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The Mets’ losing streak hits 12 despite a dominant start against the Twins

by Aaron | April 22, 2026 | 0 Comments

The Mets appeared to be on their way to ending their 11-game losing streak in the series opener vs. Minnesota on Tuesday night. Nolan McLean was dominant and retired the first 15 batters that he faced while Francisco Lindor came up big with a three-run blast to right field that ended up being the only significant offense from the Mets all night. Still, it looked like it would be enough until Byron Buxton took McLean deep over the left field wall just three batters after Matt Wallner became the first Twins batter to reach base with a single to open the sixth inning.

The two-run home run brought Minnesota within one and put some pressure on New York’s offense to add some runs. Instead, the Mets made 12 straight outs against the Twins’ beleaguered bullpen. While the Mets flailed about, Minnesota broke through against McLean again with Kody Clemens hitting a double with one out in the seventh and Luke Keaschall following up with an RBI single to tie the game. Huascar Brazoban kept the score steady until the ninth, which set the stage for Devin Williams to blow a game for the second time in a row.

Williams started by walking Josh Bell on four pitches and then gave Ryan Jeffers a free pass as well. Clemens bunted to the first base side, but the Mets failed to record an out when pinch runner Josh Outman beat Mark Vientos’ throw to third base. With the bases loaded and nobody out Keaschall hits a ground ball to the left side that bounced past New York’s drawn-in infield. What looked like it could yield an out at home plate turned into an RBI single. Not content to let his defense shoulder some of the blame, Williams then walked Wallner to make the score 5-3 Minnesota.

Austin Warren did an amazing job striking out the side to prevent further damage, but it didn’t matter much since the Mets were lifeless in their half of the ninth. I’m all for Warren or Brazoban getting the next save opportunity since it would show the clubhouse that performance matters, but I don’t expect Carlos Mendoza to rock the boat so much despite a disastrous start to the season.

The Mets are back at it tonight with Juan Soto in the lineup against a southpaw making his MLB debut. Surely, now is when the Mets take a break from losing, right?

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Mets blown out in Chicago for ninth straight loss

by Aaron | April 18, 2026 | 0 Comments

The Mets got the offense revved up in the second inning on Friday afternoon in Chicago, but it didn’t matter very much since Kodai Senga was a flaming tire fire for the second time in a row. The Japanese right-hander was one strike away from escaping a jam in the bottom of the first, but then Seiya Suzuki dropped an RBI single into right field and Cubs phenom Moises Ballesteros followed up with a three-run opposite taco. The Mets, who have had trouble scoring more than two runs in a game during this long losing streak were down 4-0 out of the gate.

Even before I could say “it’s over,” the Mets surprisingly battled back against Chicago starter Edward Cabrera. MJ Melendez continued his hot hitting with a scorching line drive single to put two runners on base for Marcus Semien, who ripped a double into the gap to get the Mets on the board. After Brett Baty continued his monster slump with a strikeout, Tyrone Taylor ripped a line drive off the left-center field wall for what could have been a two-RBI double. However, Taylor had to settle for a single since he was thrown out by former Mets draft pick Pete Crow-Armstrong. On instant replay it looked like Taylor might have avoided the tag by Nico Hoerner, but Carlos Mendoza chose not to challenge the play and the rally fizzled out on Caron Benge’s fly out with the New York still down a run.

The momentum didn’t last long, as Senga gave up a two-run blast to Hoerner in the bottom of the inning to make the score 6-3. The Mets wouldn’t score again until the game was well out of hand in eighth inning. The game almost got interesting when the first three New York batters reached base, but then Melendez struck out and Mark Vientos grounded into a double play to doom the Mets to a 12-4 blowout loss.

For the second straight week, a decent offensive showing from the Mets was spoiled by a Senga disaster start. It’s time to consider a change to the rotation, especially with Christian Scott heating up at Triple-A. The lineup could also use a lot of work, but the most pressing concern is Brett Baty, who has 21 strikeouts and zero walks so far, resulting in a .190 on-base percentage. He also is a man without a position since Bo Bichette signed on to play third base. Baty has tried to fit at first base and right field, but he cost the Mets a run with an error on Friday and could be due for a demotion when Juan Soto or Jared Young returns from the injured list.

If the Mets continue floundering into oblivion, at least we’ll have the NBA Playoffs and the Stanley Cup Playoffs to distract us starting this afternoon. The Knicks losing in the first round would be a bigger mess than the baseball season, so hopefully that doesn’t happen. This was supposed to be the Knicks’ year with Jayson Tatum missing most of the season due to his Achilles injury, but now Tatum is back and the Celtics will be favored to beat New York in the Eastern Conference Semifinals if we get that far. The expectation is for the Knicks to finally reach the NBA Finals, but it would be surprising if they got back to the Conference Finals.

There is also WrestleMania this weekend, which means maybe just maybe we’ll get to see Roman Reigns beat up the insufferable CM Punk and return to his role as the Head of the Table at WWE. Also, can Gunther finally get a big win at WrestleMania after being “upset” by Sami Zayn and Jey Uso in the last two years? Speaking of Zayn, I’m looking forward to seeing if he fully commits to his new heel bit and beats Trick Williams or if Williams continues on his rocket ship ride to the top of the company. Another recent NXT call-up who is super hot right now is Oba Femi. If he beats Brock Lesnar on Sunday, Femi could take Lesnar’s place as one of the most intimidating forces in the wrestling world. There’s so much to look forward to!

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Mets blow an opportunity for offense while Dodgers pull away late and complete a sweep

by Aaron | April 16, 2026 | 0 Comments

The very evil and very nice future WWE Hall of Famer Danhausen agreed to uncurse the Mets on Wednesday morning, but New York continued to stumble that night in an 8-2 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers that completed a three-game sweep. The Mets have now lost eight games in a row and sit in last place in the National League East. Maybe the loss was due to Danhausen’s face not yet appearing on a WWE equipment truck, or maybe the Mets were never cursed and have just been a terrible franchise for the past 40 years. I don’t want to contemplate that second scenario, but after this latest result, it has to be brought into consideration.

Clay Holmes kept the Mets in the game with his third straight solid outing, but hope remained bleak due to the offense’s continued ineptness against Dodgers starter Shohei Ohtani. It looked like Los Angeles might have enough runs to win the game when Hyeseong Kim delivered a two-run home run to the right field seats in the second inning.

The Dodgers ended up needing a little bit more than those two runs, but that was only because of a garbage-time run in the ninth inning driven in by Marcus Semien. New York’s other run came in the fifth inning during a stretch that should have allowed the Mets to take control of the game. Ohtani had trouble finding the strike zone during that frame, starting with a walk to Francisco Alvarez. Carson Benge followed with a solid line drive to left field that appeared to land in front of Teoscar Hernandez for a base hit. Unfortunately, Alvarez thought otherwise and headed back to first base instead of advancing to second. This resulted in an easy force out at second base instead of two runners on and nobody out.

