6 interceptions just waiting to happen!--the sheer incompetence of both of these offenses (and, well, the defenses, too) just can't be understated. Both of these teams were just awful, awful, awful at football on this night. Thank god these two teams are done playing each other this season. 

Vikings 33-30 (OT) Bills

As bad as the Falcons-Panthers were, well, that's pretty much how bad the Vikings and Bills were, too--except for Justin Jefferson, he was the only one actually playing football out there. Man, this is three weeks in a row now where the Bills have built a nice halftime lead and then simply refused to play football in the 2nd half. I don't get it. In this game, if they'd had just one good 2nd half drive--didn't even need to score points! Just eat up some clock!--they would've won this game easily. Have you watched the game? Do you realize how hard the Bills had to work to hand the victory to the Vikings? The Vikings are a hang-around kinda team, they don't blow people out nor do they get blown out. They don't suck but I don't see how this team is 8-1 (and if you think this victory is an example of how awesome the Vikings are...oh, no, no, no). Make no mistake: this was a Buffalo loss, not a Minnesota win. Justin Jefferson was fuckin' amazing--5 or 6 of the most mind blowing catches I've ever seen!--but otherwise the Vikings should've lost this game if not for Buffalo bending over backwards to hand them the W. I still believe that if the Bills play a complete 60 minute game they can beat anyone in the league, but this taking the 2nd half off shit needs to stop--went from 1st in the AFC to 6th with one L. 

Cowboys 28-31 (OT) Packers

The Cowboys make some puzzling mistakes, felt like they were the better team on both sides of the ball, but then the passing game would grind to a halt while dudes ran the wrong routes--I mean, I dunno, Dak threw interceptions but I couldn't help thinking they weren't his fault. Meanwhile, Aaron Rodgers finally got on the same page with Christian Watson, the Packer D finally made some good stops and perhaps it isn't too late for the Packers to make a run. I still thought the Cowboys were the better team and really should've won this game but this is the best the Packers have looked all season. 

Chargers 16-22 Niners

Man, when the Niners get their shit together, they look pretty awesome. Here there were able to hold the Chargers to FGs and then made enough offensive plays to seal the W. The Chargers looked pretty good but would invariably break down on 3rd down and have to settle for special teams. The Niners have weapons all over the place and when they get them going, that offense is legit--and yet....it feels like they should've been more convincing in this game. Right as I'm talking myself into them, I kinda can't do it (same for the Chargers, for that matter). The Chargers really needed this game and they didn't get it, that's bad. The Niners have these moments of making you believe, not sure if it's real or not. 

The rest of the slate:

Seahawks 16-21 Bucs. Have the Bucs finally figured out their offense? Or was this just a fluky win on a neutral site? Are the Seahawks for real or do they flame out from here?

Lions 31-30 Bears. Fun game! Lots of action, none of it mattered.

Broncos 10-17 Titans. The Titans just don't put people away, do they? Can the Broncos actually win games this season?

Jags 17-27 Chiefs. Yeah, the Chiefs put in half effort and got the W.

Browns 17-39 Dolphins. Impressive win for the Dolphins...but I'm still skeptical. Are the Browns gonna get it together this year or no?

Texans 16-24 Giants. Yeah, that's about right. 

Saints 10-20 Steelers. Saints on the road in the weather on grass, this is not a surprising result even though the Steelers are awful. 

Colts 25-20 Raiders. Wow....worst L of the season. If the Raiders can't win this one, they ain't gonna any this year. 

Cards 27-17 Rams. The Rams won their Super Bowl and they clearly just don't care about football any more. The Cards are better without Kyler Murray? (No, but they might be better without Kliff Kingsbury)

Commanders 32-21 Eagles. Am I surprised the wack-ass Commies went into Philly on a Monday night and gave the Eagles their first loss of the year? Not really. NFC East teams routinely embarrass each other in weird ways, especially on Monday night. I don't want to say the Eagles are overrated (they're not, they're really good) but they're not some untouchable juggernaut, they're just a better than average team and there was no reason to suspect they were going undefeated. Likewise, this L is no reason to think they can't win in the playoffs (or that the Commies are good). This is just a Monday Night loss, not a big deal. 

