Amidst the drama of the first round of the NFL playoffs and the hype for tonight’s BCS National Championship Game, the college bowl season played on this weekend, starting with a Cotton Bowl that lived up to expectations on Friday night and continuing on with two more games that wrapped around the NFL first-round quartet, early Saturday and late Sunday. Here’s a look back…
The San Francisco 49ers continued their mastery of the Green Bay Packers in the finale of the NFL first round on late Sunday afternoon. The 49ers beat the Packers for the fourth straight time, this time 23-20 on a last-play field goal from Phil Dawson. The Niners join the New Orleans Saints as first-round road winners who kicked a field goal at the gun. Let’s get into the Notebook Nine, our key takeaways from San Francisco-Green Bay…
The San Diego Chargers went on the road and delivered a 27-10 thumping of the Cincinnati Bengals, obliterating stereotypes about SoCal teams in cold weather and West Coast teams on early afternoon East Coast kicks. Here’s our nine key points to reflect on about the San Diego-Cincinnati game, the Notebook Nine…
All week long the talk was how the New Orleans Saints couldn’t win a playoff game. It was the decisive reason TheSportsNotebook picked against them in our preview of the New Orleans-Philadelphia first-round battle. That talk was laid to rest as the Saints beat the Eagles 26-24 on a short last-play field goal by Shayne Graham. What follows is the Notebook Nine, our nine key takeaways from this game…
The Indianapolis Colts pulled off the second-biggest comeback in the history of the NFL playoffs, rallying from 38-10 down to beat the Kansas City Chiefs 45-44, a comeback exceeded only by the Buffalo Bills’ coming from 35-3 down to beat the old Houston Oilers (currently the Tennessee Titans) back in 1992. Here’s our Notebook Nine, the takeaways from the Kansas City-Indianapolis first-round game…
We come to the end of the line in the 2013 college football season, as Florida State and Auburn meet in the BCS National Championship Game on Monday night in Pasadena (8:30 PM ET, ESPN). Will the SEC win its eighth straight national title, or does a new era of conference parity begin as move into next year’s four-team playoff format? Let’s look at our nine key focal points, the Notebook Nine, drawn from the matchup, history and the view from Vegas…
The first round of the NFL playoffs concludes late Sunday afternoon, with the San Francisco-Green Bay matchup at Lambeau Field (4:40 PM ET, Fox) expected to be played in temperatures that will be well below zero. Let’s take a look at the Notebook Nine, our key focal points to take into the game, drawn from personnel matchups to history to the Vegas line
NFL 1st-round playoff action continues on Sunday, and the day will start with San Diego-Cincinnati (1:05 PM ET, CBS). Below is the Notebook Nine, the important points to take into the battle between the Chargers and Bengals.
ACC basketball begins in earnest this afternoon, and America’s proudest basketball conference enters a new era with 15 teams, including several imported powers from the old Big East. The league race is shaping up with the usual suspects leading the way, and some serious intrigue as to how many NCAA Tournament bids the league might achieve.
The Clemson Tigers won their first major bowl game since 1981, beating Ohio State 40-35 in last night’s Orange Bowl. Here’s the Notebook Nine, our important takeaways from the game…
Big 12 basketball looks deep, with four of the ten teams ranked in the Top 25 and three more receiving votes. To set the stage for the race ahead, here’s a look at each team, what they’ve accomplished and who they’re working with.
NBC’s final NFL telecast of the season will be Saturday night’s New Orleans-Philadelphia playoff game (8:10 PM ET). As we say goodbye to Al Michaels and Cris Collingsworth—for better or for worse—let’s review the nine key points to take into the prime-time battle in Philly…
