Even as the Christmas parties start flooding in over the next couple of weeks, Water Cooler Talk still finds the time to ditch the party and make sure to watch football.  The food was great, but the people weren’t, so off I went to watch two great championship games on Saturday night.  If you took my advice and picked Michigan State, then hoorah for you!  If you took a chance on UNC, my bad.  The Vikings laid an egg (my bad again), and darn if I didn’t take a chance on the Eagles!  The Panthers are still unbeaten while the Patriots fall to the #3 seed…who’d have thunk it?  Only one college game this week, but of course a plethora of NFL.  The MLB Winter Meetings have been great so far, with trades and signings left and right.  Enough of that though, hide the monitors from the boss, minimize your online shopping window, and let Water Cooler Talk help you be the sports guru of the office this week.

NCAAF:

No shockers this past weekend from the championship games, except maybe that Iowa hung in until the very end against Michigan State.  Hats off to you Iowa, you were oh-so-close to being in the top four.  Stanford cruised, as did Houston, as did Alabama, and Clemson too (thanks to more awful ACC officiating).

Now our top four has been set and the committee made the absolute right call deciding between the #3 and #4 seeds.  The Spartans took #3 while Oklahoma dropped to #4, but Sparty deserves that ranking.  We’ll soon be discussing the New Year’s Eve semifinal games which are sure to not disappoint.

The Heisman finalists have been announced:  Alabama RB Derrick Henry (1,986 yards, 23 TDs), Stanford RB Christian McCaffrey (3,496 all-purpose yards, 30 TDs), and Clemson QB Deshaun Watson (3, 512 passing yards, 887 rushing yards, 41 total TDs).  Derrick Henry has been the clear-cut favorite since Bama defeated LSU, but McCaffrey has proven that he deserves some much serious consideration, especially after his performance against USC in the Pac-12 title game.

One game to watch for this week.  The 116^th edition of Army versus Navy is always one that has to be watched.  The Midshipmen come into the game ranked #21 with a 9-2 record, while Army continues their struggles as they’re just 2-9.  Still, it’s a tradition that deserves its love.  Navy is a (-23) favorite, and I have to agree.  Navy wins over Army, 41-18.

NFL:

It was ugly, especially in the first half, but Carolina managed to escape New Orleans with a 41-38 victory to move to 12-0.  Cam Newton executed a beautiful drive at the end of the fourth quarter to put the Panthers up for good, cementing his place among the MVP discussion.   For the third straight season, the Panthers are NFC South champions!

I don’t think Eagles fans believed it could happen, but miraculously the Eagles were able to upset New England.  The Patriots have looked mediocre at best since Edelman and Lewis have been out, and of course there was no Gronk on Sunday.  Brandon LaFell continues to drop passes from Brady, leaving Amendola as “the guy.”  I still don’t think the Eagles have a shot at the playoffs, but in that awful division, anything is possible right now.

How awful is the NFC East?  I think the records speak for themselves.  Washington finally had a chance to put some distance in the race last night, but let one slip by once again.  The Redskins haven’t been able to string together consecutive wins on the season, and now Dallas is still in the race for the division crown with a 4-8 record.  I think it’s safe to say that the NFC East division champion will hold a sub-.500 record.

Are the Seahawks really back?  The defense has been playing better lately, and Russell Wilson is putting up gaudy numbers.  I think Marshawn Lynch and Jimmy Graham going down has actually helped this team, because they can now go back to what’s worked in the past.  Still, Russell Wilson will not continue to throw 4 or 5 TDs a game and Doug Baldwin will not continue to receive multiple touchdown passes.  Four more weeks for the Seahawks to cement a playoff spot, with three easy games before facing Arizona Week 17.

Johnny Football is the starter again.  The Browns need to see if they have a future at QB with Manziel at that spot.  Careful Johnny, no partying to celebrate.

Minnesota at Arizona (-7.5) – The Cardinals are hot, winning six straight and holding on to that #2 seed in the NFC.  Minnesota is now 8-4 and need to show some signs of life on the offensive side of the ball.  Arizona’s defense is not going to allow that to happen, which is why they get the win on Thursday night, 27-13.

Atlanta at Carolina (-8.5) – Atlanta has really struggled the last six weeks sustaining their high-powered offense late in games and have had defensive struggles at the worst times.  The Panthers want to prove that they’re not a team that will allow 38 points, so the motivation will be there to shut down Julio Jones and company.  I do think Carolina loses to Atlanta, but that’s in two weeks.  This week, Panthers get another win with a score of 27-16.

Pittsburgh (+3) at Cincinnati – Both of these teams looked phenomenal on Sunday on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball.  Their first meeting was a battle with the Bengals squeaking out a 16-10 win.  I expect a lot of the same this week, only with more points scored.  I’m picking the Steelers for this one, with a score of 23-19.

