The Craziest Three Days in (Kevo) Sports History

Saturday-

I put on my Duke jersey, but not as confidently as usual. They were playing West Virginia in the Final Four tonight, the same West Virginia team that yours truly picked to beat Duke in the National Semi-Final before the tournament began. I just didn't like the match-up for the Blue Devils. The Mountaineers were more athletic, they were tough, they could hurt you in a lot of ways.

In the 15 or so years that I've been filling out a bracket, I've only picked Duke to lose twice: in 2007 when they were a 6 seed and ended up losing in the first round to VCU, and this year. It just didn't seem like their year. They were never ranked 1 all season, and they just weren't the dominant team like the Duke teams of the early 2000's, which won the national title in 2001.

So yes, hoping I was wrong, I picked against my team. How did they respond? They were dominant. I haven't seen a Duke team play that well since the early 2000's. Everything went right. West Virginia had no chance once the second half started. I was dead wrong, and I couldn't have been happier about it. Clearly, if they could steamroll West Virginia, they wouldn't have a problem Monday night with little Butler in the National Championship game.

Sunday-

I thought the sports highlight of my Easter Sunday would be watching the end of the Shell Houston Open golf tournament in which Anthony Kim beat Vaughn Taylor in a playoff. I was wrong, again. When my roommate Matt yelled to me that Donovan McNabb had been traded to the Redskins, I thought it was a joke. I dashed to espn.com, but didn't see the headline. So I guess it was just a rumor after all. I reloaded the page, just to make sure. There it was: Eagles trade McNabb to Redskins. Unbelievable.

It seemed inevitable that McNabb would be traded this offseason. I've always been a McNabb supporter. I know everyone is saying that now that he is gone, but I actually have stuck by #5 throughout his career, while a good 70% of Eagles fans wanted him gone. However, it just felt like it was time for him to move on. He had one year left on his contract, he's 34 years old whereas the rest of the team is getting younger, and it just seemed like the Eagles had been playing the same season over and over again for the last decade. Close, but nothing to show for it. So yes, I was fully expecting a trade this offseason.

But the Redskins? A team the Eagles will play twice a season? A team the Eagles will directly be competing against for a playoff spot? I just don't understand it. Yes, I know Donovan said he didn't want to be traded to the Raiders or Bills or whatever other bad teams he was rumored to go to. It's nice for the team to send Donovan to a team he wanted to go to. But guess what? The NFL is not a nice business. Teams don't win Super Bowls by being nice. They win Super Bowls by making smart football decisions. Trading your starting QB to a direct rival is not a smart football decision. Donovan, I truly appreciate everything you have done for this team. But players get traded all the time, and for the most part, they don't have any control over it. If you had to go to Buffalo or Oakland, I'm sorry, but that's just the way this business works.

Again, I'm sad to see Donovan go. He's the best QB this franchise has ever had, and he deserved to win a Super Bowl in Philadelphia. But it's time to move on and start the Kevin Kolb era.

Monday afternoon-

Opening Day. Two of the best words in sports. The Phillies opened up their season against the Nationals, sending their new ace, Roy Halladay, to the mound. This opening day felt a bit different than any other opening day, however. I can not remember a Philadelphia team with higher expectations going into the season. Yes, this includes the Eagles teams that went to several consecutive NFC title games. This includes the Phillies of last season. As far as I have seen, the Phillies have been the team predicted most to win the World Series this year. That never happened with the Eagles and the Super Bowl. Most people didn't predict the Phillies to repeat as Champions last year, much less make the World Series again. But expectations this year are sky high. The Phillies didn't win the World Series last year, but it still felt like a successful season. If the Phillies don't win the World Series this year, it will be a failure. One game down, and they look great. There are a few more games to go.

Monday night-

Everyone hates Duke, except me. Or at least it feels that way sometimes. It certainly felt that way as Duke was going up against Butler, the nation's new sweethearts. Butler, the aw-shucks team from Indiana with a cute little coach up against Duke, the giants with a coach who, let's face it, isn't exactly endearing.

As well as Butler had played in the tournament, I felt very confident that Duke would win their 4th national title. They played their best game of the year against West Virginia, and Butler's the kind of team that typically doesn't give Duke a lot of trouble. No problem.

The game started out 6-1 Duke. This was going to get ugly, and fast. Nolan Smith barely missed a 3 which would have made it 9-1. From there on, it was a slugfest. Duke would make a 3, go up by 4, looking to pull away a bit, but Butler just wouldn't let them. It went back and forth. Butler's defense was just suffocating. Duke could not get off any easy shots. The biggest lead for Duke in the game was 6, and that lasted about a minute. Even though the game was incredibly close throughout, the crowd made it seem that Butler was winning and had the momentum. I was just a little nervous.

Duke went up 5 with 3 minutes to go. I was staring to feel a little better at this point. But then Butler got a 2, and Duke missed. Butler got another 2, and it was a 1 point game with 50 seconds left. Duke calls a timeout and draws up a play. This had to work. They needed a bucket here, or they wouldn't get another shot. They end up running a great play, and Kyle Singler has an open shot. If falls way short, and Brian Zoubek ends up kicking it out of bounds. 20 seconds left, and Duke won't get the ball back. If Butler makes a shot, the game's over. I almost didn't want to watch.

Butler has trouble getting the ball in, but they finally get it in to Gordon Hayward, their best player. He drives right, but Singler is right in his face. He gets off a fade away from the baseline. It looks good. It looks really good. But it clangs off the iron, and Zoubek get the rebound. Two foul shots for Zoubek, not exactly the best of free throw shooters. No problem with the first though. He misses the second on purpose (still don't get this), and Butler gets the rebound. Still, they won't get a good shot, no chance right? Hayward throws up a prayer from half court. It looks good. It looks really good. It just clangs off the rim. Game over, but it took me a few seconds to realize that Duke had won and were the National Champions.

Most "great" tournament games are great because of what happens in the final minutes. This game certainly had great final minutes. But it was just a great game from start to finish. Always close, always played with 100% effort. It's the way every college game should be. It's easily the best Duke game I've ever seen, and up there with the best title game in any sport I've ever seen. It was the perfect ending to the craziest stretch of days I've personally ever experienced in sports.

2010 MLB Predictions

To try something new and bold, I'm going to rate each team in three categories from 1-10: offense, pitching, and the "eye-test", basically just how the team looks overall on paper as well as other intangibles.

