Wisconsin surges in KenPom and ESPN BPI after win over Pittsburgh, Greenbrier Tip-Off title

Wisconsin surges in KenPom and ESPN BPI after win over Pittsburgh, Greenbrier Tip-Off title

Wisconsin basketball continued its early season emergence over the weekend, defeating UCF, 86-70, and Pittsburgh, 81-75, to capture the 2024 Greenbrier Tip-Off title.

The wins came in an entirely different fashion. Wisconsin dominated UCF from the opening tip and was never tested in the second half. The Pittsburgh game was a significant test. The Badgers trailed by as many as 14 in the first half, then needed a 54-point second frame and sheer dominance from wing John Tonje to exit with the victory.

Related: Biggest takeaways from Wisconsin basketball’s win over Pittsburgh

That resilience against a good Pittsburgh team is another notch in the belt for Greg Gard’s group. It continues to emerge as a surprise contender in both the Big Ten and nationally. The team is off to a 7-0 start for the third time in program history (2014-15 and 1973-74).

Ratings metrics have been somewhat hesitant to crown Gard’s team as a true contender, however. Wisconsin entered the Greenbrier Tip-Off ranked No. 40 KenPom and No. 30 in ESPN BPI.

Those marks both rose significantly after the pair of wins.

The Badgers are up 14 spots in KenPom to No. 26 overall, with the No. 12-rated offense and No. 72 defense. That mark is good for fourth-best in the Big Ten behind only Purdue (No. 15), Ohio State (No. 18) and UCLA (No. 22).

The team also rose to No. 27 in BPI. The metric has its projected final record at 21.8-9.2 and gives it an 14.2% chance to win the Big Ten.

Wisconsin faced an uphill battle in those metrics to begin the season. Each likely put significant weight into the departures of Tyler Wahl, A.J. Storr and Chucky Hepburn.

The on-court product has eliminated that narrative. Tonje looks to be an upgrade over Storr in the early going, averaging 23 points and 5.4 rebounds through the first seven games. The team as a whole looks to be improved over the 2023-24 group. Part of that can be attributed to the development of Nolan Winter, Kamari McGee, John Blackwell and others. It also should be credited to fantastic coaching from Gard and his staff. His new system is allowing the team to flourish, and it is playing its best basketball since the team made a run to the national title game in 2015.

Wisconsin is back on the court on Saturday against Chicago State. It begins Big Ten play with a home game against Michigan on Dec. 3.

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Bills-Chiefs draws huge numbers during Week 11 clash

Bills-Chiefs draws huge numbers during Week 11 clash

The Week 11 AFC showdown between the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs drew the biggest television audience for an NFL regular season game in 17 years, not including holiday games.

According to USA Today, the 4:25 PM EST kickoff on CBS garnered 31.2 million viewers.

It’s the most viewers for a regular season game since 2007 when Tom Brady and the New England Patriots went toe-to-toe with Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts in Week 9. Both of those teams were 8-0. 

17 years later, the world got the new version of the Brady-Manning rivalry with Josh Allen’s Bills facing Patrick Mahomes’ Chiefs. The Chiefs entered the game 9-0 while the Bills were 8-2.

With the Bills win, Allen and Mahomes are now 4-4 against each other, with many close games, monumental moments, and highlight-reel plays. The NFL would be happy with the TV ratings if these teams met again in the playoffs this season.

CBS also recorded its biggest regional window audience since 1992 in Week 11, attracting 19.8 million viewers for the Ravens-Steelers matchup.

Safe to say it was a great day for the NFL and its fans.

Trevor Penning was PFF’s top-rated offensive tackle this week

Trevor Penning was PFF’s top-rated offensive tackle this week. He isn’t a finished product just yet, but he’s trending in the right direction:

Trevor Penning just might make it. The New Orleans Saints right tackle was recognized as the highest-rated blocker of Week 10 at Pro Football Focus, with a 92.8 PFF player grade.

That’s impressive even with the subjective cautions that come with PFF grades. Penning had the league’s highest grade as a run blocker (4.7) and he was charged with allowing just one pressure on 27 snaps in pass protection. He’s really coming into his own after moving to the right side, even if he isn’t a finished project just yet.

He just needs to keep stacking good days and good games like this. The best thing you can say about an offensive tackle is how little you hear about him  on game days, and to his credit Penning has mostly stayed out of the spotlight by cleaning up his mistakes. Outside of a few poorly-timed penalties, anyway. Let’s see if he can keep it up.

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Broncos blowing out Saints on ‘TNF’ was bad for Prime’s ratings

Football fans weren’t too interested in watching the Broncos beat up the Saints — it was TNF’s least-watched matchup so far this season.

The Denver Broncos got a big win over the New Orleans Saints on Thursday Night Football last week. It was 33-3 late in the fourth quarter until the Broncos put in their second-string defense and the Saints made a change at quarterback. New Orleans then scored late to make the final score 33-10.

