Mikayla Blakes, our five star freshman, McDonald’s All American from New Jersey, poured in an all time freshman record of 53 points in our Dores’ 99-86 victory over Florida last night at the O’Connell Center in Gainesville.

Our tremendous freshman star was 16 of 24 from the field, 5-of-9 from trifecta, and 16 of 18 from the stripe. Wow! Knock your socks off super. Mikayla broke JuJu Watson’s single game freshman record from 2024 when Watson poured in 22.

Our 23rd ranked women (AP Poll) moved to 18-4 overall and 5-3 in the SEC. We are presently in 5th place in the conference. We play Ole Miss Sunday at 2 PM CT @Memorial on SEC Network+ streaming. Ole Miss is 14-6 overall, and also tied for 5th with us at 5-3. They defeated us 87-59 @ Oxford on Thursday, 1/9/25. South Carolina, as usual, is leading the SEC at 8-0 and they are 20-1 overall. They are ranked second nationally behind UCLA in the AP Poll. LSU, Texas and Kentucky are both tied for 2nd in the conference at 7-1.  No. 7 LSU is 22-1 overall, No. 5 Texas is 21-2, and No.12 Kentucky is 18-2. Then it’s us and Ole Miss tied for fifth at 5-3. So, tremendously important game for the team on Sunday. What a job Coach Shea Ralph has done with this basketball team. Our third year coach is awesome and has us in the top 25 for the first time in 11 years. We should be excellent every year in men’s and women’s basketball and with men’s coach Mark Byington, and Shea. We’ve got the coaches in place to excel. Much more on Mark and the men below.

Mikayla is averaging 22.4 points per game. Just an amazing young woman and a phenomenal basketball player. The SEC Network interviewed her last night and Mikayla is extremely mature and poised and a total team oriented player. Just a first class young woman. She is second in the conference in scoring behind Izzy Higginbottom of Arkansas. Izzy is averaging 23.6 mpg, so Mikayla is right behind her. And Mikayla is 7th nationally in scoring. Florida State’s Ta’Niya Latson leads the country at 26.2. Not to be outdone, sophomore forward Khamil Pierre is averaging 20.8 points per game and 10.3 rebounds. Khamil is 4th in the SEC and 15th nationally in scoring. Excited about what Mikayla, Khamil and the women can accomplish this season. We are now a No. 6 seed in ESPN’s Charlie Creme’s Bracketology. Charlie is the Joey “Brackets” Lunardi for the women’s game. Charlie has us playing in the Big Apple versus the Washington/Virginia Tech first round game winner. Those two teams are two of the last four in and we’ll play the winner in the second round. The First Four of each tournament, men’s and women’s, are considered the first round games.

And certainly not to be forgotten are our phenomenal Men. Our 24th nationally ranked  men (AP Poll) under our prolific coach, Mark Byington, are 16-4 overall and 4-3 in the SEC. We just won two gigantic games against Tennessee, two Saturdays ago, and Kentucky last Saturday at Memorial. The Magic is alive and well. Lunardi has us as a 9 seed playing Gonzaga in the west region in Milwaukee. Both of those brackets, men’s and women’s, are highly fluid, but if we keep winning in both sports, we’ll be as the great George Jefferson said, “Movin on up.” 

Our superb guard, Jason Edwards, is averaging 17.3 points per game. Power forward/center Devin McGlockton is at 10.9 and 8.1 boards per game. Jason, born in Atlanta, transferred from North Texas, where he averaged 19 points last season. Jason has a lot of Ezra Manjon, our superb point guard from the last two years, in him. Just a stellar player. Devin, a 6’7″, 230 junior from Cumming, Georgia, transferred from Boston College. Both he and Jason are juniors. We’re getting excellent play out of sophomore Jaylen Carey, a transfer from James Madison. Jaylen came to VU with Mark. I love what Tyler Nikel, terrific shooter-VA Tech transfer, MJ Collins, amazing athlete-Virginia Tech transfer, AJ Hoggard, awesome player-Michigan State transfer, Grant Huffman, awesome team player-Davidson transfer, our highly athletic Chris Manon, from Cornell, and true freshman from Brentwood Academy Tyler Tanner, bring to the table.

Love our team, love our coach, and love what we can accomplish this season. We are @ Oklahoma tomorrow, Saturday, at 2:30 PM CT on the SEC Network. It would be huge to get one on the road @ Norman. OU is 2-5 in the conference, but 15-5 overall and 8-2 at home. They are coming off a 75-68 loss to A&M @ A&M on Tuesday Night. Auburn, the No.1 ranked team in the country, is 8-0 in the SEC and 19-1 overall. No.4 Alabama is second in the conference at 7-1 and 18-3 overall. That Alabama-Mississippi State game @State Wednesday Night was a thrilluh with the Crimson Tide surviving the Hump, 88-84. Amazing game. No.5 Florida is 5-2 and 18-2 overall and tied with Missouri for third in the conference. Missouri is No.20 nationally. These are all AP rankings. Ole Miss and A&M are tied for 5th at 5-3. A&M is ranked 13th nationally at 16-5 overall, and Ole Miss is ranked 23rd, just one spot ahead of us in the rankings, and are 16-5 overall as well. They won a cliffhanger over Texas Wednesday Night at Oxford, 72-69. We are in 7th place at 4-3 and 16-4, and ranked 24th nationally.

I’ll have a lot more to say about our basketball teams.

Our football team, wow, what a job Clark did this past season. When Diego was able to get three weeks off before the Birmingham Bowl, he showed what a dominant, game-changing player he is. He looked like the Diego from the Alabama game, when he was unstoppable. He was a force of nature against Georgia Tech in Birmingham. I was there with my daughters, their boyfriends and other members of my family. We had a blast. Wow, those Georgia Tech fans were rampant and loud, but they couldn’t stop Diego and our football team.

Diego is coming back, which is spectacular, as is tight end Eli Stowers and a lot of other talent. And Clark has added excellent pieces in the freshman recruiting class AND in the transfer portal. Very excited about what Clark, Diego and the team  can do in 2025. I’ll keep you apprised of football news as we matriculate into the spring. 

Corbs and the baseball  team are cranking up in a couple of weeks as we play in the MLB Desert Invitational in Phoenix on Friday, 2/14, to Sunday, 2/16. Friday, we play Grand Canyon at 7 PM CT,; Saturday, it’s Nebraska at 7 PM CT; and Sunday, we face UC Irvine at 1 PM CT. Will get you all broadcast information next week when I go more in-depth on the team. We’re ranked No.16 by D1 Baseball and No.15 by Baseball America, but we’re better than that. Our material is very good with guys like Jonathan Vastine, Davis Diaz, the great RJ Austin, and Braden Holcomb back at positions, among others, and JD Thompson, Ethan McElvain and Brennan Seiber on the hill, among others. The material is outstanding, we brought in two new excellent coaches, whom I will go into more detail on next week, and we’ve got a shot to get to Omaha. That’s the goal at Vanderbilt University in baseball. That never changes.

And Men’s and Women’s Basketball can certainly go deep in March, and, quite possibly, into April. Love our teams.

