Nevada Dawg

Charles. I am very sorry about the spacing on my above post. If you can fix it, fine. Otherwise delete it and I'll try to figure how it happened.

Well no comment on the rest of the top-10, but I think the two Ohio State guys definitely belong there and probably Ryan Williams at #10 as well. Williams may be the most electric with the ball in his hands as anyone. The reception that won the Game for Bama against Georgia was something to behold. He alluded two pretty fair safeties, Malaki Starks, a likely first round pick in the NFL draft next week, and K.J. Bolden who is pretty far up there on this top 150 list, and made it look easy. The QBs though are often a crap shoot. and many are ranked far too high IMHO, I particularly get a kink out of how the Manning name seems to suggest to many that Manning will be the second coming of college QBs. He couldn't displace Ewers in any game that Ewers was ready to go (as I recall). He may be everything people think he could be, but let him prove it in at least a couple games that matter before anointing him the Crown Prince.

Yeah, it is the off-season for sure.

Todd Marinovich's dad went to my old high school where he was a stud football guy but a first-class p---k. If I recall correctly, he (and the entire USC Front Four) got thrown out of a Rose Bowl game, with Wisconsin I believe, for dirty play.

Absolutely spot on about Nico being quite average--and he had good weapons among he wide receivers in Knoxville. In two outings against the Dawgs, the defense absolutely rattled him both times, but that happened to a lot of opposing QBs, several better than Nico. I wouldn't touch the guy and I am pretty sure he has really sunk his football future.

As to the premise of this article, I wholeheartedly agree!

I don't see Bama-FSU as a crapshoot. Though I can't say who will be under center (is anybody actually there anymore) Bama's roster is loaded with elite talent and I don't believe that FSU's is so blessed. I'd guess Bama wins this one comfortably.

Again Florida did what Florida does: rallies like crazy to win games late. Rarely do they lose the close ones in the last two minutes of a game. The last time they did so: In the second to last week of the regular season against...the Georgia Bulldawgs! So at least we beat the national champs this year, only not when it really counted. It is hard for a Dawg fan to feel great about a Gator triumph, and I couldn't help rooting for Kelvin Sampson and the Cougars to kiss the trophy. But it is also hard to not admire the way this Florida team stood up, time and time again, to adversity this year and managed to prevail in the end. Congrats to a gutty bunch of kids. And Houston really is a beast on defense, aren't they?

I think the teams on Fan Duel's list are the most likely title winners but I quibble with the rankings. First, I'd switch the places of Penn State and Ohio State . Penn State has a QB returning and Ohio State lost a lot of firepower on defense and their OL. I'd switch places with Georgia and Texas. I am always leery of breaking in new QBs, and that applies to both squads (and Oregon as well). But the receiver room in Austin will be nowhere as good as it was last year while Georgia's is going to be dramatically better than last year. Plus Texas has more to rebuild on the OL than Georgia does. Once again, Texas has the easier schedule however.

I told my best Duck buddy that if Houston was at their defensive best, they would beat the Dukies. Now for a big admission and something I haven't dome since snapping off my TV with a tired Boise State seemingly out of gas and missing their miracle at the Fiesta Bowl over Oklahoma: I turned away from the late game tonight with less than 30 seconds remaining and missed the Houston triumph which I didn't know about until I read this thread. Color me embarrassed! Like 30Duck, I had picked the Gators to win it all over Duke. I have a feeling that Monday's game against Houston is gonna be a war. :

Oh I know; just being a wise acre.

So the ex-PAC-12 schools are outperforming the B1G ole guard but receiving only a fractional share of the conference payout. Yep., that's fair, lol.

Better than two-hand touch. That could get a little dicey.

I hadn't watched Houston very closely and for very long before today. That team is longer, more athletic, and a LOT BETTER than I thought it was. I actually picked Tennessee to beat them but knew coming in that their shooters had to be "on" for that to happen. They weren't however and the Cougars defense had something to do with that, although the Vols missed a boatload of 3's even when they had open looks. I have a feeling that next week's semi between Duke and Houston will be an absolute war well worth the price of admission. And kudos to Sparty for hanging in today against Auburn. Auburn is another team famous this year for going for the jugular in the last five minutes of games. With their best player (Broome) largely ineffective due to an injury, they were unable to do that today. If this injury is anything other than minor, the Tigers have little chance of advancing further in his extremely talented field of participants.

