Merry New Year

The blog is back from vacation and starting its third year of existence. I can't believe it's 2007.

One of the things I enjoy is reading Sports Illustrated's "Best of the Worst", some short stories from 2006. My favorites were:

• Former Florida St. receiver Fred Rouse, charged with burglarizing the house of an ex-teammate, allegedly left a wide receiver's glove with his uniform number on it at the scene. This happened at Florida St.?!?! What a shock?!?!
• In a red-carpet interview at a post-Oscars party, Serena Williams said she admired the work of actor "Phillip Semen Hoffmore". I think she meant to say Philip Seymour Hoffman.
• And fishermen were drug-tested at the World Angling Championships in Portugal. Glad to see they're doing this, but how could drugs help you fish? And if Fishing is doing it, why not golf?!?!? I wonder if anyone tested positive.

It's amazing how conference play in college hoops never disappoints. Now we find out how good teams really are, and here's what I've found out so far:

• Duke won't beat anyone with experienced, athletic guards. 22 turnovers at home, including 6 by your starting point guard in just 18 minutes won't cut it. Josh McRoberts needs to play the 1st half like he does the 2nd half of games. He needs to establish himself on the block at the start of games, then expand his game.
• Ohio St.'s win at Illinois was impressive to say the least. Illinois doesn't have great scorers, but it's still Champaign, still a tough place to play and OSU controlled the game. I hope Greg Oden comes back to school next year because it's fun watching him impact the game and his offensive game needs work. He doesn't play "big" offensively with his back to the basket. Part of that is that his right wrist still isn't 100%, but he's shooting the ball below shoulder level, leaving himself vulnerable to getting his shot blocked. He'll get it corrected, but I think he should get it done while at OSU.
• UCLA losing at Oregon didn't surprise me, Mac Court is a tough place to play. You knew Oregon would be up for the game after losing to USC Thursday night at home. Oregon's guards are playing really well, despite no Malik Hairston today, and Marty Leunen is doing enough inside to give them balance. I'm not sure if UCLA is #1-worthy. They're good, but they have weaknesses. As good as Aaron Afflalo is, his jumper is ugly, which won't go in consistently when contested. Darren Collison's level of play has slipped since Maui, and is Lorenzo Mata good enough inside to go against Florida, Arizona, UNC, etc. down the road?
• Notre Dame and Michigan St.: overrated. If the Spartans were going to contend for the top 4 of the Big 10, they needed to win at Iowa Thurs. night. Iowa has slipped, and good teams take advantage of that, Sparty didn't. Notre Dame caught Maryland after a big win at Illinois and got Alabama at home, but other than that played cupcakes except for their loss to Butler. They're a middle of the pack Big East team at best.
• LSU will have to rely on their defense even more this year, they're worse at shooting the ball than last year. Big Baby Davis's conditioning improvement is obvious, he's able to do a lot more things offensively and for longer periods of team. But the shooting is atrocious. UConn's freshmen are probably the most immature of all the freshmen on teams. If they can't run, they break down, mentally and physically. The potential is there, but they have a ways to go.
• The Missouri Valley is looking at 4 bids again: Northern Iowa, SIU, Wichita St., and Missouri St./Creighton. Wichita St. had the best non-conference season of all, but are only 1-2 in the Valley so far. That's how tough the Valley is.
• DePaul over Villanova. DePaul is 10-6, 1-1 in the Big East. They have lost to Northwestern and St. John's (bad), but have beaten Villanova and Kansas. After winning big at Oklahoma, Villanova has lost to Drexel, West Virginia, and DePaul (3 of their last 6). Speaking of West Virginia, 3-0 in the Big East, all double-digit wins. John Bielein is one of the top 5 college coaches.
• Duquesne over St. Louis. After their tumultuous off-season, Duquesne has now knocked off Boston College and St. Louis, both on the road. A .500 season would be a great accomplishment for them, but these 2 wins by themselves show how they've come together as a team and how good they could be next year when they're at full strength.
• OU is the best team in the MAC right now, starting conference play with a home win over Akron. Miami opens MAC play at home vs. Kent St. tomorrow.
• And Clemson is the lone unbeaten team left. They'll finish high enough in the ACC to play in the NCAAs. Even though he was at UD, I like Oliver Purnell, he's a good coach and he's done a good job bringing the Clemson program up to the level it is now.

Oh, what else:

• Monday night, we'll find out how good Ohio St. really is. I'm not sure now after how Michigan got beat in the Rose Bowl. Is USC that good? Did Michigan lay that big of an egg or were they overrated? OSU opponents who played in bowl games: 3-4 (counting Texas as a win and Iowa as a loss), Florida opponents who played in bowl games: 6-3. But, Penn St. beat Tennessee 20-10, Florida beat them 20-10. Wisconsin held a full-strength Arkansas team to 14 points, Florida gave up 21 offensive points when Darren McFadden was hurt on the first series. So I don't know. I don't feel as good about my pick as I did.
• By the way, I'm 19-11 and have accumulated 340 points, my best showing in a loooong time. I've been lucky instead of unlucky. My luck has included Oregon St.'s comeback, Georgia's comeback (really lucky), Cincinnati hanging on, and Texas Tech's comeback that cost Glen Mason his job.
• Boise St. deserved to win. If you can control the line of scrimmage no matter what kind of program you have, you're going to win, and Boise St. controlled the line of scrimmage. Jared Zabransky had time to throw and Ian Johnson gained 100 yards against a very good Oklahoma defense. I just wish Miami got their chance 3 years ago to get that kind of win.
• Charlie Weis is 19-6 through 2 years with one so-so upset of Michigan in Ann Arbor in his first year. Ty Willingham was 15-10, and beat Michigan and Florida St. (at Tallahassee) in his first year. Both have been drilled in their big-time bowl games and against big-time opponents on the road. So, when will the criticism start on Weis? ND didn't belong in the BCS, not even close to LSU's level of talent.
• Matt Millen will be back as Lions GM. William Clay Ford is displaying the kind of loyalty that got his company into the trouble they're now in, refusal to change.
• I've got the Ravens over the Bears in the Super Bowl, though goodness knows I'll be rooting for Da Bears and rooting against the Ravens in every round.

I hope you had a great holidays!