My Top Five Teams in College Basketball

We're getting close to conference season right now for college basketball. That means that the games are going to getting more intense and have more implications for who make the NCAA Tournament or not. So far, there are five teams that stand out in my mind as the top five teams in college basketball and here they are ranked from one to five.

1. Syracuse: Syracuse is playing the best basketball of any team in the country right now. They are 12-0 and already have quality wins over California, North Carolina and Flori

da. They have won every game so far by double digits. They are lead by super transfer Wesley Johnson and guard Andy Rautins. They will be hard to beat and deserve this ranking.

2. Kentucky: John Calipari and John Wall sure have brought Kentucky back to prominence quickly. After the coaching change in the offseason, Kentucky

went on the recruiting trail and landed the best freshmen class in the country. That class which includes Wall and Bledsoe are playing lights out and have lead Kentucky to a 13-0 start. They hav

e everything you want in a team and should go to the final four this year.

3. Texas: Texas has actually been overshadowed this year.........By another team in their university. While everyone has been talking about Texas Football, people have forgotten that Texas Basketball is off to a undefeated start with wins over UNC and Michigan State. They are one of the most athletic teams in the country and can take anybody on.

4. West Virginia

5. Kansas

6. Duke

The three teams above (West virginia, Kansas, Duke) are all off to very good starts this year as well. I believe that West Virginia is the best of those three. John Huggins has done a marvelous job of making a good West Virginia team into a great team. On to Kansas, I actually have them ranked a lot lower than most people. Most publications have them #1 in the country but I believe they are over-ranked. They haven't challenged themselves the way the above teams have and haven't proven anything to me yet. Then Duke: What is there to say about them? Duke is Duke. They are having another year where they are dominating almost every night. They have to be considered the favorites to win the ACC title. The player to watch on Duke is Kyler Singlar. He is a tall dynamic player who can go inside or outside.

Take these rankings as you want. Feel free to make your own rankings or comment on my rankings in the comments section under the article.

Mike's Week 16 NFL Picks

Last Week: 6-8

Overall: 58-29

I had a very bad week last week. I was awful and and have no excuses for it. 6-8 is by far, the worst week of picks I have had this year. But besides that, I'm still having a good half season of picks so far. I hope to rebound this week with this segment of picks.

Buffalo @ Atlanta: Atlanta

Kansas City @ Cincinnati: Cincinnati

Oakland @ Cleveland: Oakland

Seattle @ Green Bay: Green Bay

Baltimore @ Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh

Houston @ Miami: Miami

Jacksonville @ New England: New England

Tampa Bay @ New Orleans: New Orleans

Carolina @ NY Giants: NY Giants

Detroit @ San Francisco: San Francisco

St. Louis @ Arizona: Arizona

NY Jets @ Indianapolis: Indianapolis

Denver @ Philadelphia: Philadelphia

Dallas @ Washington: Dallas

Minnesota @ Chicago: Minnesota

No pick was made for the San Diego-Tennessee game since the game occurred since picks were made.

ESPN's Little Caesar's Bowl Preview

http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfnation/tag/_/name/little-caesars-2009-bowl

ESPN previews every bowl game and this link takes you to their preview of the Little Caesars Bowl. The game hosts Marshall(6-6) from Conference USA taking on Ohio(9-4) from the MAC. I agree completely with Grahm Watson on her prediction. I believe Ohio is going to take this game rather easily. My pick is Ohio winning 28-13.

Brian Brohm Likely to Start Sunday for Bills

On Sunday the Buffalo Bills will likely have there third starting quarterback this year. This time, it will come from a player who wasn't even on the Bills till midseason. The player I'm talking about is Brian Brohm. Brohm was a highly anticipated NFL quarterback prospect entering his senior season. People thought he could go number one overall. But he had a mediocre season and fell to the late second round. He was drafted by Green Bay to battle with Aaron Rogers for the starting gig but eventually fell all the way to the practice squad behind Matt Flynn. He was then claimed off waivers from Buffalo. Bills Head Coach Perry Fewell has said that he would likely not see any time on the field this year but injuries to Ryan Fitzpatrick and Trent Edwards may have changed that. If Fitzpatrick isn't ready on Sunday, Brohm will get the start. And if that happens, we wish him luck because God knows he'll need it if he's playing quarterback for this team.

