NCAAF

• Syracuse 22 Virginia 20
  • The Orange almost blew this game — a loss that would’ve been terrible, considering Virginia’s level as a program at the moment. Syracuse has a nice core of skill position players on offense with Garrett Shrader, Sean Tucker, Oronde Gadsden. At 4-0, we’ll find out a lot about Syracuse in the coming weeks, after they take on Wagner. We’re still probably looking at around an 8-4 finish for the Orange.
  • Tony Elliott has quite the job on his hands to pull this Virginia program back to respectability. Thankfully for the Cavaliers, as opposed to Syracuse, their ACC schedule is fairly soft.
• UTEP 27 Boise State 10
  • This is lowest point the Boise State program has been at since the 1998 season, back when the Broncos were in the Big West. Long gone are the days of making major bowl appearances, but it doesn’t have to be this way forever. Boise State is still a big name program among Group of Five schools, so the team should still be able to recruit talent to Boise. Hank Bachmeier probably needs to be replaced at quarterback.

MLB

• Cubs 6 Pirates 5
  • The Cubs are in a fairly fascinating spot. The team has had a solid second half, perhaps spring-boarding Chicago into a position to be an attractive free agent destination this winter. This may end up being a quick rebuild on the north side.
• Phillies 9 Braves 1
  • The Phillies are probably going to make the playoffs, and if they get there, they’ll need Aaron Nola to pitch like he did in this game. Six scoreless innings and eight strikeouts.
• Yankees 5 Red Sox 4
  • Ahead of this postseason, the Yankees need to get Gerrit Cole right. Things haven’t exactly been disastrous for the righty, but he’s allowed four earned runs in each of his past three starts. New York has the ability to the win it all, but things need cleaned up.
• Orioles 6 Astros 0
  • The Orioles, if they play their cards right, should have a bright future. Adley Rutschman may be a future star, and yesterday’s starter, Dean Kremer is definitely a building block. Kremer pitched a shutout in this contest.
• Angels 4 Twins 2
  • Minnesota has basically been gone from the playoff picture for awhile, but the team’s collapse of late has been epic. Five straight losses for the Twins, leading the club to an 11.0 game deficit to Cleveland, a team in which Minnesota had a better record than for much of the season.
• Rockies 4 Padres 3
  • The Padres, losers of two straight, need to make sure things don’t get dicey regarding their playoff positioning. The team’s main competition, the Brewers, has won three in a row, and San Diego is now just 2.0 games up.
• Royals 5 Mariners 1
  • The Mariners have not been playing good baseball of late. It’s looking somewhat likely that Seattle will be matched up with Cleveland in the wild card round, and if things don’t turn around quickly, the Mariners will be eliminated in three or four games.
• Cardinals 11 Dodgers 0
  • Albert Pujols hit his 700th career home run in this game, and it made me wonder if anyone else will ever reach 700. I’m sure it’ll happen again, but in terms of active players, I’m not so certain. Mike Trout has 346 for his career at age 30, so if he can somehow stay healthy (history says he won’t), he definitely has a shot. For every other active player, there’s either no chance or an incredibly small likelihood.