Preseason college football rankings mean squat, unless your team owns the top spot. So instead of issuing my own rankings heading into the first weekend of action, I decided my College Football Preview for Bullz-Eye.com will break down the AP’s top-15 teams to see who has the best shot to compete for the title.

I also included a list of players who are NFL bound among those top 15 teams, as well as a must watch game.

Team USA beat the 2004 Olympic gold medalists, 91-76, advancing to the semifinals of the FIBA Americas tournament. But let’s not get too excited; Argentina was playing without Manu Ginobili, Andres Nocioni, Fabricio Oberto and Walter Hermann, leaving NBA-ers Luis Scola and Carlos Delfino to face America’s best.

Kobe Bryant got off to a quick start, scoring 15 points in the first quarter and 27 in the game. Carmelo Anthony added 18 points while LeBron James chipped in with 15. If Team USA beats Puerto Rico in the semifinals, they will clinch a berth in the 2008 Olympics.

And it’s all about the Olympics. Director Jerry Colangelo and head coach Mike Krzyzewski got involved for one reason – to help Team USA win a gold medal. Every one of these wins is a small (but significant) step in that direction.

There has been speculation about this for the last few weeks and it appears that the Lions are moving closer to making a decision.

According to a source close to the situation, the surgeon who performed the Lisfranc surgery on the left foot of running back Kevin Jones has agreed with Lions trainers that Jones should start the season on the Physically Unable to Perform list. Dr. Richard Anderson re-examined Jones this afternoon and then discussed the situation with Lions officials.

Because the Lions have a bye week in the sixth week of the season, Jones will only miss five games. Jones will be eligible to return on Oct. 21 in the home game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The medical report on Jones is that his foot is almost completely recovered, but team officials want to err on the side of caution and make sure he’s in the best possible football condition before he returns to the field. Again, according to a source close to the situation, Jones is expected to return without losing any of his original speed or running ability.

If true, this news is an obvious bump to Tatum Bell’s stock. OC Mike Martz has praised Bell throughout the preseason and it appears that he will be the starter for the first five games (at least). I’m still leery of drafting Bell as anything more than a RB3 because this situation could easily devolve into a RBBC when Jones comes back. One strategy would be to draft a RB in the first round and then load up on WRs before taking Bell in the fifth as a RB2. It is imperative that you also grab KJ once you hit the ninth or tenth round. Martz has traditionally featured one back, but there’s no guarantee he goes that route. A Bell/KJ combo is especially valuable in PPR leagues since Martz loves to throw so much.

Sports Illustrated has an infatuation with the Carolina Panthers that rivals bodybuilders’ obsession with protein shakes.

In 2005, the mag picked the Panthers to beat the Colts 31-27 in the Super Bowl. A year later, SI again went with the Panthers, this time choosing them to beat the Dolphins in the Super Bowl.

And now in 2007, whom is SI picking to win the Super Bowl? Well, the Saints over the Chargers, but who do they have New Orleans beating in the Divisional Round of the playoffs? That’s right, the – in their estimation – 11-5 Carolina Panthers, of course.

Regardless of what you think about the Panthers – personally I think they’ll be lucky to win nine games this year – it’s flabbergasting that three years in a row SI has dropped to their knees in absolute worship of this team. The Panthers aren’t on the same level as the Patriots or Colts for SI to be predicting them year in and year out to make the playoffs. Seriously, two of the past three years they’ve picked the Panthers to win the Super Bowl and this year, which is probably the most flawed the Panthers have looked in years, they’re predicting them to go 11-5. Is Don Banks and knucklehead “Dr. Z” on Jerry Richardson’s payroll?

Are you targeting T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the third round of your fantasy draft? You might be out of luck. With questions surrounding receivers like Roy Williams and Larry Fitzgerald, Housh’s rising draft position is just one of the seven draft day trends that I outline in my latest column.

SPORTSbyBROOKS.com found an interesting clip of two players from a losing team at the Little League World Series, who spit in their hands before congratulating the winners. Check out the clip here, which was originally shot by ESPN cameras.

Pat Freese, vice president of Coon Rapids (MN) Little League where the boys were from: “The [spitting players'] coaches looked at [the video replay] and they were disgusted. They were beside themselves.”

Little sh!ts.

For the uninitiated, ESPN Radio has a show called Mike & Mike in the Morning, which features ex-NFL’er Mike Golic and ESPN personality Mike Greenberg (a.k.a. “Greeny”) discussing all kinds of sports topics. In a recent issue of ESPN The Magazine, they debated the merits of a playoff in college football and Greeny had this to say.

“I know it’s an unpopluar view, but a playoff would make college football a January sport the way college basketball has become a March sport – and that’s not a good thing. Plus, having a playoff would diminish the one thing that makes college football unique: that every game is essentially a playoff game. I don’t know if the BCS is perfect, but creating a tournament makes the regular season as meaningless as the college basketball, NBA and NHL regular seasons have become.”

