Tag: teams

Kirk Herbstreit releases college football top 6 team rankings following Week 4

Do you have the same top four?

Week 4 of college football has come and gone and with it goes FBS contests for the month of September.  What do we know a month into the 2022 season?  And what do we still have to find out?  It would appear plenty in both categories.

Week 4 saw No. 6 Oklahoma get knocked off at home as Adrian Martinez and Kansas State proved unstoppable for Brent Venables and company.  Elsewhere USC escaped Oregon State with a hard fought victory despite their offense having nowhere near their A-game.

Alabama, Georgia, and Ohio State, cruised to victories while Michigan perhaps had more of a test than most would have thought against Maryland.

How did the weekend make Kirk Herbstreit feel about the College Football Playoff outlook?

Here is who Herbstreit ranked as his top-six college football teams on Sunday.

 

Chiefs assigned top CBS broadcast team for Week 1 vs. Cardinals

The #Chiefs get Romo, Nantz and Wolfson for their Week 1 tilt with the #Cardinals.

CBS Sports has announced its broadcast team lineups for the 2022 NFL season along with the games they’ll call in Week 1.

Jim Nantz, Tony Romo and Tracy Wolfson are set to embark on their sixth season together. They’re the top crew for CBS and get the opportunity to call the “marquee game” on the network every week.

In Week 1, this trio will be calling the matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Arizona Cardinals at 3:25 p.m. CT. If you’re the superstitious type, you might not be too thrilled to hear this news. Romo, Nantz and Wolfson called seven games for K.C. last season and their record during that span was 4-3. That includes the most recent game the team played — the AFC title game loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.

It’s good news to know that the network views this game as its marquee matchup. There are divisional matchups between the Steelers and Bengals, and the Patriots and Dolphins on CBS during the opening weekend as well, but it’s a cross-conference game between Patrick Mahomes and Kyler Murray that draws the top crew.

Perhaps Kansas City’s demise has been greatly exaggerated this offseason? Maybe they’re interested because of the new faces on offense and the defense for the Chiefs. Maybe the storyline between Mahomes and Kliff Kingsbury is drawing some intrigue. We’ll find out what the angle is soon enough, with Week 1 rapidly approaching.

[listicle id=134367]

MLB teams and players had the absolute best reactions to the lockout ending

The lockout is over. The celebration is just beginning.

Major League Baseball is back.

Like for real.

No more deadlines, no more late nights with both sides moving closer, no more canceled games and no more delays. We’re getting a full, 162-game season with nine-inning doubleheaders, a designated hitter in the National League and no runner on second base to begin extra innings.

All that’s left to do is report to spring training, sign a few remaining marquee free agents and play ball.

Ok, there is one thing left to do and that’s celebrate the fact that we’re getting baseball at all. After months of uncertainty, players and teams couldn’t wait to unleash their excitement that the sport is back.

Here’s some of the best reactions from around the league:

See you all on Opening Day, 2022. Which is now a certainty!

[listicle id=1857898]

[listicle id=1857894]

 

 

Keyshawn Johnson really, really doesn’t like Notre Dame

It’s like watching a train wreck you just can’t look away from…

Sometimes I’ll ponder to myself or with other Notre Dame fans about what we’d like USC to be.  With a national head coaching search in full-go mode since September, the Trojans have a massive hire they’ll be making in the next few weeks.

Related: 2021 College Football Coaching Tracker

Part of me thinks it’d be awesome to have Notre Dame and USC both be great at the same time for years and years, since it’s been decades since that was the case.  I also think of Matt Zemek who runs Trojans Wire and who I had a blast going to Notre Dame-USC memory with earlier this year, and think how he deserves to cover a football team that’s actually worth watching.

Then on the Wednesday morning before Thanksgiving I scroll through Twitter and find Keyshawn Johnson to quickly talk sense back into me as he reminded me why I’d forever like to USC trip over themselves and not make bowl games.

Related: Notre Dame’s updated path to CFP

Johnson, the former USC All-American, now works on ESPN Radio’s morning show with Max Kellerman and Jay Williams that you’d have to guarantee me a check in order to tune into.

Anyway, the gang was talking about potential College Football Playoff teams on Wednesday and Johnson shared the following well thought-out point:

I know some parts of Notre Dame Twitter are real upset with Johnson for what he said but I actually appreciate it.  Plenty out there will claim to have no bias against Notre Dame but then craft incredibly dumb arguments to try and single the Irish out negatively.  At least Johnson just gives it to us straight and doesn’t try hide from his dislike.

