MLB 2026 BEST BETS- NEWS THRU THE WORLD SERIES !

[Cnotes53]

Thursday’s 6-pack
Best teams in country at shooting foul shots:
81%— Saint Mary’s
80.8%— Harvard
79.4%— Georgia State
79.3%— Manhattan
79.2%— Marist
79.2%— Illinois

Quote of the Day
“There’s going to be two, two-and-a-half weeks to pick guys’ brains. Talking to them is great but seeing how they operate is another thing. So, aside from winning a gold medal, it would be a pretty good reward for doing that.”
Paul Skenes, talking about pitching for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic

Thursday’s quiz
Matthew Stafford was the first pick of the 2009 NFL Draft, by the Lions. Jets were the next team to select a QB; who did they take with the fifth pick of the first round?

Wednesday’s quiz
Last season, Milwaukee Brewers won the most regular season games in the major leagues.

Tuesday’s quiz
In the movie Molly’s Game, a true story about a woman who ran high stakes poker games, Kevin Costner played her father.

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Thursday’s Den: Doing some thinking out loud…….​

— UConn 72, St John’s 40
St John’s shot 19.6% from the floor in an epic beatdown.
St John’s had won 13 in a row; their last loss was January 3rd.
UConn avenged an 81-72 loss at St John’s three weeks ago.
These teams are now tied in the loss column atop Big East standings.

— Florida 84, Texas 71
Longhorns led 39-36 at halftime, by 2 with 7:14 left.
Florida shot 66.7% inside the arc.
Gators have won eight in row, 17 of last 19 games.

— Vanderbilt 88, Georgia 80
Vandy never trailed, shot 65.7% inside the arc.
Commodores are 9-6 in SEC, 2nd time in last 9 years they’ll at .500 in SEC.
Georgia has lost six of its last nine games.

— LSU 106, Ole Miss 99 2OT
LSU didn’t lead at all in the 2nd half or first overtime.
LSU snaps a five-game losing streak.
Ole Miss lost for the 10th game in a row.
LSU is only 15-13, but they’re 3-0 in overtime games.

— DePaul 72, Creighton 71
Creighton led 38-30 at halftime.
DePaul shot 10-20 on arc, are now 7-10 in Big East.
Last time Blue Demons won 8+ league games in a season? 2007.
Creighton has lost seven of its last nine games.

— Arkansas 99, Texas A&M 84
Arkansas shot 60.4% inside arc, scored 1.29 ppp.
Razorbacks have won seven of their last nine games.
Aggies lost five of their last seven games.

— Famous birthdays, February 26th:
Mac Percival, 86
Phil Villapiano, 77
Kelly Gruber, 64
JT Snow, 58
Marshall Faulk, 53
Jose Reyes, 43
PJ Walker, 31
Trevor Larnach, 29
Dylan Crews, 24

— Jacksonville Jaguars are going to play two “home” games in England this fall, with the games on consecutive Sundays. Washington Commanders will also host a game in England; NFL will play nine games in seven different countries in 2026.

— Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton isn’t going to call plays this coming season; assistant coach Davis Webb will call plays for the first time.
Denver fired their offensive coordinator after a 10-7 home loss to New England in the AFC title game, when the Broncos had only one first down after halftime and didn’t have a possession in the third or fourth quarter longer than 17 yards.

— NFL’s highest-paid kicker last year was the Chiefs’ Harrison Butker, who made $6.4M; Dallas Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey wants to become the NFL’s highest paid kicker and he wants $10M a year, 56% higher than Butker’s contract.
Aubrey is a restricted free agent right now, the Cowboys will have to place a tender on him if a long-term deal doesn’t get done by the start of free agency on March 11. If the Cowboys place a 2nd-round tender on him, that means that other teams will be able to make him an offer, and if he leaves, his new team will have to send a 2nd-round pick to Dallas.

— Atlanta Braves P Chris Sale signed a one-year contract extension worth $27M; Sale turns 37 at the end of March; he was 7-5, 2.58 in 20 starts for Atlanta last year. In his 15-year career, he is 145-88, 3.01 in 312 starts.

— St Louis Cardinals are re-building; they were 78-84 last year, missing the playoffs for the third year in a row. Cardinals haven’t had two years in a row under .500 since 1994-95, and 1994 was a strike-shortened season.
Last time the Cardinals has consecutive losing years in full seasons, was 1958-59.

— Several fantasy baseball analysts have convinced themselves that Alex Bregman’s numbers are going to suffer with Bregman now playing for the Cubs.
Bregman played nine years in Houston, played for the Red Sox last year, two home ballparks that are friendly for righty hitters who like to pull the ball. Bregman has 209 career home runs, 293 doubles; his career OPS is 846.
Bregman figures to bat 2nd in the Cubs’ lineup this year, ahead of Ian Happ, Seiya Suzuki. Will be interesting to see how he fares with his new team.