American League

East
1. Yankees
Offense- 9
Pitching- 8
Eye-Test- 9
Overall: 26
2. Red Sox (wild card)
Offense- 7
Pitching- 9
Eye-Test- 8
Overall: 24
3. Rays
Offense- 7
Pitching- 7
Eye-Test- 7
Overall: 21
4. Orioles
Offense- 7
Pitching- 4
Eye-Test- 5
Overall: 16
5. Blue Jays
Offense- 5
Pitching- 4
Eye-Test- 4
Overall: 13

Central
1. Twins
Offense- 7
Pitching- 7
Eye-Test-8
Overall: 22
2. White Sox
Offense- 7
Pitching- 8
Eye-test-7
Overall: 22
3. Tigers
Offense- 7
Pitching- 7
Eye-Test- 7
Overall: 21
4. Royals
Offense- 4
Pitching- 6
Eye-Test- 4
Overall- 14
5. Indians
Offense- 4
Pitching- 4
Eye-Test-4
Overall: 12

West
1. Angels
Offense- 7
Pitching- 8
Eye-Test-7
Overall: 22
2. Mariners
Offense- 6
Pitching- 7
Eye-Test- 8
Overall: 21
3. Rangers
Offense- 7
Pitching- 5
Eye-Test- 6
Overall: 18
4. Athletics
Offense- 5
Pitching- 5
Eye-Test- 5
Overall: 15

National League

East
1. Phillies
Offense- 9
Pitching- 8
Eye-Test- 9
Overall: 26
2. Braves (wild card)
Offense- 7
Pitching- 8
Eye-Test- 8
Overall: 23
3. Marlins
Offense- 7
Pitching- 7
Eye-Test- 6
Overall: 20
4. Mets
Offense- 7
Pitching- 5
Eye-Test- 5
Overall: 19
5. Nationals
Offense- 5
Pitching- 3
Eye-Test- 3
Overall: 11

Central
1. Cardinals
Offense- 7
Pitching- 8
Eye-Test- 8
Overall: 23
2. Cubs
Offense- 6
Pitching- 7
Eye-Test- 7
Overall: 20
3. Brewers
Offense- 7
Pitching- 5
Eye-Test- 7
Overall: 19
4. Reds
Offense- 6
Pitching- 7
Eye-Test- 6
Overall: 19
5. Astros
Offense- 7
Pitching- 6
Eye-Test- 6
Overall: 19
6. Pirates
Offense- 4
Pitching- 4
Eye-Test- 3
Overall: 11

West
1. Rockies
Offense- 8
Pitching- 7
Eye-Test-7
Overall: 22
2. Dodgers
Offense- 8
Pitching- 6
Eye-Test-7
Overall: 21
3. Giants
Offense- 5
Pitching- 8
Eye-Test-6
Overall: 19
4. Diamondbacks
Offense- 7
Pitching- 6
Eye-Test-6
Overall: 19
5. Padres
Offense- 5
Pitching- 4
Eye-Test- 5
Overall: 14

Playoffs

Twins over Red Sox Yankees over Angels Phillies over Cardinals Rockies over Braves

Twins over Yankees Phillies over Rockies

World Series: Phillies over Twins in 5 games

Mock Draft #1

Sorry for the long layoff, faithful readers. Since the Super Bowl, we've had the NBA, Winter Olympics, and Tiger Woods. Exciting. I considered writing about Tiger, but knew I would probably piss off my large female demographic. So instead, here my first NFL Mock Draft of the year. Always enjoyable, always incredibly inaccurate.

1. St. Louis Rams- Sam Bradford, QB, Oklahoma
Unless Bradford falls flat on on his face at Oklahoma's Pro Day, it looks like he has become the Rams' front runner. Ndamukong Suh may be the higher rated prospect, but the Rams can't overlook their need for a franchise QB. Bradford has injury concerns and played in a spread offense in college, but he still has the potential to be a franchise QB in the NFL.

2. Detroit Lions- Russell Okung, OT, Oklahoma St.
Suh or Gerald McCoy looked like the surefire picks here for a while, but with the Lions' trade for DT Corey Williams, they can focus on an offensive lineman to protect last year's no.1 overall pick, Matthew Stafford. Okung is the highest rated OT, and should remain that way come draft time.

3. Tampa Bay Bucs- Ndamukong Suh, DT, Nebraska
This is the perfect situation for the Bucs. They need a DT, and they should land either Suh or McCoy with this pick. Suh is the highest rated overall prospect by most teams, and it wouldn't shock me if some team tried to trade up with the Lions or Rams to grab him. He won't fall past the Bucs.

4. Washington Redskins- Brian Bulaga, OT, Iowa
Jimmy Clausen is a very real possibility here. But the Redskins' O-line was a complete mess last season, and current QB Jason Campbell had no chance at succeeding last year. He has one year left on his contract, so I expect the Skins to give him one more shot to be The Guy in Washington. Bulaga is the OT they sorely need.

5. Kansas City Chiefs- Eric Berry, S, Tennessee
Berry was widely considering to be this year's top prospect heading into the season, but disappointed a bit during the year. He's still easily the top DB prospect in this draft, and will be a huge upgrade for Kansas City's secondary.

6. Seattle Seahawks- Gerald McCoy, DT, Oklahoma
Clausen is a very real possibility here as well, but McCoy is simply too good at a position of need for the Seahawks to pass up on here.

7. Cleveland Browns- Rolando McClain, LB, Alabama
The Browns would ideally like to see Berry fall to them here, but I doubt he gets past Seattle. The Browns need a linebacker, and McClain is easily the best in this year's class.

8. Oakland Raiders- Bruce Campbell, OT, Maryland
Since Campbell put on an athletic show at the combine, everyone has been speculating he will be the main target of the Raiders. The pick make sense, as the Raiders do need an OT and they love drafting athletes. Of course, it makes so much sense that don't expect it to actually happen.

9. Buffalo Bills- Jimmy Clausen, QB, Notre Dame
Many people believe that Clausen is a better pro prospect that Bradford, however many people also believe Clausen has "maturity" issues, which may drop him a bit. Honestly, I think people just want Clausen to have maturity issues, but regardless he won't get past Buffalo here.

10. Jacksonville Jaguars- Dez Bryant, WR, Oklahoma St.
With the signing of Aaron Kampman, the Jags can look elsewhere besides DE. Joe Haden is another possibility here, but Bryant is too good to pass up.

11. Denver Broncos- Dan Williams, DT/DE, Tennessee
The Broncos will probably end up getting another 1st rounder with a Brandon Marshall trade. But for now, they will look to shore up their D-Line with Dan Williams here.

12. Miami Dolphins- Jason Pierre-Paul, DE/OLB, USF
Pierre-Paul only played one year at USF, but he is an athletic freak that could be incredible as a 3-4 edge rusher. He's raw, but the Dolphins will take a chance on his enormous upside here.

13. San Francisco 49ers- Joe Haden, CB, Florida
Haden is falling a bit due to his lackluster 40 time, but he's still the top CB in the class and would be great fit for the 49ers.

14. Seattle Seahawks- Anthony Davis, OT, Rutgers
C.J Spiller is a very real possibility, but they already have a similar RB in Justin Forsett. Davis is very talented, but character issues will push him back a bit.

15. New York Giants- Derrick Morgan, DE, Georgia Tech
Morgan is simply too good for the Giants to pass up here, especially with the uncertainly of Osi Umeniyora.

16. Tennessee Titans- Brandon Graham, DE, Michigan
The Titans desperately need a pass rusher, and Graham has been incredibly impressive in the off-season so far.

