Chicago Sports

College football continues during the 3:30 window with plenty of exciting matchups.

Here are the best bets for the 3:30 games on 10/29.

Florida vs. Georgia on CBS

Florida comes into this game off a bye which is helpful as this is the team in college football you would like to have an extra week to prepare for. Unfortunately Georgia is off a bye too. Anthony Richardson has been poor to be frank. Watching him this year the one thing that has been noticeable is his touch when he throws. He doesn’t really have it because every throw he makes is as hard as he can throw it whether it a two yard screen or 60 yard bomb its the same arm speed.

When it comes to this Florida team he’s the story at the end of the day they revolve around his play. The Tennessee game nobody thought Florida had a shot going to Tennessee but Anthony played his best game all season and only lost by 5. If Anthony Richardson can play a little bit like he did against Tennessee then this could be interesting and potentially shake up college football.

Georgia comes off a bye as well after two impressive game beating Vandy 55-0 and beating Auburn 42-10. The week prior to that was when they struggled against Missouri and only took the lead with 4 minutes left in the game. The biggest question mark for everyone is Stetson Bennett and how he has been playing. On the year he only has 7 touchdowns throwing and they put up 42 points per game. On the contrary to Anthony Richardson, Georgia does not need Stetson Bennett to be amazing because of their defense and how well they do to turnover the ball or put the offense in plus territory.

The Bet: This is technically a neutral site game at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville and its hard to take a big spread for Georgia after seeing what Richardson can do at Tennessee. I’m going to take the over instead 56.5.

Oklahoma State vs. Kansas State on FOX

I discussed Oklahoma State last week and I talked about Spencer Sanders mostly. Oklahoma State is 6-1 and if you’ve watched their games you’re wondering “how” just like me. Spencer Sanders is the QB and I’m just not sure how this team is successful in college football. He is a tough kid but his throws are very bad and he just takes off half the time and runs.

They won the Texas game because Quinn Ewers and Texas is awful. Spencer and Oklahoma State didn’t play well at all Texas had a billion chances to win but were miserable. Oklahoma State has to go into Bill Snyder Family Stadium and they won’t have the crowd to keep them in it this time.

Kansas State lost a tough one last week to TCU when their starting QB Adrian Martinez and even their backup Will Howard went down. Adrian Martinez is not sure if he will play this week but Will Howard the backup who looked solid is said to be available. If either one play I do feel that they will be ok against this Oklahoma State defense. Kansas State has a solid defense this year and hopefully they will be able to expose Spencer Sanders and close them out which no one has been able to do.

TCU had to come back two scores in the 4th quarter to beat Ok. St a couple weeks back. Hopefully Kansas State stays on the gas pedal.

The Bet: Oklahoma State can’t keep getting away with these wins. Take Kansas State -1.5.

Illinois vs. Nebraska on ABC

Illinois is rolling with Bret Bielama this year. I previewed the game coming up earlier this week but its safe to say Illini fans are excited and ready for Illinois to run the table. Tommy DeVito and Chase Brown have been good with Chase Brown being exceptional. Chase is over 1,000 yards already and he is the guy Illinois has to rely on offensively. Defensively they are statistically playing unbelievable in all of college football giving up 8.9 points per game and under 80 rush yards per game. Illinois is off a bye so they have had time to prepare which is good because Nebraska is sneaky now as they’ve flown under the radar since the Frost firing.

Nebraska has been out of the news for a while which is best case scenario for them as they have been able to focus on football. Nebraska is also off a bye but it won’t matter much if Casey Thompson can’t stay out of trouble and make the right passes.

Illinois defense is on of the best in college football and Casey will have to try and play this game safe to make sure Nebraska has a chance throughout this game. The defense is obviously the weakest point as they let up about 500 yards total a game. As long as Illinois play their game with balance then Nebraska may struggle to contain Illinois. The home field will be helpful for Nebraska as the fans always shout in Lincoln no matter what.

The Bet: Illinois has a great chance to win the Big Ten West and coming off the bye for the later half of the season this game is important to start it strong. Illinois -7.5.

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Greg Brown got one season on the job as the Cubs’ hitting coach, continuing a pattern of turnover in the position over the past decade.

Brown will not return next season, the Sun-Times confirmed Friday. He was offered another position within the organization but decided to seek opportunities elsewhere.

The Cubs will promote Dustin Kelly from minor-league hitting coordinator to major-league hitting coach.He will be the eighth coach to hold the position since 2012. Kelly spent two seasons as the Cubs’ minor-league hitting coordinator, after three seasons as a minor-league hitting coach in the Dodgers’ farm system.

