December, 2025 | The Sports Curmudgeon

Pro and College Basketball Today

The LA Clippers are a mess. They are in 14^th place in the NBA Western Conference; realize there are only 15 teams in that conference; their record as of this morning is 6-18. Late last week, the Clippers basically fired Chris Paul; they simply told him to leave the team and go home; they said they would “work with him and his representatives” related to any future endeavors he might be interested in.

Chris Paul is 39 years old; his skills have diminished due to the passage of time. Having said that, Chris Paul will probably be a first-ballot Hall of Fame selection in the near future; yes, his skills have diminished, but they have diminished from an exceptionally high level. Moreover, Chris Paul has been a positive influence in the league and as a union member for many years; he had earned a less insulting end to his time with the Clippers.

A glance at the Clippers’ roster might shed some light on why that team is mired in a winning percentage of .250:

Even with Chris Paul sent home, there are seven players over the age of 30.
Three of those seven are over the age of 35.
Kawai Leonard is 34 and needs extensive load management.
Bradley Beal is 32 and is already injured and out for the rest of the year.

I have no idea who are the folks in the Clippers’ organization responsible for roster construction, but I do think that – – maybe – – those roster constructors are the ones that should be sent home.

Moving on … In college basketball, the Big East seems to be having a revival. Seton Hall, UConn and Villanova all have only one loss on their record so far in 2025. However, I think there is another dimension to the Big East Revival – – the return of coaches who are sideline presences.

In the old days, the Big East had some great teams AND the Big East had coaches who were usually described as “colorful”, but that underestimated them. Remember coaches like John Thompson, Lou Carnesecca, Rollie Massamino, Jim Boeheim, Rick Pitino, PJ Carlesimo and Jim Calhoun. Sometimes, those coaches put on nearly as entertaining a show on the sidelines as the players did on the court. The conference went through a “down cycle” but seems on the way back now and interesting coaches are back in charge of programs.

Shaheen Holloway at Seton Hall
Shaka Smart at Marquette
Kevin Willard at Villanova

Those three guys are sideline presences, but all of them have to be rated at a tier below Rick Pitino at St. John’s and Dan Hurley at UConn. Rick Pitno was in the “old version” of the Big East and did battle with those guys listed above; he is back in the conference again with the Red Storm. Dan Hurley would have fit in perfectly with the old cadre of Big East coaches save for the fact that in the last 1980s, Dan Hurley was just about ready to get his learners permit to drive a car.

And just to add a juicy storyline to Big East basketball, Rick Pitino will necessarily face his son, Richard Pitino, because “Pitino the Younger” oversees basketball at Xavier starting with this season. My interest in Big East Basketball is on the upswing …

One more note in college basketball today … I was scanning the Top 25 rankings this morning for men’s college basketball and noticed that there are no “small schools” or “mid-majors” there. There are some teams that I do not normally associate with top-shelf college basketball, but the schools that fit that description are all “big guys” on the college landscape. Probably the closest thing to a “small school” on the list would be St. John’s ranked 23^rd in the AP Poll – – and in the world of basketball, St. John’s is hardly a “little guy”.

I suspect that this situation is related to the NIL environment and the ability of bigger schools to have bigger NIL budgets leading to concentration of talent at the bigger schools. You can decry that if you wish, but I think it is a key element in the reality of college basketball in 2025/2026. We will see in March 2026 if there are “Cinderellas” out there looking to knock off these bug guys – – or if the phenomenon of “Tournament Cinderellas” is going into decline.

Finally, this from former UCLA coach, John Wooden:

“Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………

Football Friday 12/5/25

Friday rolled around quickly this week – – or so it seems. So, I have fastened my seatbelt and am ready to launch another Football Friday. I’ll start as usual with a review of last week’s “Betting Bundle”.

Spreads and Totals: 3-2-0
Season to Date: 24-37-2

And …

Money Line Parlays: 1-1 Profit = $175
Season to Date: 13-18 Profit = $402

Here is the final regular season result for Georgia Tech – – my “sleeper team” identified back in August before the season began.