2022-23 NCAA Football (Week 11)

Games I watched (some of):

(9) Alabama 30-24 (11) Ole Miss

Ole Miss ran the ball effectively throughout, but on the last drive when they needed a TD to save the game--a drive that was keyed by big runs early on into Bama territory--they go for four straight useless pass plays and the game was over. Why do teams give up on what works? Alabama's offense was better in the 2nd half but I'm still dubious of their ability to outscore, say, Georgia. And the run the defense got routinely gashed here. Ole Miss could've won this game and I don't think that really occurred to them until they were back in the locker room. Weird game, feels like the bad guys won and I feel bad. 

Top 25

Handled their business

(1) Georgia, (2) Ohio State, (3) Michigan, (4) Texas Christian, (5) Tennessee, (7) Louisiana State, (8) Southern Cal, (9) Alabama, (10) Clemson, (13) Utah, (14) Penn State, (15) North Carolina, (19) Kansas State, (20) Notre Dame, (22) Central Florida, (23) Florida State, (25) Washington

Bad beat

(11) Mississippi. Could've won, it just got away from them. 

(18) Texas. TCU is good this year, I was rather impressed the Longhorns made a game of it. 

Not so good

(6) Oregon. Gotta beat Washington, especially at home.

(12) UCLA. Gotta beat Arizona, especially at home. 

(16) North Carolina State. Gotta beat Boston College at home. (The previous two are unfortunate, but this one's unforgiveable--I'm long done with NC State)

(17) Tulane. *sigh* *See above about dropping conference home games. 

(21) Illinois. What? Another one!

(24) Kentucky. Clean up in aisle SEC! UK dropped home games to South Carolina and Vandy--and you thought they had a shot at UGA? Come on, man, the Wildcats should've been dropped weeks ago.

Next week's intriguing matches: 

(19) Kansas State @ West Virginia (looks like a walkover since K State is rolling, but don't sleep on the Mountaineers, this has upset written all over it)

(7) Southern Cal @ (16) UCLA (I think Southern Cal is vastly better, but this is an upset potential)

(10) Utah @ (12) Oregon (in the big picture both of these squads are played out, only USC can come out of the Pac, but this still makes for a fun game)

Top 12 (/16) (*)

(1-4) Georgia, Ohio State, Michigan, Texas Christian (I agree with the consensus and while Michigan and Ohio State still have yet to meet, I don't see how the loser gets knocked out of the top 12)

(5-10) Tennessee,  LSU, Clemson, Alabama, Southern Cal, Penn State (I've got the same teams as the polls but in a different order; USC, LSU and Clemson can still play their way into the top 4, but Tennessee, Bama and Penn St cannot; I anticipate that Clemson will sneak ahead of Bama by year's end)

(11-12) Utah, North Carolina (these two had good, not great seasons, both have disappointing L's but promising W's)

(13-16) Oregon, Mississippi, Kansas State, Notre Dame (this is the overflow pile, ready to sneak in if any of the top 12 falter; also Notre Dame still has USC on the schedule, they're still alive for top 12 position)

(Imaginary 12-team playoff)

(Week 1) Georgia, Ohio St, Michigan, TCU off

I'd say: Tennessee over UNC, Penn St over LSU, Clemson over Utah, Bama over USC

(Week 2 Quarterfinals)

I'd say: Georgia over Bama, Buckeyes over Clemson, Michigan over Penn St, Tennessee over TCU

(Week 3 Semifinals)

I'd say: Georgia over Tennessee, Ohio State over Michigan

(Week 4 Final)

I dunno: OSU over UGA

Now this illustrates that there are still meaningful games ahead, the season is far from over. But also: there's a lot of rematches in your playoff. Also, seems like 4 extra games to win it all would necessitate a lighter non-conference schedule and getting conference games earlier. 12 teams just gets you more mediocre teams, which plays injury risk to the better teams but not much else. Do you see how adding more teams just ups the Rollerball factor?

(*) Why 12? Well, because in the next few years, that's where we're going, figure we may as well get the feel for it now. 

As of week 11, I got 15 teams, 2 of which (Kansas St, Mississippi) I think are probably not real contenders and no one else. If we looking at a meaningful top 12, I'd say the top 10 are solid, UNC is probably in and either Utah or Oregon takes #12. 

Does any of this matter? Not yet, but a 12 team playoff is probably happening pretty soon.

