Category: External Sports (Page 390 of 821)

      NFL Week 12 ROY power rankings

      December 5, 2010 /

      It’s turning out to be a pretty awesome rookie class.

      1. Sam Bradford, St. Louis Rams—Turning out to be a very strong rookie campaign—on pace for 3586 yards, 25 TDs and 13 picks. And the upstart Rams are now in a tie for first with the Seahawks.

      2. Ndamukong Suh, Detroit Lions—Suh is like Albert Haynesworth—doesn’t put up huge numbers, but teams have to game plan around him. Just think how good he’s going to be in five years.

      3. Earl Thomas, Seattle Seahawks—Leads all NFL safeties with 5 picks, and averaging 6 tackles a game.

      4. Colt McCoy, Cleveland Browns—Averaging almost 200 yards a game and has a stunning 63.8 completion percentage. If only he didn’t get hurt, we would be putting him up there with Bradford.

      5. Dez Bryant, Dallas Cowboys—Let’s see if Jon Kitna gets him the ball a bit more today.

      6. Devin McCourty, New England Patriots—Funny how Bill Belichick manages to lose guys like Asante Samuel and replaces them with rookies.

      7. Mike Williams, Tampa Bay Bucs—Strong start and will hopefully finish strong and move up. He has the talent.

      8. Eric Berry, Kansas City Chiefs—Numbers are fading, but that might be because no one is throwing in his direction.

      9. Jermaine Gresham, Cincinnati Bengals—Give him a couple of years, he’s going to be a star.

      10 (tie). Aaron Hernandez/Rob Gronkowski, New England Patriots—Combined, here are their numbers—61 catches, 772 yards, 9 TDs.

      External Sports, NFL

      NFL Week 12 COY power rankings

      December 5, 2010 /

      The coach of the year carousel continues to spin each week in this crazy NFL season….

      1. Todd Haley, Kansas City Chiefs—Bonus points if he runs up the score today against the Chiefs at home.

      2. Steve Spagnuolo, St. Louis Rams—Yes, they are just 5-6 but that is good for a tie of first place in the NFC West. Say it out loud—the Rams could be playoff bound.

      3. Andy Reid, Philadelphia Eagles—Temporary setback against the Bears last week but in the driver’s seat for the NFC East crown.

      4. Mike Smith, Atlanta Falcons—Tough win at home against the Packers keeps Smitty in the hunt.

      5. Lovie Smith, Chicago Bears—That mid-season swoon seemed to be an aberration rather than the rule, and Lovie has this bunch believing.

      6. Raheem Morris, Tampa Bay Bucs—Lost big to Pittsburgh and Baltimore, which knocks Raheem down from the top.

      7. (tie) Bill Belichick, New England Patriots and Rex Ryan, New York Jets—We’re going to leave these two tied until after they face each other on Monday night.

      8. Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers—If Stevie Johnson hangs on to that OT pass, we’re probably knocking Tomlin off this list, fair or not.

      9. John Harbaugh, Baltimore Ravens—He knows this is the Ravens’ favorite time of year and expects to win in December.

      10. Tom Coughlin, New York Giants—Holding his team together through injuries, some mental lapses on the field and a tough schedule.

      External Sports, NFL

      NFL Week 12 MVP power rankings

      December 5, 2010 /

      Now we’re into December, the month that separates the contenders from the also-rans—for both the playoff hunt and the race for NFL MVP.

      1. Michael Vick, Philadelphia Eagles—Where do you think the Eagles would be if Kevin Kolb had been the starter all year? Not 8-4 and on top of the NFC East. Hence we give to you your projected MVP.

      2. Tom Brady, New England Patriots—Of course, you can surely make a fine argument for this guy too.

      3. Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers—Sometimes you have to know when to just hand the ball off and manage the game, and Rivers proved last Sunday he can do that, too, and win. His team is just slightly on fire.

      4. Roddy White, Atlanta Falcons—On pace for 122 catches, 1550 yards and 10 scores. The receptions alone would put White in the company of folks like Marvin Harrison, Herman Moore, Cris Carter and Jerry Rice.

      5. Arian Foster, Houston Texans—Just continues to flat out dominate the ground—including this past Thursday’s game—on pace for 2278 total yards and 20 total TDs. That’s LT in his prime-esque.

      6. Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons—Falcons are on fire and Matty Ice hasn’t thrown a pick since Week 7.

      7. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints—He’s right up there in yards (3321), TDs (23) and team wins (8).

      8. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers—Cooled off just a bit since the start of the season, but defense has made that possible for this total pro.

