Upset Saturday: Several Top Teams Fall

With only two weeks left in college basketball, top teams are facing tough tests against conference opponents looking to boost their resumé for tournament time.

(17) Tennessee 74, (2) Kentucky 65
Kentucky and Tennessee is one of the biggest rivalries in the SEC, and at home Tennessee proved too much for the Wildcats. Tennessee played a great defensive game, forcing 5 turnovers from John Wall. JP Prince had 20 points and Scotty Hopson had 15. The Vols can now boast victories over Kansas and Kentucky, arguably the two best teams in the country.

Oklahoma State 85, (1) Kansas 77
Another road test for a top ranked team, the Oklahoma State Cowboys took down the number one ranked Kansas Jayhawks. Junior James Anderson, who was questionable with back pain, scored 27 points, and made his case for Big 12 Player of the Year.

(11) New Mexico 83, (12) BYU 81
This Mountain West shootout was a highly anticipated game between two ranked teams, and New Mexico moved into sole possession of first place in the conference. Dairese Gary had 23 points and Darington Hobson had 20 for the Lobos. BYU was led by Michael Loyd Jr. with 19 points. Star guard Jimmer Fredette, averaging 21.7 points per game, played only 16 minutes with a stomach problem, and scored only 6 points.

(3) Syracuse 95, (8) Villanova 77
In the premier matchup of the night, the Syracuse Orange held their ground on their home floor, and took out the Villanova Wildcats, and clinched at least a tie in the Big East regular season title. Rick Jackson led the Orange with 19 points and Arinze Onuaku had 17. The Orange now look to impress the selection committee with their 7-0 record against ranked opponents, giving them the inside track for a number one seed barring a catastrophic end to the season.

So with Kansas and Kentucky losing who is number one? Keep in mind that Kansas is not out of the woods yet, as they have to play Kansas State on March 3rd. Number 3 Purdue faces Michigan State tomorrow night without star forward Robbie Hummel, tilting the odds in Sparty's favor in that contest. Duke hasn't lost, but hasn't played anyone of note in their recent ACC schedule. Here are my predictions for the top 5 of next week.

1. Syracuse (26-2)
2. Kansas (27-2)
3. Kentucky (27-2)
4. Duke (24-2)
5. Purdue (24-3) NOTE: I am predicted a loss to Michigan State Sunday, which drops Purdue this low.

It will be interesting to see how the polls reflect the games played this weekend, so check back Monday for updated power rankings.


Agree with my predictions? Do you think I'm underestimating a top team? Let me know in the comments.

College Basketball Power Rankings 2/22

The rankings are back this week, after I was sick last week and by the time I had recovered, several big name teams had been upset, making rankings from a poll on Monday seem pointless. Let's take a look at the top 25 of the week, compiled by averaging the teams' ranks in the AP poll, the USA Today Poll, the Sagarin Ratings, and the RPI.

1. Kansas (AP: 1, USA: 1, Sagarin: 1, RPI: 1)
2. Kentucky (2, 2, 3, 4)
3. Syracuse (4, 4, 2, 4)
4. Duke (5, 5, 3, 2)
5. Purdue (3, 3, 6, 7)
6. Kansas State (6, 6, 7, 6)
7. West Virginia (8, 7, 5, 5)
8. Villanova (7, 8, 8, 8)
9. Georgetown (11, 13, 12, 12)
10. Pittsburgh (12, 13, 16, 9)
11. New Mexico (10, 12, 22, 11)
12. BYU (13, 11, 9, 22)
13. Ohio State (9, 9, 13, 31)
14. Vanderbilt (16, 20, 19, 10)
15. Wisconsin (17, 19, 11, 19)
16. Tennessee (19, 17, 18, 14)
17. Butler (15, 10, 26, 18)
18. Temple (20, 18, 21, 16)
19. Texas (21, 21, 10, 24)
20. Texas A&M (22, 23, 23, 13)
21. Baylor (25, 27, 14, 15)
22. Michigan State (14, 14, 27, 28)
23. Gonzaga (18, 15, 31, 25)
24. Northern Iowa (25, 22, 33, 17)
25. Maryland (28, 28, 20, 37)

Kansas retains it's number one spot, being ranked first in all 4 polls. Kentucky has climbed back to the second slot, while Villanova falls to eighth after a loss to UCONN. New Mexico just misses out on a top ten spot, while Richmond (23, 24, 40, 27) sits just outside the top 25. Let's take a look at the conference breakdown.

