The two-time defending and four-time Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles, the Lombardi Trophy winner in 2017, square off in N’Awlins for Super Bowl 59 this Sunday at 5:30 PM Central on FOX, as the two teams return to face each other after the Chiefs outlasted the Eagles 38-35 In Super Bowl 57 in February, 2023..

The Eagles’ Jalen Hurts was unstoppable in Super Bowl LXII and looked like he would lead the Eagles down to victory in State Farm Stadium in Glendale, AZ. on February 12th, 2023. But Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs were gifted with a very favorable defensive holding call on third down in Eagles territory that gave them an automatic first down and an ability to run the clock down and kick the last second field goal to clinch the victory. If the defensive holding call had not been whistled, the Chiefs would have attempted a 40-something yard field goal, which Harris Butker would probably have converted, but the Eagles would have received the ball back with a minute and a half remaining and all three timeouts. With the way Jalen was playing, I firmly expected the Eagles to get the 7 and win the game. He was unstoppable in that game.

 So Hurts and the Eagles are aiming for revenge and Mahomes and the Chiefs are gunning for history as the first team in the NFL to ever win three straight Super Bowls. The prolific Vince Lombardi and the Green Bay Packers won the NFL Championship in 1965 and the first two Super Bowls for the 1966 and 1967 seasons, but not three straight Super Bowls. That’s not discounting what the historically excellent Lombardi and the Packers accomplished; they were all time great. But there was no Super Bowl in the 1965 season, so technically they didn’t three-peat, at least for what would become the Lombardi Trophy. Ironically, Lombardi was so good, they named the trophy after him. If he hadn’t taken the General Manager position for the Packers in 1968 and then left the Packers for the Washington Redskins in 1969, he very well may have won three in a row,ven four in a row, at Titletown before his untimely passing at age of 57 from colon cancer on September 3rd, 1970. He left for the Redskins in 1969 as he was named head coach and executive vice president with full control over football operations and a 5% stake in ownership. The Redskins finished the 1969 season 7-5-2, their first winning record since 1955. The great Lombardi once said to his Packers team, “Gentlemen, we will chase perfection, and we will chase it relentlessly, knowing all the while we can never attain it. But along the way, we shall catch excellence.” He’s the lead figure on Football’s Mount Rushmore.

But Mahomes and his Chiefs team can 3-peat in the Super Bowl. It’ll be tough stopping the most resilient team in sports.

Here is a preview below along with a prediction for what is setting up to be a classic 59th edition of the Super Bowl at Caesars Superdome.

NFL Playoffs Record

Straight up: 8-4

Against the Spread: 8-4

Over/Under: 4-8; it’s a learning curve.

Super Bowl LIX

 Kansas City Chiefs (17-2) vs. Philadelphia Eagles (17-3)

 Caesars Superdome, New Orleans, 74,295

 5:30 PM CT

 FOX

 Kevin, Tom, Erin, Tom, Mike Pereira-rules.

Studio, pregame, halftime, postgame: studio host- Curt Menefee, analysts- Super Bowl champions Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long, Michael Strahan, Gronk, and Super Bowl winning coach Jimmy Johnson. Also, FOX Insider Jay Glazer with the inside intel.

 Referees: Lead referee: Ron Torbert; Side judge: Boris Cheek; Umpire: Mike Morton; Down judge: Max Causey; Line Judge: Mark Stewart; Field judge: Mearl Robinson; Back judge: Jonah Monroe; Replay official: Kevin Brown.

 Line: Chiefs by 1. Over/Under: 48 ½

Something that has really stood out to me, and I’m sure stands out with Excedrin, is the size of the Eagles offensive line. They average 6’6”, 338. That’s the tallest and largest in Super Bowl history. The 2023 Alabama offensive line averaged 338 across the board as well. They are the two biggest lines of all time in professional and college football.

 For the Eagles, center Cam Jurgens is 6’3”, 303; left guard Landon Dickerson, who may have some of the strongest guns I’ve ever seen, is 6’6”, 332; left tackle Jordan Mailata is 6’6”, 365; right guard Mekhi Becton is 6’7”, 363; and left tackle Lane Johnson, a perennial all-pro, is 6’6”, 325. They are over an inch taller and 26 pounds heavier than the Chiefs O line. I know quickness comes into play as well, but these guys have been very successful if you look at Saquon Barkley’s numbers in the regular season and the postseason. More on Saquon in a minute. The Chiefs’ four man defensive front across the board is left defensive end George Kanlaftis, 6’1”, 263; left tackle Tershawn Wharton, 6’1”, 280; right tackle Chris Jones, an absolute warrior, 6’6”, 310; and right defensive end Mike Danna, 6’2”, 257.

