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. 

Georgia 16, Georgia Tech 9

 

After last year's 44-42, 8 OT insanity in Athens, this year's big in-state rivalry game with Georgia Tech, Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate as the press likes to call it (normal people don't call it that) was a relatively lackluster affair. Played for the first time on a so-called "neutral" field - Atlanta's Mercedes Benz Stadium, 1½ miles south of Georgia Tech and 60 miles east of Athens - the game was a defensive struggle with only one TD scored the entire game.

That one TD was a seven yard Gunner Stockton-to-Zachariah Branch pass in the Second Quarter that gave the Bulldogs a 10-3 lead. They kept the 10-point lead for most of the game as the two teams exchanged field goals the rest of the way. A thrilling game it wasn't, nor was it a pretty win, but a win is a win is a win, and this one extended Georgia's winning streak against Georgia Tech to 8 games, the longest streak for either team in the history of the rivalry. It also gave the Bulldogs an 11-1 record to close out the regular season.

The next hurdle for the Dawgs is the SEC Championship Game, and their goal isn't to win it - it's to avoid it. Like the plague. Who needs that shit? The team's goal for the season is the National, not the conference, Championship. We're ranked No. 4 in the latest Selection Committee standings and have a first-round bye in the playoffs. If we play the SEC title game and win, our seeding in the playoffs won't be any better - we have nothing to gain except conference bragging rights (but everyone will stay say, "yeah, but what about Alabama?"). And if we play and sustain a serious injury to a key player, it could hurt our chances in the playoffs and jeopardize a potential National Championship. And if, god forbid, we play and lose the game, our ranking will drop, we'll lose the first-round bye, and we still might have those unnecessary injuries to contend with. It's far better to take out 11-1 record, rest and recuperate, and wait until the quarterfinal round of the playoffs.

But it's not in our hands. The way I understand it, we're in the conference championship game if No. 16 Texas (8-3) upsets No. 3 Texas A&M (11-0) or if unranked Auburn (5-6) upsets No. 10 Alabama (9-2). While either outcomes would be an upset, it's not impossible in these state rivalry games - anything can happen. So as much as it pains me, I'm going to have to cheer for ATM and Alabama to prevent Georgia from having to play the conference championship game.  

What a cruel twist of fate!

   

Bruins 3, Islanders 1

 

The mighty Boston Bruins score a goal in each of the three periods as they beat the Islanders down on the Island, 3-1. Alex Steeves scored twice, including a short-handed goal in the third, and Tanner Jeannot  knocked one in to start the second period. Jeremy Swayman saved 44 of 45 shots against goal.

The Bruins (14-11-0) have 28 points, tied with Ottawa. The Senators, however, earned their 28 on 23 games, and are in second place in the Atlantic Division behind Tampa Bay, while the Bruins, who needed 25 games to get to 28, are in third.

The Bruins got to go back home for Thanksgiving after last night's game, and will host the New York Rangers (12-11-2) on Friday afternoon (1:00 pm, TNT). 

Celtics 117, Pistons 114

 

The Celtics win a nail biter that came down to the last 10 seconds, when there were five separate fouls and five sets of free throws. Pritchard hit the last pair with 2.4 seconds to go, and then Jordan Walsh stole the ball from the Pistons to seal the win.

Mr. Brown led the Celtics with 33 points and 10 rebounds and Mr. White had 27 and 7. White finally found his old three-point groove again, going 6-11 from downtown with all six of the successful shots in the second half. As a team, the Celtics were 20-43 on threes, although they were still outrebounded by their opponent, 56-44. The Pistons picked up 21 offensive rebounds to the Celtics' 12, and those extra shots on net is what kept the Pistons in the game.

With the win, the Celtics improve to 10-8 and move up above Philadelphia (9-8) into third place in the Atlantic, 3½ games back from Toronto.

The Celtics' next game is Sunday (5:00 pm) in Minnesota against Anthony Edwards and the T-Wolves (10-8). 

Still No. 4

 

The University of Georgia Bulldogs (10-1) are still the fourth-ranked team in the latest NCAA Selection Committee poll. In fact, very little has changed in the rankings from last week, other than No. 6 Ole Miss and No. 7 Oregon pulling a 6-7 switch, with the Ducks the new No. 6 and the Rebels now No. 7. BFD.

Georgia will still get a first-round bye should these rankings stand in the final week, and play with winner of Texas Tech-Tulane in the quarterfinals and then Ohio State, barring an upset of seismic proportions.

But the big news last week, the story everyone's been watching, is that the California Golden Bears (6-4), the holder of the lineal championship belt and Georgia's 2021 and 2022 championship rings, lost to the Stanford University Cardinals (3-7) on Saturday, 31-10. Ha, ha, you guys suck! Stanford has the championship belt and the two rings now, improves to 4-7, and will play Notre Dame (9-2) this week. The Fucking Irish are favored by 32½ points, and should they win they will bring the belt and rings to the playoffs, where Georgia could get a chance to win them back.

No. 9-ranked Notre Dame is expected to play eighth-ranked Oklahoma in the first round of the playoffs. Regardless of who wins (frankly, I don't care), the belt and rings will advance with one team or the other to the quarterfinal game against Ohio State. The Buckeyes will win, again barring that aforementioned upset of seismic proportions, and Georgia can play Ohio State in the semifinal for the belt and rings. It's just that easy! 

