No Brian Bowen, No Problem: DePaul could look at these two rumored Illinois transfers as a back-up plan

DePaul, Oregon, and Creighton fans have been waiting for what seems like an eternity for Brian Bowen to commit to their program. Recent 247 crystal ball has DePaul and Oregon among Bowen’s top suitors. DePaul makes a great case to land the five star prospect because of their new assistant coach Shane Heirman. However, what […]

Tyger Campbell to DePaul

Tyger Campbell has committed to DePaul. Let this sit for a minute DePaul fans. The DePaul Blue Demons just got a five-star recruit to play for them over Michigan St and Illinois. For those of you who don’t know Tyger Campbell, he’s listed as a 6’0 feet, 165 pound point guard who goes to La Lumiere […]

DePaul lands former La Lumiere and Northern Illinois center Marin Maric

DePaul has added immediately eligible transfer Marin Maric from Northern Illinois to bolster their weak frontline. Maric hails from Split, Croatia and went to high school at….. Wait for it…. La Lumiere!

Brian Bowen to DePaul?

There has been some intriguing news coming from the DePaul campus in the recent week. Yes, I said DePaul. Five star basketball prospects Brian “Tugs” Bowen and Tyger Campbell have expressed interest in the school. The reason behind their interest in DePaul is tied to the recent hiring of their high school head coach Shane […]

Analyzing the Warriors Possible Second Round Opponents

With the Los Angeles Clippers competing against the Utah Jazz in Game Seven as I write, let’s take a look at how both teams would match up against the Warriors in Round Two. First, here are the regular season results for both teams against the one seed Golden State: Clippers against Warriors: 0-4 Jazz against […]

NFL Draft Report: The Chicago Bears

The 2017 NFL Draft has concluded, and every team in the league will be walking away thinking they improved. While we all know this may not be the case, teams are as optimistic as ever following the draft. Since I live in the Chicagoland area, I will be taking a look at the NFC North’s […]

Making Sense of Mitchell Trubisky

If you live under a rock, the first round of the NFL Draft was Thursday night. There were many surprises, but I’m writing this solely for Chicago Bears fans. The Bears, who Adam Schefter reported before the draft were looking to trade down, surprisingly traded up to select North Carolina quarterback Mitchell Trubisky. Here is […]

Predicting the Rest of the Eastern Conference First Round

With the Cavaliers just now finishing their sweep of the Pacers, I thought it would be a good time to look into the other series in the East and try to predict how they will play out. Let’s start with the one seed Celtics. Series: Boston Celtics (1) vs. Chicago Bulls (8) Current: Bulls […]

Jazz Clippers Game Two Recap and Quick Thoughts

With a full couple of days to game plan and know that Rudy Gobert would not be playing, the Clips took it to the Jazz in the paint to begin the game with an absurd 20ish- 0 advantage after the first quarter in points in the paint. The Jazz started to even things out after DeAndre Jordan came out of the game, and stayed within 5-12 points for pretty much the rest of the game. There were many small 5-0 runs by both teams, but nothing that either allowed the Clips to run away with it, or let the Jazz to fully climb back. Utah never ended up getting within a possession of the lead and dropped the game 99-91.

Grizzlies Spurs Game Two Recap and Quick Thoughts

After the Spurs ran away with Game One with a 32-15 third quarter after a closely contested first half, the opposite sort of happened in another Spurs win in Game Two. San Antonio kept their momentum from the opener in Game Two’s opening half, with a 29-16 first quarter, and 56-37 first half overall. Then, the Grizzlies came out hot in the second half, making it close, and even getting it to five (80-75) in the first part of the fourth quarter. The Spurs talent ended up being too much as they went on a 12-2 run of their own to make it 92-77, and then never looked back.

NCAA Basketball Transfer Market

In this article, I’ll be specifically tackling the players immediately eligible to transfer. I’ll throw out seven names that college basketball fans should pay attention to in the upcoming weeks.

The NBA “What-If” Series: The 2000s

Since I was born, I have been a basketball fan. In fact, I have video evidence of my first word being “basketball.” And that’s the damn truth. Being born and raised in the Chicagoland area, I have loved the Chicago Bulls all my life. I remember attending my first Bulls game in 2002 against the Clippers […]

NBA Playoff Preview: West Playoff Predictions

In the fourth and final piece of my NBA season preview, I have put together my Western Conference playoff predictions along with a Finals prediction.

NBA Playoff Preview: East Playoff Predictions

I have put together my predictions for the actual playoffs. Here it is, starting with just the East. Expect the West to be out next week, along with a finals prediction! Let’s look at each series below the bracket.