Men’s Golf is back and just finished its first tournament of the 2025 season at the Southwestern Invitational at Lake Sherwood, CA. We finished third out of 14 teams. Texas won it at 8 under, San Diego State was second at -7, and we finished third at -4 with a final round 5 under par. We were 2 under after the first day, then we were 3 over in day 2, but came back to finish 5 under in day three. Some terrific news out of the tournament, however, was that junior Wells Williams won the individual title at -5. So, super stuff from Wells, a West Point, Mississippi native. We are presently ranked No.15 by the Clippd rankings for men’s college golf, the premier ranking service for men’s college golf. I see us getting better and better as the season progresses and keeping the climb up to reach our potential come late April when the SEC Tournament commences. The SEC Tournament is Wednesday, 4/23, through Sunday, 4/29, with three rounds of stroke play on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and match play on Saturday and Sunday, which will be the quarters, the semis and the championship match, respectively. The quarters and semis are on Saturday, and the championship match will take place on Sunday. The SEC Championships will be held again at Sea Island Golf Club in St. Simon’s Island, GA. The goal for Men’s Golf under Scott Limbaugh every year is the Final Four and winning it all. That’s the level that Coach Limbaugh has elevated this program to. It’s never easy, but with senior studs Gordon Sargent and Jackson Van Paris leading a talented group, we’ve definitely got a shot to reach the pinnacle of men’s collegiate golf.

I’ll have more on our teams coming up in the next two weeks. Sorry I’ve not been posting as much. Been occupied with my All Sports Blog with a ton of college and pro football. But back in the VU saddle and ready to go to work again with our teams and you guys. Let’s get it done @ Norman Saturday and @ Memorial Sunday. Will have more on baseball, men’s golf and football coming up as well.

*****Students, please don’t storm the court or the football field any more after victories. We were fined $500K for the latest offense last Saturday against Kentucky. Candice pled with the students to not storm the court saying we needed the funds for NIL opportunities. NIL is working extremely well for us, so we need to support  that and insure our great teams are the best they can be. Love the support for the team, but please just enjoy the experience of watching us kick some tail IN the stands. Thanks a ton for the support.

God Bless, Go Dores and Anchor Down!     

The AT&T Pebble Beach

 There’s an 80-man field at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, which will be played at historic Pebble Beach (6,972 yards, Par 72) and stellar and almost as historic Spyglass Hill (7,041 yards, Par 72) for the first two rounds. The final two rounds will take place at Pebble. The greens are Poa annua, and will be rolling at 12 on the stimpmeter. The rough will get up to 3 inches in spots.

This is a Signature event on the tour and features a purse of $20 million with the winner taking home $3.6 million. Not bad for a long weekend’s work if you can get it. Second place earns $2,180,000, 3rd, $1,380,000, and fourth pays $980K. Everyone who finishes in the top 36 gets over six figures and 37th takes home $99K. So, a nice place to qualify to play in for 80 fortunate golfers.

Signature events are comprised of the top 50 players from the previous season’s Fed Ex Cup Standings, the Aon Next 10, consisting of the top 10 players in the current Fed Ex Cup Standings who did not finish in the top 50 in the Fed Ex Standings in 2024. The Aon Swing 5: the top five players who accumulate the most points between signature events and who are not exempt in the other categories. The current year tournament winners. This year it’s Hideki Matsuyama from the Sentry, Nick Taylor from the Sony Open, Sepp Straka from the American Express, and Harris English from the Farmers. The top 5 PGA Tour members in the top 30 Official Golf World Rankings who are not already qualified. And four sponsor exemptions per event.

Aon is a global professional services firm that provides risk, retirement and health solutions based in London. Thanks to AI and Wiki for that.

The AT&T Pebble is the second of the signature events on Tour this season. The first was the Sentry in Maui in early January, which, as stated, Hideki won, taking home $3.6M. There are eight Signature events this season. The Genesis Invitational, February 13-16th, is the third signature, which will be played this season @Torrey Pines in San Diego and is due to the wildfires that wreaked havoc in Pacific Palisades, CA where Riviera Country Club is located, among other places in the L.A. area. The fourth signature event is the Arnie Invitational, March 6th-9th, at Bay Hill Golf Club in Orlando. That event, which is a player hosted event, (the late Arnie, along with the Genesis, Tiger, and the Memorial, Jack) features a 36 hole cut and a $4M winner’s share from a $20 million purse with the winner of those player hosted events earning 20% of the total prize money. The fifth signature event is the RBC Heritage, the week after the Masters, April 17th-20th, at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head. Then, the Truist Championship is the 6th signature event played May 8th-11th at The Philadelphia Cricket Club (Cricket anyone?), the Wissahickon Course. This is the first stop at the Philly Cricket Club. Philly hopes it’s still celebrating a Super Bowl LIX victory at that time. The Memorial Tournament, Jack’s event, the 7th signature event, will take place May 29th-June 1st  at Muirfield Villlage in Dublin, Ohio. The Travelers Championship, the 8th and final signature event, will be held June 19th-22nd at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, CT.

And, of course, there are the Majors. The fifth Major for the players is the Players Championship, which will be played at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra, FL, March 13th-16th, with a $25M purse and $4.5M going to the winner. It just keeps getting better for the successful ones. The 89th Masters will take place April 10th-13th featuring all the history and prestige surrounding Augusta National. The 107th PGA Championship will be played at Quail Hollow (Charlotte, N.C.) this year, May 15th-18th. The 125th U.S. Open will commence June 12th-15th at Oakmont Country Club, a historic venue in Oakmont, PA.just outside of Pittsburgh. All these tournaments are Thursdays-Sundays. And finally, the 153rd Open Championship will be played at Royal Portrush Golf Club in Northern Ireland, July 17th-20th. The defending champion of the Players is Scottie Scheffler. Scheffler is also the defending champion at the Masters. Xander Schauffle, who is out this week due to a rib injury but is expected back soon, is the defending PGA champion.  He won in 2024 at Valhalla in Louisville, KY. Bryson DeChambeau is the defending champion at the U.S. after putting on a masterful performance to clinch the championship at Pinehurst No.2 in 2024. And Xander is the defending champion at the Open, winning it last season at Royal Troon in Scotland.

After all those epic events, the Fed Ex Cup transpires in August with the Fed Ex St. Jude Championship in Memphis at TPC Southwind, August 7th-10th. That event will be followed by the BMW Championship August 14th-17th at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, MD. Finally, the Tour Championship, held at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, takes place August 21st-24th, with the winner most likely taking home the Fed Ex Cup and the $25M check that goes with it. That’s head spinning. Scottie Scheffler, of course, is the defending Fed Ex Cup champion.

 Finally, and just as importantly, the 45th Ryder Cup will transpire Friday-Sunday, September 26th-28th at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, N.Y. The European team is the defending champion having won 16 ½ to 11 ½ at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club just outside of Paris. Fourteen and a half points are needed for victory.

 I will have more on each of these events the day before they begin with my previews/predictions columns.

 Here are some of the key golfers’ odds for Pebble Beach:

 Scheffler, 4/1

 Rory, 11/1

 Justin Thomas, 14/1, finished 2nd at the American Express two weeks ago.

 Collin Morikawa, 14/1

 Ludvig Aberg, 18/1

 Patrick Cantlay, 20/1

 Hideki, 25/1

 Sungjae Im, 28/1

 Tommy Fleetwood, 33/1

 Jason Day, 40/1

 Vik Hovland, 40/1

 Sam Burns, 40/1

 Will Zalatoris, 45/1

 Wyndham Clark, defending champion, 45/1

 Jordan Spieth, back from a wrist injury that required surgery in the fall, 45/1

 Keegan Bradley, the U.S. Ryder Cup captain, 50/1

 Tom Kim, 50/1

 Sepp Straka. American Express winner, 60/1

 Max Homa, 70/1

 Harris English, coming off Farmers victory at Torrey, 70/1

 Weather

 Thursday: 52, partly cloudy, wind WNW 6 MPH, 10% rain.

 Friday: 56, PM showers, Wind S 8, 48% chance of rain.