In my mind, I can already picture Gunner Stockton slipping the rings onto his fine, football-flinging fingers and Kirby Smart holding the belt aloft over his head, while Buckeye players and fans alike are crying on the sidelines and sore-loser, cry-baby Ryan Day is complaining to the press about poor officiating.

Celtics 138, Magic 129

 

The Celtics bounce back from their loss to the lowly Brooklyn Nets with 35 points from Jaylen Brown and drop 138 on the Orlando Magic. The Celtics scored 80 points in the first half alone.

Overall, the Celtics shot 60.2% in the game, but were still out-rebounded by the Magic, 44 to 37. The disparity was especially evident in offensive boards, where the Magic had 18 rebounds to the Celtics 7.

After Brown's 35 points, Anfernee Simons had 23, Pritchard 19, and both White and Minott 16. 

The Celtics improve to 9-8, three games back from Toronto. Next, they will host the Detroit Piston on Wednesday for a 5:00 pm game on ESPN.  

Sharks 3, Bruins 1

 

In the second period of last night's game, former BU Terriers' wunderkind Macklin Celebrini scored a power-play goal for the Sharks, their second of the game, to give San Jose a 2-0 lead. It would be all that the Sharks needed to win. 

Celebrini has 14 goals on the season, tied for third in the NHL and behind the Bruins' Morgan Geekie (17). He's tied for second in assists (20) and points (34). And he's only 19 yeas old.

Geekie got a goal last night too, his 17th and the Bruins' only score of the game, but the Sharks were able to capitalize on the open net at the end of the period and the game ended, 3-1, Sharks.

A fight broke out at the end of the game, so that was cool. Also, Elias Lindholm returned from injured reserve, even though he didn't score last night. 

Detroit picked up a point on a win Saturday night and lead the Bruins by one in the Atlantic. Boston is off until Wednesday when they play the Islanders down in New York.

    

Patriots 26, Bengals 20

 

A Drake Maye TD, two pick-sixes, and two field goals, all in 15 minutes? The second quarter of today's Patriots-Bengals game was fire!

After a Cincy FG in the first quarter, defender Geno Stone of the Bengals picked off a Drake Maye pass in the second quarter for a 28-yard TD. New England drove the ball 70 yards down the field on their next possession, culminating in a 28-yard Maye-to-Henry TD pass. Then, on the Bengals' next possession, Patriot defender Marcus Jones intercepted Joe Flacco and returned the ball 33 yards for a New England pick-six. A pair of FGs, one by each team, finished the wild quarter.

Compared to all that, the rest of the game was a rather dull affair. New England kicked  three field goals in the second half and Flacco got a TD for the Bengals, and the game ended with the Pats up by six. 

Buffalo lost today, so the Pats (10-2) lead the AFC East by two games. The Patriots are among the top eight teams in the NFL in points per game (28.9), yards per game (371.8), and passing yards per game (258.9). Drake Maye leads the league in both total yards (2,836) and percent complete (71.9).

Next weekend is a Monday night home game against the New York Giants (2-10). Remember when the Patriots were banned from hosting Monday Night Football because of heavy drinking and rowdy behavior? 

Remember when the Giants were good?       

BU 4, Northeastern 3 (OT)

 

The No. 18 Terriers rebound from Friday night's loss and break a two-game skid with a Saturday-night OT win over Northeastern on home ice. 

Jack Harvey and Cole Hutson gave BU a 2-0 lead in the first period, and after Northeastern scored late in that period, Jonathan Morello scored to give BU the two-goal lead back. But Northeastern's vowel-deprived Dylan Hryckowian scored twice in the third to tie the game. Fortunately, Hutson got his second goal of the night in the overtime frame, and the Terriers skated off with a much-needed win.

The Terriers (6-7-1) now have 11 points in Hockey East, coincidentally the same number of points as the women's team, and like the women, are in sixth place in the conference standings. Unlike the women, the men have a game Thanksgiving weekend, the Red Hot Hockey tournament down in Madison Square Garden against Cornell (6-2-0) on Saturday, November 29.     

BU 2, Providence 2

 

The Terriers had to settle for a tie on the road in this weekend home-and-away series against Providence, but after neither team could score in thee OT, BU won the shootout for the extra point in the Hockey East standing.

Providence took a 2-0 lead in the first period, but BU's Greta Henderson pulled the Terriers to within one with a goal in the second. As the clock expired and with the goalie, pulled, BU's Sydney Healey scored the game-tying goal with 30 seconds left in regulation. Healey and Luisa Welcke scored the winning shootout goals.

Throughout the game, BU had a huge lead in shots on goal, taking 34 shots to Providence's 19. BU goalie Mari Pietersen needed only 17 saves to maintain the tie.

The Terriers (3-10-1) are in sixth place in the Hockey East standings with 11 points. They're off this week for Thanksgiving break, but will return to the ice at Holy Cross (11-5-1) on Tuesday, December 2.

Georgia 35, Charlottte 3

 

It's hard to gloat over beating an unranked team that's 1-9 and in last place in the AAC. It's even harder to figure out why why we're even playing this team in the penultimate week of the season. But a win is a win is a win, and Georgia improves to 10-1 on the season.

