College And Pro Ball

Super Bowl XLIII

2009-01-30T21:28:00.001-06:00

That’s a lot of Roman numerals…

Picks for Championship Sunday: 1-1
Playoffs: 4-6
Overall: 169-96-1

Raymond James Stadium in Tampa hosts Sunday’s Super Bowl between the AFC champion Pittsburgh Steelers and the NFC champion Arizona Cardinals. The Steelers are contenders every year to appear in this game. The Cardinals had their second winning season since moving to Phoenix 20 years ago.

The Steelers have an efficient offense and a suffocating defense. The Cardinals have possible Hall of Famers on the offensive side of the ball in Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald. This is going to be a fun game when the Cardinals have the ball.

I thought the Cardinals would lose their first playoff game, and have picked against them in every playoff game to date. Nothing changes here, though I would love to see the Cardinals close the deal and win a championship. The Steelers have a better defense and are more consistent. Defense wins championships. The Steelers earn a record 6th Super Bowl title. Pick: Pittsburgh

NFL Picks: Championship Sunday

2009-01-17T10:52:00.000-06:00

Last Week: 2-2
Playoffs: 3-5
Overall: 168-95-1

And then there were four. These are especially heady times in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, as the area’s three teams all have a chance to go to the Super Bowl, with the Steelers and Ravens playing each other and the Eagles traveling out to Arizona. Did you know that Harrisburg is closer to Baltimore than it is to Pittsburgh or Philadelphia? On to the picks…

NFC
Philadelphia at Arizona: Hell has definitely frozen over. The formerly sad-sack Cardinals find themselves hosting their second playoff game in three weeks, after not hosting one since the Truman administration when they played in Chicago. They find themselves hosting the Eagles, who were a mediocre team before coach Andy Reid briefly benched QB Donovan McNabb before putting him back in the starting lineup. The Cardinals have discovered defense in the playoffs, or at least enough to allow Kurt Warner and company to outscore opponents. I love Kurt Warner, and I’d love to see the Cardinals win, but I don’t see it happening. The Eagles are the hot team here. Pick: Philly

AFC
Baltimore at Pittsburgh: These two teams despise each other. The Steelers have won two close games over the Ravens this season. Normally, it’s really hard for a team to beat another good team three times in one season. But, the Ravens have been playing for 15 consecutive weeks, since their bye week was moved to Week 2 due to the rescheduling of their game in Houston due to Hurricane Ike. The Ravens should have enough in the tank to make this a good game. However, the Steelers will make one fewer mistake and win a trip to their seventh Super Bowl. Pick: Pittsburgh

A Need For Slight Change

2009-01-12T06:51:00.003-06:00

This year’s NFL playoffs have been interesting, to say the least. The visiting team won three of four games this weekend, and has won five of the eight games played to date. Parity in the league has contributed to the lack of home field advantage. However, don’t be surprised to see the league tweak the seeding system for the playoffs in future years.

Cases in point: the Arizona Cardinals and San Diego Chargers. The Cardinals finished 9-7 and the Chargers finished 8-8. Both teams made the playoffs by winning weak divisions. The NFL rewards division winners with a home game in the first round of the playoffs. So, both teams hosted teams with better records in the first round of the playoffs: the Cardinals hosted 11-5 Atlanta, while the Chargers hosted 12-4 Indianapolis. Both teams won their first round games over teams that had much better regular seasons. It can be argued that the Falcons and Colts were penalized for not winning divisions that happened to have a stronger team in it.

The NFL could very well seed playoff teams based solely on record. If they were to do so, the AFC could have been seeded thusly:
1) Tennessee
2) Indianapolis (tiebreaker, due to their win over Pittsburgh)
3) Pittsburgh
4) Baltimore (tiebreaker, due to their win over Miami)
5) Miami
6) San Diego

In this scenario, the Chargers would have traveled to Pittsburgh for a first round game, while the Dolphins would have traveled to Baltimore. The Colts would not have been penalized for being in the same division with the Titans, but would have been rewarded for winning 12 games.

In the NFC, a similar scenario exists. By applying this proposal, the NFC would have been seeded thusly:
1) New York Giants
2) Carolina
3) Atlanta
4) Minnesota
5) Philadelphia
6) Arizona

The Cardinals would have still played the Falcons, only in Atlanta. The Eagles would still have traveled to Minnesota. In addition, a situation like what happened with the Cardinals could have been avoided. Arizona clinched the awful NFC West with three games to play, and had very little chance to move up in the seedings, but were guaranteed a home game. Thus, they played lethargically in their last three games, including an annihilation in the snow at New England. The Cardinals would have been forced to continue to try to earn a home game in addition to the division title they had already won. This would have improved competition in the final weeks of the season. Plus, under this seeding plan, the Eagles would host the upcoming NFC championship game since they have a better record than the Cardinals.

Another argument is made by fans of the New England Patriots, who sat at home with an 11-5 record: why not let the teams with the best records in the playoffs, period? That is a valid point. However, with the divisional schedule, it is best to reward the winner of a division with at least a trip to the playoffs. A home game is icing on the cake, but the division winner must be rewarded in order to bring some integrity to divisional play, especially with unbalanced schedules. Otherwise, divisions are only means for scheduling and nothing else.

At least the NFC East can’t cut a deal for its third place team to meet the fourth place team from the AFC West in a meaningless bowl game in Birmingham or Shreveport..

Some Sanity, Please

2009-01-09T21:06:00.003-06:00

In the aftermath of a loss in any big game in any sport, fans of that team come unglued. In this country, nowhere is that more apparent than in college football. Millions of fans buy tickets, travel long distances, and donate large sums of money to support the school of their choice. Coaches reap a lot of the benefit of that interest, with six and seven figure contracts to coach young men on their way to the NFL and/or college degrees. With the steep increase in pay comes a steep increase in expectations. While some of those expectations are warranted, some fans have outrageous demands that they place on coaches, much more than they experience in their everyday lives at their own jobs or with their own families.

I was reminded of this Thursday night, as my Oklahoma Sooners lost yet another national championship game, 24-14 to the Florida Gators. The sentiment I am about to explain is not limited to OU fans, but also applies to fans of Ohio State, Texas, Florida, or any other big-time college program you can name. Combined with the anonymity of the Internet, anyone with a computer and a Web connection can get behind a keyboard and post some hot but absolutely stupid opinions about any subject, including a great football coach.

OU has now lost five BCS bowl games in a row. It would be just as easy to insert Ohio State and Jim Tressel in this conversation, as they have lost three BCS bowl games in a row.

After Thursday night’s game, I visited a leading OU fan message board. There were some OU fans calling for the resignation of Bob Stoops. How asinine! Somebody was drinking too much. In the last ten years, Stoops has only won six conference championships, won one national championship, and played for three others. In addition, his teams’ success has resulted in unprecedented financial success for the OU athletic department. Yet for some, that’s not enough. Especially when said team has lost five BCS bowls in a row. Some fans expect a national championship every year, or their self-importance is wounded. Many of these are the same type of fans that jump on the bandwagon of whatever team happens to be good at the time. There is a good chance these people were nowhere to be seen when John Blake was leading the Sooners to records of 3-8 and 5-6, and Oklahoma had little hope of a return to national relevance. Many are derisively referred to by Oklahoma State fans as “Wal-Mart” Sooner fans, or fans that have never set foot on the campus but bought a shirt at Wal-Mart and adopted the team because they live there and the team is successful. Some of these types of fans, on the other hand, are actually graduates of the school. I cannot properly explain how silly this is. A newspaper writer in Oklahoma in the 1950’s explained it to his editor much better, though in a very politically incorrect way: “How much rice can a Chinaman eat?”

There should be reasonable expectations for a highly paid coach. Coaches like Bob Stoops, Texas’ Mack Brown, Ohio State’s Jim Tressel, and others like them are expected to contend for conference and national championships every year. That is reasonable when a coach is making upwards of 2 and 3 million dollars per year. At that level, consistent and consecutive seasons of 8-4, 7-5 or even worse are unacceptable. Just ask former Tennessee coach Phil Fulmer, among others. However, it is totally unreasonable and outrageous to expect a coach to win a national championship every year. It takes some good fortune on top of talent and strategy to actually win a national championship.

I’m not happy that OU is not currently successful in big-time bowls. However, I’m not willing to throw this group of coaches off the bridge because they had the audacity to lose big games.

Bob Stoops isn’t going anywhere. If he does, it’ll be on his own terms. To expect OU to force him out is a totally ridiculous idea, and isn’t going to happen.

Note: I didn’t go to OU. However, I have a college education, and have been on the OU campus more times than I can count, sometimes for academic reasons. I even went to games when John Blake was the head coach and the team often couldn’t line up properly. I’m not a Wal-Mart Sooner fan.

NFL Picks, Divisional Round

2009-01-09T20:50:00.003-06:00

NFL Picks, Divisional Playoff Round

Last Week: 1-3
Playoffs: 1-3
Overall: 166-93-1

Just like that, we’re down to eight teams in the NFL playoffs. That number will be cut in half after this weekend’s games. Here are yet more picks, for entertainment purposes only:

AFC:
Baltimore at Tennessee: The Titans are the top seed in the playoffs, but have the unenviable task of playing the stout Ravens. It is usually safe to pick one visiting team in this round of the playoffs, and the Ravens are the best road team this week. Pick: Baltimore

San Diego at Pittsburgh: Five weeks ago, the Chargers were 4-8. Now, they find themselves still alive in the playoffs after a stunning overtime victory over the Indianapolis Colts. When these teams met last, the Steelers won a tight 11-10 contest over the Chargers. Between nagging injuries, cold weather, and the Steelers’ bye last week, the Chargers don’t stand a chance. They’ve made a great run, though. Pick: Pittsburgh

NFC:
Arizona at Carolina: How did this become the Saturday night game? The Cardinals have had their best season in eons, but, like the Cardinals, their good fortune runs out this weekend. The trip is too far east, and the Panthers are too good. Pick: Carolina

Philadelphia at New York Giants: Once again, the service areas on the New Jersey Turnpike aren’t safe with these teams running loose. Philly has made a great run in the last month. The Giants appear to have peaked, but have a week’s rest and home field. Giants gain some energy back this week. Pick: New York

NFL Picks, Wild Card Weekend

2009-01-02T21:24:00.002-06:00

Last Week: 13-3
Regular Season Total: 165-90-1

32 NFL teams have narrowed themselves down to 12. Eight teams play this weekend in the first round of the NFL playoffs. This means there are only four games to pick. Two of the last three Super Bowl winners came out of this round, so it is not a given that this week’s survivors will be plastered next week. This is the NFL, so anything can happen. The better games are definitely in the AFC. The NFC games will be good for naps or chores.

AFC
Indianapolis at San Diego: The two hottest teams in the league meet in a rematch of last year’s divisional round game won by the Chargers. The Colts have won eight in a row to finish 12-4. The Chargers were once 4-8, but got hot in December to finish 8-8 and win the AFC West. The way both teams have been playing, it’s too bad someone has to lose this game. The Colts are way too good. Pick: Colts

Baltimore at Miami: Last year, both teams stunk. Miami really stunk, going 1-15, with their only win coming over the Ravens in overtime. Turn the clock to this year, where both teams have impressed many by making the playoffs. The Dolphins were especially impressive, going from 1-15 to 11-5. The Ravens have already won once in Miami this season. The Dolphins have had a great run, but it ends Sunday in Miami. Pick: Baltimore

NFC
Atlanta at Arizona: The Falcons went from zeroes to heroes this season by going 11-5 behind rookie QB Matt Ryan. The Cardinals are hosting their first playoff game since they were known as the Chicago Cardinals. They won the awful NFC West almost by default. The Falcons are a better team than the Cardinals, especially after the Cardinals cruised after clinching the division early. Pick: Atlanta

Philadelphia at Minnesota: The Eagles embarrassed the Dallas Cowboys last week, bringing great joy to Cowboy haters everywhere by knocking them out of the playoffs in grand style. The Vikings are a dangerous team at home. Can they make the home dome advantage work for them? Sure. Pick: Minnesota

Bowl Picks, Part 3

2008-12-31T21:21:00.004-06:00

Bowls To Date: 12-10
Season: 231-93

The bowl season drags on and on. Next up is New Year’s Day. Once upon a time, New Year’s Day was a celebration of college football. You had the Cotton Bowl when it was a big game. You had the Rose Bowl, when it was an excuse to prepare for the really important game that night. Then, you had the Orange Bowl, which usually featured a Big 8 team and/or Miami playing for a national championship. Ok, not every year, but it sure seemed like it. Now, there is a glut of meaningless games on New Year’s Day and spreading to the days after. There is only one game that counts, and it is on January 8.

Outback Bowl, January 1, Tampa: Iowa vs. South Carolina: Slow Big Ten team plays underachieving SEC team. Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier was once quarterback for an NFL team in Tampa. They went 0-14. He’ll do better on New Year’s Day. Pick: SC

Konica Minolta Gator Bowl, January 1, Jacksonville: Nebraska vs. Clemson: Middle of the road Big 12 team meets middle of the road ACC team. It won’t be great TV, but they’ll sell plenty of tickets and fill plenty of hotel rooms. Pick: Clemson

Capital One Bowl, January 1, Orlando: Georgia vs. Michigan State: See Outback Bowl-slow Big Ten team plays underachieving SEC team. That’s right, the Bulldogs underachieved, having lost to both rivals in Florida and Georgia Tech. Still, they should be able to handle the Spartans. Pick: Jawja

Rose Bowl presented by Citi, January 1, Pasadena, California: USC vs. Penn State: Once again, USC is in the Rose Bowl, and once again, a Big Ten team loses the Rose Bowl. Penn State should be able to keep it close, but SC’s defense should keep Penn State’s offense out of the end zone for most of the game. Pick: USC

FedEx Orange Bowl, January 1, Miami: Cincinnati vs. Virginia Tech: This really is a BCS bowl game. None of the other BCS bowls wanted either of these teams, but the Orange Bowl gets the national championship game this year, so they’re stuck with this matchup. VT came out of a gaggle of evenly balanced teams in the ACC. Cincinnati dominated the Big East this year. Pick: Cincy

AT&T Cotton Bowl, January 2, Dallas: Ole Miss vs. Texas Tech: Ole Miss surprised the SEC and the world this season in their first year under Houston Nutt. Tech has won 11 games for the first time in the history of man. Make that 12. Pick: Tech

Liberty Bowl, January 2, Memphis: Kentucky vs. East Carolina: Zzzz. Did you know this is Kentucky’s third bowl in a row? So-so SEC team vs. champion of Conference USA. Give me the SEC. Pick: Kentucky

Sugar Bowl, January 2, New Orleans: Alabama vs. Utah: Bama has to be disappointed after running the table in the regular season before losing to Florida in the SEC championship game. The Utes had an awesome year, going undefeated to represent the non-BCS world in one of the $17 million BCS bowl. This won’t be as bad as Hawaii’s game last year against Georgia, but don’t look for the ’06 Boise State team to show up, either. Pick: Alabama

International Bowl, January 3, Toronto: Buffalo vs. Connecticut: Somebody has to go to Toronto in January for a bowl game. It may as well be two snowbound schools. At least the game is indoors. Buffalo won the MAC in Turner Gill’s third year as coach. UConn is becoming a bowl regular. The Bulls have had a great run, but UConn knows what they’re doing here. Pick: UConn

Fiesta Bowl, January 5, Glendale, Arizona: Texas vs. Ohio State: The Longhorns are really, really mad that they came out on the wrong end of the Big 12’s three-way tiebreaker for the South division championship. They really do have a case to be in the national championship game. On the other side of this matchup is Ohio State, winners of 10 games and a regular to this game in the desert. The Buckeyes had a nice season in the Big Ten, but they’re no match for Texas. Pick: Texas

GMAC Bowl, January 6, Mobile, Alabama: Tulsa vs. Ball State: Ball State had a great season, going 12-0 before being upset by Buffalo in the MAC championship game. Since then, head coach Brady Hoke has flown the coop for the warmer climes at San Diego State. Tulsa had a great year, as well, winning 10 games. Tulsa has faded a bit at the end of the season, losing three of their last five games. Pick: Ball State

BCS National Championship Game, January 8, Miami: Oklahoma vs. Florida: Get ready to stay up all night for this one, as there will be lots of offense here. Both teams have Heisman trophy winners. Both teams won premier conferences. Bob Stoops has national championship rings from both schools. As a Sooner fan, I cannot review this game objectively. Sooners win national championship number 8. Pick: OU

Bowl Picks, Part 2

2008-12-28T21:48:00.002-06:00

Bowls to date: 6-6
Season: 219-83

Papajohns.com Bowl at Birmingham, December 29: N.C. State vs. Rutgers. I think I’ll be doing other things Monday afternoon. Besides, I prefer Pizza Hut or Domino’s to Papa John’s. When we last saw Rutgers, they were hanging 63 on Louisville. Pick: Rutgers

Valero Alamo Bowl at San Antonio, December 29: Missouri vs. Northwestern. Tigers have to be disappointed with this season. They managed to win the Big 12 North, but that’s about like winning District 1-5A in Texas high school football. Missouri expected a lot more from this season. Northwestern rang up a lot of points in the Big Ten this year. Expect a lot of scoring in this one. Pick: Northwestern

Roady’s Humanitarian Bowl at Boise, Idaho, December 30: Maryland vs. Nevada. Somebody has to go to this bowl, played on Boise State’s blue turf. Pick: Maryland

Texas Bowl at Houston, December 30: Rice vs. Western Michigan. Another bowl slot that the Big 12 could not fill due to lack of teams. Neither of these teams have a sexy name, but both are actually pretty good. Plenty of good seats available. Pick: Rice

Pacific Life Holiday Bowl at San Diego, December 30: Oklahoma State vs. Oregon. This bowl is known for high-scoring shootouts, and this promises to live up to that reputation. OSU has three losses, all to teams ranked in the top 8 in the nation. Oregon has already beaten one orange-clad OSU: their archrival Oregon State. Pick: OSU

Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl at Fort Worth, December 31: Houston vs. Air Force. Rematch of a game played earlier this season, won by Air Force and played in Dallas due to Hurricane Ike. Cougars hope to have a less stressful trip to the Town of the Cow. It’s hard to beat a team twice. Pick: Houston

Brut Sun Bowl at El Paso, December 31: Pittsburgh vs. Oregon State. I wonder if my wife would like it if I bought some Brut? Oregon State had a great run in the Pac-10, including an upset win over USC. Pitt is coming around. Pick: Oregon State

Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl at Nashville, December 31: Boston College vs. Vanderbilt. Vandy is in its first bowl game since the Reagan administration, and only has to travel across town to get to it. Boston College has made a living in minor bowl games, winning eight consecutive bowls while never making it to the BCS. Vandy better enjoy the trip to the Opryland hotel, because the game won’t be much fun for them. Pick: BC

Insight Bowl at Tempe, Arizona, December 31: Kansas vs. Minnesota. The Glen Mason Bowl. Mason formerly coached at both schools. This year, KU survived numerous injuries and a murderous Big 12 schedule to qualify for a bowl game. Minnesota won 7 of their first 8 games before collapsing down the stretch. Pick: KU

Chick-Fil-A Bowl at Atlanta, December 31: Georgia Tech vs. LSU: I like chicken. I like Chick-Fil-A. Tigers went 7-5 one year after winning a national championship. Yellow Jackets won 9 games in their first season under Paul Johnson, including a win over archrival Georgia. One team is headed up, the other is headed down. Pick: Ramblin’ Wreck

NFL Picks, Week 17

2008-12-26T21:45:00.002-06:00

Last Week: 10-6
Season: 152-87-1

It’s the most fun week of the season. While a handful of teams know their post-season destiny and are resting starters accordingly, a whole bunch of teams are slugging it out for their playoff lives this week. It’s shape up or turn in the pads for a lot of NFL teams. Plus, a team has a date with infamy on Sunday unless something really strange and positive happens for them.

Dallas at Philadelphia: The Cowboys suffered a bone-headed loss last week to the Ravens, and find themselves going into a den of wolves as they play the Eagles in Philly. There is no bigger game in Philadelphia than the Cowboys’ yearly visit. Combine that with the Eagles’ slight playoff chances and the Cowboys’ must-win situation, and the Philly fans will be loaded for bear, especially with a late game. As inconsistent as the Cowboys have been this season, they have played their best with their backs against the wall. Pick: Dallas

St. Louis at Atlanta: The Falcons have been the surprise of the year. They still have a chance at a division title and a #2 seed in the NFC playoffs, with a win and a Carolina loss. They should have little problem against a putrid Rams team. Pick: Atlanta

New England at Buffalo: The Pats can win a division title with a win against Buffalo. The Bills had been in hibernation for several weeks before upsetting the Broncos in Denver last week. Can the Bills ruin another team’s season this week? No. Pick: New England

Kansas City at Cincinnati: The Mega Suck Bowl. The Bengals have shown signs of life in recent weeks, and play a bad Kansas City team to close out the season. Pick: Cincy

Detroit at Green Bay: The Lions, with a loss, will finish 0-16. A loss would make them one of the worst, if not the worst, teams in NFL history. The Packers let one slip away Monday night in Chicago. They won’t allow themselves to lose to the awful Lions. Pick: Green Bay

Chicago at Houston: The Bears have used defense and special teams to win the last three games in a row and to place themselves within spitting distance of a division title. The Texans laid an egg in Oakland last week, but have recovered well from an 0-4 start. Texans ruin the Bears’ playoff hopes. Pick: Houston

Tennessee at Indianapolis: This is a great matchup that will have the look and feel of a pre-season game. Neither team can improve their playoff position with a win. Which team has better scrubs? Pick: Tennessee

New York Giants at Minnesota: The Giants clinched home field advantage in the NFC playoffs last week with a comeback win over the Panthers. The Vikings need a win to clinch the NFC North division title. The Giants will play to win, but the Vikes need it more. Pick: Minnesota

Carolina at New Orleans: Panthers blew a big lead last week in New York, and need to come up big against the Saints in order to win the NFC South. Look for lots of points here. Pick: Carolina

Cleveland at Pittsburgh: Yuck. Browns have not scored a touchdown in over a month. Steelers should roll. Pick: Pittsburgh.

Oakland at Tampa Bay: A few years ago, these teams met in a Super Bowl. Not this year. The Raiders have a surprising four wins. The Bucs need a win plus some help to make the playoffs. The Bucs will do their part. Pick: Tampa Bay

Jacksonville at Baltimore: Ravens need a win to make the playoffs. Jaguars have their bags packed for the off-season. Pick: Baltimore

Miami at New York Jets: Big, big game in the AFC East. Depending on the Patriots’ result in the early game, this will either be for a division title or a mere wild-card berth. There is also a chance that neither team will make the playoffs. Can the Dolphins win a big game in cold weather? The trends favor them. Pick: Miami

Seattle at Arizona: Mike Holmgren’s last game as coach of the Seahawks. Cardinals play their third game in a row with nothing to gain. Ugly game in the making. Pick: Arizona

Washington at San Francisco: What was once a promising season for the Redskins has melted down. Still, the Redskins beat the Eagles last week and severely damaged their playoff chances. The 49ers have a chance to win their 7th game of the regular season. Pick: 49ers

Denver at San Diego: What goes around, comes around. Denver beat the Chargers in the first game of the season, with a questionable call enabling the Broncos to hold on for a victory. The Broncos have now lost two games in a row with a chance to clinch the AFC West title. Make that a third. The Chargers finish 8-8 and win the division in spite of themselves. Pick: San Diego

Bowl Picks, Part 1

2008-12-19T15:23:00.003-06:00

Week of December 6: 5-5
Season: 213-77

There are 34 bowls this year. This means that every team in the Football Bowl Subdivision with a winning record made it to a bowl game. If rewarding excellence is the purpose of bowl games, then some of these games are an absolute joke. What these games provide are a way to fill some hotel rooms and to give some cities some publicity on national TV. And, they provide programming for ESPN. Some of these games are glorified exhibitions between mediocre teams. Others are great matchups.

The first of three installments of bowl picks:

EagleBank Bowl, Dec. 20, Washington, D.C. Navy vs. Wake Forest. This amounts to a home game for Navy against a team that the Midshipmen upset earlier in the year. My question is: who wants to go to a bowl game at RFK Stadium in D.C. in December? That’s not exactly a garden spot. Wake Forest gets revenge. Pick: Demon Deacons

New Mexico Bowl, Dec. 20, Albuquerque. Fresno State vs. Colorado State. The first edition of this bowl that does not feature the hometown Lobos. Fresno State has been to bowl games before, while the Rams have made a major improvement this year. Pick: Fresno State

magicJack St. Petersburg Bowl, Dec. 20, St. Petersburg. Memphis vs. South Florida. The latest bowl to be played in a baseball stadium, this new bowl is sponsored by a tool that allows you to plug your phone into a computer. Ok, at least it’s not sponsored by LoJack. Who wants to watch a bowl game between Memphis and USF? Ugh. Pick: USF

Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl, Dec. 20, Las Vegas. Arizona vs. BYU. Did you know Las Vegas got three inches of snow yesterday? This is BYU’s fourth consecutive trip to this bowl. I wonder how this bowl would do without BYU in it. Zona finally gets to a bowl in Mike Stoops’ fifth year. The Mountain West has had its way against the Pac-10 this year. That won’t change in this game. Pick: BYU

R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, Dec. 21, New Orleans. Southern Miss vs. Troy. Southern Miss makes a bowl game in a rebuilding year. The men of Troy, Alabama once again won the Sun Belt conference. Troy is a little better than Southern Miss. Pick: Troy

San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl, Dec. 23, San Diego. TCU vs. Boise State. There’s something wrong when a matchup between the 8th and 11th ranked teams in the nation occurs two days before Christmas in a bowl named for a credit union. At least it’s in San Diego. This game has greatness written all over it. Can the Broncos go 13-0? I don’t know. Pick: TCU

Sheraton Hawaii Bowl, Dec. 24, Honolulu. Notre Dame vs. Hawaii. It’s pretty sad when Notre Dame can royally suck and still get a trip to Hawaii. Problem is, they’re playing Hawaii on their home field. It’ll feel just like a BCS bowl in one way for the Irish: they’ll lose. Pick: Hawaii.

Motor City Bowl, Dec. 26, Detroit. Florida Atlantic vs. Central Michigan. Yuck. There are some bad bowls out there, and this is one of them. Florida Atlantic went 6-6, played in the worst conference in college football, and still made it to a bowl. There’s something wrong with this picture. Central Michigan had it going this year in the MAC before losing to Ball State and Eastern Michigan. Pick: Central Michigan

Meineke Car Care Bowl, Dec. 27, Charlotte. West Virginia vs. North Carolina. Good matchup bound to sell lots of tickets in Charlotte. Tar Heels were one of the better teams in a dreadfully balanced ACC. West Virginia was favored to win the Big East, but ended up here. Pick: North Carolina

Champs Sports Bowl, Dec. 27, Orlando. Wisconsin vs. Florida State. Badgers nearly lost their last game to Cal Poly. Seminoles showed signs of improvement this year, but aren’t quite where they want to be. Pick: FSU

Emerald Bowl, Dec. 27, San Francisco. Miami vs. California. Canes visit the City by the Bay. Hopefully, they’ll have a good sightseeing trip, because there’s no way they’ll beat Cal out there. Pick: Cal

Independence Bowl, Dec. 28, Shreveport. Northern Illinois vs. Louisiana Tech. How did the 6-6 Huskies get into this bowl? The former executive director of the bowl now works for NIU. This is a really lame matchup, brought about because the Big 12 and SEC each sent two teams to the BCS and didn’t have enough teams left for the Indy Bowl to pick. Somebody has to win this game. Pick: Tech

NFL Picks, Week 16

2008-12-18T21:03:00.002-06:00

Here are more picks from 30,000 feet. Once again, Thursday night’s game will start before I post. However, that game has an overwhelming favorite, so this week’s picks will not be adversely affected.

