Luke List has worked long and hard to get to this point and finally this evening 7:30 PM central time, his hard work and dedication came to fruition as our 37 year old from Seattle and Baylor School in Chattanooga, and, of course, VU, won the Farmers Insurance Open at famed Torrey Pines Golf Club in San Diego. The 2007 VU graduate has made his school proud.

Luke shot 66 today in tough conditions and sank what was a critical 8 footer for birdie on 18 to get to -15 and had to wait 2 hours for the rest of the field to finish, surviving players of the caliber of Jon Rahm and Jason Day and young stallion, Will Zalatoris. Rahm couldn’t reach -15 and Day bogeyed 17 to fall back to 14 and parred 18, so Zalatoris, the 25 year old San Francisco native, by way of Wake Forest, faced a 9 footer for birdie which he barely missed to send the tourney into extra holes.

Both Luke and Zalatoris drove it into the bunker on the par 5 18th. Luke had what they call a fried egg, his ball was kind of in a buried lie in the sand and Zalatoris’s ball was right next to his. Luke blasted out to 133 yards and Zalatoris hit his to 124. Luke hit a pitching wedge that caught the slope behind the hole and rolled back down to a foot away. It was electric. Zalatoris hit a good shot as well, landing his ball 10 feet below the hole. Luke went ahead and tapped in. Zalatoris stroked his but pulled it left. Luke was a winner. His wife, Chloe, his 3 year old daughter, Ryann, along with his young son, 6 month old Harrison, were there to meet him in a terrific winning celebration. It was spectacular. So proud of the man. He’s worked so hard for this moment. Maybe this is the start of something special for Lucas. Brandt will be playing next weekend at Pebble Beach. Brandt has won the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am twice, in 2013 and 2015.

But this is Luke’s moment. Luke deserves this as much as any player on tour. Very proud of him.

Our basketball team won at home over Georgia, 85-77, but made it hard on themselves by missing at least 5 free throws in the last minute. We survived though and any win is a pretty win as Lovie Smith used to say. Scotty had 23, Jordan Wright added 15, Rodney Chatman, back in the lineup from injury, chipped in 12, and Myles Stute added 11. We were on fire from trifecta, sinking 12 of 23, 52%. Myles was 3 of 5, Scotty was 2 of 3, Jordan was 2 of 3, Rodney was 2 of 5, Trey Thomas was 1 of 2 and Tyrin Lawrence his a big one right at the buzzer before halftime. He was 1 of 2 as well. We gotta do better at the line though. We were 12-of-23, 52%, and missed several at the end of the game. I’m sure Stack will be emphasizing that with the team this week. Myles and Jordan led us in rebounding with 5 apiece. The Bulldogs got 32 boards and we pulled down 28. It was a super effort, except for the free throw shooting at the end.

We sure will take it though. It’s a lot better to get instruction after a victory. So great stuff from the guys. They’re still learning how to respond in big moments. They’ll get it soon.

There’s a chance we’ll get 7 footer Liam Robbins back Wednesday Night when we’re at Kentucky. Robbins has been out all season with a foot injury. Will keep you posted on our Minnesota transfer, whom I know Stack, the staff and the players would be thrilled to get back. He will really help us and give Quintin Millora-Brown a ton of help down low. Q’s doing an excellent job for us, but Robbins would really give our inside game a lift. Rodney Chatman really gives us superb leadership and excellent toughness, stuff our young guys need to see and have it rub off on them.

We moved to 11-9 overall and 3-5 in the SEC. This team keeps growing and the addition of Chatman and ultimately Robbins will be game changing for this team. Georgia fell to 6-15 and 1-7 in the SEC. They did defeat Alabama at home on Tuesday Night, 82-76, and the Crimson Tide turned around and defeated No.4 Baylor today, 87-78, as part of the 10 game SEC-Big 12 Challenge.

We now play at No.12 Kentucky on Wednesday at 6 PM CT on the SEC Network. The Wildcats just blasted Kansas at Phog Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, KS., 80-62.

Tough assignment, but not out of the question. Would love to have Liam back Wednesday. So stellar stuff from all our Commodores. Anchor Down and have a super rest of your weekend.

After a spectacular Divisional Round, the Bengals and Chiefs, and the Rams and 49ers square off on Sunday for the right to play in Super Bowl LXI at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, CA on February 13th at 5:30 PM CT on NBC.

Here’s a look at the respective Championship Games and which teams I like to punch their ticket to the Super Bowl to play for the Lombardi Trophy.

Sunday

AFC Championship Game

Cincinnati Bengals (12-7, 6-3 Away) @ Kansas City Chiefs (14-5, 9-2 Home)

GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, 76,416

2 PM CT

CBS

Jim, Tony, Trace, Evan Washburn, Jay Feely

Ref, Bill Vinovich

Chiefs by 7

The Bengals did defeat the Chiefs at home the next to last game of the season, 34-31, but this one is at Arrowhead. Mahomes, Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelse and company will be too much for this Bengals defense to handle. I like the Chiefs to advance to SoFi.

Chiefs 31, Bengals 17

NFC Championship Game

San Francisco 49ers (12-7, 8-3 Away) @ LA Rams (14-5, 6-3 Home)

SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, CA., 70,240

5:30 PM CT

FOX

Joe, Troy, EA, Tom

Ref, Carl Cheffers

Rams by 3 1/2

The Niners have owned the Rams the last three years winning the last 6 over them. They’ve defeated them twice this season, including a playoff clinching 27-24 victory in the final game of the regular season. it was win or go home for the Niners and they delivered. They’ve been road warriors in the postseason defeating the Cowboys at AT&T, 23-17, and then going to Lambeau with the temperature around zero with the wind chill and defeating ARodg and the Packers, 13-10. Defeating a team 2 times in a season is hard enough, let alone 3 times. The fans will be about 55-45 percent in LA’s favor, though it could be 50-50 because there still are many fans in L.A. who were Niners fans when Los Angeles didn’t have a team before the St. Louis Rams moved to So Cal. And the L.A, Charger fans will be there as well cheering on the Niners. It’s been a real ticket selling war between the 2 fan bases. Matthew Stafford proved he can win in clutch moments with his 44 yard completion to Cooper Kupp with 20 seconds remaining in the game that set up the game winning 30 yard field goal by Matt Gay as the Rams defeated the defending Super Bowl champs the Tampa Bay Bucs and Tom Brady. I like Stafford and the Rams to survive the Niners, barely. I like another Gay field goal to be the difference, with defensive ends Aaron Donald and Vonn Miller and LB Leonard Floyd playing big roles for the Rams, and defensive end Nick Bosa, d tackle Arik Armstead and middle linebacker Fred Warner making it tough on the Rams. The Rams could have some trouble corralling the electric Deebo Samuel, but they’ll do enough to survive and advance to play in their home stadium in Super Bowl LVI. Like a pretty strong defensive battle.