— Atlanta Braves announced this week that BravesVision is their local TV home, beginning with this season. Braves chose to control the BravesVision plan instead of having the telecasts produced by Major League Baseball. MLB will produce broadcasts for 14 teams this season.

 

[Udog]

Armadillo Sports

Friday’s 6-pack
Worst teams in country at shooting foul shots:
63.4%— Syracuse
64.3%— Appalachian State
64.6%— Charleston Southern
64.8%— Davidson
64.8%— Boston College
64.9%— Air Force

Quote of the Day
“To be trusted is a greater compliment than to be loved.”
George MacDonald

Friday’s quiz
Michigan is 53-12 in two seasons under coach Dusty May; who was Michigan’s basketball coach before May?

Thursday’s quiz
Matthew Stafford was the first pick of the 2009 NFL Draft, by the Lions. Jets were the next team to select a QB; they took Mark Sanchez with the fifth pick of the first round.

Wednesday’s quiz
Last season, Milwaukee Brewers won the most regular season games in the major leagues.

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Friday’s Den: Random stuff with the weekend here……

— Michigan State 76, Purdue 74
Spartans shot 63.9% inside the arc.
Michigan State is 13-4 in Big 18, in 3-way tie for 3rd place.
Purdue is 5-5 in last ten games, after a 17-1 start.
Unusual game; no one scored more than 15 points.

— Cal-Irvine 68, Cal-Northridge 67
Irvine got layup on an out of bounds under play at the buzzer to win game.
Irvine led 36-24 at halftime.
Matadors were only 13-21 on foul line.
Anteaters win in Northridge for 11th year in a row.

— Hawaii 77, Cal-Davis 73
Hawaii shot 10-22 on arc; they led 43-31 at halftime.
Hawaii has #11 eFG% defense in the country.
Rainbows are tied with Cal-Irvine atop Big West standings.

— Montana State 84, Portland State 69
Bobcats shot 15-30 on arc, won for only third time in last eight games.
Montana State is shooting 38.7% in Big Sky games, best in league.
Vikings lost three of last four games, still lead Big Sky by a game.

— Wichita State 88, Memphis 82
Shockers were 26-33 on foul line, Memphis 13-27
Wichita had a 44-27 edge on the boards.
Shockers won four in row, nine of last 11 games.
Memphis is 12-16, 7-8 in AAC; their last losing season was 2000.

— Kennesaw State 74, Liberty 65
Kennesaw made 11-18 on arc; they’re only #176 in country in 3-point %age.
Liberty loses second game in row, after starting 15-0 in C-USA.
Flames still lead Conference USA by three games, with three games left.

— St Thomas 84, North Dakota State 62
Tommies made 14-35 on arc, shot 81.8% inside arc, scored 1.29 ppp.
Carter Bjerke shot 7-9 on arc, his only shots of game, scored 21 points.
North Dakota State is still going to be top seed in the Summit tournament.

— Famous birthdays, February 27th:
James Worthy, 65
Greg Cadaret, 64
Matt Stairs, 58

Duce Staley, 51
Tony Gonzalez, 50
Anibal Sanchez, 42

— Santa Clara’s basketball team is 23-7 this year, 14-3 in WCC; they’re a bubble team to make the NCAA’s, a place they haven’t been in 30 years, back when Steve Nash played there. As I type this, Bracketology has Santa Clara as one of the last four teams in the Field of 68.

— Oregon State fired basketball coach Wayne Tinkle Friday, after he coached the Beavers for 12 years. Oregon State made the Elite 8 five years ago, but the last two years, they were 19-16 in the WCC, after the Pac-12 was put on hold by re-alignment.

Pac-12 starts up again next year; Corvallis, OR isn’t exactly a recruiting hot bed; unless they can get alum Gary Payton to coach his alma mater, not sure how they’ll made a splash when they hire a new coach. Oregon State paid Tinkle $3M to terminate his contract.

— Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia suggested the NBA sweeten the pot for the Dunk Contest and 3-point contest, offering a $1M first prize for each event; Ishbia wants more star players taking part in All-Star weekend events next year, when Phoenix hosts the All-Star weekend.

— 37 years ago this week, Jerry Jones bought the Dallas Cowboys for $150M; these days, 37 years later, the Cowboys are worth $12.8B, that’s billion, with a B.

— College sports isn’t college sports anymore, it is minor league sports.

Former Cincinnati Bearcats QB Brendan Sorsby bolted to Texas Tech to play next year; the Bearcats want him to pay the school a $1M buyout in liquidated damages, which Cincinnati says Sorsby was contractually obligated to pay within 30 days of transferring.