17. San Francisco 49ers- Trent Williams, OT, Oklahoma
The Niners need a RT to play opposite Joe Staley, and get a potential steal here in Trent Williams

18. Pittsburgh Steelers- Sean Witherspoon, LB, Missouri
The Steelers LB corps isn't getting any younger. Witherspoon gives them an injection of youth that they desperately need.

19. Atlanta Falcons- Everson Griffen, DE, USC
The Falcons have been sorely disappointed with the play of former high pick Jamaal Anderson. They'll try again here with Griffen.

20. Houston Texans- Kyle Wilson, CB, Boise State
Wilson has been flying up draft boards, and Houston will need a replacement for Dunta Robinson at corner.

21. Cincinnati Bengals- Golden Tate, WR, Notre Dame
Tate had a great combine and has established himself as the no.2 WR prospect behind Dez Bryant. Even if the Bengals sing T.O, they'll need a young guy going forward.

22. New England Patriots- Sergio Kindle, LB, Texas
The Patriots need an upgrade at rush linebacker, and Kindle is potentially a beast at the position.

23. Green Bay Packers- Jared Odrick, DE/DT, Penn State
There's a premium on players who are a good fit at 3-4 DE (see Jackson, Tyson). Odrick's stock is up and the Packers could certainly use some D-Line help.

24. Philadelphia Eagles- Earl Thomas, S, Texas
Thomas might be gone to the Bengals at 21, however I hope the Eagles wouldn't hesitate to take him at 24 if he's available. Thomas is the playmaker the Eagles need at safety, and with the first round DEs gone, this would be a no-brainer pick.

25. Baltimore Ravens- Brian Price, DE/DT, UCLA
While Jermaine Gresham is a possibility, the acquisition of Anquan Boldin allows the Ravens to look to the D-Line and Price here.

26. Arizona Cardinals- Jerry Hughes, DE/LB, TCU
The Cardinals need a pass rusher, and they get a potentially great one in Hughes.

27. Dallas Cowboys- Mike Iupati, G, Idaho
This'll be a no-brainer if Iupati's available. The Cowboys need a guard, and Iupati is a rare first-round guard.

28. San Diego Chargers- C.J Spiller, RB, Clemson
Spiller will most likely be gone by this pick, but with very few teams with a need at RB, he could fall a bit. Even though Sproles is coming back now, he can't handle the load by himself.

29. New York Jets- Taylor Mays, S, USC
With Kerry Rhodes gone, the Jets will need a replacement. Some question Mays' coverage abilities, but he has out of this world athleticism, and I can't see him falling out of the first round.

30. Minnesota Vikings- Maurkice Pouncey, C/G, Florida
The Vikings can use help at both center and guard, and Pouncey is easily the best Center in this class, and he can also slide over to guard.

31. Indianapolis Colts- Charles Brown, OT, USC
While Charlie Johnson is a serviceable LT, Brown is an upgrade here.

32. New Orleans Saints- Carlos Dunlap, DE, Florida
The Saints need a DE in a big way, and being the Super Bowl champs, they can afford to take a risk on Dunlap, would could easily bust but has incredible potential if he keeps his head on straight.

NFL Round 2 Picks

Went 0-4 last week, nice one idiot. Here are 4 correct picks for this weekend:

Ravens @ Colts
I'll never understand why teams who have first round byes rest their players before the playoffs. I can understand if you don't have a first round bye and want to give your players a week off to heal any nagging injuries. But the Colts players will now have virtually three weeks off before playing the Ravens this weekend, a team which just took it to the Patriots in New England last week. Ray Rice is gonna run all over the Colts, and Peyton is gonna get roughed up by the Ravens D. This is actually the pick I feel most confident in this week.
Ravens 27 Colts 21

Cardinals @ Saints
This is a tough one to pick. The Saints really limped to the finish line this season, and they look in no way like the best team in the NFC right now. The Cardinals are riding a huge wave of momentum after their big win over the Packers last week. Just like last week's game, this has the potential to be a 51-45 game as well. I'll say Drew Brees scores just enough points for the Saints to advance.
Saints 38 Cardinals 35

Jets @ Chargers
On paper this a no-brainer. The Chargers are the best team in the AFC right now, and despite the Jets' win last week, they were still lucky to get into the playoffs. However, two things come into play here: 1) It's the Chargers in the playoffs 2) The Jets' strength, running the ball, coincides with the Chargers' weakness, stopping the run. I think this game is going to be a lot closer than people may think. In the end, I think Philip Rivers will be the difference.
Chargers 24 Jets 17

Cowboys @ Vikings
This is definitely the most difficult game to predict this week. On one side, you have the Vikings, probably the most talented team in the NFC, lacking any real weakness on either side of the ball. On the other hand, you have the Cowboys, playing better than any team in the league right now, and probably the only team who can match up talent wise to the Vikings. I think the difference in the game will be the Cowboys pash rush getting to Favre. I hate to do this again.
Cowboys 28 Vikings 24

Top 5 Sports Days of the Year

5. New Year's Day
New Year's Day itself is typically pretty uneventful. The only thing that makes the day worthwhile is the slew of college football bowl games that usually accompanies it. I say "usually" because some genius decided to put only three games on New Year's this year, while putting five games on January 2nd. I realize the 2nd is a Saturday, but having only three games on New Year's Day is a downright travesty. Another great choice by the guys who run college football.

4. NFL Draft
I might be alone on this one, but the NFL draft is easily the most exciting non-actual sporting event of the year. It's a day full of football, surprising picks, stupid picks, and trading down by the Eagles. As a bonus, watching guys who have just been drafted trying to do interviews is always great unintentional comedy.

3. Super Bowl
Most people would put Super Bowl Sunday at number one. Super Bowl Sunday is great, no doubt. However, the hype almost always surpasses the actual game. Sure we've been very lucky the last two years and have been treated to two of the greatest Super Bowls of all-time. Normally though, unless your team is playing in it (and I'm an Eagles fan), Super Bowl Sunday is a tad bit overrated.

2. Opening Day of Baseball
It's the unofficial start of Spring. I can't remember an Opening Day in which the weather hasn't been perfect, and you're just dying to get out of class/work and go to your team's first game. In a sport severely lacking in parity, Opening Day is great because for at least one game, every team has hope. And for one game, you get every team's ace on the mound.

1. First Day of March Madness
This will always be my personal favorite. Before college, having to get through the school day knowing there were games going on was torture. I would try to find the games on the ancient TVs that each classroom had behind the teacher's back, but no luck. When I finally got home or in the car to listen to the radio, there was always at least one upset or great game going on. And that's only the day games, there are still plenty of games at night. Then the whole thing happens all over again the next day. If every day could be the first day of March Madness, life would be perfect.

By popular demand: 64 team football playoffs

Since the 12 team playoff was no fun (Florida won), the 64 team bracket is back by popular demand:

Kevo NCAA Football Tournament (click on Championship Bracket)

Don't ask how long that took.