The rebuilding Cubs ranked No. 22 in MLB this season in runs scored (657), a year after trading away their offensive championship core at the deadline. They were in the bottom half of the league when it came to team batting average (.238), on base percentage (.311) and slugging (.387).

“It’s not going to work out for every player to have their career years [the same season],” Brown said in a conversation with the Sun-Times during the last series of the season. “And if they do, we’ll probably win the championship that time. But when it comes down to being able to set the expectations and the standards in which we’re trying to achieve, well, I think that’s been done in Year 1. And I think that’s a success.”

This year was Brown’s first on a major-league coaching staff, as part of a robust and eclectic career in baseball.

Brown, a former minor-league player, was an area scout with the Astros in 2009-2010 before spending nine seasons as the head coach at Nova Southeastern University. He then spent two seasons as the minor-league hitting coordinator for the Tampa Bay Rays before the Cubs hired him last winter.

The lockout stifled Brown’s ability to contact his new players for much of the offseason, and he had a condensed spring training to get to know them better.

“I made mistakes of trying to help without creating that relationship first,” Brown said. “And so, that’s been a large portion of my learning curve throughout [this season.] That’s something you take away and go, ‘moving forward, how do I not make that mistake again?'”

Canario injured in winter league

Cubs outfield prospect Alexander Canario broke his left ankle and dislocated his left shoulder while playing in the Dominican Winter League, a source confirmed Friday.

Canario, the Cubs’ No. 9 ranked prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, was coming off a breakout season in which he climbed from High-A South Bend to Triple-A Iowa. Canario, 22, led the Cubs farm system with 37 home runs, the second-most in MiLB this season, trailing only Cardinals prospect Mois?s G?mez (39).

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The Bears know what they have to do when they get to the line of scrimmage Sunday against the Cowboys.

“Every snap, you’ve got to be aware of where 11 is at,” center Sam Mustipher said.

No. 11 is Micah Parsons, the Cowboys’ all-world linebacker who was drafted one spot below Bears quarterback Justin Fields last year. He’s ranked first in the league in pressures (36), second in sacks (8) and tackles for loss (9), fourth in quarterback hits (14) and fifth in forced fumbles (2).

He might also lead the league in nightmares given opposing offensive coordinators.

Technically an off-ball linebacker, Parsons moves to the edge roughly three-quarters of the time, usually to rush the passer. When he approaches the line, Mustipher needs to identify where Parsons is. So does quarterback Justin Fields. Then the Bears have to block him — no small feat for tackles Braxton Jones and Riley Reiff, the latter of whom figures to replace the concussed Larry Borom.

“He’s an animal — you can’t act like he isn’t,” running back David Montgomery said. “He’s a dog, so it’s going to be a big challenge for us …

“He’s one of those guys that you just always keep an eye on, always be sure that you know where he is on the field. Because he can wreck a game.”

The challenge, Getsy said, is to find ways to handle Parsons without knowing exactly where he’ll be on every play.

“If you don’t, he’ll make you look bad, for sure,” he said.

How bad? No one has been sacked –or fumbled –more than Fields, and that was before guard/center Lucas Patrick went to injured reserve with a toe injury and Borom suffered a concussion.

Parsons–who was listed as questionable with a shoulder injury Friday but is expected to play — wins a league-high one-third of his pass rushes, per ESPN. The Bears might not have the advantage of Fields’ speed, either; Parsons told Cowboys reporters this week that the two have raced before, and he won.

“It’s not even close,” he said.

Parsons reminds Getsy of former Packers edge rusher Clay Matthews, who moved to inside linebacker in 2014 because of injuries. He might be better than Matthews was that year; of the 27 players with better than 30-1 odds to win NFL MVP, Parsons is the only defender. He might have a chance to win, too, as the best player on a Cowboys defense that leads the league with 29 sacks, 32 hurries and 90 pressures. Only one team allows more points than the 14.9 they give up each game.

The Eagles found a creative way to slow Parsons down Oct. 16, running read option plays to freeze him. Rushing from the end, Parsons had to pause to read whether speedy quarterback Jalen Hurts would hand the ball off, keep it or throw it.

“They just didn’t block him,” Fields said. “They just made him the ‘read’ most of the time, so of course that’s one way to get him to stop the rush.”

The Cowboys will be ready for it this time.

“He’s a freak, man,” said tight end Cole Kmet, who will be asked to help block Parsons with chips. “His explosiveness off the line, his ability to play both on the line, off the ball. …

“Third-down situations, he’s going to be looking to tee off. It’s going to be on us to establish the run game early and kind of wear those guys down and stay out of those third-and-long situations when it’s obvious passing downs.”

But first, they have to find him.