For what it's worth, Nate Frazier ran for two TDs and Bo Walker ran for three. Gunner Stockton finished the day with 196 rushing yards and backup QB Ryan Puglisi came into the game midway through the third quarter.

The important game is next Friday, the big annual rivalry game with Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets are ranked higher (No. 16) than they've been for this game in many years, and even though they still won't make the playoffs, there's nothing they'd rather do more than spoil our seeding.   

But it was nice this week while Georgia cruised to an easy victory to not be biting my fingernails for three hours. 

Bruins 2, Kings 1 (OT)

 

Okay, cool: on a sorry night for Boston sports when both the BU Terriers men and the Celtics lost their games, Morgan Geekie slapped in a late-night, OT score in LA to break the Bruins' two-game losing streak and finally give a Boston team a win on the night. 

Geekie scored earlier in the game, breaking a scoreless game open with a third-quarter goal. Unfortunately, while Boston was on a power play late in the game, the Kings got a short-handed goal to tie the game up and force the OT before Geekie ended the evening with his second goal of the night.

The Bruins (13-10-0) have 26 points and remain in first place in the Atlantic Division. Tomorrow night, the Bruins will figure out just where exactly San Jose is and play the Sharks (10-8-3). Puck drops around 8:00 pm.

BU 4, Providence 1

 

On the bleakest of Fridays, with the Celtics and the BU men's teams both losing, the women Terriers break through and snap a two-game skid with a 4-1 rout of Providence.

Providence scored the first goal, but it was all BU after that. Lilli Welcke, Clara Yuhn, Kaileigh Quigg, and Riley Walsh all scored for the Terriers, the latter an empty netter in the closing minutes. Mari Pietersen made 34 saves in the net.

Game 2 of this home-and-away series is Saturday.

Nets 113, Celtics 105

 

November 5 and November 16, 2025. Prior to last night, those were the only two times the Brooklyn Nets won a game this season. But now, last night, the Nets scored their third win, beating the Celtics, 113-105, in Boston.    

The Celts let Brooklyn's Nic Claxton get away with a triple double - 18 points, 12 assists, and 11 rebounds.  Queta got a double double - 16 points and a dozen rebounds - but if the Celtics are going to rely on Neemias Queta to carry the team, we're in trouble. No shade on Queta - I like him, but as a valued support player. He's not at team leader level, at least not yet. 

The Nets aren't the worst team in the NBA - four teams have worse records than 3-12 - so I don't wanna hear anyone complain that Boston just lost to the worst team in the league. We lost to ONE OF the worst.

Okay, let's get this shitshow behind us. Rinse, and hopefully not repeat. The Celtics are now 8-8, .500 basketball, and three back from Toronto, both in standings and in games. Anything is still possible in this young season. At 6:00 pm tomorrow (is that last afternoon or early evening?), the Celtics host Franz Wagner and the Orlando Magic (9-7); the Magic's Paolo Banchero is out on injured reserved. 

Northeastern 3, BU 2

 

On Boston 13, 2025, just a little over a month ago, the BU Terriers were the No. 1 ranked men's college hockey team in the country.

On November 21, 2025, the No. 18 Terriers (5-6-1) lost to No. 12 Northeastern (7-3-0), who weren't even ranked on October 13.

For whatever it's worth, BU's two goals were made by Frechette and Roukounakis, and Yegorov went .880 in the net with 22 saves. 

This season's fast turning disappointing. The second game of this home-and-away series is tomorrow night back on home ice at 7:00 pm.    

Ducks 4, Bruins 3

 

Somewhere on the West Coast, sometime after midnight in the East, somebody named Ian Moore slapped a shot into the Bruins' net with 3½ minutes left in the game, and despite a pair of Morgan Geekie goals and another by Michael Eyssimont, the Anaheim Ducks handed the Bruins their second straight loss and third in their last four games. 

With 24 points, the Bruins (12-10-0) are tied for third in the Eastern Division with Pittsburgh and the Islanders, and second to Detroit in the Atlantic. Offensively, they've scored 71 goals so far this season, fourth best in the NHL. Their power-play offense is especially potent - they're second in the league in power-play goals (20), third in power-play opportunities (73), and fourth in power-play percentage (27.4%).  

The next game is Friday night (10:30 pm) in LA against the Kings (10-6-4). Let's hope for some power plays.        

We're No. 4!

 

With No. 5 Georgia's 35-10 beat-down of No. 10 Texas, and No. 11 Oklahoma's 23-21 upset of No. 4 Alabama, Georgia (9-1) moves up from the fifth spot to the new No. 4 in yesterday's NCAA Selection Committee poll. Alabama fell to No. 10 and Oklahoma moved up to No. 8, while Texas fell to No. 17 and most likely out of playoff contention.

The three remaining undefeated teams, Ohio State, Indiana, and Texas A&M, are ranked 1, 2, and 3, respectively. 