Mike's Week 15 NFL Picks

Last Week: 13-3

Overall: 52-21

Last week was another very good week picking games. My 52-21 record is great for picking games. If I started this earlier in the season, my record would rank right up there and above many experts covering the NFL. I hope to continue my success this week and carry it over to the playoffs and other sports as well. Here are my picks for this week.

Dallas at New Orleans: New Orleans

Atlanta at New York Jets: NY Jets

Houston at St. Louis: Houston

New England at Buffalo: New England

Chicago at Baltimore: Baltimore

Miami at Tennessee: Miami

Cleveland at Kansas City: Kansas City

Arizona at Detroit: Arizona

Oakland at Denver: Denver

Cincinnati at San Diego: San Diego

Green Bay at Pittsburgh: Green Bay

Tampa Bay at Seattle: Seattle

Minnesota at Carolina: Minnesota

NY Giants at Washington: NY Giants

No pick was made for the Indianapolis-Jacksonville game since the game was played prior to me making my picks.

Bowl Mania Bowl Picks

As everyone knows, December represents the holiday season. One way to celebrate the holiday season is to watch college football. Every December and January, College Football has a bunch of bowl games between teams that were good enough to qualify. This year, there is 34 bowl games that will be capped of by the National Championship between Texas and Alabama on January 7, 2010. I have just looked at the game match-ups for the first time today and here are my picks.

Bowl Game

BCS National Championship: #2 Texas vs. #1 Alabama: Alabama

FedEx Orange Bowl: #10 Iowa vs. #9 Georgia Tech: Georgia Tech

Tostitos Fiesta Bowl: #6 Boise State vs. #4 TCU: TCU

Allstate Sugar Bowl: #3 Cincinnati vs. #5 Florida: Florida

Rose Bowl: #8 Ohio State vs. #7 Oregon: Oregon

GMAC Bowl: #25 Central Michigan vs. Troy: Central Michigan

Alamo Bowl: Michigan State vs. Texas Tech: Texas Tech

Liberty Bowl: Arkansas vs. East Carolina: East Carolina

AT&T Cotton Bowl: #19 Oklahoma State vs. Ole Miss: Ole Miss

Papajohns.com Bowl: South Carolina vs. Connecticut: South Carolina

International Bowl: South Florida vs. Northern Illinois: South Florida

Capital One Bowl: #13 Penn State vs. #12 LSU: LSU

Gator Bowl: #16 West Virginia vs. Florida State: West Virginia

Outback Bowl: Northwestern vs. Auburn: Northwestern

Chick-Fil-A Bowl: #11 Virginia Tech vs. Tennessee: Tennessee

Insight Bowl: Minnesota vs. Iowa State: Iowa State

Texas Bowl: Navy vs. Missouri: Missouri

Sun Bowl: Oklahoma vs. #21 Stanford: Stanford

Armed Forces Bowl: Houston vs. Air Force: Houston

Pacific Life Holiday Bowl: #20 Arizona vs. #22 Nebraska: Nebraska

Humanitarian Bowl: Bowling Green vs. Idaho: Bowling Green

Champ Sports Bowl: #15 Miami vs. #25 Wisconsin: Miami

Eaglebank Bowl: UCLA vs. Temple: Temple

Independence Bowl: Texas A&M vs. Georgia: Georgia

Music City Bowl: Kentucky vs. Clemson: Clemson

Emerald Bowl: Boston College vs. #24 USC: USC

Meineke Car Care Bowl: #17 Pittsburgh vs. North Carolina: Pittsburgh

Little Caesars Bowl: Marshall vs. Ohio: Ohio

Hawaii Bowl: Nevada vs. SMU: Nevada

Poinsettia Bowl: #23 Utah vs. California: Utah

Las Vegas Bowl: #18 Oregon State vs. #14 BYU: Oregon State

New Orleans Bowl: Southern Mississippi vs. Middle Tennessee State: Southern Mississippi

