Welcome Back to the Tradition's Finest Podcast!

Episode 120 - "The Immaculate Reception Episode" includes a discussion of the following sports-related topics:

- NCAA: News & Storylines - - NCAA College Basketball: In the first part of this particular segment, JD & Spencer discuss & analyze a few of the most notable games from Week 13 of the NCAA College Basketball season, that has occurred within the past week, beginning with a Big 12 Conference matchup between the unanimous No.1 team in this week's AP Top 25 Poll for a fifth straight week, the Arizona Wildcats, and the No.13 BYU Cougars: Guard Brayden Burries scored 29 points and made a game-saving block in the final seconds as top-ranked Arizona remained undefeated by holding off a furious rally from No.13 BYU for an 86-83 victory on Monday night - - PG Jaden Bradley added 26 points for the Wildcats (21-0, 8-0 Big 12), who has now matched the best start in program history - - Fellow freshman AJ Dybantsa led the Cougars (17-3, 5-2 Big 12) with 24 points but struggled, shooting 25% from the field and 1-of-8 from the 3-point line, while guards Richie Saunders & Kennard Davis Jr., contributed 18 and 17 points, respectively - - After trailing by 19 points midway through the second half, the Cougars were able to trim the deficit to one with a 12-2 run that began with just more than a minute left - as forward Keba Keita's putback dunk pulled the Cougars to within 84-83 with just 16 seconds remaining in regulation - and after which, the Cougars would force a turnover on the ensuing inbounds play: On the next play, BYU guard Robert Wright III drove toward the rim and wriggled free for what appeared to be a good look at the basket, but Wildcats guard Brayden Burries said "Nah!" - - Burries came flying over from the weak side to block Wright's shot from behind, and the freshman guard was able to grab the loose ball & converted two free throws prior to BYU missing on a long heave at the buzzer - - Burries finished the game 13-of-15 at the foul line, and added five rebounds, four assists & three steals for the Wildcats, who handed BYU its first home loss despite the Cougars finishing the game shooting 50% from long distance after the halftime break. . .Q: What are your thoughts on this Arizona Wildcat basketball team? What's it going to take for a team to pull off the upset over Tommy Lloyd's squad?. . ."Purdue University is Really Going Through it:"No.12 Purdue Boilermakers at Indiana Hoosiers - - Guard(s) Lamar Wilkerson had 19 points, Nick Dorn had 18, and Conor Enright scored five of his eight points in the final 1:11 to help Indiana complete the upset over No.12 Purdue 72-67 on Tuesday night - - The Hoosiers (14-7, 5-5 Big Ten) have now won two consecutive games, and this is, to date, the most impressive win under HC Darian DeVries - and it came in his first matchup against Indiana's bitter in-state rival - and on the same night that college football's new national champions, were honored during a pre-game ceremony, on the same court where Hoosiers football coach Curt Cignetti once proclaimed "Purdue sucks," - - **NOTE: Following their win on Tuesday night, the Hoosiers have defeated ranked Boilermakers teams in four of their last five matchups at home - - F/C Trey Kaufman-Renn led the Boilermakers (17-4, 7-3 Big Ten) with 23 points and senior guard Braden Smith added 14 points, five rebounds & five assists, but it just wasn't enough for Purdue to avoid extending their losing streak to a season-worst three games - - Purdue did not look like itself: Indiana negated the Boilermakers' perceived advantage in the post, outrebounding them 33-28 while only being outscored 24-18 in the paint, in a game that had all the elements of a rivalry. . .No.5 Nebraska Cornhuskers at No.3 Michigan Wolverines - - Guard Trey McKenney made a tiebreaking layup with 1:07 remaining as No.3 Michigan rallied past No.5 Nebraska 75-72 on Tuesday night to hand the Cornhuskers their first loss of the season (20-1, 9-1 Big Ten): Forward Morez Johnson Jr. had 17 points & 12 rebounds for the Wolverines (19-1, 9-1 Big Ten), who trailed for more than 36 minutes prior to holding Nebraska scoreless over the final 3:20 in regulation: Guard Jamarques Lawrence missed a 3-pointer with 4 seconds remaining for the short-handed Cornhuskers, and guard Sam Hoiberg missed on a jumper just before the buzzer, as Nebraska played this game without F Rienk Mast (illness) and F Braden Frager (sprained ankle), who missed his second consecutive game - - **NOTE: Nebraska had won 24 straight games dating back to last season, including four victories in the inaugural College Basketball Crown Tournament in Las Vegas last April - - McKenney had 11 points off the bench for the Wolverines, while forwards Yaxel Lendeborg & Aday Mara both scored 10 points apiece, whereas the Huskers' Lawrence scored 16 of his 20 points in the opening 10 minutes of the game, and Pryce Sandfort also finished with 20 points for Nebraska, while Sam Hoiberg finished with 13 points, seven rebounds, five assists & four steals - - Following the Cornhuskers' loss to Michigan on Tuesday night, there are only two unbeaten teams remaining in D-1 College Basketball: No.1 Arizona & No.24 Miami (Ohio) RedHawks. . .Q: At the halfway point of the NCAA College Basketball season, what team do you expect to win what is currently a "wide-open" Big Ten Conference title race?. . .

