Cotton Bowl Preview: USC vs. Tulane

Everything you need to know about the 2023 Cotton Bowl Classic between Tulane and USC.

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1. Cotton Bowl Preview: USC vs. Tulane

USC faces Tulane in the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 2, 2023 at AT&T Stadium and The Sporting Tribune’s Benjamin Harris-Myers has your early preview of the game before the Trojans head to Texas.

USC was expected to finish third in the Pac 12 in a preseason poll, with some media members selecting them to finish as low as seventh in the conference. Thanks to newly-crowned Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Caleb Williams, the Trojans defied all doubters with a historical season that saw them enter the Pac 12 Championship game with an 11-1 record, and as the No. 4 ranked team in the country. A win, and they would have advanced to their first ever College Football Playoff.

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2. Where does Michael Busch fit on the Dodgers?

The Dodgers could use Michael Busch in a number of ways this season and The Sporting Tribune’s Bruce Kuntz thinks he could be the team’s biggest addition this season.

Michael Busch may be one of the most important new players in Los Angeles this year. The offseason so far has seen a plethora of major league departures from the Dodgers, including Trea Turner, Justin Turner and Cody Bellinger. All three were everyday players for the majority of 2022 and will leave at-bats to be filled. A first-round pick in 2019, Busch had his best season as a pro last year. Between Double-A and Triple-A, he slugged 32 home runs and tallied an organization-leading 108 RBI. Having now turned 25 years old, the time is now for Busch to break through to the majors.

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3. Lionel Messi is “The Greatest Of All Time”

Lionel Messi got the World Cup trophy he always wanted and earned the G.O.A.T. title everyone wanted to give him and The Sporting Tribune’s Chandrima Chatterjee now believes there’s no doubt that Messi is the greatest of all time.

Over two decades, Messi has accumulated a lion’s share of awards – 10 La Liga titles, 1 Ligue trophy, 7 Copa del Reys, 7 Supercopas de España, 4 Champions League titles, 3 UEFA Super Cups, 3 Club World Cups, 7 Ballon d’Or awards, 1 Copa América title, 1 U-20 World Cup, 1 Olympic Gold Medal, and 1 World Cup. The 35-year-old sensation from Rosario, Argentina, who moved to Spain in 2004 when he was 13 years old, has devoted his life to his passion, a sport that in many ways has become synonymous with his journey, is now a talisman of his nation, and a symbol of a hero’s journey to millions.

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4. TST’s NBA Power Ranking Week 10

Vintage Kawhi Leonard is back, Anthony Davis will miss an indefinite time with a foot injury, and a new top team emerges in this week’s rankings. The Sporting Tribune’s Brandon Deutsch has you covered when it comes to dissecting the best and worst teams in the NBA.

Kawhi Leonard is back. He has averaged 25 points and 8.7 rebounds over his last 3 games and is coming off of a 31 point-3 steal performance against the Wizards. The Clippers have the 3rd best defense in basketball (109.6 defensive rating) and have won four of their last five games. This will be a dangerous team once they hit their stride.

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5. The good and the bad from the Ducks’ back-to-back wins

The Anaheim Ducks picked up their first set of back-to-back regulation on the season, and while there are certainly positive takeaways, there are also plenty of tough ones. The Sporting Tribune’s Jake Rudolph outlines the good and the bad for the Ducks.

With the Ducks’ regulation win against the Oilers in their midday matinee affair on Saturday and their regulation win against the Canadiens on Thursday night, the Ducks not only picked up their first set of back-to-back regulation wins but also tripled their regulation wins on the season. There are a lot of positives, but also some alarming negatives that will need to be fixed if the Ducks are looking to make some headway on their abysmal 0.328 points percentage.

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6. Ducks winning streak, McTavish rising, Dostal shines

Felix Sicard and Jake Rudolph have been doing a podcast about the Ducks since the 2017-2018 Anaheim Ducks season and they will continue to share their insights at The Sporting Tribune. On this episode, they discuss the Ducks’ back-to-back wins, Mason McTavish’s stellar play, Lukas Dostal’s 46-save classic performance, and much more. Click here to listen.

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7. Odds and Ends presented by Circa Sports

Here are some odds at Circa Sports if you’re thinking about placing a wager today:

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8. Ticket Time presented by TickPick  

Here are the “get in” prices for tickets if you’re thinking about going to a game this week:

Charlotte Hornets at LA Clippers: $19

Minnesota Wild at Anaheim Ducks: $23

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9. On the Air presented by Coca-Cola

Here are the game times and television channels for professional teams in the region today:

7:00 p.m. – Los Angeles Lakers at Sacramento Kings – Spectrum SportsNet

7:00 p.m. – Minnesota Wild at Anaheim Ducks – Bally Sports West

7:30 p.m. – Charlotte Hornets at LA Clippers – Bally Sports SoCal   

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10. The Arash Markazi Show presented by The Sporting Tribune 

On Tuesday’s show, the crew talked about the Rams’ postseason hopes officially dying in Green Bay and the fading postseason hopes for the Lakers without Anthony Davis for at least one month.  

Listen to The Arash Markazi Show presented by The Sporting Tribune on The Mightier 1090 ESPN Radio in Southern California, 98.5 The Fan in Las Vegas and the Hawaii Sports Radio Network 95.1 FM and 760 AM in Hawaii. You can also listen to the show on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Play and Stitcher.

Thank you for reading. Please click below to subscribe to The Morning Column presented by The Sporting Tribune. It’s totally free and will be delivered to your inbox every morning.

That’s it for today. Talk to you all tomorrow!