Strong Defensive Effort Leads Canisius to Victory

Canisius College Golden Griffins fans might want to start paying attention to their basketball team. After seasons of futility and cellar dweller status in the MAAC, things might be starting to turn around for them this year.

Canisius defeated Binghampton on the road 55-45. The Griffs had a dominant night defensively. They only allowed 12 points in the first half as they entered halftime up 16 at 28-12. The Griffs played good basketball throughout the night and appear to be a more focused and talented team this year.

The win puts Canisius at 3-2. There next game is at Iona on December 3rd at 7:30pm. That game marks the beginning of the conference schedule for Canisius. It should be a good test and should reveal if the Griffs are ready to take on the rest of the MAAC.

Syracuse Blows Out Cornell

Syracuse and Cornell both made the NCAA Tournament last season. They both advanced to the Sweet 16. And on Tuesday, they both faced off against one another at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse.

But that is all the two schools had in common on Tuesday as Syracuse blew away Cornell 78-58. The Orangemen entered the game at 6-0 and #7 in the country. Players such as Scoop Jardine, Rick Jackson, and Kris Joseph have stepped up big for Syracuse this year after losing Wesely Johnson and Andy Rautins to the NBA.

Syracuse got off to an early 15-3 lead and maintained control for the entire first half against Cornell. Shortly after Cornell scored a few baskets to get within 8, Syracuse went on a 14-0 run to take a 29-7 lead. Syracuse never eased off the pedal and entered halftime up 38-17.

Kris Joseph and Rick Jackson were tremendous in the first half for Syracuse. Joseph went off for 11 points in the first while Jackson (9 points, 8 rebounds) nearly had a double-double after one one half of action.

Syracuse had a little letdown in the second half but still won the game with ease 78-58. They were actually outscored in the second half 41-40. Rick Jackson continued his great game finishing with 17 points and 13 rebounds while Joseph finished with 16 points.

With the win, Syracuse moves to 7-0 and will next play December 4th at home against North Carolina State.

ACC/Big Ten Challenge Tips Off Tonight

For me, the college basketball season doesn't really begin until the ACC/Big Ten challenge takes place. While technically speaking, the challenge began yesterday with Virginia's upset win over Minnesota, the first major onslaught of games occurs today so my focus is on the games taking place today and tomorrow.

While the more exciting games occur tomorrow, here are the games taking place today:

Tuesday:

7:00pm (espn2) Georgia Tech @ Northwestern

7:00pm (espnu) Iowa @ Wake Forest

7:30pm (espn) Ohio State @ Florida State

9:00pm (espn2) Michigan @ Clemson

9:30 (espn) North Carolina @ Illinois

Among those match-ups, the most exciting games to me are Ohio State-Florida State and North Carolina-Illinois.

Ohio State is a very good team poised to go far in the NCAA tournament this year lead by Jared Sullinger. They have to travel on the road to take on Florida State in a tough place to play. Ohio State has already beaten Florida State's rival Florida on the road this year. Can they make it two for two against the top Florida teams?

Then, North Carolina-Illinois stands out to me. Both teams started the year in the top25. Only Illinois remains there at this point of the season. UNC is lead by super freshmen Harrison Barnes. Barnes is the first freshmen ever to be named a pre-season all-american. Illinois is lead by Demetri McCamey. McCamey is having a great start to the season so far averaging 15 points per game and 7.7 assists per game.

Those are the two match-ups that intrigue me the most on Tuesday. Now on to picks:

Georgia Tech @ Northwestern: Northwestern

Iowa @ Wake Forest: Iowa

Ohio State @ Florida State: Ohio State

Michigan @ Clemson: Clemson

North Carolina @ Illinois: North Carolina

ACC/Big Ten Challenge Winner: ACC (6-5)

I'll have an update tomorrow on the results of Tuesday's games and a preview of Wednesday's games.

Rumor: Terry Pegula Signs Letter of Intent to Buy Sabres

According to many sources, billionaire Terry Pegula has signed a letter of intent to buy the Buffalo Sabres for about $150 million dollars. The Buffalo Sabres are denying the report and nothing has been confirmed yet.

This would be a huge deal in Buffalo. It would mean the end of the Tom Golisano ownership of the Sabres which has had its ups and downs through his short time here. It'd also signal a new beginning for the team and organization.