Sorsby reportedly signed an NIL agreement with the Red Raiders that will pay him $5M next year; he is basically giving Cincinnati the finger, refusing to pay the buyout.

— World Baseball Classic starts next Thursday; from March 5-10, there will be a ballgame live on TV at 5 or 6am here in New York, the games in Asia.

— Max Scherzer signed a deal with the Blue Jays, with a $3M base salary; he gets another $1M when he reacher 65 innings pitched, then another $1M for each 10 innings he pitches until he gets to 155 innings pitched.

If he gets to 155 innings pitched, he maxes out at $13M this season.

 

[Cnotes53]

Saturday’s 6-pack
Players who hit the most triples last year:
17— Corbin Carroll, Ariz
13— Jarren Duran, Bos
12— Jung Hoo Lee, SF
11— Daylen Lile, Wash
11— Zach McKinstry, DEt
9— Shohei Ohtani, LA

Quote of the Day
“Everybody says first base is easier, but it’s harder than what you expect.”
Mets’ IF Jorge Polanco, who is switching to 1B this season

Saturday’s quiz
In the 1994 movie Blue Chips, where Nick Nolte plays a college basketball coach at fictional Western U, what Hall of Fame basketball player played the school’s athletic director?

Friday’s quiz
Michigan is 54-12 in two seasons under coach Dusty May; Juwan Howard was Michigan’s basketball coach before May.

Thursday’s quiz
Matthew Stafford was the first pick of the 2009 NFL Draft, by the Lions. Jets were the next team to select a QB; they took Mark Sanchez with the fifth pick of the first round.

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Saturday’s Den: Wrapping up a quiet Friday night……​

— Miami OH 69, Western Michigan 67
Redhawks were down by 9 with 6:38 left in game.
Miami is 29-0, only unbeaten team in country.
Miami was only 15-25 on foul line, was out-rebounded 39-28.

— Akron 92, Kent State 70
Zips shot 14-28 on arc, scored 1.31 ppp.
Akron is 24-5, 15-1 in MAC; they lost 76-73 at Miami January 3rd.
Zips have the #8 eFG% in the country.

— Michigan 84, Illinois 70
Wolverines shot 62.2% inside the arc.
Michigan is 27-2, leads Big 18 by three games.
Illinois lost four of last six games, after starting year 20-3.

— Dayton 68, George Washington 66
Dayton led 19-5 midway thru first half; they’ve won five in a row.
Flyers shot 11-24 on arc, George Washington 6-20
GW out-rebounded Dayton 35-22.

— Canisius 67, Merrimack 62
Canisius was an 8.5-point home underdog.
Merrimack had won 8 in a row; their last two wins were in OT.
Merrimack only played 7 guys; depth could be a problem in MAAC tourney.

— Cornell 72, Yale 69
Cornell pulls upset, moves into 4th place in Ivy League.
Top four teams in Ivy League make their conference tournament.
Yale/Harvard are tied for first place, with two games left.

— Harvard 58, Princeton 56
Princeton led by 17 early in second half.
Harvard has won nine of last 11 games.
Crimson won despite shooting only 6-30 on the arc.

— Famous birthdays, February 28
Bernadette Peters, 78
Mercedes Ruehl, 78
Adrian Dantley, 72
John Turturro, 69
Ickey Woods, 60
Aroldis Chapman, 38
Alex Caruso, 32
Randy Arozarena, 31
Luka Doncic, 27
Lance McCutcheon, 27

— Coastal Carolina 69, James Madison 68
JMU led by seven early in second half.
6-3 senior Beadle scored scored 29 points, grabbed seven rebounds.
Chanticleers finish in a six-way tie for second place in Sun Belt.

— Sun Belt tournament is going to be weird; with six teams tying for second place, the #2-seed and #7-seed will have the same record in league games, but the #2-seed gets a pass into the semi-finals, while the #7-seed has to play three days earlier than that, then keep winning to stay alive. It isn’t a great system.

— Texas State 60, Appalachian State 57
Texas State outscored 9-2 App State over the last 4:14 of the game.
Seventh win in last eight games for the Bobcats.
Brickfest; teams combined to shoot 8-38 on the arc.

— Interesting team to follow is going to be Bethune-Cookman, whose coach is former NBA star Reggie Theus. Bethune-Cookman played a lot of big-time teams in November/December, which probably funds their program/NIL deals- they were 3-10 on New Year’s Day, but they’ve gone 13-3 in the SWAC and are the #1-seed in that league.
Bethune-Cookman played the #6 non-conference schedule in the country. They’re experience team #56; if they win the SWAC tournament, don’t think they’re a 16-seed in March Madness.

— In baseball, Dodgers P Blake Snell hasn’t started throwing off a mound yet, so likely he’ll start the season on the Injured List.
Next couple of weeks will be little chaotic for major league teams, with World Baseball Classic going on, and teams that lose getting back to their big league teams before guys that play on the teams that get to the finals of the WBC.

— Former Jets’ QB Mark Sanchez was the answer to our trivia question the other day; he had an odd career.
First two years in the NFL, Sanchez was 19-12 as a starter in the regular season, going 2-1 in the playoffs both years, when the Jets lost the AFC title game both years. Very promising start to his career, but it didn’t last.
After that, Sanchez was 18-24 as a starter the rest of his career, playing for the Eagles, Dallas and Washington; the Jets haven’t made the playoffs since 2010.

— NFL salary cap next season will be $301M, up $22M from this past season.

 

[Cnotes53]

Sunday’s 6-pack
Players who hit the most singles last year:
139— Luis Arraez
138— Nico Hoerner
131— Xavier Edwards
129— Steven Kwan
126— Trea Turner
120— Brice Turang/Yandy Diaz

Quote of the Day
“I really can’t accept just the thought of winning one Super Bowl and then what? I’ve got more time on my clock than that in my mind.”
Dallas Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones

Sunday’s quiz
Which NBA team did John Calipari used to coach?

Saturday’s quiz
In the 1994 movie Blue Chips, where Nick Nolte plays a college basketball coach at fictional Western U, Hall of Famer Bob Cousy played the school’s athletic director.

Friday’s quiz
Michigan is 54-12 in two seasons under coach Dusty May; Juwan Howard was Michigan’s basketball coach before May.

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Sunday’s Den: Wrapping up a basketball Saturday……​

— I’m going to keep saying this until I go to my grave; assists on 3-point shots should count as 1.5 assists, assists on foul shots should count as half an assist apiece.

You make a great pass, the guy gets fouled, makes both free throws, that’s the same as him making a basket, yes? Glad you agree with me

— Alabama 71, Tennessee 69
Alabama wins its eighth game in a row.
Vols led by 13 with 12:16 left to play.
Tennessee out-rebounded the Crimson Tide, 47-30

— Texas Tech 82, Iowa State 73
Tech gets quality road win, even though star JT Toppin is out for year.
Red Raiders shot 14-29 on arc, scored 1.27 ppp.
Iowa State split its last six games, after a 22-2 start.

— Saint Mary’s 70, Gonzaga 59
Saint Mary’s shot 17-33 on arc in Zags’ last visit to Moraga.
Gonzaga led by 10 late in the first half.
Loss snaps Gonzaga’s six-game winning streak.
Fittingly, both teams wind up 16-2, tied atop the WCC.

— Minnesota 78, UCLA 73
Gophers used one sub the whole game; he played 9:00.
Minnesota shot 12-23 on arc, scored 1.4 points/possession.
UCLA is 1-6 outside the Pacific time zone.

— St John’s 89, Villanova 57
St John’s lost its last game 72-40 at UConn.
Red Storm led this game 48-23 at halftime.
St John’s has won 14 of its last 15 games.
Just second loss in last nine games for the Wildcats.

— Upsets of the Day:
Citadel (+12.5) 93, Wofford 90, OT
Ole Miss (+10.5) 85, Auburn 79
Penn State (+9.5) 71, Iowa 69
Texas Tech (+9.5) 82, Iowa State 73
Pepperdine (+7.5) 88, Washington State 79
Pittsburgh (+7.5) 72, California 56
Detroit (+7.5) 95, Oakland 89
Central Michigan (+6.5) 75, Buffalo 70
Notre Dame (+6.5) 96, NC State 90, OT

— Arizona 84, Kansas 61
Wildcats got Koa Peat back in lineup, had 48-26 edge on boards.
Arizona was 30-34 on foul line, Kansas was 10-11.
Jayhawks are 2-3 in last five games, after an 8-game win streak.

— Clemson 80, Louisville 75
Clemson gets much-needed win, snapping four-game skid.
Tigers were 24-34 on foul line, Louisville 7-12.
Louisville lost three of last four games, is 9-7 in ACC.

— New Mexico 81, San Diego State 76
6-9 frosh Buljan scored 24 points, had 18 rebounds.
New Mexico was 25-36 on foul line, Aztecs 13-22.
These teams are tied for second in the Mountain West.

— Providence 79, Creighton 76
Bluejays lost 8 of last 10 games, including last 3 at home.
Creighton had won 20+ games the last ten years in a row.
Providence won five of its last seven games.

— Michigan G LJ Cason tore the ACL in his right knee, will miss the rest of the season; he was scoring 8.4 ppg, averaging 2.4 assists/game off the bench for the 27-2 Wolverines.

