🔥Upside Chat: Dr Ron Dick, Duquesne University, Ex NBA/NCAA Exec on the NFL Playoffs, NBA/NHL Season & Standings, MLB FA Signings, College Sports, Potential WNBA Lockout.

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🔥Upside Chat: Dr Ron Dick, Duquesne University, Ex NBA/NCAA Exec on the NFL Playoffs, NBA/NHL Season & Standings, MLB FA Signings, College Sports, Potential WNBA Lockout.

Julien Blin

Jan 07, 2026

This week we had the honor to interview again Dr. Ron Dick, associate professor of sports marketing at Duquesne University in the school of business. Ron also worked for 20 years in sports, including 15 years in the NBA with the Sixers and the Nets, and then five years in the NCAA.

You can watch the video interview below or you can listen to the audio interview above:

📝Show Notes: Through this interview, we touched on:

NFL playoff update,
College football update,
MLB FA signings,
NBA update halfway through season,
College basketball and G league and International players playing in college,
NHL update,
Potential WNBA lockout

You can read the full transcript of the podcast interview with Ron located at the top of this blog post.

Here are some of the best quotes of our conversation with Ron:

1. NFL Playoff Update

“Here in Pittsburgh, they flexed the Ravens–Steelers game into the Sunday night slot at 8:25, and it turned out to be the right decision. The ratings were absolutely off the chart — there were an additional 17 to 18 million people watching that game. The league office really nailed it by putting that matchup in prime time, and it shows how powerful the NFL product still is.”
“It’s easy to just pick the top seeds like Seattle or Denver, but I don’t count the Eagles out at all. And honestly, could you imagine a Keystone Super Bowl — Steelers versus Eagles? That would be unbelievable. Seattle looks really good despite their quarterback situation, and while Denver is strong, I’m not convinced they’ll come out of the AFC.”

2. College Football Update

“What’s really interesting about college football this year is that only one of the four teams that earned a bye actually made it to the next round. That long four- or five-week layoff is not good for athletes. Players are very habitual — they like rhythm and consistency — and getting one of those top four seeds might actually be a disadvantage.”
“That Mississippi versus Georgia game was one of the greatest college football games I’ve ever seen. It was the final game on New Year’s Day, the eight o’clock kickoff, and it was absolutely worth staying up late for. The other games that day were blowouts, but that one had everything you want as a fan.”
“I’ll give you an early prediction right now — Archie Manning at the University of Texas is going to be your Heisman Trophy winner next year. He’s named after his grandfather, he’s got the pedigree, and more importantly, he’s peaking at the right time. He’s going to get every opportunity this fall, and I think he stays in college one more year and makes a huge jump.”

3. MLB Free Agent Signings

“The Japanese pipeline in Major League Baseball right now is absolutely smoking. These players aren’t drafted the way American players are — they’re already professionals in Japan. If an MLB team wants them, you not only negotiate a salary, but you also pay a posting fee to their Japanese club, very similar to international soccer.”
“To even be posted, you have to dominate the Japanese league. All three of the players who signed — with the White Sox, Astros, and Blue Jays — are expected to be high-impact guys right away. These aren’t projects. These are players who have proven themselves at a very high professional level.”

4. NBA Update (Halfway Through the Season)

“As we’re recording this, OKC is still number one in the Western Conference at 30–6, and they were off to an unbelievable start. They’re still playing very well, but their kryptonite might be the San Antonio Spurs — especially with Wembanyama. We saw that on Christmas Day, and that matchup could be trouble for them.”
“The Pistons at 26–9 are number one in the East, which is incredible. The Knicks are doing well, the Celtics, the Raptors — even the Sixers have really turned the corner. This is the time of year when the NBA starts to get really intense, and every single game carries more weight.”
“The big question, as always, is LeBron James. We don’t know if this is his last season or not. He already announced that he’s not playing in the 2028 Olympics, and like Aaron Rodgers, he’ll probably wait until the end of the year to decide what’s next.”

5. College Basketball, G League & International Pros Playing in College

“We are absolutely blurring the lines between amateur and professional sports. I honestly don’t think there’s anything left called amateur anymore. You can pay kids in seventh and eighth grade, you can pay high school players, and now you have former G League players coming back to college basketball.”
“No player who has actually played in the NBA has gone back to college, but we now have players who were drafted, played in the G League, and didn’t pan out — and they’re going back to college. Coaches like Scott Drew are saying, ‘These are the mechanisms that are in place, and I’m just playing by the rules.’”
“A lot of college basketball fans don’t realize that many international players who come to play Division I basketball were already professionals overseas. So when you ask why G League players coming back to college is controversial, my question is: how is that any different from Europe?”

6. NHL Update

“The NHL, like the NBA, is really in full bloom right now. Locally, the Penguins won five in a row, the Flyers are doing better, and both teams are in solid playoff position. But the outlier in the league is the Colorado Avalanche — they already have 69 points and are by far the best team in the NHL.”
“When you look at Ovechkin breaking Gretzky’s record with Gretzky in the building, and then Crosby passing Mario Lemieux in Penguins history, those are iconic moments that remind you how strong the league is right now.”

7. Potential WNBA Lockout

“The WNBA players are clearly underpaid when you look at the data. Revenue is up, TV ratings are up, attendance is up, ticket sales are up, merchandise is up, and global interest is up. So for players to be making $200,000 to $250,000 in this environment just doesn’t make sense anymore.”
“They’re not asking to make $40 million like LeBron James, and nobody thinks that’s realistic. But the gap between where they are and where they should be is still far too big. The players are very outspoken, they don’t believe their representation is strong enough, and that’s why this situation could get very ugly as early as March or April.”