First round games are in the higher seed's home field, and then the bowl sites for the following rounds.

If you have as much free time as I do, feel free to fill out a bracket and let me know who you think would win (maybe even bracket competition?). Click Predict It on the top if you want to.

Roy Halladay + Bowl Picks

In case you've been dead for the last week, the Phillies have made a couple trades involving pitchers.. Roy Halladay is now in Philadelphia and Cliff Lee is not. I think if I read another Halladay/Holiday pun, I'm going to puke. Needless to say, this has been the epicenter of conversation among Philadelphia sports for the last several days. If I had to gauge what the ratio of positive to negative feedback from fans/media, it would probably be 20% positive and 80% negative. Being the reasonable and keen observer that I am, I'll look at it from both sides.

POSITIVES
Roy Halladay is a better pitcher than Cliff Lee. I know Lee was great for the Phillies for the short time he was here. I know he won a Cy Young award more recently than Halladay. But here's the ultimate kicker: Roy Halladay is going to the Hall of Fame, Cliff Lee, in all likelihood, is not. Roy Halladay career: 3.43 ERA, 148 wins, and an astounding (in this age of baseball) 49 complete games. Cliff Lee career: 3.97 ERA, 97 wins, 13 complete games. Cliff Lee is a great pitcher, no doubt about that, but Halladay will go down as one of the top 20 pitchers of all-time when all is said and done, possibly even higher than that. Halladay is who the Phillies wanted all along last year. They just didn't want to pay his price tag, so they settled for Lee. Bottom line, Halladay is an upgrade over Lee.

Cliff Lee would not have been a Philadelphia Phillie after this season. I know he came out and said he wanted to finish his career in Philadelphia. I'm sure he wanted to, but the Phillies wouldn't have been able to afford his asking price. He made it well known that he wanted Johan Santana type of money. With Ryan Howard's contract on the horizon, the Phillies have to save money wherever they can. They got Halladay to sign for 3 more years after this season for a cheaper price than Lee. The Phillies are not the Yankees for Red Sox. They just can't spend money however they please. Halladay over Lee is a fiscally smart choice.

Halladay is a better fit for the Phillies than Lee. He's a ground ball pitcher in a park where a seemingly routine fly ball can turn into a homer very fast. He's also a righty in a rotation that would have been four lefties and one righty if Lee had stayed. And let's not forget what the Phillies Achillies' Heel was last season: the bullpen. Halladay is a guaranteed 7 innings every time he goes out, if not more. He's going to help out the bullpen drastically.

NEGATIVES
Yes, the team could have had both Halladay and Lee this season. It would have stretched their payroll to their absolute maximum, but they could've done it. The opening day rotation of Halladay, Lee, Hamels, Happ, and Blanton would have been the best the in the league, no contest. They would have easily been everyone's World Series favorites and 100 wins would have been a very real possibility.

There's also the fact that the Phillies could have made this trade for Halladay last season, along with getting Lee. Dealing in what-ifs is a tricky business, but what if the Phillies had Halladay to pitch in that World Series? Would we be celebrating back-to-back titles right now? Would I have to deal with seeing Yankees World Series merchandise everytime I go to Modell's in New Jersey?

Besides the payroll factor, GM Ruben Amaro didn't want the Phillies' minor league system to be depleted of talent, which is why he got three of the Mariners top prospects. I understand the need to have talented players in the minors, because the team does have a future to worry about. But, as fans, would you rather:
a) Have three straight World Series titles, go down as one of the greatest teams of all-time, and be absolutely terrible for 10 straight season after that
OR
b) Win one World Series, fall short the next year, be competitive for the next 10 seasons, maybe win another title, but ultimately just be remembered as "another team"

Having been a Phillies fan through some terrible terrible seasons, I can say it's not an easy choice to make. But ultimately, if you have a chance to win it all, I think you have to go for it and not worry about tomorrow.

That's not to say I'm not excited for Roy Halladay in a Phillies uniform. He's going to be great, and this team is certainly the favorite in the National League once again. However, if we fall just short again this year, there's always going to be that big what if. This could have been one of the greatest teams of all-time. Now? We'll see.

BOWL PICKS

New Mexico Bowl: Fresno St over Wyoming

St. Petersburg Bowl: Rutgers over UCF

New Orleans Bowl: So. Miss over Mid Tenn State

Las Vegas Bowl: Oregon St over BYU

Poinsettia Bowl: Cal over Utah

Hawaii Bowl: Nevada over SMU

Little Caesars Bowl (is Little Caesars still in existence? If it is, how do they have money for a bowl game?): Marshall over Ohio

Meineke Car Care Bowl: Pitt over Tyler Hansbrough

Emerald Bowl: USC over Boston College

Music City Bowl: Clemson over Kentucky

Independence Bowl: Georgia over Texas A&M

EagleBank Bowl: UCLA over Temple

Champs Sports Bowl: Miami over Wisconsin

Humanitarian Bowl: Bowling Green over Idaho

Holiday Bowl: Nebraska over Arizona

Armed Forces Bowl: Houston over Air Force

Sun Bowl: Oklahoma over Stanford

Texas Bowl: Missouri over Navy

Insight Bowl: Minnesota over Iowa State

Chick-fil-A Bowl: Virginia Tech over Tennessee

Outback Bowl: Auburn over Northwestern

Gator Bowl: Florida State over West Virginia

Capitol One Bowl: LSU over Penn State

Rose Bowl: Oregon over Ohio State

Sugar Bowl: Florida over Cincinnati

International Bowl: South Florida over Northern Illinois

Papajohns.com Bowl: South Carolina over UConn

Cotton Bowl: Ole Miss over Oklahoma State

Liberty Bowl: Arkansas over ECU

Alamo Bowl: Texas Tech over Michigan State

Fiesta Bowl: The College University over Boise State

Orange Bowl: Georgia Tech over Iowa

GMAC Bowl: Central Michigan over Troy

National Title Game: Texas over Alabama
It's a classic "two teams very close in talent but one team is still heavily favored because of what happened in their last games" game. Texas wins a close one.

The Third Annual Kevo College Football Playoff

Ladies, gentlemen, and Tom: in what is fast becoming a December tradition only rivaled by Christmas, it is now time for The Third Annual Kevo College Football Playoff.

The premise is simple: the BCS sucks. Everyone with half a brain knows this, unfortunately everyone with power in the NCAA has less than half a brain. The bigwigs don't want to lose money, teams don't want to left out of bowl games, and sponsors don't want to lose their bowl games. Of course, if anyone had common sense, none of this would have to happen. Luckily, I do have some common sense. If anyone with any power in the NCAA is reading this, here's how you do a playoff system.