“He’s amazing,” Getsy said. “And the challenge of knowing where he’s at is definitely one of the biggest tasks to be able to have success against these guys.”

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The Bears figure to face a Cowboys team missing its lead running back after Ezekiel Elliott was ruled doubtful for Sunday’s game with a right knee injury.

Elliott was hurt last week against the Lions and did not practice all week. Sitting him Sunday would benefit the Cowboys, who have a bye after the Bears game.

Tony Pollard, who has been successful in a tandem with Elliott, would get the majority of the carries with him gone.

“Pollard is a good back,” head coach Matt Eberflus said Friday. “They have a couple good backs. Obviously, Zeke, I have known him forever. He’s powerful and an unbelievable back. Pollard is a good back, too.

“They got the one-two punch just like we have. It’ll adjust their thinking a little bit, but we’ll see how it goes during the game. We will have to see how it goes.”

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Demar Derozan and the Chicago Bulls travel to San Antonio for a battle with the Spurs as five point betting favorites.

The 3-2 Chicago Bulls look to build off of two consecutive wins at the United Center, as they head to San Antonio for the first night of a back-to-back to face the 3-2 Spurs. With a meeting looming Saturday night against an Eastern Conference contender in the 76ers, the Chicago Bulls have listed Zach LaVine as questionable with “injury management” as the designation.

I mentioned on Wednesday’s blog that I hate to speculate and guess an injury, which I went ahead and did anyways, but it does seem like with the Bulls are enacting a load management approach to LaVine tonight. It may be expected that the team prefers his full effort against a playoff contending Eastern Conference team tomorrow night, as opposed to a less-talented non-conference team here tonight.

Wednesday night, we played the Chicago Bulls team total over, and while it ended up being a last-minute winner, we moved to 4-1 on the young season! Win, lose or draw, I will keep these best bets rolling in, and with any luck, the wins will keep piling up. Let’s keep this thing alive, and let’s get a nice win streak rolling for our guys. Best of luck, and GO BULLS!!

2022 Bulls Best Bet Record: 4-1

Demar Derozan Over 27.5 Points (Sportsbook odds may vary)

I typically keep myself away from ‘star-player’ props in the NBA, but of course in every case, there is a time and place to bet on the noteworthy names. In tonight’s case, I think Demar Derozan has a prime opportunity to light the score sheet up, against his former team.

To get things off and rolling, I mentioned Zach LaVine’s injury status in the intro. While a present Zach LaVine could still offer a great night for Derozan, an absent LaVine will almost certainly guarantee us a serious volume of opportunities for Demar. The difference in scoring volume and usage, understandably is night and day.

To open the season on the road in Miami and Washington, with LaVine sidelined, Derozan tallied 37 and 32 points attempting 22 and 23 shots across those two games. In the three games since, his totals drop to 18.3 points on 13.3 shots attempted, with the highest numbers of each coming against Boston, recording 25 points on 17 shots. Similar splits can be seen across last year’s campaign as well, as Demar’s massive month of February was spent largely with LaVine on the sideline.

The other point to make that is less important, but still noteworthy, is the revenge factor. Derozan spent three years in San Antonio prior to joining the Chicago Bulls last season, and in both matchups last year Demar was fantastic. With Zach LaVine in the lineup, Derozan ended the first of the two games with 32 points on 22 attempts in a loss, and in the second meeting without LaVine, dropped 40 points and 7 assists in a 120-109 win in that unbelievable February run.

I’m taking a risk with the expectation that Zach LaVine will be out, and if so, fully expect 20-plus shot attempts from Derozan. If that is not the case and LaVine ends up suiting up tonight, I can still take solace in knowing that Demar is more than capable of putting together a huge night, regardless of who his running mates are.

I am treading lightly on the spread for this game, as San Antonio has scoring ability of their own and has proven to be a tough matchup for our Bulls defense, but by no means am I telling you to avoid betting the Bulls. I think this game is a closely contested game, offering for plenty of scoring volume for guys on both sides here, but certainly feel the strongest that Derozan will show up big tonight.

Best of luck tonight, and I will see you tomorrow for a big matchup with Philly at the UC!

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The Chicago Bears rule out starting right tackle Larry Borom against Dallas

The Chicago Bears will be a little shorthanded on the offensive line for the Week 8 matchup in Dallas.

With Lucas Patrick going on Injured Reserve, he will miss Week 8 and will be replaced by Sam Mustipher as the starter. But he wont be the only shuffle on the line.

