The Week That Was | College Football Regular Season Finale | Remembering Lou Carnesecca | NFL Week 13 Review | NBA Season | 55th Anniversary of Texas v. Arkansas: Dixie's Last Stand

The College Football Regular Season ended last week as #2 Ohio State was upset by unranked archrival Michigan Wolverines losing by score of 13-10. But despite losing for the 4th consecutive season to the Wolverines, the Ohio State Buckeyes still are in the college football playoffs where there is more fish to fry to win the national championship. With the expansion of the playoff format to 12 teams displays and represents the meaningless of Rivalries especially towards the end of the season.

Georgia got a lot of testing from their archrival Georgia Tech trailing by score of 17-0,20-6,and 27-13 but still won in 8 overtimes by score of 44-42. If Georgia had lost to Georgia Tech the Bulldogs of Georgia would still be in the playoffs possibly. As for the #6 Miami Hurricanes, the Canes had a golden opportunity to win the ballgame and be in the ACC Championship Game against SMU but despite jumping out to a 21-0 lead the Orange of Syracuse led by Quarterback Kyle McCord of Syracuse made a furious comeback to tie the game at 21.

From there Miami was in a dogfight the rest of the game but the turning point of the game was when the score was tied at 28 when Wide Receiver Xavier Restrepo of Miami caught a bubble screen pass but Restrepo was stripped of the ball by Devin Grant forced a fumble then recovered and scored a touchdown from 56 yards to go up 35-28. Miami was able to tie the game at 35 but Syracuse went ahead by score of 42-35. Now Miami had to match Syracuse with a touchdown drive but settled for a field goal to cut the lead to 42-38. But Miami’s defense which was huge liability during the regular season was unable to stop the Syracuse offense and ended up running out the clock to preserve the victory for the Orange. Miami Hurricanes are currently #12 in the college football playoff rankings as Alabama despite 3 losses is #11.

So Miami is out of the playoff and Alabama is in. Now it is championship week where you have Boise State vs UNLV for the Mountain West Championship. In the American Athletic Championship, it will be Memphis vs Tulane. Then on Saturday the Big 12 championship between Arizona State and Iowa State, SEC Championship Game between Georgia and Texas, Big Ten Championship between Penn State and Oregon ,and ACC Championship Game between SMU and Clemson.

In college basketball news, Head Coach Lou Carnesecca who was synonymous with success with St John's including making it to the Final Four in 1985 where there were 3 teams from the Big East that made the Final Four including St John's, Georgetown and Villanova. St John's didn't win the national championship instead it was Villanova that beat Georgetown in the national championship game. Carnesecca was one of the great coaches in the Big East when the conference was at its zenith and prominence because there was a rennaissance of great coaches like John Thompson of Georgetown, Jim Boeheim of Syracuse, Jim Calhoun of Connecticut, PJ Carlesimo of Seton Hall and Rick Pitino of Providence for example. Lou Carnesecca coached future NBA players that played for the Johnnies like Mark Jackson, Walter Berry, Jayson Williams, Malik Sealy and Chris Mullin.

In The NBA landscape, how the Atlanta Hawks who is above .500 at 11-10 currently keep eyes on this dynamic backcourt of Trae Young and Dyson Daniels. Young is currently leading the league in assists averaging 12.0 assists a game and Daniels is averaging 3.0 steals a game. The Houston Rockets are currently in second place in the Western Conference with a 15-8 record. Forward Tari Eason is second in the league in steals with 2.1 for the Rockets. The Rockets' success could be due to the rebounding prowess of averaging 49.9 rebounds a game.

The NFL season is in the 4th quarter where the Philadelphia Eagles made a big statement against the Baltimore Ravens on the road winning by score of 24-19. Running Back Saquan Barkley of Philadelphia Eagles ran for 107 yards on 23 carries and a 25 yard touchdown run. Now the Eagles have won 8 consecutive games in a row. Meanwhile Running Back Derrick Henry of Baltimore Ravens was held to only 82 yards rushing on 19 carries and zero touchdowns. The Minnesota Vikings won a nail biter at home against the Arizona Cardinals 23-22 as Quarterback Sam Darnold led a go ahead touchdown drive that resulted in a touchdown pass to Running Back Aaron Jones with 1:13 to go for the victory to make it 5 consecutive wins for the Vikings to improve to 10-2. Finally The Buffalo Bills clinched the AFC East after beating the floundering San Francisco 49ers by score of 35-10 to improve to 10-2.

Moving forward to this week's slate of games keep eyes on Seahawks/Cardinals, Falcons/Vikings, Bills/Rams and Chargers/Chiefs.

Offensive Player of The Week:

Quarterback Josh Allen of Buffalo Bills

13-17 148 yards 2 touchdown passes 141.3 quarterback rating,1 rushing touchdown and 1 receiving touchdown against the San Francisco 49ers.

Defensive Player of The Week:

Defensive Lineman Leonard Williams of Seattle Seahawks

1 touchdown interception for 92 yards,2 sacks,3 tackles for loss and a blocked kick against the New York Jets

December 6th 1969 was a monumental watershed moment in college football as #1 Texas faced #2 Arkansas on the road for the battle for #1 was in full swing as Texas won 15-14. The game was known as Dixie's Last Stand because it was the last American sporting event that was played between 2 all-white teams. Major college football was not integrated fully and completely until 1972. The game was televised on ABC as Chris Schenkel and Bud Wilkinson called the game. The game was a ratings bonanza resulting in a 52.1 rating which remained as of 2023 as the highest TV rating in American football history college or professional. President Richard Nixon attended the game presenting a plaque that was symbolic to award the national championship after the game was over.