Last week: 9-7
Season: 142-81-1

Baltimore at Dallas (Saturday): The NFL Network brings us the last game ever at Texas Stadium. The Cowboys kissed and made up with each other, at least for one week, while beating the Giants in an ugly 20-8 game. The Ravens, on the other hand, lost a heartbreaker to the Steelers last week in Baltimore. The Cowboys have also lost a heartbreaker late in the game to Pittsburgh. The Ravens are good, but it would be totally wrong for the Cowboys to lose the last game at the Stadium With The Hole In The Roof. Pick: Dallas

Indianapolis at Jacksonville (Thursday): The Colts are the hottest team in the league. The Jaguars have given up the season. Irresistible force meets movable object. Gee, I wonder who’s going to win this game? Pick: Indy

Pittsburgh at Tennessee: Possible preview of the AFC championship game. The Titans were stunned last week by the Texans. The Steelers have pulled two exciting wins out the hat in recent weeks, over Dallas and Baltimore. Go with the home team. Pick: Titans

Miami at Kansas City: The Chiefs found another way to lose on Sunday, giving up two touchdowns to the Chargers in 82 seconds before missing a long desperation field goal try. Now, the Dolphins visit Kansas City with a chance to make the playoffs. Can the Chiefs finish someone off? Don’t bet on it. Pick: Miami

Arizona at New England: The Cardinals were atrocious last week in a 35-14 loss to Minnesota. They now face another week with nothing to gain. That’s the result of winning the awful NFC West by default. The Patriots keep plugging along and still have a chance to win the AFC East. This pick is so easy. Pick: New England

Cincinnati at Cleveland: The Mega Suck Bowl. The only way this game could be worse is if Detroit were involved. Both teams have stunk up the joint this year, though the Bengals got a win last week over the Redskins. The Browns haven’t scored a touchdown in a month, and have lost both parts of their two-headed quarterback monster. Does someone have to win this game? Do Browns’ season ticket holders have to sit in the cold to watch this game? Do they have to play this game? Do I have to pick a winner? The answer to those questions is yes. Pick: Cincy

Philadelphia at Washington: One team is going up, the other is going down. Pick: Philly

San Francisco at St. Louis: The Suck Bowl. This is not quite to the level of Mega Suck, but almost. The Rams lost last week at home to the Seattle Seabags. Ugh. The 49ers are headed nowhere as well. Pick: San Francisco

Atlanta at Minnesota: These teams could see each other again in two weeks in the first round of the playoffs. The injury bug is starting to hit the Vikings, but they’re at home. Pick: Minnesota

New Orleans at Detroit: The Saints are playing out the string, but face a test on Sunday: keeping from becoming the first team to lose to Detroit this season. The Lions are 0-14, but aren’t as bad as their record indicates. I’m going to go out on a limb here. There will be no 0-16 team in the NFL this year. Pick: Detroit

Carolina at New York Giants: The Giants have been hammered hard by injury and have lost their last two games. The Panthers have played as well as anyone in the league. This game is for home field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs. The Giants get well at home on a cold December Sunday night. Pick: Giants

New York Jets at Seattle: The Jets face a classic trap game as they go to the Northwest to play a bad team with nothing to lose. New York is 0-3 this year in previous trips to the West Coast, including losses to the putrid 49ers and Raiders. The Jets have everything to lose, as the AFC East division title is in sight. The Jets revert to form this week and become the same old Jets. They’ll find a way to lose this game. Pick: Seattle

Houston at Oakland: The Texans have come out of nowhere to win four in a row. They now head to Oakland to play the sad-sack Raiders. Make that five in a row. Pick: Houston

Buffalo at Denver: It would be fitting if Denver got a snowstorm this weekend with the Bills in town. The Bills threw a game away last week, and can’t wait for this season to be over. The Broncos have another chance to clinch the AFC West this week. They get the job done. Pick: Denver

Tampa Bay at San Diego: The Bucs lost a heartbreaking overtime game last week in Atlanta, severely impairing their playoff chances. They now have to head to the West Coast to play a mercurial Chargers team. Will the men in pewter have anything left? Who knows? Pick: San Diego

Green Bay at Chicago (Monday): Monday Night Football returns to the shore of Lake Michigan for the resumption of one of the league’s great rivalries. The Packers have nothing left to play for but pride. The Bears are trying to keep pace with the Vikings for the NFC North crown. It’ll be really cold in Chicago on Monday night. Pick: Bears

NFL Picks, Week 15

2008-12-11T20:11:00.001-06:00

These picks are being made at 30,000 feet somewhere over the southern United States before Thursday night’s game, so I have no idea of the outcome before I make this post.

Last week: 11-5
Season: 133-74-1

New York Giants at Dallas: Giants return to the scene of last year’s upset playoff win at Texas Stadium. This year, the Giants have rolled through the regular season to win the NFC East. The Cowboys have been hit with injuries and inconsistency. The Cowboys are also coming off a heartbreaking loss in Pittsburgh, when the Steelers returned a Tony Romo interception for a touchdown with two minutes left in the game. Dallas needs this one a lot worse. Pick: Dallas

New Orleans at Chicago (Thursday): Southern team (and dome team) goes north for a frigid Thursday night game on the shores of Lake Michigan. Good luck. Pick: Chicago

Buffalo at New York Jets: Freefalling Bills visit the Jets, who are looking to end a two-game skid of their own. Pick: Jets

Tennessee at Houston: It’s been 10 years since the Titans were the Oilers. The NFL’s best team returns to the city of its origin. Texans are looking to play spoiler. Tough pick. Pick: Tennessee

Seattle at St. Louis: The Suck Bowl. Two awful teams slug it out to stay out of the cellar of the NFC West. Pick: St. Louis

Tampa Bay at Atlanta: One of the better games of the week. Winner will look good for a wildcard playoff berth, while the other will be in danger of missing the playoffs. Pick: Atlanta

San Francisco at Miami: The 49ers are getting a little better, but so are the Dolphins. Pick: Miami

Detroit at Indianapolis: Puhleeze. The awful Lions are on a collision course with infamy and 0-16. The Colts are one of the hottest teams in football. Pick: Colts

San Diego at Kansas City: The disappointing Chargers visit the young Chiefs. The Chiefs are better than 2-11, but not by much. The Chargers are playing for coach Norv Turner’s job. Go with the Fighting Tyler Thigpens. Pick: Chiefs

Washington at Cincinnati: The Redskins visit the second-worst team in the league. The Redskins have problems of their own, but should be able to handle the Bengals. Pick: Washington

Green Bay at Jacksonville: At least this game isn’t in Green Bay. Two teams with nothing to play for. Pick: Green Bay

Minnesota at Arizona: NFC North leader visits NFC West champion. That’s right, the Cardinals are champions of something for the first time since 1975. Cardinals continue to roll. Pick: Arizona

Denver at Carolina: Denver is in first place in the AFC West despite a lack of defense. The Panthers can actually clinch home field throughout the playoffs by winning the rest of their games. Pick: Carolina

New England at Oakland: Yuck. Any game involving the Raiders should be called Yuck. The Pats should win this one. Pick: New England

Pittsburgh at Baltimore: The Steelers stole one last week at home against Dallas, while the Ravens owned their backyard rival Redskins. Pick the home team here. Pick: Ravens

Cleveland at Philadelphia (Monday): Donovan McNabb now knows that there are ties in the NFL, but this one shouldn’t need overtime. The Browns have been a major disappointment this year. Pick: Philly

A Load of BCS

2008-12-07T22:49:00.002-06:00

The pairings for the BCS are set. As expected, there are a lot of happy people in Florida and Oklahoma. There are a lot of upset people in Texas. The rest of the country is indifferent to the results of a sham of a system designed more to generate money for bowls and certain conferences than to determine a true national champion.

Some thoughts on the various BCS matchups:

Orange Bowl: Virginia Tech vs. Cincinnati. Not too long ago, these schools were members of the Metro conference for basketball and other sports, and independents in football playing each other every year. Fast forward 20 years, and these two schools are playing each other in a big-money bowl. On the field, it’ll actually be a pretty good game. However, it is a TV ratings disaster in the making. Plus, how many people are going to pay $125 per ticket to see Virginia Tech play Cincinnati? Good luck filling the stadium for this one. This is the price the Orange Bowl pays for hosting the national championship game a week later. VT won a very balanced but mediocre ACC. Cincinnati won an equally mediocre Big East going away. Both teams would finish 5th or worse in the Big 12 South, and it is questionable if either would win the North. Boise State would beat both teams by at least two touchdowns. So would Texas Tech. Flip a coin for a winner here. Picks will be made in a future blog post.

Sugar Bowl: Alabama vs. Utah. The Crimson Tide are back on the map in Nick Saban’s second year, going undefeated before losing the SEC championship game to the Florida Gators. Utah, in the meantime, went undefeated and won an underrated Mountain West conference. This will be a pretty good game.

Fiesta Bowl: Ohio State vs. Texas. The Buckeyes are here on the strength of their large traveling fan base, their huge alumni base, and their ability to draw a TV audience. Their second place finish in the Big Ten is not impressive due to the weakness of that conference. The Big Ten is definitely stronger in the classroom than on the field. Texas, on the other hand, has a case to be in the national championship game. The Longhorns were the only team to defeat Oklahoma, and were a last-second touchdown pass away from going undefeated. This is the most attractive matchup of the non-championship BCS bowls.

Rose Bowl: USC vs. Penn State. Penn State is this year’s sacrificial lamb put up by the Big Ten to be slaughtered by USC. 5:00 Central Time on New Year’s Day would be a good time to eat your black-eyed peas, as USC will have this one well in hand by then.

BCS National Championship Game: Oklahoma vs. Florida: Look for lots and lots of points in this one. Both teams are averaging over 50 points per game, and won the two dominant conferences in college football: the Big 12 and SEC. There is a possibility of a matchup of Heisman Trophy winners here, with Florida’s Tim Tebow and OU’s Sam Bradford. That is, if Bradford does what many expect and wins the Heisman on Saturday night. OU is looking to break a string of four consecutive losses in BCS games, including losses in the championship game in 2003 and 2004. This blog would love to see a rematch of OU and Texas in this game. However, Florida is very deserving of their spot here.

Cool Uniform of the Day

2008-12-07T14:24:00.004-06:00

Credit must be given where credit is due, and this blog will do just that when it is warranted.

Saturday, Nike rolled out a great uniform design that works for one and only one team. The United States Military Academy, aka Army, rolled out these black and camouflage uniforms for their annual grudge match with Navy. The helmets and pants are camouflage, as are the numbers and lettering on the black jersey. On the back of the jersey, in place of the name plate, appears the quote "Honor. Duty. Country.". On one pants leg appears the Army quote, "Boots On The Ground", while "West Point" appears on the other leg.

No other team should try to duplicate this look. However, for Army, this is an awesome look. These guys look ready to head for the Middle East and kick the crap out of a bunch of terrorists.

Army lost the game to Navy in a big way, 34-0. However, they won the uniform battle.

Go Army.

NFL Picks, Week 14

2008-12-04T12:13:00.002-06:00

Last Week: 10-6 (.625)
Season: 122-69-1 (.712)

Dallas at Pittsburgh: The Cowboys have rescued their season with three consecutive wins following the pinkie injury to Tony Romo. Now they head into the Steel City for a matchup with the Super Bowl contender Steelers. Tough matchup for Dallas. However, this is a Cowboys homer blog. Pick: Dallas

Oakland at San Diego (Thursday): The NFL Network got a dud game this week. It’s a good thing it’s only available to about 30% of the United States. Pick: San Diego

Jacksonville at Chicago: Struggling warm-weather team goes to the Great White North of Chicago in December. Good luck with all that. Pick: Chicago

Minnesota at Detroit: Could this be the week the Lions get a W? Don’t count on it. Pick: Minnesota

Houston at Green Bay: Mediocre warm-weather team goes to the Great White North of Green Bay in December. Good luck with all that. See Jacksonville vs. Chicago. Pick: Green Bay

Cincinnati at Indianapolis: The Colts have righted the ship, and now host the woeful Bengals. Pick: Indy

Atlanta at New Orleans: The Falcons are the surprise of the year in the NFL. They continue to roll in a shootout. Pick: Atlanta

Philadelphia at New York Giants: The Giants’ star receiver literally shoots himself in the foot, but they roll right along. Pick: Giants

Cleveland at Tennessee: The Browns are another disappointing team, and lost their second quarterback of the season last week due to injury. The Titans have a good chance to go to the Super Bowl. Pick: Titans

Miami vs. Buffalo at Toronto: The Bills play the first of a series of regular season home games in Toronto over the next five years. They’ve struggled so much in recent weeks that they had to leave the country. The Dolphins are a pleasant surprise this year. Pick: Miami

Kansas City at Denver: Will there be any defense in this game? Pick: Denver

New York Jets at San Francisco: The 49ers look for their second consecutive win. The Jets are trying to reassume control of the AFC East. The Jets are a better team. Pick: Jets

New England at Seattle: Patriots should roll over this shell of a once-excellent team. Pick: New England

St. Louis at Arizona: Cardinals return home where they are a much better team. Pick: Arizona

Washington at Baltimore: Winner gets bragging rights to the entire state of Maryland. Redskins are walking into a lions’ den. Pick: Baltimore

Tampa Bay at Carolina (Monday): Great game for Monday Night Football. Both teams are tied for the NFC South division lead. Winner will be in good position to win the division. Pick: Carolina

College Picks, Week 15

2008-12-02T22:06:00.002-06:00

Last week: 16-4 (.800)
Season: 208-72 (.742)

This is Championship Weekend. It is as close as college football gets to playoff competition. Large conferences use this weekend to hold championship games. More importantly to athletic departments, they generate huge sums of cash. Non-revenue sports cost a lot of money, and these championships help pay for them. In addition, the Big East and Pac-10 have moved some games to this weekend for TV exposure. Plus, Army and Navy meet for their annual showdown. If you like college football, this is your weekend.

Just 10 picks this week…

Big XII Championship at Kansas City: Oklahoma vs. Missouri: The Sooners arrive in Kansas City as the beneficiaries of a slight bump in the BCS computers, placing them in this game ahead of Texas. Missouri is the best of a mediocre bunch in the Big 12 North, despite losing a week ago on this same field to archrival Kansas. Strange things can happen in conference championship games, so don’t count Mizzou out, especially on a cold night in Kansas City. Nonetheless, OU is on a gigantic roll. Pick: OU

SEC Championship at Atlanta: Alabama vs. Florida: A virtual national semifinal. Florida has been impressive since a September loss to Ole Miss. Alabama has gone 12-0. Many think it is a foregone conclusion that Florida is going to win going away. Vegas agrees, making the Gators 9 ½ point favorites. However, Alabama is undefeated for a reason. Tide shocks the world once again. Pick: Alabama

ACC Championship at Tampa: Boston College vs. Virginia Tech: The ACC was nothing if not balanced this season. 10 teams are bowl eligible, and every team lost at least three conference games. BC and Tech survived the tiebreakers in the two divisions and make the trip to Tampa. The conference hopes to draw a better crowd in Tampa than they did in Jacksonville last year for the same two teams. Pick: BC

MAC Championship at Detroit (Friday): Ball State vs. Buffalo: The Cardinals are undefeated at 12-0, and have moved up to 12th in the latest BCS standings. They are the real deal. On the opposite sideline are the Buffalo Bulls. Before former Nebraska great Turner Gill arrived as coach, Buffalo was the worst program in college football. It is a miracle that they are bowl eligible within four years of Gill’s arrival. A bigger school needs to hire him. In the meantime, it’s the year of the Cardinals. Ball State should roll again. Pick: Ball State

Conference USA Championship: East Carolina at Tulsa: Both teams made noise earlier in the year, and finished with enough to make it to the championship game. The West division was strongest this year, with similar offensive results to their cousins in the Big 12 South. Tulsa was the best of those teams, and is playing at home. Pick: Tulsa

Army vs. Navy at Philadelphia: The annual classic returns to Philly, and Navy once again has a better team. Both teams will win when fighting terrorists and other enemies of the state. Only one team will win this game, however. Pick: Navy

USC vs. UCLA: The Trojans will wear red jerseys in the Rose Bowl on Saturday. USC coach Pete Carroll is willing to lose a timeout in each half to honor the previous tradition set by the schools when both played at the Coliseum. What a stupid NCAA rule, as teams should be able to wear whatever color they want as long as they are not the same as their opponents. Outside of this, there’s not much else to this game. USC should roll. Pick: SC

Arizona State at Arizona: Both teams would like to be better. The Sun Devils need a win to become bowl eligible, while the Wildcats need a win to achieve a winning season at 7-5. Pick: Arizona

South Florida at West Virginia: The Disappointment Bowl. This game was originally scheduled as a de facto Big East championship game. Instead, these teams are trying to save face. Don’t trust a team from Florida traveling north in December. Pick: West Virginia

Pittsburgh at Connecticut: Two Big East bowl-eligible teams do battle in a season-ender. UConn is tough at home. Pick: UConn

Ugly Uniform of the Day

2008-12-01T18:45:00.003-06:00

Last Saturday, the Missouri Tigers broke out these threads in their annual rivalry game against Kansas. The Tigers came out on the short end of a 40-37 loss played in the sleet in Kansas City.

The game was great, but the uniforms are as ugly as the weather they played in. It looks like something my high school wore in the 80's, only Mizzou's has some white trim on it. The only thing worse was when Missouri last broke out gold uniforms, in a 1984 home date with Notre Dame. That day, the Tigers wore gold pants with the gold jerseys. Interestingly enough, they lost that day, too. Maybe the Tigers won't wear these again any time soon.

These uniforms are really bad. We won't be subject to them Saturday night in the Big 12 championship game, since the North team wears white when the championship game is played in the North. These jerseys look like puke.

Breaking Ties Is Hard To Do

2008-11-30T22:42:00.001-06:00

There is going to be a Big 12 championship game Saturday night in Kansas City, and Oklahoma is going to be in it. The Sooners used a 61-41 win at Oklahoma State to impress enough of the BCS computers to pass Texas in this week’s BCS ratings, enabling OU to win the league’s 5th tiebreaker over Texas and Texas Tech for the spot in Kansas City against the Missouri Tigers. (Wait, that’s a basketball score! The two schools have scored fewer points in basketball games against each other!)

The involvement of hard drives and statistical formulas provides a fitting end to the greatest season in the short history of the Big 12. OU, Texas, and Tech ran up point totals that would make the best video gamer proud. Not far behind them was Oklahoma State. The Cowboys were the fourth best team in the South division, but would have won the North. Heck, the Cowboys would have won the ACC, the Big East, and a few other conferences.

OU, Texas, and Tech were ESPN and ABC’s dream. The ABC Saturday night crew spent a lot of time this fall in Texas and Oklahoma, as that is where the best matchups were. It’s not that there was a lack of defense here. It’s just that the offenses were so good that nothing could stop them. These four teams gave fans plenty of reason to spend money to attend games and to make time to watch them on TV.

Teeth are gnashing and mouths are wailing tonight in the city of Austin, as the Texas Longhorns came out on the wrong end of this tiebreaker. They have good reason, as Texas beat OU in Dallas, 45-35. The wildcard in this scenario is that there is a third team in this scenario, Texas Tech, that finished with the same record as OU and UT. If the head-to-head result between OU and UT matters, then so does the head-to-head matchup between UT and Tech. By the way, Tech won that game, 39-33 in Lubbock. OU’s later pounding of the Red Raiders does not take away from Tech’s great season or their role in the tiebreaker.

Is there a better way to break the tie? Perhaps. The SEC and ACC drops the third team from the tie if said team is more than 5 places below the higher-ranked team in the BCS standings. That would not happen here, as Tech is ranked 7th behind OU’s 2nd and UT’s 3rd. Maybe the three schools should do what high schools in Florida do: meet at a neutral site on a Tuesday night, play one quarter each against each other, and let the two top teams play a final quarter for all the marbles. Just kidding, as this would be logistically impossible. A more logical solution would be for the three coaches to meet at a truck stop in Wichita Falls and flip coins. Or, draw straws. Or, better yet, play Rock, Paper, Scissors. Ok, with as much money as these teams generate and these coaches make, they could meet at the Grand Hyatt at DFW Airport. The truck stop would make for better TV, though. Kinda like the real story in the book, Friday Night Lights. To sum it up, there’s not a good way to break a tie between three really good teams.

There is hope for the Longhorns. OU could very well lose to Missouri Saturday night in Kansas City. And, the Longhorns could very well stay ahead of Florida if the Gators defeat #1 Alabama in the SEC championship game. Both of these scenarios would give Bevo a trip to Miami for the national championship game.

The BCS is good for nothing but controversy. So is anything involving OU and Texas.

NFL Picks, Week 13

2008-11-25T13:29:00.002-06:00

Last week: 7-9 (first losing week of the year..yuck!)
Season: 112-63-1 (.639)

Seattle at Dallas (Thursday): The Cowboys have won two in a row since the return of Tony Romo. Make that three, as the Seahawks make a nice addition to Thanksgiving dinner for Dallas. Pick: Dallas

Tennessee at Detroit (Thursday): The Titans suffered their first loss on Sunday at the hands of the Jets. No worries, as they follow that up with a game against the dreadful Lions. There is no way the Lions are as bad as the worst team in NFL history, the ’76 Buccaneers. They’re getting close, though. Pick: Tennessee

Arizona at Philadelphia (Thursday): Kurt Warner and the boys head East for Thanksgiving to face a team in turmoil. Eagles coach Andy Reid benched QB Donovan McNabb during Sunday’s loss to the Ravens, only to re-insert him as the starter for this game. Home teams have an advantage in a short week, as do East Coast teams hosting teams from the West. Pick: Philly

San Francisco at Buffalo: The Niners are pretty awful, and now get to experience Western New York in November. What a lovely time for the guys from the City By The Bay. The Bills hung half a hundred on Kansas City last week. Pick: Buffalo

Carolina at Green Bay: The Packers were at the wrong end of a blowout on Monday night in New Orleans. Nonetheless, this is a tough trip for the Panthers. If Carolina can win this one, they’re the real deal. Pick: Green Bay

New Orleans at Tampa Bay: Break up the Saints! They’ve won two in a row! The Bucs are still very much in the playoff chase, and should be able to handle the Saints at home. Pick: Tampa Bay

Miami at St. Louis: The Dolphins came down to earth last week as they were plastered by the Patriots, 48-28. No need for the Dolphins to worry, because the Rams are one of the worst teams in football. Pick: Miami

New York Giants at Washington: Another big rivalry from the greatest division in football, the NFC East. The Redskins just keep plugging along. The Giants are much better than they were last year, when they won the Super Bowl. However, even good teams lose once in a while. Pick: Redskins

Indianapolis at Cleveland: Don’t look now, but that’s the Colts you see in the rear view mirror chasing down the rest of the NFL elite after a slow start. The Browns have been nothing short of a disappointment this year. Pick: Indy

Baltimore at Cincinnati: Chalk this one up as a W for the visitors. Pick: Baltimore

Atlanta at San Diego: The Chargers lost yet another close game Sunday night to the Colts, and now must face the turnaround team of the season, the Falcons. The Chargers’ misery continues. Pick: Atlanta

Pittsburgh at New England: The Patriots are in a desperate position as they try to keep up with the Jets in the AFC East. Meanwhile, the Steelers are tough to beat anywhere. Pick: New England

Kansas City at Oakland: Yuck. Perhaps the biggest rivalry in the old AFL now matches two of the worst teams in the league. With that being said, the Raiders surprised the Broncos with a whipping last week. Can they win two in a row? Yes. Pick: Oakland

Denver at New York Jets: The Broncos have an awful defense, and now must visit the Meadowlands, where the ageless gunslinger, Brett Favre, resides. Favre played in a Super Bowl against the Broncos during the Clinton administration. Pick: Jets

Chicago at Minnesota: Battle for first place in the mediocre NFC North. Vikings find a way to win at home. Pick: Minnesota

Jacksonville at Houston (Monday): Another disappointing team is the Jaguars. The Texans won last week, and usually do well at home against the Jags, even when the Jags are good and the Texans are bad. Pick: Houston

College Picks, Week 14

2008-11-25T12:57:00.001-06:00

Last Week: 12-8 (.600)
Season: 192-68 (.738)

In many ways, this is the biggest weekend of the college football season. Big rivalries are being played this weekend. Bowl bids are on the line. Spots in the BCS National Championship Game are at stake. The only guarantee is that something really strange will happen.

Oklahoma at Oklahoma State: The Sooners, fresh off a 65-21 beatdown of Texas Tech, visit Stillwater to take on the Cowboys. As always, this is OSU’s Super Bowl, but the Cowboys actually have a pretty good team this year. This is a dangerous game. A win gives OU strength of schedule points in the BCS computers, possibly enough to pass Texas in the standings for a trip to the Big XII championship game. This will be quality television on Saturday night. That’s good, because you can’t buy a ticket to this one unless you buy OSU season tickets. It’s a lot cheaper to stay home and watch and listen to Brent and Kirk. Pick: OU

Texas A&M at Texas (Thursday): Poor Aggies. The worst A&M team in a quarter-century has to visit Austin when the Longhorns need BCS style points. If you don’t get enough turkey at dinner on Thanksgiving, you’ll get more of it from this game. Pick: Texas

Baylor at Texas Tech: The Red Raiders went home with their heads between their legs after the butt-kicking they took in Norman last week for their first loss. Baylor will show up and represent themselves. Tech will be on the rebound, though, and should be dangerous. Pick: Tech

Colorado at Nebraska (Friday): Believe it or not, the Huskers can win their eighth game of the season by beating the Buffs. They should be able to do so with relatively little problem. Pick: Nebraska

Kansas vs. Missouri at Kansas City: A disappointing season ends for the Jayhawks at Arrowhead Stadium. After losing two mid-season games to Texas and Oklahoma State, the Tigers have feasted on Big 12 North opposition. They’ll do so again while awaiting their chance to mess up the BCS next week in the Big 12 championship game. Pick: Mizzou

Auburn at Alabama: The Iron Bowl. Tommy Tuberville better have an iron posterior, because his seat is hot after this debacle of a season. All will be well on the Plains if War Eagle can upset the hated Tide. Auburn has won five in a row in this series. Bama looks to erase that record of futility while they keep their undefeated season alive. There is way too much going Bama’s way. Pick: Alabama

Florida at Florida State: The Seminoles finally had a great game last week as they plastered Maryland on the road. They’ll need another one this week at home if they want to beat the Fighting Tim Tebows and truly mess up the BCS. At least a couple of Big 12 teams will be rooting for them. Even in Tallahassee, though, the Gators are too good. At least this year, they are. Pick: Florida

Oregon at Oregon State: With a win, Oregon State can go to the Rose Bowl for the first time since the days of leather helmets. It hasn’t been quite that long, but it’s been long enough for the Beavers. As far as the Ducks are concerned, which set of ugly uniforms will they wear this week? Pick: Oregon State

Georgia Tech at Georgia: This game is like a box of chocolates: you never know what you’re going to get. Both teams have looked awesome at times. At other times, they’ve been pretty mediocre. Go with the home team here. Pick: Georgia

South Carolina at Clemson: No matter how much Clemson seems to disappoint on a yearly basis, they usually seem to find a way to beat the Gamecocks. USC-East ought to be able to win this game. They’ll find a way not to. Pick: Clemson

Virginia at Virginia Tech: The Hokies actually have a chance to come out of the scrum in the ACC to advance to the ACC championship game. All they need to do is beat the Cavaliers. Virginia has looked really good at times, and really awful at times. Pick: Hokies

Maryland at Boston College: The Eagles have a chance to survive the other half of the ACC to make the championship game with a win. They got a big road win last week at Wake Forest, while the Terps laid a big egg at home in being squashed by Florida State. It’s really cold in Boston at this time of year. Pick: BC

West Virginia at Pittsburgh: The Backyard Brawl. Both teams have shown flashes of brilliance. Both teams have also shown flashes of inconsistency. The Mountaineers will be looking for revenge, after the Panthers knocked them out of a shot at last year’s national championship. Pick: Pittsburgh

Western Michigan at Ball State (Tuesday): Ball State is still undefeated, but must face a strong and dangerous Western Michigan team. The Cardinals are kings of the mid-week MAC games. Give them another one. Pick: Ball State

Houston at Rice: The battle for the Bayou Bucket is also a battle for the Conference USA West division championship. If you like offense, this is your game. Pick: Rice

LSU at Arkansas (Friday): These teams play for a trophy that looks like a golden boot, but is really the states of Arkansas and Louisiana on top of each other. Both teams will be glad to end this season. LSU has more talent, though they have struggled of late. Pick: LSU

Notre Dame at USC: Yawn. When Notre Dame loses this game, they’ll be 6-6. What bowl will pick them in spite of that record? Some bowl will, and that game will be ugly. Not as ugly as this will be, though. Pick: SC

Kentucky at Tennessee: Phil Fulmer’s farewell as coach of the Vols. Rocky Top bounced back last week to beat Vanderbilt. Kentucky is bowl eligible, but still hasn’t beaten the Vols in a coon’s age. They won’t win this year, either. Pick: Tennessee

North Carolina at Duke: Blue Devils have won four games this year, and have a chance to spoil the Tar Heels’ season. Carolina was embarrassed last week by rival N.C. State, 41-10. The Heels won’t let that happen two years in a row. Pick: UNC

Vanderbilt at Wake Forest: Both teams are looking for more respect and a better bowl. Vandy has been slipping in the second half of the season, while Wake lost a nail-biter at home last week to Boston College, most likely costing themselves an appearance in the ACC championship game. The Deacons are a little better than Vandy. Pick: Wake Forest

Ugly Uniform of the Day

2008-11-20T17:54:00.003-06:00

Wednesday night, ESPN2 showed a great game between Ball State and Central Michigan. Ball State stayed undefeated with a win over the two-time defending MAC champions.

The Chippewas broke out these never-worn uniforms for this special game on national television. The jerseys are described as "Vegas Gold". My question is: which part of Vegas? This jersey looks like it is straight from one of the not-so-nice casinos in Vegas.

To add insult to injury, or vice versa, Central Michigan lost the game. They sure didn't get any Vegas luck with the Vegas jerseys.

Maroon is a good color for them. They need to stick with it.