Starting right tackle Larry Borom will also miss the game, dealing with a concussion. The Bears ruled Borom out on Friday after he did not practice all week at Halas Hall. Borom did not pass the concussion protocol:

#Bears Friday Injury Report: pic.twitter.com/uA0h7TOboQ

— Bears Communications (@BearsPR) October 28, 2022

With Borom out, the Bears will likely turn to veteran Riley Reiff to get the start at right tackle against the Cowboys. Reiff was signed in the offseason and got some first team reps at tackle but eventually lost the job to Borom.

The Bears also activated Alex Leatherwood off the NFI list as he is back on the 53-man roster.

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Alex Leatherwood will be activated against the Cowboys

Two starting offensive linemen from the Chicago Bears Week 7 game will not be playing against the Dallas Cowboys this week. The Bears announced earlier that Lucas Patrick would go to the injured reserve. Larry Borom will be out in Week 8 with a concussion injury. The Bears lost starting offensive lineman Cody Whitehair to the injured reserve earlier this month. With those injuries, the Bears got a timely activation for Alex Leatherwood.

According to Kevin Fishbain with The Athletic, the head coach Matt Eberflus announced the Bears would activate Leatherwood to the active roster.

Alex Leatherwood had to miss several early season games as he was reportedly battling a mononucleosis illness and was placed in NFI. The Bears claimed Leatherwood off of waivers in August after the Las Vegas Raiders waived him following training camp.

This is Leatherwood’s second season in the NFL. He was drafted by the Raiders in the first round but did not appear to make progress with the team before they decided to waive him this season. He was initially drafted to be a tackle. But he has played guard as well. It’s unclear how the Bears plan to use him if he plays against the Cowboys. He has worked with the Bears at right tackle in practice.

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Bears tackle Larry Borom will miss Sunday’s game against the Cowboys after the Bears ruled him out with a concussion on Friday.

Borom started and finished Monday night’s win against the Patriots but did not participate in practices or walk-throughs this week.

Veteran Riley Reiff is likely to be his replacement. Reiff has played only one offensive snap this season — he was an extra blocker Monday night — but has 11 years of experience at tackle. He made 12 starts at right tackle for the Bengals last year but was injured before their Super Bowl run.

Head coach Matt Eberflus refused to name a starter but said the obvious: that the Bears have only so many options to replace Borom.

“Reiff’s been ready to go,” Eberflus said.

Borom, who is in his second season, started every game this year at right tackle. He beat out Reiff in training camp, securing the job toward the end of the exhibition season.

The Bears offensive line will be challenged Sunday by a Cowboys defense that leads the NFL in sacks. They’ll be without Lucas Patrick, who was put on the injured reserve this week with a toe injury. Sam Mustipher will start at center and Michael Schofield will play left guard.

The Bears are getting some reinforcements back, though. Eberflus said the team would return Alex Leatherwood to the active roster this week. A first-round pick by the Raiders in 2021, Leatherwood was cut in early September and claimed by the Bears. He went on the reserve/non-football injury list with mononucleosis earlier this year and has yet to play for the Bears.

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Greg Brown got one season on the job as the Cubs’ hitting coach, continuing a pattern of turnover in the position over the past decade.

Brown will not return next season, the Sun-Times confirmed. He was offered another position within the organization but decided to seek opportunities elsewhere.

The Cubs will promote Dustin Kelly from minor-league hitting coordinator to major-league hitting coach.He will be the eighth coach to hold the position since 2012. Kelly spent two seasons as the Cubs’ minor-league hitting coordinator, after three seasons as a minor-league hitting coach in the Dodgers’ farm system.

The rebuilding Cubs ranked No. 22 in MLB this season in runs scored (657), a year after trading away their offensive championship core at the deadline. They were in the bottom half of the league when it came to team batting average (.238), on base percentage (.311) and slugging (.387).

“It’s not going to work out for every player to have their career years [the same season],” Brown said in a conversation with the Sun-Times during the last series of the season. “And if they do, we’ll probably win the championship that time. But when it comes down to being able to set the expectations and the standards in which we’re trying to achieve, well, I think that’s been done in Year 1. And I think that’s a success.”

This year was Brown’s first on a major-league coaching staff, as part of a robust and eclectic career in baseball.

Brown, a former minor-league player, was an area scout with the Astros in 2009-2010 before spending nine seasons as the head coach at Nova Southeastern University. He then spent two seasons as the minor-league hitting coordinator for the Tampa Bay Rays before the Cubs hired him last winter.

The lockout stifled Brown’s ability to contact his new players for much of the offseason, and he had a condensed spring training to get to know them better.

“I made mistakes of trying to help without creating that relationship first,” Brown said. “And so, that’s been a large portion of my learning curve throughout [this season.] That’s something you take away and go, ‘moving forward, how do I not make that mistake again?'”

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