1) 12 teams make the playoffs
In most years, there are easily 12 teams that legitimately could win a playoff. 8 teams is just not enough, and there probably aren't 16 teams that would really deserve it. 6 automatic bids are given to the big conference champions (ACC, Big 10, Big 12, Big East, Pac-10, SEC) and six bids are given to at-large teams. The at-large teams can be decided either by a selection committee, or by a rating system similar to the BCS. For argument's sake, I'll use the BCS rankings for this season to pick the at-large teams. Teams are then seeded, again either by committee or rankings. The top 4 seeds get a bye. Here would be the teams for this season, with overall seed:
ACC Champ: Georgia Tech (9)
Big 10 Champ: Ohio State (8)
Big 12 Champ: Texas (2)
Big East Champ: Cincinnati (3)
Pac-10 Champ: Oregon (7)
SEC Champ: Alabama (1)
At-Large: TCU (4), Florida (5), Boise State (6), Iowa (10), Virginia Tech (11), LSU (12)

2) Every bowl game is still played
11 bowl games are part of the playoff system. The rest are played as they are now, outside of the playoffs. Detractors would say the non-playoff bowl games would be completely meaningless. Guess what? They are now.
The title game, semi-finals, and one quarter final game are played at the major bowl sites (Rose, Sugar, Orange, Fiesta), with a rotation of which game gets the title game each year. The rest of the games are played at the bigger bowl sites (Cotton, Gator, Capital One, Holiday, Outback, Chick-fil-A, Liberty). And like college basketball, higher seeded teams get to play closer to home where possible.

3) How the schedule would work
Some people say there simply isn't enough time in the season for a playoff system. By the way, Ohio State is going to have a 41 day layoff before they play in the Rose Bowl. Yes, there's time.

Start the season on the first week of September. Every team gets 12 games with one bye week, 13 weeks total. This ends the regular season in the last week of November. The conference title games can be played the first week of December. Non-playoff bowl games can start the Saturday after and continue through the week. The first round of playoffs start the 3rd week of December. The second round is on the fourth Saturday. The semi-finals are on New Year's day (along with other non-playoff bowl games, there has to be a lot of games on New Year's after all). The title game is a week later. Now, was that so hard?

So here's how the playoff schedule would look this year:



First Round, Saturday, December 19th

5. Florida vs 12. LSU at the Outback Bowl (Tampa Bay)
6. Boise State vs 11. Virginia Tech at the Holiday Bowl (San Diego)
7. Oregon vs 10. Iowa at the Capitol One Bowl (Orlando)
8. Ohio State vs 9. Georgia Tech at the Chick-Fil-A Bowl (Atlanta)

Second Round, Saturday, December 26th

1. Alabama vs 8. Ohio State/9. Georgia Tech at the Orange Bowl (Miami)
2. Texas vs 7. Oregon/10. Iowa at the Cotton Bowl (Dallas)
3. Cincinnati vs. 6. Boise State/11. Virginia Tech at the Gator Bowl (Jacksonville)
4. TCU vs. 5. Florida/12. LSU at the Liberty Bowl (Memphis)

Semi-Finals, Friday, January 1st

Game One at Sugar Bowl (New Orleans)
Game Two at Fiesta Bowl (Glendale)

Finals, Thursday, January 7th

Rose Bowl (Pasadena)


Is it perfect? No, teams from Florida (i.e. Florida) get a huge advantage because so many of the bowl games are played in their home state. Different bowl sites might have to be used every year, but honestly, wouldn't this be so much better than the way things currently are?

Of course, we have to simulate this to figure out who the real National Champion is. Once I get/steal a copy of NCAA 10 from someone, it will be done. Stay tuned.

Duke Season Preview

I figured everyone was anxiously anticipating a write up about their favorite college basketball team, the Duke Blue Devils, so I will deliver. Yes, the season has already started, but unlike college football, the first few months of college basketball really don't matter.

Duke is currently 4-0 and ranked 7th in the AP poll. They have dominated their first few opponents, winning by an average score of 94-59. You can say they haven't really played anyone so far, but they have beaten Coastal Carolina (alma mater of Tyler Thigpen, so they must be good at all sports), Charlotte (typically a very solid team and has made the tourney several times recently), and Radford (predicted to win the Big South conference, pretty much the SEC of college basketball).

Ok, maybe I'm stretching here a bit, but the Dookies have looked good so far, and unlike any Duke team I've seen in years, they have a ton of size. They have seven players that go 6'8 or taller, which is unheard of for this team. Duke has been killed by their lack of size in recent seasons, but that shouldn't be an issue this year.

Another aspect of this year's team which has been lacking in previous season is depth. Right now, Duke goes 10 players deep. I say right now, because Coach K has been known to play a lot of players early in the season, then ends up sticking with they same seven guys late in the year. Coach K, if you're reading this, and I know you most likely are, PLEASE stick with the 10 man rotation this year. You will be a better team for it, I promise.

The Christian Laettner/Grant Hill/Shane Battier/Jay Williams/J.J Redick of this year's team is Kyle Singler, a 6'8 Junior. The preseason ACC Player of the Year is undoubtedly "The Man" on this year's team. So far, he's averaging 18.3 points, 6.5 boards, and 3 assists per game. Because of the team's new found size, he'll no longer be forced to play power forward, and looks much more comfortable in his natural small forward position. The team will go as he goes.

The X-Factor (I hate using X-factor, but oh well) of this year's team will be Junior guard Nolan Smith. Smith missed the first couple games, but has looked great in the last two games, averaging 22 points, 6 assists, and 4 rebounds. He's not a pure point guard, but he's easily the best playmaker the team has this year. Duke doesn't have the backcourt depth that they've had in previous year, so Smith's play will be key.

The other key player on this year's team is Senior guard Jon Scheyer. Although Scheyer is bulit like a 2 guard, the team played much better with him running the point last season. He'll assume that role this season, and his outside shooting and passing abilities will be vital to the team's success.

Two freshmen will also play big roles for Duke this season. Ryan Kelly has a game similar to Singler, but he's taller and probably even a better outside shooter. Andre Dawkins is a guard who is not afraid to put up a 3 at anytime, and he has been a pleasant surprise early in the season.

All in all, this Duke team has some very exciting potential. They're definitely a different Duke team than we've seen in recent years, and that should be for the better. With North Carolina looking a bit lost without my favorite guy, Psycho T, you have to say Duke is the favorite to win the ACC right now. Now all they have to do is get past the Sweet 16.

