Number One Seeds – Jimmy

0. That is the number of times that the number one seed has lost to a number 16 seed.  That number is also why these top seeds are so talked about.  Most of the time it is an easier road to the final four when you are a number 1.  The teams usually get to play as close to their school as possible, giving them an extra advantage, because their fans can make it seem like Bloomington, Spokane, Lawrence, or Durham.  These seeds can mean a lot, and with these the programs have the best chance, at the ultimate goal, the National Championship.

1 East: Indiana has been said to be the best team in college at different points through out the season, but the hype around them being the best has died down since last weeks’ loss to Minnesota and this Tuesday’s loss to Ohio State.  Even though they lost those games, I still think with Victor Oladipo playing the way he has been down the stretch, they are set up for a deep tournament run.  This Indiana team is absolutely amazing on the offensive side of the ball; they convert nearly half of the shots they take.  They are also 2nd in the nation in points per game this season.  Their next game at Michigan will be really tough, but if they win that game they should be a lock for a number one seed.  I don’t think that it matters what they do in the Big Ten tournament, because of all of the quality wins that they have gotten in their conference, this season.

1 West: Gonzaga has only lost twice this year when every other team has lost at least 2 more games.  Just seeing the records and not the conferences or names of the teams, you would think they would definitely be the overall number one seed, but the Zags play in the WCC.  Unless Gonzaga losses in their conference tournament, I think they are a lock for a number one seed just based on their record.  Even though they have played amazing this season, and they haven’t lost since mid-January, they haven’t played quality tournament teams since mid-January.  I honestly think that this could be the first ever number 1 seed to go down to a 16 seed in the modern tournament era.  I believe that this team is very much overrated, and will lose early in the NCAA tournament.

1 Midwest: Kansas at one point in the season hadn’t lost for 18 games straight, and then they lost 3 games in a row.  The real question for the selection committee is, will we see the Kansas team of the 18 game win streak or the 3 game loss streak.  With the way these Jayhawks have been playing since the Oklahoma loss, I believe we will see the disciplined, Bill Self-esc KU teams that we are used to seeing come March.  I think that if they can keep the errant passes leading to turnovers and stupid shots down, they can make a deep run in this years tournament. The biggest thing in my mind that separates them from the pack is their balance between both sides of the ball.  They have the presence inside on defense, of Jeff Withey and the great perimeter defender in Travis Releford, and they have the huge offensive threat of Ben McLemore.  The Jayhawks seem to be oozing confidence right now, and if it means anything, after the Monday’s game against Texas Tech, Travis Releford, while signing autographs, answered my question of “You guys gonna bring the title back to Lawrence?” with “Of course, man.”  The Hawks are peaking at the right time and I think that they will win the Big 12 and make a deep NCAA run.

1 South: Duke remained at number 3 in the nation, even though they lost to Virginia last week, because they defeated #5 Miami on Saturday on the back of Ryan Kelly.  I think that this Duke team, with Ryan Kelly back, will win the ACC tournament, and just like the Jayhawks they are peaking at the right time.   Although the Blue Devils now have their Senior and their leader back with Kelly, they have been upset 4 times this season and when the are off, they don’t win ugly, they don’t fight back, they lay down and get crushed.  The difference between a good team and a great team is if they can still win even if they aren’t playing their best, or if they can over come adversity.  We all know there is a lot of adversity in the NCAA Tournament, and we will have to find out if Duke can fight through it or not.

In my opinion these should be the number 1 seeds in the NCAA tournament. What do you think?

If you want to make your predictions for March with us, then you should join our Tourney Pick’em league, here.

NCAAB Power Rankings – Jimmy

1 Kansas- For a team that hasn’t lost a game in 75 days,  I think they are overlooked by many analysts.  They Jayhawks most likely passed their biggest test of the season when they beat Kansas State in Manhattan this Tuesday, and I think they will just keep on this same roll

2 Michigan- I think that Michigan is a very close second to the Jayhawks when it comes to being the best two teams in the nation.  The Wolverines are a very talented team lead by their all-star point guard Trey Burke.  Michigan may lose a few more times this year just based on the pure strength of the Big Ten this year, but right now they are one of the best teams in the country

3 Florida- One of the main reasons that Florida is looked over as one of the best teams because they are in the SEC.  Even though its not a great conference Florida is still a great team.  The gators have defeated two ranked teams and only lost two games by a combined score of 7 points.