UFC 194:

The showdown we’ve been waiting for is finally arriving on Saturday as Conor McGregor faces Jose Aldo for the featherweight belt.  10 months is a long time to wait, but it should be worth every second when these guys finally get to go at it.  McGregor is roughly a 2-1 favorite, which is right about where it should be.  I love McGregor, but since I’m a betting man I’m taking Aldo in this one.  I think (and hope) this fight goes the distance, meaning we’ll have a main event worth buying.

MLB:

Last week I mentioned the Red Sox were making a push for David Price, eight hours later, Price (30) had agreed to a 7-year, $217 million deal with Boston.  He can opt-out after three years, but no team will pay a then 34-year-old pitcher $31 million annually.  Boston has their ace they’ve been needing since Jon Lester was traded in July 2014.

Speaking of big money, how about the Diamondbacks sneaking in and signing Zack Greinke away from both the Dodgers and Giants.  A 6-year, $206.5 million deal did the trick, after Johnny Cueto turned down a 6-year, $120 million deal last week from Arizona.  The Diamondbacks had roughly $40 million to spend this offseason, they’re now basically done signing free agents.  Dbacks fans should be pumped with Greinke (32) anchoring the rotation and Paul Goldschmidt leading the offense, an offense that scored the most runs in the NL this past season.

We heard the rumors, but we couldn’t be sure if it would really go through.  Well it did yesterday, the Reds traded away Aroldis Chapman to the Dodgers…or so we all thought.  Reports indicate that a domestic-violence claim against Chapman held up the deal, and prospective teams (or at least the Dodgers) want to know the outcome.  Reds president of baseball operations Walt Jocketty has said that multiple teams are interested in Chapman’s services, but if this charge is strung out, Jocketty won’t be able to trade away the fireball lefty.  If a deal does eventually happen, the Reds will get much needed prospects and Chapman will immediately solidify the backend of a bullpen.

Johnny Cueto is the only big-named starting pitcher on the market, so now we’re all anticipating position players like Justin Upton, Yoenis Cespedes, Daniel Murphy, Alex Gordon, and Jason Hayward to sign.  Hopefully, something will happen sooner than later, but it appears teams are waiting for Ben Zobrist to come off the market before offering out the big money.  Let’s have fun with this and predict who will sign with what team…

Justin Upton – Baltimore Orioles

Yoenis Cespedes – San Francisco Giants

Daniel Murphy – New York Mets

Alex Gordon – Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Jason Hayward – St. Louis Cardinals

That’s all for this week’s edition of Water Cooler Talk.  Follow me on Twitter and let me know what you think of the picks this week, or gripe, moan, and complain about the track record lately.  Even better, show some love!  Enjoy the week and weekend in sports everyone!

Water Cooler Talk wasn’t sure whether to solely go all-out crazy on the NFL this week, but thanks to certain events it’s got to happen. There’s a shake-up in the Heisman candidacy and of course in the College Playoff Rankings.  Oh, and did I mention some things regarding the NFL?  Water Cooler Talk has plenty for you to get caught up on from this past weekend and the week ahead so you can be the sports guru of the office.  As always, Water Cooler Talk highly encourages you to share your experiences of spreading your sports knowledge in the office, by contacting me on Twitter.

NFL:

Let’s backtrack to Friday, shall we? Photos were released by Deadspin showing Nicole Holder’s bruises from when Greg Hardy assaulted her last spring.  The ex-girlfriend of the Cowboys defensive end was a lot more roughed up than I think most people expected, including myself.  If you haven’t been able to see the photos, check them out here.

My problem with this, is that Greg Hardy is playing. The NFL has done what they could, but that doesn’t mean the Cowboys shouldn’t at least consider releasing Hardy.  Ray Rice has been sitting out of the NFL since the video of him knocking out his wife became public, because teams are smart enough not to touch him…including the Raiders.  I’m all for second chances, but Rice and Hardy, or anyone else who assaults a woman are one of the exceptions.

We’ve already seen Hardy have a spat with his teammates on the sidelines, which should be a red flag in itself. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones wants Hardy to sign for the long-term with his team and be a leader moving forward, but how can anyone follow the leader of a woman-beater?  Here’s the message I’m getting from the NFL:  We’ll punish you for everything except domestic violence.

Let’s move onto the field. Another unbeaten is unbeaten no more as the Denver Broncos were defeated by the sub-.500 Indianapolis Colts.  While the Broncos defense wasn’t able to carry the team to yet another victory, it was what happened towards the end of the game that really shocked me.  Aqib Talib eye-gouged TE Dwayne Allen that resulted in a personal foul, which ultimately led to the Colts win.  I had to do a double-check to make sure I wasn’t watching ‘The Waterboy’…”Captain Insano shows no mercy!”

The Bengals and the Patriots got by their week nine opponents without much difficulty. Obviously they’re the class of the AFC and no one is arguing that.

