That One Sports Show

More bowl game previews! Click on the bowl name for the full write-up. Dec. 23 – Popeye’s Bahamas Bowl Nassau, Bahamas 1 p.m. (ESPN) Old Dominion (9-3) vs. Eastern Michigan (7-5) John: OD 21-14 | Geoff: EM 27-24 Dec. 23 – Armed Forces Bowl Fort Worth, Texas 4:30 p.m. (ESPN) Navy (9-3) vs. Louisiana Tech (8-5) John: LT 35-21 | Geoff: LT 24-17 Dec. 23 – Dollar General Bowl Mobile, Ala. 8 p.m. (ESPN) Ohio (8-5) vs. Troy (9-3) John: OU 17-10 | Geoff: TROY 31-21 Dec. 24 – Hawaii Bowl Honolulu, Hawaii 8 p.m. (ESPN) Middle Tennessee (8-4) vs. Hawaii (6-7) John: MTSU 54-? | Geoff: MTSU 45-17

Next week we’ll have a new feature: Is It A Sport – wherein we have 2 minutes to form our arguments on if something is or is not a sport. Next week we’ll be taking a look at cheerleading, so send in your thoughts, or send in why you think cheerleading is or is not a sport. Would You Rather: Be a bad team that makes a bowl game once every ten years, or be the first and only team to drop down to FCS and be a good team? (Idaho is headed out of the FBS and into the FCS) Toss Up Toss Up: Over/Under 1.5 B1G teams in the NCAA Volleyball title game this weekend in Columbus? John – Minnesota (1 only) Geoff – 2 Last Week: Who gets second place in the Heisman voting? Ended up being DeShaun Watson John – DeDe Westbrook (wrong) Geoff – Jabrill Peppers (wrong) Grab Bag Jeff Fisher booted from Rams coaching position Russell Westbrook is really good! Wake Forest found their mole Lamar won the heisman NCAA Volleyball Championships in Columbus Tonight and Saturday. Stanford v. Minnesota AND Nebraska vs. Texas

Here is the full preview of the upcoming games this weekend. For more on each bowl, click through to the writeup (writeups coming soon). Dec. 16 Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl Salem, VA – 7 p.m. (ESPNU) UW-Oshkosh (13-1) vs. Mary Hardin-Baylor (14-0) John – UMHB 35-10 | Geoff – UMHB 24-17 Dec. 17 Gildan New Mexico Bowl Albuquerque, N.M. – 2 p.m. (ESPN) Texas-San Antonio (6-6) vs. New Mexico (8-4) John: NM 31-7 | Geoff: UNM 27-20 Dec. 17 Las Vegas Bowl Las Vegas, Nev. – 3:30 p.m. (ABC) San Diego State (10-3) vs. Houston (9-3) John: SDS 21-20 | Geoff: Houston 35-21 Dec. 17 Cure Bowl Orlando, Fla. – 5:30 p.m. UCF (6-6) vs. Arkansas State (7-5) John: UCF 28-17 | Geoff: Ark. St. 31-28 Dec. 17 Camellia Bowl – The One To Watch Montgomery, Ala. – 5:30 p.m. (ESPN) Appalachian State (9-3) vs. Toledo (9-3) John: App St. 37-22 | Geoff: Toledo 41-35 Dec. 17 New Orleans Bowl New Orleans, La. – 9 p.m. (ESPN) UL Lafayette (6-6) vs. Southern Miss (6-6) John: SM 24-21 | Geoff: ULL 28-20

A quick look at all of the bowl games coming up between the 19th and 22nd. For full writeups, click on the bowl name and get alllll the details (coming soon). Dec. 19 Miami Beach Miami, Fla. – 2:30 p.m. (ESPN) Tulsa (9-3) vs. Central Michigan (6-6) John: Tulsa 17-14 | Geoff: Tulsa 42-31 Dec. 20 Boca Raton Boca Raton, Fla. – 7 p.m. (ESPN) Western Kentucky (10-3) vs. Memphis (8-4) John: Memphis 45-38 | Geoff: WKU 61-55 Dec. 21 Poinsettia San Diego, Calif. – 9 p.m. (ESPN) BYU (8-4) vs. Wyoming (8-5) John: Wyoming 38-21 | Geoff: Wyoming 24-14 Dec. 22 Famous Idaho Potato Boise, Idaho – 7 p.m. (ESPN) Idaho (8-4) vs. Colorado State (7-5) John: CSU 28-21 | Geoff: Idaho 24-20

