As part of a new collaboration with the Connecticut Children’s Care Network, Nest Collaborative will provide unlimited same-day telehealth appointments with certified lactation consultants for parents in need of prenatal and perinatal breastfeeding support.
The virtual care services will be delivered without copays, out-of-pocket costs or deductibles for families with active insurance or Medicaid coverage.
WHY IT MATTERS
The Connecticut Children’s Care Network, with 37 independent pediatric practices and more than 200 pediatric primary care providers in Connecticut and Massachusetts, has a mission to improve the quality of care and health outcomes for infants, children and adolescents.
“As pediatric primary care providers, we know the short- and long-term medical and neurodevelopmental advantages of breastfeeding,” said Dr. David M. Krol, medical director of Connecticut Children’s Care Network, in a statement.
The network is collaborating with the nation’s first and largest virtual lactation consultation platform, which provides services in more than 10 languages, seven days a week, in all 50 states, to improve the success of breastfeeding.
Breastfeeding has been found to decrease risks for maternal and infant diseases, yet there are numerous systematic barriers to supporting the practice.
“We also know that significant sociodemographic and cultural disparities exist in the initiation and continuation of breastfeeding. Nest Collaborative’s International Board Certified Lactation Consultants provide equitable, evidence-based guidance to our families when they need it most to help prevent and overcome breastfeeding challenges,” Kroll added.
The collaborative says IBCLCs are the gold standard of care. As experts in lactation, they support families in their infant feeding decisions, including exclusive breastfeeding, supplementation and re-lactation, and help navigate infant feeding as parents return to work.
“When a new mother needs a lactation consultant, it’s likely she will need assistance at all hours of the day and night. We leverage virtual lactation services to meet the unique needs of these mothers,” Deborah Muro, CIO at El Camino Hospital, told Healthcare IT News when the hospital, located in Mountain View, California, launched virtual care last year.
“Multiple factors contribute to these disparities, such as variation in quality healthcare, underlying chronic conditions, structural racism and implicit bias,” the agency says, adding, “Social determinants of health prevent many people from racial and ethnic minority groups from having fair opportunities for economic, physical and emotional health.”
Expanding access to telehealth, however, requires a look at the existing regulatory hurdles. Before the pandemic, patients had to be in a rural area in a hospital or clinical setting to receive reimbursement for telehealth.
End-of-year legislation included a two-year extension for Medicare telehealth flexibilities that have been in place since the COVID-19 public health emergency was declared, but the telehealth industry is advocating to make systematic changes created by telehealth expansion permanent.
ON THE RECORD
“Connecticut Children’s maintains the highest quality clinical standards for pediatric care and partnering with them is an honor,” said Amanda Gorman, founder and chief clinical officer of Nest Collaborative, in a statement.
“We’re especially excited to join Connecticut Children’s Care Network in bringing together the pediatric expertise that Connecticut Children’s has to offer with the quality of care that community physicians and our IBCLCs bring to caring for families and newborns,” she said.
Andrea Fox is senior editor of Healthcare IT News.
Email: af**@***ss.org Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS publication.
Dr. Zsolt Kulcsar, medical director at Lee Health based in Fort Myers, Florida, says what he has learned in recent years is that telemedicine is great, but it also is a little limiting. There is only so much one can solve via a video interaction.
THE PROBLEM
“When the first wave of COVID-19 kind of died down, we met with all of our heads of departments, including cardiology, pulmonary and other key service lines, and we asked them about the limitation of that telehealth interaction,” he recalled.
“What we learned is that we needed data,” he continued. “We couldn’t make data-driven decisions because we didn’t have blood pressures, we didn’t have oxygenation saturations, we didn’t have weights, we didn’t have the data that goes with the clinical decision-making.”
The caregivers only had the patient, and they were able to examine a few things via video, but they did not have that supporting data to drive decisions and management.
That’s where remote patient monitoring came in – delivering devices into the home that can collect clinical data, including blood pressure, oxygen and weight. But more important to Kulcsar, RPM also could collect questionnaires from patients that could help detect early clues of an exacerbation, decompensation or deterioration.
“The program we built here is an RPM shop, and it has the tools we need to collect that data,” he said. “That was important pre-COVID, and it’s important even more so post-COVID.
“There is a term called ‘virtual first’ that we use,” he added. “For example, a patient would be in their living room and ping the doctor to let them know they have a specific condition they are concerned about, and they’re wondering what should they do about it?”
“Our digital footprint all of a sudden expanded from more of a passive monitoring program to monitoring plus intervention.”
Dr. Zsolt Kulcsar, Lee Health
Patients can do this from their living room, as opposed to driving to urgent care or the emergency department. Then, if they need to drive to the urgent care or ER, they’re told to do so.
“To go even further, some patients don’t want to go into the office and sit in a waiting room,” said Jonathan Witenko, system director of virtual health and telemedicine. “Then there are patients who want to be seen and have that relationship with their physician. So, it’s also a little bit of what is the patient preference and what is the patient appetite, and figuring out what is right for the patient.
“Telehealth isn’t meant to just be a replacement for in-person visits – it’s a complement,” he continued. “After someone is seen by their primary care physician, they can use telehealth to check in and spot-check, so the patient doesn’t need to physically come into the office as much, but they still can get the personalized care they need to help with their condition.”
PROPOSAL
Lee Health’s remote patient monitoring technology and services vendor is Health Recovery Solutions.
“They’re a high-performing vendor and forward-thinking,” Witenko contended. “They can help deliver technology and set it up in the patient’s home. This helps us collect that data-driven information we need to provide the patient with optimal care when and where they need it.”
Kulcsar reported that the health system was able to get up and running two days after Hurricane Ian passed through the community in September 2022 and continue monitoring patients’ conditions.
“Our digital footprint all of a sudden expanded from more of a passive monitoring program to monitoring plus intervention,” he recalled. “Those interventions are really what matters to our health system to keep people in the home or transition from the hospital into the home and to do that safely.
“We were helping to oversee the data and then escalating it to the appropriate specialists,” he added. “We’re also helping to handle those situations in-house.”
MARKETPLACE
There are many vendors of telemedicine technology and services on the health IT market today. Healthcare IT News published a special report highlighting many of these vendors with detailed descriptions of their products. Click here to read the special report.
MEETING THE CHALLENGE
Health Recovery Solutions is able to feed information into Lee Health’s electronic health record, Epic, so all providers involved in patient care are able to know a patient’s entire clinical record and the continuity of care is present throughout the entire process.
“To add to that, I could call a cardiologist or text message them that their patient’s blood pressure or weight went up over the last few days, and have them take a look and see what they think is clinically worrisome,” Kulcsar said. “And if something is an issue, we can coordinate services within the home, because everyone is able to see what we’re seeing.
“We have a full clinical team, including someone who does daily intake interactions with patients,” he continued. “There is a customer service representative and three nurses who do the day-to-day analysis of the data and make escalations.”
“Telehealth isn’t meant to just be a replacement for in-person visits – it’s a complement.”
Jonathan Witenko, Lee Health
Lee has a clinical team of two advanced providers and a medical director to oversee the data, coordinate the care and reach out to coordinating specialists and internists.
“We can just act on it,” Kulcsar explained. “We see it. We get alerted and we make a plan.”
Lee Health has officially received its first payment for RPM services rendered. The services rendered via the RPM team are billed and have been reimbursed.
RESULTS
Lee Health is sending fewer people to hospitals and emergency departments.
“A few months ago, about 17% of our remotely monitored patients needed a higher level of care,” Kulcsar reported. “Now we’re hovering around the 3% to 5% range. We’ve been able to keep people in their homes and coordinate that care.
“We’ve also partnered with DispatchHealth, which delivers care directly to the patient’s home,” he continued. “They can do blood draws, X-rays and deploy medications, and that helps us a lot.”
Surveys show Lee has highly engaged patients who are very satisfied with their overall care, equipment and the program itself.
“Our vendor said the adherence rate is at 80%, meaning the patients enrolled in the program also get their biometric readings and stick with doing so 80% of the time in a typical month, which is pretty impressive,” Kulcsar added.
USING FCC AWARD FUNDS
Lee Health was awarded $1 million by the FCC telehealth grant fund to help out with its remote patient monitoring program.
“We used these funds for the remote patient monitoring program, the placement of cameras inside of the NICU at each bassinet so family members can see the baby growing and developing while he or she is under our care, and to develop our telehealth infrastructure,” Witenko explained.
“We also are taking steps to position ourselves for the future and be proactive instead of reactive,” he continued. “COVID and Hurricane Ian helped us see challenges and address them, and now we’re working to put those solutions in place.”
The provider organization has laid the groundwork, Kulcsar added.
“We have clinical staffing,” he said. “We have the right technologies and now people are approaching me about other specialties that could benefit from these implementations, such as oncology. We’re looking at different data, responding differently to it, and coordinating with another specialist.
“Now you can get really creative and it helps with digital transformation, as well,” he concluded. “It is step one and two for digital transformation and now the heavy work can really begin.”
