Sports Roundup for Monday 12/24/18

>>Titans, Colts Clash For Playoff Spot (Nashville, TN)  —  The final Wild Card spot will be up for grabs on Sunday when the Titans and Colts clash in Week 17.  Both teams are 9-and-6 and the winner of Sunday’s matchup will go to the playoffs, while the loser will be eliminated.  The game has been flexed to primetime and will air on Sunday Night Football.

>>NFL Playoff Roundup (Undated)  —  A handful of NFL teams punched their tickets to the playoffs this weekend.  Dallas and New England each clinched their respective divsions on Sunday by winning.  Despite a loss to Philadelphia, Houston is guranteed a Wild Card berth.  Seattle secured a Wild Card spot by knocking off Kansas City.  The Saints clinched the top seed in the NFC by beating Pittsburgh.

>Raiders Host Broncos Tonight (Alameda, CA)  —  Monday Night Football comes to Oakland tonight as the Raiders face the Broncos.  It could be the last game at the Coliseum as the Raiders are currently locked in a lawsuit with the city.  Oakland is 3-and-11 under Jon Gruden.  Denver enters at 6-and-8 and is out of playoff contention.

>>McCaffrey Sets RB Catch Record (Charlotte, NC)  —  Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey now holds the NFL record for catches in a season by a running back.  McCaffrey set the mark during Sunday’s loss to Atlanta.  His 106 catches surpass Matt Forte’s 102 catches for Chicago in 2014.

NFL —— New England Patriots 24, Buffalo Bills 12 Atlanta Falcons 24, Carolina Panthers 10 Green Bay Packers 44, New York Jets 38  (OT) Dallas Cowboys 27, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20 Philadelphia Eagles 32, Houston Texans 30 Minnesota Vikings 27, Detroit Lions 9 Cleveland Browns 26, Cincinnati Bengals 18 Jacksonville Jaguars 17, Miami Dolphins 7 Indianapolis Colts 28, New York Giants 27 Chicago Bears 14, San Francisco 49ers 9 Los Angeles Rams 31, Arizona Cardinals 9 New Orleans Saints 31, Pittsburgh Steelers 28 Seattle Seahawks 38, Kansas City Chiefs 31

NBA —— Atlanta Hawks 98, Detroit Pistons 95 Indiana Pacers 105, Washington Wizards 89 Miami Heat 115, Orlando Magic 91 Sacramento Kings 122, New Orleans Pelicans 117 Boston Celtics 119, Charlotte Hornets 103 Brooklyn Nets 111, Phoenix Suns 103 Chicago Bulls 112, Cleveland Cavaliers 92 Minnesota Timberwolves 114, Oklahoma City Thunder 112 Golden State Warriors 129, Los Angeles Clippers 127 Portland Trail Blazers 121, Dallas Mavericks 118  (OT) Memphis Grizzlies 107, Los Angeles Lakers 99

>>Predators Off Until Thursday (Nashville, TN)  —  The Predators are off until Thursday.  They lost all four games of their most recent road trip and is now second in the Central Division with 46 points.  The Preds host the Stars on Thursday.

NHL —— Columbus Blue Jackets 3, New Jersey Devils 0 Carolina Hurricanes 5, Boston Bruins 3 Philadelphia Flyers 3, New York Rangers 2  (SO) Florida Panthers 6, Chicago Blackhawks 3 Toronto Maple Leafs 5, Detroit Red Wings 4  (OT) New York Islanders 3, Dallas Stars 1 Arizona Coyotes 4, San Jose Sharks 3  (SO) Los Angeles Kings 4, Vegas Golden Knights 3  (OT)

>>Louisville Hosts Kentucky Saturday (Louisville, KY)  —  The rivalry continues on Saturday when Louisville hosts Kentucky.  The Cardinals are 9-and-3 on the year and have won three straight games.  Kentucky enters at 9-and-2.  Both squads are off until then. Airtime Saturday at 11:30am on Lite Rock 98.7 WHOP-FM and lite987whop.com.

College Basketball  (Top-25 Coaches Poll) —— #20 Houston Cougars 75, Coppin State Eagles 44
>>College Bowl Preview (Undated)  —  In college bowl action on Thursday, Vanderbilt faces Baylor at the Texas Bowl in Houston.  Kentucky battles Penn State a week from tomorrow at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando.  The Music City Bowl kicks off in Nashville on Friday as Auburn faces Purdue.