 Saturday: 59, showers, wind S 15, 64% chance of rain.

Sunday: 60, showers, Wind S 12, 39% chance of rain.

 

So, some elements for the golfers to negotiate. The European Ryder Cup Captain is Luke Donald.

 

TV

 Thursday, 2-6 PM CT, Golf Channel

 Friday, 2-6 PM CT, GC

 Saturday, 12-2 PM CT, GC; 2-6 PM CT, CBS.

 Sunday, 12-2 PM, GC, 2-5:30 PM CT, CBS

 

Prediction

This is a spectacular field and that’s what we’re going to get with these signature events. With the LIV Tour posing such a threat to the PGA Tour as far as taking players from it, the PGA has to have these signature events. They make the season more interesting.

The obvious choice to win at Pebble is Scheffler, but he’s just recovered from a hand injury he suffered while rolling some Ravioli with a wine glass. The glass shattered in his hand and cut it severely. He’s now back after four weeks on the shelf. He was going to play in the Sentry and the American Express but was unable to due to the hand injury that required surgery. He suffered the injury back in December just before Christmas.

 There are no guarantees in sports, as has been said many times, but there are 95% athletes in my opinion. Michael Jordan was one; Tiger Woods was one; Jack Nicklaus was one; Tom Brady was one; Patrick Mahomes IS one, though I haven’t decided yet on my Super Bowl pick; Jannik Sinner in tennis has become one. And Scottie is one as well. He won 9 times last season including 7 times on tour with a Players, a Masters, an Arnie, a Tour Championship which led to a Fed Ex Cup among his illustrious victories. He also won an Olympic Gold Medal in Paris, and the Hero World Challenge in his last competition in December in the Bahamas.

 In 2024, Scheffler was No.1 in strokes gained tee to green, 2nd strokes gained off the tee, 1st in strokes gained total, first in approaches to the greens, third in greens in regulation, 2nd in proximity to the hole, a key stat since he was 77th in strokes gained putting. He was first from 50-125 yards, first from 100-125 yards, and 1st inside 100 yards. He makes a pretty compelling case to win at Pebble Beach.

 He played at the ultra-exclusive Cypress Point on Monday in the Monterrey Peninsula, where you need to be a President or something rivaling that title to get on, and posted 6 birdies in 9 hole.

 How do you go against this guy? I’m not gonna do it. I’ll take the 28 year old from Ridgewood, New Jersey, by way of the University of Texas, to get his 2025 season off and rolling.

 

Scottie Scheffler

 

 

Sleeper

Mark “Mother” Hubbard

 The 35 year old from Denver, by way of San Jose State University, finished tied 12th at the American Express a couple of weeks ago in La Quinta, California, where Sepp Straka won. He finished tied for 4th last season at Pebble shooting a 65 in the final round of a 3 day event that was cut short by the threat of severe weather. Wyndham Clark won the AT&T Pebble in 2024. Plus I like the nickname. Give me “Mother” Hubbard to be right there on Sunday with a shot at closing it out.

 

 

We’re now down to 4 teams competing for the coveted and historic Lombardi Trophy as Super Bowl LIX champion. The game will be played at Caesar’s Superdome in New Orleans Sunday, February 9th at 5:30 PM Central on FOX.

 It’s the Commanders and their phenomal rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels versus Jalen Hurts, phenom running back Saquon Barkley and the Philadelphia Eagles in the first game on Sunday followed by Josh Allen and the Bills against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs in the nightcap. Here are predictions for each game.

 2024-25 NFL Playoffs Record

 SU-6-4 ATS 6-4

 

 Sunday

 NFC Championship Game

 Washington Commanders (14-5, 7-3 Away) @ Philly Eagles (16-3, 10-1 home)

 Lincoln Financial Field, Philly, 67,594

 2 PM CT

 FOX

 Kevin, TB12, Erin, Tom

 Laundry: Shawn Hochuli

 Eagles by 6

 I’ll take the home team and Saquon here.

 Eagles 27, Commanders 20

 

 AFC Championship Game

 Buffalo Bills (15-4, 5-3 Away) @ KC Chiefs (16-2, 9-0 Home)

 GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, KC, 76, 416

 5:30 PM CT

CBS

 Jim, Tony, Trace, Evan, Jay

 Yella: Clete Blakeman

 Chiefs by 2

 How do you go against the home team? I know everybody outside Kansas City is tired of them, but they’re almost a 100 percent guarantee at home.

 Chiefs 24, Bills 21

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ohio State was predicted by many experts to capture the national championship before the 2024 season began, and they lived up to those expectations with a 34-23 victory over Notre Dame in the National Championship Game on Monday Night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. After the Fighting Irish scored a touchdown on their initial drive to go up 7-0, it was all Ohio State from then on. They captured their 9th claimed national championship in their history with their 12-team playoff title. They also won the initial 4-team playoff in 2014. A $20 million payroll didn’t hurt the cause. But they still got the job done, and will now enjoy the rewards for their labor.

 The 2025 season looks intriguing with the Crimson Tide and the Auburn Tigers looking for new quarterbacks. There are candidates for both teams. Ty Simpson, Austin Mack and 5-star freshman Keelon Russell are the candidates in Tuscaloosa, Simpson was a 5-star in the 2022 class and Mack is a 4-star out of Washington where Kalen DeBoar coached him. For Hugh and Auburn, he’ll be looking at former 5-star Jackson Arnold, the transfer from Oklahoma who was a 90, four-star transfer, 5-star freshman Deuce Knight (5 star by Rivals; 95, 4 star 247 Sports), and Stanford transfer Ashton Daniels.  Daniels was an 86, 3 star out of high school and is an 86 transfer.

 So, interesting stuff for both the Crimson Tide and the Tigers. Jam Miller, Ryan Williams and Germie Bernard will be back as skill players for the Tide along with some new faces, and the defense has several veterans returning in great middle linebacker Deontae Lawson, another excellent inside linebacker in Justin Jefferson, free safety Keon Saab, who along with Lawson will be healthy next season for the whole year, they’re hoping, strong safety Bray Hubbard and corner Domani Jackson. Center Parker Brailsford, left tackle Kadyn Proctor and right guard Jaden Roberts return on the O Line. And Tim Keenan II, LT Overton and the great Quaw Russaw return up front on defense. Russaw is an outside backer and edge rusher. So the material is there for the Tide if Kalen and the coaches can keep those guys healthy, which can be uncontrollable, and build depth at each position. Key games in 2025 include  @Florida State on Saturday, August 30th, Wisconsin at Bryant-Denny Saturday, 9/13/25, @ Georgia, Saturday, 9/27/25, home vs Vanderbilt, Saturday, 10/4— this has gotten more serious after the upset in Nashville in 2024— @ Missouri, Saturday, 10/11/25 (Bama Golf’s birthday), Tennessee at home, Saturday, 10/18/25,  my younger daughter’s birthday (a lot of good birthdays in October and April), @ South Carolina, Saturday, 10/25/25, Oklahoma at home, Saturday, 11/15/25, and the Auburn Tigers @ Jordan-Hare, Saturday, 11/29/25.  It doesn’t get any easier in the SEC as the years “matriculate.” Makes it tough to matriculate to the Playoff. The SEC is too busy beating each other up during the season to even think about making the playoff, though that is at the forefront of players and coaches mind. But there’s no rest for the weary in this conference. I still think this is the preeminent conference in college football even though it didn’t fare as well in the postseason. You just don’t go to Bryant-Denny, Jordan-Hare, Athens, Austin, Tiger Stadium, The Grove, Neyland Stadium, among others and expect to come away unscathed and not battered and hruised. And it’s that way every week in this conference. As James Franklin said when he got the Vanderbilt job, “There are three conferences in football: the AFC, the NFC and the SEC.” The Big Ten has almost caught up at least with its top level team. But the depth of the SEC is second to none. I’ve thought about the idea of eliminating the conference championship game, though it still is a big deal for players to win the SEC. It’s a huge deal. Want to put more thought into that before I form a final opinion..

