In a little bit of a hurry, so apologies if these are quick hitters.
College Basketball: Weekend Thoughts
Purdue looked great in Uncasville. Arizona looked great in Las Vegas. I might be missing something, but those seem to be the big two things from the weekend.
The Boilermakers are close to being the clear Big Ten favorites. It’s mostly a give-it-time situation, too, as opposed to something where they have more to prove. They’ve looked good and polished while Illinois and Michigan and Ohio State have all stumbled a bit, (what does it say about Michigan State that I didn’t think to include them there on the first pass?) but they’ve also only played five games. Let’s give it a week and make sure they take care of Florida State next Tuesday.
For Arizona, there’s a lot to love. 47th in KenPom to start the season, up to 20th today. Their little Pac-12 opening weekend in a few weeks consists of hosting Washington and visiting Oregon State, so there’s a decent chance they get to their trip to Champaign at 9-0, 2-0 in league play, and accompanied by a ton of hype. Between them, USC, and obviously UCLA, the Pac-12 is gathering a strong top tier.
College Football: Weekend Thoughts
Full thoughts here (with some help from our model), but we’re very possibly coming down to the College Football Playoff committee’s hardest decision yet. We could have an 11-2 Alabama, a 12-1 Big 12 champion, a 13-0 Cincinnati, and an 11-1 Notre Dame vying for two spots. And looking ahead to this weekend, not a lot should sort itself out, unless we get some upsets. We stripped away Oregon and Wake Forest and suddenly we see the mess beneath their veneer. Fun year, that way, if you’re into that sort of thing (I am).
The Cubs Made a Move
The Cubs grabbed Harold Ramirez off waivers from the Guardians, and don’t expect a ton from him, but he could be a solid bench piece. We’ll see if he lasts the offseason. Still need to write that Cubs offseason catch-up piece. Maybe tomorrow.
The Giants Are Bringing the Gang Back, the Angels Make Another Move
The Giants have re-signed Anthony DeSclafani and are close to bringing back Alex Wood. Each deal sounds reasonable cost-wise on each side, and while I’m guessing not enough can go right for San Francisco to win the division again (unless they make a big charge at someone or someones in free agency), they’re smart to pursue a Wild Card-capable roster, and they clearly have something working with those guys.
Meanwhile, the Angels signed Aaron Loup to bolster their bullpen. Might’ve overpaid a little ($8.5M AAV over two years), but relievers can be so high-leverage, especially come October.
Iowa State’s Good: The Basketball
The Cyclones handled Grambling State yesterday. Nothing terribly exciting, but a good, solid buy-game win. Aljaž Kunc hit all five of his three-point attempts and scored 21 with seven boards.
More on these guys come Wednesday when they open the NIT Tip-Off.
Iowa State’s Bad: The Football
The football team came close against Oklahoma, but one disastrous play and a failed comeback doomed them in a script all too familiar. 6-5 now. Wow. But, as someone pointed out to me, what a great job those guys did in building the program to where they built it over their time in Ames. We’ll, or at least I’ll, probably look back on them with more appreciation than we maybe feel right now. What a world they made, in which losing at Oklahoma by a touchdown is disappointing.
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Tonight, not a ton of great basketball, actually. Saint Mary’s and Notre Dame are interesting in the Maui late slot. Ohio State and Seton Hall are interesting right now. ESPN put a few of the good games (Belmont/LSU, Northwestern/Providence) behind the ESPN+ paywall. No fault to them—they can get their money—but harder to access.