Here's the beautiful part, though: at No. 4, Georgia earns a first-round bye in the playoffs. Even better, the new seedings move the Bulldogs out of the same grouping as Alabama, our kryptonite team and sole loss of the season, so instead of facing them in the quarterfinals, the Dawgs would instead get the winner of No. 5 Texas Tech (10-1) vs. No. 24 Tulane (8-2, and only in there as the fifth-highest ranked conference champion). After that, Georgia would play whoever emerges from the Ohio State-Notre Dame-Oklahoma games, probably, but not at all definitely, Ohio State. The Championship Game would be against the eventual winner of the Indiana-A&M-Ole Miss-Oregon- Alabama-Miami series, and I'm not even going to venture a guess as to who'd that be, other than noting our odds of having to play Alabama again this year are greatly reduced.  

There's still two more regular-season games to go, and possibly the conference championships, so things can still change, but this playoff bracket is far better for Georgia than the previous bracket when we were No. 5.

As for the SEC championship, if unranked Auburn beats No. 10 Alabama in the final week of the season, or if No. 17 Texas beats No. 3 A&M, the Bulldogs are in. If not, Georgia is in only if our regular-season opponents' winning percentage is better than that of the other contenders. Personally, as long as the Bulldogs don't need the game to maintain their No. 4 ranking, I'd just as soon skip the game and get an extra week's rest, so that, together with the first-round bye in the playoffs, we enter the post-season well rested and recovered from all our injuries.

Celtics 113, Nets 99

 

The Nets suck. So what the hell were they doing handing around within one point at the half, and back by only four after three quarters?

The Celtics took care of business in the fourth, however, outscoring Brooklyn, 24-14, to secure their third straight win. Mr. Brown finished the night with 29 points and Mr. White with 15.  Mr. Pritchard had 22 points and 10 rebounds. The Celtics out-rebounded the Nets, 49-39, and were 45.2% on three-point shooting. The bench had a higher percentage on threes than the starters, and even with their limited playing time accounted for 8 of the Celt's 19 long shots.

The Celtics are second in the league in three-point shot attempts per game (44.2) but in the bottom half of the league with only 34.7% completed.  Defensively, the team leads the NBA with the least number of opposing goals allowed per game (36.3) and are second in both percentage allowed (43.4) and in points allowed (108.5).

Which is to say that Boston's still only 8-7 and in fourth place in the Eastern's Atlantic Division, although they're only 1½ games back from first-place Toronto. But good news - the next game is against the Nets (2-12) again, on Friday and back in Boston. Four in a row, anyone?

Hurricanes 3, Bruins 1

 

With 10 seconds left in the game, Riley Tufte scored a power-play goal for the Bruins. Up to that point, bupkis.

Former BU Terrier Charlie McAvoy (Class of 2016) was out last night after taking a puck to the mouth during Saturday night's win over Montreal. He flew back to Boston with the team, and surgery may be needed. The Bruins also placed forwards Viktor Arvidsson and Casey Mittelstadt on injured reserve Monday while sending defenseman Jordan Harris to long-term injured reserve. Elias Lindholm was put on injured reserve back on October 30, and Jordan hArris is out for two months.

Boston falls to 12-9-0, but their 24 points keep them in first place, one point ahead of Detroit and Montreal.  They're off to the West Coast for a series of games, starting Wednesday night (10:00 pm) against the Anaheim Ducks (12-6-1).  

Celtics 121, Clippers 118

 

Why do we always cut these things so goddamn close?

The Celtics blew a 63-49 halftime lead and then, up by 10 with 1:29 left in the game, let the Clippers go on a 10-2 run, but managed to hang on and won by three. 

Brown had 33 points and 14 rebounds and Pritchard had 30. The team remained hot from three-point land, hitting 41%, with Garza going 2-2. Pritchard 8-13, White 4-8, and Scheierman 1-2. They out-rebounded the Clippers, 49 to 44. 

The Celtics finally improve to .500, but with the Knicks and Raptors both off to hot starts, remain fourth out of five in the Atlantic Division. They play the lowly Nets (1-11) next on Tuesday night down in Brooklyn, so things should continue to improve. Right?

Right?

Georgia 35, Texas 10

 

After scoring on their first two possessions but punting on their next four, and then throwing an interception on their fifth, the No. 5 Georgia Bulldogs, leading No. 10 Texas by only four points, needed to score. They started a drive late in the third period with the ball on their own 27 but didn't get a first down on the next three plays. On fourth and one on their own 36, it looked like it was going to be another three-and-out possession, but although deep in their own territory, they gambled and Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton completed a 10-yard pass to Chauncey Bowens.  

Four plays later, they were facing a fourth-and-five on the Texas 49, and the Dawgs lined up to go for it again, but the Longhorns committed an offsides penalty and Georgia got five yards and another first down. Three plays later, Stockton connected with London Humphreys for a 30-yard TD and Georgia took a 21-10 lead.

Then, instead of kicking off, Georgia shocked the Longhorns and the whole world with an on-side kick, with Nate Frazier recovering the ball on the Georgia 47. Eight plays later, Stockton passed to Lawson Luckie for a 6-yard TD. Georgia 28, Texas 10. 

The Longhorns never recovered after that. They punted and turned the ball over on downs on their next two possessions, while Georgia went on to score yet another TD on a 4-yard Stockton rush. The Bulldogs won in dominating fashion, 35-10, and the whole game turned on that third quarter fourth-and-one and the surprising on-side kick.

