March 2nd update

Kentucky Beast of the South East (Conference)

• The 29-1 Wildcats have torn through the competition this season and are looking to continue their domination deep into March Madness. The lone blemish on their record was an early season one-point loss to Indiana on a last second 3 pointer. Kentucky has all but wrapped up a #1 seed at the top of the NCAA tournament. Led by freshman stud Anthony Davis, (and his impressive uni-brow, pictured above) and Michael-Kidd Gilchrist (who's said he will graduate from Kentucky despite being good enough to leave after this, his freshman year) the Wildcats look to be the odds on favorites to win the NCAA championship.
• The Florida Gators and Vanderbilt Commodores are 2 and 3 in the conference respectively but they are truly playing second fiddle to the Wildcats.
• The Alabama Crimson Tide and Tennessee Volunteers also seem to be good bets to make it to the Big Dance but after these five teams the conference quickly fades to mediocrity.


Big 10 Top Heavy with a few title contenders

• The top of the Big 10 has two powerhouse teams who are looking to cut down the nets in early April. The Michigan State Spartans, led by senior forward Draymond Green, are 24-6 and 13-4 in conference. The Ohio State Buckeyes who have been more balanced than people thought they would be, despite having superstar forward Jared Sullinger. Both have both been ranked in the top 5 this year, and are currently both ranked in the top 12.
• The Big 10 is deep with four other teams that should have no trouble making the tournament. The Michigan Wolverines, Wisconsin Badgers, Indiana Hoosiers and Purdue Boilermakers should all be playing in a few weeks.
• Sullinger and to a lesser extent Green should be high picks in the upcoming NBA draft, and their teams will be amongst the short list of teams that have a chance of making the Final Four. Both teams are flawed however and are not atop the list of favorites to be champions this year.


NBA Trade Deadline approaching

• With the NBA deadline only a couple weeks away (March 15) teams are looking harder to see if they should be adding pieces, cutting payroll or staying pat. Here are a few names making news:

- Steve Nash. Despite putting up numbers similar to the 2 seasons he won the NBA MVP, Steve Nash's Suns don't seem to be a playoff team and he'll be a free agent next season. So why not trade him? The issue is that Nash has been the heart and soul of the Suns for years now and has gained such a following in the Phoenix community that most fans (and seemingly the team as well) would rather forgo the value he might return in young talent and see the greatest Sun (and possibly the best PG in NBA history) retire with the team. The Suns have said they will accomodate a trade request if Nash asks, but he's said he wants to finish what he started with Phoenix as well.

- Rajon Rondo. The Celtics PG, known for his ability to get his teammates involved as well as his terrific defensive pressure is said to be at odds with coach Doc Rivers. The Celtics are said to be entertaining offers but a trade of Rondo would probably have to bring back equal or greater value for them to pull the trigger.

- Pau Gasol. Similar to Rondo, it would take a lot to deal him, and the Lakers have never publicly said they'd deal the talented 7 footer. They're starting to round into form after a slow start and Kobe Bryant has even publicly asked the team not to deal him.

- Monta Ellis. The #7 scorer in the NBA has been floundering with a mediocre Golden State team for years, wasting a ton of points. However, it's been said that the Orlando Magic would love to pick up the scoring PG/SG in an effort to give Dwight Howard a reason to re-sign with Orlando this summer. The issue is that Orlando doesn't have much else to offer.

- Raymond Felton. Now with the Trail Blazers, Felton has seen his production severely drop off as he's only putting up 10 points and 6 assists per game. A team like the Lakers or 76ers could use him but he wouldn't provide a big upgrade given his current production.

November 16th update

NCAA Hoops kicks off

• On Veterans Day, a number of NCAA games marked the beginning of the 2011-2012 college basketball season, none receiving more publicity than the North Carolina-Michigan State matchup, the first ever to be played aboard an active aircraft carrier (or any other type of boat I'd imagine) and a rematch of the 2009 NCAA Title game.
• North Carolina won 67-55 to improve to 6-0 against Michigan State under coach Roy Williams. The Tarheels return nearly their entire team from a squad that won the ACC's regular season championship and begin the year as the consensus #1 pick. As always, they may face some competition from #6 Duke, who we'll mention more on later, although Duke is now without their trio of scorers from last season (Nolan Smith, Kyrie Irving and Kyle Singler).
• Kentucky may be the biggest threat to the Tarheels this season as the #2 Wildcats return some talent in the form of Doron Lamb and Terrence Jones and have also added superstar recruits Anthony Davis and Michael Gilchrist. The Wildcats may be the most athletic team in the NCAA's and will get another chance to defeat the Tarheels at home on December 3rd as they did in the Elite 8 last season.
• #3 Ohio State returns Jared Sullinger (who was probably the best player in basketball last year not named "Jimmer") and the defending champion UConn Huskies has plenty of talent to replace dynamic scorer Kemba Walker and starts at #4, in good shape to make a repeat title run. Vanderbilt started the year ranked #7, but suffered the first big upset of the young season, losing 71-58 to Cleveland State.


New Leader atop the Winners Board

• On Tuesday night the Duke Blue Devils defeated the Michigan State Spartans 74-69 at Madison Square Garden in New York. This was the 903rd win in the illustrious career of Blue Devil’s Coach Mike Krzyzewski and puts Coach K (as he is commonly known) ahead of his mentor Bobby Knight at the top of the list of winningest men's college basketball coaches.
• Krzyzewski (pronounced sha-shef-ski) began his career as a player at the US Military Acadamy. After serving in the military, Coach K returned to Army where he soon took over as head coach. After five years he went to Duke University in 1980. He has won 830 of his games during his 31 years at Duke.
• In addition to the litany of professional players that have come out of Duke during his tenure (Grant Hill, Carlos Boozer and JJ Redick), Coach K has also had many assistants go on to be head coaches at other schools, and has been the head coach of the US Mens Basketball team since 2006, winning a Gold Medal in the 2008 Beijing summer games.
• Coach K has also been one of the most hated people in all of sports, as the face of a university that has always been disliked for a number of reasons. As two UNC grads, this post has been hard to write but we have to admit that Coach K has been unarguably one of the best coaches of all-time. A four time National Champion in addition to the all time winningest coach, it’s hard to argue with Coach K’s pedigree, but much easier for us to continue disliking him on a non-personal level.


NFL Update

• Green Bay continues to roll. Monday Night, the Green Bay Packers crushed the Minnesota Vikings 45-7, completely demolishing the Vikings in all facets of the game, even though Jared Allen moved closer to the single season sack record and now only needs 9 more to tie Michael Strahan's record of 22.5. But the real story was not Allen, but the Packers, who have continued to prove they are the best team in the NFL. Lead by quarterback Aaron Rogers the Packers seem unstoppable and have not lost in nearly a full year. Rogers is on pace to have one of the best seasons for a quarterback in the history of the NFL.
• The Second Thursday Night game of the 2011 season features some early trash talk. The New York Jets travel to the Mile High City to take on the Denver Broncos. Unconventional Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow (who won last weeks game while only completing two passes) came under fire this week from Jets All-Pro cornerback Darrell Revis. Revis questioned Tebow’s ability to play quarterback and called him more of a running back than a quarterback. Additionally, he said that the Jets were not worried about Tebows ability (or lack thereof) to throw the football, worrying more about his ability to run.