Big 12 (5)
Big East (5)
Big 10 (4)
SEC (3)
ACC (2)
MWC (2)
Horizon (1)
MVC (1)
WCC (1)
A-10 (1)

Check back next week for updated rankings after what looks to be an exciting week of college basketball.

2010 NFL Mock Draft Series: Rebuilding Washington (2/21)

After going through the first three picks, the Rams at 1 (QB Jimmy Clausen), the Lions at 2 (DT Ndamukung Suh), and the Bucs at 3 (DT Gerald McCoy), the Washington Redskins will select at 4, with plenty of rebuilding to do. Let's take a look at the Redskins season.

Season Recap: Finishing with a 4-12 record, the Washington Redskins 09-10 campaign was disappointing to say the least. QB Jason Campbell was hammered all season long, and failed to perform well under the relentless pressure of rushing defensive lineman and linebackers. Clinton Portis struggled with injuries all season, with concussions and hamstring issues, and gaining only 494 rushing yards, which led the team. Santana Moss finished with 902 yards receiving, while TE Fred Davis showed sparks of brilliance late in the year, catching 6 touchdowns for over 500 yards. Young receivers Malcolm Kelly and Devin Thomas showed growth, combining for over 600 yards and 3 touchdowns. Defensively, London Fletcher had a career year at linebacker, amassing 142 tackles over the season. Rookie Brian Orakpo and Andre Carter had 11 sacks a piece, while the million dollar man Albert Haynesworth got to the quarterback 4 times.

Predicted Pick: With the fourth pick in the 2010 NFL Draft, the Washington Redskins select………… OT Russell Okung, Oklahoma State. Okung is probably the best pass protector in this class. With Okung on the line, Jason Campbell might be able to get enough time to make passes. The Redskins should give Campbell protection before losing faith, because if they draft another quarterback, he will just get hammered like Campbell.

Other possibilities:
1. QB Sam Bradford, Oklahoma - While they probably will stick with Campbell one more year, Bradford offers a solid option, but injury questions and questions about the offense he ran at Oklahoma will scare teams away from the Sooner.

2. S Eric Berry, Tennessee - Berry is a very solid defensive player, but I don't think Washington is ready to give up on LaRon Landry and Chris Horton, yet.

With Clausen, Suh, McCoy, and Okung off the board, the next pick goes to the Kansas City Chiefs. Just a note that after the Chiefs post, I am going to switch to 5 teams to a post, just because it will be hard to get through all 32 teams before the draft.

2010 NFL Mock Draft Series: Tampa Bay Bucs (2/17)

After the Rams (Jimmy Clausen) and the Lions (Ndamukung Suh), the Tampa Bay Bucs are put on the clock with the third pick. Let's take a look at the Bucs' season recap first.

Season Recap: The Bucs finished the season with a 3-13, including decent wins over Green Bay and New Orleans, as well as a win over Seattle. This was clearly a transition year for Tampa Bay, switching coaches (Jon Gruden to Raheem Morris), quarterbacks (Byron Leftwich to Josh Johnson to Josh Freeman), and a change in defensive coordinators (Monte Kiffin to again, Raheem Morris). At quarterback, the team started the year off with veteran Byron Leftwich, then switched to sophomore quarterback Josh Johnson, a "project" from San Diego. Johnson was passable, but late in the year they switched to Josh Freeman, their first round pick from the '09 draft. On defense, Tampa failed to live up to their tradition of solid defense, allowing the most rushing yards in the NFL. The Bucs have a need for a defensive playmaker, and they played themselves out of a bid for Ndamukung Suh with their final two wins. Let's take a look at who they should take now with Clausen and Suh off the board.

Predicted Pick: With the third overall pick, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers select……… DT Gerald McCoy, Oklahoma. As I said earlier, the Bucs need a defensive stopper, and if Suh is off the board, Gerald McCoy is the second best defensive player on the board, and a very solid option in his own right.

