Final four Preview!

March Madness hasn't lived up to its moniker this year due to primarily one factor, the lack of Gus Johnson announcing games for CBS/Turner. With that, I am half joking, half serious. Because you look at a lot of the games Johnson calls, they almost always seem to bring excitement, and even if the game is a blowout, he makes it feel that much more exciting. However, that is not the case, and this year's tournament has lacked the excitement of previous tournaments. But, in some years, you have these rather lame tournaments. Anyway, CBS lucked out in this year's final four, bringing four brand names to the table, with Louisville, Kentucky, Kansas and Ohio State. Any of these teams could make a case for being the national champion, and for good reason, they've won four straight games against quality opponents and just need two more to proclaim themselves as the best in the nation for 2012. Now, on to the preview and picks!

Kentucky vs. Louisville, 6:09, CBS

This is the first match up in the final four of two teams from the same state in 50 years. The last time it happened, Ohio State lost to Cincinnati. These two teams have a lot of history against each other, and to give you an idea of how intense this rivalry is, think of Auburn/Alabama in football. These two teams are 69 miles apart, and it's a constant battle in the state for who reigns supreme. The match up in basketball is the one which counts every season, and this year, the Wildcats won it fairly easily, 69-62. But, in all reality, it was 69-56 in favor of Kentucky, as Louisville hit two threes in garbage time. Kentucky brings a lot of size to the game with Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist taking up the middle and snatching any rebounds which come their way.
Louisville has some size, but they do not match up man for man against Kentucky, so the battle for the bluegrass state goes to the team which does wear blue.

Pick: Kentucky 70, Louisville 64

Ohio State vs. Kansas, 40 minutes after conclusion of LOU/UK, CBS

These two teams feature two forwards who are among the best in the nation, and have made themselves really known this season. These two forwards are Jared Sullinger of Ohio State and Thomas Robinson of Kansas. These two teams also played in December, but Sullinger didn't play, and consequently, the Buckeyes lost. the best part about this game is that both of these forwards passed on the NBA last season, and decided to return to college, partly because they didn't know if there would be a NBA season. (Remember, the NBA had a lockout, in which many thought the NBA would be like the NHL and cancel the entire season.) The other part is because they wanted to come back and win a national title. This game creates havoc for both teams as far as matchup problems, but it's good for the fans, as they'll see one heckuva game.

Pick: Kansas 77, Ohio State 73

NL West Preview

The NL West last season saw turmoil in Los Angeles, the Rockies fail to make an epic comeback, the Padres returned to normalcy and being the no hit all pitch team they've been, the Giants fail to return to the championship form they were in 2010, and a team with a very smart general manager, manager, and youth make it to the playoffs in the Arizona Diamondbacks. So, will this year turn out to be the same? No, and that's what makes every sport great, you never know what will happen from year to year, game to game, which makes it that much more fun every season. But, as usual, the picks will come in reverse order, with the team finishing last coming first.

San Diego Padres

All pitching, zero hitting, and a whole heckuva lot of youth is how to describe this team. Plus, the Padres traded away their ace pitcher, Mat Latos to the Reds for a bunch of prospects. San Diego will need its pitching youth to continue to pitch decently, as they play their games inside of Petco Park, one of the many west coast parks which are incredibly pitcher friendly and they'll need what little hitting they've got to play out of their minds to have any shot.

Colorado Rockies

Colorado has some pretty good young talent in Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki, but they really don't have anything else surrounding those two players. Granted, they also brought in Michael Cuddyer, who is another great leader in the clubhouse as well as a pretty good all around player who can play pretty much anywhere. But, with the rotation and all around pitching, the team doesn't have enough to compete throughout 162 games. Plus, how can I trust a team who will run 49 year old Jamie Moyer out there every fifth day?

Arizona Diamondbacks

I've just got a hunch that after last season, they're due for a disappointment. The D-Backs have excellent pieces in place as well as some pretty darn good starting pitching, but the youth with this team, I just can't trust them to win back to back division titles for the first time in a decade. They've got an insanely good outfield, with Jason Kubel, Justin Upton, Chris Young and Gerardo Parra. Then, they've also got a pretty good rotation, especially after their brilliant GM, Kevin Towers traded for Trevor Cahill. Along with having a good young starter in Josh Collmenter who came out of nowhere last season for double digit victories. This team is pretty good, and think they may prove me wrong, or I could be right and they could have a down season.