NFL Preview Extravaganza Part I

Well, pretty soon we'll get to hear football stories that don't involve the names Favre, Vick, Burress, T.O, or even Stinson. And thank God. This NFL offseason has been so incredibly annoying, I'm so excited that some real football is actually about to start. This is the first part of a 10938430 part NFL blog super extravanganza, and it might even be as good as this preview: http://media.www.thetriangle.org/media/storage/paper689/news/2006/06/30/Sports/New-England.Cincy.Should.Repeat.As.Division.Champions-2119806.shtml

So here's part I, the AFC East.
1. New England Patriots 13-3
Despite the incredible annoyingness of anything or anyone from Boston, you have to be impressed by what the Patriots have done over the last decade. It's getting to the point where it's hard to remember the last time the Patriots weren't the favorites in the AFC East, and that's pretty darn incredible considering how quickly the fortunes of any NFL team can change. They even went 11-5 last year despite losing the best QB in the league after 5 minutes into the season (and as Kansas City will probably find out, it wasn't because of Matt Cassel).
Brady will be fine this year. Not 2007 fine, but he'll probably be amongst the top 3 QBs statistically this year, easily. They still have Moss, Welker, and now they added the ultimate weapon in Greg Lewis. The defense is great; they have the protoypical 3-4 defense and it doesn't seem to matter who they plug in there.
They have one potential weakness: the running game. They have about 5,000 RBs now with the addition of Fred Taylor, but they don't really run the ball too much, and they don't really need to. You just have to wonder how they'll move the ball if Brady somehow has a bad game. But doesn't really matter, they'll be dominant again this year.


2. Buffalo Bills 9-7
Everyone's already saying that T.O is a terrible fit in Buffalo, it'll never work, Trent Edwards is not good enough for T.O, etc. Well, yeah everyone is pretty much right. Why T.O chose to go to Buffalo is beyond me. I've gotta think there were at least a few other teams out there that would have taken him, but why he went to the NFL city with perhaps the least amount of media exposure baffles me. However, T.O has always behaved for at least one season wherever he's been, so I think they just might get one ok year out of him. Trent Edwards looks like he could be decent, and I think they could have a pretty good looking offense. The running game is a little unsettled with Marshawn Lynch suspended for being a criminal or something, but he'll be back. The defense is pretty average all around, but they're young and could definitely improve this season. They just seem like that one team every year that is just all around average but somehow comes close to sneaking into the playoffs.

3. New York Jets 7-9
Unless you're the 2008 Atlanta Falcons, the combination of rookie QB and rookie head coach usually doesn't turn out very well. Of course, for the Jets last year, the combination of Brett Favre and being old didn't work out too well for them. Remember when they started off hot, and everyone was talking about a Jets/Giants Super Bowl? That seems like a long long time ago. The Jets still have talent. Sanchez looks like he'll be a solid QB. Maybe not Matt Ryan of last season, but good enough. I'll be shocked if Leon Washington isn't starting at RB by the end of the year. They really need to get him the ball. The D was pretty good last year, and should probably get better with Rex Ryan as head coach now.
Still, the rookie QB/new head coach thing is still weighing against them. I think they'll be the team that loses a lot of close games this season, then comes on strong next year.

4. Miami Dolphins 6-10
Did the Dolphins really win the AFC East last year? That doesn't seem right. I'm just not convinced that this is a good team. Yeah, they innovated the whole wildcat thing last season, but now that everyone is using it, it'll be easier to stop. I'm not sold on Chad Pennington being a playoff QB again. I think he played with a chip on his shoulder last season, and won't duplicate last season's success.
I guess I should have better reasoning than I just think they were a fluke last year, but yeah, I just think they were a fluke last year. Well here's a stat: despite going 11-5 last year, they only outscored their opponents by 28 points. So take some of those close wins and turn them the other way, and here we are. In an all-around solid division, I think they fall back this season.

Part 2- National League w/ John Kruk

I'm sure the suspense has been killing everyone, so here's my run-down of the senior circuit going into the final month of the season. There are seven teams left in the NL with a realistic shot at making the playoffs, so here they are, from worst to first:

7- Florida Marlins
If you believe in trends, the Marlins should win the World Series this year. After all, they do it every six years since the 1997 season. However, I'm going to go against fate and say the Marlins don't go all the way in 2009. Much like the Twins in the AL, the Marlins always seem to find a way to get it done with no money and few superstars, and the fact that they're even over .500 is impressive. They have a legit ace in Josh Johnson and the rest of their staff is solid. They also score a ton of runs, even if their only really great every day player is Hanley Ramirez. So yeah, good job Marlins but no playoffs this year.

6- Atlanta Braves
The Braves probably have the best starting pitching staff from top to bottom in the majors. They don't have one surefire dominant pitcher (maybe Tommy Hanson soon), but there's no easy game against this staff. However, the score about zero runs a game. If they can keep their rotation intact over the next few seasons and add a bat or two, they will be dangerous. However, they just don't have the lineup to make enough noise down the stretch this year.

5- San Francisco Giants
The Giants are very similar to the Braves in that they have great pitching and no hitting. However, I would be very very scared of the Giants in the postseason because they have two dominant starers in Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain, and a guy that used to be dominant in Barry Zito. Oh by the way, they have another guy who threw a no-hitter this season in Jonathan Sanchez. So yeah, if these guy find their way into the playoffs, watch out. The problem is their lineup, or the fact that it's basically non-existant. When your best hitter is a guy whose nickname is Kung-Fu Panda, you have issues. Much like the Braves, if they add some bats, look out.

4- Colorado Rockies
Stop me if this seems familiar: The Rockies are absolutely terrible in the beginning of the season, then out of nowhere, make a turnaround, become the hottest team in the majors, and end up sweeping the Phillies in the playoffs and making the World Series. Yeah, that happened two years ago, and it looks like history may repeat itself. On paper, this team isn't as good as the NL champions of two years ago. No Matt Holliday, and although the pitching staff has been overachieving, you have to wonder how long they will last. However, there's no arguing how good they have been over the last few months, and you always go with the hot team in the baseball playoffs. They are scary, for sure.

3- Los Angeles Dodgers
They still have the best record in the NL, but this is not the same team that dominated in the first half of the season. I have two words for you: Vicente Padilla. Besides the fact that they had to sign Padilla, their bullpen isn't very good, with the exception of Jonathan Broxton, and they're just not hitting very well as a team right now. Yes, even everyone's favorite guy Manny isn't playing too well right now. The lineup is still potent, but they're going in the opposite direction of the Rockies right now, and I wouldn't be shocked if Colorado ended up catching them in the West.

2- St. Louis Cardinals
Their were two major acquistions at the trading deadline this season: Cliff Lee to the Phillies, and Matt Holliday to the Cardinals. Holliday has made the Cardinals incredibly better, and maybe even the team to beat in the NL. Chris Carpenter has quietly become the best pitcher in the NL this season, and Adam Wainwright ain't so shabby either. The Cardinals still have a few problems. Their starting rotation is very thin after Carpenter and Wainwright, and their bullpen isn't so special either. And besides Holliday and some guy named Pujols, the lineup isn't going to scare too many teams. However, Pujojs+Holliday+Carpenter+Wainwright could be enough to lead them to a World Series.

1- Philadelphia Phillies
Yes, I'm a homer, too bad. I really wish I had wrote this before the Phils lost 2 out of 3 to the Pirates, but oh well. We all know what's good about the Phils, so I'll focus on the negatives. The biggest problem right now is Brad Lidge, and if he's going to figure it out by playoff time. We keep waiting on him to run off 10 saves in a row to say he's back, but it just doesn't look like it's gonna happen. So what to do about Lidge? It's looking like a real possibility that he won't be the Phillies closer pretty soon. The other problimatic pitcher is Cole Hamels. Yes, he looked good in in last outing, but it would be great to see him put together 4 or 5 good starts to know he can be counted on in the postseason. He is the key to the team right now. If the Phils go into a series with Lee, Hamels back in form, Happ, and Blanton the way they are pitching right now, it's lights out. So yes, call me a homer, but the Phils are the favorite in the NL right now.