Georgia 19 Georgia Tech 9: The Tech defense showed up here and held the Bulldogs to only 70 yards passing in the game. Unfortunately, the Georgia defense showed up too and held Tech to only 9 points in the game. Tech finishes the season with a 9-3 record; Georgia is 11-1. Tech will not play in the ACC Championship Game this week nor will it play in the CFP; however, they should get a nice bowl invitation and should be happy with a 9-win season.

College Football Commentary:

I mentioned the ACC Championship Game above; it bears a larger mention here. The game will involve Virginia (10-2 overall and 7-1 in conference games – – sort of) and not too many folks would have a problem with the Cavaliers participating there. Some nitpickers might point out that a loss to NC State (also in the ACC) did not count against the Cavs’ conference record because the game took place “outside the schedule range” for conference games. Don’t get me started on professional rule makers…!

The other team in that Championship game is Duke. The Blue Devils finished with a conference record of 6-2 – – and so did four other ACC teams including my “sleeper team” and Miami who is the highest ranked ACC team by the CFP Selectors. All 5 of those ACC teams have the same conference record but here are the overall records to consider:

Miami 10-2
Georgia Tech 9-3
Pittsburgh 8-4
SMU 8-4
Duke 7-5

If you are wondering how that came to be the pairing for the ACC Championship Game let me just say that the “rule makers” in the ACC – – the same ones that did not count that loss by Virginia to NC State because of the date the game took place – – also came up with a set of rules for tiebreakers at the end of the season.

I am not a “Duke Hater”; in fact, #2 son is a Duke alum. Notwithstanding that family tie to Duke, those tiebreaking rules make no damned sense. Period.

Considering the CFP situation – – which of course can be modified significantly by the results of the conference championship games this weekend – – I want to offer a way to look at the selection process.

If a coach or an AD or a University President feels the need to make a statement intended for national attention about the righteousness of that particular school’s worthiness for a CFP slot, then that team does not really belong in the tournament.
Supreme Court Justice, Potter Stewart, famously said that he could not precisely define hard-core pornography, but that “I know it when I see it.” Same goes for teams that truly belong in the CFP; they don’t need PR campaigns; they just belong there.

[Aside: Here is Justice Stewart’s full statement on the matter: “I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description [‘hard‑core pornography’], and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it, and the motion picture involved in this case is not that.”]

Over in the SEC, the Championship Game pairs Alabama and Georgia via a different set of tiebreakers in use by that conference. The matchup is strange – – but not nearly as outrageous as the one in the ACC – – so take a look:

Georgia 7-1 in conference 11-1 overall
Ole Miss 7-1 in conference 11-1 overall
Texas A&M 7-1 in conference 11-1 overall
Alabama 7-1 in conference 10-2 overall

One more confusing conference championship matchup will take place in the Mountain West with UNLV playing Boise St. for the title. Here is how the leaders in that conference finished the season:

UNLV 6-2 in conference 10-2 overall
New Mexico 6-2 in conference 9-3 overall
San Diego St 6-2 in conference 9-3 overall
Boise St 6-2 in conference 8-4 overall

The Big-10 and the Big-12 have clear-cut participants in their Championship Game. Indiana and Ohio State are the only two unbeaten teams in the country and they will square off probably to determine the overall #1 seed in the CFP. BYU and Texas Tech have the best conference records and the best overall records in the Big-12 and will play for the championship there.

Looking at the conference standings in general for this season popped an ominous thought into my head regarding the future of college football.

With the expansion of conferences to their bloated sizes of today and with the demonstrated potential for congestion at the top of the standings to cause confusion/consternation, might one of the conferences think about having a 4-team Conference Tournament to determine its champion instead of a single Championship Game?
Do not dismiss this too quickly; there is money to be made in such a situation.

Here are comments about some of last week’s games starting in the SEC:

Ole Miss 38 Miss St. 19: Cannot see any way that Ole Miss misses out on a CFP invitation with an 11-1 record.

Texas 27 Texas A&M 17: One of the three unbeaten teams going into last week’s games bit the dust here. Somehow, that loss will keep the Aggies out of the SEC Championship Game. Will that win by the Longhorns be enough to get Texas with an overall 9-3 record a place in the CFP?

