We're about to go on a hiatus for winter break (and many of us already have), but before we left we made sure to give y'all everything you could need watching sports in Houston over the next couple weeks. What should you look for in the upcoming Texans and Rockets schedules - as the Texans fight for a playoff spot and the Rockets go on the road trip end all road trips there's never a dull moment as a loyal fan in H-Town. In other news, Tulane and James Madison are in the CFP and a lot of big name schools didn't quite make the cut, but who do we trust to keep their season alive come January? In a groundbreaking technological innovation on Against the Grain we figured out how to pipe a phone call into our sound board, so Jacob joined us from his home to talk baseball! Don't know when we'll have a good chance to do that again, so if that's your kind of Christmas cookie enjoy it while you've got it, and we'll see you in the big '26!

Why are your hosts so bad at sports betting? Why is Producer Ian not blessing my ears on Around the Hedges? Against the Grain has the answer to these questions and much more, as we dive into a week of nonstop action. Rice Volleyball makes the NCAA tournament once again, but how far can our owls fly? In international sports, resident soccer experts Julian Puerto and Andrew Fox give a full breakdown of the 2026 World Cup groups, showing some optimism for the boys in red, white, and blue. College football conference championships are this weekend, and the playoff implications are enormous. Who's in and who's out?

The reigning Premier League champions entered this season with high expectations, following a summer spending spree of $565M(!!) on star names including Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak. A promising start in the standings masked numerous issues on the field that continue to loom over the club: new summer signings have massively underwhelmed and previously reliable club stars have become liabilities, both of which have been intensified by the lack of a clear tactical plan. The Reds have now won only 4 of their last 14 games (at the time of recording), and Head Coach Arne Slot seems to be hanging on by a thread as both supporting and rival fans clamor for his dismissal. Who’s to blame? Is it on the coach? Is it on the players? Is it just a matter of unfortunate circumstances? Join us on a BONUS episode of Against The Grain on KTRU 96.1 FM as we dissect the potential root causes of Liverpool’s poor run of form.