Even after the baserunning blunder, the Mets continued to rally with Semien drawing a walk and MJ Melendez, who was just called up that day to replace an injured Jared Young in the lineup, bouncing his second double of the game into the right field seats. The clutch hit could have tied the game if only Alvarez hadn’t ran himself into an out, but it still scored one run and there was still a chance for more. The Mets did not score more, though, because Tommy Pham struck out with two runners in scoring position and then Francisco Lindor lined out to end the threat.

That was the closest the Mets would get to contending in this game. In the sixth inning, Ohtani recovered to strike out the side and Teoscar Hernandez hit a solo shot off of Tobias Myers to put Los Angeles ahead by two again.

Hernandez was back at the plate in the eighth to open up the floodgates. The rally started with an innocent ground ball to shortstop, but instead of charging the ball, Lindor backed up on it, and his throw to first was not in time to get Hernandez out. After a walk by Max Muncy and a very long single by Andy Pages, Dalton Rushing drove a Devin Williams hanging changeup over the center field fence for a grand slam and a 7-1 lead.

The Mets have a day off on Thursday before starting a three-game series at the Cubs on Friday. It will be nice to have three straight day games after three straight late-night games to start the road trip. Chicago is off to a 9-9 start, but the team appears to be rounding into form with two straight blowout wins over Philadelphia.

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The Mets have lost seven straight games, but Danhausen is here to help

by Aaron | April 15, 2026 | 0 Comments

The young New York Mets 2026 campaign took a turn for the worse after the team defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-3 to improve to 7-4 last week. Since then, the Mets have lost seven straight games, and in only two of those games have they scored more than one run. Tuesday night against the Dodgers was a great opportunity to score more than a run because Francisco Lindor led off with a solo home run off of Los Angeles ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto to finally find his first RBI of the season. This could have been the night that the Mets’ offense exploded and snapped the losing skid, but instead Yamamoto settled in and retired the next 20 New York batters in a row before Bo Bichette hit a double with two outs in the seventh inning. With the scored tied 1-1, the Mets had a chance to take a rare lead, but Brett Baty struck out to end the frame.

The Mets were still in the game until late because Nolan McLean proved to be just as brilliant as Yamamoto. He allowed a run in the first when Will Smith hit a double that led to Kyle Tucker scoring on Freddie Freeman’s ground out, but after that McLean was lights out. The most encouraging part was how he stayed in control even when facing the powerful Dodgers lineup for a third time. He even struck out the side in the seventh inning before leaving the game with 95 pitches thrown.

The eighth inning provide another opportunity for the Mets when Carson Benge and Lindor both singled with two outs to finally get Yamamoto out of the game. However, Blake Treinen struck out Luis Robert Jr. to end the threat and the Dodgers pushed a run across in the bottom half thanks to Miguel Rojas’ leadoff walk and Tucker’s bloop single off of Brooks Raley.

Even with Edwin Diaz out of commission due to a decrease in velocity, the Dodgers had no trouble shutting down the Mets in the ninth, as Alex Vesia struck out the side on just 10 pitches. Almost immaculate!

Juan Soto is still on the shelf for a little while, so it’s hard to foresee an end to the batting struggles, but maybe a supernatural force can step in and lift the Mets out of their long slump.

Former WWE writer Brian Gewirtz appears to have the connections necessary to make this deal happen with Danhausen. As soon as we see his ghoulish face on a production truck, there’s a chance the Mets never lose again.

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John Blackwell beats the buzzer for Wisconsin and Nebraska stays undefeated in a rout

by Aaron | January 14, 2026 | 0 Comments

Wisconsin avoided a letdown game following its shocking upset at Michigan when John Blackwell crushed a triple at the buzzer to give the Badgers a 78-75 victory at Minnesota on Tuesday night. The Gophers led 41-30 over their rivals with 18 minutes left thanks to Jaylen Crocker-Johnson hitting a floater plus the foul, but Blackwell answered with a pair of three-point shots to lead Wisconsin on the comeback trail. The Badgers would lead by as many as nine thanks to former Gopher Braeden Carrington knocking down seven triples of his own for a season-high 21 points, but Minnesota refused to go away. Nolan Winter’s missed free throw with 12 seconds left gave Cade Tyson the opportunity to tie the game at 75-75 with five seconds to play, but Blackwell struck right back with his clutch winner.

Blackwell led everyone in scoring with 27 points and added five assists as well. Minnesota had four players in double figures led by Crocker-Johnson with 20 points while Langston Reynolds scored 12 points with 10 of the Gophers’ 20 assists.

Talk about two teams going in different directions. Nebraska wrecked Oregon 90-55 to keep the Cornhuskers undefeated at 6-0 in the Big Ten and 17-0 overall. It’s the biggest blowout Nebraska has ever had over a Big Ten opponent in conference play. This is also the best start to Big Ten play that Nebraska has had since joining the conference for the 2011-12 season. Meanwhile, the Ducks are 1-5 in the Big Ten haven’t started this poorly in league play since they went 1-5 to begin the Pac-12 campaign of 2013-14.

The game didn’t start so lopsided. Oregon center Nate Bittle made a layup to tie the score at 28-28 with four minutes left in the first half, but then Oregon rolled off a 14-2 run to gain a 42-30 lead at halftime. The burst was spearheaded by Pryce Sandfort and Braden Frager each making two three-point shots, and they would end up torching the nets by each going 7-for-11 from beyond the arc during the game. That accounted for 14 of Nebraska’s 17 three-point shots. On the other side, Oregon made just six shots from beyond the arc while shooting 26 percent from there.

If it wasn’t clear enough from the Michigan State and Indiana results from earlier this month, the Huskers are for real. Rienk Mast has developed into an all-conference player, Sam Hoiberg is a steady hand at point guard, and the Sandfort-Frager combo is lighting up scoreboards. Plus, Nebraska’s defense ranks even higher than its offense on KenPom!

Two traditional Big Ten powers battled in East Lansing, but the hotly contested game turned into an 81-60 Michigan State blowout thanks to Indiana going seven minutes without scoring down the stretch. With just over 11 minutes to play, Indiana’s Lamar Wilkerson dunked to tie the score at 53-53, but Jordan Scott came back with a mid-range jump shot for Sparty to spark a 7-0 run over the next minute that was punctuated by a breakaway slam from Coen Carr. Hoosiers head coach Darian DeVries called a timeout, but it did nothing to get his team back into the game, as MSU rolled off 12 more unanswered points to make the score 72-53 with five minutes left.

