An 18 Year Old Electrician Who Plays In The NHL??

Good morning, sports fans! It's Friday and that feels very weird writing that out. This week flew by and hopefully, you feel the same. So, what are we covering today?

• Connor Bedard was electric last night

• The Greek Freak showed up big but didn’t get a W

• Thursday Night Football recap (do we have to?)

• We’ll finish up with a College Football preview

Let’s get you out of the office and ready for the weekend.

Connor Bedard, The Young Apprentice

🏒 Connor Bedard was creating so much electricity last night that you would’ve thought he played for the Tampa Bay Lightning.

🏒 Bedard had the best night of his young NHL career on Thursday, recording two goals and two assists to lead the Chicago Blackhawks to a 5-3 victory over the Lightning. Bedard's four-point performance helped the Blackhawks snap an eight-game losing streak against Tampa.

🏒The 18-year-old (18 years, 115 days to be exact) is the third-youngest player in NHL history to record a four-point game, behind only Ted Kennedy (18 years, 27 days) and Bep Guidolin(18 years, 58 days), who both accomplished the feat in 1944. Bedard has now scored seven goals and recorded 11 points in his first 12 NHL games.

⚡️ Don’t be “shocked” by any of this. There’s a reason he was considered a once-in-a-generation player and was drafted 1st overall this year.

Greek Freak Puts Up 54

🏀Giannis Antetokounmpo scored an NBA season-high 54 points on Thursday night, but the Milwaukee Bucks still lost to the Indiana Pacers 126-124. The Bucks were without Damian Lillard as he was sidelined with a calf injury.

👎️ Antetokounmpo had two turnovers in the final minute of the game that would’ve given the Bucks the opportunity to take the leads

😠 The Bucks were without their first-year head coach Adrian Griffin for much of the second half after he was ejected for arguing with the officials.

🏀 The Pacers got big nights from Tyrese Haliburton who had 29 points and 10 assists, and Bennedict Mathurin added 26 points and 11 rebounds.

📉 The Bucks' loss was their third in four games. They will look to get back on track when they host the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday night.

Thursday Night Football

Carolina Panthers ^_(1-8) 13 | Chicago Bears ^_(3-7) 16

1^st The Chicago Bears are looking to get the first pick in the 2024 Draft and a win over the Carolina Panthers is inching them closer. How so? Well, the Chicago Bears have the Panthers 1st round pick this year and with the Panthers suffering another loss, they are sitting in a good position to have the first overall pick.

🏃 The Bears ran for 124 yards and D'Onta Foreman scored a touchdown.

💪 The Bears also got a boost from their pass rush after getting Montez Sweat in a trade last week and they D sacked Bryce Young three times.

📈 Tyson Bagent completed 20 of 33 passes for 162 yards. Darnell Mooney caught five passes for 58 yards and Cairo Santos kicked three field goals.

👀 You can open your eyes now, there are better games to see this weekend.

College Football Preview

We're getting colder weather and good football games. It’s really feeling like fall out there. Get your chili made, stock your fridge, and have yourself a Saturday!

Here are the big games for tomorrow.

#3 Michigan @ #10 Penn State

📺️ Noon ET on FOX

👀 Michigan is facing its first-ranked opponent this year and quite possibly its first challenge on the field. Michigan had their smallest margin of victory last week when they beat Purdue by only 28 points.

💪 Michigan beat up Penn State last year, rushing the ball for over 400 yards. The Penn State defense looks great this year, but the Penn State offense hasn’t had any extremely great days. The Michigan defense leads the nation in points per game at 6.7 and Penn State is 3rd at 11.7. This game will come down to whichever offense can find a way to move the ball on a few possessions and have a few explosive plays. I wouldn’t be surprised if a big special teams play makes the difference.

💰️ Michigan is the favorite at -4.5 and the O/U is 45.5. I’m taking Michigan and the Under. Watching both teams throughout the season, I think Michigan is too strong for this Penn State team.

#8 Alabama @ Kentucky

📺️ Noon ET on ESPN

👀 This Bama team has been looking good since their loss to Texas and they can clinch the SEC West with a win this weekend. Kentucky isn’t an easy out as the Wildcats just smashed Mississippi State last weekend.

🏃 Kentucky has a good rushing game with Ray Davis at RB, but the Bama front is a tough one that can clog up some holes. I think this will give Kentucky problems in the 2nd half, exactly when Bama has been playing their best football.

💰️ Alabama is the favorite at -10.5 and the O/U is 47.5 I’ll take Kentucky keeping it close and the under.

