Big Dog Sports Blitz -

Oct

Giants vs. Eagles odds, prediction, betting trends for NFL’s ‘Thursday Night Football’ game

When the Giants (1-5) travel to face the Eagles (1-4-1) in Philadelphia on “Thursday Night Football” (8:20 p.m. ET, Fox, NFL Network, Amazon Prime Video), it will be a tale of two teams trying to take advantage of the struggling Cowboys (2-4) to push for control of the weak NFC East.

New York is coming off its first win, edging division rival Washington (1-5) at home. Philadelphia has fallen to two strong opponents, Pittsburgh and Baltimore, in consecutive weeks.

The Giants will still be down running back Saquon Barkley, lost for the season with a torn ACL. His successor at Penn State, Eagles feature back Miles Sanders, also will miss the game with a knee injury. The teams are dealing with other key injuries, too.

How will this matchup of mistake-prone grinding offenses led by Carson Wen...

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Oct

Dorktown: Scott Schebler’s 2017 was one of the strangest in MLB history

Baseball(Little League, MLB, High School ,College )

In 2017, whenever Reds right fielder Scott Schebler played on the road, he was constantly crushing doubles, doing so on 8.79% of his 273 road plate appearances. In other words, 24 of ’em. Away from Cincinnati, he was a bona fide doubles machine.

However.

Schebler did not fare quite as well within his home confines of the Great American Ball Park. There he doubled on 0.39% of his 258 home plate appearances … in other words, once:

To repeat, 2017 Scott Schebler doubled twenty-four (24) times on the road and one (1) time at home. 8.79% vs. 0.39%. Ah, where to begin.

Of the 216 MLB players with at least 400 total plate appearances in 2017, Jose Ramirez had the highest overall doubles rate, smashing one 8.68% of the time. No one else even topped eight percent...

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Oct

25 men’s college basketball teams with the highest attendance in 2019-20

Basketball(NBA, College ,High School)

The four men’s basketball programs with the highest attendance averages in the country held their positions from the 2018-19 season to 2019-20, with Syracuse, Kentucky, North Carolina and Tennessee ranking No. 1 through No. 4, respectively. However, there was a new school at No. 5 and two other programs that moved into the top 10.

Here are the NCAA Division I men’s basketball programs with the highest average attendance during the 2019-20 season.

Rich Barnes | USA TODAY Sports Images

1. Syracuse

2019-20 Attendance: 21,704 per game | 390,666 total
2018-19 Attendance: 21,992 per game | 417,852 total
2018-19 Rank: No. 1

Syracuse’s Carrier Dome, which is home to the Orange’s men’s and women’s basketball teams and football team, was once again atop the men’s basketball attendance rankings...

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Oct

Week 7 Fantasy RB Rankings: Must starts, sleepers, potential busts at running back

Football (NFL,High School,College )

Heading into Week 7, a good chunk of fantasy owners have to be ecstatic that they’re getting some of their top running backs back from byes. Alvin Kamara, Josh Jacobs, Chris Carson, Joshua Kelley, Justin Jackson, and Latavius Murray were all off last week, but they’re back in our Week 7 fantasy RB rankings, adding strength to the top tier. The middle tier takes a bit of a hit, though, as the Week 7 byes take away several key backs, and increased competition for touches causes a few more RBs to drop.

The Colts, Ravens, Dolphins, and Vikings are all off this week. That means no Dalvin Cook, Alexander Mattison, Jonathan Taylor, Mark Ingram, JK Dobbins, Gus Edwards, and Myles Gaskin. Cook and Taylor have been must-starts when healthy, and Ingram and Gaskin have been key RB2s/flex backs...

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Oct

Derrick Henry has become an NFL superstar on his own terms

Football (NFL,High School,College )

Derrick Henry can’t be stopped. While the existence of the power back has slowly slipped away from modern football in favor of the vertical passing game, Henry is a throwback to the days when the starting tailback felt every bit as important as the quarterback.

Henry continued his brilliant season by powering the Titans to 42-36 overtime victory over the Houston Texans in Week 6. Henry finished with 212 yards rushing and two touchdowns — including the game-winning score in overtime. A year after going to the AFC title game, Tennessee is off to a 5-0 start on the new season and continues to win with a vintage formula built around their superstar running back.

