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00:00Let's get started with the story we gave you yesterday, but it looks like we have to hit
00:03the pause button on it today. It's more of a sports betting story, which really isn't capturing
00:09maybe a lot of headlines elsewhere, but for our show, it certainly is.
00:12John Tay Porter, you may remember him. I'll review again, former NBA player
00:16who was accused of throwing games essentially because of his player props. He was the player
00:23that was pleading a guilty conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Yesterday was supposed to be the
00:29sentencing. He played on the Raptors. There were some player props that were posted on the sports
00:34books, and Porter left games early so that he would go under on some of these folks. Yes,
00:39this is what was happening. Well, in November, the sentencing was pushed back to May 2025,
00:45so we won't find out exactly what kind of jail time Porter receives. He's expected to receive
00:50some, but this is the legalese of what's going on here. So check back with us in May,
00:56around Memorial Day, and we'll find out. May seems like a long time from now. We've still
01:00got a Super Bowl to get to and NCAA Final Four a lot more as well. All right, Patrick Mahomes
01:05is a full participant. Looks like he's going to go this coming Saturday. Patrick Mahomes and the
01:09Kansas City Chiefs have a Saturday game this week, and then, of course, they play on Christmas Day,
01:13which you can catch our coverage here on SportsGrid. Next Wednesday, I'll be part of that,
01:17so hopefully you can check me out. TJ Watt returns to practice. That's good news for the Steelers.
01:22Ahead of their game with the Ravens, George Pickens remains out, so Pickens right now seems
01:28to be questionable for the game, and the Steelers' offense really struggles without him. Michael
01:31Pennix Jr. getting ready for his first career start. We reported this yesterday that he's going
01:34to get the call over Kirk Cousins, who goes to the bench, and like many other people, just like you
01:39and me, Michael Pennix was shopping yesterday at Costco when he got the call, and he was told that
01:45he's going to start this week. Yeah, I was actually shopping. I was shopping with my girlfriend,
01:50who was at Costco, and I got the call, and they told me that I was going to be the starting
01:55quarterback for the rest of the season, and as you can imagine, it was some nerves. It was
02:02excitement, but I'm just super blessed to be in this position, super blessed to be on this team
02:08for the opportunity, and it was always, like I always say, my family, they always say just
02:14trust in God, trust in the process, and go about each and every day with that trust and belief
02:20that whenever it's your time, it's your time, and they called last night, and they said it was my
02:25time, so just the mental reps, you know, that was always there, you know, always making sure I'm
02:29prepared, you know, preparing like the starter and always being ready because I didn't know when my
02:33number was going to be called. It could have been called at any point, you know, so just me making
02:36sure I was ready, that was the biggest thing, and you know, as far as you talking about like the
02:40physical part, you know, as far as getting the reps with the guys, you know, that'll come this week,
02:43and we got this week to prepare, and you know, I already talked to some of the receivers,
02:48and they said they're ready to, you know, get those reps, you know, if we got to do it
02:53after practice to get more, you know, they're willing to, and you know, that's the biggest
02:57thing, you know, just make sure I find time to get with those guys. I think right now, Michael Penix
03:02is probably as excited as he's ever been over the course of his college or pro football career.
03:07Okay, last night in the bowl game last night, the LA Bowl, just before the game, one of UNLV's top
03:12players said, I'm not playing in this one. Regardless, the line totally flipped. Cal was favored,
03:18and then UNLV somehow was favored. You really have to either be watching us here at SportsGrid
03:22or paying close attention to these lines, folks, because they are like literally flipping,
03:26but UCLA, excuse me, Cal last night just didn't show up for this one. 24 to 13 as UNLV wins. By
03:33the way, the Rebels' new head coach is Dan Mullen, and he's going to take over immediately after the
03:37game. Also, congratulations in order here in Boca Raton, where James Madison came back to beat
03:44Western Kentucky by a final of 27 to 17. They covered the six and a half point spread. It was
03:48the first ever bowl win for James Madison University, and you'll see here in this clip,
03:55they were awarded the Howard Schnellenberger Trophy. Schnellenberger built the FAU program,
04:00and of course, former head coach there and at the University of Miami. Here's Bob Chesney
04:04on the first ever bowl win. Yeah, I think just a great moment in the history of our program to be
04:11the first ever, you know, to do anything for the first is a big deal, and to do it down here in
04:16Boca at a bowling game, you know, matters a lot to this, not only the program, but to the community
04:21and to all these young men that believed and, you know, to assemble the group like we did in a very
04:26short period of time and have them believe and fight for one another and then have the next man
04:30up mentality throughout the entire day, throughout the entire week, really throughout the entire year,
04:35and then we talk about it all the time, but at some point that light shines on you, and I don't
04:38know if 11 and 12 over here thought it would shine on like it did, but when that does, it's
04:42either going to, you know, reveal you for all the work you've done, or it's going to expose you for
04:46the work you didn't do, and to be, you know, the backup and the backup to the backup and all of
04:51those things that they were throughout the year. They battled, they stayed the course, they never
04:56ever gave up, and I'm glad that that light shined on them and had a chance to reveal all the hard
05:00work they've done up to this point in time. All right, so big win for JMU in Boca last night.
