It’s the last week of October and you what that means…basketball is just around the corner! Get into the spirit by celebrating the start of the NBA this week:

QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK

NFL

As always, Sunday Funday was full of action in the NFL. The New England Patriots are still undefeated after beating the New York Jets 30-27, the Washington Redskins scored a win over the Tampa Bay Bucs 31-30 after a last minute touchdown and a fumble that went their way, and the Atlanta Falcons defeated the Tennessee Titans 10-7. In the afternoon games, the New York Giants beat the Dallas Cowboys 27-20.

Oh, and as for that big Sunday Night Football game — the Philadelphia Eagles lost 16-27 to the Carolina Panthers. The Carolina Panthers remain unbeaten this season.

Monday Night Football features the Arizona Cardinals and the Baltimore Ravens at 8:30pm EST on ESPN.

College Football

Week 8 has come and gone and the results are in. Ohio State looked like the number 1 team in the country after a strong win over Rutgers 49-7, and #2 Baylor had a pretty good day with a win over Iowa State 45-27. But, #3 Utah (now #13) was not so lucky after losing 42-24 to USC.

What was the game of the weekend, you ask? That title belongs to #23 Duke (now #22)… and it’s not even because we are known Duke fans. They beat Virginia Tech 45-43 after FOUR OVERTIMES.

And with that, the new top five rankings  are as follows: Ohio State, Baylor, Clemson, LSU and TCU.

Games to watch this week include:

• #3 Clemson vs. NC State – Saturday at 3:30pm EST on ABC
  
• #9 Notre Dame vs. #21 Temple – Saturday at 8:00pm on ABC

MLB

And just like that, it’s time for the World Series!

How did we get here? The New York Mets swept the Chicago Cubs to win the National League while the Kansas City Royals beat the Toronto Blue Jays in 6 games to win the American League.

To recap: the New York Mets will face the Kansas City Royals in the World Series for the right be this season’s champs. Game 1 takes place in Kansas City on Tuesday night (you can watch it at 8:07pm EST on FOX). Ready or not, it’s go time!

NBA

Get excited because, like we said in our intro, NBA hoops are back this week! Wednesday, October 28th marks the beginning of the 2016 season.

Coach Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors will not return for the beginning of the season. Coach Kerr is recovering from back surgery and hopes to return to last year’s champion team shortly. Luke Walton will serve as interim head coach for the time being.

In other injury news, LeBron James is still recovering from a back injury and hopes to return to the Cleveland Cavaliers soon while Derrick Rose of Chicago Bulls is expected to play this week after recovering from a orbital bone break.

JUST FOR FUN

Hello Basketball
The Oklahoma City Thunder had quite the Halloween party.

STORIES FOR INSIGHTS, COOL FACTOR + DEBATE

Hoops
Talking predictions for the upcoming season
Grantland’s Zach Lowe gives us 35 of his best educated guesses for what will happen this season in the NBA

Power
Countdown to the World Series
Learning more about the rise of of New York Mets star Daniel Murphy

RIP
Remembering Coach Saunders
Flip Saunders passed away from cancer at age 60 over the weekend

Good Morning! Have you heard about the Michigan v. Michigan State game?

QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK

NFL

Let’s talk football. Sunday night featured a rematch of the game that started the deflategate scandal as the Indianapolis Colts faced off against the New England Patriots. The Pats won 34-27, and now have five straight wins under their belt this season.

In other notable Sunday football news, the Detroit Lions beat the Chicago Bears 37-34 in overtime for their first win of the season, and Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos held onto their winning record with an OT win over the Cleveland Browns 26-23. Oh, and the Carolina Panthers stayed perfect and beat the Seattle Seahawks 27-23 while the San Diego Chargers lost to the Green Bay Packers 20-27 despite 503 passing yards from Philip Rivers (a feat only accomplished 17 times in league history).

Monday Night Football features an NFC East showdown between the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles in Philly at 8:30pm EST on ESPN.

College Football

The game of the weekend was #12 Michigan versus  #7 Michigan State. As you can tell from our intro video, the game came down to the wire, with Michigan State winning 27-23 on a last second play.

