🏒 Multiple OT Games in the NHL, Big College BBall Upset, Updated College Football Rankings + More!

Good Morning Blitzers,

Hope you’re having a great week so far. If you like extra hockey, you are in luck. Five games went into overtime last night, and all featured overtime-winning goals (no shootouts). We had a big upset in college basketball resulting in a court storming, and we got an updated college football rankings before the conference championship games. Let’s get to Blitzing!

WTF Stat: General question for you today:

🏈 Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair has been suspended for three games following a hit on Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence, which resulted in a concussion. The NFL deemed the hit, which involved Al-Shaair striking Lawrence's head while he was sliding, as "unacceptable" and a violation of player safety rules. Al-Shaair was ejected for the hit and also engaged in a physical altercation afterward.

• 🔥Take: You had to know the NFL was going to overreact to this one. The fighting that happened after is what they really didn’t like. They need to protect “the shield”, aka their products reputation in front of advertisers, that’s what they actually care about. Had it just been the big hit and Al-Shaair got up and looked remorseful it’d be one game max, but now Roger Goodell and the NFL get to flex their muscles and pretend they care about player safety.

⚾️ Aroldis Chapman has agreed to a one-year, $10.75 million contract with the Boston Red Sox, pending a physical. This move strengthens Boston's bullpen, which struggled last season, finishing 24th in ERA. Chapman, 37, joins the Red Sox after spending last season with the Pittsburgh Pirates, where he posted a 3.79 ERA in 61⅔ innings with 98 strikeouts.

• 🔥Take: Going to be really weird to see the former Yankee in a Red Sox uniform. He averaged a 99.8 MPH sinker last season so he still has some gas left in the tank, we’ll see how much.

🏈 Here is a look at the latest College Football Playoff rankings:

• 🔥Take: A lot of 2-loss teams (including Miami) on the outside looking in as the committee chose to reward Alabama for… being Alabama? It’ll be interesting to see how much they penalize #10 Boise State (11-1) and #8 SMU (11-1) if they end up losing in their conference championship game.

College Basketball Shootaround

The week of Thanksgiving dubbed “Feast Week” in college basketball is where the rubber starts to meet the road. A chance for teams to play in high profile games before the grueling grind of conference play begins. Some teams rose to the challenge, other teams got exposed.

Men’s Basketball

Feast Week

Winners:

The SEC - Bruce Pearl’s Auburn Tigers continued their hot start to the season winning the Maui Invitational, which included wins over #5 Iowa State, #12 North Carolina and Memphis. Tennessee and Kentucky stayed undefeated through the month of November putting all 3 in the Top 5. Florida and Oklahoma both won tournaments (ESPN Events and Battle 4 Atlantis, respectively). 

Oregon - The Ducks spoiled the party for highly ranked Alabama and Houston and won the Players Era tournament. They went from unranked to #12 in the country.

Losers:

UConn - What an absolute nightmare for the Huskies. Three straight losses in Maui to unranked Memphis, unranked Colorado, and unranked Dayton. WOOF. Dan Hurley already said that he will never participate in an in-season tournament ever again. That’s the spirit.

Arizona - Talk about your rough starts, after beating Davidson, the Wildcats lost to Oklahoma and West Virginia dropping their record to 3-4.

Tuesday, December 3rd

SEC/ACC Men’s Challenge

Syracuse 70 - #4 Tennessee 96

Georgia Tech 61 - #21 Oklahoma 76

Wake Forest 44 - #22 Texas A&M 57

#23 Ole Miss 86 - Louisville 63

#4 Kentucky 66  - Clemson 70

Big 12/Big East Battle

#14 Cincinnati 60 - Villanova 68

Women’s Basketball

Feast Week

Winners:

TCU - The Horned Frogs took down #3 Notre Dame in the midst of an undefeated run through the Cayman Islands Classic propelling them into the AP Top 10.

UCLA - The Bruins rode the momentum of beating South Carolina into Hawaii and steamrolled every opponent they faced to solidify their hold on the #1 spot.

Losers:

Notre Dame - It was a famine week for the Irish losing to both TCU and Utah.  

