Tag: NCAA

2019 Michigan Football Week 14 Rooting Guide

Michigan football takes on Ohio State this week in their annual rivalry game, what other games should you pay attention to on Saturday?

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After winning against Indiana last week 39-14, Michigan got a sudden surge in confidence from people around the country. While the Wolverines wouldn’t jump in the latest College Football Playoff rankings, Ohio State would jump a spot to take the number one ranking. Michigan was able to get some help last week by having Penn State and Oregon lose, but now they need some more help.

While all your focus will be on the biggest game of the year for the Wolverines, there will be other games that you should pay attention too, especially if the Wolverines win on Saturday. Check out these three games that could help the Wolverines shoot up the polls if they upset the Buckeyes.

Game 1: No. 5 Alabama vs. No. 15 Auburn

Two weeks ago we saw Alabama starting quarterback and possible number one pick Tua Tagovailoa go down for the season with a hip injury. His backup, Mac Jones, started last week and while the Crimson Tide won with ease with him, it was against Western Carolina, an FCS school.

This game against Auburn will be a completely different game for Jones, and he might struggle against the Tigers. If Jones has issues in the game, Auburn can win this game. If Auburn wins, Alabama would be eliminated from the playoff picture and while Auburn would move up the polls, Michigan beating Ohio State is a better win and they would have one less loss than the Tigers.

Root for: No. 15 Auburn

Game 2: No. 12 Wisconsin vs. No. 8 Minnesota

The battle for the Big Ten West as the winner takes on Ohio State for the Big Ten Championship next week. For Michigan’s sake, they want Minnesota to attend that game. Wisconsin winning would knock Minnesota possibly below the Wolverines, but then they would block a possible Michigan playoff bid if they beat Ohio State next week if they lose to Michigan.

Minnesota winning means Wisconsin falls, and if Minnesota loses to Ohio State after they have lost to Michigan, Minnesota would fall and Michigan would possibly jump them.

Root for: No. 8 Minnesota

Game 3: No. 7 Oklahoma vs. No. 21 Oklahoma State

This one is iffy as next week Oklahoma plays Baylor. Baylor and Oklahoma are above Michigan, and if both still are next week if Michigan wins this week, Michigan will get blocked by the winner for a playoff case.

On that note, Oklahoma State needs to pull off the upset to push the Sooners down. Pushing them down moves Michigan up if they win and if the Wolverines do win and all of these things happen, Michigan will easily be in the top 10 and could possibly be in the top eight.

Root for: No. 21 Oklahoma State
Contact/Follow @WolverinesWire/ @BKnappBlogs

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CFP Rankings: Cotton Bowl Dream Dead for Notre Dame

Perhaps both Ohio State and Minnesota win Saturday, handing Michigan and Wisconsin their third losses of the year, but after that it gets tricky.

Although no games were played Tuesday night Notre Dame saw their hopes of ending their season in the Cotton Bowl for a second year in a row come to an unofficial end.

As the College Football Playoff rankings were released Tuesday night, Notre Dame remained at number 16 in the country, still the lowest of any two-loss power-five teams and also still behind three-loss Auburn.

So as it sits with No. 16 Notre Dame having just one game remaining against an under-500 Stanford team that won’t count for much, even if it does end with a 50 point win for the Irish.

The problem is that Notre Dame has already routed better teams than Stanford in recent weeks and gained no ground.

Unless you can figure out a way that Notre Dame jumps six teams and gets into the top-ten, then they’re headed to Orlando for the Camping World Bowl against a Big XII team.

With the games remaining it’s hard to find six losses that are going to benefit Notre Dame.

Auburn losing to Alabama would probably finally get the Irish ahead of the currently three-loss Tigers.

Perhaps both Ohio State and Minnesota win Saturday, handing Michigan and Wisconsin their third losses of the year, but after that it gets tricky.

Kansas over Baylor or Rutgers over Penn State?  No help coming in either of those.

Same pretty much going for Colorado’s chances against Utah, Florida State’s to upset Florida.

Not only would Notre Dame need one of those to happen, they’d need three of the last four listed in order to have a chance, couple with those Auburn, Michigan and Wisconsin losses listed above.

As you can tell the chances at the Cotton Bowl are about as good as gone. so if interested you might as well get those flights booked to Orlando.

That’s the unfortunate reality when what happens in Ann Arbor in late October happen to you in front of a national audience.

