We're No. 3!

To almost no one's surprise, the NCAA Selection Committee ranked the 11-1 University of Georgia Bulldogs No. 3 in the penultimate season rankings, behind Ohio State and Indiana. 

Of course, there's still one more week before the final seeding, and Georgia still has one more game to play - the SEC Championship Game against our kryptonite team, No. 9 Alabama (10-2). The Dawgs are favored by 2½ points in the game, despite Kirby Smart's 1-7 career record against the Tide.

It's difficult for any team, even Alabama, to beat another team twice in a season, and Smart is 3-0 in season rematches, including his one win against the Tide. If Georgia were to lose the game (perish the thought!), we'd still make the playoffs, although at a lower seed, but if Alabama loses, they're likely out of the playoffs altogether, so they have more to lose and therefore more motivation to win.

It will be an interesting game.

However, the season will not end with the rankings the way they are now. Not only is there the Georgia-Alabama matter to consider, but No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 Indiana, both undefeated,  have to play one another. If Ohio State and Georgia both win, the Dawgs will move up to No. 2. If Indiana and Georgia win, the NCAA may move Georgia up to No. 2, or simply swap first and second place between the Buckeyes and the Hoosiers and keep them both above the Dawgs. Anything can happen. 

But for whatever it's worth, if this penultimate poll were the final rankings, Georgia would get a first-round bye and then play the winner of Ole Miss-Virginia in the quarterfinals. Since Ole Miss would almost definitely win, the game will be the Bulldogs' second rematch game of the year (we beat Ole Miss, 43-35, on Oct. 18). We'd then have to play Indiana, unless Texas A&M or Notre Dame pull off an upset, before facing Ohio State in the Championship Game. 

Friendly reminder that Notre Dame will be bringing the lineal championship belt and Georgia's 2021 and 2022 national championship rings to the playoffs, so Georgia will be playing for the prizes whoever we face in the semifinal game. 

However, we'll soon have different rankings, different seeds, and a different bracket, we'll have a new and different story to tell next week.

Celtics 123, Knicks 117

 

The answer to "in which quarter will the Celtics underperform?" last night was the first quarter.

The Celtics fell behind by as many as 13 points in the first, finishing the quarter down by eleven, 32-21. But then, in the second, Jaylen Brown scored 15 of his 42 points on the evening, as the Celtics outscored the Knicks 37-20 to take a 58-52 halftime lead. Boston continue to cruise in the third and then survived a furious comeback attempt by the Knicks in the fourth to win. by six, although a victory was not at all a sure thing down that final stretch.

As mentioned, Mr. Brown led all scorers with 42 points and Mr. White had 22. Jordan Walsh had "only" eight points all game, but six of those were in the fourth quarter when the Celts needed them most to withstand the Knicks comeback attempt. Along with three offensive rebounds, one defensive board, an assist, and a timely steal that quarter, Walsh almost singlehandedly kept the Celtics in the game.

What's been fun this Tatum-less season has been watching the players step forward, with Brown assuming a leadership role he hadn't filled before and the rest of the team taking their game up to the next level.

For once, the Celtics outrebounded their opponent, 38-33, although the Knicks hit 19 threes to the Celts' 13.

At 12-9, the Celtics are 2½ back from Toronto and third in the Atlantic Division. On Thursday, they will travel down to DC to play the lowly Wizards (3-17) before returning back home for Friday night's marquee match-up against Luka, LeBron, and the Lakers.     

 

    

Red Wings 5, Bruins 4

 

Well, can't say they didn't try.

The Bruins fell behind, 0-3, early in the game, and then, after the halfway point in the second period, they outscored the Red Wings, 4-2. Good effort, but they came up short, as 0+4 < 3+2. 

It was at 11:09 in the second that somebody named Jonathan Aspirot got the Bruins' first goal. Alex Steeves scored a few minutes later and then Marat Khusnutdinov and Steeves scored in the third. Swayman made 18 saves on 23 shots (.783) in the net.