NFL Picks, Week 12

2008-11-20T08:24:00.001-06:00

Last Week: 12-3-1
Season: 105-54-1

San Francisco at Dallas: The Fighting Mike Singletarys visit the Stadium With The Hole in the Roof. Dallas saved their season last week in Washington. Marion Barber runs all over the 49ers. Pick: Dallas

Cincinnati at Pittsburgh (Thursday): The Bengals are coming off of a rare tie. They’re still awful. Steelers roll. Pick: Pittsburgh

Houston at Cleveland: This game brought to you by Continental Airlines. The Texans aren’t very good. I’m picking against them until they win. Pick: Cleveland

Buffalo at Kansas City: The Chiefs are getting close, but just aren’t closing the deal. The Bills lost another tight game last week against Cleveland, and are fading. Pick: Kansas City

New England at Miami: A suddenly huge game in the AFC East. The Dolphins have already multiplied last year’s win total by six. Make that seven. Pick: Miami

New York Jets at Tennessee: Big, big game between two first-place teams. Titans remain undefeated for another week. Pick: Tennessee

Philadelphia at Baltimore: Winner gets bragging rights to the huge state of Delaware. Pick: Ravens

Tampa Bay at Detroit: The Lions are going to beat someone, sometime. I don’t know if it’ll be this week, though. Pick: Tampa Bay

Minnesota at Jacksonville: The Jags are one of the season’s biggest disappointments. The Vikings return to Florida after losing last week in Tampa. Pick: Jacksonville

Chicago at St. Louis: The Rams are awful. Bears get a road win. Pick: Chicago

Oakland at Denver: Raiders are absolutely pathetic. Pick: Denver

Carolina at Atlanta: Battle for first place in the NFC South. The Falcons are one of the better stories in the NFL this year. Pick: Atlanta

New York Giants at Arizona: Another battle between two first-place teams. Can the Cardinals win a big game at home? Against my better judgment, yes. Pick: Arizona

Washington at Seattle: The Seahawks have gone to the birds this year. Make that dogs. Pick: Washington

Indianapolis at San Diego: Must-win game for both teams. Both teams have slipped this season, though the Colts have looked better in recent weeks. Chargers come through, at least this week. Pick: San Diego

Green Bay at New Orleans: Whatever the over-under is in this game, take the over. Look for lots of points in this one. Pick: Green Bay

College Picks, Week 13

2008-11-19T19:22:00.002-06:00

Now is the time when all of this starts to get good. Conference championships, bowl bids, national championship game appearances, and pure bragging rights will be decided over the next three weeks. Here is this week’s 20 fearless picks:

Last week: 13-7
Season: 180-60

Texas Tech at Oklahoma: The latest and possibly greatest of a series of gargantuan matchups in the Big 12 South. A Tech win would send them to the Big 12 championship game and a possible trip to the national championship game. An OU win would create a possible three-way tie for the Big 12 South title, sending the team with the highest BCS ranking to Kansas City to play Missouri. OU has lost two, count ‘em, two home games in the 10 years of the Bob Stoops era. Pick: OU

Iowa State at Kansas State: Plenty of good seats are available as the Cyclones and Wildcats battle for the Big 12 North cellar. K-State is in the market for a new coach, as well. Which team will get up for this stinker of a game? Pick: Iowa State

Miami at Georgia Tech (Thursday): The Canes suddenly have control of their own destiny in the ACC Coastal division. Which means, they’ll lose, as all the other teams have done in that league when faced with a similar situation. It is forecast to be cold in Atlanta on Thursday night. Pick: Tech

Michigan at Ohio State: Michigan is having its worst season since Henry Ford started building cars. The Buckeyes are out for blood, and won’t feel sorry for the mediocre Wolverines. This is a no-brainer. Pick: TOSU

Michigan State at Penn State: This is the Big Ten championship game. Penn State goes to the Rose Bowl with a win. Michigan State needs help. The Spartans would most likely be co-champions of the Big Ten with a win, but would lose a tiebreaker to Ohio State. That is, if they don’t get unlikely help from Michigan. The Lions can start booking trips to California. Pick: Penn State

Indiana at Purdue: The only thing on the line in this game is the Old Oaken Bucket. Indiana has been awful this year. Purdue has only been mediocre. Pick: Purdue

N.C. State at North Carolina: This is the ACC, which means anyone can win, and usually does. Carolina is just a little better, and is playing at home. Pick: UNC

Tennessee at Vanderbilt: Tennessee lost to Wyoming. How in the world are they going to beat Vanderbilt in the Commodores’ best season in 25 years? Pick: Vandy

Air Force at TCU: A TCU win gives the Frogs yet another 10 win season. Pick: TCU

Ole Miss at LSU: Ole Miss has improved this year. LSU pulled the biggest comeback in school history last week to beat Troy. Pick: LSU

Boston College at Wake Forest: Huge matchup in the ACC Atlantic division. BC won last week in Tallahassee, where the Deacons also beat Florida State earlier in the year. Can the Eagles win two road games in a row? No. Pick: Wake

Stanford at California: The Big Game. In High School Musical 3, Gabriella accepted an academic scholarship to Stanford. Her boyfriend Troy, on the other hand, accepted a basketball/music scholarship to Cal. Pick: Cal

Illinois at Northwestern: The Illini have been disappointing this season, while the Wildcats have had a great year, and could be playing somewhere on New Year’s Day. Pick: Northwestern

BYU at Utah: The Holy War. BYU can still get a share of the conference title, while Utah can go to a BCS bowl with a win, capping an undefeated season. Pick: Utah

Oregon State at Arizona: Last season, Oregon traveled down to Tucson with a chance for a national championship. They lost. Now, Oregon State goes down to the desert with a chance to go to the Rose Bowl. Tucson is where dreams go to die. Pick: Arizona

Iowa at Minnesota: Two weeks ago, the Gophers lost the Little Brown Jug to Michigan. Last week, the Gophers lost Paul Bunyan’s Axe to Wisconsin. This week, they play Iowa for Floyd of Rosedale, a bronze pig. The pig goes back to Iowa City. Pick: Iowa

Pittsburgh at Cincinnati: The Bearcats are staring a BCS bowl in the face, while coach Brian Kelly is flirting with the Tennessee job. Still, the Bearcats have been impressive this year while rotating quarterbacks due to injury. Pick: Cincy

Florida State at Maryland: The Terps kept their conference title hopes alive last week with a game-winning field goal to beat North Carolina. The Seminoles are still just one of many ACC teams with approximately the same record, a far cry from the decade of the 90’s in Tallahassee. Pick: Maryland

Washington at Washington State: The Apple Cup. This year, it would be more accurately known as the Rotten Apple Cup. U-Dub is 0-10, while Wazzu is 1-10 with only a win over Portland State. Wazzu has allowed less than 50 points to only two Pac-10 opponents. UW hasn't been quite as bad, but the Huskies have only been competitive in one game, a 28-27 loss to BYU. If you want to see some bad football, tune in to Fox Sports Net at 12 PM Pacific. Pick: U-Dub

Yale at Harvard: In the Ivy League, this is simply called, “The Game”. Harvard can win the Ivy League with a win. Pick: Harvard

Learning On The Job...After 10 Years!

2008-11-17T19:14:00.001-06:00

Donovan McNabb is in his 10th year as a quarterback in the National Football League. Until yesterday, he did not know that a regular season game could end in a tie. He learned it the hard way, as the Eagles and Bengals played to a 13-13 tie. In this video clip, he mentions his lack of knowledge of regular season overtime.

Unbelievable!

NFL Picks, Week 11

2008-11-12T20:40:00.001-06:00

Bye weeks are history, and every team is playing every week from now until the end of the season. Here are 16 big ones:

Dallas at Washington: The Cowboys come off a much-needed bye week, but are thrown directly into the fire as they travel to D.C. to play the Redskins. Washington shocked the Cowboys in Irving in September. Dallas gets QB Tony Romo back from injury. Or, they hope so. Pick: Dallas

New England at New York Jets: The NFL Network gets a great matchup for Thursday night. Both teams are 6-3. This is where the Jets’ acquisition of Brett Favre pays off. Pick: Jets

New Orleans at Kansas City: Yuck. The Chiefs are improving, but don’t have anything to show for it in the win column, especially after losing a heartbreaker last week in San Diego. RB Larry Johnson returns this week after sitting out due to a plethora of personal issues. Chiefs get win #2 this week. Pick: KC

Philadelphia at Cincinnati: The Bengals are awful. Enough said. Pick: Philly

Baltimore at NY Giants: The Ravens will see how they stack up against a good team. The Giants keep rolling on. Pick: Giants

Minnesota at Tampa Bay: Both of these teams are bad on the road and good at home. The Bucs are at home. Pick: Tampa Bay

Chicago at Green Bay: Both teams are fighting for a playoff spot from the NFC North. This matchup is pretty even, so give the edge to the home team. Pick: Packers

Oakland at Miami: Senile owner Al Davis took play-calling responsibilities away from offensive coordinator Greg Knapp this week. Is Al going to call plays himself? Will the Raiders make the trip to South Florida? Pick: Miami

Detroit at Carolina: Daunte Culpepper makes his first start for the Lions. The Panthers are a good team. This might be ugly, but the Panthers will win. Pick: Carolina

Denver at Atlanta: Look out for the Falcons. They’re for real. Pick: Atlanta

Houston at Indianapolis: Last time these teams met, the Texans blew an 18 point lead in the last six minutes of the game. Indy is a lot better now. Pick: Colts

Arizona at Seattle: The Cardinals won a wild one on Monday night, and now travel to the Great Northwest. The Cardinals can’t let success go to their head. Pick: Arizona

St. Louis at San Francisco: The Suck Bowl. Both teams are bad. The Rams gave up 47 to the Jets last week, and it could have been worse. San Francisco should have won Monday night in Arizona. They win this week. Pick: 49ers

San Diego at Pittsburgh: The Chargers are underachieving in a big way. They now have to go to Pittsburgh, where the Steelers were upset last week by the Colts. Pittsburgh bounces back. Pick: Pittsburgh

Tennessee at Jacksonville: Titans roll on. Pick: Tennessee

Cleveland at Buffalo: Bragging rights to Erie, Pennsylvania are on the line here. Shoot, bragging rights to all of Lake Erie are on the line in this game. Pick: Buffalo

College Picks, Week 12

2008-11-12T20:10:00.001-06:00

Last Week: 16-4
Season: 167-43

This week is a relative breather in college football, as we await the next titanic Big 12 South matchup between Oklahoma and Texas Tech. This week’s picks:

Texas at Kansas: The last time Texas visited Larryville, the Longhorns needed some last-minute heroics from Vince Young and some questionable officiating to win. After the game, KU coach Mark Mangino accused the Big 12 officials of conspiring to allow Texas to win in order to keep their national championship hopes and Big 12 payday alive. KU lost last week to Nebraska, and probably won’t be able to keep up with the Horns. Pick: UT

Oklahoma State at Colorado: Saturday Night Football moves this week to Boulder, where OSU will be looking to rebound from the butt-kicking they took last week in Lubbock. CU will be jacked for this one, but the Buffs aren’t as good as OSU. Pick: OSU

Nebraska at Kansas State: Two teams headed in opposite directions. The Huskers are trying to squeeze out a bowl bid in Bo Pelini’s first year. K-State is playing out the string as the Ron Prince era comes to an end. Pick: Nebraska

Texas A&M at Baylor: The Suck Bowl. The two Big 12 South teams that are unranked and headed nowhere. Both teams will be glad to play someone the other can beat. Pick: Baylor

Missouri at Iowa State: Missouri dominates the Big 12 North. Pick: Mizzou

Virginia Tech at Miami (Thursday): ESPN is showing some good games on Thursday nights. This is another one of them. Tech is coming around, evidenced by their convincing win over Maryland last week. Miami is no pushover, but VT is better. Pick: Tech

Cincinnati at Louisville (Friday): Winner gets a barge on the Ohio River. Cincinnati can win out and go to a BCS bowl. The Bearcats should be able to win this one against a rival on the road. Pick: Cincy

Notre Dame vs. Navy at Baltimore: Last year, Navy finally beat the Irish in triple overtime, winning this game for the first time since Roger Staubach was their quarterback. Can they make it two in a row? Yes. Pick: Navy

Ohio State at Illinois: The Buckeyes can still win the Big Ten, but they need some more help. Meanwhile, they should get revenge for last year’s loss in Columbus. Pick: TOSU

Georgia at Auburn: Yes, that was Auburn that was tied with Tennessee-Martin in the third quarter last week. The Tigers went on to beat UTM 37-20, but looked awful doing it. Georgia is trying to salvage a season in which they were ranked #1 in pre-season. Pick: Georgia

South Carolina at Florida: Steve Spurrier returns to the Swamp once again. The Gators, however, are on a mission in the second half of the season, and are destroying all comers. How did this team ever lose to Ole Miss? Pick: Gators

California at Oregon State: The Beavers are in control of their own destiny. All they need to do is win out, and they are going to Pasadena for the Rose Bowl. They win this one. Pick: OSU-West

Minnesota at Wisconsin: The Gophers are slipping back to becoming the same old Gophers, after winning 7 of their first 8 games. Wiscy has been injury-plagued and inconsistent. This one is in Madison, so go with the home team. Pick: Badgers

North Carolina at Maryland: The Tar Heels are one of the better teams in a balanced ACC. But, they’re not that much better than Maryland. The Terps come through at home. Fear the turtle. Pick: Maryland

Boston College at Florida State: In Massachusetts, BC is a well-respected university. In the South, BC is a headache powder. It’ll be a tough trip to Tallahassee for the Eagles. Pick: FSU

Vanderbilt at Kentucky: Two teams headed in opposite directions. Pick: Kentucky

BYU at Air Force: The two best teams in the Mountain West conference not named Utah or TCU. Pick: BYU

Northwestern at Michigan: Northwestern is having a better season than Michigan. But, this is in the Big House, and the Wolverines haven’t given up on the season just yet. Pick: Michigan

Tulsa at Houston: The Hurricane have been rolling through Conference USA. The Cougars should make it tough for Tulsa, but TU is playing too well this season. Pick: Tulsa

DePauw at Wabash: The 115th Battle for the Monon Bell. Both teams are good this year, but Wabash is undefeated and ranked #3 in the nation in Division III. Pick: Wabash

NFL Picks, Week 10

2008-11-07T19:27:00.001-06:00

Last Week: 8-6
Season: 83-46

So glad the Cowboys have a bye this week…so is Tony Romo’s pinky.

Denver at Cleveland: I totally didn’t realize that the Thursday night NFL Network games started this week. That is, until after this game started. In the interest of honesty, I would have picked Cleveland. Denver won the game. That’s minus 1 for the week. Pick: Cleveland

New Orleans at Atlanta: The Falcons are this year’s surprise team. The surprise continues. Pick: Atlanta

Tennessee at Chicago: The Titans have been the best team in the league for the first half of the year. The Bears are back to starting Rex Grossman at quarterback. Pick: Tennessee

Jacksonville at Detroit: The Lions have been competitive recently, but still haven’t won a game. Enter Daunte Culpepper, signed off the street in mid-season to a two-year contract to play quarterback for this facsimile of a team. Good luck with all that. Pick: Jacksonville

Baltimore at Houston: The Texans play a pretty good team this week. That doesn’t bode well for the guys down on Loop 610. Pick: Baltimore

Seattle at Miami: The Seahawks make the longest possible road trip in the NFL. The Emerald City is closer to Russia than it is to Miami, or so it seems. At least you can’t see Russia from Seattle. West Coast to East Coast=loss, especially with a team still missing their quarterback. Pick: Miami

Green Bay at Minnesota: The ultimate dead-even matchup, with both teams at .500. The Vikings are at home, indoors. Pick: Minnesota

Buffalo at New England: Very important game in a suddenly competitive AFC East. This game has ugly written all over it. The margin won’t be ugly, but there’ll be lots of ball control in this one. Pick: Pats

St. Louis at New York Jets: The Rams have improved from their awful start, but still aren’t that good. Jets are in the middle of that scrum in the AFC East. Pick: Jets

Carolina at Oakland: Yuck. It’s nasty any time the Raiders play, and it was never worse than that piece of dung they laid last week against the Falcons. Al Davis needs to sell the team, fast. Pick: Carolina

Indianapolis at Pittsburgh: Colts are beginning to show a pulse, but they’ll need more than that to handle the Steelers. Pick: Pittsburgh

Kansas City at San Diego: Chiefs blew a big lead last week against the Bucs, but appear to have found a quarterback in Tyler Thigpen. Chargers are good enough to beat anybody when they feel like it. Problem is, they haven’t felt like it much this season. It comes together for the Bolts this week. Pick: San Diego

New York Giants at Philadelphia: It doesn’t get much better than an NFC East game on a chilly November night on the East coast. Winner gets bragging rights to a service area of their choice on the New Jersey Turnpike. Pick: Iggles

San Francisco at Arizona: Dud of a Monday night matchup. The 49ers aren’t very good, but Mike Singletary is good for a halftime speech or a post-game press conference. Cardinals are coming into their own, especially at home, and especially with Kurt Warner at quarterback. Pick: Arizona

College Picks, Week 11

2008-11-06T17:34:00.003-06:00

Last Week: 16-4
Season: 151-39

Another set of picks, just in the nick of time before Thursday night’s games…

Oklahoma at Texas A&M: Aggies are riding high after winning two in a row. Sooners are still on a redemption tour. No one has come close to them except Texas. Look for more of the same here. Pick: OU

Oklahoma State at Texas Tech: The next in a series of titanic Big 12 South matchups. ABC’s cameras return to Lubbock for the second Saturday night in a row. Tech finds themselves ranked #2 in the latest BCS rankings. This will be yet another Big 12 game where offense will rule and defenses will be outmatched. Pick: Tech

Baylor at Texas: The Bears are improving, but will be no match for the Longhorns. Pick: UT

Iowa State at Colorado: Battle for last place in the Big 12 North. Colorado is a better team, especially at home. Pick: CU

Kansas at Nebraska: The Huskers have some problems, but get the Jayhawks at home. The last time these teams met, KU broke 70. They won’t score that many points this time, but they should be good enough to win in Lincoln. Pick: KU

Kansas State at Missouri: Kansas State fired coach Ron Prince this week, meaning there wasn’t enough Purple Reign in Manhattan. K-State would really like to win like it was 1999. The Wildcats now travel to Columbia, where Mizzou takes no prisoners. Pick: Missouri

TCU at Utah (Thursday): This game has Mountain West and BCS implications. A TCU win gives them at least a share of the conference title and a shot at a BCS bowl. A Utah win keeps the Utes’ unbeaten season alive, and keeps them in prime contention for the BCS. As much as I’d like to see the Frogs win, the Utes are at home on a Thursday night. Pick: Utah

Maryland at Virginia Tech (Thursday): The ACC is nothing if not balanced. Maryland is the only team left in the conference with less than 2 losses. That will change Thursday night. It’s hard to win in Blacksburg on a Thursday night. Pick: VT

Alabama at LSU: Nick Saban returns to Baton Rouge, home of the national championship trophy he won with the Tigers in 2003. Tiger fans will be waiting for him, loud and drunk. Bama is now #1 in the nation, but not for long. Pick: LSU

Michigan at Minnesota: This battle for the Little Brown Jug will be nothing if not interesting. Michigan comes into this game at 2-7 and headed nowhere. Minnesota is 6-2 and coming off a heartbreaking loss at home to Northwestern, in which the Wildcats returned an interception for a touchdown in the closing seconds of the game for the game-winner. Can the Gophers recover? Good question. Pick: Michigan

Ohio State at Northwestern: This will not be a pushover for the Buckeyes. Still, TOSU should have enough to win. Pick: TOSU

Penn State at Iowa: Lions are three wins away from an undefeated season, while rooting for Alabama and Texas Tech to lose. This won’t be an easy road trip, but these guys won in Columbus. Of course they’ll win in Iowa City. Pick: Penn State

Clemson at Florida State: This was scheduled to be another Bowden Bowl, but Clemson fired Tommy Bowden last month. Seminoles fumbled a win away in the final minute at Georgia Tech last week. Still, these Seminoles are better than they have been in recent years. Pick: FSU

Oregon State at UCLA: Beavers can still win the Pac-10 if they win out. They’ll outscore the Bruins this week. Pick: OSU-West

California at USC: The Bears should be able to hang with USC. They won’t win, though. Pick: SC

Notre Dame at Boston College: Who does the Pope root for? Or, does he care about American football? The Irish return to Boston for a tough matchup with a feisty Eagles team. Pick: BC

Florida at Vanderbilt: Vandy is looking to make some more noise and to become eligible for its first bowl since the Reagan administration. Gators beat Georgia like a drum last week. Nashville will be rocking Saturday night. However, Florida is better. Pick: UF

Stanford at Oregon: Quack, quack, quack. Pick: Oregon

Wyoming at Tennessee: The Vols put coach Philip Fulmer out to pasture this week. Fulmer only won 75 percent of his games and a national championship as head man of the Vols. But, it’s “what have you done lately?”, and the Vols aren’t doing much these days. Wyoming will be a much weaker opponent than what Tennessee is finding in the SEC. Pick: Vols

Fordham at Holy Cross: Once again, who does the Pope root for? Holy Cross, Batman! Pick: Crusaders

NFL Picks, Week 9

2008-11-01T17:19:00.002-05:00

Last Week: 9-5
Season: 75-40

Dallas at New York Giants: The Cowboys, in spite of all their issues, out-uglied the Bucs last week. They now have one more game without the injured Tony Romo before their bye week. Problem is, it’s on the road against the best team in the league. The Cowboys desperately need a win, or else they’re looking at a wildcard playoff spot at best. Tough spot for the ‘Boys. I picked them last week against my better judgment, and they won. I’ll stick with that for another week. Pick: Dallas

New York Jets at Buffalo: The Bills dropped down to earth a bit with a loss to the Dolphins, making the AFC East wide open. Don’t look for that to happen two weeks in a row. Pick: Buffalo

Jacksonville at Cincinnati: The Jags have been disappointing this season. But, they haven’t played a team as bad as the Bengals. Pick: Jaguars

Baltimore at Cleveland: The Browns are struggling to get out of their funk, but did get a big win last week at Jacksonville. You never know which Ravens team will show up. Pick: Cleveland

Houston at Minnesota: The Texans are once again respectable, aided by home wins over the two worst teams in the league. They now take their show on the road to meet an underachieving Vikings team. Pick: Vikes

Detroit at Chicago: Mismatch. Pick: Chicago

Tampa Bay at Kansas City: The sad-sack Chiefs were competitive in a loss last week to the Jets. The Bucs were ugly in a loss to the Cowboys. The Chiefs are a lot worse than the Cowboys. Pick: Tampa Bay

Arizona at St. Louis: The Cardinals return to St. Louis, where the Rams have bounced back under interim coach Jim Haslett. The Cardinals are an awful road team. Pick: St. Louis

Green Bay at Tennessee: The league’s best team in the first half of the year resides in Nashville. Pick: Titans

Miami at Denver: The Dolphins have improved a ton over the season, and face an injury-riddled Denver team. Still, this is a home game for the Broncos. Pick: Denver

Philadelphia at Seattle: An East Coast team makes the toughest road trip in the NFL to the Pacific Northwest. However, the Seahawks are not as good as they have been in the past, especially with QB Matt Hasselbeck still out due to injury. Pick: Philly

Atlanta at Oakland: Yuck. The Falcons have been a pleasant surprise this year. They’ll get a road win in the Black Hole. Pick: Atlanta

New England at Indianapolis: This was once a matchup for the ages. Now, both teams have seen better days, especially the Colts. Pick: New England

Pittsburgh at Washington: The Redskins get a home game on Election Eve. D.C. will be hopping, especially because their team will get a win on Monday night. Pick: Redskins

Bonus Pick: John McCain vs. Barack Obama: Obama has had the flash and dash, and the air game and media love to match. McCain has been vastly outspent, but has a ground game flying under the radar to pull the upset. Ground will beat air in this one. Look for a surprise in Pennsylvania. And, as Pennsylvania goes, so goes the nation. Pick: McCain

College Picks, Week 10

2008-10-30T19:19:00.001-05:00

Last Week: 15-5
Season: 135-35

Nebraska at Oklahoma: This was once one of the biggest games of the year, every year. Now, it’s just another Big 12 North-South game played twice every four years. Nebraska is showing signs of improvement under Bo Pelini. However, they’re no match for the Sooners in Norman. Pick: OU

Texas at Texas Tech: The biggest game in the history of Texas Tech. It’s always a big game when the Longhorns visit Lubbock, but it’s never like this. UT is undefeated and ranked #1 in the nation. Tech is also undefeated and ranked #7 in the BCS. Like most games in the Big 12 this season, there will be lots of points in this one. With all the passing, this game will take all night, so all those Saturday night anchors at ABC stations around the country will just have to wait to do their local news. Tech is really good, but Texas is better. Yuck. Pick: Texas

Iowa State at Oklahoma State: ISU is just in over their heads this season. OSU lost a close game last week in Austin. This one shouldn’t be close. Pick: OSU

Kansas State at Kansas: Both teams got their heads handed to them last week, though K-State was a little more respectable last week against OU. KU royally stunk last week against Tech, but is a little better than K-State, especially in Larryville. Pick: KU

Missouri at Baylor: The Tigers are on a redemption tour of their own, and hung half a hundred on Colorado last week while holding the Buffs scoreless. Baylor led Nebraska in the third quarter before losing to the Huskers last week. Mizzou is still a lot better than Baylor. Pick: Mizzou

Colorado at Texas A&M: Both teams need a win in the worst way. The Aggies got their first conference win last week against Iowa State. Make that two in a row for the Ags. Pick: A&M

Florida vs. Georgia at Jacksonville: The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party takes place once again on the banks of the St. Johns River. This is also, for all intents and purposes, the SEC East Division Championship Game. Both teams have scored some big wins. Both teams have an unexplainable loss: Florida to Ole Miss, and Georgia being whipped by Alabama. The Gators have revenge on their minds. Pick: Florida

Tulsa at Arkansas: This was once an annual trip to Fayetteville for the Golden Hurricane. TU is undefeated, ranked 18th in the nation, and leads the nation in scoring and total offense. TU broke a contract with Texas Tech to play this game, which happens to be in the Hogs’ worst season in years. The Hogs are improving, but not up to their fans’ standards. Still, there’s a big difference between Conference USA and the SEC. Pick: Arkansas

TCU at UNLV: Viva Las Vegas. Pick: TCU

Florida State at Georgia Tech: Don’t look now, but the Seminoles are 6-1. They go to Atlanta to face the triple option offense of the Ramblin’ Wreck. Pick: FSU

Oregon at Cal: Ok, which team is going to wear the loud yellow uniforms? Pick: Cal

West Virginia at Connecticut: This is bizarro world: UConn is ranked, and West Virginia is not. That won’t last long. Pick: WVU

Michigan at Purdue: The Wolverines have to win out to have a winning season. That is unlikely. Pick: Purdue

Wisconsin at Michigan State: Spartans are a top-level Big Ten team, and look to finish third behind Penn State and Ohio State. Pick: MSU

Northwestern at Minnesota: Minnesota is also making a run toward the top of the Big Ten, as is Northwestern. This should feature lots of offense. Pick: Minnesota

Temple at Navy: John McCain’s alma mater should get a relatively easy win. Pick: Navy

Miami at Virginia: What once looked like a bad Virginia team is now leading their division in the ACC. What a difference a few weeks make. Pick: Virginia

Pittsburgh at Notre Dame: The Panthers have been hard to beat this year. The Irish are improved, but not national championship caliber. Pick: Pittsburgh

Iowa at Illinois: A team that begins with I will win this game. Pick: Illinois

Occidental at California Lutheran: Occidental is one of Barack Obama’s alma maters, and is undefeated on the season. Oxy and Cal Lutheran are playing for the lead in their conference. Pick: Occidental

NFL Picks: Week 8

2008-10-25T22:50:00.001-05:00

Last week: 11-3
Season: 66-35

Tampa Bay at Dallas: The quickly imploding Cowboys face a solid Bucs team. Tony Romo will still be out for the Cowboys. Is there a quarterback somewhere out there named Roy Williams? There are two other Cowboys with that name. Against my better judgment, I’m picking the Silver and Blue. Pick: Dallas

San Diego vs. New Orleans at London: The second annual game across the pond is a good matchup between two high-powered offenses. Pick: San Diego

Oakland at Baltimore: The Raiders scored a rare win last week in overtime against the Jets. The Ravens also won last week in Miami. The Ravens are more capable of winning two games in a row. Plus, the Raiders are a West Coast team traveling to the East Coast. Never trust a West Coast team crossing the country unless they’re really good. The Raiders aren’t good. Pick: Baltimore

Arizona at Carolina: The Cardinals are a good team at home. On the road, they’re wildly unpredictable. Once again, it’s a Western team going east. Pick: Carolina

Washington at Detroit: The Lions are pathetic. Enough said. Pick: Washington

Buffalo at Miami: Two AFC East teams waking up from the dead. The Bills are the real deal. Pick: Buffalo

St. Louis at New England: The Rams have gotten two wins in a row after making a coaching change. That streak ends here. Pick: New England

Kansas City at NY Jets: The Chiefs are absolutely awful, and are now missing RB Larry Johnson. The Jets shouldn’t have much problem here. Pick: Jets

Atlanta at Philadelphia: Falcons have been one of the big surprises in the league in the first half of the season. Eagles have been up and down, but are tough to beat at home. Pick: Philly

Cincinnati at Houston: Bengals are a bad team. Therefore, I won’t pick them until they win a game. That won’t happen this week, as the Texans will get win #3. Pick: Houston

Cleveland at Jacksonville: Jaguars should be able to handle an inconsistent Browns team. Pick: Jacksonville

New York Giants at Pittsburgh: Game of the week. Steelers keep finding ways to win, no matter who is carrying the ball out of the backfield. Pick: Pittsburgh

Seattle at San Francisco: Yuck. This game is a real stinker. Pick: San Francisco

Indianapolis at Tennessee: The mighty Colts visit Music City to face the undefeated Titans on Monday night. The Colts just aren’t what they used to be. The Titans remain undefeated. Pick: Titans

College Picks, Week 9

2008-10-23T16:47:00.001-05:00

This week features a virtual national championship playoff game in the Big Ten and some wild skirmishes in the Big 12.

