Weekly Update November 3, 2025

Coming up this month: November

Baseball: We have a new (or not so new) World Series Champ.

Basketball – NBA: Some quick highlights. NBA Cup. Winless and undefeated.

Basketball – NCAAM: Season begins today!

Football – NCAAF: 6 losses in the Top 25. Coaching carousel continues.

Football – NFL: Much better week with better close games.

Olympic Sports: Figure Skating and T&F/Marathon.

Coming up this month:

NOV: NYC Marathon Nov 2, NCAAM Basketball season begins Nov 3, World Beach Volleyball Championship Nov 14-23, F1: Las Vegas Nov 20-22

Baseball – MLB: World Series:

• Game 3 was crazy! From the jump it was entertaining. The Dodgers put up a HR in the 2 and 3^rd But the Blue Jays made up for both and 2 more in the 4^th. Then the Dodgers got 2 runs across in the 5^th to tie the game back up. Both teams got a run in the 7^th and we would go to extra innings. 9 of them to be exact. No other score would come until the 18^th inning. Both teams used all of their bullpen pitchers (8 and 9). Shoehei Ohtani got on base 9xs and went 4/4 all etra base hits (only 2^nd time in Ws). Dodger reliever Will Klein had never thrown more than 2 pitches and 36 pitches but that night he threw 4 with 72 scoreless. The game went 6hr 39 min before Freddie Freeman’s HR. Freddie Freeman walk off HR in bottom of the 18^th. Only player now with 2 walk off HRs in extra innings in a world series.
  • Also super weird: Brad Paisley sang the national anthem at the game on Monday night which is funny because he also sang the national anthem during Game 3 in 2018 which also went to 18 innings!
• Game 4: the Dodgers scored first (as always). But the Blue Jays scored 2 runs in the 3^rd in an answer. They would also get a rally going in the 7^th and put up 4 to win the game. Score 6-2.
• Blue Jays P Yesavage was on fire as he struck out 12 and only allowed 4 hits and 1 run. The Blue Jays managed 6 run and took the series lead 3-2.
• Then we headed back to LA for the final 2 games. The Dodgers got a rally going early in the 3^rd and put up 3. The Blue Jays answered with 1 of their own in the bottom. And that was it all game. So LA wins this won and we head to a game 7!

• Game 7: The Blue Jays got a 3-run HR in the 3^rd. But the Dodgers clawed back the one run at a time. One in the 4^th, one in the 6^th. The Blue Jays added one back in the 6^th as well so they still lead 4-2. Then the Dodgers got a HR in the 8^th. Then it was down to the final 2 outs when Rojas hit a HR to tie up the game. But the Blue Jays weren’t going down without a fight, they had bases loaded in the 9^th with only 1 out. But then the next two batters would get a ground out and a fly out to center so we headed to extra innings. In the 10^th, the Dodgers got bases loaded and left them all on base. Dodgers P Yamamoto then came in and the Jays were 3 up and 3 down. Dodgers in the 11th with a whole lot of ground outs but Will Smith managed a HR to left field with 2 outs. Dodgers up 1. The Jays got 1 on 3^rd and 1 on 1^st with only 1 out. Then a broken bat and a double play handed the Dodgers their 2^nd world series in a row.

 

Basketball-NBA:

• This week’s games: Utah’s Markkanen scored 51 points in their OT win over the Suns. The Mavs and Pistons played in Mexico. Dallas was winning until the 4Q when they only scored 17 points, which was about half of Detroit at 35. DET wins by 12.
• The NBA Cup tipped off on Oct 31 with group play. This is where there will be 6 groups and every team plays each other once. The winners of each group + 2 wildcards will advance. Then it’s a knockout round. Semifinals and Finals are in Vegas with the final on Dec 16^th.
• Missing games: Luke Doncic is out after a leg contusion and sprained finger. He has been in and out of play over the last week. Ja Morant missed a game after being suspended for conduct detrimental to the team. No other details were given except is was about an ‘internal’ disagreement.
• After week 1, there are no undefeated teams left in the Eastern conference. But the Nets are winless. In the West, the Thunder are the only undefeated ones left. The Pelicans are at the bottom with 0 wins to their name.