For the Tigers, running backs Damari Alston and Jeremiah Cobb are back, along with some younger guys. Like both of those players. They can be excellent. The great Cam Coleman returns at wide receiver, along with Malcolm Simmons and the terrific transfer from Georgia Tech, Eric Singleton. The line looks big and strong; will have to delve more into that after the spring game. There will be a lot of new players on defense, but I expect the defense to be even better in 2025 under the great Defensive Coordinator D.J. Durken. The defense was very good in 2024. Payton Thorne just couldn’t master the quarterback position for Hugh and the Tigers. The Tigers open on Saturday, 8/30/25 @ Baylor; pretty challenging first game for the team. Other key games include @ Oklahoma, Saturday, 9/20/25, @ A&M, Saturday, 10/27/25, home versus Georgia, Saturday, 10/11/25, home versus Mizzou, Saturday, 10/18/25, @ Arkansas, Saturday, 10/25/25, home versus Kentucky, Saturday, 11/1/25, @ Vandy, Saturday, 11/8/25, and the Crimson Tide @ Jordan-Hare on Saturday, 11/29/25.

 

Interesting season coming up for the Tigers and the Crimson Tide. Both teams landed excellent recruiting classes in 2025 with the Crimson Tide finishing fourth nationally and the Tigers finishing sixth. Texas had the No.1 class according to 247 Sports. They were followed by No.2 Georgia, No.3 Ohio State, and No.5 Oregon. Texas will begin the Arch Manning era this fall. Should be interesting in Austin.

Could be a nice season for both the Crimson Tide and Tigers, but  the SEC gauntlet just keeps coming at you every football season.

Will have more coming up during the spring; particularly after the spring games.

 Final Record in College Football

 

Bowls: SU-17-9; ATS- 13-13.

For the 2024-25 season: SU-169-64, 73%, ATS-121-111, 52%.

 

Starting to look at experimenting with  the Over/Under for the 2025 season. I’ve been keeping up with it on my own for the NFL Playoffs, and it’s a learning curve as I’m 3-7, but I’m enhancing my knowledge of it, and may use it in 2025.

Meanwhile, in basketball, Auburn is No.1 and Alabama is No.4. In the country. The Crimson Tide is coming off a 103-87 victory over my Commodores last night at Coleman and plays at home Saturday vs. LSU at 7:30 PM CT on the SEC Network. The Tide is 5-1 in the SEC, one game back of the No.1 Tigers, which are 5-0, and 17-1 overall, with that one loss coming to No.2 Duke, 84-76, at Cameron Indoor back on December 4th. The Tide is 16-3 with losses to Purdue on the road on Nov. 15th, Oregon in Las Vegas on Nov.30th, and vs Ole Miss at Coleman Coliseum last Tuesday, 1/14. The Crimson Tide is No.1 in the league in scoring and played pretty good defense in the first half last night against the Commodores. The Tigers have it all too with Johni Broome expected back in three weeks or so, maybe for the home game at the Jungle versus the Crimson Tide. So, extremely exciting stuff going on in basketball for Auburn and Alabama.

 

The 113th Australian Open

 

The 113th Australian Open in Melbourne has been stellar so far and now the semifinals are set. Here are predictions for the semifinals and championship matches.

 TV: All times Central

Women’s Semifinals

Thursday, 2:30 -6:30 AM, ESPN, Encore (more reasonable) 1-4 PM

ESPN2

 

Men’s Semifinal 1

 Thursday, 9:30 PM-12 AM, ESPN

 Men’s Semifinal 2

 Friday, 2:30-6 AM CT, ESPN

 Encore, Friday, 1-4 PM, ESPN2.

 

Women’s Championship

 Saturday, 2:30-4:30 AM, ESPN; Encore, 8:30-11:30 AM, ESPN2

 

Men’s Championship

 Sunday, 2:30-5:30 AM ESPN; Encore, 7-11 AM ESPN2

 

 Predictions

 

Women’s Semis

No.1 Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) over No.11  Paula Badosa (Spain) 6-4, 6-2

 

No.2 Iga Swiatek (Poland) over No.19 Madison Keys (U.S.) 6-4, 6-3

 

Women’s Championship

 

Sabalenka versus Swiatek

Sabalenka , 24 years old, is going for her third straight Aussie title and fourth Slam as she won the U.S. Open in 2024 as well.  Iga has five majors on her resume with four French Opens (2020, 2022, 2023, 2024) and a US (2022). This is going to be an epic, extremely hard-fought championship match, and I like Iga, the 23 year old, to prevail and capture her 6th Grand Slam championship.

 

Swiatek over Sabalenka 5-7, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-5)

 

Men’s Semis

 

No.1 Jannik Sinner (Italy) over No. 21 Ben Shelton (U.S.), 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3

 

No.7 Novak Djokovic (Serbia)  over No.2 Alexander Zverev (Germany) 6-4, 7-5, 6-4

 

Men’s Championship

 

Sinner versus Djokovic

 

The great champion, Novak, has captured 24 Grand Slam titles. That’s head spinning and the all time best. He’s joined forces with former three-time major champion Andy Murray, now his coach, to put together quite a run this fortnight as he’s coming off a highly impressive victory over No.3 seeded Carloz Alcaraz, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4. Carlos is already a four-time major champion at 21 years old. The Spaniard’s last Slam was Wimbledon in 2024. Novak has won 10 Austrailan’s and is on a roll right now. He’s found a Fountain of Youth at 37 years old.

 

 However, 23 year pld Jannik Sinner is also a phenom. He describes himself in his highly admirable, self-deprecating way as “boring.” He eats healthily, he sleeps 10 hours a day, he trains and he competes. He won two Slams in 2024; the Australian and the U.S. He’s a matador on the hard surface. He really is on any surface. Critics get on Scottie Scheffler for being boring, also. He’s boring to the tune of two Masters (2022, 2024), two Players (2023 and ’24) and an Arnie, among his 13 PGA Tourvictories; seven of which came in 2024. He also threw in a Fed Ex Cup last year to go along with that. Jannik is on the same track as Scottie. Scottie is 27, and less I forget, he also won the Gold Medal in the Paris Olympic Games last summer. So give me Scottie Scheffler and Jannik Sinner’s boring lives all day. They feature multiple major/legacy titles, which still matter, and life changing checks. I’d actually say they’re living their best lives. The great champion will give Jannik a heckuva battle, but I like the young stallion to prevail.

 

Sinner over Djokovic, 7-6 (7-5), 5-7, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Divisional Round of the National Football League Playoffs was both exhilarating and heartbreaking.

