It’s easy to sit here and play armchair Pro Bowl GM, and while indeed all of us have the ability to influence the player selections, that doesn’t mean as a collective group that we get it right. So as always, there were a few players, even after injury substitutions were announced, who are home this weekend instead of playing in the Pro Bowl in Miami—players who truly deserved a spot on the NFC or AFC roster. Here are a few glaring omissions as we see it:

Cedric Benson, RB, Cincinnati Bengals—For as good as the Bengals’ defense was in 2009, they won all those games early in the season in part because their running game was downright dominant. And a big reason for that was Benson, whose 96.2 yards per game was second only to Tennessee’s Chris Johnson. Benson, who just turned 27 in December, has been injury prone most of his young career, but this was by far his best season, and he even led the NFL in rushing for a bit before Johnson caught fire. Of course, Benson’s six touchdowns are probably what kept him out of the Pro Bowl (Maurice Jones-Drew had 15 and Johnson 14), but there is no question about how valuable he was to the Bengals, helping them to exceed all expectations.

Ben Roethlisberger, QB, Pittsburgh Steelers—With all due respect to every other QB in the AFC, how do David Garrard and Vince Young get in ahead of Big Ben? I can sort of understand Young, who took the Titans on his back and may have even warranted MVP consideration. But Garrard? Roethlisberger had 4328 yards, 26 TDs and 12 picks, while Garrard threw for 3597 with 15 TD throws and 10 interceptions. Of course, Ben also dealt with concussions, so I can understand an injury keeping him out, but he’s not listed with the injured players selected, so that means more people than not left him off the roster. Does that make sense to anyone?

Brent Celek, TE, Philadelphia Eagles—This one was purely a numbers game, because you absolutely can’t argue with Jason Witten and Vernon Davis getting in ahead of Celek. But that’s not his fault. Look, I’m a Giants fan so it’s not easy for me to admit this, but I love this kid as a football player. He’s tough, makes big catches with consistency, and is always open for Donovan McNabb in the end zone. He’ll also take a defender’s head off if they get in his path. Of course, Celek’s numbers were stellar too–he caught 76 passes for just under 1000 yards (971) with 8 scores. They should have allowed an extra NFC tight end just this once.

Andre Carter, DE, Washington Redskins—I get why Jared Allen and Trent Cole made the Pro Bowl roster, but I don’t get how Andre Carter missed out while Julius Peppers got in. Peppers has the name recognition, but Carter led all defensive ends in solo tackles (48) and had twenty more total tackles than Peppers (62 to 42). He had 11 sacks to Peppers’ 10.5, sure, but when you look at the whole picture, somebody blew an assignment. And the thing is, everyone talks about Albert Haynesworth, but Carter never gets the credit he deserves, not even on his own team.

James Laurinaitis, LB, St. Louis Rams—I get why Jon Beason is the top dog at ILB for the NFC, and I also get why London Fletcher finally made the roster when Jonathan Vilma’s Saints reached the Super Bowl. I’m just not sure why rookie Laurinaitis didn’t make it in ahead of Vilma. Laurinaitis led all rookies in solo tackles with 107 (Vilma had 87), and in the NFL he trailed only Patrick Willis, Beason and Kirk Morrison in that department. Laurinaitis also had 2 sacks and 2 interceptions. This kid was a beast in the middle on a team that won only 1 game in 2009, and short of having to pay dues, I’m not exactly sure how he was left off the Pro Bowl roster.

Upsets galore and crazy outcomes have forced us to look a bit harder at the Coach of the Year rankings, but most of our contenders are hanging tough.

1. Jim Caldwell, Indianapolis Colts—The poor guy is still dodging proverbial rocks being thrown by Colts’ fans, who wanted their team to continue its pursuit of perfection instead of rolling over against the Jets. Being that the Colts were still in position to go to 15-0 when Caldwell did that, we have to cut him some slack and remember that his team is still the top seed in the AFC and would be in the NFC as well.

2. Sean Payton, New Orleans Saints—Payton surely did not want to back into the #1 seed in the NFC, but after losing two games in a row, his team did just that when the Vikings’ loss Monday night let the Saints snag the top position. And once again, we have to consider the entire season’s body of work.

3. Norv Turner, San Diego Chargers—When you consider that Turner’s Chargers always play lousy in September, only to win when it really matters, that’s far better than it being the other way around. It’s time we started to give Turner his due.

4. Marvin Lewis, Cincinnati Bengals—The Bengals are another team not playing well, but they have dealt with two tragedies this season—the death of player Chris Henry, and the passing of the wife of D-coordinator Mike Zimmer. And still, the Bengals are 10-5 with an AFC North title. Raise your hand if you expected that.

5. Brad Childress, Minnesota Vikings—Yes, the Vikings are floundering and in danger of losing the #2 seed to Philly or Dallas, but I’ll keep mentioning two players who Childress sought in the off-season that made this a championship caliber team—Brett Favre and Percy Harvin.

Honorable mention: Ken Whisenhunt, Cardinals; Mike McCarthy, Packers; Andy Reid, Eagles; Bill Belichick, Patriots; Rex Ryan, Jets; Wade Phillips, Cowboys; Josh McDaniels, Denver Broncos

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.