Monthly Archives: January 2010

Hoop News: Around The Big 10

January 4, 2010
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In between wall to wall bowl games, the final NFL weekend of the season and the overall fun chaos that comes with a four-day weekend, the Big 10 opened their college basketball season. A couple of thoughts with the first week of league action in the books:

Wisconsin is a legit contender

I dont know why we would need proof of this considering the Badgers have averaged 12 Big 10 wins a season during Bo Ryan’s tenure. Keep in mind, those numbers include seven years where teams were only playing a 16-game league slate compared to the 18 games now played. Ryan has three first place finishes and came in second twice and third once. Yet, after last year’s 10-8, fourth place campaign, there was a sense the Badgers were slipping. I saw plenty of preseason bracketologists who excluded them from the field when the season began. One cuplrit? My Sporting News preseason magazine, who picked the Badgers eighth in the league and to miss the Big Dance.

Thats rubbish. The Badgers have more talent than the stereotypical Badger outfit. They have 5 Rivals top-150 recruits in their 8-man regular rotation. Four are starters in either their third and fourth year with the program. Trevan Hughes and Jason Bohannon were both 4-star recruits, have contributed since Day 1 and will spend their entire senior seasons climbing up various Badger all-time lists. Jon Leuer is the league’s best NBA prospect that nobody is talking about. If he could stay out of foul trouble, he could compete for player of the year honors. This team is ready to make a leap from last year’s 10-8 mark. Runing his swing offense with as much talent as he’s ever had, Ryan’s Badgers made quick work dominating PSU and OSU. We’ll find out right away if Wisconsin can make the MSU/PU show a three man race this winter. Four of their next eight games are against either the Boilers or the Spartans, including this week at MSU and at home vs Purdue. I’ll go out on a limb and say they cover three of those four games against the league contenders. Book It. 

The Hoosiers will be tough at home

Speaking of Booking It, yes, I am formally sticking with the boast tht IU would have a winning home record in Big 10 play. I begged a bit to get off the hook in the wake of the Creek injury, but watching them take down Michigan tells me they still have a fighting shot at this. They just have so much more firepower than this year. They’ve looked better this year virtually every step of the way, but only seem able to play 30-35 minutes of a 40-minute game. And seeing as how young they are, those minutes that they dont absolutely crush them. I figured with the talent upgrade, combined with the intangible Assembly Court edge, they would be formidable at home in Big 10 play. They came close  to winning as many as 4 league home games last year. Against Michigan, they showed the resolve  I thought they’d have this year at home. If they can play as mistake free, yet still loose, in front of the home crowd they way they did against Michigan, I dont think this is a big of a stretch. Their leading scorer from a year ago Devan Dumes is their seventh leading scorer this year. In their first game without Creek, he was their fourth leading scorer, putting an effecient 11 points on the board. They can play the game they played last week aaginst Michigan against anybody else in the league. As long as its not against the top couple teams in the league, I favor this team right now at home against everybody else.

Dont print purple dance tickets just yet Read more »

NFL Week 17: A Goofy Regular Season Last Call

January 3, 2010
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What a goofy schedule for the final day of the NFL regular season. The Panthers are -10 over the Saints and the Bills are -8.5 over the Colts. How in the world do you go about capping those games? Crazy. Two wild card slots are up for grabs in the AFC with Baltimore and the Jets holding the keys right now. In the NFC, the playoff teams are set, but the bracket is not. Seeds 2-5 are all up in the air, so prime pole position will be on the line all day. What will the Bengals and Patriots do? Both are division champs, neither can really do anything to earn a bye. Both will have playoff games next week. Both play on the road against teams fighting for a playoff spot with the Patriots at Houston and Cincy at the Jets in the primetime game tonight. Both are big underdogs. The Texans, a franchise who has never had a winning record, are favored by 7 points over New England, while the Jets are 10-point chalk. If either team plays theirs starters the distance, catching those sort of points would be easy money. At least I think.

So, with one full, furious day of pro frootball remaining, here’s what i am cheering for today.

Favre/Green Bay III……I want to see this NFL franchise drama play out in an elimination in January. Near as I can tell, here’s what needs to happen today to make this a wild card matchup next week. Green Bay, playing Matt Flynn for long stretches today, falls to Arizona. The New York Giants man up, suddenly find their game, and beat the Vikings. And, the Eagles take the NFC East by beating Dallas. The Cardinal win and Vikings loss drops Minnesota to the fourth seed. The Green Bay and Dallas losses makes those teams the 5th and 6th seeds respectively. Packers at Vikes, 4 vs 5 game, probably next Saturday night. That’ll help take the edge of no more college football.

No Stinkin’ Rematches……there is a chance that as many as four games being played today will be played next week in the wild card round of the postseason. I just hate the sound of it, especially from a handicapping standpoint. It smacks of the type of intangible that will confuse me as I go about trying to, uh, measure it this week. Green Bay/Arizona, Eagles/Cowboys, Bengals/Jets and Patriots/Texans all could be played next week. There is a small chance all four could be played next week. Like whoa. I cant comprehend that. So, I’m pulling for anything that keeps as many, of not all, of these games from being playoff rematches next weekend.