Oklahoma 17 LSU 13: The Sooners will be hoping for a CFP invitation with their 10-2 record; LSU will prefer not to recall this season’s record of 7-5.

Vandy 45 Tennessee 24: Vandy finishes the year at 10-2 while Tennessee finishes at 8-4. This is the first time in school history Vandy has double-digit wins in a football season which is a big deal considering that Vandy first began playing intercollegiate football in 1890.

Quick Quiz: Who was the President of the United States in 1890?
Answer Below

Alabama 27 Auburn 20: The win gives “Bama a final record of 10-2 and participation in the SEC Championship Game – – and the win prevents rival Auburn from becoming bowl-eligible. Happy times in Tuscaloosa!

And in the Big-12 …

K-State 24 Colorado 14: The Buffaloes finish at 3-9 overall and at 1-8 in conference games. Coach Prime needs to work the Transfer Portal more effectively this year.

Iowa St. 20 Oklahoma St. 13: The Cowboys finish at 1-11. Oklahoma St. has not won a conference game or a game against a Division 1-A opponent since 2023.

Texas Tech 49 West Virginia 0: Tech finishes the regular season at 11-1.

Tech had 572 yards on offense.
West Virginia had 180 yards.
‘Nuff said.

BYU 41 UCF 21: BYU also finishes regular season at 11-1. Their single loss was to Texas Tech by 22 points in early November. This week is an opportunity for the Cougars to avenge that loss.

As for action in the Big-10:

Iowa 40 Nebraska 16: Iowa scored 40 points in one game?

USC 29 UCLA 10: There was a time when this rivalry game was also nationally interesting. Not this year …

Oregon 26 Washington 14: Oregon finishes 11-1 and that loss was by 10 points to undefeated Indiana. The Huskies are 8-4 and should get a decent bowl invitation.

Penn St. 40 Rutgers 36: Penn St. became bowl eligible with this win; Rutgers failed to become bowl-eligible with this loss.

Ohio St. 27 Michigan 9: The Buckeyes finish at 12-0. The officiating in this game was less competent than the players in this game.

In ACC action:

Miami 38 Pitt 7: Will that be enough for a CFP invitation to the Hurricanes? Miami has 2 losses – – to Louisville and SMU by a total of 9 points. In terms of “signature wins”, Miami beat Notre Dame by a field goal back in September.

BC 34 Syracuse 12: That is only the second win of the year for BC. Syracuse finishes at 3-9.

Duke 49 Wake Forest 32: Both teams will go to bowl games this year. Duke will play in the ACC Championship Game.

Virginia 27 Va Tech 7: A big rivalry win for the Cavaliers and a final record of 10-2 overall. Next up is the ACC Championship Game.

Cal 38 SMU 35: If SMU had won here, they would have been in the ACC Championship Game. SMU led 35-32 with 2 minutes left in the game – – but could not hold on.

NC State 42 UNC 19: The “Bill Belichick Experience” was not a positive experience in Chapel Hill this year.

In the Mountain West …

UNLV 42 Nevada 17: UNLV quietly finished the season with a 10-2 record.

Boise St. 25 Utah St. 24: Boise St. barely eked out a win here, but it was all it needed to assure a berth in the MWC title game.

New Mexico 23 San Diego St. 17: The Aztecs lost 2 of their last 3 games when I looked as if they had a stranglehold on the conference standings. That’s why you play the games …

And in games of interest to me …

North Texas 52 Temple 25: North Texas will play for the AAC Championship next week. North Texas has a freshman RB who has been on fire this season; in this game, Caleb Hawkins ran for 186 yards and 4 TDs.

James Madison 59 Coastal Carolina 10: Too bad JMU and North Texas cannot play off for that CFP slot assigned to teams outside the Power-4.

Delaware 61 UTEP 31: Delaware finishes at 6-6, which is a very good record for a team in its first season at the Division 1-A level. Congratulations to Delaware.

La Tech 42 Missouri St. 20: Even with a loss here, Missouri St. is bowl-eligible in their first year as a Division 1-A team with a 7-5 record. Congratulations to Missouri St.