Last week: 15-5
Season: 120-40

Oklahoma at Kansas State: Sooners continue their redemption tour in Manhattan, Kansas. The Wildcats just can’t keep up with the high-powered offenses in the Big 12. Pick: OU

Oklahoma State at Texas: Battle of unbeatens in Austin. In four of the last six years, OSU has led at halftime, sometimes convincingly, before losing to the Longhorns every time. Look for lots of points here, with Texas scoring more. Pick: UT

Texas Tech at Kansas: Toughest test of the season thus far for the Raiders. Jayhawks were outscored last week in Norman by OU, 45-31. Flip a coin here. When in doubt, go with the home team. Pick: KU

Colorado at Missouri: Missouri is more like Misery right now, after two consecutive losses to Big 12 South opponents. Buffs won last week against K-State, but Missouri is still better than Kansas State. Tigers bounce back. Pick: Mizzou

Baylor at Nebraska: Huskers should be able to win this one, but Baylor won’t make it easy. Pick: Nebraska

Texas A&M at Iowa State: Two teams battling for Big 12 mediocrity. Pick: Iowa State

Auburn at West Virginia (Thursday): At the beginning of the season, many thought this game might have national championship and BCS implications. How things have changed! West Virginia lost two games early, while Auburn has fallen apart in SEC play. I don’t know if this game will be worthy of a couch-burning, but the Mountaineers should defend their home turf. Pick: WVU

Penn State at Ohio State: Joe Paterno is 174 years old, and has his best chance for his last national championship with the Lions, as they come in undefeated. The Big Horseshoe on the Banks of the Olentangy will be rocking, as the Buckeyes still own the Big Ten. Pick: TOSU

Alabama at Tennessee: This game is supposed to be on the Third Saturday in October, but someone at the SEC office had other ideas this year. That just postponed another loss for the mediocre Volunteers. The Tide remain undefeated for another week. Pick: Alabama

Boston College at North Carolina: The ACC may not have a great team, but they have a lot of decent teams. These are two of them. Pick: UNC

Illinois at Wisconsin: This game once had Rose Bowl implications. Now, it is a battle between disappointing teams. Pick: Wiscy

Wake Forest at Miami: Wake got blasted last week at Maryland. The Canes are a shadow of their former selves. Pick: Miami

Georgia at LSU: Another titanic showdown in the SEC, where there is a Super Bowl just about every week. Tigers got a good come-from-behind win last week at South Carolina, and are home. Pick: LSU

UCLA at Cal: The University of California will win this game. The question is: which one? Pick: Berkeley

Michigan State at Michigan: Spartans were on a roll until last week when they were ripped by Ohio State. This week, they face the reeling and rebuilding Wolverines. Michigan is very mediocre this season, but ought to be able to beat their in-state rival. That would really chap some people in East Lansing, in this, the Wolverines’ worst season in the last 50 years. Pick: Michigan

Virginia Tech at Florida State: Two ACC powers struggling to move past the pack in this balanced conference. The Seminoles are getting better every week. Pick: FSU

Wyoming at TCU: Wyoming? Please. Pick: TCU

Notre Dame at Washington: Huskies are on the way to a possible winless season as they continue the Tyrone Willingham Death March. Pick: Irish

USC at Arizona: Trojans continue their march through the Pac-10 with a trip to the desert. Pick: SC

Slippery Rock at California (Pa.): The Rock has a tough test in the Hotel California. The one in Pennsylvania, that is. Pick: California

As the BCS Turns

2008-10-19T22:25:00.004-05:00

The first installment of Bowl Championship Series rankings came out on Sunday. As expected, Texas is on top of the rankings.

1 Texas
2 Alabama
3 Penn State
4 Oklahoma
5 USC
6 Oklahoma State
7 Georgia
8 Texas Tech
9 Ohio State
10 Florida
11 Utah
12 Boise State
13 LSU
14 TCU
15 Missouri
16 South Florida
17 Pittsburgh
18 Georgia Tech
19 Tulsa
20 Ball State
21 BYU
22 Northwestern
23 Kansas
24 Minnesota
25 Florida State

Some more observations:

• There is a good chance that at least one BCS conference team will go undefeated. Texas has at least two games left that they could lose: at home against Oklahoma State, and at Texas Tech. They stand a good chance of winning both of those, however. Alabama is undefeated, but still has SEC West battles against LSU and a weakened Auburn team. Penn State has a titanic road trip this week at Ohio State, but should be able to win the remaining games thereafter. At least one of these three teams will probably be in the national championship game, barring a collapse.

• The Big 12 South continues to have a murderers’ row, with four teams in the top 8: #1 Texas, #4 Oklahoma, #6 Oklahoma State, and #8 Texas Tech. OSU must visit Austin this week to play Texas. Tech must still play all three of the other Big 12 South powers. OU has a home game with Tech and a dangerous road trip to Stillwater to play OSU. With just a tiny bit of help, the stage is set for an OU-Texas rematch in the national championship game. Right now, the BCS computers like all of these teams. It is impressive that OU has a loss and is still ranked #4.

• Penn State plays Ohio State in Columbus on Saturday night in what may as well be the Big Ten championship game. No other team in this conference can touch either of those teams. Michigan thought they had something going when they led Penn State 17-7 in the third quarter. Penn State broke out the hammer, crushed the Wolverines, and won 46-17.

• USC is dominating the Pac-10 after an inexplicable brain fart on a Thursday night at Oregon State. It would be a huge upset if they lost to another Pac-10 team.

• There is a very good chance that a non-BCS conference team will make it to a BCS bowl for the third year in a row. For this to happen, one of these teams must finish in the top 12 of the BCS standings, or in the top 16 and ahead of the champion of a BCS-qualifying conference (such as the ACC or Big East). Currently, Utah and Boise State are undefeated and ranked 11th and 12th, respectively. Lurking at #14 is TCU, with one loss. It would be very interesting if TCU could qualify for a BCS bowl with a loss, provided they win at Utah. Boise State, however, has a very good chance to finish undefeated. Also in the rankings are undefeated Tulsa at #19 and undefeated Ball State at #20. Only one of these teams can make a BCS bowl, per the rules of the system.

That's all for now...

NFL Picks: Week 7

2008-10-18T21:56:00.001-05:00

Some NFL picks while feeling grateful that I am not a fan of Washington State, who gave up over 60 points in a game to their fourth Pac-10 opponent today….

Last week: 8-6
Overall: 55-32

Dallas at St. Louis: The Cowboys enter this game with a new Roy Williams and a new quarterback, 40 year-old Brad Johnson. Rumor is that Jerry Jones is looking to buy an NBA franchise so he can hire Roy Williams from North Carolina to coach it. You can never have enough guys named Roy Williams. The Rams shocked the world with a win last week in Washington, their first of the season. Cowboys take care of business this week. Pick: Dallas

San Diego at Buffalo: This has the makings of a good game. The Chargers are bouncing back, while Buffalo suffered their first loss last week. Strange things happen when a West Coast team goes East. Pick: Buffalo

New Orleans at Carolina: Roll the dice, and may the highest total win. Who knows what to expect from either of these teams? Pick: Carolina

Minnesota at Chicago: Important game in the NFC North. Pick: Chicago

Pittsburgh at Cincinnati: The Bengals have shown signs of life lately, but haven’t gotten into the win column yet. They won’t win this week, either. Pick: Pittsburgh

Tennessee at Kansas City: Who would have thought that the Titans would be the last undefeated team remaining? They’ll stay unbeaten this week. Pick: Tennessee

Baltimore at Miami: This is another unpredictable game. The Dolphins lost on the last play last week in Houston. They should be strong enough to win at home. Pick: Miami

San Francisco at New York Giants: The Giants had a game scheduled last Monday night in Cleveland. They didn’t show up. Someone wearing their uniforms did, and the Giants got kicked. Giants bounce back this week. Pick: Giants

Detroit at Houston: The Texans got their first win last week, and now face the worst team in the league in the Lions. Pick: Houston

Indianapolis at Green Bay: The Packers went out to Seattle with a banged-up quarterback and got a win last week. The Colts looked like the Colts of old last week as they thrashed the Ravens. Can they still win a big road game? Good question. Pick: Green Bay

New York Jets at Oakland: Yuck. Rematch of the Heidi game from 1969. These players weren’t born then, with the exception of Brett Favre. Favre slings it for a bunch of yards against an awful team. Pick: Jets

Cleveland at Washington: Browns showed a pulse last week as they thumped the Giants. Now, they travel to D.C. to play the Redskins, surprise losers last week to St. Louis. I don’t trust Cleveland. Pick: Washington

Seattle at Tampa Bay: The Sunday Night extravaganza visits Tampa as the beaten-up Seahawks come to town. Pick: Tampa Bay

Denver at New England: ESPN gets a good one for Monday night. Pick: Pats

College Picks, Week 8

2008-10-16T10:02:00.001-05:00

Last Week: 13-7
Season: 105-35

The wheat is being separated from the chaff in another wild college football season. This season is still very fluid. It remains to be seen if a team can win a national championship with two losses, as LSU did last season. The only thing guaranteed in college football is chaos. Now, on with the picks...

Kansas at Oklahoma: The Fighting Manginos are solid once again this season, but are not quite as good as they were last year. OU is mad, very mad, after last week’s debacle in Dallas. Pick: OU

Missouri at Texas: What was once a potential meeting of top 5 teams is now a do-or-die game for Mizzou. The Longhorns are flying high after a dominant 2nd half against OU. Look for plenty of points here. Pick: Texas

Baylor at Oklahoma State: The last thing the Bears needed was another juggernaut in the South division. OSU is coming off the biggest win in school history last week at then 3rd-ranked Missouri. Cowboys should be on letdown alert here, but should still win. Pick: OSU

Texas Tech at Texas A&M: This is the worst A&M team since before Jackie Sherrill arrived in Aggieland a quarter-century ago. Tech barely escaped last week with an overtime win over Nebraska. Pick: Tech

Nebraska at Iowa State: Iowa State has a long way to go to be competitive in this conference, proven by last week’s shellacking at the hands of Baylor. The Huskers nearly pulled an upset last week in Lubbock. Pick: Nebraska

Kansas State at Colorado: Buffs have come way down to earth after hitting Big 12 play. Wildcats got a conference win at Texas A&M last week. Winner has chance to go to a bowl game. Pick: Colorado

BYU at TCU (Thursday): One of two games that BYU has a chance to lose. Pick: TCU

Ole Miss at Alabama: Bama was idle last week and was passed by Texas for the top spot in the polls. Which Ole Miss team shows up? The one that beat Florida in the Swamp? Or, the one that lost at home to South Carolina? Bama wins a close one at home. Pick: Alabama

Ohio State at Michigan State: Big, big game in the Big Ten. Winner has inside track to the Rose Bowl. MSU can really put themselves on the map with a win. But, TOSU has played big games before, especially in the Big Ten. Pick: TOSU

Georgia Tech at Clemson: What was once supposed to be a national championship-caliber season for Clemson has deteriorated into a mid-season coach firing. Now, they must face the Ramblin’ Wreck of Georgia Tech. Tigers come up big under interim coach. Pick: Clemson

Purdue at Northwestern: Wildcats suffered their first loss last week. They should be able to bounce back against the Boilermakers. Pick: Northwestern

Florida State at NC State (Thursday): Don’t look now, but the Seminoles are on the way back. They’re not national championship caliber just yet, but they should be able to contend for an ACC title. Pick: FSU

Hawaii at Boise State (Friday): Battle of the last two BCS crashers. This season, Boise State is one of ten undefeated teams remaining. Hawaii is in a serious rebuilding phase. Pick: Boise State

LSU at South Carolina: The Gamecocks can redeem themselves here with a win. The Tigers are hurting after being slaughtered last week in the Swamp. The Tigers have more talent. Pick: LSU

Virginia Tech at Boston College: Tech needs this one to stay on top of the ACC. Eagles have given the Hokies fits over the years in both the Big East and ACC. Pick: VT

California at Arizona: Big game for bowl positioning in the Pac-10. Weird things happen in late night games in the desert. Pick: Arizona

Michigan at Penn State: A long season for the Wolverines got longer last week with a loss to Holy Toledo. Penn State is cruising through an undefeated season. Pick: Penn State

Miami at Duke: The last time Miami visited Duke in 2006, a Duke team that went winless that year nearly beat the Canes. Duke is a lot better this season. Pick: Duke

Wake Forest at Maryland: Anything can happen in the ACC, and usually does. Pick: Wake Forest

Hofstra at Maine: Hofstra is now better known as the host of Wednesday night’s presidential debate. Their football team isn’t that bad, either. Pick: Hofstra

The South Is Where It's At

2008-10-12T18:25:00.002-05:00

At the halfway point of the college football season, we find:

• There are ten undefeated teams remaining in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
• Five of those teams are in BCS conferences.
• Three of them are in the Big 12 South division: Texas, Texas Tech, and Oklahoma State.
• Oklahoma only fell to #4 in the latest AP writers’ poll. However, they have the worst record in the state. Oklahoma State and Tulsa remain undefeated.
• It’s early, but OU is not only #4 in the nation, but #4 in the South division standings after two weeks of conference play.
• The Big 12 South Division contains four of the top eight teams in this week’s poll: #1 Texas, #4 OU, #7 Texas Tech, and #8 OSU.

This is an incredible geographical concentration of football excellence. Oklahoma State joined this dogpile with an upset at previously third-ranked Missouri, 28-23.

Poor Baylor. The Bears have to play all these teams. Likewise for Texas A&M. However, if there was ever a year for A&M to stink, this is it, as they would have a hard time with these teams regardless.

Missouri and Kansas this week must fight for the honor of the North division in trips to Texas and OU, respectively. The rest of the North division looks relatively weak, though Nebraska nearly shocked Texas Tech in Lubbock on Saturday.

These teams should do a good job of knocking each other off in the last two months of the season, keeping one out of the BCS national championship game. The team with the best shot of appearing in Miami appears to be Penn State. The Nittany Lions are undefeated and are the best team in a weak Big Ten conference. Who will play them? Who knows. Alabama is strong and still undefeated, but must finish their SEC schedule. If USC can keep from farting around in the Pac-10, they have a good chance to get back to that #2 spot. Or, if a team survives the Big 12 with only one loss, they have a chance to be in Miami as well. In that case, Texas is in the driver’s seat.

The only guaranteed thing remaining in this college football season is change. Stay tuned.

NFL Picks, Week 6

2008-10-11T22:03:00.001-05:00

Some picks while digesting OU’s loss to Texas. It could be worse. I could be a Michigan fan today.

Last week: 8-5
Season: 47-26

Dallas at Arizona: This was once practically a home game for the Cowboys in the desert. The Cardinals are now competitive, though, and are showing signs of being a respectable franchise. Kurt Warner and his receiving corps are very dangerous. Tony Romo really, really needs to quit throwing interceptions. And, Adam Jones needs to realize that those bodyguards are there to protect his career and livelihood. Still, the Cowboys are just a hair better. Pick: Dallas

Chicago at Atlanta: It wasn’t that long ago that the Falcons’ fortunes were lost in an illicit pseudo-dog kennel in Virginia. Now, the Falcons are riding the arm of Matt Ryan and legs of Michael Turner to some success. The Bears are better than their record indicates. Pick: Chicago

Miami at Houston: The Texans are snake-bitten. Never was it more apparent than last week when they blew a 27-10 lead in the last four minutes of the game to lose to the Colts. Now, the resurgent Dolphins come to town. The Dolphins are trusting in Big Bill, with Tony Sparano as the front man. I’m picking against the Texans until they win. Pick: Miami

Baltimore at Indianapolis: The Colts meet the newest Baltimore franchise, and are very lucky to be 2-2. The Ravens have shown flashes of brilliance to date, but are unpredictable. Pick: Colts

Detroit at Minnesota: The Lions are awful. I will pick against them until they win. Pick: Minnesota

Oakland at New Orleans: The Raiders play their first game after the firing of head coach Lane Kiffin. The franchise is a huge joke. The Saints lost a wild game last week to the Vikings. The Raiders aren’t as good as the Vikes. Pick: New Orleans

Cincinnati at New York Jets: The Bengals didn’t give up last week after being down 17-0 to the Cowboys. The winless Bengals now visit the Jersey Meadowlands to face the Fighting Brett Favres. Pick: Jets

Carolina at Tampa Bay: It’s really hard to pick against the Bucs at home. Pick: Tampa Bay

St. Louis at Washington: After 20 years, I saw this game on the schedule and still thought Cardinals. These Rams are as bad as some of the old Cardinal teams. The Redskins are flexing their muscles after a Week 1 loss to the Giants. Pick: Washington

Jacksonville at Denver: The Jags lost a tight one last week to Pittsburgh, while the Broncos escaped against Tampa Bay. It’s really hard to pick against the Broncos at home. Pick: Denver

Philadelphia at San Francisco: The Eagles need to get on the stick or they will be left behind in the rugged NFC East. The mediocre 49ers should be able to help them with that. Pick: Philly

Green Bay at Seattle: The Seahawks are like Kryptonite on the road, but are super-tough at home. It’s a long way to Puget Sound for just about anybody. Pick: Seattle

New England at San Diego: Great matchup for the Sunday Night extravaganza. Chargers need this one more, and should be able to handle the Brady-less Patriots. Pick: San Diego

New York Giants at Cleveland: Dangerous game for the undefeated Giants. But, I’m picking them until they lose to someone, or until they play Dallas. Pick: Giants

College Picks, Week 7

2008-10-08T12:28:00.001-05:00

Last Week: 17-3 (Awesome!)
Season: 92-28

This week includes the mother of all rivalries: OU-Texas. Interestingly, the Big 12 has three of the top five teams in the nation, and four of the top seven. That will change after this week.

Texas vs. Oklahoma at Dallas: Sooners are ranked #1 in the nation, while Texas has whipped five opponents to start the season, and is ranked #5. This has all the makings of a great game. Pick: OU

Oklahoma State vs. Missouri: Look for lots and lots of points in this game. Mizzou has an even more high-powered offense. OSU’s roll stops here. Pick: Missouri

Nebraska at Texas Tech: The Huskers got spanked last week by a good Missouri team, and now must go out to the plains of West Texas for another potential thrashing. Get your licks in on Nebraska now, because they’ll be back. Pick: Tech

Colorado at Kansas: Crucial game in Big 12 North. Colorado is stumbling after last week’s annihilation by Texas. Pick: KU

Kansas State at Texas A&M: Which team shows up for this game? A&M gets what looks to be a rare conference win. Pick: A&M

Iowa State at Baylor: Battle of Big 12 bottom feeders desperate for a win. Baylor has shown flashes of brilliance and is playing at home. Pick: Baylor

LSU at Florida: Which Gator team shows up? The one that whipped Tennessee and Miami, or the one that lost to Ole Miss? LSU has already won a big road game this season at Auburn. Pick: Florida

Tennessee at Georgia: Is it too early to start the countdown on Phil Fulmer? Georgia, and it might not even be close. Pick: Georgia

Notre Dame at North Carolina: Carolina is an interesting team. It’s always a big game when the Fighting Irish come to town, but the Tar Heels should be ready. Pick: UNC

Ohio State at Purdue: Purdue got spanked last week by Penn State, while the Buckeyes proved themselves on the road at Wisconsin. Look for form to hold true this week. Pick: TOSU

Arizona State at USC: USC came back to life last week by drilling Oregon. Arizona State heads back to the desert with their heads between their legs. Pick: USC

TCU at Colorado State: TCU is toying with the rest of the Mountain West before they run into BYU and Utah. Pick: TCU

Clemson at Wake Forest (Thursday): Clemson has been sorely disappointing this year, after being picked by some to finish undefeated. Wake lost an inexplicable game last week to Navy. Strange things happen on Thursday nights, but Wake should have the edge. Pick: Wake Forest

Minnesota at Illinois: The Gophers need just two more wins to become bowl-eligible. They won’t get one this week in Champaign. Pick: Illini

South Carolina at Kentucky: Gamecocks saved some face last week with a win at Ole Miss. UK had their chances at Alabama before losing, 17-14. Pick: Kentucky

UCLA at Oregon: Late night game at Autzen Stadium does not bode well for the Bruins. Ok, the game isn’t late out there, but it is for the rest of us. Oregon should cruise. Pick: Oregon

Michigan State at Northwestern: Wildcats are undefeated, putting my preseason projections to shame. Spartans have only lost once, at California. Winner stays tied for first place in the Big Ten. Pick: Northwestern

Vanderbilt at Mississippi State: Commodores are riding high after last week’s win over Auburn. Can they keep the string going? They will this week. Pick: Vandy

Arizona at Stanford: Wildcats only need two more wins to become bowl-eligible. Stanford is wildly inconsistent. This will be an up week for the Cardinal. Pick: Stanford.

Stony Brook at Liberty: Stony Brook is 1-4 this season, and must travel down to Lynchburg for this one. It’ll be a long trip back to Long Island for the Seawolves. Pick: Liberty

Ugly Uniform of the Day

2008-10-06T22:52:00.004-05:00

Normally, I find the WNBA not worthy of comment. I think I heard that Detroit (coached by the great Bill Laimbeer) won the title over the weekend. However, I saw some really gross uniforms on SportsCenter the other night.

The Los Angeles Sparks were wearing these purple things with designs all over them. If they wore long pants, they would have looked like pajamas. These are U-G-L-Y! In researching these things, I found that they wear a similar gold uniform at home. Gross!

These uniforms are putrid. Yet another reason not to watch the WNBA.

NFL Picks, Week 5

2008-10-04T21:58:00.001-05:00

NFL picks for Week 5..my, how time flies…

Last week: 11-2 (yes!)
Season: 39-21

Cincinnati at Dallas: The hapless Bengals visit the Stadium With The Hole In The Roof. Chad Ocho Cinco really needs to get it together. It’ll be hard for him without QB Carson Palmer. The Cowboys lost a tough game last week, and should be able to bounce back Sunday. Pick: Dallas

Tennessee at Baltimore: The Titans are undefeated heading into Crab City. The Ravens lost in overtime last Monday night in Pittsburgh. The Titans are good, but not good enough to skate through the whole schedule undefeated. Pick: Baltimore

Kansas City at Carolina: The miserable Chiefs got a surprising win last week over Denver. Can they make it two in a row? No. Pick: Carolina

Chicago at Detroit: The Windy City is having a rough week in baseball. They’ll make up for it in football, at least for a week. Pick: Chicago

Atlanta at Green Bay: Word is that Packers QB Aaron Rodgers may not play. That makes this game more interesting. Still, the Falcons have no business winning this game. Pick: Green Bay

Indianapolis at Houston: The Texans finally get to play a home game. Since the roof of Reliant Stadium was damaged by Hurricane Ike, the Texans will play eight home games outdoors. They came close last week in Jacksonville. Now, the suddenly mortal Colts come calling. Tough pick here. Pick: Indy

San Diego at Miami: The Chargers are once again starting to put it together. The Dolphins have the potential to be dangerous here. Pick: San Diego

Seattle at New York Giants: The Giants look like the best team in the league at this point in the season. Pick: Giants

Washington at Philadelphia: The Redskins got an unexpected win last week in Dallas. The Eagles failed to defend the honor of the NFC East last week, losing to Chicago for the division’s first loss against outside competition. Washington can’t help but have a letdown here. Pick: Philly

Tampa Bay at Denver: The Bucs continue to win games. The Broncos lost an unthinkable game last week in Kansas City. Denver bounces back here. Pick: Denver

Buffalo at Arizona: The Bills are undefeated. The Cardinals are really glad to be back home, after two bad losses on the East Coast. Like the Titans, the Bills can’t go undefeated forever. Pick: Arizona

New England at San Francisco: The Patriots are looking for answers after a bye week. The mad scientist, Bill Belichick, finds a way to get the Pats back on track. The Niners will be more than happy to help. Pick: New England

Minnesota at New Orleans: There should be plenty of offense on Monday night. Pick: New Orleans

Ugly Uniform of the Day

2008-10-03T21:22:00.002-05:00

I am a fan of the throwback jersey. Most of the time. I make exceptions for that from time to time, though.

Before their run of four Super Bowl wins in the 1970's that put them on the map, the Pittsburgh Steelers were the most hapless franchise in the NFL. You would think the Steelers would want to forget about those days. But, no.. The Steelers have chosen to wear this ugly ensemble as a throwback uniform. This is what the Steelers wore in the 1960's when they royally stunk up the field.

The gold helmets and white pants do not go with the black jerseys. My high school wore black and gold, and they never tried to wear a gold helmet with white pants and a black jersey. But, the Steelers are in the NFL. They should know better.

This comes from the same city that gave us the Pirates' mix and match uniforms in the 1970's. Go figure.

Yuck.

College Picks: Week 6

2008-10-01T15:50:00.001-05:00

Last Week: 14-6
Season: 75-25

Another week of picks…this week includes the first week of conference play in the Big 12.

Oklahoma at Baylor: Poor Baylor. The Bears open Big 12 play against the #1 team in the nation. Sooners get a warm-up for Texas this week. Pick: OU

Texas at Colorado: Longhorns rolled through their non-conference schedule. Buffs have a chance to pull the upset at night in the mountains. However, the better team should win this game. Pick: Texas

Texas A&M at Oklahoma State: Aggies vs. Aggies. The Texas Aggies are struggling in a big way, and now enter conference play. OSU has a very good chance to move to 5-0. If they don’t, something is wrong. Pick: OSU

Missouri at Nebraska: If Missouri is going to contend for a conference and national championship, they must win this game. The Huskers came close but just short of an upset over Virginia Tech last week. Missouri is a better team than the Hokies. Pick: Missouri

Texas Tech at Kansas State: See Missouri. If Texas Tech is going to contend for any type of championship, they must win this game. This will be closer than it should be, but Tech should win the game. Pick: Tech

Kansas at Iowa State: Jayhawks are favored in dangerous road trip. They should live up to that billing. Pick: KU

Oregon State at Utah: One week after knocking off top-ranked USC, the Beavers must travel to Salt Lake City to face the Utes. That’s an order as tall as the Wasatch Mountains. Pick: Utah.

Kentucky at Alabama: Alabama proved last week they are the real deal. Pick: Alabama

Florida State at Miami: Florida State appears to be slightly ahead of Miami in their respective rebuilding processes. This was once the biggest game in America. Now it’s barely on the radar outside Florida. Pick: FSU

Illinois at Michigan: The Wolverines saved their season last week with a comeback win over Wisconsin. The Illini were competitive with Penn State for part of the game last week. Someone at the Big Ten office doesn’t like the Illini, sticking them with back-to-back road trips to Penn State and Michigan. Pick: Michigan

Ohio State at Wisconsin: Buckeyes visit Madison in a huge game with Rose Bowl implications. Badgers still don’t know what happened to them last week in Ann Arbor after blowing a 19-0 lead. Pick: Ohio State

Oregon at USC: Trojans were exposed as mortal last week by Oregon State. USC bounces back against the Ducks. Pick: USC

Auburn at Vanderbilt: Hell is freezing over. Vanderbilt is ranked 19th in the nation, and College Gameday is broadcasting from Vandy on Saturday morning. All good things come to an end, though, as Auburn restores order in the SEC. Pick: Auburn

Connecticut at North Carolina: Huskies are 5-0, but face their biggest test yet. Pick: North Carolina

Boston College at N.C. State: Wolfpack coach Tom O’Brien faces his former team. Pick: Boston College

Duke at Georgia Tech: Don’t look now, but the Dukies are 3-1. Yellow Jackets run all over Duke with the option. Pick: GT

Penn State at Purdue: Nittany Lions face challenging game as favorite in Big Ten. Purdue got plastered last week at Notre Dame. Penn State should be able to handle this one. Pick: Penn State

Iowa at Michigan State: Michigan State could be a surprise team in the Big Ten. They need this game to stay in the lead. Pick: MSU

South Carolina at Ole Miss: It’s desperation time for the Gamecocks, who can’t seem to capture the previous success of current coach Steve Spurrier and former coach Lou Holtz. They now head to Oxford to take on last week’s upset king Ole Miss. Pick: Ole Miss

Hardin-Simmons at Mary Hardin-Baylor: Both schools own the American Southwest Conference and Division III in Texas. UMHB has been a little better in recent years. Pick: Mary Hardin-Baylor

Ugly Uniform of the Day

2008-09-28T19:33:00.003-05:00

The New York Jets today wore throwback uniforms formerly worn by the New York Titans. The NY Titans was the original name of the Jets franchise when they came into the American Football League in 1960.

