Author: Trevor Land

Today in sports history (1982), the San Francisco 49ers held on to beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 26-21, in Super Bowl XVI. It was their first Super Bowl victory in 49ers history. San Francisco would go on to win two more Super Bowls in the 1980s, along with two more in the 1990s. Path to the 49ers Super Bowl For the first time since Super Bowl III, both teams were playing in their first-ever Super Bowl. San Francisco finished the regular season with a league-best 13-3 record. Their play was quite the surprise given their combined 8-24 record over the previous two seasons.…

Today in sports history (2011), the oldest rivalry in NFL history held even more at stake as the Green Bay Packers beat the Chicago Bears 21-24 to advance to Super Bowl XLV. The Packers would beat the Pittsburgh Steelers to be the first 6-seed team in NFC history to advance to, and win the Super Bowl. Sixth-Seeded Packers Make Super Bowl | Today in Sports History The Packers came out of the gates hot and it looked like fans were going to have a shootout in Chicago. After scoring a touchdown on the first drive of the game without even getting to…

Today in sports history (1992), Bill Cowher was hired to become just the second coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers since the AFL/NFL merger. The Steelers would see immediate improvement from Cowher after his replacement of Chuck Noll. Cowher would go on to coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1992 to 2006 and would bring plenty of success with him. Replacing Chuck Noll It’s never easy replacing someone in a head coaching position with a franchise as legendary as the Pittsburgh Steelers. It’s even harder when the one you are replacing is a legend who won four Super Bowls in a six year…

Coming into Thursday’s matchup, SMU basketball was looking to stay on the heels of Houston for the top spot in the AAC. For Memphis, they were looking to try to get back on track as they were just 3-3 since their resounding upset of Alabama in December. With Memphis 7-1 at home and SMU just 3-2 on the road, the game provided both teams an opportunity to make a statement. It was a sloppy game to start, as SMU took the reigns early. The Mustangs jumped out to a 16-2 lead and it looked like more of the same from…

Today in sports history (1996), the MLB owners unanimously approved to interleague play starting in the 1997 season. Up until that point, teams only played teams in their own league. The vote called for 15 or 16 interleague games per year and broke a 126-year streak of teams playing solely within their league. Initial Controversy | Today in Sports History Baseball has some of the most loyal fans among all professional sports. When the interleague change was up for debate, it was met with harsh criticism by a number of fans. They felt that the MLB had a rich history and this…

Although it is still early in the season, plenty of interesting storylines are already developing across AAC basketball. At the start of the season, Wichita State was viewed as a possible dark horse in the AAC race. Instead, the reigning AAC regular season champions are winless in their first four conference college basketball games. For all the hype coming into the season for Memphis, they find themselves seventh in the AAC. While early on, Houston remains in control with SMU and Tulane right behind them. The AAC will have a loaded slate this week. Luckily, unlike last week, the games…

Today in sports history, the Cleveland Browns were hit with one of the most unlucky plays of all time. The play more commonly known as “The Fumble” would forever be immortalized in Browns history. In the 1987 AFC Championship Game between the Browns and the Denver Broncos, this play would forever change the course of two franchises. “The Fumble” In the previous season, the Broncos and Browns also met in the AFC Championship in Cleveland. After Broncos quarterback John Elway orchestrated “The Drive,” the Broncos moved on to Super Bowl XXI. The Cleveland Browns went home just short of glory once…

After a heartbreaking loss at home to Tulane on Wednesday, Wichita State had a chance to bounce back against Cincinnati. The Bearcats had a tumultuous start to conference college basketball play, with a 2-2 record. For the Shockers, this was an opportunity to finally get into the win column in AAC play and try to start a push. For Cincinnati, they were looking for a tough road win to keep them in the top half of the conference. Just like their past game with Tulane, Wichita State basketball came out of the gates hot, holding a 22-12 lead just over…

Coming into Saturday’s contest, East Carolina basketball was desperate for a conference win to get them back in the race. They were matched up against a Memphis team that, while tough, has been incredibly inconsistent all year. Thanks to a late game-winner from Brandon Suggs, East Carolina improved to 2-2 in conference play while Memphis fell to 3-3. East Carolina got out to a solid start in AAC play with a win over Tulane. After that game, however, they dropped two straight road games. For most of the contest, it looked as if East Carolina would continue their fall. Down…

Today in sports history, the Green Bay Packers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl I. With a 35-10 drubbing of Kansas City, the Packers won the first of their four Super Bowl victories. As time has gone on, the Super Bowl has grown exponentially in popularity and lore. To think, it all started with one matchup back in 1967. NFL & AFL Tensions In 1960, the NFL had a true rival in the AFL. The two leagues did decide to not try to poach any players from the other league. Eventually, both sides went back on that which started…