By Marc Lawrence — Coronavirus restrictions led to staggered schedules, start times and cancellations of games all season long. These are all unforgettable memories. But as we reminisce now about this past year, ESPN’s Dave Wilson takes a look back to what felt somewhat normal: the verbal bickering, jabbing at rivals and coach-speak to which we’re so accustomed. Here’s a few quotes that shaped the 2020 college football season: “This game was not canceled because of COVID. COVID was just an excuse to cancel the game.” – controversial Clemson coach Dabo Swinney, after the Tigers’ game at Florida State was canceled… “I have to be honest, I haven’t quite gotten the hang of the cutout people in the stands. I mean, that’s an episode of ‘Twilight Zone.’ – Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach … “Every time I’ve played golf with Kirby Smart, he’s the only guy who always finds his ball in the woods. Always.” – Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt … “For the record, I don’t play golf with 25-plus-handicap golfers.” – Georgia coach Kirby Smart, after Pruitt’s quote made the rounds. To read more click here.
Trending Today
In the latest revised NBA odds to win the division and the NBA title, the team that has taken the hardest fall is Oklahoma City. The Thunder were 35/1 odds to win the Western Conference and 60/1 to tine the NBA title on at the conclusion of the NBA playoffs on September 19. The Westgate SuperBook currently has them 500/1 to win the conference and 1000/1 to capture the championship. In a similar vein, Golden State was 8/1 to win the West, and 12/1 to cut down the nets. Today they are 80/1 and 200/1 respectively. Hank Locklin had nothing on these two teams.
Grinding Out The Profits
From this week’s PLAYBOOK Football Newsletter: It’s an interesting battle in today’s Mayo Bowl between Wisconsin’s stingy defense (only Iowa scored more than 17 points against the Badgers) taking on Wake Forest’s fast-paced offense that averaged 37 PPG this season. Our well-oiled machine notes that this is the fifth straight bowl game for Wake under head coach Dave Clawson, who is 17-7 ATS off consecutive losses, including 10-0 ATS when his troops are coming off a double-digit ATS loss.