Rams 23, 49ers 20

What a weekend of football. The Cincinnati Bengals went into Nashville on Saturday and upset the AFC’s No.1 seed, the Tennessee Titans on a last second field goal by kicker Evan McPherson. The 49ers did the same to ARodg, who is becoming known, as Peyton Manning was, as one of the greatest “regular season” quarterbacks of all time, as Niners kicker Robbie Gould booted a 45 yarder to lift the Niners over the Pack, 13-10. Gould is now 20-of-20 on field goal attempts in the playoffs in his career. Then on Sunday, Matthew Stafford and the Rams went into Tampa and defeated the Bucs on a last second field goal despite a heroic comeback by Tom Brady and the Bucs, who were down 27-3 and tied it at 27 with under a minute to go. Stafford hit Cooper Kupp on a 44 yard pass which set up Matt Gay’s game winning 30 yard field goal as time expired. And Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen put on a quarterback duel for the ages with the great Mahomes just getting the better of Allen and the Bills, 42-36 in overtime. Both were brilliant with Mahomes completing 33 of 44 passes for 378 yards and 3 TDs against 0 interceptions and rushing for 69 more yards and a TD. Allen was 27 of 37 for 329 yards and 4 TDs against 0 interceptions and had a quarterback rating of 136 with 158.3 being perfect. Mahomes was 123.1. Anything over 120 is outstanding. Allen rushed for 68 yards. Thirteen seconds is all Buffalo needed to make it to the AFC Championship Game and host it. I told my wife when the Bills scored their go ahead TD and got the 2 point conversion to go up 36-33 with 13 seconds left that it wasn’t over, not with Mahomes, wide receiver Tyreek Hill, 11 receptions 150 yards, and tight end Travis Kelce, 8 receptions 96 yards and a TD. Sure enough, Buffalo played prevent defense and Mahomes, with 3 timeouts, moved the Chiefs into field goal range with explosive pass plays to Hill and Kelce and Harris Butker kicked the 49 yard field goal to tie the game and send it into overtime where the Chiefs won the coin toss, something needs to be done about overtime in the NFL with a coin toss deciding it, both teams need to get the ball, and Mahomes found Kelce for a 25 yard game winning TD. There were masterful performances by Mahomes and Allen, but the veteran in these games prevailed with Mahomes showing that he’s close to unstoppable many times. He said the week before, after the Chiefs’ victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers, that he was really happy the Bills game would be at Arrowhead and the stadium was electric, as always. And the game lived up to its billing. An all time superb playoff game.

Now the Chiefs host the surprising Bengals at 2 PM CT on Sunday on CBS, followed by the 49ers @ the Rams at 5:30 PM CT on FOX. SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, CA., where the Rams will be hosting the Niners , is the host for Super Bowl LXI on February 13th at 5:30 PM CT on NBC. The Niners defeated the Rams twice this season including a 27-24 victory on the final game of the regular season to make it into the playoffs. They have won six straight over the Rams. Interestingly, in that final game at SoFi, there were many more 49ers fans than there were Rams fans, so both sides are rallying their troops to get them to SoFi. The Niners want to have home field and the Rams want to defend their home field. The Rams are a 3 1/2 point favorite.

The Bengals defeated the Chiefs 34-31 the next to last game of the regular season at Cincinnati. The Chiefs are a 7 point favorite at Arrowhead.

Looking for another stellar Sunday of football. It’ll be tough to surpass last weekend’s action, but you never know. Four excellent teams locking horns on Sunday. Will have previews and predictions on Friday.

Farmers Insurance Open Preview/Prediction

Today through Saturday. With the NFC and AFC Championship Games Sunday, the PGA decided it’d be best to finish on Saturday for viewer’s and spectators’ purposes..

Torrey Pines Golf Club, South Course, 7,765 yards, Par 72, the longest track on the PGA tour this year outside of the U.S. Open of The Country Club in Brookline MA June 16th-19th. The North Course is 7,258 yards par 72.

Defending champion

Patrick Reed Will have a shovel in the bag… just in case

Weather

Today, Sunny in the afternoon, 65, wind 5-10. Thursday, 68, mostly sunny, wind 9 MPH, Friday, 73 Partly Sunny, Wind 8, Saturday, Partly Sunny, wind 9.

TV

Today, 11:30 AM-3:30 PM CT, Golf Channel.

Thursday, 2-6 PM CT, GC.

Friday, 2-4 PM CT Golf Channel, 4-7 PM CT, CBS.

Saturday, 1:30-3:30 PM CT, GC, 3:30-7 PM CT, CBS.

Top 10 golfers in the World Rankings in the Field. No.1 Jon Rahm, No.4 Dustin Johnson, No.6 Justin Thomas, No.7 Xander Schauffele, No.9 Bryson DeChambeau, No.10 Hideki Matsuyama.

Odds

Rahm, 7/1, Thomas, 12/1, Xander 16/1, Matsuyama 18/1, DJ 18/1, Bryson, 18/1, Daniel Berger 20/1, Sam Burns, 25/1, Tony Finau, 28/1, Sungjae Im, 28/1, Scottie Scheffler 28/1, Will Zalatoris, 30/1, Jordan Spieth, 30/1, Brooks Koepka, 33/1, Marc Leishman, 35/1, Patrick Reed 40/1. Matthew Wolff, 60/1. Justin Rose, 66/1. Jason Day 80/1.

