PPM

       It's a new year of football and a new year of the Pigskin Picking Machine, or as we call it- the PPM.

First, with the shakeup in Western football, with schools leaving the Mountain West to join the returning Pac-12, we have some changes in the schools in the PPM.

The PPM has always featured one team from each conference in college football and two games of the week. Perennial favorite Boise State has moved to the Pac-12 from the Mountain West, where the Broncos will replace Oregon State.

This leaves a gap as the Mountain West will need a team; the team selected will be the Wyoming Cowboys.

We also change the "face of the PPM" every season, and this year, I didn't have a standout choice.

So, I selected one person from Entertainment, News, Sports, and Wrestling (not listing the runners-up, as they could be future choices) and asked Fred Landucci to make the call.

Fred selected CNN host and rabid Alabama football fan, Kaitlan Collins, and Collins will be this season's Face of the PPM.

Thanks for the help, Fred!

College Football

Ohio State over Ball State 56-3 

Texas Tech over Abilene Christian 72-10

Arkansas over North Alabama 39-14

Oregon over Boise State 41-35

Wyoming over Colorado State 24-21

UTSA over UT-Rio Grande 45-21

Georgia Southern over Charleston Southern 37-24

Bowling Green over Tarleton State 23-19

Middle Tennessee State over Murray State 17-12

Games of the Week

LSU over Clemson 35-20

Ole Miss over Louisville 39-34

Boxing Challenge

  The boxing challenge is rather light but interesting, with the comeback of former heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz.

Ruiz has been inactive since his August 2024 draw with Jarrell Miller, but he's matched well with Damian Knyba.

The 6'7 Knyba has only one loss, but it was against his best opponent earlier this year, losing in three rounds to WBC champion Agit Kabayel, before Kabayel was named champion following Oleksandr Usyk's vacating all of his titles/

Ruiz needs a win first of all, but an impressive win could go a long way in earning Ruiz a better opponent in his next fight.

The co-feature is interesting with a crossroads middleweight match between popular but untested Vito Mielnicki and former world title challenger Austin Williams.

Williams lost both his bouts against world-class opposition (Hamzah Sheeraz and Carlos Adames) but Mielnicki has fought no one of that status.

On the Katie Taylor undercard, top welterweight contender Paddy Donovan meets countyman Tyrone McKenna.

Donovan is the mandatory challenger for IBF champion Liam Paro.

Boxing Challenge

Heavyweights 12 Rds 

Andy Ruiz vs Damian Knyba

Ramon Malpica: Ruiz KO 9

TRS: Ruiz KO 6

Vince Samano:

Middleweights 10 Rds

Vito Mielnicki vs Austin Williams

R.L: Mielnicki Unanimous Decision

TRS: Williams Unanimous Decision

V.S:

Welterweights 10 Rds

Paddy Donovan vs Tyrone McKenna

R.L: Donovan Unanimous Decision

TRS: Donovan KO 8

V.S:

Devils trade for Luke Evangelista

     The New Jersey Devils continue building toward a 2026-27 postseason return, trading two high future draft picks to the Nashville Predators for right winger Luke Evangelista. 

New Jersey will send Nashville a first-round pick that originally starts with Colorado, which could be in 2027, 28, or even 29 depending on the conditions at the time, and the Devils' second-round draft choice in 2028 for Evangelista. 

The twenty-four-year-old Evangelista is under contract for this season at three million and will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season.

Last season, Evangelista produced career highs in points (56) and assists (44) for the Predators while scoring twelve goals for Nashville.

Evangelista is noted for passing more than his shot, and while he's defensively responsible, he's not the most physical forward and can be pushed off the puck.

The acquisition of Evangelista bulks up the forwards, as he'll fit well on either of the Devils' first two lines, but it does mean that the team isn't likely to be complete with their offseason moves, as the Devils have a surplus and a decision to move a forward might pay dividends with extra cap room when the deadline arrives.

 

Cleaning out the Inbox: Passings

       Another edition of tributes for some persons of note who have recently left us.

Goodbye to Tommy John at the age of 83.

Known more for the elbow surgery named after him, Tommy John won 288 games in a career that lasted from 1963 to 1989.

John was a slightly above .500 pitcher in seven years with the Chicago White Sox before a 1972 trade to the Dodgers, where he won thirty games in two and a half seasons before the elbow injury that usually ended careers.

John was a better pitcher after the surgery, as he won twenty or more games three times and 164 games post-operation.

Assist to Denise Nicarry with the notification.

Goodbye to John Niland at the age of 82.

The stalwart guard of the late sixties and early seventies Dallas Cowboys, Niland was named All-Pro three times and made six Pro Bowls from 1966-74 before playing one season with the Philadelphia Eagles, after which a knee injury ended his career.

Side note: John Niland is the first 7-11 Slurpee cup that I ever remember receiving as part of the NFL's promotional agreement with 7-11.

Goodbye to O.J. Brigance at the age of 56.

Brigance has the honor of being the only player to achieve a feat that will almost certainly never be repeated.

Brigance is the only player ever to win a Grey Cup and an NFL title and do it in the same city, winning the Grey Cup with the Baltimore Stallions in 1995 and a Super Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens in 2001.

In the CFL, Brigance was a feared edge rusher, finishing with twenty sacks for the B.C. Lions in 1993.