Pegula is from Pennsylvania and is the CEO of East Resources Inc. He is a self made billionaire and attended Penn State. Earlier this year, he donated $88 million dollars to Penn State to build a division 1 hockey program.

If Pegula buys the team, he will keep the team in Buffalo. He has lived near Buffalo before and his wife is from Fairport. He is a big fan of hockey and understands that Buffalo loves its hockey.

This is really surprising news if this story is true. While we all knew that Golisano was possibly trying to sell the team, we didn't know that it was going to happen this soon. Buffalo should be excited if this deal follows through.

More updates on this story to follow.

Derek Jeter Should Re-Sign With The Yankees

Free agent shortstop Derek Jeter is searching for a ball club. Boy, isn't that weird to hear. Derek Jeter has been with the Yankees since 1995 and has never been with a different organization.

But now, there is a possibility that Mr. Yankee might be leaving the team that has made him one of the greatest players in baseball history. The Yankees and Derek Jeter are having trouble coming to terms for a contract.

The Yankees have offered Jeter a 3 year contract worth $15 million dollars a year. This is a great offer considering that Jeter is 36 years old and is coming off his worse statistical season of his career.

But Jeter is refusing to budge from his demands. According to the associated press, Jeter is searching for a 4-5 year contract worth 23-24 million dollars a year.

This is a very tough situation to choose whose side to jump on. Jeter is one of the greatest Yankees of all time and is close to 3,000 hits. He has been consistently good for 14 years. Yankee fans love him and he is the captain on the most prestigious team in baseball.

Yet, you can not ignore the fact that he is aging, his stats are going down, and his range as a shortstop is getting smaller. No one doubts the fact that he is not worth $15 million dollars a year based on his current performance. But, one may argue that he deserves whatever money or years he wants based on a great career and dedication to the Yankees.

Jeter is coming off a 10 year, $189 million dollar contract. He obviously doesn't want to see a decline in salary. Him and his supporters say that he is coming off one bad season and he'll come back to form next year.

I am more inclined to believe that Jeter will return to form next year. But with that being said, I think he should accept the Yankees table on the board.

He is demanding too much money from the Yankees and will never get close to what he is demanding. No other teams in the big leagues will offer anything close to what the Yankees are offering either. If it was about the years left on the contract, I'd take Jeter's side. But this situation seems to be more about the money then the years. Jeter should man up, accept that the Yankees won't raise their offer and sign with the Yankees now.

It may be the only offer he gets.

TCU to Join The Big East

Effective July 1, 2012, Texas Christian University (TCU) will be a member of the Big East Conference.

TCU currently plays in the Mountain West Conference and has one of the top football programs in the country. They are #3 in the country at 12-0 and are either heading to the Rose Bowl or the National Championship game depending on results of the Auburn and Oregon games.

The move is for all sports so including basketball so TCU will become the 17th member of the Big East for basketball and the 9th member of the Big East for football.

The main reason why TCU joined the Big East was to join a conference that is an automatic qualifier for the BCS. If TCU wins the Big East, they are guaranteed to go to go to a BCS game. While in the Mountain West Conference, they were not guaranteed a BCS spot if they won the conference championship.

The move is kinda odd geographically as all of the member of the Big East are along the eastern parts of the United States. TCU plays far west of Big East schools as they are located in Texas. This could be difficult travel wise for them but they have been in this situation before when they played in the "old" Conference USA in the early 2000's.

This looks like a good move for TCU and should take their athletics program up to another level playing on the higher stage.

As for the Big East, this is a tremendous pickup for them and should make them a stronger conference down the line.

Bills Lose Heartbreaker to the Steelers

It seems as though the Buffalo Bills find new ways to lose every week. This week, Steve Johnson dropped a pass while wide open in the endzone in overtime. Pittsburgh went down the field and kicked a field goal and won 19-16 in overtime.

The game started out great for Pittsburgh. They started the game on a 7 minute 54 second drive resulting in a 1 yard touchdown run by Rashard Mendenhall. Pittsburgh dominated the entire first half.

The Steelers had the ball for 24 minutes compared to 6 minutes for Buffalo and had over 230 yards compared to 51 yards for Buffalo. Yet, they had to settle for field goals instead of touchdowns. Pittsburgh entered the half up 13-0.

