Johnny Manziel walks into Death Valley on Saturday as the Aggies aim to stretch their winning streak to 11. Later that day, Manny Pacquiao and Brandon Rios clash in a monumental title bout in Macau.
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NFL – Saints Subdue Atlanta
Drew Brees threw for 278 and two touchdowns and tight end Jimmy Graham had five receptions with a touchdown to lead New Orleans into a 17-13 win over the struggling Falcons. Atlanta is now 0-5 SU in its last five games.
NBA – Thunder Beat Clips at Home
Kevin Durant poured in 28 points to lead the Thunder in their 105-91 thumping of the visiting Clippers. Oklahoma City improved to 8-3 SU and remained unbeaten at home this season while the Clippers relegated them to an 8-5 SU slate.
NBA– Nuggets Edge Bulls
Jordan Hamilton came off the bench and scored a team-high 17 points to help Denver carve out a 97-87 win over the streaking Bulls.
LSU’s defense got the better of Johnny Manziel in the Tigers’ 24-19 win over Texas A&M last season. Les Miles can only hope that his squad can regain the same intensity on the defensive end when the Aggies hit the field in Death Valley on Saturday. [sc:NCAA240banner ]
Judging as to how the Aggies have been scoring all season long, it looks like Les Miles will miss the defenders he had then at his disposal. The Aggies are fifth in the nation in scoring with 49.2 PPG. They are coming off a 51-41 win against Mississippi State – their third straight win and also their third consecutive game in which they buried their foes under 50 points or more.
Texas A&M is gunning for their 11th straight road victory. The Aggies are also 5-1 OVER in their last six games.
Prior to the season, this game was seen as a highly critical match-up that was supposed to have huge repercussions in the BCS rankings. Though it will not play out that way on Saturday, the Tigers would like nothing more than to stop Johnny Manziel and the overpowering Texas A&M offense.
The Tigers’ defense has fallen off the cliff in their past few games. They have lost two of their last three games, including a crucial match with #1 Alabama last week, when they failed to keep up with the Crimson Tide and lost the game, 38-17. Meanwhile, Zach Mettenberger will look to hold his own against visiting counterpart Johnny Manziel. Both QBs are in the Top 5 of Passer Efficiency Rating with Manziel (186.9) at third and Mettenberger at (177.4) fifth.
LSU may have lost twice this season causing them to slip in the BCS rankings all the way down to #22, but they still keep a perfect home record. The Tigers are 5-0 SU in their last five games at Death Valley.
Manny Pacquiao vs. Brandon Rios (November 23, 2013)
Macau will be host to a huge fight that pits former eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao against a much younger Brandon Rios on Sunday.
Pacquiao is dead-set on regaining his once lofty place in the pound-for-pound rankings, which he surrendered after back-to-back defeats to Timothy Bradley and Juan Manuel Marquez, respectively.
Meanwhile, Rios is facing the biggest fight of his career yet. Instead of having a third bout with Mike Alvarado, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum gave him a chance he couldn’t resist. For this fight, Rios put on some more weight, since he hasn’t fought as a welterweight before. Rios won 13 straight fights before losing to Alvarado in his most recent fight.
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Can Rios send Pacquiao further down the boxing ranks, and worse, into retirement? Or will Pacquiao be the old, savage, relentless Pacman we’ve seen before in this fight?