Miami @ #4 Florida State

📺️ 3:30 pm ET on ABC

👀 Florida State has clinched a spot in the ACC Championship, but that’s not enough to get them into the College Football Playoff. The ‘Noles need to win out and Miami would love nothing more than to screw it all up.

👎️ Miami’s QB Tyler Van Dyke has been playing terribly lately and has more turnovers than TDs in his last 5 games. There’s isn’t a way that The U can win this in the air and if they have a chance it will need to be on the ground. Unfortunately, two of the three Miami RBs have been struggling with injuries but whoever is in the backfield can break off a run.

✈️ If Keon Coleman plays this week for FSU and Jordan Travis has his main target back on the field, I think FSU is going to have their way in the air.

💰️ FSU is the favorite at -14.5 and the O/U is 50.5. If Keon Coleman plays, I’ll take FSU and the under.

#18 Utah @ #5 Washington

📺️ 3:30 pm ET on FOX

👀These are two of the best teams in the Pac-12 and the Utah Utes have to face the #1 passing offense in the nation at their home place.

👉️ I’m not sure how we always seem to get these types of matchups. Washington’s good offense vs Utah’s good defense… Utah’s bad offense vs Washington’s bad defense… this makes it a hard game to analyze. But here we go.

✈️ Washington has one of the best passing offenses in the country but.. and it’s a big but…. the Huskies O-line has been protecting Michael Penix Jr. real well this season. Utah has a tough D-line who should be able to get pressure and make Penix Jr. feel a little uncomfortable.

🐖 Utah’s pig-farming QB Bryson Barnes is still at the helm under center and he’s been inconsistent at best. Last week was by far his best game, facing a weak ASU team. I think he’ll be okay this week if Utah gets the ground game going and Barnes might be able to make a few big plays in the air. The Utah offense hasn’t asked much of him yet and they might not need to this week.

💰️ Washington is the favorite at -9.5 and the O/U is 49.5. I’ll take Utah as the underdog and the over

#9 Ole Miss @ #2 Georgia

📺️ 7 pm ET on ESPN

👀 The Ole Miss receiving corps is one of the most explosive in the country, while the Georgia secondary is one of the most elite. The Rebels have three 600-yard receivers and rank third in the SEC in scoring and total offense. The Bulldogs are allowing just 15.4 points per game and have 11 interceptions.

⏱️This game is going to come down to clock management and if Georgia can keep the ball out of Jaxson Dart’s hands they can limit Dart as a dual threat.

👉️ I’m not going to count Georiga out of anything until someone beats them but I don’t think they’ll win by a huge margin

💰️ Georgia is the favorite at -10.5 and the O/U is 58.5. I’ll take Ole Miss getting points and the under.

#7 Texas @ TCU

📺️ 7:30 pm ET on ABC

🤘 The Texas Longhorns are trying to find their way into the CFP and will have a good shot at keeping their momentum going now that QB Quinn Ewers will be back in the lineup.

📉 TCU has lost 4 of their last five and they’re certainly not the formidable team they were last year. The TCU defense isn’t that great and the Longhorn offense is a top 25 offense. I expect Jonathon Brooks to have a great game for the Longhorns. Explosive plays out of the backfield all day.

💰️ Texas is a -12.5 point favorite and the O/U is 54.5. I think Texas wins this thing on the ground by two touchdowns and the Longhorn defense holds up well. I’ll take Texas and the under.

USC @ #6 Oregon

📺️ 10:30 pm ET on FOX

🙃 This should’ve been a game worth staying up for all season and if the USC defense could make a stop, this game would probably be a primetime matchup for East Coast viewers.

🆚 It’s one prolific offense vs. the other this week in Eugene, Oregon. The Oregon Ducks offense has been rolling and Bo Nix has been playing some awesome ball and it has him at the top of the Heisman race. USC QB Caleb Williams has picked up his performances in the last 2 games and has led USC’s offense to 92 total points in the last two games.

👀 USC just fired their defensive coordinator and I don’t see this being one of those moments when a defense rallies around the new guy and stops a top offense in the country. I expect Oregon to put at least 40 points in this game.

❓️ The big question is what will the Oregon defense do with the Trojans offensive unit. Oregon has a great front and some good athletes in the secondary. I don’t think USC has faced a defense as good as Oregon yet and I think Caleb Williams is going to be under pressure all game. Of course, Williams is one of the best QBs in the country and will make some plays with his feet. I just don’t think Williams can get it done on his own.

💰️ Oregon is -14.5 point favorites and the O/U is 73.5. We’re going to have some late-night fun on this one. I’m taking Oregon and THE OVER.

That’s all for today. Enjoy your happy hours and enjoy your college football. We’ll drop our NFL Sunday preview at some point tomorrow.

-The Daily Breakroom