Could be the ever present “Marine Layer” in the morning in San Diego that sometimes holds up play, so they’ll try to get in the first two rounds and have a cut on Thursday after the second round as always. Players will play the North Course one day and the South Course the other today and Thursday, and play the South Course exclusively Friday and Saturday. Driving the ball is critical on Torrey Pines South as the primary rough will be 3 1/2 inches. The bent/ Poa Annua greens will be stimping at 12 1/2 feet, which is very quick. Anything above 11 is fast. The Masters is 13 on the Stimpmeter. Jon Rahm won the U.S. Open at Torrey in June of 2021 with birdies on 17 and 18. He also won the 2017 Farmers with a 55 foot eagle putt on 18.

Winner

Sometimes when the pick is so overwhelmingly favored, you just go, is this too good to be true? But I’ve got to take the 27 year old from Barrika Biscay, Spain. He played last weekend at the American Express and finished -14, tied for 14th, and he’s been superb at Torrey. Hudson Swafford, the 34 year old from Tallahassee and the University of Georgia, won the American Express at La Quinta, CA. last weekend with a final round 64. I’ll take the Spaniard by way of Arizona State University, who learned English by listening to Rap Music. Give me…

Jon Rahm

Sleeper

I’ll take the 90/1 odds player. The 39 year old from Turin, Italy. He won the 2018 Open Championship and played well last weekend at the American Express shooting -19 going 67, 67, 67, 68 on the Par 72 layouts at the 3 courses at La Quinta, La Quint Country Club, the Nicklaus Tournament Course and the Pete Dye Stadium Course. I’ll take…

Francesco Molinari

The 2022 Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic

On the DP Tour, the stallion tour on the European Tour named after a Global Logistics Company in Dubai. The name of the tour this season is for sponsorship reasons. Slync.io is another Global Logistics company based in Dubai. This has been called the Dubai Desert Classic in previous years. Paul Casey is the defending champion. DeChambeau won it on 2019. Lucas Herbert won it in 2020. Sergio won it in 2017. Rory won it in 2015. Rory also won it in 2009. Eldrick won it in 2008. By the way, Eldrick, who is still out of competition, has won at Torrey Pines 8 times, including the 2008 U.S. Open in an 18 hole playoff victory over Rocco Mediate, in an epic performance by Eldrick.

The tournament will be played at the Emirates Golf Club, the Majlis Course, 7,424 yards, Par 72.

Weather

Perfect. Thursday, 79, Sunny, wind, 9 MPH. Friday, Sunny, 11 MPH. Saturday, Sunny, 13 MPH. Sunday, Sunny, 13 MPH. So, some wind for the weekend.

TV

Thursday, 1:30-7:30 AM CT, Golf Channel

Friday, 1:30-7:30 AM CT. Golf Channel,

Saturday 1-7 AM CT, Golf,

Sunday, 1-7 AM CT, Golf Channel. Bowl of Cheerios and a pot of Coffee ought to do the trick for the final round. Some of the Due Rights may just be getting in from a night on the town on Sunday, so that’ll work perfectly.

Odds

Rory, 7/1, Viktor Hovland, 9/1, Collin Morikawa, 10/1, Tyrrell Hatton, 18/1, Sergio Garcia, 22/1, Shane Lowry, 22/1, Adam Scott, 25/1, Paul Casey, 25/1, Thomas Pieters, last week’s champion at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, 25/1, Tommy Fleetwood, 28/1. Ian Poulter, 40/1, Lee Westwood, 70/1, Henrik Stenson, 100/1, Paddy Harrington, 175/1.

Winner

I’ll take the 24 year old, can’t believe he’s just 24, from L.A., by way of Cal-Berkeley. He won the 2021 Open Championship and the 2020 PGA Championship and has won 5 times on the PGA Tour including those 2 majors. He’s also won 4 times on the European Tour, including the PGA Championship and the Open, and won the Race to Dubai last season. I’ll go with…

Collin Morikawa

Second choice

Viktor Hovland

‘This 24 year old from Oslo, Norway, by way of Oklahoma State, looks ready to win a major this season. I like him at the Open Championship at St. Andrews July 16th-19th.

Last Saturday, Sunday and Monday there were four blowouts in the 6 games. The most interesting game of the weekend was the 49ers-Cowboys game on Sunday, a 23-17 Niners victory, in a wild finish. Dak Prescott and the Cowboys fans were not too thrilled with the umpire, but he was doing his job, he has to spot the ball before the next play commences.

Here’s a look at this weekend’s riveting matchups along with predictions.

Last Week,

Straight Up, 3-3

ATS, 3-3

Saturday

Cincinnati Bengals (11-7, 5-3 Away) @ Tennessee Titans (12-5, 7-2 Home)

Nissan Stadium, Smashville, 69,143

3:30 PM CT

CBS

Ian Eagle, Trent Green, Evan Washburn

Head Referee, Clete Blakeman

Titans by 3 1/2

The big story for the Titans is the return of Derrick Henry after going out in week 9 with a fractured bone in his foot. I watched a clip of Derrick last week and he looks superb. I like Henry and his Titans to move on versus Joe Burrow and the Bengals.

Titans 28, Bengals 21

SF 49ers (11-7, 6-3 Away) @ Green Bay Packers (13-4, 8-0 home)

Lambeau Field, 81,441

7:15 PM CT

FOX

Joe, Troy, Erin, Tom

Ref, Ron Torbert

Packers by 6

How can you go against Aaron Rodgers and this team? Jimmy Johnson said after week 16, that this was the most consistent team in the NFL. Couldn’t agree more. It’ll be around 5 degrees at kickoff with the wind at 16. That might be tough on the Niners, and tough on the Packers, too, but they are a lot more used to it.

Packers 31, 49ers 24

Sunday

LA Rams (13-5, 7-2 Away) @Tampa Bay Bucs (14-4, 8-1)

Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, 65,890

2 PM CT

NBC

Al, Cris, Michelle, Kathryn

Ref, Shawn Hochuli

Bucs by 3

Another one where you go, how do you go against the Great One? Seven Super Bowl rings, and despite the fact that he’s missing 40% of his offensive scoring he had during the regular season with WR Chris Godwin out for the year with injury, and WR Antonio Brown losing it, as usual, and being cut from the team a couple weeks back, along with Leonard Fournette and Ronald Jones being hurt, but possible this Sunday, I still take Brady and his stellar defense. And Brady may be also missing an offensive lineman or 2. I’ll still take Tom Terrific and the Bucs. Until proven otherwise, I’m not going against the greatest of all time.