So, Rockies win the Wild Card, Phils beat them in the first round, Cardinals take out the Dodgers in the first round, Phils over the Cards to get back to the World Series.

That would set us up with a Phils/Yankees World Series, which I predicted at the beginning of the year. Needless to say, that series would be slightly more intriguing than Phils/Rays from last year. Here's hoping.

Breaking Down the MLB Stretch Run- American League

First of all, since I was asked to comment about it, I just wanna say that Plaxico Burress receiving a two year prison sentence for carrying a gun and then shooting himself in the leg is ridiculous. Especially when you consider the fact that fellow NFL wide receiver Donte Stallworth received one month in jail for a DUI manslaughter charge. What Plaxico did was idiotic, no doubt, but no one got hurt except himself. Stallworth killed a man, and there's a very good chance it could have been avoided if he wasn't drunk and high. But whatever, trying to make sense of any of that kinda stuff these days is pointless. So enough about criminal football players and on to baseball...

American League

This has, for the most part, been a typical American League year. In the West, the Angels will have no problem winning the division again, but in typical Angels fashion (except for the 2002 season in which they won it all), they'll disappoint in the playoffs. Usually the Angels have strong pitching but a weak lineup, however it seems to be the opposite this year. Their starters' ERA is attrocious, and there bullpen's not much better. So have fun with your first round exit Anaheim or Los Angeles or whatever you are now.

In the Central, it's been a typical close race that will go down to the wire. Even though Detroit fell flat last season, you had to know they had too much talent not to improve this year. They have a great top of the rotation with Verlander, Washburn, and Jackson, so if they make it in, keep an eye out for them come playoff time.

The White Sox are just above average all-around, but that could be good enough to win this division. However, there's no way I can see this team doing any damage in the playoffs. Buehrle and Danks are a decent top of the rotation, but they they have the immortal Gavin Floyd (I know, he's better now, whatever) and Jose Contreras. Yeah no thanks, goodbye White Sox.

Then, of course, there's those sneaky Twins, now 4.5 games back despite being under .500, and you just know they're gonna end up being in this race at the end. I have no idea how, consdering Carl Pavano is their second starter right now. The Twins do this every year, and I guess having Morneau and Mauer helps. If they somehow win the Central, they're not doing anything in October with that rotation.

In the East, well, the Yankees were due. They're easily the best team in baseball right now, and they'll most likely enter the postseason as the odds-on favorites to end that dreadfully long 9 year World Series drought (poor Yankees fans). They're pitching great, their lineup has been unstoppable. Unfortunately, I have nothing negative to say about the Yankees right now. They're the favorites.

The wild card spot might be the most interesting race in the AL right now. The Red Sox are currently on top, but they have a ton of question marks right now. After Beckett and Lester, the rotation isn't looking too great right now, even when Tim Wakefield comes back. The offense should have improved with the addition of Victor Martinez, but they're still struggling. They're the de facto favorites to win the wild card, but I can't see a deep postseason run in the cards for the Sox.

Then there's the Rangers, and I'm shocked that they're still hanging around. They've always had the offense, but never have come close to having the pitching. Texas has actually put together a nice little rotation led by, yes, Kevin Millwood. I still don't know who Scott Feldman is exactly, but he's 13-4 this year. The offense is still there, and the addition of Pudge will help. I'll be surprised if they end up surpassing the Sox; the rotation has almost no late season experience, but they have the talent to do it.

Finally, the Rays are still hanging around too. They obviously have the talent to win the wild card, and make a postseason run. On paper, they're probably better than last year's team. But there just seems to be something missing from this team. They don't have an ace this season with Scott Kazmir struggling, and they just don't have the momentum they had last year. Can they catch the Sox? Sure, but I just don't see it happening.

So yeah, here's what I see going down in the AL:

West: Angels (2 seed)
Central: Tigers (3 seed)
East: Yankees (1 seed)
Wild Card: Red Sox

ALDS: Yankees over Tigers, Red Sox over Angels
ALCS: Yankees over Red Sox in 5

Yeah, boring, I know. But that's the AL, same teams, same close races every year. The NL preview will be more exciting, promise.

MICHAEL VICK AAHHHHHH OMG

Since the public outcry for an update has turned into an uproar, here you go.

As I am writing this, I realize the one great thing about the Michael Vick saga is that it pushes Brett Favre off the frontpage. Even now that the Favre rumors have started again (shocking), it is much more important to ESPN that Donovan McNabb and Michael Vick are BFFs.

I was going to write about Vick before he was signed by the Eagles. Obviously, the signing changes things a lot, especially since he was picked up by my favorite team. But I will try to convey what I was going to say before this all happened.

When watching the Vick coverage on ESPN and everything else before he got signed, it seemed that a lot of players, coaches, analysts, etc. actually felt bad for him. That he "deserved a second chance" (how many times have we heard that recently?).

Anyway, if you are one of those who "felt bad" for Vick, I have two words for you: stop talking. Why should we feel bad for him? Listen, I do not own a dog or have any emotional attachments to them. I like dogs, but who doesn't? (well, except, you know) I absolutely hate PETA. I think they are the second most evil organization in the world next to Al-Qaeda. But obviously what Vick did is deplorable, and I don't feel bad that he lost all of his money and went to jail.

I'm all for second chances in life, and sure, guys who are in prison for doing terrible things can be remorseful and change their lives when they get out blah blah whatever. But we don't have to feel sorry for these people for messing their lives up and then not being able to put it back together again. The fact is Vick would have never been able to get his old job back in any other line of work, except maybe veterinarian. So please, Andy, Donovan, everyone else, please stop talking about second chances and just talk about how he's gonna play football.

So yeah, on to the football part of it. I'm excited to see how Vick will be used with the Eagles. I mean, we just got the world's best decoy, that's for sure. I can't wait until the first time he trots out onto the field, lines up at wide receiver, the defense freaks out, and meanwhile McNabb throws it to DeSean Jackson for a 60 yard TD. I think everyone who "is not going to be an Eagles fan anymore because of Vick" will shut up. (As an aside, I really hope the Phillies sign Vick next season too so all of the fake Phillies fans go away just like the fake Eagles fans are now.)

Purely from a football sense, I think this is a good move for the Eagles. Even if he does nothing this season, they can cut their ties with him at the end of the year, and PETA will move on to be idiots about something else. If he's good, they can keep him for next season, and maybe even trade him to the Raiders for their first round pick or something.

So, in summary, I don't like Vick the person, but I can get behind Vick the player. And if you're really an Eagles fan, you will too.