Then momentum changed in the second half. Although Lee Evans fumbled the ball at the Pittsburgh 19, the Buffalo offense showed signs of life. They followed a 60 yard drive with a 4 play 80 yard drive that was capped by a 65 yard touchdown reception by Fred Jackson on a screen pass.

The Bills then managed to stop the Steelers again and they kicked another field goal to make it 13-10 Steelers. Pittsburgh fumbled the ball in their own territory on their next drive and Buffalo capitalized kicking a field goal to tie the game at 13-13.

The Steelers offense got into Buffalo territory on their next drive on a huge Rashard Mendenhall run but holding was called on Pittsburgh taking the run back. Pittsburgh got itself into a long 3rd and 17. Ben Roethlisberger made a miraculous play avoiding a sack and ran for 19 yards getting the first down. The next play, Mendenhall went off for a big run putting Pittsburgh in field goal range. Suisham hit the 48 yarder and Pittsburgh went ahead by 3 with 6:19 left in the fourth.

On the ensuing possession, the Bills drove all the way inside the redzone but threw an interception to Troy Polamalu with slightly over 2:00 minutes remaining. It looked like the game was over but the Bills didn't give up. They forced Pittsburgh to punt the ball with 1 minute left in the fourth quarter giving them a chance to tie the game.

Ryan Fitzpatrick led the Bills into field goal possession on the drive. Then, Ryan Lindell hit a 49 yarder with 2 seconds left in the fourth quarter to send the game into overtime tied at 19-19.

In overtime, Leodis McKelvin almost clinched the game for Buffalo as he returned the opening kickoff to the Pittsburgh 48 yard line. He tripped over his own Buffalo player which prevented a possible touchdown. The Bills didn't do anything on there drive and were forced to punt. The Bills quickly got the ball back after they sacked Big Ben to force a 3 & out. Roethlisberger was close to coming down in the endzone for a safety but came down at the half yard line.

On the Bills next drive, they thought they won the game. Ryan Fitzpatrick connected to Steve Johnson in the endzone for a 40 yard touchdown but their was one problem. Steve Johnson dropped the ball. He was wide open and had nobody near him. The ball fell right in his arms but just fell to the ground.

The Bills drive stalled when Fitzpatrick got sacked at the Steelers 40 yard line. Pittsburgh got the ball back at their own 20 and drived down the field. Suishame made a 41 yard field goal with 2 minutes 14 seconds left in overtime to win the game for the Pittsburgh Steelers 19-16

Attendance: 69,642

Buffalo's Record: 2-9 (4th in AFC East)

Interesting Note: Rashard Mendenhall's 151 yards was the most he's rushed for this season

Key Facts:

-Fred Jackson had over 100 yards receiving

-Fitzpatrick had over 250 yards passing

-Steve Johnson had 7 receptions but also had 4 drops

-Johnson dropped pass in endzone that would've won the game for the Bills

-Hines Ward had over 100 yards receiving

-Rashard Mendenhall had a season high 151 yards rushing

-The Bills made a 13 point comeback to tie the game before losing in OT

Bills Stats:

Ryan Fitzpatrick- 23-45, 265 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception, 67 rating

Fred Jackson:- 12 carries, 59 yards, 5 receptions, 104 yards, 1 touchdown (65 yards)

Steve Johnson- 7 receptions, 68 yards

David Nelson- 6 reception, 58 yards

Kyle Williams- 2 sacks

Jairus Byrd- Recovered Fumble

Bills Place Merriman on IR; Roosevelt Activated to 53 Man Roster

The Buffalo Bills have put linebackers Shawne Merriman and Keith Ellison on injured reserve.

This is disappointing news for Bills fans who were very excited when the bills claimed Merriman off waivers. Merriman never played in any games for the Bills as he got injured 20 minutes into his first practice with the Bills

Merriman cost the Bills $1.7 million dollars this season despite him not playing in any games. Many sources have already stated that there is no chance that he will return to the Bills next season. Many people will look at this as an unwise investment for the Bills but I don't look at it that way.

-Merriman was a cheap investment

-The Bills had nothing to lose ($1.7 million isn't much by NFL standards)

-The Bills made an aggressive move (That's what they have been lacking in the past)

-Sometimes, things just don't work (Just move on)

-They might get a compensatory pick in the draft as a result

As far as Keith Ellison, him going on injured reserve isn't a big deal. After getting significant playing time in year's past, he hasn't played much recently. He doesn't provide much of an impact for the Bills and they are not losing much with him out.