Jeremy Fears Jr. was fantastic for Sparty with 23 points and 10 assists while Jaxon Kohler also had a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Wilkerson scored 19 points for Indiana, but no other Hoosiers scored more than nine points, as Tucker DeVries was held to that many on 3-for-10 field goals.

In the night cap, Maryland continued to slump in the first year of Buzz Williams’ leadership, falling at USC 88-71 and dropping to 0-6 in league play. Trojans star Chad Baker-Mazara was limited to seven points in nine minutes due to injury, but Jordan Marsh came through with 20 points off the bench. The gigantic center Gabe Dynes played a larger than usual role for USC with 10 points and eight rebounds. Four of those rebounds came on offense, which contributed to USC’s 13-4 edge on the offensive glass. That led to the Trojans firing off 66 shots in this game compared to just 48 for Maryland. All of those extra shots helped USC overcome a 30-point game from Terps guard David Coit.

Just like with Indiana and Michigan State, this one was close for most of the game, but USC outscored Maryland 25-12 over the last 11 minutes following a three-point shot by Coit that trimmed the Trojans’ lead to 63-59. Jade Brownell made a layup and a triple on consecutive possessions for USC to push the lead to 11 points with six and a half minutes left. Coit tried to stop the run with a layup, but then Marsh and Jacob Cofie hit back-to-back jumpers to put the game away.

There are four more Big Ten games tonight with both Northwestern and my Nittany Lions looking for their first conference wins of the season. Penn State has had a brutal schedule to start league play, so hopefully it can finally pull of a win over UCLA. The Wildcats are coming home to face in-state rival Illinois after losing at Rutgers in overtime. We also have Iowa visiting the Purdue juggernaut and Michigan traveling to Washington for late night hoops.

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Aaron’s 2025 Week 11 NFL picks

by Aaron | November 13, 2025 | 0 Comments

I was terrible last week, but so was everyone else except Abe, who tightened his stranglehold on the ChabDog picks contest by being sharp when everyone else was being square. Abe had New England when the rest of us had Tampa and New Orleans when the rest of us had Carolina. The only good pick I made was Houston, and that was still a loser after the Texans’ miracle comeback! It took a fluke touchdown at the end to get Houston to cover the spread. At least I finished strong with big wins by the Chargers and Eagles.

Abe might be too far gone at this point, but I can still catch the Tank with a solid Week 11.

Jets +11.5 at Patriots

Jets have won two in a row and the Patriots are wearing ugly uniforms.

Commanders +2.5 at Dolphins

This is such a recency bias spread. Marcus Mariota has played well for Washington with Jayden Daniels out.

Panthers at Falcons -3.5

I should pick Carolina since it was such a letdown last week, but I’m back on the Falcons after they blew the cover and the game in European overtime.

Buccaneers at Bills -5.5

Last week was a fluke for Buffalo. The Bills will bounce back at home against a team from Florida.

Texans -7.5 at Titans

Another favorite that I’m nervous about. Houston crushed Tennessee in their first meeting 26-0.

Bears at Vikings -3.5

Chicago only covered last week because Jaxson Dart got hurt. The squares will say the wrong team is favored.

Packers at Giants +7.5

This has Jameis Winston backdoor cover written all over it.

Bengals +4.5 at Steelers

There’s just something about Joe Flacco! Cincinnati can’t stop a nose bleed, but it’s still hard to bet against.

Chargers -2.5 at Jaguars

I’m going chalk here because of all the fantasy interest I have with the Bolts this week.

Seahawks at Rams -2.5

Chalk again. Rams being favored by less than three at home is disrespectful.

49ers at Cardinals +2.5

Despite getting their doors blown off in Seattle, Arizona has been more consistent than San Francisco lately.

Ravens at Browns +7.5

This game will either go like Bills vs. Dolphins and Saints vs. Panthers last week or like Lions vs. Commanders and Cardinals vs. Seahawks. That’s why picking is hard.

Chiefs -3.5 at Broncos

Major fraud test for the Broncos. I say they fail.

Lions +1.5 at Eagles

Detroit bounced back well last week. Now it is time to assert dominance over the NFC.

Cowboys at Raiders +3.5

Dallas desperately needs this game to justify the Quinnen Williams trade. Raiders have been plucky, though.

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Wrestle Blog: The Return of Oba Femi and Gold Rush Week 1 predictions

by Aaron | November 13, 2025 | 0 Comments

Oba Femi is back! The Ruler of NXT had been absent from the wrestling universe since dropping the NXT Championship to Ricky Saints at No Mercy in late September, but he returned to the scene on Tuesday night right after Saints barley survived his bloody Last Man Standing title match against Trick Williams. Williams did everything he could to keep Saints down for a 10 count, including hitting a Trick Shot knee strike, blasting him with the steel ring stairs, burying him under those stairs, and throwing him through a wall, but Saints got up and kept fighting. Williams then brought Saints into the crowd and hit another Trick Shot, but Saints answered by spearing Williams out of the stands and through the announce table below. The epic blow was barely enough to keep Williams down and keep the NXT Championship around Saints’ waist… for now.

As soon as the match ended, Femi emerged on the entrance ramp to stake his claim to a rematch. With no NXT Championship match on the upcoming Gold Rush card (November 18 and 25 at Madison Square Garden), I’m thinking that Femi will get his shot at becoming a two-time NXT Champion at Deadline on December 6 in San Antonio.

One rematch that is happening at Gold Rush is Tatum Paxley vs. Jacy Jayne for the NXT Women’s Championship. Paxley opened the Tuesday show by granting a rematch to Jayne despite Paxley’s friend Izzi Dame wanting her to be more selective when handing out title shots. If Paxley wins at Gold Rush, it could make the champion more confident in doing things her way instead of listening to Dame. If she loses, Dame can say “I told you so” and continue having Paxley do the bidding of The Culling. That’s why I’m predicting that Dame costs Paxley the title next week. Remember, at Halloween Havoc, it looked like Dame was trying to sabotage Paxley when Dame ran into the ring with the title.

We also set up an NXT Tag Team Championship match on Tuesday with Je’Von Evans and Leon Slater announcing that they’ll challenge DarkState at Gold Rush. Slater appeared to be in a remote location during the announcement, but when DarkState attacked Evans, he ran out from backstage and helped the Bouncy Boy fight off the fearsome foursome. Evans and Slater are a hot team right now, so I could see this going either way. I will give the edge to DarkState since I think Evans is close to breaking out on the main roster. Look for DarkState to interfere with Evans’ match against Gunther on Monday Night Raw the night before Gold Rush.