In short, the Georgia defense dominated the first half of the game and the offense dominated the second. In all, Stockton finished the game with 229 yards on 24 of 29 attempts and four passing TDs and one rushing TD. The Dawgs had 357 total yards to the Longhorns' 274, and despite all those first-half punts, were 36.4% on third-down conversions to the Longhorns' 16.7%.

With the win, the Bulldogs improve to 9-1 overall and 7-1 and second place (for now) in the SEC beneath undefeated Texas A&M. Georgia completed its conference season with this win, but Alabama lost to underdog Oklahoma yesterday and fell to 6-1 and fourth place in the conference. Their remaining conference game is against unranked Auburn and they will almost assuredly win, and then, both 'Bama and the Dawgs will be 7-1 in the SEC.

On the other hand (and here's where it gets confusing), A&M has yet to play Texas. If the Longhorns pull themselves back together and beat the Aggies, then Georgia, Alabama, and A&M could all finish 7-1 in the SEC. Since the first tie-breaker is head-to head competition, Alabama will have the edge over Georgia, but since 'Bama hasn't played A&M, the second tie-breaker is record against common conference opponents. If A&M loses to Texas, the Bulldogs will have the edge over the Aggies since Georgia beat Texas yesterday. But A&M beat Oklahoma earlier this season while Alabama lost to the Sooners, so the Aggies will have the edge over the Tide. In other words, Georgia > A&M > Alabama > Georgia. 

To make it even more confusing, Old Miss could wind up in the mix at 7-1, too, and they lost to Georgia (advantage Bulldogs) but, like A&M, beat Oklahoma  and have an advantage over Alabama. The mind reels contemplating the implications!    

But first, though, Georgia still has two non-conference games left on the schedule.   Next week is a home laugher against unranked Charlotte (1-9) - time for backup QB Ryan Puglisi to get in some minutes. Then, we end the regular season with the annual rivalry game against a surprisingly good, No. 16 Georgia Tech team (9-1) on the Yellow Jackets home field.

Bruins 3, Canadiens 2

 

The mighty Boston Bruins knocked off their arch-rival, the Atlantic-leading Montreal Canadiens, last night. They went deep in the roster to get goals by Marat Khusnutdinov, Mason Lohrei, and Viktor Arvidsson, but whatever it takes to win, I'm all for it!

Swayman was .929 in the net with 26 saves.  

With the win, the Bruins (12-8-0) earn 24 points on the season and take possession of first place in the Atlantic.  Their 67 goals on the season is tied for 2nd best in the NHL with Toronto.

They host the Carolina Hurricanes (12-5-1) Monday night in the Garden.

Quinnipiac 6, BU 2

 

I'm starting to come to the conclusion that this might not be BU's year for hockey. The women's team is 2-10-0 on the season, and last night the 13th-ranked men's team lost to No. 10 Quinnipiac, 6-2, and fell to 5-6-1. 

Jack Harvey and Nick Roukounakis scored goals but the Terriers were outshot 49-33 in the game. Mikhail Yegorov saved 43 of those shots, but six more got past him. 

Next weekend, the Terriers play a home-and-home against No 11 Northeastern, starting with the away game at Northeastern on Friday night.

BC 3, BU 2

 

BC scored first, but Sydney Healey tied it up 30 seconds later. BC scored again, and Clara Yuhn tied it up in the third. Then, with 3:18 left to play, BC scored the game-winner.

Providence (4-7-1) next weekend.

I hate the fucking Eagles, man!

BC 5, BU 2

 

I hate the fucking Eagles, man! 

The BU Terriers women's hockey team lost to the unranked BC Eagles last night up on Chestnut Hill. BU scored first with a goal by Kaileigh Quigg, but BC came right back with two goals of their own to take a 2-1 lead by the end of the first period. In the second, the Eagles were hit with a major penalty for contact to the head, and BU's Lola Reid scored during the five-minute power play to tie the game at 2. BC scored again a minute into the third and added two more goals in the final minutes to win, 5-2.

Despite the final score, BU outshot BC 45-23, including an 18-5 lead in in the first period alone and won 30 of the 51 faceoffs.

The Terriers fall to 2-9-0 overall and 2-4-0 in Hockey East play. Game 2 of this home-and-away series is at BU's Agganis Arena tonight (7:00 pm).

Patriots 27, Jets 14

 

TreVeyon Henderson rushed to the left for a seven-yard touchdown twice in the second quarter, and caught a six-yard Drake Maye pass for another TD in the third.  Add to that a pair of fourth quarter field goals, and that's New England's 27 points, more than enough to beat the Jets. 

Potential NFL MVP Drake Maye passed for 281 yards with no interceptions. With an early-week Thursday night game under his belt, Maye leads the NFL in total yards (2,836) and first downs (132). He's second in the league to Matthew Stafford in TDs (20), second to Justin Herbert in completions (230), second to Jarod Goff in percent complete (71.9), and second to San Darnold in yards per attempt (8.9). He's in elite company, and no other QB leads him in more than one category.    

Of course, it's not all Maye. Henderson had 62 of New England's total 65 yards rushing and Stefon Diggs had 105 yards receiving.    

