As we’re used to seeing in recent memory, the playoff picture in the NFL comes down to Week 17. Water Cooler Talk breaks down the playoff implications and gives you the winners this week. 2016 starts with a bang with UFC 195, Water Cooler Talk predicts who will win the Welterweight title. Water Cooler Talk is excited to discuss the splash made in the MLB yesterday afternoon. We can finally talk about intriguing bowl games! Water Cooler Talk is excited to bring you the last edition of 2015, so hide the monitors from the boss to make you the sports guru of the office heading into 2016.

NFL:

The 1972 Miami Dolphins had another legitimate scare, but they again got to pop the corks as the Carolina Panthers fell to the Atlanta Falcons, 20-13. It was pretty evident from the start that the Falcons would not let the Panthers go vertical, and it paid off as Cam Newton failed to throw for 150 yards or have a passing TD. Ted Ginn was held to just one catch for nine yards and Greg Olsen could only tally 40 yards of four receptions. The Carolina defense couldn’t contain Julio Jones nor could they get the Falcons off the field on third down. It was a good win for Atlanta and well deserved as they were still fighting for a playoff spot, but with the Arizona win those hopes vanished quickly.

Is there reason for concern in Carolina? In the secondary, yes. Injuries have plagued the secondary in recent weeks and teams have figured out the blueprint to beat the team 10+ yards down the field. The Panthers desperately need their first-round bye to rest the banged-up secondary, Charles Tillman mainly, in order to make a legitimate run to the Super Bowl.

If the wild card couldn’t get any more exciting prior to Week 16 in the AFC, you were wrong thanks in part to the Steelers offense being grounded in Baltimore and a questionable coaching decision by Bill Belichick to kick the ball to start overtime against the Jets. Kansas City held off the Browns to clinch their spot in the playoffs, so now it comes down to Pittsburgh and New York to see who gets the last position.

In the NFC, one spot is still up for grabs. The Packers and the Vikings will be on Sunday Night Football to finish the regular season, the winner takes the NFC North crown and the 4-seed. The loser will take the 5 or 6 seed.

Let’s look at the playoff scenarios and matchups for Week 17:

Jaguars at Texans – It’s simple for the Texans, win and you’re the AFC South champs and hold the 4-seed in the AFC. I’ll take the Texans to win by double-digits.

Jets at Bills – The Jets need to win to clinch. Ryan Fitzpatrick and Brandon Marshall have never played in the postseason, so you know they’ll continue their hot streaks to make their playoff dreams come true. The Jets will not be grounded as they get a 27-17 victory.

Patriots at Dolphins – A Patriots win means home-field advantage. A loss means a first-round bye. Patriots win after an embarrassing loss in OT last week, 24-14.

Titans at Colts – The Colts need so much help to make the postseason. Here’s the full breakdown:

Colts win over the Titans, Steelers beat the Browns, Jaguars beat the Texans, Ravens beat the Bengals, Raiders beat the Chiefs, Falcons win over the Saints, Chargers upset the Broncos, Bills beat the Jets, Dolphins win against the Patriots.

Steelers at Browns – Pittsburgh needs to win and the Jets need to lose. The Steelers do get the win, 31-13.

Ravens at Bengals – Cincinnati needs to avoid the upset just for pride heading into the playoffs. They can’t be worse than they are now (3-seed) if they hope to finally get a postseason victory (it’s been 25 years). The Ravens do get the win, 19-13.

Seahawks at Cardinals – Seattle is going to the playoffs, but will it be as the 5-seed or 6-seed? We do know they’ll be playing next weekend, so do they rest or play the Cardinals knowing it’s a division game and Arizona is still playing for home-field? Arizona needs a win and a Carolina loss to clinch home-field advantage based off of NFC tiebreakers. If both Arizona and Carolina win, the Cardinals are the 2-seed. I’ll take the Cardinals to win 29-23.

Bucs at Panthers – Carolina needs to win. If they don’t, they need Arizona to lose to clinch home-field advantage. This game has been flexed from 1:00 to 4:25 ET so the Cardinals don’t have an advantage on deciding whether to sit their starters or not. Carolina bounces back with a 24-14 win.

