Picks for massive NFL divisional round matchups; in memory of Bob Uecker; UFC 311 Preview

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🏈 Hello everyone, but especially…

NFL DIVISIONAL ROUND TEAMS AND THEIR FANS

The divisional football round is almost here! We have superstars. We have intrigues. We have potential weather conditions at all three games which are played outdoors.

And now we have choices. We’ll go straight to Sunday evening Ravens-Bills confrontation (6:30 p.m. on CBS/Paramount+). This is the the best of the groupas classified by Tyler Sullivan, and Lamar Jackson against. Josh Allen is the quarterback battle of all quarterback battles. Tyler predicted …

• Sullivan: “The combination of Lamar Jackson And Derrick Henri because a running duo in the backfield was built for playoff games like this. This is also a favorable matchup with the Bills allowing 4.5 yards per carry this season, which ranks in the bottom half of the league. While Jackson and Henry rightfully take up the lion’s share of the attention, do you know who the No. 1 defense, total defense, and third-down defense are in the NFL since Week 11? Baltimore. Projected scores: Ravens 27, Bills 23 | The pickaxe: Ravens -1“

I’m really intrigued to see if Buffalo can make enough big plays offensively. Both teams had top-10 offenses in passing, but Baltimore had the highest percentage of plays gaining at least 10 yards this season. Buffalo was 15th.

Lion Commanders It also looks like it would be a lot of fun. And while Detroit is a well-rested, well-oiled machine and a strong home favorite, Washington is doing well in some ways, and one of our writers is making sure the visitors pull off a shocker.

Pete Prisco | William Brinson | John Culasse | Tyler Sullivan | Jordan Dajani

Here’s more:

👍 Honorable mentions

👎 Not so honorable mentions

🏈 College Football Playoff Championship: Who Completes the Redemption Arc?

When Our Lady lost at home for Northern Illinois At the start of the season, it was difficult to envision the Fighting Irish as a playoff team, much less a team capable of competing for the national championship four months later. Likewise, when Ohio State lost for Michigan At the end of the season, the Buckeyes instantly became the unluckiest playoff team in history. Was Ryan DayIs the work on fragile ground?

Now they’re here, and Brandon Marcello details their adjustments.

• Marcello: “A win Monday would make Notre Dame the most unlikely national champion in the modern era of the BCS and CFP, which began in 1998. Only one team has won the national title after losing as a three-touchdown favorite earlier in the season (Florida in 2008). … However Marcus Freeman Most of the time he was reluctant to publicly discuss his defeat, he used it to light a fire in the locker room.”

If there’s one player most iconic to Ohio State’s redemption, it’s Will Howard. The offensive stars around him and a loaded defense got the attention, but Howard’s late-game error against Oregon and miss against Michigan gave way to great play in the CFP. It’s a remarkable end to a wild journeywrites Dennis Dodd.

⚾ ‘Mr. Bob Uecker, baseball player, dies at 90

Bob Ueckerthe iconic baseball broadcaster and World Series-winning catcher who was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2003, died Thursday after a battle with small cell lung cancer. He was 90 years old.

• Uecker called Brewers games for 54 seasons and also starred in the “Major League” films as well as the sitcom “Mr. Belvedere” and a series of popular Miller Lite commercials. Johnny Carson, the longtime host of “The Tonight Show,” once nicknamed Uecker “Mr. Baseball” and the handle stuck.
• As a player, Uecker spent six seasons as a catcher, starting out with the Milwaukee Braves in 1962. He won a World Series with the 1964 Cardinals and also played for the Phillies before finishing his playing career with the Braves, who had by then moved to Atlanta. He began broadcasting for Milwaukee in 1971.
• Uecker entered the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2003 as a Ford C. Frick Award winner, and the Brewers dedicated statues to him in 2012 (outside the stadium) and 2014 (on the upper deck).
• “Ueck was the light of the Brewers, the soundtrack to our summers, the laughter in our hearts, and his passing is a profound loss,” the team said in a statement. “He was the heart and soul of Wisconsin and a dear friend.”
  
• Originally from Wisconsin JJ Watt was among several sports personalities who paid tribute to him.

A legend in every sense of the word, Uecker’s death is an immeasurable loss to the sport. Matt Snyder honors a a baseball player who lived life to the fullest.

• Tips: “There’s no need to worry about highlighting his lackluster career. He’s made fun of himself more than anyone else. That level of confidence and his ability to laugh at himself in such a way playful paved the way for his life as an immortal baseball personality – placing him in the media wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame… Cry, but also cherish We had the pleasure of watching the public portion of. ‘an extremely full life, rooted but prolonged. beyond that, baseball.

🥊 UFC 311 Preview, Picks for Two Title Fights

The UFC opens 2025 in style with two title fights on the UFC 311 card at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California.

We begin with the bantamweight title fight between Merab Dvalishvili — making his first title defense — against Umar Nurmagomedovcousin and student of a retired legend Khabib Nurmagomedov. Dvalishvili has I felt disrespected before the fight, and his confrontational attitude is nothing newexplains Brian Campbell. Don’t be surprised if there are some post-fight fireworksAlso.

There will definitely be fireworks after this, when the lightweight champion Islam Makhachev seeks to defend his title against Arman Tsarukyan. This is a rematch of Tsarukyan’s UFC debut on short notice in 2019. Tsarukyan is a fighter very different from that of this first fightBrian notes, but there’s a reason Makhachev is considered the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. This is why in his best betsBrent Brookhouse goes with…

• Brookhouse: “Islam Makhachev by decision (-120) — Both men have only been stopped once in their careers, so it’s likely the fight goes the distance. Add in that we saw how complicated the fight was for both men the first time around and there’s no reason to expect either man to have an easy night. Makhachev was the better man when they first met, and as good as Tsarukyan is, he still seems to be the better fighter. Makhachev by decision in a fight from which he took over after one or two tense rounds. »

Here’s everything you need to know:

📺 What we’re watching this weekend

Friday

🏀 Magic at the Celtics7 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 Unrivaled7 p.m. on TNT
🏀 Grizzlies at Spurs9:30 p.m. on ESPN

SATURDAY

🏀 No. 4 Alabama at No. 8 Kentucky (M)noon is ESPN
🏀 No. 10 Houston at UCF (M)noon on CBS Sports Network
🏀 Creighton at No. 14 UConn (M)noon on Fox
🏀 #1 Auburn at Georgia (M)1 p.m. on the SEC network
🏀 Kansas State at No. 9 Kansas (M)1 p.m. on CBS
🏀 Unrivaled2 p.m. on truTV
🏀 No. 17 Purdue at No. 13 Oregon (M)3 p.m. on NBC
⚽ USMNT vs. Venezuela3 p.m. on TNT
🏈 Texans at the Chiefs4:30 p.m. on ABC/ESPN
🏀 No. 21 Ole Miss at No. 15 Mississippi State (M)6 p.m. on ESPN2
🏈 Commanders at Lions8 p.m. on Fox
🏀 Duke #3 at Boston College (M)8 p.m. on ESPN

Sunday

🏀 No. 19 Illinois at No. 12 Michigan State (M)noon on CBS
🏀 No. 4 USC at Indiana (W)noon on NBC
🏀 No. 5 LSU in Florida (W)1 p.m. on the SEC network
🏈 Rams at Eagles3 p.m. on NBC
🏀 No. 13 Oklahoma at No. 2 South Carolina (W). 3 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 SMU at No. 3 Notre Dame (W)6 p.m. on the ACC network
🏈 Ravens at Bills6:30 p.m. on CBS/Paramount+
🏀 Lakers to Clippers9 p.m., on NBA TV