2022-23 NFL (Week 9)

Games I saw (some of):

Bills 17-20 Jets

Josh Allen really kinda sucked in this game, he had an interception on the opening drive that was just a straight up gift to the defense and then another in the 4th quarter where I have no idea who he was throwing to. Meanwhile, the Jets ran the ball effectively, especially in the 2nd half where they had two clock-eating drives that really took the wind out of Buffalo. The Bills are a good squad but their two losses show the path to defeating them: run the ball effectively, control the clock and the Bills kinda wilt. Good W for the Jets, I've been in on them all season long and I still am; that defense is for real, the running game is good and I still like the QB, I think NYJ is going to the playoffs.

Rams 13-16 Bucs

You know how fucking lame this game was? I turned it off right before the Bucs came back to win, because their previous drive was so lame (where they should've taken the lead in the final minute) that I just figured the game was over and I didn't want to watch any more. Turns out the Rams were even lamer and managed to give the ball back to the Bucs with virtually no time on the clock and still let them win. Ohhhhhhhh, what a shit show. Look, the Rams all season long have just looked uninterested in football, but today was a whole new level, they went waaaaaay out of their way to lose this one. As for the Bucs, they just suck, I can't believe Tom Brady would just give up on his family unless he thought the Bucs could be good, so they're not disinterested, they just suck. This was a battle of a team that just isn't very good and another team that just doesn't care. I know this looked like the sexy game in the pre-season but making this the Sunday marquis game was not a good move. 

Titans 17-20 (OT) Chiefs

Strangely fun game considering what a grind it was (and that the Titans were playing with no QB). The Titans played stingy defense and ran the ball well but, let's be honest, the Chiefs still should've won by two TD's. Football is a hard game and Titans Coach Vrabal has a knack for making the game even harder (though it was hardest for his own QB, right? 'I know you haven't been allowed to do anything for the first 58 minutes of the game but now we need you to go win it for us, okay? Good luck! We're all counting on you'). Kudos to the Titans for kinda coming close to pulling the upset, but I still feel like if the Chiefs wanted to it sooner, they could've had it sooner. The Chiefs are weird: instead of just casually crushing teams, which it seems like they could easily do, they scramble around try to lose before coming to their senses. If they just clean up their game plan, they're easily the best team in the league but somehow that never seems to occur to them.

Ravens 27-13 Saints

The Ravens are a puzzling team: sometimes they look so dominant and other times they look completely incompetent. If they ever figure out how to bring out their best game, they could win the Super Bowl. But...does anyone think that's going to happen? Meanwhile, the Saints are one of those permanently deluded teams that think they're good enough to win every game, even when its plainly obvious they are a mediocre team. They play hard but they don't play smart, they're not as good as they think they are and that's why they keep coming up short.

The rest of the slate:

Eagles 29-17 Texans. Yeah, that's about right. 

Chargers 20-17 Falcons. Yeah, this had FG-to-win-it written all over it. Normally the Chargers gack those games but they won it, good for them.

Dolphins 35-32 Bears. The Bears have been much much much better on offense the last few weeks, not enough to win games but enough to give some optimism for next year. The Dolphins keep rolling along, but, man, we all know they are one injury away from having a top ten pick in the draft.

Panthers 21-42 Bengals. The Bengals brought the running game today, not sure why it took so long to figure that out. The Panthers could be in line for the #1 pick if they want it (the Texans suck but the play hard enough to steal a coupla wins down the stretch). 

Packers 9-15 Lions. Ooof! Aaron Rodgers threw three interceptions in the red zone (to be fair, all of them were kinda fluky), that's the kinda year it has been in Green Bay. The Lions are weird, occasionally good enough to surprise but mostly terrible. 

Colts 3-26 Patriots. Yeah, that's about right. The Colts are a disaster, the Pats roll along but somehow aren't as good as they ought to be. 

Vikings 20-17 Commanders. Yeah, that's about right. The Vikings manage to get wins while give the minimal amount of effort, the Commanders play as hard as they can to lose games close. 

Raiders 20-27 Jags. What is up with the Raiders? That offense has moments, then goes cold as ice. Nice W for the Jags. 

Seahawks 31-21 Cards. Seahawks are legit good (no longer a surprise). Cards stink and are rapidly imploding. 

2022-23 NCAA Football (Week 10)

Games I saw (some of):

(1) Tennessee 13-27 (3) Georgia

The Georgia pass defense was air tight (the pass rush will get the credit but I thought they were mostly coverage sacks), Hooker had nowhere to go with the ball all day long and UT just had no attack at all. UGA had full control by halftime and when the rains came in the 3rd quarter, it just doomed the Vols. UT gave a good effort but they just couldn't move the ball, couldn't get anything going. Georgia was the better team and they showed it on this day. Impressive win for UGA.

