Mike Cagley, Co-Host Sports Spectacular and Big Sports Radio
December 23, 2024
This week we saw:
Let’s take a look…
#7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 27 #10 Indiana Hoosiers 17 – the Hoosiers looked a step slower and played that way for most of the evening. Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti was strangely conservative in his play calling after being aggressive all season long and talking up a storm in promotional interviews. Indiana’s lack of “impactful” wins, which was latched on to by furious SEC fans since Alabama missed the CFP then became a massive subject on X as the Hoosiers rallied to lose by 10. The SEC consensus was that the three-loss SEC teams, who failed down the season's final stretch to win enough games to secure a CFP invitation were not the issue. The issue was that Indiana won, but just didn’t have the schedule to make the wins impactful. Because Indiana was behind 27-3 at one point, according to SEC fans the Hoosiers never, ever should’ve been allowed in the CFP. With this being the only Friday night game, the Indiana hate was a subject that was beaten to death on social media until the next day’s 11 am kickoff.
#6 Penn State 38 #11 SMU Mustangs 10 – SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings struggled all day, but he was particularly bad in the first half. While the Penn State offense was trying to establish itself, the SMU quarterback threw not one, but two pick-six interceptions. To make matters worse, the Penn State offense caught spark and scored two more touchdowns to go into the half with a 28-0 lead. The game was effectively over. This precipitated the SEC fans exploding again by cursing the CFP committee for "setting up" the first two blowouts. On the other hand, James Franklin must be feeling much better with a CFP win under his belt. The same goes for Drew Allar.
#5 Texas 38 #12 Clemson 24 – Clemson started off the scoring with a touchdown that Texas answered on the next series. The first quarter closed with a 7-7 tie. Things were looking up for college football fans. Then, the second quarter hit, and the Longhorns outscored the Tigers 21-3. With a 28-10 lead at the half, the Longhorns and Tigers essentially traded scores. Sure, Clemson closed it to 31-24, but then gave up a touchdown that effectively ended the game. The Longhorns moved on and again a losing team sealed its fate with an underwhelming first half. SEC fans couldn’t believe the ACC had any teams in the CFP - especially with all those three-loss SEC teams available for play.
#8 Ohio State 42 #9 Tennessee 17 – Tennessee got down 21-0 and essentially the game was done. A “fake rally” making the score 21-10 at the half was largely an anomaly. The $20 million dollar Ohio State team seemed to have gotten its 2024 football season wake up call. And they looked to be worth every penny of the $20 million that was spent to build this roster. The Buckeyes crushed the Volunteers who are a young team built around a young quarterback – they might be back next year. Amazingly enough, with an SEC team getting blown out, the SEC fanbase was silent on social media. Maybe the SEC wasn’t its usual self this year as well, though I doubt the SEC fans see it this way.
On New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day we’ll get four more chances to watch a competitive CFP game.
I know I’m entering the "fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me" territory, but I am really looking forward to these games.
Let’s hope for a couple of classics – especially the Ohio State versus Oregon rematch. My predictions are coming next week.
The Illini managed to win over a rugged Missouri team, ending the Tigers 10-game winning streak and overcoming some crazy calls by a group of referees who were as inconsistent as any I’ve seen recently.
This was an excellent approximation of a road game in the B1G. The opposing team played physical ball, the refs were unpredictable and the last five minutes of the game were high pressure. In this game, unlike the Northwestern game, the Illini managed to come out with a victory.
The Illini overcame their own propensity for careless turnovers with an amazing night from the free throw line going 22-23 and relentless rebounding (42 to 30 advantage) allowing the Illini to win.
Boswell and Jakucionis had key plays down the stretch to fuel the Illini victory. Kasparas extended his freshman record 20-point game streak to 6. Boswell had 16 points with 9 rebounds and 5 assists.
Johnson and White fouled out while Ivisic ended up with 4 fouls. At least three of Morez's fouls were junk calls. So yes, it was just like a B1G game.
The Illini won by the skin of their teeth, but isn’t that what they needed to learn how to do?
Saturday afternoon, Oleksandr Usyk beat Tyson Fury for a second time. Until Fury ran into Usyk, he was thought by some to be the best heavyweight since Wladimir Klitschko ruled the heavyweights - and Fury was the guy who dispatched an old Klitschko. Despite losing, Fury fought what may have been one of his very best fights and yet Usyk said this second fight was even easier when compared to the first time he beat Fury.
Usyk was able to outwork, outpunch and outland the larger man. Fury weighed in at 281 pounds and Fury was 226 pounds. Usyk’s precision and boxing skills put him out of the reach of most of this generation’s heavyweight fighters.
The best way to get after Usyk is to go straight at him with intensity and power. Yet, that approach allows him to use his foot and hand speed along with his boxing technique. To date, no one has been able to defeat Usyk. He’s ruled the cruiserweight division and now he’s clearing out the heavyweight division.
One only must look to Evander Holyfield’s career to see parallels. The cruiserweight division was probably tougher in Usyk’s era while the heavyweight era of Holyfield was better than today’s heavyweights. It’s too early to tell where Usyk fits in with the all-time greats – both in the heavyweight division and pound-for-pound all time. It is notable that we are living in a rare moment when a heavyweight is looked at as the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world. That judgment also makes Usyk a generational fighter.
I’ll have more thoughts on Usyk as his career progresses. Right now, he is a fighter that I would love to see square off against the great heavyweights of the past. Matches against Holyfield, Klitschko, Lennox Lewis, and Mike Tyson are enticing to ponder. Usyk is in the weight class of the “past heavyweights” and yet he’s dispatched the giants of this era as well.
He’s done impressive work while always fighting on the road and having massive success while dealing with his country being at war with Russia. The man’s accomplishments are considerable and he’s a pleasure to watch as heavyweight champion of the world. And make no mistake, in an era when titles are handed to others without fighting, but despite having titles stripped from him, Usyk is the unified champion. He owned all the belts, and no one has been able to take them from him.
Until someone does that, Usyk is The Man.
Audio Version (with Matt Aguilar)
YouTube Version (with Matt Aguilar)
