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  • CSU Rams announce decision to join Pac-12 Conference

    CSU Rams announce decision to join Pac-12 Conference

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    CSU is joining a revamped and re-stocked Pac-12 Conference.

    According to a report published late Wednesday night by Yahoo Sports, the long-standing collegiate league, which was ravaged by membership defections — including that of the CU Buffs — over the past 18 months, is moving forward with plans to expand.

    The first wave of that expansion includes four of the top athletic brands from the Mountain West: CSU, Boise State, San Diego State and Fresno State, will all four becoming members on July 1, 2026.

    “We are taking control of our future at CSU by forming an alliance of six peer institutions who will serve as the foundation for a new era of the Pac-12,” CSU President Amy Parsons said in a news release announcing the move.

    “This move elevates CSU in a way which benefits all our students, bolsters our core mission, and strengthens our reputation for academic and research excellence. CSU is honored to be among the universities asked to help carry on the history and tradition of the Pac-12 as a highly competitive conference with some of the nation’s leading research institutions.”

    The Rams, whose football program hosts rival CU in the Rocky Mountain Showdown for the first time at Canvas Stadium on Saturday, are a founding member of the Mountain West Conference, a league which began operations in January 1999.

    By accepting an invitation from the Pac-12, CSU will gain association with what the athletic department has sought for decades — membership within a “power” conference.

    “This moment has been a long time coming,” CSU authentic director John Weber said. “I know our students, faculty, staff, alumni, donors and fans are hungry for this move and are going to love what comes next as CSU charts a transformational new course as a member of the Pac-12.”

    The Pac-12, which was founded in 1915, has historically been the most prestigious collegiate league west of the Central time zone. However, that prestige, and indeed its membership, were crippled by the defections of CU, Utah, Arizona and Arizona State to the Big 12; USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington to the Big Ten; and Stanford and Cal to the ACC.

    Washington State and Oregon State were left with the conference’s holdings, trademarks and media rights. Per Yahoo Sports, the remaining Pac-12 programs believe they can rebuild the brand with the likes of the Rams, Aztecs, Broncos and Bulldogs as peers.

    They’re also not done looking at new members, as the NCAA requires a minimum of eight schools to qualify as an FBS conference.

    CSU football plays at Oregon State on Oct. 5 as part of a scheduling alliance between the MW and the remains of the Pac-12, a partnership that Yahoo Sports reports will not continue for a second fall.

    Mountain West members are contracted to pay a $17 million exit fee to leave the league.

    The primary motivations for CSU are the same reasons CU left the Pac-12 this past summer — money, prestige, potential access to the College Football Playoff, and stability.

    While the mass defections from the Pac-12 would denounce the latter, Yahoo Sports reports that the remaining Pac-12 members feel a new-look league would reach a media rights agreement worth more than the current or expected payouts presented to MW members.

    The Mountain West has a $270 million television contract with CBS and Fox that runs through 2026.

    Published reports have estimated that non-Boise members of the MW, including CSU, receive roughly $3.5 million annually from that deal, with the Broncos receiving an additional $1.8 million per year.

    CSU noted in its financial report to the NCAA for the 2022-23 fiscal year, the most recent public report available, that its media rights revenues from all sources, including conference distributions, was $3.3 million.

    The Yahoo Sports report infers that the Rams could also have access to Pac-12 assets such as “monies from the Rose Bowl contract, College Football Playoff, NCAA basketball tournament units and Pac-12 Enterprises, previously the Pac-12 Network.”

    CSU indicated in its announcement Thursday morning that the four new schools “will have immediate voting privileges” within the conference.

    “We have nothing but the utmost respect and appreciation for the Mountain West and its members,” Parsons said. “There will be conversations going forward about the Mountain West exit fees and Pac-12 support for our transition. We are confident the path forward will not impact our current university budget and will set CSU up for incredible opportunities to come.”

    However, the two-team Pac-12 recently lost its status as a Power 5/”autonomous” conference within the CFP — and it’s not clear whether supplementing the expanded league with Group of 5 programs would restore those privileges.

    CSU athletics reported revenues of $64.3 million to the NCAA for the ’22-23 fiscal year this past January. The Rams’ revenues of $61.2 million, per a USA Today database, ranked fourth among known MW athletics budgets in ’21-22, behind Air Force, San Diego State and UNLV. Wazzu and Oregon State had revenues of $85 million and $83.5 million in ’21-22, respectively.

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    Sean Keeler

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  • Grading The Week: Nuggets star Nikola Jokic dished out almost $400,000 in gifts to Serbian teammates, because of course he did

    Grading The Week: Nuggets star Nikola Jokic dished out almost $400,000 in gifts to Serbian teammates, because of course he did

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    Nikola Jokic isn’t just the best hoops player on the planet when it comes to dishing out dimes.

    The Big Honey might be the best when it comes to dishing out bling, too.

    Despite our crack staff being in the writing biz, Team Grading The Week believes actions speak louder than all the words on this page.

    And GTW is firmly in the camp of backing up your brags.

    Is anybody — certainly not anybody in the basketball sphere — conquering both fronts better than the Joker is, right here and now?