Middle Tenn 31 New Mexico St. 24: This is the third win of the season for Middle Tennessee St. and it saves them from the SHOE Tournament.

Florida 40 Florida St. 21: Both teams finish under .500 for the season and will not be involved in any bowl games.

Washington St. 32 Oregon St. 8: Washington St. finishes the season at 6-6 and will represent the “PAC-2” in a bowl game somewhere.

Quick Quiz Answer: Benjamin Harrison was President of the United States in 1890

Now with the regular season at an end, it is time to award the Brothel Defense Award for 2025. Drum roll please:

UMass wins the award giving up 38.6 points per game in 2025.

The Brothel Defense Award came into being in 2020; so, this is the 6^th time it has been given to a college football team. Of those 6 times, UMass has been the “winner” of the award 3 times now (2021, 2023 and now again in 2025). Amazing …

Next on the agenda is the seeding for the SHOE Tournament. Remember the format here; it is an eight-team field. The teams play one another, and the losing team must play on until there is an ultimate loser which is the SHOE Team of the season. [SHOE is an acronym for Steaming Heap Of Excrement.]

#1 Seed: UMass 0-12
#2 Seed: Charlotte 1-11
#3 Seed: Georgia St. 1-11
#4 Seed: Sam Houston 2-10
#5 Seed Colorado St. 2-10
#6 Seed BC 2-10
#7 Seed: Purdue 2-10
#8 Seed: Oregon St. 2-10

Let the games begin …

NCAA Games of Interest this Week:

UNLV at Boise St. – 4.5 (58): Boise St. is leaving the Mountain West for the reconstituted PAC-12; UNLV would probably like inherit the mantle as the big dog in the conference. A win here would be a way to stake such a claim.

BYU at Texas Tech – 12.5 (50.5): On November 8^th, Tech beat BYU 29-7 on this same field… Both teams have strong defenses and neither team is an offensive juggernaut. I like this game to stay UNDER; put it in the “Betting Bundle”.

Georgia – 2.5 at Alabama (48): On September 27^th, “Bama beat Georgia 24-21 at Georgia … This is the fifth time these two teams have met in the SEC Championship Game and Alabama has won all the previous encounters. If you believe in trends … I am going to buck that trend and take Georgia to win and cover even in Tuscaloosa; put that in the ‘Betting Bundle”.

Duke at Virginia – 4.5 (56.5): On November 15^th, Virginia beat Duke 34-17 at Duke … In that game, the Cavs led by 4 TDs and took their foot off the gas. If Duke stays in the game into the third quarter, that will mean the game is going to light up the scoreboard. I think Duke can do that and so I’ll take this game to go OVER; put it in the “Betting Bundle”.

Indiana at Ohio St. – 3.5 (48.5): Meaning no disrespect to any of the other conference Championship games, this is the College Game of the Week. The winner will be the overall #1 seed in the CFP. Ohio St. brings a defense to this game which has not given up more than 16 points in any game this season. Indiana has posted some big numbers against lesser competition, but I wonder if they can get to 20 on this defense. I like Ohio St. to win and cover, and I like the game to stay UNDER; put those two selections in the “Betting Bundle”.

NFL Commentary:

There is still a month’s worth of NFL football in the 2025 regular season, and you will need to pay close attention because playoff standings and playoff races are likely to change week by week. Particularly in the NFC:

In the NFC Central the Bears lead the Packers by half a game
In the NFC South, the Bucs lead the Panthers by half a game
In the NFC West, the Rams/Seahawks are tied with the Niners half a game behind.

By comparison, the AFC is buttoned down – – but not really:

In the AFC North the Ravens and Steelers are tied for the lead.
In the AFC South, the Colts/Jags are tied for the lead with the Texans 1 game behind.

