Coming into this week, West Virginia men’s basketball had not won against a top-ranked team in more than 30 years. That changed Tuesday night, as the Mountaineers defeated #1 Kansas 74-63 in Morgantown. It’s the third straight home win for West Virginia over the Jayhawks, an impressive feat considering the fact that Kansas continues to be the standard-bearer for Big 12 men’s basketball.

What makes it unique is the circumstances of the last two matchups at the WVU Coliseum. The game in 2015 came in the midst of a snowstorm that affected nearly the entire Mountain State, canceling school in some areas for a whole week. Tuesday brought another snowstorm; though not as severe as last year, it was enough for schools to either have a delayed start or an early dismissal. A very unique coincidence given the WVU-Kansas matchup both evenings, but it is indeed a coincidence.

With Tuesday’s win, West Virginia is the last remaining Big 12 team yet to lose in conference play. Their only loss of the season came at the Jimmy V Classic in New York City, where they were in control against Virginia late in the first half, until the Cavaliers pulled away in the second to win. Apart from that game, the Mountaineers were rarely tested until their meeting with the Jayhawks, where they proved they are a force to be reckoned with.

Next for West Virginia: a trip to Norman and second-ranked Oklahoma. The Mountaineers have not won in Norman since joining the Big 12, but the opportunity still remains; very rarely has one team played the top two teams in the country in the same week. Even if the Mountaineers fall Saturday, it’s likely they’ll find themselves in the top ten of both major basketball polls come next Monday.

As for Kansas, they can look at the degrees of success other Mountaineer opponents have had since playing WVU. Marshall, for example, had a poor start to the season even before the Capital Classic loss to the Mountaineers; the Thundering Herd have since opened Conference USA play on a win streak, albeit all their games so far have been at home, where they generally have more success. Virginia Tech took the lessons learned from a December 30 loss to WVU and began ACC play with two straight wins – including a win over in-state rival Virginia – although the Hokies did lose convincingly to Duke. How the Jayhawks respond to Tuesday’s outcome will have a big impact on what happens February 9 when West Virginia pays a visit to Lawrence.

Is this the year West Virginia breaks through and becomes a true Big 12 contender? The jury is still out for this season, but all signs indicate that may be the case in the near future.

Starting with the 2006-07 college football postseason, the Big Ten has been a punching bag of sorts when it came to significant bowl games. In the 2006 regular season, Ohio State & Michigan closed the campaign against each other in a battle of the top two ranked teams in the country, and the game indeed lived up to the hype. But the Wolverines, then Buckeyes, both struggled mightily in their BCS bowl games.

Last year was a bounce-back for the league, starting first and foremost with the Buckeyes winning the national title. Ohio State rallied to beat top seed Alabama, before running away from Oregon in the national championship game. But Michigan State, the other Big Ten team in the New Year’s Six, earned a win over Baylor in the Cotton Bowl. Several other teams had good showings in New Year’s Day bowl games.

This season, 10 of the 14 teams made bowl games. Two of those – Minnesota & Nebraska – made it despite going 5-7 in the season, but the lack of eligible teams from other conferences allowed the Golden Gophers and Cornhuskers to get in. To their credit, both teams took full advantage, winning their games.

Meanwhile, three teams – Iowa, Michigan State, and Ohio State – were selected for New Year’s Six games. The Buckeyes, left out of the playoff after a loss to the Spartans, dominated from start to finish in a 44-28 Fiesta Bowl victory over Notre Dame. In what turned out to be the final collegiate game for many Buckeye stars, closing the year in this fashion provided a nice consolation prize.

The Hawkeyes and Spartans – who faced each other in the Big Ten Championship Game – did not fare as well. League champion Michigan State was shut out convincingly by Alabama in the Cotton Bowl, where the Spartans began 2015 with a win over Baylor. Part of this was the Crimson Tide’s determination to not make the same mistakes they committed in last year’s Sugar Bowl, but the Spartans looked outmatched for much of the contest. Had Connor Cook’s one pass late in the first half gone for a touchdown instead of an interception, would the game have shifted dramatically? Maybe in terms of the final score, but Alabama, behind Heisman winner Derrick Henry, showed they were the better team on the field that given night.