The Bruins (15-13-0) are tied with Detroit and Ottawa with 30 points but have more games than either of the other two teams and are in fourth, behind first-place Tampa Bay (34 points).

Boston hosts the Saint Louis Blues (9-11-7) on Thursday night. 

 

BU 3, Holy Cross 0

 

Woo-hoo! The sixth-place, 4-10-0 Boston University Terriers beat fourth-place Holy Cross (12-6-1) in Worcester!

The Welcke sisters, Luisa and Lilli, scored goals in the first and seconds periods and Mia Vergili scored a goal in the third. Mari Pietersen was perfect in the net with 19 saves.

The Terriers are 2-0-1 in their last three games and pick up three points tonight in the Hockey East standings. They are now one point below Holy Cross and tied with UConn in the Hockey East standings.

Speaking of . . . the Terriers will play a home-and-away weekend series against UConn this weekend. A sweep would move the Terriers five points above Holy Cross and potentially in third place in the Hockey East standings.  

Patriots 33, Giants 15

 

Okay, first of all, New York's muffed field goal was hilarious. The poor kicker - I won't mention his name but he'll probably be answering for that play for the rest of his life - kicked his foot into the ground several inches behind the football, missing the ball entirely. The holder was left there holding the ball as the entire New England defensive line was barreling down on top of him. The play was officially scored as a "turnover on downs" with the holder tackled for a 13 yard loss. But go ahead and Google "NY Giants missed kick" - it's something you may never see again. 

For what it's worth, the kicker claimed the ball was moving so he decided for some reason not to even try a kick. It looked to me like he overran the ball and couldn't get in a proper kick, so he planted his toe into the turf instead. Whatever. It simply wasn't the Giant's night. Let's get back to the game itself.  

Marcus Jones had a 94-yard punt return for a touchdown and Drake Maye passed for two TDs. Andy Borregales kicked four field goals, one of which followed a Giants' fumbled punt return on their own 27-yard line. 

Drake Maye shined yet again with 282 yards on 24-for-31 passing. Maye leads the NFL with 3.412 total yards on the season, has the league's highest QB rating at 111.9, and the highest completion percentage (71.5). He is second in the NFL in passing yards per attempt (8.8), third in passing yards per game (262.5), completions (276), and first downs (158), and fourth in total number of touchdowns (23). MVP, anyone?

New England started the season 1-2 and early on it looked like this was going to another one of those disappointing, last-place years. But since then they've won 10 straight and at 11-2, the Patriots are now in first place not only in the AFC but the entire league. They are, quite simply, the best team in the NFL. Go ahead and argue - they may not be your favorite, but you won't convince me that the team with the winningest record led by the top QB in the league isn't the best team. 

The Pats have a bye next week and then will play Buffalo (8-4) on December 14 in what will probably be the toughest, most-contested game on the New England schedule this year. The Bills realize that their only chance of catching back up to us is to pull to within one game of the Patriots in the AILC (all-important loss column). 

Drake Maye, Mike Vrabel, and the rest of New England, players and fans alike, know a win over the Bills would put the final nail in Buffalo's coffin.  

Celtics 117, Cavaliers 115

 

Not to give them any ideas, but the sports-betting sites could start (if they haven't already) a wager on which quarter of the game will the Celtics underperform? It's usually the second or the third, but the answer for last night's game in Cleveland was the fourth.

The C's lead, 90-79, at the end of three, and had out-scored the Cavs in each of the first three quarters. But then in the fourth, they let the Cavs outscore them, 36-27, and come to within one point before Jaylen Brown sealed the win with one-of-two free-throw attempts.

Brown got a triple double with 19 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists, but it was Pritchard's night with 42 points, including 6 of 11 three-point shooting. Still, the Cavs hit more threes (20) than the Celtics, and had more offensive boards (16) than Boston (15), although admittedly, it was close. Neemias Queta was out last night (left ankle sprain), but leads the NBA over the last seven games in both offensive (8) and defensive (10) rebounds. His presence last night could have made the difference in rebounding.    