AFC Divisional Round at Buffalo

Bills 27, Ravens 25

The Ravens’ faithful’s patience is being wearing thin. The Lamar Jackson/John Harbaugh tenure is being questioned once again, as the Ravens fans are thinking and saying, “Can these two guys ever get it done?” But it was a spectacular contest with elite play from both Buffalo and Baltimore. The Bills were just a little better, and the Ravens turned the ball over three times, two of those turnovers resulted in a touchdown and a field goal, respectively. Lamar threw an interception and added a fumble that was converted into a TD. The usually reliable tight end Mark Andrews fumbled after a nice gain on a pass play late in the game, which led to a Bills’ field goal that put them up 27-25. And after Jackson threw for a TD with a minute and a half left to cut the deficit to 27-25, he rolled to his right and threw what looked like the game tying two point conversion pass. But Andrews shockingly dropped it. Reminded me of Bill Buckner in the 1986 World Series versus the Mets letting the third out roll right through his legs at first base giving the Mets life in the World Series in game six. If Buckner makes that play the Red Sox win the World Series. The Mets won in 7. He was a great player, but will be remembered for that mostly. If the Ravens never win a Super Bowl that play will haunt Andrews for the rest of his life. This is one of the elite tight ends in the NFL. It’s inexplicable. To his defense, it was a slick ball due to the snow in Buffalo. But the Bills didn’t drop key passes. And The Bills didn’t turn it over and won the game because of that. Josh Allen is a machine. The Bills quarterback is unstoppable with his arm and his legs. John Harbaugh has to shoulder part of the blame as well. After the Ravens scored a TD late in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 21-19, Harbaugh decided to go for two and tie it. I like kicking there. The analytics say go for two, but I say a coach needs to use his common sense. You don’t need to go for two in the third quarter. Bama Golf brought that up about Steve Sarkisian after he went for it in the first half at fourth and four instead of kicking a field goal against Ohio State in the semis. These supposedly “elite” coaches don’t use common sense and it cost both their respective teams the games. So when the Bills kicked two field goals in the fourth quarter to gu up 27-19, the Ravens had to score and convert the two point try on their possession. They got the TD, but Andrews didn’t come through. That’s on Harbaugh in my opinion. The Bills move on to Kansas City next Sunday, while the Ravens try to figure out if they’re ever going to get over the top with Harbaugh, Lamar and company. Harbaugh has the 2012 Lombardi Trophy on his resume, but Baltimore natives have to be getting tired of this.

Chiefs 23, Texans 14 @ KC

The Chiefs look unbeatable at Arrowhead. Patrick Mahomes was 16 of 25 for 177 and a 7; not superb, but good enough. Travis Kelce with the ever present Swiftie in attendance (extremely tired of that like Bama and Derrick and many others are), caught 7 passes for 117 yards and a 7. He and their stellar defense were the difference. Can the Chiefs be defeated at home? It looks almost impossible.

Sunday, 1/26/25

AFC Conference Championship Game

Bills (15-4, 5-4 Away) @ Chiefs (16-2, 9-0 Home)

5:30 PM CT

CBS

Chiefs by 2

NFC Divisional Round

@Detroit

Commanders 45, Lions 31

This looked like it could be the Lions year to break through and win their first Super Bowl since the inception of the game in the 1966 season, when Vince Lombardi and the Packers won the first of their two consecutive Super Bowls. Lombardi didn’t have any trouble with it like the Lions and the Ravens do. Jayden Daniels was superb completing 22 of 31 for 299, for 2 TDs and 0 ints. His rating was 122.9, which is excellent. 158.3 is perfect, and anything above 120 is terrific. Daniels has ice packs in his veins. Just a cool customer, a completely confident player and a total winner as a rookie quarterback in the National Football League. Brian Robinson Jr. from? the University of Alabama, rushed for 77 yards on 15 carries and added 2 TDs. It was a tremendous effort from an organization that has been down for so long since the glory days of Joe Gibbs. With my favorite hockey team, the Washington Capitals, boasting the best record in the National Hockey League through 46 games this season and their “Great 8,” Alex Ovechkin, 21 goals from breaking Wayne Gretsky’s, “the Great One’s” all time goals scored record—Gretsky finished his career with 894 and Ovechkin is now at 874, just 21 shy of breaking the record—these are exciting times in the nation’s capital; at least in sports. The Commanders have a tough assignment coming up, but I don’t put anything past Daniels.

@ Philly

Eagles 28, Rams 22

This was actually a pretty slow game until the fourth quarter. Then it got electric with the Rams having the ball and driving in to win it before Matthew Stafford was unable to complete his final two passes on third and fourth down thanks to the pass rush led by the Eagles’ great defensive tackle, Jalen Carter, from Georgia. Saquon Barkley is a phenom of phenoms. He rushed for 205 yards and two TDs, including a 78 yard house call that you just don’t see much in the NFL really ever except for Saquon and Derrick Henry. The Eagles held off the Rams in a classic. Saquon has a strong argument for MVP of the National Football League. The guy ran for 2,005 yards and 13 TDs this season and sat out the final game or he might have broken Eric Dickerson’s 2,105 record for a regular season. Of course, that would be in 17 games for Saquon versus 16 for Dickerson. Still, what a tremendous season by Barkley. The 50 voters vote at the end of the regular season before the playoffs start, but I wish they would wait until after the playoffs. Lamar threw for 41 TDs and 4 ints, and rushed for over 1,000 yards, which is very strong. And Josh Allen threw for 28 TDs and rushed for 12 more TDs, so both of those guys have good arguments. But can you project at least what will happen in the playoffs and understand that Lamar is going to gag, and Allen has to go to Kansas City, and that Saquon and the Eagles are outstanding? His talent, his work ethic and his humility are beyond reproach. Give me Saquon as my MVP. Lamar will probably win it, but Saquon may be playing for the ultimate award; the Lombardi Trophy.

Sunday, 1/26/25

Commanders (14-5, 7-3 Away) @ Eagles (16-3, 10-1 Home)

2 PM

FOX

Eagles by 5 1/2

Predictions coming up later this week Thursday or Saturday-paraphrasing Elvis Costello’s song, “Clubland,” in which he says, “Thursdays and Saturdays, money’s gone already.” Hope the Due Rights and the Bush Hogs don’t find this the case on Saturday for those who want to get out in colder weather and give it a whirl. The Due Rights and the Bush Hogs will need a couple of layers that day and some will need their wallets loaded up.

National Championship Prediction

Notre Dame (14-1) vs. Ohio State (13-2)

Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, 75,000

6:30 PM CT

ESPN

Chris, Kirk, Holly, Molly

Yella: SEC, Steve “Christopher” Marlowe. Christopher Marlowe was a 16th century playwright and poet who had a major influence on William Shakespeare. That’s my English/History tidbit for the day.

Buckeyes by 9

I just think the offensive arsenal of Ohio State and that defense that leads the country in scoring D at 12.1- although the Fighting Irish also have a tough defense and good running game–is too much for Notre Dame. I wish I could pick Marcus Freeman and the Irish. They are so likeable now, unlike Notre Dame teams of the past. But this unlikeable Ohio State team is loaded. Freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith is once again saying to the media that he can’t be stopped in man to man coverage. He was wrong against Texas; they neutralized him. He finished with one reception for three yards. The Longhorns couldn’t stop Quinshon Judkins, TreVeyon Henderson, Will Howard and Emeka Egbuka however, and the pass rushing tandem of JT Tuimoloau (11 1/2 sacks) and Jack Sawyer (9 sacks) was unstoppable as well. Maybe this is deception by Smith, so Notre Dame will concentrate on him. Maybe a little sandbagging. The great Caleb Downs is the X factor for the Buckeyes. The former University of Alabama safety is the leader on the Buckeyes defense, along with Sawyer, and makes key play after key play. Man, Nick Saban could really recruit. Look at the NFL. Kalen DeBoar has his work cut out for him this upcoming season. He didn’t take advantage of the talent that was given to him by Saban in 2024. He’ll have several Saban players back in 2025 and has added an excellent 2025 recruiting class, so he’ll be more under the radar in 2025.