In other football news, we saw #15 Stanford beat #18 UCLA on Thursday followed by a weekend of games that included #1 Ohio State dominating Penn State, #2 Baylor defeating West Virginia, #3 TCU scoring a victory over Iowa State, and #4 Utah getting the win over Arizona State. Oh, and #5 Clemson beat Boston College, #6 LSU topped #8 Florida, and #10 Alabama defeated #9 Texas A&M.

Games to watch this week include:

• #2 Baylor vs. Iowa State – Saturday at 12pm EST on ABC
  
• #7 Michigan State vs. Indiana – Saturday at 3:30pm EST on ABC
• #5 LSU vs. Western Kentucky – Saturday at 7:00pm EST on ESPNU
• #1 Ohio State vs. Rutgers – Saturday at 8:00pm EST on ABC

MLB

Happy post-season everybody! We hope you’re enjoying what have turned out to be awesome Division Championship match-ups.

In the American League, the Kansas City Royals lead the Toronto Blue Jays 2-0 after rallying for Saturday’s 6-3 win. Game 3 takes place tonight at 8:07pm EST on FS1 — the Royals will try to keep the momentum going and get closer to that elusive World Series dream.

In the National League, it’s all about the New York Mets, who are leading the series against the Chicago Cubs 2-0 after their 4-1 win at home last night. Watch Game 3 on Tuesday at 8:07pm EST on TBS.

In MLS news, Mike Grella of the New York Red Bulls scored the fastest goal in the league’s history after seven seconds. They would go on to beat the Philadelphia Union 4-1 on Sunday, and earn the top seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. D.C. United beat the Chicago Fire on Sunday as well, and moved into second place in the Eastern Conference. On Friday, the San Jose Earthquakes won 1-0 against Sporting KC. On Saturday, Columbus Crew scored a 2-0 victory against Toronto FC to qualify for the playoffs, and the Montreal Impact also qualified this weekend with a 1-0 win against the New England Revolution. FC Dallas clinched the Western Conference title after a win against Real Salt Lake. On Sunday night, the Seattle Sounders finished their match against the Houston Dynamo as a 1-1 draw and the LA Galaxy lost 2-5 to the Portland Timbers. Wondering who’s making it to the playoffs? You can take a look at the table here. Plus, mark your calendars – Conference Semifinals are on Sunday, November 1st and Sunday, November 8th, Conference Championships are on Sunday, November 22nd and Sunday, November 29th, and the 2015 MLS Cup is set for Sunday, December 6th at 4pm EST on ESPN.

In the Premier League, we saw Chelsea win 2-0 against Aston Villa and Everton lose 0-3 to Manchester United. This was Everton’s first loss since August, and after this game, Wayne Rooney of Man U is now tied with former striker Andy Cole as the second-highest scorer in league history. Additionally, Manchester City beat AFC Bournemouth 5-1, Watford lost 0-3 to Arsenal after a strong second half, and Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool squad ended with a 0-0 draw against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday. On Sunday, Newcastle United celebrated a 6-2 victory over Norwich City, after Georginio Wijnaldum scored four goals for the team. The top 3 teams in the Premier League table are Manchester City, Arsenal, and Manchester United.

On Saturday in La Liga, Real Madrid laid down another win 3-0 against Levante, and Barcelona won 5-2 against Rayo Vallecano without Lionel Messi, who is still recovering from an injury. Neymar played one of his best games for Barca, and scored four times for their win.

The Rugby World Cup quarter finals finished up, and the semi finals begin on Saturday, October 24th. The semi finals will feature South Africa v. New Zealand (10/24) and Argentina v. Australia (10/25).

Oh, and the NBA comes back in less than 10 days. Some of us are excited, very very excited.