Follow Bill’s HIT coverage on LinkedIn: Bill Siwicki
Email the writer: bs******@***ss.org
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.
Berlin, January 10, 2023 – On the occasion of the 41st J.P. Morgan Healthcare conference in San Francisco, Bayer AG announced it is raising its combined peak sales forecast for key growth drivers in its pharma portfolio to over twelve billion euros. This improved outlook comes amid the company’s potential blockbuster drugs tracking ahead of schedule and targeted investments in Research and Development (R&D) replenishing its pharmaceutical development pipeline.
Nubeqa™ (darolutamide), which has the potential to become the standard of care for prostate cancer patients from the early- to the late-stage of this disease, has projected peak sales potential of more than three billion euros. Its market share in the US has already expanded to over 30 percent in non-metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (nmCRPC) and it has gained US label extension to treat patients in the metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (mHSPC) setting based on the strong data of the
ARASENS study. Going forward, growth will be driven by further approvals for the treatment of mHSPC in the EU, Japan, China and other major regions as well as continued gains in market share. In parallel, the ongoing Phase III clinical development programs (ARANOTE and ARASEC) with darolutamide aim to broaden its use even further by offering treatment options in the metastatic hormone-sensitive setting without concomitant chemotherapies. Darolutamide’s use in the biochemical relapse and adjuvant settings is also being investigated.
Kerendia™ (finerenone), a first- in-class non-steroidal mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist, representing a valuable treatment option for patients with cardio-renal disease, could generate sales of more than three billion euros. This therapeutic option has shown one of the strongest launch dynamics in the US market, outperforming benchmark launches in the cardiovascular space. This strong launch momentum is expected to continue, driven by its robust position on top of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers, its broad utility and relevance across general practitioners, endocrinologists, nephrologists and cardiologists as well as growing patient numbers and longer treatment durations in the US. Additional support for growth will come from upcoming reimbursements approvals in non-US territories and further guideline inclusions.
A step-change in growth is expected from oral factor XIa (FXIa) inhibitor asundexian. With the potential to act as distinct option for the prevention of thrombosis and ischemic strokes, asundexian has projected peak sales of more than five billion euros. It is estimated that around 40 percent of eligible patients are either not treated with direct oral anticoagulants or undertreated as these patients assess the bleeding risk to be higher than their need for thrombosis prevention. Asundexian is a first-in-class, once daily oral FXIa inhibitor, providing the potential to suppress clot formation to prevent thrombosis while leaving the body’s ability to respond to bleeding events intact. Bayer’s comprehensive Phase II study program PACIFIC showed that asundexian may reduce the risk of thrombotic events without significantly impacting the risk of bleeding. Based on these promising clinical results, the landmark Phase III development program OCEANIC in atrial fibrillation and non-cardioembolic stroke has been started. Nearly 30,000 patients worldwide are involved in this program.
Blockbuster potential is also attributed to elinzanetant, an innovative, non-hormonal small molecule being developed for the treatment of vasomotor symptoms during menopause. Vasomotor symptoms or hot flashes are reported by up to 80 percent of women at some point during the menopausal transition. They can negatively impact sleep, mood and quality of life and are the leading cause for seeking medical attention during this particular phase of a woman’s life. More than one third of women report severe symptoms, which can last ten years or more after the last menstrual period. While around 16 million women each in the United States and Europe suffer from vasomotor symptoms, there are still limited treatment options available. Hormone therapy, the current standard of care, is not an option for many women due to contraindications or personal preference. Elinzanetant, in contrast, is an oral first-in-class, non-hormonal drug candidate, inhibiting both the neurokinin-1 and 3 receptors and thereby potentially reducing hyperactivity of the kisspeptin, neurokinin B and dynorphin neuronal circuit involved in thermoregulation. This drug candidate demonstrated significant and rapid improvement in vasomotor symptoms in Phase II studies and was well-tolerated. First results from the Phase III OASIS study program are expected in the second half of 2023.
“The strong launches of Nubeqa™ and Kerendia™ and our compelling late-stage development portfolio reflect our commitment to bringing innovative medicines to patients, with the future sales growth potential increasing significantly in the next couple of years,” said Stefan Oelrich, Member of the Board of Management, Bayer AG and President of Bayer’s Pharmaceuticals Division. “In addition, positive study outcomes from our cell & gene therapy platforms offer a potential upside that is hard to quantify exactly today but can reach multi-billion Euro range.”
Renewing the portfolio and an ongoing shift of resources, including the development of a stronger presence in the US, are two parts of Bayer’s strategy to achieve sustainable long-term growth. A third key strategic element to enhance sales growth are the acquired platform companies BlueRock Therapeutics (BlueRock), Asklepios Biopharmaceutical (AskBio) and Vividion Therapeutics (Vividion), with their industry-leading scientific innovation which have already successfully diversified and strengthened Bayer’s pipeline.
BlueRock, a pioneer in stem cell engineered cell therapy, is advancing a growing pipeline of innovative therapies for treating patients with neurological, immunological, cardiovascular and ophthalmic diseases. Its most advanced program BRT-DA01 is being developed for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease, a progressive neurodegenerative disorder caused by nerve cell damage in the brain. It comprises of pluripotent stem cell-derived dopaminergic neurons that are implanted into the brain, thus taking target at the root cause of the disease. According to the Parkinson’s Foundation, more than 10 million people worldwide suffer from Parkinson’s disease. BRT-DA01 has completed enrollment of the Phase I clinical study, expecting data readout in the second half of 2023.
In gene therapy, AskBio is operating an industry-leading adeno-associated virus (AAV)-based gene therapy platform, with demonstrated applicability as well as excellent manufacturing facilities. AskBio has been driving Bayer’s pipeline of investigational novel gene therapies that are developed across a range of neuromuscular, central nervous system, cardiovascular and metabolic disease indications. Most advanced in the clinic are investigational treatments for Parkinson’s disease, Pompe disease and congestive heart failure. Gene therapy programs for Huntington’s disease and multiple systems atrophy are currently enrolling patients into first-in-human studies.
The strategic collaboration with Mammoth Biosciences, Inc., with its groundbreaking gene-editing technology as a key enabling technology as well as a stand-alone therapeutic modality, will significantly enhance Bayer’s efforts to develop transformative therapies. Bringing together Mammoth’s novel CRISPR systems with Bayer’s existing gene augmentation and its induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) platforms will allow Bayer to unleash the full potential of its cell and gene therapy strategy.
With Vividion and its industry-leading chemoproteomics platform, Bayer made a significant investment to magnify its small molecule drug discovery capabilities and pipeline of precision therapeutics. Vividion’s breakthrough technology can unlock high value, traditionally undruggable targets of the human disease proteome. When combined with Bayer’s long-standing expertise bringing small molecule therapeutics from discovery to development and to market, the technology enables unprecedented innovation for the benefit of patients across various disease areas. The first two programs addressing high profile cancer targets are expected to reach clinical Investigational New Drug Application (IND) in 2023.
“Our transformation is well underway, as new therapeutic targets and modalities are increasingly contributing to our early development portfolio and already representing a large part of our annual R&D resources, reflecting their importance for our renewed strategy,” said Christian Rommel, Head of Research and Development and Member of the Executive Committee Bayer Pharmaceuticals. “For 2023, we are expecting several important development milestones for both our early and late-stage pipeline that will allow us to further advance medical innovations for patients in need.”
The significant improvement of Bayer’s R&D capabilities since 2018 is reflected in a new and detailed presentation of its R&D pipeline available here.
Accelerating innovation through external avenues is an essential element of Bayer’s strategy. Bayer has built a reputation as a partner driven by science and data, committed to openness and transparency at every step of the collaboration process and in recent years, Bayer has successfully applied great flexibility to collaborations, including the arm’s length partnering model.
“We are focused on a holistic approach of investing in novel technology platforms, pursuing growth through external innovation,” said Marianne De Backer, Head of Strategy, Business Development & Licensing/Open Innovation and Member of the Executive Committee Bayer Pharmaceuticals. “These partnerships reflect our focus on collaborating rather than integrating and thereby preserving the partner’s entrepreneurial culture and talent base. By maintaining independence through an arm’s length operational model, we experience accelerated drug development programs results.”
Bayer is constantly pursuing new approaches for engaging with the biotech ecosystem and its arm’s length partnering model continues to attract external innovators and successfully contributes breakthrough innovation to Bayer’s business.
In recent years the company has invested more than seven billion USD in biotech acquisitions and managed 60 strategic and ongoing alliances. It has successfully developed a local presence in key markets around the globe in the most innovative hot spots: Boston, San Francisco, Research Triangle Park – North Carolina, San Diego, Beijing, Berlin and Kobe, where it is in direct connection with local players, thus helping to shape innovative environments and drive its own innovation strategy.