In the race to the bottom, five teams have already been eliminated from the playoffs this season:

Cards 3-9-0
Giants 2-11-0
Raiders 2-10-0
Titans 1-11-0
Saints 2-10-0

[Aside: Is it a “race to the bottom” or a “freefall to the bottom? Just wondering …]

Two years ago, the Eagles ran off to a 10-1 record and then the wheels came off as they lost 5 of their last 6 regular season games and made an early playoff exit. Eagles’ fans will not be happy about this, but I get the same sort of feeling about this year’s team; there is no energy and there is no emotion surrounding the 2025 team. As of today, the Eagles are 8-4-0; they are a short favorite on the road this week against the Chargers and should be about a touchdown favorite next week against the Raiders. They have two games against the Commanders – – usually hard-fought affairs – – and a game against the Bills. Theoretically, the Eagles could go 13-4-0 for the season; I will not be shocked if they go 10-7-0.

Here are comments on some of last week’s games:

Pats 33 Giants 15: The symmetry of the universe was conserved in this matchup. The Pats were 10-2-0 going in and the Giants were 2-10-0 going in. The mirror image of those two team records was preserved in this game.

Bucs 20 Cards 17: How many more one-score games can the Cards lose this year? If I have counted correctly, they have lost seven one-score games so far with five games left to play.

Jets 27 Falcons 24: The Jets are 3-9-0 which is not a good record by any measure – – but even after they traded away two of their best defensive players – – Quinnen Williams and Sauce Gardner – – the team defense keeps them in most games. Can it be that the Jets are poised to ”emerge” as a solid football organization/team? The Falcons just stink…

Texans 20 Colts 16: Do not sleep on the Texans. If that offense can just find ways not to blow games into oblivion, this team can get it done. The Texans’ defense is absolutely for real.

Jags 25 Titans 3: The Jags aspire to be a playoff team. Playoff teams dispatch inferior teams handily – – just as the Jags did here.

Panthers 31 Rams 28: This result made the races in the AFC South and in the NFC West much more interesting.

Niners 26 Browns 8: Shedeur Sanders got a win in his first NFL start two weeks ago. The message to him in this game was “Welcome to the NFL, Shedeur!”

Dolphins 21 Saints 17: This was the third straight win for the Dolphins. The Saints have the worst point differential in the NFC at minus-113 points.

Seahawks 26 Vikes 0: Here is the Bottom Line:

The Vikes have a serious QB problem. JJ McCarthy is nowhere near ready to be a starting QB in the NFL and his backups are UFL-level QBs.
The Vikes won 14 regular season games last year. The Vikes will struggle to win even half of that number in 2025.

Bills 26 Steelers 7: The Steelers too have a major QB problem. Aaron Rodgers has broken bones in his left hand/arm that limits the sorts of things he can do on handoffs and pitchouts. Mason Rudolph cannot be counted on to make the offense ambulatory let alone efficient and effective.

Broncos 27 Commanders 26: The football gods have smiled on the Broncos from the outset this season. The Commanders are experiencing what it was like to be an opponent of the Commanders in 2024 when the Commanders pulled rabbits out of hats to win games week after week.

Chargers 31 Raiders 14: The Chargers keep their playoff hopes alive with wins like this. The Raiders are simply on a lower level of existence for now.

Bears 24 Eagles 15: If someone described the Eagles’ offense in this game as “somnambulant”, that would be heaping undeserved praise on that unit. The Bears now have the overall #1 spot in the NFC and I certainly did not have that on my 2025 NFL BINGO Card back in August 2025.

Packers 31 Lions 24: The Lions’ record in 2025 is not nearly what the Lions’ record was in 2024. The reason is that the Lions’ OL is not nearly what the Lions’ OL was in 2024 in terms of offensive dominance.

Cowboys 31 Chiefs 28: To be sure of a playoff slot in the AFC, the Chiefs need to win out – – and that is not likely to happen. Meanwhile, the Cowboys have won 3 games in a row and much of the reason for that is their upgraded defense.

Bengals 32 Ravens 14: The Ravens look almost as out-of-sync/ discombobulated as do the Eagles. They should win the AFC North but keep finding ways to thwart that outcome. Oh, and just for the record, the Bengals are not yet eliminated from the AFC playoffs as the division winner or as a wildcard.

