Weekend Review

I know that I just hit on College Basketball last week, and I will give you the much anticipated explanation about List #2 (see College Basketball: Nostradamus Style), but first I must comment on the sports over the weekend.

College Football.
Lets just say its interesting. No conference really belongs in the BCS championship game other than the BigXII and the SEC. But here's the kicker, which teams belong in the game. Texas Tech could have made it's case by beating Oklahoma, but didn't. We still have a big game left (Bedlam! OU vs. OSU) so that will be determined later. There is no use getting all excited right now because there is still football to play. Plus, what happens if Mizzou wins the Big XII title game? Then who gets in? Too many questions, with no answers right now.
One question with a solid answer is that whoever wins the SEC title game should play for the National Championship. This is kind of sad if Florida wins because they have only one loss, but so would Alabama. Alabama's loss is to a top 5 team and Florida lost to an Eli Manning-less Ole Miss team.

Graham Harrell lost his heisman chances. Sam Bradford may have won it. If he plays like that again against OSU and in the conference championship game, he wins. Period.

NFL:
Just my thoughts from each of the games over the weekend.
Chiefs 31 - Bills 54 : Bills are pretty good, but the chiefs should not give up 50+ to Trent Edwards. No team should. The Chiefs have been decimated on Defense, but still Trent Edwards. Seriously. Atleast Tony G is happy with 100+ recieving yards and a TD. First Ballot Hall of Famer. I don't have a say, but it will still happen. He's a stud.
Phi 7 - Bal 36 : If Baltimore's defense can keep playing this way in the playoffs, can Joe Flacco lead them to the playoffs? I don't think so, not without a sure fire #1 running back. Too much pressure on a rookie quarterback. Willis has been hurt off and on all year and Ray Rice and Leron McClain just can't do it. On another note, Philly has found a new starting quarterback and Donovan McNabb is headed to Minnesota this offseason. Let's just hope he's not another Daunte Culpepper.
Hou 16 - Cle 6: Brady Quinn = bad against average defense. If they were anywhere close to playoff contention fans would be screaming for Derek Anderson (he made the Pro Bowl last year for crying out loud). With Houston, while Kevin Walter may not get the pub of Andre Johnson, he may be Sage Rosenfelds (and the team's) best reciever right now. 7 TD's on the year compared to Johnson's 3. Over the last 3 games, he's averaging more yards per game and has 2 TD's compared to Johnson's zero.
TB 38 - Det 20: Detroit is bad, but how good is Tampa Bay. They have an aging team at the skill positions, (Jeff Garcia 38, Ike Hilliard 32, Warrick Dunn 33) but keep winning. Will that continue in the playoffs or will injuries play a role down the strech.
Chi 27 -StL 3: Matt Forte is an excellent pickup for the bears who needed a back to be consistent when mixed with the ever inconsistent quarterback play. Trent Green is still playing, but has not been the same since his concussion with KC. Too bad, because he is a great guy and someone that could be a great role model for kids.
NYJ 34 -Ten 13: Titans lose and LenDale White is not happy. The Jets look good and it starts with defense. Brett Favre was a great pickup, especially for the price, but so was Kris Jenkins in the middle of that defensive line. The J-E-T-S young corners are playing great as well. Let's see what happens the rest of the year. Favre still has time to screw it up or get hurt. Then it's up to Kellen Clemens. Yikes
NE 48 -Mia 28: Matt Cassel is good and Randy Moss is too, even if he is lazy. Miami has done a great job of turning the ship around, but doent have the horses to compete in the AFC East.
Min 30 - Jac 12: What happened to Jacksonville? They were supposed to compete in the South. Minnesota has a defense and if they get McNabb next year, look out, they could be great!
SF 22 - Dal 35: I still dont think that Dallas is that good, and will miss the playoffs (sorry Boy's Fans). However, they did get another win AND made TO happy. Roy Williams: 3 catches, 36 yards. Was he worth it? SF will find out more when they get a real QB and a permanent (atleast to start next year) head coach.
Oak 31 - Den 10: Oakland is starting to get better, but Denver played awful and Cutler was too busy arguing penalty calls to be in the game mentally. The Broncos still leads the division by 2 games over struggling San Diego, so I still give them the edge to win it. Can JaMarcus Russel be considered a good draft pick if it takes him 3 years to develop in to a starting QB on the professional level?
Atl 45 - Car 28: Matty Ice is a stud, so is Michael Turner who had 4 rushing TD's. Carolina's D needs to be better if they want to make the playoffs, or advance in them.
NYG 37 - Ari 29: Arizona played tough, but the G-Men are too good this year. They didn't even have Brandon Jacobs in and they still controlled the game in the Desert. Kurt Warner is no longer and MVP candidate in my book. 1 int and 1 fumble lost in what may have been the biggest game of the year. He's still better than anyone expected this year.
Was 20 - Sea 17: The Seahawks made it a game, but the 'Skins are destined to make the playoffs this year. Clinton Portis may not practice at all during the week, but will still produce come game time. If you're a Washington fan, a road win is a road win and you can't ask for anything more.
Ind 23 - SD 20: I think that if San Diego had Shawne Merriman, they would be a different team. They just don't have the intensity that they need to be a consistent winner. I also think that LT doesn't have the intensity either, but I'm sure its hard to when you have to carry a team. They can't get Gates the ball like they should and Vincent Jackson, Chris Chambers and Malcolm Floyd don't exactly strike fear into oppposing secondaries hearts.