Complementing in-house expertise with external collaboration continues to be a priority for Bayer to expand its legacy of success in researching and developing robust therapies, with the goal to address high unmet medical needs. The company’s arm’s length operating model will continue to evolve especially in therapeutic areas which are not yet core to Bayer such as neurodegenerative diseases. Bringing personalized medicine to patients faster is the shared goal uniting Bayer and its partners. The unique nature of these therapies means that traditional frameworks need to be overhauled. Each therapy requires different expertise, innovation and regulatory path, which no single player will be able to do alone.
About Bayer Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the life science fields of health care and nutrition. Its products and services are designed to help people and the planet thrive by supporting efforts to master the major challenges presented by a growing and aging global population. Bayer is committed to driving sustainable development and generating a positive impact with its businesses. At the same time, the Group aims to increase its earning power and create value through innovation and growth. The Bayer brand stands for trust, reliability and quality throughout the world. In fiscal 2021, the Group employed around 100,000 people and had sales of 44.1 billion euros. R&D expenses before special items amounted to 5.3 billion euros. For more information, go to www.bayer.com.
Forward-Looking Statements This release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in Bayer’s public reports which are available on the Bayer website at www.bayer.com. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conformthem to future events or developments.
The 2022 season isn’t over yet with the NFL playoffs about to begin, but we’re already looking ahead to next year. We want to make sure you’re more than ready for the 2023 Fantasy Football campaign.
With that in mind, here’s an early look at our top 12 Fantasy running backs for 2023 in PPR, and it’s very much subject to change. We know a lot is going to happen between now and the start of training camp — coaching changes, free agency, the NFL Draft, etc. — and we will adjust our rankings accordingly.
But for now, here’s the first look at the top 12 running backs for 2023 from Adam Aizer, Heath Cummings, Dave Richard, Chris Towers and myself. Start your prep work now — and hopefully win a championship this season.
1. Christian McCaffrey 2. Saquon Barkley 3. Jonathan Taylor 4. Austin Ekeler 5. Joe Mixon 6. Kenneth Walker III 7. Travis Etienne 8. Josh Jacobs 9. Derrick Henry 10. Breece Hall 11. Nick Chubb 12. Dalvin Cook
Football Jamey Eisenberg
1. Christian McCaffrey 2. Austin Ekeler 3. Jonathan Taylor 4. Saquon Barkley 5. Kenneth Walker III 6. Travis Etienne 7. Joe Mixon 8. Josh Jacobs 9. Derrick Henry 10. Breece Hall 11. Tony Pollard 12. Rhamondre Stevenson
Football Dave Richard
1. Christian McCaffrey 2. Austin Ekeler 3. Jonathan Taylor 4. Saquon Barkley 5. Kenneth Walker 6. Derrick Henry 7. Josh Jacobs 8. Najee Harris 9. Breece Hall 10. Joe Mixon 11. Nick Chubb 12. Travis Etienne
Football Chris Towers
1. Austin Ekeler 2. Christian McCaffrey 3. Jonathan Taylor 4. Saquon Barkley 5. Josh Jacobs 6. Derrick Henry 7. Breece Hall 8. Joe Mixon 9. Nick Chubb 10. Tony Pollard 11. Dalvin Cook 12. Rhamondre Stevenson
Welcome back, Christian McCaffrey. For the past two seasons, we’ve been waiting to see what McCaffrey could do when healthy, and he showed us in 2022 — with two different teams. For the season, McCaffrey averaged 21.1 PPR points per game, which was second behind only Ekeler (21.9). But McCaffrey was amazing with the 49ers, which gives us hope for another strong campaign in 2023.
He averaged 22.2 PPR points per game in his final 10 games in San Francisco, including five outings with at least 25 PPR points. He also had 50 catches over that span. While he might share touches with Elijah Mitchell next season, McCaffrey should get plenty of work to justify drafting him as the No. 1 running back in all leagues and the potential No. 1 overall pick.
Now, Chris has Ekeler as the No. 1 running back — he’s No. 2 for Adam, Dave and me and No. 4 for Heath — and Ekeler should once again be awesome. This is now the second year in a row he’s averaged at least 21.5 PPR points per game, and hopefully, that continues in 2023. The only concern might be his age (28 in May), and a potential decline could be coming. The counter to that is he wasn’t a featured running back until 2021, so hopefully he doesn’t have much wear and tear on his body.
Taylor is the consensus No. 3 running back for all of us, and hopefully he will bounce back in 2023 after a down year in 2022. The No. 1 running back in 2021 at 21.9 PPR points per game, Taylor battled injuries and a disastrous situation around him this season and averaged just 13.3 PPR points per game. He’s only 24, and we expect the Colts to upgrade at coach, quarterback and offensive line this offseason, which is why we’re all in again on Taylor.
Barkley is a top-four running back for all of us (he’s No. 2 for Heath), and it was great to see him rebound in 2022 after two down seasons. He averaged 17.8 PPR points per game, which was his best season since 2019. Barkley is headed into free agency this offseason, so his Fantasy value could change dramatically if he leaves the Giants. But if he stays, which is ideal, he’ll be with a great coach in Brian Daboll and an offensive line on the rise. He’ll also be just 26, so another season of standout production is well within reach.
When we get to No. 5 is when things start to change in our rankings. Adam and Heath have Mixon there, me and Dave have Walker and Chris has Jacobs.
Let’s start with Mixon, who averaged 17.1 PPR points per game for the season but went over 17 PPR points just twice, including a 54-point outing in Week 9. The positives for Mixon are he had career highs in targets (75), catches (60) and receiving yards (441) in only 14 games. But he went from 16 total touchdowns in 2021 to just nine in 2022, and his yards per carry dropped to 3.9. I expect Mixon’s touchdowns to rebound in 2023 because he plays in an explosive offense, and if his receiving totals stay in this range then he’s worth drafting as the No. 5 running back.
I’ll take Walker ahead of Mixon, and I love what Walker did as a rookie. He only averaged 13.5 PPR points per game for the season, but in his final 11 healthy games, he averaged 17.2 PPR points per game. The Seahawks have plenty of draft capital to improve their offensive line, which should be a strength in 2023, and Walker will get plenty of work under coach Pete Carroll. I’m surprised Chris doesn’t have him in the top 12.
For Chris, he’s going with Jacobs at No. 5, and he just led the NFL in rushing yards with 1,653. He also averaged 19.3 PPR points per game and was exceptional. He’s a free agent this offseason, so we’ll see where he ends up, and his Fantasy outlook could change dramatically with a new team. We also have to see who ends up at quarterback for the Raiders, and there’s a lot to monitor with Jacobs over the next few months.
Adam, Dave and Chris have Henry at No. 6, and he had another standout season in 2022 at 19.0 PPR points per game. That’s now four seasons in a row at 19.0 PPR points per game or better, and we’ll see if he can do it again in 2023. It’s hard to bet against Henry, but he’s 29 and Father Time is coming. He also has a bad offensive line, a questionable quarterback situation and the Titans fired their offensive coordinator in Todd Downing this week. Heath and I are the most concerned about Henry, who is ranked No. 9 for both of us.
I’d prefer to gamble on the upside of Etienne over Henry, and Etienne could be a star in 2023 with the Jaguars on the rise. He only averaged 12.1 PPR points per game, but he had four games with at least 18 PPR points over his final 10 healthy outings after James Robinson was traded to the Jets. We’ll see what Jacksonville does to supplement Etienne next season, but he’s ascending on a potentially explosive team, making him someone to covet in Round 2.
The last consensus running back for all of us is Hall, and I will move him up if he’s ready for Week 1. He suffered a torn ACL in Week 7, but he was a star before getting hurt, averaging 16.4 PPR points per game. That includes scoring 13 PPR points in the game he was injured at Denver when he only had four carries for 72 yards and a touchdown. I’m hopeful his rehab goes well and we get positive reports all offseason.
Adam has Swift and Williams ranked in his top 12, and I hope Williams is ready for Week 1 coming off a torn ACL in Week 4. Prior to getting hurt, he only had one game with more than nine PPR points, but he has plenty of potential if he can return to full strength at the start of the season. And Swift could be a star if the Lions made him their featured running back. He had three games in 2022 with double digits in carries and scored at least 20 PPR points in all of them. Jamaal Williams is a free agent this offseason, so maybe Swift will finally have a breakout campaign in 2023.
Heath and Chris have Chubb and Cook in their top 12, and Dave has Chubb at No. 11. Chubb had another standout season in 2022 at 16.6 PPR points per game, and he might get a boost in value if Kareem Hunt leaves as a free agent. Chubb is just outside the top 12 for me. I’m more concerned about Cook, who will be 28 and just had a down season in 2022 at 14.0 PPR points per game. That’s his worst season since 2018, and it’s hard to count on him rebounding to a much higher level in 2023.
For me and Chris, we both have Pollard and Stevenson in our top 12. I have them ranked that high based on a few contingencies. With Pollard, who just averaged a career-high 15.6 PPR points per game, I’m hoping he re-signs with Dallas as a free agent and the Cowboys move on from Ezekiel Elliott. If that happens then Pollard has top-five upside in all leagues. And Stevenson could benefit in a big way if Damien Harris leaves New England as a free agent. Stevenson had a breakout season in 2022 at 14.7 PPR points per game, and he could be even better if the Patriots upgrade their offense this offseason.