The Triple-A Mixed Tag Team Championship is also set to be defended during Week 1 of Gold Rush, and we got a little preview on Tuesday when Thea Hail defeated Secret Hervice member Alba Fyre in a singles match while fighting off interference from Ethan Page and Chelsea Green. Everyone loves Hail and Joe Hendry, but they don’t have the chemistry together than Green and Page do. That’s why I expect the defending champs to win next week. I would rather Hail lose and go on to pursue the NXT Women’s Championship or the Women’s North American Championship than continue teaming with Hendry and living in his shadow.

One more match on the Gold Rush card is Blake Monroe vs. Sol Ruca for the NXT Women’s North American Championship. I feel very good about Monroe winning so that the wedge between Ruca and Zaria is driven deeper. I could see Ruca losing next week and then Zaria winning the Speed Championship during Week 2. That would make Ruca bitter about Zaria only winning when its her title opportunity and not Ruca’s. Remember, Zaria lost the Women’s North American Championship at Halloween Havoc when she stepped in for an injured Ruca.

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Wrestle Blog: WarGames taking shape on Monday Night Raw

by Aaron | November 11, 2025 | 0 Comments

It wasn’t surprising to see John Cena open up Monday Night Raw last night and hear him hype up his last match ever on December 13. It was a lot more surprising when Dominik Mysterio came out and accidentally got himself booked in a fight for his Intercontinental Championship. Dom busted out all of his tricks in an effort to retain the prestigious title, but Cena ended up defeating him twice. First when Dom tapped out to the STF while the referee was incapacitated and again when Cena rolled through Dom’s Frog Splash and hit the Attitude Adjustment, this time with the referee ready to count to three.

Just one month before his retirement from WWE, Cena has shockingly won his first Intercontinental Championship, which raises the question, will Cena’s final match be a loss for the legendary wrestler? It seems likely now that the anticipated match on December 13 will be for the Intercontinental Championship unless Cena drops the title as suddenly as he won it. Heel Cena had previously talked about going home with the Undisputed WWE Championship and ruining wrestling, but this current version seems content to let the legacy of his current title continue past 2025. Unless Cena is taking the Intercontinental Championship with him into retirement, he is probably losing in his final match, and that only builds the intrigue over who the opponent will be.

We got two more possibilities announced by Adam Pearce on Monday night. The Raw general manager said that Je’Von Evans will face Gunther in The Last Time is Now Tournament next week. Solo Sikoa will also be in tournament action against a mystery opponent. That leaves us with a second mystery entrant with the first set to be revealed on SmackDown as LA Knight’s tournament opponent. Joe Hendry has been speculated as a mystery spot, but I would be surprised if it was him because he doesn’t have a connection to Cena. Oba Femi makes more sense to me because he is larger than life and is someone that fans including myself would love to see fight Cena before he rides off into the sunset. I will currently project Hendry to face Sikoa and Femi to face Knight, but the possibilities are endless. Chris Jericho making a return to WWE would be electric and Trick Williams seems overdue to break out on the main roster.

Right now my two favorites to defeat Cena in his final match at The Miz and Gunther. It would probably take some shenanigans to get The Miz past Jey Uso in the first round of The Last Time is Now Tournament, but he just cut a killer promo on Friday and he has history with both Cena and the Intercontinental Championship. Gunther has never faced Cena, but he’s someone who would certainly have had an epic feud with Cena if he had come around a decade earlier. With Seth Rollins out of action, Gunther is returning to the spotlight as WWE’s most dominant heel. He has almost always had a title around his waist since being promoted to the main roster, so it would make sense for him to take the IC Championship back after his glorious run with it two years ago.

Both Rusev and Sheamus won their matches in The Last Time is Now Tournament to advance to the quarterfinals. Both wins were easy to predict since both guys have history with Cena. Sheamus’ case for winning the tournament is interesting because he has never won the IC Championship and December 13 is the anniversary of Sheamus defeating Cena for the WWE Championship many years ago. Rusev has beef with Cena because when Cena beat him for the United States Championship at WrestleMania 31, the Bulgarian Brute’s career was never the same. I like the promo that Rusev cut this week, but I give Sheamus the edge to advance farther in the tournament.

Getting back to that Dom vs. Cena match on Raw, it is interesting that none of Dom’s Judgement Day family was at ringside to help him out, especially since so many of his title defenses have been team efforts. Is this signaling a split between Dom and The Judgement Day? The legacy superstar is already being treated like a babyface by the crowd, and he’s been one of the hottest heels in the company since he betrayed his father three years ago. Pulling the trigger on a babyface turn for Dom would likely ignite a massive run for him with limitless possibilities including a reunion with Rey Mysterio and an underdog run at a major championship. It’s all potential energy right now and the only question for WWE creative is when to push that button.

The other big thing to happen on Raw was the formation of teams for WarGames. On the men’s side, CM Punk called out Logan Paul after Paul sucker punched him with brass knuckles last week. That led to Paul coming to the ring with Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed, which in turn led to Punk fighting them off with the help of Jey Uso and Cody Rhodes. Later in the evening, William Regal showed up out of nowhere to officially announce “WarGames!”

We are still at only three men aside, though. It would be surprising if Roman Reigns didn’t join the babyface side. He’s got a strong bond with Jey and both he and Punk share a disdain for Paul Heyman, the man managing Breakker and Reed. With Reigns in the mix, you might as well throw in Jimmy Uso as well to get the babyfaces to five men. I suppose Sami Zayn is also a possibility if he is medically cleared with the history he shares with Reigns and Uso.

As for the heels, Drew McIntyre is suspended, so he probably won’t get announced until close to Survivor Series, but he makes too much sense since he doubled down on his feud with Rhodes by Claymore Kicking a referee last Friday. Gunther is also a possibility based on him disappearing since losing the World Heavyweight Championship to Punk at SummerSlam. Kevin Owens has been on the shelf even longer than Gunther and has a score to settle with Rhodes, but I’m not sure how close he is to returning to action. Owens would also make sense as one of the mystery combatants in The Last Time is Now Tournament since he had a major feud with Cena as soon as he came up on the main roster.

The ladies also got into the WarGames spirit when the new team of Nia Jax and Lash Legend showed up to screw over Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss during their Women’s Tag Team Championship match against the Kabuki Warriors. Bliss had done a great job intercepting Kairi Sane with Sister Abigail to stop the Pirate Princess from breaking up Flair’s Figure Four leglock, but Jax and Legend interfered with the submission while the referee wasn’t looking. That led to Sane throwing Bliss over the announce table and then hitting the Insane Elbow on Flair for the pin to crown new champs.

