Tag: Predictions

ESPN projects Florida basketball to upset No. 6 Kentucky

Using its College Basketball Power Index, ESPN is projecting Florida to pull off an upset against Kentucky on Saturday.

The Florida Gators kick off conference play on Saturday against the Kentucky Wildcats, and Gator Nation could be in for an upset.

Despite Kentucky’s top-10 ranking in both major polls, ESPN is projecting Florida to beat UK in the O-Dome. According to the latest projections using the Basketball Power Index (BPI), Florida is a  3.6-point favorite over Kentucky with a 61.9% win probability.

A team’s BPI measures its true strength in the future. It is also the team’s expected point margin against an average opponent on a neutral court. Kentucky is ranked 22nd in the country with a 10.9 BPI and Florida is ranked 28th with a 9.8 rating. Homecourt advantage is the difference here, but the two will play a rematch at the end of the month in Lexington.

ESPN gives the matchup a quality rating of 89.8 (out of 100), which is good for the third-best matchup of the day. Only Clemson–North Carolina and Iowa State-Oklahoma are rated higher. The Clemson-UNC game will compete with Florida-Kentucky for television time, but the SEC matchup should draw a better rating being on ESPN, rather than ESPN2.

Tip-off is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. ET on Saturday.

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Final score predictions for Saints vs. Buccaneers in Week 17

Can New Orleans keep it close, or even pull off an upset? Our final score predictions for Saints vs. Buccaneers in Week 17:

The New Orleans Saints’ playoff hopes will be on the line when they kick off with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday. These two teams are in very different spots — the Bucs have rattled off four wins in a row, while the Saints were exposed in front of a national audience in last week’s loss.

Can the Saints keep it close? Do they have a shot at pulling off an upset against a motivated Buccaneers team that knows they can clinch the NFC South title with a win? Here’s what our staff are expecting in our Week 17 final score predictions:

Notre Dame-Oregon State: Sun Bowl Video Preview

Go Irish, Beat Beavers!

Notre Dame closes the 2023 season on Friday against Oregon State in a Sun Bowl contest that will certainly be unique.

Opt-outs are plentiful on both sidelines as plenty of NFL talent won’t be participating in the affair.  However, there is still a 10-win season for Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame on the line as well as a stage to be set for a big 2024.

Will Notre Dame take care of business in the Sun Bowl?

Fighting Irish Wire staff writers Nick Shepkowski and Jeff Feyerer got together Thursday night to preview the game and discuss the state of the program, including the recent hiring of offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock and plenty more.

Check it out in full below (and do so after the game as well as it features plenty of non-Sun Bowl discussion).

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Notre Dame-Oregon State: Sun Bowl Staff Predictions

How do you predict a game with so many players opting out?

It seems like it was just a couple of weeks ago that Notre Dame was in Ireland kicking off the 2023 season.  It was a year full of promise but that also featured many frustrations.

Notre Dame started 4-0 before dropping an all-time heartbreaker to Ohio State.  They followed that up with a last second win at Duke before getting boat-raced at Louisville.  All in all the Irish would finish the regular season 9-3 with plenty of promise but also plenty of questions.

Now comes a dam fine Oregon State Beavers team that is going through a transition as a program.  Their days in the Pac 12 are done and their former quarterback turned head coach has left to lead Michigan State.

Both sides have more than a handful of key players from the regular season opting out.  Notre Dame can finish the year with 10 wins, something they’ve accomplished every year since 2017 besides last year.  Oregon State could finish 9-4 with a victory.

With so many key pieces on both sides this certainly isn’t the easiest game to handicap.  However, we will certainly try our best to tell you how it goes as the 2023 season sees a bow put on it.

ESPN predicts big Florida win over Quinnipiac using BPI

ESPN uses its College Basketball Power Index to predicts every outcome of the season, and Florida is expected to win big over Quinnipiac.

The Quinnipiac Bobcats currently hold a 9-3 record and are third in the MAAC, but ESPN thinks Florida should win by about 20 on Saturday when the two teams meet up in Gainesville.

Using the Basketball Power Index, ESPN gives Florida 94.2% odds to win by an expected 19.7-point margin. The game has a matchup quality rating of 61.3, which is a bit high considering Quinnipiac is a Quadrant 4 opponent.

“BPI is a measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of performance going forward,” the site reads. “BPI represents how many points above or below average a team is… Game predictions account for opponent strength, pace of play, site, travel distance, day’s rest and altitude, and are used to simulate the season 10,000 times to produce season projections.”