NBA Western Conference Playoff Predictions

With the NBA season coming up in about three weeks, I wanted to preview the Western Conference playoff picture and make some predictions. You can view my Eastern Conference predictions here. WEST 1. Golden State Warriors Even though Kevin Durant may not increase Golden State’s regular season win total from last year, that won’t […]

NBA Eastern Conference Playoff Predictions

With NBA training camps underway, and rosters mostly settled (looking at you J.R. Smith), we can finally look at how the playoff race should shake out in the Association this year. Without further adieu, here are my NBA playoff predictions: EAST 1. Cleveland Cavaliers The Cavs have no real challengers for the number one seed, […]

All Free Agency Team NBA Edition

Ever since I wrote about the all NFL free agency team, I have been thinking: how would that team do against real NFL competition. It is a completely hypothetical question, but interesting nonetheless. Football is a very strategic game, and with the right coach and system, a team can do very well. Still, without the […]

Fantasy Football Keepers after Week 1

Wow it’s been a while. I haven’t made a post in about a month. What I am going to do is basically tell you who is looking like, after week one, to be a keeper for fantasy leagues everywhere. Quarterback: Blake Bortles After a decent week one showing against the Packers, Blake Bortles is […]

NFL All Free Agency Team for 2016-17

With the recent release of talented running back CJ Spiller, I decided to look at all of the current free agents in the NFL. I was surprised by some of the players still available and thought there were more than a few still capable of playing at a top level. With that in mind, here […]

Week 1 Chicago Bears Preview

The Chicago Bears had a very busy offseason. While they let Matt Forte walk and traded Martellus Bennett, they also made some big additions on the defensive side. The Bears committed a total of $36.5 million to the inside linebacker position in the form of Danny Trevathan and Jerrell Freeman. Many other moves were made, […]

Predicting the Bears 53 Man Roster

Even though I tell myself I don’t care about the preseason, the Bears first three games have been frightening to say the least. After watching the offense fail to move the ball today against the Chiefs I was looking all over the place for optimism. I thought the Bears had to be hiding some talent […]

NFL Positional Rankings: RB’s

Ranking the NFL Runningback’s This week I will be doing my second positional rankings by moving on to runningbacks. You can view my rankings of QB’s here: https://beginnerslucksb.wordpress.com/2016/08/19/nfl-positional-rankings-quarterbacks/ As a reminder, these are not fantasy rankings, rather they are rankings of talent and ability. I did not rank any rookies very high as I would […]

NFL Positional Rankings: QB’s

With the NFL season fast approaching, I wanted to take a quick break from baseball and take a look at something football related. Steve has already provided a fantasy football guide and Vinny J will be coming with some fantasy guidance soon. I thought I should look at the NFL through the non-fantasy view, because, […]

U.S. bad for the Olympics?

As I sat on my couch late Tuesday, Aug. 9, I watched USA olympic swimmer Michael Phelps win his 20th and 21st gold medals within a matter of a half hour—and he made it look easy. The interview afterwards couldn’t have made me feel more American. Phelps was asked what all these medals have meant […]

Big East Power Rankings

Big East Preseason While NCAA Basketball is an afterthought in the minds of many, the start of the season is slowly creeping up on us. Conferences are beginning to publish their schedules and recruiting for the 2017 class has truly ramped up. In this article I will be discussing the outlook for the teams in […]

Terrence Lewis Picks Iowa State

After recently cutting his list to four schools, Milwaukee product forward Terrence Lewis, the 65th prospect in the ESPN top-100, gave his pledge to Iowa State after visiting them this past weekend. He originally was recruited by former ISU assistant coach T.J. Otzelberger, but after Otzelberger left for the South Dakota State head coaching position, […]

Future of Cubs Payroll

With the trade deadline coming and going, I thought now would be a good time to preview the Cubs offseason as far as their salary commitments go. I know there can still be trades with waivers but I figure most of the roster reshuffling for teams across the MLB is done as of right now. […]

QB’s and RB’s preview for the Chicago Bears this season

Even though my mind has completely been on baseball, I was excited the other day when training camp started for most NFL teams, including my favorite team the Chicago Bears. (However, our fellow bloggers think I’m a “cheesehead” because I took Aaron Rodgers, the almighty cheese, in the fourth round of our fantasy football draft […]

Steve Kollias’ 2016 Fantasy Football Preview

As we approach the month of August, you take the good with the bad. For many, this is the time of year where school starts up again, and all the fun of summer is lost. But for fantasy football fans, this month is quite exciting. Training camp begins and fantasy drafts start to get going. […]

A Brief Look at the 2016 Michigan State Spartans

The defending Big Ten Champion Michigan State Spartans are coming into 2016 poised to repeat past success behind head coach Mark Dantonio. Like Tom Izzo, Michigan State’s head basketball coach, Dantonio has been able to find consistent success even when they are not at their strongest, so you can never count out the Spartans. Very […]

My Unconventional Take on the Chapman Deal

With the Aroldis Chapman trade finalized on July 25th, there have been many responses all over the baseball community since. Our very own Tim Wiemann weighed in with his thoughts here. https://beginnerslucksb.wordpress.com/2016/07/25/aroldis-chapman-to-the-cubs/ In his article Tim discussed the dangers of acquiring the previously-suspended Chapman, who is eligible for free agency after the year, along with […]