    The NBA’s three-time MVP didn’t just help carry the Serbian hoops squad to a bronze medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics. According to the Blic newspaper in his native country, Jokic purchased Rolex watches for every one of his teammates on the national team.

    Jokic’s Serbian gifts — A

    The kicker? Those timepieces were reportedly worth $32,500 each. Which puts the Joker’s total purchase at an estimated $357,500 for 11 watches.

    Jokic and Serbia won the men’s hoops bronze in Paris thanks to a 93-83 win over Germany in the tourney’s third-place game. The Nuggets star posted a very Jokic stat line, too — 19 points, 12 boards and 11 assists.

    The Joker averaged 18.8 points, 10.7 rebounds and 8.7 assists for his homeland, which finished 4-2 at the tourney. He led all tournament players in points, boards and dimes — the first Olympian to ever top all three categories in one campaign.

    Apparently, nobody gives like Jokic gives when it comes to the gift department, either. At least the fantastic gesture was one the Joker could afford: The Nuggets center, per Spotrac.com, is slated to take up $51.4 million in cap space in ’24-’25, and $55.2 million in ’25-’26.

    If you’re like the GTW staff, you don’t just want Jokic as your franchise centerpiece now. You kind of want him as your secret Santa, too.

    Big Russ’ debut — D

    Russell Wilson’s Steelers stats after preseason Week 2: One appearance, five drives led, zero points, three sacks taken.

    Bo Nix’s Broncos stats after preseason Week 2: Two appearances, seven drives led, 30 points, zero sacks taken.

    It’s early, and we’ll know in a month whether Sean Payton won the Broncos-Steelers game, head-to-head. But the coach is off to a flying start in terms of winning the argument. And in justifying one hellaciously expensive football divorce.

    Valor’s Friday — A

    Love ’em or hate ’em, this past Friday was a pretty good day to be an Eagle.

    Earlier in the day, Valor alum and PGA star Wyndham Clark pulled himself back into the BMW Championship title picture by shooting a 68 during his second round at Castle Pines — including five birdies. Later that evening, his alma mater’s football team opened its season with a 31-14 victory over Pine Creek. The latter had beaten Valor in last September’s meeting, 31-17.

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    Sean Keeler

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  • Keeler: Broncos put QB Bo Nix third on their depth chart? Sean Payton needs to stop trolling Broncos Country and get on with the rebuild

    Keeler: Broncos put QB Bo Nix third on their depth chart? Sean Payton needs to stop trolling Broncos Country and get on with the rebuild

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    Why does Sean Payton have to be such a pain in the ash?

    Jarrett Stidham is ballast. Zach Wilson is insurance. Any meaningful Broncos snap in 2024 that isn’t devoted to Bo Nix is a snap wasted, a dollar burned. A pile of cinders, right next to the smoldering $53 million you just gave Russell Wilson to hurt himself in Pittsburgh.

    Can we just get on with it? Please? Declaring Steady Stiddy as your starter, as Payton more or less did for Sunday’s preseason opener at Indianapolis, is just delaying the inevitable. It’s cute for cute’s sake. It’s either an epic troll job or a backdoor message to Nix, picked 12th in this past spring’s draft to be your franchise quarterback, that his present isn’t promised.

    “I’m not ready for a depth chart, but I have to get (the league) a depth chart,” Payton said after Tuesday’s practice. “So it’s easy to push the (younger) players to the back of the line and then make sure it’s kind of where we sit right now.

    “And that’s really it. No, it’s a good question, but I’m not trying to send messages at all.”

    Whatever. No. 10 turns 25 in February. Start the meter or get a different cab.

    This isn’t 2021. This isn’t about Drew vs. Teddy, about dividing the family and picking a side. This isn’t about an unproven coach who desperately needs to win now, the way Uncle Vic Fangio had to and didn’t.

    Broncos Country should be united around Nix, until he gives them ample cause, gives them enough evidence, to cut bait and turn the page. Which might be never.

    But dang it, there’s only one way to find out.

    It’s about 2025. And 2026. And 2027. Until then, you’re thumb-wrestling with the Raiduhs for third in the AFC West.

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    Sean Keeler

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  • Ex-CSU Rams coach Steve Addazio joins ESPN as analyst

    Ex-CSU Rams coach Steve Addazio joins ESPN as analyst

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    The Daz is joining the Disney family.

    Former CSU Rams football coach Steve Addazio, whose Fort Collins tenure was short and tempestuous, is transitioning to television. ESPN announced that Addazio has joined the network as a college football analyst and will start calling games later this month.

    Addazio posted a 4-12 record at CSU from 2020-21 and had a 61-67 career record as a head coach with the Rams, Boston College (2013-19) and Temple (2011-12). He was fired at CSU in December 2021, a few days after completing a 3-9 season and after being ejected from a 52-10 home loss to Nevada, then coached by Jay Norvell.

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    Sean Keeler

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  • Keeler: If Nuggets coach Michael Malone, Calvin Booth aren’t on same page, they’ll burn another year of Nikola Jokic’s MVP peak

    Keeler: If Nuggets coach Michael Malone, Calvin Booth aren’t on same page, they’ll burn another year of Nikola Jokic’s MVP peak

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    Michael Malone didn’t just shorten his bench. He strangled it.