Chargers at Broncos – The Broncos need a win to secure the division. If they lose and the Chiefs win, they’ll be a wild-card team. If the Broncos win and the Patriots lose, they’ll have home-field advantage. San Diego is so banged up that they have no chance of winning. Denver wins easily 27-10.

Raiders at Chiefs – Kansas City is riding a 9-game winning streak and are the first team in NFL history to reach the postseason after starting 1-5. The AFC West is on the line, so they won’t take the foot off the gas. Chiefs go 11-5 on the year with a 20-12 win.

Vikings at Packers – The winner is the NFC North champs and the loser is either the 5 or 6 seed. Either way, both teams will be playing in the Wild Card round. With the Packers at home, I’ll take them to win 20-19.

NCAAF:

We can finally talk about some good bowl matchups for this week! Of course, the big games are on New Year’s Eve with the semifinal games taking place. Let’s predict the winners of the high-profile games:

Tuesday, December 29: #17 Baylor vs. #10 North Carolina – Baylor is on their third starting QB, but despite this have finished strong. UNC is looking for an 11-win season, something that they’ve only accomplished three other times in their long history. The scoring will be plentiful, and I’ll take the Tar Heels to eke out a 38-34 win.

Thursday, December 31: #18 Houston vs. #9 Florida State – The Cougars aren’t a team to sleep on as they’re the AAC champs and have a high-powered offense. The AAC gets some much-needed pride as Houston defeats ACC powerhouse FSU with a score of 27-20.

#4 Oklahoma vs. #1 Clemson – Both of these teams will score. Oklahoma doesn’t get much attention defensively since they play in the Big 12, but they have enough talent to stop the Tigers offense. I don’t know if you can call it an upset, but I’ll take the Sooners to win 26-23.

#3 Michigan State vs. #2 Alabama – Both teams play physical as they’re both stout in the running game and on defense. Alabama has the better defensive line and they of course have the Heisman winning RB in Derrick Henry. The Crimson Tide move on to face Oklahoma on Monday, January 11^th with a convincing 30-14 win.

Friday, January 1: #13 Northwestern vs. #23 Tennessee – ACC vs. SEC matchups are always interesting and usually don’t quite go as expected. The SEC has the upper-hand more times than not, but I’ll take Northwestern to finish off their impressive season with a 20-14 victory.

#14 Michigan vs. #19 Florida – The ‘Fighting Harbaugh’s’ have already exceeded expectations this season. Florida on the other hand is currently in a tumultuous state despite having a season in which no one predicted. Michigan begins their 2016 run with a bang as they dominate the Gators, 24-9.

#8 Notre Dame vs. #7 Ohio State – The Fighting Irish were a mere field goal away from potentially being in the top-four. The Buckeyes hit a roadblock with Michigan State, their first of two tests on the season. I like Notre Dame in this one 27-24.

#6 Stanford vs. #5 Iowa – The Hawkeyes were oh-so-close to the top-four. The Cardinals lost bad games when they could least afford to. I think Stanford pulls off a close game, 21-17.

#16 Oklahoma State vs. #12 Ole Miss – The Cowboys really dropped off the final two weeks of the season while the Rebels have had some turbulence recently with DE Robert Nkemdiche finding himself in trouble the last few weeks. Hugh Freeze won’t allow that to affect his team, Ole Miss wins 31-17.

Saturday, January 2 – #11 TCU vs. #15 Oregon – The Horned Frogs were legitimate contenders for a National Championship through October, but injuries really hurt the team. Oregon struggled to find their step early in the season, but have finished strong as expected. I like TCU in a shootout, 37-32.

UFC 195:

Robbie Lawler will face “The Natural Born Killer,” Carlos Condit on January 2 for the Welterweight title to help bring in the new year. This will be Lawler’s second title defense, and it comes against the former interim champ. Lawler (20-11) only fought once in 2014 while Condit (30-8) is fighting for just the second time since a torn ACL and partially torn meniscus in 2013. Maybe I’m just too much of a fan of the title changing hands, but I like Condit to win in the third round by TKO to become the new Welterweight champ.

MLB:

The New York Yankees made the splash that we’re used to seeing every offseason as they acquired LHP Aroldis Chapman from the Cincinnati Reds for four prospects. This move will be a PR nightmare for at least the near future as Chapman is under investigation stemming from an alleged domestic violence incident that occurred in October. This same ordeal is what stopped the Dodgers from acquiring Chapman during the Winter Meetings.