Other possibility:
1. S Eric Berry, Tennessee - Berry is a very solid defensive back, and can help any defense.

Now that we are through with the first three picks, our next post will be about the Washington Redskins.

NBA Trade Deadline

With the NBA trade deadline approaching (Thursday at 3 ET), let's take a look at some deals that were already made, rumored deals.

Done Deals:
Clippers Trade F/C Marcus Camby to Portland for G Steve Blake and F Travis Outlaw
(Feb 16)
My Take: For Portland, this is a great deal. They get a solid post player for this season, and when Greg Oden and Joel Pryzbilla get back from injuries next season, Camby's contract will expire, freeing up space for the Blazers. However, for the Clips, this deal doesn't make sense on the surface, but the cap space they are freeing up could put them in place for a bid to a high-profile free agent next offseason. They receive Blake, who is a G, where Baron Davis and Eric Gordon are solid backcourt options. Outlaw is a capable player, but left foot surgery has put Outlaw on the bench for 3-5 months.

Washington Wizards Trade G/F Caron Butler, C Brendan Haywood, and G DeShawn Stevenson to Dallas for G/F Josh Howard, G/F Quinton Ross, and F/C Drew Gooden (Feb 13)
My Take: The Wizards are clearly sellers this trade deadline, trading away two starters to Dallas. For Dallas, it will be interesting to see how Butler and Haywood fit in. Haywood could replace Erick Dampier at center, while Butler will probably take Howard's spot at SG. In Washington, Howard will likely start at small forward, while Ross and Gooden will see mostly the bench.


3 Way Trade Between Cleveland, LAC, and Washington (Feb 17)
Cleveland Cavs Receive: F Antawn Jamison (from WAS) and PG Sebastian Telfair (from LAC)
Washington Wizards Receive: C Zydrunas Ilgauskas (from CLE), F Al Thornton (from LAC) and a Cleveland draft pick
Los Angeles Clippers Receive: F/C Drew Gooden
My Take: This trade has been reported by ESPN. The Cavs will take Jamison over Amar'e Stoudemire from the Suns, who was rumored to have been a part of talks sending him to Cleveland. The Clippers dump more salary in a possible attempt to clear up salary cap space for a free agent next summer. Washington trades Jamison as part of their rebuilding process, and Ilgauskas may be bought out and return to Cleveland in 30 days.

Chicago Bulls Trade F Tyrus Thomas to Charlotte for G Acie Law and G Flip Murray and a first round pick
(Feb 18)
My Take: The Bulls were looking to deal Thomas for a while, and they send him to the Bobcats where he can be used well. Law could actually turn into an OK role player, and is also an expiring contract, along with Murray.


New York Knicks Trade G Nate Robinson to Boston for G Eddie House, G JR Giddens and F Bill Walker (Feb 18)
The Knicks have been shopping the 3-time dunk contest champ for months now, and the Celtics have been the most likely destination. Robinson provides a solid backup for Rajon Rondo, while Eddie House, a shooter who has been stuck at backup point guard, could get opportunities in New York.

Utah Jazz trade G Ronnie Brewer to Memphis for a first round pick (Feb 18)
My Take: Brewer is a solid guard, but with OJ Mayo starting in Memphis, he may be a 6th man.

Chicago Bulls trade G John Salmons to Milwaukee for F Joe Alexander and F Hakim Warrick (Feb 18)
My Take: Salmons is a good player, and will fill in Michael Redd's vacant starting spot at shooting guard in Milwaukee. Alexander and Warrick are to prospects that are yet to turn out.

3 Way Deal Between Sacramento, Houston, and New York (Feb 18)
New York Receives: G Tracy McGrady (from HOU) and G Sergio Rodriguez (from SAC)
Sacramento Receives: G Larry Hughes (from NYK), F Carl Landry (from HOU) and F Joey Dorsey (from HOU)
Houston Receives: G Kevin Martin (from SAC), F Hilton Armstrong (from SAC), F Jordan Hill (from NYK) and F Jared Jeffries (from NYK)
My Take: T-Mac goes to a big-market team where he probably will get some playing time, and Houston gets Kevin Martin to take his place.