    Christian Braun played a valiant 20 minutes in that scarring, jarring Game 7, much of it spent badgering the heck outta Anthony Edwards. After that, though, the alms dwindled. Justin Holiday got nine minutes for the Nuggets; Reggie Jackson, five.

    The Timberwolves, meanwhile, received 22 minutes and 11 points from Naz Reid, a stretch-4-type post who gave Aaron Gordon and Nikola Jokic more real estate to defend. Nickeil Alexander-Walker played 17 minutes.

    Hindsight makes geniuses of us all, granted. But while Jokic huffed and Gordon puffed Sunday, Peyton Watson became more noticeable — by his absence. As Minnesota chipped away at a 20-point Nuggs lead, one of the best defenders on the roster was nowhere to be found.

    Now in a do-or-die, win-or-else Game 7, you could understand Malone’s reluctance to trust his second-year wing in a pinch. P-Swat was 0-for-7 from the floor in this series going into Sunday night. The Nuggets lined up the chess pieces as if they could afford only one true defense-first option down the stretch — and again, Braun brought plenty of juice.

    Malone said before Game 5 that this was about matchups, and that Minnesota’s defense demands shooters at every spot. That’s not in P-Swat’s arsenal right now, and Holiday brought flashes of brilliance, on the road, when Denver needed it most.

    Mind you, Watson also posted a plus-15.9 net rating over 23 minutes against the Wolves in a seeding showdown at Ball Arena last month, blocking six shots and grabbing four boards.

    Because as the eulogies are read and ballads sung and postmortems written about where a repeat run at an NBA title went sadly off the rails, P-Swat feels like something of a nexus point. Not just for what happened. But for where the Nuggets go from here. And how.

    Nuggets general manager Calvin Booth raised eyebrows this past October when he told The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor that he “want(s) dudes that we try to develop, and it’s sustainable. If it costs us the chance to win a championship (in 2024), so be it. It’s worth the investment. It’s more about winning three out of six, three out of seven, four out of eight than it is about trying to go back-to-back.”

    Booth walked back those comments (among others) later, but it sure did very neatly explain an off-season of attrition — no more Bruce Brown or Jeff Green, thanks CBA — that came on the heels of the first title in franchise history. If ’22-23 was the masterpiece, then ’23-24 would be the experiment. Namely, can we replace Brown and Green with kids and still reach the NBA Finals?

    Well, no. Heck, no. Not this year, at any rate.

    Booth’s stated masterplan was also curious given that Malone, a stickler for eternal verities such as defense and selflessness, suffers neither fools nor rookies gladly. If Malone doesn’t trust you, you don’t play. Period. The Minnesota series, which started with the Nuggets dropping Games 1 and 2 at home, threw development out a 35-story window.

    I’m not suggesting Malone and Booth aren’t on the same page here, although it’s fair to wonder. However, I would humbly advise the powers that be to pick a lane and stick with it going forward. For the window’s sake. For Joker’s sake.

    The MVP needs help. Now. Jokic, owner of the greatest hands in modern NBA annals, snatched 15 boards in the first half. He finished with 19. Following one misfire in the third quarter, what looked like four Minnesota bodies went up for the carom while No. 15 was stranded at the top of the arc. The Joker seemed positively crestfallen.

    Since April 1 through Game 7, the Big Honey logged 732 minutes in 19 games, or 38.5 per game. From April 1 through the end of the Suns series last spring, he’d played 467 minutes in 13 appearances (35.9 per tilt).

    The Nuggs danced with history last week. And landed on the wrong side of it, face-first. Malone’s had better days. He’ll have better ones in the future. But Game 7’s epic collapse felt an awful lot like coaching not to lose. Which, more often than not, gets you beat on this stage.

    The Wolves, meanwhile, were built by Tim Connelly to dethrone the dynasty he’d started in Denver. See KAT? See Ant, waving and mugging for the cameras? They’re the bar now.

    It’s on Booth and Malone to volley Connelly’s serve. Together. Because the Joker has a ton of MVP seasons left in him. But only so many springs of what-ifs. And only so many summers of doubt.

     

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    Sean Keeler

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  • Keeler: Avalanche gave Valeri Nichushkin a second chance. He blew it. It’s time to move on.

    Keeler: Avalanche gave Valeri Nichushkin a second chance. He blew it. It’s time to move on.

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    Sleepless in Seattle, Doomed in Denver. Two straight postseasons. Two straight playoff exits for Valeri Nichushkin.

    It’s been real, Val. Lord, it’s been glorious. But this is your stop.

    The Avalanche title train needs engines it can rely on.

    You weep for the man. You rage at the loss. You wonder about the Avs front office, which circled the wagons, protected and enabled their troubled winger. Only to be burned again.

    It’s over. It’s time.

    The championship window won’t wait.

    Nathan MacKinnon turns 29 in September. Mikko Rantanen’s 28th birthday falls a month later. Gabe Landeskog will be 32 a month after that.

    The Avs are on the clock.

    And the timing couldn’t be worse.