Top 25

Handled their business

(2) Ohio State, (3) Georgia, (5) Michigan, (7) Texas Christian, (8) Oregon, (9) Southern Cal, (10) Louisiana State, (12) UCLA, (14) Utah, (15) Penn State, (17) North Carolina, (19) Tulane, (22) North Carolina State, (24) Texas, (25) Central Florida

Bad beat

(1) Tennessee. I like Tennessee but being ranked #1 was a bit of a novelty, an extra layer of hype for the UGA match. Georgia's defense gave the Vols nowhere to go, Tennessee put up a game effort but they're just not as good as Georgia's A game. 

(6) Alabama. Everyone gave up LSU for dead, well they're not dead any more. Yes, I know Bryce Young made the crazy play to almost win the game, but I'm telling ya: I guarantee there were 4-5 easy plays he didn't make earlier in the game that made his crazy scramble necessary (remember Jim Edmonds? We use to marvel at the great plays he made in centerfield while totally ignoring the fact that they didn't need to be so amazing, he was just a hot dog). As for the Tigers, I loved going for 2 at the end, you got the momentum go get the victory (and they did). Tough L for Bama, really probably should've won the game.

(13) Kansas State. They've had a few nice W's this year but at no point did I ever think Kansas State was a top 10-ish squad. An L at home to Texas puts the kibosh on that weird day dream. 

(16) Illinois. Yeah, how Illinois drifted this high in the rankings is a mystery, but an L at home to so-so Michigan State brings that to a close. 

(20) Syracuse. I think so little of Syracuse that a loss at Pitt is just a bad beat even if they came in as the ranked favorite. 

(21) Wake Forest. A competitive L at NC State is not a bad loss (but it ain't a W, either). 

Not so good

(4) Clemson. I'm still wildly unimpressed with their offense and when you get stung by a 3-loss Notre Dame squad--and handled comfortably, no less--everyone sees it. This is a bad bad bad L for Clemson. 

(18) Oklahoma State. Man, I was still in on this team just two weeks ago, but another Saturday and another conference thumping later (this time @ Kansas) and it is plain the Cowboys were pretenders all along. 

(23) Oregon State. I'm normally forgiving of conference losses on the road, but if you wanna be in the top 25, you gotta win these games. 

Next week's intriguing matches:

(9) Alabama @ (11) Mississippi (are we looking a three loss Alabama squad? Boy, at college football headquarters they must be perusing the ancient texts to see what happens if Alabama isn't in the playoff--no one will know what to do!)

Louisville @ (10) Clemson (Hey, Clemson fans, bring the Pepto, 'cause UL can score points, so I expect this to still be a game in the 4th quarter)

(22) Central Florida @ (17) Tulane (come on, really?)

(25) Washington @ (6) Oregon (I expect the Ducks to get it done)

(4) Texas Christian @ (18) Texas (TCU is really good but the Longhorns are unpredictable; could be a nothing burger of a game or it could be the game of the year, I dunno)

2022-23 NFL (Week 8)

Games I saw (some of):

Bears 29-49 Cowboys

The Bears offense is starting to move the ball and that's a positive thing to see. But the Cowboys are getting their roll on and they're looking good right now. At first it felt like the Cowboys might've been swept up by the transition back to Dak--something about the backup just doing what needs to be done makes it hard for the starter to get his groove back--but they seem to have put that to rest. (That said, Lions and Bears aren't exactly the top of the competition, so maybe this is a premature projection)

Giants 13-27 Seahawks

The Seahawks down the stretch made plays and the Giants couldn't get it done. I think these are strangely fairly even teams but the Seahawks have a desire to succeed whereas the Giants feel lucky to be here. In keeping with that, I kinda like this Seahawks team, I think they can that shoddy division of theirs because they know they have to play hard; on the other hand, the Giants started 6-1 but would you be surprised if they finished 6-11?

Packers 17-27 Bills

Man, this had 41-10 written all over it and it felt to me like Josh Allen was trying to not run up the score. In the 1st half the Bills were pretty dominant but in the 2nd Allen over threw every 3rd down pass in a way that seemed....well....intentional. I think he knew he had the W and didn't want to step on the gas. Meanwhile, Aaron Rodgers knew he was gonna win the game but he was able to cover the spread and make the game look competitive (when it wasn't really). Still love the Bills, not sure why they left the stomp boots at home, but they were the clear victor. The Packers are flailing badly, they're not terrible but they need to re-tool some things (like offense and defense, for example) if they're gonna make the post-season. 