Related: Notre Dame’s updated national bowl projections

I however have no idea what Notre Dame ever did to Johnson to make him feel that way…

College football head coaching tracker

 

Did Ian Book destroy Stanford football?

How did Stanford football get so bad, so quickly? It’s clearly @Ian_Book12’s fault.

Notre Dame fans associate the 2018 season with a win over Michigan to start the year, a quarterback change in late-September, and a 12-0 regular season that concluded with hard-fought victory on Southern California’s home field.

Did something Notre Dame did that year have a lasting impact on a rival, though?

Stanford started that 2018 season 4-0 and entered Notre Dame Stadium ranked seventh in the AP Poll, a spot ahead of the Irish at the time.  The Cardinal were coming off a road-victory over No. 20 Oregon and seemed primed to be making another Rose Bowl run.

For Notre Dame, Ian Book was making his third career start but first at his home venue.

Related: SEE IT! A photo from every Ian Book victory at Notre Dame

What followed was a coming out party for the Irish as Book and running back Dexter Williams, who made his season-debut that night, led Notre Dame to out-gain Stanford 550-229 yards in a 38-17 victory.

Notre Dame has spent nearly the entire time since competing for a spot in the College Football Playoff while Stanford has gone into a tailspin.

Starting with that night that Book made his first home start for Notre Dame the Irish have gone a mind-boggling 38-3 in regular season games while Stanford, who had won eight or more games in nine-straight seasons entering 2018, has gone just 16-22 overall since.

The Cardinal are a lowly 3-8 as they welcome Notre Dame to the Stanford for Saturday’s regular season finale for both squads.

Somehow one of those three however was against an Oregon team that was ranked third-nationally in the CFP rankings before they were routed at Utah this past weekend.

How did it get this bad, this fast for Stanford?

There are probably more logical explanations but I’ll go ahead and blame, or actually, credit Ian Book.

Related:

Projecting the next College Football Playoff rankings after Oregon upset

10 things that happened the last time Notre Dame and Stanford didn’t play (from 2020)

4 teams that could target Marcus Williams in free agency

New Orleans Saints safety Marcus Williams should be a big free agent target for teams in need of upgrades, like the Lions and Raiders.

It goes without saying at this point that the New Orleans Saints have their work cut out for them in 2021. Between questions at quarterback and their salary cap bookkeeping, it’s a lot to handle — making it tough to figure out how they can retain talented free agents like Trey Hendrickson and Marcus Williams (plus Jameis Winston), all of whom should have active markets.

Someone is going to fall through the cracks and play for another team next season. And that could be Williams, who has started four years and played at a high level in New Orleans. He’s bagged 13 career interceptions, already tying him with Mike McKenzie and Fred Thomas to rank 10th-best in franchise history. After working hard to clean up his tackling in 2020, he’s set up for a nice pay day at age 24.

And his asking-price should start at around $8 million per year, which is what Malcolm Jenkins is earning, if not higher. Williams is one of the most-accomplished free agents available this year, and he fits the ball-hawking prototype set by other top earners like Kevin Byard ($14.1 million per year) and Eddie Jackson ($14.6 million).

What Titans’ COVID-19 outbreak means for NFL this week

The Titans have had both players and personnel test positive for COVID-19 prompting the rescheduling of the Steelers matchup Week 4.

There was always a chance that the COVID-19 pandemic would impact the NFL as it previously did the NBA and MLB. Unfortunately, it has struck three weeks into the season as the Tennessee Titans have now had a number positive COVID-19 tests confirmed. This could have ramifications for the rest of the 2020 season, which could only increase in severity if more teams report positive cases.

The Titans placed three players on the Reserve/COVID-19 list and sent two to the practice squad in response to the results.

Furthermore, they have closed their facilities to prevent further spread of the disease. The Minnesota Vikings, who played the Titans just three days ago, followed suit. The NFL released a statement saying that they will take every possible precaution with the two teams.

The NFL has now announced the game will be postponed to either Monday or Tuesday, with more details to be announced shortly.

The Seattle Seahawks still have yet to report a positive test.

[lawrence-related id=67677]

See the Pelicans new jerseys with social justice messages on the back

This is pretty cool.

The NBA’s players have collectively decided to take a stand and shed light on the social justice and inequality issues that run rampant in America — particularly when it comes to police brutality and the mistreatment of Black people.

