TCU men’s hoops rode a big second-half comeback to edge Baylor, the Luka-led Mavs defeated the unexpectedly Zion-less Pelicans, and the Cowboys most certainly did not win the NFC East (to put it mildly).
Here’s what I’m watching this week:
Monday, 1/9—TCU versus Georgia, College Football Playoff National Championship—6:30 p.m., ESPN
The last time TCU won a national title, Franklin Roosevelt was in office and college football was played using a platoon system. Seems like the Horned Frogs are due for another, yeah? Vegas disagrees, as defending champion Georgia is favored by 13. While it’s true that the Frogs haven’t played a team with this kind of size or speed all season, TCU has gotten this far by surprising at every turn. Can Heisman runner-up Max Duggan engineer one last offensive explosion on the sport’s biggest stage?
Tuesday, 1/10—Stars at Islanders—6:30 p.m., Bally Sports Southwest
It’s never ideal to lose your top center to injury, as Roope Hintz left Sunday’s win over Florida with an upper-body injury. It’s even less ideal when the next opponent on the schedule features Mathew Barzal, one of the game’s very best at the position. How might Dallas’ top line adjust without its lodestar? The right choice will make this game, in particular, a much easier win.
Tuesday, 1/10 through Sunday, 1/15—The Mavericks’ West Coast swing—Various times and networks
Dallas’ seven-game win streak got snapped last week, but the next seven days mark a prime opportunity to start a new one. From Tuesday through Sunday, the Mavericks get four games against the West’s lower middle: the seventh-place Clippers (Tuesday), 11th-place Lakers (Thursday), and a back-to-back against the 10th-place Blazers (Saturday and Sunday). The Mavs are better than all three teams but not so much better that they can afford to drop games and take a tumble down the standings in a tightly packed West. Three wins is the bar, although a split wouldn’t be catastrophic.
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