I'll keep a close eye on the trade wire and update this post as new trades are completed and rumors come about.

2010 NFL Mock Draft Series: Detroit Lions

With the Rams taking Jimmy Clausen at number one, we will now examine the Detroit Lions and their possible choices at the number 2 slot. First though, let's recap the Lions 2009 campaign.

Season Recap: The Lions won 2 games this year, an improvement over '08 when they failed to record a victory. Their two wins came against Cleveland and Washington, so these were not impressive wins (although the Cleveland game had a very good finish). First round pick from last year Matthew Stafford showed progression, while Calvin Johnson continued to establish himself as a solid receiver. Rookie TE Brandon Pettigrew showed flashes of brilliance this season. The run game struggled, with Kevin Smith suffering a knee injury towards the end of the season. Defensively, rookie safety Louis Delmas emerged as a star, with 94 tackles. DE Cliff Avril rose to the challenge to become the team's most potent pass rushing threat, accumulating 5.5 sacks. Although the Lions are showing tremendous growth as a team, so far it has not come together to produce victories.

Predicted Pick: With the second overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft, the Detroit Lions select…………… DT Ndamukung Suh, Nebraska. The Lions could use help on the o-line, but right now Suh is too good to pass up. If Avril continues to develop, the d-line could be strong, plus Suh on his own is a playmaker in the trenches.

Other possibilities:
1. DT Gerald McCoy, Oklahoma - This will only ever happen if St. Louis takes Suh with the first pick, because there is no way the Lions would take McCoy over Suh.

2. OT Russell Okung, Oklahoma State - The Lions clearly need help protecting Matt Stafford, and Okung is a very solid tackle.

The next pick belongs to the Tampa Bay Bucs, and with their prized prospect likely taken, we will look at who they might take with the 3rd pick.

2010 NFL Mock Draft Series: Who Will the Rams Take?

With the NFL postseason finished, NFL fans are now looking forward to the NFL Draft. Teams looking to rebuild, refuel, or stock can add the top college players in the nation. The St. Louis Rams have the first pick, so let's take a look at what they can do in April.

Season Recap: The Rams season was, in short, a nightmare. An abysmal 1-15 record led the Rams to the worst record in the NFL. The only win came against the Detroit Lions, who hold the second worst record and second pick in the draft. The passing game was not very good, with QB Marc Bulger only playing in 9 games, accumlating 1,469 yards over the season. QB's Keith Null, a rookie from West Texas A&M, and veteran Kyle Boller combined for 1,465 yards. Donnie Avery was the top receiver for the Rams last year, catching 5 touchdowns on 589 yards. Steven Jackson was the lone bright spot on offense for the Rams, rushing for 1,416 yards, but only four touchdowns. Defensively, Ohio State product LB James Laurinaitis showed promise, accruing 120 tackles and 2 sacks. Leonard Little led the team in sacks this year, amassing 6.5 sacks on the season. All in all, it was not a very good season for the Rams.

Predicted Pick: With the first pick in the 2010 NFL Draft, the St. Louis Rams select…………… QB Jimmy Clausen, Notre Dame. The Rams need a turnaround, and Marc Bulger is not getting any younger, and probably has taken more hits than any QB in the league. Clausen in the most pro-ready quarterback in this class, and coach Steve Spagnuolo will want to draft a franchise QB.

Other possibilities:
1. DT Ndamukung Suh, Nebraska - Suh is by far the best defensive player in the class, and the Rams could go with the safer pick instead of investing tons of money into a risky young QB (just ask the Raiders) to save money.

2. QB Sam Bradford, Oklahoma - If Bradford's arm is healed enough for the Rams to consider him, he could leapfrog Clausen as the top QB in the class. Bradford probably won't be the pick, but there is a very minimal chance that the Rams may make the choice for the Oklahoma product.

So with the Rams taking Jimmy Clausen, our next mock draft post will be about the Detroit Lions draft plans and season recap.

