Saints Quarterback Drew Brees has been named the NFC Player of the Week. Brees threw five touchdown passes in the Saints 35-32 win over the Steelers, which snapped a three-game losing streak. It’s the 18th time Brees has received this honor since joining the Saints.

The Les Miles to Michigan rumors are back now that the Wolverines are looking for a head coach. Miles’ alma mater offered him a chance to go back to Ann Arbor in 2007 and 2010 and both times the mad hatter said no. Glen Guilbeau of Gannett Newspapers says if Miles is asked again won’t leave LSU, because of the young talent on the roster….
cut 14 (13) “….20 years ago”
And the Ragin Cajuns will reporteldy receive an official invite to the New Orleans Bowl today.

The Pelicans snapped a three-game losing streak last night with a 112-104 win over Oklahoma City. Jrue Holiday had 16 points and ten assists and played excellent defense on All-star guard Russell Westbrook. Tyreke Evans had 30 points, 15 of them came in the fourth quarter.

LSU’s Josh Gray had his best game of the season as he scored 25 points to help LSU beat UMASS 82 to 60. Also last night…ninth ranked Gonzaga beat Southeastern Louisiana 76 to 57. Alex Hamilton scored 30 points to help Louisiana Tech dribble past Northwestern State 99-88. The Bulldogs improve to six and one, while the Demons are three and four.

tonight…the Lady Techsters are at LSU. The Lady Tigers have won nine straight games in the series. And on the men’s side, U-L Lafayette will host Jackson State. The Tigers beat the Cajuns 73 to 70 last season.

The Les Miles to Michigan rumors are back. That’s because Miles’ alma mater, Michigan, is searching for a new football coach after firing Brady Hoke. LSU beat reporter for Gannett Newspapers, Glen Guilbeau, says Miles doesn’t want to leave LSU because of the young players and another great recruiting class for the upcoming season…

cut 14 (13) “20 years ago.”

He says Miles has been offered the Michigan job two previous times and said no and will likely say no again, if offered a third time.

In other college football news…The University of Alabama at Birmingham has announced they are dropping their football program. The school says they have to discontinue the program because of financial concerns. With UAB leaving Conference USA, rumors are circulating that UL Lafayette will fill their spot.

In college basketball action…Junior guard Josh Gray pumped in 25 points last night as LSU downed UMASS 82-60 in the PMAC. Jordan Mickey added 16 as the Tigers improve to 5-2. LSU hits the road to take on 16th ranked West Virginia tomorrow night.

It was Louisiana Tech over Northwestern State last night in Nachitoches, 99-88. Junior guard Alex Hamilton lead the Bulldogs with 30 points to improve Tech’s record to 6-1. The Demons, who were lead by Jalan West’s 27 points, fall to 3-4 on the season.

Southeastern Louisiana lead number nine Gonzaga at halftime, 33-32. But Gonzaga opened the second half with a 30-4 run to overwhelm the Lions, in the end, 76-54. Joshua Filmore scored 14 for SLU as their record falls to 2-6.

In the NBA…Reigning NBA MVP Kevin Durant scored 27 points in his season debut for Oklahoma City, but it wasn’t enough as the Pelicans defeated the Thunder 112-104 last night at the Smoothie King Center. The Pels’ Tyreke Evans scored a game high 30 points, half of them in the fourth quarter.

The Les Miles to Michigan rumors can start up again as the Wolverines have fired head coach Brady Hoke after a four-year run at the Ann Arbor school. Michigan was five and seven this past season. They’ve pursued Miles twice before, once in 2007 and again in 2010. Miles was asked last week about the possibility of the Michigan job opening up and here’s what he said….
cut 20 (16) “….very best”

In other college football news…UAB has announced its dropping football program, because of financial concerns. With UAB gone, could UL Lafayette fill their spot in C-USA. Stay tuned on that one.