Bucs 28, Rams 24

Buffalo Bills (12-6, 5-3 Away) @ KC Chiefs (13-5, 8-2 Home)

GEHA Field at Arrowhead, 74,416

5:30 PM CT

CBS

Jim, Tony, Trace, Jay Feely

Ref, John Hussey

Chiefs by 1 1/2

It’s extremely hard to go against the Patrick Price at Arrowhead. So much success. Arrowhead makes so much noise, that it can register 3.0 on the Richter Scale, a mild earthquake. Tough place to win for the visitors. But I’m going to take the road team in this one. Give me Josh Allen and this supremely talented Bills squad to pull off the upset.

Bills 31, Chiefs 30

Jordan Wright played a spectacular game late Saturday afternoon at Georgia leading his Vanderbilt Commodores to a 73-66 victory over the Georgia Bulldogs at Stegman Coliseum in Athens. It was kind of fun to put a damper on their football celebration, though they played quite a football game against Alabama in winning the National Championship.

With the victory, the team moved to 10-6 overall and 2-2 in the SEC. Excellent to get a road victory after 2 tough losses at home to South Carolina and Kentucky, respectively. Georgia dropped to 5-12, and 0-4 in conference. Any SEC victory on the road is superb in my book.

Jordan poured in 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field, 4-of-7 from trifecta, he pulled down 12 boards and added 6 assists. If J Wright can play like that with Scotty and company, that would help us tremendously going forward. Scotty had 13, and 7 assists. Quentin Millora-Brown added 11 points with 6 boards. Q played an excellent game as well. Myles Stute kicked in 9. Myles was 2 of 4 from triple.

So a very good game for the team, and now the No.24 Vols invade Memorial tonight at 8 on the SEC Network. The Vols are 11-5 overall and 2-3 in the SEC. They own victories over Ole Miss and South Carolina at home, and have incurred losses to Alabama, LSU and Kentucky on the road. The Wildcats blasted them Saturday, 107-79. It was more about Kentucky than it was Tennessee. They’re on a major roll. Their big man, Oscar Tshiebwe, is a dominant player at 6’9”, 255. Guard TyTy Washington is playing outstanding basketball as well. We kind of got blasted by them last Tuesday Night, but we kept fighting and only lost by 12. We had a 25 point deficit at one point. We’ll see’ em again later in the season and maybe we can get a different result.

But that’s down the road. Tonight, we’ve got a major challenge.. UT is led in scoring by 6’3”, guard Santiago Vescovi, from Uruguay. He averages 14 per game. Guard Kenny Chandler averages 13.6 ppg. Six foot 8 inch Olivier Nkamhoa, from Finland, averages 9.1 ppg and 5.6 boards. Six foot 9 forward John Fulkerson, who seems like he’s been there forever, averages 8.4 ppg and 5.6 rebounds as well.

So we need to play well tonight to get over the top. They average 37 rebounds as a team, they are shooting 42% from the field and 33% from 3. They’re not a prolific offensive team. We’re averaging 34.9 boards per game, our opponents are averaging 34.8, we’re shooting 41 percent from the field and 31% from trifecta. We’re shooting 71% from the line and they’re shooting 66%. Need to be good in all those areas tonight and we’ll need to do a good job taking care of the ball AND defending to emerge victorious. Opponents are shooting 41% from the field against us and 31% from three, and 73% from the line, so pretty solid defensive numbers.

Will have more on the team tomorrow from tonight’s game, hopefully a huge victory at home, along with our NFL guys in the playoffs and some of our NBA guys who are excelling. Have a great evening and Go Dores. Let’s get this done.

The Tampa Bay Bucs, the SF 49ers and the KC Chiefs moved on yesterday. The Bucs will host the winner of tonight’s Zona Cardinals-LA Rams game and the No.1 seeded Green Bay Packers will host the 49ers in the NFC. In the AFC, the No.1 seeded Tennessee Titans, with a now pretty healthy Derrick Henry, will host the Cincinnati Bengals, and the Buffalo Bills will travel to the Chiefs to play Patrick Mahomes and that dynamic Chiefs’ offense all in the Divisional Round this weekend. More on those matchups later in the week. For now, let’s take a look at today’s Monday Night Football matchup in the final game of the Super Wild Card Weekend.

Arizona Cardinals (11-6, 8-1 Away) @ Los Angeles Rams (12-5, 5-3 Home)

SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, CA., 70,240

7:15 PM CT

ESPN

Steve Levy, Grease, Louis Riddick, Lisa Salters

Lead Stripe, Clay Martin

Rams by 3 1/2

I’m bullish on the fact that the Cardinals are 8-1 on the road. The Rams remind me a lot of the Cowboys, they look primed for an upset. Give me Kyler Murray, Christian Kirk and the Cardinals to shock the Rams at SoFi.

Arizona Cardinals 28, LA Rams 24

Australian Open predictions

The big news that has overtaken anything else at this Grand Slam in Melbourne Park is Novak Djokovic being expelled from the country for not being vaccinated. I applaud the Australian government and their judges for not letting Djokovic slip by when he clearly knew the rules in Australia where 90 percent of the Australian adults are vaccinated. Good riddance to Djoker. There may be some controversy for him at the French Open in May as well if COVID is still a problem then. They are strict in France also. But enough about him, onto the predictions.

Djoker, Rafa and Fed are all tied with 20 Majors to lead all time in Men’s Singles. Fed is out with an injury and Joke is out, so that leaves the 35 year old Nadal to see if he can break the tie. Djoker is 34 and Fed is 40, so it’ll be interesting to see this competition progress. Fed is kind of running out of time and Rafa is not getting any younger and injuries plagued him last year, so Novak would seem to have the edge though he’s not getting any younger either and the competition has ramped up with guys like 25 year old Russian Daniil Medvedev, last year’s U.@. Open winner, 24 year old German Alexander Zverev, and 23 year old Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas bearing down on the veterans.

