Is 85 a Number, or a Name?

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Just Another Week In The Association

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

Major League

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..

..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

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

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

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

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.