In 1964, Leon Hess, owner of the Hess oil corporation, was a partner that bought into the team. The team moved to Shea Stadium, took the name of Jets, and changed the team colors to green and white to match the colors of Hess gas stations.

The Jets need to stick with the green and white uniforms. These Titans uniforms are putrid. Brett Favre threw six touchdown passes today. Even that performance can't outdo the stink that these uniforms laid out onto the Meadowlands turf today.

Leave these New York Titans uniforms at Shea Stadium. Never mind that Shea is getting blown up. The unis can be blown up with it.

NFL Picks: Week 4

2008-09-27T21:00:00.001-05:00

NFL picks for this week…

Last week: 12-4 (much better!)
Season: 28-19

Washington at Dallas: The Greatest Division In Football, the NFC East, continues to flex its muscle. The division has only lost two games in three weeks, and those were to division opponents: Washington to the Giants and Philly to Dallas. The Cowboys are trying to keep up with the Giants and to hold off the Eagles and Redskins. The winning streak continues for Dallas. Pick: Dallas

Atlanta at Carolina: Don’t look now, but the Falcons are 2-1. They take the show up I-85 to face the Panthers, who lost last week for the first time. Things return to form this week. Pick: Carolina

San Francisco at New Orleans: This was once a division rivalry. Now, it’s just a couple of mediocre teams trying to play each other. Pick: New Orleans

Cleveland at Cincinnati: The state of Ohio is 0-6 so far this season. It’ll be 1-7 after this game. Someone has to win this one. The Browns have more hope than the Bengals. Pick: Cleveland

Minnesota at Tennessee: The Vikings visit Music City to face the undefeated Titans. Can the Vikes put together two wins in a row? Nah. Pick: Titans

Green Bay at Tampa Bay: A Bay will win this game. The Bucs got a good win last week in Chicago, while the Packers showed themselves to be inferior to the Cowboys. Pick: Tampa Bay

Denver at Kansas City: This was once a big rivalry with high stakes. It’s still a big rivalry, but the Chiefs stink. Pick: Denver

Houston at Jacksonville: The Texans are in danger of having a really terrible season. This trip to Jacksonville won’t help them. Pick: Jacksonville

Arizona at New York Jets: The combined ages of the quarterbacks in this game, Kurt Warner and Brett Favre, is approaching 300. Not quite, but it seems like it. Pick: Jets

San Diego at Oakland: The Chargers got back on track in a big way last week. The Raiders can’t even fire a coach correctly. Pick: San Diego

Buffalo at St. Louis: The Bills are undefeated and a team to watch in the AFC. The Rams aren’t even a team to watch in St. Louis. Pick: Buffalo

Philadelphia at Chicago: The Sunday Night Extravaganza comes to the shores of Lake Michigan. The Eagles are a good team that happens to be in the same division as the Giants and Cowboys. Donovan McNabb comes back to his hometown and gets a win. Pick: Iggles

Baltimore at Pittsburgh: Monday Night in the Steel City is always good entertainment. The home field advantage strongly favors the Steelers. Pick: Pittsburgh

College Picks: Week 5

2008-09-26T22:01:00.001-05:00

This is already a crazy week in college football, as #1 is up for grabs thanks to USC’s Thursday night loss to Oregon State.

Last Week: 15-5
Season: 61-19

TCU at Oklahoma: The game of the week in the chicken fried kingdom has the Horned Frogs headed up I-35 to take on the Sooners. TCU has won their last two games in Norman: in 1996 and 2005. The Sooners have a better team this year, and won’t be overlooking the Frogs. TCU is by far the best non-conference team on OU’s schedule. Pick: OU

Arkansas at Texas: Hurricane Ike got this game two weeks ago, and the two teams happened to have a common open date this week, so they’ll try again. Arkansas is in a major rebuilding mode under Bobby Petrino. There is a good chance they may not win another game this season. The Longhorns have been impressive against inferior competition. This might get ugly. Pick: Texas

Virginia Tech at Nebraska: The Huskers have a chance to put themselves back on the map as the Hokies visit Lincoln. VT is looking better after blowing their opening game against East Carolina. The Huskers aren’t quite ready for prime time yet, but their time is coming. Pick: Virginia Tech

Army at Texas A&M: The real Army visits the fake army in College Station. The poor Cadets are winless against a weak schedule. Just what the doctor ordered for the Aggies. Pick: A&M

Louisiana-Lafayette at Kansas State: Another rent-a-win. Pick: K-State

Troy at Oklahoma State: Troy visits their second OSU in a row after losing to The Ohio State University in Columbus last week. Last year, the Trojans shocked the Cowboys in Alabama. Mike Gundy is still a man. OSU gets revenge. Pick: OSU

Colorado vs. Florida State at Jacksonville: Buffs got a big win over West Virginia last week. Now, they must go cross country to play an FSU team that lost at home to Wake Forest last week. The run ends for CU. Pick: FSU

Alabama at Georgia: Bubba Bowl. The Crimson Tide have returned to their traditional place in the Top 10. Georgia sits at #3, with a chance to move as high as #1 with a win. Bulldogs get a big win this week. Pick: Georgia

Tennessee at Auburn: The Vols are in sad shape after being walloped by Florida. Philip Fulmer better be checking his retirement accounts, because he may be forced to use them after this season. Auburn, on the other hand, lost a tough game at home last week to LSU. War Eagle won’t lose twice in a row. Pick: Auburn

Wisconsin at Michigan: The rebuilding year continues for Rich Rodriguez at Michigan. Wiscy is solid again, as usual. Pick: Wisconsin

Purdue at Notre Dame: Notre Dame was starting to feel good about itself until the Irish went to East Lansing last week and lost. Make two losses in a row to Big Ten teams for the Irish. Pick: Purdue

North Carolina at Miami: Butch Davis returns to South Florida to take on the Canes in their new digs at Dolphin Stadium. Miami got a big win last week over A&M, but a lot of teams are going to beat A&M this year. The Tar Heels have enough to pull this one off. Pick: North Carolina

Fresno State at UCLA: Which UCLA team shows up? The Bruins are reeling after a season-opening win against Tennessee. Can Fresno pull out the win here? Yes. Will they? Nah. Pick: UCLA

Illinois at Penn State: The Nittany Lions are looking like the favorite in the Big Ten now. They open Big Ten play against last year’s Rose Bowl team, the Fighting Illini. Pick: Penn State

Mississippi State at LSU: Tigers are still the favorite in the SEC West. Bulldogs just can’t hang with the Tigers. Pick: LSU

North Texas at Rice: North Texas is looking to drop to Class 5A after the next realignment. Just kidding. Pick: Rice

Ole Miss at Florida: The mighty Gators roll on. Pick: Florida

New Mexico at New Mexico State: Not many people outside of New Mexico care about this one, but don’t tell anyone in the Land of Enchantment. Pick: New Mexico

Nevada at UNLV: Another in-state rivalry. UNLV looks like it is turning the corner. Pick: UNLV

Austin Peay at Eastern Kentucky: Let’s Go Peay! EKU is at home in this one. Pick: Eastern Kentucky

Once A Weekend Sports Anchor in Anchorage....

2008-09-24T21:53:00.005-05:00

...now Governor of Alaska, and possibly Vice President of the United States.

Sarah Palin, Hottie Sports Reporter | Viral | SPIKE.com

This is 24 year-old Sarah Heath, in 1988, a weekend sports anchor at KTUU television in Anchorage. She had no clue she would eventually marry snowmobile racing champion Todd Palin, become governor of Alaska, and possibly Vice President of the United States.

Is this a great country, or what?

NFL Picks, Week 3

2008-09-20T09:59:00.001-05:00

Some more NFL picks while remaining evacuated due to Hurricane Ike…

Last Week: 8-7
Season: 16-15 (yuck!)

The NFL is a lot harder to predict than college football.

Dallas at Green Bay: The Cowboys travel to Green Bay for the first time in forever, and Tony Romo returns to his native state of Wisconsin. Aaron Rodgers is really, really hot as he replaces the great Brett Favre. Still, it’s hard for me to pick against the Cowboys. Do you really think I would do that? Pick: Dallas

Miami at New England: The Patriots won a game last week with Matt Cassel as starting quarterback in place of the injured Tom Brady. Now, the awful Dolphins visit Foxboro. The Pats have won 18 regular season games in a row. Make that 19. Pick: New England

Houston at Tennessee: The Texans visit the former Oilers. The Texans laid a big egg in their first game, then had an egg laid on top of them last week as a result of Hurricane Ike. The Titans are a surprising 2-0. Make that 3-0. Pick: Titans

Tampa Bay at Chicago: This game is the definition of unpredictable. Get ready for lots of defense in this one. Pick: Chicago

Cincinnati at New York Giants: The Bengals have started out really pathetic. The Giants have picked up where they left off in February. Pick: Giants

Arizona at Washington: Start printing playoff tickets in the desert, because the Cardinals are 2-0! This one will be a bit much for them, though. Pick: Washington

Carolina at Minnesota: The Panthers are 2-0, while the Vikings are a disappointing 0-2. Also, Adrian Peterson is a game-time decision for the Vikes. The Panthers make it three in a row. Pick: Carolina

Kansas City at Atlanta: Yuck. The Chiefs aren’t very good at all. The Falcons may turn out to be better than expected. Pick: Atlanta

Oakland at Buffalo: Watch out for Buffalo. The Bills are pretty good. Pick: Buffalo

Detroit at San Francisco: Somebody has to win this game. Pick: San Francisco

New Orleans at Denver: Attention, AFC: The Broncos are back. Pick: Denver

St. Louis at Seattle: Somebody has to win this game, also. The Rams are putrid. Pick: Seattle

Pittsburgh at Philadelphia: Winner gets to paint the state capitol in Harrisburg in their team colors. The Linc will be rocking for this one. Pick: Philly

Cleveland at Baltimore: The new Browns visit the old Browns. Cleveland is off to a slow start. The Ravens steal one at home. Pick: Baltimore

Jacksonville at Indianapolis: AFC South showdown. The Jags really need a win here. So do the Colts, as they limp along at 1-1. Pick: Colts

New York Jets at San Diego: Brett Favre appears on Monday Night Football once again. The Chargers are very desperate, especially after last week’s questionable loss in Denver. Chargers roll in this one. Pick: San Diego

College Picks, Week 4

2008-09-16T16:39:00.002-05:00

Last Week: 14-6
Season: 46-14

This week’s games begin on Wednesday night, so the picks are a little early.

Kansas State at Louisville (Wednesday): Steve Kragthorpe has to be wondering if it was worth it to leave Tulsa for Louisville. The Ville has struggled in the last season plus the first part of this one. They get a home game against Kansas State, who suddenly isn’t afraid to go on the road to play a decent team. This will be a pretty good game, especially for a Wednesday night. Pick: Louisville

West Virginia at Colorado (Thursday): The Mountaineers were proven mortal by East Carolina two weeks ago. They now head to the other mountains to take on the improving Buffs. Tough pick. Strange things happen on Thursday nights. Pick: Colorado

Baylor at Connecticut: It’s a long way from Waco to East Hartford. The Bears have to be feeling pretty good after getting two lopsided wins in a row. But, the Huskies are feeling even better after pounding Virginia. Pick: UConn

Miami at Texas A&M: In the 90’s, this would have been a titanic matchup. Now, it’s two names with not nearly as much game. The Aggies regained a bit of respect by going out and getting a win at New Mexico in their last game. The Canes are a shadow of their former selves. Pick: A&M

Sam Houston State at Kansas: Mismatch alert. Pick: KU

Rice at Texas: The Feisty Knightbirds come into this one with a winning record after three games. The Horns have been impressive in wins over Florida Atlantic and UTEP. Pick: Texas

Iowa State at UNLV: The Clones go to Sin City to face a hot UNLV team. The Rebels got their biggest victory in years last week with a 23-20 overtime win at Arizona State. Pick: UNLV

Buffalo at Missouri: The Bulls are improved, but aren’t in Mizzou’s league. Pick: Missouri

Massachusetts at Texas Tech: There is a really big difference between Amherst, Massachusetts and Lubbock, Texas. UMass is a pretty good FCS program, so there may not be quite as much difference between the football teams. Still, Tech should win comfortably. Pick: Tech

Florida at Tennessee: It’s going to be really hard for the Big Orange to beat the Gators, even in Knoxville. Pick: Florida

Georgia at Arizona State: The Bulldogs leave the Peach State for a non-conference game for the first time in eons. They head to the desert to play an ASU team that is reeling from a shocking overtime loss at home to UNLV. The Bulldogs have fallen from 1st to 2nd to 3rd in the polls without losing. They get a statement win this week. Pick: Georgia

LSU at Auburn: LSU visits the Loveliest Village on the Plains for a titanic SEC Saturday night battle. This has become the biggest game in the SEC West year after year. Winner gets the inside track to a trip to Atlanta in December. Pick: Auburn

Notre Dame at Michigan State: The Irish are smiling after last week’s whipping of Michigan. They now head up the road to East Lansing for a chance to go undefeated against the Great Lakes State. Michigan State is improving a lot. The green team wins this one. Pick: Michigan State

Virginia Tech at North Carolina: Ambush alert. Butch Davis has the Tar Heels up and going now, evidenced by last week’s thrashing of Rutgers in New Jersey. Tech has already lost to East Carolina before winning home games over Furman and Georgia Tech. Pick: North Carolina

East Carolina at N.C. State: Pirates have been giant killers this month with wins over Virginia Tech and West Virginia. The Wolfpack aren’t as good as either of those teams. Pick: East Carolina

Arizona at UCLA: Both teams lost on the road to Mountain West teams last week. Arizona lost at New Mexico, while the Bruins were pounded by BYU, 59-0. Can the Bruins find anything after that debacle? Probably. Pick: UCLA

TCU at SMU: The Iron Skillet is on the line once again. TCU is rolling right along, and won’t overlook the Ponies. Pick: TCU

Alabama at Arkansas: The Hogs are the worst 2-0 team in America, having squeaked out wins over Western Illinois and Louisiana-Monroe. Alabama has shown signs of returning to greatness. Pick: Alabama

Mississippi State at Georgia Tech: State lost a baseball game last week to Auburn, 3-2. Georgia Tech has looked pretty good running the option, but lost last week in a trip to Virginia Tech. Pick: Georgia Tech

Central Michigan at Purdue: These teams play all the time, it seems. They played twice last season: a regular season game in West Lafayette and in the Motor City Bowl. Purdue won both games. They’ll win this one, also. However, it won’t be easy. Pick: Purdue

NFL Picks: Week 2

2008-09-14T07:35:00.001-05:00

NFL Picks, Week 2

Quick picks after a long trip and a hurricane….

Last Week: 8-8
Season: 8-8

Philadelphia at Dallas: Both teams were impressive last week in big wins. Cowboys are at home on Monday night. Pick: Dallas

Tennessee at Cincinnati: Titans rode the arm of Kerry Collins to a win last week over the Jags. This week, they face the Ocho Cincos of Cincinnati. Pick: Cincinnati

Buffalo at Jacksonville: Bills looked sharp last week in dismantling of Seattle. Jags return home after losing to the Titans. Pick: Jacksonville

Oakland at Kansas City: Raiders got spanked last week on Monday night. It looks like another long year in the Black Hole. Pick: Kansas City

Indianapolis at Minnesota: Great matchup in spite of the Vikings’ loss last week in Green Bay. Colts didn’t look real great last week, either. The Colts are too good to go 0-2. Pick: Indy

Chicago at Carolina: Two surprise winners from last week. Is the magic back in Carolina? It’s too easy to tell. If the Bears can spoil the opening of the Colts’ new stadium, they can win here. Pick: Bears

Green Bay at Detroit: Lions were their normal selves in an opening-week loss to Atlanta. They come home to face the Favre-less Packers. Pick: Detroit

New York Giants at St. Louis: The Rams were really awful last week in being drubbed by Philadelphia. Now, they face the defending Super Bowl champions. Pick: Giants

New Orleans at Washington: Saints go on the road. Washington is really unpredictable. Pick: Redskins

Atlanta at Tampa Bay: Break up the Falcons! They’re 1-0. Not after this week. Pick: Tampa Bay

San Francisco at Seattle: Seattle is down to wide receivers off the street. Still, they’re playing the awful 49ers. Pick: Seattle

New England at New York Jets: This one is full of drama, as Brett Favre plays his first home game at the Meadowlands, and the Patriots play their first game without Tom Brady. This is the biggest injury in the NFL in years. Brady is the straw that stirs the Patriots’ drink. Pick: Jets

San Diego at Denver: Denver is flying high after pounding the Raiders late last Monday night. Chargers need a win to avoid going 0-2. Pick: Denver

Miami at Arizona: Yuck. Pick: Arizona

Pittsburgh at Cleveland: This should be fun, as no one hates the Steelers more than the people in Cleveland. The Steelers are a better team, though. Pick: Pittsburgh.

Baltimore at Houston: Oops. Hurricane Ike got this one. They’ll play later in the year.

College Picks: Week 3

2008-09-13T11:15:00.001-05:00

Better late than never….

These picks are being made somewhere above the Atlantic Ocean. By the time I post these from the Newark airport, some of these games will be in progress.

Oklahoma at Washington: Washington lost last week on a questionable call of celebration in the end zone after a potentially game-tying touchdown. The Tyrone Willingham Death March continues, as the mighty Sooners visit the Great Northwest. The last time the Sooners visited the Northwest, Oregon stunned OU on some questionable late-game officiating. Perhaps the Pac-10 refs will get it right tonight. Pick: OU

Arkansas at Texas: Postponed. Pick: Hurricane Ike

Kansas at South Florida (Friday): I would have picked South Florida, and they won. This one doesn’t count.

Iowa State at Iowa: The Cyclones have won their first two games, but take a step up in competition against the Hawkeyes. The Cyclones more than hold their own against Iowa, a point of contention among Hawkeye fans. Go with the home team here. Pick: Iowa

Nevada at Missouri: Is Nevada trying to join the Big 12? This is their second game in a row against a Big 12 team, as they lost at home last week to Texas Tech. The Wolf Pack visit Columbia in what could be either a good game or a blowout. Missouri cruises in this one. Pick: Mizzou

New Mexico State at Nebraska: Years ago, this would have been a mismatch of Biblical proportions. It still won’t be close. Pick: Nebraska

Washington State at Baylor: Wazzu is at rock bottom. They can only go up. They now go into the land of Dr Pepper to take on Baylor, who pounded Northwestern State last week. Hey, it was Northwestern State, but it’s news when Baylor pounds anybody. Two in a row for the Bears. Pick: Baylor

Missouri State at Oklahoma State: Rent-a-win. Missouri State gets to pay for a women’s sport with the money from tonight’s check from OSU. Pick: OSU

SMU at Texas Tech: The Mustangs aren’t ready for prime time. Tech is. Pick: Texas Tech

Ohio State at USC: TOSU flies to the Left Coast bumbling and stumbling. USC is a well-oiled machine. Pick: USC

Michigan at Notre Dame: Zzzzz. The names are big, but that’s all in this game. Notre Dame struggled last week against a San Diego State team that lost to Cal Poly the week before. Pick: Meatchicken

Oregon at Purdue: Good intersectional matchup as the Ducks fly to Indiana. Go with the home team. Pick: Purdue

Wisconsin at Fresno State: This is what the little guys live for: a home game against a big-time opponent. The Badgers enter a hornets’ nest, or better yet, a dog pound. Pick: Fresno State

Georgia at South Carolina: If Georgia is going to contend for an SEC or national championship, they have to win this game. The Ol’ Ball Coach and the Gamecocks beat the Dawgs in Athens last year. But, they also lost to Vanderbilt last week. Georgia is really good. Pick: Georgia

Auburn at Mississippi State: Auburn continues their run through the state of Mississippi, having disposed of Southern Miss last week. This is a possible land mine for War Eagle, but Auburn should win here. Pick: Auburn

California at Maryland: The Pac-10 is racking up some miles in non-conference matchups this week. The biggest thing the Terps have going for them this week is home field. Pick: Cal

Stanford at TCU: Stanford is improving under Jim Harbaugh. The Frogs are tough, especially at home. Pick: TCU

Georgia Tech at Virginia Tech: Battle of the Techs. Georgia Tech is now running the wishbone under Paul Johnson, and is 2-0 as a result. VT is still trying to bounce back from the stunning loss to East Carolina. This game is in Blacksburg. Pick: VT

Virginia at Connecticut: This is a rebuilding year for the Cavaliers. One of their close victories last season was over UConn. The Huskies get revenge this year. Pick: UConn

UCLA at BYU: UCLA looks for their second win over a big-time opponent under Rick Neuheisel. BYU is very fortunate to be undefeated after last week’s event in Seattle. Pick: BYU

Air Force vs. Houston at Dallas: Instead of playing in a hurricane in Houston, these teams will play in the rain at SMU. Pick: U of H

Arizona at New Mexico: If Mike Stoops wants to take the Wildcats to a bowl and keep his job, U of A must win this game. Los Lobos is 0-2 against the state of Texas, having lost to TCU and A&M. Pick: Arizona

NFL Picks: Week 1

2008-09-04T16:20:00.001-05:00

Don’t worry..I haven’t forgotten about NFL picks. The season opens in two hours. Man, can you believe it’s September?

Dallas at Cleveland: The Cowboys come into the season with a rotten taste in their mouths after last year’s playoff disaster. The Browns were the best team to miss last year’s playoffs. This will be a fun game to watch at the Wannabe Dog Pound, aka new Cleveland Browns Stadium. Pick: Dallas

Washington at New York Giants: Last year’s unlikely champions caught lightning in a bottle and rolled to an unexpected Super Bowl trophy. This year, the Giants look to be pretty good. They get the honor of hosting the first game of the year on Thursday night. The Giants will celebrate their Super Bowl title and win their opener against the hated Redskins. Pick: Giants

Detroit at Atlanta: A stinker of a game right off the bat. You have to be a fan of either of these teams to want to watch this game. There is nothing to offer the casual fan here. The Falcons have hit rock bottom. Pick: Detroit

Cincinnati at Baltimore: Ocho Cinco visits Crab City with the Bengals. This one is hard to predict. I don’t trust the Bengals at all, so it’s best to pick the home team. Pick: Baltimore

Seattle at Buffalo: The Seahawks fly under the radar every year up in the corner of the country, but have been consistently good the last several years under Mike Holmgren, who is retiring after this season. The Bills showed some flashes of brilliance and lost some tough, close games. Go with the veteran team here. Pick: Seattle

New York Jets at Miami: Brett Favre plays his first regular season game for the Jets against the woeful Dolphins. The Dolphins have to be better than they were last season-they can’t get much worse. But, the Favre factor means something for an inconsistent Jets team. Pick: Jets

Kansas City at New England: Mismatch alert. The Pats will have a chip on their shoulder again this season, especially after last year’s Super Bowl loss. The Chiefs stink right now. Pick: Patriots

Tampa Bay at New Orleans: The Saints return home in the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav, and are glad to come home. The Bucs aren’t half bad. Pick: Tampa Bay

St. Louis at Philadelphia: The Rams have a lot of room for improvement. The Eagles keep going with Donovan McNabb at quarterback. Pick: Philly

Houston at Pittsburgh: News flash: The Texans don’t stink anymore. They’re not Super Bowl caliber, but they’re not half bad. However, they get to travel to the Steel City this week. Good luck with all that. Pick: Pittsburgh

Jacksonville at Tennessee: Important game right off the bat in the AFC South. The Jags have been a good team that happened to be in the same division as the Colts. They should be able to handle this one on the road. Pick: Jacksonville

Carolina at San Diego: The Chargers, with a few breaks, could be in the Super Bowl this year. The Panthers probably won’t. Pick: San Diego

Arizona at San Francisco: Yuck. The ageless Kurt Warner just keeps resurfacing as the quarterback of the Cardinals. But, they’re the Cardinals, and they’ll find a way to blow this one. Pick: San Francisco

Chicago at Indianapolis: The Colts open their new stadium on Sunday Night Football against the Bears. Poor Bears. They’re in for a loss in week one. Pick: Colts

Minnesota at Green Bay: Year 1 of the Aaron Rodgers Era begins in Green Bay. It’ll be a tough start for the Pack, because Minnesota is loaded this year. Pick: Vikings

Denver at Oakland: Big rivalry, but it’s snooze city for most people east of the Rockies. The game starts at 7:00 Pacific Time, a rare starting time on the West Coast, and the second half of the Monday Night Football doubleheader. At my hotel in the Netherlands, the game will start at 4 AM. I wouldn’t get up early in Europe for this one. I wouldn’t stay up past bedtime in the US for this one, either. Pick: Oakland

College Football Picks, Week 2

2008-09-03T15:15:00.002-05:00

I apologize for the dearth of posts since last weekend. I am currently in Europe for a two-week project for work. Thanks, to the wonders of modern technology and the Internet (thank you, Al Gore), I know what his happening in America, and can comment on such trivial things as college football.

Before I move on to picks: What is up with the Texas Aggies? Dennis Franchione never lost to Arkansas State. Neither did R.C. Slocum (though he did lose to Louisiana-Lafayette once). Mike Sherman is off to an inauspicious start after the Ags lost at home to the Red Wolves of ASU, 18-16. It’s going to be a long year in Aggieland at this rate.

Last week: 16-4. Sort of disappointing. Thanks, Clemson, Virginia Tech, and Texas A&M.
Season: 16-4

Cincinnati at Oklahoma: Sooners take a step up in competition this week. This won’t be a 50-point win, because Cincinnati can play. Still, the game is in Norman. The Sooner starters will play the entire game, but OU should win comfortably. Pick: OU

San Jose State at Nebraska: Spartans get to make some money for their athletic department with this trip to Lincoln to take on the Big Red. I wouldn’t blow this game off, though, if I were Nebraska. Nebraska should win the game, however. Pick: Nebraska

Texas A&M at New Mexico: The Aggies lost the easiest game on their non-conference schedule, and now must travel to the Land of Enchantment. UNM got spanked at home last week by TCU. The Ags are shellshocked. New Mexico gets a win against a BCS conference team. Pick: New Mexico

Louisiana Tech at Kansas: The Bulldogs got a win last week, defeating Mississippi State in a rare home game against a BCS school. The Jayhawks will have their hands full this week. However, they will keep their home winning streak intact. Pick: KU

Montana State at Kansas State: Remember Montana State? In 2006, the Bobcats traveled to Boulder and shocked Colorado. K-State knows all about that. The jury is still out on the Wildcats, but they should be able to handle Montana State. Pick: K-State

Southeast Missouri State at Missouri: At least Mizzou is keeping the money in state for this rent-a-win. Pick: Missouri

Texas at UTEP: This will be the biggest regular season game in El Paso in years. The two schools share names, a color, and fight songs. The similarities end there. In football, UT got off to a good start with a rout of a decent Florida Atlantic team. UTEP, meanwhile, got manhandled at Buffalo. Texas has a young team, but should be able to handle this one. Pick: Texas

Northwestern State at Baylor: Believe it or not, this could be a tough game for the Bears. But, it’s hard to actually pick a FCS team on the road at a BCS conference team, even one as bad as Baylor. Pick: Baylor

Eastern Washington at Colorado: Eastern Washington represented themselves well last week in a 49-24 loss at Texas Tech. Now, their Big 12 tour continues in Boulder, Colorado. Eastern Washington returns home 0-2. Pick: Colorado

Kent State at Iowa State: Last year, Kent State ruined Gene Chizik’s debut at Iowa State by upsetting the Cyclones. Lightning won’t strike twice in the same place. Pick:
Iowa State

Houston at Oklahoma State; There should be lots of points scored in this one. OSU opens their newly remodeled stadium. Pick: OSU

Texas Tech at Nevada: This will be the biggest game in Reno, Nevada since the Wolfpack moved to Division 1-A. The Red Raiders worked some kinks out during last week’s win over Eastern Washington. They should be able to beat the Wolf Pack. Pick: Tech

Oregon State at Penn State: OSU-West makes the cross-country trip to Happy Valley. It’ll be a long way back for the Beavers. Pick: Penn State

Ole Miss at Wake Forest: The days of overlooking the Demon Deacons are over, and have been for a couple of years now. Pick: Wake Forest

South Carolina at Vanderbilt (Thursday): USC-East sputtered early, but skunked N.C. State last week. Vandy got a surprise win at Miami (Ohio). Steve Spurrier owns Vanderbilt. Pick: SC

Miami at Florida: Grudge match in the Sunshine State. The old Miami isn’t back yet. Go with the Fighting Tim Tebows. Pick: UF

BYU at Washington: Washington plays the first of three big-time non-conference opponents at home. The Y is more than good enough to win at U-Dub. Pick: BYU

West Virginia at East Carolina: Pirates are coming off of a comeback win over Virginia Tech. Now, they have a home game against mighty West Virginia. This game will be better than the Mountaineers would like for it to be. Still, WV has more than enough to beat them. Pick: West Virginia

Georgia Tech at Boston College: Very competitive ACC game. Pick: BC

Miami, Ohio at Michigan: The Bo Schembechler Bowl. Both teams are coming off losses. Michigan lost to Utah, while Miami lost to Vanderbilt. Meatchicken should bounce back at home. Pick: Michigan

College Football Picks, Week 1

2008-08-28T15:46:00.002-05:00

It’s Thursday, and it’s Labor Day Weekend. That only means one thing: college football season. These games start tonight, and they all count.

