NBA MVP Rankings - 15 Dec

There is currently a very close race for the MVP among 3 men, 2 of whom have won recent MVP awards, and one who is a rising superstar and leader of what may be the best team in the league today. It's still early, so there are plenty of other players who could get their name into that conversation, depending on health and team performance. Here are my current MVP rankings, along with some updates to my all-time player rankings:

Most Valuable Player

1. Nikola Jokic - C - DEN

31.5 Pts (#2), 13.3 Reb (#2), 9.8 Ast (#2), 1.8 Stl (#7), 0.7 Blk, .564 FG% (#14), .512 3P% (#2), .799 FT%

2. Giannis Antetokounmpo - PF - MIL

32.7 Pts (#1), 11.5 Reb (#5), 6.1 Ast, 0.6 Stl, 1.6 Blk (#10), .614 FG% (#5), .176 3P%, .615 FT%

3. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander - PG - OKC

30.3 Pts (#4), 5.5 Reb, 6.3 Ast (#20), 1.9 Stl (#6), 1.0 Blk, .510 FG%, .340 3P%, .864 FT%

4. Trae Young - PG - ATL

21.5 Pts, 4.0 Reb, 12.1 Ast (#1), 1.3 Stl, 0.2 Blk, .389 FG%, .315 3P%, .887 FT% (#17)

5. Karl-Anthony Towns - C - NYK

24.9 Pts (#12), 13.6 Reb (#1), 3.2 Ast, 0.9 Stl, 1.0 Blk, .529 FG%, .442 3P% (#19), .837 FT%

6. Jalen Brunson - PG - NYK

24.7 Pts (#13), 3.0 Reb, 7.8 Ast (#9), 0.6 Stl, 0.1 Blk, .491 FG%, .429 3P%, .823 FT%

7. Jayson Tatum - PF - BOS

28.2 Pts (#5), 8.9 Reb (#20), 5.7 Ast, 1.2 Stl, 0.5 Blk, .453 FG%, .364 3P%, .800 FT%

8. Darius Garland - PG - CLE

20.6 Pts, 2.5 Reb, 6.5 Ast (#15), 1.0 Stl, 0.2 Blk, .482 FG%, .416 3P%, .938 FT% (#2)

9. Anthony Davis - C - LAL

27.3 Pts (#7), 11.2 Reb (#7), 3.4 Ast, 1.2 Stl, 2.0 Blk (#5), .527 FG%, .309 3P%, .788 FT%

10. Luka Doncic - PG - DAL

28.1 Pts (#6), 8.4 Reb, 7.9 Ast (#8), 2.1 Stl (#2), 0.4 Blk, .446 FG%, .344 3P%, .766 FT%

Honorable Mention: LeBron James - SF - LAL; Donovan Mitchell - SG - CLE; Domantas Sabonis - C - SAC; Franz Wagner - SF - ORL; Alperen Sengun - C - HOU; James Harden - PG - LAC; Damian Lillard - PG - MIL; Jalen Williams - SG - OKC

All-Time Player Rank Updates

Nikola Jokic has passed Tony Parker and Kevin Garnett to move up to #28

Anthony Davis has passed Clyde Drexler and Mark Jackson to move up to #51

Kyrie Irving has passed Paul Pierce and Kawhi Leonard to move up to #59

Draymond Green has passed Kevin McHale to move up to #63

Luka Doncic has passed Bob McAdoo to move up to #68

Joel Embiid has passed Louie Dampier to move up to #80

Jimmy Butler has passed Alonzo Mourning to move up to #84

Jrue Holiday has passed Gus Williams to move up to #93

Jayson Tatum has passed Shawn Kemp, Walter Davis, Vince Carter, Bob Lanier, Amare Stoudemire, and Wes Unseld to move into the Top 100 at #95, knocking Kemp out of the top 100

Football Predictions - 12 Dec thru 16 Dec

Upset picks are in italics.

