Rotoworld: Oregon RB LaMichael James and Oklahoma State WR Justin Blackmon among top 10 players who are being overhyped for the 2012 draft.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
The Detroit Red Wings equaled an NHL record with their 20th straight win at home, beating the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 Sunday night on the strength of Johan Franzen's tiebreaking goal early in the third period.
PBT: Boston's Rajon Rondo continues to be named in trade talks, which is madness. The Celtics guard creates offense and makes everyone around him better, which was evident in Sunday's win over the Bulls.
Arc's five up, five down: After No. 11 Michigan State's 58-48 upset of No. 3 Ohio State, you'd be a fool to discount the Spartans' national title chances now.
Miami coach Al Golden says the worst is behind him, but his headaches figure to continue now that former booster Nevin Shapiro, now in jail, says his involvement with the Hurricanes program will result in stiff penalties.
Lefty wins his 40th PGA Tour event with his never-ending supply of tricks up his sleeve. What We Learned this week at Pebble Beach.
The United States completed a 5-0 rout of Switzerland in the Davis Cup on Sunday, with 19-year-old Ryan Harrison and John Isner winning closing singles matches.
Zambia has won the African Cup of Nations, beating pre-tournament favorite Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties in a dramatic final at Stade de l'Amitie.
Tessa Worley of France fought off gusting winds to win a second consecutive World Cup giant slalom Sunday in the Andorran Pyrenees. Overall leader Lindsey Vonn was more than a second behind and finished eighth.
Robins: It’s the Year of the Dragon on the Lunar calendar, and this Chinese influence could extend to it also being the year of the Pekingese on the green carpet at the 136th Westminster Dog Show on Tuesday.
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BCS Busters Taking a look at the non-BCS teams that have the biggest chances of getting to a BCS bowl. NBCSports.com |
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If the events of Tuesday taught us anything, it is that 1) Sarah Palin can cover more airspace in one day than anyone outside of NASA, and 2) “Where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.”
Yes, we can. Unless we play in a non-BCS conference.
Five years ago you might have been able to write, “the likelihood of a non-BCS school winning the national championship is about the same as that of a black man becoming president of the United States.” Today, however, the paradigm has shifted. The White House no longer has a glass ceiling, but the Bowl Championship Series? No, we can’t.
Half of the six remaining undefeated teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) are non-BCS schools: Utah (10-0), Boise State (8-0) and Ball State (9-0). Even if all three of them go undefeated, none of them are headed to Miami for the BCS championship game. In fact, it is possible that only one of them will even be among the 10 schools that participate in the BCS inauguration gala come January.
They each have that dream, but only Michael Crabtree’s dreams come true, apparently. No, we can’t.
I am not advocating that Utah, Boise State or Ball State deserve to be in the national championship game. After all, the most trenchant establishment retort to the “change we can believe in” argument is that this trio is undefeated precisely because they are non-BCS schools.
After all, it’s quite possible that the two most competitive non-BCS teams this season are Tulsa and TCU, both of whom have one loss. Tulsa, which leads the nation in scoring and was unbeaten a week ago, lost at Arkansas, 30-23. The Razorbacks held the Golden Hurricane to less than half their average despite having the SEC’s worst scoring defense.
Texas Christian (9-1) may be the best non-BCS school of all, but they lost by 25 at Oklahoma. There’s no shame in losing to the Sooners — TCU, which legitimately has one of the nation’s top five defenses, held Sam Bradford and his pals to a season-low 35 points. But a five-touchdown beat-down is no way to stump for the most prestigious contest in the land. Just ask Mike Huckabee.
Thursday night in Salt Lake City, undefeated Utah (10-0 and currently No. 8 in the BCS standings) beat TCU, currently No. 12 in the BCS standings. It was being billed as a BCS bowl elimination game, which was fairly accurate. If Utah wins out, it will receive an automatic berth to a BCS bowl.
Why? Because, according to the third provision of the BCS selection procedures, the champions of any one of the five non-BCS conferences (Conference USA, Sun Belt, MAC, WAC or, in Utah and TCU’s case, the Mountain West) receives an automatic berth as long as “such team is ranked in the top 12 of the final standings." And if two non-BCS conference champions both finish in the top 12, only the higher ranked team is guaranteed a bid (that won't make Boise State fans happy).
And, while I’m no Jerry Palm reader, I’m willing to state that a 12-0 Utah squad (yes, the Nov. 22 home game vs. BYU is no gimme) or an 11-1 TCU will finish in the top 12 of the final BCS standings.
Miami coach Al Golden says the worst is behind him, but his headaches figure to continue now that former booster Nevin Shapiro, now in jail, says his involvement with the Hurricanes program will result in stiff penalties.
CFT: Jordan Jefferson makes it clear he wasn't happy with LSU's game plan in the Tigers' BCS Championship Game loss to Alabama.
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 Memphis fulfills BCS dream Tigers officials thrilled to announce that school has been accepted to join the Big East Conference in 2013. |
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Zambia has won the African Cup of Nations, beating pre-tournament favorite Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties in a dramatic final at Stade de l'Amitie.
Wesseling: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for AFC teams.
Paul Pierce has been around long enough to know what Rajon Rondo's performance can mean for the aging Boston Celtics.