Bliss tried to pick a fight with Jax and Legend after the match and it predictably wasn’t going well until Iyo Sky and Rhea Ripley showed up to clear the ring of the heels. Ripley shouted “WarGames!” at the baddies and all of a sudden we had four women on each team. I’m thinking that the final two spots will go to Jade Cargill and either Tiffany Stratton or Bianca Belair depending on who is available. Cargill doesn’t have a challenger for her new WWE Women’s Championship yet because all she did on Friday was say “I’m that bitch” and walk out of the ring. However, she didn’t make it far before bumping into Flair, which foreshadowed beef between the two powerhouses. Both Stratton and Belair have history with Cargill with Stratton just dropping the title to her and Belair teaming up with her before missing time due to injury.

If Stratton and Belair both aren’t cleared, I can see Bayley jumping on on the babyface side due to her history with Damage Ctrl. Nikki Bella and Stephanie Vaquer would make great candidates for WarGames as well, but they appear locked in their own feud after Bella smashed Vaquer with the title following the latter defeating Raquel Rodriguez to defend the Women’s World Championship last night.

Tonight on NXT, my hero El Grande Americano defends the Speed Championship against Jasper Troy and Ricky Saints faces Trick Williams in what is sure to be an epic Last Man Standing Match for the NXT Championship. Should be a great show.

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Giants say goodbye to Brian Daboll

by Aaron | November 10, 2025 | 0 Comments

The Giants announced today that they have parted ways with head coach Brian Daboll. General manager Joe Schoen, who joined the franchise in 2022 right before he hired Daboll, still has a job for now despite two of his six first-round NFL Draft selections being massive busts (Evan Neal and Deonte Banks). To be fair to Daboll and Schoen, the two players they chose in the first round of the 2025 Draft have the potential to be future franchise cornerstones with Jaxson Dart and Abdul Carter both in consideration for Rookie of the Year awards. To also be fair, the rosters produced by Daboll and Schoen have started 2-8 for three straight seasons following the 2022 playoff season.

Daboll and Schoen both came from Buffalo together in 2022, so in my opinion, they just both leave together. So why was Daboll shown the door before Schoen? Probably because of the Giants losing four games this season in which they held a lead of 10 points or more. In the games at Dallas and Denver, New York scored to take the lead with mere seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. In the game at New Orleans, the Giants turned the ball over on five straight possessions after jumping out to an early 14-3 lead. In the most recent collapse at Chicago, the Giants led by 10 in the fourth quarter before falling apart on both sides of the ball.

If you reverse those results, the Giants are in position to make the playoffs and Daboll might be in line to win Coach of the Year like he did in 2022. Instead, the season has been torturous. Big Blue has shown the potential to be a solid team when it defeated the Chargers and Eagles. In the seven quarters spanning the win over Philadelphia and the start of the Denver game, the Giants looked like a legitimate playoff contender, but instead of closing out the Broncos, New York wilted like it has too often this season. Daboll couldn’t get the Giants across the finish line.

Daboll has also been reckless with Dart. The rookie quarterback has been evaluated for a concussion four times this season, and he was confirmed to have suffered a concussion on Sunday. The injury may have cost the Giants the game based on how ineffective Russell Wilson was in relief. Dart isn’t doing enough to protect himself when he runs, even after he has gained enough yards for a first down. Hopefully interim head coach Mike Kafka will move Jameis Winston ahead on the depth chart so that we don’t have to watch Wilson again this season. It’s a big decision because Dart will probably miss at least one game due to the concussion.

Whoever is the next head coach of the Giants will have big expectations out of the gate. The offense in 2026 will be talented with Dart, Cam Skattebo, and Malik Nabers on the roster. Plus, the Giants will probably have an opportunity to grab a great talent with their first round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. The next three opponents this season are Green Bay, Detroit, and New England, so it might be a while until New York improves on its 2-8 record.

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Aaron’s 2025 Week 10 NFL picks

by Aaron | November 6, 2025 | 0 Comments

Guess who is the Week 9 picks champion at ChabDog? That’s right. It is me, and I did it without hitting on any island picks. The keys to victory were the Falcons, Panthers, Steelers, Raiders, and Bills. On those five picks, I was in the minority with only one other person making the correct selection. On four of those five, it was me and Frank the Tank riding together. We didn’t plan it like that! I was just in a Tank state of mind.

The victorious week put me one game above .500 for the season and just two games behind Frank for second place. Can I stay hot in Week 10?

Raiders +9.5 at Broncos

The Las Vegas offense came alive last week with the return of Brock Bowers. Going up against Denver’s defense will be a tougher test, but I’m thinking Bowers will create enough opportunities to keep the Raiders in the game. The Broncos have won six straight, but four of the six wins are by less than a touchdown.

Falcons +5.5 at Colts

Finally we saw some of the real Daniel Jones last week, as he threw three interceptions and lost two fumbles in a loss at Pittsburgh. Indianapolis probably won’t turn the ball over six times for a second straight week, but I think Atlanta has the weapons to keep this close.

Giants +3.5 at Bears

I expect Caleb Williams to tear up the Giants’ depleted secondary like Mac Jones did last week. Hopefully Jaxson Dart can be heroic and provide an answer to every Chicago touchdown.

Bills -8.5 at Dolphins

Buffalo is back in juggernaut mode since the bye week. The defense did a great job last week hanging on when I thought the Bills would blow it against Kansas City.

Ravens at Vikings +4.5

Baltimore seems to have righted the ship with two blowout wins in a row, but the Vikings just scored a huge upset win at Detroit in J.J. McCarthy’s return to action. I am a sucker for this kid and his grit.

Browns at Jets -2.5

The Jets trading away Sauce Gardner after signing him to a massive contract is a gut punch that even the most pessimistic Jets fans did not see coming. I think the team rallies together and beats the Browns, though.

Patriots at Buccaneers -2.5

This should be a terrific game. I think Tampa Bay superior playmakers (even with Mike Evans out and possibly Chris Godwin as well) make the difference.

Saints at Panthers -5.5

New Orleans is not a spunky underdog anymore with Tyler Shough under center, and Alvin Kamara looks washed.

Jaguars at Texans -1.5

C.J. Stroud is out and Houston just lost a tough one against Denver, but I believe in this Texans defense.

Cardinals +6.5 at Seahawks

Arizona has covered the spread in all three of Jacoby Brissett’s starts, and the defense came alive last week in Dallas.

Rams -3.5 at 49ers

Mac Jones has played well for San Francisco, including a month ago in a big upset over these Rams. Sean McVay and company will not let that happen again. Ram it!

Lions at Commanders +8.5

Marcus Mariota is not a big drop off from Jayden Daniels and my faith in Detroit is shaken after last week’s shocking upset loss.

Steelers at Chargers -3.5

The Bolts were punched in the mouth by Tennessee last week, but they still came back and won comfortably on the road. Yes, the Titans are awful, but that is still a good sign.