Basketball – NCAA:

• College basketball season is here – as of 8am this morning! Purdue is ranked #1 and the betting favorite going into the season. UH, Duke, UConn and Kentucky round out the betting top 5. Whereas Houston, Florida, UConn and St. John’s are the top 5 in the rankings. There are 6 SEC, Big Ten and Big 12 teams are ranked. Before UConn’s 2023 and 2024 national championships, Florida was the last repeat winner. The Gator’s eye the repeat. Iowa St has the most minutes played per player in the Big 12. Kansas is looking to bounce back after 2 disappointing seasons and they start with their lowest ranking in 17 years (#19). The Big East will likely come down to UConn and St. John’s. For those of you who don’t follow the sport closely, the Power 5 are: Big Ten, ACC, Big 12, SEC and the Big East. Marquette has yet to take a D1 transfer, we will see if that pays off. Illinois did some shopping for players in the Balkans this year. BYU brought in the highest ranked recruit in the offseason with AJ Dybantsa. Purdue’s Braden Smith is the favorite to win national player of the year. But the Boozer twins at Duke will have something to say about that as will AJ. Sadly Sister Jean from Loyola passed away. This will be the first season since 1917 without her. UVA, Villanova and Baylor all start the year unranked and yet have been 4/9 last championships. This season is Kentukcy’s 50^th season in Rupp Arena.

Football – NCAAF:

• There were 6 losses in the Top 25:
  • #8 Georgia Tech’s QB Haynes King threw for 400 yards, scored 36 points and NC St was without Hollywood Smothers. So you would think they won right? Wrong! NC St came to play. They scored double digits in every Q to hand GT their first loss of the season by 12.
  • I called this one! #9 Vanderbilt played #20 Texas. The first play of the game was a 75 yard TD pass for the Longhorns. Then a Vandy fumble 4 plays later should tell you how this game went. It was 34-10 going into the 4Q. But never sleep on Vandy. The Commodores had 2 TDs in the 4^th to bring the score to 34-31. They would attempt an onside kick, it would bounce around and go out of bounds. Texas escapes yet again.
  • SMU tied #10 Miami 3xs in their game. Miami really beat themselves in this game. The final straw was the late hit on the QB after a Miami defender said he didn’t hear the whistle. That put Smu in game tying FG range. Which they would get. Going to OT. Beck throws an int and Smu gets the tuddy. Miami falls to 4-11 after October 31 under Mario. First ranked win at home for Smu since the 70s.

• • 14 Tennessee initiated dark mode in their game vs #18 Oklahoma ine CFP elimination game. The Vols looked like the better team in the 1H but they had 3 turnovers and still would keep the Sooners to FGs 19-10. Mateer started getting some running mojo back. It came close at the end. Sooners looked to have the game put away but rocky top answered. They wouldn’t get the first onside kick. Looked like game was over but then OU threw an int so that gave them life again. Tennessee gets a TD and goes for another onside. Didn’t get it. Ou wins 33-27.
  • Gameday game of the week was a late night game. Even I admit I went to bed after half. #24 Utah had this one wrapped up pretty easily #17 Cinci only scored 2 TDs.
  • West Virginia had shocked the CFB world with an upset over #22 Houston. The Coogs made a valiant effort but 4 turnovers are costly! Mountaineers win by 10.

• Other headlines from around the football universe:
  • #2 Indiana continues to roll they beat Maryland 55-10. Maryland only had 5 turnovers on the year coming into the game but then they had 5 in this game alone.
  • Florida put up a good fight in the cocktail party (against #5 Georgia). We were tied 3xs in this game. There was a huge play on 3&4 it was a wide open WR and Lagway didn’t hit it. It was super close and had to be reviewed. But alas it stood.
  • Duke beat Clemson for the time since 1980
  • Vt was winning but they had 21 points scored against them in the 2H to lose.
  • Navy was undefeated until the tan into unt.

 

• Coaching carousel: Auburn HC Hugh Freeze was fired. Add another school to the coaching carousel. SMU HC Rhett Lashley signed contract extension. That’s big because I thought he was one of the leaders for some of the coaching jobs open. Same with Nebraska HC Matt Rhule. I had him pegged for the Penn St job. LSU also let go of their ADirector, the man who brought Jimbo Fisher to Texas A&M and Brian Kelly to LSU.

