SwampSwamiSports.com

The NCAA college basketball men’s and women’s March Madness tournament brackets were released on Sunday night.

Every year, the field of 64 (+4 teams involved in play-in games) is scrutinized to determine which teams should have made the field and those which shouldn’t.

In the men’s March Madness bracket, the NCAA’s selection committee (headed by University of North Carolina Athletics Director Bubba Cunningham) has come under significant fire for one particular team which was added to the field.

America’s basketball fans say, “Heel No!”

The North Carolina Tar Heels were likely the final team to be awarded a spot in the men’s tournament field.

The #11 seeded Tar Heels went 22-13 this season and a respectable 13-7 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.  Carolina went 0-3 against their long-time conference foe and #1 East seed Duke Blue Devils.

Overall, the Tar Heels went a paltry 1-8 this year against teams ranked in the AP Top 25. 

Worse, North Carolina was 1-12 in games against so-called “Quad 1” teams.

“Quad 1” points are earned if your team defeats:

A top 30-ranked team – if the win comes on your home court

A top 50 team – if the win comes at a neutral court (such as early season tournaments)

A top 75 team – if your team wins that game on the road

In other words, the University of North Carolina beat its share of lousy teams but fared below par against teams with a winning record this season.

Prior to North Carolina’s selection on Sunday, ESPN’s resident college basketball tournament expert Joe Lunardi had been saying for days that the Tar Heels had no business making the field.

His logic was based on the fact that a few other teams under consideration had more impressive results against top teams than Carolina did.

Indeed. It is difficult to do worse than going 1-12 against top competition!

West Virginia Governor claims “A miscarriage of justice!”

One team on the proverbial bubble hoping to be invited to “The Big Dance” was the Big 12’s West Virginia Mountaineers.  They went 19-13 overall and 10-10 in the Big 12 Conference.

West Virginia also posted six wins over “Quad 1” teams (reminder- North Carolina had just one).

West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey was outraged by the NCAA men’s basketball snub.

He insinuated that there had been some “backdoor” deals being made by this year’s Tournament Committee to put North Carolina into the field.

“There was a little bit of home cooking going on in North Carolina,” said the West Virginia governor.

For the record, the Mountaineers didn’t do themselves any favors by losing in the first round of the Big 12 basketball tournament to #16 conference seed Colorado 67-60 last week.

Sentimental favorite Indiana was also left at home in favor of North Carolina

Indiana Hoosiers head basketball coach (and former player) Mike Woodson announced earlier this season that he was stepping down after the end of this year.  The team finally responded and rolled off an impressive series of late season wins.

On Selection Sunday, Indiana’s resume featured a 19-13 season record, 10-10 in the Big Ten Conference and four “Quad 1” wins. 

One of those wins was on the road against the March Madness #2 South Region’s seed, Michigan State. 

Like West Virginia, the Indiana Hoosiers were left out of the March Madness tournament field.

During Sunday evening’s CBS Sports selection show, college basketball analyst Seth Davis was perplexed by how North Carolina was selected ahead of the Indiana Hoosiers.

“I had Indiana and West Virginia ahead of North Carolina,” said Davis.  “I’m curious to hear the reasoning.”

Boise State says, “Hey, you guys think YOU got jobbed?”

The Boise State Broncos of the Mountain West Conference posted an impressive record of 24-10 and conference mark of 14-6. The Broncos had three “Quad 1” victories over NCAA tournament teams such as Clemson (84-71), St. Mary’s and New Mexico on their resume.

Speaking of Clemson, the Tigers demolished (yes) North Carolina by 20 points in an 85-65 rout a month ago in February.

The Boise State Broncos were so hot about Sunday’s NCAA snub that they also advised the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) that they didn’t would not accept their invite, either.

Instead, Boise State will face George Washington University (21-12) in the new College Basketball Crown tournament which will tip-off in two weeks in Las Vegas.

How did the NCAA Tournament Committee explain how North Carolina made the March Madness field over those other teams?

North Carolina’s long-time reputation as a premier basketball school might help to attract additional fans to a neutral site arena such as Tuesday’s opening round in Dayton against San Diego State.

The Tar Heels have six national championships. Carolina has been a TV mainstay and carries “star power” at the arena box office and with television ratings, too.

After the selections were announced on Sunday evening, NCAA Tournament Chairman Bubba Cunningham was asked by CBS Sports analyst Seth Davis about the public’s perception that his university had received a “golden pass” into the tournament simply because of his role on the committee.

Cunningham quickly deflected the question to Committee Vice-Chair Keith Gill.

Gill quickly claimed that the decision to add North Carolina (over the other teams under consideration) was not biased.  Bubba Cunningham was required to leave the room whenever the committee was discussing his school for possible placement into the field.

“They are not allowed to participate in any vote involving their school, either,” said Gill.

Did you know that Bubba Cunningham will receive a significant bonus at UNC after his men’s team made the March Madness field?

One source revealed today that North Carolina AD Bubba Cunningham’s contract with the school pays him a one month (8.33%) bonus whenever the Tar Heels make the NCAA basketball tournament field.

With an annual salary of nearly $820,000, the bonus amounts to a cool $68,000 of incremental income heading to UNC’s athletics director.

49 of 50 US states will be rooting against North Carolina on Tuesday night

Coach Hubert Davis’ #11-seed North Carolina Tar Heels (the last team into the field according to several sources) will play #11-seed San Diego State (21-9) at 8:10PM CDT in Dayton, Ohio’s “First Four” event.

The game will be televised on Tru-TV (assuming your cable system or provider carries that channel).

The winner of Tuesday night’s game will advance to play in the East Regional at Milwaukee on Friday afternoon at 3PM against #6 seed Ole Miss (22-11).

A date with #3 seed Iowa State (24-9) most likely awaits Friday’s winner on Sunday afternoon.

If North Carolina should be able to win three straight games this week to advance into next week’s “Sweet 16”, many of us will owe the Tar Heels a big apology.

As former NFL quarterback-turned-broadcaster Dandy Don Meredith once said to booth partner Howard Cosell on Monday Night Football, “If ‘ifs and buts’ were candy and nuts, we’d all have a Merry Christmas!”

Merry Christmas, Carolina!

The post Seeing red about Carolina Blue? appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

What does a Texas-based NBA franchise have in common with a North Louisiana city’s former Double-AA minor league baseball team?

When the owner of a sports team wants to justify moving their franchise to another market, fans in Shreveport have seen this act before.

Baseball enthusiasts living in Shreveport during the early 2000’s witnessed the city’s minor league team being intentionally sabotaged and then moved to the new team owner’s preferred city.

The current situation with the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks looks remarkably similar to something I witnessed in Shreveport two decades ago.

First, the local sports team owner sells the local franchise to an out-of-town ownership group.

Then, the new team owner alienates the fan base by making the a series of infuriating management decisions.

Next, the team raises ticket prices even while the team’s on-field performance is waning.

Finally, the team cites the diminished local interest to justify moving the team to another market (the same one they had in mind when they purchased the franchise).

If you think this sounds a bit like the pro baseball movie “Major League”, you’re on the right track.

The Dallas Mavericks are making all the wrong moves – unless that was the plan all along by the team’s new ownership group

Since the city of Dallas was granted an NBA expansion franchise back in 1980, the Dallas Mavericks have seen more down years than championships (one).

