Classic OVC Men's Basketball Standings

Ranked according to Ken Pomeroy:

86.  Murray St:  13-3

123.  Middle Tenn. St:  9-5

150.  W. Kentucky:  9-5

199.  Austin Peay:  8-5

273.  E. Kentucky:  4-11

304.  Morehead St:  7-8

308.  Tennessee Tech:  6-9

Steelers-Ravens

Once again, my computer stopped taking comments.  Here's what happened:

With 55 seconds left, Aaron Rodgers threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to put the Steelers back into the lead.  But they missed the extra point, so they only led 26-24.

The Ravens ran the kickoff back to their own 47, so they were almost immediately in field goal position.

On 2d and 2 from the Pittsburgh 47, the Ravens were penalized five yards for an illegal formation.  39 seconds left.

On 2d and 7 from the 50, no one was open and Jackson threw the ball out of bounds.  31 seconds left.

On 3d and 7 from the 50, Jackson was chased down in the backfield.  Anyone else would have been sacked, but he managed to throw the ball away.  21 seconds left.

On 4th and 7 from the 50, the Ravens called their first timeout.

On 4th and 7 from the 50, Jackson hit Isaiah Likely for a first down at the Pittsburgh 24.  Just a great throw and catch.  Ravens call their second timeout with 14 seconds left.

On 1st and 10 from the Pittsburgh 24, the Ravens ran the ball into the line for a two-yard loss.  Ravens call their third timeout with 2 seconds left.

On 2d and 12 from the Pittsburgh 26, the Ravens tried a 43 yard field goal.  Tyler Loop kicked the field goal -- AND IT DRIFTED OFF TO THE RIGHT!  NO GOOD!  THE STEELERS WIN 26 TO 24 AND TAKE THE AFC NORTH.

Unbelievable.  How can you not be romantic about football?

Final standings for the AFC North:

Pittsburgh:  10-7

Baltimore:  8-9

Cincinnati:  6-11

Cleveland:  5-12

Seeds for the AFC playoffs:

1.  Denver (14-3)

2.  New England (14-3)

3.  Jacksonville (13-4)

4.  Pittsburgh (10-7)

5.  Houston (12-5)

6.  Buffalo (12-5)

7.  San Diego (11-6)

Classic SEC Basketball Standings

Ken Pom ranks the members of the Classic SEC as follows:

5.  Vanderbilt:  14-0

13.  Alabama:  11-3

14.  Florida:  9-5

16.  Tennessee:  10-4

25.  Kentucky:  9-5

26.  Georgia:  13-1

34.  Auburn:  9-5

37.  Louisiana St:  12-2

70.  Mississippi:  8-6

76.  Mississippi St:  9-5

Here's the Classic ACC:

9.  Duke:  13-1

19.  Virginia:  12-2

27.  N. Carolina:  13-2

31.  N. Carolina St:  10-5

35.  Clemson:  12-3

61.  Wake Forest:  10-5

88.  S. Carolina:  9-5

109.  Maryland:  7-7

Here's the Classic Big 10:

1.  Michigan:  13-0

4.  Purdue:  13-1

8.  Illinois:  11-3

15.  Michigan St:  12-2

17.  Iowa:  12-2

28.  Indiana:  10-3

39.  Ohio St:  10-3

45.  Wisconsin:  9-5

62.  Northwestern:  8-6

94.  Minnesota:  9-5

Here's the Classic Big 8:

3.  Iowa St:  14-0

18.  Kansas:  10-4

22. Nebraska:  14-0

48.  Oklahoma:  11-3

60.  Missouri:  11-3

67.  Oklahoma St:  12-2

74.  Kansas St:  9-5

81.  Colorado:  11-3

Here's the Classic Southwest:

11.  Houston:  13-1

20.  Texas Tech:  11-3

23.  Arkansas:  11-3

32.  Southern Methodist:  12-2

33.  Baylor:  10-3

47.  Texas A & M:  11-3

52.  Texas:  9-5

53.  Texas Christian:  11-3

252.  Rice:  6-9

And here's the Classic Pac 10:

2.  Arizona:  14-0

36.  U.C.L.A.:  10-4

40.  U.S.C.:  12-2

49.  Washington:  9-4

69.  Oregon:  8-6

75.  California:  13-2

82.  Stanford:  12-3

85.  Arizona St:  9-5

154.  Washington St:  7-9

207.  Oregon St:  8-8

Week 18

Last week of the NFL Regular Season, which is always sad to me.  There are 18 teams who will disappear after today, and we won't get to see them play a real game again until next September.  Also, we lose the NFL Red Zone for nine longs months.

The NFL has everyone play Divisional Games in Week 18.  I don't like this rule, because most of the games in Week 18 are meaningless, and I'd rather have meaningful Divisional Games in November and December.

Anyway, here are the current scores:

Atlanta 7 - 0 New Orleans (1st)

Cincinnati 6 - 7 Cleveland (2d)

Houston 6 - 10 Indianapolis (1st)

Jacksonville 7 - 7 Tennessee (2d)

Minnesota 3 - 0 Green Bay (2d)

N.Y. Giants 6 - 3 Dallas (1st)

And here are the scores from yesterday:

San Francisco 3 - 13 Seattle (F)

Tampa Bay 16 - 14 Carolina (F)

Seattle was ranked Number One in ESPN's final Power Rankings of the year, which came out last week.  So we are declaring them to be the Number One team for 2025-26 in terms of the polling.  Now we will see if they can complete the double by winning the playoffs.

Here's a list of the Number One teams since we started keeping track in 2012.  Only three of these teams won the Super Bowl:

2012:  Denver (13-3) (lost to Baltimore in the AFC Divisional Playoffs)

2013:  Seattle (13-3) (WON THE SUPER BOWL OVER DENVER)

2014:  Seattle (12-4) (lost to New England in the Super Bowl)

2015:  Carolina (15-1) (lost to Denver in the Super Bowl)

2016:  New England (14-2) (WON THE SUPER BOWL OVER ATLANTA)

2017:  New England (13-3) (lost to Philadelphia in the Super Bowl)

2018:  New Orleans (13-3) (lost to the Rams in the NFC Title Game)

2019:  Baltimore (14-2) (lost to Tennessee in the AFC Divisional Playoffs)

2020:  Kansas City (14-2) (lost to Tampa Bay in the Super Bowl)

2021:  Green Bay (13-4) (lost to San Francisco in the NFC Divisional Playoffs)

2022:  Kansas City (14-3) (WON THE SUPER BOWL OVER PHILADELPHIA)

2023:  Baltimore (13-4) (lost to Kansas City in the AFC Title Game)

2024:  Kansas City (15-2) (lost to Philadelphia in the Super Bowl)

2025:  Seattle (14-3) (?????)

Pope v. Alabama

Since coming to Alabama, Nate Oats has a record of 7-4 against Kentucky.  He went 3-4 against Calipari, and he is now 4-0 against Mark Pope.  Here are the four games against Mark Pope:

01/18/2025:  Kentucky 97 - 102 Alabama

02/22/2025:  Alabama 96 - 83 Kentucky

03/14/2025:  Alabama 99 - 70 Kentucky (Nashville, Tenn.) (SEC Quarterfinals)

01/03/2026:  Alabama 89 - 74 Kentucky

Fortunately, the Cats won't have to play Alabama again this season, unless they meet in a post-season tournament.