Twenty-twenty five is a crucial year for Hugh as well. His recruiting was excellent. He landed 10 of the top 12 players in Alabama for 2025, and he also landed quarterback Jackson Arnold from Oklahoma, and today added quarterback Ashton Daniels from Stanford. Both are talented. So the pressure will mount for Hugh in 2025. He must produce. I think he will, actually. I know Alabama fans hope DeBoar will too. He needs to

Ohio State 31, Notre Dame 14

Eight  teams are competing this weekend to move even closer to an appearance in Super Bowl 59 and have a shot at the coveted Lombardi Trophy that comes with the ultimate victory at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. Super Bowl LIX kicks off at 5:30 PM CT on Sunday, February 9th on FOX.

Here are predictions for the four Divisional Round games in the National Football League; with two games on Saturday and two on Sunday. The winners advance to the AFC and NFC Championship Games, respectively.

 

Last Week: SU-4-2; ATS: 3-3

 2023-24 Playoffs record: 8-5 SU; 7-6 ATS.

 

 

All times Central

 Saturday

 AFC

 Houston Texans (11-7, 5-4 Away) @ KC Chiefs (15-2, 8-0 Home)

 GEHA Field @ Arrowhead Stadium, KC, 76,416

 3:30 PM

 ESPN/ABC

 Joe, Troy, Lisa, Laura

 Refs, Clay Martin, Lead Laundry

 Chiefs by 8

 

CJ Stroud was awesome last Saturday against the Chargers, and DeMeco Ryans is already a heckuva football coach at 40 years old. The future’s extremely bright for the Texans. I just don’t see’em keeping up with Mahomes and the Chiefs on the road. Arrowhead is as tough a place to win as it gets in sports, particularly with the quarterback and stellar defense that they have.

 Chiefs 27, Texans 17

 

NFC

Washington Commanders (13-5, 6-3 Away) @ Detroit Lions (15-2, 7-2 Home)

 Ford Field, Motown, 65,000

 7 PM

 FOX

 Kevin, Tom, Erin, Tom R.

 Yella: Ron Torbert

 Lions by 9

 Commanders rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels is a magician, and will keep this closer than expected. His leading his team to victory at Tampa last Monday was, as usual, miraculous. Detroit has running back David Montgomery back from injury, so he’ll team up with Jahmyr Gibbs for a potent 1-2 rushing combination, and Jared Goff and the receivers are equally prolific. The Commanders make it tough, but I like the Motor City Boys to survive and advance and host the NFC Championship Game next Sunday, 1/26/25.

 Lions 31, Commanders 24

 

Sunday

 

NFC

LA Rams (11-7, 5-3 Away) @ Philadelphia Eagles (15-3, 9-1 Home)

 Lincoln Financial Field, Philly, 67,594

2 PM

NBC

Mike, Cris, Melissa, Kaylee

Yello? Shawn Smith

 Eagles by 6

 I like this to be an extremely hard fought contest and for the Rams to give the Eagles everything they want. It’ll be interesting to see what book AJ Brown makes a New York Times bestseller this Sunday. He needs to remember to catch the football too! As Troy Aikman likes to say a lot, “Make a play!”

 Eagles 24, Rams 21

 

 AFC

Baltimore Ravens (12-5, 6-3 Away) @ Buffalo Bills (14-4, 9-0 Home)

 Highmark Stadium, Orchard Park, N.Y., 71,608

 5:30 PM

 CBS

 Jim, Tone, Trace, Jay Feely

 Ol’Yellar: Carl Cheffers

 Ravens by 1

 This is the game of the weekend, although the others are very good also. The two top MVP candidates, with one getting the award in a couple of weeks, compete against each other. Lamar versus Josh. Stellar. Derrick Henry, and tight ends Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely are  the X factors for the Ravens here. I like Lamar, Henry and the Ravens to get over the hump, barely, in one of the toughest road environments in the National Football League.

 

Ravens 23, Bills 21

 

Monday: National Championship Prediction

 

No.8 Ohio State (13-2) vs No.7 Notre Dame (14-1)

Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, 6:30 PM CT, ESPN

Typically, Lou Holtz picked Notre Dame and disrespected Ohio State and Ryan Day once again. I’ll let you know what I think Monday, the day of the game.

We now have a national  championship matchup on the schedule after two teams advanced through three rounds of the inaugural 12-team playoff to reach the coveted destination in college football for the 2024 season, N’Awlins, where they will square off Monday, January 20th, 2025 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta for the ultimate award in college football, the National Championship trophy.

 The 7th seeded Fighting Irish of Notre Dame survived and advanced in a phenomenal contest with the 6th seeded Penn State Nittany Lions on Thursday Night at the Orange Bowl winning by virtue of a last second 41 yard field goal by kicker Mitch Jeter to “matriculate” to Atlanta by a score of 27-24.

They’ll face the 8th seeded and powerful Ohio State Buckeyes, a 28-14 winner over 5th seeded Texas at the Cotton Bowl in Arlington Friday Night. I don’t know what player the Tennessee Titans are thinking about picking for their first overall pick in the NFL draft in Green Bay (awesome venue) April 24th-26th(Thursday-Saturday), but they’d do well to select Ohio State defensive end Jack Sawyer. He’s a force; a game changer. His sack and scoop and 83-yard take it to the house score to clinch the game for the Buckeyes Friday Night with 2:28 left in the game was a historically great play in college football history; particularly in the postseason. Has to go down as one of the great plays in postseason college football history.  Former Alabama superstar safety Caleb Downs was spectacular as well for the Buckeyes.

 So, it’s the Buckeyes and the Fighting Irish at 6:30 PM CT, Monday, 1/20/25, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta with ESPN and several other platforms broadcasting. ESPN is the best bet. The Buckeyes are already a 9 ½ point favorite. The Fighting Irish are extremely scrappy and talented, but the Buckeyes are totally loaded. Should be an electric atmosphere. Nothing like college football, I must say. Have really enjoyed the new 12-team playoff. Was skeptical before it because I didn’t know if some of the teams could handle the injury toll of possibly playing four games with injuries being such an X factor. But the Buckeyes and the Fighting Irish persevered. It’s been a thriller, particularly the semifinal games..

 I’ll break it down and predict the CFB National Championship on Monday, 1/20/25 and have that column out late that morning.

 College Football Record so Far

Postseason: SU: 16-9; ATS 12-13.

Season: SU: 168-64 (72%); ATS: 120-111 (52%).

 

NFL Playoffs, Wild Card Predictions

 

There are six games on the slate starting with 2 contests today. There will be three more games Sunday and one on Monday.

 Here are analyses of the games and which of the teams I like to win and advance to the Divisional Round next weekend with quarterback “Football is Life!” and Coach “Fumble-rooooski” waiting in the AFC as the No.1 seed, and Dan Campbell, Jared Goff, Jahmyr Gibbs and the Lions waiting in the NFC as its’ No.1 seed.

 

All Times Central

 

Today

 

Los Angeles Chargers (11-6, 6-3 Away) @ Houston Texans (10-7, 5-3 Home)

 NRG Stadium, Rocket City, 72,220

 3:30 PM

 CBS

 Ian Eagle, Charles Davis, Evan Washburn

 Laundry: Land Clark

 Chargers by 3

 It’s a nice matchup of quarterbacks with the Chargers’ Justin Herbert and the Texans’ C.J. Stroud squaring off. Herbert’s been pretty good overall and Stroud is talented and had an excellent season in 2023, but both have struggled with consistency. DeMeco Ryans is a stellar coach and the Texans are solid, but I’ll take younger brother Jim Harbaugh and the Chargers here.