NFL Games This Week:

This will be the final weekend with teams on BYE Weeks for the 2025 NFL season:

Giants 2-11-0: Fans in NYC are probably coming up with scenarios where the Giants manage to lose while on a BYE Week.
Niners 9-4-0: Despite injuries galore – – particularly on the defense – – the Niners continue to hang in the NFC West race where they trail the Rams and the Seahawks by only half a game.
Panthers 7-6-0: The Panthers can do two things that winning football teams tend to do:
- - They run the ball well
  - They stop the run well.
Pats 11-2-0: Undoubtedly, this is the biggest surprise team of the year; the Pats are likely to win their division and might be the overall #1 seed in the playoffs after winning exactly 4 games in 2024 and being outscored then by a total of 128 points.

In last night’s game, the Lions shredded the Cowboys’ defense and cruised to a two-touchdown win. That loss significantly damages the Cowboys’ momentum toward a playoff slot this season; the Cowboys had been playing well behind a much-improved defense – – until last night. Jahmyr Gibbs scored 3TDs and Jared Goff threw for more than 300 yards against that defense and made it look easy while doing it. That game was not a “playoff game” in the sense that the Cowboys can go home and plan for next season, but it was an important result for both teams.

Just a foreshadowing here; this will be the largest “Betting Bundle” of the season to date.

Commanders at Vikes – 2 (42.5): I thought about this as the Dog-Breath Game for just a moment. How can the Vikes be favored over another pro team after scoring zero TDs in the last 8 quarters? The Commanders are a hollow shell, but they are better than a JJ McCarthy led offense; the wrong team is favored here. I like the Commanders to win straight up here so I’ll take them plus the points; put that in the “Betting Bundle”.

Dolphins – 3.5 at Jets (41.5): This game also attracted some Dog-Breath thinking. I don’t know if the Dolphins’ 3 game win streak here is enough to save Coach Mike McDaniel’s job and I also doubt that a minor uptick in interest for either franchise here is materially important. Historically, the Dolphins do not play well in cold weather games; the forecast for the weekend in NYC is for temps around 40 degrees which is on the cusp of “cold weather”.

Titans at Browns – 3.5 (34): This one here is the Dog-Breath Game of the Week. I doubt that I need to explain that label any further. Just look at that Total Line …

Steelers at Ravens – 5.5 (43.5): The Steelers have been up and down all season; the Ravens likewise. What surprises me the most is the sloppiness of the Ravens; that is not the hallmark of John Harbaugh-coached teams. I think this will be a game of mistakes; the team that makes the fewest will win. Because I think that is the way the game will unfold, I chose not to call this the Game of the Week even though the two teams are tied for the lead in the AFC North. The Ravens stunk out the joint at home last week; are they going to do that two weeks in a row?

Seahawks – 7 at Falcons (44.5): The Falcons are a mess; the Seahawks can be very good or they can be mediocre. I think the Falcons’ offense will have significant difficulty moving the ball and scoring on the Seahawks’ defense – – even though this is a body-clock game for the Seahawks.

Colts – 1.5 at Jags (47): This was a candidate for Game of the Week; the two teams are tied atop the AFC South. Here are some stats to consider if you are thinking about a wager here:

Colts have lost 3 of their last 4 games.
Colts have not won in Jax since 2014. [Really!]
Jags lead the NFL in rushing defense; Colts are 6^th in the NFL in rushing offense
Colts score 29.8 points per game; Jags allow 21.1 points per game.

Bears at Packers – 6.5 (44.5): This is the Game of the Week. The Bears have the best NFC record as of this morning and have won 5 in a row. The Packers are a half-game behind the Bears and have won 3 in a row. Hope this game is on in your viewing area; it should be a good one.

Saints at Bucs – 8.5 (42): The Bucs are in a race for a playoff spot; suffice it to say that the Saints have no similar motivation here.

Broncos – 7.5 at Raiders (40.5): The Broncos have a stranglehold on the AFC West race; the only “stranglehold” Raiders’ fans might be interested in would be one applied to the roster constructors for this year’s squad. The Broncos’ front seven on defense against the Raiders’ OL are a mismatch.

Rams – 7.5 at Cards (48): Here is yet another game between a team pushing for the playoffs and a team whose playoff hopes vanished about a month ago. As noted above, the Cards have lost 7 one-score games this year; I suspect this will be a two-score game or worse; give me the Rams to win and cover; put it in the “Betting Bundle”.