In 2000, billionaire businessman Mark Cuban spent $285 million to purchase the majority interest in the Dallas Mavericks from none other than H. Ross Perot, Jr. (the same man who ran for President twice).

Mark Cuban (a bona fide basketball fan) became a very active owner who weighed-in on many issues surrounding his basketball team.

Under his watch, the Dallas Mavericks won their first and only NBA title in June, 2011 as perennial All-Star forward Dirk Nowitski finally earned a championship ring.

After helping the Mavs make the playoffs in 17 of his 23 years as team owner, Mark Cuban sold his controlling interest in the Dallas Mavericks to Las Vegas casino owners Miriam Adelson and Patrick Dumont in December 2023.

Mark Cuban’s snagged over $2.6 billion for selling a 69% interest in his NBA team. Cuban still retains a 27% ownership percentage in the Dallas Mavericks.

The new Las Vegas-based majority owners have been pushing to legalize casino gambling in the Lone Star state.  Though the new owners say they have no plans to move the team to Las Vegas (even if Texas doesn’t approve gambling in the coming years), should they be trusted?

How does this story tie-in with a Shreveport minor league baseball team?

The Shreveport Captains were long-time participants in the Class AA Texas League.  The city built a new baseball stadium (Fair Grounds Field) in 1985 as fans rejoiced and returned in solid numbers for the next decade.

As a few major employers either closed their plants or moved employees elsewhere, attendance slowly waned during the late 1990’s to less than 1,500 fans per home game.

Enter out-of-state owner Mandalay Entertainment.

Primarily a movie company based in Hollywood, Mandalay also operated a growing sports division which purchased and operated several minor league baseball franchises.

In 2001, Mandalay purchased the Shreveport Captains franchise from their long-time and personally involved local owner.

The new owner wanted a clean start.

They immediately changed the team’s nickname from Captains to Swamp Dragons.

Locals were confused and embarrassed by the baseball team’s goofy sounding new nickname.

Shreveport doesn’t have swamps like south Louisiana.  No dragons have ever been seen flying around the Ark-La-Tex, either.

The baseball team’s new nickname was just double-dumb.

Then, Mandalay increased ticket prices in a city which was already struggling to support the team.  After the departure of a few major employers in the prior decade, Shreveport baseball fans voted against the price increases with their feet.

The former team owner had provided discounts for military personnel stationed at nearby Barksdale Air Force Base to encourage attendance.

The new team owner dropped those discounts.

Strike 2!

At the same time, a new baseball stadium was under construction down I-20 West in the Dallas suburb of Frisco, Texas.

As attendance for Shreveport’s Texas League AA franchise started to drop like a rock, that new baseball stadium in Frisco was seeking a tenant.  How convenient!

Strike 3! You’re out!

At the end of the second year of Mandalay Baseball LLC’s ownership, the Shreveport AA baseball franchise was relocated to its new baseball stadium and home in Frisco, Texas.

They are known as the Frisco RoughRiders today.

The NBA’s Dallas Mavericks may be on a similar trajectory

First, the new team owners in Dallas recently traded Luka Doncic, the Mavericks’ most popular player since the retirement of Dirk Nowitski.

The 25-year old Doncic, a 7-time NBA All-Star already, is now a member of the Los Angeles Lakers.

In return, the Lakers sent aging center Anthony Davis (who is also injured and not playing at this time) to join guard Kyrie Irving (who recently injured his knee and is now out for the season).

A large number of Mavericks fans have indicated a willingness to sell and/or end their season ticket orders.

With declining fan interest, the new Dallas Mavericks ownership announced an 8% increase in season ticket prices for next season!

It seemed a bit tone deaf to raise ticket prices after shipping Dallas fan favorite Luka Doncic to Los Angeles while his replacement sits with a lengthy injury.

Are the Dallas Mavericks trying to alienate the fans enough to justify moving the team to Las Vegas?

It is obvious that the new ownership group for the Dallas Mavericks is not in agreement with the wishes of long-time local fans.

Even Dallas Mavericks’ former majority owner Mark Cuban can’t understand what the team was thinking by trading Luka Doncic – one of the top young players in the NBA.

Earlier this week, Cuban said, “No disrespect to Anthony Davis, but I still firmly believe that if we had gotten four unprotected #1’s (first round picks) plus Anthony Davis, this would be a different conversation.”

Instead, the Mavericks received zero first round picks in what may become one of the worst trades in NBA history.

Needless to say, the current ownership group is not pleased with the local fans’ grousing and speculation that, perhaps, the Luka Doncic trade was intentional sabotage.

Patrick Dumont, one of the new Dallas Mavericks majority owners, chirped his dissatisfaction (from his Las Vegas office) about this increasing “Dallas-to-Las Vegas” rumor.

“I’m not sure where this is coming from,” he claimed. “Our family happens to live in Las Vegas, but we have investments all over the world.  Dallas is the city we wanted to be in, and that’s where it (the Mavericks) is going to be.”

In 2018, your SwampSwami saw a similar game plan being utilized by baseball’s Oakland A’s

I may have been a few years ahead of myself, but this franchise relocation game is not certainly not new.

Guess where the Oakland Athletics are moving in a couple of years?

Yep, Las Vegas.

Last September, the final major league baseball game was played in Oakland Coliseum.  The team will begin playing the next three seasons at their interim home in Sacramento, California as Las Vegas constructs a new stadium to welcome their incoming major league baseball franchise.

Las Vegas already hosts the NBA’s Summer League games.

All the city is lacking to entertain visitors with year-round major league sports is an NBA franchise.

Does anyone know of an NBA team which might consider moving to Vegas in a few years?

In the event the Dallas Mavericks should announce a name change in the next few years to something goofy like the “North Texas Dirty Dribblers”, those moving vans with Nevada license plates are likely on the way to Big D.

The post Dallas Mavericks and the Shreveport Swamp Dragons appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

Based solely on his coaching record, St. John’s men’s basketball coach Rick Pitino has enjoyed an incredibly successful college career.

Now 72 years of age, Coach Pitino has enjoyed success at nearly every stop along the way.  His college basketball teams have won over 71% of their games in his 35 seasons as a head coach.

Today, Petino’s latest men’s basketball team, the St. John’s Red Storm, is 26-4 and ranked #6 in the newest AP men’s basketball poll.  St. John’s clinched its first Big East Conference regular season title in 40 years with a win over Seton Hall last Saturday.

The last time St. John’s won a Big East title, the legendary Louie Carnesecca was coaching the now-retired NBA star and basketball Hall-of-Famer Chris Mullin during that season.

Rick Pitino expects his teams to win

This coach doesn’t mince words.  He wants a team full of basketball warriors but not whiners.

If you don’t like playing full court pressure defense, don’t sign up to play for Rick Petino.

Now coaching his sixth different collegiate basketball team, each of Coach Petino’s college teams has featured an incredibly quick turnaround from losing to winning.

Landing his first head coaching job at Boston University in 1978 at age 26, Rick Petino’s Boston Terriers went 17-9 in his first year in charge.  In 1983/84, Boston U went 21-10 and earned a spot in the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament field.