The Aussie Open will be televised by ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN+ and the Tennis Channel. There is coverage starting at 6 AM CT on TC and going on throughout the day and the fortnight on the deuce and ESPN+. The Men’s Semifinals will take place Thursday, January 27th to Friday, 1-28-22, from 9:30 PM-12 AM CT on ESPN followed by the second semifinal Friday, January 28th, from 2:30-5 AM on ESPN. The Men’s Final will take place at 2:30-5:30 AM Sunday, January 30th, on ESPN, and the encore presentation will be on Sunday, 1-28-22, from 8AM-12 PM on ESPN.

The Women’s looks pretty wide open as it always seems to. Ashleigh Barty, the No.1 seed, has home court advantage in her native Australia. Naomi Osaka, from Japan, is always a factor and won this major in 2019 and 2021 and has 4 majors on her resume at 24 years old as she has also won the 2018 and 2020 U.S. Open. The 25 year old Barty from Ipswich, Queensland Australia has only managed to reach the semis at the Aussie in her otherwise stellar career so far. She won at Roland Garros in the French Open in 2019 and won Wimbledon in 2021.

So with that said, here are predictions for the first major of the tennis season.

Men’s Semifinals

Rafa over Alexander Zverev

4-6, 7-5, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, will be a war.

Tsitsipas over Medvedev

5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (8-6), another major confrontation

Final

I’ll take the 35 year old from Manacor Mallorca Espana to capture his 21st Slam and overtake Roger and Novak. Rafa has won the Aussie Open only once, in 2009, so he really wants this. He’s won the French 13 times, Wimbledon twice, in 2008 and 2010, and the US Open 4 times, in 2010, 2013, 2017 and 2019. The 23 year old from Athens, Greece will give him another tussle.

Nadal over Tsitsipas

5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (9-7)

Women’s Semis

Ashleigh Barty over Madison Keys

7-5, 6-7 (7-3) 6-2

Keys, the 26 year old from Rock Island, Illinois has a super showing in Melbourne and garners momentum for a possible major victory in 2022.

Simona Halep over Iga Świątek

6-4, 3-6, 6-4

Simo surveys the 20 year old from Warsaw, Poland. Bright future for Swiatek also.

Final

I’ll take the 30 year old from Constanta, Romania to get the upset victory over the 25 year old Aussie. Halep wins her third Slam in her career after having won the 2018 French Open and Wimbledon in 2019. Another major battle here, which will make for riveting watching. The DVR will come in handy for these matches.

Halep over Barty

7-6 (7-5), 5-7, 7-5

I like Osaka to play well but to go out in the quarters.

Enjoy the football tonight and the Aussie Open the next 2 weeks.

Sorry if I was a little arrogant yesterday. Was just having some fun with Bama Golf, Walter, T’eo and the Due Rights and channeled my inner Rush Limbaugh on the blog. I woke up yesterday morning thinking I was going to pick the Bengals and the Bills. I had that in my plans all week, but somehow changed my mind yesterday, and went with the road underdogs which were costly decisions.

Now have to regroup and go back to my original predictions for these 3 games today. The Raiders did give the Bengals everything they wanted. The guys in silver in black just couldn’t cash in from the red zone. However, the Patriots had no shot. Josh Allen and the Bills annihilated them. The Bills are a very compelling team going forward. They could be the best team in the AFC, if not the entire NFL. Next weekend will be riveting as well with some colossal matchups.

Here’s a look at today’s contests along with predictions.

Philadelphia Eagles (9-6, 6-3 Away) @Tampa Bay Buccaneers (13-4, 7-1 Home)

Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, 65,618

12 PM CT

FOX

Joe, Troy, EA, Tom

Aladdin, Craig Wrolstad

Bucs by 7

How do you ever go against Tom Brady at home in the playoffs? Next to impossible. DeVonta Smith is already a stellar player for the Eagles, but he and Jalen Hurts just don’t have enough against the ageless 44 year old and the defending Super Bowl 55 champs. It’ll be interesting to see how the Bucs fare going forward because the NFC is loaded, but I like them at Raymond James today.

Bucs 31, Eagles 21

San Francisco 49ers (10-7, 6-3 Away) @ Dallas Cowboys (12-5, 5-3 Home)

AT&T Stadium, “Jerr, Will… Get by,”, Arlington, TX., 80,000 expandable to 105,000

3:30 PM CT

CBS

Jim, Tony, Trace

Vogue, Alex Kemp

Cowboys by 3

I was thinking about saying, “How bout them Cowboys!” but I’m going to instead say, “How bout them Niners!” in an upset.

49ers 28, Cowboys 27

Sunday Night Football

Pittsburgh Steelers (9-7-1, 3-5 Away) @KC Chiefs (12-5, 7-2 Home)

GEHA Field at Arrowhead, Kansas City, 76,416

7:15 CT

NBC

Al, Cris, Michelle

Wash and Go, Clay Martin

Chiefs by 12 1/2

Another guy that you say to yourself, how do you go against the Patrick Price in the playoffs at home? The Chiefs are playing a team that barely got into the tournament, and while it’s Big Ben’s last go round and there could be a lot of energy out of the Steelers, give me Mahomes and the Chiefs. P2’s buddy, the Rodgers Rate, is unsuccessfully tossing axes with Jake from State Farm and waiting for his next opponent in Title Town next weekend.

Chiefs 35, Steelers 21

Monday

Arizona Cards @ LA Rams, preview, Prediction. 7:15 PM CT, ESPN

Also, Australian Open preview, prediction

Minus Novak Djokovic who was expelled from Australia today for not being vaccinated.

It’ll be the Vegas Raiduhs @ the Cincy Bengals in the first game today at 3:30 PM CT on NBC and the New England Patriots at the Buffalo Bills tonight at 7:15 on CBS as the Super Wild Card Round of the Playoffs opens up this weekend in the National Football League. There will be 3 more games tomorrow and 1 game Monday Night. Will give you coverage of each game the day of the games. Here’s a look at today’s matchups along with White’s World’s predicted outcomes, which are more than accurate most of the time. You can take it to the Bank and make that deposit on Monday, Bama Golf.