Bengals 13-32 Browns

Dang, just one of those nights for the Bengals, even though it felt like they'd played their way out of that. The Browns have a good running game and a good pass rush and on nights like this, that's enough to finish off an opponent that just doesn't have it. Good W for the Browns, their season isn't over, they can still get some magic going; bad L for the Bengals, they had been rolling but without JaMarr Chase, they'll have to figure it out all over again.

The rest of the slate:

Ravens 27-22 Bucs. Best against best, the Ravens are better. The Bucs D had been so good all year long but that offense is so ineffective, it's dragging down the other side, too. 

Broncos 21-17 Jags. This game could've gone any direction and it would not have surprised me. I don't think the Broncos are as bad as we thought they were, don't think the Jags are as good as we thought they could be. Looks like "next year" for both teams. 

Panthers 34-37 (OT) Falcons. I caught the end of the 4th quarter--memorable! The Panthers made the crazy play to get the TD to tie it up at the end of regulation, WR gets penalized, they miss what would've been the game-winning extra point, then blow it in OT. Not an important game but that moment will linger for a long time in this league. 

Dolphins 31-27 Lions. The Dolphins have put together a pretty good team but their QB situation is not ideal, feel like that's gonna be an albatross all year long. The Lions can score points but they don't outscore people. 

Cards 26-34 Vikings. Typical Vikings victory: they seem like the better team but still have to struggle to seal the victory. Typical Cards loss: outclassed all the way through but spicy enough to hang around and look dangerous late.

Raiders 0-24 Saints. What happened to the Raiders? I kinda like that offense, why didn't they bring to New Orleans? The Saints are one of those teams that isn't good, isn't bad, they're gonna lose games they should win and win games they should lose. 

Patriots 22-17 Jets. The Jets had a shot to beat the Pats and they couldn't get it done. That said, I still think these two teams are closer then we realize: two good defenses, two so-so offenses.

Steelers 13-35 Eagles. Yeah, the Steelers suck and the Eagles are rolling. Not a shock at all. 

Titans 17-10 Texans. Okay, if you say so. Seems like the Titans should be better but they're not an easy out. The Texans suck but play hard.

Commanders 17-16 Colts. Oh yeah, this is exactly how this game should've turned out. 

Niners 31-14 Rams. Still not completely out on the Rams, but it is clear they ain't got no fire in 'em this year. The Niners really have a nice looking attack and a pretty good D, if they can just find some consistency, they can win the NFC (we'll see). 

2022-23 NCAA Football (Week 9)

Games I saw (some of):

(14) Utah 21-17 Washington State

In and out of this game but it seemed to me that Utah was the vastly superior team, not sure why this was still a game in the 4th quarter. Utah looks likely to end up as the best 2-Loss team, would that be good enough in a 12 team tournament? (A little too early for that argument, Utes)

Florida 20-42 (1) Georgia

I'm not a huge fan of the Florida QB but I thought he could be enough of a wild card to throw UGA off. Yeah, not so much. Georgia moved the ball without much problem and quickly reminded us all that the Gators are just not that strong this season. UGA is playing like a #1team right now. 

(19) Kentucky 6-44 (3) Tennessee

Tennessee has never really had much trouble with Kentucky and the Wildcats have already had their season killing stumbles, but I thought this had a trap game written all over it and the Vols might stumble. Nope. The Vols were up to the task and made quick work of the Cats in a really impressive performance. (TBH, the bar I was in switched to the World Series at halftime and no one wanted to go back to football) The Vols got UGA next week, biggest game of the year so far.

Top 25

Handled their business

(1) Georgia, (2) Ohio State, (3) Tennessee, (4) Michigan. (7) Texas Christian, (8) Oregon, (11) Southern Cal, (12) UCLA, (14) Utah, (15) Mississippi, (17) Illinois, (21) North Carolina, (22) Kansas State

Won but did not impress

(24) North Carolina State. This is not a top 20 team, 

Bad beat

(13) Penn State. The Nittany Lions are nice but just not good enough to get past the giants of their conference right now. 