He would later take the top job at Providence College in 1985.

During Coach Petino’s second year with the Friars, Providence finished 25-9 and advanced all the way to the NCAA Final Four.

At just 35 years of age, Rick Petino had become the hottest young basketball coach in the country.

Then he shocked the basketball world by taking the head coaching job with the NBA’s New York Knicks in 1987.

Petino turned a horrible NBA team into the Eastern Division champions during his two years in New York.

Petino returned to college basketball in 1989

Feeling burned-out in the NBA, Rick Petino accepted an offer to take over the University of Kentucky men’s basketball program in 1989.

At the time, the Wildcats were on NCAA probation for recruiting violations under their previous head coach, Eddie Sutton.

During his eight seasons at Kentucky, Coach Petino led the team to six NCAA tournaments with five finishes in the Elite Eight or better.

Kentucky claimed the 1996 March Madness title for Petino’s first national championship as a head coach.

Petino takes another chance in the NBA with the Boston Celtics

In 1997, Rick Petino left college basketball for one more shot coaching in the NBA.

This time, the Boston Celtics made him the Head Coach and President of basketball operations.

That meant that he could hire the players and be their coach.

Unfortunately, the Boston Celtics’ successful run with Hall-of-Famers like Larry Bird, Kevin, McHale,and Robert Parish was already over. It was up to Rick Petino to find and develop another winning tradition in Boston.

It just didn’t work.

After posting the only losing record in his coaching tenure (102-146), Rick Petino resigned from the Boston Celtics after four unsatisfying seasons.

2001 Space Odyssey – A return college coaching…at Kentucky’s arch rival?

Can you imagine if former LSU football coach Nick Saban taking an NFL job and then coming back to coach in college at arch-rival Alabama?

Oh, wait. That DID happen!

Coach Rick Petino accepted the open men’s basketball position at the University of Louisville in 2001 after leaving the NBA for good.

Kentucky and Louisville are two of college basketball’s biggest rivals behind Duke and North Carolina.

The two teams refused to play basketball games against each other from 1959 through 1983. Since then, the Wildcats and Cardinals have met nearly every season as they alternate playing at each other’s home arena.

In March, 2001, longtime Louisville Cardinals head coach Denny Crum had announced his retirement.  Nobody expected Rick Petino to take the top job at arch rival Louisville.

Louisville alumni dug deep into their pockets to sign Rick Petino to take Coach Crum’s place.

Over the next 16 seasons, Louisville made the NCAA March Madness tournament field 13 times. 

The 2013 basketball season culminated with Louisville cutting down the nets to capture the school’s third NCAA men’s basketball title.

Well, for at least a little while!

The Asterisk *Louisville Cardinals 2013 national champs

The reason for the asterisk on University of Louisville’s 2013 title was a result of the NCAA ordering the Cardinals’ to vacate the championship four years later in 2017.

There were several allegations involving team improprieties during Coach Rick Petino’s tenure at Louisville.

One involved an assistant coach’s role in hiring female “escorts” for men’s basketball players. That occurred over multiple seasons.

In yet another allegation, the family of a top high school basketball recruit was apparently offered $100,000 by a shoe company if the young man signed a basketball scholarship to play for Coach Petino’s team at Louisville.

The head basketball coach was charged with failure to monitor his basketball program (ya think?) and was ultimately terminated by the University of Louisville.

Rick Petino regroups in Greece

After the ugliness which led to his departure from the University of Louisville, Coach Rick Petino moved to Greece and coached a EuroLeague basketball team starting in 2018.

EuroLeague teams feature players who sign for one or, perhaps, two year contracts. As most of the team’s roster will turn over annually, Rick Petino was getting a head start on coaching skills needed in today’s current NCAA college basketball.

After three seasons in Greece, Petino returned to the US and college basketball with Iona University in New Rochelle just outside of New York City.

With less than 4,000 students at the school, Coach Petino’s Iona Gaels men’s basketball program posted an impressive 62-20 record from 2021-2023.

By leading Iona into the NCAA March Madness field in 2023, Rick Petino became the third men’s basketball coach (joining Tubby Smith and Lon Kruger) to lead five different teams into the championship tournament.

Make that six teams now!

After three years of success at Iona, St. John’s University (New York City) offered then 71-year old Rick Pitino their top men’s basketball coaching position in March, 2023.

After posting a 20-13 record in his first year with his latest Big East team, Coach Petino’s current St. John’s team is 26-4 and ranked #6 in the nation this week.

They are heading to the NCAA March Madness tournament after winning the Big East Conference regular season title for the first time in 40 years.

I am conflicted about rooting for Rick Pitino and St. John’s this month

Nobody loves a good underdog story like me. St. John’s getting into March Madness as a #2 or #3 seed is one terrific college basketball story.

Coach Rick Pitino leading a record-breaking sixth different team into the NCAA Tournament is an incredible accomplishment, too.

This man is a very tough coach to play for.  He demands and gets the maximum concentration and effort from his players.  With the lone exception of his Boston Celtics years, Rick Pitino has produced winning results at every stop in his nearly 50 years of coaching.

On the flip side, he has also been at the forefront of chicanery involving recruiting violations over most of his career, too.

In recent years, Rick Petino does not deny that he allowed/permitted the unseemly events which occurred on his watch while he was at the University of Louisville.  He believes his 2013 Louisville Cardinals team should have their championship title restored.

Coach Pitino has always known the secret to success in college basketball is to get the best players to come to your school and then play your style of basketball. He demands greatness from his players, assistant coaches, and himself.

He doesn’t coddle players. Rick Petino always seems to find enough top talent willing to play his style of basketball and compete for titles.

Coach Petino’s confidence is contagious. He is very matter-of-fact on what he expects from his players and himself.

Coach Rick Petino is now a modern blue print for success in today’s NCAA transfer portal and NIL cash machine

He said of today’s new group of college athlete-students, “You’re either in the G-League (NBA development league) making $75,000 per year or you can go to college and make $600,000 or $400,000.”

Petino added, “But I want to make sure that we’re getting guys that just have that desire where they really, really inside hate to lose.”

Now that paying college athletes has effectively become legal in today’s wild world of college sports, Coach Rick Petino simply advises his St. John’s boss about know how much money it will require for him to sign new basketball players from year-to-year.

Just a decade ago, Rick Petino was considered a successful coach but was doing it by crossing the line on cheating.

Perhaps he was simply ahead of today’s game.

Just like his players, Coach Rick Pitino could become available next year to the highest bidder

Open up that wallet, Indiana.

You could be next!

The post Rick Pitino – Rooting for him or against him? appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

Other than Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes and a few other top tier NFL quarterbacks, several others should keep their bags packed with their favorite realtor on speed dial.

After the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks surprised the sports world by sending star Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers, top stars in other sports may start getting nervous, too.

Looking backwards at the NFL’s past season, teams with the best quarterbacks in 2024 were (generally) the ones which went deep into the playoffs.

Patrick Mahomes (KC), Jalen Hurts (Philadelphia), Josh Allen (Buffalo), Lamar Jackson (Baltimore), and Jayden Daniels (Washington) had outstanding seasons and led their teams into NFL playoffs.

On the other end of the spectrum, check out the starting QB’s for losing teams

Can you name the starting quarterback for the NFL teams with the worst records last season?