    Roughly an hour before Colorado dropped the puck on a pivotal Game 4 at home in their second-round Stanley Cup Playoffs series Monday night with the Dallas Stars, the NHL and NHLPA jointly dropped the bomb on the player nicknamed Nuke.

    Nichushkin, the announcement read, had been placed in Stage 3 of the NHL Player Assistance Program but did not disclose why. Which means he’s suspended without pay for six months, and eligible to apply for reinstatement after that.

    In other words, not just whatever’s left of this year’s postseason run — but at least a month into the regular season of 2024-25 as well.

    Tick. Tick. Tick.

    The clock doesn’t just apply to the window, either.

    Nichushkin has a whopping six seasons left on an eight-year, $49-million deal inked after he lifted Lord Stanley high. It’s turned into Kris Bryant minus the laugh track, bad money wasted by a good organization.

    The kicker? Val’s got a 12-team no-trade clause that kicks in on June 15, 2025.

    If he can’t help you reel in another Cup, it’s time to cut bait.

    Let someone else take this challenge on.

    Nichushkin’s got too much talent to give up, you say. Absolutely true. He’s also too unreliable to lean on anymore as a piece of this championship puzzle, too much of a risk to be a pillar for the core.

    After the mysterious departure in Seattle, his absence for treatment this past winter and Monday’s suspension, can the Avs, his brothers, trust him? Can MacKinnon, who tolerates fools about as much as he tolerates defenders? Can Colorado fans?

    Because it’s the brilliance that breaks your heart. The Choo Choo Train, who spent much of the winter in the NHL’s Player Assistance Program, was exemplary this postseason. His nine playoffs goals as of Monday afternoon were tied for the most in the league. His six-game streak of lamp-lighting to open a Cup run is an Avalanche record and fell one shy of the league mark.

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    Sean Keeler

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  • Keeler: O, Captain! Avalanche needs leader to deliver message to Stars goon Jamie Benn that Gabe Landeskog can’t

    Keeler: O, Captain! Avalanche needs leader to deliver message to Stars goon Jamie Benn that Gabe Landeskog can’t

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    DALLAS — Jamie Benn needs to “feel” you, as Nuggets coach Michael Malone likes to say. Right between the ears.

    If the NHL won’t send a message to Benn, the Dallas Stars’ goon in green, then the Avalanche must. Starting with Game 3 Saturday night at Ball Arena.

    Legal hit? More like calculated assault. At worst, the Dallas captain should’ve seen five minutes in the sin bin for his cheap shot of Avs defender Devon Toews some 2:43 into the second period of Game 2.

    Benn launched. He left his feet. Toews’ head snapped like a crash test dummy. Officials declared it a shoulder-on-shoulder crime and suggested we all move on. To paraphrase my best pal Deion Sanders, that’s some bull junk, right there.

    For one, even if the Stars winger was aiming for Toews’ shoulder, at least one angle showed him connecting directly with No. 7’s neck. Which, last I checked, is connected to and immediately south of the head.

    “I mean, does he catch a piece of his shoulder? Yeah, I guess you could argue that,” Avs coach Jared Bednar, whose team returns to Denver after a road split at American Airlines Center, replied when I asked about the collision. “But the target is high and it’s at his head, and he makes contact with the head. And I’ve seen, many times, guys get called for the head shot and penalty with a lot less than that. But I guess they didn’t think so.”

    Two, Benn knew exactly what he was doing. The Stars knew what he was doing. Dallas coach Pete DeBoer, whose Vegas teams delighted in pushing the Avs around in the postseason, knew darn well.

    “Benner has been outstanding in this playoff. I thought against Vegas he did and he did (it) smart,” the Stars boss said late Thursday night. “He did it at the right times and he did it clean. But his presence physically is having an impact for us in these playoffs in a real positive way.’’

    Kareem Jackson, my man, you chose the wrong sport. DeBoer woulda loved you.

    In the NFL, Benn’s shot is an ejection, a fine, a suspension and a chat with the safety cops.

    In the NHL, it’s a “real positive” presence, a strategic wrinkle in a no-holds-barred, merciless bracket.

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    Sean Keeler

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  • Keeler: Avalanche can’t stop scoring. Alexandar Georgiev can’t stop winning. Mea culpa, Georgie. You got right.

    Keeler: Avalanche can’t stop scoring. Alexandar Georgiev can’t stop winning. Mea culpa, Georgie. You got right.

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    Lazarus of Bethany’s got nuttin’ on Alexandar Georgiev of Bulgaria. Tough times don’t last. Tough goalies do.

    “I think in Game 1, we didn’t give him a lot of chances to make quality saves,” Avalanche defenseman Josh Manson told me before Colorado and Georgie wiped out the Whiteoot in Winnipeg with a 6-3 victory late Tuesday. “I felt like a lot of (shots) were going in from the backside or (to) his right, which is tough.

    “And then that can rattle your confidence a little bit. But he’s stepped up and just playing like how he can.”

    He grounded the Jets for four straight games. He won twice in Manitoba. He rose to the moment. He blocked out the jeers. He stiffed the haters.

    Forgive me, Georgie.

    This is how Lord Stanley comes home.

