Happy Monday, Team SQ. Feeling a little tired from the holiday break? Let’s get energized by reliving Ohio State’s game-winning play from Saturday’s epic double OT win over Michigan.

QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK

NFL

Let’s talk about this weekend’s games in the NFL (assuming you followed Thursday’s games, but if not…Cowboys, Cowboys, Cowboys!), starting with the New York Football Giants. The G-Men got their 6th straight win of the season after defeating the win-less Cleveland Browns 27-13 and with the strong performance of Odell Beckham Jr.. Outside of the NFC East, Tom Brady (who got his 200th win slash tied the league record) and the New England Patriots took down the New York Jets 22-17, and the Oakland Raiders beat the Carolina Panthers 35-32. Of note, the Oakland Raiders were also the first team since 2014 to get a roughing the passer penalty against QB Cam Newton.

One surprising loss from the weekend was the Seattle Seahawks, who lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 14-5, who held Russell Wilson scoreless (aka no TDs). Oh, and in Sunday night’s game, the Kansas City Chiefs topped the Denver Broncos 30-27 after Tyreek Hill led the way with 3 TDs.

Monday Night Football features the Green Bay Packers at the Philadelphia Eagles at 8:30pm on ESPN.

College Football

College football had a few notable moments this past weekend — As we mentioned in our intro, #2 Ohio State defeated #3 Michigan in Columbus in a thrilling 30-27 2 OT game (the first OT/2OT game in the history of the rivalry) with the help of Curtis Samuel’s 15 yard TD. Outside of that, #1 Alabama held off #13 Auburn in the Iron Bowl 30-12 after a shaky offensive start to the game, and #4 Clemson looked dominant in a 56-7 win over South Carolina.

Coming out of week 13, the top 5 shifted slightly with the new rankings as follows: Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson, Washington and Michigan.

Next Saturday, it’s all about the conference championships including:

• SEC Championship — #1 Alabama vs. #15 Florida at 4pm on CBS
• ACC Championship — #4 Clemson vs. VTech at 8pm on ABC
• Big Ten Championship — #6 Wisconsin vs. #7 Penn State at 8pm on FOX

NBA

Can you believe we are already a month into the NBA season? Over at the Ringer, check out a fun recap into what top players have given us something to talk about so far.

Specifically, in NBA-land, a few fun things to discuss coming out of last weekend and this past weekend — the Cleveland Cavaliers continue to look strong, not only with wins (and dance moves) but with strong performances from both Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. Of note, Kevin Love had a 34 point quarter in last week’s win against the Portland Trail Blazers. As always, LeBron James has been pretty unstoppable too — In Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers he had a triple double to help the Cavs build up their 13-2 record.

Speaking of triple doubles, it’s  been all about Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder this season. Westbrook had his 44th triple double of his career (tying LeBron) in Saturday’s 106-88 win over the Detroit Pistons with a 17 point, 15 assist, 13 rebound performance.

College Basketball

Moving on to college hoops – let’s take a look at the week ahead featuring the Big Ten ACC challenge. Notable match-ups include:

• #24 Michigan State vs. #6 Duke – Tuesday at 9:30pm on ESPN
• #4 North Carolina vs. #3 Indiana – Wednesday at 9:15pm on ESPN

The first weekend of December also brings some excitement as #1 Kentucky takes on #14 UCLA on Saturday at 12:30pm on CBS.

 

JUST FOR FUN

Senior Day Moment
Lawrence Erekosima’s mom is stationed with the Army in Kuwait — so, to say he was surprised to see her at Alabama’s senior day… that’s an understatement

STORIES FOR INSIGHTS, COOL FACTOR + DEBATE

Revolution
Although Jurgen Klinsmann was let go from the USMNT, his legacy will live on
By overhauling and elevating the team, he drew the public eye towards soccer in the United States

Keep an eye on the Lakers
They started out the season strong, but are starting to falter
First-year coach Luke Walton has built up a young team, and the fans are excited — but, if they don’t make the playoffs this year, are the improvements good enough?

Happy 99th!
The NHL became official on November 26th, 1917
Since their goal was to perpetuate the game of hockey, what’s better than looking at the best moments of the sport through Wayne Gretzky’s eyes?