Bernie Bits: Make Or Break 2023 For Drinkwitz, Big Opportunity for Mizzou Hoops, Bradley Beal, AFC QBs, College Football Playoff
Missouri is 11-15 in the SEC, 3-13 in road and neutral-site games, 2-9 against ranked teams, 15-19 vs. FBS teams and 4-14 vs winning Fbs teams. The Tigers have been ranked 10th and 12th in SEC in points per game against FBC teams over the last two seasons.
Josh Heupel is 10-2 in his second year at Tennessee and was ranked as high as No. 2 this season. TCU is 12-1 under dynamic first-year coach Sonny Dykes. Oregon State hired Jonathan Smith to rebuild a program that had been largely irrelevant for years and by his third season, it had a winning record (7-6) and followed that up in 2022 by winning 10 of 13 games. Lincoln Riley is turning around the USC program. Missouri is stuck in a rut of four consecutive non-winning seasons. It's a crazy time to be a coach.
Kentucky basketball team is playing at Mizzou Arena on Wednesday night. The game is a big opportunity for Menno coach Dennis Gates. Kentucky is ranked No. 10 nationally and Minno is No 43.
Oscar Tshiebwe is a big, strong force for Kentucky. Mizzou needs to keep him off the boards to cut down on Kentucky's offensive rebounds. Missouri has to continue buzzing for steals and distract Kentucky into turnovers. The Tigers are No. 1 nationally in steals percentage (17%) and rank 4th by getting opponents to turn the ball over on 26.5% of possessions. They had 13 steals against Illinois and forced 17 turnovers, converting those into 33 points.
The Blues lost 5-4 in overtime to Toronto on Wednesday. The team has won only 11 games in regulation this season. Their points percentage is .429. The Blues finished with the NHL's worst overall record in 2005-2006.
The Blues are 16-16-3 and have picked up at least a point in eight of their last 11 games. They have held the lead for an average of 16 minutes 23 seconds per game this season.
The Maple Leafs won the game on an overtime goal. William Nylander scored the winner. Vladimir Tarasenko was ineffective in the loss. He was minus 3 in goal differential at even strength and his team was outscored 4-2.
The AFC Championship game would be entertaining if the field was set today. The top five highest-scoring teams in the AFC would have a chance to play in a playoff. Patrick Mahomes, 27, is the oldest player on the list. The list includes Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson, Justin Herbert, Trevor Lawrence and Tua Tagovailoa.
Bradley Beal is injured for the second time this season. Beals has a full no-trade clause, so he can be traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. He is currently in the first season of a five-year contract extension that will pay him $251 million. He's averaging 23.5 points per game and shooting a career-best .527 from the floor.
The Blues were limiting opponents to seven goals during a five-game stretch that ended Dec. 19. The Blues have been pelted for 12 even-strength goals in their last three games.
No. 4 Ohio State is a 6.5-point favorite to beat No. 1 Georgia. The Buckeyes lost 45-23 at home to Michigan on November 26. Georgia coach Kirby Smart talked about how his team recovered from a bad loss to Alabama in the 2021 SEC Championship game to come back better than ever to defeat Alabama last season.
No. 2 Michigan is favored to win by 7.5 points against No. 3 TCU. Bernie's sports-talk show airs on 590 The Fan, KFNS-AM.