— Famous birthdays, March 1st:
Elvin Bethea, 80
Nick Mike-Mayer, 76
Brian Winters, 74
Ron Howard, 72
Catherine Bach, 72
Tim Daly, 70
George Eads, 59
Chris Webber, 53
Trevor Cahill, 38
Michael Conforto, 33
Tyreek Hill, 32
Ja’Marr Chase, 26

— UNLV 85, Nevada 83, OT
Gibbs-Lawhorn scored 42 of UNLV’s 85 points.
You’re reading armadillosports.com
Kimani Hamilton fouled out for 12th time, most of anyone in country.
Rebels won five of their last seven games.

— Liberty 81, Jacksonville State 78
Gamecocks led 50-42 with 13:42 left in the game.
Liberty shot 11-25 on arc, 68% inside arc, scored 1.28 ppp
Liberty is 6-2 in last eight games; 5 of their last 6 wins were by 6 or fewer points.

— Florida 111, Arkansas 77
Florida wins 9th game in a row, is 14-2 in SEC.
Gators led 53-34 at halftime.
Florida had 51-31 edge on boards, scored 1.37 ppp.

— Montana 74, Portland State 68
Money Williams scored 27 points, had 7 assists for Montana.
Portland State shot 9-34 on the arc.
Vikings lost 4 of last 5 games, still lead Big Sky by a game, with one game left.

— West Virginia 79, BYU 71
West Virginia had 39-29 edge on the boards.
BYU is 4-8 in its last 12 games, after a 16-1 start.
Cougars lack a third scorer with Richie Saunders out for the year.

 

[Cnotes53]

Monday’s 5-pack
Players who had the most in correct strikes called against them last year:
66- Gleyber Torres
64- Taylor Ward
63- Chase Miedroth
61- Fernando Tatis, Jr
60- Matt McLain

Quote of the Day
“I fully trust what the front office and the coaches and everybody have done, how they’re going about it. They’ve done a great job so far allowing me to be free in the minor leagues and be able to move and continue to face challenges.”
Pirates’ SS prospect Konnor Griffin

Monday’s quiz
When was the last time Duke won a national title in basketball?

Sunday’s quiz
John Calipari coached the New Jersey Nets from 1996-99.

Saturday’s quiz
In the 1994 movie Blue Chips, where Nick Nolte plays a college basketball coach at fictional Western U, Hall of Famer Bob Cousy played the school’s athletic director.

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Monday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports weekend…….​

— Should be an interesting week; the first conference tournament in college basketball tips off tonight, with IU Indy visiting Cleveland State in the play-in game of the Horizon Tournament.

Cleveland State lost its last seven games, right after they won five games in a row. IU Indy plays the #4 tempo in America, so no matter what, it should be fun to watch.

— Later this week, the World Baseball Classic gets underway, highly competitive games with players who should be in spring training, getting ready for the major league season.

The bracket in Asia will have a game on TV at 5 or 6am six mornings in a row, so that’ll be bad for my sleep habits, but fun to watch.
One thing we don’t want this year is what happened in the last WBC: Jose Altuve getting hit by a pitch and breaking his thumb. Bad for the Astros, worse for my fantasy team and my freakin’ blood pressure!!! No injuries, please.

— Speaking of injuries, James Harden scored 22 points for Cleveland Sunday night, after he missed only two games after breaking his thumb. Impressive performance. Cavaliers are 38-24, right now the #4-seed in the Eastern Conference.

— Saint Mary’s beat Gonzaga Saturday; their regular season meetings had become an annual staple for 11:30 two Saturday nights a year- I’ll miss them. Will they keep playing each other in the future? Gonzaga is moving up to the Pac-12; the Gaels are staying in the WCC, which won’t be the same without Gonzaga.

Back when Jerry Tarkanian had UNLV where Gonzaga is these days, the Rebels’ main rivals in the Big West were Cal-Santa Barbara, New New Mexico State. When the Rebels moved on from the Big West, they stopped playing those teams, which hurt both of them.

Hopefully Saint Mary’s can still stay a big fish in a small pond; my question is this- the Pac-12 has eight football schools, plus Gonzaga as a basketball-only team, so nine basketball teams. Why didn’t they invite Saint Mary’s to join Gonzaga and make it a 10-team basketball league?

