Sarni's Scrolls: OSU-Michigan should be savored
By Jim Sarni
Saturday's Ohio State-Michigan game was spectacular. Hope you savored it because it was the last of its kind.
Next year, the Big Ten ditches divisions with the addition of four schools -- USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington -- from the disintegrated Pac-12.
In a division-less Big Ten, it won't be surprising if Ohio State and Michigan met in consecutive weeks -- in the regular-season finale and then in the conference championship game.
Next year also marks the expansion of the College Football Playoff from four to 12 teams. In the super-sized system. a one-loss Ohio State or Michigan likely get in. Two losses may still do it.
The regular-season Ohio State-Michigan game will no longer be do-or-die.
TV: In the new Big Ten deal, Fox, CBS and NBC will share the title game. Fox in 2023, 2025, 2027 and 2029; CBS in 2024 and 2028; NBC in 2026.
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Bowl Report
■ 82 teams were needed for 41 bowls.
■ 79 teams finished 6-6 or better to qualify.
■ Florida, South Carolina and Colorado St. lost in attempts to win a 6th game.
■ James Madison and Jacksonville St., making the FBS transition, become teams 80 and 81. CBS's Jerry Palm projects JMU against Liberty in the New Orleans Bowl; JvSt against Ohio in the Bahamas Bowl.
■ One 5-7 team needed... it's Minnesota.
■ Most bowl teams: Sun Belt (12 of 14 teams); ACC (11 plus Notre Dame).
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ESPN's Desmond Howard, a Michigan alum, called out Pete Thamel for reporting from inside Michigan Stadium rather than face the crowd on the GameDay panel.
Not nice.
Thamel, who has reported on the Michigan sign-stealing scandal for ESPN, has reportedly received threats from Wolverine faithful.
"He's always been in the crowd giving his reports," Howard said. "What the hell’s Pete in the stadium for? That kind of just threw me off. Put your big boy pants on and do it in the crowd like you have been doing. I was surprised by that."
This is another incident that illustrates how "GameDay" has fallen. I prefer Fox's pregame show.
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NFL fans got stuffed on football this Thanksgiving.
■ The Commanders-Cowboys game attracted 41.4 million viewers, the third most-watched regular-season telecast in NFL history.
■ The 49ers-Seahawks night game drew 26.9 million, the second most-watched prime-time Turkey Day telecast.
■ Ratings for Packers-Lions have not been released.
■ Ratings for BIack Friday Dolphins-Jets have not been released.
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The top AFC seed changed four times on Sunday. The Dolphins began the day on top... then the Jaguars jumped ahead... only to have the Chiefs take over... before the Ravens ended the night as No. 1.
The Ravens defeated the Chargers 20-10 on Sunday Night Football with sensational rookie Zay Flowers scoring two touchdowns (complete with brilliant celebrations).
The Ravens (9-3), who have a bye this week, finish the season with four of their final five against the Jaguars, 49ers, Dolphins and Steelers -- all playoff teams at the moment.
December will be crazy.
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The first ACC-SEC Challenge takes place this week. Men's games Tuesday and Wednesday. Women's games Wednesday and Thursday. All games on ESPN networks.
Men's highlights
Tuesday
■ 7: No. 25 Miss. St. at Georgia Tech, ACC
■ 7:30: No. 10 Miami at No. 16 Kentucky, ESPN
■ 9:30: Clemson at No.17 Alabama, ESPN
Wednesday
■ 7:15: No. 7 Tennessee at No. 1 North Carolina, ESPN
■ 7:15: No. 12 Texas A&M at No. 24 Virginia, ESPN2
■ 9:15: No. 9 Duke at No. 20 Arkansas, ESPN2
Women's Highlights
Wednesday
■ 5: No. 17 Notre Dame at No. 19 Tennessee, ESPN2
■ 7:15: Miami at No. 25 Miss. St., SEC
■ 7:15: Vanderbilt at No. 19 NC State, ACC
■ 9:15: No. 20 Louisville at No. 24 Ole Miss, ESPNU
Thursday
■ 7: No. 1 South Carolina at No. 18 North Carolina, ESPN
■ 7: Arkansas at No. 13 FSU, ESPN2
■ 9: No. 5 Virginia Tech at No. 7 LSU, ESPN
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SUNDAY'S STARS
■ Mikaela Shiffrin extended her records with a 90th World Cup victory and a 55th in slalom, winning her home World Cup slalom in Killington, Vermont, for a sixth time in seven starts.