As an NFL player, Brigance was mainly used on special teams for four different teams: the Dolphins, Ravens, Rams, and Patriots.

Goodbye to Zolani Tete at the age of 38.

The South African held the IBF Junior Bantamweight title and the WBO Bantamweight championship in a career that spanned 2006-2022.

Tete holds the record for the fastest knockout in a world championship fight when his right hook knocked Siboniso Gonya out in eleven seconds in 2017.

Goodbye to Larry Christenson at the age of 72.

Christenson was the third overall pick of the 1972 MLB draft and, a year later at 19, threw a complete game in his MLB debut for the Phillies.

Christenson spent his entire eleven-year career with the Phillies, winning eighty-three games, with nineteen of those victories in 1977, and won a World Series with the 1980 Phillies.

Goodbye to Tony Mundine at the age of 75.

A middleweight contender in the 1970s, Mundine might be remembered by most as the father of Anthony Mundine, who once held the WBA super middleweight title.

The elder Mundine defeated former welterweight and middleweight champion Emile Griffith and once challenged the great Carlos Monzón for the middleweight title in 1974, losing by seventh-round knockout in Argentina.

Boxing Challenge:Hrgovic survives Itauma

    Saturday was supposed to be the coronation for heavyweight Moses Itauma.

Itauma had been compared to Mike Tyson for his electrifying power, and Filip Hrgovic was the foil in Itauma's first title fight, the vacant IBF championship.

And Itauma showed his power, winning all eight rounds and showing Hrgovic that the reviews of the twenty-one-year-old's offense were correct.

However, those rounds came at a price- sapping the stamina of Itauma and changing the attack to wild, looping punches that won rounds but didn't have the impact of earlier blows.

Itauma scored a knockdown in round two with a glancing hook, but Itauma landed many other power punches that Hrgovic was able to essentially shrug off.

In round nine, Itauma was still throwing wild punches, but Hrgovic battered Itauma around, avoiding his desperate counters, and just as the referee moved in to stop the fight, the towel flew in from Itauma's corner.

For Hrgovic, mandatory challenger Frank Sanchez is next, as Sanchez took a large cash-out to allow Itauma and Hrgovic to meet for the IBF title under the condition that he would be next to face the winner.

Itauma suffered a leg injury during the fight, and he'll have to take time to recover, but he's young enough and talented enough to bounce back and become a force in the division.

Lightweight contender Sam Noakes won an easy unanimous decision over former WBO champion Denis Berinchyk in the co-feature.

And in California, super middleweight contender Lester Martinez stopped Luca Planic in ten rounds.

Boxing Challenge

TRS:99 Pts (5)

Ramon Malpica: 84 Pts (3)

Vince Samano; 60 Pts (0)

Boxing Challenge

   Vacant IBF Heavyweight Title, 12 Rds

Moses Itauma vs Filip Hrgovic

Ramon Malpica: Itauma KO 7

TRS: Itauma KO 3

Vince Samano:

Lightweights 10 Rds

Sam Noakes vs Denis Berinchyk

R.L and TRS: Noakes Unanimous Decision

V..S:

Super Middleweights 12 Rds\

Lester Martinez vs Luka Plantic

R.L: Martinez Unanimous Decision

TRS: Martinez KO 10

V.S: 

Cavaliers acquire Peyton Watson from Denver

     The Cleveland Cavaliers may have failed in their pursuit of LeBron James, but their backup plan may end up paying more dividends in the long run after acquiring Peyton Watson from the Denver Nuggets in a five team trade that added the previously reported deal with Charlotte which included Dennis Schoeder and Tre Mann.

Cleveland added Watson, and Cam Whitmore from Washington and traded Mann (acquired from Charlotte for Schoeder) and a 2027 second rounders (Clippers) to Washington, sent Max Strus to the Los Angeles Clippers, and their 2031 unprotected first round selection to Denver.

Watson was the final pick of the first round of the 2022 draft out of UCLA by Oklahoma City but has spent his four year career with the Denver Nuggets,

Last season was the breakout season for Watson, who averaged 14 points per game, shooting 49 percent and 41 percent from three-point range.

The rangy 6'8 forward provides both offensive and defensive upside and at 24 (at season's start), Watson is just entering his prime seasons.

If Watson can make another jump similar to his leap last season, he could eventually become an All-Star caliber player.

Watson is under contract for the next three seasons and should step into the startling lineup at the small forward position.

Cam Whitmore could be waived by the Cavaliers, but if he's not, he's an intriging addition.

Whitmore was the 20th pick overall by the Rockets in 2023 from Villanova and spent last season with Washington, averaging nine points and just under three rebounds in twenty-one games due to a shoulder injury.

Whitmore makes over five million per season and his salary on a team that has to stretch every penny at this stage seems to point to Whitmore not spending his season in Cleveland.

Losing Max Strus is a mixed bag for me.

Strus can be extremely effective when he has a hot streak and he's noted for being a plus in the locker room

However, his shot is streaky and I've never loved his defense although it was more due to his limited athletic ability than a lack of effort.

With Strus leaving and the previous departure of Dean Wade, the Cavaliers have removed the two players who frustrated me most from the roster.

Considering the Cavaliers have traded so many future first rounders, trading another one five years down the road does cause some concern but considering the team's all-in status, I can understand the team's decision to move a first rounder at this time.