The feel good news of the day was that wide receiver Naaman Roosevelt got promoted to the 53-man roster. Roosevelt is from Buffalo and played for St. Joseph's High School and the University of Buffalo. He set records at both schools and has a decent fan base locally. At UB, he had 174 receptions combined during his junior and senior seasons. This is awesome news for Buffalo people to have one of their own playing for the Bills.

Ohio Gets Back on Track vs. Santa Clara

As bad as Ohio looked last night vs. #6 Kansas, they understood that they had to put the loss behind them...........and quickly. Ohio rebounded well from last nights loss to Kansas by defeating Santa Clara 78-72 Saturday night in Las Vegas.

Santa Clara is a decent team from the West Coast Conference. They entered Saturday's game at 4-2. Ohio knew that they were going to be challenged and that it wasn't going to be an easy game.

D.J. Cooper stepped up to the challenge going off for 29 points and Nick Kellogg hit a crucial go ahead 3 pointer with 1:01 left in the 2nd half to put Ohio ahead. Ohio was down 70-66 with 4:57 left in the second half when they decided to go off. The Bobcats ended the game on 12-2 run to win 78-72.

Other players having good performances for Ohio were T.J. Hall and Ivo Baltic. Hall had 15 points and 6 steals and Baltic had 8 points and 9 rebounds.

Free throw shooting was important for Ohio as they shot 26-30 from the line. D.J. Cooper was 12-12 from the line and went 4-4 in the last 26 seconds of the game. Ohio moves to 4-2 with the win and Santa Clara falls to 4-3 with the loss.

Attendance: Not Announced

Ohio's Record: 4-2

Next Game: vs. Marshall (12/04)

Key Fact: Ohio shot 26-30 on free throws

Interesting Note: Ohio's 6 point win is a 53 point differential from their 47 point loss last game vs. Kansas

Sabres Fall to Canadiens 3-1

When the Sabres fail to show up, their games tend to get ugly. A perfect example of this was displayed Saturday night when Buffalo lost to Montreal 3-1. The Sabres offense never showed up and Montreal scored enough to gain control for most of the game.

Andrei Kostitsyn led off the scoring for the Canadiens on a 5 on 3 power-play goal assisted by Brian Gionta and Tomas Plekanec. Andre Sekera tossed the puck over the glass for a delay of game penalty that gave Montreal the 5 on 3 advantage. Montreal ended the first period up 1-0

Then, the Canadiens decided to put the game out of hand in the second period. Brian Gionta added 2 goals in the second to put the Canadiens up 3-0. Gionta had a stellar game with 2 goals and an assist. Tomas Plekanec also had a good game with two assists. The game entered the third period 3-0 Canadiens.

The third period was a boring period of hockey with little action going on. The only goal was scored by Sabres defenseman Jordan Leopold with 1:13 left in the game. The goal was too little-too late as the Sabres couldn't score again and went on to lose 3-1.

The Sabres now have a nice break until Friday. The Sabres next game is December 3rd at home against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Attendance: 21,273

Buffalo's Record: 9-13-3 (21 points) 11th in the East

Last 10: 5-4-1

Interesting Note: Steve Montador was a +1 tonight moving to +16 on the season

Key Fact: Buffalo won only 21 of 55 faceoffs vs. Montreal

Three Stars:

1st- Brian Gionta (Montreal Canadiens)

2nd- Carey Price (Montreal Canadiens)

3rd- Andre Kostitsyn (Montreal Canadiens)

Ohio Gets Destroyed by Kansas

Talk about a bad day for Ohio University sports. The football team disappointed us by getting upset by Kent State. Then, their basketball team played even worse when they lost to Kansas 98-41. We knew that they probably weren't going to beat #6 Kansas. We just wanted them to be competitive for a little while.

Ohio was never in the game from the beginning. Kansas forward Marcus Morris lit up the Bobcats for 26 points and guard Travis Releford added 13 off the bench for the red hot Jayhawks. Kansas got off to a fast start and entered the half up 43-20.