Tennessee Titans – 3-14 (Will Levis)

Cleveland Browns – 3-14 (Deshaun Watson)

New York Giants – 3-14 (Tommy Devito or Drew Lock)

New England Patriots – 4-13 (Drake Maye – rookie)

Jacksonville Jaguars – 4-13 (Trevor Lawrence)

Las Vegas Raiders – 4-13 (Gardner Minshew)

New York Jets – 5-12 (Aaron Rodgers – for now)

Carolina Panthers – 5-12 (Bryce Young)

New Orleans Saints – 5-12 (Derek Carr)

It’s too early in the career of rookie Drake Maye (Patriots) and second-year QB’s Bryce Young (Panthers) and Will Levis (Titans) to give up on them – yet.

Likewise, 42-year old Aaron Rodgers (Jets) is likely to be a free agent soon.  Rodgers has a Super Bowl ring with Green Bay, but his future options are thin.

The other quarterbacks on my list have not shown much consistency as a starting quarterback in the NFL.  The most reasonable result for fans of those teams is to hope that their team will finally post a winning record.

Can you build a championship level team around a mediocre quarterback?

It doesn’t happen very often.

In the past 24 years, the list of Super Bowl winning quarterbacks is (generally) a rather stellar group:

Jalen Hurts – Eagles (2024 NFL season)

Patrick Mahomes – Chiefs (2023, 2022, and 2019)

Matthew Stafford – Rams (2021)

Tom Brady – Bucs (2020) and Patriots (2016, 2014, 2004, 2003, 2001)

Nick Foles – Eagles (2018)

Payton Manning – Broncos (2015) and Colts (2007)

Russell Wilson – Seahawks (2013)

Joe Flacco – Ravens (2012)

Eli Manning – Giants (2011 and 2007)

Aaron Rodgers – Packers (2010)

Drew Brees – Saints (2009)

Ben Roethlisberger – Steelers (2008 and 2005)

Brad Johnson – Bucs (2002)

Trent Dilfer – Ravens (2000)

Of those 24 championship squads, only four quarterbacks (highlighted above) should not expect to hear their names mentioned for future Hall-of-Fame consideration.

The NFL draft quarterback cupboard looks relatively thin this spring

After a few years with several first round selections at quarterback, the upcoming April NFL draft in Green Bay is considered relatively weak by recent standards.

One source indicates University of Miami quarterback Cam Ward and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders (Deion’s son) will be selected within the first three picks of the NFL draft’s first round.  Ole Miss signal caller Jaxon Dart might become a possible third quarterback selected but later in the opening round.

Likely second or third round projections include Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers, Alabama’s Jalen Milroe, Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel, and Kyle McCord of Syracuse.

Compare that to last season when six of the first 12 selections in the first round were all quarterbacks.

Which NFL teams could use an upgrade at quarterback to elevate them into the Super Bowl this year?

First, let’s identify a few top teams which could use need a better starting quarterback in order to make a Super Bowl run this fall.

Pittsburgh Steelers (10-7 and eliminated in first round of playoffs)

Ever since 18-year veteran Ben Roethlisberger retired after the 2021 NFL season, the Steelers have floundered at the quarterback position.

Former first round selection Kenny Pickett lasted just two years in Steel City before being picked-up by Philadelphia last season.  Ironically, Pickett, who served as the back-up to Jalen Hurts, now has a Super Bowl ring for being on last year’s Eagles championship team.

Last season, the Pittsburgh Steelers rolled the dice on a duo of veteran NFL rejects.  Former Chicago Bears first round pick Justin Fields and aging ex-Denver and Seattle QB Russell Wilson did not significantly improve the Pittsburgh offense last season.

The Steelers passing game was woeful.  The duo of Fields and Wilson passed for 3,200 yards but generated only 21 touchdown passes in 18 games (including a playoff loss at Baltimore).

One or both quarterbacks may become “one and done” Steelers as they become free agents this spring.

Many football fans in Pittsburgh may wish to help them pack.

Pittsburgh does have the #21 selection in the NFL’s first round. The top two QB prospects (Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders) will be long gone by then.

Minnesota Vikings (14-3 and eliminated in first round of playoffs)

Unlike Pittsburgh, the Minnesota Vikings struck gold last season by signing journeyman Sam Darnold.

A former first round pick in 2018 by the New York Jets, Darnold lasted just three seasons in the Big Apple.

He bounced around to Carolina and San Francisco prior to being signed as an “insurance” policy last year by Minnesota.

That’s because the Vikings utilized their 2024 first round draft choice to select former Michigan quarterback JJ McCarthy.  After McCarthy went down with a season-ending right knee injury during a preseason game, Sam Darnold had a career year (35 touchdowns vs. 12 interceptions) and led Minnesota to a sterling 14-3 regular season record.

In last year’s NFL playoffs, the favored Vikings lost 27-9 to the Los Angeles Rams.

This year, Minnesota has the #30 selection in the NFL’s first round. After taking JJ McCarthy last year, the Vikings are unlikely to use that selection for another quarterback in a very thin draft.

Sam Darnold is now an unrestricted free agent.  Is he worth paying about $50 million per year by the Vikings or another NFL contender?

I expect Darnold to re-sign in Minnesota. We’ll see.

Detroit Lions (14-3 and eliminated in first round of playoffs)

The Lions are still seeking their first Super Bowl appearance in team history.  After a collecting home field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs, Detroit lost their opening round playoff game – at home – to Washington 45-31.

Detroit quarterback Jared Goff had a terrible game in that playoff loss.

His three interceptions (against just one touchdown pass) dropped him to 4-5 as a starting quarterback during his nine year NFL postseason career.

If Lions fans were dismayed by Jared Goff’s playoff performance last season, you can forget the team about any changes soon.

That’s because Jared Goff signed a four-year extension during last season (November, 2024).

He will make $53 million per year for the next three seasons.  That makes Jared Goff the sixth highest paid player in the league (at least for this week).

In the upcoming April NFL draft, the Detroit Lions will have the 28th selection in the first round. Given the money being paid to Jared Goff, the Lions are effectively out of the quarterback market for this season.

Let’s Make A Deal – NFL Quarterback version

The Pittsburgh Steelers seem like the one NFL team whose playoff possibilities would zoom with an improved performance at the quarterback position this fall.

The Steelers defense was #8 in points allowed (just 20 ppg).  The team’s running game is also solid (#11 out of 32 teams in rushing yardage per game last season).

Passing, though, has been another matter.

Ranked #26 out of 32 teams, the Pittsburgh Steelers woeful passing game netted just 191 yards per game. That’s 30% less than the top tier of NFL offensive units.

Pittsburgh rarely dabbles in the expensive free agent market.  That likely eliminates Minnesota Vikings free agent Sam Darnold (who would be quite risky at his $50 million estimated price tag).

If Pittsburgh were to draft a young quarterback and add a possession type of wide receiver during the early rounds of April’s NFL draft, they might want to take a chance on 42-year old quarterback Aaron Rodgers for next season.

Don’t laugh.

The four-time NFL MVP had a productive season with the Jets last year.

Aaron Rodgers started all 17 games, passed for nearly 3,900 yards with 28 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.