Louisiana Tech plays this Saturday against Marshall in the Conference USA Championship game. Jerry Palm of cbs-sports-dot-com, says if the Bulldogs win, they could play in the Heart of Dallas Bowl against a team from the Big Ten….
cut 19 (13) “….Conference USA games”

In college hoops tonight…Louisiana Tech visits Northwestern State in what should be spirited game. The Demons are 3-and-3 on the year, while the Bulldogs are five and one.

LSU hosts UMASS at the PMAC for a six o ‘clock tip. The Minutemen beat the Tigers 92-90 last season.

NBA…the Pelicans will host Oklahoma city. Thunder star Kevin Durant will make his season debut tonight. Durant has been out because of a foot injury. Tip-off is at seven o’ clock.

Pelicans star Anthony Davis graces this week’s issue of Sports Illustrated. The title on the popular sports magazine says “Time to Really Fear the Brow.” Davis and the Pels are in action tonight against Oklahoma City. New Orleans has lost three in a row, despite outstanding play by Davis.

The LSU men’s basketball team hosts UMASS tonight. These two teams played in the season opener last year and the Minutemen won 92-90. This year the Tigers bring a 4-2 record into the game, while UMASS is 5-2.

In other action tonight….Louisiana Tech is at Northwestern State. The home team has won this match-up five straight times. Southeastern Louisiana is on the road as the Lions visit 8th ranked Gonzaga. S-L-U is two and five and Gonzaga is 6-0.

And Northwestern State’s Zeek Woodley has been named the Southland Conference basketball player of the week. For the season, he’s averaging 23 points a game.

An official announcement regarding U-L Lafayette’s bowl destination is expected soon. Jerry Palm of cbs-sports-dot-com expects the Cajuns to go to the New Orleans Bowl for a fourth consecutive season…
cut 18 (17) “….projected here”
UL Lafayette finished second in the Sun Belt. Georgia Southern won the league, but are not eligible for a bowl, because they are a new F-B-S team, but Georiga Southern is seeking a waiver.

LSU’s Leonard Fournette has been named the SEC Freshman of the Week. The New orleans native rushed for a career-high 146 yards in the Tigers 23-17 win over Texas A-and-M.

And Saints Quarterback Drew Brees says there is no “validity” to the report that New Orleans look to draft a quarterback early in the draft next year as a possible replacement to Brees.

Three Louisiana college football teams are eligible to go bowling this year. LSU, UL Lafayette and Louisiana Tech will find out their bowl destination this weekend, if not earlier. Louisiana Tech plays this Saturday against Marshall in the Conference USA Championship game. Jerry Palm, with C-B-S-sports-dot-com, says if the Bulldogs win, they could play in the Heart of Dallas Bowl against a team from the Big Ten…

Cut 19 (13) “Conference USA games”

He expects LSU to play the Texas Longhorns in the Texas Bowl and the Ragin’ Cajuns to make a fourth straght trip to the New Orleans Bowl.

The Southern University Jaguars will take on Alcorn State this Saturday at N-R-G Stadium in Houston for the SWAC football Championship. Alcorn beat Southern 56-16 back on September 27th. However, the Jags have not lost since, racking up seven victories in a row coming into this weekend’s matchup.

In college hoops…LSU’s Jordan Mickey has been named the Louisiana Sports Writers Association’s player of the month for November. Mickey is averaging nearly 18 points a game and ten rebounds. Mickey and the Tigers take on UMASS tonight.

Also tonight, Northwestern State hosts Louisiana Tech and Southeastern Louisiana travels to Spokane, Washington to take on ninth ranked Gonzaga.

In the NBA, the Pelicans host the Oklahoma City Thunder tonight in the Smoothie King Center. The Pels are looking to climb back to .500 on the season with a win tonight.

4 state football champioms will be crowned Friday as The Allstate Sugar Bowl LHSAA Prep Classic gets underway in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. In Division IV, Southern Lab will face Ouachita Christian. Division III sees Catholic of New Iberia take on Calvary Baptist. In the Division II final University Lab will lock horns with Parkview Baptist. And John Curtis will play Jesuit in the Division I final.

