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Jeff Mezydlo

A Chicago native, Jeff Mezydlo has professionally written about sports, entertainment and pop culture for parts of four decades. He was an integral member of award-winning sports sections at The Times of Northwest Indiana (Munster, Ind.) and Champaign (Ill.) News-Gazette, where he covered the NFL, PGA, LPGA, NCAA basketball, football and golf, Olympics and high school athletics. Jeff most recently spent 12 years in the editorial department at STATSPerform, where he also oversaw coverage of the English Premier League. A graduate of Northern Illinois University, Jeff's work has also appeared on such sites at Yahoo!, ESPN, Fox Sports, Sports Illustrated and NBA.com. However, if Jeff could do it again, he'd attend Degrassi Junior High, Ampipe High School and Grand Lakes University

EXPERTISE:

NCAA football, NCAA basketball, PGA/LPGA, international soccer, sports history, rock music, film history

20 notable NBA players who never made an All-Star Game

Some of the NBA's most successful and lauded players never made an All-Star team. The reasons are plenty, but the 20 that made our list truly stand out.

The 25 most notable one-time NBA All-Stars

The all-time list of NBA All-Stars is obviously long, and notably distinguished. However, there are some players — for various reasons — who the casual, or even most-dedicated, NBA fans can't recall having earned All-Star nods.

The 25 best movies about high-school sports

The subject of high-school sports has made for some of the most popular — and even beloved — movies of all time. Here's our chronological list of the 25 best.

The most notable two-sport professional athletes of all time

Starring in one professional sport is hard enough. Doing so in more than one is practically legendary. Here are 20 notable athletes who pulled it off.

The 25 greatest players in Texas men's basketball history

Texas might still be looking for that elusive NCAA national championship, but the Longhorns program has produced some of the college game's greatest players.

Which teams will make up the first 12-team College Football Playoff?

It's never too early to start thinking about the 2024 college football season, even when predicting what the first 12-team College Football Playoff field will look like — and how it will play out.

An early Top 25 ahead of the 2024 NCAA football season

Yes, we're early into 2024, and a lot has happened in the college football world that can shape the upcoming season. So, it's actually never too early to offer up our initial Top 25 for the 2024 campaign.

The 25 best players in Tennessee football history

The Tennessee Volunteers football program has produced not only some of the most iconic players in college football history, but also many more deserving of consistent recognition.

The most heartbreaking moments from English national team history

England national football history has been filled with disappointment and underachievement, with only one major trophy to boast — and that came nearly 60 years ago.

The all-time United Kingdom football roster

How daunting of a task is it to pick the greatest roster in the history of United Kingdom football? Impossible, perhaps? Well we have given it a shot.  There will be disagreements and arguments, maybe.

Great soundtracks from obscure or underrated movies

There are countless movies that miss with critics, bomb at the box office or are simply too hard to find and easy to miss. Some of those films also boast exceptional associated music.

25 best individual bowl performances of all time

Trying to narrow down the 25 greatest individual college football bowl performances is not an easy task. However, we gave it a try. Here's our list, in chronological order.

The 25 biggest bowl game upsets of all time

The 2023-24 college football bowl season has come and gone, and there were a few notable upsets, but none came close to the most memorable bowl upsets of all time, which we've ranked below.

Ranking every College Football Playoff game as of 2023-24

Entering the 10th and final season of the four-team College Football Playoff system, it's a perfect time to look back at the previous 27 games that helped decide the national championship each year.

The 20 best Sugar Bowl games of all time

How sweet it is: Our list of the 20 greatest Sugar Bowl games ever played. 

The 20 best Rose Bowl games of all time

It's known as "The Granddaddy of Them All." The beloved Rose Bowl Game has provided some of the most memorable moments in the history of college football since its debut in 1902. Here's our list of the 20 best Rose Bowl games.

The 20 best Orange Bowl games of all time

The Orange Bowl presents the best of the best. Here's our list of the 20 greatest games in its history.

The 20 best Cotton Bowl games of all time

The Cotton Bowl is no longer played at the famed Dallas stadium — moving to the home of the Dallas Cowboys, AT&T Stadium — but memories of the game there are as strong as ever. New ones continue to be made in Arlington, Texas. Here's our list of the top 20 games in Cotton Bowl history.

Singers who also double as their band's most talented musician

Sure, there are plenty of lead singers who have earned critical and commercial success simply because of their voice. Then there are those who have the musicianship to go along with a legendary vocal ability.

Musical acts that regularly utilized unusual instruments

Musical innovation and uniqueness is what tends to set great artists apart from their contemporaries. Especially when it comes to the use of creative, unorthodox, or perhaps odd, instruments.

The 25 best players in Ohio State men's basketball history

To the casual college sports fan, Ohio State might be perceived to be a football school. That might not be wrong, but the Buckeyes have been known to play some pretty good basketball over the years. Here are the 25 greatest players in school history.

The top 2023-24 bowl season storylines

It's officially bowl season, and there's usually plenty of intrigue amid the sea of games available to wet a college football fan's whistle. Here are some stories to follow over the next few weeks.

The 25 best players in Wisconsin football history

When it comes to the best of the best among Wisconsin football players, we think we've come up with a pretty impressive list. 

The 20 greatest players in LSU men's basketball history

The LSU men's basketball program has never won a national championship. However, it has produced some of the best individual talent the college game has ever seen.

The 23 greatest all-time football players from the Los Angeles area

The greater Los Angeles area has produced some of the greatest football players of all time. Here are our top choices, listed in alphabetical order. Let the fun begin.