Rodgers’ 2024 stats with the woeful 5-12 New York Jets were still 20% higher than Pittsburgh’s quarterback tandem of Justin Fields and Russell Wilson.

Aaron Rodgers pocketed about $38 million last year with the Jets.  He should be available at a sizable discount this year given his age and previous injury history.

The Steelers need a “very good” quarterback plus another wide receiver (via the draft or free agency) become a legitimate Super Bowl challenger this year.

Adding a rookie quarterback like Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel in the second or third round of the 2025 NFL draft to pair-up with a mentor like Aaron Rodgers might make for a terrific one-two tandem in Steel City next fall.

Will those Terrible Towels still be waving come the February, 2026 Super Bowl or will they remain gold colored crying towels again?

The post These NFL Contenders Need a Quarterback Upgrade appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

There are several types of sports stories which have caught my eye this week.  Let’s cover a few of them today.

“Luka-the-Laker” dumps Dallas in first meeting since trade

Former Dallas Mavericks NBA star Luka Doncic was surprisingly traded a few weeks ago to the Los Angeles Lakers.

In return, the Lakers sent 10-year veteran All-Star center Anthony Davis and two other players to the Mavericks.

As we covered on the day after the trade, my opinion at the time (and still is) that the Mavericks egotistical point guard Kyrie Irving just didn’t like having to share the basketball with Luka.

Both players need the ball in their hands to be feel effective.  Alas, there is just one basketball in use on the court.

On Tuesday night in Los Angeles, the Dallas Mavericks (without their now-injured new center Anthony Davis) rolled into town for the first game since this seismic trade was completed.

Luka Doncic scored 19 points, snagged 15 rebounds and handed-out 12 assists in leading the Lakers to a 107-99 win over his former team from Dallas.

With a triple double against Dallas, Luka Doncic joined Lakers teammate LeBron James and Denver’s Russell Westbrook as the only three players in NBA history to have achieved that milestone against all 30 of the league’s teams.

Meanwhile, the most hated sports figure in Dallas remains Mavericks General Manager Nico Harrison.

DFW Metroplex fans are still hot about why the Mavericks’ future Hall-of-Famer (Luka Doncic) was traded for a talented but aging center with a history of injuries (Anthony Davis).

Nico Harrison actually traveled with his Dallas Mavericks team to Los Angeles for the game.  Noticeably, Luka Doncic kept his distance and didn’t approach his former boss before, during, or after Tuesday night’s encounter.

Afterwards, the Lakers’ new 25-year old NBA star was relieved to get this game completed.

“It was just a lot of emotions and not much sleep,” said Doncic.  “I’m just glad it’s over, honestly!”

Round One goes to Luka’s Lakers.

Point shaving concerns are expanding within men’s college basketball

Last weekend, I read about the Fresno State men’s basketball team suspending two of its top three scorers as part of an investigation into possible point shaving surrounding the Bulldogs.

Here’s how it works.

Fresno State’s men’s team was already having a record season – in losses, that is.  Losers of ten games in a row, the Bulldogs from central California are a pitiful 1-16 in Mountain West Conference games and just 5-23 overall.

When basketball players suit-up to play in a game where the professional bettors have established their team as a large underdog, it’s easy to see how some players could be persuaded to lose by a little larger margin than the betting line.

When your team stinks and turns the ball over a few more times, misses a few more three pointers, or clanks a couple of free throws, it is very difficult to detect any change from a losing team’s normal performance.

Let’s add another possible factor.

A smaller conference basketball team such as Fresno State doesn’t spend as much in terms of NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) funding to acquire players for the squad.

Now, let’s include a mysterious and cleverly hidden chain of evil-doers working behind the scenes.

Perhaps someone may have approached a few key players on a losing college basketball team with a secretive offer to provide some cash in return for a worse-than-average performance by the team on certain special occasions.

After all, who would care if Fresno lost by 25 points on night instead of the betting line of 20?

From what I’ve read, most national betting services will only allow wagering on point spreads for the results in the first half of games now.  It was considered too easy for basketball teams to “tank” during the second half of a blow-out loss.

What if a few key players playing on a perpetual losing team intentionally have a very poor first half?

Those same players could go into the locker room at halftime, wink at each other, and return to the court in the second half to (perhaps) rally and make the final score look more respectable.  That seems quite plausible.

Say it ain’t so!  Not UNO!

In the past several days, similar issues are under investigation at 14-14 Eastern Michigan (Mid-American Conference), 3-25 Mississippi Valley State (SWAC), and 7-22 North Carolina A&T (Coastal Atlantic Conference).

Today, the University of New Orleans (UNO) of the Southland Conference became yet another men’s basketball team being investigated for possible point shaving in certain games this season.

The Privateers announced a suspension of four of its five men’s starters from a team which is just 2-16 in the Southland Conference and only 4-25 overall.

UNO has lost eleven games in a row.

All joking aside, don’t “bet” against the Privateers dropping their 12th straight game this Saturday at UT-Rio Grande.

Ratings soared for the NHL’s new version of Fight Night!

The National Hockey League squeezed a lemon and came up with lemonade last week.

Faced with declining television ratings and interest for its annual NHL All-Star game, the hockey league came up with a terrific concept to replace its former snoozer of an All-Star week.

Four teams comprised of top NHL players from the US, Canada, Finland, and Sweden were selected to play in a week-long series of Olympic-styled games instead of the league’s annual All-Star event.

The initial NHL “Four Nations” competition quickly became a rousing success with sports fans.

As tensions have increased recently between Canada and the United States, a game played in Montreal featured local fans lustily booing the US national anthem.

Within seconds of the game’s opening puck drop, a few “gloves-off” fights occurred a few players on the two squads.

As the referees stood by (as usual), those spirited fights caught the attention of US and Canadian television viewers, too.  Once the chippiness settled down, the US won the game on Canadian ice 3-1.

Last Thursday, more than nine million people turned on their television to watch a championship rematch of US vs. Canada being played in Boston Garden.

Aside from some minor booing from Beantown fans during the Canadian anthem, the game was well played and ended with Canada claiming a 4-3 overtime win.

The NHL has now resumed its regular season games this week.

Unfortunately, this week’s TV ratings have fallen by nearly 90% from last Thursday’s big US/Canada rematch.

Perhaps those fickle hockey fight fans might return if June’s Stanley Cup finals should come down to one team from a Canadian city against a US-based NHL team.

Will the NFL finally ban the “Tush Push” before next season?

If you haven’t seen this football oddly named NFL play, a few linemen will line-up in the offensive backfield behind the quarterback.  Upon the snap, the big guys will, uh, push their quarterback forward into the defensive line attempting to convert a first down or, perhaps, a short yardage touchdown.

The current NFL champion Philadelphia Eagles started using this play a few years ago.  Originally dubbed “The Tush Push”, Philly fans now refer to the play as “The Brotherly Shove”.

Call it what you will.  It has been extremely effective for Philadelphia in recent years. 

The Eagles have converted about 75% of these short yardage attempts into first downs to sustain drives and score short touchdowns.

For the past couple of seasons, the NFL has considered the play to be legal under the current rules.

That might change soon.

The no-fun Green Bay Packers want to end Philly’s gadget play for good.

