Weekend winners
< College semifinal winners. You have to start the list of weekend winners with Alabama and Clemson, right? And to be more precise, the defenses on each side. Wow, Alabama was everywhere Washington turned and Clemson spent more time in the Ohio State backfield than anyone this side of J.T. Barrett. Kudos to each, and here's a belief that the right two teams are playing to decide the title.
< The New England Patriots handled their BID-ness over the weekend, securing home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs with a convincing win over Miami. That will make the already difficult chore of beating Tom Brady and the Patriots even more arduous. In addition to the bye Sunday and staying in Foxboro as long as they win, the position means the Patriots' first postseason game will be against a quarterback named McGloin or Cook, Savage or Osweiler, or Moore. Yes, please. (Side question: Which award to we show the most bias for, MVP or coach of the year? We ask because this is another year that Bill Belichick can make a hard argument as coach of the year, but it likely will go to Jason Garrett, Adam Gase or our pick, Dan Quinn.)
< The 'unders' in the bowl betting season. Underdogs went 25-14-1 during the bowl season against the spread. The under in total bets went 24-16. As for the best conference, well, the ACC was overwhelming in this bowl season, going 8-3 straight up and 9-2 against the number. (On the other side of that, Pac 12 teams were 0-6 against the spread - 3-3 straight up - and Big Ten teams were 3-7 overall and 4-5-1 against the spread.)
< Classy moments for a couple of fierce coaching competitors. Denver's Gary Kubiak generated applause in the press row - something that is more rare than a pleased Nick Saban - when he announced his retirement Monday. Kubiak stepped down for personal reasons, and several folks reported it could be health-related. In the NBA, known sourpuss Gregg Popovich presented Craig Sager Jr. with a thoughtful gift - his colorful tie he wore to Sager's father funeral - this weekend. Nice moves, coaches.
< NBA superstars. The league has returned to a place of high watchability because it has banked on its individual stars and that bet has paid off. How deep is the pool of A-level talent in the league? Well here are some numbers that may stun you: Jimmy Butler topped 50 points Monday, becoming the eighth player this season to hang half a hundred or more in a game. That matches the record for most in a season. We are not half way through the season. Also of note, the barrage of triple-doubles and the stats significance with that are eye-popping. Draymond Green posted a triple-double Monday and Golden State is 16-0 when Green hits double figures in points, rebounds and assists in a game. We all know that Russell Westbrook is a triple-double machine - he is averaging more than 30 points, and more than 10 rebounds and assists per game - but the speed in which Westbrook fills the stat sheet us shocking. Westrbook's triple-double Saturday - his 31st of the calendar year 2016 - happened in 28 minutes against the Clippers. And finally there is the line James Harden posted this weekend: He has three straight triple-doubles after Monday night's 23-10-10 vs. Washington, and Saturday night's was historic as he went 53 points, 17 assists and 16 rebounds. How big is that? Well, if Harden had not scored a single point, he would have been just the sixth player in NBA history to have more than 15 assists and rebounds in the same game. And he added a tidy 53 points on that for good measure. Wow.
Ronda Rousey leaves the octagon after losing to Amanda Nunes in the first round of their women's bantamweight championship mixed martial arts bout at UFC 207, Friday, Dec. 30, 2016, in Las Vegas. Nunes won the fight after it was stopped in the first round. (AP Photo/John Locher) Weekend losers
> We have to start with the Alabama offensive coordinator situation, right? Man, that's some crazy stuff. Here's what we know: Alabama's offense was noticeably conservative and less than its normal self on Saturday - the offense scored just 17 points in the 24-7 win; former OC Lane Kiffin says he came to Alabama coach Nick Saban saying he needed to step away because his divided attention between the Tide and his next job as the head coach at FAU was harder than he thought; Kiffin and Saban agreed to 'mutually' part ways, which considering the folks involved and the way Kiffin has exited every other job he's had, seems to stretch the definition of mutual; so enter new OC Steve Sarkisian, who when we last saw him he was eating a booger Saturday with about four minutes left against Washington. (Seriously. Check the tape.)
> Ronda Rousey. Everyone involved with the UFC owes a certain amount of gratitude to Rousey, who became a megastar in a dominant rise to the top of the female fighting world. That rise was ended for good Friday night when she suffered a brutal 48-second KO to Amanda Nunes.
> Mariah Carey. What was that? Her New Year's Eve performance was staggeringly bad because of technical difficulties, even causing her to Tweet "S@#$ Happens." Her people said nothing could be done when the pre-recorded songs did not work. Uh, here's an idea: How about you actually, you know, sing the songs? We're pretty sure you know the words and all since they are your songs.
> Brent Musburger. Brent has been around a long time and for the most part, that's a good thing. He has a great voice and for the most part he's pretty adept. But his rant about defending Joe Mixon and second-chances last night were at best inappropriate and continued his strange trend of tossing out masochistic views during a broadcast. Remember, he's the guy that came across as the dirty old man for making goo-goo eyes and talk to Katherine Webb a few years ago. (Side note: When did the Play-by-Play guys decide we all need to hear their opinions on stuff.)
> Washington Redskins. Win and you are in, and you gag it. Now you are going to have to pay Kirk Cousins franchise money. He's earned it; dude bet on himself and he delivered this year with a monster stat line. But are you really sure you want Cousins on a $100 million contract - which will mean trimming the cap and cutting players - without knowing if he can get you to the playoffs in a must-win game against a team that had nothing on the line? Seriously, if we ranked the NFL QBs, where does Cousins fall? Top 15, maybe?
> Gus Malzahn. Auburn scored a TD on its first drive and a meaningless one on its last drive and in between was an offensive nightmare for the most part for a staff that is supposed to be offensively innovated. Was there a single trick play? Was there anything outside the normal? Not really. And that's hard to accept, regardless of the injury to starting quarterback Sean White.
Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett leaves the field after the team's Fiesta Bowl NCAA college football playoff semifinal against Clemson, Saturday, Dec. 31, 2016, in Glendale, Ariz. Clemson won 31-0 to advance to the BCS championship game on Jan. 9 against Alabama. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri) College picks
Congrats to Scole023 for winning the seventh annual Bowling for Bowls of Bowl Game Success (Bowler optional). His 94 points were very impressive.
Speaking of picks, the 5-at-10's crystal ball (looks a lot like a Magic 8-Ball) is on fire since Dec. 1.
If you count the championship weekend of the college season that first Saturday in December, the bowl picks and the NFL picks, we are 30-15 against the number over the last five weekends. Gang, that's like the first time you watched "Gladiator" type of entertainment, and you guys are getting this info for free. Seriously, a five-week run of 66.7 percent is pretty sweet.
Merry Christmas everyone.
As for closing the loop on the bowl picks, we went 3-1 with Monday's games, hitting the under 40.5 in Florida's 30-3 win over Iowa, Oklahoma minus-3 in a 35-19 win over Auburn and Penn State plus-7 in a 52-49 loss to USC and missing the Cotton Bowl when Western Michigan covered the 8.5 number with a late cosmetic TD in a 24-16 loss to Wisconsin. (In fact, that was a pretty salty beat for those of us who had the Badgers. No, it's not the legendary stuff of the 2012 Belk Bowl when Cincy stunned Duke backers with two TDs in the final 90 seconds to win and cover. But, Western Michigan's final TD came on a fourth-down fling under pressure that the receiver managed to come down with between two defenders. Then, with Wisconsin in field goal range with less than two minutes left, the Badgers converted on third-down and ran out the clock. Alas.) Reviewing the conclusion to the final day of the bowl season reveals a couple of things:
Auburn's Gus Malzahn better hope junior college transfer quarterback Jarrett Stidham is as good as advertised or finding a new gig will be the top resolution for 2018 for the Tigers coach. After an impressive opening drive in the Sugar Bowl last night, the offense stagnated, the defense could not get off the field on third down and Oklahoma dominated. For an offensive-minded guy, the AU playbook seems very limited and when quarterback Sean White got hurt, well, it made it a lot easier for most Auburn fans to call it a night before the end of the game around 1 a.m. (Seriously, a 9 p.m. Eastern bowl start is pretty ludicrous gang.) It's completely fair to group Malzahn right there with Texas A&M's Kevin Sumlin and Arkansas' Bret Bielema as guys who face a make-or-break 2017 in the SEC.
Man, that Rose Bowl was fun, and man oh man, USC quarterback Sam Darnold has to start the 2017 atop many Heisman hopeful lists, right? Darnold did not start the first three games of the season for the Trojans. He got his chance in late September against Utah - a game the Trojans dropped 31-27. Since that debut, Darnold has not lost, winning nine straight. The redshirt freshman threw for 453 yards and a Rose Bowl record five TDs Monday as USC rallied to topple Penn State.
Maybe Iowa should forgo any more bowl trips. The Hawkeyes were pantsed by Florida, and have now lost five consecutive bowl games by a combined score of 172-75. Ouch-standing.
Here are our updated pick numbers against the spread with one college football game left this season (sigh):
College regular season: 49-34 (59 percent)
NFL picks: 12-4 (75 percent)
Bowl picks to date: 13-10 (56.5 percent)
This and that
- We will roll the NFL power poll one day and share that with the group on Wednesday. Deal? Deal.
- It's a pretty safe bet that the New England Patriots will have a spot in said power poll. We though this made for interesting reading as Tom Brady has a special 'lemon drink' made by the Pats training staff during games to stay fueled up. Here's betting that Brady's 'Lemon Drink' is better for you than, say, JaMarcus Russell's 'Purple Drank' back in the day. Thoughts?
- Speaking of NFL tidbits, the Tennessee Titans will have the No. 5 overall pick next spring in the draft thanks to the haplessness of the L.A. Rams, and their pick at No. 18 overall. Man, with a talented list of defensive players in the mix this year, Tennessee will have a lot of options. Here's the draft order. (Call this a hunch, but here's a thought that Titans DC Dick LeBeau - the former Pittsburgh defensive coordinator - would love to have the versatile skill set of Jabril Peppers, who has the size, speed and skill set to be a similar difference-maker to Troy Polamalu, who LeBeau turned into a Hall of Famer with the Steelers.)
- Couple of big storylines around these bowls that will only continues to grow: With the injuries to first-round TE prospect Jake Butts, who tore his ACL in the Orange Bowl, and the uglier-than-it-actually-was leg injury to USC star Adoree Jackson, the discussion of high NFL prospects sitting out bowl games will only continue. Also, with the way USC, Penn State and Oklahoma looked in their bowl games, the discussion of expanding the playoff will only grow.
Today's question
It's a true or false Tuesday as well as covering who won and lost the weekend. Designated holidays on Mondays are boss.
True or false, the Lane Kiffin-Alabama parting of ways was truly 'mutual.'
True or false, Gus Malzahn will make it through the 2017 season as Auburn's coach.
True or false, the Rose Bowl was the best bowl game of the season.
True or false, Brent Musburger's time has come and gone.
As for a Rushmore, well, we have a couple. First, let's do the Rushmore of Mel Gibson, who turns 61 today. Second, let's do a Rushmore of the best of the second-best sports siblings. Today, Eli Manning turns 36, and while not as good as older brother Peyton, he certainly is better than most less-accomplished sports siblings. Venus Williams also makes this list.
Go and enjoy the day.