AFC

Las Vegas Raiders (10-7, 5-3 Away) @ Cincinnati Bengals (10-7, 5-4 Home)

Paul Brown Stadium, “The Queen City,” 65,515

3:30 PM CT

NBC

Tiriico, Drew, Kathryn

Laundry, Jerome Boger

Bengals by 6

Derek Carr has good playoff experience. He’s completed 68% of his passes this season, 428-of-626, for 4,804 yards, 23 TDs against 14 ints. Former Crimson Tide standout Josh Jacobs has rushed for 872 yards and 9 TDs. Former Clemson standout Hunter Renfrow is a force on the perimeter with 103 receptions for 1,038 yards and 9 TDs. Tight end Darren Waller is excellent with 55 receptions for 665 yards and 2 TDs. The other tight end is very good as well, as Foster Moreau has caught 30 passes for 3 TDs. Bryan Edwards, a former standout at South Carolina, has caught 34 passes and 3 for TDs. Linebacker Denzel Perryman leads the team with 154 tackles, which is 6th in the National Football League. Falcons linebacker Foyesade Oluokun led the league with 192 tackles. The Raiders have 6 ints on the season.

Joe Burrow has had a terrific sophomore season in Cincy. He has completed 70% of his passes, 366-of-520, for 4,611 yards, 34 TDs against 14 ints. His leading target is his former teammate at LSU and a rookie, Ja’Marr Chase, who has caught 81 passes for 1,455 yards and 13 TDs. Former Clemson standout Tee Higgins has 74 receptions for 1,091 yards and 6 house calls. Tight end Tyler Boyd has 67 receptions for 828 yards and 5 scores, and fellow tight end C.J. Uzomah from Auburn has 49 receptions for 493 yards and 5 TDs. The Bengals superb running back Joe Mixon, from the University of Oklahoma, has rushed for 1,205 yards and 13 TDs. On defense, linebacker Logan Wilson has posted 100 tackles and leads the defense with 4 ints. As a team, the Bengals have 13 ints on the season.

Decision

The stats point to the Bengals winning at home. The weather in Cincy at kickoff is 33, wind about 7-8, and no precipitation. Everything points to the home team winning, but the Raiders have won 4 in row and they have the vet in Carr under center and I like Jacobs to have a big game as well. Give me the more veteran team here. I’ll take “Duh Raiduhs” to pull off the upset.

Raiders 31, Bengals 28

New England Patriots (10-7, 6-3 Away) @ Buffalo Bills (11-6, 6-3 Home)

Highmark Stadium, Orchard Park, NY, 71,608

7:15 PM CT

CBS

Ian Eagle, Charles Davis, Evan Washburn

Suds and Duds, the Due Rights 3rd residence after their golf carts and their houses. If their wife is mad at ‘em and they need to do their laundry some place else, no better place to cook a dud, other than their cart at BCC, than the local laundromat at the Shops of Montevallo. Ref-Brad Allen

Bills by 5

Josh Allen has a had a big year for the Bills completing 63 percent of his passes, 409-of-646 for 4,407 yards, 36 TDs against 15 ints. He’s also rushed for 763 yards and 6 TDs, Devin Singletary is a highly capable running back having rushed for 870 yards and 7 TDs this season. The great Stefon Diggs has caught 103 passes for 1,225 yards and 10 TDs. Cole Beasley is a terrific possession receiver and clutch when Allen needs him to be. He’s caught 82 passes for 693 yards and 1 TD, but his value is getting first downs when the on critical third downs, and he’s super at that. Stellar veteran Emmanuel Sanders has caught 42 passes for 626 yards and 4 TDs and excellent tight end Dawson Knox has 49 receptions for 587 yards and 9 TDs. Wide receiver Gabriel Davis has 35 receptions for 549 yards and 6 TDs. Singletary is very good out of the backfield with 40 receptions. On defense, linebacker Tremaine Edmunds has posted 108 tackles. Safety Jordan Poyer added 93 tackles and is tied for the team lead with safety Micah Hyde with 5 interceptions. Former Alabama corner Levi Wallace is a starting cornerback for the Bills and has registered 58 tackles on the season and picked off 2 passes.

Mac Jones had a solid rookie season for the Patriots. The former great from Alabama completed 352-of-521 passes, 68%, for 3,801 yards, 22 TDs and 13 ints. Mac had his ups and downs, but was pretty good overall and his future looks quite bright. Former Alabama star Damien Harris rushed for 929 yards and 15 TDs. Former Oklahoma standout Rhamondre Stevenson is excellent as well having rushed for 606 yards and 5 TDs. Veteran Brandon Bolden from Ole Miss had a big game last week for the Patriots and could be a factor tonight. Bolden has rushed for 226 yards and 2 TDs. The Patriots lost their great veteran running back James White to injury before the season started. Bolden has seen more carries lately and has produced. Jakobi Myers leads the offense with 83 receptions for 866 yards and 2 TDs. Kendrick Bourne has added 55 for 800 and 5 TDs. Tight end Hunter Henry, from Arkansas, has 50 receptions for 603 yards with 9 TDs. Nelson Agholor has 37 receptions for 473 yards and 3 TDs. Linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley leads the defense in tackles with 109. Safety Adrian Phillips adds 92 and 4 ints. Safety Kyle Dugger has 92 tackles and also 4 ints. Cornerback J.C. Jackson has 8 ints, one of which he’s taken back to duh house. Former Crimson Tide stellar linebacker Dont’a Hightower still leads the Patriots defense in the middle. Dont’a has 64 tackles on the season and is the quarterback of the defense.

Decision

Another factor in this game is the weather. The temperature at kickoff is a balmy 8 degrees with a wind chill of -4. Wind not bad at 7 MPH. Just very cold. But Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels doesn’t think that’s a big factor. He said his team is used to it in New England, so they can certainly handle it. The Bills feel the same way. Give me Bill Belichick and Mac in an upset at Orchard Park.

Patriots 24, Bills 21

Sunday’s Column

3 games

Philadelphia Eagles @ Tampa Bay Bucs, 12 PM CT, FOX

San Francisco 49ers @Dallas Cowboys, 3:30 PM CT, CBS

Pittsburgh Steelers @KC Chiefs, 7:15 PM CT, NBC

.

