The Men’s College Basketball championship game is now set between the UConn Huskies and Purdue Boilermakers. Before the game, we had some huge news in college basketball. John Calipari has left Kentucky and taken over as Head Coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks. Calipari spent 15 years with Kentucky where he won a national title in 2012. As far as the Women’s Championship, the South Carolina Gamecocks capped a perfect season by defeating Iowa. Purdue reached the championship game by defeating N.C. State to end their Cinderella season. UConn took down Alabama in their Final Four matchup to reach their second consecutive championship game. These are the two teams picked…
Who Wins the NCAA Women’s National Championship?
We are now down to four teams vying for their opportunity to cut down the nets. N.C. State, South Carolina, UConn, and Iowa have made it to the Final Four. Who leaves Cleveland as the 2024 NCAA Women’s National Champion? In the first game, we have the N.C. State Wolfpack taking on the undefeated South Carolina Gamecocks. N.C. State as a school is riding a high right now. The men’s team is also in the Final Four and trying to advance to the championship game on Monday Night. In the other semifinal game, we have the UConn Huskies battling the Iowa Hawkeyes. The big matchup will see Paige Bueckers taking…
Who Advances to the Championship Game on Monday Night?
We are now down to the Final Four of the 2024 Men’s NCAA Tournament. Who had UConn, Purdue, Alabama, and N.C. State in their bracket to reach the Final Four? My Sweet 16 picks was horrible and UConn is the only team correctly picked for the Final Four. The only region that was picked correctly came from the East Region. UConn and Illinois were picked to meet in the Region Finals and the Huskies emerged as the winner. In the West, North Carolina and Arizona were my picks to meet in the West Region Finals. Instead, we had the Crimson Tide upsetting the Tar Heels in one game. In the…
Who Advances from the Sweet 16 to Final Four?
We are now down to the Sweet 16 of the 2024 NCAA Men’s Tournament. Despite the countless upsets, we still have all #1 seeds alive heading into the second weekend. UConn won their games by a total of 56 points. They are looking to become the first repeat champion since the 2007-2008 Florida Gators. Houston needed OT to barely edge Texas A&M and earn a trip to the Sweet 16. Purdue has also dominated their first two opponents also. They beat down Grambling and Utah State by a total of 67 points on their way to the Sweet 16. The final top seed in North Carolina cruised by their first…
Top 5 Western Conference Teams Heading into All-Star Weekend
The NBA trade deadline has come and gone and now we’re in the second half of the season. With the Super Bowl out of the way, we shift all our attention to the NBA. The NBA All-Star weekend festivities take place this weekend. We have less than 30 games remaining in the regular season. We have named the top 5 teams in the Eastern Conference heading into All-Star weekend. We now shift our focus to the Western Conference and their top 5 teams. There are four teams that are separated by only 2 games atop the west. The Denver Nuggets are the defending NBA Champions. Are they the best team…
Top 5 Eastern Conference Teams Heading into All-Star Weekend
The NBA trade deadline has come and gone and now we’re in the second half of the season. The Super Bowl was last weekend and now the NBA takes center stage. The NBA All-Star weekend festivities occur this weekend. With less than 30 games remaining in the season there’s still a lot of basketball to be played. We will focus on the Eastern Conference and their top teams. The Boston Celtics has been the top dog for the entire season. Are they the best team in the Eastern Conference? If so, who are their biggest threats? Let’s look at the top 5 Eastern Conference teams heading into All-Star weekend. Boston…
Trav’s 2023 Week 8 NFL Predictions
Week 7 is in the books and we had another crazy weekend of football. My record was a disappointing 3-5 and my overall mark dipped to 42-26. The winning percentage took a nice hit as it dropped from 65% to 61.8%. Jacksonville defeating New Orleans last Thursday was my first loss. In a key NFC South matchup, the Falcons edged the Bucs and that was my second defeat. One of the biggest shockers of the weekend happened in Baltimore. The Ravens blew out the Detroit Lions 38-6 and that was the third loss. Pittsburgh put together enough offense to beat the Rams on the road 24-17. The final loss came…
Trav’s 2023 NBA Finals Prediction
We are now down to two teams vying to call themselves World Champions. The Miami Heat represent the Eastern Conference and enter as the 8th seed. The Denver Nuggets represent the Western Conference and they’re the top seed entering this series. Miami is the first team in the short history of the play-in to reach the NBA Finals. Of course, they fell to Atlanta and then defeated Chicago to snag the 8th seed. They defeated the Milwaukee Bucks and then the New York Knicks to get to the Eastern Conference Finals. After going up 3-0, they let the Celtics come back and even the series at 3. Miami defeated Boston…
Trav’s 2023 NBA Eastern Conference Finals Prediction
My prediction for the 2023 Western Conference Finals has been made so now let’s head to the east. The Boston Celtics will host the Miami Heat for the chance to play in the 2023 NBA Finals. Many people had the Celtics making it to this point, but the Heat wasn’t on anyone’s radar. Miami fell to the Hawks in the play-in game to determine the 7th seed. The Heat defeated Chicago to earn the 8th seed in the East. They upset the Bucks and eliminated the New York Knicks to reach the Eastern Conference Finals. Boston took down Atlanta in six games in the first round. It took seven games…
2023 NBA Western Conference Finals Prediction
We are now down to the final two teams in the Western Conference. The top seed Denver Nuggets will host the Los Angeles Lakers for the right to go to the NBA Finals. This is a rematch of the 2020 Western Conference Finals when it was in the Bubble. Denver Nuggets beat the Phoenix Suns in six games to advance to the conference finals. The Los Angeles Lakers eliminated the defending champion Golden State Warriors in six games also. Unfortunately, the Suns were my pick to advance over the Nuggets. Chris Paul fell victim to an injured groin and missed the final four games of the series. If that wasn’t…
Who Advances Between the Warriors and Lakers to West Finals?