The Saints hope yesterday’s 35-32 victory over Pittsburgh is the start of something good for a team that has underachieved all season. New Orleans played one of its better games of the season in the Steel City. The Black and Gold are back home this Sunday to take on the Carolina Panthers, who are in a tailspin and lost to Minnesota yesterday.

The Saints are still tied with the Falcons for first place in the NFC South. That’s because Atlanta beat Arizona 29-18 yesterday. In that game, former LSU star Tyrann Mathieu fractured his thumb and could miss the next three weeks of the season for the Cardinals.

Former LSU star quarterback Zach Mettenberger injured his shoulder in a loss to Houston. But Mettenberger hopes to play this Sunday for the Titans, who will host the New York Giants.

LSU is number 23 in the latest A-P poll. They now wait on a bowl invite, the most likely choices are the Taxslayer-dot-com bowl in Jacksonville and the Texas Bowl in Houston.

Louisiana Tech will take on Marshall this Saturday in the Conference USA Championship game, which will kick-off in Huntington, West Virginia. Marshall is 11-and-1, with its one loss coming on Friday against Western Kentucky. Bulldogs Coach Skip Holtz says it should be a great football game…
cut 18 (12) “….should be”

Southern is also in a conference championship game. The Jaguars will play Alcorn State this Saturday at N-R-G Stadium in Houston. Alcorn beat Southern 56-16 back on September 27th.

The Ragin Cajuns are waiting to find out if they’ll once again go to the New Orleans Bowl. It would be a fourth straight apperance in the game.

In college hoops…LSU’s Jordan Mickey has been named the Louisiana Sports Writers Association’s player of the month for November. Mickey is averaging nearly 18 points a game and ten rebounds. Mickey and the Tigers take on UMASS tomorrow night.

Saints Quarterback Drew Brees threw five touchdown passes to five different receivers as New Orleans defeated Pittsburgh 35-32. Afterwards, Coach Sean Payton had to address a report that a fued between himself and defensive coordinator Rob Ryan had reached a point there was hate between the two of them. Payton says that’s not the case…
cut 20 (09) “….outstanding job’
The Saints will face a struggling Carolina football team this Sunday. The Panthers dropped to 3-8-and-1 on the season with a 31-13 loss to Minnesota.

Altanta beat Arizona 29-18 as Julio Jones had 189 receiving yards and a touchdown for the Falcons, who remain tied with the Saints for first place in the NFC South.

And former LSU quarterback Zach Mettenberger injured his shoulder as his Titans lost to the Texans 45-21.

The Ragin Cajuns wrapped up an 8-and-4 regular season on Saturday with a 42-23 win over the Troy Trojans. UL Lafayette rushed for 344 yards as Elijan McGuire and Alonzo Harris combined to gain 255 yards on the ground and five touchdowns. Coach Mark Hudspeth on his top two running backs…
cut 16 (19) “…pretty effective”
The Cajuns are expected to get another invite from the New Orleans Bowl, but nothing official yet.

LSU is at number 23 in the latest AP poll. Reports say the Texas Bowl in Houston or the Taxslayer-dot-com bowl in Jacksonville are the likely destinations for the Tigers.

Louisiana Tech and Southern are preparing to play in conference championship games.

The Saints continue to do the unexpected. Lose games when you expect them to win, but win games when you think they’ll get beat. New Orleans went into Pittsburgh yesterday and beat the Steelers 35-32. Quarterback Drew Brees threw five touchdown passes to five different receivers, Mark Ingram rushed for 122 yards and the defense forced two turnovers. Coach Sean Payton says it feels good to beat a good team on the road…

cut 19 (08) “3rd down”

The Saints remain tied for first in the NFC South with Atlanta, who upset the Arizona Cardinals yesterday 29-18. Also in the division, Cincinnati defeated Tampa Bay 14-13 and Carolina fell to Minnesota 31-13.