WYR: Be a professional eSports athlete, or get injured in rookie year of NFL? Toss Up: Who gets second place in the Heisman voting? Rule of the Week: Expansion Drafts 2017 NHL They allow each team to either protect seven forwards, three defencemen, and one goaltender or one goaltender and eight skaters regardless of position. Only players with more than two years of professional experience — NHL or AHL as defined in the collective bargaining agreement — will be included in the draft. Teams must submit their list of protected players by June 17, 2017, and they must expose at least two forwards and one defenceman that have played at least 40 games in the 2016–17 season or more than 70 games in the 2015–16 and 2016–17 seasons combined and must still be contracted for the 2017–18 season. The exposed goaltender must either be under contract for the 2017–18 season or will become a Restricted Free Agent in 2017. At least twenty of the thirty players selected by Vegas must be under contract for the 2017–18 season, and they will be required to select a minimum of fourteen forwards, nine defencemen and three goaltenders. Vegas will be granted a 48 hour window prior to the draft to sign any pending free agent (RFA or UFA, one per team) that was left unprotected. If a team loses a player to Vegas during this signing window they will not have a player selected from their roster during this draft. 2002 NFL Each NFL team listed five players that the Texans could select, and the Texans were required to claim either 30 players or $27.2 million in contracts (38% of the 2002 salary cap) After the Texans selected a player from an existing team, that team could remove a player from their remaining list. If a second player was taken, the existing team could then pull back its remaining three players. The Texans were prohibited from selecting a player from a team and trading the player back to that club. Existing teams were not allowed to put punters or kickers on the list, nor any player from their 2001 roster who would have become an unrestricted free agent in 2002. 1997 MLB Similar to the 1992 expansion draft, both expansion teams selected 35 players. The draft was divided into three rounds. Each team would select 14 players in round 1, 14 players in round 2, and 7 players in round 3. The Devil Rays and Diamondbacks could pick any player not on the protected lists of the 28 other teams, although no team could lose more than one player in a given round. The protected list for each team consisted of: For the first round, 15 players from the rosters of their entire organization—both their 40-man roster, plus all minor league affiliates. Each team could add three more players to its protected list after each round. In addition to the above, players chosen in the 1996 and 1997 amateur drafts were automatically protected, plus players who were 18 or younger when signed in 1995. Players who were free agents after the end of the 1997 season need not be protected. As with the 1992 expansion draft, the order was determined by a coin toss. The winner of the toss could choose either: (a) The first overall pick in the expansion draft or (b) allow the other team to pick first and receive both the second and third overall expansion draft picks and the right to pick first in the subsequent rounds of the expansion draft. Tampa Bay won the toss and chose to select first. A Good Columbus Team Don’t look now, but, the Blue Jackets have the fifth best record in the league, having played the fewest amount of games… also, second best goals scored differential at +24 — thru 24 games. Dec 5 – The Blue Jackets win their 500th game in franchise history – they improve to 15-5-4 on the season with a 4-1 win over Arizona tonig

Andrew Mauney joins us for an eSports update here in 2016. You can find him as Chryton throughout the video game world or as @chrytonbaine on Twitter. Raw notes below: How does it look now? – Mergers/Acquisitions? – Retirements? – first real “class” of esports players are retiring and either going to school or becoming coaches; – collegiate? – sponsorships of more mainstream products Big news – college scholarships – Halo Championship for consoles – eSports classified as a sport by international groups – ESPN and Yahoo now have sports channels – One of the biggest/longest running SC2 leagues shut down Popular games of 2016 – Dota 2 – LoL hits 400 million viewers in 2016 [Yahoo] – LoL World Championship Numbers [lolesports] – CS:GO – Hearthstone What will be big in 2017 – Greater traction on TV? but doesn’t matter as much as VOD and live streaming will still dominate – collegiate will grow; more scholarships and players. How will the NCAA react? – how will the retired players stay with the sport?

