The Rundown: Hear Me Roar...Sports Talk

The playoff teams for college football were announced yesterday and unlike finding last year’s $20 bill in your coat pocket, there were no surprises here. Like spending your $20, the games are still going to be exciting.

Cha-ching!

The Last Night’s Game Team

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NCAA Football (College)

• One step closer. Yesterday was “Selection Sunday.” It’s not another commercialized Hallmark holiday but where the College Football Playoff Selection Committee determines the final four teams as well as the teams who will play in the various bowl games.
• Bring it on. The final four teams will play each other and the winners of the two games below will play for the National Championship in January.

- Alabama (#1) will play Washington (#4) on 12/31 in the Peach Bowl (Atlanta)

- Clemson (#2) will play Ohio State (#3) on 12/31 in the Fiesta Bowl (Phoenix)

• FOMO. Penn State handed Ohio State their only loss and won the Big 10 Championship, but they were left out of the Final Four. The Nittany Lions will have to settle for a spot in the Rose Bowl against USC.
• Bowling for dollars. Here are the matchups for all 42 bowl games. Find your team and book your flights for an early holiday gift to yourself.

Soccer

• Bittersweet. Last week we saw the unthinkable, the plane that was carrying the Brazilian soccer team, Chapecoense, to their championship games crashed. Their opposition for the championship started a campaign to give the team the championship title, without playing the game. The South American Football Confederation agreed and will name the Brazilian club as 2016 Copa Sudamericana Champions.

NFL (National Football League)

• Homecoming. Kansas City Chiefs safety Eric Berry calls Atlanta home and he returned home this week to play the Atlanta Falcons – nearly two years to the day he was diagnosed with cancer. Berry kicked cancer’s butt and he did the same thing to the Falcons’ offense during his homecoming.  

F1 Racing (Formula One)

• Going out on top. Last week we reported that Nico Rosberg won the World Championship, the first of his career. Well it’s going to be his last because the 31-year-old shocked the racing community by announcing his retirement Friday.

Overtime

• This weekend the NFL allowed the players to pay tribute to their favorite charity on their cleats. The cleats will be auctioned off to benefit the players’ designated charity. Need a unique gift for under the tree? You can bid on your beloved player’s cleats here. 

Sideline stat

• NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) announced a multiyear deal with Monster Energy as its Premier Series title sponsor. Monster is replacing Sprint (i.e. the Sprint Cup). The dollars and cents of the deal weren’t released but it was rumored that NASCAR wanted 10-years, $1 billion for this sponsorship level. We want to win the lottery too.  

Coaches’ corner

• Penn State’s mascot is a Nittany Lion. We’ve never seen a Nittany Lion in the zoo, what is it? The Nittany Lion refers to the mountain lions that are thought to have once roamed Mount Nittany, a University Park (where Penn State is located) landmark.

The Rundown: Bored With Cyber Monday?

Cyber Monday setting your credit card on fire? Give it a rest and catch up on the world of sports in the time it takes to make a cup of coffee. You’ll be back and on your way in no time.

Your credit card will thank us,

The Last Night’s Game Team

PS -  Do you use Gmail and are tired of The Rundown landing in your “promotions” tab? Simply drag the email over to the “primary” tab. Simple as that! 

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NCAA Football (College) 

• Feels like the first time. The heated rivalry between Ohio State and Michigan lived up to the hype this weekend. For the first time in 113 meetings between these two teams, the game went into overtime. Ohio State won in double overtime. 
• Be like the cool kids. Everyone will be talking about the conference finals which start Friday. Check to see if your team made it.

F1 Racing (Formula One)

• On top of the world. The World Championship came down to the last lap in the last race on Sunday. Teammates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg duked it out until the end. Hamilton tried everything he could to claim the championship title (including defying team’s orders – a big no-no). Although it was a numbers game. Hamilton may have won the race but Rosberg still claimed the World Championship.  

Rosberg joined his father Keke, the 1982 champion, to become only the second father-son duo to win the overall World Championship.

NCAA Basketball (College)

• Battle of the beasts. Tonight kicks off a big week in college basketball as the battle for conference superiority starts.  The two historic powerhouse conferences, ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference) and Big 10, go head-to-head to determine who’s the best. See the schedule and the games to watch here.

Overtime

• Thanksgiving is known as a time for excessive eating and Buffalo Bills lineman (NFL) Richie Incognito took that to another level. He won his teammates’ Thanksgiving Day weight gain challenge for the second year in a row, gaining 9.4 pounds in one day. (He gained 15 last year). His secret? Eat everything. You think?  

Sideline stat

• Tom Brady tied an NFL record with his 200th career win on Sunday against the New York Jets. He is now tied with Peyton Manning and will surely break the record this year. 

Coaches’ Corner

• As the regular season of college football comes to a close, heads begin to roll. One of the coaching changes that everyone is buzzing about is University of Texas firing their head coach, Charlie Strong, and hiring the hottest coach on the market, University of Houston’s Tom Herman. Here’s the scoop on other coaching changes.

The Rundown: Weekend Wrap Up - Let's Not Talk Politics

The weekend may be over but let’s celebrate the short week. We’re giving you something else to celebrate – the sports conversation. This way you don’t have to talk about politics at the Thanksgiving dinner table. Don’t ask Grandma what she thought about Hamilton because either way you lose.

But you’re a winner to us,

The Last Night’s Game Team

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NCAA Football (College)

• Never too late. South Carolina State gave a new meaning to senior day. With a three-yard rush Joe Thomas Sr. (55) became the oldest player to ever play in a Division I college football game. Thomas' son, Joe Jr., plays for the Green Bay Packers (NFL). 
• Don't be upset. After last weekend's upsets, the only team in the top 10 to lose this weekend was Louisville. Don’t expect to see too much of a change when the College Football Playoff rankings are released tomorrow night. 

NFL (National Football League)

• For the history books. Dallas Cowboys’ rookie running back Ezekiel Elliott broke the rookie rushing record that has stood since 1977. He’s not stopping there since the Cowboys still have six games left to play.
• South of the border. The Oakland Raiders and Houston Texans will play tonight in Mexico City. Will the exposure for the NFL be worth the physical toll the game may take on the two teams? The game will be played at Azteca Stadium which sits 2,000 feet higher than the Denver Broncos’ Mile High Stadium. Oh and the pollution factor? Athletes who have played there said it’s one of the worst places to play a sporting event because you can’t breathe from the terrible pollution.

Overtime

• Tonight starts a two night finale for Dancing with the Stars. Out of the four dancers left, three are athletes – James Hinchcliffe (IndyCar driver), Laurie Hernandez (U.S. Olympic gymnast) and Calvin Johnson (former NFL player). The odds have Hernandez as the front runner but some are calling Hinchcliffe the “best male dancer ever on the show.” Put on your sequins and tune in to see.  

Sideline stat

• There were crashes and cars engulfed in flames and that was just the last few laps. The entire NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) “Chase for the Cup” came down to the final few laps in Miami. Jimmie Johnson won the race and the Sprint Cup Championship giving him seven career championships, tying legends Dale Earnhardt, Sr. and Richard Petty. At the age of 41, Johnson is the youngest of the three to reach this accomplishment. 

Coaches’ corner

• You had one job. The NFL moved the extra point kick (which happens after a touchdown) from the two-yard line to the 15-yard line at the start of last season to increase the excitement on the seemingly automatic kick. Well the NFL got their wish on Sunday as place-kickers set a record, missing 12 extra points throughout the day.