JUST FOR FUN

GOAL
Giovinco Golazo of Toronto FC scored an outstanding left-footed goal against the New York Red Bulls to help TFC qualify for their first MLS playoffs. It’s unreal…

STORIES FOR INSIGHTS, COOL FACTOR + DEBATE

Bartolo Colon
42 years old, 283 pounds, and not that fast
The veteran of the Mets has taught many a player (including closer Jeurys Familia) about life and success in the Majors

First Lady
Dottie Pepper will be covering the 2016 Masters for CBS
The LPGA tour star and ESPN sportscaster will be the first woman to do so

Unhappy Ending
Why Michigan is still back
This year, everyone wanted to watch the rivalry

Happy Columbus Day and welcome to Tuesday! We rang in our day off with New York Giants’ player Larry Donnell’s outstanding TD catch against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday night:

QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK

NFL

In Sunday football news, the Cincinnati Bengals beat the Seattle Seahawks, 27-24 after QB Andy Dalton led Cincinnati back from a 17-point deficit. The Bengals are now one win short of matching their best start in history. The undefeated Atlanta Falcons cleaned up 25-19 against the Washington Redskins, the Philadelphia Eagles finished 39-17 against the New Orleans Saints, the St. Louis Rams lost 10-24 against the Green Bay Packers, and the Buffalo Bills won by one point against the Tennessee Titans, 14-13. The New England Patriots scored big against the Dallas Cowboys (30-6), who were missing Tony Romo and Dez Bryant. The Cowboys have now lost 3 games in a row without those players. And, the San Francisco 49ers lost 27-30 to the New York Giants after Larry Donnell’s fantastic TD catch.

In Monday Night Football, the Pittsburgh Steelers went head to head with the San Diego Chargers and came out with the win, 24-20 thanks to a last second touchdown run. Antonio Gates of the Chargers caught his hundredth career TD this game, and is now the ninth player in the history of the league to do so.

College Football

On Thursday, USC fell to the Washington Huskies, 12-17. On Sunday, Trojans’ head coach Steve Sarkisian was terminated.

This weekend, unbeaten #1 Ohio State used Cardale Jones and J.T. Barrett as a dual-quarterback attack to batter Maryland 49-28. #2 TCU had a 52-45 win over Kansas State, #4 Michigan State took care of business with a 31-24 win against Rutgers, #5 Utah beat #23 Cal 30-24 to remain the one undefeated team in the Pac-12, #6 Clemson beat Georgia Tech 43-24, #11 Florida beat Missouri 21-3 and is now 6-0 for the season, and #18 Michigan clobbered #13 Northwestern 38-0. #3 Baylor won big (66-7) against Kansas and moved to #2 in the AP Top 25, right behind Ohio State and above TCU.

Games to watch this week include:

• #18 UCLA v. #15 Stanford – Thursday at 10:30pm EST on ESPN
• #10 Alabama v. #9 Texas A&M – Saturday at 3:30pm EST on CBS
• #7 Michigan State v. #12 Michigan – Saturday at 3:3opm on ESPN
• #6 LSU v. #8 Florida – Saturday at 7pm on ESPN
• Penn State v. #1 Ohio State – Saturday at 8pm on ABC

MLB

In Tuesday’s AL wild card game, the Houston Astros beat the New York Yankees 3-0. On Wednesday’s NL wild card game, the Chicago Cubs won their first post-season game in twelve years, 4-0 against the Pittsburgh Pirates after Jake Arrieta pitched a complete game shut-out.

In the American League, the division series between the Houston Astros and the Kansas City Royals is tied 2-2 after the Royals won Monday’s game 9-6 after rallying from a four run deficit after 7 innings. The series between the Texas Rangers and the Toronto Blue Jays is also tied 2-2 after Toronto’s 8-4 win on Monday night. Check out the Rangers v. the Blue Jays on Wednesday at 4:07pm EST on FS1, and the Astros v. the Royals on Wednesday at 8:07pm EST on FS1.

The National League division series started a little later, as the Chicago Cubs v. St. Louis Cardinals broke a 1-1 tie when the Cubs scored 6 home runs yesterday night. The New York Mets broke a 1-1 tie as well last night with their 13-7 win against the LA Dodgers. The Mets had to play without shortstop Ruben Tejada, whose leg was broken in the seventh inning of Game 2, when Chase Utley of the Dodgers slid into him. The Cubs and the Cardinals play again tonight at 6:07pm on TBS, and the Mets v. Dodgers will play tonight at 8:07pm on TBS.

On Saturday, Mexico beat the United States Men’s National Team 3-2 in extra time to qualify for the 2017 Confederations Cup.

In other soccer news, the European Qualifiers group stage matches come to a close this week.  The top two teams from each group plus the best overall 3rd place team advance to next year’s 2016 European Championships in France.  The eight remaining 3rd place countries duke it out for the final four spots in mid-November.