Iowa came agonizingly close to the College Football Playoff, meaning their Rose Bowl matchup with Stanford offered an opportunity for redemption. But on the very first play from scrimmage, Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey caught a touchdown pass on a play that symbolized how the rest of the afternoon would play out. After a perfect regular season, the Hawkeyes’ gut-wrenching end will leave the team asking themselves how to rebuild and get ready for 2016.

The other Big Ten bowl results: Wisconsin edged USC in an exciting Holiday Bowl, while Michigan dominated Florida in the Citrus Bowl in the same manner as Ohio State’s win. On the flip side, Tennessee – one of those teams that in another world would’ve won the SEC with the way their games went – ran over Northwestern in the Outback Bowl. Penn State did lose to Georgia in the TaxSlayer Bowl, but the Nittany Lions nearly pulled off an improbable comeback that gives the team hope for 2016, even with several key players leaving early for the NFL Draft.

So the Big Ten finishes the 2015-16 bowl season 5-5. But the two facts that cannot be overlooked; two blowout losses in New Year’s Six games, one of them a playoff semifinal, coupled with two of the wins coming from 5-7 teams, means it could be a long offseason before the conference gets a chance to repair its image.

In one sense, the 2015 Ohio State Buckeyes football team achieved one of its goals set when it began presesason camp; they’ll be spending the postseason in Glendale, Arizona.

However, it won’t be at the time of year the Buckeyes were hoping for.

Instead of playing on January 11 in the second College Football Playoff championship game, Ohio State will be in the Fiesta Bowl New Year’s Day against Notre Dame. It’s a rematch of the 2006 Fiesta Bowl, where the Buckeyes beat the Fighting Irish 34-20 in the final edition of the bowl game played at Sun Devil Stadium.

Speaking of that change, it’s one that affected the Buckeyes in trips to Arizona. Ohio State won the Fiesta Bowls in 2003, 2004, and 2006 (winning the national championship as well in ’03), with all of those games played in Tempe. They returned to the state for the 2007 BCS National Championship, at the new University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale (this was the first year of the BCS adding a separate championship game) . That night did not go well for Buckeye fans, as Urban Meyer and Florida took the title in a 41-14 win that began the SEC’s streak of championships. Ohio State also lost the 2009 Fiesta Bowl to Texas, as the Longhorns scored a late touchdown to win 24-21.

The game from a decade ago was the final collegiate game for many Buckeye stars, including some players – notably A.J. Hawk & Santonio Holmes – who would go on to success in the NFL. New Year’s Day 2016 will mark the final appearance for players such as Joey Bosa, Ezekiel Elliott, and Cardale Jones, who will enter the NFL Draft in the spring.

The unique story about the 2006 game featured Hawk facing his eventual brother-in-law, Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn. Friday’s unique story features Urban Meyer going against the Fighting Irish for the first time. Meyer was a former assistant in South Bend under Lou Holtz & Bob Davie, so the emotions will be running high for the Ashtabula, Ohio native.

If the Buckeyes do go on to win, there will be inevitably be discussion over whether 2015 can be considered a “good season.” Their last-second field goal loss to Michigan State denied them a chance to repeat as Big Ten and national champions, but the resiliency of this team showed itself in a 42-13 win over Michigan to close the regular season. A win Friday means a 12-win season for the fourth consecutive year, and would provide momentum going into the 2016 regular season. In that sense, 2015 would indeed be a successful year for Ohio State, as they prepare for another run at the title next year.

The big sports story Thursday was the decision of Chelsea and manager Jose Mourinho to part ways after a disappointing start to the new season. The decision comes days after a loss to current Premier League leaders Leicester, the Blues’ ninth of the season; Mourinho’s departure was not a firing, but rather a decision of mutual consent, which may explain why this happened several days following Monday’s match, instead of the next day.

It’s been quite a career for Jose Mourinho so far. Born in Portugal, one of his first jobs in soccer was serving as a translator for Bobby Robson when the Englishman became the manager at Barcelona. His first managerial gig came at Benfica – one of the top clubs in Portuguese history – although he resigned after only nine games. Only when he arrived at Porto in 2002 did he become a household name. The Dragons went on to win the UEFA Cup in 2003, and then the Champions League the following year; his touchline run at Old Trafford remains a legendary image in the competition’s recent history.

Mourinho arrived at Stamford Bridge the first time in the summer of 2004, leading the Blues to two straight Premier League titles. Domestic success, however, didn’t carry over to the Champions League, and after a tough start to the 2007/08 season, Mourinho left through mutual consent. He found success with Inter Milan in Italy and a degree of success Real Madrid in Spain, before returning to Stamford Bridge in 2013.