Football – NFL:

• MNF: The Chiefs had an easy one over the Commanders 28-7. That is their 9^th straight win in the series over Washington.
• TNF was a boring one. The Dolphins only managed to put up 2 FGs all game and the Ravens got Lamar Jackson back. He had 4 TDs passes and they would win 28-6.

• Contrary to last week, there were 9 close games this week:
  • The Bears and Bengals game was high scoring. The O/U was 51.5 and both teams got close on their own. Joe Flacco had 470 yards passing with 4 TDs but also 2 INT. Caleb Williams only had 280 yards passing and 3 TDs. There were 8 lead changes. The Bears were leading 41-27 with just 5 min left to go in the game. The Bengals would score 2 TDs in 10 plays and 81 seconds and a 2-point conversion to go up by 42-41. But the Bears would have 54 seconds to play with and they only needed 37 seconds to get the job done. They would get the W 47-42.
  • The Vikings got off to a quick start going up 14 points in the 1Q and they keep the Lions to only 1 TD. They would get the narrow win by 3 over Detroit. The Panthers upset the Packers by 3 in Lambeau. The Titans may have scored 2 TDs in the 1Q but then they would only manage 2 FGs. That would cause them to be a TD short of the upset of the Chargers. The Falcons scored 9 in garbage time to make the score look closer than it was but the Pats win by 1. The Steelers would hold on to upset the Colts 27-20. The Texans never got into the endzone. They would still only lose to the broncos by 3. The Bills/Chiefs game was back and forth. The Bills were leading 21-13 at half and they would hold on to win by a TD.

• • The Jags/Raiders only managed FGs until the 4Q then the scoring went crazy. Every drive would end in a score as a matter of fact the Raiders had an INT to start the 2H and that was the only non-scoring drive. The Jags scored 17 to comeback and tie it up and we would go to OT. The Jags would get a TD and a PAT. The Raiders also scored a TD but they went for the win and the 2-point conversion. But it would fail! Also in this game was the longest kick in nfl history at 68 yards!

• Some not so close games: The Rams didn’t do anything crazy but they put at least 1 TD on the board every Q to beat the Saints who only scored points in 1 Q. Rams win 34-10. The 49ers beat the Giants by 10.
• SNF: the Seahawks scored 24 points in the 2Q alone to easily beat the Commanders 38-14.

Olympic Sports:

• Figure Skating: Ilia Malinin set a new world record in the free skate in Skate Canada. He landed 6 quads and triple axel which culminated in a new PB 333.81 points. His free skate score was 228.97, which overtook Nathan Chen’s record of 224.92. Malinin hasn’t lost since Nov of 2023.
• Figure Skating: Kamila Valieva lost her appeal from the Beijing Olympics last week.
• T&F: KEN Hellen Obiri broke the women’s record at the NYC Marathon while KEN Benson Kipruto won the men’s race by a fraction of a second (3 hundredths to be exact).

What to watch this week

Basketball:

• Mon 11/3
  • Timberwolves vs Nets @ 6pm on Peacock
• Tues 11/4
  • Magic at Hawks @ 7pm on NBC
  • Thunders at Clippers @ 10pm on NBC
• Wed 11/5
  • Timberwolves at Knicks @ 6:30pm on ESPN
  • Spurs at Lakers @ 9pm on ESPN
• Thurs 11/6
  • Clippers at Suns @ 8pm on NBA
• Fri 11/7
  • Rockets at Spurs @ 6:30pm on Prime
  • Warriors at Nuggets @ 9pm on Prime
• Sat 11/8
  • Suns at Clippers @ 9:30pm on ESPN

Basketball-NCAA:

• Mon 11/3
  • Quinnipiac at 5. St. John’s @ 5:30pm on FS1
  • 3. Florida vs 13. Arizona @ 6pm on TNT
  • Southern at 14. Arkansas @ 6pm on SEC
  • C Arkansas at 25. UNC @ 6pm on ACC
  • Lehigh at 2. Houston @ 7pm on CBSS
  • NSC St at 11. Louisville @ 8pm on ACC
  • Villanova at 8. BYU @ 8:30pm on TNT
  • E Washington at 12. UCLA @ 9:30pm on BTN
• Tues 11/4
  • Evansville at 1. Purdue @ 5:30pm on BTN
  • Texas at 6. Duke @ 7:45pm on ESPN
• Wed 11/5
  • South Dakota at 23. Creighton @ 7pm on Peacock
• Fri 11/7
  • Oakland at 1. Purdue @ 6pm on Peacock
  • 19. Kansas at 25. UNC @ 6pm on ESPN
  • UMass Lowell at 4. UConn @ 6:30pm on Peacock
  • Florida Gulf Coast at 17. Illinois @ 7:30pm on Peacock
  • NIU at 24. Wisconsin @ 7:30pm on BTN
  • Utah Tech at 13. Arizona @ 8pm on TNT
  • Pepperdine at 12. UCLA @ 9:30pm on BTN
• Sat 11/8
  • 15. Alabama at 5. St. John’s @ 11am on FS1
  • Western Carolina at 6. Duke @ 12:30pm on CW
  • 14. Arkansas at 22. Michigan St @ 6pm on FOX
  • Oklahoma at 21. Gonzaga @ 9:30pm on ESPN2

Football – NCAAF:

• Tues 11/4
  • CFP Rankings Show @ 7pm on ESPN

Top 25
Week 11
Top 25 Games
Visitor	Home	Day	Time (CT)	TV	Line
Tulane	22. Memphis	Fri 11/7	8:00 PM	ESPN	Mem -7.5
8. BYU	9. Texas Tech	Sat 11/8	11:00 AM	ABC	TT -10.5
3. Texas A&M	19. Mizzou	Sat 11/8	2:30 PM	ABC	Tamu -6.5
6. Oregon	Iowa	Sat 11/8	2:30 PM	ABC
Wake Forest	12. UVA	Sat 11/8	6:00 PM	ESPN
*GameDay indicated in bold*

Football – NFL:

• Mon 11/3
  • Cardinals at Cowboys @ 7:15pm on ABC and ESPN
• Thurs 11/6
  • Raiders at Broncos @ 7:15pm on Prime
• Sun 11/9
  • Falcons at Colts @ 8:30am on NFL in Berlin
  • 7 games @ 12pm on CBS/FOX
    • CBS:
      • Bills at Dolphins
      • Browns at Jets
      • Pats at Bucs
      • Jags at Texans
    • FOX:
      • Giants at Bears
      • Ravens at Vikings
      • Saints at Panthers
  • Cardinals at Seahawks @ 3:05pm on CBS
  • Rams at 49ers – or – Lions at Commanders @ 3:25pm on FOX
  • Steelers at Chargers @ 7:20pm on NBC
• Mon 11/10
  • Eagles at Packers @ 7:15pm on ABC and ESPN

Golf:

• None

Hockey:

• Tues 11/4
  • Hurricanes at Rangers @ 6pm on TNT
  • Oilers at Stars @ 7pm on hulu
  • Lightning at Avalanche @ 8:30pm on TNT
• Wed 11/5
  • Blues at Capitals @ 6:30pm on TNT
• Thurs 11/6
  • Capitals at Penguins @ 6:30pm on hulu
  • Panthers at Kings @ 9pm on hulu

Motor Sports:

• Sat 11/8
  • MotoGP: POR Sprint Race @ 8:55am on FS1
• Sun 11/9
  • F1: BRA GP @ 11am on ESPN2
  • MotoGP: POR GP @ 5:30pm on FS1

Olympic Sports:

• Wed 11/5
  • Volleyball: NCAAW – Minnesota vs Wisconsin @ 7pm on FS1
• Thurs 11/6
  • Volleyball: NCAAW – ILL at Nebraska @ 7pm on FS1
  • Volleyball: NCAAW – UCLA at Oregon @ 9pm on FS1

Soccer:

• Mon 11/3
  • MLS Playoff: Seattle Sounders vs Minnesota @ 9:45pm on FS1
• Fri 11/7
  • MLS Playoff: Charlotte vs NYC @ 6pm
• Sat 11/8
  • Premier League: Everton vs Fulham @ 9am on USA
  • NWSL Playoff: Washington Spirit vs Racing Louisville @ 11am on CBS
• Sun 11/9
  • Premier League: Aston Villa vs Bournemouth @ 8am on USA
  • Premier League: Manchester City vs Liverpool @ 10:30am on USA