The Yankees now have a stockpile of closers at their service. Dellin Betances, Andrew Miller, and now Aroldis Chapman are all options for the 9^th inning. We haven’t seen the back end of a bullpen look this solid since the “Nasty Boys” of the Cincinnati Reds in the early-80s to early 90s.

Is it necessary to hang on to Miller? Do they trade him? The answer for now, is he stays put. Chapman is facing a possible suspension that doesn’t exceed 50 games, so the Yankees need the 8^th and 9^th inning to be held down by Betances and Miller until Chapman can join the team in the regular season. As July approaches and the trade deadline looms, that’s when I expect Andrew Miller’s name to be in the trade discussions.

That does it for Water Cooler Talk in 2015. If you like what you see here, be sure to follow me on Twitter. Have a happy and safe new year everyone, I’ll talk to you again in 2016.

After a week hiatus, Water Cooler Talk is refreshed and ready to tackle the final two weeks of the NFL’s regular season. Before we move on to Week 16 however, there will be some talk about what transpired during Sunday’s game between the Panthers and Giants.  Should some of the best college basketball teams start to worry?  Water Cooler Talk breaks down the intriguing bowl games in college football this week and what games you should watch (sarcasm).  Sit back, relax, hide the monitors from the boss, and let Water Cooler Talk help you to be the Christmas sports guru in the office and around the relatives for the holiday.

NFL:

We can’t move on to this week’s action without first discussing the game which has been dubbed, ‘NFL Game of the Year.’ We’ll first start with the gameplay itself.  Cam Newton and the Panthers offense are legit, and any doubt of their prowess before Week 15 should go out the window.  Cam himself threw for 340 yards and ran for 100 yards.  Ted Ginn still drops passes, but seems to immediately make up for those mistakes with big-time catches as he hauled in two more TDs.  Greg Olsen continues to be the safety-net for Cam, and he has proven to be the second-best Tight End in the league after surpassing the 1,000 yard mark.  Devin Funchess and Philly Brown step up when needed, two young receivers that have a pretty high ceiling, each had a TD reception.  The defense speaks for itself, though they’ve had two rough outings in the last three weeks.  The last 20 minutes on Sunday are not what that defense stand for.  Give credit to Eli Manning and the Giants, they scared another undefeated team which seems to be there calling card in recent years.  Had it not been for bad losses in which they’ve blown 4th quarter leads, we’d be discussing the G-Men on a regular basis.  If they can shore up the defense over the offseason and add some offensive line help, this team could be dangerous next year.

On the season, Cam has 3,402 yards passing with 33 TDs and just 10 INTs, his passer rating is 98.9, and had it not been for a few drops he’d be right around 100. Let’s also not forget about the rushing yards, where he has 580 with another 7 TDs. All of this work has come without the top receiver for Carolina, Kelvin Benjamin.  With these numbers, and a 14-0 record, Cam is the MVP…he’s the CAMVP.

Now, let’s get to the sideshow. Odell Beckham Jr. versus Josh Norman, this was hyped for seven days.  In the technological and social media world that we live in, everyone heard about this unless living under a rock.  Two rising stars at their respective positions should’ve been a treat for all fans, instead it turned into Dana White’s wet dream.

I won’t go into all of the specifics and breakdown every instance because the action is being looped on every sports channel, talk show, blog, podcast…whatever is out there is showing and talking about it. Also, because I could write a short-novel.

It’s no secret that I’m a Carolina Panthers fan, but unlike the rest of the die-hards out there, I find fault with both players, not just Odell. After Josh tried to get his head taken off by Beckham, I admittedly cheered for Josh when he went after Odell on the next play, but I realize that was wrong on my part.  Speaking of that head shot by Beckham, that should’ve gotten him an ejection from the game.  Would the outcome have been different if that happened?  We’ll never know.  That’s not the point.

OBJ has been suspended by the league and an appeal has been made. The outcome of that decision should be known either tomorrow or Thursday, which puts the Giants in a tough spot as they prepare to game plan for their Sunday Night Football matchup with the Vikings.   The league made the right call, as they have told the fans that head-hunting is unacceptable, no matter who you are.