    Down 3-1 in a best-of-seven series Tuesday, Winnipeg threw everything at the crease that wasn’t nailed down. The Jets blistered Georgiev with 19 shots in the second period alone. They came away with one goal to show for it.

    Game 1: Seven goals against. Games 2-5: Eight goals. Combined.

    Forgive me, Georgie.

    This is starting to look familiar.

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    Sean Keeler

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  • Grading Broncos’ Day 2 of the NFL draft: The Post’s sports staff weigh in on second, third rounds

    Grading Broncos’ Day 2 of the NFL draft: The Post’s sports staff weigh in on second, third rounds

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    The Post’s sports staff weighs in with grades after the Denver Broncos drafted Utah edge rusher Jonah Elliss on Day 2 of the NFL draft.

    Parker Gabriel, Broncos beat writer

    Grade: B+

    A solid grade for Denver on two fronts and with one caveat. The Broncos hit a position of need at No. 76 overall in Utah edge rusher Jonah Elliss. They also stayed patient. After picking at No. 12 instead of trading back Thursday, the only way to move up from No. 76 in a meaningful way would have been to deal a player or dip into 2025 draft capital. Instead, Denver held on to its assets and picked a player with the skillset to help early — if he stays healthy. Some risk there given Elliss’ shoulder and hamstring issues, but a solid bet to make deep into Day 2.

    Ryan McFadden, Broncos beat writer

    Grade: B

    Elliss plays with a high-motor, a trait that helped him collect 12 sacks in his final season at Utah. He will need to improve as a run defender, and his shoulder injury, which forced him to not work out at the scouting combine, is a bit concerning. But Elliss has the potential to be a solid rotational player as a rookie who could develop into a starter on the edge in the future.

    Troy Renck, sports columnist

    Grade: B

    Utah’s Jonah Elliss brings energy and intensity to the edge. He has good hands, but needs to add more counter moves to his arsenal. He likely will need to bulk up to help him support the run. He profiles as a sub package pass rusher as a rookie for a group that hasn’t had a player reach double-digit sacks since 2018. That is too much to ask for as a rookie, but his ceiling suggests it is possible by Year 3 as he grows into a full-time role.

    Sean Keeler, sports columnist

    Grade: B

    Troy Franklin? No? Anyone? Elliss is fine — lean, mean, great bloodlines. If you love your edge-rushers with a no-quit engine, you’re going to love this guy. His first-down, short-yardage mileage is still TBD, but Luther’s kid won’t be awed by the stage. Or by Patrick Mahomes. Promise you that.

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    Matt Schubert, Parker Gabriel, Ryan McFadden, Troy E. Renck, Sean Keeler

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  • Grading Broncos’ Day 1 of the NFL Draft: The Post’s sports staff weigh in on the first round

    Grading Broncos’ Day 1 of the NFL Draft: The Post’s sports staff weigh in on the first round

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    The Post’s sports staff weighs in with grades after the Denver Broncos drafted Oregon quarterback Bo Nix with the 12th overall pick on Day 1 of the NFL Draft.

    Parker Gabriel, Broncos beat writer

    Grade: B-

    The gut reaction to this pick is going to be almost entirely driven by the strength of trust in Sean Payton to pick a quarterback. The fact that Nix was the sixth of the perceived top six selected Thursday will either prove Payton and the Broncos’ evaluation process to be a terrific one or it will end up looking like desperation. That makes Nix, far from a sure bet to turn into an upper-echelon player at the NFL level, a fascinating case study going forward.

    Ryan McFadden, Broncos beat writer

    Grade: B-

    Going into the draft, it felt like Denver couldn’t walk away without a quarterback. But taking Bo Nix at No. 12 seems like a reach. Unless the Broncos thought the Raiders would take him at No. 13, they could’ve tried to obtain more picks and still taken Nix after trading back. Nix fits Sean Payton’s offense, and his experience (61 college starts) gives him a chance to be a Week 1 starter. But Broncos Country will need to put its full trust in Payton that he knows something that others don’t.

    Troy Renck, sports columnist

    Grade: B

    There was no way the Broncos could rationalize leaving the first round without a quarterback. The AFC demands it. In Nix, Sean Payton landed a quarterback with maturity, intelligence, a quick release and a talent for avoiding sacks. Is he Drew Brees? That’s not fair. But could an athletic game manager be capable of keeping the offense on schedule? Yes. The USC game film provides reason to believe. His Auburn career creates pause. But at some point, you have to trust Payton. And all he’s done is stake his legacy to Nix.

    Sean Keeler, sports columnist

    Grade: B+

    Is the kid a reach at 12? Yup. Is Michael Penix Jr. better? Yup. Not every NFL braintrust loves Bo Nix as much as Sean Payton did, but that’s OK. Even if Nix is more Checkdown Charlie than Drew Brees II, this was a statement of intent. On Day 1, the Broncos didn’t come away from the best QB draft in ages empty-handed. You don’t get big victories in this league without making some small ones first.

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    Parker Gabriel, Ryan McFadden, Troy E. Renck, Sean Keeler, Matt Schubert

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  • Keeler: Broncos landing Zach Wilson at QB? Smart. Settling on Wilson if Bo Nix, Michael Penix are available? Dumb.