St. Petersburg Bowl: Central Florida vs. Rutgers: Rutgers

New Mexico Bowl: Fresno State vs. Wyoming: Fresno State

Mike's Week 14 NFL Picks

Last Week: 8-7

Overall: 39-18

Last week was a very tough week for me. I got many picks wrong as many favorites went down. On top of that, my two upset picks (Bills, Titans) ended up playing awful and losing as a result. I hope to have a better week picking this week.

Pittsburgh at Cleveland: Pittsburgh

New Orleans at Atlanta: New Orleans

Green Bay at Chicago: Green Bay

NY Jets at Tampa Bay: NY Jets

Miami at Jacksonville: Miami

Detroit at Baltimore: Baltimore

Seattle at Houston: Houston

Denver at Indianapolis: Indianapolis

Buffalo at Kansas City: Buffalo

Cincinnati at Minnesota: Minnesota

Carolina at New England: New England

Washington at Oakland: Oakland

St. Louis at Tennessee: Tennessee

San Diego at Dallas: San Diego

Philadelphia at NY Giants: Philadelphia

Arizona at San Francisco: Arizona

My Top 5 Opinions on the Last Week of Sports

This is going to be an opinion piece that is going to come out every Monday. All it's going to be is five opinions on the last week of sports. It'll be on some of the biggest topics on sports and on local teams that I know more about.

1. If the Bills don't hire a big name coach like Mike Shanahan, I and rest of Buffalo will be very disappointed. The Bills are not good and they need major changes. In order to excite everyone and make people believe you're trying to change, you have to make a splash. The perfect move to make a splash is to sign a big name coach. So Ralph Wilson, HIRE Mike Shanahan.

2. Syracuse is the top team in college basketball right now. Yes, you heard right. Syracuse is the top team in college basketball right now. They have beaten North Carolina and California on neutral courts. When they play mid majors, they don't squeak by; they dominate them. Syracuse is a team that is on a mission. They have proved more early in the season than any other team. They deserve to be #1 in the country in the polls.

3. Notre Dame should be ashamed of itself for not going to a bowl. It shows cowardliness and arrogance on part of the team. They don't want to practice and it is easier for them to not play in a bowl. They believe that their better than what they'd be slotted for. That is selfish and and awful. Normally small bowl games could use Notre Dame to sell tickets and get attendance and make opponents excited for the game. Notre Dame is taking the easy way. And that's disappointing not only to me but also to the rest of their fans.

4. The BCS blew it again. By pitting Texas vs. Alabama, we have the traditional national championship. Not the game the fans wanted. Everyone wanted Nebraska to beat Texas so we could get an Alabama-TCU National Championship. And if it wasn't enough that three unbeaten teams were left out of the game, the BCS match-ups are even worse. TCU gets to take on Boise State. It should be a great game but it doesn't prove anything for either team. It's a no win situation for either team. And Georgia Tech play Iowa; Will anyone even watch that game? The BCS needs a playoff system. It would've worked perfectly this year. Everyone knows the top eight teams and their would be no controversy on who plays who.

5. Ohio takes on Marshall in the Little Caesars Bowl on December 26 in Detroit, Michigan. The game will be live on ESPN at 1pm. I like the matchup and the date of the game. Some people wish Ohio could play a big school, but i don't really care. Ohio has a winnable bowl game and if they win, they get to the 10 win plateau. I see it as a no-lose situation.

