We have college basketball starting today,
Tenth-ranked Illinois is set to open its season by taking on North Carolina A&T at the State Farm Center. The game is part of a multi-team event that also includes Chicago State and Ohio. All four teams will play three games in the next three days. The Illini have posted an all-time record of 101-and-14 in season openers.
The Illinois State Redbirds are on the road to battle Ohio State and the Northern Illinois Huskies start the season at home taking on the UIC Flames.
Alabama, Notre Dame, Clemson and Ohio State are the top-four teams in the first edition of this year’s College Football Playoff rankings. The Crimson Tide earned the top spot after starting the season 7-and-0. The Fighting Irish are second, followed by the Tigers and Buckeyes. Texas A&M sits fifth, while Florida is sixth in the rankings. Cincinnati, Northwestern, Georgia and Miami round out the top-10.
More college football being cancelled due to COVID-19.
Saturday’s Big Ten showdown between 20th-ranked Wisconsin and Minnesota in Madison. It’s Wisconsin’s third game that has been canceled this season due to the pandemic.
And Sunday’s Arizona State-Utah football game is being canceled due to COVID-19. It’s ASU’s third straight game called off due to the virus. The Utes have also lost three games this season because of the pandemic. Utah will instead visit Washington on Saturday.
Tomorrow is all about turkey, pumpkin pie and NFL football. Kicking off the holiday, The Detroit Lions will host the Houston Texans. In the late afternoon The Cowboys will battle with their NFC east rival The Washington Football team in Dallas and for Thursday night football it will be an AFC north showdown between the Undefeated Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens at Heinz Field.
Peyton Manning and Charles Woodson are among 25 modern-era semifinalists up for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2021. Manning, Woodson, Jared Allen and Calvin Johnson are all first-year eligible players up for election. Other notable names on the list include John Lynch, Hines Ward, Clay Matthews and Patrick Willis. Finalists will be announced at a later date and the Class of 2021 will be revealed the week leading up to Super Bowl 55 in Tampa, Florida.
The Blackhawks are mourning the passing yesterday of former player 86 year old Fred Sasakamoose. He was one of the first Indigenous-born athletes to play in the National Hockey League when he played eleven games with the Hawks during the 1953-54 season. The entire Sasakamoose family includes his wife, Loretta, four children and over one-hundred grandchildren and great-grandchildren.