Bengals at Bills – 5.5 (53.5): The Bengals are still mathematically alive in the playoff race, and the Bills have not played well for about a month now.

(Sun Nite) Texans at Chiefs – 3.5 (42): This could be the coup de grace for the Chiefs in 2025. A loss for the Texans would be similarly disastrous. I think the Texans are on a roll, so I’ll take them here plus the points; put it in the “Betting Bundle”.

(Mon Nite) Eagles – 2 at Chargers (41): On the assumption that the Broncos take care of business against the Raiders on Sunday, this game is important to the Chargers because they would trail those Broncos by 3 games with a loss here. This is a big game for the Eagles too as they try to find a way to rid themselves of a malaise that has settled over the team.

So, let me review this week’s eight-item “Betting Bundle”:

Ohio St. – 3.5 over Indiana
Ohio St./Indiana UNDER 48.5
Georgia – 2.5 over Alabama
BYU/Texas Tech UNDER 50.5
Duke/Virginia OVER 57.5
Commanders +2 against Vikes
Rams – 7.5 over Cards
Texans +3.5 against Chiefs

As if that were not enough, here are two Money Line Parlays:

Browns @ minus-200
Seahawks @ minus-330
Rams @ minus-410 $100 wager to win $143

And …

Texans @ +165
Broncos @ minus-400 $100 wager to win $231

Finally, let’s hear from Bill Parcells:

“Never discount stupidity as being a factor, because it’s always in there somewhere.”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………

College Football Coaching Issues

Finally, after weeks of backing-and-forthing and rumors/counter-rumors and various declarations of inside intrigue, Lane Kiffin will become the head football coach at LSU. Fans in the SEC can now sit back and resume their focus on their favorite team and leave the coaching intrigues alone until sometime next year when it will blossom one more time.

Lane Kiffin is – to say the least – a polarizing figure. He has been a successful coach but not all of his relationships with the organizations that had hired him were harmonious. He has been referred to as a diva coach and as having a “scratchy” personality/nature. After Kiffin and USC “chose to go in different directions” in 2013, Kiffin was not highly sought after for head coaching vacancies; he took the job as offensive coordinator for Nick Saban at Alabama and had to wait four years before he got a head coaching offer – – at Florida Atlantic which is a step down from the likes of the SEC and/or USC. But he did well at FAU and got the job at Ole Miss in 2020.

Ole Miss was not an SEC powerhouse, but Kiffin made them more than merely respectable; they were competitive with the rest of the conference on a routine basis. He went to Oxford, MS with a rehabbed reputation and delivered on field success there. That made him a desirable commodity for a school that aspired to national attention/prominence and LSU fits that description to a tee. Some folks think Kiffin’s departure now with his Ole Miss team sure to be in the CFP and with an outside shot at a national championship just proves that he is a flawed human being with no loyalty in his core.

Maybe that is the case; I don’t have any way to know that. However, I do recognize that he did for Ole Miss what they wanted him to do and made Ole Miss relevant in college football. Having delivered on that aspect of his employment there, what is wrong with him seeking an opportunity that he considers more beneficial for him and his family? It seems to me that too many people looked at the LSU/Ole Miss/Florida coaching triangle and thought with their glands instead of their brains. Take the emotion out of the situation and it would not have been more than a bit of nothing instead of a month-long soap opera situation.

Moving on … but staying with college football coaching. James Franklin was hired by Va Tech after he was fired by Penn State and according to reports yesterday and today, he has taken with him a dozen of the top recruits he had lured to Penn State with him on a journey to Blacksburg, VA. One report I read said that “Penn State is in a free fall,” and that they will not be able to recruit well because they don’t have a coach and just got turned down by one they were pursuing.

Here is another glandular thinking situation. The sky is not falling; in fact, what Penn State fans need to do is to inoculate themselves to irrational exuberance when the new coach arrives and sets sail for the 2026 college football season. The Penn St. schedule next year is not a killer by any means; the new coach might show up and win 9 games and be thought of as a “football genius”. Take a look at that schedule and assess its degree of difficulty:

Out of conference games are Marshall, Temple and Buffalo – – all in “Happy Valley”.
Big-10 games do NOT include Ohio St., Indiana or Oregon.
Big-10 road games are at Northwestern Maryland, Michigan and Washington.
Big-10 home games are against Minnesota, Purdue, Rutgers, USC and Wisconsin.