As for the club, they’ve had many managers since Roman Abramovich bought the club in 2003. That said, this could be a blessing in disguise for the club, who’ve done very well under interim managers. After Mourinho left the first time, Avram Grant guided the club to its first-ever Champions League Final, where they lost to Manchester United on penalties. The following year, Guus Hiddink helped Chelsea win the FA Cup and did very well steering the players through their controversial semifinal exit in the UCL. Three years later, Roberto di Matteo navigated Chelsea to a first European Cup triumph before Rafael Benitez guided the club to a Europa League title as interim manager the following year.

Former striker Mateja Kezman has said Hiddink told him he’ll return to Chelsea, as the club heads into its heavy end-of-the-calendar year schedule. How the club does going into 2016 will have a big impact on whether or not the Blues can be legitimately concerned about the threat of relegation, just one year after winning the title.

What’s next for Mourinho, as well? In the past, he’s said he’s wanted to be the manager at Manchester United, and Louis van Gaal is walking a very thin line right now at Old Trafford. Is this perhaps the best opportunity for Mourinho to join the Red Devils if LvG does leave?

Who do you think will be the next Chelsea manager, and which club will Jose Mourinho land at? Leave a comment below!

It’s near the end of another calendar year for Manchester United, with the club in the middle of yet another season. The Red Devils returned to the Champions League after a one-year absence, but the return was ultimately a frustrating one.

Manchester United was drawn into a group with PSV Eindhoven, CSKA Moscow, and Wolfsburg, and the club did not cruise through as they had in previous stages. Going into their final group game at Wolfsburg, United needed at least a draw or a PSV loss to qualify for the knockout rounds. After taking the lead, the Red Devils lapsed multiple times on defense, eventually losing 3-2, while PSV beat CSKA, meaning Wolfsburg & PSV will head to the last 16.

Now United head to the Europa League, which the club may see as beneath them – exactly the view they took in 2012. The Red Devils lost three of four games in the competition that year, going out tamely in the Round of 16. The magnitude of that disappointment may have been overshadowed by the final day of the 2011/12 Premier League, but having been used to success, it was still unusual for fans to see them bow out of European competition in that manner.

Manchester United return to Premier League play this weekend, at Bournemouth, one of the three teams promoted from the Championship at the end of last season. On paper, Louis van Gaal’s club would win comfortably, but they would also have won their Champions League group fairly comfortably as well. Bournemouth will come into this match with loads of confidence, having won at Stamford Bridge in the previous matchday. Granted, Chelsea’s play has been one of, if not the, biggest shock of the Premier League season so far, but not many clubs can say they have a road win against the defending champions, especially a newly-promoted club. Even if the Cherries do go back to the second tier after one season, being able to say they beat Chelsea and Manchester United in consecutive games will be something players can hang their hats on.

For the Red Devils, they haven’t lost a Premier League match since October, but they’ve had a string of dull draws since the setback at Arsenal. Bournemouth would seem like the ideal opponent for United to get their season back on track, especially with the FA Cup on the horizon. Van Gaal has had to deal with many injuries to his squad, including new ones from Tuesday’s match in Germany. But if United do get three points on Saturday – in a game that will be aired on network television in the United States – it might be enough to get the club back into mounting a serious title challenge.

Can United recover from this most recent Champions League disappointment? Saturday’s result will provide the first indication of whether fans should look ahead to next season, or not give up on this campaign.

It’s been several days since college football fans learned of the four teams chosen to compete in the second College Football Playoff. There was no great controversy like in 2014, when Ohio State leapfrogged Big 12 co-champions Baylor and TCU to earn the fourth seed; the Buckeyes would validate that selection by beating Alabama and Oregon to win the national championship. In 2015, though, the committee tasked with picking the four playoff participants only had four teams to choose from for four spots, making the main “controversy” one of which teams would play each other in the semifinals. Clemson, Alabama, and Michigan State all won conference championship games, while Oklahoma won the Big 12 outright – the Sooners’ regular season finale with Oklahoma State was essentially a conference title game itself.