 

Chargers 21, Texans 17

 

Pittsburgh Steelers (10-7, 5-4 Away) @ Baltimore Ravens (12-5, 6-2)

 M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, 71,008

 7 PM

 Prime Video

 Al, Kirk (doin work!), Kaylee

 Vogue, Alex Kemp

 Ravens by 9

 

How do you deny Lamar and Derrick, as long as the dog stays off the couch! Big Brother John Harbugh and his electrically talented team forge ahead.

 Ravens 27, Steelers 17

 

Sunday

 

Denver Broncos (10-7, 4-5 Away) @ Buffalo Bills (13-4, 8-0)

 Highmark Stadium, Orchard Park, N.Y., 71,608

 12 PM

 CBS

 Jim, Tone, Trace

 Mark’s Cleaners, Bill Vinovich

 Bills by 8 ½

 

Josh Allen is Lamar’s number one competitor for the MVP of the National Football League, but I like Sean Payton, Bo Nix and the Broncos to keep this closer than anticipated.

 Bills 27, Broncos 21

 

 

Green Bay Packers (11-6, 5-3 Away) @ Philadelphia Eagles (14-3, 8-1 Home)

 Lincoln Financial Field, Philly, 67,594

 3:30 PM

 FOX

 Kevin, Tom, EA, Tom R.

Aladdin, Brad Allen

 Birds by 5

 

Jalen Hurts is back after two weeks of concussion protocol and he, 2,000 yard rusher Saquon Barkley, the great wide receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith get it done over a scrappy Packers team. I love the Packers and think they have a shot. My good friend, who’s a golf pro, is a huge Packers fan as he is from Wisconsin, so I’d like to see them have success. Nonetheless, I just think the Eagles are too much at home. The Eagles will be a major factor this postseason. My older daughter’s boyfriend is from Philly, so I pull for him a lot, too.

 

Eagles 31, Packers 24

 

 

Washington Commanders (12-5, 5-3 Away) @ Tampa Bay Bucs (10-7, 6-4 Home)

 

Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, 75,000

 7 PM

 NBC

 Mike, Cris, Melissa

 Suds and Duds (Due Rights’ 4-footers): Craig Wrolstad

 Bucs by 3

 

I was ready to pick the great rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels and the Commanders last night. He’s a magician. However, I’ll take the Bucs’ Bake Mayfield and his experience, and a reinforced secondary with free safety Antoine Winfield and former Auburn standout, cornerback Jamel Dean, back from injuries and starting That’s huge.

 

Bucs 28, Commanders 24

 

Monday

 

Minnesota Vikings (14-3, 6-2 Away) @ Los Angeles Rams (10-7, 6-4 Home)

 State Farm Stadium, Glendale, Arizona, 63,400

 7 PM

 ESPN

 Joe, Troy, Lisa

 Wash and Go, John Hussey

 Vikings by 2 ½

 This game was moved from SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, CA.  to Glendale due to the tragic Palisades Fire occurring for the past four days in L.A. Thoughts and prayers go out to the people of greater Los Angeles. I like the Rams to play for their city and pull off the slight upset. Matthew Stafford and his Rams advance to the Divisional Round.

 

Rams 24, Vikings 21

 

 

 

 

The semifinals of the first 12-team College Football Playoff kicks off tonight at 6:30 as Notre Dame squares off with Penn State, while the second semifinal will commence Friday Night at 6:30 with Texas facing the Ohio State Buckeyes. Both games can be seen on ESPN.

 It’s a clash of four storied programs. Notre Dame reached the Orange Bowl semifinal by defeating Indiana in the first round at South Bend, 27-17, then dominating Georgia in the quarterfinals at the Sugar Bowl last Thursday, 23-10. Penn State qualified with dominating victories over SMU and Boise State (Fiesta Bowl), respectively.

 Ohio State dismantled Tennessee in the first round at Columbus, and then blasted No.1 seeded Oregon in the Rose Bowl; while Texas defeated Clemson and Arizona State (Chick-fil-A Bowl) to advance to the Cotton Bowl semifinal.

 Here are previews along with predictions for these classic semifinal games.

 Record

 Bowls, SU-14-9; ATS: 10-13

 Season: SU-166-64, 72%; ATS- 118-111, 52%.

 

Tonight

The Orange Bowl

 No.7 Notre Dame (13-1) vs. No.6 Penn State (13-2)

 Hard Rock Stadium, Miami, 65,326

6:30 CT

 ESPN

 Sean, Gregory, Molly, Katie

 Yellow: Big 12, Michael “Russell” Vandervelde

 Fighting Irish by 1

 This is a clash of hard-nosed, physical football teams. Love what Marcus Freeman has done at Notre Dame and James Franklin has also been stellar at Penn State. Franklin has been more aggressive offensively this year and has pulled off some nice fake punt stuff. Freeman’s defense swarms to the football and lays the lumber. The Penn State defense is similar in that regard.

Notre Dame is led by quarterback Riley Leonard, who has completed 232-of-349 attempts, 67%, for 2,382 yards, 18 TDs versus 6 ints. Leonard is a Fairhope, Alabama native who played at Fairhope High School and is a first year transfer from Duke. He’s also rushed for 831 yards and 15, 7’s. Jeremiyah Love is the Irish’s workhorse at tailback. Love has rushed for 1,076 yards and 16 TDs. Jadarian Price is a stellar backup, who has rushed for 720 and 7. Beux Collins leads the team in receiving with 37 catches for 458 yards and 3 TDs. Their kick return game is excellent with Jayden Harrison averaging 27.4 yards per return, which included a 98 yard house call against Georgia to open the second half last Thursday.  Outside linebacker Jack Kiser leads the Irish in tackles with 75, while the Irish have 36 sacks on the season led by Rylie Mills, who’s posted 7 ½ for -59 yards. But Mills is out with a knee injury suffered against Indiana in the first round. Nose tackle Donovan Hinish is second on the team in sacks with 4 1/2. He and the other front seven guys will try and pick up the void left by Mills. Free safety Xavier Watts leads the defense with 6 interceptions and he’s taken one of them back to the house. The Irish have 18 interceptions on the season, including 5 for house calls. That’s pretty awesome.

The kicking game had been a bit of a struggle, but Mitch Jeter has settled down and had a nice postseason.

 For Penn State, junior quarterback Drew Allar is a veteran and has completed 250-of-371, 67%, for 3,192 yards, 24 TDs versus 7 ints. All world tight end Tyler Warren is Allar’s major target. Warren can defeat other teams single-handedly with his pass catching prowess. He has 98 receptions on the season for 1,158 yards and 8 TDs. The running game is stout as well. Kaytron Allen has rushed for 1,026 yards and 8 TDs, while Nicholas Singleton has 1,015 yards and 9 TDs. Allar has rushed for 6 TDs himself. Defensive end Abdul Carter is banged up and questionable for tonight, but if he plays, he’ll be a disruptive force to Leonard and company. Carter has posted 21 ½ sacks this season for -115 yards. Strong safety Jaylen Reed leads the team in tackles with 92, and is tied with outside linebacker Tony Rojas for the interception lead with 3 each.

