Miami "Heat" NBA Finalists.
Aston Villa 7 Liverpool 2.
Rutgers winning at Michigan State
Michigan State winning at Michigan
Dino Swinney's #1 Clemson "Taggers" survived a near-death experience--in their own Death Valley too--against the Pigeons of Boston College 34-28. Does the absence of Trevor Lawrence, due to TrumPlague too, explain the closeness of the result? Not to me but who knows? And that's the point. College tackle football coaches have a built-in excuse for underperformance, rightly so. Their admins will be loathe to make changes with long-term implications based on results in such an aberrant year. A 1-6 record has landed Dabo Babers on the hot seat in Syracuse, rightly so, but I would be shocked if Syracuse fires him now and surprised if they do after the season.
It's similar in Pittsburgh. On the one hand Pitt has a better record, 3-4, than does the 'Cuse. On the other hand: Head Cat Pat Narduzzi has been at the helm longer, this is his sixth year, than has Babers (fifth year); has never had a ten, or even a nine-win season (Babers' team went 10-3 in 2018); expectations were high last season for Narduzzi (10-2, Orange Bowl) and were high this season; Narduzzi cannot recruit and thus there is little hope for improvement in the future; most importantly Narduzzi is signed through the 2024 season at 3.213M per. Both Babers and Narduzzi have lost their teams. The Panthers just quit last week against Notre Dame and have lost four straight; Syracuse has also lost four in a row, most damningly to Liberty, and the Arrange have not been close. Every loss has been by double digits, the closest at...Pitt by eleven. How can TrumPlague explain Syracuse and Pitt. To me, it can't, but who knows. Which, ditto. Pat Narduzzi will absolutely, positively, no-way-in-the-hell-of-a-steel-furnace can canned before season's end and close to no way after the season. In for a dime, in for $12.8M in Pittsburgh; presumably similar in Syracuse but there are no details of Babers' contract. No, Pat Narduzzi and Dabo Babers will not be fired at season's end. Each will have one more year, presuming it is normal, to prove his worth.