The final difference for any of us is Dave with Harris at No. 8. He was a bust for the season, going from 17.7 PPR points per game in 2021 to 13.2, but he closed the year on a high note with four outings in a row with at least 14 PPR points. The biggest difference for Harris from his rookie season was his role in the passing game, which cratered, going from 74 catches on 94 targets to 41 catches on 53 targets. I’m not sure his receptions will rebound in 2023, which is why he’s outside the top 12 for me.
AL Nassr Club of Saudi Arabia/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
On Monday, the AFP reported that Cristiano Ronaldo’s contract with football club Al Nassr included a World Cup ambassadorial role that would nearly double his salary as Saudi Arabia tries to win the event for 2030 (h/t Yahoo).
On Tuesday, Al Nassr denied the report:
AlNassr FC @AlNassrFC_EN
Al Nassr FC would like to clarify that contrary to news reports, Cristiano Ronaldo’s contract with Al Nassr does not entail commitments to any World Cup bids.
His main focus is on Al Nassr and to work with his teammates to help the club achieve success.
“Ronaldo will be paid more than €200 million [$214 million] for the deal,” a source told the French news agency. “He will be an ambassador for the Saudi World Cup 2030 bid for another €200 million.”
That source also said that Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund—the Public Investment Fund, which also financially backs LIV Golf; owns 80 percent of the English Premier’s League’s Newcastle United; and holds sponsorships with Formula One, stakes in the world of esports and a partnership with the WWE, among other ties to the sports and entertainment world—was the impetus for Al Nassr to sign a global icon such as Ronaldo.
“[Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and his brothers] Naif, Turki and Rakan, the sons of King Salman, are all honorary members of Al Nassr since before their father even became the crown prince,” the source said. “They wanted to grant their beloved club supremacy and put it in the international spotlight. The best way was to bring the best player in the world.”
Advocacy groups have accused the Saudis of using the PIF as a sportswashing tool in an effort to gloss over the country’s history of human-rights abuses. Landing the World Cup would seemingly be in line with that alleged effort and would make Saudi Arabia just the second Arab nation to host the event after Qatar last year.
To date, two official bids for 2030—a joint bid from Spain, Portugal and Ukraine and a joint bid from Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay and Chile—have been entered. Morocco is also reportedly bidding, though it likely would only be considered if a cross-continent bid from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Greece falls through.
The 2026 event will be played in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
As for Ronaldo, the former Real Madrid, Manchester United and Juventus star will make his debut with his new club during an exhibition match against Paris Saint-Germain on Jan. 19, as Al Nassr manager Rudi Garcia told reporters Monday.
“The only thing I want is for him to enjoy playing football again and smile,” Garcia said. “In recent months, between Manchester United, the national team and also at a private level, he has not had easy moments. If he finds the pleasure of playing again, a good goal will be achieved.”
Here’s everything you need to know about the latest NFL head-coach movement, with news on open jobs, potential open jobs and candidates. Try our head-coach matchmaker here.
Former coach: Kliff Kingsbury Record with Cardinals: 28-37-1 over four seasons Date fired: Jan. 9
The Cardinals fired Kingsbury on Monday, a day after losing to complete a 4-13 season. The move came after Kingsbury’s fourth season in Arizona and just 10 months after Kingsbury signed an extension that was supposed to keep him under contract through the 2027 season.
Former coach: Lovie Smith Record with Texans: 3-13-1 over one season Date fired: Jan. 8
Houston fired Smith hours after the Texans won their final game and finished 3-13-1 in Smith’s first season as head coach. The Texans have now fired back-to-back coaches one year after ousting David Culley last January. Smith was the defensive coordinator and associate head coach on Culley’s staff in 2021 and was elevated to head coach on Feb. 7.
Former coach: Nathaniel Hackett Record with Broncos: 4-11 over one season Date fired: Dec. 26
Hackett’s dismissal put an abrupt end to the shortest tenure of any noninterim head coach in franchise history. The Broncos’ new ownership — the Walton-Penner Group, led by Walmart heir Rob Walton, daughter Carrie Walton Penner and son-in-law Greg Penner — quickly ran out of patience with a team that had one of the league’s best defenses but an offense that simply could not score.
At one point this season, the Broncos featured the No. 1 scoring defense and the No. 32 scoring offense. The Broncos also missed the playoffs for the seventh consecutive year, the longest playoff drought since the franchise’s earliest years, when it missed the playoffs between 1960 and 1976.
Former coach: Frank Reich Record with Colts: 41-35-1 over five seasons Date fired: Nov. 7
Reich’s tenure was defined by incessant turnover at quarterback; the Colts had different opening-day starters in each of his five seasons as the franchise has struggled to find a quarterback to fill the shoes of Andrew Luck, who retired before the 2019 season. The Colts have been unraveling since the end of the 2021 season, when they lost their final two games despite needing just one victory to clinch a postseason berth, including a 26-11 defeat to the 3-14 Jacksonville Jaguars in the finale.
The Colts named Jeff Saturday their interim coach. Saturday, 47, was a six-time Pro-Bowl center who played 13 seasons for the Colts and was formerly an ESPN analyst. He has a 1-6 record as the interim coach, losingsix games in a row after winning his first game.
Former coach: Matt Rhule Record with Panthers: 11-27 over three seasons Date fired: Oct. 10
The Panthers fired Rhule less than three seasons into a seven-year, $62 million contract after a 1-4 start to 2022. His downfall was hastened by the team’s inability to bring in a franchise quarterback, as he began each of his three seasons with a different starter. Rhule was hired in 2020 to turn around a Carolina organization five years removed from reaching the Super Bowl in 2015 the way he did in college at Baylor and Temple. That never happened.
Steve Wilks was named the Panthers’ interim coach and made them competitive, as they are 5-6 under him and stayed in the race for the NFC South until Week 17. Wilks is under consideration for the permanent job.
But don’t expect Denver to shake Memphis easily. The Grizzlies have won seven in a row. While those wins have come against lesser competition than the Nuggets’ recent stretch, Memphis will have plenty of opportunities to prove it can be the top team in the West with two more contests against the Nuggets to come in the next few months.
Memphis has already proven it can fend off the third-place New Orleans Pelicans, having won the past two games between them. Still, the Pelicans have a claim in what is shaping up to be a three-team race in the West, as New Orleans is still just two and a half games behind Memphis and Denver.
Meanwhile, the Celtics managed to outlast the Nets’ recent hot streak to keep hold of the top spot in the Eastern Conference. Boston could also be getting a huge break in its quest to keep that spot with Kevin Durant set to miss a month of action just in time for two high-stakes meetings between the Nets and Celtics in the coming weeks.
Note: Throughout the regular season, our panel (Kendra Andrews, Tim Bontemps, Jamal Collier, Nick Friedell, Andrew Lopez, Tim MacMahon, Dave McMenamin and Ohm Youngmisuk) is ranking all 30 teams from top to bottom, taking stock of which teams are playing the best basketball now and which teams are looking most like title contenders.