The WNBA Finals featuring the Indiana Fever and the Minnesota Lynx head to a winner-takes-all Game 5 on Wednesday at 8pm EST on ESPN2.

JUST FOR FUN

Just married
Two runners stopped at mile 8 of the Chicago Marathon to get hitched

STORIES FOR INSIGHTS, COOL FACTOR + DEBATE

Chris Burns
Coming out as a Division I basketball coach
Burns talks about the juxtaposition between being uncomfortable in his own skin, and the confidence basketball gave him

139
What we don’t always hear about – NFL players doing good off the field
Through his charity, Warrick Dunn helps single mothers achieve the monumental accomplishment of home ownership

Expansion
After the recent NFL game in the UK, where’s the league headed next?
The full International Series will be announced soon, but we’re thinking Mexico

Hurricane Joaquin may have ruined some of our weekend plans, but it didn’t get in the way of this weekend’s football! Minnesota Vikings’ RB Adrian Peterson just kept running to complete a crazy 48-yard touchdown against the Denver Broncos this Sunday:

QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK

NFL

Week 4 came and went with several eventful games this past weekend. The New York Giants appear to be shaking off their early season rust and defeated the Buffalo Bills on Sunday while the Washington Redskins came back in dramatic fashion to beat the Philadelphia Eagles. The New York Jets took down the Miami Dolphins across the pond in London while the Denver Broncos got the win against the  Minnesota Vikings.

Additionally, Sunday Night Football saw the New Orleans Saints get an overtime win 26-20 against the Dallas Cowboys.

Monday Night Football features the Detroit Lions v. the Seattle Seahawks at 8:30pm on ESPN.

College Football

There were quite a few interesting college football games this past weekend. The top two teams (at the time) both had close games as  Ohio State defeated Indiana  and Michigan State beat Purdue in conference play. Additionally, Florida upset Ole Miss and TCU dominated Texas.

Let’s talk rankings. Ohio State tied a record and remains #1… for the the 101st time. TCU moved up to #2, Baylor moved up to #3, Michigan State fell to #4, and Utah took a big leap to 5.

Next week’s big games to watch include:

• Northwestern v. Michigan – Saturday at 3:30pm EST
• Cal v. Utah – Saturday at 10:00pm EST on ESPN

MLB

It’s officially playoff time for the Major Leagues  and things kick off with wild card games. In the American League (AL), the Houston Astros play the New York Yankees on Tuesday night at 8:08pm EST on ESPN. In the National League (NL),  the Chicago Cubs play the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday at 8:08pm EST on TBS.

It was a weekend of milestones  for Clayton Kershaw this weekend. The LA Dodgers’ star player became the first pitcher since 2002 to get 300 strikeouts in a season.

On Wednesday, Sporting KC (Kansas City) took home the US Open Cup after winning in penalties against Philadelphia.

On Saturday, Manchester City beat Newcastle United 6-1 with five goals by Sergio Aguero, and Southampton finished up 3-1 against Chelsea. But, Sunday was the bigger day for Premier League soccer. Before this weekend, Manchester United was sitting atop the table and Arsenal was in fourth. But, Arsenal bounced back from a mid-week loss and took home the win 3-0 over Manchester United. The Everton v. Liverpool match ended in a 1-1 draw, and Manager Brendan Rogers was fired after the game (after three years with the club). Who will Liverpool replace him with? Check out some potential candidates here.

In La Liga this weekend, Sevilla FC won against Barcelona 2-1, and Atletico Madrid v. Real Madrid ended in a 1-1 draw.

JUST FOR FUN

Almost doesn’t count
But this catch by the New York Giants’ Odell Beckham Jr. is still awesome

STORIES FOR INSIGHTS, COOL FACTOR + DEBATE

Couch potato
The dangers of being a sedentary sports fan
When you’re watching sports, you’re usually sitting down, right?

Tristan Thompson
Will he sign a new deal with the Cavs?
Time will tell whether Tristan Thompson and the Cleveland Cavaliers can restructure a new contract

Breast Cancer Awareness
The Buffalo Bills honored survivors this weekend
50 breast cancer survivors welcomed the two teams to the field in this week’s game