This has been the craziest last few days in sports. Good thing I am here to straighten it out.
Today, Sunday January 22nd, former Penn State head coach Joe Paterno passed away at the age of 85 due to complications with lung cancer. Paterno won 409 career games as a head coach, all of them with Penn State. He is the all time winningest coach in college football history. He took the Nittany Lions to 37 bowl games and two national championships, and over 250 of his players would go on to the NFL. "He will go down as the greatest football coach in the history of the game," Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said today. The circumstances surrounding his death are extremely sad.
How do I describe this week in college basketball? Exciting? Crazy? Unstable? How ever you say it, it was awesome for any hoops fan, or anyone that loves to watch a good upset. The first team I would like to highlight is Baylor. The Bears came into this week 17-0 and ranked #3 with two top ten matchups within the Big 12. They lost them both. First, an 18 point whooping at #7 Kansas, followed by a 1 point 89-88 loss at home to #5 Missouri. This gives Kansas 16-3(6-0) the lead in the Big 12, but with a very tough schedule to come, that includes Missouri twice, and Baylor one more. Looks like a great race in the Big 12.
Duke came into the week with a 45 home court winning streak. That streak is no more. Thanks to the giant killer Florida State, Duke suffered their first ACC loss at the hands of the Seminoles. Junior guard Michael Snaer hit a game winning three as time expired to upset the #4 Blue Devils 76-73. A week earlier the 'Noles upset #5 North Carolina 90-57. This is coming from a team that lost to Harvard and Princeton, and lost their first ACC game by 20 to a inconsistent rebuilding Clemson team. But Florida State is 4-1 in the ACC, and might be the hottest team in college hoops right now.
After Baylor went down, there were two undefeated teams left: number 1 ranked Syracuse and Murray State. Then Syracuse lost. Playing in a very hostile environment at Notre Dame, the Irish were in control of the game from the start, out hustling Syracuse the whole game. The Orange, playing without their starting center Fab Melo, who was unable to make the trip due to academic issues, were outmatched in the post. Notre Dame is now 12-8 (4-3 in the Big East), and has suffered this year after losing star forward Tim Abromaitis early in the season to an injury. But this win could spark the Irish, who definitely have to ability to step up this year in the Big East. Syracuse still leads the Big East, however, leaving Murray State as the only undefeated team left in college basketball.
The Super Bowl matchup is set, and I can't wait. Patriots vs. Giants. The New England Patriots, defeated the Baltimore Ravens 23-20 thanks to a Billy Cundiff missed 32 yard field goal with 11 seconds left to send the game into overtime. This will be Tom Brady's fifth career trip to the Super Bowl.
It is very difficult to win games when you go 0-12 on 3rd down conversions. The San Francisco 49ers learned this, losing to the red hot New York Giants 20-17 in overtime. Two fumbles on punt returns for the normally turnover free 49ers led to a crucial touchdown and the game winning Lawrence Tynes field goal in overtime. Tynes also kicked a game winning overtime field goal in 2007 to put the Giants in the Super Bowl against the Patriots, which the Giants won. The stage is set for a great, deja-vu, Super Bowl!
The Super Bowl is set, college basketball is on fire, the NBA and the NHL are getting exciting, and I think I can almost smell spring training! 'Til Next Time.
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