After eight straight wins, it's easy to forget that the Patriots (9-2) are coming off three consecutive losing seasons and were 4-13 the last two. The next game, all the way out on November 23, is against the Cincinnati Bengals (3-6). Joe Burrows isn't expected to play, even though he's returned from his injury and is practicing with the team, and we'll probably face Joe Flacco. 10-2, anyone?   

Senators 5, Bruins 3

 

Well, it was bound to happen eventually. After seven consecutive wins, the mighty Boston Bruins finally lost a game.

Ottawa scored twice in the first period and Geekie got the Bruins' fist goal in the second. Ottawa took a 3-1 lead early in the third, but a power-play goal by Pasta and an even-strength goal by Kastelic tied it up. But Ottawa's Tim Stutzle scored the go-ahead goal late in the period and then sealed the win with an open-net goal, and the Bruins suffer their first loss since October 27. 

The Bruins (11-8-0) are still tied with Montreal and Ottawa in points (22) but are in third place based on the number of games. Their next game is Saturday (7:00 pm) against the Canadiens (10-5-2) so one way or another, the tie is going to break.

Celtics 131, Grizzlies 95

 

In an evening of insane stats, probably the most insane of all is that in their 36-point blowout of Memphis, the Celtics were plus 42 during Payton Pritchard's 30:22 on the floor.

Last night, the Celtics not only finally accomplished what they needed to do all season, namely improve their three-point shooting and rebounding, but set season records for three-point percentage (41.2%) and team rebounds (68) in the process. They also tied their season-highs in threes made (21), offensive (18) and defensive (40) rebounds, as well as blocks (8).

Yes, it was a good night.

Pritchard led both teams with 24 points, but everyone got in on the scoring - Mr. White scored 20, Mr. Brown scored 19, Garza got 14, and Queta, 13. See what happens when you rebound and hit your threes?

At 6-7 on the season, the Celtics are still below .500 and in fourth place in the Atlantic, but are 6-4 in their last 10. If they keep rebounding and shooting like this, they could get to .600 on the season.

After playing two nights in a row, the NBA decided they deserved a weekend off and haven't scheduled another game for them until Sunday afternoon (3:30 pm), when they host the LA Clippers (3-8) in the Garden.     

Sixers 102, Celtics 100

 

With 2.7 seconds left in the third quarter, Derrick White hit a 27-foot three-pointer from the left wing and gave the Celtics a nine-point, 77-68 lead. Oh, that the game could have ended right then and there! But the Sixers came back and finished the third with a three of their own, and clawed their way back to a one-point lead late in the fourth. The lead switched back and forth several times in the closing minutes and as time expired, White missed a desperation three-point shot from near midcourt and Queta couldn't tip it in for a chance at OT as the clock ran out. Sixers win, 102-100.

Three of the Celtics seven losses so far this season have been by one or two points.

Mr. Brown led both teams with 24 points and Mr. White had 18. Neemias Queta, who almost put the game into OT with his last-microsecond tip in, had 10 rebounds but his eight points kept him from getting a double double. For once, the Celtics weren't out-rebounded (53 to the Sixers' 44), so that's improving. The teams were fairly even on threes, with Boston hitting 13 of 38 and Philly, 14 of 36.

But a loss is a loss is loss, and the Celtics fall to 5-7, fourth of five in the Atlantic. Their loss also breaks a SDW winning streak going back to the Georgia Bulldogs win over Mississippi State on Saturday.

The Celtics head to Memphis next for a game tonight against the Grizzlies (4-8).          

Bruins 5, Maple Leafs 3

 

Seventh straight win - the Bruins haven't lost a game since October 27! And last night, they beat the Leafs by the same score as their very last game, also against the Leafs and up in Toronto.

Pasta scored twice, and Zacha, Lindholm, and Steeves also got goals. Swayman was .909 in goal with 30 saves. 

The Bruins are now 11-7-0 and their 22 points is tied with Montreal, although the Habs are still in first place as their 22 points were on two fewer games than Boston. Still, 11-7-0 is pretty amazing for a team that was 3-6-0 back on October 23. 

We'll deal with Montreal on Saturday. First, however, we have another game tomorrow against Ottawa (8-5-4), who we beat last Thursday, 3-2.     

No. 5 Again

 

The University of Georgia Bulldogs (8-1) are still No. 5, both in last Sunday's AP Poll and tonight's NCAA Selection Committee Poll. In fact, the whole top five are the same as last week. The biggest change, at least with regard to the Dawgs, is that Memphis is no longer the fifth highest ranked conference champion but now the No. 24 South Florida Bulls (7-2) are. That means that if the season ends with all the rankings as they now stand, Georgia, the No. 5 seed, would play South Florida as the No. 12 seed.

The winner of that Georgia-South Florida game, that is, Georgia, would advance to play Alabama, our kryptonite team. The winner of that game would play the defending national champions, No. 1 Ohio State, in the semifinals, and the winner of that game would play the other semifinal winner, probably Indiana (10-0).

It kinda sucks being No. 5. Having to beat Alabama and Ohio State just to make it to the championship game is a tough road. I'd rather we dropped down to No. 6 and get Miami in the first round, A&M in the quarterfinal, and Indiana in the semifinal, before facing Ohio State in the championship. We may get that wish depending on how things go with Saturday's game against Texas.      