Eagles +2.5 at Packers

Philadelphia is a chalky underdog, but you can’t trust Green Bay when it just lost a second game this year as a big favorite.

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Thank you God, for letting me see this memorable manifestation of Steeler MNF magic….

by | Oct 29, 2024

Thank you God, for letting me see this memorable manifestation of Steeler MNF magic. We had a frenzied crowd, a 100+ plus grind out game from nails Najee, George Pickens picking those catches out of the air without a care (but get that other foot down next time, it will win you more points for style than you know), a calm, cool and reflective Russ, who spread the ball around and kept our minds at ease with the flicks he had up his sleeve, Calvin Austin III with two dazzling TDs, and of course the mostly smothering defense, led by our edge rusher wrecking balls. Give the Giants credit for hanging in there, but that ridiculous perversion of a two-point conversion try was just a hopeless harbinger of bad things to come.

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ChabDog’s Post-mortem for Bloody Sunday, October 27, 2024

by | Oct 27, 2024

It could have been the one of the greatest Sundays in recent memory — instead here’s how the carnage unfolded:
–Philly pounded the Bungles repeatedly and without mercy in the second half, after things had started rather favorably for Cincy. Hurts was on target and the tush push, not to mention the rest of the Eagle rushing attack, showed up. And I don’t know what happened to the revitalized Bungle d-line. No, there was no vitality. My bad.
— The irresponsible Ravens fiddled and diddled there way to a loss, one that they truly deserved. Famous Jameis is again famous, and they’re doing the crab leg walk in the dog pound. Again, my bad.
— The Lions did show up in a big way. Dorothy Dawn, your bad. Yes, they were more than interested. Pat myself on the freaking back for that ballsy call… lol
— My Cardinals (no… Gidget’s Cardinals) made me proud by defying the big crowd that came to the return of Tua. You go Fun-sized Kyler. My good.
— The Jets walked me down the primrose path, taking a pretty commanding lead on the Patsies, only to wilt a drooping venus fly trap in the face of a furious fourth quarter dead cat bounce by New England. My bad for thinking this game would go like the encounter earlier this year at Metlife.
— Atlanta, almost unexpectedly, held on for dear life, and covered in the always up close and personal meeting with the fagged out Bucs. The Bucs did give it 110%, but now find themself in the bowels of the AFC South, save the very bottom flour inhabited by Scarolina. My good.
— The Packers had the spread handled, or at least technically in hand, until they fells asleep in the 4th, woke up with the usual 3 point win. Ditto for the Texans-Cots. My double bad.
— The Bills oil spilled the Wee-hawks. Is that a defense I’m seeing that could actually stand up to KC. My good for relying on old reliable.
— Chargers manipulate the Aints into a very predictable 18 point loss, which must have been as exciting as standing in a bank line. My good for knowing Rattler would be rattled and Harbaugh would recover his pants, lost in Arizona last week.
— Carolina continues to look not very nice with Bryce, while it increasingly appears Bo knows football again.
— Chiefs did what they often do, dominate a game but do just enough to screw me when I give them my whole hearted support. Or maybe its the Raiders screwing with me?
— Commanders really rip my heart out with that amazing hail Jaden; nearly crashed my bike on my ride home when that result flashed on my phone. Thanks Bears, and my double bad… as I changed my initial pick thinking Daniels wouldn’t be playing.
— Boyz took their eyes off of the ball, lose a lead and then nearly win (and cover); but it was all for nothing, as the final margin for the Niners was 6, not 5.5. Let’s face it,…. post-op Dak just doesn’t want to run for it, and that really limits his team’s down-the-field potentials. My bad.

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My First Blog: The Beginnings – An Introduction to the Chabdog Racing Segment

by | Sep 4, 2023

Wow, I cannot believe that I’m actually blogging on chabdog.com about NASCAR, but even more amazing…I’m actually here freaking blogging for Chabdog Sports!  When I first started at Chabdog Sports back in February of 2021, we were strictly an audio-only podcast.  Oh how far we’ve come in just a few years that I’ve been on the show considering we’re now on YouTube, we’ve got an ETSY store, and now here blogging like my good friends over at Barstool Sports. Although I’ve been on the show for a few years, I don’t think that many people actually know how I got here, why I’m hosting a racing segment or my role behind the scenes.  I think it’s fair to assume that most people think I’m only here because my Gawdbrudder (coined by my Gawdfather Gary) is Frank Fleming, who was actually part of Chabdog Sports prior to joining Barstool Sports.  I can say this, yes, my Gawdbrudder is Frank, but I also didn’t get a call to make a guest appearance here until 2021, and only because Chabdog Sports had been following me for a few years and had been super strong supporters of my X (Twitter) content (which I appreciated mucho considering I had a very tiny following back then).  Even then, what was supposed to be a “guest spot” talking about my adventures with my Gawdbrudder quickly turned to talking about my favorite sports teams, and diving into various political issues. Interestingly enough, I was only slated for the first hour of the show and was asked to stay on for the second hour right before we cut to the break (who knows if I’d even be here right now if they had decided to send me on my way after the first hour).  Considering this was the first time I was ever on air, I’m glad I was able to hang with the boys long enough for an encore, but you be the judge and have provided the link to my very first show here:

▶ The “Better Get Smart” Show (spreaker.com)  

I can honestly say that I never really thought that coming on the show as a guest would lead me to host a racing segment or talk about NASCAR, but it turned out that Chabdog really liked NASCAR and was enthused to incorporate a racing segment into his show after talking to me.  So on April 11, 2021, the Chabdog Racing Segment was born shortly after being on the show for a little over a month (with our signature intro song that we still roll with today).  I’ve included a small clip of the very first time we rolled out the Chabdog Racing Segment:

 

Again, still funny that I landed a racing segment, considering most of my earliest shows were mainly discussing current political issues, my Mets fandom, how I became a cheesehead, Frank the Tank, and March Madness that was going on at the time. But at some point, in the first few shows I was on, my past about growing up with my step dad who was a professional go-kart racer (who watched a lot of NASCAR, Modified, Sprint, and Midget car racing on TV or at the track) came to light. And because of my stepdad, not only did I watch a lot of NASCAR myself, I also got to go with him and watch a lot of awesome short-track dirt races (some might argue that’s where real racecar racing is done)! Growing up in the NASCAR 90s, I always rooted for Jeff Gordon in his signature brightly-colored DuPont car (epic car).  Not going to lie here, but Jeff Gordon was also a good driver to root for during this time since he was the Winston Cup Champion in 1995, 1997 & 1998.  Still gets me, or maybe I can say, “I feel my age”, that I remember a time when Winston Cigarettes was a sponsor of something. Yet, what I still find hard to believe is that NASCAR, of ALL the things we talked about in my early days here at Chabdog Sports, is what really got Chabdog’s attention, but more importantly…excited to consider incorporating NASCAR into the show. So yeah, from never being on a radio talk show to hosting a racing segment in about a month’s time might actually rank up there as one of my greatest unexpected accomplishments in life, but also one that turned out to be really cool and fun. So thank you Chabdog for asking me to come onto the show, for asking me to stay on for the second hour, inviting me to the following week’s show…and the next…and the next. So I thought to myself that my first published blog here at Chabdog Sports be dedicated to my beginnings but also pay tribute to our racing segment that really sent me over the moon in making me a permanent fixture around here. So let’s end by saying that I’ve had a lot of firsts here at Chabdog Sports, from being invited to my first on-air show…to hosting a racing segment…to being on YouTube weekly…to now writing my first blog…so with that, let’s get ready to NASCAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!