1. Boston Celtics
2022-23 record: 29-12
Previous ranking: 1
Robert Williams III has moved back into the starting lineup, and Boston, after a monthlong offensive swoon, has gotten back on track at that end. The Celtics still remain the league’s best offensive team, in addition to having the NBA’s best record at the halfway point. — Bontemps
The Nuggets are tied for the best offense in the league, and they’re still getting better and healthier. Jamal Murray scored a season-high 34 points on Monday night, Aaron Gordon is playing at an All-Star level, Michael Porter Jr. is coming into his own, and then there’s Nikola Jokic. The Nuggets have won 11 of their past 13, and there are no signs of slowing down any time soon. — Andrews
Tyus Jones averaged 22.5 points, 6.0 assists and only 1.5 turnovers while filling in for Ja Morant (thigh soreness) the past two games. He has scored more than 20 points in his past four starts — all wins. The Grizzlies are 23-7 when Jones has filled in as a starter the past two seasons, which is why Memphis made re-signing him a top priority last summer. — MacMahon
The hottest team in the league has rattled off 18 wins in its past 20 games — but lost Kevin Durant to an MCL injury in Sunday’s win over the Heat, and he is expected to miss several weeks before he returns to the floor. In the short term, T.J. Warren and Joe Harris are going to have to pick up a little more slack offensively. Ben Simmons is also going to have to provide more on both ends of the floor to take some pressure off Kyrie Irving. — Friedell
Since starting the season 9-0, the Bucks have played just over .500 ball (17-14) for most of the past two months. While Milwaukee’s defense remains one of the best in the league, its offense ranks 25th in the NBA in points per 100 possessions, and Khris Middleton has missed 12 straight games. — Collier
Donovan Mitchell continued his storybook first season with the Cavs with a memorable night in his return to Salt Lake City to play his former squad on Tuesday. The Jazz fans showed their former star love all night, and Mitchell made the price of admission well worth it, finishing with 46 points for his fifth 40-plus-point game this season. Those Jazz fans also got to see the home team use a late 13-0 run to win. “The reception was phenomenal, and I’m appreciative of it,” Mitchell told reporters afterward. — McMenamin
It’s never a good thing to hear about Joel Embiid having foot soreness, but after the big fella returned in a dominant win over Detroit on Tuesday, Philadelphia is sitting 10 games over .500 after a slow start. The 76ers have had only nine games this season in which their top three players — Embiid, James Harden and Tyrese Maxey — have all been available to play together. — Bontemps
After setting a career high with 23 points on Jan. 6 against Brooklyn, Naji Marshall broke that mark again the next night with 24 against the Dallas Mavericks. Jose Alvarado also broke out of a slump and is averaging 13.5 points, 4.8 assists and 4.0 rebounds in the past four with Zion Williamson out. Over that stretch, the two are tops on the team in plus-minus — Alvarado is plus-43 and Marshall is plus-36. The next highest Pelican who played in all four games is Devonte’ Graham at plus-7. — Lopez
The Mavs have allowed 116.0 points per 100 possessions since defensive anchor Maxi Kleber tore his right hamstring, falling to 22nd in defensive efficiency for the season. Dallas is 9-6 in that span because the Luka Doncic-led offense is scoring 116.3 points per 100 possessions. Doncic rested in two of the losses. — MacMahon
The Pacers have won six of their past seven games and eight of their past 10. During that stretch, Tyrese Haliburton has put up 22.7 points and 9.2 assists while shooting 51% from the field and 45% from 3-point range. — Collier
The Warriors finally have their starting five back together, with Andrew Wiggins and Stephen Curry back on the floor, and they believe they can finally start putting all of their pieces together. They went 5-3 on their homestand, but now comes the real test: What can they do on their five-game road trip? — Andrews
The beam is still bright in Sacramento. The Kings’ offense has been able to make up for their shaky defense, and Domantas Sabonis is still on an absolute tear. Besides Jokic, Sabonis is the only other player to be in the top 19 in both rebounds and assists. Sabonis also leads the league in double-doubles. — Andrews
13. New York Knicks
2022-23 record: 22-19
Previous ranking: 17
New York, fairly, is not seen as a championship-caliber team. That said, the Knicks currently sit 10th in both offensive and defensive rating — a sign of at least a contending team. That’s the good news for the Knicks. The bad news: Three of the other four teams that qualify for that honor — the Celtics, Nets and 76ers — reside in the Atlantic Division alongside them. — Bontemps
Jimmy Butler and the Heat set an NBA record in Tuesday’s win over the Thunder by going 40-for-40 from the free throw line. Miami has back-to-back showdowns at home this week against the Bucks, which should provide another chance for the Heat to get back on track against one of the East’s elite teams. — Friedell
15. LA Clippers
2022-23 record: 22-21
Previous ranking: 10
The Clippers halted a six-game losing streak — the longest of the Kawhi Leonard–Paul George era — with a much-needed win over old nemesis Luka Doncic. With George and Luke Kennard out because of injuries, head coach Ty Lue benched Reggie Jackson and put Terance Mann in the starting lineup. In his two starts, Mann has given the Clippers extra energy, especially at the start of games. Leonard continues to build as he has played 35 or more minutes in five of his past six games. — Youngmisuk
Devin Booker has missed 11 of the Suns’ past 12 games because of a pesky hamstring injury, and Phoenix has gone just 3-9 in that stretch. It stopped the bleeding for one night with Tuesday’s win in Golden State — with not only no Booker, but no Chris Paul or Deandre Ayton either — thanks to a near triple-double from Dario Saric and a stellar two-way performance from Mikal Bridges. — McMenamin
Rudy Gobert finally had a big night while wearing a Timberwolves uniform, and things have been improving for Minnesota over its past four games, but how all of the pieces will fit together whenever Karl-Anthony Towns returns is still a big question. — Andrews
The Blazers continue to sink in the standings, losing their fourth straight after Orlando won in Portland. The Blazers have now dropped nine of their past 12, and the schedule doesn’t get any easier. Portland faces Cleveland and Dallas back to back, along with Denver and Philadelphia in its next five games. — Youngmisuk
We’re entering into circling-the-calendar territory when it comes to LeBron James and the all-time scoring title. He’s 423 points away from passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for No. 1. At his current 29.1 points-per-game average this season, he’ll need 15 games to get there if he doesn’t miss any time. That would be Feb. 9 at home against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks. “I don’t even know how I’m going to feel, I guess, until that moment,” James told ESPN when asked about the record last week. — McMenamin
20. Atlanta Hawks
2022-23 record: 19-21
Previous ranking: 19
Atlanta was able to put a winning stamp on its four-game West Coast road trip with a 112-108 win over the Clippers on Sunday night. The Clippers led by as many as 12 in the fourth quarter before Atlanta stormed back for the win behind 14 fourth-quarter points by Trae Young — the most he has scored in a fourth quarter this season. It was also the 750th victory of Nate McMillan’s coaching career, making him the 18th coach to reach that mark. — Lopez
21. Utah Jazz
2022-23 record: 21-23
Previous ranking: 18
Jordan Clarkson stole the show during Donovan Mitchell’s return to Salt Lake City, scoring 15 of his 32 points during the fourth quarter as the Jazz rallied for a comeback win. Utah is 10-2 when Clarkson scores at least 30 points during his Jazz tenure. Clarkson is averaging a career-best 20.7 points per game this season after transitioning from sixth man to fill Mitchell’s old spot in the starting lineup. — MacMahon
The Bulls have started to right the ship lately, winning eight of their past 12 games after a disastrous loss to the Timberwolves. Chicago’s offense has finally woken up and ranks sixth in the NBA in offensive efficiency during that span. Zach LaVine is starting to look like his old self, averaging 26.9 points on 52% shooting (47% from 3) in the past three weeks. — Collier
23. Toronto Raptors
2022-23 record: 18-23
Previous ranking: 23
For as disappointing as this season has been for Toronto, the Raptors are only one game out of 10th place in the Eastern Conference. With games against Charlotte and Atlanta at home the rest of this week, the Raptors could be within the top 10 spots in the East by this time next week. — Bontemps
The up-and-down Wizards are on another slide, losing three straight with Bradley Beal injured. Beal hasn’t played since the first half of Washington’s loss at Milwaukee on Jan. 3. Beal will be out for at least one more game against Chicago and is expected to have his hamstring injury reevaluated later this week. — Youngmisuk
The Thunder performed well in their first national television appearance since Aug. 14, 2020, when they played the Clippers in the bubble. Unfortunately for Oklahoma City, the Heat didn’t miss a free throw. Miami went 40-for-40 from the line — the most makes in NBA history without a miss. Josh Giddey had 18 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists for the sixth triple-double of his career. That ties LaMelo Ball for the third most in NBA history for a player under age 21, behind Luka Doncic (21) and Magic Johnson (seven).— Lopez
Orlando continues to show signs of improvement, especially after a nice road win over the Trail Blazers on Tuesday night. Franz Wagner is averaging 20.7 points this month, Paolo Banchero continues to look like the Rookie of the Year, and the Magic appear to be on the verge of finally getting back Jonathan Isaac, according to reporting by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The Magic should be on a very good path heading into the second half of the season. — Friedell
Zach Collins played in just 39 games over three seasons while dealing with various injuries and missed 10 games earlier this season because of a non-displaced fibula fracture. But since returning from that on Nov. 25, Collins has been a solid rotational player for the Spurs. On Jan. 7 against the Celtics, Collins had one of the best games of his career with 18 points and 12 rebounds. He set or tied career marks in points (18), assists (five), field goals made (eight) and was one off his career high in rebounds. — Lopez
Charlotte is giving up an average of 121.8 points over its past five games. The defense continues to have major problems finding any rhythm. One of the lone bright spots is the offensive play of Terry Rozier, who is averaging 26.5 points per game over five games this month. — Friedell
29. Detroit Pistons
2022-23 record: 11-33
Previous ranking: 30
Inserted into the starting lineup as a result of Cade Cunningham‘s season-ending injury, Killian Hayes is finally showing signs of development this season. He matched a career high with 26 points this weekend against the Sixers and is averaging 12.3 points and 6.6 assists on 42.8% shooting and 36.5% from 3 as a starter. — Collier
Houston has lost 13 of its past 14 games. Kevin Porter Jr. has by far the Rockets’ worst plus-minus (minus-121) during that stretch, despite outstanding individual production (21.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game). — MacMahon
Incredible College Football Playoff, congratulations to Georgia. But now it’s time to switch gears and focus on the hardwood.
If you’ve been an avid college hoops fan all season, consider this your chance to refresh and see our adjusted expectations for teams and players over the next two months. If you haven’t followed much, you’re jumping in at the perfect time — and we’re here to catch you up on everything 2022-23 men’s college basketball.
First, the basics. Every team in the country has a loss. There’s no clear favorite. Sixteen of the teams ranked in last week’s AP top 25 have suffered at least one loss in the past seven days. Several of the blue bloods don’t look like blue bloods at all.