But wait, there's more. Louisville, the holder of the lineal championship belt and Georgia's 2021 and 2022 championship rings, lost last Saturday to unranked California (6-4). That means that the belt and the rings are now in Berkeley, California! Oh, no! However will we win them back?

We probably won't, at least not this year. Louisville, you had ONE JOB and that was to bring the belt and the rings to the playoffs so that Georgia could win them back. But no, now we have to hope that the Golden Bears lose to Stanford this Saturday and give the prizes to them, and then that they lose the next weekend to No. 9 Notre Dame, and that they bring them to the playoffs. You're making me cheer for Notre Fucking Dame, man! Louisville, you're dead to me!

Maybe it's better just to be patient and wait until next year when Cal will inevitably lose to some ACC team, and that team will lose to an SEC team, and then Georgia gets its rings back.    

We're No. 13

 

The BU Terriers swept unranked Merrimack but were dropped one spot in the latest USCHO poll from No. 12 down to No.13. Big deal - I don't care. No. 12, No 13 - same thing to me. It's still only the first half of the season and the next four games are against ranked opponents (No. 10 Quinnipiac, No. 11 Northeastern, and No. 20 Cornell), and those games will determine whether or not the Terriers belong in the top 10.

The biggest news in the poll are all the changes in the top five. Michigan State and Michigan are still No. 1 and 2, but Penn State got swept by the Spartans (BU can relate to that) and fell from No. 3 down to No. 5. Minnesota Duluth is now the new No. 3. 

No. 4 Western Michigan got swept by No. 9 Denver and the two teams swapped spots in the poll - Denver is now the new No. 4 and Western Michigan fell to No. 9. 

Quinnipiac lost to unranked Yale and needed OT to beat unranked Brown and fell from the No 5 spot. They'll play the No. 13 BU Terriers on Saturday ranked as No. 10.     

Celtics 111, Magic 107

 

We love our winners here at Sweat Dissolves Water, and right now all our teams are winning. The Boston Celtics just completed a sweep of (almost) all the teams we follow here, the caveat necessary because baseball season is over and the Red Sox aren't playing.

But since Saturday afternoon, we've celebrated victories by the Georgia Bulldogs (41-21 over Mississippi State), the BU Terriers' women's team (2-1 over Maine) and the men's team (5-4 over Merrimack), the mighty Boston Bruins (5-4 over the Maple Leafs), and the resurgent New England Patriots (28-23 over the Bucs). Now the Celtics continue the streak with a 111-107 win over the Orlando Magic.

Friendly reminder that on Friday night, the C's were trounced by the Magic, 123-110, but the team hung around Orlando and played them again yesterday. This time, Brown led the team with 27 points, but the hero of the game was probably Anfernee Simons with 25 points and 5-of-8 three-point shooting. He was also a perfect 4-4 on free throws.

White had 21 points and Luka Garza had 16 off the bench. Garza also led the team in rebounding with four offensive and four defensive boards in 17 minutes of play. Hugo González and had only 3 points and 12:36 playing time, the least of any Boston player last night, but the team's plus 19 when he was on the court led the Celtics.  

The Celtics, are still only 5-6 on the season and fourth in the Atlantic. Their next game is in Philadelphia against the second-place Sixers (6-4) on Tuesday.

Patriots 28, Bucs 23

 

Seventh consecutive win, and only one team left on the schedule for the rest of the season with a better than .500 record. Life is good in the AFC East! 

The Patriots scored one TD in each quarter of the game, two of them on TreVeyon Henderson runs of 55 and 69 yards. The other two were on Drake Maye passes, one a 1-yard pass to Stefon Diggs as the first half ended and the other a 72-yard pass to Kyle Williams at the end of the first quarter. 

Maye is now 5th in the NFL with 2,285 total yards and first in percent complete (74.1%). His 116.9 QB rating is second only to Lamar Jackson of the Ravens.   

The Patriots improve to 8-2, first in the AFC East (the Bills lost to the Dolphins (!) today) and tied with Indianapolis and Denver for best in the NFL. 

Next up in a Thursday night game on Amazon against the hapless Jets (2-7). Early line has the Pats favored by 5½.  

Bruins 5, Maple Leafs 3

 

Six straight wins for the mighty Boston Bruins! Goals by Geekie, Arvidsson, Eyssimont, Pastrnak and Minten, and .909 goalkeeping by Swayman. Is there nothing this team can't do?

The points keep pouring in and Boston (10-7-0) is now in second place in the Atlantic, two points back from Montreal.  

The Bruins feel so good about this win that they're going to hang around in Canada for a couple of days and play Toronto again on Tuesday night (7:00 pm).

Saturday was a good day. The Georgia Bulldogs beat the Mississippi State Bulldogs, both the BU men's and women's hockey teams won their games, and the Bruins won up in Toronto. I could get used to this.

BU 5, Merrimack 4

 

The Terriers sweep the Warriors! The BU men's team completes the home-and-away series with a 5-4 win in North Andover over Merrimack. 