It’s bowl season! Join our bowl pick ’em and if you win, you’ll get a $10 Amazon gift card. All throughout bowl season we’ll be previewing the bowls (yes, allllll of them) so be sure to check back in. Heisman candidates announced [ESPN] Earlier Monday, Baker Mayfield was announced as the first two-time winner of the Burlsworth Trophy, given annually to college football’s top player that began his career as a walk-on. Mayfield was the winner in 2015, as well. It’s only the fifth time in history and first time since 2004 that multiple teammates have been invited to the event. Louisville handing out red light bulbs to show support for Jackson’s Heisman candidacy. Geoff thinks Jabrill Peppers has a chance to de-throne Lamar Jackson (he already won the Big 10 Defensive POY), but it’s not likely. Bowl Movements Who chooses all of these bowl games anyway: – contractual ties to specific conferences – If any slot cannot be filled by a contracted conference at all, then the spot becomes open, and the bowl can offer the slot to any eligible team. – The contracts specify that the respective bowl committees receive a certain choice of teams. – Example: Big 10 – Bowls submit preferences to conference, and conference actually assigns schools to bowls. Other than the Rose Bowl, all Big Ten bowls have agreed to have at least five different schools in their bowl over the 2014-19 contract cycle. Also, no school will appear in same bowl back-to-back years. How’d We Do Last Week Marathon MAC Football Championship. at Ford Field, Detroit, MI – Friday, 7:00 – ESPN2 #17 Western Michigan – 29 vs. Ohio – 23 J – Western Michigan G – Western PAC-12 Championship Game presented by Dr. Pepper. At Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, CA – Friday, 9:00 – FOX #8 Colorado – 10 vs. #4 Washington – 41 J – Colorado G – Washington American Athletic Conference Championship. At Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, Annapolis, MD – Saturday, 12:00 – ABC Temple- 34 vs. #19 Navy – 10 J – Temple G – Navy Dynacraft Conference USA Championship Game. at L.T. Smith Stadium, Bowling Green, KY – Saturday, 12:00 – ESPN Louisiana Tech- 44 vs. Western Kentucky – 58 J – La Tech G – Hilltoppers SEC Championship Game. at Georgia Dome, Atlanta, GA – Saturday, 4:00 – CBS #1 Alabama – 54 vs. #15 Florida – 16 J – Florida G – Alabama Mountain West Championship Game. at War Memorial Stadium, Laramie, WY – Saturday, 7:45 – ESPN San Diego State – 27 vs. Wyoming – 24 J – Wyoming G – San Diego State Dr. Pepper ACC Championship Game. at Camping World Stadium, Orlando, FL – Saturday, 8:00 ABC #3 Clemson – 42 vs. #23 Virginia Tech – 35 J – Va Tech G – Clemson Big Ten Championship Game. at Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, IN – Saturday, 8:00 – FOX #6 Wisconsin – 31 vs. #7 Penn State – 38 J – Penn State G – Wisconsin De Facto Big 12 Championship Game. Bedlam Series. Memorial Stadium, Norman, OK – Saturday, 12:30 – FOX #10 Oklahoma State – 20 AT #9 Oklahoma – 38 J – OSU G – Oklahoma J- 2-3, 2-3, 4-1, 4-1, 2-3, 1-4, 5-0, 3-2, 2-3, 4-1, 1-4, 2-3, 1-4, 3-6 = 36-38 (1-6) G- 3-2, 5-0,

Draymond Green can’t control his legs. He is the true nutcracker. A kinesiologist examined Green’s motions and explains whether he is flailing around on purpose. [Deadspin] Russell Westbrook is pretty good at basketball [ESPN] Klay Thompson had an impressive night, but should he have been taken out so soon? Especially since he was on pace to score 100 if it wasn’t a blowout. [ESPN] The Warriors now have 30 different 60-point games in franchise history (Lakers have the 2nd-most with 14). Wilt Chamberlain has 27 of those games and Klay Thompson, Rick Barry and Joe Fulks have one each. What do you do when you’re beating the new york knicks 123 – 92? The water bottle flip of course. NFL Updates NFL to hire 17 full-time officials, increase crews from 7 to 8. Geoff still doesn’t think it’s enough to make a difference. [ESPN] Raiders have their first winning season since they went to the Super Bowl in 2002 and lost to the Buccaneers. This is a week for the Vikings to feel better about themselves as they take on the Jaguars, Geoff still doesn’t feel good about it. If the Browns are going to win this year, it has to be this game against the Bengals, Browns have not won since Dec 13 of last year, 24-10 win over the 49ers. Toilet Bowl – Jets (3-9) v. 49ers (1-11) – Bryce Petty to start rest of season for Jets Best Matchup – Cowboys v. Giants The City of Columbus is working with the Cleveland Browns on a deal to build a new recreation center at Tuttle Park that would host part of the NFL team’s training camp during the summer.

Would You Rather Take your lumps in the beginning of the season and get the experience against tougher opponents, or, get confidence by playing easy teams? Michigan State coach Tom Izzo apologized to team for difficult early season schedule Toss Up Championship Saturday upsets or Vikings sacks allowed Last Week: Number of extra points missed vs. number of successful 2-point conversions on Thanksgiving day John – kicks missed – 0 Geoff – 2 pointers – 0 NFL Pickem [updated 11/29] RaiseTheBooty takes the lead! pdroll sits at the bottom with PushECX gunning for the last spot. Rule of the Week: Palpably Unfair Act From the NFL Rule Book: “If there is a foul by the offense, there shall be no extension of the period. If the foul occurs on the last play of the half, a score by the offense is not counted. However, the period may be extended for an untimed down, upon the request of the defense, if the offensive team’s foul is for: palpably unfair act Penalty: For a palpably unfair act: Offender may be disqualified. The Referee, after consulting the officiating crew, enforces any such distance penalty as they consider equitable and irrespective of any other specified code penalty.” Next Week Rule of the Week: Expansion drafts, how do they work? Special Guest: Andrew Mauney will discuss the state of eSports as we approach 2017.

Terrelle Pryor has had an interesting season and has been a part of some weird Twitter feuds, we go into the latest and what Pryor could accomplish over the next couple of games. Rookie Tyreek Hill scored on KR, Rush, Rec TD. First player since Gale Sayers, 1965. The NFL caved and is allowing athletes to wear cleats for causes this week. Geoff runs through a list of athletes wearing special cleats. My Cleats program. Cleats for Causes.

There’s a lot to discuss this week. We recap the OSU vs. Michigan 2OT win, potential scenarios that would put three Big Ten teams in the NCAA CFP, and if the Army vs. Navy game should count toward bowl game standings. Games To Watch Marathon MAC Football Championship. at Ford Field, Detroit, MI – Friday, 7:00 – ESPN2 #17 Western Michigan (12-0, 8-0) vs. Ohio (8-4, 6-2) J – Western Michigan G – Western PAC-12 Championship Game presented by Dr. Pepper. At Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, CA – Friday, 9:00 – FOX #8 Colorado (9-2, 8-1) vs. #4 Washington (11-1, 8-1) J – Colorado G – Washington American Athletic Conference Championship. At Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, Annapolis, MD – Saturday, 12:00 – ABC Temple (9-3, 7-1) vs. #19 Navy (9-2, 7-1) J – Temple G – Navy Dynacraft Conference USA Championship Game. at L.T. Smith Stadium, Bowling Green, KY – Saturday, 12:00 – ESPN Louisiana Tech (8-4, 6-2) vs. Western Kentucky (9-3, 7-1) J – La Tech G – Hilltoppers SEC Championship Game. at Georgia Dome, Atlanta, GA – Saturday, 4:00 – CBS #1 Alabama (12-0, 8-0) vs. #15 Florida (8-3, 6-2) J – Florida G – Alabama Mountain West Championship Game. at War Memorial Stadium, Laramie, WY – Saturday, 7:45 – ESPN San Diego State (9-3, 6-2) vs. Wyoming (8-4, 6-2) J – Wyoming G – San Diego State Dr. Pepper ACC Championship Game. at Camping World Stadium, Orlando, FL – Saturday, 8:00 ABC #3 Clemson (11-1, 7-1) vs. #23 Virginia Tech (9-3, 6-2) J – Va Tech G – Clemson Big Ten Championship Game. at Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, IN – Saturday, 8:00 – FOX #6 Wisconsin (10-2, 7-2) vs. #7 Penn State (10-2, 8-1) J – Penn State G – Wisconsin Big 12 Championship Game. Bedlam Series. Memorial Stadium, Norman, OK – Saturday, 12:30 – FOX #10 Oklahoma State (9-2, 7-1) AT #9 Oklahoma (9-2, 8-0) J – OSU G – Oklahoma Last Week’s Results #5 Washington – 45 at #23 Washington St. – 17 J – Wasu G – UW #3 Michigan – 27 at #2 Ohio State – 30 J – OSU G – OSU #13 Auburn – 12 at #1 Alabama – 30 J – Auburn G – Bama #22 Utah – 22 at #9 Colorado – 27 J – Utes G – Colorado #15 Florida – 13 at #14 Florida St. – 31 J – Florida +10 G – Florida State UPSET SPECIALS: Geoff: SMU – 31 over #25 Navy – 75 John: Toledo – 35 over #21 WMU – 55 J- 2-3, 2-3, 4-1, 4-1, 2-3, 1-4, 5-0, 3-2, 2-3, 4-1, 1-4, 2-3, 1-4 = 33-32 (1-6) G- 3-2, 5-0, 3-2 1-4, 4-1, 3-2, 3-2, 2-3, 4-1, 4-1, 2-3, 2-3, 5-0 = 41-24 (0-7) NCAA Football Extras Explaining the Sun Belt conference possibilities… Arkansas State (at 6-5) has the inside track to winning conference, even if a three way tie with Troy and App St. all at 7-1 in conference. Ohio State made an Earthquake Corey Davis is really good Charlie Strong actually fired. Tom Herman hired at

As we approach championship weekend, here’s a look at how long the Conference Championship games have been around as well as some facts about each championship game. The Big Ten Before 2011, the Big Ten did not have a championship game. This was mainly because the NCAA requires a conference have 12 teams and 2 divisions. After adding Penn State in 1990 and Nebraska in 2010, the Big Ten was able to put forth a conference champion by way of top teams competing for the coveted championship. 2014 Rutgers and Maryland were added. Notre Dame being added in 2017, but so far only for ice hockey. Wisconsin leads the way with 4 appearances and 2 wins (back-to-back in 2011/12), with the 2012 win coming from rules about sanctions with OSU and Penn State. OSU has only been in 2 years with one win and one loss. Penn State is the only team with an appearance but no win and no loss. Thank the sanctions. Fun fact, Johns Hopkins University is also in the Big 10 (so soon 16 schools) but only Men’s Lacrosse is a part of the Big Ten. This championship game sported scores of 70-31 in 2012 (Wisconsin over Nebraska) and Ohio over Wisconsin in 2014 59-0. Pac-12 In 2011, the Pacific-10 Conference added Colorado and Utah, bringing the membership total to 12 teams and causing the conference to change its name. Some people are fine with name changes *cough* BIG TEN *cough*. Has 2 undefeated teams in the championships, Oregon and Stanford, Stanford with 3 wins, Oregon with 2. Currently hosting the game at neutral Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, contract is up after this year. Fun fact: Only 31,622 fans attended the 2012 Championship game, which started at 5:20 p.m. on a weeknight. It was also raining that day at the site of the game in Stanford, California. SEC Longest running power 5 championship game, started in 1992. SEC champion plays in the Sugar Bowl unless they have been selected to play in a College Football Playoff semi-final bowl. This is the last year in the Georgia Dome (being demolished after this season) and then it’s off to Mercedes-Benz Stadium, also in Georgia that is under construction until 2027. Florida and Alabama have met 9 times. The best and worst teams; Florida is 7-4, Arkansas is 0-3 ACC Following the 2004 season, the league added a 12th team—Boston College—and became eligible to hold a championship game at the conclusion of the 2005 season. Charlotte was supposed to have this game from 2014-2019, but due to NC’s Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act it was moved to Camping World Stadium, Orlando, Florida. In the 2004 season they still had a semi-round-robin style decision to get the champion. In the event of a tie in records within one division, divisional records and the results of head-to-head games are considered. The ACC also has Notre Dame as a non-divisional member. Big 12 Championship game was played from 1996 (conference formation) through 2010 but Nebraska and Colorado said peace out in 2010 so the championship game had to stop. In April 2015, legislation was developed by the ACC and the Big 12 to deregulate conference championship games. It was announced by NCAA officials as being expected to pass in time for the start of the 2016 season. 2016 legislation will allow a conference with fewer then twelve teams to stage a championship game between the top two teams “so long as they play a round-robin schedule.” In late 2016, the Big 12 decided to bring back the championship game in 2017. Oklahoma is 7-1 in bowl appearances with Missouri holding the worst winning percentage at 0-2. Top two in Power Rankings play each other for the championship, this year Oklahoma against Oklahoma State. Non-Power 5 Mid-American Conference (MAC)

The Thanksgiving grinch struck! It’s true, as I prepared to edit the show this week I realized that the Grab Bag portion of the show and the NFL portion of the show were overwritten, but no worries, we’ve still got NCAA Football and a great NBA/NCAA Basketball portion of the show with special guest Steve Wright of Perimeter Players. You can also hear a pretty great impression of Geoff and then an important discussion about whether or not stuffing is delicious (#TeamStuffing) or gross (#TeamWrong). Would You Rather Win on Saturday against arch-rival Michigan and be assured a spot in the playoffs, or, win on Saturday, have Penn State lose to MSU, putting OSU in Big Ten Title game with that outcome unknown. Let us know in the comments below! Toss Up Which number will be higher: Number of extra points missed vs. number of successful 2-point conversions on Thanksgiving day Three games to be played on Thanksgiving after a record high number of extra points were missed in one week. Place your bets now on which number will be higher. Update: Last week’s Toss Up, Number of Browns players to take a snap at QB or number of Browns TDs thrown. Geoff lost (claimed a push of 2 each), John won as only 1 touchdown was thrown and 2 quarterbacks were used after Cody Kessler got concussed on the below hit. Another QB plagued with getting killed by Steelers defenders. WHEN WILL THE MADNESS END?!

Games To Watch #5 Washington (10-1) at #23 Washington St. (8-3) – FRIDAY 3:30. FS1 J – Wash St. G – UW #3 ichigan (10-1) at #2 Ohio State (10-1) – Noon. ABC J – OSU G – OSU #13 Auburn (8-3) at #1 Alabama (11-0) – 3:30. CBS J – Auburn G – Bama #22 Utah (8-3) at #9 Colorado (9-2) – 7:00. FOX J – Utes G – Colorado #15 Florida (8-2) at #14 Florida St. (8-3) – 8:00 ABC J – Florida +10 G – Florida State UPSET SPECIALS: Geoff: SMU over #25 Navy John: Toledo over #21 WMU my computer has 5% Last Week’s Results #22 Washington St. (8-2) – 24 at. #10 Colorado (8-2) – 38 J – Colorado G – WSU #9 Oklahoma (8-2) – 56 at #14 West Virginia (8-1) – 28 J – West Virginia G – Oklahoma #23 Florida (7-2) – 16 at #16 LSU (6-3) – 10 J – LSU G – LSU #5 Louisville (8-1) – 10 at Houston (8-2) – 36! J – UL G – UL Louisiana Monroe (4-6) – 17 at Appalachian St. (7-3) – 42 J – Hot Hot Hot G – App UPSET SPECIALS: Geoff: TCU – 6 over #11 Oklahoma State – 31 John: Maryland – 7 over Nebraska – 28 Year To Date Results J- 2-3, 2-3, 4-1, 4-1, 2-3, 1-4, 5-0, 3-2, 2-3, 4-1, 1-4, 2-3 = 32-28 (1-5) G- 3-2, 5-0, 3-2 1-4, 4-1, 3-2, 3-2, 2-3, 4-1, 4-1, 2-3, 2-3 = 36-24 (0-6) Notre Dame was ordered to vacate their wins from 2012 and 2013, but who cares? Is this a punishment that’s even worth continuing? Seems a bit silly at this point. We discuss what it means (if anything). Things are weirder in Texas, especially after news came out that Charlie Strong had been fired, but he has not explicitly been told. His players are rallying around him, but is his job terminated?

Steve Wright of Perimeter Players joins us for a special basketball portion of the show. We discuss replay in basketball, potential NBA Defensive player of the year, early picks for Final Four in the NCAA as well as some dark horses and much more. We also re-pose the question of is Greg Oden the biggest flop in NBA history? With the 76ers winning back-to-back games for the first time since March of 2015, how big of a boost is that for the rest of the season? Steve discusses how what it means to the younger players on the team. Rounding out the basketball discussion we cover teams that are definite late-season contenders and who is in the running now for the playoffs that won’t be later in the season. For more great basketball insight, head over to Perimeter Players where Steve and a few other writers put together articles like “Who Were The Best Young NBA Players Under 20 in 2016” and “Are 82 NBA Games Played a Thing of the Past?“