Who are the stars? We’ll get to those in a little while, but it’s the breakout returnees and veteran stalwarts garnering most of the headlines, not the lottery-pick freshmen.
And what about the coaches? Jon Scheyer and Kyle Neptune have hit several speedbumps replacing Mike Krzyzewski and Jay Wright, respectively. John Calipari is under as much heat as he has ever felt since moving to Lexington. Texas just fired Chris Beard following his arrest last month.
So yes, it has been a topsy-turvy first half of the season. But conference play is just starting to heat up, and all the talk of the bubbles and brackets is right around the corner. It’s the perfect time for ESPN’s Jeff Borzello, John Gasaway, Joe Lunardi and John Gasaway to dive in and revisit their preseason predictions and picks.
What has defined the 2022-23 season so far for you?
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1:39
Nowell, Johnson combine for 64 points in Kansas State’s win
Markquis Nowell and Keyontae Johnson combine for 64 points in Kansas State’s win over No. 6 Texas.
Borzello: For me, it’s the revolving door at the top of the rankings and the ever-changing group of “championship favorites.” Nothing exemplifies this more than three of the top four teams in the preseason poll: North Carolina, Gonzaga and Kentucky. All three have combined to lose 12 games. There are zero unbeaten teams left. Houston looked the part and then lost to Alabama at home. UConn lost two in a row after starting 14-0. Purdue lost to Rutgers at home. It’s not just limited to AP No. 1 teams, either. Tennessee (Colorado) and Arizona (Utah) have surprising losses, Virginia lost three of five, and Texas also allowed Kansas State to score a million points in its loss. It should make for a fascinating and wide-open NCAA tournament.
Medcalf: Probably the realization that the transfer portal will likely redefine our definition of a blue blood. The one-and-done era stacked talent for a handful of programs every year. Only five or six schools had access to those players, though. The transfer portal, however, is a free-for-all that has diversified the talent pool and expanded the number of programs that can become contenders, if they land the right veterans. Tristen Newton (East Carolina) has given UConn a boost. There’s Tyrese Hunter (Iowa State) at Texas, Sean McNeil (West Virginia) at Ohio State, Mark Sears (Ohio) at Alabama. The list of teams that have the goods to win the national championship each season will grow. The monopoly on elite talent for a small pool of schools in college basketball is over now.
Gasaway: Are we about to see the men’s NCAA tournament expand? As someone who spends a fair amount of time bubble watching annually, the answer hits close to home. The NCAA greeted the new year with its transformation committee recommending that championship fields be increased in a number of Division I sports. Taking such a step in hoops would mark the first time the March Madness bracket has expanded since the field went to 68 teams in 2011. The major conferences are leading this push, though there’s no shortage of traditionalists who want to keep the field as-is. What happens now?
Lunardi: We are in for an incredible three months of college basketball. There is no clear-cut favorite, the major conference races are wide open, and the NCAA tournament promises to be as unpredictable as ever. I am surprised by the relative struggles of North Carolina and especially Kentucky, but fascinated by the likes of Purdue, UConn and a small handful of SEC teams as legitimate national championship contenders. While the infrastructure of the sport is shifting dramatically, the on-court product remains thrilling and compelling. Every night something goes into our Bracketology database that is unexpected, and that should bring a smile to all of our faces.
Which team has surprised you (in a good way)? Why?
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Rutgers pulls off upset at No. 1 Purdue
Rutgers hands No. 1 Purdue its first loss of the season with a stunning 65-64 upset.
Borzello: With UConn losing two straight last week, my pick is Purdue, despite the Boilermakers’ fall from No. 1 this week. Matt Painter lost lottery pick Jaden Ivey, all-conference big man Trevion Williams and two more players who started more than half the team’s games last season. He didn’t have a guy on his roster who had played point guard at the college level. They weren’t included in the preseason top 25. And yet, Purdue started 13-0 and looks like a legitimate title contender. Zach Edey is the favorite to win the Wooden Award, and Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer have developed into one of the premier all-freshman backcourt duos in the country. Painter has the Boilermakers poised for a top-five seed in March for the seventh straight NCAA tournament.
Gasaway: My surprise team is apparently so startling that it still isn’t receiving any votes in the AP poll. It’s Rutgers, the group that handed Purdue its only defeat. The pollsters might be wary of a team with four losses, but heading into last weekend, the Scarlet Knights were looking down on the AP top 10 likes of Gonzaga at KenPom. The only loss Steve Pikiell’s team has suffered in Big Ten play came on a blown call at the end of the game at Ohio State. In this “year of the big,” Clifford Omoruyi is one of the Big Ten’s best. Rutgers appears to be on a glide path for the program’s best NCAA tournament seed since 1979 — or possibly ever.
Medcalf: I’ll take Marquette here. Shaka Smart’s squad was picked to finish ninth in the Big East, over Georgetown (10th) and DePaul (11th), in the preseason poll. The Golden Eagles lost their top two scorers from last season (Darryl Morsell and Justin Lewis) after reaching the NCAA tournament in Smart’s first season. In his second, they’re off to a 5-1 start in Big East play, with two of their four overall losses (Providence, Wisconsin) unfolding in overtime. They also have a five-point road loss to Purdue. But, Marquette has just one loss since Dec. 3. In a crowded conference, it’s easy to overlook its success thus far. But this team is playing good, entertaining basketball — sixth in adjusted offensive efficiency on KenPom — right now.
Lunardi: Believe it or not, last week ended with an unranked team tied for the lead of the best conference in America. Anyone who had Kansas State undefeated in the Big 12 — with wins at Texas and Baylor, no less — is probably lying. New head coach Jerome Tang has had zero learning curve moving over from Baylor, and the Wildcats reach the regular-season halfway mark at 14-1, losing only at Butler. The combination of Tang excelling in his first head-coaching opportunity and Florida transfer Keyontae Johnson playing at all, much less leading K-State in scoring, is storybook stuff. This team is Sweet 16 good.
Which team has underperformed (or has been a disappointment or worries you the most)? Why?
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1:00
No. 7 Alabama defense clamps down on Kentucky
The Crimson Tide hold the Wildcats to .288 field goal shooting overall (21-of-73) and to 25% from 3-point range (5-of-20) in an impressive 78-52 win.
Medcalf: I think it’s Kentucky. It has to be. The Wildcats aren’t the only squad falling short of expectations. But they’re doing it with the reigning Wooden Award winner, Oscar Tshiebwe, with a projected lottery pick (Cason Wallace), and with a bunch of veterans in Sahvir Wheeler and Jacob Toppin. The lopsided 78-52 loss to Alabama on Saturday showcased the serious challenges Kentucky is trying to overcome. Its offense is sloppy and limited. Its defensive performance is listed as “average” on Synergy Sports. It’s also inconsistent. You could make the case Kentucky enters the week without an NCAA tournament guarantee. The Wildcats are 1-4 against Quad I and Quad II opponents this season. And their best win — against Michigan in London — looks worse by the day as the Wolverines continue to struggle (2-3 in their past five games). The truth is, Kentucky is just not a good team right now, and John Calipari’s squad is playing below its potential.
Lunardi: My top three disappointments, in order, are Kentucky, Kentucky and Kentucky. The Wildcats have been stunningly average on the court and the sidelines, and it’s hard to envision a major turnaround given the level of competition in the SEC. The ‘Cats are halfway through the season and haven’t beaten a single team that’s in any projected NCAA field, which should be impossible. Kentucky’s best performance of the year was probably in its overtime loss to Michigan State at the Champions Classic. Nothing else comes close to moving the needle, which more than explains the heightened distress in Lexington and throughout the Commonwealth.
Gasaway: If you had told the October version of me that Louisville would be 2-13 and ranked in the 260s (!) at KenPom right now, I would have said, “Here is your team that has underperformed the most by a mile!” And I would have had a case. Coming into the season, no one expected Kenny Payne’s team to win a national title, but this did appear to be a respectable, national top-100, maybe even near-.500 kind of ACC team. Instead, the Cardinals are at the bottom of Division I for turnover percentage and 0-8 against major-conference opponents.
Borzello: The easy answer is North Carolina, and the Tar Heels are obviously a disappointment. But my pick is Villanova, primarily because I think Carolina can still compete for an ACC title and make a deep run in March. Villanova isn’t even a top-five team in the Big East. It’s not really the Wildcats’ fault, to be honest. They had to replace Jay Wright after the legendary coach’s sudden retirement last April, star guard Justin Moore is still sidelined, and projected lottery pick Cam Whitmore missed the first month of the season and has struggled since returning to the floor. Kyle Neptune simply doesn’t have the talent Villanova has had in the past, and that’s not changing in the next two months.
What are you watching most closely going forward? Why?
Gasaway: Is the college game separating, for lack of a better term, from the NBA style? It’s more than just highly decorated bigs like Oscar Tshiebwe, Armando Bacot, Drew Timme and Trayce Jackson-Davis staying in school. Now, as Jordan Sperber has noted, we’re seeing college teams with two bigs thriving on offense. The prototype here is Arizona, which sits at or near the top of the national leaderboard for offensive efficiency while Azuolas Tubelis and Oumar Ballo combine for about one 3-point attempt per outing. Maybe the college game as a whole, like every game analyst in the last minute ever, is saying you don’t need a 3 here.
