Welcome back, sports fans. For those who may be looking for the Women’s Basketball Top 363, which is normally published on Monday, we are postponing until tomorrow. The reason is that after the games today, there are no more until December 28th. If we publish tomorrow, the first half of the season will be complete. It just seems cleaner. The men play games today and tomorrow before the break, so the normal Wednesday Top 365 for them will be complete for the first half as well.
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Last Saturday, there were 5 playoff games. In the FBS, the lowest scoring playoff game in FBS history happened when Miami FL (11-2/7) gave Texas A&M (11-2/14) their second straight loss after an 11-0 start by the score of 10-3. The game was less exciting that the score even indicates. Both Group of 5 teams, Tulane (11-3/42) and James Madison (12-2/25) lost on the road to Mississippi (12-1/8) and Oregon (12-1/4), respectively. The Group of 5 controversy is not remotely over yet despite the losses. Once bowl season is over, we think we will dedicate a G’s Exploration on how we think the post-season could be fixed. Back on point, the next round of playoffs, played on 12/31 and New Year’s Day are now set. Miami FL and Ohio St in the Cotton Bowl, Oregon and Texas Tech in the Orange Bowl, Alabama and Indiana in the Rose Bowl, and Mississippi and Georgia, in a rematch, in the Sugar Bowl.
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Not to be outdone by their larger cousins, the FCS semifinals were Saturday as well. Montana St (13-2/129) swept their archrival Montana (13-2/130) – in fact the only two losses the Grizzlies had all season – to clinch a championship spot against Illinois St (12-4/150) who beat Villanova (12-3/148) in the Redbirds 4th road playoff victory. The championship game will be at Vanderbilt on January 5th.
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There is one game for today, aired on ESPN at 2:00 Eastern from the blue field in Boise, the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. The Pac-(1)2’s Washington St Cougars (6-6/78) will face the Utah St Aggies (6-6/83) who were 7th in the Mountain West Conference (MWC). WAST started 2-0 with wins over FCS Idaho and MWC foe San Diego St. Then losses to Washington and North Texas brought them to .500. A win over Colorado St and 2 straight losses to Mississippi and Virginia had them at 3-4. They beat Toledo before losing an upset in conference game #1 to Oregon St. They rebounded with a win against LA Tech before losing to playoff team James Madison. Now they are 5-6 and face Oregon St for conference game #2. They won this game 32-8 which meant the P-12 avoided having no bowl games. Their best win was against #44 San Diego St while their worst loss was to #146 Oregon St. They faced 8 bowl-eligible teams going 2-6 (.333). Utah St started 3-1 with the lone loss to playoff team Texas A&M, but losses to Vanderbilt and Hawaii brought them back to .500. The next six games were win/loss win/loss win/loss to finish 6-6. Their best win was against #72 Fresno St while their worst loss was against #67 Hawaii. They faced 7 bowl-eligible teams going 1-6 (.167). Vegas likes UTST-1.5, but the GCR has Washington St as the better team winning 52.5% and covering.
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That’s it for today. Look for the mid-season WBB Top 363 as well as previews for the three bowl games tomorrow. The WBB will be posted early and the bowl games posted just before the 2:00 Eastern kickoff for the first game. Thank you for reading and sharing with others, JoJo and G.