 Both coaches are African American, one of whom will be the first African American coach to coach in a national championship game. When asked about it, both coaches gave thoughtful answers. Franklin said there were 6 black head coaches when he was offensive coordinator at Kansas State in 2007 under African American head coach Ron Prince. That was out of 120 FBS playing schools. Now there are 16 in 134 schools. He was very positive about it. Freeman said he was honored to be in this scenario, but he also said he really loves his mother too, who is from South Korea and is a Korean native. The point is, it doesn’t have to be an issue. Both coaches, along with Coach Sark and Coach Day, are excellent, and their accomplishments speak for themselves. It’s awesome that Franklin and Freeman are in the Final Four of this Playoff. It should keep getting better in that regard and hopefully it won’t be a topic in the foreseeable future. It’ll just be a natural thing that’s about performance, not anything else. It’s important to a lot of people, but I think people also want to just let it happen naturally and not talk about it.

 Final Analysis and Prediction

Wow, these two teams are close. Both coaches are exceptional motivators, both quarterbacks are intelligent and tough, the running games for both teams are stellar, and the defenses are stout. The Fighting Irish dominated Georgia in the Sugar Bowl, and to me that separates them in this game. But not by much. Expecting a classic semifinal.

 

Notre Dame 24, Penn State 21

 

Friday

The Cotton Bowl

No. 8 Ohio State (12-2) vs. No. 5 Texas (13-2)

 AT&T Stadium, Arlington, TX., 80,000

 6:30 PM CT

 ESPN

 Chris, Kirk, Holly, Laura

 Laundry: ACC, Jerry Magallanes

 Buckeyes by 6

The Buckeyes have been on fire throughout the postseason. Quarterback Will Howard has been terrific, and on the year has completed 268-of-369, 73%, for 3,490 yards, 32 TDs versus 9 ints. Freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith has looked like a man amongst boys out there. He has 70 receptions for 1,224 yards and 14 TDs, including 4 in the playoff. Emeka Egbuka has added 70 for 896 and 10 TDs. The running backs are prolific with TreVeyon Henderson having rushed for 925 and 10 TDs, and Ole Miss transfer Quinshon Judkins adding 924 and 10 TDs himself. The offense has been an unstoppable force in the Playoff. The O line had been having issues in the regular season, but has settled down and is now playing stellar. The defense is led by bookends JT Tulmoloau (right defensive end), who has posted 17 TFL’s for -94 yards and 10 sacks for -72 yards, and on the left side, Jack Sawyer has added 8 TFL’s for -59 along with 8 sacks. Middle linebacker Cody Simon leads the defense in tackles with 97. The great Caleb Downs, from the University of Alabama, has posted 71 tackles with 6 ½ for loss. He also has an int and a 79 yard punt return for a house call in the regular season versus Indiana.

 For the Longhorns, which gets to play a de facto home game with Arlington a three hour drive from Austin, the talented but sometimes erratic Quinn Ewers leads the offense at quarterback. Ewers has completed 270-of-406, 66%, for 3,189 yards, 29 TDs versus 11 ints. Last Wednesday, New Year’s Day, was a great example. After struggling for most of the Chick-fil-A quarterfinal bowl game against Arizona State, he completed a fourth and seven for a 7 to tie the game and send it into overtime, and threw two TDs in overtime. It can be a mixed bag with Ewers at times, but when he has time, he can be prolific. Quintrevion Wisner leads the Horns in rushing with 1,018 yards and 5 TDs. Jayden Blue has rushed for 714 and 8 TDs. They were both pretty quiet against Arizona State, but both are capable. Against the stellar Ohio State front, they’ll have to have some blocking to have success on the ground. Matthew Golden leads the Horns in receiving with 56 receptions for 936 and 9 TDs. Tight end Gunnar Helm is also a weapon. He has 58 receptions for 744 and 7 TDs. The great one from Alabama, Isaiah Bond, added 33 receptions for 512 and 5, 7’s. Bond has been banged up lately, so it’ll be interesting to see how effective he is against Ohio State. Defensively, middle linebacker Anthony Hill leads the team with 107 tackles, 16 TFLs and 7 ½ sacks. Linebacker David Gbenda and cornerback Jahdae Barron lead the D with 5 ints apiece. The Longhorns have 21 interceptions on the season; tied for second in the country with San Jose State They both finished one int behind BYU (22).

 

Final Analysis and Prediction

 This is a home game for Texas for the most part and that means a lot. But I don’t see the Longhorns doing enough to stop Will Howard and the elite Jeremiah Smith. It’s amazing Smith is a freshman. He’s 6’3”, 215. As coaches like to say, he’s no longer a freshman anymore. He’s been through a ton of battles, and is now a seasoned veteran heading into this Cotton Bowl matchup with Texas. Give me that twosome, the Buckeyes running game and their elite defensive ends, Tulmoloau and Sawyer, to cause havoc for Ewers and help the Buckeyes advance to the National Championship Game on Monday, January 20th at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta (sorry wrote Caesars Superdome in N’Awlins on Thursday-Super Bowl LIX (59) there instead) at 6:30 PM CT on ESPN to face off with the Fighting Irish. The Texas defense and the home crowd will be factors in this game, particularly the Longhorns secondary, but I like Howard to do enough with his outstanding offensive arsenal around him.

 Ohio State 31, Texas 24

Saturday: NFL Playoffs: Wild Card Games Previews/Predictions

Tuesday, SU: 1-3; Overall: 165-63, 72%; ATS: 0-4; 118-108, 52%

Predicting how 18-22 year olds are going to perform on a given day, like Jalen Milroe!, is like getting a root canal. It’s hard and it’s painful. But you keep on trying anyway….

 

Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl

 

No. 5 Texas (12-2) vs. No.4 Arizona State (11-2)

 Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, 71,000

 12 PM CT

 ESPN

 Tess, Jess, Katie (Texas sideline), Taylor (‘Zona State)

 Laundry, Big Ten, Larry Smith

 Texas by 13

 I like Sark and the Horns to advance to the semis to face the Oregon-Ohio State winner, below.

 

Texas 34, Arizona State 20

 

Rose Bowl

 

No.8 Ohio State (11-2) vs. No.1 Oregon (13-0)

 Rose Bowl, Pasadena 89,702

 4 PM CT

 ESPN

 Chris, Kirk, Holly, Stormy

 Yella, ACC, Adam Savoie

 Buckeyes by 2 ½

 Seems like Oregon, as the Number one seed, would get the Penn State draw and face an SMU or a Boise State, instead of Ohio State. Still, I like Coach Dan Lanning, quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who is a guy who should have won the Heisman over Travis Hunter? Really?, to prevail in the Granddaddy of them all.

 Oregon 31, Ohio State 30

 

Thursday

Sugar Bowl

 

No.2 Georgia (11-2) vs. No.7 Notre Dame (12-1)

 

Caesar’s Superdome, New Orleans, 73,208. Tragic early morning event in the city as some psycho killed 14 people and injured dozens others with a pickup truck. Really sorry for the city. The game has now been postponed to Thursday to regroup from the tragic attack on innocent people by the now shot dead perpetrator, who claimed to be a part of the Islamic State.

 3 PM CT

 ESPN

 Sean, Gregory, Molly, Laura

 Vogue, Big 12, Michael Vandervelde

 Dawgs by 1

Without an injured Carson Beck, it’ll be Gunner Stockton under center for Georgia. It looks pretty daunting for the Bulldogs as Notre Dame is playing like a juggernaut right now; but I love the resilience of this Georgia Bulldogs football team. Kirby Smart’s teams remind a lot of Nick Saban’s teams. Even when you counted the Crimson Tide out when they were the rare underdog, they still found a way to get the job done, just like Kirby’s teams are doing now. While Georgia is favored by a point, many experts are picking the Fighting Irish. It’ll be tough and should be a heckuva game, just like the Rose Bowl will be, but in Kirby and the Dawgs I trust. Rest pay cash.

 

Georgia 28, Notre Dame 24