BEST FUTURE BETS FOR 2016 NFL SEASON

**Lines Based on Bovada Futures as of July 19** As the NFL season approaches, I will be looking at the best future bets you can make to maximize your money. These aren’t particularly who I think will win their divisions, but more the best low risk high reward bets. NFC WEST CHAMPS: Arizona Cardinals +140 […]

NBA Draftee’s as Recruits

Almost every kid has dreamed of becoming a professional athlete at one point in their lives. Even though my personal dreams of becoming a pro have gone down the drain due to my broken ankle and lack of a vertical, some of the young men who were selected in the NBA draft are still living […]

NHL Offseason

To preface this article, it is important to note that the offseason is ongoing and that this analysis could easily fluctuate. In my first article as a member of Beginner’s Luck, I wanted to cover a subject that I greatly enjoy, Hockey. Rather than cover every team very briefly, I thought I would analyze a […]

Aroldis Chapman to the Cubs

WOW! Big news in the baseball world that started off most people’s Monday morning. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, Aroldis Chapman has been traded to the Cubs. Here is a breakdown of what both teams will get. CUBS: […]

Illinois Nabs Tilmon to Give Illini a Glimmer of Hope

Being an Illinois basketball fan can be difficult at times. Whether it be a team of underperformers who seem to lack the desire to win, main players getting arrested, or the inability to land the big recruit, Illinois basketball has hit the trifecta on what will really drive a fan crazy, but that all soon […]

A Brief Look at the 2016 Michigan Wolverines

The Big Ten is one of the strongest football conferences in the country: there is no doubt about it. However, with domination by the SEC in the past 15 years (winning 9 of the last 15 Nat’l Championships), the Big Ten has been put on the back-burner. Even though the Big Ten has won the […]

MLB Underrated Team

With the MLB All Star Game having come and gone, I thought it would be a good time to look at the undervalued players in the MLB. These are the underappreciated guys who are helping their teams win as much as some of the all stars we saw this past Tuesday. The team I made […]

WWE Mock Draft!

By: Steve Kollias and Josh Mayer With the return of the WWE Draft and brand split tonight, the resident WWE fans at Beginner’s Luck Sports Blog have taken it upon ourselves to do a mock draft. But instead of trying to make it as realistic as possible, we decided to choose freely and assemble, […]

Playoff Team Offseason Preview: Detroit Pistons (44-38)

As the NBA playoffs continue, I will be previewing the offseason for all teams that get eliminated and focusing on what they need to do get to the next level. Note: To view charts correctly, put computer in full screen mode.

Joint Mock Draft Between Steve & Tim

The 2016 NFL Draft in Chicago is TODAY! In honor of draft season, myself and resident writer Tim Wiemann will embark on a 31 team mock draft (once again, sorry Patriots fans… You know what, nevermind I’m not sorry for anything about the damn Patriots), where one of us controls the odd number picks (Steve) […]

Playoff Team Offseason Preview: Memphis Grizzlies

WWE: Benefits of a Brand Split

Benefits of a Brand Split: Why WWE should split into a Raw and Smackdown brand again

Next in Line: The Assistant Coaches of the NBA

By: Steve Kollias Last week, fellow writer Josh Mayer brought you guys an article about which coaches are safe or not in the NBA. He predicted an eight count for coaching casualties, which seems sort of asshole-ish of him. Regardless, there’s no doubt there will be change this offseason to certain teams. As Josh mentioned, […]

NBA Coaches: Safe or Not?

Predicting the Fate of NBA Coaches this Offseason In a league where the fourth-longest tenured head coach is just finishing his fifth full season, job security is hard to come by. During this season alone there were five coaching changes in the NBA. This past offseason there were six. So, in the past calendar year, […]

Way Too Early Season Preview For All 64 Tournament Teams

By: Tim Wiemann At this point, the NCAA tournament is over. Villanova has cut down the nets and the offseason has already begun. Some teams exceeded expectations in the tournament and others failed. By now, fans are wondering how their favorite teams will do next year. I’m here to make that easier for you. I’ll […]

MLB Season Preview: Part 3

Predicting Wild Card Winners By: Josh Mayer Hey everyone, we continue Beginner’s Luck Sports Blogs MLB Season Preview here by finalizing the playoff field and predicting the Wild Card winners for each league. Part three will go a bit different than the first two. Two teams will be named from each league as wild card […]

Mock Draft 1.0: GM Version Part 2

By: Steve Kollias Welcome to part 2 of my first mock draft. Let’s just pick up right where we left off. The Detroit Lions are now on the clock. 16) The Detroit Lions select – Jack Conklin OT Michigan State The Lions are going into 2016 with new general manager Bob Quinn who spent the […]