Listen to Hang Up and Listen with Stefan Fatsis, Josh Levin, and Mike Pesca by clicking the arrow on the audio player below:

Subscribe in iTunes ∙ RSS feed ∙ Download ∙ Play in another tab

Become a fan of Hang Up and Listen on Facebook here:

Hang Up and Listen is brought to you by Audible. Get a 30-day free trial by signing up at audiblepodcast.com/hangup. Our pick this week is The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson.

In this week’s episode of Slate’s sports podcast Hang Up and Listen, Stefan Fatsis, Josh Levin, and Mike Pesca talk about an extraordinary weekend in football, both college and pro, with Florida State and Auburn earning trips to the BCS title game, the NFL getting pounded by winter weather, and the Denver Broncos’ Matt Prater kicking a record-setting 64-yard field goal. They also discuss the Florida state attorney’s decision not to charge FSU quarterback Jameis Winston with rape. Finally, they’re joined by Roger Bennett of Grantland’s Men in Blazers podcast to assess the United States’ World Cup draw.

Here are links to some of the articles and other items mentioned on the show:

• Auburn defeated Missouri 59-42 on Saturday to win the SEC championship.
• Florida State crushed Duke in the ACC championship game Saturday night.
• Auburn and Florida State will meet in the final BCS title game.
• On Friday, state attorney William Meggs announced no sexual assault charges would be filed against FSU quarterback Jameis Winston and released 248 pages of case documents.
• Slate's Emily Bazelon observes that several facts suggest this was not a simple case of consensual sex.
• Bryan Curtis of Grantland notes that this incident makes the Heisman and BCS seem unimportant.
• Michael Rosenberg of Sports Illustrated argues the case was botched, regardless of whether Winston was charged.
• Winston walked away from a post-game interview after ESPN reporter Heather Cox asked several questions about the investigation.
• The NFL had its snowiest day since 1991. Deadspin’s Barry Petchesky says “nothing is better than football in the snow.”
• The teams playing Sunday set a NFL record by scoring 88 touchdowns.
• ESPN Stats & Info tweeted this remarkable graph showing the vacillating win probability in the fourth quarter of the Vikings-Ravens game.
• Broncos kicker Matt Prater broke the NFL record for longest field goal on Sunday, hitting a 64-yarder.
• Stefan wrote a piece for Slate about Prater’s record-setting kick.
• Stefan wrote a piece in 2011 on the joys of watching long kicks after Sebastian Janikowski connected on a 63-yard attempt.
• Roger Bennett is the co-host of the weekly Men in Blazers podcast on Grantland, which just released a best-of album Men in Blazers Unbuttoned: Now That’s What I Call Sub-Optimal.
• The full results of the 2014 World Cup draw.
• The U.S. men’s team is in the dreaded "Group of Death," with Ghana, Portugal, and Germany.
• Bennett says it’s “less a group of death, more a group of mutually assured mass destruction."
• Slate’s Daniel Politi looks at the evidence that the World Cup draw was rigged.
• Coach Jurgen Klinsmann assessed his team’s draw in seven words.
• Sports Illustrated's Grant Wahl argues that Team USA’s incredibly difficult group represents a great opportunity. 
• Eduardo Alvarez of ESPNFC.com analyzed the draw based on group strength, travel required, and weather. The AP broke the draw down into the strong, the weak, and the lucky.
• Josh Voorhees took stock of the U.S. draw for Slate, noting that the teams, travel, and weather could scarcely be worse, and estimating that a fan looking to attend the matches will have to spend approximately $3,500 in airfare.

Hang Up and Listen’s weekly Arthur Virgilios:   

Mike’s Virgilio: Having a conversation about the sports cliché “in the conversation.”

Stefan’s Virgilio: On the last NFL game prior to this weekend that had no points from kicks, a 1957 matchup between the Eagles and the Steelers.

Josh’s Virgilios: Revisiting Chuck Bednarik’s 1960 hit on Frank Gifford.

Podcast production and edit by John O’Leary. Links compiled by Casey Butterly.

You can email us at hangup@slate.com.