My bracket has been so good this year that I can hardly believe it. With three minutes left it the Florida-Texas Tech game I considered wadding it up and discarding it as my pick to win the ball of wax was 9 points down and taking (and missing) hurried shots. But I held on because I had seen many times this year Florida clamping down hard at the end of games on defense and repeatedly feeding their All-American guard who is a lethal shot at the end of games. The formula worked once again and my bracket was saved. Having said this, those Gators had better play the kind of intense defense that they are capable of throughout the game should they beat their semi-final opponent (probably but not assuredly Auburn) and face Duke in the finals. They will pose a much steeper challenge for the Devils than a cold shooting Alabama did today--and yes Cooper Flagg is a very fine basketball player.

I am not really a hockey fan (until the Olympics) but still fondly remember the gritty play of Johnson on the Miracle on Ice team of 1980. And just think guys, here is an NCAA sport in which the SEC poses absolutely no threat. If I remember correctly, there may be a school or two that have competitive Club hockey teams, although I have no idea who they compete with.

I had to chuckle at this. I do like the spunk with which Tom Izzo's teams play and they were the last of the B1G squads to kiss the trophy, but success in this field by what is probably the least talented team is probably a bit much to ask. Nevertheless, the toughness of Izzo's past (and current) squad is a factor to be dealt with.

If only. He was a great player, has a solid case as one of the best defensive players in NFL history, on 3 teams, good baseball player too. But if the media needs to shower attention on a B12 coach, how about Kenny D, or this guy Yeah I still remember the day that Deion played an afternoon game for the Atlanta Falcons and was back playing a night playoff game with the Atlanta Braves. Deion was THE MAN in those days in the ATL. Georgians needed someone like Deion after Hank Aaron retired.

Purdue, playing with a huge home court advantage, played a gutty game against Houston. My hat is off to them in a losing cause. But then again, based only on what my eyes saw of B1G basketball late this year, the Boilers seemed to me to be the best basketball team in the league.

Semper Fi. USMC 1970-1972.

Ah inbounding. The Ducks are good a defending when they need a TO, but as for their own prowess!! What were some of those lazy lobs to nowhere (except perhaps to waiting Arizona Wildcats)? Just askin.

Boy the competition and this fan's viewing interest ramped up significantly today, maybe because this was the winners bracket. I found the first round of this tournament one of the most boring first rounds I have ever witnessed. By contrast, there were several riveting games in the Saturday slate and I hope that it will continue to be riveting tomorrow.

I like your analysis and hope it is right as I was (am) expecting a close game that could go either way while admittedly knowing nothing about Arizona. Go Ducks!!

This is the best performance this century for this historically underperforming conference, and by a long shot. Now the price of poker goes up this weekend. But congrats to the B1G thus far. As I detest the B1G, I hope every one of those suckers, except OBD and maybe UCLA, lose before the Final Four. As for the SEC, I thought that only the top 4 teams (and possibly a lucky Kentucky) had much chance of exiting the first round of the Sweet 16 this year. one thing I have noticed is that classical Centers are making a comeback in the college game--get a couple of those 6' 10"+ monsters that can move and you have a team that is hard to beat. Most SEC teams are not built that way and it is beginning to show on the court.

I have always been an admirer of Gonzaga's Mark Few, the one guy in contemporary college basketball that reminds me of UCLA's John Wooden, not in his overall level of success, but in the discipline and comportment with which his teams play. That showed big time in the Zags absolute first-half stomping of my young Dawgs in the game today. An earlier interview with a Zag guard indicated that Georgia would be hyped up and that Gonzaga would come out with all guns blazing to try to put Georgia in a deep hole. They executed that plan to perfection and it worked so well because they shot the lights out in the first 10 minutes of the first half. This same guard said in the interview that he and his teammates felt poised entering this game because they go to the tournament every year and are not overwhelmed by the stage that they are on. He intimated that Georgia, which had only one player who had ever played in a NCAA tournament game, might not display the came poise early on. I have a feeling that this guy, when his playing days are done, might well make a good coach himself. I wonder how much of this "vision" might not have come from Mark Few himself during the past few days of game preparation.