So now onto the explanation of List #2. This is too much fun for me so I ramble and run out of time. I'm sure you're all pretty bored by now, but college basketball starts tonight (Thanksgiving week rocks for college hoops) and I need to get a jump on the year.
1. Kansas will not repeat as National Champion, but will make it interesting for the Big 12 title.
Kansas loses too much skill experience and heart to repeat. You can't replace the likes of a defense tandem of Chalmers and Robinson along with the heart and quality depth that you had down low with Kaun, Jackson and Arthur. On the flip side of things, Bill Self is still a great coach and will get this team to compete in the Big XII. The team has leaders in Collins and Aldrich (who dominated POY Hansborough last year in the Final Four) and a lot of talent. If they win all their games against the North - doable in a weak division - and win their home games against the South, they would finish 13-3 in conference. I can't imagine the South teams doing that.
2. Tyler Hansborough will not win POY again. And its not because he is hurt right now.
Hansborough is good, but he is good because he tries harder than anyone else. As deep as NC is this year, he won't play as much and his ceiling in college has practically been reached. Plus, he's a target now meaning that he won't get as many touches and will get fouled a lot harder. As far as my pick for player of the year, I'll take Blake Griffin right now. He's averaged a double double last year and has a better supporting cast this year, meaning he can do even more.
3. The Big East will get a record number of teams in the tourney and disappoint.
I just dont see UConn or Louisville getting it done. In the past, teams that won it all were a superior team (team in every way - Kansas or Florida), or had multiple super stars (Gordon and Okafor). No one in the Big East impresses me that way. I think Pitt could pontentially win it all because they frustrate the hell out of everyone they play; if you get teams on a bad night when they are frustrated, you have a good chance of winning. And they play defense
4. More bubbles will burst from major conference teams than from mid major teams, more so if you look at years past.
I just think the amount of parity in college basketball is at an all time high. With one and done recruits sometimes leaving a team in shambles, the experienced mid majors (Drake, Davidson, and Belmont for starters) find a way to get in the tourney. Plus, the Missouri Valley is getting close to being considered a major conference in basketball. That will just help other mid majors find their groove and get in the tourney. I also think the major conferences just aren't as deep as they once were.
5. The NCAA tournament and Final Four will be a huge hit. Excitement. Upsets. And my personal favorite, no Billy Packer. Ha!
As I just said, parity. That and defense are the words of the day. The tourney will be one of the greatest we've seen in a while. I think that we may have another George Mason, or just a lot of mid majors making the sweet 16. Is this the year Gonzaga and Mark Few make the Final Four? Maybe. Plus, no one will be subjected to Billy Packer this year. I can not wait for the tourney just for that reason alone. He was inflammatory, a poor analyst, wrong and played favorites. I know it is hard to not play favorites, but if you are the color analyst for the Final Four, you should be able to maintain some perspective on both teams. Here's hoping to Clark Kellog can pull it off
While we're on announcers let me rant for a second. Dickie V plays favorites all the time. I know it gets him good pub, but its just annoying. I love the small amount of time that he is a fan of my team, but it is few and far between the times he is absolutely in love with UNC, Duke, Syracuse and the rest of the East Coast. He has so much excitement, which no one has yet to duplicate (I'm rooting for Gus Johnson, the only announcer I actually look forward to) but it doesn't matter because of how biased he is toward the East Coast.

6. I will place a bet in Vegas on a "sure thing" with regards to the tourney and will lose. I just suck like that.
Mrs. DDSF and I have plans to go to Vegas for the opening weekend of the tourney. We went for spring break one year and by accident got so lucky we showed up for St. Patty's day and the tourney. Probably some of the most fun I have had in a long time. Now, we are not poor students too, so I dont feel so bad laying down a couple bets on games.
We went before and she wanted to put money down on George Mason to beat UNC. I told her she was crazy. I was wrong. This time i will bet on something like that and eat my words for real. With all the upsets, I think Vegas will make out like bandits stealing from everyone!

7. Free throws will impact a game in March.
It did last year. It will this year and every year hereafter. Free throws should be easy, but pressure and lack of ability to perfect an artform (sounds really good doen't it, "artform") will cause someone to choke and miss at an inopportune time.

8. This year's non-conference slate will be the best in recent memory. UNC - Mich St., Memphis - Tenn, Oklahoma - Davidson, Preseason Tourneys, ACC - Big 11 Showdown, Big 12 - Pac-10 whatever its called with no publicity.
We will have more early season games that go down to the buzzer, or upsets (already Michigan over UCLA - who will not make a fourth straight final four) because of _______.


Did you fill in the blank yet?

How about now?

What if I gave you a hint? (see words of the day)

Still nothing?

Seriously?

PARITY! There is so much parity in college basketball now that upsets will happen all over the place. More and more underclassmen are going pro and leaving their major conference teams with younger, inexperienced players.

Just a reminder, the words of the day are defense and parity. Don't forget

9. CBS will try to pump the Big 11 (not the Big 10, if there are 11 teams you can not call yourself the Big 10; Ridiculous, just ridiculous - dont get me started) and fail miserably.
Michigan with their new coach, Indiana with Tom Crean, Michigan State is not that good and Purdue (status post comb-over extrordinaire Gene Keady) may win the conference. They play boring basketball (even if you are a purist and love defense, its boring; argument over, I win) and even though they have made the championship game 4 times since 2000 (only Mich St. 2000 team won) I think they are falling behind the other major conferences. Just wait, you'll see.

10. One Shining Moment will play when our next national champion wins it all.
Just after we have a commercial for the Masters! And no Billy Packer! The right prescription for a perfect March.

Tomorrow may hold a breakdown of the KU - Washington game. Stay Tuned.

DDSF