Let’s move on and discuss briefly the other ‘Game of the Year’ candidate, the Broncos and the Steelers. Pittsburgh kept their playoff hopes alive by scoring 24-unanswered points in the second half to win 34-27.  The days of the Steel Curtain may be over for now, but it doesn’t matter with the combination of Big Ben and Antonio Brown.  The Steelers have two cupcakes to finish the season with Baltimore and Cleveland, though both are on the road.  31^st ranked pass defense or not, this team has potential to upset the top seeds in the AFC if they make the playoffs.

Looking forward to Week 16 now, there are intriguing games because of the playoff implications. Let’s take a look:

Redskins at Eagles – It’s simple for the Redskins, win and you’re in as the 4-seed and NFC East champs. The Eagles need to win out and have help to capture the division.

Colts at Dolphins – The Colts sit one-game back of the Texans for the AFC South lead. Indy needs to win-out or hope for a Texans loss either this week or next to have any chance of reclaiming the top spot in the division.

Browns at Chiefs – Kansas City has quietly gone on an eight-game winning streak. At 9-5 and holding onto the 5-seed in the AFC, KC all but needs to win their last ten to secure a playoff spot with Pittsburgh and the Jets holding 9-5 records as well.  Believe it or not, they could still win the AFC West.

Steelers at Ravens – Pittsburgh currently holds the 6-seed in the AFC and cannot afford a collapse to end the regular season. The Ravens won’t have a chance to pull off an upset.

Panthers at Falcons – The Falcons are still alive in the playoff hunt but need to win their remaining two games and have help to have a chance. For the Panthers, a win means the undefeated record is still intact and home-field advantage will be clinched.

Patriots at Jets – The Patriots have secured a first-round bye and hope to get healthy heading into the playoffs. The Jets look to keep their momentum going and absolutely need to win to stay alive in the playoff hunt.  With the Jets on the outside looking in, they cannot afford a loss.

Texans at Titans – It seems for now that the Texans will be on their fourth starting QB for this game, seems amazing they’re in the position they’re in.  The defense will need to step up, which seems reasonable as Marcus Mariota will be out for the Titans.  It’s easy for Houston…win.

Packers at Cardinals – The Cardinals suffered a huge loss on Sunday night with Tyrann Mathieu going down with a torn ACL, but they’re loaded so that should soften the blow. The Packers need to click on offense to have a chance.  Despite clinching a playoff berth, Green Bay needs at least one playoff home game to make a run, which means they win the division.

Giants at Vikings – The Giants season will either be over or barely hanging on depending on the Saturday game between the Redskins and Eagles. The Vikings are still fighting for the NFC North and/or a 5 or 6 seed.  Without OBJ, the Vikings chances seem very good.  Minnesota needs to win for a showdown with the Packers Week 17, a potential division winning game.

Bengals at Broncos – Both look to clinch the division this week, but both are riding second-string QBs. The Bengals will look to ground the passing attack with their extraordinary secondary, while the Broncos look to recapture their defensive dominance from the first 10 weeks of the season.  Denver is in danger of possibly losing the division and missing out on the playoffs.

NCAAB:

Michigan State holds onto the #1 ranking with a 12-0 record, but will be without Denzel Valentine for the next 2-3 weeks.  Despite this, the schedule favors the Spartans to remain undefeated during this time.

Duke suffered a bad loss on Saturday to Utah in overtime. The team will have to find a way to win without Amile Jefferson, who suffered a foot fracture in practice on December 12 and will miss about a month.  But it’s Duke we’re talking about, and Coach K will have his boys rebound.

UNC is also without a starter for a couple of weeks as Kennedy Meeks will miss probably another two weeks of action due to a bone bruise in his knee. The Tar Heels won easily on Saturday over UCLA and cruised past App State last night.

Despite these injuries, all teams shall have no trouble on their way to March, when the games really matter.

NCAAF:

40 games is just too many.  As big of a college football fan as I am, I just don’t care to watch teams who barely went .500 or didn’t even win half of their games playing for a bowl.  Next week we’ll talk college football as the better games begin after the holiday weekend leading to New Year’s.