They’re doing it in a number of ways. That includes things like donating money and salaries to charity and speaking the names of police brutality victims in press conferences where they’d typically talk about basketball.

One of the other ways players decided to shine light on these issues was to put social justice statements on the back of their jerseys where their names would typically be.

When the Pelicans play the first official regular season game of the NBA’s return tonight, those statements will be unveiled on the court for the first time.

The Pelicans gave a sneak peak of the jerseys with the statements on them ahead of the game.

They weren’t the only ones to share, either. The Suns shared theirs ahead of the league’s official return game as well (though they still include player names on them).

The Celtics even shared a peek at theirs.

As more games are played more of these will continue to trickle in.

It’s worth noting that these aren’t necessarily handpicked messages from players — the league gave them a pool of statements to choose from to put on the back of their jerseys.

In any event, though, it’s a good thing to see the NBA doing this. Especially when it wasn’t even a though just a month or two ago.

B/R ranks 2005 Texas as a top 10 team of all time

Bleacher Report recently ranked its top 10 CFB teams of all time. 2005 Texas, led by Mac Brown and Vince Young, made the list.

For long, there has been a debate over who is the greatest college football team of all time. Bleacher Report recently joined in the conversation, ranking their top 10 teams of all time.

The earliest team selected was Oklahoma’s 1956 team, while LSU’s 2019 national championship team also made the list. Half the teams selected for the top 10 have come since the turn of the century.

Texas’ 2005 team made the list, coming in at No. 8. Led by Mack Brown, the Longhorns had a perfect 14-0 while winning the Big 12 and National Championship.

The season was capped off against USC, playing the famous 2006 Rose Bowl. Arguably the greatest college football game of all time, Texas cemented their place in history with a walk-off touchdown from Vince Young.

Here is the full list:

  1. 2001 Miami
  2. 1971 Nebraska
  3. 1973 USC
  4. 1995 Nebraska
  5. 2005 USC Trojans
  6. 2019 LSU
  7. 2018 Clemson
  8. 2005 Texas
  9. 1979 Alabama
  10. 1956 Oklahoma

Texas had to face two teams on this list, playing against 1956 Oklahoma and 2019 LSU.

The Longhorns played the annual Red River Shootout against the Sooners at the Cotton Bowl and got shutout 45-0. To this day, it is the fourth-largest margin of victory in the rivalry.

Fairing better against the Tigers, Texas lost by seven in Austin this past season. Only Alabama and Auburn played LSU better, losing by five and three respectively.

As for 2005 Texas, B/R agrees the 2006 Rose Bowl brings a whole new element when discussing the Longhorns that season.

If the 2006 Rose Bowl isn’t the greatest game ever played, it’s certainly no lower than the highest tier in history.

Vince Young’s legendary fourth-down scramble gave Texas a dramatic win over USC—then considered a potential all-time team. Given that context, how could the unblemished Longhorns not then be catapulted into that discussion?

Texas allowed just 16.4 points per game, but Young and Co. demanded the headlines with a top-ranked 50.2 points scored per game.

Young, who finished second in Heisman voting behind USC’s Reggie Bush, became the first NCAA player to throw for 3,000 yards and run for 1,000 in a single season. Running back Jamaal Charles, a future NFL star, topped 1,000 scrimmage yards, too.

No matter how many great teams win national championships in the future, it will be difficult to knock the 2005 Longhorn team out of the conversation. With a game and moment as special as beating USC, they’ll be remembered for the rest of history.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Aloha, Irish! Notre Dame Headed Back to Hawaii in 2021

It’s not one that screams blue bloods as no Duke, North Carolina, Kansas or Kentucky will be playing but Oregon and Wisconsin have been strong programs both for sometime and Butler is always there to be a pain in, well, everyone’s rear end.

Notre Dame basketball will return to the Maui Invitational in the fall of 2021 according to a report from Jon Rothstein on Tuesday evening. It will be Notre Dame’s first trip back to Hawaii since winning the tournament in November of 2017.

Rothstein had the rest of the eight team list of Maui Invitational teams for 2021.

It’s not one that screams blue bloods as no Duke, North Carolina, Kansas or Kentucky will be playing but Oregon and Wisconsin have been strong programs both for sometime and Butler is always there to be a pain in, well, everyone’s rear end.

Get those plane tickets and hotels booked now, we’ve got Mike Brey in a t-shirt to go watch!