X | IG : @darthvaber99

 

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Penn State’s thrilling win in Rec Hall and Indiana gets cooked

by | Feb 24, 2024

We’ve been saying for years that Penn State Basketball would be a more impressive television product if the home arena wasn’t the Bryce Jordan Center. The giant arena is way too big for a program that strives to be in the middle of the Big Ten standings in a good year. When Penn State plays in the Palestra or at Rec Hall, it looks like a proper basketball program, and sometimes it even plays like one. Wednesday night was one of those nights with Illinois in town. However, for most of the night, it looked like a typical 2024 Penn State loss. The Lions got off to a hot start on offense, but then fizzled and struggled to keep pace with the talented Illini because of their failure to grab a rebound on defense. Illinois often doesn’t need second chances, especially with Terrence Shannon Jr. playing like he did, but it got 19 of them, with the Swiss Army Knife Ty Rodgers grabbing five offensive boards. That helped make up for 18 Illinois turnovers that Penn State needed just to keep the game respectable while Shannon was going off for a career-high 35 points on 10-for-18 shooting.

Another reason why Penn State only trailed by 10 points with two and a half minutes left was Nick Kern Jr. He has shown some upside with his athleticism this season, but again Illinois he got to the basket at will. At one point in the second half, Kern scored 13 straight Penn State points, and he finished with a season-high 22. Now that Kanye Clary is out of the picture, I’m hoping that Kern can stick around for one or two more seasons and develop into a star, but to do that he needs to expand his range past 10 feet from the basket.

Anyway, Zach Hicks hit a mid-range shot to cut the deficit to eight points, and then the Illinois collapse began. Shannon drove into the paint and kicked the ball to the corner to set up Luke Goode with a wide-open dagger three. With the way Goode shoots the ball, that should be a layup for him, but he missed, and Hicks answered with a triple for Penn State to cut the lead to five. However, Illinois was still in great shape after two free throws from Marcus Domask and a missed three by Ace Baldwin Jr. Now the Illini were up by seven points with less than a minute left. Shannon tried a runner in the paint, but it bounced out and Jameel Brown took advantage by crushing a three-point shot in transition. Brown’s next play was even bigger, though, because Penn State needed a turnover to make it a one-possession game. Brown came through by stripping Shannon of the ball, which led to an easy layup for Puff Johnson. All of a sudden, the Lions trailed by just two with 30 seconds left.

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Purdue upset by Ohio State and Penn State loses Kanye Clary

by | Feb 21, 2024

I almost feel bad for Purdue fans even though they have a tremendous basketball team that will probably make the Final Four. No matter what the Boilers do in the regular season, there is nothing they can do to change their reputation as a team that collapses in the big moment. The only way to do that is to win in the NCAA Tournament. Whenever Purdue slips up this season, the doubters and haters (Indiana fans) come out of the woodwork to say “this is what will happen in March.”

I have said since November when Purdue won the Maui Invitational that this team reminds me of the 2019 Virginia team that bounced back and won the national championship after losing to a 16 seed the year before. Maybe Purdue will fulfill that prophecy, or maybe it will hilariously disappoint its rabid fans once again. On Sunday in Columbus, Matt Painter’s team gave us a preview of March or a blip on the radar, depending on your perspective. Despite shooting 20-for-20 from the free throw line and dominating the offensive glass like they always do, the Boilers lost 73-69 to an Ohio State team that was playing its first game since head coach Chris Holtmann was fired.

It didn’t help that Purdue turned the ball over 14 times, most notably when Zed Key poked the ball away from Zach Edey with less than a minute to play and the Boilers needing two points to tie the score. Purdue ended up fouling Jamison Battle, who helped put the game away at the charity stripe.

Just moments before, Purdue rallied to overcome a seven-point deficit and tied the game 65-65 on Lance Jones’ clutch three-point jumper, but Battle answered with a 15-foot jumper to ensure that Ohio State would not fall behind. The Buckeyes were boosted by Battle’s 19 points on 6-for-8 shooting as well as 26 points from a bench effort led by Key and Dale Bonner. Purdue, meanwhile, got its usual great effort from Edey (22 points, 7-for-11 shooting, 13 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks) but only four points from the bench. I still have no clue how Ethan Morton gets more than 10 minutes a game on team as talented as Purdue.

Ohio State interim head coach Jake Diebler made a great impression and he’ll have a case to keep the job full time with a few more wins down the stretch. I will feel very smart for talking about the potential of Ohio State’s young core if the team can upset Minnesota or Michigan State on the road.

Indiana blew a chance to join the bubble

Speaking of upsets, only one other Big Ten underdog won outright over the weekend. That was Northwestern defeating Indiana, but we can probably have a long argument over whether or not the Wildcats should have been considered the underdog in Bloomington. While they have been way more successful than Indiana this year and are projected to make the NCAA Tournament, Northwestern hasn’t impressed on the road. That’s why I saw this game as a great opportunity for Indiana to get a quality win and get into the bubble conversation. I should have known that the Hoosiers would waste it since they have shown so little heart and fight this season.

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Ohio State fires Chris Holtmann and Maryland wins a bubble battle

by | Feb 16, 2024

Wisconsin finally broke its four-game losing streak in very Wisconsin-like fashion on Tuesday night. It used solid defense and three-point shooting by Max Klesmit to close the first half on a 16-3 run that turned an 18-18 tie into a 34-21 advantage. Ohio State got within five points in the second half, but Chucky Hepburn answered with a three-point shot followed by a steal and a breakaway layup while the Buckeyes failed to score for seven straight minutes. When Bruce Thornton finally got his team back on the scoreboard with 1:36 to play, Hepburn responded with another triple to put the game away. Perhaps the most thrilling part of the game was Jamison Battle not scoring all game until he hit a three with 16 seconds left to cover the 9.5-point spread for Ohio State. Klesmit had a chance to expand the lead back to 10 points, but he missed the front end of a one-and-one and the Badgers settled for a 62-54 victory.