    Keeler: Broncos landing Zach Wilson at QB? Smart. Settling on Wilson if Bo Nix, Michael Penix are available? Dumb.

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    Rescuing Zach Wilson is smart. Stopping at Zach Wilson is hubris.

    As a quarterback, Wilson’s merely appetizer material. If the NFL draft is still serving Bo Nix or Michael Penix Jr. as a main course, and at a reasonable cost, the Broncos would be crazy not to bite.

    A QB room consisting of Wilson, Jarrett Stidham, Ben DiNucci and a seventh-round flier to be named late would be the worst in the division (pending Raiderfoonery ). And arguably the worst in an AFC that’s still loaded with franchise signal-callers.

    In isolation, though, you get it. Landing Wilson from the Jets with a seventh-round pick for a sixth-rounder is a solid, low-cap, low-risk move. It just better not be the only one, at least where the quarterback is concerned.

    After Russell Wilson took the money and ran, the best thing the Broncos could do at QB1 right now is open this competition to the masses. Bring in as many bodies as you can afford until one of them actually sticks.

    And, on paper, this body’s got more upside than most. Maybe. The draftniks at NFL.com three years ago described the 24-year-old Wilson, the No. 2 overall pick in the ’21 draft, as a “blend (of) Jake Plummer and Johnny Manziel coming out of (BYU).” Which is both awesome (the Plummer part) and terrifying (the Manziel part) in the same sentence.

    On one hand, the kid did beat Russell Wilson, head-to-head, at Empower Field as a visiting QB with the Jets twice in two trips since September 2022.

    On the other, what the heck does that say?

    If you look at Zach Wilson’s 30 career starts against anyone not named the Broncos, he’s sported a 10-20 record, thrown 23 touchdowns and 22 picks, and completed 17 passes per game at a clip of 56.5%.

    Also, he got benched for Trevor Siemian. 2023 Trevor Siemian.

    Wiser football heads, old coaches and scouts texted me Monday to say they still see a spark in Zach Wilson, that nobody could’ve walked away from the dumpster fire that is the J-E-T-S without some second-degree burns. That maybe Broncos QB Whisperer Sean Payton — Russell Wilson notwithstanding — is the sensei who winds up bringing it out of the guy, the way he brought it out of Drew Brees, Teddy Bridgewater and Kerry Collins, another top-5 bust in his early days with Carolina.

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    Sean Keeler

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  • Keeler: Avalanche, Jared Bednar have no choice: goalie Justus Annunen, if healthy, needs to start Game 2 vs. Jets

    Keeler: Avalanche, Jared Bednar have no choice: goalie Justus Annunen, if healthy, needs to start Game 2 vs. Jets

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    Avalanche fans deserve Justus.

    Do whatever it takes, Jared Bednar. Nyquil. Mucinex. Voodoo. Anything that gets Avalanche backup goaltender Justus Annunen healthy and ready to start Game 2 of this Avs-Jets series. Anything that gets No. 1 netminder Alexandar Georgiev away from the crease and out of the firing line.

    Love Georgie.

    He’s toast.

    The Winnipeg Jets know it. John Buccigross knows it. The moose wandering around south Manitoba know it. Over his last six appearances, dating back to April 5, Georgiev’s given up 29 goals. Bednar, the Avs’ venerated coach, isn’t just running out of options here. He’s running out of time.

    Winnipeg put seven more past No. 40 in Game 1 of their Stanley Cup Playoff series Sunday, roughly a week after peppering him for a touchdown and extra point at Ball Arena.

    This time, it took two periods for Georgiev to become Fourgiev. It took three for him to become Sevengiev.

    Yes, when the other guys put seven on your tab, it’s a group fail. The hope was that the Burgundy and Blue had a postseason gear they could shift to. That Bednar’s porous, sloppy defense over the last three weeks would flip a switch.

    Guess what? No gear. No switch. They are what they were. They need a guy between the pipes who can bail them out.

    Georgie ain’t it.

    With 5:20 left, down 7-5, the Avs had outshot Winnipeg 36-19, per NaturalStatTrick.com, and produced 10 “high-danger” chances to the Jets’ 8. What does all that mean? In terms of “expected goals,” per the site’s metrics, with a typical netminder, the Avs should’ve been leading 3-1 or 3-2 at the time.

    Nothing about this is typical anymore. What doubles the hurt is that the Avs came out firing right from the jump, getting off 11 shots in the first 10 minutes to Winnipeg’s one. They managed a 1-0 lead for their trouble. It lasted all of 112 seconds.

    More galling is that Colorado had a pivotal road game — since 2018, the Avs have won six of seven series in which they’ve notched a Game 1 victory — rocking at their pace of choice. Up and down, PlayStation style. “NHL 94” with the  “icing” and “fatigue” sliders switched to off.

    Alas, this is reality, not your frat bro’s basement. Although Game 1’s first period was so crazy, both goaltenders played as if they were wearing straitjackets. Six goals, seven giveaways, 22 shots and zero sanity.

    What happens when a team with playoff scars and playoff skill but leaky goaltending (the Avs) meets a team with postseason nerves but one of the best net-minders on the planet (the Jets)? The opening 16 minutes of Colorado-Winnipeg, a ride with more twists than a David Fincher flick.