Packers CEO Mark Murphy publicly stated that he wants to return to a more traditional quarterback sneak play.  He wants to end the signal caller being used like a nail being pounded forward by a hefty hammer of offensive players pushing behind him.

The NFL has been gathering statistics and medical data to see if shoving a 200-pound quarterback into a line of oncoming defenders is too dangerous.

It will take 2/3 of the NFL’s 32 owners to make this play disappear this fall.

Last year, a similar move to remove the “Tush Push” failed.

If the play isn’t banned before this fall’s opening games, you should expect to see 31 copycat teams employing their own version of the same play.

No ifs, ands, or “butts” about it!

The post Wednesday’s War Room appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

Entering this last week of February, college basketball fans are dreaming and scheming about how their favorite team might receive an invitation to the NCAA’s March Madness basketball tournament.

Men’s and women’s college basketball teams are clamoring for the favor of ESPN’s renowned March Madness prognosticator, Joe Lundardi.

The term “Bracketology” is a combination of art and science in trying to determine the most likely teams to make the championship fields.

This past weekend, the cold and wet weather here in the swamp had me watching several exceptional college basketball games on television.  On Saturday, I had my first chance to watch men’s #1 Auburn, #2 Florida, and #3 Alabama all play on television in different games.

This SEC top men’s trio is very good, but…???

If #1 Auburn had #3 Alabama’s talented point guard Malik Sears, Auburn would probably become the men’s champion this year.  The Auburn Tigers (now 25-2) allowed pesky Georgia to hang with them far too long at home on Saturday afternoon in an 82-70 victory.

Likewise, if #3 Alabama had Auburn’s exceptional big man by the name of Johni Broome, the Crimson Tide might be a shoo-in for the title.  Bama (22-5) finally pulled away to take down #17 Kentucky 96-83 in Tuscaloosa Saturday evening.

#2 Florida really struggled at LSU on Saturday night.  Behind by six points at the half, the Gators finally awakened and put on a clinic during the game’s last ten minutes to down the Tigers 79-65.   The game was much closer than the final score indicated.

Like perennial power University of Houston, Florida has a very balanced team which plays solid defense. Saturday night’s shooting woes at LSU (a mediocre 14-13 team this season) showed future opponents a glimpse of the Gators’ kryptonite if their offense falters.

Shades of Pistol Pete!  Congrats to the North Carolina State women’s team

The Wolfpack’s women’s basketball took down former #1 Notre Dame 104-95 in double overtime Sunday.  NC State (now 22-5 and 14-2 in the ACC) likely guaranteed themselves a spot in the upcoming March Madness tournament field with the win.

The Fighting Irish (now 24-3 and 15-1 in the ACC) had their 19-game winning streak come to an end in this back-and-forth game Sunday afternoon in Raleigh, North Carolina.

In what have been the best individual play of this weekend, NC State guard Aziah James grabbed a defensive rebound in the second overtime and started dribbling down court with her left hand.  As a Notre Dame defender tried to steal the ball, James used a nifty behind-the-back move to put the ball into her right hand and convert the lay-up.

The basket gave the Wolfpack a 6-point lead as NC State’s home crowd roared with approval.

The late Pistol Pete Maravich (whose Dad, Press Maravich, was an assistant coach at NC State prior to coming to LSU in the 1960’s) would have loved Aziah James’ perfectly timed basketball move!

Will the NCAA increase “March Madness” from 64 teams to 76 next year?

Several news outlets have reported that the annual NCAA March Madness basketball tournament field is considering increasing the field from 64 (+4 play-in teams) to 76 teams in 2026.

Just wondering.  Which deserving teams are being left out of the field right now?

There are 31 conferences which compete for the NCAA Division 1 men’s and women’s basketball titles.

Expect half or more of the invited teams in this year’s March Madness field to come from just four major conferences (SEC, Big Ten, ACC, and Big 12)

As of today (Monday, February 24, 2025), ESPN’s famed “Bracketology” is projecting the following number of teams coming from those “Big Four” conferences:

Men’s Tournament Division (which has a total of 352 eligible teams this year)

Men’s teams in the largest conferences appear to be in the driver’s seat:

SEC:  12 teams (out of 16 teams in their conference)

Big Ten:  10 teams (of 18)

Big 12:  8 teams (of 16)

ACC:  4 teams (of 18)

Total: 34 teams (out of 68 or 50% representation from those four conferences)

Remaining: 34 openings for the other 284 teams representing 27 other conferences

That means just seven “extra” teams from those 27 other conferences might make the field.

Women’s March Madness Tournament (with 350 eligible teams this season)

Much like the men, the teams from the four largest conferences will place more than the other conferences combined! 

Big Ten:  13 teams (out of the 18 teams in that conference)

SEC:  10 teams (of 16)

ACC:  9 teams (of 18)

Big 12:  7 teams (of 16)

Total: 39 teams (out of 68 or 57.35% from those four conferences)

Remaining: 29 openings for the other 282 schools representing 27 other conferences

That means just two “extra” teams from the 27 other conferences might make the field.

If the NCAA March Madness tournament field expands to 76 teams next year, which teams will get those extra spots?

If you guessed “The big conferences!”, you’ll probably be right.

Isn’t there a better way to do this?

For example, McNeese State University currently leads the men’s Southland Conference standings with a sparkling 16-1 conference record and is 25-6 overall.

The Cowboys have a three game lead over the second place team (Lamar University) in the conference standings.

What if McNeese should lose to (let’s say) sixth-placed Northwestern State (now 12-15 overall) in the finals of the upcoming Southland Conference basketball tournament?

The league’s top regular season team (McNeese) will likely be sitting at home watching the March Madness tournament like the rest of us.

Meanwhile, a jubilant squad of Northwestern State Demons would represent the Southland Conference in the men’s March Madness field with a record hovering around the .500 mark for the year.

The “Cinderella Story” Demons will be matched against a #1 seeded team in the opening round of the men’s March Madness tournament.  There’s always a chance to pull a big upset, but…???

Why even play a regular season slate of games if your conference tournament will dictate the lone team to receive a bid into the March Madness field?

If the majority of the 27 “smaller” college conferences receive just one guaranteed spot into the NCAA tournament, can the conference decide not to hold an end-of-season tournament conference championship game and just send the regular season winner?

Let’s start with a couple of positive assumptions:

Most of these smaller conferences like the fact that these end-of-season tournaments are (a) profitable and (b) are televised nationally (via ESPN’s family of networks or the CBS Sports Network) to provide fans and alumni a chance to watch the league’s title game.

By contrast, wouldn’t the Southland Conference have its best chance to actually win a game in the opening round March Madness tournament by sending its dominant regular season men’s champion (McNeese) to represent the conference?

If you’re one of the other 11 teams in the Southland Conference men’s basketball tournament, you would probably disagree with that argument.

I am not aware of any NCAA rule which requires that a conference must hold an end-of-season basketball tournament in order to determine its lone guaranteed spot in the March Madness field.

As of today, I am not aware of any conference which has been willing to do that.

Does America want to see a few more “pound puppies” from the smaller conferences in March Madness or additional mediocre teams from the “pedigreed” major conferences?

Take a look at the men’s SEC standings today.