MLB:

We’re still waiting for a majority of position players to find a new home for the 2016 season.  Jason Hayward signed last week with the Cubs, which should heat up the conversations between club and players.  Chris ‘Crush’ Davis, Yoenis Cespedes, Alex Gordon, Justin Upton, Ian Desmond, Daniel Murphy and Dexter Fowler are all still available.  The only remaining intriguing SP is Mike Leake, who should get a fairly nice contract.  Once January hits, the competitive juices within all 30 front offices will heat up, meaning free agents will come off the board and trades will spark the baseball world once again.

Have a good week everyone and a Merry Christmas.  Be sure to follow me on Twitter to share your thoughts on this week’s edition of Water Cooler Talk.

Water Cooler Talk comes to you today extremely humiliated due to the awful picks made last week.  3-7 is not where I want to be, and I let you all down.  For this I apologize, and I’m prepared to come back strong for this week.  On a good note (for me anyway), the Panthers stand as the lone undefeated in the NFL after wiping the floor with the Cowboys on Thanksgiving and the Broncos creating magic on Sunday Night Football.  Conference championships are this weekend and there are some doozies to watch out for.  Water Cooler Talk has what you need to sound like the sports guru of the office this week, so hide those monitors from the boss and let’s get this thing going!

NFL:

As stated above, the Carolina Panthers sit alone on the undefeated throne at 11-0.  They are starting to get healthy where it counts, and that’s scary for the opposition.  With Charles Johnson back at DE and WR Philly Brown returning either this week or next week, the skies the limit and this team can actually go 16-0.  The remaining schedule:  at New Orleans, vs. Atlanta, at New York Giants, at Atlanta, vs. Tampa Bay.

The Denver Broncos may actually be better off without Peyton Manning.  It didn’t always look pretty, but Brock Osweiler rallied the offense in the fourth quarter for the OT victory on SNF.  This has all the makings of an ugly divorce between Manning and the Broncos during the offseason, which means Peyton will be wearing a different uniform for his farewell season in 2016, if he still decides to take that route.

The Cardinals, Bengals, Vikings, and Broncos are all still contending for a first-round bye in the playoffs which is making the last five weeks of the season exciting.  Not in the mix is the awful NFC East and AFC South, both divisions in which multiple sub-.500 teams are in the race to win the division and get a home playoff game.

One TE is gone for the season (Jimmy Graham) and another was feared to be out as well (Gronk), but luckily for the Patriots he’ll maybe miss one game.  Then there’s the man formerly known as CJ2K, who suffered a fractured tibia. The NFL doesn’t want defenders to tackle high, and the outcome has been obliterated knees and some kind of broken bone from the hips down for offensive players.  I always say it’s tough to be a defender in the NFL, but it’s now becoming equally tough to be a playmaker in the open field in the NFL.

Some intriguing games this week in the NFL, so let’s get to the picks and redemption for last week:

Green Bay at Detroit – Thursday Night Football has been bad since its inception, but both teams are coming off a week of rest rather than three days, so this might be okay.  Green Bay has lost 4 of their last 5 while Detroit has won three straight.  Despite the recent struggles, I like the Packers offense over the Lions defense.  I also like Stafford’s chances of coming back to reality after slaughtering the porous Eagles defense.  Green Bay takes this one 23-14.

Seattle at Minnesota – This game is tricky.  Everyone will automatically assume the Seahawks get an easy one here, but I’m not so sure.  I do think Teddy will have trouble finding open receivers all game, except for Kyle Rudolph.  And of course, you can’t count out AP.  Russell Wilson is coming off a 5 TD performance against a (let’s be honest) horrible Steelers secondary.  No Lynch, no problem with Thomas Rawls.  No Jimmy Graham, that could be a problem because Luke Willson is no Graham.  Seattle isn’t at home, which means no help from the officiating crew.  Minnesota wins the defensive battle (my kind of game) 17-14.

NYJ at NYG – How does one sell tickets for this game?  I’m getting off track…this game will probably be awful.  The Jets are hit-and-miss, and the Giants just make way too many mistakes.  Despite no Revis Island, I have to take the better defense in this one.  Jets win 20-16.