05:05Wake Forest has hired their new head coach, Jake Dickard, is going to take over officially and
05:10immediately. Also in the transfer portal, John Mattier has chosen to transfer to Oklahoma. He's
05:16left Washington State. Mattier was considered one of the top players in the transfer portal.
05:21Meanwhile, the University of Alabama, their athletic director is telling, how about this,
05:24fans to fight back to help fund these NILs. Kind of peculiar, but let's give you the statement here
05:30from Greg Byrne, athletic director. Although we have been competitive from an NIL standpoint,
05:36our competition has us in their sights and you're actively trying to surge ahead with NIL. You've
05:40heard examples of other teams using promises of million-dollar paydays to lure away players
05:45or convince them not to come to Alabama. It's time for Bama Nation to fight back. Okay, fair enough.
05:51Get as much money as you can for these kids. Caden Salter has joined Colorado. He's transferring
05:56from Liberty. Shudder Sanders is headed to the NFL. Maybe he becomes a starter next season. San
06:01Jose star wide receiver Nick Ashe has opted out of the Hawaii Bowl, which I believe is the only
06:06game played, if I'm not mistaken, on the 31st of December each year. And Eli Sanders heading to USC
06:11for one year after leaving New Mexico. Folks, it is hard to keep up with all of these transfers,
06:16but me and Frank and Luke, we're doing our best every day to tell you who's going where.
06:20All right, so tonight it is the New Orleans Bowl. It's the lone game on the schedule.
06:25And Georgia Southern, my understanding is going back and looking at these lines when they came
06:30out, Georgia Southern was six and a half point favorites. For some reason, it is now down to
06:33four and a half. I guess they have some players transferring. San Houston State, plus four and a
06:38half tonight, total of 48 and a half. So this is expected to be a closer game than maybe it was
06:43a couple of weeks ago. Auburn basketball star wooden award winner Johnny Broom avoids shoulder
06:49surgery. Good news for him. MRI results show that he's not going to miss extended time. Crazy game
06:54in college basketball last night between Oklahoma and Michigan. We talked about this yesterday. My
06:57gosh, Michigan has lost some really close games this time. Jeremiah Fears, great player for
07:02Oklahoma, converts a four point play with just 11 seconds left to beat the Wolverines by a final of
07:1087 to 86. Michigan is now lost in consecutive weeks by a bucket. First Arkansas, now of course
07:18to Oklahoma. Dusty May, head coach of the Wolverines, gave all the credit for the big shot
07:23by Fears. Both teams competed at a high level and obviously it came down to the last possession and
07:32Fears made a big time shot, especially in this environment. But I thought our guys battled,
07:38they competed, were better than we were a week ago. And so it's gut wrenching as a game like
07:43this is. You've got to find a way to keep moving forward. It's not one thing. We've got to get more
07:50of a killer mindset. We took care of the ball much better today. There were still a couple errors just
07:57on basic entries that they turned into a pick six late. We botched a blob. That's on me. We
08:05ran a very basic play to get it into Vlad's hands and somebody saw something and bumped back the
08:11play. But that's on me. We've got to execute better in that situation, especially late clock.
08:19The last possession, just like at the garden, Danny, an open court, busted floor and a ball
08:25screen. We're going to get a wide open shot and he created that and got a good look at it.
08:31I think right now Michigan just needs some days off here for the Christmas holiday.