If ESPN’s Bracketology projections are correct, two of the 12 SEC teams projected to make this year’s March Madness field have a losing record within their conference.

Vanderbilt (18-9 overall) is 6-8 in the SEC. Arkansas (16-11 overall) looks even worse at 5-9 in SEC play.

At the Big Ten (which projects to have ten teams making the March Madness field), Nebraska (17-10) sports a conference record today of just 7-9.

Personally, I would prefer to watch a 20+ game regular season league champion (which loses in its post-season conference tournament) participate in the March Madness tournament than see another marginal team from one of the four major conferences.

The opening weekend of the tournament might feature more of these upstart smaller conference teams (which posted an outstanding regular season record) get their chance to compete in the big dance field.

Regardless of how this plays out next year, the March Madness national champion (men or women) ultimately must win at least six straight games in the basketball tournament to take home the big trophy.

Whether next year’s new March Madness entrants come from the biggest or the smallest conferences, those additional teams will be given a microscopic chance of winning the title anyway.

The post March Madness Expansion – More Pound Puppies or Pedigrees? appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

Their marriage lasted an incredible 35 years.

Beginning in 1990, the Worldwide Leader in Sports (ESPN) began to carry Major League Baseball League (MLB) games via national cable systems.  ESPN proudly carried a Sunday Night Baseball game every week for the duration of their relationship.

On the negative side, ESPN has also been a 35-year partner as pro baseball’s television ratings have declined, too.

ESPN pays $550 million per year for the rights to televise their current MLB package of baseball games.  Their latest contract had a primary termination date after the 2028 baseball season.

With just 30 regular season games (mostly on Sunday nights), ESPN does not have rights to baseball’s playoff series or the World Series.

A provision of the current contract between ESPN and MLB allowed for either party to provide notice by March 1, 2025 of their intent to opt out of the current deal after the 2025 baseball season.     

This week, ESPN reportedly triggered the contract’s termination at the end of this year’s baseball season.

In addition to ESPN, Major League Baseball retains television contracts with two other national broadcasters which are in effect through the 2028 season.

Fox Sports (including their affiliate FS1) pays an estimated $729 million annually to televise 52 regular season games (usually two games per Saturday), the All Star game, two divisional playoff series, one League Championship series, and the World Series.

The other large national contract with Major League Baseball is with Turner Sports’ TBS channel.

The TBS current deal is priced at $535 million annually through 2028.

Turner’s contract with MLB gives them a weekly game on Tuesday night and Sunday in the regular season plus two divisional playoff series and one League Championship series.

ESPN wanted MLB to reduce the price for the remaining 3 years.  Answer:  NO!

If you compare what Fox Sports and TBS are paying for their baseball packages, ESPN’s deal does seem a bit overpriced.

Though each group carries a certain amount of regular season games, Fox has the All Star game, half of the playoffs, and the World Series.  TBS has two rounds of playoff games.

ESPN had none of the post-season events which traditionally bring the most viewers.

Major League Baseball stated it was unhappy that ESPN had been reducing its on-air coverage of baseball news – including ending the long-running and award-winning “Baseball Tonight” show after the 2016 season.

ESPN is now very heavily invested in its football coverage – especially college football.

Their parent company (Walt Disney Company) also controls the sports division’s programming checkbook, too.

At the moment in early 2025, ESPN owns pricey deals for the rights to televise pro football, basketball, baseball, and hockey. 

Don’t forget ESPN’s recent exclusive rights to cover the College Football Playoffs which cost about $1.2 billion annually.

With more home viewers cutting the cord and bailing out on cable television each year, ESPN’s monthly subscriber fees (which can reach more than $10/month as part of your cable bill) are on the decline, too.

From a business perspective, I’m uncertain that ESPN is covering the costs for its baseball package.

Paying $550 million to broadcast just 30 regular season MLB games requires nearly $20 million worth of ad sales – per game – just to break even on the coverage of their (mostly) Sunday night baseball games.

Would you opt to cancel the contract early if you were making money on this deal?

History lesson – How Major League Baseball coverage has overexpanded

Prior to the relatively recent television overexposure of all major league sports, baseball had its “Game of the Week” on Saturday afternoons.

Beginning in 1953 on ABC, the game quickly moved to CBS in 1955.

Those of us old enough might remember former major league pitcher Dizzy Dean and Dodgers’ second baseman Pee Wee Reece calling those games on CBS beginning in 1960.

By 1966, NBC took over Saturday afternoon baseball and kept it there for more than two decades. Over more than twenty years, the voices of Curt Gowdy, Joe Garagiola, Tony Kubek, Vin Skully, and Bob Costas filled those weekly broadcasts into the late 1980’s.

The current group of ESPN, Fox Sports, and Turner’s TBS gained control of Major League Baseball broadcasts beginning around the year 1990.

At the point, baseball coverage literally exploded with the growth of cable television.

Major League Baseball went from one or two nationally televised baseball games per week in the 1980’s to having a national telecast nearly every weeknight plus weekends.

In addition, regional sports networks began to spring up in the markets of many major league franchises. For example, the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers each had their own regional cable outlet where fans could watch nearly every game of the season.

The past 35 years have been the best of times if you loved watching baseball on television nearly every day of the week.

Enter online streaming of Major League Baseball games

Back in 2002, Major League Baseball added yet another option for sports viewers.

The fledgling MLBTV.com was introduced to a relatively small but worldwide audience.

MLBTV.com offers online streaming of all out-of-market games for the entire baseball season.  In other words, you can watch most games unless your local team is already being televised by someone else in your market.

For example, if you live in Louisiana but grew up watching the Boston Red Sox, you’re in baseball heaven!

Unfortunately, Houston Astros fans living in the H-town suburbs won’t like MLBTV.com.  You’re out of luck.  By the way, the local baseball team gets to determine the regional size of their “market” territory.

MLBTV.com is now drawing a lot of viewers worldwide with the increasing number of Japanese stars playing in America.

This year, MLBTV.com (now 23 years old) will offer streaming for all out-of-market baseball games for just $149.99 for the entire season.

That’s less than $1 per game for baseball’s far-too-long 162 game regular season from April through September.

Yes, Major League Baseball coverage has become oversaturated

In addition to MLBTV.com and those three primary television contracts covering Major League Baseball (Fox, TBS, and ESPN), Major League Baseball recently added new relatively smaller deals with online providers Roku and Apple TV.

Starting last year in 2024, Roku began providing “Sunday Leadoff” regular season games for free on the Roku Channel (if you purchase a $49 Roku device and have home Wi-Fi for your internet, that is).

Apple TV’s “Friday Night Baseball” packages generally offer two games on Friday evenings during the regular season. 

You must be a paying subscriber to AppleTV+ (about $10 per month).

With so many options to watch baseball, ESPN won’t be missed.  The feeling may be mutual.

Major League Baseball stand to lose $550 million per year beginning in 2026 after ESPN pulls the plug and finalizes the divorce from MLB this fall.

MLB may already have one or more parties ready to (pardon my baseball pun) step up to the plate and take a swing at ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball package beginning in 2026.

As for ESPN, they must fill six months of Sunday night programming beginning next year, too.

ESPN still has the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs (April-June), the women’s and men’s College World Series (June), and its recently expanded coverage of the less expensive but likely much more profitable WNBA basketball games (May – September).