Gavin McCarthy, Cole Hutson, Ryder Ritchie and Owen McLaughlin scored even-strength goals and Jack Harvey got an open-net score late in the game. In the last minutes of play, Merrimack used their open-net advantage to squeeze out two late scores, but the Terriers held on and outlasted the Warriors' barrage. Mikhail Yegorov made 27 saves on 31 shots for an .871 percentage. 

No. 12 BU (5-5-1) is now tied with Northeastern and UMass Lowell for first place in the Hockey East standings with nine points on 3-3-0 conference play. 

Next is a non-conference game down in Connecticut against No. 5 Quinnipiac (5-2-1) on Saturday afternoon (4:00 pm). 

BU 2, Maine 1

 

Yeah! That's more like it! The BU Terrier women's team breaks out of their 3-game losing streak and beats Maine up in Orono, 2-1!  

Maine scored first, but Clare Yuhn tied it up in the second and then Sydney Healey hit the game-winner in the third. Michelle Pasiechnyk made 27 saves in goal for a .964 average.

The Terriers are still 2-8-0 overall but improve to a somewhat more respectable 2-3-0 in Hockey East play. With six points, they are in sixth place in the conference.

Next week is the big rivalry series with Boston College (5-6-1). On Thursday, the game's in Chestnut Hill on the Eagles' home ice, and Friday the series moves down the hill to BU's Walter Brown Arena. 

I hate the f*@$ing Eagles, man! 

Georgia 41, Mississippi State 21

 

Surprise! The Georgia Bulldogs actually played well in the first half of today's game against Mississippi State in hot Bulldog-on-Bulldog action in Starkville. 

The Dawgs gave up the first TD of the game to State on the first possession of the game, and it felt like the game was going to be a repeat of the familiar pattern of Georgia digging themselves into a hole and then having to bail themselves out. The vibes weren't much better when Georgia could only manage a FG on their subsequent possession. 

But then in the second quarter, Georgia scored three consecutive TDs on three consecutive possessions and continued to pour it on in the third. They led 38-7 with 9:57 left in the third quarter before bringing on the benchwarmers and reserves for the rest of the game. It's always a good sign for Georgia when backup QB Ryan Puglisi takes the field with 10:00 minutes still left in the game.  

Gunner Stockton finished the day with 264 passing yards, 31 rushing yards, three TDs, and no interceptions. Nate Frazier had 181 rushing yards, including one beautiful 59-yard run you'll see on the end-of-year highlight reels. Noah Thomas had 78 yards receiving, most of which came on one 64-yard beauty, and Zachariah Branch had eight receptions for 68 yards. 

The No. 5-ranked Georgia Bulldogs are 8-1 on the season and 6-1 in the SEC. Barring an upset, it looks like Texas  A&M will finish the season 8-0 in the SEC and Alabama 7-1, and Georgia won't be in the SEC Championship Game. I'm okay with that - we'll make the playoffs regardless and it's arguably better to get an extra week to rest and heal up a bit than it is to get banged around - and even possibly suffer a loss - in the conference championship. 

Next week, No. 11 Texas (7-2 overall, 4-1 in the SEC) come over to pay a little visit to Athens and a prime-time, Saturday-night football game. Based on today's game, it looks like Kirby has the offense properly tuned up for the big showdown, and while there's still work to be done on the D, it's better than it was earlier this season.   

Sic 'em, Dawgs!

Magic 123, Celtics 110

The Celtics got blown out by the Magic, 38-25, in the first quarter and never fully recovered. Jaylen Brown led the Celtics with 32 points, but scored only two in the fourth. They got 44 rebounds in the game, same as the Magic, but were 13-37 (35.1%) on three-point shooting compared to the Magic's 17-36 (47.2%).

Payton Pritchard (27 points, 5-8 on threes) and Anfernee Simons (11 points, 3-6 on threes) had the hot hands from outside and combined had 6 of the Celtics 13 completed three-point shots. Mr. White and Mr. Brown were both 1-6 on threes, although Mr. White had the double double with 16 points and 10 assists.

The Celtics fall to 4-6 on the season, fourth in the Atlantic. This was an NBA Cup game, and Boston's now 1-1 in East Group B play, behind the Pistons and the Magic (1-0 each) and ahead of Philly and Brooklyn (0-1).

The Celtics get to hang around Orlando today and, I dunno, go to Disneyland or whatever, and then play the Magic again on Sunday (6:00 pm).   

BU 3, Merrimack 2

 

After getting swept by No. 6 Maine last weekend, the No. 12 BU Terriers were in no mood to fuck around with unranked Merrimack, especially in front of a home crowd. The Warriors, on the other hand, smelled blood on the ice, and thought they had an opportunity for something of an upset. The result was a 2-2 tie after three periods with scores by BU's Jonathan Morello in the first and Jack Murtagh in the third. Twenty-one seconds into the overtime, Cole Hutson scored the game-winning goal, using a Merrimack defender as a screen. 

The Terriers are 4-5-1 overall and 2-3-0 in Hockey East play. They pick up two points for last night's OT win and have 6 on the season - three for the win over UConn, two for last night's OT win, and one for the OT loss to Maine on Halloween. They're behind Northwestern, Maine, and Merrimack in the Hockey East standings and are in a five-way scrum with four other teams with six points each. 

The weekend series moves to North Andover for game two tonight.