— USC has lost its last five games, is 7-11 in Big 18 and has fallen off the bubble. Sunday came news that Chad Baker-Mazara, who was scoring 18.5 ppg for the Trojans, is off the team, a large red flag.
Baker-Mazara is 26 years old; he had an interesting college career:
2020-21- Duquesne
2021-22- San Diego State (kicked off team)
2022-23- Northwest Florida State (junior college ball)
2023-25- Auburn
2025-26- USC (kicked off team)

— Famous birthdays, March 2nd:
Laraine Newman, 74
Terry Steinbach, 64
Jon Bon Jovi, 64
Ron Gant, 61
Sebastian Janikowski, 48
Ben Roethlisberger, 44
Bud Norris, 41
Reggie Bush, 41
Adolis Garcia, 33
Miguel Andujar, 31
Tua Tagovailoa, 28
Logan Henderson, 24

— Charleston 79, NC-Wilmington 76, OT
NC-Wilmington led 35-23 at halftime.
Seahawks out-rebounded Charleston 47-28.
Cougars were +9 in turnovers (6-15)
UNCW is 14-3 in CAA, half-game ahead of Charleston. UNCW needs to win their last game over Elon to win sole possession of first place in the CAA.

— Florida Atlantic 77, Charlotte 76, OT
Charlotte led 45-35 at halftime.
Brickfest: teams combined to shoot 14-55 on the arc.
FAU won three of last four games, after a six-game losing skid.

— Michigan State 77, Indiana 64
Spartans never trailed, shot 12-24 on the arc.
Michigan State won last four games, giving up 64.3 ppg.
Indiana has lost four in a row, is sliding off the bubble.
Hoosiers were 10-35 on arc; over half their shots this year have been 3’s.

— Illinois State 81, Belmont 74
Illinois State shot 12-27 on arc, scored 1.31 ppg.
Only second loss in last 15 games for Belmont.
Belmont still won the MVC by three games over Bradley.

— Movie of the Day: Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993)
A sportswriter in New York City discovers that his 7-year old son is a chess prodigy; he hires a coach for the kid, enters him in tournaments, and chaos ensues, as the coach clashes with a guy who plays street chess in the park.
Joe Mantegna, Ben Kingsley, Laurence Fishburne, William Macy, Joan Allen, a great cast in a very good movie, which deals with how parents get stressed over their kids’ successes/failures as they grow up.

— Ohio State 82, Purdue 74
Buckeyes were 25-32 on foul line, Purdue 7-10
By far highest quality win for Ohio State this year.
Third loss in four games for Purdue, which is 5-6 in last 11 games.

— DePaul 62, Marquette 51
DePaul is 8-10 in Big East, their most conference wins since 2007.
Blue Demons out-rebounded Marquette, 41-28.
Big East is looking like a 3-bid league (UConn, St John’s, Villanova)

— Twins’ P Joe Ryan has a bad back, is being replaced on Team USA’s roster by Ryan Yarbrough; Ryan can re-join Team USA after each round, but not during a round.

— St Louis Cardinals gave manager Ollie Marmol a two-year contract extension; Marmol is 325-323 in four years managing the Cardinals, who missed the playoffs the last three years.

— Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti signed another new contract; his annual salary is now up $13.2M/year. The contract runs through 2033.

 

[Cnotes53]

Tuesday’s 6-pack
— Arizona 73, Iowa State 57- Wildcats clinch regular season title in Big X
— Duke 93, NC State 64- Duke shot 70% inside arc, scored 1.44 ppp.
— Cleveland State 101, IU Indy 93- Vikings advance to play #1-seed Wright State
— Idaho 85, Eastern Washington 81- Vandals shot 14-29 on the arc.
— Logan Webbis going to start on the mound for Team USA against Brazil Friday.
— Houston Texans acquired RB David Montgomery from Detroit, for an OL and two draft picks.

Quote of the Day
“(You’re) flat out wrong about Miami (OH) when you say we would finish last in the Big East. The disrespect is awful and [you] should not be near a TV studio covering this sport when [you] show your true colors.”
Miami (OH) athletic director David Sayler, responding to former Auburn coach Bruce Pearl’s comments on TV. Pearl’s son is now the head coach at Auburn.

Tuesday’s quiz
When is the last time the Red Sox were in the World Series?

Monday’s quiz
Duke hasn’t won a national title in basketball since 2015.

Sunday’s quiz
John Calipari coached the New Jersey Nets from 1996-99.

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Tuesday’s Den: College basketball trends…….​

Teams that have been playing well vs spread recently…….

Arizona State 5-5 SU/8-2 ATS last 10 games
Charleston 10-2 SU/ATS
Cal-Davis 6-2 SU/ATS
Dayton 5-0 SU/ATS
Drexel 10-6 SU/13-3 ATS
Eastern Washington 8-2 SU/9-1 ATS
Florida State 8-4 SU/9-3 ATS
Michigan 8-0 SU/6-2 ATS
NC-Wilmington 8-2 SU/ATS
Providence 5-2 SU/ATS
South Florida 7-0 SU/5-2 ATS
TCU 6-1 SU/ATS
Texas Tech 6-1 SU/ATS
Wichita State 7-1 SU/6-2 ATS

Famous birthdays, March 3rd:
Dennis Shaw, 79
Randy Gradishar, 74
Eric Torkelson, 74
Herschel Walker, 64
Julie Bowen, 56
Trung Candidate, 49
Jessica Biel, 44
Santonio Holmes, 42
Kyle Isbel, 29
Maikel Garcia, 26

Teams that have NOT been playing well vs spread recently…….