Los Angeles Dodgers

Any team which has the Cy Young award winner as well as the NL runner-up for the MVP can't be finishing below .500 again, right? Plus, the team ought to have a lot of new life now that the ownership situation is resolved with Magic Johnson's group buying the storied franchise. Then, the Dodgers also have two impending free agents in Andre Ethier and James Loney who, if they want to get paid the big bucks will want to have the best seasons of their careers. Finally, the Dodgers have the game's next prolific base stealer on hand in Dee Gordon, their starting shortstop who will lead the majors in stolen bases with more than 50. The starting rotation behind Kershaw is a little bit weaker thanks to Hiroki Kuroda leaving for New York, but it's still solid with Chad Billingsley and crafty veteran Aaron Harang on hand.

San Francisco Giants

The team is stacked with pitching from beginning to end, and if Buster Posey stays healthy, there is no reason that the team should not win the NL West. The team plays more than half of its games in pitcher friendly stadiums, and this team's starting staff is so insanely good, there is no earthly reason they shouldn't completely dominate and win plenty of games with just 3 runs.

Coming later: Final Four Preview.

AL West Preview

Yes, with the unusually warm winter and spring that we've had in the northeastern United States, you'd have thought that baseball season never left. But, it has left us ever since the epic World Series back in October where the St. Louis Cardinals won their 11th World Series title in franchise history over the back to back American League champion Texas Rangers, which come from this very division. Plus, this division had some of the biggest news over the offseason. The biggest news concerning a specific team was of course that the player every team coveted, Albert Pujols chose to bolt St. Louis for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Plus, the biggest free agent pitcher on the market, C.J. Wilson also chose to go to the Angels rather than re-sign with his former team, the Texas Rangers. But, there was other news concerning the entire division, and quite frankly, all of baseball. That news being that the Houston Astros will be moving from the National League Central to the American League West, setting up for the first time since 1993, symmetry in each league with 15 teams in each league and interleague play throughout the entire season. But, that comes in 2013, in 2012, there are four teams in this division. And, this division is divided in half, with the haves and have not teams. The have teams are the Rangers and Angels, the have not teams are the Mariners and Athletics. Now, on to the picks. As always, these will come in reverse order, from the worst to the first place finishers.

Oakland Athletics

This team gutted itself over the offseason, trading away their biggest name players, all pitchers. Those being: Gio Gonzalez to the Nationals, Trevor Cahill to the Diamondbacks, and Andrew Bailey to the Red Sox. But, they also went out and resigned their center fielder, Coco Crisp to an extension which didn't make much sense. As Crisp is getting older, his offensive production is no longer up to par with the upper half of Center Fielders throughout the league. Oakland also landed the biggest international free agent in Yoenis Cespedes, a Cuban defector who projects to be one of the top outfielders in all of baseball. Plus, Oakland is praying they can get a fraction of what Manny Ramirez was in 2008 after his 50 game suspension. So, Oakland has a few big players, otherwise, they're relying on a bunch of rookies to help them, but they're in a continuous rebuilding state untii they get a new stadium.

Seattle Mariners

Seattle has plenty of talent, however all of it is very young and fairly unproven. They've got two star players they will rely on heavily, those being Felix Hernandez and Ichiro. Hernandez, the 2010 y Young award winner in the American League, is the leader of a bunch of good arms which include: Jason Vargas, Blake Beavar, and Hector Noesi. Seattle also has a pretty good closer in Brandon League, who was an all-star last season. The biggest problem with Seattle is their offense. They scored a league low 556 runs last season. So, that's why they traded a very good pitching commodity in Michael Pineda to the Yankees for star catcher/designated hitter Jesus Montero. Montero will help complement a young offense which includes a pretty good second baseman in Dustin Ackley, Ichiro, and Justin Smoak will hopefully come around. Luckily for Seattle fans, they've still got a glut of prospects who are looking pretty good and hope to make this team pretty good in a few seasons.

Texas Rangers

This is a toss up between who is first and who is second in this division. Between the team who is the back to back defending American League champs as well as the team who won the free agent lottery this winter. So, I just will have it be like this for now. Texas has an incredibly stacked lineup from 1-9, as each hitter is so good, it's crazy. They've got speed in Craig Gentry in center and Elvis Andrus at shortstop. Then pure power guys in Mike Napoli and Adrian Beltre. Then a combo of speed and power in Josh Hamilton and Ian Kinsler.  There is not an easy out with any of these hitters. The biggest question mark for the Rangers is going to be their pitching. Granted, they've got some good pitchers in Derek Holland, Matt Harrison and Colby Lewis. But, there are questions in Yu Darvish, the man brought in to replace C.J. Wilson as the ace of the staff. How will Darvish react to Major League hitters and such? Also, how will Neftali Feliz adjust from being a closer to starter? Will he fatigue towards the end of the season? Finally, the closer position is up in the air as Joe Nathan, former closer of the Twins has had some health issues in the past with his shoulder and then with his control this spring, hasn't looked like the Nathan from circa 2009, which is a concern.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

The Angels finished 10 games behind the Rangers last season, and that was without Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson, their prized free agents. And, with Wilson and Pujols, their WAR, or Wins Above Replacement, a metric used to determine how many wins these players would bring in over someone who is average would be  what determines WAR. Wilson's WAR was a 5.9, or roughly six wins more according to fangraphs.com. Then, Pujols' WAR was a 5.1, or roughly five wins more. So, if you just add those two players in, the Angels would have won the AL West last season by one game. The Angels also have a great mix of older and younger players who are fantastic in Peter Bourjos, Mike Trout, Kendrys Morales if he;s ever healthy again, Howie Kendrick, and Jered Weaver. The older players include Pujols, Bobby Abreu, who even at age 38 can still produce. So, the Angels have a pretty good thing going in Anaheim and will be contenders for a while especially with their new television deal they signed with Fox Sports, who are paying them $3,000,000,000 for the next 20 years.  And, yes, that is 3 Billion dollars. So, the Angels are going to be rich for a while.

Throughout the week: previews for other divisions and a final four preview!

Sweet 16 Friday preview

It's Friday night, and you're wondering what to do, might I suggest watching more college basketball? Because this weekend determines who goes into the final four in New Orleans, LA, and is perhaps even better than the first weekend of the tournament due to the higher stakes and the tension. Now, in tonight's games, these will feature the biggest names, with Indiana, Kentucky, and North Carolina all playing tonight. Now, on to the picks!

South Region

No. 10 Xavier vs. No. 3 Baylor, 7:15, CBS
Xavier is a team of experience, as they have been here before, most notably in the 2010 season. Baylor, the same, as they got to the elite 8 last season. Xavier is lucky to be here, as a few weeks ago, before the Atlantic 10 tournament, they had lost 11 of 21 after a hot 8-0 start. Perhaps that 8-0 start is a sign that this team is going for the elite 8? Xavier, despite being a mid-major school, has three fantastic players, the most notable of which is senior guard Tu Holloway, who leads the team with 17.4 points per game.  This team has yet to make it to a final four yet though, and in order to do that, they first have to go past the brighter than the sun uniforms and team of Baylor. Baylor has played a very consistent game this season, only losing to tournament teams within the Big 12, and the great thing for the Bears is that only one of those teams still remains in Kansas.  Otherwise, Baylor has played team centered basketball, with only one superstar, Perry Jones III. Jones was not the star of their round of 32 win against Colorado though, that would be Brady Heslip who was raining threes all night, and that could label him a "shooter" when he is more of a passer. This game should be pretty good between a team which is very consistent and one which is hungry for more.

Pick: Baylor 74, Xavier 70

No. 4 Indiana vs. No. 1 Kentucky, Half hour after the conclusion of XAV/BAY, CBS

This game can be epic like last time when Christian Watford hit the game winning three to put Indiana back on the map of college basketball to propel the previously unranked Hoosiers into the top 25 over the then number one Wildcats. Or, it can be a complete blowout, as ESPN has relentlessly showed the final five seconds of that game over and over to promote its Watch ESPN service. My guess is that since that game, Kentucky has gone 26-1 since that loss, and that only loss came in the title game of the SEC tournament, which means absolutely zilch. The entire fan base desperately wants another national championship, and their first in 14 seasons. Go with Kentucky.

Pick: UK 79, IU 62

Midwest Region

No. 13 Ohio vs. No. 1 North Carolina, 7:47, TBS

Ohio is this year's "cinderella" team, having beat a pretty good Michigan team, as well as fighting past a good South Florida squad. Ohio, take it all in while you can, as you'll probably hang in there for about 30 minutes before North Carolina, even without their star guard Kendall Marshall most likely takes over. North Carolina has way too much depth and there is a reason they were a number one seed.

Pick: North Carolina 70, Ohio 53

No. 11 N.C. State vs. No. 2 Kansas, Half hour the conclusion of OH/UNC, TBS

To quote the official NCAA preview, Kansas better not overlook the seeding this time of year, as the 2,3,4 and 5 seeds were all gone, and that left them with No. 11 VCU, and we all know what happened last season.   Then, two seasons ago, Ali Faroukmanesh and Northern Iowa buried the Jayhawks in their run in 2010.
North Carolina State should be a formidable opponent as well, with them getting hot just at the right time, narrowly passing San Diego State as well as a team many considered to be a contender for a final four run in Gerogetown. While the Wolfpack were probably one of the final six teams into the tournament thanks to them losing down the stretch in the ACC, but this could put them as the new cinderella team. The game is a bit too close to call, but go with the Jayhawks to overcome their previous runs and move on to their first elite 8 since 2008.

Pick: Kansas 63, N.C. State 58

Enjoy the games tonight!

Sweet 16 Thursday preview

What a weekend of hoops last week! After a blase first day of the tournament, where only one upset happened, that being a 12 over a 5 which happens at least once nearly every year anyway. The upset which happened on Thursday was VCU, a final four team last season over another mid-major team, so it was basically like, eh whatever. But, then Friday, we saw upset city, where both 15 seeds upset their respective number 2 seed opponents, where the entire commonwealths of Pennsylvania and Kentucky rejoiced when Lehigh beat Duke. Then, also Norfolk State busted the President's bracket in the West region once they beat Mizzou. Then, when you tuned in on Saturday, chalk reigned again, where there were absolutely zero upsets, so the Thursday and Saturday games were not quite boring, but they lacked the "madness" which defines the NCAA tournament. Then, on Sunday, three of the eight games were upsets, and there were only two games which were completely awful. Plus, the sweet 16 features nearly half of the teams are from within a seven hour drive of each other, which is crazy close, the midwest is represented quite well. But, then when you look west of Waco, Texas, you've got bupkus. So, how will this weekend turn out? You just gotta tune in and find out!

East Region

No. 4 Wisconsin vs. No. 1 Syracuse, 7:15, CBS

This game is going to be really good, and probably a defensive struggle. The reason for that being is that Wisconsin likes to slow the pace of the game down, a lot. There is a good reason this will be a defensive struggle most likely, and that's because Wisconsin only allows 53 points a game, the best in the nation, while Syracuse has the fifth best in the nation at 60 points per game opponent average. However, that was with Fab Melo, the Big East player of the year. Syracuse may or may not show up, so it's kinda up in the air as to how I'll pick this game. Go with the Badgers, and see if they can make it to their first Elite 8 since 2005.

Pick: Wisconsin 63, Syracuse 58

No. 6 Cincinnati vs. No. 2 Ohio State, Follows SYR/WISC, CBS

This game should also be pretty good, and features 2 teams from the best basketball state this tournament, as no other state can boast having a quarter of the sweet 16 field. Plus, this game features two teams from perhaps the top two conferences in college hoops this season, the Big East and Big Ten. This game features two teams which don't necessarily like each other either, only having played once since the 1962 title game when there were only eight teams inside the entire tournament. So, it will be interesting to see how these teams feel each other out. I'd say go with Ohio State and perhaps a player which could be a player of the year in Jared Sullinger.

Pick: Ohio State 67, Cincy 58

West Region

No. 4 Louisville vs. No. 1 Michigan State, 7:45, TBS

This game could easily be the best of the night, and could see the first buzzer beater of the tournament in this game. Got two veteran players who are just great, in point guard Peyton Siva for Louisville and power forward Draymond Green for Michigan State. This game should be non stop up and down up tempo style basketball, so just lay back in your chair and enjoy it. Oh, plus the fact that Rick Pitino is 9-0 in Sweet 16 games, I have a feeling he'll push that to 10, and it doesn't hurt that Louisville is in my final four in my bracket.

Pick: Louisville 77, Michigan State 75

No. 7 Florida vs. No. 3 Marquette, half hour after LOU/MSU, TBS

Now, this game probably won't be as good as the first one, as I believe Marquette is such a superior team, it can steamroll its way to the Elite 8. This will be Florida's first true test in the tournament as well, as they faced a fairly weak Virginia team, and then a team which was just coming off the biggest win in its history. While Marquette faced a quality BYU team which had just come back from a 25 point deficit in their first four game against Iona. Then, Marquette handled a pretty good Murray State team, which went 30-1 on the season. Go with MU.

Pick: Marquette 65, Florida 51.

Come back on Thursday night for more picks on the games in the Midwest and South regions.

Football thoughts

These are various football thoughts, ranging from the suspensions of Sean Payton and Gregg Williams to Peyton Manning heading to Denver over Miami, Tennessee and San Francisco, to no free agents wanting to go to Miami to Tim Tebow getting traded to the New York Jets. So, this is a lot, but, allow me to get to each story in order of significance within the NFL.

The biggest news of the day, by far, is that Sean Payton, the head coach of the New Orleans Saints has been suspended for one entire year, while his former defensive coordinator, Gregg Williams has been suspended indefinitely. This is just like dropping a figurative bomb on the New Orleans Saints. The Saints also must figure out what the heck to do with Drew Brees, the quarterback who, in his six seasons in New Orleans, took the team to its only two NFC title games in its history as well as its only Super Bowl victory. Plus, now that Payton is gone for a season, the team will have to adjust under a new head coach for one season. The team is just completely in utter chaos right now.

But, with the suspensions, and for how long they are, the NFL is sending a huge message to each and every person, do not put bounties on anyone. Now, perhaps you may need knowledge on what a bounty is, it is when a defensive player goes to intentionally take a player out and injure them for some cold hard cash. But, perhaps the bigger message is that you should not try and lie and cover up what you did, because people will find out. The same thing happened at Ohio State with Jim Tressel and at Tennessee basketball with Bruce Pearl. Roger Goodell just was blatantly ticked off at what Payton and Williams told him and then dropped the hammer.

Now, Peyton Manning jilting San Francisco, Miami, and Tennessee to go to Denver. This is somewhat shocking to me, as I thought he would go to Tennessee or Miami. However, it is understandable to me. Manning has a really close relationship with Denver exec Vice President of football operations John Elway. Plus, Denver has some talent on defense with Von Miller and Elvis Dumervil, and Denver should be getting better on defense. Then, I can also see why Manning chose Denver because Denver was the only team in which they had all five of their offensive lineman play every game last season, and they were pretty good. Manning can also help Denver's young receivers, Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker become better. Plus, who knows, Reggie Wayne could join in with his buddy Peyton to help mentor Decker and Thomas.

Now, Tim Tebow is getting traded to the New York Jets, for just a 4th round and a 6th round pick in this year's draft. Now, this is huge publicity for the Jets, as it is a constant battle between every single New York sports team to get on to the back page of the New York Post. Tebow going to the Jets means that he will be the backup to Mark Sanchez, who just signed a big money extension to stay in New York. Tebow will bring such a divide, and fans will be clamoring for Tebow as soon as Sanchez struggles, which, he will. But, Tebow will bring somewhat of a slash type player to the Jets. Tebow will play in the "wildcat" formation where he will mainly run the ball as well as pass some. Tebow will also probably run the ball and give Shonn Greene, the Jets only proven running back a respite. So, its just all up in the air.

Finally, Miami cannot attract free agents. They have in the NBA and MLB, but why not in football? Simple answer, the seats are empty. Nobody wants to play in front of a half filled stadium. You can throw money to the players, but players do not want to play in a rather empty stadium as well as not all that good of a team. Plus, apparently general manager Jeff Ireland and players do not get along too well at all.

So, these are all the football thoughts I have for now, and picks for the Sweet 16 will be coming later on tonight!

Round of 32 picks for Sat.

While it's 3:30 in the morning while writing this, I'm going to give very quick picks for the games on Saturday.

No. 8 K-State vs. No. 1 Syracuse: With how badly Cuse played on Thursday, they can either take that and use it as motivation against K-State, or they will fall flat on their faces. I think the latter, go with K-State.

No. 7 Gonzaga vs. No. 2 Ohio State: Both teams played pretty well in their first round games against West Virginia and Loyola (MD). But, since this game is at Pittsburgh, it will be a largely Buckeyes centric crowd, so go with the Bucks.

No. 6 Murray St. vs. No. 3 Marquette: This is a very interesting game, as it's being played in Louisville, which is in Murray State's backyard of Kentucky. And, since I love Pat Forde and trust him, he says the Racers are going to the final four, while I don't go that much of a stretch, watch this very experienced team be this year's cinderella story.

No. 5 Vandy vs. No. 4 Wisconsin: Both of these teams are playing very very good basketball right now, and Vandy won the SEC title over the best team in college hoops Kentucky, go with the Commodores in the battle of the brain colleges.

No. 12 VCU vs. No. 4 Indiana: Who wouldn't love to see a rematch between UK and IU in the Sweet 16 from their game in December where IU hit a last second 3 to propel them in their comeback from doormat status from a few years ago when Kelvin Sampson was at IU and they had all of those sanctions laid upon them. Go with the Hoosiers.

No. 8 Iowa State vs. No. 1 Kentucky: Now, look at the above statement. Who do you think I'm going to pick? I want a rematch in the sweet 16. Plus, this game is in UK's backyard of Louisville. The place will be jamming. Heck, 8,000 fans showed up for an open practice on Wednesday. This game is going to be a no contest.

No. 11 Colorado vs. No. 3 Baylor: Baylor coming from a jam packed great conference and had a potential player of the year candidate in Perry Jones III. Colorado, congrats on winning a crappy PAC-12 tourney, and enjoy the rest of your semester.

No. 5 New Mexico vs. No. 4 Louisville: If you looked at my final four picks prior to the beginning of the tournament, you've got a pretty good clue who I'm picking here.

So, that's Saturday's games, be sure to check back in here late Saturday for my picks on the Sunday games, which featured some great upsets. Enjoy the madness everyone!

Brackets/Final Four prediction

Yes, it is officially March Madness, starting Tuesday, with the First Four games in Dayton. Do not discount those games either, as remember, Virginia Commonwealth University went to the Final Four from there last season. Now, I don't foresee any of the last four teams in to make it to the Final Four this year, but when there are 9.2 quintillion possibilities within the bracket, you never know.
Now, for my final four prediction from each region.
East: I like Florida State considering what they did in the ACC this year, going 4-1 against North Carolina and Duke throughout the season, which is phenomenal, against those two teams which are the creme de la creme of the ACC. Granted, they will have some difficulty in facing Syracuse in the elite 8, but it will still be fun to see this team make its first ever final four.
West: Louisville, because they are led by their junior guard Peyton Siva, and they won the Big East conference tournament, which is arguably the toughest conference tournament of them all. Plus, this would create a great rematch from the regular season in the final four between Louisville and Kentucky.
Midwest: Go with the Tar Heels of North Carolina. They were the preseason number one, and they are playing as well as they ever have this season. Plus, they do have some magic in St. Louis, winning a title there in 2005.
South: I expect Kenutcky to come out of this region, because they've got a relatively easy road, as Duke is not that good this year, so while the possibility is there of another elite 8 match up in Atlanta. So, while this region may have the "names" that CBS/Turner would want, they are not going to get an amazing elite 8 game. Plus, Kentucky has the fuel to win as they just lost in the SEC title game.

Also, remember that you can compete against me in the NCAA tournament challenge on ESPN.com! This is the fun thing about brackets, you don't really have to know a whole lot about basketball to fill out your bracket. As with the bowl games in football, you've got some wacky team names like the Shockers of Wichita State, Bonnies of St. Bonaventure, Greyhounds of Loyola of Maryland, the Delta Devils of Mississippi Valley State, the Jackrabbits of South Dakota State, the Catamounts of Vermont and the Hilltoppers of Western Kentucky. So, it's just really fun and for bragging rights anyway. So, enjoy the madness beginning on Tuesday!
The link to the tournament challenge is: http://games.espn.go.com/tournament-challenge-bracket/en/group?groupID=41914&entryID=477165