Once again, this blog will host some fearless football predictions. All games involving Big 12 schools will be picked, along with games of national interest and other games that are worthy of a pick.

This week will see several perceived mismatches between BCS teams and Football Championship Subdivision (1-AA) teams. Though most of these games are a waste of time and money, there is always the chance of a lightning strike and an upset of Appalachian State-Michigan proportions.

On with the picks….

Tennessee-Chattanooga at Oklahoma: The Sooners were scrambling for an opponent for a 12th game after two other schools bailed on them, and came up with the Mocs of Chattanooga. This is not Tennessee-Knoxville, so there is only one obvious pick here. Pick: Oklahoma
Colorado State vs. Colorado at Denver (Sunday): Barack Obama’s Greek temple stage will be long gone from Invesco Field, and football returns. The Rams are rebuilding under a new coach, while the Buffs are headed upward. This is a grudge match, but the Buffs should be able to handle this one. Pick: CU
South Dakota State at Iowa State (Thursday): Puhleeze. Pick: Iowa State
Florida International at Kansas: FIU was the worst team in the FBS last year. KU schedules a win here. Pick: KU
North Texas at Kansas State: Another yawner. North Texas could win a championship…in Texas Class 5A. Pick: K-State
Illinois vs. Missouri at St. Louis: One of the better games of the week. Both teams played on New Year’s Day last season. Missouri returns a lot more talent. Pick: Missouri
Western Michigan at Nebraska: The Bo Pelini era begins at Nebraska. Pick: Huskers
Wake Forest at Baylor (Thursday): Battle of the Baptists, sort of. Wake Forest used to be a Baptist school, while Baylor still is. Wake Forest has a much better football team. Pick: Demon Deacons
Oklahoma State vs. Washington State at Seattle: Cowboys go to the Great Northwest to take on Wazzu. OSU ought to be able to win, but you never know with either of these teams. Pick: OSU
Florida Atlantic at Texas: Watch out, Texas. FAU is a good team from the Sun Belt, coached by Oklahoma’s favorite, Howard Schnellenberger. Texas will win, but it will be tougher than most think. Pick: Texas
Arkansas State at Texas A&M: The Mike Sherman era begins with a win. Pick: A&M
Eastern Washington at Texas Tech: Tech will score at will in this one. Pick: Tech
Alabama vs. Clemson at Atlanta: Great matchup guaranteed to draw lots and lots of people to Atlanta on Labor Day weekend. This should be Clemson’s best team in the last 20 years. Pick: Clemson
Michigan State at California: MSU is turning the corner, while Cal should never be overlooked. This one is out West. Pick: Cal
Utah at Michigan: The Rich Rodriguez era begins at Meatchicken after an eventful off-season. Utah is not chopped liver, and is favored by some to win the Mountain West Conference. This is a tough pick, but Michigan learned something last year from the Appalachian State disaster. Pick: Michigan
USC at Virginia: East Coast, West Coast, it doesn’t matter. USC rolls on. Pick: SC
N.C. State at South Carolina (Thursday): Competing against the Obama Show on Thursday night is opening night for Steve Spurrier and the Gamecocks. The ‘Cocks get win #1 against the Wolfpack. Pick: USC-East
Oregon State at Stanford: Late night West Coast game is tough to pick. OSU-West has built a pretty good program. Stanford is capable of damage, as was done to USC last year. Go with the Trees at home. Pick: Stanford
Virginia Tech vs. East Carolina at Charlotte: ECU gave the Hokies all they wanted last year in Blacksburg. They might finish the job this time. I’m not going to bite on this one, though. Pick: VT
TCU at New Mexico: Frogs visit Los Lobos in Mountain West opener. New Mexico is never bad, but TCU is a little better, even in Albuquerque. Pick: TCU

College Football Projections: Big XII

2008-08-28T11:54:00.002-05:00

Last, but definitely not least, is the Big 12.

The Big XII last season saw a slight shift in power from the South to the North. Oklahoma won the conference title, but Kansas and Missouri both finished in the top 10 in the nation. KU won the Orange Bowl over Virginia Tech, while Missouri should have been in a BCS bowl ahead of KU based on their head-to-head win and North division championship. Oklahoma and Missouri should be good once again.

In the North, many observers believe that Missouri may have their best team ever. This is Missouri we’re dealing with here, so anything could happen. But, they have a good chance to be favored in every game they play, including road trips to Nebraska and Texas. Plus, if they make it that far, the Big XII championship game is on the frozen tundra of Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

Nebraska begins the Bo Pelini era four years too late. But, it’s better late than never. The Huskers will be vastly improved.

Kansas caught lightning in a bottle last year and went 11-1 with a win in the Orange Bowl. This year, the Jayhawks should be pretty good, but they will be hardpressed to top last year’s success.

Colorado is the victim of a brutal non-conference schedule, with matchups against West Virginia and Florida State. Good luck with all that. The Buffs will probably have a better team this year with a worse record to show for it.

It’s really hard to predict Kansas State or Iowa State. K-State is pining for the days of Bill Snyder. They could finish anywhere between 4-8 and 8-4. My guess is the former. ISU is in the second year of a rebuilding project under Gene Chizik. It’ll be another long year in Ames.

In the South, Oklahoma is the team to beat until notified otherwise. The Sooners look strong on offense and will be favored in every game. With a break or two, they could be in Miami for the BCS National Championship Game. They will outlast the Texas schools.

Another team looking to have a breakout year is Texas Tech. The Red Raiders return a load of weapons on offense and have a favorable schedule, including Texas at home. Tech has a chance to be undefeated before visiting Oklahoma in November.

The Texas Longhorns will win 9 games on talent alone. Problem is, they will play at least three teams that are better than them. 9-3 would be an awesome season in a lot of places, but it won’t be good enough in Austin.

Texas A&M hired former Green Bay Packers coach Mike Sherman to lead the Aggies to more delusions of grandeur. The Aggies fashion themselves as a national powerhouse. In reality, they’re the fourth best program in the Big 12 South. That is where they will remain this year.

Speaking of delusions of grandeur, the Oklahoma State Cowboys move into freshly renovated Boone Pickens Stadium this year. While the stadium will be state of the art, it’s still OSU, and it’s like putting lipstick on a pig. OSU is lucky Baylor is in this division. Still, the Cowboys should finish at or over .500 and make it to a bowl game.

Taking their traditional place in last place are the Baylor Bears. Art Briles is the latest coach to try to make the Bears successful. Good luck with all that.

Projected Finish:
North
Missouri 11-1, 7-1
Nebraska 9-3, 6-2
Kansas 7-5, 4-4
Colorado 5-7, 3-5
Kansas State 4-8, 1-7
Iowa State 3-9, 1-7
South
Oklahoma 12-0, 8-0
Texas Tech 10-2, 6-2
Texas 9-3, 5-3
Texas A&M 6-6, 4-4
Oklahoma State 7-5, 3-5
Baylor 3-9, 1-7

College Football Projections: SEC

2008-08-27T23:37:00.002-05:00

The world’s greatest college football conference resides in Dixie. Not only is it the home of the last two national champions (Florida, LSU), but it is must-see TV every week, no matter who is playing. CBS and ESPN recognize this, as the SEC just renewed their television contract with them for an extra 15 years. In ESPN’s case, they are paying the Confederate Conference $2.25 billion over the next 15 years. This is money well spent. Nowhere is there a greater combination of quality of play, athletic ability, atmosphere, and passion than in the SEC. This makes the SEC worth watching, no matter who is playing over on the other network.

This season, the Georgia Bulldogs come off a strong finish in 2007 and are the #1 team in the nation in pre-season polls. I like this team a lot. However, their schedule is too tough to cruise through undefeated. The Bulldogs make a rare non-conference road trip to Arizona State, along with SEC tilts at South Carolina, LSU, and Auburn, along with the No-Longer-Officially-Cocktail Party against Florida.

Speaking of Florida, the Gators return a Heisman Trophy winner. They should also be favored in every game except one: the No-Longer-Officially-Cocktail Party against Georgia. The Gators make it to the SEC Championship Game Presented By Dr Pepper.

This is make-it-or-break-it time in South Carolina. The Gamecocks were ranked in the Top 10 at mid-season last year, only to crash to a 6-6 record, missing out on a bowl trip. Steve Spurrier should have his best season in Columbia, but it won’t be good enough to pass Florida and Georgia. However, he’ll finish ahead of his old nemesis, Phil Fulmer at Tennessee. Kentucky will rebuild, and Vanderbilt will be Vanderbilt: first in SATs, last in football.

The West holds claim to the defending national champion LSU Tigers. The Tigers, like Georgia, have a tough schedule with road trips to Auburn, Florida, and South Carolina. This works against the Tigers, and will be the difference between the BCS and someplace like the Citrus Bowl. Auburn, in the meantime, is loaded for a national championship run, and should win the West to appear in the SECCG.

Alabama, in their second year under Nick Saban, isn’t quite ready for conference championship contention. The Tide will make a bowl game, though. Ole Miss will surprise some people under new coach Houston Nutt, formerly of Arkansas. Mississippi State will also be respectable. Arkansas will struggle in their first year in the system of new coach Bobby Petrino.

Projected Finish:
East
Florida 11-1, 7-1
Georgia 10-2, 6-2
South Carolina 9-3, 6-2
Tennessee 8-4, 4-4
Kentucky 5-7, 2-6
Vanderbilt 2-10, 0-8
West
Auburn 11-1, 8-0
LSU 9-3, 5-3
Alabama 7-5, 4-4
Ole Miss 6-6, 3-5
Mississippi State 6-6, 3-5
Arkansas 2-10, 0-8

College Football Projections: Pac-10

2008-08-26T23:10:00.002-05:00

Flying two or three hours behind the rest of the country, thus under the radar, is the Pac-10 Conference. The Pac-10 takes advantage of the location of California to spread talent throughout the West and to hold their own against the rest of the country. Actually, this conference has a great idea. When the NCAA allowed schools to add a 12th regular season game, the Pac-10 decided to make the extra game a conference game. Therefore, instead of flying a team like Tennessee-Chattanooga across the country to get waxed by a Pac-10 team for a check, the extra game becomes a tough conference game against a team like Oregon or Oregon State. This does wonders for the conference’s strength of schedule. It also determines a true champion, as every team plays every other team in the conference in a true round-robin.

Until further notice, the Pac-10 is the domain of the USC Trojans. SC has spent this decade returning to glory as a factory of championships and NFL draft picks. This season will be no different. The road to the Rose Bowl and/or the BCS Championship Game goes through the L.A. Coliseum. The Trojans will be better than every team they play, but they will stumble somewhere this season, similar to last season’s home loss to 4-8 Stanford.

Cal and Oregon will both be pretty good, but won’t have enough in the tank to finish ahead of USC. UCLA is the team to look out for in the future, but they won’t win the conference in this, the first year of the Rick Neuheisel era. Arizona will save coach Mike Stoops’ job with a bowl trip. Arizona State could finish anywhere from the middle to the top of the conference.

At the bottom of the conference, Oregon State will slip from previous years of success. However, they will not be nearly as bad as the Beavers were infamous for being in the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s. Stanford is still building their program under Jim Harbaugh, but won’t quite get over the hump. In Seattle, an agent better get busy with buyout negotiations, because Tyrone Willingham is not long for Washington. The schedule is too tough and the team is too mediocre to save him. Across the state, Washington State will play people tough, but fall short in the win column this season.

Projected Finish:
USC 11-1, 8-1
California 9-3, 6-3
Oregon 9-3, 6-3
UCLA 7-5, 6-3
Arizona 7-5, 5-4
Arizona State 6-6, 4-5
Oregon State 4-8, 3-6
Stanford 3-9, 3-6
Washington 3-9, 3-6
Washington State 2-11, 1-8

College Football Projections: Big Ten

2008-08-25T21:17:00.002-05:00

The Conference That Can’t Count, aka the Big Ten, enters this season with a questionable national reputation, as Ohio State has dominated the conference for two seasons in a row only to be plastered by SEC teams in the BCS National Championship Game. But, as people in Columbus will tell you, it’s better to lose the National Championship Game than to win the Orville Redenbacher’s Popcorn Bowl. Actually, I don’t know if anyone in Columbus would say that, but it’s true.

Ohio State will be the king of the mountain in this conference once again. They should be favored in every game except a September trip to the Coliseum in Los Angeles, where USC awaits. I do not see them going undefeated, but they will win the conference. This would send the Buckeyes to the Rose Bowl, where they have not appeared in over a decade.

The rest of the conference is anyone’s guess. Wisconsin should be good enough to finish second. After that, Penn State and Michigan should be respectable, as usual. In addition, Michigan State and Iowa should be able to contend for a first division finish. Illinois and Purdue will be decent as well, though the Illini should take a step back from last year’s Rose Bowl appearance.

Dragging bottom in the Big Ten will be Minnesota, Indiana, and Northwestern. Northwestern has an unfavorable schedule, but has a chance to outperform expectations. Indiana will crash back to earth after last season’s bowl appearance. Minnesota can’t help but improve over last season’s victory total: one.

Projected Finish:
Ohio State 11-1, 8-0
Wisconsin 10-2, 6-2
Penn State 9-3, 5-3
Iowa 8-4, 5-3
Michigan State 8-4, 5-3
Michigan 8-4, 4-4
Illinois 7-5, 4-4
Purdue 7-5, 4-4
Minnesota 5-7, 2-6
Indiana 4-8, 1-7
Northwestern 3-9, 0-8

College Football Projections: ACC

2008-08-23T22:47:00.002-05:00

Since expansion in 2004, the ACC has been a disappointment in football. The league has yet to match its bellcows, Florida State and Miami, in the championship game. The conference has not earned an at-large bid to a BCS bowl. And, the conference has not earned a win in a BCS bowl since expansion. This year has the potential to be different.

Once upon a time, Clemson was the sole football power in the ACC. The Tigers won a national championship in 1981, and dominated the conference before Florida State joined in 1992. Since then, Clemson has not won a conference championship. That could change this season. The Tigers look to have their best team in Tommy Bowden’s nine years at the school. They look to be favored in every game in their schedule, including a road trip to Florida State.

Speaking of Papa Bowden and Florida State, the Seminoles have slipped in recent years. FSU stands to improve on recent years, though, and has a chance to make a BCS bowl. If some things go their way, they could even pass Clemson for the championship of the Atlantic division.

Maryland, Wake Forest, and Boston College will all be pretty good, but not nearly on Clemson’s level. BC is in a rebuilding year after losing QB Matt Ryan to the Atlanta Falcons. North Carolina State looks to have a long season and will finish last in the Atlantic division.

In the Coastal division, Virginia Tech rules the roost. No pun intended, as the Hokies’ other nickname is Gobblers. The Fighting Frank Beamers have a couple of interesting road trips, to Nebraska and Florida State. VT should be good enough to win this division again.

The Hokies will be followed by the Butch Davis teams: his former school at Miami, and his current North Carolina Tar Heels. Georgia Tech will achieve their same usual result: middle of the pack. Duke will make large strides under new coach David Cutcliffe, and win as many as five games, which is more than the Blue Devils have won in the last four years. Virginia will be rebuilding after losing a load from a team that won 8 games last year, many by narrow margins. The Cavaliers will not be as fortunate this year.

Projected Finish:
Atlantic
Clemson 12-0, 8-0
Florida State 10-2, 7-1
Maryland 7-5, 4-4
Wake Forest 7-5, 3-5
Boston College 6-6, 2-6
NC State 3-9, 2-6
Coastal
Virginia Tech 11-1, 7-1
Miami 8-4, 5-3
North Carolina 7-5, 5-3
Georgia Tech 6-6, 3-5
Duke 5-7, 2-6
Virginia 2-10, 1-7

Citizens of the World

2008-08-20T14:29:00.003-05:00

I’ve been really getting into the Olympics this year. I didn’t expect to care a great deal about them, especially with them being held in Communist China. (By the way, this blog is now blocked in China..there used to be some traffic from Internet cafes over there, but I think I mentioned God once, and the Commie censors blocked this site) The last few Olympics, both winter and summer, are like a blur to me. I don’t remember a great deal about them. It seems like the Los Angeles Olympics were just yesterday, but that was 24 years ago. I’m getting old.

The USA is getting some great performances, none better than that of Michael Phelps and his eight gold medals in swimming. He also helped NBC with TV ratings last week.

A current trend in the Olympics is for athletes to farm themselves out to other countries whenever they do not make the Olympic team of their own country. We see that in basketball with Becky Hammon of the San Antonio Silver Stars (WNBA), who is playing for Russia, where she plays professionally in the winter. Chris Kaman of the Los Angeles Clippers is playing for Germany, as his great-grandparents came from Deutschland, and the Deutsch are letting him play for them. I would have a hard time playing for a country other than the USA, but if this is their ticket to the Olympics, then more power to them.

Late last night, I discovered the ultimate mercenary scenario. An American men’s beach volleyball team was playing a team from the Republic of Georgia. Upon further inspection, the Georgian players were named Geor and Gia. It turns out that they are Brazilians that were invited to play for Georgia after failing to make the Brazilian Olympic team. In Brazilian tradition, they took one-name professional titles, and took the names of Geor and Gia. They made it to the semifinals before losing to an American team. Interestingly enough, the other semifinal matched two Brazilian teams. A Brazilian women’s team also played for Georgia, under the names of Rtevelo and Saka, the Georgian-language name for the country. The Brazilan-Georgian women’s team even eliminated a Russian team from the Olympics. Great stuff!

I still believe there should be some sort of citizenship requirement for the Olympics. And, I believe the United States shouldn’t have to hire athletes from other countries to wear the red, white, and blue. But, if a small nation wants to bring in an athlete that won’t be on the team of their own country, that’s great.

In the meantime, I’ll be cheering for Geor and Gia to bring that bronze medal back home to Brazil. Or Georgia.

College Football Projections: Big East

2008-08-19T16:49:00.002-05:00

Another conference preview while wishing that American football was an Olympic sport…

Not long ago, the Big East was in danger of losing its BCS bid. That is no longer the case. This conference has a legitimate national championship contender and a bunch of pretty good teams. There is really only one dog in this entire conference.

When we last saw the West Virginia Mountaineers, they were steamed about the departure of coach Rich Rodriguez to Michigan. They promptly went out to Glendale and thumped Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. This big win earned the head coaching job for assistant coach Bill Stewart. Fast forward to this fall, when WVU is favored to win the Big East, and has a very good chance to be in Miami for the BCS National Championship Game. Their toughest game looks to be a Thursday night affair at home against Auburn. If they can get past that one, they have a good chance to go undefeated.

If West Virginia somehow slips in conference play, look for South Florida to pick up the slack. The Bulls will be joined by Louisville (last season’s disappointment) and Cincinnati in a fight for second place. Rutgers, Pittsburgh, and Connecticut will be bowl-eligible, as well. Some pick Pittsburgh to be even better than just bowl-eligible.

The only dog in this conference is Syracuse. The Orange has hit hard times, and will most likely fire coach Greg Robinson at the end of the year, barring a miracle.

Projected Finish:
West Virginia 12-0, 7-0
South Florida 9-3, 4-3
Louisville 9-3, 4-3
Cincinnati 9-4, 4-3
Rutgers 8-4, 3-4
Pittsburgh 7-5, 3-4
Connecticut 7-5, 3-4
Syracuse 1-11, 0-7

College Football Projections: Independents

2008-08-17T23:00:00.002-05:00

It’s been a few days, as I’ve been preoccupied with family from out of town and the Olympics. By the way, Michael Phelps is awesome. The next group of projections is a simple group: independents.

Notre Dame won all of three games last year. Count me in as one of many lifelong Irish haters that enjoyed that body of work. The Irish will never be back in the elite of college football as long as they are expecting both Ivy League academics and national championship caliber football. However, if they win 9 games in a year, they’ll be in a BCS bowl long enough to get pasted by a good team from a strong conference. The Irish won’t sniff a BCS bowl this year, but should win six games and steal a bowl bid from a Big East team. Maybe someday Notre Dame will humble itself and join a conference. In the meantime, they’ll lose three September games to Big Ten teams on its way to an up and down season.

Navy has been on a good run for the last several years under departed coach Paul Johnson. Now, new coach Ken Niumatololo is faced with following up that success, including dominance of rivals Army and Air Force and last year’s win over Notre Dame, the Midshipmen’s first since Roger Staubach was their quarterback in 1963. The Middies are quarterbacked by the captain of the All-Time All-Name team, Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada. The Midshipmen will struggle a bit more this year, losing the Commander-In-Chief Trophy to Air Force. However, they should once again beat Army and finish 5-7.

Army continues to struggle. The Black Knights of the Hudson look to be underdogs in every game except one. Stranger things could happen, though. West Point is about a lot more than football, though. The men from there and Annapolis will lead others to defend our country before long.

New to the Football Bowl Subdivision is Western Kentucky. The Hilltoppers are in an interim period before joining the Sun Belt in 2009. WKU plays several Sun Belt teams this year, but look to only be favored over two FCS (1-AA) teams. It’ll be a long year in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

Projected Finish:
Notre Dame 6-6
Navy 5-7
Western Kentucky 2-10
Army 1-11

Next: Big East

Is 85 a Number, or a Name?

2008-08-14T00:04:00.005-05:00

That's Ocho Cinco in Spanish.

Chad Johnson, a pretty good receiver in Cincinnati, has drawn flak in recent years for attempting to wear "Ocho Cinco" on his back during a game. He has been fined by the league for doing so.

Now, he wants to wear Ocho Cinco on his back permanently. The NFL has told him that he can only wear his legal name on his back. So, he is taking steps in the state of Florida to legally change his name to Chad Ocho Cinco.

This is great stuff. If he wants to change his name to Ocho Cinco, more power to him. I sorta like that name. I even named my fantasy team Ocho Cinco a couple of years ago, and he wasn't even on my team.

A league without a sense of humor deserves some comic relief every now and then. This provides plenty of it.

College Football Projections: Mountain West

2008-08-11T23:04:00.001-05:00

The best of the non-BCS conferences is traditionally the Mountain West Conference. This league is as much a victim of geography as anything, as there just aren’t that many TV sets between the Midwest and the West Coast. Nonetheless, this conference is a really big deal in places like the state of Utah.

The Mountain West has three teams that can play with anyone in the country. Utah, BYU, and TCU will take turns whipping up on the rest of this conference. The Utes’ toughest game will be their first: a trip to the Big House in Ann Arbor to take on Michigan in the first game for the Wolverines’ new coach. The last time Meatchicken opened a season at home, they lost to Appalachian State. So, there is hope for the Utes. Utah gets both TCU and BYU at home in November. The schedule is very favorable for them once they get past the Michigan game.

BYU will be very good, as well. The Y has the misfortune of having to travel to both TCU and Utah. Some believe the Cougars could crash the BCS. If they go through their schedule 12-0, they will very well deserve a BCS bid. They won’t go 12-0, though, and will have to settle for a December bowl game somewhere.

TCU looks to be strong, also. The Frogs will be favored in every game except two: trips to Norman, Oklahoma and Salt Lake City. TCU has won in their last two trips to Oklahoma. The last time the teams played was in 2005, when the Frogs went 11-1 and the Sooners went an uncharacteristic 9-4. In the conference, TCU should split with the two Utah teams and roll over everyone else.

The rest of the conference looks to be relatively even. However, there will be a surprise team. The Rebels of UNLV have been in a slump throughout most of this decade. They will break through for a winning record and a bowl game. Wyoming, Air Force, New Mexico, and San Diego State will take turns beating each other up. Colorado State is going through a coaching change and will struggle this year.

Projected Finish:
Utah 11-1, 8-0
TCU 10-2, 7-1
BYU 10-2, 6-2
UNLV 7-5, 5-3
Wyoming 5-7, 3-5
Air Force 5-7, 2-6
New Mexico 4-8, 2-6
San Diego State 4-8, 2-6
Colorado State 2-10, 1-7

College Football Predictions: Conference USA

2008-08-10T21:46:00.003-05:00

I haven’t forgotten about college football. There’ll be no video tonight, but there will be more fearless predictions. By the way, I went way out on a limb in picking Middle Tennessee to win the Sun Belt, and I’m catching a lot of grief for it on Sun Belt message boards. Their schedule looks very favorable, as they play the good teams in their conference at home. I have no choice but to stand by my predictions there. However, Troy and Florida Atlantic won’t let them give up without a fight.

Which reminds me: I do this for fun. I do not get paid for it. I’m just a guy in Texas with a computer and an internet connection. I have opinions, and so does everyone else. That’s why America is such a great country.

That has nothing to do with tonight’s topic: Conference USA. This league has a lot of pride and several programs that have made splashes on the national stage in their history.

The power in this conference resides in the West division this year. Some pundits give Tulsa a chance to go undefeated and to crash the BCS. The Golden Hurricane will be favored in all but one or two of their games. I’m tempted to jump on the undefeated bandwagon for them, but I can’t. The Hurricane will stumble once on their way to the C-USA championship game.

Also in the West, Houston welcomes new coach Kevin Sumlin, and should have another good season, though not quite winning the division. The team to watch here, though is on the Hilltop in University Park. SMU opened the checkbook and lured June Jones from Hawaii to coach the Mustangs. Perhaps SMU shouldn’t give up football, after all (apologies to Mike Rhyner of the Ticket in Dallas). I expect the Mustangs to win 7 games and go to a bowl game for the first time since they were paying players big money and getting caught. UTEP has a chance to make noise early with a home game against Texas, and will not go away easily in C-USA. Tulane and Rice will struggle on the field, but will excel in the classroom.

In the East, East Carolina looks to be the favorite as they follow up last year’s bowl win. UCF, Memphis, and Southern Miss will all be bunched together, while Marshall should be improved over the last couple of years. UAB will bring up the rear.

This conference will have a championship game. Tulsa will host East Carolina and defeat the Pirates for a trip to the Liberty Bowl in Memphis.

Projected Finish:
East
East Carolina 8-4, 6-2
UCF 6-6, 5-3
Memphis 6-6, 4-4
Marshall 5-7, 4-4
Southern Miss 5-7, 4-4
UAB 1-11, 0-8
West
Tulsa 11-1, 8-0
Houston 9-3, 6-2
SMU 7-5, 5-3
UTEP 6-6, 4-4
Tulane 4-8, 2-6
Rice 1-11, 0-8

Great Jet Quarterback of the Past

2008-08-08T12:31:00.002-05:00

Most of us are too young to remember Super Bowl III, but have heard of the legend of Joe Namath. This video, though, shows us what we really remember Joe Namath for..

May the newest Jets quarterback stay off this path..

F-A-V-R-E, Favre! Favre! Favre!

2008-08-07T19:11:00.001-05:00

It happened after all. After denials during the past 10 days, the Green Bay Packers managed to trade Brett Favre today to the New York Jets. This is a win-win situation for everyone involved (except Jets QB Chad Pennington, who was cut today).

The Packers were anxious to move on to the Aaron Rodgers era. The team believes that they have gotten all they can get out of Favre.

The Jets improve themselves at the quarterback position. QB Kellen Clemens can learn for a year or so from a Hall of Fame quarterback before becoming the starter once again. Plus, the Jets improve from a bad team to at least a mediocre team instantly. And, they’ll get the back page of the New York papers tomorrow.

Favre just can’t walk away from the game. He now gets to play for a team that he can help. He also gets to keep playing for as long as his mind and body can hold up, or for as long as the Jets will have him.

Good move by the Jets.

College Football Projections-WAC

2008-08-06T21:22:00.004-05:00

There'll be no video tonight, but there is a set of predictions for the WAC.

The WAC has had teams crash the BCS party two years in a row. Boise State capped an undefeated season in 2006 with an upset win over my Oklahoma Sooners (boo, hoo). Last season, the Hawaii Warriors dominated their opposition in cruising to a 12-0 regular season record. They were then throttled in the Sugar Bowl by a very good Georgia team. Will a WAC team crash the BCS for the third year in a row? Doubtful.

There is strength at the top of the conference. Fresno State returns 17 starters and is favored by some to make a run at the BCS. I think they'll be pretty good. However, so will Boise State. And, the road to the BCS (or at least a conference championship) goes through the blue turf in Boise. In college football, it's not just how good you are, but who you play, where you play them, and when you play them. The schedule works against Fresno. I pick Boise State to win the conference based on their home game with the team from the San Joaquin Valley.

The Hawaii Warriors will slip this year. It would be hard for them to top last season ever again. Plus, coach June Jones took the money from SMU and ran to Highland Park. Still, Hawaii should finish with a winning record, finish 3rd in the conference, and qualify for a bowl game, most likely the Hawaii Bowl in Honolulu.

New Mexico State and Louisiana Tech are improving, and will be tough games for anyone in this conference. San Jose State and Nevada will be right behind, and can both have a good season with some luck. Utah State and Idaho are both in for long seasons. This conference has defined top-heavy in recent years, but is slowly improving.