BYU 5-9 SU/3-11 ATS last 14 games
Creighton 4-10 SU/1-13 ATS
Elon 2-6 SU/ATS
Georgia Tech 0-8 SU/2-6 ATS
Indiana 2-5 SU/1-6 ATS
Long Beach State 1-5 SU/ATS
Memphis 0-5 SU/ATS
NC State 3-5 SU/1-7 ATS
Oklahoma State 1-6 SU/ATS
Sacramento State 1-6 SU/ATS
USC 1-5 SU/ATS
Temple 0-6 SU/1-5 ATS

 

[Cnotes53]

Wednesday’s 6-pack
Teams in country with best rating on offense:
— Illinois
— Purdue
— Alabama
— Duke
— Michigan
— Arkansas

Quote of the Day
“That’s a big mistake… You don’t mess with something that is gold. It’s gold.”
Mike Krzyzewski, talking about whether the NCAA Tournament gets expanded

Wednesday’s quiz
When Florida Gators won consecutive national titles in 2006, 2007, who was their coach?

Tuesday’s quiz
2018 was the last time the Red Sox were in the World Series.

Monday’s quiz
Duke hasn’t won a national title in basketball since 2015.

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Wednesday’s Den: Mid-week musings…….​

— Miami OH 74, Toledo 72
Redhawks improved to 30-0, with one regular season game left.
6 of their last 12 wins were either by 2 points, or in overtime.
Miami never trailed; they led by one with 8:41 left to play.
Toledo is 10-7, #4-seed right now; these teams could meet in MAC semi-finals.

— North Carolina 67, Clemson 63
Tar Heels shot 12-27 on arc, 32.3% inside arc.
Carolina won 10 of its last 12 games.
Clemson lost five of last six games, after a 20-4 start.

— Georgia 98, Alabama 88
75-possession game, another Alabama track meet.
Georgia shot 13-29 on the arc, scored 1.31 ppp.
Alabama was 16-42 on the arc, 9-22 inside the arc.
Dawgs won four of their last five games.

— Vanderbilt 89, Ole Miss 86, OT
Big sigh of relief from Nashville; Commodores avoid a bad loss.
Tyler Tanner scored 34 points, had 7 assists.
Ole Miss led by 12 early on, by 4 with 1:17 left in regulation.
Vandy was +8 in turnovers, had 22 offensive rebounds.

— UNLV 92, Utah State 65
UNLV swept two games vs Utah State this year, first time since 2014.
Overall, Rebels have won six of their last eight games.
Howie Fleming had a triple-double for UNLV.

— Upsets of the Night:
UCLA(+1) 72, Nebraska 52
TCU (+10.5) 73, Texas Tech 65
Oklahoma State (+8.5) 111, Central Florida 104, OT
Arizona State (+5.5) 70, Kansas 60
Ball State (+3.5) 74, Western Michigan 71, OT

— Braves’ DH Jurickson Profar got a 162-game suspension after a second failed PED test. Profar was suspended for 80 games last season for failing his first PED test. Profar his .245 with a .787 OPS in his half-season of play last year.

— Atlanta Falcons are going to play a “home” game in Spain this fall.

— The 2026 NFL league year starts on March 11th; sounds like QB’s Kirk Cousins, Kyler Murray are going to be free agents.

— Citadel finished 7-11 in Southern Conference this year, which doesn’t sound like much, but its the most conference games they’ve won since they went 9-9 in 2010.

— Famous birthdays, March 4th:
Tom Grieve, 78
Kay Lenz, 73
Doug Plank, 73
Patricia Heaton, 68
Steven Weber, 65
Kevin Johnson, 60
Robert Smith, 54
Draymond Green, 36
Nick Castellanos, 34
George Pickens, 25

— Oklahoma State 111, Central Florida 104, OT
Lot of fouls: OSU was 32-40 on foul line, UCF 33-45.
Central Florida led by 13, midway thru first half.
Cowboys are 2-6 in last eight games, with both wins in OT.

— Texas A&M 96, Kentucky 85
Aggies got their 20th win; they shot 13-28 on arc, 27-39 on line.
Kentucky led by 12 with 7:40 left in first half.
Wildcats lost four of their last six games.

— St John’s 72, Georgetown 69
Hoyas led by 12 with 13:50 left in the game.
St John’s has won 15 of its last 16 games.
Teams combined to shoot 11-44 on the arc; lot of long rebounds.