Still, with the win, the Celtics improve to 11-9 and are back up into third place in the Atlantic Division, 2½ back from the Knicks. Those Knicks will come to the Garden on Tuesday night for the C's next game, and hopefully we can close that gap a little more.    

  

  

No. 3 Georgia v No. 10 Alabama

 

To the surprise of no one, last night Alabama beat Auburn, 27-20, and will play the University of Georgia Bulldogs in the SEC Championship Game on December 6 (4:00 pm). Fuck it, I guess we're doing this.

The AP poll today moved Georgia up from No. 4 to No. 3. The poll has no real meaning, other than as an indication of what the Selection Committee is probably thinking. But look, I get it - many people are still skeptical of Georgia as a No. 3 team. We were not exactly overwhelming last Friday against Georgia Tech, it took a missed FG to get us OT against Tennessee, we needed an offside foul to seal the win against Florida, and Auburn still hasn't gotten over the officiating in our win over them. But most of all, there's the matter of Week 5's 24-21 loss to Alabama, and Georgia's 1-7 record vs. the Tide under head coach Kirby Smart. Until we can prove that we can beat Alabama, our kryptonite team, people aren't going to take us seriously as potential national champions.

So let's fucking do it. Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium for the SEC Championship, Georgia versus Alabama, prime time on national television. All the marbles. Smart and the Dawgs are 3-1  in rematch games, including 1-0 against Alabama - we can do this.   

If we win the game, we'd be making a statement regarding our credibility, and since No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 Indiana will play each other next week for the Big10 championship, we should move up to No. 2 in the rankings with a win over 'Bama. And then, with a first-round bye in the playoffs, we'd be off until New Year's Eve or New Year's Day to rest and recuperate before our playoff run. 

Of course, there's always the possibility that Alabama will do it again and we'd lose. That would probably drop us out of the top four, which means we'd lose our first-round bye. That would suck, but at least we'd almost assuredly be playing the game on our home field and likely against a lower-rank team, and if we fall to "only" No. 5, we'd probably play a team like No. 24 Tulane or unranked North Texas, a team that only qualified for the playoffs as the fifth and final conference champion. What matters is where things stand at the end of the playoffs, not at the start.

There's also the possibility that, whatever happens in the SEC title game, we would have to face Alabama in the playoffs, an unprecedented third time in a season. But que sera, sera, whatever will be will fucking be, and we'll have to cross that bridge if and when we get to it. We might even have a rematch with Ole Miss, now without head coach Lane Kiffin.

One other note: as expected, No. 9 Notre Dame beat unranked Stanford last night. 49-20, and won the lineal championship belt and Georgia's 2021 and 2022 championship rings from them. The Irish will be bringing the belt and the rings to the playoffs where they'll be up for grabs. The winner of this year's Natty, whomever it might be, will be the new owners of the belt and the rings.  

So it's time to put on our Big Dawg pants and get out there and beat 'Bama and win us a National Championship!

BU 2, Cornell 1

 

The No. 19 BU Terriers skated down to New York City to play No. 17 Cornell in something called the Red Hot Hockey tournament, and won its Kelley-Harkness Cup. Kamil Bednarik and Cole Eiserman scored the Terriers' two goals and Mikhail Yegorov made 28 saves in the net.

It was a non-conference game, but this was the Terriers' first win at Red Hot Hockey since 2013 - the Terriers won the 2015 game via a shootout.

BU (7-7-1 overall; 4-4-0 in Hockey East) will return home for a weekend conference series in Agganis Arena against Vermont (4-8-0) on Dec. 5th and 6th. The Terriers are currently 6th in the Hockey East standings and Vermont is 10th. 

Bruins 3, Red Wings 2 (SO)

 

Morgan Geekie scored two regulation goals and Casey Mittelstadt hit the game-winning shootout goal, and the mighty Boston Bruins pick up their 15th win of the season. Jeremy Swayman was .923 in the goal with 24 saves.  

Geekie's 20 goals on the season is tied for first in the NHL with Nathan MacKinnon of the Avalanche. Swayman's 486 saves on the season is second in the league to Igor Shesterkin of the Rangers.