Games to Watch

Men’s Basketball

Wednesday, December 4

#15 Baylor at #25 UCONN - 6:30 (FS1)

#10 Alabama at #20 North Carolina - 7:15 PM (ESPN)

#5 Marquette at #6 Iowa State - 8:00 PM (ESPN+)

#2 Auburn at #9 Duke - 9:15 PM (ESPN)

Saturday, December 3

#11 Wisconsin at #5 Marquette - 1:30 PM (FOX)

#4 Kentucky at #7 Gonzaga - 10:00 PM (ESPN2)

Women’s Basketball

Thursday, December 5th

#14 Kentucky at #16 North Carolina - 5:00 PM (ESPN2)

#4 Texas at #10 Notre Dame - 7:00 PM (ESPN)

#8 Duke at #3 South Carolina - 9:00 PM (ESPN)

Sunday, December 8th

#3 South Carolina at #9 TCU - 7:00 PM (ESPN2)

Top NBA Games

Mavericks 121, Grizzlies 116: Luka Dončić led the Mavericks to a comeback win over the Grizzlies, scoring 37 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. The Mavericks overcame a 15-point deficit, rallying in the final minutes with clutch three-pointers from Spencer Dinwiddie and P.J. Washington Jr. Dinwiddie hit two crucial threes in the last two minutes, including one that put Dallas ahead 113-111, while Washington added another to help seal the victory.

Knicks 121, Magic 106: The Knicks defeated the Magic 121-106 to win East Group A of the NBA Cup, advancing to the quarterfinals. The Knicks went undefeated in their group (4-0) and will host Atlanta on December 11. Karl-Anthony Towns led the Knicks with 23 points and 15 rebounds, while Jalen Brunson added 21 points. Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart also contributed with 19 and 11 points, respectively.

Nuggets 119, Warriors 115: Nikola Jokic led the Nuggets to a victory, scoring 38 points, grabbing 10 rebounds, and making five steals. Jokic was close to recording his ninth triple-double of the season, falling just four assists short. Michael Porter Jr. added 22 points, and Aaron Gordon contributed 15 points and nine rebounds.

See full NBA scoreboard here, and standings here.

Top NHL Games

Avalanche 5, Sabres 4: Artturi Lehkonen scored with 4:22 left in the game, completing a stunning comeback as the Avalanche rallied from a four-goal deficit to defeat the Sabres 5-4. Nathan MacKinnon played a key role, scoring twice and adding an assist, while Joel Kiviranta and Logan O'Connor also found the net. Backup goalie Scott Wedgewood, making his debut for Colorado, stopped all 22 shots he faced after taking over for starter Alexander Georgiev, who allowed four goals on eight shots in the first period.

Bruins 3, Red Wings 2: Pavel Zacha scored 2:15 into overtime, leading the Bruins to a 3-2 victory. Zacha's goal came off a pass from David Pastrnak, securing the win after the Bruins had rallied from a 2-1 deficit. Justin Brazeau and Nikita Zadorov also scored for Boston, while Joonas Korpisalo made 25 saves.

Wild 3, Canucks 2: Kirill Kaprizov scored the winning goal in overtime, leading the Wild to a 3-2 victory. The win marked the Wild’s sixth in their last eight games, improving their record to 17-4-4, the best in the NHL. Frederick Gaudreau and Jake Middleton also scored for Minnesota, while Filip Gustavsson made 30 saves.

Canadiens 2, Islanders 2: In his highly anticipated Montreal debut, Patrik Laine scored a power-play goal to open the scoring, and Nick Suzuki netted the overtime winner as the Canadiens defeated the New York Islanders 2-1. Laine, who had been out for nearly a year due to a knee injury and personal reasons, marked his return with a goal 7:23 into the second period. Suzuki sealed the win at 2:39 of overtime, following up his own rebound.

Penguins 5, Panthers 2: Bryan Rust scored the overtime winner to give the Penguins a 5-4 victory, extending Pittsburgh's winning streak to four games. The Penguins had a three-goal lead in the third period, but Florida rallied with three quick goals from Sam Bennett, Adam Boqvist, and Matthew Tkachuk to tie the game. Rust's overtime winner came on a wrist shot from the right, sealing the win for the Penguins.

Sharks 2, Capitals 1: William Eklund scored 39 seconds into overtime, lifting the San Jose Sharks to a 2-1 win. Mackenzie Blackwood was stellar in goal, making 27 saves and keeping the Capitals scoreless on three power plays. Tyler Toffoli opened the scoring with a goal late in the first period, and the Sharks held on for the victory despite Washington's push.

See full NHL scoreboard here, and standings here.

On this day in 1988, Orioles trade future Hall of Famer Eddie Murray to the Dodgers. Murray, 32 at the time, requested to be traded fueled by criticism from team owner Edward Bennett Williams who questioned his off-season work habits, defense and lack of extra base hits. He was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Ken Howell, Brian Holton and Juan Bell. In his second season with the Dodgers he would hit .330 with 95 RBIs, 26 home runs, 22 doubles. He would play for a number of different teams at the end of his career and played until he was 41.

Yesterday’s Trivia Time Answer

Which QB has the all-time record for Pick-Sixes?

B) Brett Favre - 51% of those that voted got this one right, not too surprising as Favre was the king of pick 6s. He finished his career with 32. Matthew Stafford, who is still playing, has a chance to break the infamous record he has 30 currently.

Check back tomorrow for the answer to today's trivia question and more info!