Projected Finish:
Boise State 11-1, 8-0
Fresno State 7-5, 6-2
Hawaii 7-6, 5-3
New Mexico State 6-6, 5-3
Louisiana Tech 6-6, 4-4
Nevada 5-7, 4-4
San Jose State 5-7, 3-5
Utah State 1-11, 1-7
Idaho 1-11, 0-8

Next: Conference USA

College Football Predictions: MAC

2008-08-04T21:30:00.005-05:00

As we move up the ladder of the Football Bowl Subdivision, the next conference to be explored is the Mid-American Conference. These schools play pretty good football in spite of flying under the radar of the Big Ten.

This conference currently has 13 football playing members. Not every team will play every other team in its division, so all conference games will count in the standings this year. The conference succumbed to the temptation of the Philadelphia market and added Temple last year for football only.

The class of the conference resides in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, where the Chippewas of Central Michigan return star QB Dan LeFevour as they attempt to defend their conference championship of a year ago. I don’t see any team in this conference as able to touch them this year. The West division has three teams (Ball State, Western Michigan, and Toledo) that will compete for second place. Northern Illinois will continue to rebuild, and Eastern Michigan will bring up the rear.

In the East, the Falcons of Bowling Green look to dominate the rest of their Ohio brethren along with the interlopers from Buffalo and Temple. The rest of this division will be pretty bunched up, with Miami getting a slight nod over the rest of the division for second place. Akron and Kent State will be competitive. Buffalo and Temple will continue to improve. Ohio is dangerous, but faces three road games in their non-conference schedule, at Wyoming, Ohio State, and Northwestern. The Bobcats will bounce back to an extent in the conference, but their conference schedule works against them, as well. It’s not always how good you are, but who you play, where you play them, and when you play them.

Projected Finish:

East
Bowling Green 8-4, 7-1
Miami, Ohio 7-5, 5-3
Buffalo 6-6, 4-4
Kent State 6-6, 4-4
Akron 5-7, 4-4
Temple 5-7, 4-4
Ohio 4-8, 3-5
West
Central Michigan 10-2, 8-0
Ball State 6-6, 4-4
Western Michigan 6-6, 4-4
Toledo 5-7, 4-4
Northern Illinois 2-10, 1-7
Eastern Michigan 1-11, 0-8

Next: WAC

College Football Projections: Sun Belt

2008-08-03T21:39:00.002-05:00

Tonight is the first installment of projections for the 11 major college football conferences. The projections will be posted in order of relevance to the college football landscape and my personal preference.

I will predict the five non-BCS conferences first, followed by independents, then the six BCS conferences.

The first conference I will predict is the Sun Belt Conference. Traditionally known as the dregs of the Football Bowl Subdivision, the Sun Belt is becoming increasingly more competitive. Ask Alabama about the Sun Belt, as the Tide lost at home to Sun Belt middle-of-the-roader Louisiana-Monroe last season. These schools still play a lot of money games against the big boys, but they are becoming more competitive against the rest of the division formerly known as I-A.

Why am I predicting the Sun Belt? Why does it matter? It matters to people in places like Murfreesboro, TN and Monroe, LA. These are athletes playing big-time college football. The winner earns a bid to a bowl game. Ok, it’s the New Orleans Bowl, but Florida Atlantic won that game over Memphis last year. Plus, Troy won 8 games last year but was passed over for a bowl bid after losing the last game of the year to Florida Atlantic. This conference is part of the FBS, so I’ll pick it.

This year, Middle Tennessee looks to be the team to beat. Troy will be good as well, but the schedule favors the Blue Raiders of MTSU. The conference could be decided in the first week of the season, when Troy travels to Murfreesboro to play MTSU. By the way, Troy will be making some serious dough for its athletic department by playing a killer non-conference schedule with trips to LSU, Ohio State, and Oklahoma State. Florida Atlantic will also be decent, as well. These three teams will be the class of the league.

Projected order of finish:
Middle Tennessee 8-4 7-0
Troy 7-5 5-2
Florida Atlantic 7-5 5-2
Louisiana-Monroe 5-7 4-3
North Texas 5-7 3-4
Arkansas State 4-8 3-4
Louisiana-Lafayette 2-10 2-5
Florida International 1-11 0-7

Coming up next: MAC

He Just Doesn't Want To Let Go

2008-07-31T19:49:00.003-05:00

What is going on in the swamps of Mississippi? Or, for that matter, the not-frozen-tundra-at-this-time-of-year in Wisconsin?

The Green Bay Packers are offering Brett Favre $20 million to stay retired as a Packer. Favre just can’t stay away from the game. He has decided he wants to play another year, and says that he was rushed into a decision when he retired back in March.

To add insult to injury, Favre reportedly wants to be traded within the NFC North, to either the Vikings or the Bears. The Packers appear to be granting his wishes. Favre, for his part, refused to speak to the Buccaneers and the Jets. Brett Favre in a Minnesota or Chicago uniform would be like Jim Brown playing for Pittsburgh. Or, like Troy Aikman playing for the New York Giants.

Competition is addictive, especially when you have been great as long and as recently as Favre. However, $20 million is nothing to sneeze at, even for someone who is already set for life.

The Packers are probably correct in trying to begin the Aaron Rodgers era. They are taking the position that last year’s season was an aberration, and that Favre just doesn’t have much left in the tank. They have also avoided a public relations hit, by leaking Favre’s interest to play in Minnesota or Chicago. I have to admit, though, that Favre would instantly improve the Vikings or Bears. In turn, that would severely hurt the Packers and make the NFC North wide open.

All of this probably means that Detroit will probably win the division, win three playoff games, and win the Super Bowl. Just kidding on that one.

What I Did This Summer

2008-07-29T18:40:00.006-05:00

I promised I would be on sabbatical through the beginning of August, and I’ve very nearly made it!

This blog will continue to focus on the three sports I love the most: college football, the NFL, and college basketball. There are other things that are worthy of comment from time to time, and I won’t forget those, especially as we approach the baseball post-season and another NBA season. Coming later in the week will be the beginning of college football predictions and projections.

Outside of this blog, I have a real job and a real life. My job takes me around the country. For the past seven weeks, I have been working at a client site outside of Boston. That’s a long way from Texas, according to Google Maps and any other map out there. Thanks to the wonders of modern commercial air travel and a client that will pay for it, I can travel to New England every week.

The highlight of my summer came a few weeks back, when I was able to go to a baseball game at Fenway Park in Boston. Every baseball fan should do this once in their lives, whether they like the Red Sox or not. Tickets are hard to come by, as the team has sold out every game for the last five years. I was lucky to find a ticket on the team website the week before the game, but that is easier said than done.

I had never experienced baseball quite like this before. I had a seat in the right field grandstand. This part of the park is rarely shown on television. It is covered and contains wooden chairback seats that have to be at least 50 years old, if not older. It also has an obstructed view, as there are posts holding up the upper deck. It didn’t matter, because I was in the park. I spent the first part of the game moving around the park and taking in the atmosphere. It was a big party. The fans love their team. The team store knows it, and sells t-shirts for what seems like half the team. You can not only get a David Ortiz jersey, but you can also get a Manny Delcarmen t-shirt. In addition, you can get a Daisuke Matsuzaka shirt in Japanese.

However, the fans don’t go to Fenway just to drink expensive beer and to hang out. They go for the game and for their beloved Red Sox. The fans cheer a simple little first inning run like it decides a post-season game. They are knowledgable of the game and appreciate effort. On this night, a Tuesday night game against the Twins, catcher Jason Varitek took the night off until the seventh inning. He received a standing ovation from the crowd for simply coming out of the bullpen. By this time, the home team was down 5-2. Where I come from, people are leaving late in the game to beat traffic and to try to get to bed. Not in Boston. The fans stayed and were rewarded with a 4-run eighth inning, to give the Red Sox a 6-5 win. The denizens of Red Sox Nation were happy on this night.

The ownership of the Red Sox has done an awesome job of adding additional revenue enhancements without totally tearing up the ballpark. There are now some luxury boxes in left field, along with seating on top of the Green Monster in left field. When entering the park, you can tell it is old. However, the park is clean and well-kept, especially for a facility that is nearly 100 years old.

Fenway Park is a treasure. I would go back if given the opportunity.

Sabbatical

2008-05-19T11:04:00.001-05:00

I have decided to take a sabbatical from blogging for the time being. This blog will return in the first part of August, just in time for football season.

Have a great summer!

Obligatory Larry Brown Picture #2

2008-04-30T22:24:00.002-05:00

Just Another Week In The Association

2008-04-30T19:25:00.005-05:00

There is a lot of action in the NBA, both on and off the court.

First, let’s get the latest Larry Brown gig out of the way. The vagabond coach landed yesterday in Charlotte as coach of the Bobcats. The Bobcats will become the ninth NBA team that he has coached. He has also coached Denver, San Antonio, the L.A. Clippers, New Jersey, New York, Philadelphia, Indiana, and Detroit. In addition, Brown has coached in college at UCLA and Kansas, and coached the Carolina Cougars of the ABA. The picture shows Brown in the good old days as coach of the then-ABA Nuggets. Why not Charlotte, and why not Larry Brown? More power to them.

Surprisingly, most of the playoff intrigue is in the Eastern Conference. The lower-seeded teams such as Philadelphia and Atlanta are giving Detroit and Boston all they want. Will there be an upset? I doubt it. They’re making it interesting, though.

That thud you hear are teams in the Western Conference. What was supposed to be a set of classic playoff series have turned into wreckage. The Lakers swept 8th place Denver. The Spurs beat Phoenix, and the Hornets beat the Mavericks by identical 4-1 counts. Only the Houston Rockets spared themselves embarrassment by staving off elimination and forcing a Game 6 against the Jazz on Friday night in Utah.

The first casualty of the playoff disaster was Dallas Mavericks coach Avery Johnson. Owner Mark Cuban made Avery the scapegoat for all that has gone wrong with the Mavs over the last two years. One truth of the NBA is that players tune coaches out after about three years or so, no matter who the coach is. Avery will land on his feet somewhere in the league. As for the Mavs, they are now just Dirk Nowitzki and a bunch of guys. This is not a championship team by any stretch of the imagination. Plus, it was a bonehead move to send two future draft picks to New Jersey as part of the Jason Kidd trade. Perhaps Cuban should cash out and sell the team. It’s going to be a painful rebuilding process in Dallas.

The Halfway House of the NFL

2008-04-25T21:15:00.002-05:00

Major League

2008-04-21T13:06:00.003-05:00

Last Friday, the NBA Board of Governors did the expected, and voted by a 28-2 margin to approve the move of the Seattle Supersonics to my hometown of Oklahoma City. All that now stands in the way of the Sonics’ move are a couple of legal proceedings: a suit by former owner Howard Schultz to get his team back (doubtful), and an attempt by the city of Seattle to hold the Sonics to the last two years of their lease at KeyArena. By doing this, Seattle would put themselves in danger of not getting a replacement franchise from an unhappy NBA.

Oklahoma City proved itself as a major league city during the last two years when it babysat the flood-stricken New Orleans Hornets. The people of Oklahoma consistently sold out an arena and brought a lot of corporate support to the table for what was then an awful team. The infusion of money and relative success in Oklahoma City laid the foundation for a great season in this year’s return to New Orleans. OKC, meanwhile, earned lots of brownie points with the NBA for temporarily hosting the franchise, placing itself at the top of the list for franchise relocations.

I take no joy in Seattle’s loss of their team. The people of Puget Sound supported their team for 41 years. The issues were not with the fans, but with the arena deal. The city remodeled the former Seattle Center Coliseum into KeyArena in 1995. The arena became obsolete just ten years later, due to a lack of luxury suites and a not-so-favorable lease to the Sonics. Both the Seahawks and Mariners received taxpayer-assisted stadiums in the last decade, and the politicians in Seattle were not receiving a groundswell of support for help for the Sonics.

Enter Oklahoma City. A group of Oklahoma City businessmen bought the Sonics in 2006, and gave Seattle over a year to come up with a new arena, just as the previous local owner had done. The folks in the Northwest couldn’t get a deal done. Meanwhile, Oklahoma City passed the continuation of an expiring temporary sales tax, approving the use of proceeds to upgrade the six-year-old Ford Center to a first-class NBA arena. So, the NBA approved an imminent move of the Sonics to Oklahoma City.

Oklahoma City has come a long way. It was once destined to be an eternal minor league town, not ready for prime time. There are a lot of good and proud people in Oklahoma. They are survivors of the Dust Bowl and the worst act of domestic terrorism in the history of the United States. They took a land that no one else wanted and made something out of it. Now, the city is taking advantage of its renaissance and placing itself on the list of cities with major league teams. It'll be a little weird to see box scores with "New York" and "Oklahoma City" next to each other.

Once this move comes to fruition, I will have a new favorite NBA team. Blood is thicker than water. Sooner born and Sooner bred...

One Shining Moment, Missouri Style..

2008-04-18T20:58:00.007-05:00

..or as viewed through the lens of a Kansas fan.

I couldn't help but get a kick of this latest example of America's most underrated rivalry: Kansas vs. Missouri. The rivalry doesn't get a lot of pub outside of the heartland, but these schools really, really don't like each other. As documented earlier, these states fought a war against each other.

An enterprising KU fan put together this video montage to the tune of CBS's signature, "One Shining Moment". It documents a quarter century of Mizzou miscues and lowlights.

Among the infamous events:
* The Nebraska 1998 comeback in football, climaxed by the touchdown reception on the tipped pass. This helped preserve a national championship for the Huskers.
* The Colorado fifth-down touchdown in 1990, allowing the Buffs to beat Missouri and to go on to win a share of a national championship.
* Tyus Edney's coast-to-coast drive for the buzzer-beating bucket, giving UCLA a comeback win over the Tigers in the second round of the 1995 NCAA tournament. UCLA went on to win the national championship.
* Ex-basketball coach Quin Snyder exiting the court to a shower of popcorn.
* QB Chase Daniel picking and eating boogers on the sideline.
* The time in 1983 when Missouri All-American center Steve Stipanovich accidentally shot himself in the arm.
* Missouri removing the name of Wal-Mart heiress Paige Laurie from their new arena, after it was discovered she paid someone to attend classes and take tests for her at USC. The arena was named after her when her father gave a significant sum to Mizzou for naming rights. What was once called the Paige Sports Arena is now simply Mizzou Arena.

I can't wait to see a Mizzou response...

Finally, Playoffs

2008-04-17T13:27:00.002-05:00

After a short hiatus, this blog is back!

After a long wait, the NBA playoffs begin this weekend. I have a hard time following the long NBA season. The 82-game regular season is a drag. However, the playoffs are a different story. The NBA playoffs are great entertainment. There is nothing like staying up for a late-night West Coast NBA playoff game with something on the line, especially if your team is playing said West Coast team. This promises to be the best set of NBA playoff series in a long time, possibly ever.

The Eastern Conference consists of two teams: Boston and Detroit. Shades of 1988. The Celtics have used the acquisition of Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to shoot to the top of the league and a 66-win season. The Detroit Pistons are right behind them, and look to be on a collision course with the Celtics. The other six teams (Orlando, Cleveland, Washington, Toronto, Philadelphia, and Atlanta) are there for filler, because the NBA requires eight teams in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

The Western Conference, on the other hand, is an eight-team battle royal. The West is so strong that Golden State won 48 games and missed the playoffs. If the Warriors were in the East playing an Eastern Conference schedule, they would probably be the 3rd best team on that side of the league. Instead, they sit home.

We have four great matchups in the West: Denver-Los Angeles, Utah-Houston, Phoenix-San Antonio, and Dallas-New Orleans. Any of those teams can make some noise in these playoffs. I believe the Lakers, Utah, San Antonio, and the Mavericks will win their first round series. The Spurs won’t go down easily, and will go on to meet the Lakers in the Western Conference finals. The Spurs will out-tough the Lakers to go to the NBA Finals.

Unfortunately for the West teams, the Celtics and Pistons won’t be tested until they play each other. Boston and Detroit will play a classic 7-game series, to be won by the Celtics. The Celtics then roll past the Western team, most likely the Spurs. Celtic pride returns, and brings yet another championship to the land of chowder.

Message Board Thread Of The Day

2008-04-08T15:40:00.003-05:00

A screen shot during the CBS broadcast of Monday night's Kansas-Memphis national championship game caught none other than Hall of Fame coach Roy Williams sitting in the Kansas section with a KU sticker on his shirt. Williams just happens to be the coach at North Carolina. His Tar Heels were thumped Saturday night by those same Jayhawks. Roy coached at KU for 15 years before moving back home to Carolina in 2003.

The natives in Carolina are restless. Many look at this as an act of sacrilege, as if Williams wants to go back to KU. The leading UNC message board, Inside Carolina, currently has a 19 page thread debating the idea of Williams taking on the KU colors for one more night:

Roy Williams

There is a long-running rivalry between fans of Kansas and North Carolina. They have a history of sharing coaches. UNC legend Dean Smith played at Kansas. KU national championship coach Larry Brown played for Smith at UNC. Former Smith assistant Williams graduated from UNC and coached at both KU and UNC. KU fans would like to take the credit for UNC's success. The truth is, Frank McGuire was winning games at UNC before Dean Smith got there. Likewise, KU was winning games before they got coaches from UNC.

This year, though, KU has scoreboard on Carolina.

Rock Chalk Jayhawk

2008-04-07T22:52:00.005-05:00

The Kansas Jayhawks completed a comeback for the ages to win the national championship a few moments ago. Memphis had a nine-point lead over the Jayhawks with 2:12 left in regulation. Kansas took advantage of a ton of missed Memphis free throws to get back in the game and finish it off in overtime, 75-69.

An age-old maxim of basketball proved itself true once again: the team that makes free throws wins games.

The Jayhawks win their third national championship, and their first in twenty years.

Bill Self is about to be an even richer man. At worst, KU will pony up to give him a substantial raise. And, Boone Pickens will try to break the bank to bring him back home to Stillwater.

This is the first men's basketball national championship for the Big 12 Conference. KU's last national championship was won as part of the Big 8.

As I type, CBS is about to play "One Shining Moment". That song symbolizes the end of winter and of basketball season. Once that song signs off, it is officially spring. Time for NBA post-season and baseball...

More Final Four Thoughts

2008-04-05T22:16:00.002-05:00

The two teams I thought would not make the national championship game will be playing Monday night. Memphis finished off UCLA, 78-63, while Kansas beat the snot out of North Carolina, 84-66.

Kansas-Memphis will be a yawner on the East and West coasts, and has the potential to be a TV ratings loser for CBS. However, it will be a great game. KU looked good tonight, but Memphis is really, really strong.

A team wearing blue and white will win on Monday night.

Final Four Thoughts

2008-04-05T17:26:00.002-05:00

Observations while watching the first half of UCLA vs. Memphis:

Both of these teams are really good. I picked UCLA before the tournament to win the whole enchilada, but Memphis has looked really, really good the last two weeks. They are definitely not your standard garden variety Conference USA team. They've lost one game all year, on a night they played a subpar game against Tennessee.

The next game should be fun. Roy Williams leads North Carolina against his old school, Kansas. Both schools are forever entwined through KU alum and UNC coaching legend Dean Smith, and his pupils including former KU coaches Larry Brown and Roy Williams. Bill Self is in his first Final Four and finds himself in the same position as Roy Williams in 2003: with his alma mater calling. Oklahoma State is offering a lot of T. Boone Pickens' money to Self to come home. Five years ago, Roy Williams was lured back home to UNC after taking KU to the national championship game.

More later tonight...

Boone's Farm

2008-04-02T21:53:00.003-05:00

Stillwater, Oklahoma has become the epicenter of controversy in the last 36 hours. Oklahoma State fired Sean Sutton as head men’s basketball coach after just two years, with a total record of 39-29.

There are two camps involved in this mess. Sean Sutton is the son of legendary retired OSU coach Eddie Sutton. Upon taking OSU to the Final Four in 2004, Eddie Sutton asked OSU to name Sean as head coach-designate and his replacement. The elder Sutton threatened to resign if the Cowboys did not follow through with that request. OSU shortly thereafter named Sean Sutton the heir apparent to his father. Sean actually assumed those duties in the middle of the 2006 season, after his father drove drunk and rammed his Dodge Durango into the side of another driver's car, resulting in a DUI and a repeat trip to rehab.

Enter T. Boone Pickens. The corporate raider and OSU alum gave the largest donation in the history of the university to the athletic department in 2005. Pickens pledged $165 million dollars to renovate the football stadium and build new facilities for other sports. In the time period following, the athletic director and university president resigned. $165 million buys a lot of influence. Pickens had his friend, OSU golf coach Mike Holder installed as athletic director. Holder runs the day-to-day operations of the athletic department, but Pickens retains the final word over hiring and firing decisions. Pickens is a fan of football coach Mike Gundy, who has had a barely above average three-year tenure as coach of the Cowboys, but recently had his contract extended.

It is said that the Suttons and their camp never got along with the Pickens gang. With such a large donation, Pickens demands a lot of control. The Suttons stood in the way. As the OSU basketball team plunged into mediocrity, the natives in Stillwater were restless, as was an oilman in Dallas by the last name of Pickens. To make a long story short, Sean Sutton became a millionaire as a result of the buyout of the last three years of his contract.

On one hand, Eddie Sutton set both his alma mater and his son up for failure by pushing Sean into the head coaching chair. It is really hard to follow a legend, and it is impossible when you are the son of said legend. Sean would probably now love to trade places with his brother Scott, a successful head coach for nine years at Oral Roberts. I’m sure the Suttons would like to have some do-overs. Nonetheless, they have reason to be hacked off at their alma mater.

On the other hand, T. Boone Pickens really does own a Big 12 athletic department. Money talks, and big money screams. Watch an OSU football game, and you’ll find T. Boone Pickens on the sidelines in a loud orange sweater, if he’s not yukking it up with the broadcasters in the booth. He makes Jerry Jones look low-profile. Tom Hicks would love to have this kind of control at the University of Texas. Pickens wanted his man as basketball coach. Now, he’ll have his chance.

OSU needed to take some risks if they wanted to compete on the level of rivals Oklahoma and Texas. Control of their athletic department by a megalomaniac is the price they are paying to compete in big-time Division I athletics.

And Then There Were Four

2008-03-30T21:10:00.003-05:00

Depending on your perspective, the upcoming Final Four shapes up to be really awesome, or really dull. It's dull if you think four top seeds in the Final Four is boring. It's awesome if you think there will be some awesome hoops in San Antonio this weekend.

Three of the regional finals were pretty dull. North Carolina had a bit of a tussle with Louisville, but pulled away at the end. UCLA and Memphis won their regional finals in a big way. In the best game of the weekend, Kansas barely escaped against Davidson, 59-57. These are heady times in Lawrence, as the basketball team is following up the football team's 12-1 season and win in the Orange Bowl.

For the first time ever, all four top seeds advanced to the Final Four. Three of the bluebloods of college basketball will be there, in North Carolina, UCLA, and Kansas. Memphis is a traditionally strong program, as well.

Just three more games left in the college basketball season..

I'm Not A Genius After All..

2008-03-28T20:23:00.003-05:00

...and that's ok, because Davidson is going to the Elite Eight. Wisconsin is the first team I've picked to make a regional final that lost. Thanks to someone's YouTube post, we now have the Davidson fight song as part of this post.

This tournament has an owner, and it's Stephen Curry. The Davidson guard scored 33 points tonight as the Wildcats beat the stuffing out of Wisconsin, 73-56. The tiny North Carolina school awaits the winner of the game between Kansas and Villanova in Sunday's regional final. At this rate, former NBA guard Dell Curry is going to be known as Stephen's father.

Davidson is among the smallest of Division I schools, with 1700 undergraduate students. It is a highly selective school with a $41,000 yearly pricetag. Ouch. The school currently has a $428 million endowment. The school has paid for any desiring student to travel to Detroit to attend this weekend's games. I have a feeling the administrators were expecting one game in Motown, and not two.

Davidson is making the little guys proud.

Basketball Genius?

2008-03-27T23:21:00.003-05:00

The science of predicting brackets is part skill and part luck. Not many people, including myself, predicted Davidson and Western Kentucky to make the Sweet 16. But, here they are.

However, teams like Xavier and Louisville are making me look like a genius. I picked both of them to advance to the round of 8 to play UCLA and North Carolina, respectively. And, both of them advanced. My Final Four of UNC, UCLA, Kansas, and Texas are still intact. And, I have them beating Louisville, Xavier, Wisconsin, and Memphis to get there. All of those teams are still alive.

I picked Florida to beat Ohio State in last year's national championship game. That was one of the more obvious picks in recent years. However, if lightning strikes twice, and UCLA beats North Carolina in the final, I'll stand on my head. Shades of Dick Vitale in 1987 when Austin Peay beat Illinois in the first round.

64 to 16

2008-03-23T21:35:00.003-05:00

The second round of the NCAA men's tournament produced some expected results, along with some surprises.

Late Saturday night, UCLA won a game it should have lost, coming back from a 10-point second half deficit to get past the Aggies of the Texas Agricultural & Mechanical College, 53-49. The Aggies led for most of the game, but went cold from the field in the second half, costing themselves the game. This bodes well for UCLA, who is bound to play much better next week in Phoenix.

On Sunday, the biggest upset had to be in Raleigh, where Davidson sent Georgetown home, 74-70. The Wildcats advance to the Sweet 16 in Detroit, where Wisconsin awaits.

The last 16 teams left standing:

East: This region held true to form. All four top seeds survived the first two rounds. In the next round, North Carolina plays Washington State, and Tennessee plays Louisville.

Midwest: This is another wild region. Top-seeded Kansas is still alive, and they play 12th-seeded Villanova. In the other half of this region, 3rd seeded Wisconsin plays tournament darling Davidson.

South: This region almost held to form, as 5th seeded Michigan State is the lowest seed remaining. The Spartans next play Memphis, narrow winners over Mississippi State. 2nd seeded Texas plays 3rd seeded Stanford.

West: This is the psycho region, and it was almost wrecked even more before UCLA came back on A&M. UCLA plays 12th seed Western Kentucky. 3rd seeded Xavier plays old friend Bob Huggins and West Virginia.

How did the conferences do? The following conferences have teams left:
Big East: 3 (Louisville, West Virginia, Villanova)
Pac 10: 3 (UCLA, Stanford, Washington State)
Big Ten: 2 (Wisconsin, Michigan State)
Big XII: 2 (Kansas, Texas)
ACC: 1 (North Carolina)
SEC: 1 (Tennessee)
Sun Belt: 1 (Western Kentucky)
Atlantic 10: 1 (Xavier)
Southern: 1 (Davidson)
Conference USA: 1 (Memphis)

More basketball later...

Almost Heaven, West Virginia

2008-03-22T15:31:00.003-05:00

And, down goes Duke!

West Virginia did the deed, knocking the hated Blue Devils out of the Tournament, 73-67.

Like him or not, Bob Huggins is a darn good coach. West Virginia did well to bring him back to his alma mater. I kinda like him. He doesn't pretend to be something he's not. He's a basketball coach, period. He recruits basketball players and wins games, period. If a school knows up front what they're getting, like West Virginia and Kansas State before it, they'll be successful on the court.

In the meantime, Duke is a shell of its former self. Good riddance.

Have a Tampa

2008-03-22T07:55:00.002-05:00

Isn't that a cigar? In this case, the NCAA had a Tampa on Friday. Not a cigar, but the unlikeliest of events in the subregional site at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa (Isn't that strange to have a building named after a newspaper in your rival city across the bay? That would be like an arena in Dallas called the Star-Telegram Center. Strange.). Not one, not two, but four lower seeds advanced from there on Friday. To make things better, the 12th and 13th seeds advanced in Tampa from both the West and Midwest regions. This has never happened, much less at the same site.

The above video is Western Kentucky's Ty Rogers throwing up a 30-footer closely guarded for the win in overtime against Drake. WKU probably, in all honesty, should have been seeded higher. They go on to play San Diego. That's the University of San Diego, not State. The Toreros stunned Connecticut in overtime. You read that right: Western Kentucky is playing San Diego for a trip to the Sweet 16.

But, they weren't done in Tampa. Part of the Midwest bracket played that evening, and 13th seeded Siena pummeled Vanderbilt, 83-62. That wasn't even close. In the nightcap, 12th-seeded Villanova, one of the last two teams to make the tournament, rallied from an 18 point deficit to beat Clemson, 75-69. Villanova and Siena meet on Sunday for a trip to the Sweet 16 in beautiful downtown Detroit.

This is why they call it March Madness.

NCAA Tournament In Brief

2008-03-20T23:00:00.004-05:00

And, this will be very brief, as I'm in New York on business and I need to go to bed.

By the way, welcome to anyone who may be passing by. The traffic for this blog has increased exponentially this week as America has been filling out brackets. To all that have stopped by: Thank you!

This was perhaps the most nondescript first round day in the recent history of the NCAA tournament. The closest thing to an upset was 11th seed Kansas State over USC. Belmont nearly shocked Duke, but close only counts in horseshoes and handgrenades. If you like favorites, today was your day.

32 more teams go at it tomorrow. I'm going to bed, going to work, and flying back to Texas.

West Regional Preview and Analysis

2008-03-18T22:16:00.002-05:00

The last bracket is in the West. UCLA is once again the team to beat on the Left Coast. Sound familiar?