4 Indiana- The Hoosiers have to be one of the top teams in the NCAA seeing as they average the second most points per game this season.  Indiana is in one of the best conference in the land this year and that means they have and will play some great teams.

5 Syracuse- Although the Orange lost this Saturday it was in Overtime and to Villanova which is 4-3 in the Big East, and if the Orange had gotten one more defensive rebound at the end of regulation they would have won that game.  I think the Orange will bounce back and prove that they are better than they played on Saturday.

Conference Championship X-Factor – Jimmy

NFC Championship – San Fransisco @ Atlanta

This year the number 1 and 2 seeds will face off for the NFC Title and a chance to play in the Super Bowl on February 3rd.  The 49ers made their way to the this game last week on the back of their 2nd year QB Colin Kaepernick.  Colin had a great game through the air and on the ground.  He finished with 181 yards rushing and was his team’s leading rusher.  The Atlanta Falcons played an amazing first half last Sunday and a lot of the reason that they played so well was their fantastic running game.  The Falcons are known for their high flying air attack with 3 of the best pass catchers in the NFL – Roddy White, Julio Jones, and Tony Gonzalez – but last weekend their backs played fantastic.  Michael Turner lead the way for their runners with 98 yards while splitting carries.  In my opinion Colin Kaepernick will take over once again this week and run all over a pretty week run defense.  I think that the 49ers will win this game.

AFC Championship – Baltimore @ New England

A missed field goal as time expired.  That is all that separated these two teams last season when they faced of in the same game last season.  New England went on to win that game and make it to the Super Bowl.  The Ravens would certainly like a different outcome than they had last season.  They are on a huge wave of momentum right now because of the whole Ray Lewis’ last ride story.  The thing that I think will make the biggest outcome this game for them is Joe Flacco’s play at quarterback.  Joe is a very streaky passer and when he is hot he is hot, but when he is cold he is freezing.  Lucky for the Ravens Flacco has 2 back to back great games.  If he can continue that the Ravens are a force to be reckoned with.  New England is really hurting with one of their biggest playmakers in Rob Gronkowski out with his re-injured forearm.  The Patriots will need to find another way to get some huge plays and touchdown.  I think if the Pats running game can step-up like they did last week New England will be in good shape.  For the Patriots it doesn’t matter who gets it done in the backfield, it can be Ridley, Vereen, or Woodhead, which ever one of them steps up to the table in that game, they will get production out of the back.  I think that the Ravens will ride this wave of momentum and Joe Flacco will have another big game and lead Baltimore – although it is hard to pick against Tom Brady – to an AFC Championship.

What are your picks and who are your X-Factors?

My Mid Season All-Americans – Jimmy

1st Team

1 Trey Burke (Michigan) has had a huge season with great stats such as 18.2 points per game, and has also lead his team to a 16-0 record.  One of the great things about Burke is that he is such an all-around player.  Along with all of his points he averages over 7 assists per game.  That means he causes at least an extra 14 point per game.  Trey will be one of the favorites for the POY award this year and a very high draft pick if he decides to go  after his sophomore year.

2 Russ Smith (Louisville)  is another all-around player.  Smith leads his team, #3 Louisville, in two very different categories points per game and steals on the season.  He has 19.4 points in a game and 38 steals so far.  This year, Smith’s junior year, he has really emerged as their go to guy.  Whenever the Cardinals need to get hot or to hit a few buckets they look to Russ.

3 CJ Leslie (NC State)  is very underrated player.  To most people he is not considered for this spot on the All-American 1st team.  Most people have Doug McDermott on their 1st team, but I think that Leslie bring more to the table.  McDermott is a great scorer, but that is all he does.  C.J. can score as well as get rebounds.  In my mind to be a great player you need to be able to do more than one thing on the court and Leslie has that ability.