With the win, the Bruins' 30 points moves them up to second in the Atlantic, four points back from Tampa Bay. 

The Red Wings (13-11-2) will try and get their revenge on Tuesday when they host the Bruins in Detroit (7:00 pm).  

T-Wolves 119, Celtics 115

 

The Celtics will be a really good team if they ever start playing consistently for all four quarters of a game. Last night, they outscored Minnesota, 69-59, at the half, and then they came out and let the Wolves outscore them, 35-23, in the third quarter.

Jaylen Brown dropped 41 points on Minnesota and while there were no double doubles or double triples, he joined Larry Bird as the only Celtics players to record 40 or more points, five or more rebounds, five or more assists, and five or more steals in a game. For once, the team rebounding was better, too. The Celtics snagged 43 rebounds to the T-Wolves 37, with an impressive, 14-5, advantage in offensive boards. Brown was 45% on three-pointers, but the team as a whole was only 34.8%, getting 48 points on 16 threes, while Minnesota was 43.8% and got 63 points from beyond the line.

The loss snaps the C's two-game win streak and drops them back to fourth in the Atlantic Division at 10-9. Later today (6:00 pm), they will play Donovan Mitchell and the Cavs in Cleveland (12-8). Let's see if they can put together four quarters, and if the team can give Brown a little more support from outside the line.    

   

Texas 27, Texas A&M 17

 

Goddamnit, Aggies! You had ONE fucking job this season, just one thing we've asked of you, and that was to beat Texas so that Georgia wouldn't have to play in the SEC Championship Game. But you inbred, cow-humping, quasi-fascist motherfuckers couldn't even do THAT, and you let the three-loss No. 16 Texas Longhorns beat your until-then undefeated No. 3 team, 27-17. 

We're through. Get the fuck out of my SEC. 

I'm not a fan of Texas football. Over-rated teams strutting around like show ponies after you beat other weak-ass Texas teams, and then getting your asses kicked when you have to cross the Red River and play an out-of-state, real football team (usually Oklahoma). I didn't want Texas teams in the SEC, but the filthy lucre of big-oil money and potential television ratings got the better of the conference chairpersons and they didn't listen to me and let in, first, A&M and then, later, Texas and Oklahoma. Now we're stuck with you losers and frankly, the cow-shit on your silly-looking boots is stinking up the whole conference.

A&M parlayed an easy schedule into a 10-0 season record. They had one quality win - by a single point, mind you - over Notre Dame (and don't get me started on THEM), and struggled against unranked South Carolina (4-7), falling behind, 30-3, before coming back and winning by a single point (and then trying to gaslight the press into thinking the comeback was some sort of elite athletic achievement).

I'd have gone easy on you if you had beat Texas LIKE YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO and let the Bulldogs avoid the conference championship, but now we have to go to Mercedes-Benz Stadium on December 6 for another game because your sorry asses lost to the Longhorns (who, incidentally, we beat, 35-10). Y'all better get down on your knees in that pig slop you call Kyle Field and pray to whatever pagan gods you believe in that unranked Auburn (who even YOU beat) doesn't upset Alabama, because if they do, YOU'LL be playing the Bulldogs in the title game and we will kick your soft, sorry asses with the full rightful indignation over our having to even be there.

Okay, dude - deep breath. Calm down. Let's wrap up this post with a shred of dignity.

No. 10 Alabama (9-2) plays unranked Auburn (5-6) tonight at 7:30 pm in Auburn's Jordan-Hare Stadium. If Alabama wins, they advance to the SEC championship game against No. 4 Georgia (11-1) on December 6. If Auburn pulls off the upset, Georgia will play No. 3 (for now) Texas A&M (11-1) for the championship. Despite a far better record and higher ranking, the Tide are favored by only 5½ points.

Rangers 6, Bruins 2

 

While the civilized world was watching Georgia-Georgia Tech, the Bruins lost to the Rangers, 6-2, in the Garden (TD, not MSG).

Shit happens.