Not so good

(9) Oklahoma State. Whoa! WTF? I've been in on the Cowboys all season long, even kept with them after a tough L to TCU but, man, they were never in this game. Kansas State whomped the shit out of them from beginning to end--looked like they felt sorry for OSU in the 2nd half. Not a good look, Cowboys.

(10) Wake Forest. I've kinda liked Wake all year long but I never felt like they were a top 10 team and while I'm a little surprised how badly Louisville put in on them, I'm not shocked that they lost a road conference game but they're not that good. 

(16) Syracuse. If they were a for-real top 20 squad, they would've handled Notre Dame at home. 

(19) Kentucky. Tennessee was an opportunity for Kentucky to salvage the season (well, with the fans anyway) and the Cats couldn't get it done. Will they be back next year? We'll see.

(20) Cincinnati. If they deserved to be here, they would've won. 

(25) South Carolina. Losing at home to Missouri is not good.

Next week's intriguing matches:

(2) Tennessee @ (1) Georgia (okay, here we go)

(6) Alabama @ (16) Louisiana State (remember we wrote off LSU? Well, here they are with a shot to fuck up Bama's season. If this is still a game at halftime, then it's big deal)

(20) Wake Forest @ (21) North Carolina State (seriously, ACC? This is what you're bringing to the table?)

2022-23 NFL (Week 7)

Games I saw (some of):

Saints 34-42 Cards

Well, if the Saints hadn't thrown a million interceptions (half of which went for TDs), they probably would've won this game. Both teams moved the ball pretty well but the Saints just kept turning it over, which doomed them. Tough to watch this game and think the Saints are better with Andy Dalton than Jameis Winston but...well...I kinda think they are (and I actually still like Jameis). But the Cards stink and one bust out scorefest doesn't change the fact that they're not making the playoffs (and the coach will soon be looking for a new job). 

Browns 20-23 Ravens

Good game. The Browns came to play but the Ravens smothered them in the 2nd half and made enough plays to squeak by. I'm still not sold on the Ravens but they clearly have good talent and are capable of winning, so I guess I still see them as a playoff team. The Browns are a team that isn't as good as it thinks it is, the players aren't doing the little things because they don't think they have to; there is still time, though, for them to get themselves right before Deshaun Watson comes back, still time for this team to get good but they better get going. 

Packers 21-23 Commanders

Caught the end of it. Man, the Packers D is fuckin' terrible! And the offense isn't good. Halfway through the season (-ish) and the Packers are not right and don't look like they're gonna get right. The Commanders, on the other hand, have sucked all season long and didn't look particularly good today, though they converted some big 1st downs late. Not looking good for either team going forward. 

Falcons 17-35 Bengals

Burrow was kinda masterful here, flinging the ball to all receivers at will. The Falcons were hanging for a little bit but the onslaught was too much for them.  

Chiefs 44-23 Niners

Felt like the Niners were gonna hang for a little bit. That didn't last long. The Chiefs scored and kept scoring, the Niners scored and then flailed. The Chiefs are definitely still among the best teams in the league and when the offense is really rolling, it is scary. 

Steelers 10-16 Dolphins

Dolphins jumped out to a nice quick lead and then....nothing happened for a coupla hours and the game was over. Miami did what they had to do (namely, shield the QB to the point of sacrificing the other 10 players on offense) and they made it hold up because the Steelers offense is that bad.  

Bears 33-14 Pats

Yeah, I watched most of this and I still have no idea what happened to the Pats. They went all QB controversy for no particular reason and the defense just vanished shortly before halftime. The Bears were moving the ball at will, getting turnovers on defense and looked much more accustomed to the weird weather than the Pats. I dunno, man, I have no idea what this was. 

The rest of the slate: 

Lions 6-24 Cowboys. Yeah, that sounds about right.

Colts 10-19 Titans. I still say the Colts are among the worst teams in the league; the Titans can be good but that division should allow them to be mediocre and still make the playoffs. 

Bucs 3-21 Panthers. Uh......what happened here? The Bucs D is good but not that good and the offense has completely disappeared. 

Giants 23-17 Jags. The G-Men just keep rolling, their running game and pass rush are legit and that's a good start, shouldn't be too shocked at their success. The Jags are 2 years away (from being 2 years away). 

Jets 16-9 Broncos. The Jets D is for real, the Broncos offensive woes are also for real. 

Texans 20-38 Raiders. The Texans have probably the least amount of talent in the league but they play hard, so this is deceptively good W for the Raiders. Still time for the Raiders to get it going (and their division is weaker than advertised, so I expect them to be in the playoff hunt). 