In college basketball action yesterday, Southeastern Louisiana bested Langston 92-80, UNO fell to Denver 79-60, and Tulane has now won five out of its first six as they defeated Tennessee Tech 73-68.

Louisiana Tech will play this Saturday in the Conference USA Championship game against Marshall after routing Rice 76-31 on Saturday at Joe Aillet Stadium. The Bulldogs amassed 677 total yards as quarterback Cody Sokol threw for 387 yards and four touchdowns. Head Coach Skip Holtz on his explosive offense

cut 17 (15) “went into it”

Tech will take on the Thundering Herd in the league title game this Saturday at 11 AM in Huntington, West Virginia and it can be seen on ESPN2.

In other college football action from the weekend, UL-Lafayette finished their regular season at 8-4 with a 42-23 win over Troy. It was Georgia Southern over ULM 22-16, Southeastern Louisiana fell to Sam Houston State in the first round of the FCS Playoffs 21-17, and Southern defeating Grambling in the Bayou Classic 52-45, and will take on Alcorn State for the SWAC Championship this Saturday.

The LSU football team capped off an up and down regular season with a 23-17 win over Texas A&M last night. Leonard Fournette rushed for 146 yards to help LSU win its 8th game of the year. Coach Les Miles says he’s proud of what his team accomplished…
cut 11 (12) “….to do”
The Tigers will now wait to find out which bowl game they’ll play in.

The Saints are trying to win the NFC South. They’ll be at Pittsburgh on Sunday. Running back Khiry Robinson has been ruled out, so that’s now six straight games he’s missed, because of a forearm injury. But veteran wide receiver Robert Meachem is expected to play after missing the last three games with an ankle injury.

The high school football playoffs resume tonight with some great match-ups. In Class Five-A…top seeded Byrd is at ninth seeded West Monroe. The number one seed in Two-A is also on the road as Many visits St. James. The LHSAA Game of the Week will feature the number one seed in Division One, John Curtis, facing fifth seeded Brother Martin.

In college football tomorrow…Southeastern Louisiana will face Sam Houston State in the first round of the F-C-S playoffs. The Lions beat the Bearkats in the quarterfinals last year. Southern and Grambling meet in the Bayou Classic on Saturday. The winner is the SWAC Western Division Champion and Louisiana Tech can win a Conference USA West crown with a win over Rice tomorrow afternoon.

In the NBA tonight…the Pelicans are in Atlanta to take on the Hawks. Anthony Davis is averaging 24 points a game, while the Hawks top scorer Jeff Teague, who is averaging 18 a contest. Tip-off from Phillips Arena is at 6:30.

After only putting up 123 yards of total offense in a loss to Arkansas, LSU found its powerful running game again in a 23-17 win over Texas A-and-M last night. The Tigers rushed for 384 yards, the most ever in an SEC game since 1997. Freshman running back Leonard Fournette led the Tigers ground attack as he rushed for 146 yards.
cut 10 (12) “…your hand”
LSU ends the regular season with an 8-4 record.

Tomorrow in college football…Louisiana Tech looks to win the Conference USA West Division, but to do so they have to beat Rice. The Ragin Cajuns are still in position to win a share of the Sun Belt Conference, but they’ll need to beat Troy and hope ULM upsets Georgia Southern.

Saturday is the Bayou Classic between Grambling State and Southern. The winner claims the SWAC western division championship as both teams are 7-and-1 in the league. Grambling Coach Broderick Fobbs has a lot of respect for Jaguars Head Coach Dawson Odums…
cut 13 (10) “…technically sound”
Kick-off Saturday is at 1:30 in the Mercedes Benz Superdome.

The Saints are getting ready to play the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday. New Orleans still has a great opportunity to win the NFC South, despite its 4-and-7 record. Quarterback Drew Brees says the opportunity to make the playoffs is great motivation…
cut 15 (11) “….positive thing”
The weather forecast on Sunday in Pittsburgh calls for high temperatures in the mid 50s and a 40-percent chance of rain.