- NCAA College Football: In this week's "Tradition's Finest Top College Football Games of 2025," (aka Season Close-Out) segment, JD & Spencer discuss the current state of college football - both on & off the field - as well as the ramifications if some type of regulation is not introduced to the sport rather sooner than later - - The 2025 College Football season offered us: epic upsets, dynamite playoff games, iconic plays (i.e., you probably know exactly what we're referring to if we mention "Cooper's Catch," or the "Chambliss' Scramble," or "Mendoza's Leap,"), and our first incredible national title game in eight years. .and for that, we are forever grateful! - - In this particular segment, JD & Spencer provide detailed analysis for a few of the most memorable and/or our favorite CFB games from the 2025 college football season (**Let us know your thoughts on the game(s) discussed within this episode, as well as 'honorable mentions,' that were not discussed - feel free to reach out to us via X/Twitter - @TraditionsFinest and/or send us a message to [email protected]!!). . .The College Football Playoff will remain a 12-team field next season (2026), the CFP's management committee announced last Friday afternoon - - The decision gives the CFP and Conference commissioners additional time to consider the playoff's expansion to possibly a 16- or 24-team format in the future, a move all sides of the discussion could not agree on at this time, with the biggest contention existing between the Big Ten and SEC Conference(s) on the immediate direction of the playoff: SEC commissioner Greg Sankey has publicly supported a 16-team model, but Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti would agree to this particular model only if Sankey committed to a 24-team field after three years, sources told ESPN, however, multiple sources have stated that this is not something that Sankey was necessarily ready to commit too at this time - - This stalemate between the Big Ten and SEC Conferences, which has existed for months, will continue to be a topic of interest as it is believed by many, that, if Petitti can convince Sankey to agree to a 16-team model (and a 24-team model three years later), it's likely that Conference Championship games are out the window. . .Q: What are your thoughts on next year's College Football Playoff retaining the 12-team (or most current) format? Do you expect the SEC and Big Ten Conferences to end this stalemate regarding the structure of the playoff field?. . ."Do Not Tamper with Tigers:" Clemson head football coach Dabo Swinney lambasted Ole Miss HC Pete Golding for allegedly making direct, repeated overtures to lure LB Luke Ferrelli into the NCAA transfer portal after he had already signed a contract & enrolled in classes at Clemson University, calling it a "straightforward case of tampering," and imploring his coaching colleagues to "be an example to young coaches in this profession and be people of integrity or shut your mouth and don't complain," - - Ferrelli, one of the country's top freshman defenders in 2025 at Cal, entered the portal in January, and Swinney detailed a two-week process that followed in which Ferrelli visited Ole Miss and Clemson, agreed to a revenue-sharing contract with the Tigers, rented an apartment, purchased a car, enrolled in & attended classes at the University, and begun offseason workouts there - - Poor Dabo, it seems as though, he did not receive the memo that explained that the NCAA does not penalize programs for "tampering," with athletes, who have already committed & signed with another program: this modern version of