Mike's College Football Saturday Preview

Today is one of the most exciting days of the year in college football. It's a day of championships. Today, is the day where we find out who will probably going to national championship and who will fill out the BCS Bowl games. There are compelling games such as Florida-Alabama, Texas-Nebraska and Pittsburgh-Cincinnati. This is one of the best days of the year to just slouch in front of your television and watch some games. Never has a college football season provided so many unbeatens this late into a season. Two teams will be lucky enough to play for the national championship. As many three teams may go unbeaten and be eft out of the national championship. This excludes wither Florida or Alabama becaue they face each other today and one must lose. Listed below are my college football predictions for the day.

#5 Cincinnati-#15 Pittsburgh: Cincinnati

Conference USA Championship: #21 Houston-East Carolina: Houston

SEC Championship: #1 Florida- #2 Alabama: Florida

Big XII Championship: #3 Texas- #22 Nebraska: Texas

Arizona- #21 USC: Arizona

So, just sit down and watch some football on your television today. It will be a day that you won't want to miss. You can post predictions down here as well.

Mike's Week 13 NFL Picks

Last Week: 11-2

Overall: 31-11

Last week was another good week where I got 11 picks correct. Honestly, I would've gone 13-3 had I posted my picks for the Thanksgiving Day games. My season record which started three weeks ago is also doing very well at 31-11. I already picked the Thursday Night Game this week so I will include that in my following picks even though the game has already been played.

New York Jets at Buffalo: Buffalo

Philadelphia at Atlanta: Philadelphia

St. Louis at Chicago: Chicago

Detroit at Cincinnati: Cincinnati

Tennessee at Indianapolis: Tennessee

New England at Miami: New England

Oakland at Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh

New Orleans at Washington: New Orleans

Tampa Bay at Carolina: Carolina

Houston at Jacksonville: Houston

San Diego at Cleveland: San Diego

Dallas at New York Giants: New York Giants

San Francisco at Seattle: San Francisco

Minnesota at Arizona: Minnesota

Baltimore at Green Bay: Baltimore

Feel free to participate and make your picks in the comments menu. Comments are welcome as long as they don't have inappropriate content in them.

Bills Take on the Jets Thursday in Toronto

The Buffalo Bills take on the New York Jets this Thursday in Toronto. It is the second regular season game in part of a five-year-deal where the Bills will play five regular season and three pre-season games in Toronto. As far as the game is concerned, it only has meaning to one of the teams here. The New York Jets are 5-6 and still fighting to remain in the playoff hunt. They won against Carolina last week 17-6 and are changing their strategy into more of a conservative approach where they run the ball a lot and take fewer chances. For the Bills, this game has no meaning except for showing pride and individual players trying to show that they deserve a spot on the team next year. The Bills started out slow this year and are out of playoff contention despite winning last week versus Miami 31-14.

This game should looks like a very close and interesting matchup. The Jets are led by running back Thomas Jones who has been having a very good season and is close to 1,000 yards and 10 touchdowns on the year. The Jets are a run first and pass second type team. When they have to pass, Sanchez has been mediocre at best for them. The Jets goal will be to run it up the Bills weak defensive line and tire them out. The Bills strength is their passing game led by quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. Although, the Bills don't have good passing stats on the season, this part of their game has been clicking lately. In the two games since Dick Jauron was fired, They have passed for over 200 yards in both games and Terrell Owens is averaging 7 catches, 147 yards, and one touchdown per-game.

Match-ups to look for:

Terrell Owens vs. Derrell Revis: Two of the best at their respective positions go at it versus one another

Thomas Jones vs. Bills Defensive Line: If the Bills D-Line can't stop Jones, it could be a long game for the Bills.

Mark Sanchez vs. Bills Secondary: Last time Sanchez played the Bills, he threw 5 interceptions, he'll have to limit his int's if the Jets want to avoid the upset.

Prediction: Bills 24-17 in an upset