— Green Bay 64, Fort Wayne 56
Green Bay advances to second round of the Horizon Tournament.
Green Bay improves to 18-14; last year, they were 4-28.
Green Bay was 15-20 on foul line, Mastodons were 5-9

— Sun Belt tournament:
Louisiana 84, Georgia State 75- Jaxon Olvera scored 29 points, had 9 rebounds.
Old Dominion 87, UL-Monroe 80- Monarchs advance to play Georgia Southern next.

 

[Cnotes53]

Thursday’s 6-pack
Odds on which league will win the college basketball national title:
+140- Big 12
+170- Big 18
+400- ACC
+700- SEC
+900- Big East
+2500- WCC
+3000- Field (everyone else)

Quote of the Day
“In my time of 34 years, I’ve never seen a point guard better… He’s a generational player. This No. 1 pick thing, I don’t know why people aren’t talking about him more. I can’t imagine anybody better”
Texas coach Sean Miller, talking about Arkansas guard Darius Acuff

Thursday’s quiz
Kyler Murray played college football for which two schools?

Wednesday’s quiz
When Florida Gators won consecutive national titles in 2006, 2007, Billy Donovan was their coach.

Tuesday’s quiz
2018 was the last time the Red Sox were in the World Series.

*******************************************

Thursday’s Den: Doing some thinking out loud…….​

— Arkansas 105, Texas 85
Razorbacks led 56-34 at halftime.
Darius Acuff scored 28 points, had 13 assists.
Arkansas shot 11-19 on arc, scored 1.33 ppp.

— Florida State 75, Pittsburgh 74
Florida State led by 24 early in 2nd half, hung on for dear life.
Seminoles have quietly won eight of their last 10 games.
Pittsburgh lost seven of its last nine games.

— Colorado State 82, New Mexico 74
February 1st, Colorado State was 12-10.
Since then, Rams have won eight games in a row.
Colorado State shot 13-16 inside the arc.
Lobos slip into a tie for 2nd in MW with San Diego State.

— Purdue 70, Northwestern 66
Northwestern led by 11 late in the first half.
Purdue shot 68% inside arc, had 29-15 edge on boards.
Just second win in last five games for the Boilermakers.

— Famous birthdays, March 5th:
Phil Roof, 85
Joe Scarpati, 83
Rocky Bleier, 80
Kent Tekulve, 79
Michael Irvin, 60
Roman Phifer, 58
Grain Grant, 54
Eva Mendes, 53
Paul Konerko, 50
Wally Szczerbiak, 49
Kyle Schwarber, 33
Bo Bichette, 28
Tanner Bibee, 27
Justin Fields, 27

— College/minor league sports have become a little weird.
There are 16 teams in the SEC; on those 16 teams this season, there is only one senior who started his college career with that team- Shawn Jones at Mississippi State. No one stays in school four years, and if they do, they bolt for greener pa$ture$ at some point.

— College basketball coaching news
Tennessee Tech fired John Pelphrey, who had coached there seven years. Tech hasn’t been to the NCAA’s since 1963; they’re moving up to the Southern Conference next year.
Providence fired Kim English, who is 47-50 in three years with the Friars, 13-26 the last two years in conference games.

— NFL announced that Cardinals-Panthers will be the Hall of Fame Game in August.

— New England Patriots are going to release WR Stefon Diggs next week, saving them $16.8M on the salary cap. Diggs caught 85 passes for 1,013 yards with New England last year, scoring four touchdowns.

— Houston Astros SS Jeremy Pena went for X-rays today on an injured finger; he is meeting with a hand specialist Thursday in West Palm Beach.
Pena is playing for the Dominican Republic in the WBC; Astros lost Jose Altuve with a broken finger in the WBC three years ago.

— Australia 3, Chinese Taipei 0
First game in this year’s World Baseball Classic
Travis Bazzana homered for Australia.
Aussies play Czechia Thursday night at 10:00.

— Word of the Day:
Nefarious- Someone who is evil or immoral, or both.

— St Joe’s 70, Davidson 67
Hawks have won five in a row, 12 of last 15 games.
St Joe’s had 41-27 edge on the boards.
Davidson was only 9-31 on arc, 8-16 on the foul line.

— Miami 77, SMU 69
Hurricanes’ bench outscored SMU’s subs, 27-4.
Miami has won seven of its last eight games.
SMU lost its last three games, giving up 81.7 ppg.

— Horizon tournament:
Favorites won/covered three of the four games.
Only upset: #7-seed Northern Kentucky upset Oakland, 85-84.

— Sun Belt tournament:
James Madison 87, Louisiana 72- Dukes have won seven of their last eight games.
Georgia Southern 88, Old Dominion 84- Eagles play Arkansas State Thursday.