On a scale of 1 to 5 where 5 is horrendously difficult, I would put that schedule on the scale at 2.0. In fact, if all the handwringing and gnashing of teeth continue to expand, I might make Penn State my “sleeper team” for 2026.

Finally, here is a line I heard from a stand-up comedienne over the weekend:

“I am still trying to get my head around the fact that ‘Take Out’ can mean food, dating, – – or murder.”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports ………

Minor Misunderstandings?

Back in the early days of Saturday Night Live, Chevy Chase was part of the mock news segment of the show. After the real news media had been reporting for months that Generalissimo Francisco Franco of Spain was on his deathbed, Franco actually died. Chevy Case for weeks after that event “reported” that “Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead.”

We may have had the obverse of that situation over the weekend. The Pro Football Hall of Fame announced the one of the Hall members – – Lem Barney – – had died. Then there were reports from Barney’s family that Lem Barney was still alive and the Hall of Fame retracted its announcement. Perhaps on the mock news segment next week for Saturday Night Live they can report that “Lem Barney is still alive.”

And if they want to take it up a notch [Hat Tip to Emeril Lagasse], they can have the band playing the Bee Gees old hit, Stayin’ Alive in the background.

Moving on … Recall those arrests and charges against two NBA players and NBA coach Chauncy Billups regarding gambling and rigged poker games to fleece wealthy gamblers, those actions have been moving along quietly:

Damon Jones has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him. Jones stands accused of giving insider information to a “co-conspirator” who then used that information to place winning bets on NBA games. Jones is also accused of luring victims to the alleged fixed poker games.
Terry Rozier has not yet had a court date to enter his plea, but I suspect he too will enter a plea of not guilty. Rozier is charged with participating in a scheme to cash proposition bets on his performance in game against the New Orleans Pelicans in 2023 where he took himself out of the game early on with a supposed foot injury.
Chauncey Billups entered his not guilty plea last week; he is accused of luring people to the rigged poker games run by organized crime, and he might also be involved in the business of sharing inside information with bettors as a coach in the league and not as a player.

It is to be expected that Billups’ lawyer would assert that the charges against his client are ridiculous and unfounded; I suspect that criminal defense attorneys have an encyclopedia full of such statements that they draw on when needed. Here is the one used by Billups’ representative:

“To believe that Chauncey Billups did what the federal government is accusing him of is to believe that he would risk his hall-of-fame legacy, his reputation, and his freedom. He would not jeopardize those things for anything, let alone a card game.

“Furthermore, Chauncey Billups has never and would never gamble on basketball games, provide insider information, or sacrifice the trust of his team and the League, as it would tarnish the game he has devoted his entire life to.”

In terms of “reputation” and “legacy”, these three men have already placed those things in jeopardy in the court of public opinion. The Feds are not nearly perfect in terms of charging people with crimes and then proving that they committed those crimes – – but where there is smoke there is fire and this case has already involved more than 30 arrests and charges. It is difficult to believe that so many allegations against so many people are nothing more than happenstance or some sort of humongous misunderstanding of a set of events.

Switching gears but staying with the NBA … Did you realize that the regular season is almost 25% over? Teams have played about 20 games for the 25/26 regular season. There are some positive and negative findings in the standings this morning. Here are some of the positive ones:

The Pistons have the best record in the East at 16-4.
The rebuilding Celtics are 11-9.
The Thunder lead in the West at 20-1 – – having won 12 games in a row.
The Lakers are 15-4 – despite only having Lebron James play in 4 games.

And here are some of the negative ones:

The Clippers are 5-15 – – despite having Kawai Leonard for half of their games
The injured Pacers are only 4-16.
The Wizards are 2-16 – – how did they win twice already?

Finally, this from H. L. Mencken:

“One smart reader is worth a thousand boneheads.”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………