Henry gave the Titans the lead early in the fourth quarter by busting a 94-yard touchdown run...

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Oct

NCAA’s Dan Gavitt breaks down host sites announced for 2023-26 March Madness

Basketball(NBA, College ,High School)

NCAA tournament host sites for 2023-26 were revealed Wednesday. NCAA SVP Dan Gavitt talked with Andy Katz about the newly-announced sites, including West Coast cities Seattle, San Francisco and Las Vegas.

The NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee selected Houston, Phoenix, San Antonio and Indianapolis to host the 2023-2026 Final Fours. The announcement wrapped up a year-long process that included site visits to each of seven finalist cities and in-person presentations during the committee’s annual summer meeting, which took place last week in Boston.

The other finalists were Detroit, Los Angeles and North Texas.

RELATED: Future sites for NCAA DI championships | Championship history

The Final Four will return to Houston for a fourth time in 2023...

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Oct

Nick Saban net worth & contract breakdown: Here’s how much money the Alabama coach makes in 2020

Football (NFL,High School,College )

Nick Saban net worth & contract breakdown: Here’s how much money the Alabama coach makes in 2020

Nick Saban has been referred to as the highest-paid public employee in the country. Alabama fans might even argue that’s a bargain.

Saban has brought the Alabama football program five national titles and six SEC championships. His teams consistently rank in the top-five across the country. In college athletics, where athletes can’t sign lucrative contracts, Saban is the next best thing — a head coach who keeps bringing the best recruits in the country to play for the Crimson Tide.

Whether you think Saban should be paid more or less, the facts are simple: He has made and still makes a ton of money. We broke down just how much.

MORE: Who is Alabama quarterback Mac Jones?

Nick...

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Oct

How the pandemic gave Adam Amin a glimpse into the future of broadcasting

Basketball(NBA, College ,High School)

A Q&A with Adam Amin on broadcasting in a pandemic, calling games in VR, and where the industry is headed.

Adam Amin had just arrived at dinner with the rest of the crew that would be broadcasting the American Athletic Conference men’s basketball tournament in Fort Worth, Texas when he saw the news that would soon change the world as we know it. Rudy Gobert had tested positive for coronavirus, the fans attending the Jazz-Thunder game were sent home, and one of the busiest months on the sports calendar was about to be postponed or canceled all together.

Amin has been has busy as ever since the pandemic started. He left ESPN to take a job with FOX, landed the play-by-play gig with his hometown Chicago Bulls, called playoff baseball, NFL football, and NBA games in the bubble in VR...

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Oct

36 candidates for the 2020-21 men’s basketball All-American teams

Basketball(NBA, College ,High School)

Here is my first Power 36 look at the 2020-21 season. The NBA draft is likely going to extend deep into the summer, possibly the fall. So rosters may not be set until school starts, hopefully with the fall semester.

What’s to like about these teams?

1) Gonzaga: Corey Kispert, Filip Petrusev, Drew Timme, Joel Ayayi and newcomer Jalen Suggs, assuming he doesn’t turn to the NBA, should keep the Zags rolling. This team will be just as deep as it was this past season.

[Editor’s note: This story was first published on April 8, 2020, before Petrusev signed with a Serbian pro team.]

2) Baylor: Jared Butler can lead the Bears to another possible No. 1 seed. The Bears will once again be a stingy defensive team, too.

3) Villanova: Collin Gillespie, Jermaine Samuels and a newcomer crew th...

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Oct

Why ‘soft,’ ‘immature’ Justin Herbert was more prepared for the NFL than draft experts projected

Football (NFL,High School,College )

Joe Burrow was a sure thing. A healthy Tua Tagovailoa was a sure thing. Then there was Justin Herbert.

Herbert was taken sixth overall in the 2020 NFL Draft by the Chargers out of Oregon, five picks after Burrow and three after Tagovailoa. That came after Herbert put up huge college stats as a thrower for the Ducks, packaged in a 6-6 frame. Yet somehow, there wasn’t the same confidence that Herbert would deliver on his potential as the two QBs taken ahead of him.

Fast forward to October, and Herbert is starting faster than anyone expected. The Chargers had Tyrod Taylor ready to keep the seat warm until Herbert was ready, but a an accidentally punctured lung sent Taylor to the sideline and Herbert into the fire in Week 2...

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