    Down 1-0, the hosts scored twice in 3:55 to take a 1-goal lead. The Avs scored twice in 18 seconds for a 3-2 cushion. Which lived on for about 48 seconds until Mark Scheifle, camping out in front of Georgiev, slipped behind Josh Manson and slotted past the Colorado goalie to square things at 3-all.

    Annunen, a Game 1 scratch, posted a 2-1 record and 2.42 goals-against average over four games in April. Even at 65-70%, could the kid have been any worse than what transpired Sunday?

    “I don’t know if he’s going to be healthy enough to play or not,” Bednar told reporters Sunday. “He wasn’t healthy enough to play (Game 1). We’ll see what we see (Monday) morning.”

    The more you think about it, the more depressing it becomes. The Avs pounded Winnipeg goalie Connor Hellebuyck, your likely Vezina winner, with six goals — on his home ice. It was the first time Bucky’s ever been tagged for more than five in the postseason. And only the third time over his last 130 starts.

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    Sean Keeler

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  • Keeler: NCAA Tournament selection committees did CU Buffs, CSU Rams dirty

    Keeler: NCAA Tournament selection committees did CU Buffs, CSU Rams dirty

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    BOULDER — The NCAA still can’t read a room. But man, can they ever kill one.

    Kindyll Wetta and her teammates on the CU women’s basketball team were belles of the ball inside the Dal Ward Center. You shoulda seen it. Balloons. Cheerleaders. Catering. One of the sweetest pep rallies to grace the Touchdown Club since Coach Prime got injected into the Buffs’ bloodstream here some 16 months ago.

    As the NCAA Tournament brackets came on the screen, the party hushed. Then when Kansas State came up as a 4 seed and as a host for the first weekend of the women’s Big Dance, it sank.

    “It’s definitely a bummer for me because I wanted to play at home and I wanted to be in front of my family,” Wetta, the firebrand of a Buffs guard and former Valor Christian star, told me after CU found out its first stop in Bracketville would be as a 5 seed opposite K-State in the Little Apple of Manhattan, Kan. “I thought this year we really had a great shot of doing that. It’s disappointing in that sense.”

    There was a lot of that going around here Sunday night. The mood was even less jovial a few hours earlier up in Fort Collins, where the men’s selection committee decided to take its annual dose of stupid out on the Mountain West as a whole — and on the Rams in particular.

    Want a laugh? Committee member Bubba Cunningham contended on CBS that teams selected from the Mountain West, save for San Diego State, got strapped to double-digit seedings because their best wins were over one another.

    “(That) made it more challenging for us,” Cunningham explained.

    Not half as challenging, apparently, as trying to stay up past 10 p.m. Eastern to do homework on teams west of Lincoln. Poor guy.

    At least five teams — lookin’ at you, Oregon, NC State and New Mexico — “stole” bids from more worthy at-larges by winning their respective conference tourneys. But any ‘S’ curve that’s got CSU as the “last team in” gets an automatic F.

    Do you watch the games, Bubba? Or do you watch “X” and Instagram and hope for the best? CSU beat Creighton by 21 on a neutral court. The Jays were slotted as a No. 3 seed Sunday. The Rammies (24-10) were unveiled as a 10.

    Boise State, who’ll take on Tad Boyle’s CU men on Wednesday night, beat Saint Mary’s on a semi-neutral floor by three. The Gaels are dancing as a 5 seed. The Broncos, like CSU and CU, are a 10 seed having to scrap their way over to the Big Kids’ Bracket by winning in Dayton first.

    “To be honest, I was really surprised how most of the Mountain West was seeded,” stunned CSU coach Niko Medved, who’ll face Virginia on Tuesday in Ohio, told reporters.

    “But you know what? That’s fine. They always disrespect our league. And now it’s time to go out and do something about it.”

    Amen. If there’s a silver lining, it’s that the Cavaliers (23-10), on paper, are certainly in the Rammies’ weight class. For one thing, unlike Michigan in 2022, UVa doesn’t have a Hunter Dickinson down low, taking up a duplex’s worth of space in the paint. On the surface, it’s the irresistible force (CSU’s shooters) against the immovable object (Tony Bennett’s trademark tire-iron defense), a classic Clark Kellogg “contrast-in-styles” scrum between a Rams offense ranked 42nd nationally by KenPom.com in adjusted offensive efficiency and a Cavs D that’s seventh in adjusted defense. If you’re hopping over to Dayton, take the under and take your pizza square-cut.

    If the Oppenheimers on the men’s committee dinged CSU for its 4-7 mark away from Moby Madness, their counterparts on the women’s side docked the Buffs (22-9) for losing six of their last eight, including a maddening, come-from-ahead loss to Oregon State in the Pac-12 tourney.

    In March, you make your own luck. The Buffs women — despite being one of the best draws in all of college basketball, male or female — didn’t.

    “I mean, (it’s) definitely frustrating,” Wetta said. “But like (Coach JR Payne) said, you can’t dwell on that, because (now) it’s completely different conferences, completely different teams, styles of play.”