      9. Matt Cassel, Kansas City Chiefs—2307 yards, 22 TDs, 4 picks…..and his team is in first place in the AFC West.

      10. Clay Matthews, Green Bay Packers—Still averaging better than a sack a game.

      External Sports, NFL

      We have our national title participants: Auburn vs. Oregon for it all

      December 4, 2010 /
      EUGENE, OR - NOVEMBER 26: Oregon Ducks mascot 'Puddles' is lifted on the shoulders of fans after the game against the Arizona Wildcats at Autzen Stadium on November 26, 2010 in Eugene, Oregon. The Ducks won the game 48-29. (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images)

      It’s what we expected coming into today, and really what we’ve kind of expected for the better part of the last two months: Auburn and Oregon will play for the national title.

      Both won comfortably, as Oregon beat Oregon State 37-20 in the Civil War, and Auburn dominated South Carolina 56-17 in the SEC Championship Game. Like it had been for most of the season, it was too easy for both teams.

      As it was last year, TCU is the odd team out, but I doubt many people outside of Fort Worth, Texas are all that upset about that. Even I, an ardent opponent of the BCS, believe that the two best teams in the country are about to meet each other on the field.

      So what can we look forward to in this matchup? I think the obvious answer is offense. Cam Newton should be the only person invited to next week’s Heisman Trophy ceremony — perhaps they should invite Colt McCoy, too, so he can make it four years in a row of coming up short in New York — and he’ll be on the same field in January with Darron Thomas, LaMichael James and company. The over/under could literally be in the 70s.

      Just from looking through Twitter, it seems as the early line will be Oregon -3, or something in that vicinity. I don’t know about that. If I had to make a pick right now, I’d say Auburn wins this one by a touchdown. I have a month to change that, however.

      As for the other BCS bowls, we’ll find those out tomorrow. The only one we really know, almost certainly for sure, is TCU vs. Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl. That matchup, plus the title game is a good start. Let’s hope the rest of the games are as intriguing.

      College Football, External Sports

      If we had a playoff, this is what it might look like

      December 4, 2010 /
      TUSCALOOSA, AL - NOVEMBER 26: Head coach Gene Chizik of the Auburn Tigers leads his team onto the field to face the Alabama Crimson Tide at Bryant-Denny Stadium on November 26, 2010 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

      I’ve long been a proponent of a college football playoff. I gave a persuasive speech on why we needed one when I was a freshman in college. I got an A. No big deal.

      But just to show what exactly we’re missing out on without one, I went ahead and set up a bracket of what this year’s playoff would look like. I went off the “Death to the BCS” formula, which includes the 11 major college football conference champions, and five at-large bids.

      The seeds were set up using the BCS standings — I did make a change with Oklahoma and LSU to avoid an all-SEC first-round matchup — and I just went ahead and predicted the conference championship games that are still being played.

      Here’s what we would have to look forward to over the next month:

      1. Auburn (12-0 SEC)
      16. FIU (6-5 Sun Belt)

      8. Michigan State (11-1 At-large)
      9. LSU (10-2 At-large)

      4. Stanford (11-1 At-large)
      13. UConn (7-4 Big East)

      5. Wisconsin (11-1 Big Ten)
      12. Va Tech (10-2 ACC)

      3. TCU (12-0 Mountain West)
      14. Central Florida (10-3 Conference USA)

      6. Ohio State (11-1 At-large)
      11. Boise State (11-1 WAC — don’t know the tie-breakers in the WAC)

      7. Arkansas (10-2 At-large)
      10. Oklahoma (10-2 Big 12)

      2. Oregon (11-0 Pac-10)
      15. Miami (OH) (9-4 MAC)

      The top seeds would play at home through the semifinals, and the title game would be hosted by whichever stadium had the game that year (the book argues the Rose Bowl should host every year. I don’t necessarily disagree, but I do like the idea of rotating the site).

      Is this system perfect? Probably not. Does it have the 16 best teams in college football? No. But does it have all the teams that could possibly make a claim to be the best in the nation? Yes.

      It also keeps the regular-season relevant. Forget for a moment that if you’re a TCU fan, you’re all of the sudden interested in the MAC Championship game, and just look at the at-large bids.

      Last week’s game between Arkansas and LSU had pretty big implications for both teams last week, because the winner was likely to get an at-large BCS bid and play in the Sugar Bowl (barring a South Carolina upset in the SEC title game). While that’s a big thing to play for, think of what would have been on the line for them if a playoff was their destination: Arkansas would have been playing for a spot in the field. LSU, meanwhile is playing to perhaps host two playoff games as opposed to having to travel to East Lansing in the first round.

      As for the teams not in the playoff, they’d go to the other bowl games and play for nothing but pride, kind of like they do now. Sure, the non-title BCS games would be less attractive, but that’s a small price to pay.
      Is there anything negative about this? How do people not see that it’s a much better option?

      College Football, External Sports

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