2009-2010 College Football Bowl Predictions

We're a month away from the college football season, aka the official start of Fall, so naturally it would be as good a time as any to share my bowl predictions for next season. Is this too early? Absolutely. But unlike the NFL, where things that happen in the offseason actually have a significant impact on the upcoming season, we can pretty much make predictions for the next NCAA season immediately after the National Title game, and they wouldn't be much different the day before the kickoff of the first game. So unless Tim Tebow decides to become a full-time circumsizer (more on Tebow in an upcoming post), nothing that happens in the next month should matter too much.

I got a record two right last year, and I'm hoping to hit the big three this time around. Of course, these are basically impossible to predict. There are certain conference match-ups for each game (Pac-10 plays the ACC in the Emerald Bowl, for example) so it's not a completely blind guess. Without any further ado...

New Mexico Bowl- Nevada vs. BYU

St. Petersburg Bowl- UTEP vs. Louisville

New Orleans Bowl- Troy vs. Houston

Las Vegas Bowl- UCLA vs. TCU

Poinsettia Bowl- Arizona State vs. Colorado State

Hawaii Bowl- Fresno State vs. Southern Miss

Motor City Bowl- Central Michigan vs. Minnesota

Meineke Car Care Bowl- Miami vs. Cincinnati

Emerald Bowl- NC State vs. Arizona

Music City Bowl- Arkansas vs. North Carolina

Independence Bowl- Kentucky vs. Colorado

Eagle Bank Bowl- Ball State vs. Boston College

Champs Sports Bowl- Clemson vs. Illinois

Humanitarian Bowl- Boise State vs. Utah

Texas Bowl- Texas Tech vs. Navy

Holiday Bowl- Cal vs. Oklahoma State

Armed Forces Bowl- Air Force vs. Tulsa

Sun Bowl- Oregon State vs. Kansas State

Insight Bowl- Wisconsin vs. Kansas

Chick Fil-A Bowl- Auburn vs. Florida State

Outback Bowl- Michigan State vs. South Carolina

Capitol One Bowl- Iowa vs. Georgia

Gator Bowl- Notre Dame vs. Georgia Tech

- This is absolutely the best case scenario for my Fightin Irish, in my opinion. People are talking about the BCS. Really? Have you been watching this team for the last two seasons? Yes, the talent is there, and that talent should equal 8, possibly 9 wins, but even that is optimistic. They still don't show up against good teams, luckily they aren't playing too many of those this season.

Rose Bowl- Ohio State vs. USC

- Rematch of these two in the Rose Bowl. USC might have a "down year", but they'll still win the Pac-10. OSU will win the Big 10, but will stumble somewhere along the way to keep them out of the title game.

Sugar Bowl- Alabama vs. Oklahoma

- Alabama is digusting on defense, but they lost a ton on offense. They'll win a lot of ugly games. Oklahoma win will the Big 12, but no way are they going undefeated in that conference.

International Bowl- Rutgers vs. Bowling Green

- Rutgers plays in Mexico North, again. Apologies to all the Mexicans out there.

Papajohns.com Bowl- West Virginia vs. LSU

Cotton Bowl- Nebraska vs. Ole Miss

Liberty Bowl- East Carolina vs. Tennessee

Alamo Bowl- Michigan vs. Missouri

Fiesta Bowl- Texas vs. Oregon

- Texas looks like a 10 win team, but I think they lose out to Oklahoma. Oregon? I dunno, kinda a left field pick, but they're talented and the Pac-10 isn't that great this year, so there you go.

Orange Bowl-Penn State vs. Pittsburgh

- An all PA battle in Miami. Penn State should finish second in the Big 10 to Ohio State, and will probably be looking at 10 wins. Honestly, you could pick the Big East champion out of a hat right now, but I think Pittsburgh has the most talent this season.

GMAC Bowl- Western Michigan vs. Wake Forest

BCS Title- Florida vs. Virginia Tech

- Florida is of course everyone's pick to repeat as national champions this season. No doubt, they are loaded, and have a great chance of running the table even in the murderous SEC. Virginia Tech is kinda a left field pick, but hear me out. Yes, they have a showdown with Alabama to start the season. If they get past the Crimson Tide, their schedule plays out favorably. Most of their difficult games are at home, with the exception of Georgia Tech (definitely a bit of a fluke last season, if you ask me) and a potentially scary game at East Carolina. But the ACC isn't anything great, and I can definitely see Va Tech running the table or finishing with one loss. Of course, they'll probably get slaughtered by Florida, but oh well.

It should be fun to look back on this post in 5 months and see how horribly wrong I was, but hey, that's what all this blog stuff is for: completely pointless, generally incorrect opinions.

First blog, and the last ever about swimming

Let me preface by saying I hate the word blog. Seriously, who thought of it and what does it mean? I think I would've started doing this sooner if there was a different word for it. Unfortunately, as an unemployed college graduate, I've been reduced to this, but hopefully at least a few people will enjoy it. Will mostly (probably only) be about sports, predictions, witty commentary, etc.

So for my first post, I'm gonna talk about...swimming. I swear it'll be the last time, unless I decide to make a last minute career change to Olympic swimmer.

Obviously the name synonymous with swimming right now is Michael Phelps. I guess winning 9083 gold medals will do that for a guy. Now, I have all the respect in the world for Phelps as an athlete; how could you not?

I'm not sure what proper blog etiquette is, but I'll just say this: my general impression of Phelps as a person is that he somewhat of something that rhymes with "frouchebag". Again, he might be the nicest guy in the world and I'm just an idiot. I suppose when you're the best in the world at what you do, you have to carry a natural cockiness along with you (see: Woods, Tiger).

Phelps just gives off the wrong vibe whenever I see him. Maybe it was that over the top celebration the US team had after they beat France in that relay race at the Olympics. I understand it was an exciting race, and I understand it's France, but that celebration took over the top, and went over that, as can be seen in above photo.

Then there's the whole bong thing. Listen, if Mikey wants to smoke it up, then go for it. But let's think for a second. You're Michael Phelps, currently one of the top 5 most famous athletes in the world. If you show up at a party, do you think some people might notice you? Do you think everyone is going to take a million pictures of you? Do you think if you hit a bong, someone might be taking a picture of it and it'll end up on the front page of everything? To quote the Barr, nice one genius.

Anyway, I got the idea for this because I watched some of the World Championships today. Before the relay race, the commentators said something astounding to me: "the US will most likely break a world record here". Is this just strange to anyone else? Has that ever been said before the start of any athletic competition? And it was just said so matter of factly, like not doing the best that has EVER been done in that race would have been a failure.

Can you imagine this in any other sport? "Ryan Howard will most likely hit 5 home runs in this game" or "LeBron getting 101 points is pretty much a guarantee here". It's just dumbfounding to me.

By the way, of course they broke the record, as did the second and third place teams. I'm pretty sure every swimming world record gets broken in every race nowadays. I think there's probably something inherently wrong with this, but I've spent enough words on swimming.