Last week in the world of sports: 11/30 through 12/6

Mark J. Terrill | Associated Press

FILE – In this Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2020 file photo, Houston Rockets’ Russell Westbrook (0) goes up for a shot as Oklahoma City Thunder’s Nerlens Noel, right, defends during the second half of an NBA first-round playoff basketball game in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. The Houston Rockets have traded Russell Westbrook to the Washington Wizards for John Wall and a future lottery-protected. first-round pick. Both teams announced the trade Wednesday night, Dec. 2, 2020.

By Kyle Mathas
December 7, 2020

DeKALB — Whether it is multiple top-25 college basketball upsets, the Huskies women’s basketball team winning two games straight or all of sport cancellations due to COVID-19, this week gave us a lot of entertainment in sports. 

 

NCAA Football

In college football, Texas Christian University upset 15th-ranked Oklahoma State University. Rice University upset the undefeated Marshall University. 12th-ranked University of Indiana defeated 16th-ranked University of Wisconsin. 

Coastal Carolina University defeated Brigham Young University and handed them their first loss of the season. Third-ranked Clemson University destroyed Virginia Tech University, second-ranked University of Notre Dame defeated Syracuse University and top-ranked University of Alabama demolished Louisiana State University. 

The University of Indiana punched their ticket into the Big 10 conference championship game. In the Atlantic Coastal Conference, it will be Notre Dame against Clemson in the conference championship game. In the Big 12 conference championship game, it will be Iowa State University against the University of Oklahoma. Finally, in the Southeastern Conference Championship game, it will be the University of Florida taking on the top-seeded University of Alabama. 

 

MAC Football

In the Mid American  Conference, The Huskies fell to the University of Toledo with NIU redshirt senior quarterback Ross Bowers throwing for 273 yards in the loss.

Western Michigan quarterback Kaleb Eleby looks for a receiver during the first half of the team’s NCAA college football game against Eastern Michigan in Kalamazoo, Mich., Saturday, Dec. 5, 2020. (Joel Bissell | Associated Press)

Eastern Michigan University defeated Western Michigan University and gave Western Michigan their first loss of the season. The University at Buffalo had their game cancelled Saturday but moved up to the 24th place in the country. This is the first time Buffalo has ever been ranked in the top-25 in their program history. 

 

NCAA Basketball

In college basketball, Michigan State University defeated Duke University and the University of Kansas took down the University of Kentucky in the Statefarm Champions Classic. 

Gonzaga University defeated West Virginia University and Baylor University took down the University of Illinois- Urbana in the Jimmy V Classic tournament. Also, the University of Texas defeated the University of North Carolina in the Maui Invitational championship game. 

Villanova University defeated the University of Texas in the Big East vs Big 12 conference battle. 

Some notable upsets from the past week were the University of Missouri defeating the 21st-ranked University of Oregon Wednesday. Also, Marquette University upset the fourth-ranked Wisconsin Friday and Georgia Tech University defeated the 20th-ranked Kentucky Sunday. 

The game between first-ranked Gonzaga and second-ranked Baylor was cancelled Saturday hours before tip-off due to COVID-19 concerns. 

 

MAC Women’s Basketball

The Huskies got back-to-back wins in the Compass Tournament over Eastern Illinois University and Western Illinois University, becoming tournament champions. They improved to 2-1 this season. 

 

Upcoming MAC Football

The Huskies will try to win their first game of the season this weekend on the road against Eastern Michigan University. Kickoff is 11 a.m. Saturday on ESPN3.

Buffalo will try to remain undefeated as they will play Akron University for their first game as a ranked team in school history. 

 

Upcoming NCAA Football

This upcoming week in college football will feature Wisconsin and the University of Iowa in a top-25 Big 10 conference matchup. Michigan will play Ohio State University in one of the most historic rivalry games in college football. 

The University of Miami will play UNC in a top-25 ACC conference matchup and LSU will play  Florida, as the game was postponed earlier in the season. 

 

Upcoming NCAA Men’s Basketball

This week is the Big 10 vs ACC showdown in college basketball. Some big games are Creighton University taking on Kansas, UNC taking on Iowa, Michigan State taking on the University of Virginia and Illinois taking on Duke. 

The Huskies will play Ball State University Tuesday at the NIU Convocation Center. The game will be broadcasted on ESPN3.

Pittsburgh’s Ithiel Horton (0) gets a rebound in front of Northern Illinois’ Zool Kueth, front left, and Pittsburgh’s Abdoul Karim Coulibaly during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Dec. 5, 2020, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic) (Keith Srakocic | Associated Press)

On Sunday, the Huskies will take on the third-ranked University of Iowa Hawkeyes on the road. That game will be broadcasted on Fox Sports 1. 

 

Boxing News

Youtube celebrity Logan Paul announced Sunday that he would be fighting undefeated boxer Floyd Mayweather on February 20. 

 

NFL

There was no Thursday Night Football game this week because there will be two Monday Night Football games will be played. 

In the NFL, the Detroit Lions defeated the Chicago Bears. The Bears have now lost six straight games. The New York Jets remain winless with a three point loss to the Las Vegas Raiders. The Los Angeles Rams defeated the Arizona Cardinals to take the lead of the NFC West division and the New York Giants upset quarterback Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks. 

On Sunday Night Football, Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Denver Broncos. The game was a lot closer than some expected but the Chiefs won with Patrick Mahomes throwing for over 300 yards and improved to 11-1 on the season.

 

NBA

NBA point guards Russell Westbrook and John Wall were swapped for each other Wednesday. 

Westbrook was sent to the Washington Wizards from the Houston Rockets in exchange for Wall and a future pick. Westbrook was an All-Star in his lone season with the Rockets after being traded the previous offseason from the Oklahoma City Thunder.

FILE – In this Monday, Feb. 24, 2020 file photo, Washington Wizards guard John Wall works out prior to an NBA basketball game against the Milwaukee Bucks in Washington. The Houston Rockets have traded Russell Westbrook to the Washington Wizards for John Wall and a future lottery-protected. first-round pick. Both teams announced the trade Wednesday night, Dec. 2., 2020. (Nick Wass | Associated Press)

Wall, a five-time All-Star with the Wizards who drafted him in 2010, will make his first appearance on-court since Dec. 29, 2018 this month after missing much of the last two seasons with heel surgery and a torn Achilles.