• Former Phoenix Suns and New York Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni was hired to be the next coach of the Los Angeles Lakers Monday instead of Phil Jackson, as many had expected. Jackson was asking for a king's ransom: the ability to take road trips off and make some personnel decisions to say nothing of the money he wanted.
• The team likely would have given in to those demands if they thought it would give them the best chance to win, but his famous Triangle offense was seen as detrimental to the skills of new Lakers Dwight Howard and Steve Nash, while D'Antoni's up-tempo style meshes perfectly with Nash, who had a long period of success in Phoenix together.
• Jackson was reportedly 'stunned' not to be offered the job, probably assuming the D'Antoni was the backup plan only if he turned the job down.
K-State, Oregon 1-2
• After Alabama's stunning 29-24 loss to Texas A&M and star freshman QB Johnny Manziel (that was clinched on a 4th down offsides call) the BCS Title game looks to be SEC-free for the first time in years.
• In the latest BCS standings, Kansas State is #1, while Oregon is #2 although those rankings are flip-flopped in the national polls. Either way, those two will likely play in BCS Title game if they win their remaining games, leaving undefeated Notre Dame on the outside looking in at #3 unless something drastic happens.
• The 2005 season was the last time that there was no SEC team in the title game and in each of those six games, the SEC team has come out on top.
• Kansas State ends the season against #15 Texas while Oregon has an even tougher schedule, playing #13 Stanford, #16 Oregon State and most likely USC (or UCLA) in the Pac-12 Title game.
The Mighty Fall
• The Atlanta Falcons came into the weekend undefeated and facing the always dangerous New Orleans Saints. A couple of bad turnovers, a few choice penalties and star wide receiver Roddy White inexplicably cutting off a rout on what probably would have been the game winning touchdown, led to the New Orleans Saints winning 31-27, leaving the 1972 Miami Dolphins as the NFL's only undefeated team for at least one more year.
• The Falcons, at 8-1, are still in the driver’s seat in the NFC (as the Chicago Bears lost yesterday). The New Orleans Saints are now 4-5, and looking to make a late season push into playoff contention.
• As mentioned above, the Chicago Bears lost to the Houston Texans in a battle of the second best team in the NFC and the best team in the AFC. Part of the reason the Bears lost was the injury to quarterback Jay Cutler, who had to leave the game at halftime with a concussion. The Bears are still comfortably second in the conference.
• In addition to Jay Cutler, Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick and San Francisco 49ers quarterback Alex Smith all left their games with concussions. All three were quarterbacks who have had calls to be benched by their fans, now look like they will have to sit down for at least one week.
• In Chicago, the Bears picked up veteran quarterback Jason Campbell as their backup, the Eagles will turn to rookie Nick Foles while the 49ers will turn to second year player Colin Kaepernick to lead them. The Bears and 49ers are both in contention for the Super Bowl, while Foles may be the future in Philly as Vick is a free agent after this year.
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