It wasn’t the most impressive win for Wisconsin since it came at home against Ohio State, but Greg Gard’s team will take what it can get after dropping games to Rutgers and Michigan on the road. The real excitement came on Wednesday when reports came out about Ohio State firing Chris Holtmann after six and a half seasons with the program. Holtmann made the NCAA Tournament four times (would have been five if not for the pandemic) in a row since taking over for Thad Matta in 2017. However, he never made the Sweet 16 and his highest seeded NCAA Tournament team was upset by Oral Roberts in the first round in 2021. 2023 was a disaster for Holtmann, as his team lost 14 of 15 games in the middle of conference play and finished 16-19 overall. It looked like everything would change this season, as Ohio State beat Alabama in November and improved to 12-2 when it defeated Rutgers on January 3. The Buckeyes have won just two games since, though, and athletic director Gene Smith has had enough of the losing.

I don’t blame Ohio State for expecting to make the NCAA Tournament every year. but I’m surprised Holtmann got fired when he has such a young and intriguing group of sophomores at the core of his team. Keeping a group of starters together for more than one season in today’s college basketball environment is rare, but I think Holtmann had something with Bruce Thornton, Roddy Gayle Jr., Felix Okpara, and Evan Mahaffey. They have not been winning much lately, but they are also playing in a league that’s full of fourth- and fifth-year players in the starting lineup. With the way they are all improving together as first-year starters, I wouldn’t be surprised if the group returned next season as juniors and finished in the top third of the Big Ten. With Holtmann gone, it’s more likely that the program will be reset under a new head coach who wants to bring in his own players.

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Michigan State gets a big win and Bruce Thornton rescues Ohio State in double overtime

by | Feb 13, 2024

I thought Michigan State had a chance to be a home underdog against Illinois on Saturday afternoon. The Illini might be ranked 10th in the AP Poll, but Michigan State is not far behind in terms of talent and it was playing at home. I was ready to jump all over the Spartans if the line was close to zero. It’s hard to fool the books, though. Michigan State was favored by three and a half when I checked in on Saturday morning. I said “screw it” and took Sparty anyway. Tom Izzo’s team was rounding into form and needed this win for its NCAA Tournament resume.

Laying the points didn’t look like a great decision for much of the afternoon, especially when Marcus Domask knocked down a three-point shot to put Illinois ahead 72-64 with less than eight minutes to play. The Spartans owned the rest of the game, though. A.J. Hoggard stepped up with a three of his own in transition and then scored three the old fashioned way with a great head fake on Coleman Hawkins in the paint. The “and one” free throw tied the score at 72-72, but Michigan State wasn’t done. Malik Hall hit a big driving layup plus the foul to put Sparty ahead, and Tyson Walker stole the ball and put in a breakaway layup to help his team pull away and win 88-80. Great teams cover.

It was a rare performance by Michigan State that saw the Big Three of Walker, Hoggard, and Hall all play like a Big Three at the same time. Hoggard and Hall combined for 45 points with Hall going 7-for-9 from the field and Hoggard adding five assists. That meant that Walker didn’t have to break his back carrying the offense. The effort by Sparty was enough to overcome a 28-point, 7-rebound effort from Terrence Shannon Jr. Illinois might have been a little too perimeter-oriented in this one with half of its field goal attempts coming from three-point range. While the Illini shot 11-for-30 from beyond the arc, Michigan State got work done in the paint while going 5-for-8 from downtown. Efficiency!

The only other exciting game on Saturday came from a surprising place: Columbus, Ohio! Maryland had a chance to pick up an impressive road win against an Ohio State squad that is every bubble team’s dream. That’s because the Buckeyes are a lousy team that for some reason has a strong NET rating. Beating them will look good to the nerds on the NCAA Tournament selection committee even though it’s not that hard to do so. Even my Nittany Lions beat Ohio State (although we also lost to them on the road). Sounds like a great opportunity for the Terps, right! That is correct, but Maryland blew it anyway even though Ohio State only led for five minutes during the game that ended up going into double overtime.

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Penn State might be a wagon and Wisconsin stumbles at Michigan

by | Feb 9, 2024

I’m still not entertaining any NCAA Tournament talk with regards to my Penn State Nittany Lions. Too much damage has been done to the resume from inexplicably losing a buy game to Bucknell to going winless in Disney World to dropping overtime games against Maryland and Georgia Tech. It’s going to take way more than a Big Ten record that is one or two games above .500, even though that would be an impressive accomplishment for Mike Rhoades in his first season as head coach.

That said, the three-game winning streak that Penn State is on has been an awesome ride, and it was a lot of fun to watch it continue as the Lions pulled away from Iowa during the final four minutes on Thursday night. Ace Baldwin Jr. took over the game with 13 points and a pair of huge steals during the stretch and Penn State outscored Iowa 18-8 to finish with an 89-79 victory. I don’t expect seniors like Baldwin to take massive leaps with their game, but Baldwin looks like a different player than he was at the start of the season. He’s in control of the offense and red hot from three-point range. What’s crazy is that Baldwin was 0-for-13 from beyond the arc from the win against Rider on December 29 to the blowout loss at Purdue on January 13. Since then, he’s gone 16-for-26 in six games. It makes a big difference when opponents have to respect a point guard’s three-point shot. Opportunities for other players have opened up, and Baldwin has no problem sharing the rock when he needs to.

One of those players with more opportunities has been Qudus Wahab. He’s averaging 13 points per game over his last four games after a three-game stretch in which he scored exactly four points in each one. With Zach Hicks living on the perimeter and Nick Kern operating with the dribble drive, Wahab is the only Penn State big man who is a post threat, but he’s been an excellent one lately with 13 of his 16 field goals going in. Thanks to Baldwin finding some range and Wahab executing down low, the Lions have a pretty deep and versatile offense that will hopefully continue giving opponents problems down the stretch.

The defense is a different story, though. I was pleasantly surprised by Penn State’s rebounding against Iowa, but the Hawkeyes still shot 56 percent from the field with Ben Krikke going 10-for-18 on his way to 22 points. Iowa might have won if not for Payton Sandfort getting banged up and going 2-for-7 from deep. Iowa as a team only shot 27 percent from three-point range compared to 52 percent for Penn State, and it’s safe to say that was a difference maker. We saw from the Indiana game that defending big centers is an issue for Penn State that probably won’t be going away, but the Lions have shot the three so well lately that it hasn’t mattered. It also helps when you win the turnover battle as often as Penn State has this season.

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