■ Jannik Sinner and Matteo Arnaldi won singles matches to lead Italy over Australia in the Davis Cup final to capture the tournament for his country for three first time since 1976.
■ Max Verstappen won the Formula One Abu Dubai season finale, his 19th victory in 22 races.
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FINAL FOURS
MLS CUP
■ East: Columbus at Cincinnati.
■ West: Houston at LAFC
WOMEN'S COLLEGE CUP
■ BYU vs. Stanford
■ FSU vs. Clemson
BYU scored three goals in the final 10 minutes to stun North Carolina 4-3 in the quarterfinals.
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ETC.
■ NBC's Cris Collinsworth had Sunday night off after working the Thanksgiving night telecast. Jason Garrett, a studio regular, took Collinsworth's place along side Mike Tirico. The former coach did a capable job.
■ A false evacuation alarm briefly halted the NFL's RedZone broadcast during the unexpected interruption.
■ NBA In-Season Tournament: 12 teams have been eliminated, including the NBA champion Nuggets... The Pacers and the Lakers are the only teams to make the quarterfinals... The Group Stage ends on Tuesday.
■ NHL wisdom: Teams out of playoff spots by Thanksgiving face difficult odds. We're talking about you: Devils, Oilers, Penguins.
■ Pickleball is reacting to noise complaints with sound barriers on public courts and a "quiet category" for equipment.
■ Backcountry skiing is the second-fastest growing sport in the U.S. behind pickleball.
■ South Africa has withdrawn its bid for the 2027 Women's World Cup.
■ Minnesota Wild goalie Marc-Andre Fleury wore a Native American mask on Native American Day Friday despite the NHL, despite the NHL telling him he couldn't.
■ Celebrity chef David Chang created The Wedge Buster leftovers sandwich for Amazon to present Dolphins players who came to the Black Friday post-game show.
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■ SZA led the night at the Soul Train Awards, taking home four trophies, including Best R&B/Soul Female Artist, Album of the Year, Song of the Year and the Ashford and Simpson Songwriter's Award. Usher nabbed three trophies: Best R&B/Soul Male Artist, Certified Soul Award, and Best Collaboration with Summer Walker and 21 Savage for "Good Good."
■ "Broken Trust," Mike Lupica's highly-anticipated first Spenser novel in the Robert B. Parker series comes out on Tuesday. It's at the top of my Christmas book list.
■ Norah Jones and Laufey have collaborated on two scintillating holiday songs. They performed them on "The Today Show" on Monday.
■ EW tweet: "Disney celebrates its 100th anniversary with 'Wish,' a self-referential fairy tale that pays tribute to the past, while failing to make new magic."
■ "NCIS: Sydney" is a worthy addition to the CBS franchise. Great venue, solid stories, terrific cast.
■ "Barbie" director Greta Gerwig is this month's "Vanity Fair" cover.
■ Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade attracted a record 28.5M viewers.
■ A man at Disneyland Park stripped off his clothes during the It's A Small World attraction. He was arrested.
■ Brian Cox's favorite "Succession" line: "I love you but you're not serious people."
■ Nutmeg is a hallucinogen.
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THEY SAID IT
■ "The Patriots-Giants debacle is typical of what I have been watching for weeks in the NFL. There are a lot of bad teams, at least 14." -- Upton Bell, former NFL executive.
Jim Sarni, BC Class of '69, is a former sportswriter for The Boston Globe and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He resides in Fort Lauderdale and watches a lot of television. If you have a comment or an opinion, we'd love to hear from you Jksarni@aol.com