Happy Monday! Did y’all see Jimmy Butler of the Chicago Bulls drop 40 points … IN ONE HALF last night? See highlights here:
QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK
NFL
On Sunday Night Football the Green Bay Packers lost to the Minnesota Vikings 13-20, who proceeded to lock up the NFC North. See below for the Wild Card implications.
The last week of the regular season also saw the Washington Redskins beat the Dallas Cowboys 34-23, the Miami Dolphins defeat the New England Patriots 20-10, the Pittsburgh Steelers take down the Cleveland Browns 28-12 and the Buffalo Bills top the New York Jets 22-17 in the snow.
So, regular season football is over, which means it’s playoff time! We start off with the Wild Card games that kick off next weekend featuring:
- AFC: Saturday games
- #5 Kansas City Chiefs at #4 Houston Texans at 4:35pm EST on ESPN/ABC
- #6 Pittsburgh Steelers at #3 Cincinnati Bengals at 8:15pm EST on CBS
- NFC: Sunday games
- #6 Seattle Seahawks at #3 Minnesota Vikings at 1:05pm EST on NBC
- #5 Green Bay Packers at #4 Washington Redskins at 4:40pm EST on FOX
AFC top seeds are #1 Denver Broncos followed by #2 New England Patriots while the NFC has #1 Carolina Panthers followed by #2 Arizona Cardinals.
College Football
It’s all about the bowl games these days in college football and thus far they have not disappointed. Of note, Clemson beat Oklahoma 37-17 in the College Football Playoff Semifinal to reach the National Championship game against Alabama, who dominated Michigan State 38-0 in the other semifinal match-up on New Year’s Eve.
In the New Year’s Six, we saw Stanford crush Iowa 45-16 in the Rose Bowl, Ohio State top Notre Dame 44-28 in the Fiesta Bowl, Houston beat Florida State 38-24, and Ole Miss get the win against Oklahoma State 48-20 in the Sugar Bowl. Oh and on January 2nd, TCU put on a shocking comeback to defeat Oregon in 3OT, 47-41.
So what’s left? The National Championship game! Mark your calendars for Monday, January 11th when Alabama will face Clemson at 8:30pm on ESPN for the right to call themselves the national champs.
NBA
2016 is all about the NBA. We are about a month out from All-Star and the halfway point of the season, which means games start to matter more and playoff preparation heats up.
Of note from this past weekend: The Golden State Warriors defeated the Denver Nuggets 111-108 in OT to raise their record to 31-2. There were two injury scares in the game but both Kenneth Faried and Stephen Curry appear to be okay.
This week, tune in for the Cleveland Cavaliers v. the Toronto Raptors and the Milwaukee Bucks v. the San Antonio Spurs — both on Monday.
College Basketball
Conference play has begun in college hoops. This means more games and more excitement.
This week, make sure to watch #2 Kansas vs. #3 Oklahoma today at 9pm EST on ESPN.
Soccer
Last week was a big week in Premier League soccer. Going into the new year, it’s always an advantage to be assured of your position in the table, and several teams were able to start 2016 strong. Arsenal maintained their top position after defeating Newcastle United 1-0 on Saturday. Earlier in the week, they rebounded from their Boxing Day loss to defeat AFC Bournemouth 2-0. Bournemouth drew their second match of the week to second place team, Leicester City. Also on Saturday, Manchester City overcame a 1-0 deficit to top Watford with a final score of 2-1, and Manchester United topped Swansea City 2-1. On Sunday, Tottenham Hotspur drew 1-1 against Everton, and Chelsea started 2016 with a strong 3-0 victory over Crystal Palace.
NHL
This weekend’s Winter Classic ended with the visiting Montreal Canadiens scoring a 5-1 victory over the Boston Bruins. Gillette Stadium, home of the New England Patriots (yes, the football team!) was transformed into an outdoor hockey rink for the occasion. Check it out here.
JUST FOR FUN
STORIES FOR INSIGHTS, COOL FACTOR + DEBATE
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