Two things: (1) He makes the same point twice and passes it off as two different points and (2) he’s being overly dramatic.

I’ve heard Kirk Herbstreit make the same argument and, simply stated, it’s just not that black and white. Sure, if the NCAA implements a 64-team football tournament, the regular season wouldn’t matter. But could the same be said for a four-team tournament? If the playoff is small and exclusive, there’s still going to be as much pressure to win during the regular season, only we’ll have acceptable closure (not to mention twice the excitement) at the end of each season.

Under the current system, if a team loses an early game, the players, coaches and fans know that it’s a long road back to contention with only a slim chance of getting a shot to play in the title game. In a four-team playoff, those chances are doubled, which would only serve to generate more interest in the regular season. Imagine the intensity surrounding those last few weeks of the regular season when eight or more teams are vying for those four playoff spots. Currently, a number of one-loss teams know they’re not playing in the title game and the best case is a spot in a BCS bowl. Big deal.

Those that argue against a college football playoff need to understand that there are varying degrees of a playoff. Sure, a big playoff – I’m talking eight or more teams – would probably reduce the meaning of the regular season. But a small playoff would take the sport to the next level.

After a long, drawn out saga (which I outlined in a recent column), Yi Jianlian finally agreed to terms with the Milwaukee Bucks.

[Team owner, Senator Herb] Kohl, Bucks general manager Larry Harris and team vice president Ron Walter met with Yi, Chinese Basketball Association officials and Guangdong Tigers owner Chen Haitao on Wednesday in Hong Kong.

“We all anticipate Yi’s arrival and welcome him and his family to Milwaukee,” Kohl said. “We look forward to a successful relationship for many years to come.”

Yi and his representatives initially had balked at signing with the Bucks and requested a trade to another NBA team, preferably one in a major market or with a large Asian American population. Prior to the draft, agent Dan Fegan had warned the Bucks not to select Yi and had not allowed Bucks officials to conduct a private workout of the Chinese player at his Los Angeles training base.

But the Bucks insisted throughout the summer that they did not intend to trade Yi, and their hand was strengthened when they were able to sign their own free agent point guard, Mo Williams, to a six-year, $52 million contract.

Mum was the word for almost the entire month of August. Frankly, I’m embarrassed at the lack of coverage that my hometown newspaper, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, has given to the standoff. The last bit of news that the newspaper provided was on the first of the month.

Regardless, it will be interesting to see how Yi’s career plays out. Considering the drama around the signing, what is the likelihood that he’s going to re-sign once his rookie contract is up? The Bucks’ brass obviously feels that once Yi joins the community, he’ll be happy in Milwaukee, but I have my doubts. It’s difficult enough to make the transition from living in China to living in the U.S., and it’s even more difficult to move to a city with a very small Chinese population. Yao Ming made a smooth transition to Houston, but he seems like a more thoughtful and disciplined person than Yi.

On the court, Jianlian should have ample opportunity to improve his game. The Bucks have a hole at power forward and they drafted Yi to fill it. Charlie Villanueva is also in the picture, but he’s more of a small forward, so it’s conceivable that the Bucks could start a front line of 6’11″ Villanueva, 7-foot Jianlian, and 7-foot Andrew Bogut. It may take time, however, for Yi to adjust to the NBA game, as the level of competition in China simply doesn’t compare.

Still, it’s nice to see this deal get done.

According to a report by Yahoo! Sports, former first overall pick Tim Couch had been using steroids and human growth hormone while attempting a comeback to the gridiron.

“If I took that much steroids I wouldn’t have passed the steroid test in Jacksonville,” he said last week. “There’s no way in hell. It doesn’t matter what that (steroid regimen) says. It matters what I took. I know what I took and what I didn’t take.”

Well I hope you didn’t take roids Couch, because if you did they certainly didn’t help your career 75.1 quarterback rating or your 17 comeback attempts from first overall bustland. I’d hate to assume guilt from one Yahoo! Sports article, but if he did juice, this is just proof that steroids don’t always boost athletes to Barry Bonds-levels.

According to the St. Louis Dispatch, Torry Holt states that he’s only 70 to 80 percent healthy while continuing to recover from offseason knee surgery. Holt will probably play Week 1 against the Panthers, but won’t be completely healthy and in fact, he might not be 100% all season.

So if you haven’t already drafted, what round does Holt fall to now? He’s 31, didn’t show the burst or ability to separate from defenders last year like in previous seasons, and now is slow to recover from knee surgery. I would still say he’s a fourth round pick in a 10-team league, falling behind Marvin Harrison, Chad Johnson, Terrell Owens, Steve Smith and probably Reggie Wayne. I would still take him ahead of Roy Williams and the two Cardinal receivers, but obviously recognize he’s much more of a risk these days.

He might start slow, but at least there are other weapons in that offense that defenses have to key on so he’ll still put up decent numbers this year.