This tweet from the beginning of NBA season really stands out to me for how much it contrasts the current state of CBB
Gonzaga, Arizona, and now Xavier are all top 10 offenses thriving while playing 2 “spacing eating bigs” together. It’s a feature, not of a bug, of their schemes https://t.co/Ht3SnumJPw
Lunardi: I’m always watching for the non-Power 5/Big East at-large bids. At this point, the top contender and most likely success story is Saint Mary’s, which boasts a No. 8 NET as this is written. There should be multiple at-larges from the Mountain West among the likes of New Mexico, Utah State, Nevada, Boise State and UNLV. And we’ll all be waiting to see if mid-majors such as Florida Atlantic (NET 15), Iona (NET 36) and Charleston (NET 50) can stay afloat long enough to warrant extended consideration from the selection committee.
Medcalf: I’d like to see which teams can salvage their seasons. Kentucky will get multiple opportunities for quality wins in the SEC, and the sense of urgency is real right now. Duke has dealt with a multitude of injuries, but the ACC isn’t insurmountable this season. There’s also a lot of pressure on Indiana, which announced Saturday that veteran Race Thompson will be out indefinitely because of injury. Can the Hoosiers live up to the preseason hype in Big Ten action without a talented starter? North Carolina will also try to have another thrilling second half after another rocky November and December under Hubert Davis.
Borzello: The Big 12. Right now, all 10 teams in the league have a great chance to hear their names on Selection Sunday. All 10 are in the top 40 of both the BPI and KenPom, and all 10 have nine or more wins. It seems far-fetched to think the entire league will get a bid two months from now, but there’s going to need to be some separation along the way. Kansas State, picked 10th in the preseason, scored 116 points at Texas. West Virginia, picked ninth in the preseason, is fourth in the league at KenPom and in the BPI. You get the point. The league has been incredible through two months, and it’s going to be fascinating to see how the pecking order sorts itself out in league play.
Knowing what you know now, give us one more bold prediction for the rest of the season.
Medcalf: John Calipari will leave Kentucky. The longtime Wildcats head coach has a lifetime deal with the school, which would owe him nearly $50 million if it fires him this year. He also has a top-ranked recruiting class coming next season, a group that features D.J. Wagner, the No. 1 recruit in the 2023 class. But the rift between Calipari and the fan base is growing. Also, during his summer spat with football coach Mark Stoops, Mitch Barnhart, the athletic director, seemed to side with Stoops. A historically bad 2020-21 season and a first-round loss to Saint Peter’s in the NCAA tournament last year could be followed by another disappointing postseason finish this year. Whether he chases a gig with an NBA front office, the Texas job or a stint in TV, it’s not out of this world to think Calipari might decide a divorce from the school where he won a national title in 2012 might be best for everyone involved.
Borzello: Zero ACC teams advance past the first weekend of the NCAA tournament. This season has provided a little bit of déjà vu to last season, when the ACC struggled mightily for the majority of the season, but ultimately received five bids to the dance, had three teams in the Elite Eight and two in the Final Four. That could certainly happen again, especially with UNC’s experience, Duke’s talent and Virginia’s system. But the league seems so competitive from top-to-bottom this season, with every team (besides Louisville) showing it’s capable of winning games on a given night. That could hurt seedings on Selection Sunday and potentially result in not-so-advantageous matchups come tournament time.
Gasaway: The NCAA announces it is reducing the number of timeouts for 2023-24. Last week in the closing moments of an otherwise excellent game between Purdue and Ohio State, there were six timeouts called by Matt Painter and Chris Holtmann in 103 seconds of game clock. Dr. Naismith is spinning in his grave. No one wants to spend their precious leisure time watching inert players on the sidelines listening to their coaches. If that were the case, there would be lucrative rights deals to televise practice. Speaking of practice, prepare your team and let’s see who wins.
Lunardi: Houston wins the national championship in its hometown. Why not? The newly top-ranked Cougars are first in NET and first in KenPom, and seem to have left their lone loss (to Alabama) in the dust. Houston’s three most recent NCAA tournaments have resulted in Sweet 16, Elite Eight and Four Four appearances. There’s only one thing left for Kelvin Sampson’s crew.
2023 FINAL FOUR PICKS (* denotes your pick for the national champion)
I’ve definitely made some changes from my preseason picks. I’ll swap North Carolina, which I had winning it all, and Kentucky out for Kansas and Purdue. Zach Edey is the best player in the country, and Purdue has been dominant in its wins. And Jalen Wilson leads a versatile Kansas group that’s one of America’s most balanced teams.
Borzello: Houston*, UCLA, Arizona, Alabama
I too had North Carolina winning it all. For me now, Houston has the highest floor of any team in the country. UCLA has great balance, Arizona is elite offensively and Alabama just has the wild-card factor. I might regret not including Kansas.
Gasaway: Houston*, Tennessee, UConn, Kansas
I’m keeping two of my preseason picks — the Cougars and the Volunteers — and adding two teams that have surprised me. The Huskies have been magnificent, and somehow Bill Self’s following up on a national championship with still another contender.
Lunardi: Houston*, Kansas, Alabama, UConn
I was never on the North Carolina bandwagon, but the absence of Kentucky here still strikes me as inconceivable. But, so be it. These are the four best teams I have seen and, until bracket matchups cause any change of heart, these are my picks for April basketball.
We all should have listened to Matt Painter! I just wasn’t convinced the 7-foot-4 center could handle a significantly heavier load this season. I worried about the extra minutes. But Edey has been the most impactful force in the sport so far, despite the jump from 19.0 minutes per game to 30.9 minutes per game.
Borzello: Zach Edey, Purdue
We should have all listened to Myron Medcalf! Edey is the clear front-runner right now, although his numbers have dropped a bit in the past few weeks — although, when 16 points and 11 boards is “dropping off,” maybe that’s a sure sign he’s the favorite. He has been dominant and efficient, and Purdue is winning.
Gasaway: Zach Edey, Purdue
In a way, we were all correct in the preseason when we picked Oscar Tshiebwe — it’s just a different dominant big coming back from a team that also lost to Saint Peter’s in the tournament. Slight mix-up.
Lunardi: Zach Edey, Purdue
Not much more to add here. Edey has been the best and most impactful player on a team that just last week was at the top of both polls.
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR
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Showtime! Brandon Miller soars for a big-time Alabama slam
Brandon Miller gathers the rock on the fast break and throws it down with authority to extend the Crimson Tide’s lead.
Miller has elevated a very good Crimson Tide team to borderline great. If Alabama reaches the first Final Four in program history, Miller will have made the difference.
Borzello: Brandon Miller, Alabama
The preseason hype on Miller was real. A supremely talented prospect coming out of high school, he has answered the questions about his inconsistent motor in a convincing fashion. He’s averaging better than 19 points and eight boards, and shooting 44% from 3. He had 36 points against Gonzaga. Easy pick.
Medcalf: Brandon Miller, Alabama
He’s dangerous everywhere (see the stats above). Against a Kentucky team with the Wooden Award winner, Miller (19 points) was the best player on the floor Saturday in the 26-point win. He’s the real deal.
Sensabaugh has posted a higher offensive rating than even Miller, while carrying a far heavier load on offense (albeit across fewer minutes). Not bad for a recruit ranked in the 40s coming into the season.
COACH OF THE YEAR
Gasaway: Kelvin Sampson, Houston
Just because he has been doing the impossible for almost a decade at a previously moribund program doesn’t make it any less remarkable. This year he could win it all.
Lunardi: Kelvin Sampson, Houston
The Cougars just keep getting better, this year adding standout freshmen and frequent explosiveness to their already potent arsenal.
Medcalf: Dan Hurley, UConn
I think my original pick (Mick Cronin, UCLA) could still compete for this award. But he’ll first have to outlast Tommy Lloyd (Arizona) for Pac-12 coach of the year. Hurley, meanwhile, coaches a team that was picked to finish fourth in the league’s preseason poll. And I think a multitude of coaches would tell you that’s the last team they want to see in the NCAA tournament.
Borzello: Matt Painter, Purdue
Rick Barnes wasn’t a bad pick in the preseason; Tennessee is very good, and will compete for an SEC title. But Purdue is arguably the biggest surprise team in the country, going from outside the preseason top 25 to the Big Ten favorite. Hurley should be in the conversation, too.
Dick Vitale, college basketball’s top analyst and ambassador, joined ESPN during the 1979-80 season. His thorough knowledge of the game is brought forth in an enthusiastic, passionate style. Vitale also contributes columns to ESPN.com.
With conference play well underway, it is time to reveal my midseason all-Rolls Royce squads.
When I did my preseason All-America clubs, the first team was easy to select. The midseason initial team had a few possibilities.
Leading the way is Purdue big man Zach Edey, who has had a terrific campaign as a scorer, Windex man on the glass and shot blocker.