This is the 72nd meeting between the No.1 Crimson Tide and the No.3 Georgia Bulldogs with the Tide holding a 42-25-4 series edge over the Dawgs. Nick Saban is 25-1 against his former assistants and 4-0 against Kirby Smart. It has been talked about a lot that Smart and Georgia are very wound up for this national championship game while the Crimson Tide is coming in looser. You don’t know how that works out. Maybe the more charged up team plays better or maybe the team that is looser will perform better. Kirby Smart wants this one badly and Nick Saban always wants to win badly. The matchup is superb in talent. There are a lot of equally elite athletes that will be on the football field tonight at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Will make for a stellar game. Here’s a look at tonight’s clash of Titans.

Record

Bowls, SU, 11-8, Overall, 232-107, 68%, ATS, 12-7, 175-161, 52%

CFB National Championship Game

No.1 Alabama (13-1) vs. No.3 Georgia (13-1)

Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, 70,000

In the dome, it’ll be 70 degrees and outside it’ll be 20 and feel like 9.

7 PM CT

ESPN

Chris, Kirk, Holly, Molly

Laundry, Duane Heydt, ACC

UGA by 2

Coaches

Nicholas Lou Saban

October 31, 1951, 70 years old, Fairmont, West Virginia, Played college football at Kent State.

269-66-1 overall in 25 seasons as a college head coach. 1995-99 at Michigan State, 34-24-1, 2000-2004 @ LSU, 48-16, 2007-present, 15 years at Alabama, 178-24, 88%, SEC 103-16, 87%. 7 National Championships, 2003 at LSU. At Alabama, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2020. SEC Championships, 10, SEC West Titles, 14.

Kirby Paul Smart

December 23, 1975, 46 years old. Montgomery Alabama. Played defensive back at Georgia. All SEC selection his senior year. 65-15 in 6 seasons at Georgia, 81%. 4 SEC East titles.

Alabama

The Crimson Tide is led by sophomore quarterback Bryce Young, who has completed 331-of-490 passes, 68%, for 4,503 yards, 46 TDs against 5 ints. In the Crimson Tide’s shellacking of the Bulldogs in the SEC Championship Game, 41-24, Young cemented the Heisman Trophy and the team’s spot in the Playoff as he completed 26 of 44 passes for 421 yards and 3 TDs against 0 Ints. He also rushed for 40 yards on 3 carries including an amazing 15 yard TD scamper. Brian Robinson has rushed for 1,275 yards and 14 TDs. Against Cincinnati in the Cotton Bowl Semifinal, BRob rushed for 204 yards and dominated the game. Jameson Williams is the Tide’s electrifying receiver on the perimeter. Williams has caught 75 passes for 1,507 yards and 15 TDs. Against Georgia in the SEC title game, he was a game changing player with 7 receptions for 184 yards and 2 TDs. John Metchie III was injured against Georgia in the SEC title game and is out for the season. Metchie III was spectacular this season with 96 receptions for 1,142 yards and 8 TDs. I know Crimson Tide fans hope that Metchie III will come back for his senior season. There’s a pretty good chance he will. Metchie will be missed against Georgia. The Crimson Tide O line is led by big left tackle Evan Neal at 6’7”, 350. Right guard Emil Ekiyor, 6’3”, 324, and right tackle Chris Owens, 6’3”, 305, were injured in the Cincy game, but are expected to play. Freshman JC Latham, 6’6”, 325, a five star, is a capable replacement if Ekiyor can’t make it. Damieon George, 6’6”, 339, can help Owens out at right tackle. The Crimson Tide O line had their share of issues during the season, but against Georgia, they manhandled the vaunted Dawgs’ defensive line. On defense, the great Will Anderson is a dynamic leader and player. The 6’4”, 243 outside linebacker has recorded 98 tackles, second on the team to inside linebacker Henry To’o To’o, who has 106, and has recorded a nation leading 17 1/2 sacks for -108 yards and a nation leading 34 1/2 tackles for loss of 148 yards. Wow. Mind popping numbers. Why Will wasn’t in New York and Aiden Hutchinson was is a total travesty. But Will is in Indy and Hutchinson is in Ann Arbor, so there is some justice there. I’d throw Pitt QB Kenny Pickett in there as well. He was good, but in the ACC, not even close in level of competition to the best conference in the country. As former Vanderbilt Coach James Franklin said one time, “the three best conferences in the World are the NFC, the AFC and the SEC.” Jimmy Frank had that right. Will should have been there. He will next season as a junior if he keeps up this pace and could break through as a defensive player and win it. Will is spectacular. To’o To’o has been an outstanding addition to S’s and Pete Golding’s defense. Along with his 106 tackles, he has 8 for loss of 39 yards and 4 sacks for -29 yards. Defensive end Phid Mathis, 6’4’“,312, added 12 tackles for loss of 56 yards and 9 sacks for -52 yards. He’s a superb football player and another leader on the team. Safety Jordan Battle was third on the team in tackles with 80 and tied for the team lead in interceptions with corner Jalyn Armour-Davis with 3. Jordan took 2 back to the house, including a 41 yarder against Stetson Bennett and Georgia in the Championship Game. Will Reichard is a more than capable kicker, actually an outstanding one. Will is 18-of-23 this season, 4-of-4 from 20-29 yards, 7-of-8 from 30-39, 6-of-9 from 40-49, and 1-of-2 from 50+. His long is 51 yards. S finally found a kicker he can rely on and he can certainly rely on Reichard. Punter James Burnip averages 39 yards per punt. Slade Bolden is averaging 7 yards per punt return and Jameson has returned 2 kicks back to the house, his long being a hundge.