    CU women’s basketball players react to being selected as the fifth seed for the NCAA tournament during a watch party in the Touchdown Club at Dal Ward at the University of Colorado at Boulder in Boulder, Colorado on March 17, 2024. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)

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  • Keeler: Nuggets star Jamal Murray could ruin LeBron James’ record-setting night. But is that worth risking Murray’s bad ankle?

    Keeler: Nuggets star Jamal Murray could ruin LeBron James’ record-setting night. But is that worth risking Murray’s bad ankle?

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    Michael Adams’ heart did a one-handed push shot right past his chest, then sank straight into his hands.

    There he was, baseline royalty, right under the basket. First time back at Ball Arena in about six years, and Jamal Murray lands like a dead fish three feet in front of him, rolling on the floor.

    Suddenly, in a cruel twist of irony and a crueler twist of an ankle, one of the greatest shooters in Nuggets history had a front-row seat to watch the Blue Arrow, his spiritual successor, writhe in agony.

    “I just heard him say, ‘Oh my God,’” Adams, the Nuggets’ 3-point ace from 1987-91, said of the Blue Arrow’s sprain just before halftime, the one that cast a pall over the Nuggets’ scrappy 103-97 victory over the Miami Heat in an NBA Finals rematch.

    “So when (Murray) grabbed his ankle, I was like, ‘OK, it’s his ankle … it wasn’t his knee.’”

    Join the club, brother.

    I know what you’re thinking: Man, the Lakers are next. Is there a better, sweeter feeling for Nuggets faithful than watching Murray prop his feet up on the couch in The House Kobe Built and drop daggers all over Tinseltown? Especially on LeBron’s big night? Over his last six regular-season appearances against the Lake Show, the Blue Arrow’s averaged 23.5 points, 6.3 assists and 3.2 treys.

    But by the same token, did you see the anguish on the guy’s face as he staggered off the baseline and limped to the locker room? Why push your luck? Especially when that luck is as fickle as Jamal’s?

    “Injuries happen,” Adams told me, “but in this situation, you want the Nuggets to be healthy toward the end of the season … if he’s not ready to go, they’ll sit him down and let him get healthy. They’ve still got some time (to finish) the season with him on the floor.”

    This ain’t about want-to. Or toughness. Murray was raised like a basketball ninja in chilly Ontario, a childhood montage that included push-ups in the snow and balancing cups of hot tea on his thigh during squats. The Arrow would sooner swim through shark-infested waters wearing a chum suit than accept defeat.

    Still, if I’m Nuggets coach Michael Malone, I’m overriding Murray’s inner Bruce Lee and reaching for the bubble wrap.

    The NBA Playoffs, the land of bright lights, big stages and swollen egos where No. 27 reigns supreme, is seven weeks away yet. The No. 1 seed in the West is a heck of a target, yes, and the Nuggets went into Friday trailing the Wolves by a game-and-a-half.

    Everything’s on the table now. Including disaster. And you sure as heck don’t get a parade in June by redlining Murray in early March.

    “When Jamal realizes, ‘Hey, man, we’ve got 23 games to go, this (ankle) is not feeling great right now,’ I think it’s great for him to realize being cautious right now is probably the really prudent decision,” Malone said late Thursday night. “And that shows also (his) maturity. He’s growing and realizing that we (need him long-term) …

    “(People insist), ‘You should be the No. 1 seed.’ Yeah, that’d be great. I want to be healthy. Because I know if we’re healthy, that we can beat anybody, anywhere.”

    Dang straight.

    Murray ended the first quarter Thursday by draining a 3-pointer at the buzzer with four Miami hands in his face. He ended the second in the bowels of Ball Arena, getting treatment on a right ankle that got rolled during an accidental collision with teammate Aaron Gordon.

    The tumble happened, as kismet would have it, right in front of Adams, now 61 and working with the Washington Wizards, and his son.

    “I actually wanted to bring my All-Star ring here to let him hold onto it until he actually made one,” said Adams, who represented Washington at the NBA’s mid-winter classic back in 1992. “And to (tell Murray), ‘You deserve to be on an All-Star team.’ I didn’t do it. But I wanted to.”

    In his salad days, Adams was Steph Curry before Steph, 5-foot-10 with a funky release, cold-blooded to the core, a shooter ahead of his time. Especially once ex-Nuggets coach Doug Moe gave him the green light.

    “I’m a big fan of Murray — obviously, him and Nikola (Jokic) are just out-of-this-world players,” said Adams, who averaged 18.2 points and 7.2 dimes over four seasons with Denver. “I love watching him play. I was just telling my son, ‘If I was backing up Jamal Murray, and he just went out of the game, I’d be happy to be on the floor with the rest of those guys right now.’”

    He’d be happier still to see Murray rest that ankle until the Arrow’s closer to 100%. And like Malone, he’d rather have the Nuggets healthy come mid-April than exhaust their stars in a seeding chase.

    “You want (those starters) on the floor, but health is No. 1,” Adams said. “I think the Nuggets can beat anybody on the road (in the playoffs) if they had to.”

    Nine solid weeks of Murray in the spring is worth its weight in gold. At least 29 pounds of it, last we checked.

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    Sean Keeler

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