 

NCAA upholds postseason ban for Mizzou football

The Tigers (5-6, 2-5 SEC) still have a chance to finish with an even .500 record this fall, but the team won’t be playing for a bowl game the day after Thanksgiving after the NCAA Tuesday upheld its postseason ban for the program.

The Tigers (5-6, 2-5 SEC) still have a chance to finish with an even .500 record this fall, but the team won’t be playing for a bowl game the day after Thanksgiving after the NCAA Tuesday upheld its postseason ban for the program.

Chargers in attendance to scout Ohio State vs. Penn State

Los Angeles Chargers well-represented at the showdown between Ohio State and Penn State.

The Los Angeles Chargers are one of several teams in attendance for the big matchup between the Ohio State Buckeyes and Penn State Nittany Lions. In fact, the team will have two representatives to scout the game.

There are a few players worthy of scouting attention in this game.

Ohio State

WR Binjimen Victor (#9)

WR K.J. Hill (#14)

RB J.K. Dobbins (#2)

NT Davon Hamilton (#53)

LB Malik Harrison (#39)

CB Shaun Wade (#24)

CB Jeffrey Okudah (#1)

CB Damon Arnette (#3)

Penn State

WR KJ Hamler (#1)

DT Robert Windsor (#54)

DE Yetur Gross-Matos (#99)

LB Cam Brown (#6)

CB Tariq Castro-Fields (#6)

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2019 Michigan Football Week 13 Rooting Guide

Michigan football takes on Indiana this week, but while the Wolverines play that game, what are the other games you should focus on?

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Coming off their big 44-10 win last week against Michigan State, along with some teams ahead of the Wolverines losing, Michigan moved up to 13 in the latest College Football Playoff Rankings. If they want their small chance of reaching the playoffs, some top 10 teams are going to have to start to fall.

This week we’re back to just three games for Michigan to keep their eye on, and one of them will be hard for some people to side with. Check them all out below.

Game 1: No. 6 Oregon vs. Arizona State

Oregon and Utah are the two PAC-12 teams that have a chance to go to the playoffs if they can win out, then beat the other team in the conference championship. While a loss in that game eliminates one, the other could still go. If one of those teams loses a game before playing in the conference championship, then win the conference, they might miss the playoffs.

Oregon has a higher chance of losing this week as they take on an Arizona State team that has some good fight in them. This would be Oregon’s second loss of the season and it would knock them out of the top 10, possibly further depending on the score. A chance to move up at least a spot is something Michigan needs.

Root for: Arizona State

Game 2: Texas A&M vs. No. 4 Georgia

Another team with one loss that could face a possible upset this week is Georgia as they take on Texas A&M. Georgia is most likely going to the SEC title game unless they lose two in a row. While those odds are slim, they could still lose one possible game that’s this week.

Georgia already lost to an unranked team earlier this season, and another loss to an unranked loss team could knock them down even further away from the top four spots despite possibly going to the SEC Championship game. If Georiga could be knocked down and possibly eliminated from the playoff hunt, that helps Michigan.

Root for: Texas A&M

Game 3: No. 8 Penn State vs. No. 2 Ohio State

While the saying “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” could be used this week as Penn State takes on Ohio State, it needs to be ignored. Ahead of the big game next week, Michigan doesn’t want Ohio State to be 10-1. Penn State defeating Ohio State shoots them up the polls and knocks Ohio State down somewhat and Michigan doesn’t get a chance to move up and beating Ohio State won’t be looked at as impressive.

Having Ohio State defeat Penn State pushes Penn State down the rankings, and depending on how many points they lose by, they could fall below Michigan or barely stay above them. For Michigan to move up as high as possible if they are able to upset Ohio State next week, them beating an 11-0 team is better than 10-1. Ohio State losing to Michigan would knock them down in the polls and could shake up the playoff race.

Root for: No. 2 Ohio State
Contact/Follow @WolverinesWire/ @BKnappBlogs

Why would any great players like James Wiseman even want to play college hoops?

The NCAA doesn’t deserve the best players.

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The NCAA, as we all know, is made up of a collection of spineless ghouls whose main job is to figure out how to make sure none of the billions of dollars made by college athletes ever goes near any of the “student-athletes” and to level mind-boggling punishments if something even seems like it might help a kid or their family out.

Seriously, the sooner the NCAA goes away the better, as anyone who has even a small pocketful of common sense can agree with.

