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.