UCLA spends the first two rounds down the freeway in Anaheim. They play their first game against Mississippi Valley State. The Delta Devils may wish they hadn’t made the tournament when UCLA is through with them. The Bruins go on to play the winner of the matchup between Mitt Romney U. and George H.W. Bush U. Oops, that’s BYU and Texas A&M. The Fightin’ Texas Aggies handle the guys from Provo, then give UCLA a fight before falling short.

One of the best stories of the year has been the Drake Bulldogs, in their first NCAA tournament since baskets were made of wood. Well, not quite, but 1971 was a long time ago. Drake starts with a game against Western Kentucky. This will be a pretty good game, and don’t be surprised if WKU pulls the 5-12 upset off. I’m picking Drake, though. The Bulldogs go on to face Connecticut. The Huskies will pulverize San Diego. UConn will then go on to the Sweet 16 by ending Drake’s dream season.

In the other half of the bracket, the Purdue Boilermakers return to the tournament with a matchup against the Baylor Bears. The Bears had an anxious Selection Sunday, as they were the last team announced in the bracket. It has been an incredible rise from the ashes of death and probation for the Bears. They have guards that can shoot like crazy. The Bears get hot and shock the Boilermakers. They will go on to play Xavier, who brings Georgia’s spectacular run to an end. The X-men then move on to the Sweet 16 in Phoenix with a win over Baylor.

The last pod is in Washington D.C., where West Virginia faces Arizona. The Mountaineers make the tournament in coach Bob Huggins’ first year. They get a first-round win over an Arizona team that barely made the tournament. This sets up a matchup with the Duke Blue Devils, who get a win over Belmont. Duke then beats West Virginia to earn a trip to Phoenix.

In Phoenix, UCLA meets up with UConn. The Huskies should be proud of their season, because it ends in the desert at the hands of the Bruins. The other game out West will pit Xavier and Duke. Xavier becomes America’s Team by playing the hated Duke Blue Devils. The X-men make another trip to the Elite Eight, where they become fodder for the UCLA Final Four run. UCLA is once again the best in the West.

South Regional Preview and Analysis

2008-03-18T21:43:00.002-05:00

This tournament is so big, it takes two days to break it down. The next regional is the South Regional. The South will be decided at the World’s Largest Rodeo Arena, aka Reliant Stadium in Houston. Memphis is the top seed here, but will be challenged by Texas.

Elvis’ Team begins their run a few miles down I-40 in North Little Rock. The Memphis Tigers get to play UT-Arlington. The Movin’ Mavs make their first NCAA appearance in history this week, and it could be ugly. Memphis has been playing teams like this all season in Conference USA. I’d like for UTA to make it interesting, but Memphis wins big here. The Tigers play the winner of an evenly matched game between Mississippi State and Oregon. The Ducks better leave the ugly uniforms at home. Mississippi State wins to set up a game with nearby Memphis. MSU throws everything but the kitchen sink at Memphis, but comes up short. Memphis earns a trip to Houston for the Sweet 16.

Way up in the mountains in Denver, Michigan State finds themselves in the favored end of a dreaded 5-12 matchup with Temple. There will be amateur bracketologists out there falling all over themselves to pick Temple. This isn’t the 5-12 upset. MSU wins. They move on to play Pittsburgh, who makes it past a gritty Oral Roberts team. This sets up a great 2nd round matchup between Pittsburgh and Michigan State. This will be the definition of a physical game. Pittsburgh is hot, and moves on to the Sweet 16 with a win over the Spartans.

In the Disneyland pod, played in Anaheim, Marquette takes on the Kentucky Wildcats. UK had a horrific non-conference season, and was hit hard by injuries in the conference season, but still went 12-4 in the SEC. It’s a long way to California for Big Blue Nation. This year, though, the Cats are glad to be in the tournament. Marquette beat UK for a trip to the Final Four five years ago, and gets past the Cats in the first round this year. They move on to take on the Stanford Trees, winners of the SAT Bowl in their first round game with Cornell. Stanford is glad to be out of Pac 10 play, and takes it out on Marquette in the second round.

Back in North Little Rock, the traditional basketball powerhouses of Miami and St. Mary’s meet. Miami represents the ACC, but St. Mary’s is a little better. They earn the right to play Texas, winners over Austin (Let’s Go) Peay. The Longhorns cruise over both Peay and St. Mary’s.

In Houston, Memphis and Pittsburgh meet in a barnburner. Memphis wins a close one in spite of their horrible free throw shooting. Texas sends Stanford back to the Farm. This sets up a game Memphis is suspicious of: playing Texas in their back yard for a trip to the Final Four. Texas gets the best of Memphis to make their second final four this decade under Rick Barnes.

Midwest Regional Preview and Analysis

2008-03-17T23:38:00.001-05:00

The Midwest regional is to be played in beautiful downtown Detroit, Michigan. The Kansas Jayhawks, co-regular season and tournament champions of the Big 12 Conference, are the top seed and are favored to advance to the Final Four.

KU starts their road in nearby Omaha, where their fans will take over the building and make the local chamber of commerce very happy. Their first game will be a relative scrimmage with Portland State, making their first appearance in the Big Dance. The Jayhawks would then play the winner of the game between UNLV and Kent State. The Rebels won the Mountain West tournament on their home court last week. Kent State has won 28 games and is a very dangerous team. The Golden Flashes should have their way with UNLV, and present a challenge for KU in round 2 (remember Rhode Island and Bucknell?). KU wins, barely.

The Clemson Tigers are enjoying one of the best seasons in their history, and play perhaps the last team selected for this year’s tournament in Villanova. Clemson handles Villanova in the dreaded 5-12 game, and goes on to meet Vanderbilt, expected winners over (Burnt) Siena. The Tigers then earn a trip to the Sweet 16 with a tough win over Vandy.

In the bottom half of the bracket, the summer league dream matchup takes place, as O.J. Mayo’s team (USC) takes on Michael Beasley’s team (Kansas State). Both of these guys will be getting paid big bucks next year. This year, USC will be too much for K-State, who underachieved this year by playing inconsistently in conference play. The winners plays Wisconsin, who will annihilate Cal State-Fullerton. Wisconsin is very strong, and should probably be a 2nd seed instead of a #3. Wisconsin takes out the O.J. Mayos in round 2 to earn a trip to the Motor City.

Another suspicious matchup of mid-majors pits Gonzaga with Davidson. Gonzaga is not really a mid-major any more, but they are in a mid-major conference. Davidson played anybody and everybody in their non-conference schedule before winning 23 in a row in the Southern Conference. This game is in Raleigh, and the Carolina fans will jump on the Davidson bandwagon. The Zags got a really tough draw. Davidson advances. They will take on Georgetown, who muscles their way past the Retrievers of Maryland-Baltimore County. The Davidson magic ends in the 2nd round, where they fall to Georgetown.

The regional in Detroit features Kansas vs. Clemson and Wisconsin vs. Georgetown. KU should handle Clemson. Wisconsin vs. Georgetown would be a slugfest. Wisconsin wins a close one to get to the Elite Eight once again. Bo Ryan’s team makes KU earn it, but the Jayhawks finally get to the Final Four for the first time in the Bill Self era.

East Regional Preview and Analysis

2008-03-17T23:37:00.001-05:00

The first of four regions this blog will break down is the East. North Carolina is the top seed here, as well as in the whole tournament. The regional final will be played down the road in Charlotte. The Tar Heels are favored to win this regional, but it will not be easy for them.

The Heels get to play the winner of the opening-round game in the first round, then will play the winner of the Arkansas-Indiana game. Arky won three in a row at last week’s SEC tournament before running into the Georgia juggernaut. Indiana is reeling in a bad way since the midseason dismissal of coach Kelvin Sampson for repeated recruiting violations. You have to go with the team on the upswing here, and that is the Hogs. The Hogs will put up a gallant effort against the Tar Heels, but Carolina is too much.

Elsewhere in this bracket, the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame take on the Patriots of George Mason in the dreaded 5-12 matchup. Every year, a 5th seed is upset by a 12th seed. History suggests that it will happen here. Notre Dame was upset in the first round last year by Winthrop. G-Mase made an unlikely march to the Final Four in 2006. I predict Mason to knock off the Leprechauns. Speaking of Winthrop, they could play the winner of this game by upsetting Washington State. The Eagles have played themselves into their 8th NCAA tournament in 10 years. Wazzu is a solid team, though, and will beat Winthrop in a close one. Wazzu then knocks off G-Mase to go to the Sweet 16.

In the bottom half of the bracket, my Oklahoma Sooners are an unexpected 6th seed and go to Birmingham, Alabama to take the St. Joseph’s Hawks. OU is a feast or famine team. If the guards are on, the Sooners win. If they’re not, they lose. I’d love to see OU get on a roll in this tournament. My gut doesn’t see it happening. I’m picking St. Joe’s. The Hawks would take on the winner of the game between Louisville and Boise State. The Ville is primed for a deep run in this tournament. They take on the Broncos, survivors of a triple overtime win in the WAC tournament final and a four-team battle royal in the WAC. Boise can play a little, and this will be an interesting game. I’m going with the safe pick and Louisville. The Ville then handles St. Joe’s in the 2nd round.

In the fourth pod of this bracket, the Butler Bulldogs lurk with a chip on their shoulder. Ranked 10th in the polls at the end of the season, the committee stuck them with a 7th seed and a dangerous matchup with South Alabama. Are you as suspicious as I am about the committee’s pairing of two tough mid-majors in the first round? Butler survives and advances. Awaiting Butler is Tennessee, who will have their way with American University. The boys from Rocky Top then will be too much for Butler.

In the Sweet 16, we have Wazzu taking on North Carolina. UNC is a killing machine, and will take care of Washington State. The other matchup is a barnburner between Louisville and Tennessee, causing great angst in Lexington and Big Blue Nation. I like Tennessee’s team a lot, but I look for the Ville to handle them here. Which leads us to the Elite Eight, where Rick Pitino’s Louisville Cardinals meet up with Roy Williams’ North Carolina Tar Heels. It’s the year of the Tar Heel. The planets are lining up for them. Color this regional Carolina blue.

For $60,000...

2008-03-17T14:47:00.003-05:00

...your team can host a game in a post-season tournament!

There is a new post-season tournament this season called the College Basketball Invitational. It is for teams that were snubbed by both the NCAA Tournament and the NIT. The organizers found 16 teams to play in this tournament, part of which is to be televised on Fox Sports Net and Fox College Sports.

Several teams from major conferences, such as Alabama, Missouri, and Texas Tech, balked at participating in this event. The organizers were asking for $60,000 in upfront money for schools to host a game. In addition, a host school would have had to organize an event and sell tickets in two days. Some schools said no. There were 16 schools that said yes.

This year's inagural CBI field includes: Virginia, Richmond, Old Dominion, Rider, Washington, Valparaiso, Houston, Nevada, UTEP, Utah, Tulsa, Miami (Ohio), Bradley, Cincinnati, Brown, and Ohio.

Of note: Cincinnati is in this tournament with a 13-18 record. The Bearcats had a good season in Big East play, but were awful in the pre-conference schedule. It would be funny if they won this tournament.

This event fills a void created when the NIT shrunk from 48 to 32 teams and began extending automatic bids to conference champions that did not win their post-season tournaments.

As bad as the CBI could be, it's better than some of the worthless football bowl games out there.

NCAA Tournament Prediction and Analysis

2008-03-16T20:56:00.005-05:00

It's Christmas, the 4th of July, and Columbus Day all rolled up into one! It's Selection Sunday, and the readership numbers of this blog have gone through the roof tonight. Welcome!

I'm analyzing the bracket, and just watched UCLA coach Ben Howland do an interview with ESPNU/ESPN2 on behalf of DirecTV. He sat in a studio with a DirecTV background, answered questions about the tournament, then shilled for the Mega March Madness package. I wonder how much he made for that? I want that gig.

I was not surprised by any of the top seeds. As a matter of fact, I have three of the four top seeds advancing to the Final Four. North Carolina, UCLA, and Kansas should make it to San Antonio. The fourth team will be Texas. It's a bit screwy that Memphis will probably play a lower-seeded team in its own state three years in a row. In 2006, the Tigers lost to UCLA in Oakland. Last year, Memphis beat Texas A&M in San Antonio. This year, the Tigers would meet Texas in a regional final in Houston.

Low and behold, there's Ben Howland on another channel talking college hoops and pimping DirecTV's Mega March Madness. Only $69!

This blog guessed 63 of the 65 participants in the field. The only ones I missed on were Villanova and Oregon. I guessed Virginia Tech and Illinois State instead. I did predict 52 of the 65 teams at or within one seed of their position.

The opening round is Tuesday night in Dayton, Ohio, between Mt. St. Mary's and Coppin State. This would probably be better played in Baltimore, but it was already booked for Dayton, so Dayton it is.

More analysis later... Click the graphic for predictions.

Tournament Bracket Prediction

2008-03-16T15:12:00.007-05:00

Here is my predicted bracket for this year’s NCAA tournament. Click on the bracket to view the predictions. The real thing will come out at 5 PM Central time on CBS. This bracket is final, and reflects wins by Kansas over Texas and Georgia (yes, Georgia) over Arkansas.

I have made one major change from previous predictions. I believe that the tournament committee will invite Arizona to the tournament based on its non-conference schedule and injury time to their star player, Jerryd Bayless. Past committees have taken strength of schedule and injuries into account when selecting teams. Arizona State would have made the tournament, but Georgia stole their bid with their improbable run through the bizarre SEC tournament. Ohio State slides out. The Buckeyes are 2-10 against the top 50, hurting themselves in the eyes of the committee.

This blog accurately predicted 32 of the 34 at-large bids a year ago. This blog also predicted 44 of the 65 teams within one seed of their placement in last year’s bracket. Not bad for a guy not named Lunardi or Palm. (BTW, I like Jerry Palm a lot. He’s made a fine business out of bracketology) And, I do this for free.

The seedings are not necessarily based on rankings. The top four seeds are assigned to regional sites closest to home. The rest of the teams are then seeded in relative order. Teams are moved around to comply with NCAA tournament policies such as:

• No home court advantage for lower-seeded teams
• Teams hosting games are not allowed to play at home. For example, Georgetown is not allowed to play in the Washington, D.C. subregional this year.
• Rematches from the regular season are avoided
• Teams from the same conference cannot meet until the regional finals
• Teams from the same conference are placed in different regionals until each regional has a team from that conference

The tournament committee has a tough job. I wouldn’t mind doing it for a year, though. It would be kinda fun to hang out in a hotel in Indy for a week, eating pizza while breaking down film and data with athletic directors and ex-coaches.

Last four in: St. Joseph’s, Arizona, South Alabama, Illinois State
Last four out: Arizona State, Ohio State, Villanova, Oregon

Tournament Field Projection 3/16/08

2008-03-16T00:01:00.003-05:00

Saturday saw a lot of wild action in a lot of conferences. All of these teams are looking to 6 PM Eastern time, when the selections are announced for this year's NCAA tournament.

This blog will have a final bracket projection this afternoon before the selections come out.

Teams with automatic bids to date:
Atlantic Sun: Belmont
Big Sky: Portland State
Big South: Winthrop
Colonial: George Mason
Horizon: Butler
Ivy: Cornell
Metro Atlantic: Siena
Missouri Valley: Drake (Illinois State should get an at-large bid)
Northeast: Mt. St. Mary’s
Ohio Valley: Austin Peay
Patriot: American
Southern: Davidson
Summit: Oral Roberts
Sun Belt: Western Kentucky (South Alabama should get an at-large bid)
West Coast: San Diego (Gonzaga and St. Mary’s should get at-large bids)

Reviews and comments on conferences still duking it out:

ACC
In: North Carolina, Duke, Clemson, Miami, Virginia Tech
UNC is ranked #1 in the country and won the regular season in the ACC. What counts on Tobacco Road, however, is the ACC Tournament, the nation’s oldest post-season tournament. North Carolina trailed the whole day before the great Tyler Hansbrough hit a jumper with .08 left to put away the Hokies of Virginia Tech. They go on to play Clemson. The Tigers, long the orange-headed football playing stepchild of the ACC, beat Duke for the first time in 11 years on Saturday. Clemson has never won an ACC Tournament, and has not been in the final since 1962.

America East
In: Maryland-Baltimore County
UMBC beat Hartford like a rented mule on Saturday to win the A-East title. This is the Retrievers’ first appearance in the Big Dance.

Atlantic 10
In: Xavier, St. Joseph’s, Temple
On the bubble: UMass, Dayton
Temple defeated St. Joseph’s on Saturday for the automatic bid. Xavier, of course, is in the tournament. St. Joseph’s is on the bubble, but should make it at this point. They make it due to a head to head win over and higher RPI rating than cross-town rival Villanova.

Big 12
In: Texas, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Baylor, Texas A&M
The Big 12 is strong this year. UT and KU took care of business Saturday and will meet for the automatic bid and possible #1 seed. OU, K-State, Baylor, and A&M should get good news from the selection committee on Sunday evening, as well.

Big East
In: Georgetown, Louisville, Notre Dame, Marquette, Connecticut, West Virginia, Pittsburgh
On the bubble: Villanova
16 teams are just way too many for one conference. This group of schools would probably squeeze out a couple more bids if they weren’t in the same conference. Pittsburgh once again created some magic in the Garden, winning another tournament final over Georgetown. This won’t help the Hoyas’ seeding. Elsewhere in the league, I have slid Villanova out of my latest bracket. The Wildcats are the last team out at this point, due their loss to and lower RPI ranking than St. Joseph’s.

Big Ten
In: Wisconsin, Purdue, Indiana, Michigan State, Ohio State
Some strange things are happening here. Wisconsin is proving itself to be the best team in this conference. The Badgers handled Michigan State today, while Illinois took care of Minnesota. If the Illini win their fourth game in four days against the Badgers, they will make the tournament with a losing overall record of 17-18. I doubt if the Illini have enough left in the tank for this one. It’s been good run in Indy this week for them, though. Elsewhere in the conference, Ohio State needs to sweat Selection Sunday, as they are close to the wrong side of the bubble. I look for them to get some love from the selection committee.

Big West
In: Cal State-Fullerton
The Titans of Cal State-Fullerton whipped Orange County rival UC Irvine to win the automatic bid from the Big West.

Conference USA
In: Memphis
Memphis owns this conference, lock, stock, and barrel. They proved it Saturday with a 77-51 win over Tulsa in a game that wasn’t even that close. The Tigers look to be a #1 seed when the brackets are released on Sunday.

Mid-American
In: Kent State
Beware of the Golden Flashes. Kent State won their 28th game tonight in grand fashion over nearby rival Akron. I wouldn’t want to draw Kent State in my bracket if I were a coach. These guys can play.

Mid-Eastern
In: Coppin State
Coppin State got their fourth win in four days, defeating regular season champion Morgan State 62-60. The Eagles were the seventh seed in the MEAC tournament, and are 14-20. I love it!

Mountain West
In: BYU, UNLV
What happens in Vegas doesn’t always stay in Vegas. UNLV used a strong second half to pound BYU, 76-61. Both teams will be in the field of 65.

Pac-10
In: UCLA, Stanford, Washington State, USC, Arizona State
On the Bubble: Oregon, Arizona
UCLA took care of Stanford to nail down the post-season tournament and a probable #1 seed in the Tournament. Arizona State, Oregon, and Arizona will be sweating bullets late Sunday afternoon. I have the Sun Devils barely in based on head-to-head results. The Wildcats could get some love from the committee due to some injuries earlier in the season, and have a high RPI and a high strength of schedule. I have them barely out of the bracket. Oregon is also close to the Field of 65, but not quite there.

SEC
In: Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Arkansas
It was a bizarre day in Atlanta, as the teams played in front of family, cheerleaders, bands, and the leering press. Kentucky was expected to be the team that might pull the doubleheader sweep. Instead, it was the Georgia Bulldogs, owners of a 4-12 conference record and last place finish in the East division. Georgia got past Kentucky in the first game of the day, winning in overtime on a three-pointer by Zac Swansey. In the semifinals, Arkansas won a barnburner over Tennessee, 92-91. The Vols are most likely looking at a #2 seed in the Tournament. In the nightcap, Georgia upset West division champs Mississippi State, 64-60. The Bulldogs, possibly playing for coach Dennis Felton’s job, move to a record of 16-16 and can go to the Big Dance with a win over the Hogs.

Southland
In: Post-season tournament champion
UT-Arlington goes for their third win in a row, facing Northwestern State in Sunday’s final. Northwestern State is known for their tournament magic in 2006, when they upset Iowa in the first round. The Demons have a losing record at 15-17. If they win, they may be headed directly from the arena in Katy to Dayton, Ohio for a Tuesday night game with Coppin State. UTA, with a win, could make that Katy-to-Dayton trip, or would be a #16 seed, possibly playing Texas in the first round.

SWAC
In: Mississippi Valley State
Mississippi Valley State won the league tournament in a 59-58 nailbiter over Jackson State. The Delta Devils are still a candidate for the opening round game on Tuesday night in Dayton.

WAC
In: Boise State
Boise State went to Las Cruces and proved their worth, defeating New Mexico State on their home court in a 107-102 triple-overtime thriller to win the conference tournament. They’re known as giant killers in football, and they have a chance to do the same in hoops.

Last four teams in (rooting hard for Wisconsin and Arkansas to take out Illinois and Georgia): Arizona State, South Alabama, Illinois State, St. Joseph’s
Last four teams out (need a favor from the committee): Villanova, Oregon, Arizona, VCU

Minnesota Magic

2008-03-15T11:57:00.002-05:00

Blake Hoffarber hits a miracle game-winning shot to beat Indiana. This was three years after he hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer sitting on his butt to tie the Minnesota high school state championship game.

Tubby Smith is a hero in Minnesota today.

Tournament Field Projections, 3/15/08

2008-03-15T08:38:00.002-05:00

As usually happens on Friday of conference tournament week, a lot of things happened to shake up at-large bids and seeding in the NCAA tournament. There are teams showing life after mediocre regular seasons, and there are teams melting down. All of this sets up a crazy weekend. There are teams that want to make this tournament after all.

Teams with automatic bids to date:
Atlantic Sun: Belmont
Big Sky: Portland State
Big South: Winthrop
Colonial: George Mason
Horizon: Butler
Ivy: Cornell
Metro Atlantic: Siena
Missouri Valley: Drake (Illinois State should get an at-large bid)
Northeast: Mt. St. Mary’s
Ohio Valley: Austin Peay
Southern: Davidson
Summit: Oral Roberts
Sun Belt: Western Kentucky (South Alabama should get an at-large bid)
West Coast: San Diego (Gonzaga and St. Mary’s should get at-large bids)

Reviews and comments on conferences still duking it out:

ACC
In: North Carolina, Duke, Clemson, Miami, Virginia Tech
UNC is ranked #1 in the country and won the regular season in the ACC. What counts on Tobacco Road, however, is the ACC Tournament, the nation’s oldest post-season tournament. North Carolina and Duke took care of business today. So did Virginia Tech, firming up their imminent NCAA bid with a big win over Miami. For the second year in a row, the Hokies are in the semifinals of the ACC tournament. There have to be a lot of old school ACC people (hello, UVA, NC State, and Wake Forest) just sick about the success of the nouveau member Hokies in the ACC. It is a little strange to see Va Tech and Miami playing each other in this tournament. At the end of the day, though, it’s North Carolina’s tournament to lose.

America East
In: Winner of conference championship game
Either Maryland-Baltimore County or Hartford will qualify for their first NCAA tournament with a win on Saturday. UMBC won the regular season and will thus host the championship game against Hartford.

Atlantic 10
In: Xavier, either St. Joseph’s or Temple
On the bubble: UMass, St. Joseph’s-Temple loser
As I predicted and expected, Xavier was defeated in this tournament. St. Joseph’s did the deed, and is close to an at-large bid if they don’t earn the automatic bid on Saturday. Their opponent: their Philly buddies from Temple. The Big Five rivals will meet for the auto-bid Saturday evening in Atlantic City. Didn’t Miss America used to be crowned on Saturday night in Atlantic City?

Big 12
In: Texas, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Baylor, Texas A&M
The Big 12 is strong this year. UT and KU still have a slight chance for #1 seeds. OU and K-State are safely in the tournament. UT, KU, and OU won today to move into the semifinals. Texas A&M got a win over Kansas State on Friday to solidify, at last, their at-large bid. Baylor is still barely in the tournament despite an embarrassing double-overtime loss to Colorado.

Big East
In: Georgetown, Louisville, Notre Dame, Marquette, Connecticut, West Virginia, Pittsburgh, Villanova
16 teams are just way too many for one conference. This group of schools would probably squeeze out a couple more bids if they weren’t in the same conference. Georgetown is proving itself to be the Beast of the East, having pummeled West Virginia on Friday. They will play Pittsburgh, who is making yet another run to the Saturday night stage at Madison Square Garden.

Big Ten
In: Wisconsin, Purdue, Indiana, Michigan State, Ohio State
Some strange things are happening here. On the top half of the bracket, Wisconsin and Michigan State advanced, as expected. Fireworks are flying on the lower half, though. 10th-seeded Illinois defeated Purdue in overtime, 74-67. Minnesota used a buzzer-beater to upset Indiana. There are a lot of teams out there hoping that Wisconsin or Michigan State take care of business. Meanwhile, Minnesota could be playing itself into an at-large possibility.

Big West
In: Post-season tournament champion
There were tri-champions in this league, and one of them is already gone in an upset, as UC Santa Barbara was taken out by UC Irvine in the battle of the UC’s. The Anteaters play Cal State-Fullerton, winner of the Cal State slugfest over Cal State-Northridge. When are the Banana Slugs of UC Santa Cruz going to join this league? Meanwhile, either Irvine or Fullerton gets bragging rights to the O.C. and a berth in the Big Dance.

Conference USA
In: Memphis
Memphis owns this conference, lock, stock, and barrel. The Tigers walked through a scrimmage with Southern Miss in Friday’s semifinal. The designated victim in Saturday’s championship game is the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. TU has won three in a row this week, two in overtime, including Friday’s win over UTEP.

Mid-American
In: Kent State
This conference belongs to Summit County, Ohio. Akron returns to the final with a win over Western Michigan. The Zips lost last year’s championship on a three-point prayer by Miami (Ohio), and were subsequently snubbed by both the NCAA and NIT. They take on nearby rival and regular season champ Kent State, winners of 27 games this season. Expect the unexpected at the Q in Cleveland Saturday night.

Mid-Eastern
In: Post-season tournament champion
Baltimore is well-represented here, as Coppin State and Morgan State are playing each other for a trip to the Big Dance. Morgan State is the regular season champ. And, no, the school was not named after me.

Mountain West
In: BYU, UNLV
BYU is in the tournament regardless of what happens. UNLV apparently secured an at-large bid with a win over Utah in the other semifinal.

Pac-10
In: UCLA, Stanford, Washington State, USC, Arizona State
On the Bubble: Oregon, Arizona
The suspense is over on the court in this conference. All the remaining teams are playing for seeding in the NCAA tournament. The real suspense is in the inner sanctum of the programs at Arizona State, Oregon, and Arizona. The conventional wisdom says that Arizona will make the tournament due to their top-ranked strength of schedule. I disagree. You have to beat at least one good team, and you have to beat the teams with which you are competing for that spot. Arizona State and Oregon took care of Arizona on the court. UCLA and Stanford held their seeds and will play Saturday for the championship.

Patriot
In: American
The American Eagles (not Outfitters) are in the NCAA tournament for the first time after several near-misses. How fitting is it that a team called American wins the Patriot League?

SEC
In: Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Arkansas
Thursday was the night a couple of bubble teams went bye-bye. Friday was the night the lights went out in Georgia. Actually, the lights didn’t go out, but a couple of walls did. But, the teams played on. Arkansas strengthened its position and gets a shot at top seed Tennessee on Saturday. The tournament has been moved to the campus of Georgia Tech, where only friends, family, cheerleaders, and bands will be allowed entry. Kentucky and Georgia will play at noon local time, with the winner playing Mississippi State Saturday night. It will look like they’re playing in front of a TV studio audience.

Southland
In: Post-season tournament champion
Break up the Mavericks! Not the Dallas Mavericks, but the UT-Arlington Mavericks. UTA advanced to the championship game with their second consecutive upset of this tournament, defeating Sam Houston State. The Movin’ Mavs get to play Northwestern State, upset winners over regular season co-champ Stephen F. Austin. It was a bad day for Texas patriots, with both Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin losing. On the other hand, can lightning strike three times for UTA?

SWAC
In: Post-season tournament champion
Dayton, Ohio awaits the winner of this conference. Mississippi Valley (16-15) takes on state rival Jackson State (14-19) for the SWAC tournament title. Both teams’ RPI ratings are in the 200’s. That’s a guaranteed ticket to the opening round game. But, the record book will always say that one of these teams played in the NCAA Tournament.

WAC
In: Post-season tournament champion
This conference is having a steel cage match in Las Cruces with the quad-champions facing each other in the semifinals. Yes, quad-champions. Four teams tied for the regular season title at 12-4. Boise State earned a trip to the finals with a win over Utah State. New Mexico State is glad they won the bid to host this year’s tournament, as they took advantage of the home court to send Nevada home.

Last four teams in (rooting hard for teams like Kent State): Villanova, Arizona State, South Alabama, Illinois State
Last four teams out (need some love from the committee): UMass, Oregon, New Mexico, Arizona