It was a fun game for Broncos fans, but not necessarily appealing to a national audience. Denver was 3-3 going into the game and the Saints were 2-4. The game did mark Sean Payton’s return to New Orleans, but that might not have been as big of a draw as the NFL thought it would be.

The Broncos-Saints showdown got 9.81 million viewers, according to Austin Karp of the Sports Business Journal. That marked the first time this season a TNF game averaged fewer than 10 million viewers.

While the number was a dip for this season, it was still higher than the NFL’s TNF game in Week 7 last year, which drew 9.79 million viewers.

Thursday wasn’t a great ratings night for Prime, but the league’s ratings are still up overall compared to last year.

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Saints PFF grades: Best, worst performances from loss to Eagles in Week 3

Saints PFF grades: Best, worst performances from Week 3 loss to Eagles

The latest round of Pro Football Focus player grades are in after Week 3’s New Orleans Saints game with the Philadelphia Eagles. So who stood out — for good and bad? Let’s break it down by highlighting the top five — and bottom five — performances on both offense and defense from Sunday, as well as the special teams and quarterback play:

  1. WR Chris Olave: 90.3
  2. QB Derek Carr: 67.5
  3. LT Taliese Fuaga: 64.9
  4. RB Alvin Kamara: 63.8
  5. C Erik McCoy: 60

Backup left guard Nick Saldiveri gets an honorable mention here for grading out with a 71.0 on his only snap of the game (in pass protection), and it would be great to see him climb the depth and earn a shot in the starting lineup now that McCoy is out of action. Olave should’ve had more targets. He caught all 6 passes that Carr threw to him for 86 yards and what would have been a game-winning touchdown.

  1. DE Carl Granderson: 88.9
  2. LB Willie Gay Jr.: 85.9
  3. CB Paulson Adebo: 79.9
  4. CB Marshon Lattimore: 72.7
  5. FS Tyrann Mathieu: 68.5

Granderson was incredible this week, leading the team with seven pressures and twice sacking the quarterback. As we expected, Gay played a key role in spying Jalen Hurts to prevent the quarterback from running amok; he only had 3 tackles but Hurts managed just 25 rushing yards off of 8 attempts, 21 of them on one play. They went after Adebo often in coverage but he yielded just 36 yards and 3 first downs on 9 targets.

  1. TE Juwan Johnson: 29.6
  2. RT Trevor Penning: 40.1
  3. LG Olisaemeka Udoh: 43.3
  4. RG Cesar Ruiz: 45.5
  5. WR Mason Tipton: 46.4

We’re past the point where Johnson’s offseason injury can explain his lack of production. He’s someone who should’ve stepped up with Taysom Hill out this week, but instead he was a liability as a blocker and he couldn’t get open enough for Derek Carr to even try throwing to him. The offensive line was a disaster without Erik McCoy in the middle. All three of these blockers allowed multiple pressures (4 for Udoh, 3 for Ruiz, and 2 for Penning) and they failed to consistently open running lanes against the Eagles front.

  1. S Jordan Howden: 32.8
  2. DT Bryan Bresee: 40.7
  3. LB Deemario Davis: 44.5
  4. DE Chase Young: 56.8
  5. DT Nathan Shepherd: 59.1

Those aren’t the names you want at the bottom of the list. Davis suffered an injury in this game and played an uncharacteristically low number of snaps because of it (only 63 out of 71), and he struggled to defend tight ends crossing through his zone in the middle of the field. Howden only played 11 snaps but was one of the key defenders at fault on a coverage bust that set up Dallas Goedert’s 61-yard catch late in regulation. Bresee didn’t generate many pressures but he did bag a pair of sacks. Conversely, Young had six pressures but he’s still struggling to finish plays, and too often he rushed too deep which created a lane for Jalen Hurts to escape into.

Blake Grupe looked sloppy on a couple of mid-range field goals, which may have kept the coaches from trusting him at greater distances later in the game. At least Matthew Hayball placed his punts better this week with two falling inside the 20 and only one being returned. Isaiah Foskey had two assists in coverage and J.T. Gray blocked a punt, but the offense couldn’t capitalize on that opportunity.

It’s tough to evaluate Carr’s performance given how many times he was under pressure. He did make a couple of big-time throws this week, but he also twice put the ball in harm’s way; he’s very lucky he had an interception dropped on the worst pass he’s thrown all season, but he didn’t get lucky on a forced throw in the offense’s final play. The Eagles did a great job not biting on play action and that really limited his options to get the ball out under pressure.

Wisconsin falling in both ESPN FPI and SP+ entering big game at USC

Wisconsin steady in both ESPN FPI and SP+ entering big game at USC

Wisconsin fell slightly in both ESPN FPI and SP+ after its Week 4 bye.

The Badgers fell one spot in FPI, from No. 65 to No. 66. It also dropped three spots in SP+ from No. 50 to No. 53.

Related: Big Ten Power Rankings after Week 4: Michigan is alive

Neither standings are near where the Badgers began the season. They were a consensus top-30 team, at the least, with significant improvement expected in the second year under Luke Fickell.