Both ESPN and MLB have enjoyed a nice long run together. After 35 years, the cost of Major League Baseball now outweighs the perceived benefits to ESPN’s parent company (Disney).

Both parties want to end this deteriorating marriage at the end of the upcoming baseball season.

Judge SwampSwami grants this divorce.  Next!

The post ESPN files Divorce papers from Major League Baseball appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

Every once in awhile, a terrific idea will surface and warrant closer attention.

On Wednesday, the two big power conferences in college football – the SEC and Big Ten – will meet in New Orleans to hold another round of secret talks.

These two conferences are usually the top television draws for Saturday’s college football games.  Now, they want to flex their TV muscles to change the format for future years of the College Football Playoffs.

The top brass of the SEC and Big Ten each want a minimum of four guaranteed spots when college football increases the playoff field from 12 to 14 (or perhaps 16) teams before 2026.

Didn’t they just expand from four playoff teams to 12 last year?

Pardon my naivete, but I thought the idea was to select the top 12 (or 14 or 16) teams from that particular season regardless of which teams they were or what conference they were affiliated with.

If the SEC fielded five teams for the playoffs in one season but had just two or three the next year, that’s fine with me.

The same goes for the Big Ten Conference.  Many years, the Big Ten has basically been Michigan, Ohio State and, perhaps, one other competitive team like Penn State or Wisconsin.

The “losers” in this latest playoff discussion appear to be the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and the Big 12.

While the SEC and Big Ten discuss their own future, the ACC and Big 12 Conferences are being handed a smaller bone with a proposed guarantee of two playoff teams.

Let’s pause for a moment and add up the numbers:

SEC 4

Big Ten 4

ACC 2

Big 12 2

Total: 12

If the CFP expands from 12 to 14 or 16 teams soon, that leaves space for just two or four more teams.

Let’s not forget about Notre Dame!

The Irish (which is an ACC member in every sport except football) just finished as the national runner-up this season.  They also want a guaranteed spot if they finish in the top 14 (or 16) national rankings by the end of each season.

Let’s face it. Notre Dame’s football schedule is not exactly very hard in some seasons. 

In 2025, the Fighting Irish look to play a more competitive schedule.  A road trip to Miami (FL) plus home games against Texas A&M, Boise State, and USC will provide a little tougher competition for Notre Dame.

What about a representative from the so-called “Group of 5” conferences?

This week’s SEC/Big Ten talks appear to retain the top-ranked team from the American Athletic Conference, Conference USA, the Mid-American, Mountain West, and Sunbelt Conferences in the playoff mix.

Last season, 12-1 Boise State was selected to the playoff field.  The Broncos played a competitive game but still lost to Penn State of the Big Ten 31-14.

It’s only fair to leave the door open for at least one team from the smaller conferences if they have an exceptional season.

Updated Math:

Sub-total from earlier: 12 teams

Plus Notre Dame 1

Plus Group of 5 1

New total: 14

Would there be any “At-Large” teams?

If the College Football Playoffs becomes 14 teams, there is a good chance that Notre Dame will finish in the top 14 in most years.  That would effectively eliminate the need for any “At-large” selections from the highest ranked teams still available.  

I’m fine with that.  (Do we really even need more than four teams anyway?)

Other than for money, why is there a need to play conference championship games?

Aha!  We have now reached the first really good idea I have seen coming from the SEC and Big Ten power brokers.

If the SEC and Big Ten were guaranteed four playoff teams apiece, why should the leagues pit the #1 and #2 teams to play a relatively meaningless championship game?

Last year, the SEC featured Texas and Georgia in the title game.  Even though Texas lost, the Longhorns still made the 12-team playoff field.

In the Big Ten, Oregon defeated Penn State but both teams made the 12-team playoff field.  Clemson won the ACC with a win over SMU, but both teams were selected for the playoffs.

What if…???

If the SEC were to receive four guaranteed spots in the playoffs, why not give the #1 and #2 team an automatic bid?  They could match the SEC’s #3 regular season team against #6 and the #4 regular season team against #5 for the right to play for the other two SEC spots in the College Football playoffs?

The higher seeded team would host each of these games.

Instead of playing a relatively meaningless #1 vs. #2 game where both teams are likely to advance, this play-in model would allow four teams to battle for the two remaining playoff spots.

The SEC title weekend would create two meaningful games instead of one low-drama snoozer.

I would like to stipulate that any team which loses one of these play-in games would become ineligible to receive an “at large” bid for the College Football Playoff field.

For example, let’s say Alabama finished #4 in the regular season but loses to #5 LSU on Championship weekend.  The Tigers move on to receive a playoff berth, but the Tide cannot receive an at-large playoff berth. They didn’t finish first or second in the regular season race and then lost in an SEC play-in game.

No rewards for losing teams – regardless of how many TV viewers they bring!

Let’s expand this stipulation to the Big Ten, ACC, and Big 12 Conferences!

What’s good for the SEC should be good for the other three major conferences.

The Big Ten should adopt the same play-in strategy, too.

The top two teams in the regular season would get a free pass into the College Football Playoffs.  Teams #3-6 would conduct a play-in game with Team 3 hosting Team 6 and Team 4 hosting Team 5 for the two other Big Ten playoff spots.

The ACC and Big 12 would receive just two guaranteed spots under the still-being-discussed new College Football Playoff guidelines.

If the top regular season team in the ACC and Big 12 automatically qualifies for the playoffs, a #2 vs. #3 game for the other playoff invitation would make for very compelling television for America’s college football fans.

Why not have a Play-in game for the guaranteed “Group of Five” spot?

Last year, the top regular season teams from the “Group of Five” conferences were:

American Athletic Conference – Army Black Knights (11-1)

Conference USA – Jacksonville State Gamecocks (8-4)

Mid-American – Ohio Bobcats (9-3)

Mountain West – Boise State (11-1)

Sunbelt-University of Louisiana-Lafayette (10-2)

Under my idea, the higher nationally ranked team would host this play-in game.

In 2024, a play-in game would have featured 11-1 Army traveling to 11-1 Boise State (the higher ranked team after Thanksgiving weekend’s games).

The week of “Play-in Playoffs” would be a big improvement for college football!

The first weekend in December full of conference championship games turned into a big dud in 2024.  With the former four-team college playoff format, the conference title games became quite relevant in determining the top four teams.

Not anymore.

With last year’s new 12-team format, three conference runner-up teams (Texas from the SEC, Penn State from the Big Ten, and SMU from the ACC ) made it into the playoff field. Only the Big 12’s championship game runner-up (Iowa State – then 10-3) failed to receive an invitation into the 2024’s playoffs.

It’s time for an extreme makeover!

I would prefer the college football regular season to be limited to ten games before the playoffs begin.  That is simply not going to happen given the financial greed of all parties involved (schools, media partners, and now the players). 

The expanded playoffs genie has already left the bottle.

If some college football teams must play up to five extra games (conference championship plus a maximum of four playoff games), this extended format needs to be customer friendly, too.

Changing the conference championship weekend to feature a multitude of play-in games seems like a terrific idea to create even more fan interest.

Let’s do this!

The post Ready for “Play-in” College Football Playoff games? appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.