It got even worse in the second half when Kansas outscored Ohio 55-21. Then, to make matters worse, Ohio guard Ricardo Johnson got ejected from the game for his flagrant foul. There were no bright spots in the game for Ohio. D.J. Cooper had 16 points but had no assists and a few turnovers. Ohio's play was just flat ugly as they lost 98-41.

Attendance: not announced

Ohio's Record: 3-2

Next Game: Santa Clara (in Las Vegas) 11/27

Key Fact: Ohio only has 3 assists all night vs. Kansas

Interesting Note: Ohio had 22 turnovers and only 3 assists

Steelers-Bills Preview

The mighty Pittsburgh Steelers travel to Buffalo on Sunday to play the suddenly alive Buffalo Bills. Pittsburgh enters the game at 7-3 off a victory against Oakland and Buffalo enters at 2-8 coming off two consecutive wins.

Many "experts" predict this game to be a blowout. On paper, this appears to be the case. Pittsburgh has an elite defense that is number 1 in the NFL against the run. Then on offense, they are led by quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and running back Rashard Mendenhall. They are a mighty team that figures to be a contender in the playoffs.

Then you have the Bills. The Bills are a young team that is finally starting to put together some solid games together. After losing 3 consecutive games by 3 points, the Bills have won 2 consecutive games against the Detroit Lions and the Cincinnati Bengals. Their offense has come alive scoring 49 points last week in their 21 point comeback win. Ryan Fitzpatrick has been on fire. He's thrown for 18 touchdowns in 8 games and averages 245 yards passing per game. Steve Johnson gets the majority of the targets as he has over 50 catches on the season and 9 touchdowns. The passing games has opened up the run game for Fred Jackson as he has been on fire as of late posting two consecutive 100 yard games with multiple touchdowns.

The key to the game will be if the Bills offense can score points against the Pittsburgh defense. We all know that the Steelers are going to light up the Bills defense. Buffalo can't stop anybody and you can almost guarantee that Pittsburgh will score at least 25 points. Buffalo will give Pittsburgh a fight but in the end, Pittsburgh will be to much for Buffalo.

Prediction: Pittsburgh 38-21

Ohio Pitiful in Loss to Kent State

Ohio fans, you can forget about the MAC Championship. Ohio entered the game in position to go to the MAC Championship game with a win but instead, pulled a stinker and lost to Kent State 28-6. Boo Jackson and the offense never got it going and struggled the entire game.

Kent State got on the scoreboard first when they sacked and forced a Boo Jackson fumble in the endzone. Luke Batton recovered the ball and Kent State went up 7-0. Then, Ohio special teams let them down. Paul Hershey got stopped on a fake punt near the Ohio 30 yard line and Marcellis Williamson jumped offsides on a Kent State field goal attempt giving Kent State a first down. With Kent State retaining the ball, Spencer Keith ran it in from 1 yard out to give Kent State the 14-0 lead.

Matt Weller added two field goals for Ohio to make it 14-6 but that would be as close as Ohio would get. Eugene Jarvis and Andre Flowers added touchdowns for Kent State in the fourth quarter and they went on to win 28-6.

This was a shocking performance for Ohio considering it was a must win game. It looked as though they weren't prepared. They never showed up. Boo Jackson made many poor decisions and held onto the ball too long getting sacked 5 times. And when Boo did make good decisions, Ohio wide receivers were dropping the ball. With the loss, Ohio falls to 8-4 (6-2). They are no longer going to the MAC Championship game but they will still probably go to a bowl game to be announced.

Attendance: 8,340

Ohio's Record: 8-4 (6-2)

Next Game: Bowl Game (to be announced)

Interesting Note: Boo Jackson didn't score a touchdown in a game for the first time this season

Key Stat: The six points Ohio scored vs. Kent State is the lowest amount of points they've scored this season

Team Stat Comparison

	Ohio	Kent St
1st Downs	11	13
3rd down efficiency	2-16	2-11
4th down efficiency	4-6	0-0
Total Yards	183	240
Passing	133	100
Comp-Att	14-27	11-19
Yards per pass	3.9	5.0
Rushing	50	140
Rushing Attempts	37	36
Yards per rush	1.4	3.9
Penalties	4-25	3-19
Turnovers	4	0
Fumbles lost	2	0
Interceptions thrown	2	0
Possession	31:58	28:02