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We mentioned this Wednesday in Jay’s Plays – Rule 1 of Fight Club and all – but the committee’s rankings and Vegas’ title odds are hardly the same thing.

Here are the top 12 from the committee announcement on Tuesday this week:

1Oregon

2 THE Ohio State

3 Texas

4 Penn State

5Indiana

6 Notre Dame

7 Alabama

8Miami

9 Ole Miss

10 Georgia

11 Tennessee

12 Boise State

As for Vegas, here’s Vegas’ take on who will win it all:

Ohio State (plus-320), Oregon (+440), Georgia (+480), Texas (+550), Alabama (+800), Ole Miss (+1000), Penn State (+1800), Notre Dame (+ 2000), Indiana (+2500), Miami (+4000), Tennessee (+4000), Colorado (+5000) and SMU (+5000).

Thoughts?

Let’s do like Buck Owens and pick a little:

Arizona State minus-3 against BYU. The Sun Devils are playing their best football of the season and are ready to advance toward the Big 12 title game. BYU is ranked, and the Cougars’ early-season success was fueled by an avalanche of forced turnovers. As that number has approached the median, BYU has gone from winning in one-point games to struggling.

San Jose State plus-7.5 over UNLV. Look, the UNLV storyline – QB1 stays above zero contention, QB2 comes in and shines, the Rebels could still reach the conference title game – is cool. This was also true for Larry Johnson and the Runnin’ Rebels basketball teams in the early 1990s. But SJSU ranks third in passing yards per game and UNLV ranks 115th in pass defense. Hmmm. Coming into a shootout and scoring more than just a touchdown at home is the right play.

THE Ohio State minus 13 (DraftKings) over Indiana. Hey, the Hoosiers’ history has been great and Curt Cignetti will probably win national coach of the year. But that’s a different level of talent, folks. We know it. OSU knows it. And I’m pretty sure Indiana knows this too.

Texas-Kentucky under 47.5 UK plays tone D when motivated. Texas is as athletic defensively as anyone not named Georgia. The expectation for UK production is pretty telling that the Cats will catch 21 players and the total will be under seven touchdowns.

Last week: 3-1 against the spread (75%)

This Season: 34-32-1 vs. the spread (51.5%)

Last season: 67-46-2 against the spread (59.3%)

GOAT

Look, I love Pat Summitt. Everything about her, to be honest.

She had the intensity of Bobby Knight without the resources.

She had the dominance and wisdom of John Wooden.

She had the recruiting skills of Saban at the peak of her powers.

But after last night’s win, Geno Auriemma is the GOAT, as much as it pains me to admit it.

The UConn legend holds nearly every major DI college basketball record for a coach, male or female.

Hall passes by

The candidates for the MLB Hall of Fame have been announced.

The NFL Hall of Fame semifinalists have been announced.

Second first.

Eli Manning is one of the semifinalists. Question to the group: Would he be there if he had the exact same resume but was called Eli Trubisky? Discuss.

There is more about the remaining 15 former players here. https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/pro-football-hall-of-fame-announces-the-25-modern-era-semifinalists-for-the-upcoming-2025-class/

As for MLB prospects, two names making the list for the first time represent strong inclusion.

CC Sabathia has had a great career, he’s about to get his first induction, but I think he falls into the category of “If you pause when asked if someone’s been inducted into the Hall of Fame, he’s not a Hall of Famer.” .” Still, if he makes it with 250+ wins and 3,000+ Ks, I won’t have much of a problem compared to some of the Hall of Very Good names that have done it in recent years.

The other is Ichiro. He’s a total hit. Heck, the only question about Ichiro is whether he will join Mariano Rivera by unanimous decision. https://www.mlb.com/news/future-baseball-hall-of-fame-ballots-preview

Thoughts.

this and that

– The CMAs were last night. No, I wasn’t watching, but Morgan Wallen won Entertainer of the Year.

— You know the rules. Here’s Paschall on UT WR Bro McCoy.

– Chris Sale won the NL Cy Young, which he deserved. Tarik Skull was unanimously voted AL CY Young winner, which he deserved.

– The MLB free agent stuff is heating up and it will be pretty telling where Juan Soto heads.

– There’s an interesting story here about FSU being at a point where it can’t afford to struggle in football and it can’t afford to fire its coach.

Today’s questions

Anything Goes on Thursday – the old AGT – will ask you any questions you have.

We can start here: Is 1991 UNLV the best college basketball team not to win a Natty?

Is Geno better than Pat?

Will Ichiro be unanimous? Should he be?

Let’s review today, November 21st.

Goldie Hawn is 78 years old today. Michael Strahan is 52.

Man, Ken Griffey Jr. is 54 today. Stan Musial would have been 104. Two guys right there.

On this day in 1976, “Rocky” premiered.

Rushmore of recurring supporting characters in sports films, go.

And remember the mailbag.