college sports is set up much like an Auction, with the player being purchased by the highest bidder. . .Q: What specific guardrails should the NCAA implement to prevent this type of blatant tampering from occurring throughout college sports, most notably college football?. . .Ohio State is finalizing a deal to make former Pittsburgh Steelers playcaller Arthur Smith it's OC, a source informed ESPN's Adam Schefter on Saturday - - Smith will replace Brian Hartline, who was recently named the HC at the University of South Florida (USF) - - Smith spent the past two seasons with the Steelers under HC Mike Tomlin, and prior to that, he was the HC for the Atlanta Falcons, compiling a record of 21-30 over three seasons, and he also held stints at the University of Georgia as well as Southern Miss - - This past season, under Smith, the Steelers ranked 15th in the NFL averaging 23.4 points per game, and while he will transition back to the college ranks, in Columbus, he will have one of the top returning offensive trios in the country at his disposal: QB Julian Sayin (a 2025 Heisman Trophy finalist), RB Bo Jackson (1,090 rushing yards in 2025 as a freshman), and WR Jeremiah Smith, who is a two-time All-American heading into his junior season. . .Q: What overall grade would you give to Ohio State's hire of former Steelers OC Arthur Smith to serve in the same role?. . ."A Settlement with the Devil[s]:" Darian Mensah and Duke University recently agreed to a settlement of their dispute that would clear the way for the QB to transfer to another program, his agency announced on Tuesday - - While playing for Duke, Mensah, who will have two more years of eligibility remaining, led the ACC Conference last season with 3,973 passing yards & 34 passing TDs, while also leading the Blue Devils to their first outright ACC title since 1962 - - Duke's leading WR, Cooper Barkate, also opted to enter the NCAA transfer portal at the Jan. 16 transfer portal window deadline: Barkate, who ranked second in the ACC Conference with 1,106 receiving yards & seven TDs in 2025, appeared to follow in Mensah's footsteps - - **UPDATE: Duke transfer QB Darian Mensah & WR Cooper Barkate have both committed to Miami, per On3's Pete Nakos on Tuesday evening - - as Mensah becomes the 3rd consecutive QB Mario Cristobal & the Hurricanes have signed in the previous three transfer portal cycles, as the program has landed arguably the top QB available in the transfer portal. . .Q: On a scale of 1 to 10, how shocked are you by the most recent development that QB Darian Mensah has committed to the University of Miami?. . .

- NFL - - AFC & NFC Conference Championship Review & Analysis + 2026 NFL Honors The NFL Coaching Carousel Continues to Spin. . . **Be Sure to Tune In for This Week's NFL discussion. . .

- NBA - - "Chicago's Rose" & "Bucks No More" subject topics. . .**Tune in!!

- Miscellaneous - - A former Canadians Olympic snowboarder, Ryan Wedding, pled not guilty to running a billion-dollar drug trafficking ring, orchestrating multiple killings (retaliation & a witness), and conspiring to distribute cocaine and other crimes in a U.S. federal court on Monday after being extradited to the U.S. from Mexico - - Authorities say Wedding moved as much as 60 tons of coacine between Colombia, Mexico, Canada & Southern California (U.S.) & believe he was working under the protection of the Sinaloa Cartel, one of Mexico's most powerful drug rings - - His drug trafficking group was the largest supplier of cocaine to Canada, according to a 2024 indictment in his home country, where he faces separate drug charges dating back to 2015. . .