The Gators are 5-0 against Quadrant 4 teams, and Quinnipiac hasn’t moved into Quadrant 3 territory yet. There is some hope that the Bobcats will finish the season ranked higher, but Florida would still be favored over a Q3 opponent.

The Bobcats have taken four of their last five games, averaging more than 70 points a game over that stretch. Florida is looking to push its winning streak to six games before conference play begins and is averaging 85.4 points per game.

Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. ET on Saturday. Fans can find the broadcast on ESPNU.

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Saints address the trenches in recent three-round mock draft

The Saints addressed the trenches in a recent three-round mock draft, improving their pass rush and hitting the reset button at left tackle:

Mock draft season begins to ramp up as the NFL regular season begins to wind down. The New Orleans Saints draft spot is up in the air, with the NFC South winner still undecided. They currently sit around the middle of the first round, which Curt Popejoy used for his recent three-round mock draft for Draft Wire.

With the No. 13 overall selection, this mock draft has the Saints selecting UCLA defensive end Laiatu Latu. This would be a stellar, albeit characteristic, selection for New Orleans. Some believe Latu to be the best defensive prospect in the draft, but (Saints fans cover your eyes) has serious medical concerns. Latu suffered a neck injury during his sophomore season that caused him to medically retire from football. He was cleared to play in 2022 and has been good to go for the past two seasons. During those two seasons he has racked up 23.5 sacks and 34 tackles for a loss along with two interceptions. He’s a very talented player that could end up as a steal for the Saints.

In the second round, with the No. 46 overall selection, the Saints then took offensive tackle Jordan Morgan out of Arizona. The Trevor Penning selection is looking worse and worse as time goes on, so it is looking like the Saints may need to go back to the drawing board at left tackle. Pro Football Focus gave Morgan one of their highest pass blocking grade at 87.7 for last season. He is a large tackle with five seasons of football under his belt. The hope is that he would be able to come in and contribute early on.

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Final score predictions for Saints vs. Rams on Thursday Night Football

Staff picks: Our final score predictions for Saints vs. Rams on Thursday Night Football

Kickoff is nearly here for Thursday night’s game between the New Orleans Saints and Los Angeles Rams — and nearly every NFL expert is picking against the black and gold this week. Few prognosticators are calling for a blowout, but the Rams are a unanimous pick to beat the Saints.

So what are our staff writers here at Saints Wire expecting? Check our final score predictions and see:

Who the experts are picking in Saints vs. Rams on TNF

Nobody is predicting a blowout, but this week’s NFL expert picks are unanimously siding with the Rams over the Saints:

No one is predicting a blowout, but the NFL expert picks in Week 16 are unanimously backing the Los Angeles Rams. Now, it’s widely expected that the New Orleans Saints will keep it competitive — the question is whether they can get the job done on the road, on a short week, against a well-coached Rams team playing their hearts out.

Here is a quick look at the Week 16 NFL expert picks:

ESPN predicts Florida-Michigan matchup using BPI

Florida enters a big matchup against Michigan as the favorite, according to ESPN, but beating a Quadrant 2 opponent will be tough.

Florida basketball enters a matchup against Michigan with a 2-3 record against Quadrant 1 and 2 opponents, but ESPN says the Gators are the favorites to win on Tuesday in Charlotte, North Carolina at the Jumpman Invitational.

Using the Basketball Power Index (BPI), ESPN is giving Florida 58.5% odds to come out on top by a projected 2.4 points.

“BPI is a measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of performance going forward,” the site reads. “BPI represents how many points above or below average a team is… Game predictions account for opponent strength, pace of play, site, travel distance, day’s rest and altitude, and are used to simulate the season 10,000 times to produce season projections.”

The Wolverines are off to a bumpy start, sporting a 6-5 record, but head coach Juwan Howard is now back with hopes of restoring some stability to the program. A 17-point win over Eastern Michigan on Saturday has spirits high in Ann Arbor, but this should be a bigger test for U of M.

Florida is looking for some stability of its own after dealing with suspensions and injuries that affected the rotation. Now with a full roster, Todd Golden is figuring out how to best dole out minutes.

Things looked pretty ugly on Thursday in a win over East Carolina. Hopefully, Golden and Co. can adjust and make good on ESPN’s predictions for Saturday.

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Final score predictions for Saints vs. Giants in Week 15

Final score predictions for Saints vs. Giants in Week 15

We’re closing in on kickoff between the New Orleans Saints (6-7) and New York Giants (5-8) on Sunday, but how do you see this one turning out? Can the Saints hold their own against an opponent riding a three-game win streak? Or will they play down to their level of competition? Are these teams that far apart after all, despite their records?

Here are our staff picks and final score predictions going into Week 15’s game: