The football playoff is set as Georgia, Michigan, TCU and Ohio State made it. Georgia won the SEC football championship while Michigan won the Big Ten title. There were upsets as TCU lost to Kansas State in the Big 12 while USC lost to Utah in the Pac-12.

The US was eliminated in the World Cup, falling to the Netherlands. France and England advanced to the quarterfinals.

The Eagles continued to impress, blowing out the Titans. The Bengals got past the Chiefs. The Niners knocked off the Dolphins.

The World Cup saw one of the biggest upsets ever. Saudi Arabia, ranked 51st in the world rankings, stunned one of the tourney’s favorites, Argentina, 2-1.
There were other shockers as Costa Rica, coming off a 7-0 loss, stunned Japan. Belgium was beaten by Morocco.

College basketball saw a wild week too. Purdue impressed with easy wins over Gonzaga and Duke. North Carolina lost twice, including a four-overtime battle vs. Alabama. Tennessee knocked off Kansas in the Bahamas. Arizona beat Creighton to win the Maui Invitational. I called Oklahoma’s win over Mississippi at Disney.

It was a great week in college basketball. Kansas beat Duke, Michigan State beat Kentucky and Villanova. Texas took care of Gonzaga. Indiana edged Xavier. Virginia beat Illinois and Baylor in Las Vegas.

College football saw several contenders challenged. TCU, Michigan, Ohio State and USC survived. Tennessee was blown out at South Carolina.

The Lions were impressive in beating the Giants. The Eagles rallied to beat the Colts. The Cowboys buried the Vikings.

Congratulations to Novak Djokovic on winning the ATP final. He beat Casper Ruud in Italy.

Tuesday night in Indianapolis was so special. I had been thinking about that night since the day Dr. Rick Brown says I was cancer free and Dr. Steven Zeitels aid my vocal cord surgeries were successful. I was finally cleared to return to the sidelines, calling basketball games for ESPN..

I was thrilled to join my buddy Dan Shulman and Holly Rowe to call the Michigan State-Kentucky game at the Champions Classic in Indianapolis. It was a thrill to see Tom Izzo and John Calipari face-off in a great early-season test. They are two of the best in the business!

Of course the game went double overtime, with Michigan State getting a big win. Quite a performance coming off the Gonzaga loss.

The game changed when Kentucky’s Oscar Tshiebwe fouled out after posting his 17th straight double-double. Michigan State is tough and tenacious and gets good guard play. Then add H squared, Malik Hall and Joey Hauser. Izzo celebrated with some pasta after the W!

College football saw Tennessee set a school-record for offense. TCU remained unbeaten by taking down Texas. There were several home teams that lost, including Illinois, Wake Forest, Oregon, NC State, Mississippi, Kentucky and UCLA. The Wildcats lost to Vandy, which snapped a 26-game SEC losing streak.

College hoops saw several surprises. Cal-Irvine over Oregon, Colorado over Tennessee, Temple over Villanova, Alcorn State over Wichita State, Bellarmine and Wright State over Louisville , Stetson over Florida State, Sam Houston State over Oklahoma, Southern Illinois over Oklahoma State, Grambling over Colorado, Quinnipiac and Texas State over Rhode Island, Wagner over Temple, SE Missouri State over South Florida, Florida Gulf Coast over USC and UC-Davis over California.

The Vikings won a wild game at Buffalo. The Packers rallied the beat the Cowboys in overtime. The Dolphins were impressive over the Browns.