The Panthers are now 8-0 after defeating the Packers 37-29 on Sunday…a game in which myself and my fellow Panthers fans had another near cardiac arrest. Carolina now has a two-game lead in the NFC, but there is still doubt on whether the Panthers can close out the season because of the lack of offensive weapons.  I’ll say this, if Devin Funchess can build on what he did on Sunday, then they’ll be fine.  I worry about them closing out games as they nearly blew a double-digit 4^th quarter lead for the second straight game.  Head coach Ron ‘Riverboat’ Rivera has been in this situation before as he was a member of the 1985 Chicago Bears team that started 12-0 before losing to the Miami Dolphins on Monday Night Football.  How did they do after that?  Oh that’s right…they won the Super Bowl.

One more thing on the week nine action, and that’s what happened between the Vikings and the Rams. Teddy Bridgewater got knocked out on Sunday…literally…after taking a hit to the head from LaMarcus Joyner.  Everyone immediately screamed ‘dirty play’ when it initially happened except for me.  Joyner reacted before Bridgewater began to slide, and the angle he took was proper.  Bridgewater just slid late, and that’s no fault to Joyner.  Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer was fuming about the play and even went as far as to hint Rams defensive coordinator Gregg Williams perpetrated the hit.  Ridiculous is the only word I say to that.  It was a bang-bang play, that’s what happens in football.  There will be no Bountygate II investigation.

Looking ahead to this week’s games, I’m eyeballing a few matchups. I have to start with TNF as the Bills take on the Jets, a game in which Rex Ryan returns to New York.  I’m more intrigued about the uniforms than the game itself because let’s be honest…Thursday football is hard to watch.  I’ll take the Jets to move to 6-3 with a 20-12 win.  Keep an eye on the uniforms and you’ll see why I say this game should be closer to Christmas than Thanksgiving.

I like the Vikings-Raiders game if Bridgewater can play. If he can it’ll be a good game, if he can’t then the Raiders will get an easy one.  With Bridgewater, I say Vikings win 24-20, if he doesn’t play then I’ll take the Raiders to win 27-9.

We’re supposed to get excited for New England and the New York Giants, but it’ll be an easy one for the Patriots as they’ll win 30-13.

Finally, we finish with SNF where the Cardinals travel to Seattle to face the Seahawks. Both teams are coming off their bye week, so it might be a little ugly.  The Cardinals are the better team, and they’ll win 21-13.

NCAAF:

Oh Clemson, you didn’t disappoint. It was scary for a bit, but the Tigers ultimately prevailed over the Seminoles to clinch a spot in the ACC title game and hold onto their #1 ranking (or at least should still be #1).  What’s scary about this team, is that they have 40 freshman on their squad…40!  Clemson will be good for quite some time.

It wasn’t the usual game we’re used to seeing from Alabama and LSU. No last-minute drive to win the game or low scoring game, but still a good game nonetheless.  Bama solidifies their stance in the CFB Playoff Ranking, and they didn’t do it alone thanks to Arkansas beating Ole Miss.  Expect to see the Crimson Tide stomp a mud hole in the Gators in the SEC Championship game.

Because TCU and LSU lost this past weekend, we have to wonder about the Heisman balloting. TCU QB Trevone Boykin and LSU RB Leonard Fournette were running away from the field, but both were stymied on Saturday.  Both of these players need their teams to either win out or lose a close game to a good team to distance themselves from the rest of the pack.  I got in an argument on Saturday night with a friend over me snubbing Florida State RB Talvin Cook from the race.  My argument is this…the voters won’t vote for a player with a team that has 3+ losses (I think FSU loses to Florida) and isn’t contending in a major bowl.  That’s why TCU and LSU need to finish strong for Boykin and Fournette to stay in the running.

As for the CFB Playoff Rankings that will be released tonight, this is my top four this week: 1) Clemson 2) Alabama 3) Ohio State 4) Oklahoma State.  Yes…I know Baylor will be a popular snub, but the OK State victory over TCU was more impressive than Baylor’s seven-point defeat of Kansas State.  And yes, Notre Dame could be in that 4^th spot as well, but I’ll keep them at #6 behind Baylor because of the crooked number.  I will admit this, OK State jumping to #4 might be a stretch considering they were #14 last week, but if they vote correctly then this shouldn’t be a shock.

For the games this weekend, there are a few that stand out:

Let’s begin with Alabama (8-1) at Mississippi State (7-2).  I’ve already said Alabama reaches the SEC title game, which means they have to win-out in the conference.  So I’m obviously taking the Crimson Tide to win in a hostile environment, 31-17.

Here’s one in which no love is given…Memphis (8-1) at Houston (9-0).  These teams are a lot better than people think, because they just see what conference they play in and give no credit.  This is a battle for American Athletic Conference (AAC) supremacy.  If the current system was an eight-team playoff rather than four, Memphis would be in the discussion.  The Tigers come away with a win this weekend, with a score of 37-31.

Finally, we have Oklahoma (8-1) at Baylor (8-0).  If Texas hadn’t defeated Oklahoma, the Big 12 would be even more jumbled to see who will come out on top.  The Sooners are still in it, but they absolutely need to win this game.  Baylor is screaming “snub” in the CFB Playoff Ranking…but not after this week.  Oklahoma wins easily, 35-22.