Seahawks 37-23 Chargers. The Seahawks are quietly a really good team and their division is not as good as advertised, they could still win it. The Chargers just go out of their way to lose games and that's weird, ton of talent but just dedicated to not winning or something like that. 

2022-23 NCAA Football (Week 8)

Games I saw (some of):

(14) Syracuse 21-27 (5) Clemson

Meh.  I'm supposed to be impressed that Clemson finally beat a ranked team, but I kinda thought Syracuse blew that more than Clemson winning. Syracuse pretty well dominated the first three quarters, then made a series of dumb penalties that gave Clemson a chance to get back in the game. From there one big play was all it took for Clemson to snatch the game away. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get it: Clemson dominated the recruiting every year which obviously means they're better than everyone else. But, why don't they just kick the shit out of everybody on the field the way a real team does? *crickets* Yeah, all right. Clemson will probably be there at the end because, well, Syracuse is the toughest game they're gonna have all season. They did finally swap out the QB and that may bring them up in the world, we'll see.

(20) Texas 34-41 (11) Oklahoma State

Fun game, close game, gotta be honest: it was tied when I left, so I'm not sure what happened. Texas's running game is legit and their D is pretty good, too, but otherwise they're a mildly top 20-ish team, whereas Oklahoma State is for real this year and bested the Longhorns.

Top 25

Handled their business

(2) Ohio State, (3) Tennessee, (6) Alabama, (8) Texas Christian, (10) Oregon, (11) Oklahoma State, (13) Wake Forest, (16) Penn State, (25) Tulane

Won but did not impress

(5) Clemson. Meh, needing some luck to come back on Syracuse not blowing me away. 

(21) Cincinnati. Road conference game, perhaps I'm being harsh but this team was in the final four last year, if they belong in the top 20, then go win at SMU, that's all I'm asking. 

Bad beat

(14) Syracuse. Outplayed Clemson, but didn't get the points. 

(17) Kansas State. TCU be rolling right now. 

(20) Texas. The Cowboys are better than the Longhorns. 

(24) Mississippi State. Yeah, Alabama is better. 

Not so good

(7) Mississippi. Top 10, huh? Yeah, not if you can't win at LSU.

(9) UCLA. Wow, they got stomped by Oregon. 

Next week's intriguing matches:

(2) Ohio State @ (13) Penn State (I like the Buckeyes but Penn State needs it bad)

Florida @ (1) Georgia (don't be shocked...yeah, FLA's QB is a schizo but he might be the perfect weapon against this D, we'll see)

(9) Oklahoma State @ (22) Kansas State (Cowboys should win but this has trap game potential)

(19) Kentucky @ (3) Tennessee (UT is rolling right now, really looking good, they've beaten Kentucky like 55 out of the last 56 games or something like that, feels like this one is in the bag, right?  ....Right? I'm not telling ya UK is winning in Knoxville this weekend, but the Vols can be forgiven for coming in overconfident)

2022-23 NBA Bric-a-Brac (Pre-season predictions)

MVP : Joel Embiid (Sixers)

DPOY: Robert Covington (Clippers)

6th Man: Michael Porter Jr (Nuggets)

ROY: Shaedon Sharpe (Blazers)

Coach of the Year: Joe Mazzula (Celtics)

Exec of the Year: Masai Ujiri (Raptors)

Playoffs

East

Play-ins: Celtics over Bulls, Hawks over Knicks; Hawks over Bulls

1st Round : (1) Sixers over (9) Hawks in 6; (7) Celtics overs (2) Raptors in 6; (3) Bucks over (6) Heat in 7; (4) Nets over (5) Cavs in 5

Quarterfinals: Sixers over Celtics in 7; Bucks over Nets in 6

Semi-finals: Bucks over Sixers in 6

West:

Play-ins: (8) Lakers over (7) Wolves; (10) Pelicans over (9) Kings; Pelicans over Wolves

1st Round: (1) Nuggets over (10) Pelicans in 7; (2) Clippers over (8) Lakers in 7; (3) Grizzlies over (6) Suns in 7; (5) Warriors over (4) Mavs in 6

Quarterfinals: Warriors over Nuggets in 6; Clippers over Grizzlies in 7

Semi-finals: Warriors over Clippers in 7

Finals: Warriors over Bucks in 7