Thursday

LA Rams at San Francisco - 49ers by 3

Saturday

Navy vs. (22) Army - Black Knights by 3.5

Sunday

Kansas City at Cleveland - Chiefs by 11

Cincinnati at Tennessee - Bengals by 4

Washington at New Orleans - Commanders by 5

Baltimore at NY Giants - Ravens by 12.5

Dallas at Carolina - Cowboys by 3.5

NY Jets at Jacksonville - Jets by 0.5

Miami at Houston - Texans by 5.5

Indianapolis at Denver - Broncos by 6

New England at Arizona - Cardinals by 11.5

Buffalo at Detroit - Lions by 4

Pittsburgh at Philadelphia - Eagles by 2.5

Tampa Bay at LA Chargers - Chargers by 1

Green Bay at Seattle - Packers by 4.5

Monday

Chicago at Minnesota - Vikings by 9.5

Atlanta at Las Vegas - Falcons by 5

Results

NCAA: 5-4 (.556) 636-236 overall (.729)

Upsets: 1-1 (.500) 50-64 overall (.439)

NFL: 11-2 (.846) 134-74 overall (.644)

Upsets: 1-0 (1.000) 20-35 overall (.364)

NCAA Football Rankings - 8 Dec

The regular season is over, with the exception of this weekend's Army-Navy game, and the committee will be picking the 12 teams to play in this season's college football playoff in about an hour. There are 5 teams with automatic bids, with the top 4 conference champions getting the top 4 seeds and first-round byes, and there are another 5 teams that seem to be pretty much locks to make the field, leaving 2 open spots to be filled and 6 teams with legitimate arguments to take those spots: SMU, BYU, Alabama, Indiana, Ole Miss, and South Carolina. These are my picks for how the 12 teams will be seeded today, along with my full rankings for the week:

1. Oregon

2. Georgia

3. Boise State

4. Arizona State

5. Notre Dame

6. Ohio State

7. Texas

8. Tennessee

9. Penn State

10. Indiana

11. Alabama

12. Clemson

Out: South Carolina, BYU, SMU, Ole Miss

						Proj
Rank	LW	Team	Rating	W	L	W	L
1	1	Notre Dame	-21.8	11	1	11	1
2	2	Ohio State	-20.66	10	2	10	2
3	3	Texas	-19.33	11	2	11	2
4	4	Oregon	-17.97	13	0	13	0
5	5	Ole Miss	-17.12	9	3	9	3
6	6	Alabama	-16.81	9	3	9	3
7	10	Georgia	-16.46	11	2	11	2
8	9	Miami	-16.36	10	2	10	2
9	7	SMU	-16.22	11	2	11	2
10	8	Penn State	-15.82	11	2	11	2
11	11	South Carolina	-15.75	9	3	9	3
12	12	Indiana	-15.59	11	1	11	1
13	13	Louisville	-14.85	8	4	8	4
14	15	Clemson	-13.25	10	3	10	3
15	14	Tennessee	-12.94	10	2	10	2
16	16	Virginia Tech	-12.47	6	6	6	6
17	20	Boise State	-12.12	12	1	12	1
18	26	Arizona State	-12.05	11	2	11	2
19	17	BYU	-11.88	10	2	10	2
20	19	Colorado	-11.45	9	3	9	3
21	21	LSU	-11.12	8	4	8	4
22	23	Texas A&M	-10.87	8	4	8	4
23	24	Iowa	-10.52	8	4	8	4
24	25	USC	-10.39	6	6	6	6
25	27	Kansas State	-9.899	8	4	8	4
26	18	Iowa State	-9.704	10	3	10	3
27	34	Army	-9.568	11	1	12	1
28	28	Baylor	-9.524	8	4	8	4
29	22	Tulane	-9.49	9	4	9	4
30	30	Florida	-9.136	7	5	7	5
31	31	Minnesota	-9.009	7	5	7	5
32	29	UNLV	-8.75	10	3	10	3
33	32	Missouri	-8.424	9	3	9	3
34	33	Kansas	-7.951	5	7	5	7
35	36	Georgia Tech	-7.575	7	5	7	5
36	35	Nebraska	-7.48	6	6	6	6
37	37	Illinois	-7.127	9	3	9	3
38	38	TCU	-6.871	8	4	8	4
39	39	Syracuse	-6.777	9	3	9	3
40	41	Vanderbilt	-6.352	6	6	6	6
41	40	Oklahoma	-6.299	6	6	6	6
42	42	Michigan	-6.278	7	5	7	5
43	43	Navy	-6.017	8	3	8	4
44	55	Marshall	-6.007	10	3	10	3
45	44	Boston College	-5.488	7	5	7	5
46	46	Arkansas	-4.902	6	6	6	6
47	59	Ohio	-4.891	10	3	10	3
48	47	Duke	-4.806	9	3	9	3
49	49	Rutgers	-4.634	7	5	7	5
50	48	Memphis	-4.577	10	2	10	2
51	51	Auburn	-4.283	5	7	5	7
52	50	Washington	-4.249	6	6	6	6
53	52	Pittsburgh	-4.153	7	5	7	5
54	57	James Madison	-3.848	8	4	8	4
55	54	Utah	-3.749	5	7	5	7
56	53	Cincinnati	-3.714	5	7	5	7
57	56	Texas Tech	-3.567	8	4	8	4
58	58	Texas State	-3.396	7	5	7	5
59	45	Louisiana	-3.08	10	3	10	3
60	60	California	-3.064	6	6	6	6
61	61	UCF	-2.883	4	8	4	8
62	65	Kentucky	-2.69	4	8	4	8
63	64	Wisconsin	-2.602	5	7	5	7
64	63	Bowling Green	-2.539	7	5	7	5
65	66	North Carolina	-2.385	6	6	6	6
66	67	Washington St	-1.827	8	4	8	4
67	68	UCLA	-1.62	5	7	5	7
68	70	South Alabama	-1.381	6	6	6	6
69	69	Northern Illinois	-1.378	7	5	7	5
70	71	Georgia Southern	-1.332	8	4	8	4
71	73	Old Dominion	-1.043	5	7	5	7
72	62	Miami (OH)	-0.959	8	5	8	5
73	72	West Virginia	-0.555	6	6	6	6
74	74	NC State	-0.152	6	6	6	6
75	75	Virginia	0.1534	5	7	5	7
76	80	Jacksonville State	0.3324	9	4	9	4
77	77	Connecticut	0.7226	8	4	8	4
78	76	Toledo	0.7956	7	5	7	5
79	79	South Florida	2.0536	6	6	6	6
80	82	UT San Antonio	2.1702	6	6	6	6
81	84	East Carolina	2.2138	7	5	7	5
82	83	Maryland	2.3263	4	8	4	8
83	81	Houston	2.4545	4	8	4	8
84	85	Michigan St	2.6153	5	7	5	7
85	78	West Kentucky	2.7475	8	5	8	5
86	87	Colorado State	3.0121	8	4	8	4
87	86	Wake Forest	3.0214	4	8	4	8
88	88	Fresno State	3.0402	6	6	6	6
89	89	Stanford	3.0464	3	9	3	9
90	91	Buffalo	3.1641	8	4	8	4
91	92	Mississippi St	3.23	2	10	2	10
92	90	Sam Houston	3.3535	9	3	9	3
93	95	Coastal Carolina	3.5576	6	6	6	6
94	93	Oklahoma State	3.6616	3	9	3	9
95	94	North Texas	3.7029	6	6	6	6
96	99	West Michigan	3.7662	6	6	6	6
97	97	San Jose State	3.937	7	5	7	5
98	96	Liberty	3.9604	8	3	8	3
99	98	Northwestern	4.1678	4	8	4	8
100	100	Appalachian St	4.1815	5	6	5	6
101	101	Florida State	4.7217	2	10	2	10
102	102	Arizona	5.0704	4	8	4	8
103	104	Oregon State	5.9346	5	7	5	7
104	103	Troy	6.1196	4	8	4	8
105	105	Nevada	6.6225	3	10	3	10
106	106	Rice	6.7031	4	8	4	8
107	107	Louisiana Monroe	6.895	5	7	5	7
108	108	Hawaii	7.2939	5	7	5	7
109	109	Air Force	8.0085	5	7	5	7
110	110	Eastern Michigan	8.0587	5	7	5	7
111	111	Akron	8.06	4	8	4	8
112	112	Utah State	8.2445	4	8	4	8
113	113	UAB	8.7956	3	9	3	9
114	114	Arkansas State	9.1058	7	5	7	5
115	115	Purdue	9.154	1	11	1	11
116	116	Louisiana Tech	9.2148	5	7	5	7
117	117	Charlotte	9.4566	5	7	5	7
118	118	Florida Intl	9.5671	4	8	4	8
119	119	Georgia State	9.7742	3	9	3	9
120	120	Wyoming	10.026	3	9	3	9
121	121	Ball State	10.568	3	9	3	9
122	122	New Mexico	10.705	5	7	5	7
123	123	Florida Atlantic	10.849	3	9	3	9
124	124	Central Michigan	10.993	4	8	4	8
125	125	San Diego State	12.395	3	9	3	9
126	126	UMass	12.773	2	10	2	10
127	127	Temple	13.417	3	9	3	9
128	128	UTEP	16.211	3	9	3	9
129	129	New Mexico St	18.207	3	9	3	9
130	130	Tulsa	18.689	3	9	3	9
131	131	Mid Tennessee	19.318	3	9	3	9
132	132	Southern Miss	19.516	1	11	1	11
133	133	Kennesaw State	19.937	2	10	2	10
134	134	Kent State	21.379	0	12	0	12