Mild struggles in nonconference matchups against Western Michigan and South Dakota began the downward trend. A 42-10 home blowout loss to No. 4 Alabama only accelerated it.

The bad news: SP+ works to be predictive and forward-looking. So Wisconsin’s current standing predicts some upcoming struggles against a challenging Big Ten schedule.

The good news: plenty of opportunities remain for the Badgers to improve their standing.

The first opportunity for a statement victory comes this weekend at USC. Wisconsin finding an upset road win with improved play on both sides of the football would instantly alter the narrative surrounding its season.

Importantly, it would start to return the team to where many expected it to be in year two under Fickell. A middling ranking from No. 50 to No. 65 in the nation is far from that expected mark.

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes, and opinion.

Chiefs CB Trent McDuffie earned significant ratings boost in Madden 25

#Chiefs CB Trent McDuffie earned a significant ratings boost on ‘Madden 25’ after Kansas City’s win over the #Bengals in Week 2.

It is no secret that third-year cornerback Trent McDuffie has become one of the NFL’s top defenders, and as the Kansas City Chiefs prepare for their Week 3 matchup against the Atlanta Falcons, the experts at EA Sports have taken notice of his efforts.

McDuffie, who has become the top defensive back in Kansas City’s secondary, earned a significant rating boost on Madden 25 this week, making him a must-add player for users to utilize.

Madden announced his progression in a post to Twitter, that featured a graphic showing exactly what tweaks they made.

Though he isn’t the best cornerback in the game, McDuffie’s coverage ability is as impressive in Madden as it is on the real-life NFL gridiron.

https://twitter.com/EAMaddenNFL/status/1836903124545441974

It should come as no surprise that McDuffie is one of the most coveted players in Madden, especially given his outstanding play in the absence of veteran L’Jarius Sneed, who left the Chiefs in the 2024 offseason.

Chiefs star earns top rating in ‘Madden 25’

#Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes earned a 99 overall rating in ‘Madden 25’, joining TE Travis Kelce as one of the game’s best players.

The Kansas City Chiefs have dominated their competition in the NFL over the last two years, and seem destined for greatness as the 2024 season draws closer.

Star quarterback Patrick Mahomes has been a key part of Kansas City’s offensive attack, and after winning his third Super Bowl earlier this year, the experts at EA Sports gave him the highest honor in ‘Madden 25’, which is set to release later this month.

Mahomes earned a 99 overall rating, the best that is possible in the acclaimed game, cementing his status as the NFL’s top signal-caller as the Chiefs prepare to defend their Super Bowl LVIII title.

Though his exceptional rating shouldn’t come as a surprise to fans who are familiar with the ‘Madden’ franchise, Mahomes’ outstanding abilities are sure to make him a player worth using when the game finally hits the shelves.

Expect to see some otherworldly virtual highlights from Mahomes when the game comes out on August 16.

Chiefs DB earns 90-overall rating in ‘Madden 25’

One #Chiefs defensive back earned a 90-overall rating in the upcoming ‘Madden 25’ video game.

The Kansas City Chiefs have one of the most exciting young secondaries in the NFL, and with the 2024 regular season drawing closer every day, all eyes are on the defending champions as they prepare for their latest campaign.

One player with high expectations this season is cornerback Trent McDuffie, who earned a 90-overall rating in the upcoming release of EA Sports’ football game Madden 25, which is set to hit shelves later this month.

Though nine other cornerbacks have better ratings than McDuffie, he can rise above a 90-overall grade if he can put together some exceptional performances during the regular season.

Other Chiefs, including Chris Jones and Travis Kelce, have already had their ratings revealed, but the final grades for quarterbacks haven’t yet been announced.

As a two-time cover athlete on ‘Madden’ and reigning Super Bowl MVP, Patrick Mahomes is expected to earn a spot in the game’s vaunted ’99 Club’.

WATCH: Gameplay highlights of Wisconsin Badgers in EA Sports College Football 25

WATCH: Gameplay highlights of Wisconsin Badgers in EA Sports College Football 25

The college football world is currently obsessing over the upcoming release of EA Sports College Football 25.

The July 19 release date is more than three years in the making after the video game company announced in 2021 that the popular franchise would return with the NCAA’s new rules on NIL. Overall, the release is more than a decade in the making after the franchise was discontinued after NCAA ’14.

Related: Reasons why Wisconsin football will or won’t make College Football Playoff in 2024

Our previews of the soon-to-be-released video game include a look at Wisconsin’s place among the top teams in the game, the player ratings for the Badgers’ best players, and various rankings including of the toughest places to play in the game.

With more and more popular influencers in the space getting a first crack at the gameplay, we now have a look at the Badgers in action.

That comes courtesy of Barstool Sports and Big Cat. He played with the Badgers against PFT Commenter and the James Madison Dukes. Here are some quick highlights of the gameplay:

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion.