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: Syracuse is among a solid group of No. 1 seeds in our latest tournament projections, but the middle of the pack is much more murky.
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.
Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods greeted their Sunday pairing at Pebble Beach with optimism. But the day would end happily only for one.
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 interactive matchups For the nitty gritty on Thursday's BCS Championship Game, NBCSports.com contributor Joey Johnston breaks down the starters for No. 1 Florida and No. 2 Oklahoma. Click on a player for analysis of how each will impact the game. NBCSports.com |
In 16 seasons as Oklahoma's coach, Barry Switzer won three national championships and 12 conference titles. But his greatest season might have come as offensive coordinator. In 1971, using Switzer's wishbone offense, the Sooners ran for 472.4 yards per game — still an NCAA record. So how does he think this year's Sooners stack up? Switzer's analysis of the Oklahoma offense:
I've seen a lot of great spread offenses. This is the best Oklahoma offense I've seen. What they do throwing the football, what they've scored, there's no question about it.
Statistically, our 1971 team blew everyone away. We averaged 567 yards per game total offense, 472 rushing. This year's team is averaging 562 yards per game, 357 throwing. We averaged 7.6 yards per play. This team averages 7.1. They throw the ball, we ran the ball.
My quarterback, Jack Mildren, couldn't play for them. Their quarterback, Sam Bradford, couldn't have played for me. The playbooks are too different. Jack could throw and run. He ran a 4.5 40. He had speed, strength and size — he started in the NFL as a safety. Running the option, we looked for a different kind of talent. You recruit to your playbooks and your philosophy. We were a ball-control offensive football team. This team will throw on second-and-3. There's no way we'd ever throw the ball on second-and-5, much less first-and-10. Obviously they can throw the ball better than we could. I can't say their backs are better than ours. Greg Pruitt was one of the greatest runners to ever play. Any where you wanted to line him up, Pruitt would be a superstar. Put him out in the slot, throw him the ball, nobody would touch him.
Same goes for Joe Washington. I remember the first time I saw him carry the ball at OU Stadium. He looked like a Pop Warner kid with shoulder pads and headgear, like a reject. They handed him the ball, and he ran through a team that was undefeated and had an outstanding defense. He ran 80 yards, and not a single person touched him. I looked at head coach Chuck Fairbanks, and he looked at me. We didn't say a word. We just stared at each other. It was like, Did you see what I saw?
The great ones do that to you. Any of the superstars I had would be superstars today, but that's not the same for the guys in the trenches. I played guys in there who weighed 220 pounds. You can't do that today. Those guys never lifted weights a day in their life. These kids are so much bigger and stronger today; you can't compare them.
So my teams couldn't play with these teams for that reason. But nothing has changed as far as Oklahoma's place in college football from my era to Bob Stoops' era. Texas is the only team in the Big 12 that has players as good as Oklahoma. The only difference is Nebraska, back then, was Nebraska. Unless I played an Ohio State or a USC as a non conference opponent, the only teams we faced with our talent before our bowl game were Nebraska and Texas.
Today, Texas has guys who could start for Oklahoma, and vice versa. There isn't a player on Texas Tech or Oklahoma State on defense who could start for Oklahoma. It's as simple as that. That's the domination Oklahoma has.
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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Gators win BCS Championship Game |
No. 1 Florida 24, No. 2 Oklahoma 14 |
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.
The Red Wings have finally started to embrace a record they've been chasing.