4 Mason Plumlee (Duke)  is probably the leading candidate for the player of the year award at the beginning of conference season.  Plumlee had helped Duke to the number one ranking and an undefeated record before Saturday’s loss to NC State.  Getting a double-double is a tremendous feat in a single game, but averaging one is just amazing.  Plumlee has 17 ppg and 11 rpg.  The center piece of the Blue Devils offense has to be on any all-american list.

5 Jeff Withey (Kansas) may possibly be a 20 point swing for the Kansas Jayhawks in an given game.  Withey averages 5.1 blocks and alters so many more shots. Withey can do it on offense as well with 13.5 points per game.  Jeff also grabs over 8 boards per game so far this season.  One of the biggest things about a star player is that he can’t just be one dimensional and Withey certainly isn’t.  He is also a huge matchup problem for any team with his height.

2nd Team

1 Peyton Siva (Louisville)

2 Ben McLemore (Kansas)

3 Doug McDermott (Creighton)

4 Anthony Bennett (UNLV)

5 Cody Zeller (Indiana)

Other Players To Watch

Phil Pressey (Missouri)

Seth Curry (Duke)

Jack Cooley (Notre Dame)

Michael Carter-Williams (Syracuse)

Wild Card Saturday Playoff Matchups – Jimmy

This weekend begins the NFL Playoffs and it all starts off with the wild card match-ups.  The goal of any franchise is to make the playoffs and ultimately to win the Superbowl. The road to the Superbowl starts this Saturday with some great games. On Saturday afternoon the AFC 3 seed Houston Texans will play the 6 seed Cincinnati Bengals, that night the NFC’s 3 v. 6 match-up will be the Green Bay Packers and the Minnesota Vikings.

1. Houston v. Cincinnati: At the end of the season these two teams were going in very opposite directions.  The Bengals made a huge push at the end of the season to reach the playoffs, and Houston just backed their way in losing their first round bye in the last few weeks of regular season.  The hot pick right now is the underdog Bengals due to Houston’s bad play and of many things Cincinnati’s stout defensive front.  I think that this game will really come down to two things.  One is Arian Foster’s ability to run on this Bengals defense, and if the Texans secondary can slow down AJ Green.  I think the Texans will win if Arian Foster can rush for over 100 yards and the Texans’ D can hold A.J. Green to just 1 touchdown.  I think that the Texans will rebound and come out on top.

2. Minnesota @ Green Bay:  This wild card match-up is the second time these two teams will have played in 6 days.  Last Sunday the Vikings defeated the Packers by a 3 point margin in Minnesota.  Adrian Peterson had 199 yards in that game and 210 yards their first game in Week 13.  Peterson has had an absolutely phenomenal season proving himself virtually unstoppable.  I think that the Packers need to think about All Day that way.  They need to focus on shutting down the rest of Minnesota’s offensive attack by forcing a few turnovers and not allowing Christian Ponder to beat them at all.  I think the X-Factor in this game will be Charles Woodson.  If he is 100% coming into the game I think he can be a huge factor.  Anytime Charles is on the field he always has the possibility to make a interception. In a close game turnovers could be huge.  With most of their core players back on the field Saturday I believe the Packers will be victorious.

QB Problem in KC – Jimmy

If you have watched the Kansas City Chiefs this season you would probably agree the entire team has been awful.  On an NFL football team everything revolves around the quarterback.  The Kansas City quarterbacks have had 19 turnovers so far.  Obviously to win games the Chiefs will need to fix that problem.  This season is pretty much over for the Chiefs with their record at 2-10.  Their play at quarterback needs to get better long term not just this season.  In my opinion there four ways that they can go about doing that.  Those are drafting a quarterback, signing a free agent QB,trading for their leader, or sticking with their current starter Brady Quinn.  There are no quarterbacks available this off-season that are going to be definite solutions for the Chiefs, but there are some possible solutions out there this offseason.  In the draft this season some of the quarterbacks may be Matt Barkely, Geno Smith, Collin Klein, Tyler Wilson, Aaron Murray, EJ Manuel, and Landry Jones.  Michael Vick will most likely be released based on his play and the fact that earlier this week Andy Reid said that Vick was benched for Nick Foles for the remainder for the season.  Alex Smith may be available this off-season if the Collin Kaepernick project works out in San Fransisco.   Brady Quinn is also an option especially if he continues to play up to the level that he played at this past Sunday in a win against the Carolina Panthers.  There are multiple ways that the Kansas City Chiefs could go with their quarterback position for the future.  If I were the GM in KC my list of the top 5 possible quarterbacks for the team’s future are as follows.

1 Geno Smith – Geno is probably the highest rated QB coming into the draft this coming off-season, and he is said to be the most NFL ready QB in the draft.  Geno’s arm is the best thing about him, unlike many great college quarterbacks, but an arm is what they want in the NFL.  He can
rack up astonishing amounts of yards and touchdowns.  He is great at the long bomb and is very accurate as well.  Geno went the first six games this season without throwing a single interception.   Smith has a fantastic touchdown to interception ratio of 40/6, and he also has a great
completion rating of 71.4%.  He has thrown for over 4,000 yards for the second season in a row.  Geno Smith led a high powered offense this season, and I have confidence that he could transform the Chiefs offense into a lethal winning machine for years to come.  If I were the GM of the
Chiefs and I wasn’t going to trade the number 1 overall draft pick that the Chiefs look destined to get I would spend it on Geno Smith.

2 Collin Klein – Optimus Klein has obviously had a great season otherwise he wouldn’t be one of the three Heisman finalist invited to the ceremony this Saturday.  Many of the NFL scouts are down on Klein’s stock because of he isn’t the prolific passer that most NFL quarterbacks are.  Around this time last year those same scouts were saying the same thing about a certain Seattle quarterback who has 19 touchdowns so far in his rookie season.  Klein is also a great play-maker, if the pocket breaks down then he can scramble for lots of yardage or escape the rush and then make a play with his arm.  Collin reminds me of Russel Wilson, the quarterback, with almost the same running ability as Tim Tebow.   Collin Klein would be a great play-making quarterback to have for the future of this franchise.  He would never throw like Tom Brady, but he has a lot of other great things about his play, such as his 22 rushing touchdowns on the season, that would make me happy, as the GM, about the way that he could take this team.  Back in 2010 when the Broncos selected Tim Tebow 21st overall.  Everyone thought that they were crazy, but that little bit of crazy got them a playoff spot last season.  It would be crazy, in the eyes of many scouts, for the Chiefs to take Collin Klein early in the draft as a starter, but maybe that little bit of crazy is just what they need.

3 Alex Smith – It is not a sure bet that Alex will be available come this off-season, but if he is available you can be sure teams will be after him.  Smith last season and the first part of this season was very successful.  He lead his team to the NFC Championship Game last season, and would
have most likely won it if his team’s punt returner wouldn’t have fumble the ball at such an inopportune time.  This season he was one completion away from being in the record books as the quarterback with the best completion percent in a single game, minimum of 20 attempts.  Alex went 18 for 19 in that game.  Smith is really good but not great.  He doesn’t have that arm for huge down the field throws and can’t make plays all by himself.  He isn’t an electrifying or thrilling player.  Even with that said he is a really good quarterback He would be a great fit for the Chiefs for a few years, since he is older than all of these draft picks.
4 Aaron Murray – Mr. Murray is only a junior so there is a possibility that he may not come out for the draft this time, and if he does he most likely will not be a high round pick.  I think that Aaron Murray is grossly underrated, and I would take him in a heartbeat in one of the later rounds.  The reason the scouts are so low on Aaron’s stock is that he is only 6′ 1″.  Drew Brees had the same problem when he was entering the league, but look where he is now.  Murray has thrown 31 touchdowns this season on SEC defenses which are the best defenses in the entire nation.  I know that everyone is tired of hearing how good the SEC is, as am I, but their defenses are superior to the rest of the nation, just look at this past decades national champions and it is said that defense wins championships.  Murray has also racked up about 3500 yards threw the air this season.  Aaron Murray will probably be taken around the 6th round, and if you remember Tom Brady, one of the best quarterbacks in the league, was taken in the 6th round as well.

5 Brady Quinn – Brady Quinn has already seen some action with the Chiefs this season, and will presumably be the starter the rest of the way.  Quinn had a great performance this past Sunday against the Carolina Panthers especially considering the circumstances.  Brady threw for 201 yards 2 touchdowns in probably the best game of his career.  Brady was drafted in the first round by Cleveland back in 2009 out of Notre Dame.  He didn’t live up to expectations there and then went on to have the back up job in Denver for two years behind Tim Tebow and Kyle Orton.  Quinn is not a great or fantastic player by any means, but he is a decent middle of the road starter in the NFL if he can keep the job in KC.  He would be the most conservative choice of any of the quarterbacks I have mentioned.  Conservative doesn’t usually turn around a 2-10 record.  If Brady Quinn could gain this starting job for the Chiefs I would expect them to be around 8-8 year in and year out.  If mediocrity is what your looking for as coach or a GM, then you shouldn’t have a job in the NFL.  Quinn would be better than Cassel, but he couldn’t win the Chiefs a Super Bowl.

With all of that said I expect the Chiefs to do one of these two options.  I think that they may trade down to the Buffalo Bills spot, which is projected at 13 and get and inside linebacker or a cornerback to help the secondary, and get a lot of picks.  In that scenario the Chiefs would take a quarterback like Collin Klein or Aaron Murray late in the draft.  Kansas City could also just stick with Brady Quinn next season, if in Scott Pioli’s “expertise” (that got the Chiefs to 2-10) Brady would do enough this season to earn that.  Like I said I would go with Geno Smith.  What would you do?

What’s Wrong With College Football-Braden

Will Notre Dame be the TRUE national champion?

This has been a crazy college football season. Upsets, Heisman favorites going down, and shake-ups in the BCS. (Wasn’t Geno Smith or Matt Barkley supposed to win the Heisman)? This has just been another reason why we need a playoff system. I’m tired of seeing 9 SEC teams in the top ten. Also, what is with Alabama dropping to #4 after one loss, to just jump up to #2 after K-State and Oregon falter?  This is a sick and cruel joke that the BCS is playing on me. The SEC’s reign will continue, and Alabama will most likely repeat if they keep this pace up. The BCS just wanted to keep Alabama in the mix so they could just get into the championship game. Also, Notre Dame has to wait 43 days to play their final game of the season. What?  I don’t understand why Notre Dame is too proud to be in a conference. It’s illogical that they only had to beat USC and they were in. They need to be in a conference like the rest of the contenders in my opinion. This title game is wrong in every sense of the word. Notre Dame may be the “best team” in the country, but considering how this all shaped out to be, it’s been crazy and very confusing. Confusing by how illogical the BCS system is. Alabama or Georgia is going to play Notre Dame in Miami, and this doesn’t make sense. Why does the SEC get so much special treatment when comes to the BCS Championship? This year and the last would have been great seasons to have a playoff system. An 8 team playoff is what we need, and that would be a better system than the BCS which has been highly disputed and needs to be thrown out. I am glad that in the next couple of years that we will have a 4 team playoff, but that can’t be the end. Another thing: the Heisman trophy awarded to the best player. This prestigious award has had many “front-runners” this season, and it will be very interesting who wins. In my opinion, the two leaders are Manti Te’o and Johnny “Football” Manziel. Of course Collin Klein and others will be invited. But I think Te’o and Manziel are the best two players in college football. Manziel might not win due to him being a freshman. Te’o might not win because defensive players don’t win the award that often (the last defensive player to win-Charles Woodson, Michigan, 1997). As you can tell, the final decision is much in the air. If Johnny Manziel were to win, he would be the first freshmen to win, and this would probably mean that Kevin Sumlin is the coach of the year. It would be amazing for the school, in their first year in the SEC. Also, if Manti Te’o wins, this would be icing on the cake for Notre Dame. They have had a fantastic season, and this would show how good that defense really is. Whoever wins, I think that they most definitely deserve the Heisman. In the end, there are many things that are wrong or confusing about college football. It is a fantastic sport, it just has some blaring issues. The BCS needs to go, and the I think that Johnny Football wins the Heisman.

Does Johnny Football deserve to win the Heisman?

Top 3 Quarterbacks in the NFL – Jimmy

Photo by James Shultz

2,538.  That is the number of points that starting NFL quarterbacks threw the air this season.  On an NFL team most of the time your captain and leader is your quarterback.  The quarterback position is so important because they touch the ball nearly every play.  These are, in my opinion, the best three quarterbacks in the NFL this season.
1 Aaron Rodgers : Ever since his first year starting in the league he has played like one the elite players at the quarterback position in the NFL.  In his first four years as the starting QB up in Green Bay he recorded a total of 131 touchdowns.  That 786 points scored through the air has certainly helped the hardcore cheeseheads get over not having Brett Favre any longer.  This year, Rodgers has racked up 25 touchdowns and only 5 picks through nine games this season.  Aaron has a 67 completion percentage so far this season.  Number 12 has lead his team to a 6-3 record, which should be 7-2, but the replacement refs botched the game against Seattle early this season. If I had a choice of any QB in the NFL today I would choose Aaron Rodgers.

2 Peyton Manning : In the NFL when you think of 4th quarter comebacks, you should think of Peyton Manning.  This season Peyton Manning took over the all-time lead in 4th quarter comebacks.  This season the comeback king has  been on fire he has completed 21 passes for touchdowns, and has only thrown 6 interceptions.  Manning has looked fantastic in his first as a Denver Bronco and his first year back from his extensive neck surgeries.  Manning has lead his team to the top of the AFC West and a 6-3 record.  Peyton has been a great leader immediately in Denver.  Peyton has been a huge impact on this team so far this season.

3 Matt Ryan : If you ask any QB what the most important thing to them each game is they would say the team winning.  Matt Ryan has done a fantastic job leading his team to victory this season.  The Falcons have an 8 and 1 record with their only loss coming this past weekend to the New Orleans Saints.  Ryan has scored 21 times this season and has only turned over the ball 8 times.  This is the first year that Ryan would, in my mind, be in the running for the best quarterback in the league, but he has definitely played like an elite quarterback this year.  If Matt can continue this play, I think that he will lead his team deep into the playoffs.

Sporting Claims Eastern Conference Title – Jimmy

On Wednesday Sporting grabbed a hold of home field advantage in the Eastern Conference Semis, the Eastern Conference Finals, and even possibly could have the MLS Cup final, if they don’t play against the San Jose Earthquakes.  Sporting finished off their regular season in style, beating Philadelphia 2-1.  The only reason the Union scored was the assistant referee a blown offsides call leading to a penalty kick which Jimmy Nielsen saved but was put in the back of the net off of a deflection.  Sporting really did play magnificent even though the refs had a really lousy game once again, missing more than a few blatant fouls or infringements.  One of the really great things that I thought that Sporting did was attacking through the middle, and not relying solely on getting their attacks in off of the wings.  Although crossing is a huge strength for KC I think that sometimes it can become a little to predictable and the defenses start to pick up on it.  With that win Sporting is on to the playoffs, but they still are awaiting to find out who they will be be playing for sure.  If the standings hold as they are right now, Sporting would be playing the winner of the wild card game between the New York Red Bulls and the Houston Dynamo.  I think that both of these teams are beatable, but would be tough challenges for SKC seeing as they have both given KC a run for their money, with Houston defeating Kansas City in KC.  Kansas City should take down either of these teams especially when they will be playing 2 games on aggregate scoring.  Sporting would then take on the winner of the other semifinal between the Fire and DC United.  I think that the Chicago would come out victorious in this semi just based on the fact that they have been so hot as of late.  Sporting and the Fire had some really good games this season and I don’t think that this conference final would be any different.  I also believe that SKC would come out winners based on the last result in this series 2-0 in favor of Kansas City.  Sporting would then have to face off against the western conference final winner either in San Jose, if KC was playing against San Jose, or in Kansas City.  It will be interesting to see how Sporting fares in the playoffs, but I think if they continue to play like they have all season they have a great chance at the title.

MLB MLS Postseason 2012 Predictions Podcast

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