Georgia

The Dawgs are led by quarterback Stetson Bennett, who has been pretty outstanding outside of facing Alabama, a team he has struggled against, though he threw for 340 yards and 3 TDs, but threw 2 costly interceptions, one to DeMarrco Hellams and the other to Battle for a pick 6. Bennett , a former walk-on who has paid his dues, has completed 168-of-261 passes, 64%, for 2,638 yards, 27 TDs against 7 ints. He can run it too, if necessary. He’s got a strong arm and can really throw the deep ball accurately and can use his wheels when necessary. He has rushed for 283 yards, 5.9 per carry and a 7. Against Michigan, a 34-11 Georgia tail kicking, Bennett was 20-of-30 for 313 yards, 3 TDs and 0 ints. His favorite target is freshman tight end Brock Bowers, a phenom, who has caught 52 passes for 846 yards and 12 TDs. Bowers, a 5 star, is 6’4”, 230 and looks to run a 4.45, 40, 4.5 at the slowest. He can motor, he can block and catches anything that is in sight. He’s a tremendous football player. Wide receiver Jermaine Burton is another threat, He’s caught 24 passes for 469 yards and 5 TDs. Ladd McConkey is another. McConkey looks a lot like Hunter Renfrow from Clemson, who is now with the Las Vegas Raiders and excelling there. The Raiders just clinched a playoff spot with a victory over the LA Chargers at Allegiant Stadium on Sunday Night Football last night, 35-32 in OT. I watched the first half, but went to sleep. My wife, sometimes a night owl, said it was an awesome game. Despite all the controversy surrounding the Raiduh, they still made the playoffs. Pretty stellar stuff. McConkey has caught 30 passes for 444 yards and 5 TDs. Running back James Cook is a superb runner and receiver out of the backfield. Cook has caught 25 passes for 269 yards and 4 TDs. Also, George Pickens is back for the Dawgs. The former 5 star out of Hoover High School had been hurt all season, but made it back for the last 3 games and could be an X factor tonight. He’s a dynamic playmaker. Running back Zamir “Zeus” White has rushed for 772 yards and 10 TDs, and Cook has added 651 yards and 7 TDs. They’re a dynamic duo. Kenny McIntosh has rushed for 342 yards and 3 TDs, and Kendall Milton is expected to play tonight. He’s been hurt a lot this season, but is excellent as well. The O Line is led by big left tackle Jamaree Salyer, 6’3”, 340. He’ll be tasked with blocking Anderson and Mathis among others. The Georgia line had a super game against Michigan, but the competition is a lot more formidable against the Crimson Tide. The great linebacker Nakobe Dean leads the defense with 68 tackles, 10 1/2 for loss of 61 yards, and 6 sacks for -47 yards along with 2 ints, one he took back to the house against Florida. Derion Kendrick came down from Clemson this season and picked off 4 passes at corner. He picked off 2 against Michigan. Linebacker Nolan Smith is a formidable player as well. Defensive tackle Jordan Davis, 6’6”, 360, was handled by the Alabama offensive line in the Championship game, but he’s considered stellar. It’ll be interesting to see what he and the vaunted Dawgs front 7 can do against the Tide this time around. Jack Podlesny has connected on 20-of-25 field goal attempts. he’s 7-of-9 from 30-39, 4-7 from 40-49 and has a long of 46. Jake Camarda averages 47 yards per punt. Kearis Jackson averages 8.59 yards per punt return and has a long of 41. He’s dangerous. Kenny McIntosh and Jackson are the kick returners. No house calls, but solid and possibly electric.

Final Analysis and Decision

There is so much NFL talent on this field, it’s head spinning. The Crimson Tide does have some injuries. Ekiyor and Owens are banged up, Metchie III, is out, cornerback Josh Jobe is out, corner Jayin Armour-Davis is questionable, but could play. In place of Jobe, freshman Kool-Aid McKinstry will start. Kool-Aid is a 5 star, so he’s capable and shown so far that he is. Khyree Jackson will take Armour-Davis’s spot at the other corner, if Armour Davis is unable to play. The Tide defense believes Jackson is more than capable. I like the other receivers to help Jameson out tonight. I like Slade Bolden to take over the possession receptions to free up Williams for explosive plays. Tight end Cameron Latu will be a factor. Ja’Corey Brooks, Jahleel Billingsley, who’s loaded with talent but has been in S’s doghouse some of the season though he seems to have gotten it together but had a couple of drops against Cincy, JoJo Earle, and Traeshon Holden could be factors in the passing game. Young does anawesome job of distributing the ball, and will find Williams in the deep game when he needs him. But Georgia has a lot of weapons, too, and Bennett is determined to have a big game tonight at Lucas Oil. The defenses are both terrific. Alabama is only giving up 19 points per game and Georgia is giving up a nation leading 9.4 points per game. The Crimson Tide is 13th. Still, Alabama scored 41 on Georgia in the Championship game. Young was unstoppable.

I like it a lot closer this time around. Everybody knows that beating an excellent team twice is tough to do. I still like the Saban-Young combination a little better than the Smart-Bennett combination. Give me S to win his 8th national championship overall and 7th at Alabama surpassing the great Paul Bryant in Tuscaloosa, and Young as the MVP in a riveting classic. Alabama wins it all once again. A late drive and Reichard field goal clinches the Natty.

Alabama 31, Georgia 28

Tough loss for the team to South Carolina earlier today at Memorial, 72-70. We played hard. They’re a tough team to score on, they really get after it on defense. But we had a shot at the end to tie it and couldn’t convert. Solid effort from the team. They’re learning to play in these clutch situations. They’ll figure out how to perform when it matters, hopefully as soon as possible. It was a good game though. The Gamecocks deserve credit from coming back from a tough loss to Auburn on Tuesday Night at home and regrouping themselves and playing hard nosed ball against us. Still believe in the guys. Have a lot left ahead of us. Kentucky comes to Memorial Tuesday Night at 6 on ESPN. Need to regroup quickly and bring everything we got Tuesday Night. Hopefully, we can pack out the gym with a lot of VU fans and not just their annoying fans. The team needs support now that the students are not allowed in games through the Tennessee game on Tuesday, January 18th. The school is taking precautions with the virus running rampant right now. It’s the right thing to do.

If you’re in town, please go out and support the team. This is always a big game for us and we’ll need all the support we can get to get over the top. The Wildcats lost to LSU @LSU Wednesday Night and host Georgia today @ 5 PM CT on the SEC Network. Kentucky is a 22 1/2 point favorite over Georgia.

Some huge news out of the All American Bowl in San Antonio. Four Star Linebacker Daniel Martin out of Marietta, Georgia has committed and signed his letter of intent with Vanderbilt University. As Daniel eloquently put it in his interview following his pledge, “It’s not a 4 year commitment, it’s a 40 year commitment.” Daniel joins an excellent 2022 class. Really excited about this group. Daniel projects to play Anchor for us, a hybrid linebacker/safety. Our class is now ranked 31 by 247 Sports and 30 by Rivals. So, awesome stuff from Clark and the football program.

Stack’ll have us ready Tuesday Night. Will have more on our game with the team from the North on Tuesday.