I’ve been very impressed with Kansas forward Jalen Wilson. Bill Self has been thrilled with Wilson.
My preseason squads did not include freshmen, as I wanted to let them get on the court and see how they performed. My top diaper dandy so far is Brandon Miller of Alabama.
With holiday breaks and midseason tournaments in the rearview mirror, college hockey season is about to hit its stride. Focus turns to the conference races, and in the not-too-distant future, the NCAA tournament.
A good number of the traditional powers sit at the top of the college hockey heap, including defending national champ Denver, fellow 2022 Frozen Four teams Minnesota and Michigan, and resurgent teams such as St. Cloud State and Boston University. But there are some surprises up there as well, including Penn State and Merrimack.
There will be plenty of jockeying in the league standings before conference tournaments begin at the start of March. Then comes selection day for the men’s NCAA tournament March 19, culminating with the Frozen Four on April 6 and April 8 in Tampa, Florida.
As the conference races heat up, we asked college hockey analysts Colby Cohen, Andrew Raycroft and Sean Ritchlin, and ESPN hockey reporter Ryan S. Clark about what they’ve seen so far and what they’re looking forward to in the second half of the season, including the biggest surprises, most intriguing races, top players and who will make it to Tampa.
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What team has been the biggest surprise so far this season?
Cohen: Merrimack. It’s great to see Scott Borek leading the Warriors to a successful season in a difficult conference in Hockey East. They have some guys having great statistical years, but the way they have defended and played physical hockey have made it very challenging for teams to compete against for three periods. It also never hurts when you have a guy like Alex Jeffries, who is clicking in at more than a point a game. It will be really interesting to see if Merrimack can keep this going.
Ritchlin: I agree, it’s Merrimack. The Warriors are 9-2 in Hockey East through the first half of the season and 14-6-1 overall, and are 10th in the PairWise rankings. Jeffries (1.19 points per game) leads the offense, but the key is that they play a hard team game and do not give up much. It’s been quite a turnaround from 2020-21, when they had only five wins all season.
Raycroft: Add me to the Merrimack crowd. Gathering motivation from the passing of assistant coach Josh Ciocco, the Warriors are the story of the season. They lead Hockey East with 27 points in 11 games, yet they’ve finished higher than sixth in the league just once in the last 10 years and haven’t made the NCAA tournament since 2010.
Clark: Alaska Fairbanks. The Nanooks just split a two-game series against defending national champion Denver, a top-three team. They also have a win over Notre Dame and lost a pair of one-goal games to Penn State, another top-five team. After being left out of the WCHA realignment, then missing the 2020-21 season entirely, Alaska Fairbanks struggled last season but is up to 21st in PairWise and has been one of the more interesting teams in college hockey.
What league race do you expect to be most intriguing the rest of the way?
Ritchlin: Hockey East will be the most intriguing with the traditional powers all looking up at Merrimack. BU and Northeastern seem poised to be strong contenders for the top spot, but there are six or seven teams that could claim the title. It should be a highly competitive second half.
Raycroft: The CCHA will be closely contested down the stretch, but with the emergence of Merrimack and UConn, Hockey East will be the race I’m watching the closest. As of Jan. 9, there are seven Hockey East teams in the PairWise top 25.
Clark: It might be the CCHA. The race is tight given Minnesota State, Bowling Green, Michigan Tech and Bemidji State are separated by five points. Now consider where those teams sit in the PairWise — Michigan Tech is 13th, Minnesota State is 18th, Bemidji State is 22nd, Bowling Green is 29th. The CCHA looking like it might be a one-bid league in terms of the NCAAs will make the finish even more interesting with the realization it could be a long offseason for whoever misses out.
Cohen: I have to say Hockey East. There seems to be a number of teams that are circling around and could have a great second half. This is where good teams really separate themselves. Boston College has been playing better as of late, BU has been very solid all season except for a few hiccups, and UConn and Northeastern both look to be solid teams. But, of course, they are all chasing down Merrimack.
Who are the front-runners for the Hobey Baker Award?
Ritchlin: Freshman Ryan McAllister has been dominant at Western Michigan with 38 points, averaging 1.73 points per game. He has made a great transition from junior hockey to college. The question will be if he can keep it up at the same pace for the second half of the season. McAllister’s senior linemate Jason Polin, with 19 goals in 22 games, also is a strong candidate. Other names to keep an eye on in the second half are Michigan freshman Adam Fantilli, Minnesota defenseman Brock Faber, Bowling Green’s Austen Swankler, Northeastern’s Aidan McDonough and Quinnipiac’s Colin Graf.
Raycroft: The Hobey Baker race is wide open, but I expect sophomore defenseman Luke Hughes, the No. 4 pick in the 2021 NHL draft, to have a monster second half for Michigan and win the award. St. Cloud senior defenseman Dylan Anhorn, Northeastern goalie Devon Levi, Harvard’s Sean Farrell, Denver’s Carter Mazur and Fantilli will all be in the mix.
Cohen: It looks to be the year of the underclassman, so while Jason Polin’s five hat tricks and 19 goals in 22 games for Western Michigan are impressive, my defenseman bias kicks in here and I have to say Luke Hughes for Michigan. His ability to control a game from the back end by distributing the puck or using his smooth strides to skate it in himself makes him a threat every time he climbs over the boards. Coming off a strong World Juniors tournament, I also expect Hughes to have a big second half, taking a run at Tampa before donning that red New Jersey Devils logo down the stretch.
Clark: There are a number of options. Ryan McAllister and Jason Polin of Western Michigan and Quinnipiac goalie Yaniv Perets (1.63 GAA) are off to great starts and are examples of undrafted players who can’t be ignored. But we’ve seen plenty of Hobey winners who have come on strong in the second half, so it’s worth keeping an eye on NHL draft picks Fantilli, Hughes, Mazur, Minnesota freshmen Logan Cooley and Jimmy Snuggerud.
Who is your favorite player to watch?
Raycroft: Adam Fantilli, the projected No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 NHL draft, has been electric since day one at Michigan. With 26 points in just 16 games, he is must watch during his last few months as a collegian before taking the next step.
Ritchlin: At 6-foot-3, 210 pounds, Minnesota forward Matthew Knies is a true power forward. He has great balance down low while protecting the puck and has the speed to get to the net from the corners, which combined with his size creates massive issues for opposing defensemen. He may be the most NHL-ready forward in college hockey.
Clark: Luke Hughes. College hockey has become an incubator for puck-moving defensemen who become instant NHL contributors. We’ve seen it with Norris winners Adam Fox and Cale Makar, along with the likes of Quinn Hughes, Charlie McAvoy, Owen Power and Zach Werenski. Michigan’s Hughes looks like he has everything needed to be the next one off that assembly line.
Cohen: Domenick Fensore. The BU captain has been dominant most nights for the Terriers, starting the second half with an overtime game-winning goal against Harvard in a top-10 matchup. BU leans on Fensore for leadership off and on the ice, where he logs upward of 30 minutes a night. His offensive poise along the blue line and his ability to make plays out of nothing make him exciting to watch every time he has the puck on his stick.
Who are your picks to make the Frozen Four?
Cohen: Denver, Minnesota, Michigan Boston University. The blue bloods are back in a big way this season. Denver has continued its success under David Carle with many key returners from last year’s national championship team. Michigan is loaded with talent, and added experience after last year’s Frozen Four trip. Minnesota is loaded top to bottom, and with Matthew Knies leading the way, I think the Gophers have as good a chance as anyone. Last but not least, BU will return to the Frozen Four after a few bumpy seasons, with first-year coach Jay Pandolfo and star goaltender Drew Commesso leading the way.
Ritchlin: Denver, Minnesota, St. Cloud, Quinnipiac. Denver has picked up right where it left off after winning it all last season and plays a confident, responsible 200-foot game that is very effective in the NCAA tournament. Minnesota is loaded with talent on both sides of the puck and the Gophers are very difficult to contain once they get going. St. Cloud State is well coached and balanced throughout its lineup with a ton of tourney experience. Quinnipiac, with only one loss this season, is a stingy team that made the regional finals last year.
Raycroft: Denver, Minnesota, Michigan, Boston University. All four programs have experienced, big-game goaltenders and top-end talent up front. Denver is my favorite to repeat because of its commitment to a two-way game and understanding what is necessary to get through the tourney. Minnesota has the most talented roster. Michigan’s returning players gained an understanding of what it takes to win in the tourney and Fantilli can be a game breaker. BU might be a little small on the back end, but Commesso can win any game. I believe the Terriers’ coaching staff has the ability to make the correct adjustments come the regionals.
Clark:Denver, Michigan, Minnesota, Penn State. Denver has the experience of both winning a national title and understanding what it means to be defensively restrictive. Michigan and Minnesota might be the two most talented teams in the nation, which could prove vital against systems that try to take away time and space. Penn State has been strong all year. Earlier this season, it played four straight games against Michigan and Minnesota and had a chance to win all four, taking two and forcing overtime in another.
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