We have the final conference semifinal series here and this is probably the most anticipated one. The Golden State Warriors and Steph Curry will meet LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers. Both teams came into their first round series as the lower seed, but both pulled off upsets. My first-round predictions had these two teams meeting each other for the right to advance to the Western Conference Finals. Denver and Phoenix have already started their series. Los Angeles defeated the Memphis Grizzlies in six games to advance to the next round. Golden State needed the entire seven games to get by the gritty Sacramento Kings. Steph and LeBron are…
Will Boston or Philadelphia Advance to the Eastern Conference Finals?
The New York Knicks and Miami Heat will meet in the other Eastern Conference semifinal matchup. The Boston Celtics will host the Philadelphia 76ers for the right to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. Boston advanced by defeating the Atlanta Hawks in a tough six game series. Philadelphia reached this point by sweeping the Brooklyn Nets. Boston was my top team in my Eastern Conference rankings after the trade deadline. The Celtics are arguably the most complete team in the NBA. Jayson Tatum was an MVP candidate throughout the season. Jaylen Brown is one of the best players in the league and was the MVP of their first round series.…
Who Advances to Eastern Conference Finals between New York and Miami?
The Phoenix and Denver is the first 2nd round series to start. The Miami Heat taking on the New York Knicks will start things in the east. The Miami Heat pulled off the improbable upset over the Milwaukee Bucks. The Heat became the first play-in team to win a playoff series in its short history. The New York Knicks took down the Cleveland Cavaliers in five games. The Knicks looked great in that opening round series and the Cavs were my first-round pick. Miami lost to the Hawks in the 7 vs. 8 game but defeated the Bulls to earn the 8th seed. New York played great in that opening…
Who Advances to West Finals between Denver and Phoenix?
We have the first 2nd round matchup, and it comes out of the west. The Denver Nuggets will host the Phoenix Suns for a chance to advance to the Western Conference Finals. Denver finished off the Minnesota Timberwolves in 5 games. It also took 5 games for the Phoenix Suns to eliminate the Los Angeles Clippers. The Nuggets were the #1 team in the Western Conference this season. Denver entered the playoffs on a downslide and dealt with injuries also. During their first round series against Minnesota, the Nuggets looked like the team we saw most of the season. Can they continue that play against a much tougher opponent? Phoenix…
Trav’s 2023 NBA First Round Playoff Predictions
After another long NBA season, we are now ready for the 2023 NBA playoffs. The biggest debate heading into the postseason is who will be the league MVP? Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo are the top-3 candidates. Embiid has finished runner-up a couple times and Jokic is the reigning and defending 2-time league MVP. Giannis is a 2-time winner himself, but many figure it’s between the two big men. In the East, we had the Atlanta Hawks defeat Miami to earn the 7th seed and face Boston. Out west, the Los Angeles Lakers took down the Minnesota Timberwolves in OT and now they’ll meet the Memphis Grizzlies. Miami…
The Most Challenging Professional Sports to Predict
Sports will forever be the ultimate reality show. It’s an entertainment option with organic results, although some fans accuse certain leagues of pre-determined outcomes. Nevertheless, the most challenging professional sports to predict should provide entertainment value for someone with no rooting interest. Golf Golf is so difficult to predict because there’s only one winner in a field of hundreds. It was easier to narrow down a list of potential winners when Tiger Woods was in his prime, but those days are past. Your top dogs, such as Scottie Scheffler, Jon Rahm, and Rory McIlroy, are still in the field. However, no one had a better head and shoulders than Woods.…
Who Will Be Cutting Down the Nets in 2023?
Who had UConn, Miami, Florida Atlantic and San Diego State making the Final Four in their bracket? Alabama, Houston, Tennessee and UConn were my picks to reach the Final Four. UConn has been the most impressive team throughout the tournament after blowing out everyone. Miami were underdogs in their games against Houston and Texas, but advanced to the Final Four. Florida Atlantic took out Tennessee and Kansas State on their way to championship weekend. Finally, the San Diego State Aztecs defeated top seed Alabama and Creighton to get to this point. In one game, the Florida Atlantic Owls will battle the San Diego State Aztecs. The other semifinal game will…
Trav’s 2023 Final Four Predictions
Did you enjoy the first two rounds of the 2023 NCAA Men’s Tournament? For the second time in five years, we saw the #1 seed go down to 16th seed. Fairleigh Dickinson defeated the Purdue Boilermakers in stunning fashion. The Purdue upset was the lone one in the East Region in the first round. In the South, we had Furman defeat Virginia with a 3-pointer with less than 3 seconds remaining. Virginia being beaten wasn’t the only upset in the South Region. Arizona fell to the 15th seeded Princeton Tigers. Princeton advanced to the Sweet 16 after manhandling Missouri. Furman lost to San Diego State to end their Cinderella run.…