 And then you’ve got the skilled players on both sides. For Philly, it’s Saquon, Jalen, AJ Brown, DeVonta Smith and, to me, one of the X factors in the game, tight end Dallas Goedert. The great Saquon rushed for 2,005 yards and 13 TDs in the regular season, and has enhanced his resume with a dynamic postseason. Against the Packers in the Wild Card Round, he rushed for 119 yards on 26 carries. Versus the LA Rams in the Divisional Round, he rushed for 209 yards and 2 TDs, including 62 and 78-yard house calls. Against the Washington Commanders in the NFC Championship Game, he went for 118 on 21carries and 3 TDs, a 60 yard take it to the house run, and two 4 yard TD runs. The Eagles defeated the Packers, 22-10, the Rams, 28-22, and the Commanders, 55-23, in the Wild Card, Divisional, and NFC Championship games, respectively. Jalen Hurts rushed for three TDs in Super Bowl LVII, and looks totally healthy now after recovering from a knee issue that bothered him at the latter part of the regular season. He’s running well, and he and AJ. Brown, DeVonta and Goedert are definitely on the same page in the passing game. Vic Fangio coordinates  the defense, and he’s a savvy veteran who’s a believer in physicality and aggressiveness. He’s got studs, too. Nolan Smith has four sacks to lead the entire NFL in that category in the postseason.

 And then there’s Mahomes and the Chiefs, a seemingly unstoppable force when it comes to one possession games. Counting the playoffs, according to AI, the Chiefs have won their last 16, one possession games; the longest winning streak of one possession games in NFL history. In his four other Super Bowl appearances, in which he’s 3-1 with the only loss coming to TB12 when Brady was at Tampa Bay, Mahomes is 107-of-164, 65%, for 1,071 yards, 7 TDs against 5 interceptions. Not really overwhelming numbers, but does it matter if the guy always comes out on top? He just always seems to find a way. Andy Reid dials up the plays and Mahomes executes them to perfection in the clutch. He’s one of the most clutch an athletes in sports history. Kareem Hunt and Isiah Pacheco will man the ground game behind Mahomes, and the great Travis Kelce along with emerging stellar rookie wide out Xavier Worthy (Texas), maybe the fastest guy in the NFL, Hollywood Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster will test the Eagles secondary. On defense, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnola is considered the best in the game, and his defenses are always exceptional, though the Buffalo Bills rushed for 147 yards on them in the AFC Championship Game at KC. Bills running back James Cook rushed for 85 yards and 2 TDs, and Josh Allen threw for a pair of TDs, but the Bills came up heartbreakingly short once again to the Chiefs, 32-29.

 The Eagles were fortunate the Commanders defeated the Lions in the Divisional Round, so they never had to travel throughout the Playoffs. The Chiefs hosted both playoff games. The Chiefs also defeated the Houston Texans in the Divisional Round, 23-14.

 The kicking edge goes to the Chiefs coming in as veteran Harris Butker has been more reliable than the Eagles veteran Jake Elliott, though Elliott is has been very reliable in the past. He kicked three field goals in the victory over the Rams in the Divisional Round game. He’s struggled from 50 yards and beyond this season. Butker seems automatic from anywhere. The kick and punt return games look to be a wash as are the punters.

Final Analysis and Prediction

This is setting up to be a thriller in the Superdome. Both teams are full of highly talented athletes who are hungry to prove themselves. Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley want to win their first respective Super Bowls, and Mahomes, Kelce and the Chiefs want to make history. There’s no lack of motivation when playing for the Lombardi Trophy. The question is: can the Chiefs be stopped in big games that come down to the end?

 It’s’ hard to feel great about one team over the other because the talent is immense on both sides. It’s next to impossible to go against the superb Mahomes and the Chiefs; extremely hard.

However, I’ll take my chances with Saquon, Jalen and that massive offensive line. I like the Eagles to have success on the ground and some through the air. The Chiefs will too, as you aren’t going to stop Mahomes and company. I like a shootout with the Eagles prevailing.

Eagles 35, Chiefs 34

MVP: Saquon Barkley

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