Okay, so we can finally separate Josh McDaniels and Marvin Lewis after the former beat San Diego to reach 6-0 and the latter lost a tough home game to Houston. Here is our current power rankings for NFL Coach of the Year:

1. Josh McDaniels, Denver Broncos—Seriously, 6-0? The schedule keeps getting tougher, but it doesn’t seem to faze this team or their confident coach. Dude is a mini-Belichick, the first “offspring” to be worthy of that title.

2. Sean Payton, New Orleans Saints—After beating the Giants to reach 5-0, we can start talking about the very real likelihood of the Saints reaching the Super Bowl for the first time, and this guy is a big reason why. It’s still amazing that he managed to pay his defensive coordinator a quarter mil of his own cash to lure him, but it seems to have been worth it.

3. Jim Caldwell, Indianapolis Colts—Just like his QB, you can’t fault Caldwell for the bye week.

4. Brad Childress, Minnesota Vikings—Now 6-0, there should be no question that Childress did himself and the city of Minnesota a huge favor bringing back #4. He sure wasn’t going to be 6-0 with Tarvaris Jackson, was he?

5. Mike Smith, Atlanta Falcons—A tough win against the Bears, and this team is not fading any time soon. Really, the Falcons and Saints are two of the best teams in the NFC and it should be interesting when they meet.

Honorable mention: Tom Coughlin, Giants; Bill Belichick, Patriots; Marvin Lewis, Bengals

We have hit a lull in our sports watching season. It’s that period of time between the end of the Super Bowl and the beginning of March Madness where sports fans will go in different directions for their weekend entertainment. Some of us will get reacquainted with our families as we have not had much contact with them since late July (which just happens to coincide with the start of training camp in the NFL). Big shout out to Kobe and LeBron for peaking our interest in the NBA regular season with their back-to-back record breaking performances at Madison Square Garden this week. They will meet this weekend in a national televised game.

All times ET…

College Basketball
Saturday, 12 PM: #20 Syracuse @ #16 Villanova (ESPN)
Saturday, 1 PM: Notre Dame @ #12 UCLA (CBS)
Saturday, 9 PM: #15 Memphis @ #18 Gonzaga (ESPN)
Sunday, 1 PM: #13 Purdue @ #21 Illinois (CBS)

NBA
Friday, 8 PM: Denver Nuggets @ Washington Wizards (ESPN)
Friday, 10:30 PM: Golden State Warriors @ Phoenix Suns (ESPN)
Saturday, 7:30 PM: Denver Nuggets @ New Jersey Nets (NBA TV)
Sunday, 1 PM: San Antonio Spurs @ Boston Celtics (ABC)
Sunday, 3:30 PM: Los Angeles Lakers @ Cleveland Cavaliers (ABC)
Sunday, 8 PM: Phoenix Suns @ Detroit Pistons (ESPN)

NHL
Friday, 8:30 PM: New York Rangers @ Dallas Stars
Sunday, 12:30 PM: Detroit Red Wings @ Pittsburgh Penguins (NBC)

NFL
Sunday, 4:30 PM: The Pro Bowl-AFC vs. NFC (NBC)

Alabama vs. LSU
How ironic is life…Nick Saban coached LSU to a BCS national championship in 2003, only to take the money and run to the NFL. He became frustrated at the pro level in Miami, and then brokered a deal to return to college football at Alabama. This weekend, Saban returns to Tiger Stadium with the nation’s top-ranked team. LSU’s offensive line could have a tough time opening holes for running back Charles Scott against a Bama defensive front that ranks second in the nation against the run. It would be the Tigers best interest to grab an early lead, as Alabama has dominated their opponents at beginning of games all season. National coverage begins Saturday at 3:30 PM on CBS. Click here for official Alabama vs. LSU smack thread.

Oklahoma State vs. Texas Tech
Another week, another contest in the Big 12 that matches two high-powered offenses in a game with BCS national title game implications. The Red Raiders are coming off a last second victory over then No. 1 Texas last weekend, but they cannot afford to relax as a game in Oklahoma looms ahead later in the month. Texas Tech’s 9-0 record is their best start to a season since 1938, and the Red Raiders haven’t been undefeated in conference play this late in the season since 1953, when they were a member of the Border Conference. Regional coverage begins Saturday at 8 PM on ABC.

New York Giants vs. Philadelphia Eagles
A road win over the surging Philadelphia Eagles will secure the New York Giants as the class of the NFC and established them as the conference favorites to return to the Super Bowl. Many in the media have downplayed the Giants 7-1 record because of their relative easy schedule, as they have faced teams with a combined record of 27-40 on the season. The Eagles are second in the NFC behind the Giants with 27 sacks and will look to pressure Eli Manning in the backfield all Sunday evening. The Giants’ only loss in their last four trips to Philly came in their 2007 wild-card playoff meeting. National coverage begins Sunday at 8:15 PM on NBC.

Is the AFC still the NFL’s dominant conference? Probably not. The reigning Super Bowl champion New York Giants reside in the NFC. Two of the AFC’s best players (New England Patriots QB Tom Brady, San Diego Chargers LB Shawne Merriman) are lost for the entire season. And the NFC is 4-2 vs. the AFC in interconference play after two weeks of the season.

The NFC has not had a winning record against the AFC since 1995. Last season, the conferences were even (32-32) in head-to-head competition for the first time since 2001. And entering last season’s Super Bowl, the AFC had won six of the last seven title games.

Improved offensive play is a big reason why the NFC is flourishing once again, as 13 of the 16 NFC teams are averaging 20 or more points per game this season. A few star players in the conference have successfully returned from injury this season. Donovan McKnabb is healthy, rejuvenated, and the Philadelphia Eagles are once again one of the top scoring teams in the league. And Jake Delhomme has brought his signature enthusiasm and gunslinger personality back to the undefeated Carolina Panthers after missing all of last season due to ligament-replacement surgery in his right elbow.

Scoring has been a staple in the AFC, thanks largely to the play of Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. Historically, the AFC has always been considered “the conference of the quarterback, “and on most Sundays they will have more first-round starting quarterbacks than their NFC rivals. But Brady’s season-ending knee injury and the struggles of Carson Palmer have hurt the QB quality in the AFC.

Typically, the NFC has been a conference that features strong defenses and solid running games. But that philosophy could be changing, as some NFC teams are copying the AFC formula: basing their success on the play from the quarterback position. The statistical numbers do not lie; Tony Romo, Aaron Rodgers, Eli Manning, and Drew Brees are all having hot starts to their seasons. The passing numbers haven’t been this good in the NFC since the Kurt Warner era in St. Louis. And during this recent AFC’s domination, Brett Favre and McKnabb have been only premier quarterbacks the NFC had to offer in competition.

The supremacy of the AFC could be ending this season, as the gap seems to be closing between the two conferences. Perhaps now the NFC will get the respect it deserves.