Indianapolis at Pittsburgh – I’m only picking this game as “intriguing” because of the playoff stipulations.  The Colts are undefeated without Andrew Luck, while the Steelers can’t keep Big Ben healthy.  I have to take the Colts to win 27-18.

NCAAF:

Mark Richt got fired from Georgia.  No, that’s not a typo.  The Bulldogs faithful couldn’t look past injuries that hampered the season, and they let Richt go after a 9-3 season.  Their loss will be another school’s gain…a very big gain.  I’ve always liked Mark Richt, and I hope he stays in the SEC East to stick it to the Bulldogs for some years to come.

Les Miles will not be leaving Baton Rouge, according to LSU’s AD.  However, I would listen to offers if I was Les.  If your school and fan base can’t appreciate the wonderful seasons you’ve brought them, then do a little shopping.  I’m not saying leave for the sake of leaving, but feel some love from somewhere else.

Clay Helton’s interim tag was removed yesterday, meaning he’ll stay as head coach of the USC Trojans.  There were a lot of big names for the Trojans to look at, but Helton has taken a mess of a situation and turned the Trojans into Pac-12 championship contenders.  USC faces Stanford for the title this week.

Justin Fuente was a highly-sought coach, and the Virginia Tech Hokies scooped him up as quickly as they could.  Fuente turned the Memphis Tigers into contenders this past season, and now the 39-year-old coach will take over for Frank Beamer in Blacksburg.

While the coaching carousel will be fun to watch over the next several weeks, let’s focus on the immediate future and pick the conference champions for this week:

AAC Championship – #20 Temple at #17 Houston.  Houston laid the smack down on Navy on Friday, raising their spirits after a tough loss two weeks ago to UConn.  Houston has the high-powered offense, which leads them to the win over the Owls 35-20 in what is the first championship game for this conference.

SEC Championship – #18 Florida vs. #2 Alabama.  The Gators have had a good season considering they’re in rebuilding mode.  To be honest, Georgia should be here but injuries hurt their season, and the Gators pounced.  Alabama is riding this year’s Heisman winner Derrick Henry and their stout defense to victories, and this week will be no different.  Alabama cruises to be the 2015 SEC Champions, 31-10.

Pac-12 Championship – #24 USC vs. #7 Stanford.  The Trojans could’ve rolled over and given up on this season after the Sark catastrophe, but Clay Helton held this team together and now they’re playing for a title.  Stanford is coming off a huge win against Notre Dame, and if they hadn’t lost to Oregon they’d be right up there in the top-four discussion.  Stanford will win this game 30-20 and will need a lot of help to get into that discussion for a playoff berth.

Big Ten Championship – #5 Michigan State vs. #4 Iowa.  Now is our chance to see if Iowa is for real.  I’ve seen more of Michigan State than I have of Iowa, so this is tough.  Connor Cook is back for Sparty, so that right there gives them the edge in my opinion.  Good run Iowa, but you’ll come up short with a 27-17 defeat.

ACC Championship – #8 UNC vs. #1 Clemson.  This game has upset written all over it.  Despite cheering for the Tar Heels, I haven’t given them much of a chance the last couple of weeks.  My mind has been changed however, as the Heels are white-hot while Clemson has been struggling lately.  Clemson is young and I think the pressure is getting to them.  UNC has a devastating ground attack and an above-par defense to go with it.  This game changes the playoffs as the Heels escape Charlotte as the ACC champs with a 41-27 victory.

My top four this week in the College Football Playoff Rankings:

1. Clemson
2. Alabama
3. Oklahoma
4. Iowa

MLB:

SP Jordan Zimmerman is the first big-name free agent to sign.  Zimmerman has reportedly agreed to a 5-year, $110 million deal with the Detroit Tigers.  If $110 million is the first number we’ve seen so far, expect the likes of Cueto and Price to get a far bigger number.  Speaking of Cueto, he rejected a 6-year, $120 million offer from the Diamondbacks. I’m guessing he’s looking at the $150 million range.  And for David Price, the Red Sox are supposedly very interested in acquiring his services.  Boston needs starting pitching help in a bad way, and signing Price would fix that almost immediately.

That’ll do it for this week’s edition of Water Cooler Talk.  Like what you see?  Follow me on Twitter and share your thoughts and opinions, or your happiness and anger over the picks!  Have a great week everyone.