Steelers, Babby……well, my Steelers need a lot of help. I wont lie. I am not ready for the Super Bowl reign to end. They beat plenty of great teams this season. But, they lost to lot of lousy ones, ultimately putting them in this win and need help mode. So, beat the Dolphins today and then hope for Houston to lose, along with either Baltimore or the Jets. If the Texans do beat New England, then both the Ravens and Jets along with the Broncos all must lose. Man, that sucks. All four of those teams are favored by 7, 10, 10 and 12 points. The day is so much easier had the Colts followed through with their business and beat the Jets last week. Or if the Dolphins didnt lay down and die for three quarters against Houston. Or if the Steelers had choked away games in the fourth quarter all season long. There is plenty of blame to spread around. So, let’s not and get are various pom-poms out. Read more »

Bowl Chronicles: January 2 Edition (Alamo, Liberty, Cotton, International and PapaJohns Bowls)

January 2, 2010
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(Schedule Note: Final update for the Alamo Bowl)

I promised something of substance for this game. But, I just cant do it. I kinda worn out a bit from keeping up daily with the bowl season. And, I’m on edge. ECU just gave up a pick-6 and are well on their way to costing me for the second straight season with a second half collapse at the Liberty Bowl. C’mon Skipper, get your boys rolling, will ya!

So, no time for extended pleasantries. Here’s the quick Alamo Bowl pick.

The Pick: MSU +10, 1 Unit……I know this pick will get a lot of shrugs. I mean, MSU didnt look like any great shakes at all in Big 10 plays. I mean, they lost to Minnesota and needed OT to beat UM, fer gawd’s sake. And, now like half their team was given the boot for the game for brawling in the steets of the EL. Surely, they cant keep up in this one.

I think they can. My Pick to Click? Keshaun Martin. With they guys ahead of him on the suspension list, I think this kid has a break out game. Dont be surprised to see Chartes Gnatt have a season high in production. Tech’s D is very shaky, especially against the pass. If the Spartans can negate Tech’s rush from the edge, I think MSU can move the ball all night. I think they’re protection is up for the task.

I refuse to believe that Tech is not distracted. I think they’re not going to be sharp. I think they can be taken advantage of in this. This bunch had bigtime motivational issues in their bowl game last season, but they’re also not as talented this go around. I just think they’ve been through the mother of all coaching distractions this week. I just dont think they’re showing up tonight as the smooth running machine thats needed to cover heavy chalk in a bowl game.

Tech is Tech. They will get points. And, do damage against the Spartans. I just think MSU has the chops and the passing game to keep up enough. Or at least keep up enough to make it closer than the experts think. This line has been bet with Tech all day, growing from 7.5 to 9.5. I bought the half point up to 10, because I just think Sparty has enough offense to stay within double digits.

We’re not going to have much in the way of the writeups today. For the most part, I am sticking with the underdogs. Read more »

Bowl Chronicles: New Year's Day Edition (Sugar, Rose, Outback, Gator and Capital One Bowls)

January 1, 2010
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 (HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!  POST IS NOW UPDATED WITH SUGAR)

SUGAR BOWL: FLORIDA VS CINCINNATI. LINES, FLA -12, O/U 60

NO TIME REALLY FOR A WRITEUP, SO I WILL THROW IT OUT THERE. I AM TAKING CINCY FOR +12 AT 1 UNIT AND OVER 60 FOR 2 UNITS…….FIRST TOTAL PLAY FOR BOWL CHRONICLES. I DONT 38-28 IS UNLIKELY.

ROSE BOWL: OREGON VS OHIO STATE. LINES, OREGON -4, O/U 51

The first thing I wonder about this Oregon-Ohio State Rose Bowl is if we’ll have a rematch in this game next season. Ohio State, of course, will be the preseason Big 10 favorite with a lot of hype that Terrelle Pryor will be making a leap. Oregon is keyed right now by a surge in recruiting beginning in 2007. Much of this core will be back for another next season. They will have twice as many starters back next season as they did this year.

In the present, this should be a whale of a game. Explosive spread attack, elite rushing offense vs a versatile, athletic defense that gives up next to nothing on the ground. Yet, each of these championship units have their demons to overcome today. Tressel and the Buckeyes defesne seemingly has been pantsed by every top flight offense its faced and has had notorious trouble with spread attacks. The Ducks, however, have not played a defense this nasty. Well, at least not since they played Boise in this year’s opener when they were throttled and held to just 8 points. Ohio State is not Boise. The last championship caliber D they faced, they got worked and the Buckeyes represent a major step up from that. How will they respond?

Seeing this game play out on the grand Rose Bowl stage gives it even more dramatic feel that a standard intersectional game. Both teams should be in the preseason top-10 next season. Both have critical showdowns in Week 2 with OSU hosting Miami and Oregon travelling to Knoxville. Both teams want to send a message today that lingers in the public mind and set their own positive tone for the off season in advance of next September’s showdowns.

I expect both of these top flight units to exert themselves. The Ducks will certainly get it rolling a few times and Masoli, James and Blount each will have bigtime runs. But, the Buckeyes will also clamp down for stretches, force plenty of third and longs and make the Ducks fancy offense look clanky on some possessions.

It’s the other side of the coin that worries me about Ohio State. Oregon will score points. I dont know if the Buckeyes can generate enough offense to trade blows each time the Ducks offense does get revved up. I just dont trust Pryor. Dont trust his ability downfield against an athletic, playmaking Oregon secondary. The can also generate a fast pash rush and while I dont expect an avalanche of sacks to reign on Pryor, its the kind of pressure that might force some quick decisions in getting rid of the ball. Eventually, that will pay off with a killer turnover. The kind that I just dont think Masoli and the Ducks will commit. Read more »