Updated College Basketball Power Rankings

Some upsets last week as well as some great conference matchups will change the rankings pretty drastically. New teams are constantly popping up on the radar, and what started as a spreadsheet of 30 teams has expanded to 40 teams. The list is created by averaging 4 major systems of rankings college basketball teams, the AP poll, the ESPN poll, the RPI ratings, and the Sagarin ratings. This provides an interesting mix because the AP and ESPN are human rankings, while the RPI and Sagarin are computer rankings, which place more importance of strength of schedule. Let's take a look at the top 25.

1. Kansas (AP:1, ESPN:1, Sagarin:1, RPI: 1)
2. Syracuse (2, 3, 2, 2)
3. Kentucky (3, 2, 6, 6)
4. West Virginia (5, 4, 4, 4)
5. Villanova (4, 5, 5, 5)
6. Duke (8, 7, 3, 3)
7. Purdue (6, 6, 8, 11)
8. Kansas State (9, 9, 7, 7)
9. Georgetown (7, 8, 12, 8)
10. Wisconsin (11, 13, 9, 9)
11. Michigan State (10, 10, 14, 15)
12. Tennessee (12, 12, 13, 18)
13. Texas (14, 14, 11, 22)
14. New Mexico (15, 19, 18, 10)
15. BYU (17, 17, 10, 21)
16. Gonzaga (16, 11, 21, 24)
17. Butler (18, 15, 24, 16)
18. Vanderbilt (22, 24, 20, 12)
19. Ohio State (13, 16, 16, 37)
20. Northern Iowa (19, 18, 33, 14)
21. Georgia Tech (20, 20, 22, 25)
22. Temple (21, 21, 26, 19)
23. Baylor (24, 26, 15, 26)
24. Wake Forest (28, 32, 19, 17)
25. Pittsburgh (25, 23, 30, 23)


Kansas has maintained their spot at number one this week, while the Big East teams under them have swapped spots. UNLV and Texas A&M fell just short, with Pitt's higher AP rankings breaking the tie between Texas A&M and the Panthers. Enjoy the week of college basketball!

Who Dat? Saints Take the Super Bowl

Saints fans across the country rejoiced last night when the Saints managed to pull off the victory over the Indianapolis Colts to win the Super Bowl.

The Saints came back from down 10-0, and later 17-13, to win with second half points charged by a gutsy onside kick call that gave the Saints the ball to start the 2nd half. Drew Brees won the MVP, throwing for 288 yards and 2 TD's. The Saints were significantly behind the Colts in most major offensive categories, but a late Drew Brees touchdown pass to Jeremy Shockey gave the Saints the go-ahead score with just under 6 minutes left in the game. On the ensuing possession, Tracy Porter picked off Peyton Manning's pass to Reggie Wayne and returned it all the way to the endzone to seal the victory for New Orleans.

The Colts looked very good in the first half, and Peyton Manning finished the game with 333 yards passing. Dallas Clark had a great game for the Colts, catching impossible balls, and leading the team in catches.

The Saints took their first Super Bowl in franchise history last night, and now NFL heads are turning to the NFL draft and Free Agency. Vegas has the Colts at 5-1 odds to win the Super Bowl next year, along with New Orleans at 8-1. The next NFL post will be my mock draft for the first round of the 2010 NFL draft.

Super Saturday

Saturday showed some great matchups between ranked teams, and we learned about top teams, and conferences. Let's take a look at some of the games from Saturday.

(6) Georgetown 103, (3) Villanova 90
In the premier matchup of the day, the Georgetown Hoyas topped Villanova in front a nearly empty Verizon Center due to the blizzard outside. Inside, the two teams scored a blizzard of points, with Austin Freeman and Jason Clark each had over 20 points to lead the Hoyas to victory. Villanova heads to Morgantown as part of a brutal 2 game stretch in the Big East for them.

Oklahoma 80, (11) Texas 71
Texas lost this rivalry game, and never was really in this one. Perhaps they were looking ahead to Monday's game against Kansas, but Oklahoma came out to play against the Longhorns. Tommy Mason-Griffin led the Sooners with 24 points, leading them to victory. Texas will play (1) Kansas next Monday.

UNLV 88, (12) BYU 72
UNLV took control of this game early, and the 12th ranked BYU Cougars struggled throughout the game against a tough Mountain West opponent. Tre'von Willis led the Rebels with 33 points, and UNLV play (17) New Mexico at home next week, a chance to solidify themselves as contenders in the Mountain West.