So Clemson and Oklahoma will meet in the Orange Bowl, while Alabama and Michigan State do battle in the Cotton Bowl. The Tigers beat the Sooners convincingly in last year’s Russell Athletic Bowl, but with new players on both teams, and the stakes higher, expect a different outcome to the game. Meanwhile, Nick Saban is reunited with his former team, now led by former assistant Mark Dantonio. Ohio State stunned the Crimson Tide in the 2015 Sugar Bowl, but will the Crimson Tide be able to apply the lessons learned from that game to beat the Spartans?

Speaking of the Buckeyes, they’ll face Notre Dame in the marquee matchup of the remaining New Year’s Six bowls, the Fiesta Bowl. Ohio State beat the Fighting Irish in the 2006 Fiesta Bowl, the last year before the game was moved from Tempe to Glendale. Also, Iowa and Stanford will play in the Rose Bowl (the Cardinal making its third Pasadena appearance in four years); Ole Miss faces Oklahoma State in the Sugar Bowl, and Florida State-Houston is the Peach Bowl matchup.

Much was made about the chances of Ohio State going to the Rose Bowl, if only because of the school having a bigger brand than Iowa. In the end, the Hawkeyes going to Pasadena does make more sense; they went undefeated in the regular season, won their division, and lost in the last minute of a thrilling Big Ten championship game. The fact that Iowa won their division (let alone coming agonizingly close to making the Playoff) is an accomplishment, and the Rose Bowl is an appropriate award.

However, there was no consistency when it came to the Peach Bowl, where Florida State will play instead of ACC Coastal winner North Carolina. The Tar Heels recovered from a season-opening loss to become one of the hottest – yet underrated – teams in the country, right up to the ACC title game loss to Clemson. The ending of that game aside, one of the Tar Heels’ best seasons in program history will end in the Russell Athletic Bowl, which just seems unfitting. Iowa deserves to be in the Rose Bowl, but North Carolina also was worthy of a New Year’s Six game. The same could be said of SEC East winner Florida, but the Gators had lackluster performances in their final two games, allowing Ole Miss (the one team to beat Alabama) to take the SEC’s Sugar Bowl slot.

What’s your take on the bowl matchups? Leave a comment below!

While the first weekend in December will see many college football conference champions crowned, it also marks the end of another Major League Soccer season. The showpiece of the United States’ marquee professional soccer league offers two clubs from different sides of multiple spectrums: examples being East vs. West, or charter club vs. one of the newer expansion teams.

One of the factors that makes MLS Cup 2015 so intriguing is that it is a soccer match, not football. And it’s not a matchup of Boston or New York vs. Los Angeles, but rather Columbus vs. Portland, two cities with proud identities of their own.

Columbus Crew SC was one of the original members of the league when MLS first started in the mid-1990s, but this is only their second MLS Cup appearance in history. 2008 saw the Crew (as they were known back then; now it’s Crew SC) defeat the New York Red Bulls 3-1, capping off a season when the club also had the best regular season record. That team had stars like Frankie Hejduk, Guillermo Barros Schelotto, and Alejandro Moreno, who are all now retired from playing. Now a new set of star players, led by Federico Higuain, Kei Kamara, and Steve Clark are ready to add their names to club lore as title winners.

Portland Timbers FC have taken a dramatic route to MLS Cup after just missing out on a first-round bye. They were minutes away from advancing in regulation until a Sporting Kansas City goal forced extra time, and were minutes away from elimination until Maximiliano Urruti tied the game late in the second extra time period to force penalties. Portland prevailed that night, before getting past Vancouver and Dallas – the top two seeds in the West – to make their first appearance in the final. For all the excitement of the three new MLS clubs in the Northwest, this is the first time any one of them has made it this far in the playoffs. They’ve had success on the road already, but will face a hostile atmosphere Sunday.

MAPFRE Stadium has been the site of choice for the Mexico @ United States match in the last four World Cup qualifying cycles; the Americans won each match 2-0. The passionate atmosphere make it difficult for any visiting sides to Central Ohio, whether it’s a club or a national team.

Another factor in Crew SC’s favor: a good-luck charm of second-year coaches. Two of Ohio State’s most revered football coaches, Paul Brown & Jim Tressel, each won national championships in their second year with the Buckeyes. 2015 is Gregg Berhalter’s second year with Crew SC, can he cap it off with a professional championship?

Expect an entertaining affair Sunday as history will be made. Can the Timbers win a first title or will Crew SC lift the Anschutz Trophy in front of their supporters?