The latest idiotic move came Wednesday when the spineless ghouls suspended Memphis star basketball player James Wiseman for 12 games and, here’s the kicker, ordered him to donate $11,500 to charity.

LOL.

I mean, how rich is that by the spineless ghouls? Fining an amateur “student-athlete” just under $12 grand! Memphis is appealing this ruling but we all know how that will go.

This all happened because Memphis head coach Penny Hardaway paid for Wiseman and his family to move to Memphis in 2017. Hardaway was coaching a high school team at the time, not Memphis. Well, the NCAA decided since Hardaway donated $1 million bucks to Memphis in 2008 that he was considered a booster and this move was illegal. Because of course.

Wiseman now has to miss a bunch of games and donate all that money, which the NCAA figured covered the expenses of his move.

I obviously have nothing wrong with donating money to charity but if I’m Wiseman, I politely tell the spineless ghouls to shove their punishment you-know-where and I walk away from college basketball – because the best players don’t need this broken plan to get to the NBA.

Wiseman is expected to be one of the top picks in next summer’s NBA draft. What does one year of unpaid basketball that is ruled by people making tons of money and rule with an iron fist, have to do for his future? Absolutely nothing.

Basketball players, unlike football players, don’t need the NCAA. Football players are stuck because there’s no other way to get to the NFL.

There are more options now than ever for the best basketball players in the world to skip college and take another route. LaMelo Ball seems to be doing just fine making money and helping is draft stock while playing in ball in the NBL, a pro league in Australia and New Zealand.

Other star players have taken that route, too. Some players have taken the year off to train for the NBA draft, which makes a ton of sense.

These days a good year with a good college program doesn’t mean all that much. Everybody knows the best freshmen entering college basketball each year and their draft stock pretty much stays the same throughout the year.

Risking injury while not getting paid for a year doesn’t seem ideal. Can the college hoops experience still be a fun? Absolutely. Zion Williamson enjoyed it last year and was thankfully able to get out without a serious injury.

But the NCAA no longer deserves the best players in the world. Which they proved again with this situation in Memphis.

If I’m Wiseman, I call the NCAA and just laugh until they hang up the phone.

Wednesday’s biggest winner: Luka Doncic.

(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

The Mavs star continued his ridiculously good start to the season Wednesday night by scoring more points, collecting more rebounds, and handing out more assists in the first quarter than the entire Golden State Warriors team had in those opening 12 minutes. That’s just nuts. He also put up some other impressive numbers in the Mavs’ blowout win over the really sad Warriors.

Quick hits: Jerry Jones’ wild tale… Jackson and Ingram share special moment… Simmons finally hits 3… And more!

– Jerry Jones often thinks about the time in 1996 when he ran into Bill Belichick, who pitched the Cowboys owner on hiring him some day to be their coach.

– A new video shows Lamar Jackson and Mark Ingram having an awesome moment on the sideline during last Sunday’s win.

– Ben Simmons finally hit his first 3-pointer of his career Wednesday night and fans had all sorts of jokes.

– Charles Curtis has his weekly fantasy football studs, duds, and sleepers and says it’s time to move Tom Brady to your bench.

– An ump in a youth baseball game stormed off the field and left after some awful parents said some awful things. Seriously, these parents are the worst.

(Follow me on Twitter at @anezbitt. It might change your life. Just don’t tell me about your fantasy team.)

WATCH: Memphis freshman James Wiseman suspended 12 games

University of Memphis freshman James Wiseman will return to the hardwood on Jan. 12.

University of Memphis freshman James Wiseman will return to the hardwood on Jan. 12.

The NCAA announced Wednesday that the 7-foot-1 star is suspended 12 games, with 11 remaining at the time of the announcement.

Penny Hardaway paid $11,500 to help Wiseman and his family relocated to Memphis when the No. 1 recruit in the class of 2019 was in high school. At the time, Hardaway was an AAU coach and coach at East Memphis High School, where Wiseman enrolled.

As a former Memphis player and a donor, Hardaway qualified as a booster, making the financial help an impermissible benefit.

Hardaway is now the Tigers’ head coach.

The NCAA warned Memphis before the season began that the star rookie could be ineligible. The school, athletic department, and team decided to play Wiseman in three games anyway.

Memphis will appeal the suspension, saying Wednesday, “We expect a more fair and equitable resolution, and we will exhaust all avenues on James’ behalf.”