Conference on the rise:
A-10: The A-10 has 6 teams in the top 60 in the Sagarin ratings, and each have legimate non-conference wins. Xavier topped Cincinnati and lost on a questionable call to Butler, Temple beat Villanova, Charlotte beat Louisville, Rhode Island beat Oklahoma State and Akron, Richmond beat Florida, and Dayton beat Georgia Tech. All 6 teams have a decent chance of making the tournament, and this conference is definitely on the rise.

Super Bowl Sunday is tomorrow, so the next post will be tomorrow night about the game. The next college basketball post will be Monday with updated power rankings.

Pac-10: The Worst Big 6 Conference?

Coming into the season, everyone in college basketball knew it would be a down year for Pac-10 basketball. The league had taken huge hits from early entrants to the NBA draft. UCLA lost Jrue Holliday, who Ben Howland assumed would be his starting point guard this season. James Harden of Arizona State was the third pick in the draft. Jordan Hill and Demar DeRozan, from Arizona and USC respectively, were top 10 picks. All in all, the Pac-10 had 6 first round picks last year, 5 should have been back this year. This season, Cal was the highest ranked team in the conference but suffered blowout losses to Syracuse and Kansas and were quickly moved out of the top 10. Washington, a team many regarded to be the most talented team in the conference, is 5th right now, and has been swept by the Southern California teams and Arizona teams. USC showed promise at the beginning of the season, beating Tennessee, but losses to teams like Loyola Marymount have really set the conference back. UCLA was embarrassed on ESPN in the first game of the season losing to Cal State Fullerton. Overall, this has been a terrible season for everyone in the Pac-10. They are the only Big 6 conference that does not have a ranked team. Arizona State, Cal, Arizona, and UCLA are deadlocked in a 4-way tie for first, and the best record among the 4 is Arizona State's 16-7. Right now, it looks like the winner of the conference tournament will be the only team going to the Big Dance. The Pac-10 is definitely having a tough year, but solid underclassmen and a good incoming recruiting class gives teams hope for next year.

College Basketball Power Rankings 2/1

With a new week of college basketball approaching us, let's take a look at the top 25 teams in the country. This list was compiled by finding the average between 4 major ranking systems, the AP poll, the USA Today/ESPN poll, the Sagarin Ratings, and the RPI. Let's take a look:

1. Kansas (AP:1, USA Today: 1, Sagarin: 1, RPI: 1)
2. Syracuse (3, 4, 2, 2)
3. Villanova (2, 2, 4, 4)
4. Kentucky (4, 3, 6, 6)
5. West Virginia (6, 6, 5, 7)
6. Georgetown (7, 8, 9, 3)
7. Duke (10, 9, 3, 5)
8. Michigan State (5, 5, 13, 10)
9. Purdue (8, 7, 11, 10)
10. Kansas State (10, 10, 10, 8)
11. Texas (9, 10, 8, 19)
12. BYU (12, 12, 7, 17)
13. Wisconsin (16, 16, 12, 14)
14. Vanderbilt (18, 20, 15, 9)
15. Tennessee (14, 14, 16, 20)
16. Temple (19, 17, 19, 15)
17. New Mexico (15, 23, 24, 13)
18. Butler (23, 15, 22, 18)
19. Gonzaga (13, 8, 35, 24)
20. Baylor (20, 24, 14, 25)
21. Ohio State (13, 18, 20, 33)
22. Georgia Tech (21, 19, 21, 26)
23. Northern Iowa (24, 22, 28, 16)
24. Pittsburgh (22, 21, 30, 21)
25. Wake Forest (30, 30, 25, 24)

Just missing the cut:
Rhode Island (32, 33, 36, 12)
Cornell (27, 25, 29, 35)
Clemson (34, 27, 26, 37)

As you can see, Kansas maintained its top spot from last week, while UCONN and Ole Miss failed to stay in the top 25. The largest gain of the week goes to New Mexico, gaining six spots from 23 to 17.

Game of the week: Saturday, (3) Villanova at (6) Georgetown

Check back next week for the new rankings!